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by Little Merger

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53. I Just Want To Freeload On Your Luck

I Just Want to Freeload on Your Luck #Chapter 26.1 - Read I Just Want to Freeload on Your Luck Chapter 26.1 Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 26 (Part 1)

Only on Wednesday did Zhao Yuning receive the news that Zhao Mingxi came in 17th place in the October monthly exam, and that she had a higher ranking than Zhao Yuan.

He felt both suspicious and surprised.

He waited anxiously until it was lunch time. Then, he immediately ran over to the Year 3 side of the cafeteria.

It has been a whole month since Zhao Yuning has had the chance to eat a meal cooked by Zhao Mingxi. He hadn't been dragged back to school by Zhao Mingxi whenever he skipped school to go to the cyber cafe as well.

He still did not believe the words that Zhao Mingxi said to him. He refused to think that she was truly able to sever all ties with their family.

He placed all his hope on his eldest brother. However, his eldest brother hasn't been coming home recently, and he always appeared as if he didn't know how to explain the reason for this occurrence to him.

Zhao Yuning knew then that his eldest brother did not manage to coax Mingxi home.

Zhao Yuning originally thought that without Zhao Mingxi, him and his family will only return to how they were two years ago.

But what he didn't expect was to be even more disappointed and fearful than he thought when he was about to truly lose Zhao Mingxi.

Zhao Mingxi hasn't appeared in his life for a month.

Only then did he realize that he didn't hate this elder sister as much, nor was Zhao Mingxi as unimportant as he thought she was.

"I saw on the forum that the host for this year's Annual School Celebration is Zhao Mingxi, is that true?"

The first thing Zhao Yuning did when he came over was to ask about Zhao Mingxi.

The fingers that Zhao Yuan had wrapped around the chopsticks clenched tighter unconsciously.

Pu Shuang said, "Those are only rumors on the forum. The teacher from the Literature Department did look for her, but ultimately the host has yet to be decided. Besides, it has always been Zhao Yuan for the past few years, so it's impossible for them to change the host this year!"

"Oh." Zhao Yuning was a little disappointed. That spot always belonged to Zhao Yuan. If they were to change to Zhao Mingxi this year, it would be quite good.

Pu Shuang couldn't help but to say, "Zhao Yuning, they are both your elder sisters, so why don't you ask about Yuanyuan? She didn't do well this time so imagine how she feels—"

"She didn't do well?" Zhao Yuning took a spoonful of rice and looked at her with wide eyes. He asked Zhao Yuan, "Didn't you get in 22nd place this time? You've always had such results, so why didn't you do well?"

Zhao Yuan, "…"

Zhao Yuning was still thinking about Zhao Mingxi. He said in contemplation, "By the way, how did Zhao Mingxi's results improve so quickly? If I tell our family about this, Mom will be so happy…"

Zhao Yuan knew that with the existence of this loudspeaker in the form of Zhao Yuning, there was no way that she could hide the fact that she lost to Zhao Mingxi in this monthly exam.

Since she lost in the monthly exam, she will have to win against her in the Hundred School Tournament and the Annual School Celebration.

She remained silent for a while. Then, she said through gritted teeth, "If you want to see Mingxi be the host so badly, I will go to the Literature Department this afternoon and recommend Mingxi to the teacher."

If it was Zhao Zhanhuai or any other guy, they would have noticed the sorrow in Zhao Yuan's voice. However, Zhao Yuning had a one-track mind. He immediately stood up and exclaimed, "Really?!"

Zhao Yuan, "…"

Zhao Yuan clenched her chopsticks tightly. Nowadays, she has been hoping for Zhao Mingxi to hurry home.

The more days that Zhao Mingxi wasn't home, the more attention their family would place on her.

As the weather turned cold, during the afternoon Music class in the lecture room, some girls had put on their scarves. The fuzzy material looped on top of their sweaters made them look even prettier and warm.

Because Zhao Mingxi had grown up in the North, she was less susceptible to the cold. Her pale neck was exposed. She did not wear anything around it, but she did not feel chilly at all.

However, when Fu Yangxi observed her while lying down on his table with his noise-cancelling headphones on, he immediately furrowed his brows.

Is Little Mask's family okay? Do they not even have the money to buy her a scarf?

But why then did he see Zhao Yuan* who was from the class downstairs dressed so warmly?

Fu Yangxi used the wrong word for her name.

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She was even wearing black Dr. Martens. But Little Mask only wore sports shoes everyday.

The more Fu Yangxi thought about it, the more agitated he became. He gestured with one finger for the follower at his right to come over. Then, he took out a credit card and gave it to the follower.

That follower took the credit card and sneaked out of the back door of the lecture hall.

Fu Yangxi turned back and stretched his long legs. He accidentally kicked the chair of the girl in front of him.

When that girl turned back and saw Fu Yangxi's face, her cheeks flushed red. She put her hand up to cover her mouth and whispered to the person beside her, "It's that guy from the International Class. The super wealthy one."

The two girls in front took turns to look back at Fu Yangxi.

Fu Yangxi thought that they were looking for a fight. He pulled a long face and glared at them, "What? You wanna fight?"

Those two girls got so scared that they hurriedly turned their heads to face the front again.

After a while, one of the girls folded a paper crane and with a flushed appearance, passed it to him through the tips of her fingers. She placed the paper crane on Fu Yangxi's table.

A love letter?

Fu Yangxi instinctively frowned. He reached out a hand and was about to crumple it and throw it away when he thought of something. He immediately looked towards Zhao Mingxi from the corner of his eyes.

Oh no, Little Mask has got to be jealous. Will he have to coax her for a long time after this?

He was experiencing a headache.

However, what he saw was a Zhao Mingxi who had not noticed this at all. She was still focused on doing her Maths questions, the tip of her pencil brushing against the paper continuously.

Fu Yangxi, "…"

Fu Yangxi's mood instantly dropped. He stared at Zhao Mingxi for quite some time. Then, while trying his best to act as if it was an accident, he bumped his elbow against Zhao Mingxi.

Zhao Mingxi thought that Fu Yangxi was complaining that she had taken too much of his space. She gave him an odd look, using her eyes to ask him 'You already have so much space, why are you still pushing against me?'. Nonetheless, she still pushed her books to the left and continued to do her questions.

Fu Yangxi, "…"

Sometimes, Fu Yangxi was truly angered by Zhao Mingxi's slow reactions. It even made him question if she really liked him.

Why is she never jealous?!

Why was she not envious when she saw those two girls purposely trying to get with him this morning? Instead she was waiting behind him quietly?!

Was she too magnanimous or was she so certain that he would only like her?!

Mingxi was still doing her questions. She could feel Fu Yangxi's burning stare. What had she done to him this time? She raised her head and gave Fu Yangxi a look. Then, she subconsciously looked at the thermos on her table.

"…"

Mingxi hesitated for a moment before passing the thermos to him. "There's soy milk in there. Do you want some?"

Is he still hungry or something?

But she had used this thermos already. This Young Master will most likely be bothered by it.

When Fu Yangxi saw the thermos she had passed to him, the coolness in his expression disappeared. The words that he had prepared for her in his mind, 'I'm not an easy pursuit. You should be cautious at all times, don't let others try to get to me.', were instantly tossed to the back of his mind.

The tips of Fu Yangxi's ears instantly flushed red. She was passing the cup that her lips had touched to him.

This has to be some sort of hidden message, right?

This definitely has to be some sort of hidden message.

Fu Yangxi's frown deepened. His fingers were uncontrollably drawing circles on the table. He said with an unwilling facade, "If you insist so strongly, I guess I have no choice but to try it out—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Zhao Mingxi ruffle through her bag and suddenly pull out a couple of paper cups. She picked out a clean one from among them, opened the thermos and carefully poured out a cup of soy milk.

Fu Yangxi, "…"

What the hell? Was she giving him the cold-shoulder?

Fu Yangxi was suddenly no longer as excited to drink it anymore. He looked at Zhao Mingxi and chugged the whole drink while biting the edge of the paper cup.

Mingxi originally thought that the action of giving him some soy milk will not cause any tiny buds to grow. After all, she was no longer gaining any luck from giving him desserts. But unexpectedly, after Fu Yangxi had finished drinking, the flower pot actually moved a little?!

50 tiny buds could combine into a small tree. Now she already had one small tree and 29 tiny buds.

She still had more to do.

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Mingxi immediately poured another cup for Fu Yangxi. Her eyes were practically gleaming. "Another cup?"

"?" Fu Yangxi downed another cup in confusion.

"Another cup."

"…" He finished another cup.

"Another cup?"

"…" He finished yet another cup.

One small tree and 31 tiny buds.

Mingxi asked, "One last cup?"

Fu Yangxi was about to get sick from it. He shut his mouth tightly. Did she think she was feeding a pig? Who in their right mind would drink 80ml of soy milk in one go? Unless she was doing this on purpose? Punishing him for talking to other girls just now?

Fu Yangxi muttered, "I only said one sentence."

Mingxi: "?"

Fortunately, there was none left in the thermos. Mingxi whispered to Fu Yangxi, "If you like this, I'll bring you a bottle each day from now on. We'll change from desserts to this, okay?"

F*ck. Little Mask's jealousy can only be described as 'it never rains but it pours'. Although Fu Yangxi thought that this was a sweet thing, he immediately said, "Rejected. I want desserts. What kind of man drinks soy milk everyday?"

My chest will grow bigger if I drink any more.

Fu Yangxi subconsciously looked down at his own chest.

Mingxi looked at the two newly grown tiny buds. Although she had yet to reap the benefits to the fullest, she could only say, "Alright."

The Music class was taught through the combination of several classes at the lecture hall. Prior to this, Fu Yangxi would always skip such classes. He had never attended even a single one of them. However, he actually attended class today.

Not only that, this month was also the month that he had appeared the most. He came to school almost every day.

Due to the fact that his mop of red hair was far too eye-catching, the music teacher on stage couldn't help but to call him up to play a song on a piano.

Before this, Fu Yangxi would have been lazy to even stand up. But today, as he looked at Zhao Mingxi who was sitting beside him, he had the intention to showcase his talent. The corner of his lips curled up before he walked on stage in a sluggish manner.

After getting on stage, Fu Yangxi played a tune with a smooth flow.

Zhao Mingxi couldn't help but to put down her pencil. She was beginning to look at Fu Yangxi in a different light.

However, the more she thought about this, the more it felt obvious to her. Although he appeared lazy and relaxed most of the time and was far too indolent to do anything, he was still the Young Master of the Fu family. The influence from his childhood could not be denied, hence the talents he possessed were most likely far more than an average person's.

As for Mingxi, she didn't know how to play any instruments before she was 17.

However, after graduating from high school in her past life, she spent a few years learning the cello.

She hasn't played it for some time now, so she was a little unfamiliar with it. Nonetheless, it should be no problem for her to play a tune.

Thus, when it was her turn, she played a small part of a familiar song.

The low and graceful sound of music flowed through slowly. Mingxi had beautiful features, and the afternoon sun was shining on her warmly.

The eyes of everyone in the hall were on her at that instant. After all, they had all seen others perform, but this was their first time seeing Zhao Mingxi play any sort of instrument.

Shen Liyao who was sitting in the last row pursed his lips, his eyes fixed on Zhao Mingxi.

It wasn't common for him to attend these kinds of huge classes as well. However, when he saw the students from the International Class coming to attend the class and spotted the familiar figure in the crowd, he didn't know why but he took a turn this way.

By the time he returned to his senses, he had already entered the lecture hall.

Ye Bai who was beside him was discussing with another guy from the School Representative Team, "Zhao Mingxi actually knows how to play musical instruments? I've never heard about this before!"

Shen Liyao didn't know about this either. He knew Zhao Mingxi for two years, yet it was as if he had only truly begun to know her recently.

He could only watch as she transformed from a pearl covered with dust, gradually blowing off the dust layer by layer.

As for the girls around Zhao Yuan, they were even more shocked.

Pu Shuang opened her mouth wide. "Since when did Zhao Mingxi know how to play the cello?! And her playing is rather, rather—"

Rather good.

If her playing of the cello was given 8 marks, then her figure and facial features would completely fill in the remaining 2 marks.

The simple stage in the lecture hall was as if it was turned into a performance stage.

"But you're still better." Pu Shuang came back to her senses. She hurriedly said to Zhao Yuan, "Your piano is already at Grade 10."

Zhao Yuan's lips were ash white. The hands that she had placed in her pockets were cold and stiff. She slowly clenched her fist to the point that her nails were digging into her palm.

She suddenly stood up and left from the back door of the lecture hall.

Fu Yangxi had his hands supporting the back of his head. While he was watching Zhao Mingxi play the cello, he noticed Zhao Yuan from the corner of his eye. He furrowed his brows. "Where is she headed off to?"

Ke Chengwen took a glance. "She seems to be going in the direction of the office of the Literature Department."

He suddenly thought of something. Fu Yangxi revealed a mischievous smile. "You have someone you know in Year 1, right?"

Ke Chengwen had a bad feeling about this. "Xi ge, what do you want to do?"

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Chapter 26 (Part 2)

Back in the classroom…

Ke Chengwen was still talking about Zhao Mingxi's cello performance a while ago.

"F*ck, Mingxi. You're way too modest. Why have you never made any mention about such a skill?!"

"It wasn't as if it was an important skill." Mingxi kept her test papers in her desk drawer.

Besides, it was a skill that she had learned in her past life, so she wasn't sure if she still knew how to do it.

Who would've known that the moment she touched the cello, the familiar tune which was carved in her mind started to appear.

Looks like everything is unreal save for the knowledge embedded in your mind.

"Stop ogling at her." Fu Yangxi pushed Ke Chengwen's head to the side roughly.

After the few of them sat down, Mingxi saw Fu Yangxi pour himself a cup of hot water. Then, he poured out a few vitamin-like white tablets from several bottles and gulped it all down with the hot water.

Just as Mingxi was about to ask him what he was drinking, she saw Fu Yangxi suddenly wave lazily towards the entrance to their class. "Come here."

A follower immediately ran over and placed a huge box on Mingxi's table. He was allowing her to make the first choice.

"What is this?" Mingxi's attention was drawn to it.

What she saw was a whole box of fluffy scarves. They all looked soft and relaxing. She couldn't put a finger on the brand linked to it, but seeing as how exquisite it was, it must be an expensive brand.

However, because they had bought too much, it could only be kept in a box.

Ke Chengwen explained, "Gang scarves."

Fu Yangxi tossed the white bottles into the desk drawer and sat on his desk. He cuffed his hands behind his head and swung his legs. He was looking at Zhao Mingxi happily.

The small mole beneath his eye seemed even more apparent from this angle.

"You are currently the No.1 follower, so you can choose first."

Mingxi said, "…The things in your gang sure are unique. First it's a phone case, and now it's a scarf."

Has she finally infiltrated the gang and became the No.1 follower after a month of effort?

Although Mingxi wasn't cold at all, considering how it was a group activity, she felt obliged to join.

She looked around before finally pulling out a white one. Then, she lowered her head and wrapped it around her neck.

The scarf was very comfortable. She felt much warmer after putting it on.

When Fu Yangxi saw this, he feigned a look of nonchalance and coughed before reaching out a hand to grab blindly. "I guess I'll choose at random as well."

Due to his blind grabbing, he pulled out a pink one. When he saw that, he pulled a long face and tossed it back in.

He took a glance at Mingxi's choice before reaching in to pull out a black one.

Ke Chengwen: "…"

You call this random? You're obviously choosing a specific one.

The scarves were happily given to everyone in class.

In the midst of this joyful atmosphere, Mingxi sat down and continued to do her test papers.

Fu Yangxi placed one leg above the other as he sat on the table. He was happily taking off the one he was originally wearing and putting on the new one.

Then, Mingxi looked up and suddenly noticed that at the right side nearing the back of his neck, there were two deep and long gashes.

Similar to the injury on his hand previously, it seemed as if he had been injured by shattered glass. It had now scabbed over, but she could imagine how horrifying the cut was when it was first inflicted.

Mingxi instantly stood up and pushed Fu Yangxi's face to one side.

The two of them were suddenly very close. He could feel Mingxi's breath on him.

…

Her eyelashes were like a crow's feathers. They were long and black, clear as day.

"What, what are you doing?" Fu Yangxi was shocked. He thought she suddenly wanted to kiss him so his face immediately went red while his body became as stiff as a rock— But after waiting for two seconds, Mingxi still had yet to do anything.

Fu Yangxi's eyelids twitched. Only then did he realize that she was looking at the wound on his neck.

Fu Yangxi changed his expression and instantly pushed Mingxi away. He stood straight, took two steps back and quickly put on the scarf.

"What happened to your neck?" Mingxi stared at his neck in shock.

She did not see such a wound on Fu Yangxi's neck a week ago. So if her guess was right, he must've been injured this week.

However, as the days were getting colder recently, Fu Yangxi had always had a scarf on. Furthermore, he was seated on her right, so she would never have been able to notice the right side of his neck.

Thus, she only found out today.

Fu Yangxi's expression was more relaxed now. He touched his neck which was covered by the scarf and said nonchalantly, "When I was cooking instant noodles, the temperature of the water was too high so the glass bowl shattered."

Mingxi asked, "This happened previously as well?"

Fu Yangxi looked at her. "Yeah."

"You're too forgetful. It's already the second time. If you were a little more unlucky, the glass shards could've cut through your veins."

Mingxi didn't know why but she felt a surge of anger within her. "Have you always been like this?"

When Fu Yangxi saw her expression, for some reason, his heart felt a little weak.

He tried to cover up the gentleness he felt in his heart. He curled his feet around a chair and pulled it over. Then, he sat down, and with his arms crossed, he looked at Zhao Mingxi, raised his eyebrows in joy and said proudly, "Little Mask, have you never heard of this saying that a scar is a man's medal of honour?"

Mingxi: …

To hell with your medals.

Mingxi felt unsettled for the whole afternoon. She was wondering if it was because of her sucking away Fu Yangxi's luck that he was constantly so unlucky.

He had been cut by glass shards twice already.

Aside from the fact that Fu Yangxi was treating her very well right now and was protecting her as he would a follower, she should still know how to repay his kindness.

Even if she wasn't friends with Fu Yangxi, in fact, they were merely strangers, she could not allow herself to do such a thing whereby she would transfer her unluckiness to Fu Yangxi.

The system said to her: "Such an occurrence will never happen. You are merely freeloading on his luck, not absorbing it. Do you get it? Fu Yangxi getting cut by glass is definitely not something caused by your actions."

When Mingxi heard the system's words, she let out a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, she still felt a little uneasy.

She decided to stop freeloading on his luck for a few days and observe the situation.

As for the other side, while Zhao Yuning had some free time after the end of the second period after lunch, he was suddenly pulled to the Literature Department's office by a friend. "A senior from Year 3 is looking for you."

"What the hell?" Zhao Yuning didn't know anyone from Year 3. However, his friend kept on pulling him to the point where he couldn't even escape. Thus, with a feeling of annoyance, he got dragged to the Literature Department.

Before he could get close, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

Zhao Yuning subconsciously stopped walking.

"Teacher," It was Zhao Yuan's soft voice. "Have you decided on the host for next month's Annual School Celebration?"

"Why do you ask?" A woman's gentle voice could be heard from the other side.

Zhao Yuning thought that Zhao Yuan was going to do what she said during lunch time which was to recommend Zhao Mingxi. Therefore, he didn't dare to disturb them. He merely waited outside for her to come out.

He thought to himself, Yuanyuan jie is truly magnanimous.

"I've been the host for the past two years. My experience and capabilities far exceeds anyone's qualifications to be the host this year."

"I know Mingxi is very popular right now, including the fact that she scored higher than I did this time. However, Miss, have you seen the forum? A lot of people are wondering if Mingxi cheated— She- because she's my elder sister and I know her very well, she would never have been able to score such marks in normal exams. She did look for Shen Liyao before the exams."

"The Annual School Celebration's pictures will eventually be posted on the school's website, I think it might not be a very good impression on the public, right? So I hope you can still give me this chance."

"If you agree, I can invite a pianist from Berklee for this year's piano recital."

"The CCTV can prove if a student has cheated, not by the words of students in a forum." that teacher said. "But I still want to thank you for telling me about such a topic in the forum. If there are such rumors, then indeed, choosing Zhao Mingxi may not be good for the school's reputation."

"…"

He heard a few things after that. The teacher seemed to be saying something to Zhao Yuan. However, Zhao Yuning could care less.

The blood in his system was boiling while his head was buzzing like an old broken TV.

If the person standing there was someone like E Xiaoxia, Zhao Yuning would not react this way.

But why was it Zhao Yuan?

How could it be Zhao Yuan?

Zhao Yuan was never one to fight against others for something.

But soon after, Zhao Yuning noticed something. Although Zhao Yuan had never forcefully taken anything from anyone, everyone in their family including her friends would take the initiative to help her pick on Zhao Mingxi— Just like the previous E Xiaoxia incident.

…

He recalled all the previous incidents.

The blood in Zhao Yuning's veins rushed to his head. He was so shocked that he forgot to leave.

His expression changed again and again. He didn't even notice that the guy who brought him there had left.

He didn't know how long had passed when the door was opened.

Zhao Yuan walked out and closed the door politely. There was a smile on her face.

She looked back and met Zhao Yuning's unbelieving eyes.

The air became deadly quiet.

Zhao Yuan was shocked. She exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

The atmosphere in the Zhao family was rather awkward after school had ended today.

Zhao Zhanhuai had yet to come home. Madam Zhao didn't know why, but for some reason Zhao Yuning and Zhao Yuan got into a fight. After returning home, with an angry look, Zhao Yuning locked himself in his room to play games. He didn't come out until it was time for dinner.

As for Zhao Yuan, her eyes were red-rimmed. When she was asked what happened, she refused to say anything and went to her room as well.

Madam Zhao was certain that it was Zhao Yuning who bullied Zhao Yuan. She walked upstairs with a frown and knocked on the door before dragging Zhao Yuning out. "Apologize to your sister. What did you do this time?"

Zhao Yuning was about to throw a fit. "What the f*ck does this have to do with me? Why don't you ask her what she did? She told the teacher that Zhao Mingxi cheated—"

"Are you insane?" Madam Zhao was in disbelief. "Why would Yuanyuan say such a thing?"

Zhao Yuning gritted his teeth. He regretted not recording the whole conversation.

When Zhao Yuan heard the commotion outside, she immediately opened the door and ran out. She said to Madam Zhao, "No, Mom, it has nothing to do with Yuning. I bumped into some other matters. Really!"

When Madam Zhao saw how fearful Zhao Yuan was, she was even more certain that it was Zhao Yuning who had bullied her. She got even angrier. "Yuning, you're already 15. Why can't you man up and take responsibility for what you've done?!"

Zhao Yuning was so angered that his head was spinning. He glared angrily at Zhao Yuan.

Now he understood how helpless Zhao Mingxi felt when she couldn't even explain herself. He felt so f*cking wronged! His fist was clenched tightly.

"Come down and have dinner." Madam Zhao ordered before turning to go downstairs.

"Amazing." The way Zhao Yuning looked at Zhao Yuan was as if he didn't know her at all. "Is it fun to have all of us wrapped around your fingers?"

Zhao Yuan said, "Yuning, let me explain. I was forced to do it! I simply didn't want to lose this opportunity—"

"You are very different from what I imagined."

Zhao Yuning glared at her and cut her off in disappointment, "Since you have done something wrong, the least you could do is apologize. Not to me, but to the teacher because you spewed nonsense to her face. You should apologize to Zhao Mingxi, because you slandered her name. But you're still trying to find excuses for yourself. You don't feel regretful at all."

Zhao Yuan was afraid that Madam Zhao would hear him so she lowered her voice. "We grew up together. Why must you always favour Zhao Mingxi over me?"

"Because you're claiming what doesn't belong to you! Don't you get it?!" Zhao Yuning was so angered that his words were no longer filtered. The frustration and anxiety he felt ever since Zhao Mingxi left home had accumulated to the maximum at this point.

He yelled out, "You're claiming what doesn't belong to you. Who do you think you are to have everyone lean in favour of you?"

"You won't even let me have a pet cat. This is my house so why can't I have a cat? I just want a f*cking cat! I want 100 f*cking cats!"

Madam Zhao rushed over and gave Zhao Yuning a slap on the face.

That night, with a handprint on his face, Zhao Yuning left the Zhao family home and checked into a hotel.

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Chapter 26 (Part 3)

It was only after Zhao Zhanhuai had returned when Madam Zhao discovered that Zhao Mingxi had come in 17th place for this month's monthly exam, and that she had ranked even higher than Zhao Yuan.

She was naturally overjoyed. With mixed feelings, she said, "Mingxi's results have never been good. Now that she has obtained such a rank, it shows that she has put in a lot of effort."

"With such good results, if she was home, we would have prepared a huge meal for her so that we could celebrate."

"It's a shame that she's not home."

"Should I go to school and visit her tomorrow?" Madam Zhao couldn't help but to straighten her back and ask.

Zhao Zhanhuai felt his scalp tighten. He hurriedly said, "There's only three days left until the birthday banquet. She will come, so don't go to school. If you say something insensitive she might get mad again."

Zhao Zhanhuai thought, 'No matter what, even if Mingxi never returns, I must bring her back for the birthday banquet.'

Or else this birthday banquet will truly cause the Zhao family to fall apart.

Madam Zhao could only sit back down.

When she saw how the house was so quiet and cold, Madam Zhao's mood soured.

How did it become like this? Couldn't they just get along with each other? Mingxi and Yuning just had to leave home and they both even blocked me on their phones.

Where did it go wrong?

Although Madam Zhao did not want to blame Zhao Yuan and thought that it was Zhao Yuning who had bullied Zhao Yuan— After all since they were young, Zhao Yuning had been an impatient one while Zhao Yuan was more obedient. However, now that she saw Zhao Mingxi and Zhao Yuning leaving this home because of Zhao Yuan, she couldn't help but to blame Zhao Yuan a little.

Zhao Yuan cried as she sat on the sofa. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'll try to get Yuning to come home tomorrow."

Madam Zhao pushed her hand away and went upstairs in frustration. "Forget it. Don't agitate him further. Send his eldest brother over after a few days."

Zhao Yuan never could have imagined that things would turn out this way. She opened her mouth, but when she saw Madam Zhao's figure, she closed it.

She looked towards Zhao Zhanhuai with watery eyes.

Zhao Zhanhuai gave her a glass of water. "Get some rest."

Zhao Yuan wanted to get some comfort from Zhao Zhanhuai, just like how she did all this while.

However, when Zhao Zhanhuai saw her, he couldn't help but to feel as if the person who was looking at him was 'Zhao Mingxi' who had no one by her side when she sprained her ankle during Sports Day.

Furthermore, he was continuously reminded that he had no blood relations with Zhao Yuan.

He felt uncomfortable. So he avoided Zhao Yuan's gaze and hurriedly ran upstairs as if he was escaping.

"…"

Zhao Yuan watched his retreating figure in disbelief. She immediately stood up.

She felt increasingly nervous. The fear of an imminent loss was carving itself into her mind.

What's going on with everyone at home? Is it merely because Zhao Mingxi had left home?

…If she left home as well, who would they pay more attention to?

