LRTH - 4

Xu Yuanhe was indeed standing at the school gate, talking with someone next to him. He saw Li Yizhou come out, then glanced behind him.

Upon seeing Fang Nanzhi, he felt that his task from Mrs. Huang for the evening was complete. So, he said goodbye to the person he was with, walked over, and casually hooked his arm over Li Yizhou’s shoulder, and they walked off together.

Fang Nanzhi was about two or three meters behind them. At this distance, she could hear them talking.

They were talking about a basketball game from today. Xu Yuanhe was frustrated about a certain shot that missed at a certain point. Li Yizhou walked ahead idly with one hand in his pocket, analyzing why the shot missed.

Fang Nanzhi didn’t really understand these basketball matters. She just followed them quietly, occasionally glancing up when Li Yizhou spoke.

After they left the school grounds, there were fewer students around. They turned a corner and walked onto a pedestrian path.

In about ten minutes, Fenglan Yun-di was already in sight.

It was only when the three of them entered the complex that Fang Nanzhi was sure Li Yizhou also lived there. However, this area was very large, and his house and her house were probably quite far apart.

At the fork in the road, Li Yizhou and the others parted ways. Xu Yuanhe didn’t even look at Fang Nanzhi. He had brought her back, so he didn’t need to see her to her door, and he didn’t have the time for it.

Fang Nanzhi naturally didn’t expect him to. She returned home on her own.

Zhao Liyun was waiting for her at home tonight. When she saw her return, she asked her how her first day of classes went, if she understood anything, and also mentioned that Xu Tingyou was in the same class and that she could ask her for help if she didn’t understand something.

Fang Nanzhi was silent for a few seconds before agreeing, saying that she would keep up with the pace at Junhua.

Zhao Liyun was very pleased and asked her if she was happy with her day.

For some reason, when asked about happiness, Fang Nanzhi’s mind only conjured up the image of the back of the person who had walked in front of her not long ago and said, “Let’s go back together.”

He was lean and tall, and his back was straight.

He was probably a whole head taller than her, she thought.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you unhappy? Are you not adjusting well?” Zhao Liyun asked.

Fang Nanzhi quickly shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m not unhappy. I was just thinking... I’m a bit behind, and I haven’t finished my homework.”

She didn’t want Zhao Liyun to worry about her school life, and besides, there really wasn’t anything wrong.

“It’s normal to be a little behind since you just started. Don’t be too anxious.”

“Mhm, I know.”

After returning to her room, Fang Nanzhi read for a long time. Once she finally understood a few things, she finished her homework.

The next morning, she went to school by herself. The route wasn’t far, and she was sure she would remember it after walking it once.

As she was leaving, she happened to see Auntie Huang doing stretches on the neighboring terrace. Auntie Huang called out to her to wait, saying that Xu Yuanhe and the others were having breakfast and would take her to school with them.

Fang Nanzhi declined, making up an excuse that she needed to get to school early to finish her homework.

She didn’t dare to let any of the three of them “escort” her to school. It was too much of an annoyance.

But as she walked out of the complex gate, Fang Nanzhi still subconsciously looked toward the first plane tree.

No one was standing there today. He was probably still at home.

Fang Nanzhi took a few steps, and when she realized she was thinking about this, she frowned slightly.

Why was she thinking about this...? Whether he was there or not, what did it matter to her?

________________________________________

The first day of school was calm and ordinary, but the second day was different.

Fang Nanzhi suddenly found that her classmates were friendlier toward her.

When she entered the classroom, a girl said hello to her. She was stunned for two seconds before responding blankly.

Morning self-study hadn’t started yet. After the greeting, Fang Nanzhi sat down in her seat. Just as she took out her book, another girl sat down in the seat in front of her.

“Hi, I’m the arts committee member of our class. My name is Zhang Lanlan,” the girl introduced herself cheerfully.

The girl had her hair in a high ponytail, revealing her full forehead, with some wisps of hair around her face. Although she wasn’t as beautiful as Xu Tingyou, she was definitely a pretty and fresh-faced girl.

Fang Nanzhi, who had been ignored all of yesterday, suddenly felt a little nervous. “Uh... hi.”

