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The barbecue restaurant was a bit smoky, and Jiang Tu’s glasses fogged up. Through the misty lenses, he looked at the girl in front of him and lowered his head to pick up his chopsticks.
After a while, he seemed to remember something and stood up.
When he came back, he had a bottle of soy milk with a straw, which he placed in front of her.
Zhu Xingyao was momentarily surprised, then smiled, “Thank you.”
Until about 7:30 p.m., Jiang Tu stood up, and only then did Zhu Xingyao realize he hadn’t eaten much, while she was almost full.
Jiang Tu took off his glasses and carefully wiped the fog off with a tissue, then looked down at her. “How are you getting home tonight?”
Zhu Xingyao grabbed her backpack and stood up. “My mom will pick me up after she finishes work.”
“That’s good.” He nodded and pulled out his chair. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
Jiang Tu accompanied her to the restaurant’s entrance, silently watching her walk away before turning back to change clothes and head into the kitchen.
After 10 p.m., Zhu Xingyao got into Ding Yu’s car. As soon as she sat down, Ding Yu leaned over and sniffed. “Why do you smell like cooking smoke? Where did you eat?”
Ding Yu had a very sensitive nose, and Zhu Xingyao couldn’t help but admire it. “I went to eat barbecue with a classmate tonight.”
Ding Yu raised an eyebrow. “Which classmate?”
Zhu Xingyao lowered her head to buckle her seatbelt and whispered, “Just… Xixi.”
“You two really have some fate, ending up in the same class again.” Ding Yu started driving. “How did she get home?”
“She took a taxi.”
Zhu Xingyao lied without blinking.
Leaning back in her seat, she took out her phone and opened her contacts to send Jiang Tu a message:
“Brother Tu, I’m home now, thank you for the barbecue tonight.”
Then after thinking a moment, she added,
“When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering.”
This was their first time texting each other.
A few minutes later,
Jiang Tu stood at the back door of the barbecue restaurant, staring at his phone in a daze before slowly pressing the keys: “Okay.”
He shoved the phone back into his pocket, looked up at the star-filled sky, and thought to himself, It’s not really that hard.
That night, Zhu Xingyao took a long time washing and drying her hair in the bathroom. Lying in bed, she saw it was already midnight and suddenly thought of Jiang Tu. He was probably still working and must be really busy.
Monday morning at school, as soon as Zhu Xingyao got off the bus, she saw Xia Jin get out of a black car behind her. They exchanged glances, and she smiled, “Good morning.”
Xia Jin smiled back, “Morning.”
They had been in the same class for a few days but hadn’t spoken much. Just like Li Xixi said, “Two tigers cannot share one mountain.” Zhu Xingyao could sense Xia Jin didn’t like her much. After greeting her, she didn’t say anything else and walked past.
Walking behind her, Xia Jin suddenly asked, “Zhu Xingyao, are you dating Jiang Tu?”
Zhu Xingyao stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her. “Why do you say that?”
Xia Jin walked over briskly, raising an eyebrow. “Friday evening, my family’s car drove across the bridge, and I saw you riding on the back of his bicycle…” She had even made the driver slow down, afraid she had misseen.
Zhu Xingyao hadn’t expected to be seen. She explained, “That day, no one came to pick me up at home. I just happened to run into Jiang Tu at the school gate. He was going to the square too, so he gave me a ride. That’s all, don’t overthink it.”
“Just that?” Xia Jin sounded unconvinced.
“Just that. Don’t spread rumors.” Zhu Xingyao’s face was serious and cold when she wasn’t smiling. “It’s almost time for morning reading. Let’s go.”
Once in class, Zhu Xingyao saw Jiang Tu already sitting at his desk, catching up on homework.
Ding Xiang was copying frantically nearby, while Li Xixi teased him, “Lilac Flower, can you ever do your homework yourself?”
Zhu Xingyao walked up to Jiang Tu’s desk. He looked up, their eyes met, and she pressed her lips together, unsure whether to warn him in advance—just in case Xia Jin spread the rumor—so he could be mentally prepared.
Anyway, after hearing so many rumors herself, she wasn’t afraid.
But Jiang Tu was different. He seemed never to have had a scandal.
He looked at her face, “What’s up?”
Before, Zhu Xingyao thought Jiang Tu and Lin Jiayu must be close, probably something going on between them. But after spending more time together, she found Jiang Tu treated people in just two ways: familiar or unfamiliar. If familiar, he’d say a few more words, offer reasonable care and help, never refusing.
If unfamiliar, he wouldn’t even bother looking at you.
Very cold, very cool.