Zhao Yuan couldn't figure out why Zhao Yuning would suddenly appear at the Literature Department yesterday. She wondered if it was Zhao Mingxi who was behind all this. However, when she asked Pu Shuang and the others from her class, they all said that when she left the lecture hall, Zhao Mingxi was still performing on stage.

"…" Then who could it be?

As Zhao Yuning and her were still not talking, it was impossible for her to ask him this question.

She suddenly locked eyes with someone who was looking at her from the 5th floor of the academic building.

As they were too far apart, she couldn't see who it was. Nonetheless, the arrogant short red hair which was shining gold due to him being under the sun had exposed his identity.

That person's skin may be extremely pale, but his eyes were dark and cold.

Zhao Yuan felt a chilly wind blowing in her direction, causing her hairs to stand.

When she looked up again, Fu Yangxi had already left with his arms around two other guys' shoulders.

—Could it be Fu Yangxi? Or is it just a coincidence?

Zhao Yuan was doubtful that the Young Master of the Fu family would do such a thing to her just for Zhao Mingxi.

As Fu Yangxi didn't like to do exercises between classes, and the homeroom teacher couldn't possibly force him to do it, so he let him be. Thus, for every period of exercise between classes, he would hug his Pikachu pillow to sleep.

Mingxi had just returned from exercising. When she passed by the Evergreen Class, she suddenly heard someone call out to her. "Mingxi!"

Mr. Lu ran up to her. He was out of breath when he said, "Why do you walk so fast? We'll talk while we're walking."

"What happened, sir?"

Mr. Lu said, "I've received news that our school has received another spot for the Hundred School Tournament."

Mingxi was shocked. "Really?"

Mingxi's heart rate began to speed up. She couldn't hide the excitement on her face.

If A High could obtain another spot, does it mean that the chances of her joining the Hundred School Tournament is a little higher?!

"Yes. The news is correct. I'll notify the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang. Who knows, he might allow you to join."

After he was done speaking and before Mingxi could react, Lu Wangwei hurriedly ran upstairs. He went to the office in search of Mr. Jiang while sweating bullets.

Mingxi stood on the spot for a while, stunned. Only after she had calmed down did she continue upstairs.

She shouldn't raise her hopes, or else if she is not chosen to enter the Tournament, she will definitely be disappointed.

This was what her grandmother had taught her. Calm down and don't put your hopes too high.

Mr. Lu wasn't the person with the most information in school. If the news could reach him, it means that the other teachers had known about it for a while already.

There were even a lot of students from the Gold Medal Class and Evergreen Class who had found out about this.

"Oh my God, Kong Jiaze was right, our school did obtain another spot! She is truly ahead of everyone when it comes to such news!"

Ye Bai put down the experiment in his hands and exclaimed.

Shen Liyao had his sleeves pulled up as he assembled a few grey colored machines by the side quietly. There were stacks of parts which had been assembled placed on his table.

There was a high chance that Shen Liyao didn't go home last night and slept in the experiment room.

Ye Bai couldn't help but to say, "God Yao, actually with your current standard, you won't face a lot of pressure when it comes to obtaining National Champion. So it shouldn't take a lot out of you to date someone. I think Kong Jiaze is not bad. She can dance ballet and her results are good. The both of you are practically a match made in heaven…"

"Shut up." Shen Liyao's expression was so cold that it was terrifying, his hands not stopping at all.

"—" Ye Bai shut his mouth in fear.

He placed his attention on the parts which Shen Liyao had completed.

Then, he took a glance at Shen Liyao's handwritten timing board. He didn't know if it was his own misperception, but for the past few days the rate of Shen Liyao making a mistake seemed to be higher than before.

It was as if it all began on that day when Zhao Mingxi said she no longer liked him in the corridor.

Ye Bai instantly sensed where it went wrong.

"Or else—" Ye Bai suddenly said, "Why don't you get Zhao Mingxi back? Actually, the both of you are quite a matching couple. Aside from her average results, she's quite good. Besides, her results are slowly getting better…"

Ye Bai raised his head to look at Shen Liyao's expression.

"I told you to shut up. If you say another word, get out." Shen Liyao's expression was still the same.

Ye Bai looked at Shen Liyao's hands again.

Shen Liyao never stopped what he was doing.

…

However.

It was very obvious that he had wrongly connected three lines, and the reds and blues were connected the other way round. Despite Shen Liyao's frown, it didn't seem as if he had noticed this.

"…"

We're done for.

Ye Bai thought. We're absolutely f*cked.

The matter of an extra spot also reached the ears of the Evergreen Class.

The average marks of Mu Jiao from the Evergreen Class placed her at the sweet spot of 19— Every time she would only miss the spot to enter the Tournament by one place. But this time there was suddenly news of another spot. So isn't it sure to be hers?

She was so excited that she immediately went to look for her homeroom teacher, Miss Ye Bing.

Ye Bing was her aunt. Furthermore, Ye Bing was currently being pursued by the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang.

With this connection, Mu Jiao simply could not think of another person aside from herself who was more worthy of this spot.

Before the name list could be announced, the Evergreen Class was beginning to celebrate on behalf of Mu Jiao.

She was always in 19th place and would brush against the final spot for entering the Tournament. Now she finally had the chance to enter.

"I saw the International Class' Zhao Mingxi talking to her homeroom teacher by the stairs today. They were talking about the extra spot."

Someone from the Evergreen Class said, "The International Class' homeroom teacher— Lu Wangwei, what is he thinking? Could it be that he thinks that the extra spot could be Zhao Mingxi's?"

"Even if Zhao Mingxi came in 17th place this time, her results are still worse than all of us in this class."

The more that person spoke, the bigger the area of their criticism. "The International Class are no good. Everyone ranging from the teachers to the students all like to dream."

Zhao Yuan who was originally doing her own work with her head lowered suddenly turned to look at that person.

That person thought that she was warning them not to talk bad about Zhao Mingxi, so they immediately stopped talking.

The host of the School Celebration, the Hundred School Tournament.

Zhao Yuan clenched her pen while thinking, I will at least win in these two things.

…

However, on this Thursday afternoon, a heavy bomb which was out of everyone's expectations exploded in this building.

After the name list was announced, the last person to join was surprisingly Zhao Mingxi.

The moment this news was released, it spread across the whole building like a disease. Everyone's jaws dropped when they heard the news. Even Lu Wangwei himself was stunned— Although he did ask the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang, he never actually had any hopes of it coming true!

The students in the Evergreen Class repeatedly confirmed, "Is it really Zhao Mingxi?"

"Go downstairs and see it for yourself. Her name is printed in black and white on that name list."

???

The Evergreen Class was about to have PTSD against these three words, or rather this name.

"This is unfair!"

"Why is it Zhao Mingxi? If we choose according to the rankings, the person in 19th place is Mu Jiao, so why was Mu Jiao ignored?"

"Another case of doing things under the table? I'm infuriated!"

Someone said, "Also, I heard that this chance was specially requested by Professor Gao for our school. Yet they gave it so nonchalantly to Zhao Mingxi. For such an honorable person like Professor Gao, when he catches wind of this he'll probably be angered to death— How much did Zhao Mingxi spend, oh, no, how much did Fu Yangxi spend for her?"

As Mu Jiao's hopes were shattered, her tears were falling like buckets. She dropped herself on her table and cried. Everyone in the Evergreen Class felt uncomfortable seeing her like this.

The Evergreen Class was about to riot to their dean.

Aside from the Evergreen Class, Ye Bing herself found it unfair as well. She interrogated Mr. Jiang in the office, "Why was this chance given to the International Class? You know how difficult it is to obtain a spot, so why not do this fairly? This spot should have clearly been Mu Jiao's!"

"If you ask me, then who am I to ask? It was the dean who gave the order."

Ye Bing also started to suspect Fu Yangxi. "Did the Fu family use the building donation as a threat again? That's inhumane!"

"No, I have to find the dean! Since it belongs to my class' student, I'll definitely get it back for her!"

The International Class was in an uproar as well. However, it was the joyful kind of noise, celebrating the fact that 'LOL no matter how angry you are, the spot was still given to our class' Zhao Mingxi'.

During the period between classes, a few students from the Evergreen Class came to the International Class to scold them.

One of Fu Yangxi's followers in the International Class put the scarf around his neck and rolled up his sleeves while standing at the entrance to the class. "Come on then. Who's being the scaredy cat? Let's fight it out."

That scene was as if it was out of a comedy movie.

"You're so noisy." The innocent Fu Yangxi took a glimpse at what was going on outside. Although he was tired, he couldn't sleep.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, then said to Zhao Mingxi in a light tone, "I have never looked for the dean in order to ask him to give you the spot. I won't claim credit for something I've never done."

"Yeah…" Mingxi was still in shock. It was as if a huge chunk of a biscuit had fallen from the sky and hit her, causing her to be in a daze.

She felt like this had something to do with Professor Gao— A fortnight ago, his grandson was down with a fever. Mingxi then carried the child to the hospital even though it was raining. But is it possible that Professor Gao helped her merely because of this?

It's impossible, right?!

She had never received such good luck in her past life!

Mingxi tried her best to retain her composure. "I think we should wait. Who knows, it might end up like the marks of the monthly exam and they could've made a mistake."

Meanwhile, the Evergreen Class who was standing outside their class started to increase the volume of their riot. Most of them were directed to Fu Yangxi.

"Fu Yangxi, the Evergreen Class isn't a class you can bully! Are you aware of the importance of this spot? How could you steal it so casually?!"

"Fu Yangxi, what kind of man are you to buy a spot with your money? If you have the ability to buy a spot for your horse, then you should man up and come out here!"

Fu Yangxi, "…"

My horse??? Fu Yangxi wondered if he had heard the wrong thing.

He quickly searched the term up on Baidu as he was not sure if it was a curse word.*

translator's note: in the Mandarin original, the words used were 马子 (ma zi) which directly translates to 'horse'. However, in recent days, it has been used like a slang word meaning 'your girl'. But it has been explained that this generation has been using it wrong as it was originally used to describe how a woman, like a horse, belongs to a man.

When he saw the description, the anger in his expression greatly decreased.

Zhao Mingxi and Ke Chengwen watched as the tip of Fu Yangxi's ears suddenly flush red. "Are you not angry?"

In a pretense, Fu Yangxi slammed his palm on the table. "I'm so angry, hmph."

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Chapter 27 (Part 1)

However, the Evergreen Class only dared to make noise outside of the classroom.

When Fu Yangxi came out with a dark look on his face, before the other half of that mop of red hair could leave the door, the huge crowd dispersed like the small minions who were running away to protect their own tower. Their backs were cautiously stuck to the wall, afraid of Fu Yangxi's approach.

They only had the courage to continue glaring at him.

"What's all this noise?" Fu Yangxi had his silver headphones around his neck. Both his hands were stuffed in his pockets as he looked towards the people from the Evergreen Class. "Since the spot has been given to Zhao Mingxi, it means that she has that capability. What are you ugly people making all this fuss for?"

When the followers in the International Class saw Fu Yangxi's appearance, they immediately mustered up some courage. They puffed up their chest and yelled back.

"Exactly!"

"How dare you unsightly people claim that we used money to buy that spot? What's the use of giving this spot to you people from the Evergreen Class anyways? Did anyone from your class manage to complete that last question for the previous Math exam? LOL."

"Isn't this spot forcefully given to Zhao Mingxi because the dean looks up to our class? We don't even want the title of School Beauty! Tsk!"

The more they spoke, the more outrageous and insulting it was!

What did they mean by not wanting it? They were obviously flaunting themselves despite having obtained the long end of the stick!

The group of people from the Evergreen Class were about to lose it. They all had their fists clenched tight, ready to rush up to fight against them— fight against everyone aside from Fu Yangxi.

The class monitor who was the leader of the Evergreen Class said, "Fu Yangxi, this isn't a small matter. It has something to do with the Tournament. If you have the ability then do it fairly. Don't utilize such low methods behind our backs!"

The more they spoke, the more emotional they got. Furthermore, the two classes had a long history of hate, and due to the accumulation of such hate, the boys from the two classes were beginning to push against each other. The corridor of the 5th floor was gradually getting more and more crowded. Even the students from the Gold Medal Class couldn't help but to stick their heads out of their windows to watch the show.

Zhao Mingxi wanted to stand up and go out, but she was stopped by Ke Chengwen. "Your appearance will only make things worse. Let's just wait for Xi ge to finish dealing with them first."

Seeing as how a war was about to happen, the dean got extremely anxious. He rushed over with sweat running down his forehead. "What are you all doing? Do all of you want to clean the toilets again?"

When Fu Yangxi gave him a threatening glare saying, 'if you dare make me clean the toilets again I will tear down the whole building', the dean swallowed, turned to the Evergreen Class and yelled angrily, "What are you guys from the Evergreen Class doing? Are you guys too free after eating lunch? If you don't return to your own class, everyone who is present here will be punished!"

"How could you punish our class only?" The Evergreen Class got even angrier. Just as the scene got more intense, Ye Bing arrived with a solemn look along with Mu Jiao who had red-rimmed eyes.

Ye Bing said coldly, "Since the students in this building already found out about it, sir, let's make it clear right now! How in the world did such a selection happen?! You have to explain it to us and give everyone a fair answer!"

The dean had explained himself so many times that blisters were almost growing on his tongue. "I already said that this was a spot specially requested by Professor Gao for Zhao Mingxi! What in the world are you guys making all this fuss for?!"

Whispers broke out among the crowd.

"Who will believe that?!"

"How is that possible? If that spot was specially given to Zhao Mingxi I will swallow 300 basketballs!"

"Zhao Mingxi had only transferred here from the Normal Class a month ago. Professor Gao has never been to the building of the Normal Class so he would not know her. Dean, how could you push such a responsibility to Professor Gao? And to say that he was the one who had specially requested for this? Ha, then why didn't Professor Gao make a special request for me?"

No one believed it.

It was impossible for them to believe it.

Aside from the fact that Professor Gao had an eccentric character and he would never do such a thing, the Gold Medal Class' Mr. Jiang was Professor Gao's student, yet he had never heard of such news! This was definitely done by someone behind the scenes! This wasn't the first time Fu Yangxi had done such a thing. Isn't it that every time he bullies the Evergreen Class, the dean would always let him go and punish those from the Evergreen Class?

It was absolutely preposterous and simply unbearable!

Mu Jiao was right behind Ye Bing. The more she thought about it, the sadder she was. Her tears were falling in long lines. It was a chance which was supposed to have been hers, yet it was stolen by the International Class' Zhao Mingxi.

Should she blame herself for not being rich or pretty enough to attract the attention of the Fu family's Young Master?

Mu Jiao was a petite girl. She was never the type who would go against others and would always focus on her own studies. But now, she was being bullied to this extent.

The Evergreen Class including Ye Bing were especially angered by this.

Ye Bing said, "Sir, you have to tell us the truth!"

The dean was about to lose his cool. "I already told you!"

Mr. Lu had his arms crossed as he stood quietly at the corner. Although a huge fight was breaking out, whenever he thought about how the spot for the Tournament belonged to their class, he was always very close to laughing out loud.

As Mr. Jiang was the homeroom teacher of the Gold Medal Class and he was the teacher in charge of the Tournament Representative Team, he had the most say out of all the classes.

He came out as a middleman and said to the dean, "Sir, as we are people who work in the education industry, we cannot bend over backwards for underhanded dealings. How about this, let me have a say. Let's go in accordance with the rules and give the Tournament spot to the Evergreen Class' Mu Jiao."

Fu Yangxi scoffed. "Interesting. I haven't even done anything and yet you're talking about bending over backwards. Who wants your old back to bend over backwards?"

It'll make odd cracking sounds if he does so.

"How could you talk to a teacher like this?!" Mr. Jiang was enraged. His face was flushed red and his eyes rounded in a glare.

Mr. Lu thought, you're finally experiencing how I'm always angered to the point of aging another 10 years.

At this moment.

"Jiang Guangping, what in the world are you doing?!"

A voice which was strict and unamendable to reason suddenly cut through the chaos in the corridor.

Why does this voice sound like, like…

Everyone turned to look. An angered dean was holding up his phone, and he was on a video call.

As for the other side of the video call—

Although the signal was quite bad, it was still Professor Gao's face which was enough to make them tremble in fear!

The people from the Evergreen Class were overjoyed. Did Professor Gao make a call because he heard of how the spot was given to Zhao Mingxi as well? Professor Gao has always been a fair and justiciable man. Once he finds out the truth, he will not allow such a thing to happen!

There was hope glimmering in Mu Jiao's eyes.

Miss Ye Bing also hurriedly took this chance and hurriedly spoke, "The situation is this: did you not make a special request for another spot in the Tournament just for your juniors? By right that person should be chosen in accordance to the rankings, so the spot ought to belong to our Evergreen Class' Mu Jiao. But now, in the name list that was presented by the dean, the new spot was given to Zhao Mingxi. Please make a fair judgment—"

Before she could finish, she was cut off. "It is for Zhao Mingxi."

"…"

The air in the corridor fell silent. Everyone's jaws dropped in shock.

"…What?" Ye Bing could not process what Professor Gao said.

Everyone in the corridor, including the students from the Evergreen Class and International Class couldn't return to their senses.

It is for Zhao Mingxi.

What does that mean?

Professor Gao was trying hard to maintain a stern look. He said patiently, "My intention from the beginning was to make a special request for a spot to be given to my most promising student, and that is my disciple, Zhao Mingxi. So what are all of you making such noise for?! And you dare say that it was unfair? Do I not have the right to recommend someone anymore?! Come, Miss Ye Bing, right? How about you become the Vice President of the Tournament? Then you can recommend whoever you want!!"

"…" Ye Bing was yelled at so much that she fell into a daze.

"Wang Zhi, did I not send you the application and explain it clearly to you already?" Professor Gao said to the dean. "I have a great impression of Zhao Mingxi. There were only 3 people who managed to complete the final Math question in the previous exam. Wasn't she one of them?"

The dean hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, yes."

"Then what is there to question? Stop calling me!" Professor Gao then hung up the call with a cold face.

…

The moment he hung up, a cold gust of wind blew across the whole corridor.

…

Everyone exchanged looks.

Fu Yangxi scoffed.

Fu Yangxi's followers giggled.

Everyone from the Evergreen Class: "…"

The Evergreen Class made such a great fuss just to become a laughing stock.

Disciple? Since when did Zhao Mingxi become Professor Gao's disciple?! And this spot was really a f*cking special request made for her. So what were they doing? Stealing another's spot? They were jumping around like ants.

The Evergreen Class was absolutely embarrassed.

The dean said in exasperation, "I already told you but you simply refused to believe me. You just had to disturb Professor Gao before believing it, right?"

Everyone: "…"

Mu Jiao was stunned— Specially requested for Zhao Mingxi?

Then all her tears, what were they for?

Wouldn't she appear very silly? She immediately wiped her tears, wanting nothing more than to dig a hole and stick her head into it.

Ye Bing felt as if she had just met with the biggest downfall of her teaching career. Her expression went from ugly to pale.

With her ashen complexion, she quietly turned and went downstairs.

When she saw the students from the Evergreen Class still standing outside the other class in shock, she yelled, "What are you still standing around for? Get back to class!"

Only then did the students from the Evergreen Class regain their senses. Their faces were so red as they rushed downstairs like a hive of bees.

The group of people from the International Class had just woken up from their daze. F*ck, what the hell? That spot was originally given by Professor Gao to their class' Zhao Mingxi, yet those people from the Evergreen Class had come here to make such a huge fuss. Did they not have any ounce of pride?!

They quickly caught up to what was happening and ridiculed, "Who was the one who said that if the spot was specially requested for Zhao Mingxi they would swallow 300 basketballs? Come on then, swallow it! Or are you unwilling to go through with what you said?"

"If you can't buy that amount of basketballs you can put it on our class' tab!"

"Our class isn't lacking in money!"

When the sounds of mockery and laughter began, the Evergreen Class ran even faster.

Even Mr. Jiang was awkwardly trying his best to pretend as if nothing had happened and returned to his class.

As compared to the ashen faces of those in the Evergreen Class, the International Class was overjoyed and absolutely satisfied. A bunch of followers were leaning against the railings on the corridor while pointing their middle fingers at the Evergreen Class.

Mr. Lu would never have thought that it would result in such an outcome. He was so happy that it couldn't be hidden from his expression. He called for Mingxi to come to the office and encouraged her once more. He even took out an exquisite notebook and fountain pen from his drawer and gave them to Mingxi, wishing her all the best for the Tournament.

Disciple?

Mingxi had never heard of this from Professor Gao. She guessed that Professor Gao probably said it because he was afraid that people in school would doubt her.

Whatever it is, everything has already been settled. The spot for the Tournament belonged to her. She could finally join the Tournament.

Mingxi left the office in high spirits.

As for the Evergreen Class downstairs, they only dared to rebut and not speak. They all hid in their class in extreme embarrassment.

Ah, the International Class is so annoying. They were already annoying enough back then with Fu Yangxi and his money. Now there's another Zhao Mingxi whose visuals and luck is way above theirs.

When Mu Jiao heard the angry remarks made by her classmates in class, she buried her head deeper into her arms as she rested on the table, the awkwardness enough to make her face burn. She dared not say another word.

Li Haiyang did not join the debate this afternoon. He went to play basketball.

After school, two boys noticed a present wrapped in a cartoon printed box in his desk drawer. They immediately exclaimed, "Oh my God, you can't still be thinking of pursuing Zhao Mingxi, right? Our classes are mortal enemies!"

"Give it back to me." Li Haiyang snatched the present back in a huff and stuffed it back into his drawer.

When the two boys saw the reminder on his calendar on 'October 24th', they both found it weird.

One of them picked up the calendar to take a look and asked, "Li Haiyang, did you get her birthday wrong? Shouldn't Zhao Mingxi's birthday be on the same day as Zhao Yuan, that is October 14th?"

Having received such a reminder, Li Haiyang just noticed this and found it weird as well. "But this was what Zhao Mingxi said. Their class' Wang Han overheard and told me."

"Weird. She should be on the same day as Zhao Yuan."

Another guy said, "There might have been a miscommunication somewhere. Maybe Wang Han heard the wrong thing. Forget it, who cares? Basketball is more important."

Li Haiyang furrowed his brows. He felt that it might have been Wang Han who had misheard as well. If he were to send her a gift, he ought to do it on October 14th.

No one paid attention to the boys as they had their conversation at the back of the class.

When Zhao Yuan found out that the extra spot for the Tournament was given to Zhao Mingxi, she kept quiet for the whole afternoon and went straight home after school. It was most likely because she had to go try out the designer outfit for the birthday banquet.

There were only E Xiaoxia and a handful of girls still packing their bags in class.

E Xiaoxia overheard their conversation and couldn't help but to put some thought into it.

What's going on?

Did the International Class' Wang Han hear the wrong thing or was it that Zhao Mingxi forgot her own birthday?

Or could it be that Zhao Mingxi was being rebellious and refused to have the same birthday as Zhao Yuan, hence she simply told a random date to another?

Or is it that—

E Xiaoxia didn't know if her imagination was running too wild.

She recalled how whenever she went to Zhao Yuan's house, Zhao Yuan's family members would appear very awkward around Zhao Mingxi.

A terrifying assumption suddenly appeared in her mind.

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Chapter 27 (Part 2)

The matter of the spot for the Tournament came to a stop. Some were happy, some were not. The Evergreen Class caved in while the International Class celebrated with pride.

As for the person who was in the center of this dispute, Mingxi did not even pay any mind to what happened between the classes. She was overjoyed. All her thoughts were now focused on her studies.

Besides, because of how Fu Yangxi's neck had been so coincidentally injured, she was quite worried about it. Thus, she decided to stop interacting with Fu Yangxi for a while.

Fu Yangxi was confused. Why was it that ever since Thursday afternoon, Little Mask seemed to be putting in all her effort to avoid him?

"Do your own homework today." Mingxi pushed his homework back to him.

"Also, don't throw your comic books on my table." Mingxi was prepared to arrange it for him when she suddenly gave it a thought and retracted her hands. "Arrange them yourself."

"Throw the rubbish? Do it on your own."

"Dessert? There's none today."

"…"

Fu Yangxi was so frustrated to the point that he couldn't sleep. He furrowed his brows as he looked at Zhao Mingxi. He couldn't figure out why she was angry.

Was she still mad at the fact that he spoke with those two girls during the Music Class? — But he only said one sentence!

Or was she upset over the fact that he didn't immediately pick a fight with the Evergreen Class when they came over to cause a ruckus yesterday—? But didn't she ask him not to be so impulsive?

Or was it that there was something else which he did wrong?

Thus, for the whole of Friday morning, Fu Yangxi was wracking his brains, trying to reflect on his actions. He didn't even have the appetite to eat.

After Zhao Yuning moved out from home. The thought of having been slapped in the face by his mother enraged him. Therefore, he did not attend classes on Thursday and chose to sleep for a whole day.

When his teacher called, Zhao Zhanhuai helped him take a sick leave.

Originally, Zhao Yuning was so upset that he wanted to skip Friday's classes as well, wanting to go out and play games with his group of friends.

However, after seeing his friends, he didn't know why but he thought of the scene from some time ago when Zhao Mingxi would drag him out of the cyber cafe. Suddenly, he lost the interest to continue wasting his time.

So after playing for the whole afternoon, he returned to school with flagging interest.

Without Zhao Mingxi's lunchbox, Zhao Yuning felt as if he didn't belong anywhere. He was lost as to where to spend his lunch time.

As for Zhao Yuan, she was the one person he absolutely did not want to see right now.

Zhao Yuning walked around the canteen. After that, he went up to the third floor of the canteen, and coincidentally saw Zhao Mingxi and He Yuan having lunch nearby.

When Zhao Yuning saw the opened insulated lunch box beside Zhao Mingxi's table, his brows were raised in joy and he subconsciously wanted to walk over there.

But after taking two steps, he remembered that the current Zhao Mingxi would no longer want to eat on the same table as him.

A sense of annoyed sadness which he had nowhere to vent to surged in Zhao Yuning's heart.

He calmed down, ordered a meal then turned to look at Zhao Mingxi.

When he saw that they were still sitting there, he hesitated. Nonetheless, Zhao Yuning still walked over.

Mingxi and He Yang looked up and saw Zhao Yuning walking over to them.

"Jie, I heard that you did well for the monthly exam." Zhao Yuning squeezed all the juices in his brain to figure out a topic. He sat opposite Zhao Mingxi. "Congratulations."

He Yang immediately put down her chopsticks and gave him a side eye. "Little kid, what are you doing here? There are so many other seats."

Zhao Yuning suppressed his own anger and passed a card to Zhao Mingxi. He said, "This is my lunch card. There are still a few thousand yuan inside so it should be enough for you to spend for a while. Da ge will give me money— so don't find a job or anything—"

Zhao Mingxi didn't even receive it nor did she raise her hand. She straight up rejected him. "No need."

He Yang said as well, "Don't be so fake. If she takes your card right now, will she have to become your worker and make lunch for you after this? Then due to some minor fault she'll get kicked out from home? Do you take Mingxi as someone who can be ordered around to your whims and fancies?!"

"…" Zhao Yuning clenched the card in his hands, his heart squeezing uncomfortably.

He wanted to complain to Zhao Mingxi about how he had a big fight with Zhao Yuan yesterday and that he was no longer living at home.

However, he felt that the current Zhao Mingxi would not have the patience to listen to his complaints.

Besides, what was the point in him talking about this?

