DXXZL - 3

Jiang Tu hadn’t slept at all last night and was extremely tired. Being woken up in such a situation left him with a terrible expression. He stood up and glanced down at her feet, only to see his glasses shattered into pieces next to her white sneakers.

Zhu Xingyao felt somewhat wronged. The glasses had suddenly ended up beneath her feet and were crushed by her step. She recalled how his glasses had been knocked off by his younger brother the other night and thought to herself how unfortunate these glasses were. Finally, considering Jiang Tu’s family situation, she guessed it would be difficult for him to afford a new pair. Before he could say anything, she added: “I’m sorry. How about… I compensate you for a new pair?”

Jiang Tu looked up at her, unable to help but frown.

Others began to react. Li Xixi instinctively said: “Stars didn’t mean to do it. The glasses just flew there…”

After saying this, she felt something was off.

If it wasn’t intentional, did that mean no responsibility?

Ding Xiang scratched his head and quickly said: “It was probably me who accidentally knocked them off. I should be the one to compensate.” After speaking, he smiled at Zhu Xingyao: “How can we let you pay? If anyone should pay, it’s me.”

Several other boys also chimed in: “Exactly, how can we let a girl pay?”

Zhu Xingyao said: “This isn’t about being a boy or a girl. I stepped on them and broke them.”

At this moment, Zhang Sheng walked over, glanced at the broken glasses, and still with that disdainful tone, remarked: “Tsk, neither of them did it on purpose. It’s just a pair of glasses, not worth much money. There’s an eyewear shop next to the school gate. I accompanied Cao Ming to get a pair just the other day. A cheap pair costs just over a hundred yuan.”

Ding Xiang couldn’t help but roll his eyes and retorted: “You’re so rich; why don’t you give me a few hundred yuan then.”

Zhang Sheng was displeased: “I was just trying to be nice…”

Zhu Xingyao turned to him, frowning, and interrupted: “Just shut up. This has nothing to do with you.”

Zhang Sheng: “….”

He glared, almost wanting to curse, but thinking of the fact that it was Zhu Xingyao, he swallowed his anger. After all, he liked her.

Zhu Xingyao ignored him and turned to look at Jiang Tu.

He stared at her for a moment, then sat back down, lowering his gaze: “No need.”

“How much is your prescription?” she asked.

Jiang Tu had a prescription of three hundred degrees, which wasn’t too severe, but without glasses, he was practically half-blind. Given his height, he had to sit at the back row, and he needed glasses for his part-time work. Without them, it was impossible. He looked up at her again, his eyes showing a maturity beyond his years, his tone very flat: “I said no need. I’ll get a new pair myself.”

“Then can you see the blackboard?”

“No.”

“…”

Just as they were at a standstill, the bell rang suddenly, and math teacher Xie Ya walked in with her lesson plan, right on time.

Zhu Xingyao didn’t know if Jiang Tu had refused her compensation because of Zhang Sheng’s words, but she had no time to dwell on it as Li Xixi dragged her back to her seat.

The math teachers at No. 1 High School were particularly strict. Xie Ya appeared to be under 30, always impeccably dressed, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She didn’t seem like an easy-going teacher. She was also the homeroom teacher of the neighboring Class 8, and students often heard about how stern their homeroom teacher was—like a young version of Master Jiaotong, clearly experiencing early menopause. Oh, and she wasn’t even married yet.

Li Xixi didn’t dare speak during her class and could only write on a draft paper: Should the glasses still be compensated?

Zhu Xingyao glanced at it and wrote: Yes.

She passed it over.

Li Xixi: But he said no need. Can’t exactly drag him to the eyewear shop, right?

She passed it over.

Zhu Xingyao thought about it; indeed, she couldn’t. If it were someone else, she might not feel so conflicted, but it was Jiang Tu. His family owed so much debt—why did he refuse? She sighed and wrote: If he gets a new pair of glasses, I’ll give him the money later.

She passed it over.

The next second, Xie Ya tapped the desk and coolly said: “Li Xixi, come up and solve this problem.”

Li Xixi: “….”

She hadn’t been paying attention in class and felt guilty as she walked up to the platform, picked up the chalk, and started drafting on the side.

Xie Ya watched for a while, then coldly turned to Zhu Xingyao, “Zhu Xingyao, your turn.”

Zhu Xingyao was beautiful and ranked in the top ten in her grade. Usually, teachers wouldn’t make things difficult for good students, but Xie Ya wouldn’t go easy on her just because she was pretty.

Honestly, this was Zhu Xingyao’s first time solving a problem on the platform.

Her ears turned slightly red, feeling a bit embarrassed, but fortunately, she had reviewed last night and quickly solved the function problem.

“Pay more attention in class next time.”

Xie Ya nodded and finally let them off the hook.

Zhu Xingyao quietly sighed in relief and followed Li Xixi back to their seats. Finally, enduring until the end of the math class, once Xie Ya left, Li Xixi frantically grabbed her soft short hair and wailed: “Ah, ah, ah, ah! I want to change math teachers!”

“Me too.” Zhu Xingyao stood up with her physics homework, glanced down at her, and couldn’t help but remind: “I’m going to hand in my homework. Stop pulling your hair, or you’ll go bald.”

Li Xixi quickly dropped her hands and gently stroked her short hair lovingly, “I was wrong. I don’t want to go bald.”

Zhu Xingyao took a couple of steps, turned back to look at her, and smiled sweetly: “Oh, by the way, it seems baldness is passed down to males, not females.”

Li Xixi: “….”