Lin Jiayu had grown up with him from childhood—that was as familiar as it got. As for her and Li Xixi, and even Ding Xiang…
They should also fall within the familiar category, which was why he actively cared and asked questions. Otherwise, cold and aloof Tu Ge wouldn’t bother with anyone!
If Tu Ge heard those rumors, he probably wouldn’t even furrow his brow and might just call them boring.
Zhu Xingyao was amused by her own thoughts and couldn’t help but laugh. “Nothing.”
Jiang Tu was oddly amused by her smile. She had already sat down. He glanced at her gently swaying hair, then lowered his head and resumed his homework.
Zhu Xingyao thought Xia Jin didn’t seem like a gossip. She had explained everything clearly, so Xia Jin probably wouldn’t spread rumors. Besides, even if she did, not everyone would believe her.
Xia Jin had started to feel a bit curious about Jiang Tu. Back when she was in Class 15, she had heard about a boy in the first year who came to school over a month late because something happened at home — the family was in heavy debt, causing a stir at school, and so on. She just listened to the rumors without much thought. When others went to crowd around Jiang Tu, she didn’t even glance over, thinking he was just a poor kid with nothing interesting to see.
But after being assigned to Class 1, she noticed a tall, slim, upright boy with pale skin and glasses. He was aloof and cold, hard to get along with at first glance, but stood out in the group of boys. That’s when she realized that boy was Jiang Tu.
After observing him for two days, she found that Jiang Tu treated Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi similarly. She did notice Lin Jiayu spoke with Jiang Tu twice in the corridor.
Their relationship seemed closer, which made her even more curious.
On Wednesday afternoon, Classes 1, 2, and 9 had P.E. together. While the class reps went to borrow equipment, the girls went to rest under the shade of a tree.
Zhu Xingyao saw Lin Jiayu and called out with a smile, “Jiayu!”
Lin Jiayu ran toward her but hadn’t reached her when Xia Jin called, “Lin Jiayu.”
“Ah.” Lin Jiayu turned toward her and smiled, “Xia Jin.”
They used to be in the same class. Xia Jin came from a wealthy and influential family, always surrounded by various boys and girls. Lin Jiayu was busy studying, handing out flyers, and working part-time. Although in the same class, they were in completely different circles and rarely spoke.
Lin Jiayu had thought Xia Jin was just suddenly saying hi, so she responded and then went over to Zhu Xingyao.
Xia Jin looked a bit unhappy and frowned, “I was calling you — why didn’t you respond?”
“I thought you were just greeting me…” Lin Jiayu quickly explained, nervously fiddling with her clothes before walking over to Xia Jin. “Did you need something?”
Xia Jin glanced at Zhu Xingyao before asking, “Are you very close to Jiang Tu?”
Lin Jiayu was momentarily stunned, then nodded, “Yeah, we grew up together.”
So that’s how it was.
Xia Jin smiled, “Nothing much, I just saw you talking to him and got curious.”
Curious about what?
Zhu Xingyao instinctively thought of that day. She glanced at Xia Jin and then at Lin Jiayu, feeling Xia Jin’s curiosity might not be innocent. Li Xixi glanced toward the equipment room and snorted, “Zhang Sheng always makes Tu Ge fetch the equipment during P.E.—it’s personal revenge.”
“You said last time they almost fought?” Lin Jiayu had only heard a little before. She knew Jiang Tu didn’t have many friends, but didn’t think it had come to fighting. “Who started it?”
“Obviously Zhang Sheng,” Li Xixi said.
Xia Jin’s curiosity flared again, her eyes scanning them. “I didn’t expect Jiang Tu and Zhang Sheng actually fought? Why?”
Jiang Tu and Zhang Sheng had been at odds since first year, and it hadn’t eased up. If Jiang Tu wasn’t so calm, they would have fought hundreds of times already. A girl from Class 7 once said, “Ah, it seems it’s because of Zhu Xingyao…”
Li Xixi objected, “No, it’s because Zhang Sheng wanted to trade two thousand yuan for Jiang Tu’s seat, but Jiang Tu refused, so they fought… Zhang Sheng was insulting him with money, okay?”
Zhu Xingyao nodded, “Right.”
The girls whispered, “Then it still kind of has to do with you, since Zhang Sheng wanted to switch seats because of you.”
But that was two different things, right?
Xia Jin sarcastically said, “As expected of the goddess—two boys fighting just over a seat because of her.”
Zhu Xingyao frowned, “I said it wasn’t because of me. It was Zhang Sheng provoking. Also, Jiang Tu didn’t want to fight. This happened a long time ago; it’s meaningless to talk about it now.”