Back then, the person who helped Zhao Yuan bully Zhao Mingxi was him. Now, the person who was not willing to let Zhao Mingxi go was also him.

Nonetheless, Zhao Yuning couldn't help but to say, "Jie, I left home. For tomorrow's banquet, I…"

Mingxi gave him a look and furrowed her brows, "Zhao Yuning, are you still confused about the situation here? I've already made myself very clear, when I say sever all ties, I mean— mind your own business, and I will keep out of yours. This includes the rest of the family. You have your own family and you guys are living harmoniously. Yet you are hoping for me to be the one to take care of you? "

"But it didn't used to be like this!" Zhao Yuning couldn't hold it in anymore. He said, "Back then you would—"

Before he could finish, Mingxi looked as if she no longer wanted to listen to him. Along with He Yang, she picked up her plate and changed her seat.

"…"

Zhao Yuning simply couldn't understand how a person is able to retract their feelings so decisively.

For the past two years, he didn't know how Zhao Mingxi treated the other family members, but Zhao Mingxi treated him extremely well. He was certain that Zhao Mingxi cared very much for this younger brother of hers as well.

Whenever their mother scolded him, Zhao Mingxi would even fight back against their mother on his behalf.

However, ever since Zhao Mingxi left home, everything changed. She suddenly retracted all the feelings she had ever felt for them without any hesitation.

She may be able to retract them, but he was unable to get used to it.

Until now, he was still unused to it.

Zhao Yuning watched as Zhao Mingxi and He Yang ate their lunch. After a while, two students from the International Class walked over to them with their trays of food and ate lunch together with them. Zhao Mingxi appeared far more relaxed with those two followers of Fu Yangxi from the International Class than she was with him.

She made new friends.

She will be rearing cats with another person.

Zhao Yuning saw Zhao Mingxi pick a dish from her own plate and give it to another.

Originally, the person who sat opposite her would be himself, and she would only give him the most delicious dishes.

But now she will no longer treat him so well. Will she have another 'new younger brother' who will replace him?

Zhao Yuning was distraught with anxiety.

In a blink of an eye, it was Saturday.

The Zhao family booked a whole hotel. After all, it was Madam Zhao's 50th birthday, so the whole family wanted to have a big celebration.

Mr. Zhao and Zhao Mo pushed aside the work they had at hand and got on the earliest flight home.

"Yuning is still a little unhappy, but he said he will come at around 6 p.m.. I've already got someone to send him his suit."

Zhao Zhanhuai entered with a clean cut suit. He looked especially dashing, save for his furrowed brows. "But later when he comes, don't get mad at him again. You know that he is at a rebellious stage."

Madam Zhao sent her friends out. As they had all complimented her youth-like appearance, Madam Zhao was very happy.

She said to Zhao Zhanhuai, "I understand. It will be fine so long as he does not anger me. Why would I want to be upset with him? You are his eldest brother. If you have the time, spend it on disciplining him. He is already 15 yet he still has such a bad temper."

When she was done, Madam Zhao couldn't help but to ask the one question she was most curious about, "What about Mingxi? Did you get someone to pick her up?"

"…" Zhao Zhanhuai froze.

Madam Zhao did not pay attention to his expression. She spoke to Zhao Yuan who was still in the changing room, "Yuanyuan, are you done trying? Come out and try this one on."

Zhao Yuan who was inside made a noise, and Madam Zhao went in to help her pull up her zip. Once she was done, Madam Zhao continued to urge Zhao Zhanhuai, "I asked you a question. Have you asked someone to pick her up?"

"I did." Zhao Zhanhuai raised his hand and looked at his watch. "She'll be here in a maximum of two hours."

Madam Zhao said unhappily, "Another two hours?! It's already 5 p.m.! Tell her to hurry up! If she is any later she won't have enough time to try on a gown!"

Zhao Zhanhuai: "…"

"Oh, right. I bought four gowns. Two of them are in her size while the other two are Yuanyuan's. Just now Yuanyuan said that she wanted to try on that white mermaid gown so I allowed her to try it on first. As for the remaining three, I think there is only one of them which is in Mingxi's size. I'm afraid that she might not feel comfortable in it when she comes later. If that happens, get the designer to bring over the extra ones."

If this was back then, Zhao Zhanhuai might not have noticed such details, but at this moment Zhao Zhanhuai felt as if this was something bothering him.

Zhao Zhanhuai whispered, "So why did you allow Zhao Yuan to wear Mingxi's? Shouldn't Mingxi's things be Mingxi's?"

Madam Zhao found him unreasonable. "Why are you nit-picking on such things? It's just an outfit. If Mingxi likes something else, we can buy another. There are loads of extras. Mingxi won't mind."

Zhao Zhanhuai rubbed his forehead. He felt that he would not be able to explain the current situation to his mother.

Now is not the time to think about whether or not Zhao Mingxi will like these remaining outfits.

Instead, they should tackle the problem of whether or not she will come.

He did send someone to pick her up.

If that person fails, he might have to pick her up himself.

Nonetheless, Zhao Zhanhuai had a feeling that even if he was the one who went, Mingxi might still not come tonight.

Zhao Mo entered with a wine glass in his hands. He coincidentally overheard their conversation and scoffed, "Such a huge fuss just because she left home? And she even got da ge to ask someone to pick her up? This younger sister of ours sure isn't an easy one."

Zhao Mo had just got home in a rush just now. He took a nap in the hotel and just got up. His downward cast fox-like eyes and messy silver hair made him appear slightly sleepy.

"Alright, alright. You haven't been home for the past year and a half because of your overseas filming, so you don't know what happened. Don't be so nosy." Madam Zhao snatched the glass of red wine from him and said, "It is true that we had wronged her, hence her decision to leave home."

Zhao Zhanhuai had never been able to get along with the playboy Zhao Mo. He was too lazy to even spare him a glance before walking by his shoulder. "I'm going to pick her up now."

Zhao Mo appeared bored as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I've met everyone save for Zhao Mingxi. I'll go with you."

"Whatever."

Zhao Mo was not bothered by Zhao Zhanhuai's coldness. He took the car keys and chased after him. He quickly followed after him to the underground car park and smiled as he said, "Ge, you've changed. You actually volunteered to pick Zhao Mingxi up. Didn't you use to pick up Zhao Yuan only? There were even two times when I had to pick Zhao Mingxi up. The shocked look on her face still makes me laugh."

Zhao Mo's words were like arrows shooting directly at the spot which was closest to Zhao Zhanhuai's heart.

"Shut up," he coldly ordered.

Zhao Mo shrugged. "I can go see for myself if that little girl has grown up. I remember how small she was two years ago. But everyone in our family has rather long limbs, so she shouldn't be an exception. I'm looking forward to it."

Zhao Zhanhuai immediately stopped walking. He said to Zhao Mo, "You should be careful not to spew nonsense in front of Zhao Mingxi today, and don't act so poorly like how you did before. Now, she's— she—"

Zhao Mo's personality always made him an easy one to hate.

When Mingxi first got home, Zhao Mo was relentless and always put her down on purpose. He bullied Mingxi to the extent that she would blow up in anger. Zhao Mo seemed to take this as his personal source of joy. It wasn't until Mingxi ignored him and pretended he didn't exist did he lose interest in her.

Nonetheless, Zhao Mingxi had already been at home for two years. For the past two years, Zhao Mo felt that he did have some fond feelings for this biological younger sister whom he was not familiar with.

"What happened to her?" Zhao Mo stopped smiling. "Is she in her rebellious phase? It can't be that she got a boyfriend and refused to come home, right?"

Zhao Zhanhuai said in annoyance, "You'll know once you see her."

…

Zhao Mo could not imagine how messy today was going to be.

After around 20 minutes, he did see the current Zhao Mingxi.

But after another 10 minutes, he along with the famous Fu family's Young Master were both arrested and brought to the police station.

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Chapter 28 (Part 1)

Zhao Zhanhuai was still looking for a parking spot. Zhao Mo was impatient, so he got out of the car first.

"Don't get out of the car first! I'm warning you, if you see Zhao Mingxi, don't—" When he saw Zhao Mo rushing off to look for her, Zhao Zhanhuai frowned. He hurriedly parked the car at a tight parking spot.

Zhao Mo was the first to find Zhao Mingxi at the library.

Although he wasn't some famous superstar, he still had a bit of fame. He wore a baseball cap, lowered the tip to cover his face and pretended to be mysterious as he walked speedily towards her. He smiled as he gave a heavy pat on Mingxi's right shoulder.

Mingxi thought it was either He Yang or Fu Yangxi. She turned to her right.

But Zhao Mo's voice appeared on her left, "Little Bean Sprout, are you pretending to study again? Let me see what questions you are answering."

Before he finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed the Tournament questions on Mingxi's table. He scoffed and habitually mocked her, "Oh, you're doing Tournament questions. I advise you to give up. No matter how hard you study, your IQ is still stuck there."

She never could have imagined that it would be Zhao Mo.

The veins in Mingxi's head immediately started to throb.

But it made sense. No matter how busy Zhao Mo was, he had to return home for Madam Zhao's birthday.

Mingxi instantly stood up and pushed Zhao Mo. Then, she snatched her book back from Zhao Mo's hands before quickly keeping her pencil box and items back in her bag. The library was not a suitable place to fight, so Mingxi simply swung her bag on her shoulder and left without a word.

Mingxi used so much energy that Zhao Mo almost lost his balance.

He held onto the table and looked at Zhao Mingxi's figure with an odd look— What's going on?

Back then when he would play jokes like this on her, she wouldn't have such a huge reaction. In fact, she would even cut up fruits for him while calling her er ge* like a little scaredy cat.

er ge: second eldest brother

Why is it that after half a year of not seeing each other, my little sister's attitude took a turn for the worst?

Zhao Mo hurriedly chased after her.

Outside the library.

Mingxi sped down the stairs.

In her past life, when she had just entered the gates of the Zhao family home, Zhao Mo hated her. With every sentence he spoke, he would carry a hint of mockery.

After two years, she did a lot of things to suck up to her family. Only then did Zhao Mo show signs of treating her as his younger sister— However, his sharp tongue was a habit of his, so his words were still unpleasant to hear.

Before she passed away at the age of 23, everyone from her family including Zhao Mo finally showed signs of fully letting down their walls around her. But that was already five years later. This time, Mingxi will never waste another five years on them— it was simply a huge waste of time!

"Little Bean Sprout, you're getting arrogant. You're no longer trying to imitate Zhao Yuan but instead turning to go down the rebellious road?" Zhao Mo caught up to her and habitually reached out his hand, trying to pinch Mingxi's face.

However, Mingxi slapped him on the back of his hand.

"Go away."

"What did you say?" Zhao Mo thought that his ears were malfunctioning.

Zhao Mingxi was asking him to go away?

His hand went stiff. He looked at Zhao Mingxi with a shocked expression, then he repeated dumbfoundedly, "You're asking me to go away?"

"Yes, I'm asking you

to go away." Mingxi did not attempt to hide the contempt in her expression.

When she was at the tender age of 15, she did not know that people like Zhao Mo simply needed some form of discipline. She thought that those in the entertainment industry would all carry a bit of an artistic personality with them.

Later she realized that this 'artistic personality' was absolute bullsh*t. He just pissed people off.

"…" At this moment, Zhao Mo's feelings were akin to having been abruptly struck by lightning a couple of times. It absolutely surprised him to the point that he forgot how to respond.

After he returned to his senses, he was absolutely enraged.

He caught up to Zhao Mingxi at the lane covered with trees and said in anger, "I just f*cking got back from an overseas trip. Forget about the fact that you didn't even greet me, yet now you want me to go away? Zhao Mingxi, aren't you acting a little too f*cking rebellious?"

This guy thought that she was being rebellious, huh.

Zhao Mo lowered his voice and said as he held on to Mingxi's wrist, "Forget it. Let's go to the hotel. Today is the banquet. I'm not in the mood to discipline bratty children like you who don't know what's good for you."

Before his fingers could make contact with Mingxi's wrist, Mingxi raised her arm and slapped his hand away.

There was a clear sound of a slap in the air.

Zhao Mo didn't know if it was his misconception, but he felt as if the way Zhao Mingxi was looking at her was as if he was a fly that used to approach her. It also had a hint of regret— what was she regretting about?

Did she regret trying to gain the favour of this second eldest brother of hers?

Or did she regret coming to this home?

Zhao Mo immediately lost it when he saw how she gave him the cold shoulder. "Zhao Mingxi, you— what kind of look is that? Why are you looking at me like this?"

"Take it as how you want to interpret it," Mingxi said. "Go back? In your dreams! If you still won't leave me alone, I'll call the guards on you. If you don't want to appear on the cover page of tomorrow's newspaper, leave now!

Zhao Mo said, "You're gonna call—"

Mingxi cut him off, "Oh, I forgot. You're just a minor D-List celebrity. Your fans are all zombies with practically none alive. It might be that no one cares about such a small thing."

Zhao Mo: "…"

Zhao Mo was so angry that his blood pressure was shooting up while the whites of his eyes went red. In the midst of his anger, he saw Mingxi's cold and disgusted expression, and he felt the prickly feeling of a needle continuously stabbing in his heart.

He finally understood why Zhao Zhanhuai was so hesitant before they left home.

The respect and ingratiation Mingxi once had towards him were all but gone. What was left was only the uncomfortable feeling of looking at a stranger who would not stop bothering her.

Why is this so?

Zhao Mo sucked in a mouthful of cold air. He noticed that a few people who were playing basketball had looked over to them. He knew that this was not the place to pick a fight. He reached out a hand and forcefully held on to Mingxi's wrist. "We'll talk once we get back to the hotel!"

Not far away from the shaded lane was Fu Yangxi and Ke Chengwen who were carrying take-outs with them as they walked towards the library. Before they could get close, they saw a stranger with a baseball cap dragging Zhao Mingxi.

With a buzz in his mind, Fu Yangxi lost all sense of rationality.

He ran over and gave Zhao Mo a kick which sent him flying.

Mingxi wanted to stop him, but it was too late.

As Zhao Mo did not see it coming, he hit the metal fencing surrounding the basketball court by the waist. Stars appeared in his eyes. And because his hat was sent flying as well, it hit his nose and blocked his vision, causing him to be unable to see who was the culprit.

Then, someone picked him up by his shoulder in apparent anger and with another punch, he fell to the ground.

After that, he heard those boys who were playing basketball shout in his direction.

"Oh my god, Xi ge? Xi ge is beating someone up. Who is it? Is it a hooligan?"

"A hooligan sneaked into school to disrespect a girl? My fist is ready!"

Zhao Mo couldn't stop cursing mentally. F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! What the f*ck is happening!

He hastily tried to get up.

But in the next second, rain-like punches landed on his body and face.

By the time Zhao Zhanhuai caught up to him, he only saw a bloody and disfigured Zhao Mo.

30 minutes later. At the police station.

"A bunch of high school boys beating up a grown man. Do you guys ever think before you act? Did you know that if you were to fight on school grounds you would be punished?"

The policeman raised his chin up as he reprimanded the row of tall boys before him in great anger, "And you, why is your hair dyed red? Why did you lead the fight?!"

His group of followers all lowered their heads like chickens eating their feed.

"He's a pervert! Who am I supposed to beat up if not him?" Fu Yangxi did not show any signs of backing down. He raised up his chin and said, "As for the red hair, that's because I'm handsome. I don't think there's anything in the law that says that people with red hair are unable to act as a human—"

After he was done, Fu Yangxi turned and saw the lawyer who was rushing over with his briefcase. "Where is Zhao Mingxi?"

The capable and sharp Lawyer Zhang quickly walked over and said, "Young Master Fu, she is waiting outside."

Fu Yangxi said, "Don't leave her alone with that crazy hooligan."

"Who the f*ck is a perverted hooligan?!" Zhao Mo, who was being reprimanded by another policeman, shouted. The moment he opened his mouth, the skin around the corner of his lips cracked, causing it to bleed.

He said through gritted teeth, "I am her brother! Her second eldest brother! I wanted to bring her home to attend the birthday banquet today!"

Zhao Zhanhuai frowned. "Zhao Mo, just don't talk anymore. Shut up."

The policeman instantly yelled back, "Don't you cause trouble too! Since you are the complainant's brother, why were you misunderstood by the public as a hooligan? Who allowed you to touch her?"

Zhao Mo shouted, "I am an artist! At that moment I saw people looking over, and I was afraid of being followed by stalker fans, so I was in a hurry to bring Zhao Mingxi back—"

"Ha." Ke Chengwen and Fu Yangxi's followers laughed. "Stalker fans? Our Xi ge has way more stalker fans than you do."

Zhao Mo: "…"

Zhao Mo was angered to the point that his heart was about to burst, his blood pressure having gone up and down a few times already. If it wasn't because they were at the police station, he would have definitely given this brat a good lesson.

Fu Yangxi said, "Ahem, although that is the truth, you guys shouldn't have boasted about it."

Zhao Mo and Zhao Zhanhuai: "…"

Fu Yangxi said to Lawyer Zhang, "Oh, I think I dropped a few strands of hair. Did you go to the scene and count them?"

"I counted them. Rest assured, Young Master."

The policemen: "…"

Zhao Zhanhuai: "…"

Zhao Mo: "…"

Lawyer Zhang said to Zhao Mo who was shaking in anger and Zhao Zhanhuai who had gone pale, "Sirs, I will be taking over and will be the one to communicate with regards to everything that happens after this."

Fu Yangxi and both of his followers walked out from the office of the police station.

Zhao Mingxi hugged her bag as waited anxiously in the corridor. Her shadow was pulled long. When she saw them come out, she immediately stood up. "How did it go?"

"It wasn't that big of a deal. Because the people who were involved in the beating included Ke Chengwen and the others, in order to not cause trouble for them, Lawyer Zhang will most likely choose to settle." Fu Yangxi looked at Mingxi's wrist. When he saw that there wasn't much of a mark left on her thin and pale wrist, the fire in his heart seemed to have dissipated a little.

The person inside the clinic rushed them, "Come here immediately!"

"Wait." Fu Yangxi yelled towards the other end of the corridor.

He paused as the tip of his toes rubbed against the floor. He did not dare to raise his head and look at Zhao Mingxi because he felt guilty.

Mingxi looked at him.

After a short while, the person in the clinic urged him again. Only then did Fu Yangxi scratch his head and whispered, "I'm sorry, Little Mask, for hitting your brother. I didn't know he was—"

Mingxi said, "It's alright. I don't care about them."

So this was what he wanted to say.

Mingxi felt an itch in her nose. Aside from He Yang and Dong Shen who were her friends that she knew since her past life, no one else has ever stood up for her like this.

Actually, sometimes it doesn't matter if that person is your family or not.

Only those who treat you well are the most important people in your life.

She looked towards Fu Yangxi and the people behind him. "So long as you guys are alright."

Ke Chengwen quickly replied, "We're fine. We're brothers, so we have to stand up for each other. And don't worry, Xi ge has already told us not to tell anyone about us bumping into your family members today."

Fu Yangxi gently ruffled Zhao Mingxi's hair, his tone light and fast, "So just wait for us for a short while, don't go away. We'll go clean up our wounds at the clinic. Then we'll leave together."

They didn't suffer serious injuries, just that the skin on their knuckles were scratched.

As for Zhao Mo who had been beaten up to that extent, he most likely will have to move to the hospital later.

Mingxi nodded. "Alright."

It was already 7p.m.. The birthday banquet had long since begun, but Zhao Zhanhuai, Zhao Mo and Zhao Mingxi were nowhere to be found nor were they picking up their phones.

Madam Zhao was getting extremely anxious.

Since this matter had blown up, it would be impossible to keep this a secret from the rest of the Zhao family any longer.

Zhao Zhanhuai gave an annoyed look to Zhao Mo who had got them into trouble. Then, with a heavy heart and a frown, he walked to the windows and called the others.

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Chapter 28 (Part 2)

Tonight, Madam Zhao's birthday banquet was ruined. Everyone from the Zhao family was in a bad mood.

Zhao Mo had been sent to the hospital.

Zhao Yuan, Zhao Zhanhuai's secretary and his manager had all rushed over.

When his parents found out that it was Young Master Fu who had been the one to inflict such damage on Zhao Mo, they immediately pulled a long face. It was impossible for them to win in court if the opponent was the Fu family. Thus, they had no choice but to settle it privately.

Aside from this, the two of them also found out something that was even more shocking.

Outside the compound of the police station.

Madam Zhao wrapped the windbreaker around herself. Her whole body was swaying. She could not wrap her head around nor understand what Zhao Zhanhuai had just said. "What do you mean Mingxi wants to sever all ties with our family?! Explain it to us. What in the world is going on?! Didn't she just want to run away from home?! You even visited her several times in school! What are you saying right now?!"

Zhao Zhanhuai looked extremely tired. He rubbed the center of his forehead and said, "Actually, ever since she ran away from home, I have been unable to coax her to come back. I was just afraid that you guys would react like this when you find out, hence why I kept it a secret. But it seems like I can no longer hide this."

Mr. Zhao's complexion was pale. "What happened at home while I was away?! How could it end up like this?!"

"Can you not ask me about this?" Zhao Zhanhuai couldn't explain himself. He almost lost control over his usually calm expression as well. "How would I know why things have developed to this point? Shouldn't the both of you ask yourselves first if you have ever cared about Mingxi?"

Zhao Yuning squatted by the side. He felt similarly frustrated when he heard the three of them argue.

"She is just acting like a child. Now that she has caused such a ruckus and everyone came to see her, she has managed to attract everyone's attention, so she should be happy." Madam Zhao was certain. "Since you can't get her to come home, I'll do it myself!"

Zhao Zhanhuai frowned. He then made a gesture inviting her to go ahead.

Before Madam Zhao could take even three steps towards the police station, Zhao Mingxi walked out.

A few tall boys were following behind her. The one in the lead was the guy who hurt Zhao Mo to the point that he had to go to the hospital. His short red hair seemed especially cold at night. He appeared arrogant and bossy, the corner of his lips covered with a band aid.

When her parents saw this, a flame was ignited in their hearts.

However, due to the other's status, they could only control and suppress their rage.

Mingxi took a glance at the people outside the compound. Then, she turned to Fu Yangxi and said, "Please wait for me for a moment. There are matters which I must settle."

Ke Chengwen said with a tone of worry, "Zhao Mingxi, you can't really be trying to cut off all ties with your family—"

Even after she does so, she is still a student. Where can she go? Besides, her family members were merely being biased.

Ke Chengwen felt that she didn't need to go to this extent.

But before he could finish, he was cut off.

"Stop right there," Fu Yangxi said. "Don't try to give such ambiguous advice. As the saying goes, only those who drank the water would know its temperature. If a stranger tries to butt in, they will only appear even more annoying. Zhao Mingxi, don't listen to what other people have to say, including me. Make your own choice. So long as you have thought it through, any decision is a good decision."

Mingxi looked at Fu Yangxi and gave him a firm nod.

"Do you need help?" Fu Yangxi pointed at the lawyer behind him.

Mingxi shook her head. "I want to deal with this myself."

Fu Yangxi looked over Zhao Mingxi's head. He scanned through that whole family with cold eyes. He didn't feel comfortable about this, but he still understood that he had to give Little Mask some space for her to settle her own problems.

He thought for a while before taking her bag in his hands. Then, he reached out a hand and said, "Alright then. Your phone."

Mingxi: ?

Mingxi took out her phone from her pocket.

Fu Yangxi said again, "Thumbprint."

Mingxi used her thumb to unlock the phone.

Fu Yangxi quickly opened her phone app and typed in his phone number.

After that, he stuffed the phone back in her hands and said with a surprisingly steady voice, "I've set your phone to always be unlocked. Later you'll just have to press a number and once you give me a call, I'll be there."

Ke Chengwen said, "We'll be there too."

Mingxi nodded. Then, she turned and walked towards her family.

Although the night winds were cold, she could feel a strong and sturdy wall behind her.

When Mr. Zhao saw how Mingxi walked over with a cold expression along with eyes which were looking at them as if she was looking at a bunch of strangers who were trying to pick a bone with her, the veins on his forehead started to throb.

"Stop looking for me." Mingxi spoke first. "Again and again. It's really annoying."

Before Madam Zhao could speak, she was taken aback, her mind going blank instantly.

Annoying? Mingxi said that they were annoying?

She suddenly realized that what Zhao Zhanhuai had been saying all long was the truth— Mingxi really did seem like she wanted to sever all ties with them.

Madam Zhao's expression started to change. Her body was slightly trembling due to her disbelief. "Zhao Mingxi, what in the world are you saying? Since the matter of your classmates beating up your er ge was merely a misunderstanding, we won't blame you for it. Come home with us right now! Did you know that you haven't been home for a month now? Come home and we'll talk things through!"

"Do you still not understand what I'm saying?" Mingxi said coldly. She tried her best to make herself even clearer so that everyone in this family can understand her in one go. "Severing all ties. In simpler terms, it means that you guys no longer have to raise me. And when you guys are old, I do not have any responsibility to take care of you as well. In legal terms, it means that we no longer owe anything to each other."

Madam Zhao: "…"

Mingxi took out a card and tossed it to Zhao Zhanhuai.

Zhao Yuning, who was at a corner, stood up immediately.

Zhao Yuning said, "Jie—"

"Don't call me jie." Mingxi directly cut him off.

Zhao Yuning choked up.

Zhao Zhanhuai looked pale as he took the card, "This is—"

Mingxi said, "This is a sum of money I borrowed from He Yang. 13,000 yuan as a repayment for all the money the Zhao family has spent on me for the past two years. I can slowly return He Yang her money, but I don't want to owe anything to you guys. As for what you guys owe, I'm too lazy to ask for it."

Mingxi paused to think a little before continuing, "Oh, there are still a couple of things that I want returned to me. My photos. Please delete them from your phones, or even cut them out. Don't use my photos for illegal transactions. I only have around 10 days before I become an adult, so I will have the right to ask for my things. Please delete all my photos and messages."

"As for your photos, I've deleted them a long time ago."

There was a moment when Madam Zhao almost couldn't breathe. She panted and held her chest as she said, "Today is your mother's birthday. Do you have to throw such a tantrum on my birthday?!!"

Mr. Zhao looked at Mingxi in disbelief. He couldn't help but to scold Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning, "What in the world happened when I was not around?!"

Zhao Zhanhuai's heart was aching in pain. He had a feeling that if they fail to coax Mingxi home today, they will really have nothing to do with her in the future. He couldn't help but to add on, "Mingxi, at least for today, you shouldn't throw such a tantrum on mother's birthday—"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum."

Why did they all think that she was merely throwing a tantrum? Were they so certain that she could not leave their family? Or were they sure that she would definitely want to suck up to them?

Mingxi inhaled deeply and said, "I was wrong from the beginning. I shouldn't have placed hopes on my birth parents, shouldn't have looked forward to a new life in this place with all of you, shouldn't have tried to covet things that did not belong to me. Now that I've moved out, there will no longer be anyone who would make you decide uncomfortably between me and Zhao Yuan nor would there be anyone bothering you anymore."

"Please just take this as your last time carrying out your duties as a family. The last time to treat me better. Let me go. Stop bothering me. All right?"

The air became eerily quiet for a moment.

The sound of the wind seemed to carry a hint of wailing.

Their parents were originally angry when Mingxi first came out of the police station, but at this moment, their minds were completely empty.