At the fourth desk in the third group, Cao Ming looked at Zhang Sheng: “Holy crap, is it true or false? Uncle Zhang seems to have a little…”

Before he finished, Zhang Sheng covered his mouth and fiercely said: “What the hell are you talking about!”

Others heard and understood: Oh? Is Zhang Sheng’s dad bald?

Seeing Zhang Sheng and Cao Ming about to fight, Zhu Xingyao lightly chuckled and turned to leave.

Zhou Qian laughed heartily, stood up with her homework, and called out to Zhu Xingyao: “Wait, I’ll go with you.”

“Heaven must think Zhang Sheng has been too mean, so they’re preparing for him to go bald in middle age.” Ding Xiang laughed for a while, then turned to look at Jiang Tu. Throughout the entire math class, Jiang Tu hadn’t looked at the blackboard much, probably because he couldn’t see it clearly anyway. But since Jiang Tu had said no need for compensation, he felt awkward bringing it up again.

Surprisingly, Jiang Tu didn’t argue this time but gave a faint smile: “Probably.”

Zhang Sheng suddenly looked over: “What are you smiling about?”

Jiang Tu: “Whatever everyone is laughing about, I’m laughing about.”

Zhang Sheng cursed under his breath.

…

After school in the afternoon, Jiang Tu waited until almost everyone had left before departing. He strode to the bicycle shed, pushed out his old bike, swung his long legs over, and quickly pedaled away.

He wasn’t used to not wearing glasses, and his vision was blurry. He squinted slightly.

It was already nearing November, and the temperature had dropped significantly over the past couple of days. The wind carried a biting chill. Zhu Xingyao walked out of the school gate, turned left, and headed toward the usual spot where the driver parked. Passing by the eyewear shop Zhang Sheng had mentioned, she stopped and glanced inside.

Just then, Jiang Tu’s tall, lean figure passed in front of her. There were many people at the school gate, so he was riding slowly, seemingly unaware of her presence.

Without thinking, she ran forward a few steps and called out to him: “Jiang Tu, wait a moment.”

Jiang Tu’s body stiffened. He braced himself with his right foot on the ground and turned to look back.

She had already run up to him, smiled faintly, and pointed to the eyewear shop diagonally behind them. In a light and cheerful tone, she said: “Let’s go get you new glasses.”

Jiang Tu looked down at the girl in front of him. Her eyes were clear and bright, sparkling like stars. He swallowed hard, avoiding her gaze as he looked ahead: “I told you there’s no need for compensation. Go home quickly. Your family’s car is up ahead—don’t keep your parents waiting.”

Zhu Xingyao was surprised that he remembered about her family’s car and instinctively replied: “My parents don’t have time today. I’ll just tell the driver to wait a little longer.”

The sky was heavy with dark clouds, pressing against the glow of the setting sun—it seemed like it might rain soon.

Jiang Tu turned back to look at her, his gaze lowering slightly: “I have something to do and need to leave first.”

As he prepared to pedal away, someone called out again: “Jiang Tu!” Lin Jiayu, holding a phone, rode her bike unsteadily and stopped beside him. She hastily handed him the phone: “Your mom called looking for you.”

He put his foot down again, glanced at Zhu Xingyao, and took the phone.

Before he could speak—

Lin Jiayu had already whispered: “It seems Chen Yi brought people to your house again…”

Zhu Xingyao heard this and bit her lip, looking up at Jiang Tu.

The young man seemed to tense up, his jaw tight, a vein faintly protruding on his neck. With the phone pressed to his ear, he simply said: “I’m coming home now.”

He tossed the phone back to Lin Jiayu and turned to see a flicker of sympathy in Zhu Xingyao’s eyes. He gripped the handlebars tightly: “I really have something urgent. We can talk later. You should go home first.”

Lin Jiayu turned her head and only then noticed Zhu Xingyao’s face. She was momentarily stunned.

Zhu Xingyao paused for a second and softly said: “Alright. If you need help…”

Her words were cut off: “No need.”

Jiang Tu quickly rode off. Lin Jiayu glanced at Zhu Xingyao, said a quick goodbye, and cycled after Jiang Tu.

Zhu Xingyao watched them ride away before thoughtfully turning around. From childhood until now, she had never experienced hardship. Aside from the time she threw a tantrum when Zhu Yunping and Ding Yu opposed her attending music school, she essentially got everything she wanted—stars or the moon, whatever she wished for.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of life Jiang Tu led.

After getting into the car, she suddenly remembered—the girl earlier, wasn’t she the same one who had been talking to Jiang Tu at the entrance of Hexi Lane?

Jiang Tu pedaled furiously; Lin Jiayu couldn’t catch up.

The two arrived at Hexi Lane one after the other.

The Jiang household was in disarray. Shu Xian was cleaning up. She stood up and looked at Jiang Tu, whose hair was tousled by the wind, and gave a weary smile: “It’s fine now. They just came to cause trouble.”

The debt hadn’t been repaid, and incidents like this happened once or twice a month, depending entirely on the mood of those thugs.

Jiang Tu remained silent, coming over to help lift tables and chairs.

One chair had a broken leg. He found some tools and took the chair outside to fix it.

Lin Jiayu had just arrived home by this time. After parking her bike, she saw that things were mostly cleaned up across the way. She walked over and sat down on the concrete bench next to Jiang Tu, asking him: “I wanted to ask earlier—what happened to your glasses?”

Jiang Tu’s hand, which had been hammering a nail, paused. “They got stepped on and broke.”

“Huh?” Lin Jiayu quickly asked, “Who stepped on them?”