“You’re new here, so you probably don’t know the school very well. I can show you around. And if you want to go to the school store for snacks, just call me to go with you.”

The girl was very enthusiastic. Fang Nanzhi’s nervousness slowly dissipated, replaced by genuine happiness. She smiled shyly and said, “Okay.”

“Oh right, do you know Li Yizhou?” Zhang Lanlan suddenly asked.

Fang Nanzhi’s heart skipped a beat, and she hesitated.

She didn’t know if she could be considered as knowing Li Yizhou. Probably not, she thought. It was only because of Xu Yuanhe’s mom that they gave her a ride home. He probably didn’t even know her name.

“Not really...” she finally said.

Zhang Lanlan, however, looked unconvinced. “He came to the classroom to find you last night and said you’d go back together... do you also live in Fenglan?”

Fang Nanzhi could only nod.

Zhang Lanlan’s eyes lit up. “Then do you have his WeChat? Or QQ?”

“...No. I’m, really not familiar with him.”

“Really? But he came to pick you up to go home together. How can you not be familiar with him?”

The bell for morning self-study rang at that moment, and Fang Nanzhi didn’t know what else to say.

Zhang Lanlan, looking disappointed, returned to her seat.

Just then, Xu Tingyou walked in, blurry-eyed and with her eyebrows furrowed, looking unapproachable. As soon as she sat down, she put her head down and went to sleep.

Fang Nanzhi: “...”

She probably knew why no one asked Xu Tingyou for his contact information, even though she had a more obvious “connection” to Li Yizhou.

________________________________________

In Class 7 of the third grade, students were reading English content for morning self-study.

In the second-to-last row of the classroom, the tall, dark-skinned boy, Zhao Ke, was skillfully rushing to finish his homework. After quickly completing one page, he turned around and bowed to the person behind him who was calmly reading a book.

“I still have a physics test. Bro Zhou, please, I beg you!”

Li Yizhou gestured with his chin toward the stack of books in the upper right corner. “It’s under the books. Find it yourself.”

“Thank you! You’re my lifesaver!”

Xu Yuanhe, who was watching from the side, casually said, “You’re in your senior year. Are you sure you’re not going to do it yourself?”

“Do what? If I could write it, I would’ve been doing it seriously two years ago.”

Li Yizhou nodded, leaned forward to take a nap, and said sleepily, “He’s really not cut out for school. Don’t feel sorry for him.”

Zhao Ke: “...I’m crying now.”

Zhao Ke tearfully took the test paper and went back to copy it. After he was done, he let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling refreshed, and he had the energy to gossip again.

He looked at Li Yizhou and said, “By the way, did you two escort that girl from the first grade to school again today? I heard from the first-year students that you personally went to her classroom door to pick her up last night.”

Zhao Ke didn’t lower his voice, which made the classmates next to them look over. “Hey, don’t go to sleep yet. Tell us what happened. That girl has too much clout. I’m telling you, the first grade is in a frenzy. The news is flying everywhere. What’s the real story?”

Li Yizhou didn’t even open his eyes. He really seemed a little tired. “Ask him.”

He was referring to Xu Yuanhe.

Zhao Ke’s eyes instantly darted over. Xu Yuanhe spread his hands and said, “It was my mom again. She was texting and calling me before evening self-study was even over, repeatedly telling me to make sure I brought her back with me, or else I wouldn’t be allowed inside the door. After seeing that threatening me wasn’t working, she threatened to deduct my allowance. Seriously, was that necessary?”

“So your mom forced you to pick her up. Then why did he go?”

When Xu Yuanhe talked about this, he looked a little smug. “We made a bet on the way. Op lost the match, and I won the bet.”

Op was an esports team. The final game of the semifinals was during the evening self-study last night. Xu Yuanhe was too lazy to go find Fang Nanzhi, so he casually made a bet, saying that if Li Yizhou lost, he would “run the errand” for him.

As a result, Li Yizhou really did lose, which is why he went to the first-grade building to pick up the girl.

It was originally Xu Yuanhe’s job to go.

________________________________________

Fang Nanzhi felt it was a little unreal. Her second day was particularly lively.

At noon, a classmate walked out of the school with her. Before class in the afternoon, the girl named Zhang Lanlan even shared some snacks with her and chatted with her for a while while sitting next to her.

