DXXZL - 6

While Zhu Xingyao was still thinking about how to refuse the 60 yuan, she saw Jiang Tu awkwardly pulling his hand back. He turned to look at her and coldly explained: “I didn’t bring any money today. I’ll give it to you tomorrow at school.”

She paused for a moment, an idea flashing through her mind—did he mean he didn’t bring money, or that he didn’t have any?

At this thought, she quickly shook her head: “No need, no need! You weren’t able to see the blackboard properly all week. The 60 yuan… consider it as compensation for lost study time.”

Yes, just like there’s compensation for lost workdays, there could be compensation for lost study days.

Jiang Tu: “….”

He looked at her somewhat flustered yet well-intentioned explanation. A complex mix of emotions softened slightly, but his face remained tense as he coldly said: “There’s no need. I do have 60 yuan. I don’t like owing others.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of cold wind blew through, piercing his chest, suddenly making him feel colder.

Zhu Xingyao felt that he was even colder than the deep autumn night. Suddenly feeling a bit at a loss, her phone rang. She quickly pulled it out of her bag and saw that it was almost eight o’clock.

Earlier, Zhu Yunping had said he would pick her up after finishing work, probably around this time.

She lowered her head and answered, her voice soft: “Dad.”

Zhu Yunping asked with a smile: “I’m almost there. Come down.”

“I didn’t go back to the practice room after shopping with Xixi this afternoon. I’m… I’m…”

She rarely came to this area and couldn’t describe where she was for a moment. Instinctively, she looked at Jiang Tu, who quietly said, “Hexi Lane, East 1st Road intersection.” She quickly repeated: “I’m at the Hexi Lane, East 1st Road intersection.”

“How did you end up there?” Zhu Yunping turned the steering wheel. “Stay there and wait for me. Don’t go further in; it gets a bit messy there at night.”

Zhu Xingyao wanted to say she wasn’t alone but feared Zhu Yunping might overthink it, so she obediently said: “Okay.”

Jiang Tu watched her hang up the phone and took a step forward, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the intersection.”

Zhu Xingyao was momentarily stunned. As she zipped up her backpack, she followed him. She originally thought they were already at the East 1st Road intersection, but Jiang Tu led her around a corner, walking for several minutes before stopping at a bright intersection bustling with cars and people.

Under the street sign, Jiang Tu looked down at her: “Wait here. The car will see you when it passes by.”

Zhu Xingyao looked up at him: “Alright, thank you.”

“No need.” Jiang Tu didn’t say anything more. “I’m leaving first.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

“…”

He didn’t respond, turned around, and walked away. His lean and thin figure stood out in the crowd, making Zhu Xingyao feel cold just looking at him. Unable to help herself, she muttered softly: “Wearing so little, isn’t he afraid of catching a cold? If he catches a cold, he’ll have to spend money on medicine… how uneconomical!”

She turned her head and looked up at the street sign.

A minute later, a black Mercedes-Benz stopped in front of her. Zhu Yunping lowered the car window, and she quickly smiled, opening the door to get in. At the end of the street corner, the young man glanced back, seeing her get into the car before striding away.

…

Jiang Tu walked home from East Lane. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Jiang Jinhui, who hadn’t been home for several days. Jiang Jinhui seemed to be in a good mood and smiled upon seeing him: “Oh, got new glasses? Need me to reimburse you?”

It seemed he had won some money.

Jiang Tu ignored him and went straight into his room.

Shu Xian came out of the kitchen holding an electric rice cooker and called out: “Xiao Tu, go call your brother back.”

Jiang Tu responded with a faint “Mm,” went back to his room to grab a jacket, put it on, and went out again. He went to the black internet café that accommodated elementary school students and dragged Jiang Lu back. Jiang Lu had been beaten a couple of days ago and obediently followed behind him this time, even complimenting him: “Brother, your new glasses are much cooler than the old ones.”

Early Monday morning, Ding Xiang walked into the classroom and saw Jiang Tu’s glasses. He immediately shouted: “Wow! Jiang Tu, you finally got new glasses!”

His voice was loud, and after this shout, the classmates who had been preparing lethargically for the morning reading all looked over simultaneously.

—Except for Zhu Xingyao.

Jiang Tu didn’t even raise his head, just gave a faint “Mm,” and continued working on his homework. He hadn’t had time to do it over the weekend, so he always came early on Monday mornings to catch up.