They spent a long time searching for their biological daughter. After they found her and brought her home, they thought that they would finally be able to fill up the gap of regret in their hearts.

Who would've thought that she would want to sever all ties with them.

Sever all ties.

Even the mere mention of these words, be it true or false, was like a knife slicing again and again at a person's organs.

Madam Zhao's heart was as if it was wrapped by a huge pair of hands and it was squeezing so hard that it hurt. She never would have thought that there would be such a moment today.

The moments that she had spent with Mingxi suddenly swept across her mind— When she tried on clothes, Mingxi was always patiently waiting and said that she looked good. Mingxi was the most patient one out of everyone in this family; when her shoulders were aching Mingxi would take the initiative to massage them; when she complained about the absence of her husband, Mingxi would give her ideas…

And at this moment, these little instances had all combined to result in Mingxi's cold gaze.

How did it end up like this?

Madam Zhao scrunched up the front of her dress, speechless. She could only stand there stiffly as if she had lost her voice.

Mr. Zhao's head was buzzing as well. He got caught up in so many things after his return so it was natural that he could not react in time. He could only subconsciously walk towards Zhao Mingxi, trying to bring her home.

However, when Mingxi saw what he was doing, she took a step back.

Her act of taking a step back hurt them immensely.

It means— Don't come near me.

Two years ago, she was still a girl who was trying her best to run towards them, but now she was retreating as if she merely thought of them as strangers.

Both the hearts and minds of Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning were aching.

Right now, they have already run out of things to say.

…

Mingxi was no longer paying attention to them.

After 10 seconds, Mingxi called the number in her phone.

Moments later, a never seen before silver colored cross country motorcycle drove over. A few cars were following behind it.

In the midst of roaring engines, Fu Yangxi took off his helmet. His features were sharp and handsome; his red hair arrogant.

He bent down and placed the cold helmet on Mingxi's head.

When Mingxi saw him, she felt relieved.

I've finally severed all ties with them.

The huge rock on her shoulders had finally fallen to the ground. Maybe she should have done this earlier. She was merely blinded in her past life.

However, when her back was facing the Zhao family, her eyes still went red.

Mingxi stubbornly refused to admit that it was due to her own weakness. She was only willing to admit that she felt dejected due to having wasted eight whole years on them.

She muttered to Fu Yangxi, "Thanks."

Fu Yangxi buckled the clasp around her chin. Then, with a flick of his finger, he wiped away the small tears at the corner of Zhao Mingxi's eyes.

"Are you that happy to leave that hellish place?" Fu Yangxi raised his head and frowned at the direction of the Zhao family. "Hop on. We're leaving."

Since they don't want Little Mask, Little Mask will be his.

…

On this windy night, the hearts of the Zhao family members were as heavy as rocks. They watched as that motorcycle drove through the wind. They went along with the neon lights, across the bridge and finally drove across the river.

Zhao Mingxi's dark hair was blown with the wind as she went farther and farther away from them.

Not once did Zhao Mingxi turn back.

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Chapter 29 (Part 1)

…

The emotions of everyone in the Zhao family had boiled down to a wreck. They didn't even know how they got home.

When Madam Zhao got back to the villa, her fingers were still trembling. She was trying her best to calm down, but when she took off her high heels, she lost focus for a while and almost fell down as she lost her balance. Zhao Zhanhuai who was standing beside was hesitant. Nonetheless, he still helped her up.

Madam Zhao didn't say anything. She pulled up her dress and rushed to her room.

It didn't take long before the sound of crying came out from the room.

As Madam Zhao's cries resounded throughout the house, the whole atmosphere became even more depressed and solemn.

Because the nanny and the chef had no idea what happened, they did not dare to stay in the villa and left to their own quarters.

Mr. Zhao was clearly in a bad mood. He looked in the direction of Madam Zhao's room. He partially blamed Madam Zhao, but he was so exhausted that he didn't say much. He merely said, "There are still many guests at the birthday banquet who have yet to be sent off. I have to make a trip there."

The birthday banquet this year could be considered as a total failure.

Also, it just might be the most unforgettable birthday for Madam Zhao.

Madam Zhao had just put on her evening dress and did not have the time to interact with the guests even for just a while. In fact, she received the call from Zhao Zhanhuai before the arrival of a majority of guests— and now they are in this situation. How could their family still have the mood to return to the birthday banquet and continue to receive guests?

Zhao Zhanhuai nodded and said, "I'll be going to the hospital later. Zhao Mo's injuries are minor. He didn't suffer any injuries to his bones. You can be rest assured."

"How can I be rest assured? All of you only know how to make me worry!" Mr. Zhao adjusted his tie. His face was pale as he walked outside and said, "We'll talk about Mingxi once I get back. In fact, I want to ask you all about this! I've only been on a business trip for a month. How did things turn out to be like this?!"

Once Mr. Zhao left, Zhao Yuning looked tired of it all. He turned and was about to leave as well.

Zhao Zhanhuai hurriedly held him by his elbow, his emotions in a wreck. "Why are you running away?! Zhao Yuning, where are you off to?!"

"Brother, did you forget that I'm still living away from home?" Zhao Yuning sneered, "I only attended today's birthday banquet because you asked me to, otherwise I wouldn't have gone! I'm so mad. Mom has yet to apologize to me for slapping me on the face indiscriminately too!"

After he finished talking, Zhao Yuning could care less about Zhao Zhanhuai's reaction. He took off his tuxedo jacket and threw it into the cabinet at the entrance, turned around and left.

Once Mr. Zhao and Zhao Yuning left, the entire Zhao family villa looked like an empty grave.

There was only the faint sound of Madam Zhao's cries.

It was so quiet that no one could bear staying there any longer.

Zhao Zhanhuai sat down on the sofa and massaged his forehead in dismay.

After taking a deep breath, he realized that no one else could clean up this mess except for him.

A short moment later, he went upstairs and knocked on the door of his mother's room a few times.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"…How did things turn out to be like this? Is there still room for us to return everything to how it was?" Madam Zhao recalled the indifferent tone that Mingxi had used when she told them that she had deleted all their photos, asked them to delete her photos and to not carry out illegal activities. The more she thought about it, the more it felt like she was being stabbed with a needle. Her chest was getting tighter and she was experiencing shortness of breath along with heart palpitations.

She cried until she was out of breath. "What do I owe her anyway?! I clearly allowed her to use the card on whatever she wants! Buy any clothes she wants! Whatever she wants to eat! I even personally decorated the room for her… Just! Just why does she hate me so much?!"

Madam Zhao's cries were so noisy that it was like a mixer in Zhao Zhanhuai's head.

He closed his eyes and suppressed his emotions. He tried to persuade her, "Perhaps we should reflect on our own attitude."

Madam Zhao merely continued to cry. After she had calmed down a little bit, she asked a few questions about Zhao Mo's current situation, and felt relieved after asking. Then, she must have thought of something as she collapsed into a crying fit again.

Zhao Zhanhuai was having a headache. He planned to let her calm down by herself, so he turned and walked downstairs.

There was the sound of a car stopping outside. Zhao Yuan had also returned. As soon as she entered the door, she heard Madam Zhao's faint sobbing and she knew what had happened.

"I'll go and talk to her." Zhao Yuan picked up the corner of her dress and walked upstairs.

Zhao Zhanhuai subconsciously glanced at the gown she was wearing.

For some reason, his throat felt as if something was stuck there.

Mingxi has been pushed out of the house, gone forever in the cold night breeze.

But Zhao Yuan is still wearing Mingxi's dress.

Actually, this gown did not fit Zhao Yuan— She was much shorter than Mingxi, and the neat fishtail gown that was supposed to be knee-length was dragged loosely behind her.

However, despite the fact that it obviously didn't fit her well, she still wore it on her body as if it was an obvious thing to do, just like many things before.

A huge example would be a spot in the Chemistry competition; a small example would be a rabbit doll.

Whatever Mingxi has, she will have the same. But what she has, Mingxi cannot touch.

—Although it was supposed to be Zhao Mingxi's.

Zhao Zhanhuai retracted his gaze with mixed emotions.

Zhao Yuan hurriedly entered the door to Madam Zhao's room.

Soon, the crying ceased.

Zhao Zhanhuai's headache was also partially cured.

His assistant had just returned from the hospital. He asked him, "Are you staying home tonight?"

"Let's go to the company," Zhao Zhanhuai said with a distracted tone.

He also threw his formal suit on the sofa and left the villa.

He didn't know why, but he especially did not want to stay in this deserted villa tonight.

Zhao Yuan said something along the lines of, "Mom, you still have me." So as Madam Zhao was comforted by Zhao Yuan, her attention was slightly diverted, and her mood improved.

But her sight inevitably fell on Zhao Yuan's evening gown.

For some reason, she found it far too dazzling for her eyes. She couldn't help but ask, "Why are you still wearing this?"

Zhao Yuan leaned her head on her knees, "Mom, you have such a good eye for fashion. Many people praised that the dress was beautiful tonight."

"…"

Madam Zhao only felt that in an instant, she had slapped herself on the face with her own words.

—"What do I owe her anyway?"

Why doesn't she owe Zhao Mingxi?

She was always afraid that Zhao Yuan would feel disappointed and rejected because she was not the biological daughter of the family, so she tried various methods to show her love for Zhao Yuan. She wanted to tell Zhao Yuan that she was still her mother, just like before.

So when Zhao Mingxi accidentally picked up Zhao Yuan's doll two years ago, she quickly rushed over, took the doll and returned it to Zhao Yuan. She said to Mingxi, "If you want this I can buy you another one. Don't steal Yuanyuan's."

Thus, when Zhao Yuan showed her liking for this dress, she didn't hesitate to give it to her, and thought that Mingxi wouldn't mind.

But when a child has been pushed aside again and again for two years, how could she not mind? It was precisely these matters that piled up and led to what happened today!

It was herself! In order to maintain the 15 year relationship between her and her adopted daughter, she ignored Mingxi's feelings during those incidents!

It was she herself who pushed Mingxi farther and farther!

Madam Zhao felt as if a needle was stabbing her in the heart. She was anxious and in pain. She could not continue to see Zhao Yuan wearing this dress, it was like a slap after slap on her face, reminding her of how she used to treat Mingxi.

She quickly buried herself in the blanket and said, "You go out first. Leave me alone for a while."

Zhao Yuan looked at her in shock, "Mom, why are you suddenly—"

"Get out! Leave me alone for a while!" Madam Zhao's sobs came from under the blanket.

Mingxi sat in the back seat of the motorcycle, clutching Fu Yangxi's jacket with both hands.

The traffic flowed like a waterfall, and the cold wind blew across her temples on this night. She watched the flashing neon lights across the river, passing by one street light after another as she slowly calmed down.

She belatedly realized, "By the way, where did you get your motorcycle from?!"

Fu Yangxi's jacket was blown up by the wind. He deliberately said, "I can't hear you!"

Mingxi had to straighten up slightly. She grabbed his shoulders, climbed to the side of his ears, and shouted, "I said, where did you get your motorcycle from?!"

She was sticking so close to him that even if her breath that came out was blown away by the cold wind, it still fell on his auricle albeit only a little. Fu Yangxi was extremely sensitive there, and a chilling feeling came in an instant.

The tips of his ears suddenly flushed red. His hands shook, causing him to almost lose control over the vehicle.

Fu Yangxi swallowed hard, "Ke Chengwen has a friend who is a vehicle seller, and his showroom was just a few hundred meters away, so we went to pick up a few vehicles."

"Oh." Mingxi looked back. There were four or five motorcycles behind him. Mingxi turned her head fully and made a head count. She noticed that all of Fu Yangxi's followers were there except for Ke Chengwen. She was suddenly struck in realization—

"Wait, where is Ke Chengwen? We left him at the police station!"

Fu Yangxi said, "Why do you care so much about Ke Chengwen?"

"Over here!" Ke Chengwen was driving a sports car as he caught up to them. He lowered the window and beckoned to them.

Ke Chengwen was already 18 and owned a driver's license.

Mingxi glanced at the four-wheeled sports car that Ke Chengwen was driving and asked Fu Yangxi, "So there are sports cars. Then why did you come here with a motorcycle?"

"Because it's cool!" Fu Yangxi raised his eyebrows and boasted. "Don't you think that a few fast-moving motorcycles suddenly stopped by your side, buzzing around you, is like a scene from a movie? Don't you girls like this sort of thing? It's a pity that we didn't have sunglasses on."

Mingxi: "…"

As expected, Xi ge is truly Xi ge.

Mingxi asked, "Then where are we going?"

Fu Yangxi answered, "Let's get down first."

"It's too cold at night. If we continue to be exposed to the night wind our fingers will go stiff." He parked the motorcycle by the side of the road, moved his leg over and got out. He then hugged Mingxi's waist naturally and helped her down. He was blushing as he helped her tuck in her scarf.

Mingxi saw how familiar he was with his actions and felt that something wasn't right, but her brain was blown by the cold wind and her thoughts became slow. She didn't notice anything wrong for a while.

The way Mingxi was staring at Fu Yangxi caused him to unnaturally turn his head away. His face was red. The corner of his lips curled up, but he immediately hissed in pain.

Mingxi asked, "Is it painful?"

Fu Yangxi touched the band-aid at the corner of his lips, "Nah, this is just a small injury. There is nothing that I fear."

Ke Chengwen also stopped the car by the side of the road.

After the rear window was lowered, He Yang poked her head out and beckoned to Mingxi. "Mingxi!"

Mingxi asked, "Why is He Yang here as well?"

"How can you not have some barbecue or something to celebrate such a great day of breaking the cocoon and turning into a butterfly! That's why Xi ge invited your friend," Ke Chengwen said. "Zhao Mingxi, get in the car!"

Mingxi felt warmth in her heart. All the unhappiness at the police station seemed to be wiped out.

She walked over there and pulled the car door open.

"Wait!" Fu Yangxi interrupted suddenly. He took huge strides to the door, opened it, and pulled a boy out. "Jiang Xiuqiu, take the passenger seat."

"We haven't seen each other for such a long time and this is how you treat your old friend?"

"Hush."

Jiang Xiuqiu?!

Mingxi's eyes lit up suddenly— Isn't this that, that person who is in second place on the list of people who can be freeloaded?

The boy named Jiang Xiuqiu had a pair of almond shaped eyes. He was wearing a high collared sweater which covered the lower half of his face. It was as if he was extremely afraid of the cold, hence he dressed like it was already winter. He glared at Fu Yangxi through his hands. Then when he took a glance at Mingxi's face, his gaze paused on her. He reluctantly sat down in the passenger seat.

Mingxi's eyes were fixated on him.

2%!

I have yet to try the 2% return of luck. I wonder what it would be like!

Fu Yangxi was blocking the door of the car and was about to urge Mingxi to get in the car. Suddenly, he followed Mingxi's line of sight and fell on Jiang Xiuqiu.

Him: "…"

One second, two seconds, three seconds— Fu Yangxi pinched his watch and counted 10 seconds, yet all he saw was Zhao Mingxi still staring at Jiang Xiuqiu!

Is Jiang Xiuqiu that handsome?

She has never even stared at him like this before!

Mingxi came back to her senses and found that Fu Yangxi was staring at her. His face suddenly showed an ugly expression.

Mingxi asked in confusion, "What's the matter?"

"Your eyesight sure is good at night." Fu Yangxi tried his best not to be jealous.

He pushed Mingxi in and they both got in the car quickly.

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Chapter 29 (Part 2)

Fu Yangxi threw the key to his follower and the motorcycle was driven back.

The group sat down in the warm barbeque shop.

"It's you?"

"It's you?"

Mingxi and Jiang Xiuqiu asked at the same time. Both of them were surprised and immediately made an expression of understanding after the questions.

Fu Yangxi stared at Zhao Mingxi, then at Jiang Xiuqiu, and finally at Ke Chengwen who had brought Jiang Xiuqiu over. His fists were almost clenched hard.

Ke Chengwen panicked and motioned with his eyes, 'He contacted me and told me that he wanted to come. I didn't go out of my way to bring him over'. Fu Yangxi then glared back with his eyes, 'You couldn't have just refused?'. The expression in Ke Chengwen's eyes got even more bitter. 'Isn't he your childhood friend? How could I refuse?'

After several rounds of glaring, Fu Yangxi's short red hair was blown by the night wind and it made him look like a hedgehog. Because of this, a further layer of frost formed on his face. He flipped through the menu and was acting very annoying, "What do you mean 'it's you', Little Mask? Have you and Jiang Xiuqiu known each other since a long time ago?"

Mingxi explained, "I wouldn't consider us as knowing each other. I merely took the cello exam at the Palace of Literature and Art for him more than half a month ago. He was the one with the nickname 'Handsome J'."

The price was 8,000 yuan. She was wondering who could be such a huge spender. Turns out he is Fu Yangxi's wealthy friend.

Now that Mingxi thought about it, no wonder the small tender seedlings were growing so fast in those few days. It was most likely that there was an increase due to this matter.

Fu Yangxi pulled a long face, "Then you two have added each other on WeChat?"

Mingxi answered, "Yes."

She was sitting for his exams on his behalf. How else were they to maintain contact without WeChat?

Fu Yangxi started to feel jealous over what was going on and teased, "Isn't it such a coincidence then?"

Mingxi said, "Yes."

Fu Yangxi: "…"

Fu Yangxi only felt that the wound on the corner of his mouth was hurting really badly!

While wiping the chopsticks, Jiang Xiuqiu looked at Fu Yangxi with a smile. Then, he said to Zhao Mingxi, "But it's different for me. My knowledge of you came from—"

Before he could finish speaking, Fu Yangxi stuffed a piece of cantaloupe in his mouth from across the table. Fu Yangxi was agitated. "You are such a loud mouth and a busybody. I'm warning you, don't talk nonsense. Eat your fruit!"

Jiang Xiuqiu continued to smile, as if he had a bargaining chip used to threaten Fu Yangxi.

Looking at Jiang Xiuqiu's meaningful smile, Mingxi wondered if Fu Yangxi was saying bad things behind her back— It was probably when she had just changed classes and tried every means possible to be desk mates with him. He hated her the most back then.

He Yang couldn't understand what they were talking about, so she broke the deadlock, "The meat is here!"

Mingxi stood up on her own, took the dish from the waiter, and placed it on the table. Seeing the large number of people in the store and the lack of waiters, she subconsciously asked for an apron to wear and said, "You guys go ahead and eat. I am good at barbecuing, so I will cook them for you first."

Fu Yangxi had never cooked meat before, but seeing how natural it was for Zhao Mingxi to take the tongs and cook, he felt uncomfortable.

He stood up and grabbed the tongs in Zhao Mingxi's hand. Using his height advantage, he took off the apron she put on from behind. "Sit down."

Mingxi's vision was blocked by the apron. By the time she could see again, she was already pushed into the seat by Fu Yangxi.

She was stunned. "You'll do it?"

Several people looked at Fu Yangxi in surprise.

Jiang Xiuqiu cupped his face in his hands. He gave Zhao Mingxi a few extra glances, narrowed his smile, and noted to himself that something interesting was going on.

"Why? Are you looking down on me?" Fu Yangxi said. "Do you think I can't cook? You're obviously trying to provoke me."

"I wouldn't dare." Mingxi held back a smile.

Fu Yangxi and Mingxi changed positions. He sat on the outside, cut the meat into several pieces with a pair of scissors, and threw them in in a hurry.

After a while, there was the smell of something burning, and the oil was crackling.

The meat in his hands was as if it was particularly inflexible. It almost flew out.

A waiter nearby looked anxious. He was afraid that the boy with the hedgehog-like red hair would burn down their restaurant. He moved away from a table of people and quickly walked over. "Let me help you."

Fu Yangxi let go of the tongs in a jealous manner.

"Who wants to eat these pieces?" The waiter referred to the pieces of barbecue that were roasted so thoroughly and so dark that even their parents would not be able to recognize them.

Fu Yangxi looked at Jiang Xiuqiu. Jiang Xiuqiu looked away.

Fu Yangxi looked at Ke Chengwen. Ke Chengwen coughed and looked out the window. "The moonlight sure is beautiful."

Seeing that no one wanted it, Fu Yangxi's expression became dull and bleak, "Give it to me."

"I want a few pieces too." Mingxi couldn't bear to see no one supporting him, so she handed her plate over.

Fu Yangxi snorted and tugged down the corners of his mouth despite the fact that he actually felt really happy about it.

However, in the next second, he dumped the charred barbecue on both him and Mingxi's plates into the trash can.

It's better to not eat it if it's burnt.

When they finally started to eat the barbecue, Mingxi stared at Jiang Xiuqiu on the opposite side, and started to hit on Jiang Xiuqiu. She said, "Employer, let's shake hands. If you have similar jobs in the future, feel free to find me.."

She originally thought that Fu Yangxi's friend would be as difficult to deal with as Fu Yangxi is, but to her surprise, Jiang Xiuqiu had a very good temper. He smiled and stretched out his hand. "No problem."

Mingxi was excited. She immediately wiped her hands on her clothes and shook his hands.

Fu Yangxi who was still eating barbecue and had no time to stop them: "…"

As soon as Mingxi touched Jiang Xiuqiu, the young seedling in the flower pot immediately moved.

One and a half buds have grown!

Although there were not as many young buds as when she touched Fu Yangxi for the first time, it was still enough to make her happy!

Mingxi was motivated. She chewed on a piece of barbecue and asked, "Jiang Xiuqiu, did you not come to school for almost a month because you fell ill? There should be a lot of papers on your desk, do you need someone to help you organize it? Do you need someone to run errands for you as well?"

Ke Chengwen silently looked at Fu Yangxi's face which was turning green: "…"

Before Jiang Xiuqiu could speak, Fu Yangxi pulled Mingxi's body over, clasped her shoulders with both his hands, and glared at her angrily—

"What, what's the matter?" Mingxi was confused.

Fu Yangxi pulled a long face as he gave her a fierce glare. After holding back for a long time, he forced out a question, "Are you my follower or his follower?"

Mingxi swallowed the barbecued meat. "Can't I be both of your followers?"

Is there any professional competition for being the boss?

"No!" Fu Yangxi was anxious and depraved— He wondered if Little Mask really didn't get it or if she was faking it. Does the word 'follower' really mean 'follower'? Does she want him to take the initiative to pierce through the veil covering the word?

Mingxi asked, "Why not?"

Fu Yangxi flushed red. He said angrily, "One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, okay?"

Jiang Xiuqiu laughed and coughed violently beside him. He drank a mouthful of water and sighed. "What can I do? My personality and charm is simply unstoppable."

There was a layer of goosebumps on Mingxi's body. She thought, between 6% and 2%, she would definitely choose Fu Yangxi's 6%.

"Then I will choose to be your follower."

The tip of Fu Yangxi's ears flushed red. He felt relieved. He let go of Mingxi's shoulders, and gave Mingxi a few pieces of meat in a boss-like manner.

Mingxi said, "Thanks."

"No problem." Fu Yangxi triumphantly dusted off the non-existent dust on his body. He raised his eyebrows as he looked at Jiang Xiuqiu, his gaze domineering and cool. "It seems like my personality is the more attractive one."

Ke Chengwen and He Yang: "…"

Mingxi: "…"

Very good, two layers of goosebumps. Little Mask is clenching her fist. More attractive my ass.

The barbeque restaurant was steaming hot, and the aroma of meat and condiments overflowed. Mingxi felt very warm. Seeing this group of young people playing in front of her, her heart was also warm.

Some things grew silently to make up for the empty corners of her heart.

Midway through their meal, the waiter brought some fruit wine. No one noticed that Mingxi had also drunk two glasses.

By the time Fu Yangxi found that something was wrong with her, he hurriedly stopped her, but she had already drunk three glasses.

Mingxi started to feel dizzy, and the moon outside the window became blurry.

Fu Yangxi shook her.

But Fu Yangxi was starting to become two Fu Yangxi.

She turned her head, and the yellowish-green glass window frame behind her turned into two.

…

Mingxi was leaning her head on her hand. Her beautiful face was flushed, her eyelashes smeared with mist, and her eyes fell involuntarily to the side of the street. There was a grandmother and grandchild selling bright red tanghulu in the cold wind.

The granddaughter was saying something coquettishly. She pulled her grandmother's sleeves and kept on swinging it. Ultimately, her grandmother couldn't bear it any longer and took out a tanghulu before handing it to her granddaughter.

When the grandmother turned, she had a kind and peaceful smile on her face. She rubbed her granddaughter's head with her dirty hands.

Mingxi stared blankly. Suddenly, she couldn't keep her emotions in anymore. Her nose felt sour and the whites of her eyes were turning red at the corners. All the feelings she had accumulated after she was reborn and found out that her grandmother had passed away poured out in an instant.

Tears flowed down uncontrollably.

"My grandma." Mingxi cried out, with a hoarse tone in her voice, "My grandma left me thousands of dollars before she died!"

"…"

Everyone at the table looked at her.

"Oh no, Zhao Mingxi can't drink. She'll get drunk even with a bit of alcohol in her system." He Yang just remembered. She herself was a little dizzy as well.

Fu Yangxi quickly got up and pulled Mingxi over to him. He frowned at He Yang. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Mingxi hugged Fu Yangxi like she was holding a telephone pole as she cried.

She couldn't even see her grandmother one last time.

When she left Tongcheng, her grandmother was uneasy, but she was full of expectations and yearning. She also said to her grandmother that once she got the Zhao family's love, she would pick up her grandmother and bring her there some time later. Then, when she is admitted to a good university and lands a job, she can provide for her grandmother.

However, not long after she arrived at the Zhao family home, two days before and after her birthday, she continuously called her grandmother but no one answered the phone. By the time she noticed that something was wrong, she received a call from the town.

They said that after she left, her grandmother went to deliver some goods on her own. She was accidentally trapped by the heavy rain and slid down the mountain because of the ailment in her legs. She passed away that night.

The people in the town were kind. They could not bear to call her to inform her until the funeral had been held for her grandmother.

Because of the late discovery, and the medical condition in the town was not so good, they did not even know the exact time when her grandmother had passed away.

At that time, Mingxi was completely stunned.

She rushed back to Tongcheng.

She was silent in the cold mourning hall, crying until she went numb.

She even said that she wanted to help her grandmother live a good life, but in the end it was her grandmother who left her with a worn red cloth bag which contained the tuition fees that her grandmother had saved from not treating her years of painful leg ailments.

It was as if someone flipped a switch in Mingxi, droplets of tears were falling continuously. The tip of her nose had turned red from crying.

She wiped her face messily with her hands.

With hot pepper on her hands, her eyes felt hotter the more she wiped it, and the tears flowed even more violently.

Fu Yangxi hurriedly grabbed the tissue on the table and wiped the tears from her face.

Fu Yangxi had never really seen Zhao Mingxi cry like this where she looked as if she was at the point of collapse. He felt a tightness in his heart and turned to ask He Yang, "Who is her grandma? Where does she live? What is the address? Send it to me."

"She has already passed away." He Yang looked at Mingxi sadly. "She— Forget it, it should be okay to say these things."

He Yang skipped some of the Zhao family's biological daughters and non-biological matters, and only told Fu Yangxi and the others about how Mingxi had lived in Tongcheng in the North and returned to the Zhao family at the age of fifteen.

The more Fu Yangxi listened, the deeper his frown.