Everyone was suddenly paying attention to her and had become curious about this new transfer student.

At first, Fang Nanzhi was happy, but by now, she knew exactly why everyone was suddenly paying attention to her.

It was because of Li Yizhou.

Because in their conversations, they would, to varying degrees, intersperse topics about Li Yizhou.

Through them, she learned a little about Li Yizhou. He was a person who was not only outstanding in appearance but also internally very, very excellent.

She was a little puzzled. Why would they think that such a person would have a close relationship with her?

The day passed in this illusory excitement, right up until the end of evening self-study.

Zhang Lanlan, who had gotten the news from somewhere, pulled her to walk toward the school gate and said, “So what you said was true. You really aren’t familiar with Li Yizhou.”

Fang Nanzhi was surprised that she finally believed her.

Zhang Lanlan explained, “I asked a senior student, and she said that Li Yizhou came to pick you up because he lost a bet to Xu Yuanhe and was taking his place.”

So that’s what happened.

Seeing that she hadn’t said anything, Zhang Lanlan added, “Everyone was so curious about this. The senior even asked me what you looked like.”

Fang Nanzhi didn’t want to keep listening because she didn’t want to know how others were describing her.

Fortunately, Zhang Lanlan didn’t continue on that topic. She just suddenly blinked and asked her, “You have Xu Yuanhe’s contact information, right? Can you add me?”

This sudden shift caught Fang Nanzhi off guard, and she choked up. “I, I don’t have it either.”

“But I heard from the senior that you live next door to each other and your parents are good friends,” Zhang Lanlan said with a laugh. “Are you afraid Xu Yuanhe will get mad? I heard he has a really bad temper, a bit like Xu Tingyou... It’s okay, never mind. If you don’t want to add him, that’s fine. Next time we hang out, you can call him out, and we can all go together.”

Fang Nanzhi stopped in her tracks. She felt that she couldn’t let this misunderstanding continue.

“Lanlan.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m really not familiar with Xu Yuanhe... I just moved here, and I don’t really know them. The reason they gave me a ride yesterday was because it was my first day of school, and his mom told him to.”

“Oh... I see.” Zhang Lanlan’s smile faded. She let go of her hand and shrugged indifferently. “Alright then, I’m leaving.”

The two had reached the school gate and were about to go their separate ways home.

Fang Nanzhi noticed that she seemed a little unhappy, and she felt a little dejected watching her walk away.

But she really couldn’t agree, and she didn’t know what else to do because she really wasn’t familiar with them...

However, Fang Nanzhi still cherished the friend she had finally made.

The next day, when she went to school, she made sure to bring some snacks that her father, Fang Ji, had bought for her—a certain brand of chocolate from abroad. She had never seen it before, and it was particularly delicious. She wanted to give a box to Zhang Lanlan.

Unexpectedly, when she walked to her desk and handed her the chocolate, Zhang Lanlan said coldly that she didn’t like to eat chocolate.

Her attitude was a world away from how she had been yesterday.

Fang Nanzhi returned to her seat, feeling both disappointed and bewildered. Xu Tingyou next to her was filling in the multiple-choice questions for English reading. She glanced at her and said, “Idiot.”

Fang Nanzhi was stunned. “Are you talking to me?”

Xu Tingyou didn’t stop writing. “Who else?”

“What did I do wrong?”

“What did you do wrong? Why did you give her food? The only reason she was trying to get close to you yesterday, like a completely different person, was because she thought you had a good relationship with Brother Yizhou,” Xu Tingyou said grumpily. “Now that she probably knows you don’t know each other at all, she’s acting this way. That Zhang Lanlan is boy-crazy and stupid.”

After saying that, Xu Tingyou added, “You’re even dumber than her.”

“...”

Fang Nanzhi was not good with words, introverted and sullen.

She had always been friendless.

The incident with Zhang Lanlan made her sad for a while.

After that, she went to school and came home alone.

Amid her solitude, besides trying to quickly adapt to life in Hangzhou, she focused all her energy on catching up with the school’s curriculum.

Of course, she never ran into Li Yizhou again.

But it was strange. Sometimes, when it suddenly came to mind, the image of his back “taking her home” was still very clear.