After satisfying their curiosity, everyone turned back to what they were doing.

Li Xixi turned her head to look at Zhu Xingyao and commented: “These glasses look much better than the old black frames. Truly, clothes make the man, and glasses make Jiang Tu… wait, no, he still looks better without them.”

Zhou Qian leaned on the desk and whispered: “Stars, are you still going to give him the money?”

“Good-looking, right? I picked the frame. As for the money…”

Zhu Xingyao was tidying her desk when she suddenly saw a physics notebook appear on it with Jiang Tu’s name in the designated space. Her voice paused as she opened the notebook.

Sure enough, inside was a fifty-yuan note and a ten-yuan note.

She glanced back.

Li Xixi tugged at her sleeve, astonished: “Ah? What did you just say? You picked the frame? When did you go to choose it? I’ve been with you all afternoon, and I didn’t hear you mention it!”

She fired off several questions, her voice not exactly quiet.

The students in the front and back rows heard her. Zhang Sheng and Cao Ming were walking by, arm in arm, but suddenly stopped and looked down at Zhu Xingyao, his face darkening. “So you really compensated him for the glasses, Zhu Xingyao? How shameless of him!”

His voice was even louder.

Well, now the whole class knew.

Zhu Xingyao found Zhang Sheng utterly incomprehensible. She couldn’t help but frown: “It’s my business. It’s none of your concern.”

Zhang Sheng’s face turned green, and he stomped back to his seat, holding back his anger.

Zhu Xingyao frowned, put the money away, and took another look at Jiang Tu’s notebook. It was the first time she had flipped through his workbook. His handwriting was unexpectedly good—somewhat messy, but his strokes were strong and sharp.

________________________________________

In the afternoon, three classes had PE together. As Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi headed downstairs, they overheard girls from another class talking: “Is it true that Lu Ji came first in the physics competition?”

“It’s true! Someone overheard Teacher Xie chatting with the homeroom teacher of Class 7 this morning about it. But I heard that Jiang Tu was originally supposed to participate too, but he had to withdraw because of family issues.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean he would have beaten Lu Ji. Other than his terrible handwriting, Lu Ji has no flaws, right?”

…

As everyone knows, Lu Ji’s handwriting is famously atrocious, completely incongruous with his handsome appearance.

Li Xixi turned her head to ask Zhu Xingyao: “Isn’t the final score yet to be announced? Are these people psychic or something?”

Zhu Xingyao thought for a moment and said: “Lu Ji scored very high in the preliminaries, so it’s quite possible he’ll come first. Everyone’s just guessing.”

Everyone gathered on the field. Jiang Tu and Zhang Sheng were about the same height and stood next to each other. Zhang Sheng, being the PE monitor, was tasked by the PE teacher to gather some equipment, and he called three boys, including Jiang Tu and Cao Ming.

Jiang Tu didn’t say anything and followed everyone to the equipment room.

When the four boys entered the equipment room, as Jiang Tu reached for a tennis racket, Zhang Sheng glanced sideways, and Cao Ming suddenly reached out and snatched the glasses off Jiang Tu’s nose. “Let me see the glasses chosen by the goddess! Let me try them on—I have a similar prescription as you…”

Jiang Tu held the basketball, frowning as he looked over. After wearing glasses for so long, there were two faint imprints on his nose bridge. His gaze was dark and cold, making Cao Ming feel slightly intimidated.

Zhang Sheng chuckled and snatched the glasses. “Let me see them too.”

Cao Ming snapped back to his senses, remembering the act he was supposed to play, and quickly grabbed the glasses back. “I asked first! You’re not nearsighted, why are you causing trouble?” The two pushed and shoved each other, completely ignoring the owner of the glasses.

Slap—

The glasses fell to the ground.

They kept pushing each other. Zhang Sheng, wearing a pair of new red sneakers, raised his foot to step on the glasses.

Without thinking, Jiang Tu forcefully threw the basketball at him. The force was so strong that Zhang Sheng’s knee went numb, and he stumbled to the side. Zhang Sheng hissed, clutching his knee as he glared up at him. “Fuck you!” Clenching his jaw, he stood up and lunged toward Jiang Tu.

Jiang Tu bent down, pressed on his leg, and pulled the glasses out from under his foot before forcefully shoving his leg away.

Standing up straight, he looked at Zhang Sheng: “I don’t want to fight at school.”