Ke Chengwen looked at Mingxi with mixed emotions. "This is so unexpected."

In fact, looking at Zhao Mingxi's outstanding temperament, he thought that she was raised like a spoiled princess. But if one were to really think about it, it wouldn't be hard to realize that how could a spoiled person be able to barbecue meat and cook so well?

Mingxi's body was light and fluttering. It was as if her brain was filled with water. She was swaying, but she could hear their conversation faintly. She suddenly cried out sadly again. Grabbing the person in front of her, she banged her forehead upwards and wallowed, "She's dead. She's dead because of me."

Fu Yangxi: "…"

As to what the others said after that, Mingxi could no longer hear them clearly. Even if she did hear it, her mind was slow in processing it. She was unable to identify what they were talking about.

She was immersed in a huge and sorrowful dream, as if she had returned to that day in the funeral hall in her previous life.

ray's note: this was one of the chapters that made me cry really hard, and it was difficult to translate as well. the elderly are truly my weakness (TT) as always, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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Chapter 29 (Part 3)

Her hands and feet were numb from the cold, and her body was shaking from her cries.

Mingxi vaguely felt that she had been half-carried out of the barbecue restaurant by Fu Yangxi, and that she had vomited all over him. He squatted in front of her, re-tying her messy shoelaces. Then, he gave a few orders to Jiang Xiuqiu and the others.

The street lamp outside the barbeque restaurant shone on the ground. Tiny insects flew around in the cold.

Each breath turned into white mist.

Her tears fell on the ground.

It was terribly cold. Even the tears dripping down her neck were cold.

She had another scarf around her neck.

It was finally warm.

Mingxi hugged the warm telephone pole in front of her.

…

Then, Mingxi completely lost consciousness.

She fell asleep.

…

It is strange how a drunk person would know that they are drunk before they wake up.

She was about to regain consciousness, but it was as if a mountain was pressing on top of her, and she couldn't lift it up.

Her eyelids were also too heavy and tired. She could only feel a little flickering light.

Like a stuck projector, the only things she could remember were a few sporadic pictures of last night.

The hum of the engine and the slight shaking made Mingxi feel a splitting headache, and the weightlessness during the landing made her stomach twist. She was about to throw up everything she ate last night.

…

By the time Mingxi was vaguely conscious and was about to open her eyes, the first thing she noticed was how cold it was.

What's going on?

Why is it way colder than yesterday?

Did the temperature drop by a few dozen degrees?

A whole bunch of noises kept invading her ears. The seat was bumpy all the time, and the bones on Mingxi's body seemed to be not her own.

She tried to open her eyes, her consciousness still a little slow.

What caught her eye was a somewhat dirty car window. Was she in a car?

Human traffickers?!

Mingxi was shocked. She was so frightened that she was completely awake.

Mingxi looked to the left. When she saw Fu Yangxi sitting on her left, Mingxi suddenly felt relieved. Even if she was kidnapped by a human trafficker, so long as Fu Yangxi was with her, someone would pay for her ransom as well.

Fu Yangxi was sleeping out of exhaustion. His lips were pressed tightly and his eyebrows were furrowed. He had a change of clothes and he wasn't wearing his noise-reducing headphones.

Mingxi quickly realized that the silver earphones were hanging on her ears.

She took it off. Seeing as it was out of battery, she turned it off.

Mingxi looked to the right again. It was a dilapidated and familiar station. The waiting hall was hung with the "囍"* characters that were posted last year and have not yet been taken off. The dust was fluttering, and the cries of people coming and going were very noisy. It was a shabby but thriving place.

囍 is a common Chinese character seen and referred to in weddings.

Red, green, and even colorful advertisements were everywhere on both sides of the street.

The car was still driving forward, passing by many tricycles.

On the uneven gravel road, there were garbage dumps at a distance, and the trash cans along the road appeared like furnishings.

Mingxi's eyelids twitched. Suddenly, she was hit by a sense of familiarity.

Even the deserted soymilk stalls on the corners of the street feel familiar.

The boss advertised with an accent familiar to Mingxi, "Soy milk! Soy milk that are delicious and inexpensive!"

The aroma seemed to overtake her senses.

She stopped breathing altogether.

Her heart was pounding, her forehead involuntarily pressed against the cold car window. She felt the difference in temperature.

She didn't know how long it took until the bumps finally stopped.

The car went around for a long time before stopping at an old alley in town. The deep and secluded alley was just like how it was in Mingxi's memory. The ground was covered with moss. It had just rained, and it was full of water.

Looking up, there was a chaotic and ragged tube-shaped apartment. Few windows were closed, most of which were wide open. One or two bamboo poles were stretched out, with faded T-shirts, school uniforms and dried bacon hanging indiscriminately.

…

It's all too familiar.

Just a few steps further down the alley was the small yard where she used to live with her grandmother. There would be some gardenia trees growing inside, a few pots of sun-dried radishes, and some of her grandmother's shoes neatly arranged.

After realizing where this was, Mingxi's heart beat faster and faster, and the fingers that touched the car window were slightly trembling.

Some places have changed a little, but most things in her memory have not changed.

A group of teenagers swaggered across the city in groups, holding basketballs to play in a small open area with less rain.

When the car stopped, the driver spoke with a local accent, "We're here. Wake up and pay up."

Only then did Mingxi notice that there was a car following behind them.

Ke Chengwen, Jiang Xiuqiu and He Yang rubbed their eyes and got out of the car with a look as if they had yet to fully wake up.

Fu Yangxi also woke up. Once he was awake, he subconsciously glanced at Zhao Mingxi who was beside him.

He yawned and, as usual, with an impatient face, took out a few red banknotes and handed them to the driver. Then, he got out of the car and walked to her side.

He opened the door for Mingxi.

Mingxi's eyes were red and swollen. She stared at him blankly.

At this moment, she felt as if she was dreaming.

Is Alice in Wonderland or something?

How did I end up at the place where I grew up in the span of one night's sleep? It would clearly take more than 10 hours to get here by train.

But how did she get on the train when she was sound asleep?

Mingxi suddenly remembered the buzzing sound of take-off and landing when she was sleeping— a private jet?

And there is Fu Yangxi— These people—

It was as if they had broken into her dream by mistake.

Fu Yangxi stood in front of the car door. He was holding on to the door, waiting for her to get down.

Against the morning light, his short dazzling red hair warmed the cold morning mist by a lot.

Seeing how stunned she was, Fu Yangxi leaned over slightly, curled up the corner of his mouth and smiled, "What are you still in a daze for?"

Mingxi got out of the car slowly while Fu Yangxi covered the top of the car door.

He kicked a board under the car, enough to cover the water in the mud.

"Wele home, little girl*" he said to Zhao Mingxi.

he said this in English.

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Chapter 30 (Part 1)

"…"

Fu Yangxi's sudden use of such greasy English instantly pulled Mingxi back from the illusion.

He Yang couldn't help but roll her eyes. She said to Ke Chengwen, "Do all of you from the International Class act like him?"

Ke Chengwen took advantage of Fu Yangxi's lack of time to berate him and covered his mouth to whisper to He Yang, "To be honest, I am the most normal one, and I am also the handsomest guy in class."

He Yang: "…"

Forget it, she shouldn't have had any expectations.

None of them are normal.

Mingxi returned from the state of falling into a dream. She got out of the car and couldn't help but to hold her breath.

She looked at all the familiar but also slightly unfamiliar things in front of her. Her adrenal hormones secreted very quickly, and her heart thumped loudly.

She looked at everyone and couldn't help but to ask, "How did we get here?"

Ke Chengwen said, "There's no runway in your town, so the plane drove to the city center first, and then Xi ge booked two cars. We drove on the mud road for four hours before we got here."

Mingxi looked at Fu Yangxi.

It was difficult for her to describe how she felt at this moment. It was as if someone brought charcoal and lit up a pit of fire during the coldest time and gathered clothes for her, telling her that everything went well.

…

There was something stirring in her throat. Mingxi wanted to say something, but she felt that saying thank you at this time was too strange.

Fu Yangxi, with a sharp and sloppy breath of vitality, was so pompous and enthusiastic that he could be picked out from the crowd at one glance.

Mingxi used to approach him purely for luck, but now he was a very important person for Mingxi, even if he didn't have any luck.

Very important. Mingxi quietly made this decision in her heart.

Due to Zhao Mingxi's stare, Fu Yangxi's face became hot all of a sudden.

"Well, there is nothing difficult in the world so long as you are rich." Fu Yangxi tried his best to calm down. He stroked his hair backwards with one hand. Then, triumphantly, he put on a cool expression saying 'this was just a piece of cake. I'm just doing it out of convenience so you don't have to be too touched'.

He took Zhao Mingxi's school bag out of the car with one hand.

As soon as he was done being proud, Ke Chengwen suddenly complained, "By the way, Xi ge, you are really good at making last minute decisions. Any day would have been fine, but you just had to come over here in the middle of the night last night! It was just after a downpour, so there is mud everywhere. I almost fell apart. And Zhao Mingxi, how heavy are you? Xi ge said that you were too heavy and we couldn't even move you. We had to—"

Fu Yangxi's ears became red all of a sudden. He interrupted him roughly, "You sure do talk a lot, don't you? Would you like to sign up for the one-million-words per hour contest?"

Ke Chengwen: "…"

He Yang asked in surprise, "Is there really such a contest?"

Mingxi couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, alright, everyone get in. The wind is so strong here." Fu Yangxi urged as he glanced at Zhao Mingxi's earlobe which had gone white due to the cold.

Mingxi nodded and took a deep breath. She mentally prepared herself to walk towards the dilapidated courtyard deep in the alley.

As for Fu Yangxi, he went around and said a few words to the two drivers.

There was the sound of the engine starting, and the two drivers quickly drove their old cars away from the bumpy road.

Jiang Xiuqiu fell behind. He rubbed his palms together. He wanted nothing but to pull his sweater collar over his head right now as he trembled with the cold. He walked to Fu Yangxi and asked with a cold breath, "So when will they come over and pick us up?"

"Tomorrow morning at seven o'clock."

Jiang Xiuqiu said in a low voice, "Then doesn't it mean that we have to spend the night here?"

Fu Yangxi glanced at Zhao Mingxi who was walking in front and said casually, "It's rare for my Little Mask to come here, and besides—" Fu Yangxi glanced left and right before saying in a low voice, "I checked, the green leather train that can bring us back only operates once every day at seven o'clock in the morning."

"Wait." Jiang Xiuqiu's sleepy eyelids suddenly twitched, "Don't tell me we have to take a train when we go back. Where's the private plane which we used when we came?!"

"My grandfather was notified as soon as we got off the plane." Fu Yangxi took out his phone and glanced at it. "30— Now 52 missed calls. I didn't answer them, so he cancelled my permission— What are you doing? Jiang Xiuqiu, what's with that look? Have you been poisoned?"

"You're playing with death," Jiang Xiuqiu said. "He'll teach you a lesson the moment you get home."

"That's my business." Fu Yangxi didn't take it seriously. In fact, he continued in a justified manner. "Look at the beautiful scenery here. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had the chance to come out and see the great rivers and mountains of our motherland!"

Jiang Xiuqiu glanced at the poor countryside around him: "…"

Then I really have to thank you, Young Master.

Mingxi walked into the yard.

The familiar small tea table made out of bamboo in the yard was gone. It was left in the corner under the eaves. No one had moved it for a long time, leaving a layer of dust.

The window paper she had pasted on the glass window was peeled off as well, leaving only a mark.

The gardenias were gone too, and the earth was covered with rough and crude marble bricks.

The earth-red courtyard wall has also been rebuilt.

To be precise, this area was not owned by Mingxi and her grandmother, but by Aunt Li's family who lived next door. It used to be rented out. After her grandmother passed away, Aunt Li renovated the small yard.

Everything remained the same, but the people have changed.

Nonetheless, Mingxi's mood was completely different from that of her previous life.

After her grandmother passed away in her previous life, she always came back alone. Not to mention how desperate she was when she came back after knowing she had terminal illness.

As she walked through the crowd, she felt that she did not belong anywhere.

But this time, perhaps it was because of the sound of a group of friends mucking around, the courtyard became lively.

Mingxi's mood also became bright and cheerful, full of hope for the future.

Fu Yangxi walked over with her schoolbag. He had one hand in his pocket, and the other handing her Yunnan Baiyao's steam eye mask. He looked around, trying his best not to look at her and pretended to be nonchalant about it. "Put it on, your eyes are swollen."

Mingxi unpacked the disposable eye mask and found that it was a steam eye mask with a hollow-out design, and the eyes could be exposed.

After she put it on, Fu Yangxi glanced at her.

Zhao Mingxi had fair skin, jet-black eyes, long black eyelashes, and the whites of her eyes were red like a rabbit's.

After putting it on, the two pointed tips on the corners of the blindfold were lifted up, making her look even more like a dazed rabbit.

Fu Yangxi almost could not maintain his cold expression.

"Is it funny?" Mingxi pressed the hot part around her eyes with her hand in order to warm her hands as well. She asked, "Where did you get it from?"

Fu Yangxi took out a similar pack. "I just got it on the way."

Jiang Xiuqiu who was standing at a corner in the cold: …

Who was the one who asked the driver to park the car for almost half a day at the passenger terminal?

As Fu Yangxi was carrying her school bag in one hand, he spent a long time struggling to open the packaging with one hand.

Mingxi reached out her hand and opened it for him. Then, she went on her tiptoes and put it on him. "Don't move."

Fu Yangxi held his breath suddenly.

The air was chilly, and Zhao Mingxi's pale face became even whiter due to the cold.

In just the span of one night, her face seemed to have gotten a little smaller. Most of her face was covered by the eye mask, with only light pink lips and a white chin exposed.

She leaned in.

Fu Yangxi swallowed, feeling his blood rush to his scalp.

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Chapter 30 (Part 2)

Ke Chengwen jumped to them like a monkey and yelled, "It's not fair. I didn't sleep well either. Jiang Xiuqiu took the back seat for himself, causing my legs to go numb and my dark circles to come out. Why do I have no part in this?!"

The atmosphere was instantly destroyed.

"Aren't your f*cking eye circles usually dark?!" Fu Yangxi pushed his head away angrily. "There's none left. I only bought two."

Ke Chengwen: "…"

Mingxi received so much help from them last night. She felt that she had developed a revolutionary friendship with them.

She shyly took off the eye mask from her face and said, "Why don't I give mine to you? I've slept enough, and my eyes don't feel uncomfortable."

Ke Chengwen was just about to happily accept it.

Fu Yangxi slapped his hand away.

With a long face, Fu Yangxi took out another three from the bag. "Here."

Ke Chengwen: "???"

Mingxi asked, "Didn't you say that there's only two?"

Fu Yangxi's face didn't flush, his heart didn't skip a beat nor did he blink. "I forgot that there was another box."

"…"

All five of them put on the eye mask, causing them to look like Jiang Yang thieves who broke in and robbed people. It shocked Aunt Li who was on her way to wash the vegetables with a porcelain basin.

Mingxi quickly took off her eye mask and walked over. "Aunt Li, it's me. I've come back for a quick visit."

"It's Mingxi?!" Aunt Li recognized Mingxi and immediately put down the porcelain basin. She came over and pulled her closer to look at her carefully. Then, she said with a heavy emotion, "Mingxi has become prettier."

Aunt Li was very enthusiastic. She coaxed the five of them to stay for dinner. She set the brazier on fire, allowing them to surround it and warm their hands. After she was done with her work, she dragged Mingxi aside to talk for a long time.

Mingxi stayed in her old room for a long time, picking up the things that she did not have the time to take with her previously one by one.

For lunch, they ate a big pot of rice from Aunt Li's house. Although it was steaming hot, the rice was hard and the taste of the dishes was average.

But Fu Yangxi and Jiang Xiuqiu did not say anything. Ke Chengwen and He Yang also actively helped Aunt Li wash the dishes.

In the blink of an eye, evening had arrived.

Mingxi planned to pay respects to her grandmother. Except for Jiang Xiuqiu, who was extremely cold and inseparable from the brazier, the other three went with her.

They bought lighters and colorful paper money from a store in town, stuffed them in a red plastic bag, and walked up the mountain through the muddy terrain.

There were many graves on the mountain. This kind of small town was not as particular as how people would be in a big city, as seen from how the graves were scattered everywhere.

Mingxi's grandmother's grave was in a remote corner on a relatively sloping hill. As it was currently raining and the ground was slippery, one could easily fall with a slip of the foot.

After they paid their respects which lasted only 10 minutes, Ke Chengwen and He Yang had each slipped at least once.

Thus, Mingxi said to He Yang, "The three of you should head back first."

He Yang looked at the muddy water on her body. They had no choice but to go back, else the muddy water would soak into their clothes and it would be immensely uncomfortable.

Besides, they were done paying their respects, and outsiders like them ought not prolong their stay, so they said, "Then we'll head back first. You should be careful not to fall as well."

"Alright." Mingxi nodded.

Fu Yangxi pretended not to hear her. He said, "I didn't fall. I'll wait for you."

The mountain was remote and secluded. It simply wasn't a place suited for a girl on her own. Thus, Ke Chengwen said, "Then, Xi ge, stay with Zhao Mingxi for a while. He Yang and I will go down first."

The moment the two of them left, the mountain instantly fell quiet.

Mingxi burned the paper money silently.

Fu Yangxi stood aside and looked down at her. He scratched the back of his head, distraught as he did not know how to comfort her. In fact, he almost wanted to call Ke Chengwen back.

Mingxi was the first to look up at him. She smiled. "There's no need for you to comfort me. I'm not sad. Are we going back to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah—" Fu Yangxi let out a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to talk about going back with the train, both of them heard the continuous sound of a dog barking.

It's barks were too intimidating, as if it was going to rush over at any time.

Mingxi was taken aback. She quickly put down the paper money and stood up. "Since when was there a dog on this mountain?!"

She grabbed Fu Yangxi's wrist and was about to drag him away.

Mingxi didn't know if it was her misperception, but Fu Yangxi was staring at the Tibetan mastiff. His body was extremely stiff, and the palm of his hand which was held by Mingxi was full of sweat.

It was the first time Mingxi saw him like this. There was no expression on his face. In fact, it was mixed with a little coldness.

He stubbornly bit his lower lip.

"Fu Yangxi!" Mingxi yelled. She was shocked by his behaviour.

Fu Yangxi reluctantly withdrew from that state and his Adam's apple bobbed. After he realized what was going on, he said, "Oh no" before he quickly pulled Mingxi around and ran.

Due to their one moment of hesitation, a tall Tibetan mastiff rushed towards them with a toothy grin.

The dog had a strong spine and its eyes were black.

In an instant, the sharp fangs in its mouth got closer to them, and the pungent heat overwhelmed their senses.

Fu Yangxi stood in front of Zhao Mingxi.

The two slipped on their feet and suddenly lost their footing. They stepped on the slippery soil and fell to the bottom of the hillside.

As the soil was soft, they were not injured.

However, they could see that the dog was about to rush down again.

"Blackie!"

The dog barked and bared its teeth fiercely at them. Soon a local farmer came over and stretched out a hand at them apologetically. "I'm sorry. The two of you, quick, I'll pull you up."

Fu Yangxi helped Mingxi up. "Are you hurt?"

Mingxi shook her head. "No."

Fu Yangxi pulled a long face. He was furious at the middle-aged man who was holding the dog. "Don't bother about us. Just tie your dog up and pull it away!"

When Fu Yangxi and Mingxi returned, there was more muddy water on their bodies than He Yang and Ke Chengwen that they practically became clay figures.

Aunt Li was taken aback. She quickly asked them to take a bath.

As Mingxi was more familiar with the facilities here, she washed up quickly. After she was done, she changed into the clothes Aunt Li gave her and came out.

Fu Yangxi was comparatively slower.

"You guys met a giant dog?" Jiang Xiuqiu walked over and asked.

"Yes." Mingxi thought of Fu Yangxi's reaction in the afternoon and felt that something was wrong. She asked out of worry, "Does Fu Yangxi have some kind of phobia against dogs?"

His reaction today was very abnormal. Even when he came back to take a bath, he remained silent. There was a huge difference as compared to his usual arrogant self.

"It's not a big deal, it's just—"

Just as Jiang Xiuqiu was about to speak, he was interrupted by Fu Yangxi who came out of the shower. "F*ck, you got caught. Don't speak ill of me behind my back!"

Fu Yangxi's short red hair was dripping wet and his hair was not quite dry. He hurriedly pulled Zhao Mingxi behind him, away from Jiang Xiuqiu.

He returned to his usual cocky personality and looked at Zhao Mingxi in a displeased manner. "Little Mask, enough. You said that you only recognize me as the boss, yet you still talk bad about me with other people!"

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Chapter 31 (Part 1)

Despite his lack of great popularity, Zhao Mo was still considered a celebrity. Therefore, it was no surprise that some news agencies posted about him entering the police station. But before Zhao Mo's manager could finish preparing the emergency measures, the news was suppressed by the Fu family.

After all, the matter involved the Young Master of the Fu family. Although they looked down on a D-list celebrity, they did not want this matter to blow up.

Either way, a huge weight was lifted off Zhao Mo's manager's shoulders.

At the hospital, Zhao Mo belatedly realized that he had been blocked by Zhao Mingxi. He was in disbelief. His fox eyes were blown wide, his fingers poking at the phone. He looked at Zhao Zhanhuai in shock. "She blocked me?! What the hell? She blocked me?!"

Zhao Zhanhuai saw that Zhao Mo was still unclear about the situation, but he was too lazy to deal with him, so he asked his assistant to help him clean up Zhao Mo's things and prepared to leave the hospital.

Zhao Mo softened his look of arrogance. He couldn't help but say, "Could it be that Zhao Mingxi broke off with our family because of me…? Because I've always been bullying her?"

Zhao Zhanhuai thought: You were definitely part of the reason.

Zhao Yuning, who was sitting aside, crossed his arms. When he saw how Zhao Mo was acting, he felt a little relieved. At least Zhao Mingxi hated him more.

Zhao Yuning deliberately said, "Er ge, who else could it be if not you? I've always gotten along very well with Mingxi. Da ge and dad are always in the company, so you bullied Mingxi all day when you were at home— Oh, and mom—"

When Zhao Yuning thought of Madam Zhao, he closed his mouth. There was a slightly dejected expression on his face.

As Zhao Zhanhuai listened to Zhao Yuning's words, he was oddly amused by it. He added with a bitter tone, "Also, Yuning and I were the first to know that Mingxi had severed all ties with our family. You were the last to know. Just by this, you'll know who Mingxi regards as more important in her heart."

The expression on Zhao Mo's face was one of extreme gloom. "Zhao Mingxi doesn't know what's good for her."

The nurse who was watching all this: "…"

What's there to be compared?!

Zhao Mo was helped out of the bed. As soon as his right foot touched the ground, he hissed in pain, "Slowly! Slowly!"

He touched his earrings that had come off during the fight and couldn't help but to be annoyed. "If I ever meet those stinky brats led by the red-haired guy again, I'll beat them to death. As for Zhao Mingxi, if she doesn't want to come home, let her be. Her attempt to try to cut off contact with our family was probably instigated by that red-haired guy! After a while, her thoughts will be cleared up and she'll know to return to us!"

"I refuse to believe that a 17 or 18-year-old can pull off such a stunt!"

However, the moment he finished speaking, no one continued the conversation.

Zhao Mo raised his head. He saw how deep in thought and worried Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning were.

He remembered the indifferent look in Zhao Mingxi's eyes at the library that day. He felt his heart drop to his stomach and couldn't help but ask, "—It can't be true, right? Has she really severed all ties with us? Is she this rebellious now?"

"What do you think?" Zhao Zhanhuai raised his eyebrows and said, "Dad was furious with me last night because of this incident. I still don't know how to deal with it."

Only then did Zhao Mo's expression change.

He gave it some thought and sneered, "Hey, this is a big deal. I'm not leaving anymore, I'll stay and settle this matter."

Zhao Yuning couldn't help but say, "Er ge, what can you possibly do? I'm already thankful if you don't make things worse."

Zhao Yuning originally wanted to go back to the hotel, but Zhao Zhanhuai said that the family was going to have a meeting because of Zhao Mingxi's matter.

Hence why he reluctantly got into Zhao Zhanhuai's car.

As soon as they entered the house, the three brothers felt that the atmosphere at home was particularly solemn.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Zhanhuai walked over and asked.

Madam Zhao's eyes were red and swollen, and Mr. Zhao's face was pale. Zhao Yuan came over and handed him a piece of paper.

Zhao Zhanhuai took a glance at it. His eyelids suddenly twitched. This was a letter from a lawyer asking them to return Miss Zhao Mingxi's personal belongings— including photos, the household registration book and other items as soon as possible.

It also emphasized that the portrait of Miss Zhao Mingxi was to be removed from group photos.

The inscription was Zhang Yize. He was the lawyer who was next to Young Master Fu when they met at the police station that day.

This lawyer's letter was like a slap in the face. It hit every single one of them who thought that Zhao Mingxi would not really leave.

"I really didn't think that Mingxi would actually do this…" Madam Zhao covered her face and cried again. "At that time, when she ran away from home, I scolded her and called her a brat. I thought she was a kid throwing tantrums again. I even felt that she was terribly annoying… but I didn't think that she would really cut off relations with me. Why is she so decisive? I carried her in my womb for 10 months…"

"Stop crying!" Mr. Zhao could feel an incoming headache after hearing Madam Zhao's muttering all morning.

Zhao Mo and Zhao Yuning took a look at the lawyer's letter, their expressions solemn and worried.

After Madam Zhao stopped sobbing, the living room was silent for a while.

Everyone found it difficult to breathe.

Zhao Mo grabbed his silver hair, turned around and sat down on the sofa. "I think all this happened because of that brat with the surname Fu! It's fine if Zhao Mingxi won't return now, she will definitely come back one day—"

"Shut up!" Mr. Zhao stopped him. "Don't you understand the current situation? Your sister, your biological sister, was bullied by you so much that she left!"

"Why are you blaming me for this?" Zhao Mo also got angry. "I just came back, how would I know—"

Mr. Zhao reprimanded, "If you didn't go to school and ridicule your sister again, would your sister act like this?!"

Zhao Mo got upset and wanted to rebut him, but Zhao Zhanhuai frowned and said, "Enough."

The Zhao family was practically in shambles.

Instead, Zhao Yuan seemed to be ignored by them.

Zhao Yuan stood in the corner, biting her lower lip. She gradually pinched her nails into the palms of her hands.

She never thought that Zhao Mingxi's departure would have such a huge impact on the Zhao family.

Yet before Zhao Mingxi came, they belonged to her alone.

She didn't know when Zhao Mingxi began to occupy the spaces in their hearts.

…

Even for Zhao Mo, he found teasing Zhao Mingxi, who had a bad temper, much more fun than teasing her.

Mingxi left home completely last night. When Zhao Yuan got up this morning, she saw Madam Zhao telling people to move some things.

She thought she was going to empty Zhao Mingxi's room and restore their life back to how it used to be.

But she didn't expect Madam Zhao to keep all of Mingxi's things. She made people put dust-proof cloth on her things, so that when Mingxi came back, these things would not be dusty.

—Even if Zhao Mingxi has made it clear, everyone is still waiting for her to come back.

Madam Zhao also told her to avoid contact with Zhao Mingxi at school so as not to trigger Mingxi.