“Girls, stop slacking under the tree and come over here!”
The P.E. teacher shouted, hands on hips.
The class reps had already brought the equipment with the boys. Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi walked over, and Zhang Sheng hurriedly handed over a tennis racket. “Here, you said you wanted to play tennis, right?”
Xia Jin said, “I want to play tennis too. Why did you only bring one racket?”
Zhu Xingyao glanced at her, “Then you take it.”
She passed by Xia Jin and went toward Jiang Tu. Jiang Tu was holding a badminton racket and a volleyball. He lowered his eyes and looked at her, “Do you want to play this?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Tu handed her the racket and said softly, “If you want a tennis racket, there are more over there.”
He went to borrow some more.
Zhu Xingyao took it and whispered, “No need, this one’s fine. I’m just playing casually to pass the time until class ends.”
Jiang Tu didn’t know why she seemed a bit upset, but it definitely wasn’t about the tennis racket. He watched her and Li Xixi walk toward the badminton court, then turned and ran toward the track field.
The badminton and volleyball courts were next to each other, both located above the track. Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi played a few rounds, then threw the rackets to others. She sat on the steps with Lin Jiayu, both looking toward the track where Jiang Tu was still running.
Zhu Xingyao asked Lin Jiayu, “Did Jiang Tu play sports in middle school?”
Lin Jiayu smiled, “Yeah, he was pretty good at basketball. There were even girls who came to watch him.”
Zhu Xingyao mumbled, “Really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play.”
“Now… after school he goes to work, probably doesn’t have time,” Lin Jiayu said.
Zhu Xingyao asked again, “Where else does he work?”
“He does all kinds of jobs — barbecue restaurants, bars, internet cafes… wherever they need him, he goes.” Lin Jiayu sighed and looked at Zhu Xingyao. “Do you think his life is really tough?”
Zhu Xingyao nodded.
Yeah, just thinking about it made her feel it was hard.
After P.E. class ended, Zhu Xingyao returned from the restroom and saw a bottle of soy milk on the desk.
She stood there, frowning at the soy milk. Suddenly, her heel was gently pressed from behind. She turned around and saw Jiang Tu leaning against the wall, not wearing glasses. His hair was damp from running, and his pale skin made his dark hair and eyes stand out sharply.
He said softly, “I bought it on the way. It’s not from Zhang Sheng, so you can drink it without worry.”
Zhu Xingyao was momentarily stunned, then smiled sweetly, “Thanks, Tu Ge.”
Jiang Tu’s mouth curved faintly.
At the second to last desk in the first row, Xia Jin tilted her head. Jiang Tu’s faint smile caught her eye, and she was momentarily stunned, only coming back to herself after a while.
—
After school in the evening, Jiang Tu first went to the internet cafe and pulled Jiang Lu out of there. Returning to Hexi Alley, he saw Shu Xian standing at the door talking to Lin Jiayu about some physics competition.
Jiang Tu stopped, glanced at them, then turned and went inside.
Jiang Lu ran over, “Mom, what are you guys talking about?”
Lin Jiayu didn’t know if Jiang Tu was upset, so she looked around worriedly. Shu Xian sighed, “It’s nothing. Xiao Tu comes home and says nothing to me. I have to ask you because otherwise, I have no idea what’s going on at school.”
Lin Jiayu thought to herself, if he told everything at home, that would be strange.
Shu Xian went inside the house. Jiang Tu had already started cooking. She entered the kitchen and looked up at her son, who had grown over 1.8 meters tall. “Is it still in time to sign up now? I heard if you join this, you could get recommended admission to Tsinghua or Peking University…”
Jiang Tu said, “It’s too late.”
Shu Xian was silent for a few seconds before saying, “You should participate. It has nothing to do with Xiao Lu and me.”
Jiang Tu wiped the water off his hands and said coldly, “Easy for you to say. Did you hide the money so you wouldn’t have to give it to Jiang Jinhui? Or do you think you could beat him if he hit you? Neither is possible.” He paused, his voice even colder, “Then don’t say anything. I’ll take the exam for Tsinghua and Peking University on my own.”
He turned and left. Unexpectedly, he looked up and saw Jiang Jinhui. Without a word, Jiang Tu walked straight into his room, treating him like air.
Jiang Jinhui had also come home early, which was rare. He had overheard a bit earlier. He walked into the kitchen, looked at Shu Xian who was washing vegetables, and asked, “What did he just say to you? Did he promise to get into Tsinghua and Peking University and then tell you to divorce me?”
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