Zhao Yuan felt as if her heart was being stuffed with something.

She carefully brought up Aunt Zhang, the nanny who had been driven away, to Madam Zhao.

This time, Madam Zhao's answer was very firm. In fact, she was very annoyed when she mentioned this person. "She bullied Mingxi, so she definitely can't come back here. Don't say anything on her behalf anymore."

…

Zhao Yuan could feel that everything in the family was changing.

And because of the break between Mingxi and Zhao family in front of the police station last night, this change was rapidly exacerbated.

The balance suddenly tilted towards Zhao Mingxi.

…

"Maybe I should leave," Zhao Yuan suddenly said. Her words broke the deadlock. "It might be because Mingxi hates me, that's why she doesn't want to come home."

She stood there, her tears falling down in huge droplets. She was obviously overwhelmed by their argument.

The Zhao family turned to look at her at the same time.

Mr. Zhao stopped her immediately. "What are you talking about? What are you leaving for? This is none of your business. I promised a long time ago that the Zhao family is not so poor that we can't even raise another child."

Madam Zhao looked at Zhao Yuan's red-rimmed eyes, and she felt a little sad.

…Under normal circumstances, she would have immediately gone and hugged Zhao Yuan.

But last night, Madam Zhao's mind was filled with all the memories of Zhao Mingxi spending time with her. Somehow, she felt as if she would be sorry to her biological daughter, Zhao Mingxi, if she did so. Suddenly, her heart made a painful squeeze.

So Madam Zhao merely moved her fingertips and did nothing. She just verbally assured her, "Yes, don't talk such nonsense."

Zhao Yuan covered her face, tears dripping from her fingers.

Zhao Mo was accustomed to seeing women cry in the entertainment industry, so his eyes suddenly caught something curious when he saw Zhao Yuan.

Saying such things at this time would make her sound very kind, but why—

Why does it feel like something's not right?

Zhao Mo hadn't seen Zhao Yuan for a long time. He felt that Zhao Yuan seemed to have changed from what he remembered.

But quickly he wondered if he was being too sensitive. He actually used the way he would look at people in the entertainment industry to look at his sister.

Zhao Yuning's expression was more obvious. He used to think that Zhao Yuan was always the wronged party, that it was Zhao Mingxi who took her things. But since the last conflict in the Literature Department, he felt that he couldn't understand Zhao Yuan anymore.

Zhao Yuan might be crying now, but her tears may not necessarily be true.

Maybe she's pulling some tricks out of her sleeve again.

Zhao Yuning suddenly let out a cold snort of disdain.

Zhao Yuan: "…"

The whole family: "…"

Madam Zhao explained, "Yuning and Yuanyuan had a fight, and they haven't resolved it yet."

But at this moment, no one had the mind to care about the conflict between Zhao Yuning and Zhao Yuan.

Everyone was silent in this gloomy atmosphere.

Zhao Zhanhuai was called to the study by Mr. Zhao. Naturally, he wanted to talk about Zhao Mingxi's matter.

Only Zhao Mo with his legs crossed, observed Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuan as they went upstairs. He felt around his chin for a moment, and beckoned to Zhao Yuning, "Come here, tell me what happened between you and Zhao Yuan?"

As for E Xiaoxia, she spent the whole weekend thinking about what she heard last Friday.

She was puzzled.

She made a special trip to the school information department after school on Friday. She logged into the main website, and checked the student status information of Zhao Mingxi and Zhao Yuan. She saw that it was clearly October 14th.

——So why did Zhao Mingxi tell Fu Yangxi that her birthday was on the 24th of October?

A slip of the tongue?

She didn't want to receive gifts, so she gave out a random date?

But E Xiaoxia intuitively felt that this matter was not that simple.

She faintly wondered if Zhao Mingxi was actually the adopted or illegitimate daughter of the Zhao family.

But she was not sure.

So on Saturday morning, she couldn't help but to go to the villa complex where the Zhao family was located.

She used to come here often. After she arrived, she would go to Zhao Yuan's room to play. The Zhao family's driver and others knew her. In addition, the nanny of the Zhao family didn't know what happened between her and Zhao Yuan. She thought that they were still friends, so she let her change her shoes and enter.

As soon as E Xiaoxia entered the Zhao family's home, she noticed that Madam Zhao was ordering people to cover the things in Zhao Mingxi's room with dust-proof cloth.

And Madam Zhao was staring at a photo frame of Zhao Mingxi in the corridor in a daze. Then, she covered her face and weeped.

What's going on?

Is she sad because Zhao Mingxi ran away from home?

E Xiaoxia was a little confused.

Zhao Yuan came downstairs and immediately saw E Xiaoxia sitting in the living room with a glass of water. Her expression changed immediately and she hurriedly walked down. "Who let you in?"

The nanny who was at the side panicked and said quickly, "Miss, I thought she's your friend."

Zhao Yuan said, "I don't have such a snake as a friend. Don't let her in in the future."

E Xiaoxia was kicked out just two minutes after she sat down.

But she was not surprised. After all, the original intention of her visit was to assess the situation.

While E Xiaoxia walked out, she turned her head to look inside. She saw Zhao Yuan go up to comfort Madam Zhao, but Madam Zhao gently flicked her hand away. Then, Madam Zhao entered the room, and Zhao Yuan stood outside with an ugly expression.

Seeing that E Xiaoxia was still looking around outside the door, the nanny rushed over to drive her away. "Miss Zhao wants you to leave immediately!"

"Why so fierce?" E Xiaoxia mumbled. She carried her school bag and quickly left.

In her mind, she had a feeling that things in the Zhao family were very messed up.

Zhao Mingxi was only picked up from the country two years ago. If her birthday is not the same as Zhao Yuan's birthday, it means that one of them must be an illegitimate or adopted daughter.

And judging by Madam Zhao's attitude—

Madam Zhao's sudden reluctance to part with Zhao Mingxi; Zhao Zhanhuai's repeated visits to our school to find Zhao Mingxi; the Zhao family still caring about Zhao Mingxi— This shows that Zhao Mingxi is not the illegitimate daughter.

But Madam Zhao's attitude towards Zhao Yuan is a little too much, it changed from loving to slight indifference. The same goes to Zhao Zhanhuai, who stopped picking up Zhao Yuan after school during this period— This means that the event that may have led to such a turning point is that the Zhao family discovered that Zhao Yuan is not their biological daughter.

Could it be that Zhao Yuan is the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Zhao?

E Xiaoxia made a lot of speculation. Her instincts told her that she must have guessed something correctly.

It's just that there was currently no evidence to back her up.

…

She grit her teeth and felt that she shouldn't just let go of this opportunity. She had to get some information from Zhao Yuan or Zhao Mingxi.

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Chapter 31 (Part 2)

Over at Tongcheng.

After they got down from the mountain, the sky turned dark in the blink of an eye.

During dinner, Fu Yangxi kept interrupting them, so Mingxi couldn't find out anything from Jiang Xiuqiu.

Everyone was extremely curious, especially Ke Chengwen as he stretched out his head to listen to the story of how they were so frightened by the Tibetan mastiff.

Fu Yangxi slammed his chopsticks on the porcelain bowl, his face flushed. He was really annoyed. "I admit that I'm afraid of dogs, okay?!"

"F*ck!" Ke Chengwen laughed out loud. He said in surprise, "Xi ge, you also have something you're afraid of?! What's so scary about dogs? They're such cute creatures! No wonder you never come to my house, it's because I have a pet husky. Next time I will take it to school so you guys can take a look at him. He's very well-behaved, and he isn't fierce at all."

Fu Yangxi was all jittery. He stood up and grabbed Ke Chengwen by the back of his collar. He warned in a dark tone, "You're dead if you dare to bring it to school!"

Ke Chengwen fled the room in fear.

He Yang and Aunt Li who had their bowls in their hands smiled at the conversation. They turned their heads to look at the two of them.

All of a sudden, the air was filled with cheerfulness.

But Mingxi thought of Fu Yangxi's abnormal reaction at that time and couldn't laugh.

She was very worried, but she didn't know whether to ask about it or not.

She turned her head and stared at Fu Yangxi for a while. She couldn't help but say to Ke Chengwen who was running around, "A fear of dogs is nothing to be ashamed of. I'm also afraid of them. Sit down and eat. The food will get cold later."

Upon seeing this, Aunt Li gave Fu Yangxi, who she thought was the most handsome among the boys, a piece of bamboo shoot. "This is a specialty of ours. You young people from the city must have never eaten it. Give it a try."

Fu Yangxi looked at the black bamboo shoots and tried not to show his disgust. "No thanks."

"At least have a bite." Aunt Li stretched out her chopsticks, reluctant to give up.

Fu Yangxi simply withdrew his bowl. "Auntie, I never eat this."

Mingxi broke the deadlock by placing a small piece into Fu Yangxi's bowl. She whispered, "Take it as a token of kindness from Aunt Li. If you're not allergic to it, you should at least try it."

It was the first time for Fu Yangxi to receive a dish given by Zhao Mingxi, and it was by leaning her small head over, whispering gently as she did so. He glanced at Zhao Mingxi, and the tips of his ears suddenly became hot. He pretended to reluctantly pick up the bamboo shoot. He put it into his mouth and chewed slowly. "Fine, then I guess I have no choice but to take a bite."

Aunt Li who still had her chopsticks stretched out. "…"

Their supper was finished in the midst of such chaos.

Mingxi and He Yang shared a room.

The trip took a lot of their energy, and having been too tired during the day, so all of them quickly fell asleep.

He Yang was so tired that she even snored slightly.

Mingxi couldn't fall asleep, so she went out with a jacket on and gently packed up the sewing box and other things that her grandmother had used before.

The moon was shining brightly and the night was silent. It gave Mingxi some time to process her emotions.

She missed her grandmother very much. She thought, don't worry grandma, I will live a good life this time.

…

On the next day, the sun came through the mist and shone on the earth. It was a new day.

They all skipped class and took the train back to City A.

It was a 14 hour train journey. By the time they left the train station sleepily, it was already 9 p.m., and the lights around the train station were bright.

Mingxi glanced at the time, and was suddenly shocked awake. She almost forgot about Uncle Dong's family's return to China!

The flight the Dong family took happened to land at around 10 p.m.. There was still an hour for her to get to the airport.

Mingxi hurriedly took her schoolbag from Fu Yangxi. "I almost forgot, I have to go to the airport to pick up a friend!"

Ke Chengwen drove the car from the parking lot and stopped in front of them. "Come on, Zhao Mingxi. I just happened to have someone park the car here. I'll take you to the airport, and then I'll take He Yang and Jiang Xiuqiu home."

He looked at He Yang and Jiang Xiuqiu. "You guys aren't in a hurry, right? Just sleep in the car if you're not in a hurry."

He Yang yawned and climbed into the car. "I'm so tired. I'll get in the car first."

Mingxi felt it was too troublesome for Ke Chengwen, and he didn't have much rest after taking the train for more than 10 hours. She hurriedly said, "It will be a long way around to the airport, you don't have to do this! I can just go by myself—"

"What can you do on your own?! You want to be dragged into a ravine by a black car and sold off in the middle of the night?"

Fu Yangxi interrupted Zhao Mingxi.

He raised his hand to tighten Mingxi's scarf, then took her by the shoulder and turned her around.

Mingxi felt dizzy. By the time she reacted, Fu Yangxi had already opened the car door and pushed her in.

Mingxi: "…"

Jiang Xiuqiu glanced at Fu Yangxi. He patted him on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "You're on your own, buddy."

After that, he turned back and got into the passenger seat without hesitation.

As soon as Fu Yangxi was about to close the car door, Mingxi hurriedly blocked him. Fearing that he would close the door, she stretched out her feet to stop him. She quickly raised her head and asked, "What about you?"

"Of course this young master has to wait for his family members to pick him up. How can I squeeze into a small broken car with you? Look at Ke Chengwen's car. It's all covered in dust having been out in the open all night."

Fu Yangxi stuffed his hands in his pockets, his face full of disgust. He stared at Zhao Mingxi. "What are you doing? You can't be worried about me——"

Before he could finish speaking, he heard Mingxi say, "I am worried about you."

"…"

Fu Yangxi couldn't help but swallow hard. His heart was pounding and his eyes fell on Zhao Mingxi's face.

She was worried for him.

Fu Yangxi wanted to smile, but he was afraid of being discovered.

He licked his back molars quickly, looked away, and tried to look cool for a second. "Please, what is there to worry about?"

Mingxi asked, "You mobilized a private jet privately and skipped class. Your parents won't scold you, right?"

Fu Yangxi swallowed.

He stretched out his hand, ruffled Mingxi's hair, and said proudly, "Hey, what's the big deal? I'm the only child of the family, okay? How can they blame me for such minor things?"

"Little Mask, just go or you'll miss your schedule later."

Mingxi looked at him for a while before she retracted her foot. "Okay, you have to take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will." Fu Yangxi smiled, trying his best not to hide his embarrassment.

Fu Yangxi closed the door lightly.

Mingxi looked back.

The night lights shone brightly behind Fu Yangxi. The young man who was tall and slender waved at her.

As soon as they left, a black limousine slowly drove over.

Half an hour later, in the Fu family's old mansion.

The lights under the eaves were all on.

A well-dressed old man was playing chess as a few people chased after the already beaten up Fu Yangxi.

The mouths of Lawyer Zhang and the housekeeper twitched as they looked at Fu Yangxi's flame-like red hair getting kicked out of the room in the middle of the night. He ran for his life before he was ushered into the courtyard.

Finally, he had no choice but to jump on a decorative small mountain.

Fu Yangxi grabbed the fake mountain, turned his head and glared at the old man. He furiously yelled, "I don't care, I like her! If you dare touch her, I'll jump off right now! I'll jump from here— no, I'll jump from the building we own! I'll crash our company's stock!"

The old man was so angry that his blood pressure went straight up.

He didn't know about this before. After all, although Fu Yangxi always got into fights and troubles in school, he never did anything on a huge scale.

That was until Fu Yangxi was sent to the police station the night before. The news couldn't be kept secret anymore and finally reached his ears.

He immediately asked Fu Yangxi to be brought back. However, this kid became more rampant and even utilized a private jet!

Just to go on a date with a little girl?!

"Why would I want to touch her? I can just put my hands on you! I will definitely beat you to death, you little bastard!"

The old man rolled up his sleeves and angrily moved his old arms and legs to climb up the fake mountain. "Even if you like her, you still have to see whether she likes you or not! I can't believe you're experiencing unrequited love. You are not worthy of being a member of the Fu family!"

Lawyer Zhang and the housekeeper hurriedly helped the old man down. "Please don't do this, Sir. You might fall."

The old man was panting as he held the chessboard underneath the fake mountain.

"It's not an unrequited love. We're both in love with each other!"

The old man scolded, "'In love with each other', my ass!"

Fu Yangxi yelled from the top of the fake mountain, "If I am killed, no one will inherit the family estate."

He knew very well that the old man didn't like Fu Zhiyi.

The old man trembled with anger. He held the chessboard and pointed at Fu Yangxi. "If it wasn't because your elder brother died, you bastard would never inherit this! You killed your father and brother, yet you still have the audacity to bring this up! If it wasn't because of you, your brother may still be living well in this world. He was my favourite and most outstanding grandson. If he was still around, do you think you would even get half a dime?"

Fu Yangxi went stiff, but he quickly recovered. "My brother is no longer here. You only have me. You have no choice."

The old man was furious. He threw away the chessboard and took a pile of kraft paper with photos from Lawyer Zhang. He tossed it under the fake mountain. "I don't care about you, you should figure this out by yourself. Don't be stupid enough to be taken advantage of. You just might find yourself counting money for others."

Fu Yangxi jumped off the fake mountain. He picked up what the old man had thrown at him, but he didn't even bother to open it.

He threw it back to Lawyer Zhang nonchalantly. "What's this? I don't want to look at it. I'm 80% sure that they are probably things used to cause misunderstandings between Zhao Mingxi and I. I don't believe it, I only believe what I see."

The old man's complexion was pale. "Get out of my sight! I want you out within a minute and go back to your own home. Don't let me see your face anymore!"

Lawyer Zhang hurriedly glanced at Fu Yangxi's limping leg as he got down the fake mountain. He couldn't help but say, "The young master has suffered several beatings just now, and his back and legs are probably bruised. Should we call the doctor to get some medicine?"

"He deserved it," the old man scolded Fu Yangxi. "Your brother is dead. What's wrong with suffering just a little injury?"

After he finished speaking, the old man turned around and left.

Lawyer Zhang turned to look at Fu Yangxi.

Fu Yangxi stood there quietly with his head down, a layer of frost condensed on his short hair. He looked extremely tired.

He was about to turn and leave in silence.

But when he turned around, perhaps it was because he accidentally moved the spot where he was beaten, he couldn't help hissing and his face was all scrunched up in pain.

Lawyer Zhang hurriedly said, "Don't move, I'll send you back. Go back in and lie down for a while."

"Okay." Fu Yangxi wiped his face. With a relaxed tone, he said, "Thank you, Lawyer Zhang."

Lawyer Zhang shook his head. He sighed and said, "I'll bring the car over."

Lawyer Zhang went off to get the car.

It was the first time for Lawyer Zhang's long-time assistant to come to the Fu family's old mansion. It was also his first time witnessing such a scene. He couldn't help but swallow hard before asking in a low voice, "I thought the grandfather and grandson were having fun, what with all that jumping— Why did the old man hit him for real? If I were at the receiving end of those hits, my bones would have shattered. Also, he purposely avoided hitting his face, picking only places where clothes could cover."

Lawyer Zhang replied, "How could he possibly hit his face? If the Fu family's Young Master is seen leaving the Fu family's old mansion with an injury on his face, wouldn't it be all over the news tomorrow?"

The assistant asked again, "But that still doesn't warrant him hitting him as if he is his enemy, right? Young Master Fu can't even walk properly anymore."

"Maybe not to the extent of an enemy. The old man still treats him like a grandson, but there is simply a hurdle that can't be overlooked despite it having been so many years since then. Anyway—" Lawyer Zhang shook his head. "Anyway, just don't ask about this anymore. You understand the saying 'curiosity kills the cat', right?"

The assistant closed his mouth quickly, and dared not question any further.

ray's note: hey everyone! hope you're all doing well. as for me, i have a huge announcement to make: i'll be translating a new novel entitled 琉璃般若花 (Flower of Azure) written by Fresh 果果. you can find the link to the story HERE.

this author is the same person who wrote the novel / drama 花千骨 (The Journey of Flower). for those who have watched or read The Journey of Flower, you will notice that Flower of Azure is quite similar in the sense of its setting and character backgrounds. i'm really excited for this new project. it's definitely different from this book, but i hope you guys can give it a try!

and don't worry, i'll still be working on this story, nothing will change. updates for both novels will be at the same time each Sunday. thanks again for all the support you guys have given me and the story so far. i would describe chapter 31 as the chapter that introduces the new arc which is Fu Yangxi's background. spoiler alert: prepare your tissues!

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Chapter 31 (Part 3)

Lawyer Zhang drove Fu Yangxi back in his car. He couldn't help but glance at Fu Yangxi, who had closed his eyes and calmed down, from his rearview mirror.

This young man has changed a lot.

He remembered the first time he met him. He was still a newcomer in the legal profession, and he followed his boss to deal with the Fu family's affairs.

At that time, Fu Yangxi was only 13 years old, and his elder brother Fu Zhihong was 18 years old.

The two brothers were well-taught. They treated others with modesty and politeness. Anyone in contact with them would feel like a spring breeze had blown through them.

The 13-year-old Fu Yangxi was still a child. His clear eyes were especially clean and innocent. When he ran into a caddie on the golf course he would quickly help him up to apologize. At that time, he was still like Fu Zhihong, with pitch-black short hair, looking like a clean little white poplar, tall and slender.

Then, that incident happened.

The incident was a hot topic at the time. After all, the kidnappers dared to kidnap the two young masters of the Fu family and publicly demanded that Fu Chao personally bring the ransom to redeem his two sons.

It almost appeared in the newspapers at that time, but since it would be a bad influence to their business, the Fu family managed to suppress it with a little money. Only some small gossip circulated in private.

As for what happened to the kidnapping case, even though Lawyer Zhang was already regarded as a trusted friend of the Fu family, he was still not clear about it.

All he knew was that Fu Chao, who had gone to redeem his sons, didn't come back, and neither did Fu Zhihong. They all died there, and the appearance of their corpses was rather gruesome. Because one person escaped, both of them were harshly punished when they were re-captured by the kidnappers.

Only Fu Yangxi returned.

Something must have happened during the kidnapping. Because after his return, not only did Fu Yangxi not receive any comfort or hugs, he was also not forgiven by his grandfather and mother.

At that time, the old man gave him two options: either leave with the money or stay and clean up the mess. Fu Yangxi probably chose the latter.

Then when Lawyer Zhang saw Fu Yangxi again, it was already the beginning of this year.

Fu Yangxi was already 18 years old, and he grew up to be completely different from his brother back then.

Dyed red hair, a lackluster spirit in studying.

There was no trace of that 13-year-old boy anymore.

…

Fu Yangxi opened his eyes abruptly. It gave Lawyer Zhang a shock but he managed to quickly withdraw his gaze.

In the night, the car drove into an exorbitant villa.

There were several cars parked outside the villa, one of which had the license plate of Fu Yangxi's mother.

"Madam is back?" Lawyer Zhang frowned when he saw her car.

"Everything that should come will eventually arrive." Fu Yangxi cheered up and exercised his arms a little. He pushed the door and quickly stepped out of the car.

After taking two steps, he sucked in a deep breath and made larger steps so that he would touch his wounds less often.

The villa was cold. There was not a single photo or frame.

The lights were also frigid.

There was only a lamp in the living room, and a woman with delicate makeup was sitting on the sofa. She held her arms, heard the footsteps, and glanced at him coldly. "I'm surprised that you know how to come home. I heard that you went to the police station. You're really capable now, aren't you?"

Fu Yangxi said nothing. He turned and walked upstairs.

In the next second, a glass crashed and shattered on the floor in front of him with a 'bang'.

The glass shards exploded and cut across the back of Fu Yangxi's hand.

Fu Yangxi's eyelids twitched. The two servants in the corner were almost innocently injured. They hurriedly avoided it.

Fu Yangxi said, "You can leave."

"Thank- Thank you, Young Master." The two quickly hid in the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing?" Fu Yangxi turned around and said in an annoyed manner. "Yes, I went to the police station, but it was Lawyer Zhang who got me out. I didn't bother you to go. What's it got to do with you anyways? And I used the private jet under my own name, so what does it matter to you?"

"You caused your father and brother's death and yet you still dare to talk back! You still have the audacity to be so happy?!" Yu Jiarong gritted her teeth and asked. "You still have the audacity to fall in love? Are you so complacent that you have forgotten what you've done to them?!"

Fu Yangxi tightly clenched his fists.

As Yu Jiarong got closer, she stared at the young man before her who looked very similar to Fu Chao. She asked with a tone as if she was weeping blood, "Why were you the only one who survived?"

"Are you happy to be the only one who survived?"

"That road had no ditches and no obstructions, so why did you run so slowly?"

"Did you know that it was because of you that your father and brother died? Your father loved you so much, but he died because of you. Is your one life worth both of theirs?"

"…"

Fu Yangxi's temples began to throb suddenly. "Have you taken your medicine?"

"I won't eat them! If you send me to the hospital, won't you forget these things? You have to remember your faults forever!"

When she saw how pale he looked and how he was about to turn and leave, Yu Jiarong stopped him angrily, "You can't stand it after just a few words? Your brother and father are dead. Have you ever thought of how cold they would be underground?"

Silence. A while later, Fu Yangxi suppressed his anger and turned upstairs without saying a word.

Yu Jiarong was still yelling behind him, but he chose to ignore it.

…

After tossing and turning on the train all night, Fu Yangxi was so exhausted that he fell asleep on the bed.

He began to lose the distinction between dreams and reality.

…

He kept on running.

The sound of the wind brushed past his ears. Half of his ears were about to be cut off.

In the dark night, the moon was large and round, its distance from the ground very low, as if it could swallow everything. It was cold. His fingers were cracked, the corners of his mouth were swollen, and his face was splattered with blood. He ran forward with all his might.

The sense of rush and panic in the dream spread from within him, and his whole body was covered in sweat.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a dog barking, one after another. It wasn't just one dog, it was a whole group of them.

In the dark night, the group of hungry and vicious dogs kept chasing him. He could practically feel the stench and heat coming from their mouths, lingering by his ears.

Fu Yangxi didn't want his legs to go weak, but his ankle was severely bitten, and the piercing pain soon came.

He fell to the ground abruptly, his hands and elbows fractured in every single place.

The tingling sensation spread all over the body. It was incredibly painful.

His father desperately tried untie the rope around his hands. He wanted to drag out some time so he could escape along the ventilation duct and find help as soon as possible.

He ran for a long time, so long that his lungs felt like they were about to burst.

Suddenly, he was dragged back by the group of hungry dogs.

Little Fu Yangxi cried. He was out of breath, his heart in absolute despair. He tried to snatch his leg back and desperately tried to run forward——

But there was no way for him to make it in time.

He was too late.

He couldn't do anything in time.

In the end, there were only two corpses waiting for him.

Fu Yangxi woke up in cold sweat. He sat up instantly, panting wildly as he did so.

Huge beads of sweat fell drop by drop from that head of short red hair.

After realizing that this was just another nightmare, Fu Yangxi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, swallowed, and calmed down a little.

He sat there for a while. Then, he forced himself up, went to the bedside table to pull out two white bottles and unscrewed the caps.

He poured out a few pills and swallowed them without any water.

However, sleep still did not come to him.

It was always difficult for him to fall asleep at night. He would have nightmares as soon as he slept.

The intermittent crying rang in his ears once more. Fu Yangxi thought he was dreaming again.

But that was not the case.

The cries came from Yu Jiarong's room.

Yu Jiarong often cried in the middle of the night. She had a mild bipolar disorder, but she would never let herself stay in the hospital for long.

After crying for a while, she came over and knocked on Fu Yangxi's door.

The voice of hopelessness and despair came from outside Fu Yangxi's room. It was still the repeated interrogations. "Why were you the only one who survived?"

"Why were you so slow when your father asked you to get help?"

…

Fu Yangxi listened quietly.

A short while later, Yu Jiarong slowly squatted down outside his room. She hid her face as she cried. "I'm sorry, Yangyang, I'm really sorry. It just hurts so much. You'll make me feel better, right? Don't forget your brother— They've all forgotten, no one remembers your brother anymore, but you can't forget."

Fu Yangxi remained silent.

After a while, Yu Jiarong seemed to be a little more sober. She fumbled around and left, sobbing as she went.

Fu Yangxi glanced out the window. The morning fog was hazy.

Another night had passed. The sky was about to be bright again.

His mother had been blaming him for so many years, thinking that he was the only one who escaped.

But sometimes Fu Yangxi would also wonder if he ran faster; if he was stronger and braver; if he didn't have to take a detour because of that group of vicious dogs, even if they pulled his whole leg off— would the outcome be different?

Everyone in the family felt that he and his brother looked too similar. The same face, the same black hair, and the same personality. Whenever they saw him, he reminded them that both Fu Zhihong and Fu Chao were dead. Only Fu Yangxi with the weakest body survived.

So no one wanted to look at him anymore.

After the age of 13, Yu Jiarong always stared at him with hatred in her eyes, hating him for being too similar to Fu Zhihong.

So he dyed his hair red.

Then Yu Jiarong hated him because he no longer looked like Fu Zhihong.

Yu Jiarong hated that Fu Zhihong and Fu Chao were no longer found in him, so she went to pick up Fu Zhiyi.

…

Fu Yangxi lay down again, resting his head on his hands. He stared at the ceiling for a long time in cold sweat.

He tried to make Zhao Mingxi's face appear in his mind.

—Those eyes that were shining, clean and clear when they saw him.

He tried to make her smile fill his mind, and let her voice linger in his ears with the words she said.

—"My name is Zhao Mingxi. I just transferred here from Normal Class Six."

—"Can I run on his behalf?"

…

Little Mask likes me.

Little Mask cares for me.

At least I have Little Mask.

…

After chanting it many times, his anxious mood slowly began to calm down.

Suddenly, there was a madness in Fu Yangxi's heart. He had a mad desire to see Zhao Mingxi. That desire burned hot every night, and it was even more turbulent tonight. If it was Zhao Mingxi, would she blame him if she knew about this? Would she still say 'I'm worried about you' to him?

Fu Yangxi was uncertain.

He couldn't help but get up and put on his shoes and jacket. Then, he jumped out of the window. When he did this, his mind was blank, just like a person who was about to freeze to death, eagerly trying to head towards the scorching fire.

He took off in one of his family's cars.

In the early hours of the morning, the sky was still dark, and the whole world had yet to wake up.

Fu Yangxi rushed all the way to the school dormitory. His cheeks were pale due to the cold. He panted wildly. When he saw the iron gate, he realized that the dormitory where Zhao Mingxi lived had a guard stationed at the entrance.

He stopped running.

A warm yellow light outside the guard's booth dragged his figure long.

White puffs came out of his mouth, and his eyelashes seemed to be condensed with hoarfrost.

After standing blankly for a while, Fu Yangxi collapsed and sat down on the flowerbed next to him in exhaustion.

He wanted to wait for Zhao Mingxi to wake up. He wanted him to be the first person Zhao Mingxi sees when she comes downstairs. He wanted to see her earlier.

No one likes him, they all hate him.

But as long as Zhao Mingxi likes him, he is not afraid.

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Chapter 32

Mingxi was always diligent when it came to getting up early. The sky was still bright, and the world was silent.

She came down with her school bag, took the key from the lady in charge of the dormitories and squatted down to open the iron gate.

As soon as the iron gate was opened, she noticed the tall figure outside.

"Hi, Xi ge. Why are you here so early in the morning? Did you not sleep last night?" Mingxi jumped down the steps three by three and ran down quickly. She arranged the bangs on her forehead. "Is there anything urgent?"

"How could I have not slept?!" Fu Yangxi said with an expression of 'do you think I am a man made out of steel?'. "I fell asleep the moment I got home from the train station yesterday. I woke up early in the morning and came out for a walk since I had nothing to do. I just happened to pass by your dormitory."

Fu Yangxi asked, "Did you manage to pick up your friend yesterday?"

"Yeah, I did." When Mingxi thought of the Dong family, the corners of her lips couldn't help but rise. Even if she hadn't seen them for two years, she didn't feel strange when she met them again. Both Aunt Dong and Uncle Dong have gained weight while Dong Shen has lost weight.

She said, "They will have to find a place to settle down first. I'll be having a meal with them after school today, and Dong Shen will transfer to our school after a while."

"Who?"

"Dong Shen."

Fu Yangxi observed Zhao Mingxi's excited expression and tried not to show the jealousy he felt. He pretended to ask casually, "Is he a boy or a girl?"

"A boy. He's a year younger than me and we used to be neighbors."

Fu Yangxi asked abruptly, "Do you have a crush on him?"

"What are you talking about? We were just neighbors." Mingxi frowned and looked at Fu Yangxi. She wondered if Fu Yangxi, the school bully with only one brain cell, knew what 'having a crush' was. The girl in the music class handed him a thousand paper cranes last time, yet he fiercely asked if the girl wanted to fight him. Fu Yangxi probably isn't even aware of topics like feelings and romance.

"Then does he have a crush on you?"

"No, he doesn't." Mingxi answered helplessly. "I want to study hard now. You also know the situation in my family. I am not Zhao Mingxi. I am Niu Colu* Mingxi. I must raise my grades to a higher level."

Niu Colu is the name of a character from the Chinese drama 'Empresses in the Palace'. This character was both cunning and smart, which is what Mingxi is referring to in this context.

When Fu Yangxi got the answer he wanted, he tried his best not to appear too happy.

He thought triumphantly, she's just using 'studies' as an excuse.

She obviously likes me.

Since it's like this…

"Here." Fu Yangxi stuffed one hand in his pocket, turned his head, and coldly handed a packet of breakfast to Mingxi.

Mingxi was shocked. She took a look at the kraft paper bag and saw that there were McDonald's inside and several Chinese style breakfasts.

She raised her head to look at Fu Yangxi again and said in disbelief, "Is this for me?"

Did the sun come up from the west today?

Mingxi looked at Fu Yangxi who was surrounded by the early morning cold air, with dew condensed on the ends of his hair. Her heart inexplicably skipped a beat. "You- Did you purposely come here early in the morning just to give me breakfast?"

"What do you mean 'purposely'?! Little Mask, how can you be so narcissistic?" Fu Yangxi's pale neck went red as he immediately answered irritably. It was as if he heard some impossible joke. "My driver bought a lot, and since I couldn't finish it, I figured you could help me get rid of the rest. I'm too lazy to hold this. You take it to the classroom and give it to Ke Chengwen and the others."

"Okay." Mingxi glanced at the obvious portion of a few people in her hands.

She also felt that she was a little too narcissistic just now.

For a young master like Fu Yangxi, he could casually call a helicopter for his followers, but he would have to be crazy to do such a thing as squatting downstairs in front of the girls' dormitory just to deliver breakfast early in the morning.

"Then why don't you just take it to class?" Mingxi asked.

Fu Yangxi said, "Can't I stop by and get the clothes I stuffed in your school bag yesterday?"

The jackets that they wore yesterday were all soiled with muddy water, so they bought a few clothes from the shops in the town.

The others had to carry their dirty clothes by themselves, but Fu Yangxi was too lazy to carry them.

His dirty jacket was wrapped in a plastic bag and stuffed in Mingxi's school bag.

Mingxi recalled this and muttered, "I thought you would just throw that jacket away."

It's just a dirty jacket. Did he have to deliberately come here to get it? It also made her feel like she was being narcissistic, thinking that he specially came here to send her breakfast.

"It's very expensive, okay?!" Fu Yangxi yelled angrily. "Go back and take a closer look at the words on the label. It's more than 30,000 yuan per piece! Why else would I be here if I didn't want to get my clothes—"

"Okay, okay. I know it's very expensive. Keep it down." Fu Yangxi's yell was so loud that her ears were about to go numb. She glanced at the people around them, turned and ran upstairs. "Fine, I'll go up and get it now."

Fu Yangxi watched her run up. When he saw how the school bag on her back bumped up and down, his lips curled into a smile.

Mingxi took the clothes down and carried them in a bag. Only then was Young Master Fu satisfied.

The two walked to their class in the morning mist.

After Mingxi entered the classroom, she hurriedly opened a textbook and ate while reading.

After taking just two bites, she put the rest of the breakfast on Ke Chengwen's table and left it to Ke Chengwen.

It wasn't easy to obtain that spot in the Hundred School Tournament. She must prepare well and not waste this opportunity. Regardless of whether she could get the prize in the end, she must make it to the finals.

When Fu Yangxi saw that she only took two bites, he felt that it was such a waste. But seeing as how she was seizing the time to study, he knew it was better not to bother her.

He sat aside, looked at her for a while and couldn't help but ask, "When will you participate in the training camp of the Hundred School Tournament?"

Mingxi turned on her phone and checked the date. She replied, "I have to go to the training camp on October 23rd. It will last for 10 days."

"Then your birthday will be spent at the training camp?"

Mingxi was stunned for a moment. She looked at Fu Yangxi in surprise. She only said a date perfunctorily last time but he remembered it.

Who would've known that with his lack of sleep and poor performance in his studies, his memory is actually so good.

"We'll talk about it when the time comes. It doesn't matter if I don't celebrate it." Mingxi said indifferently. "You accompanied me back to my grandma's place. It's already the best birthday present."

Fu Yangxi said, "We'll think of a solution when the time comes then."

He thought, it should be okay for me to run to the training camp that day.

But this was a surprise, and Fu Yangxi didn't plan to tell her just yet.

Fu Yangxi paused. He flipped through the pages of the book and continued to stare at Zhao Mingxi.

"…"

Zhao Mingxi was very uncomfortable with his stare. She turned her head and looked at him. "What's the matter? Why are you not sleeping this morning?"

In the past, the first thing Fu Yangxi did when he came to school every morning would be to lie on the table to make up for his lack of sleep the night before, and his energy would be quite low.

What's up with him today? Why is he talking so much?

And the way he looked at her was as if he was waiting for her to say something.

Fu Yangxi thought that Zhao Mingxi would add, 'Your birthday is coming soon, I can celebrate it with you as well'.

However, even after waiting for a long time, Zhao Mingxi did not say such a sentence.

He stared at Zhao Mingxi, wondering if Little Mask had forgotten his birthday.

That's impossible.

How could you not remember the birthday of the person you like?

Also, he specifically hinted for Ke Chengwen to emphasize it twice that day.

Zhao Mingxi probably wants to surprise me, that's why she's deliberately pretending that she can't remember my birthday.

"Nothing." When Fu Yangxi thought this way, the corner of his lips curled up, his heart full of expectation. "I told you I had enough sleep last night."

He took out the recharged noise-cancelling headphones and put them on. Then, he pulled out his Pikachu pillow and lied on the table.

As soon as his bored gaze fell out of the window, he saw the group of people from the School Representative Team walking past.

Fu Yangxi didn't know if it was his misperception, but why did he feel that the School Representative Team has been coming up from the stairs on the right of the International Class recently?

Obviously, the most convenient path for students in the Gold Medal Class is to take the stairs on the left.

And they used to use the stairs on the left—

This has caused this group of people to appear more frequently outside the corridors of the International Class.

Even people like Fu Yangxi who never cared and were indifferent to others noticed this.

As well as the person in the lead called Shen something Yao.

Every time he passed by, he would look in Fu Yangxi's direction.

Fu Yangxi raised his head slightly. He frowned unhappily, his eyes dark as he looked back at Shen Liyao with a cold gaze.

"What happened to your hand?" Zhao Mingxi's voice suddenly appeared from beside him.

Mingxi held the gel pen and looked suspiciously at Fu Yangxi's hand which was placed on the table. Because he was lying on the table, his sleeve was slightly lifted up, so the small bruise on his wrist was exposed.

Mingxi may not have noticed it if it was on someone else.

But Fu Yangxi's skin was pale, so the bruises were particularly obvious on him.

"…"

Fu Yangxi came back to his senses. He instantly pulled his sleeve down to cover the bruise.

Seeing that Zhao Mingxi was still looking at him, he raised his eyebrows and said, "I got it when we fell down at that mountain after being chased by the dog."

Mingxi asked, "This was from the day before yesterday? But I don't remember seeing this injury on you when we returned on the train yesterday."

Fu Yangxi rebutted, "You were so dizzy on the train, how could you have remembered it clearly?"

"Alright then." Mingxi didn't pry any further. She took out the medicinal bottle that hadn't been used up last time from her table. "Give me your hand."

Fu Yangxi thought that he should be fine since this was not the first time she's done this for him. She had applied medicine once for him in front of the library, and now that this was the second time, he would no longer be stiff all over.

But he didn't expect his heart to beat so fast at this moment.

Mingxi poured some medicine on the bruise on his wrist before rubbing it with the palm of her hand.

Fu Yangxi lowered his eyes to look at her. His gaze fell on her slightly pursed lips. He felt as if a light was shining on a dark corner in his heart, illuminating it a little and warming it up. All his limbs were about to melt under such warmth.

Fu Yangxi smiled.

Mingxi thought he was going to say something like 'scars are a man's medal of honor', so she immediately cut him off before he could even speak, "Shut up and stay still."

Fu Yangxi: "…"

Fu Yangxi couldn't help but laugh.

…

Mingxi felt that there may be more bruises than the one on his wrist. While he was distracted, she pulled on his sleeve, wanting to push it up.

However, Fu Yangxi was very alert and withdrew his hand in time.

Mingxi took advantage of the absence of people in the classroom and went to pull his jacket.

Fu Yangxi almost jumped on the table. He quickly stepped back and leaned his back against the wall. He covered his chest with both hands as if guarding his innocence, his face completely flushed. "What are you trying to do so early in the morning?"

As expected of Little Mask. She advances so abruptly.

"…"

"Forget it. If you have more, do it on your own." Mingxi was angry.

Why is this young master always acting as if I want to take advantage of him?

I've never even had such thoughts!

But there shouldn't be much in other places anyway.

Mingxi was sure that the small slope where they fell was very soft. After all, she didn't suffer a lot of injuries from the fall.

"Take it." Mingxi pushed the medicine onto Fu Yangxi's table.

Fu Yangxi didn't seem to mind her fierceness. He even seemed to be used to this concept of indulging this follower of his to occasionally 'disrespect a superior'.

Fu Yangxi picked up the medicine and went to the bathroom leisurely.

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Chapter 33

After eight o'clock, the students of the International Class entered the classroom one after another.

When Ke Chengwen came in, he was holding a bunch of jackets, looking around with his hands on his waist. Then, he came in after confirming that no teacher was nearby. He was acting all mysterious.

"Is Xi ge here already?" He saw that there was a trace of someone having sat in Fu Yangxi's place, but that person was not in his seat.

Mingxi continued to do her mock papers without raising her head. "He went to the bathroom."

"Zhao Mingxi, come here." Ke Chengwen whispered excitedly. "I want to show you something precious."

Mingxi felt chills all over when she heard what he said. She put down the pen and looked back at him in disgust. Ke Chengwen looked left and right. Then, he carefully and excitedly lifted the jacket in his arms—

Suddenly, she heard a puppy bark!

It was a husky about two or three months old. It was only the size of a pillow with black and white spots. It looked both fierce and cute. It tilted its head and stared at Mingxi.

It was absolutely adorable.

Mingxi's eyes lit up. She reached out and touched the puppy's head. The puppy looked at her curiously. Instead of biting her, it licked the palm of her hand.

Many students who have already entered the classroom also looked over. A few girls looked excited.

Mingxi asked, "Where did you get it from?"

"My husky gave birth to it." Ke Chengwen said. "I only recently learned that Xi ge is afraid of dogs. Don't you think this weakness is way too out of character for Fu Yangxi? If you say that to the people in the Evergreen Class, they will laugh at him. So I thought of bringing a puppy so that he could get used to it. Maybe once he gets close to a puppy that doesn't bite, he won't be afraid of dogs anymore…"

Mingxi thought Ke Chengwen had picked it up at school and it would be sent away soon.

She didn't expect him to deliberately bring it from home to Fu Yangxi.

She disagreed and said, "I think you should forget it. Didn't he say that he is afraid of dogs? Why must you make him overcome—"

Before he finished speaking, Fu Yangxi came in through the back door of the classroom, still carrying the medicine bottle in his hand.

His gaze slowly fell on the dog in Ke Chengwen's arms.

He swallowed hard, and his expression changed suddenly.

"Xi ge, look!" Without any fear of death, Ke Chengwen held the dog and handed it to Fu Yangxi.

The puppy was eager and pounced on Fu Yangxi.

For a moment, Mingxi didn't know if it was her misperception, but she saw a nearly frozen expression, as if returning to a nightmare, on Fu Yangxi's face.

It was an expression of someone falling fast, really fast, straight down to the ground.

On that day at the hillside, everything happened too fast, and Mingxi herself was extremely afraid of the Tibetan mastiff so she couldn't see exactly what kind of stiff expression Fu Yangxi had on when he stared at the Tibetan mastiff.

She could see it clearly now.

—That was an expression that would never appear on Fu Yangxi's face at all.

Because of this, Mingxi's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and her blood rushed to the top of her head.

She hurried over to stand in front of Fu Yangxi and said, "Alright that's enough, class is about to start. You should send the dog to the school guard, otherwise Mr. Lu will—"

Before she could finish speaking, she realized that something was wrong. She turned her head to take a look.

The figure behind her had disappeared.

Fu Yangxi had left the class with the medicine bottle.

…

Ke Chengwen opened his mouth wide. He was still in shock having finally seen Fu Yangxi's reaction. He belatedly realized that he might have caused trouble for himself.

He felt a chill down his spine and said to Mingxi, "I'm done for. Xi ge is going to beat me to death later. I really didn't know that he was so scared. Since it's just a little puppy and it's not scary at all, I thought of bringing it over for fun."

Mingxi said to him, "Send the puppy away first. I'll go and look for him."

Ke Chengwen swallowed. Before he could reply, Mingxi had already rushed out of the classroom.

The bell rang. When Mingxi saw Mr. Lu coming out of the office with a textbook, she was suddenly very nervous. Before Mr. Lu could stop her, she rushed downstairs in a panic. She searched the whole of the academic building, yet she couldn't even find Fu Yangxi's shadow at all.

The school was too big. If she was to continue looking for him, she would have to skip all of today's morning classes.

Thus, Mingxi climbed to the top of the academic building again, planning to look down from a high place.

She was out of breath when she reached the roof. It was there when she saw Fu Yangxi.

Surprisingly, Fu Yangxi was lying down on the roof.

There were a few horizontal reclining chairs on the roof for students to come up for early reading, but the reclining chairs often had dust accumulated on it, so no students would usually come up here.

Fu Yangxi lay calmly on one of the reclining chairs. With his hands folded, he looked at the sky.

He looked like he was thinking about something, yet at the same time it was like his mind was empty.

Mingxi panted heavily as she approached him.

Hearing footsteps, Fu Yangxi straightened up and asked in surprise, "Why did you come up here?"

Mingxi walked over and took out two pieces of tissue paper from her pocket. She wiped the chair and sat down before looking at him. "Are you not going to class?"

The corners of Fu Yangxi's mouth twitched. He sighed and replied nonchalantly, "Your boss here suddenly felt sleepy. The classroom was too noisy, so I came up to lay down for a while."

"I should be the one asking you, Little Mask, what are you doing up here? You actually dare to skip class?"

This was not Zhao Mingxi's style at all.

"You can skip class, but I can't?"

Mingxi also felt that this was not like her. Did she skip class for Fu Yangxi? And she even rushed out without thinking about it. It was not for the young shoots in her flower pot either.

But even though Fu Yangxi was fierce to her at first, he gradually became very nice to her after he decided to accept her into his circle.

On the day they arrived in Tongcheng, Mingxi decided that from now on, Fu Yangxi would be her very important friend.

There was nothing wrong for her to be worried about him.

"Go and sit in another chair." Fu Yangxi raised his eyebrows and looked at her in a displeased manner. "I can't lie down with you around."

"No." Mingxi stayed still. "I only have two tissue papers. After wiping this chair, I no longer have any tissue papers to wipe anything else. Sitting on another chair will only leave a bunch of dust on my uniform."

Mingxi didn't ask about his fear of dogs, and Fu Yangxi didn't mention it either.

This could be regarded as a tacit agreement between the two of them.

Fu Yangxi felt that if Zhao Mingxi wanted to say something about her family, she could always tell him. But if she didn't want to talk about it, why bother exposing other people's scars?

Zhao Mingxi thought that if Fu Yangxi didn't want others to know that he was afraid of dogs, he must have his own reasons, so she didn't feel the need to keep asking.

Fu Yangxi felt that Zhao Mingxi was worried about him. She cared about him, and wanted to rely on him.

Zhao Mingxi was the one who could tear through the darkness every time and break in regardless of any obstacles.

Life is hard.

But with Little Mask, it feels a little more bearable.

Fu Yangxi tried his best to restrain a smile from appearing on his lips. A warm feeling subconsciously flowed from his heart, and the stiffness in his body just seemed to have melted away.

Suddenly, Fu Yangxi said, "Forget it."

Mingxi asked, "What?"

Fu Yangxi answered, "Let's go down."

If they went any later, he would cause Little Mask to receive a scolding by their teacher as well.

Mingxi froze for a moment. Is Fu Yangxi done sorting out his emotions already?

When the two went down, they were reprimanded by Mr. Lu. While Mr. Lu scolded, he was also worried about delaying Zhao Mingxi's study, so he let Zhao Mingxi in and carried on lecturing Fu Yangxi.

Fu Yangxi was speechless.

After Fu Yangxi came in, Ke Chengwen couldn't even look at him.

Although Fu Yangxi said that he slept well last night, he slept for the rest of the day. He was afraid of noise, so he kept on wearing his noise-reducing headphones with a frown.

Mingxi made an appointment to have dinner with the Dong family after school. As they knew that she was living in the school dorms, to make it easier for her, Aunt Dong chose to eat at a nearby Sichuan restaurant.

To Zhao Mingxi, the Dong family was a family with very close relations to her. Since she didn't feel like there was anything she couldn't tell them, Mingxi told them about what happened for the past two years.

Of course, she concealed some things that would make the Dong family very indignant, and only told them that she had recently severed contact with the Zhao family.

…

Meanwhile, Fu Yangxi was still in the classroom.

When Ke Chengwen saw him packing his school bag, he couldn't help but apologize in a low voice, "Xi ge, I didn't know—"

"Stop it." Fu Yangxi said lightly. "Consider this matter done and dusted. Don't bring dogs in front of me anymore."

Ke Chengwen hurriedly nodded.

Ke Chengwen thought he had known Fu Yangxi for a long time – is two years long? – but sometimes he felt like he didn't understand him at all. Nonetheless, since Fu Yangxi says that this matter is over, it's over. Ke Chengwen quietly let out a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of which…" Fu Yangxi remembered the eyes of the man with the surname Shen from the School Representative Team that had been staring at Zhao Mingxi when he passed the window this morning. He felt unhappy about this and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on with that guy from the School Representative Team?"

Ke Chengwen knew who he was talking about as soon as he heard this. He quickly said, "Isn't it like what Zhao Mingxi said that day? That he simply knows Zhao Mingxi?"

Fu Yangxi turned to look at Ke Chengwen and asked in a suspicious tone, "Are you hiding something from me?"

Ke Chengwen: "…"

"Xi ge, is there a bottle missing from the medicine bag Zhao Mingxi gave you?" Ke Chengwen caught this with a sharp eye and quickly changed the subject.

Fu Yangxi looked in the medicine bag on the table and found that he had left a bottle in the bathroom. He glared at Ke Chengwen and said, "We'll continue after I come back."

After that, he turned and left the classroom.

Ke Chengwen let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly followed Fu Yangxi.

But just when Fu Yangxi and Ke Chengwen walked to the bathroom door, they suddenly heard the words 'Zhao Mingxi' coming from inside. At first glance, it looked like it was a boy talking about Zhao Mingxi.

When Ke Chengwen saw Fu Yangxi's ugly expression, he raised his foot and wanted to go in. Unexpectedly, they heard the next sentence—

"Zhao Mingxi's desserts are really delicious. It was great when she used to chase after Shen Liyao. We would get to eat desserts every day. Now that she is in a conflict with Shen Liyao, we don't have the good fortune to eat them anymore."

"The Hundred School Tournament is coming soon. When that happens, she'll have to go to training camp with our School Representative Team. I wonder if she'll reconcile with God Yao then."

"Now that God Yao is about to loosen up after two years of pursuit, she won't just give up halfway, right?"

"Do you think she really gave up? Or is she still using the Fu family's young master to make Shen Liyao jealous? Why did Ye Bai say that she seemed to really give…"

"…"

Ke Chengwen didn't dare to listen to the rest of the sentence.

The air suddenly became suffocating.

As it was the evening, the sky in the corridor was gloomy to begin with, but at this moment, more heavy rain was approaching and dark clouds were covering the sky.

He watched as Fu Yangxi's complexion gradually turned pale.

…

Oh no.

Ke Chengwen thought in despair, what I was most worried about has happened.

"What are they talking about?" Fu Yangxi's face was pale, and his expression was stormy.

Ke Chengwen quickly stopped him, "It's just gossip! It's not true at all!"

"Of course I don't believe them! Little Mask isn't that kind of person." Fu Yangxi's unknowingly clenched fists were shaking. He breathed heavily and lifted Ke Chengwen by the collar before pushing him away. Then he rushed into the bathroom.

"What the fuck are you guys talking about? Say it again if you dare."

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Chapter 34 (Part 1)

The two boys on the School Representative Team were taken aback. They didn't think that they would be caught by the person itself since they were gossiping after school.

They immediately understood the situation, grabbed the team uniform that they had tossed aside, turned off the faucet, and slipped away.

"Stop if you dare!" Fu Yangxi's expression was gloomy and terrifying. He rushed out to grab someone, but was stopped by Ke Chengwen again.

"Forget it, forget it, Xi ge. Think about how many times you've been scolded by the dean this month. You even went to the police station! Calm down! Calm down!"

The two boys dared not turn their heads for fear that Fu Yangxi would see their faces clearly.

They hurriedly fled down the academic building.

Fu Yangxi couldn't calm down at all. His mind was filled with the conversation between the two boys just now.

"What do they mean by chasing after the guy with the surname Shen? What do they mean by 'can they reconcile'?"

"Was the 'Fu family's young master' referring to me? They said Little Mask used me to make the guy with the surname Shen jealous?"

As if what Fu Yangxi heard was nonsense, he turned to look at Ke Chengwen. "These people have too much time in their hands to come up with things like this!"

However, Ke Chengwen who was at the side walked over to turn off the faucet, his lips squirming as he stole glances at him. He appeared as if he was hiding something.

The air fell silent for a while.

Fu Yangxi paused. "What's up with you?"

He suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

He glared at Ke Chengwen. "What are you hiding from me? I'll give you one last chance."

"It's— That's—" Ke Chengwen didn't know how to tell him.

Fu Yangxi urged, "Tell me!"

"When Zhao Mingxi first changed classes, didn't you ask me to find out about her family, preferences, former friends, etc.?"

Ke Chengwen was frazzled. He kept on speaking without a filter, "She used to pursue Shen Liyao! The Shen Liyao from our neighbouring class! The other family's child*! Shen Liyao, who has won gold medals for years, thinks that he is better than everyone and is arrogant as hell!"

Translator's note: Some Chinese parents have a tendency to compare their children with another family's child, usually saying to their own child (as a form of lecturing) that the other family's child is better than them. In this context, Ke Chengwen is trying to draw a comparison between Shen Liyao and Fu Yangxi, effectively highlighting the better qualities of Shen Liyao as the trophy child.

"Shen Liyao is very famous. It's just that Xi ge, since you sleep in class every day, you don't even remember the name of our homeroom teacher, moreover heard of that guy! It's the handsome guy who you saw in the library last time—"

"But she said he was just a friend."

Ke Chengwen murmured, "Girls are shy. It's impossible for her to tell us that she used to pursue Shen Liyao. Besides, at that time, Xi ge, you chased her away every day. She didn't have a good impression of us, so why would she tell us about this?"

Fu Yangxi couldn't understand the situation before him.

An anxious fire filled his heart.

He didn't understand whether it was jealousy or something else.

Shen Liyao, very handsome; has won gold medals for years; another family's child.

Then what about me?

"I don't believe it." Fu Yangxi took a deep breath, looking calmer. "There must be some misunderstanding."

Just because Shen Liyao was excellent, he knew Little Mask, and Little Mask used to give him desserts.

Did this group of people make up the fact that Little Mask used to pursue Shen Liyao?

Then he's at least 100 streets ahead of Shen Liyao. He can use money to bury Shen Liyao alive, is that not good enough?

Little Mask even gave him desserts for almost a month.

——Why don't these people make something up about him and Little Mask?

Fu Yangxi suddenly realized that he was being jealous of mere rumors.

Since Zhao Mingxi said that he was just a friend, he believed that he was just a friend.

He doesn't care about the bullshit these people have to say.

When Ke Chengwen saw him like this, he knew he couldn't convince him otherwise. "Then let's go back first? Xi ge, are you going back to the villa or the apartment today?"

—No, how could he not care?

He cared a lot.

"We won't be going back. Let's clarify some things first."

Fu Yangxi suddenly moved his legs and walked out.

Ke Chengwen thought he was going to find those two gossiping people to settle their business, so he quickly followed.

However, he saw him running upstairs to the Information Department.

Fu Yangxi rushed into the Information Department. The teacher here hadn't got off work yet, so when he saw him coming in, he stood up subconsciously.

Fu Yangxi rushed into the digital archives room without saying a word.

Ke Chengwen followed, rushed in and closed the door.

By the time Ke Chengwen walked over, Fu Yangxi had already typed on the keyboard and logged in to the school's internal official website.

The internal official website holds a lot of photos of previous activities according to the timeline. Photos of weekly basketball games or flag raising ceremonies will also be displayed here.

Fu Yangxi instantly retrieved all the school photos from last year.

All the photos were displayed on the computer, and many details became clear at a glance.

In every basketball game where Shen Liyao appeared, Zhao Mingxi was there, and Zhao Mingxi held the water for him.

During the school celebration last year, Zhao Mingxi and Shen Liyao appeared in the pictures of each other's class.

When recruiting new recruits last year, Zhao Mingxi also went to help Shen Liyao. She was still wearing a mask at that time.

Turns out the Little Mask that Fu Yangxi knew was also known to Shen Liyao, in fact, he knew her even earlier and longer than him.

…

It could be said that there were quite a lot of photos with the two of them in the same frame.

If you download all of these pictures, there will probably be a few gigabytes.

There are also check-in records in the library and check-in records in the broadcasting room. The signatures of the two often appeared next to each other.

Bit by bit, like a long and grand process of a crush.

Presented itself explicitly before Fu Yangxi and Ke Chengwen.

…

Ke Chengwen practically lost the courage to look any further.

Fu Yangxi pulled a long face. His fingers gripped the mouse tightly, but he still scrolled down, looking through the photos one by one.

The computer's LED screen was reflected on his face. Ke Chengwen didn't know how he felt as he looked at these things.

Fu Yangxi had never been on the forum before. Those boring scandals in school were a waste of time for him.

The last time he asked a group of followers to vote for Zhao Mingxi was the only time he ever went to the forum. Even then, he merely clicked directly into the voting channel and did not pay attention to the gossip.

However this time, he couldn't help but take out his phone and open the forum to take a look.

In the original post about Little Mask, there were far more mentions of Little Mask and Shen Liyao than Little Mask and him.

Someone posted a question: "Is there anyone with any news about the new School Beauty and Shen Liyao from the School Representative Team? It feels like they have a long history between them.

Someone asked: "Zhao Mingxi is now the School Beauty, so everything about how she used to chase after Shen Liyao has been dug up. At that time, I wondered why she had so much courage. Turns out that it was because she was so beautiful~"

"What role does that F (not mentioning the name) play in this? Obviously Shen Liyao is her official pair. Is she using him to make Shen Liyao jealous?"

The more Fu Yangxi read, the more he could feel the nerves in his forehead throbbing.

Little Mask used to pursue others. Why does the whole world know this except for me?!

Jealousy, like an unknown insect, gnawed at his heart, torturing him.

"Don't look anymore, Xi ge." Ke Chengwen couldn't help but say.

The reason why he was afraid that Fu Yangxi would find out about this was precisely because he was afraid of this scene.

Although based on Xi ge's character he wouldn't care about such gossip, but if he sees others saying that Zhao Mingxi may have approached him because she was trying to make Shen Liyao jealous, wouldn't he explode immediately?

He might even blow up the school.

Ke Chengwen tried his best to stop this from happening, but what has to come will eventually occur.

After a long time, Fu Yangxi finally turned off the computer, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.

He stood up and clenched his hands into fists. "What does it matter if she used to like that guy with the surname Shen? I'm not a traditional character from the Qing dynasty, why should I be bothered about this?"

"Indeed, she used to like him— but she definitely doesn't like him now."

Now, Zhao Mingxi likes me. Yes, that's right.

The person she likes now is me.

But even after repeating this in his head over and over again, Fu Yangxi became more and more uncertain, and the question mark in his heart grew bigger and bigger.

…

He felt as if he had misunderstood something.

It was he himself who had been weaving a dream of self-deception for himself by mistake.

And now that there is an accidental tear in this dream, that opening has revealed the truth that made him feel like he was in an ice cellar.

—The opening will only get bigger and bigger.

Fu Yangxi didn't know whether he should investigate this matter to the end.

If the answer is a blow to the head, what should he do?

Fu Yangxi suddenly remembered the pile of photos the old man asked Lawyer Zhang to give him.

The old man said he was going through unrequited love—

Was there something in the photos?

Fu Yangxi's heartbeat sped up abruptly.

He immediately typed out a text message and sent it to Lawyer Zhang, asking him to send the things to the KTV room near the school.

Then, Fu Yangxi walked out of the Information Department. His limbs were stiff, his head buzzing. He didn't know how he left the school.

Half an hour later, at the KTV room outside the school.

There was no singing, only dead silence in the room.

Fu Yangxi sat silently, his expression dull and solemn. He looked closely at the photos the old man had given him one by one.

Ke Chengwen dared not say a word as he stood beside him.

…

The first photo was the day when Little Mask came up to help him take out the trash. The two of them were talking in the alley. The alley was facing the academic building. The one surnamed Shen was standing on the fifth floor, looking at them from a distance.

So at that time, did Zhao Mingxi really rush up to help him take out the trash, or did she come because Shen Liyao was watching?

In the second photo, before the monthly exam, Little Mask suddenly hurriedly held his hand. A corner of the photo from the class' surveillance camera was printed, and Shen Liyao could be seen passing by—

So did she really want to hold his hand, or did she hold his hand abruptly after seeing Shen Liyao?

The third, fourth and fifth pictures were a series of screenshots from the library's surveillance cameras. Before he arrived at the library that day, Little Mask clearly had a quarrel with Shen Liyao, and they looked quite familiar with each other. But she told him that he was just an ordinary friend.

In addition to these photos, there was also a record of Little Mask's application to transfer classes last year.

Turns out, Little Mask didn't want to transfer to the International Class at the beginning, and she definitely did not transfer to the International Class because she fell in love with him at first sight.

The first time she applied last year was for the Gold Medal Class which Shen Liyao was in, but she did not meet the grades required at that time and was rejected, so she applied for the International Class this year.

…

Fu Yangxi clutched these items so hard to the point that his knuckles were pale. Bit by bit, the blood rushed from his limbs to the top of his head, and his whole body became cold.

The old man was very resourceful. Fu Yangxi didn't even know where he got all this information from.

He only knew that a lot of things had already been clues. It was just that he chose to humiliate and deceive himself.

…

When she rushed to run 800 meters for him, everyone in the next class knew that Shen Liyao's was not pleased about this.

At that time, what role did I play? Was I just a tool?

She suddenly wanted to apply medicine on his wound this morning, and Shen Liyao just happened to pass by.

Turns out Shen Liyao was the one who gave her the key points for the Hundred School Tournament. She had been flipping through it so much that it was practically crumpled.

Also, when she refused Li Jingyu, she said that she wanted to focus on her studies, not that she already had someone she liked— She knew that he was listening by the window.

He did find it strange that time.

So that's what it was.

…

Fu Yangxi didn't know how to describe his mood at the moment… Angry? Upset? He didn't even have the strength to display these emotions. Once there are these emotions, feelings of hatred will follow, yet he couldn't bring himself to hate.

His mind was overwhelmed with feelings of distraught.

It was as if he had personally pierced a dream that he had woven, ushered in reality, and found out that he was nothing but a joke.

Regardless of whether she used him or not, he did not care anymore.

There was a voice in his head maliciously repeating over and over again—

Little Mask doesn't like me.

Little Mask never liked me.

After she held his hand in the library, he never imagined such a possibility. The voice knocked him off the cliff and caused him to tremble unconsciously.

…

But does she remember my birthday?

This was the main thought in Fu Yangxi's mind.

As if he was holding on to a lifeline, he thought desperately, what if all this is just a misunderstanding? Such a coincidence can happen in this world! Just when she was being kind to me, Shen Liyao appeared! If I misunderstood her because of this and went to make trouble unreasonably, then I would be considered insane!

She did like Shen Liyao, but what does that matter? She has no contact with Shen Liyao at all now, so I definitely won't mind this!

As long as she likes me now, I'll pretend that nothing happened today!

"I don't believe anyone else. I only want to hear this from her." Fu Yangxi wiped his face. He suddenly stood up and asked Ke Chengwen to take out his phone. "Call her."

Fu Yangxi's sanity was stretched to the brim.

Although his face was already very pale and his lips looked bloodless, he maintained the last bit of decency by trying hard to maintain his expression and not let himself show any signs of embarrassment.

He settled down and said to Ke Chengwen slowly, "Help me ask her."

…

Ke Chengwen looked at him hesitantly for a while. In the end, he had no choice but to call her.

…

At this moment, only their breathing could be heard in the room.

…

After a while, the call got through.

Ke Chengwen didn't know how to ask her. He glanced at Fu Yangxi's expression and asked, "Mingxi, where are you?"

"You're having dinner with the Dong family? I see. Well, um, it's just that—" Ke Chengwen paused. "Do you remember when Xi ge's birthday is? Do we want to surprise him?"

There was a static sound before Mingxi who was at the other end of the line replied, "Yes, of course we should give him a surprise."

Ke Chengwen put her on speaker.

Then Fu Yangxi heard Mingxi ask, "But when is his birthday?"

Fu Yangxi: "…"

…

The air was dead silent.

Ke Chengwen dared not look at Fu Yangxi's face, so he asked, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, we'll discuss what to give him in school then. We have to discuss this privately and keep it a secret from Xi ge. What are you planning to give?"

She said, "I haven't thought about it yet. Give me some time to figure something out."

Ke Chengwen's heart was pounding with nervousness. He tried to coax the truth out of her, "Don't go too far with your gift, or else everyone in class will know that you like Xi ge."

After he finished speaking, he shouted and prayed in his heart, Zhao Mingxi, hurry up and say that I'm being stupid! Say that you do like Xi ge! Otherwise Xi ge will really blow up the school tomorrow! Other people will suffer too!

Mingxi on the other side was taken aback.

She suddenly realized that some of her actions since she changed classes could be easily misunderstood. Based on Ke Chengwen's tone, he seemed to think she was pursuing Fu Yangxi.

Thank goodness Fu Yangxi doesn't think so.

Fortunately, Fu Yangxi's single-cell brain has yet to realize this, and he just treats me as a same-sex follower. If he mistakes me for liking him, we won't even be able to stay as friends anymore. Just like the girl who gave him a thousand paper cranes that day, Ihe would think that I was looking for a beating.

Mingxi didn't want to lose Fu Yangxi, so she hurriedly took the phone and ran to the toilet before explaining, "No, no, that's absolute nonsense. I treat Xi ge like my boss, I won't—"

Mingxi wanted to say that she would not overstep her boundaries, but for some reason Ke Chengwen was suddenly disconnected on the other side of the call, effectively cutting her off.

Then, there was a busy tone.

Out of battery…?

Chapter 35 (Part 1)

Fu Yangxi reached out his hand and hung up the call.

He didn't know what he would do if he continued listening.

…

Everything is clear now.

Little Mask never liked me at all.

Fu Yangxi didn't know what he was thinking, or maybe he wasn't thinking about anything at all. His mind was buzzing, and there seemed to be a big hand coming out of his stomach, squeezing his internal organs. For a moment, he felt empty everywhere and had absolutely no energy. He sat down on the sofa and looked at the ground blankly without saying a word.

Ke Chengwen's heart was beating like a drum as he looked at Fu Yangxi at a loss. "Xi ge—"

Ke Chengwen felt that he was also responsible for this. If he told Fu Yangxi when Zhao Mingxi first transferred that Zhao Mingxi used to pursue Shen Liyao before, then he wouldn't let Xi ge's feelings develop to this point. But he didn't think so much at that time just because he was afraid that Xi ge's temper would explode.

"You can leave first." Fu Yangxi interrupted him. "Let me be for a while."

Ke Chengwen still couldn't help but say, "If you feel deceived and angered and you don't want to see Zhao Mingxi, why not get Lawyer Zhang to negotiate with the dean and transfer Zhao Mingxi to another class?"

Although Zhao Mingxi was also his friend, Ke Chengwen only got to know her because of Fu Yangxi.

Ke Chengwen still subconsciously stood on Fu Yangxi's side.

"'Deceive'? When did Zhao Mingxi deceive me? If you're referring to those comments in the posts saying she was kind to me because she wanted to make Shen Liyao jealous, I don't believe a single word of it."

"She's not that kind of person. You're not allowed to believe it or even talk about it. Next time you hear someone gossiping about this, just beat them up."

Fu Yangxi's tone was flat and emotionless.

The light in the room is dim, making it difficult to see his expression.

"When I do things, I only care about what I want and don't want. Even if you force me to do something by putting a knife to my neck, I won't do it."

Fu Yangxi said.

He would not like a person just because that person likes him. It started a long time ago, maybe it was the moment she took off the mask; maybe it was that night in the library; maybe even earlier, the moment his fingers touched hers when he realized that he liked Zhao Mingxi.

Therefore, there was no deception, and there was no misunderstanding.

He also didn't care if Zhao Mingxi used to like others. He only wanted to know if Zhao Mingxi liked him now.

And now he knows.

She doesn't like him.

She just treated him as a boss, and the series of good actions done on his behalf after her transfer was maybe just so she could integrate into the class more quickly.

It was because he had never received this before, so after getting a small match, he thought she had a whole pit of warm fire waiting for him.

He thought too much, way too much.

Fu Yangxi felt embarrassed.

After being silent for a long time, he tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You are not allowed to tell anyone about what happened today."

No one had yet to know that he had turned himself into such a big joke. After today, he could still pretend that nothing had happened.

Ke Chengwen looked at him and said, "Okay."

But no matter how Fu Yangxi tried to cheer himself up, he was still shaking with emptiness.

A flash of lightning struck, illuminating Fu Yangxi's pale face.

Then, the pouring rain started to fall outside the room.

…

Mingxi hung up the phone, feeling puzzled. Why did Ke Chengwen make such a weird call? Why can't he just tell me this in school tomorrow?

But she still wrote down Fu Yangxi's birthday on her phone's memo.

The last time they made a fuss about it, she was thinking about her own affairs, so she didn't catch it.

Fortunately, Ke Chengwen reminded her again, so she remembered it this time.

Mingxi wrote a lot in her memo, all of which were important dates for important people. He Yang, Aunt Dong and Dong Shen.

After giving it some thought, she circled November 5th and pinned it at the top so she wouldn't forget it again.

"Mingxi, the dishes are getting cold." Dong Shen called out to her.

Mingxi hurried back.

Dong Hui placed Mingxi's favorite food in front of her and asked carefully, "Do you want to move in with us? Though we have yet to receive the title for our house. I just paid the deposit when I was abroad two months ago and it's estimated that there'll be another month left before we can move in. It's in a very good community, second-hand villa—"

"It's okay, Aunt Dong. I want to live in school. It's more convenient."

Dong Hui hurriedly asked again, "What about during the winter and summer vacations? Xixi, you must have a place to call home, right? Otherwise, how scared will you be when the school is empty? Come to our house! Just nod your head and we will allocate a room to you immediately after the house is delivered."

When Dong Hui saw Mingxi hesitating, she quickly said, "Why are you so hesitant? Uncle Dong and I watched you grow up. You are smart and hardworking, and we have always treated you as our daughter. Now that we are able to help you financially, why are you hesitating? Your grandma asked us to take care of you before she died. If we knew that the Zhao family would act like this, we would not have gone abroad in the first place."

Dong Shen also said, "Exactly. Besides, Mingxi, didn't you say you want to take me shopping for new clothes? In a few days, I will have to trouble you with all kinds of transfer procedures."

Mingxi lowered her head and held her chopsticks tightly. The tip of her nose felt slightly sour. Finally, she nodded and agreed, "Okay."

Seeing that Mingxi had agreed, the Dong family was very happy. But this time the Dong family had just returned to China and was also staying in a hotel. Many things have not been arranged yet, so Mingxi could only live in school first. Then when it's time for winter vacation, she can move to the Dong family's newly bought house.

Mingxi and Dong Hui's family had a lively meal. After dinner, the four of them came down from the second floor of the restaurant.

Seeing as it was an absolute downpour outside, Dong Hui said, "We'll send you back to school first, then we'll head back to the hotel."

Mingxi stopped being overly-polite with them and said directly, "Okay. Thank you, auntie."

Mingxi, Dong Hui and Dong Shen waited under the eaves of the hotel for Uncle Dong to drive his car over.

A familiar car was also slowly driving over.

The driver was holding an umbrella. Madam Zhao, Zhao Yuan, and Zhao Yuning got out of the car.

Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuning have been in a stalemate, making Zhao Yuan anxious. She was worried that if the stalemate goes on for a long time, Zhao Yuning will not go home and Madam Zhao will blame herself.

So she thought of a way, which was to ask both of them out to have a meal together.

Madam Zhao was still depressed about Zhao Mingxi's affairs and had no appetite, but when she heard that Zhao Yuning was also eating together with them, she hurried out, thinking that she had already lost a daughter so she could not afford to risk her relationship with Zhao Yuning anymore.

As for Zhao Yuning, he didn't want to come at all. The reason why he came was because after talking to Zhao Mo that day about what Zhao Yuan did in the Department of Literature, his second eldest brother gave it some thought and asked him to pay more attention to Zhao Yuan.

He wanted to see what Zhao Yuan wanted to do, hence why he came.

But the three of them didn't expect to see Mingxi standing under the eaves before they got out of the car.

In reality, A City was not that big. Moreover, there were only so many famous five-star hotels. As long as you live in this city, you will definitely bump into someone familiar some day.

Zhao Mingxi looked thinner and her clothes were a little thicker. Maybe she just came out of school. Her school uniform was covered by a long coat, but she didn't look bloated at all. On the contrary, she looked slim because of her tall stature. She had fair skin and she still had on the long-life charm that her grandmother got for her.

She was a beautiful young girl that could be easily identified even from afar.

Madam Zhao's heart felt congested. The children in her family were all very excellent in terms of appearance, but Mingxi was undoubtedly the most outstanding one. When she first brought Mingxi home, she was shocked to see how beautiful Mingxi was. At that time, she really wanted to pull her close and take more looks at her.

But because she was worried about Zhao Yuan's feelings, she never dared to take more glances.

And now, such a beautiful child belongs to someone else's family.

Both Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuning noticed Dong Hui and Dong Shen who were next to her.

They never expected that the first thing the Dong family did when they returned to China was to find Mingxi.

The expressions of the two were exactly the same as if they had been hit with a bat. They immediately walked over with their umbrellas.

Originally, Madam Zhao thought that even if their relationship had been severed, Mingxi would at least say hello to them if she encountered them in the crowd, right?

But unexpectedly…

No.

Mingxi did see them, but she immediately withdrew her gaze and got into the Dong family's car.

"…"

Madam Zhao felt suffocated. Her heart suddenly felt as though it had been pierced by a needle.

Without giving it any further thought, she rushed to block the door and the driver hurriedly followed with the umbrella.

Zhao Yuan stood alone on the steps of the hotel, but when she turned around, she saw that both Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuning hadn't followed. Instead, they braved the heavy rain to stop the car. There was an instant change in her expression.

"Zhao Mingxi!" Madam Zhao felt a pain in her heart. "You won't even say hello anymore when we meet?!"

Mingxi got into the car, but Madam Zhao pulled the door to prevent her from closing it. Mingxi frowned. "Let go."

Dong Shen was sitting on Mingxi's right. When he saw Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuning, he became angry and said, "What's wrong with you guys? Can't you just let her go? Stop pestering her. What were you doing before this? Why should she say hello? Why should she greet you guys after she severed her relationship with you?"

Zhao Yuning held the umbrella and looked at Zhao Mingxi sadly. He couldn't help saying, "Jie*—"

jie = elder sister

"'Jie'? What 'jie'? She's my elder sister now!" Dong Shen deliberately said this to trigger Zhao Yuning. He hugged Mingxi's arm and leaned his head on her shoulder.

Zhao Yuning was anxious and desperate. He wanted nothing but to rush in and fight Dong Shen. "Let go of Zhao Mingxi, you fatty."

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Chapter 35 (Part 2)

Two years ago, Dong Shen was very fat and was laughed at by Zhao Yuning several times, but two years later, Dong Shen had become a handsome young man.

"I don't wanna!" Dong Shen said angrily. "Your whole family are the real fatties."

Seeing that it became a small battle between two children, Dong Hui, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and said to Madam Zhao, "Honestly, Zhao jie, you lost a great treasure. Mingxi is kind and hardworking, precisely the kind of daughter I want. Since you don't want her, you should have said so earlier. It would have been better if you let her come to us. Our whole family will buy her beautiful clothes and let her live in a beautiful room. She won't have to live so pitifully at your place."

Madam Zhao simply wanted to slap Dong Hui in spite of her family education and shut her up, but the pain in her heart was too overwhelming— It seems like she truly did not fulfill her responsibility as a mother, that even outsiders treated Zhao Mingxi better than her.

She couldn't help but say to Zhao Mingxi who was silent, "Mingxi, let's have a chat, alright? Mom has reflected a lot in the past two days, I apologize to you—"

"What kind of apology is this? You will just talk about it, but will your family take any action? You already have your biological daughter Zhao Yuan, so why are you still looking for Mingxi?!"

Dong Shen was the most uncomfortable about this scene. He said angrily, "It's all because of you guys that Mingxi can't even have her birthday on the proper date. Until now she is still using Zhao Yuan's birthday! Let me tell you this, just wait a few days. As soon as Mingxi turns eighteen, my mother will bring her to change the date on her ID card! She won't need you guys anymore."

After Dong Shen finished speaking, he reached over Zhao Mingxi and forcibly pulled off Madam Zhao's fingers.

Madam Zhao's blood surged to the top of her head.

She couldn't refute what Dong Shen said.

Yes, they did wrong Mingxi in this matter.

About three years ago, Zhao Yuan was injured during her school's Sports Day. After she was sent to the hospital, they discovered that Zhao Yuan was not their biological daughter because her DNA was different from theirs.

Afterwards, they figured out that there had been an incident in the hospital that year whereby they took home the wrong child.

They didn't know if it was the work of Zhao Yuan's biological mother or someone else, but the two children were swapped while they were still in the incubator.

So afterwards they started looking for their biological daughter Zhao Mingxi.

At that time, they thought that they would never be able to find her, so in the midst of the whole family's despair, they decided to treat Zhao Yuan as their biological daughter. They changed Zhao Yuan's birthday from October 24 to her own real birth date, October 14.

But to their surprise, after the change, they found Mingxi.

They faced a problem then, whether to change the date of Zhao Yuan's ID card again to Mingxi, or to ask the newcomer Mingxi to compromise and change the date according to Zhao Yuan's real birthday.

Back then, Zhao Yuan was only 15 years old, and she was about to change the date for the second time. She thought that the Zhao family didn't want her anymore, so she cried really hard that day. Madam Zhao felt sorry for her, so she begged Mr. Zhao to change Zhao Mingxi's date…

At that time, Madam Zhao thought that Mingxi wouldn't mind. After all, the family would celebrate her true birthday again on the 24th. The ID was just a number.

But now, Madam Zhao regrets that decision.

She could clearly see what she was like. Because she didn't want to push Zhao Yuan away, she chose to push Mingxi further away bit by bit.

…

Half of Madam Zhao's body was exposed to the rain outside. She was so sad that her internal organs hurt. She subconsciously looked at Mingxi, who had been silent, and pleaded, "Mingxi, have I completely lost you?"

She still had a flicker of hope that Mingxi would come back to her.

But what she didn't expect was for Mingxi to look up at her and calmly say, "Yes, you have lost me."

Zhao Mingxi seemed to have really let go of them completely.

She no longer worried about them, nor would she ever beg for the love of their family again.

At that moment, Madam Zhao could see darkness tunneling her vision. Dong Shen took this opportunity to tear her fingers away from the door.

The Dong family's car drove away.

Madam Zhao's legs went soft and she almost sat on her knees in the rain but was quickly helped up by the driver and Zhao Yuning.

Madam Zhao cried so much as she recalled what just happened. "Why is this happening?"

However, she clearly knew the reason why this was happening.

She realized that she was the executioner who caused all this.

"If- if we change Mingxi's birthday, will that make everything better?" Madam Zhao asked Zhao Yuning in tears.

Zhao Yuan's face changed when she heard her under the eaves of the restaurant.

…

The Dong family's return to China gave Mingxi a little bit of confidence. At least someone will attend the parent-teacher meetings in the future.

There will no longer be anyone secretly taunting whether she was the adopted daughter of the Zhao family, or why the handsome eldest brother of the Zhao family always only picked Zhao Yuan up from school and not her.

Aunt Dong will come to pick her up in the future.

God knows how grateful Mingxi was that in this life, the Dong family is still there.

Because she took some time out to have dinner with them after school, after returning to school in the evening, Mingxi forced herself to do a few more test papers and didn't go to bed until midnight.

The next morning, Mingxi was still the first to wake up in the entire dormitory.

As soon as she entered the classroom, she saw that Jiang Xiuqiu had already returned to school. His seat was on the other side, surrounded by several girls. When he saw Mingxi coming in, he raised his peach eyes and glanced at Mingxi.

Mingxi raised her hand to say hello and walked to her seat.

Since Fu Yangxi was not happy that she was trying to freeload on Jiang Xiuqiu's luck, she simply won't do it. 2% was dispensable for her anyways.

However, Mingxi could feel that something was wrong. Fu Yangxi didn't come to class today. On the other hand, Ke Chengwen lay on the table lazily as he read some comic books. When he saw her, his expression was a little strange, and after a hurried greeting, he lowered his head to continue reading his comic books.

But what's strange was not this, it was the fact that Fu Yangxi's table— Why is it empty?

The noise-canceling headphones were gone, and the jacket that was messily thrown was gone as well.

His favorite Pikachu pillow that he always carried around for the past few months ever since she bought it for him had also disappeared.

She heard that Fu Yangxi used to be absent from school frequently, skipping for two or three days at a time. However, he came to school every day for the past month. That's why Mingxi was a little startled when she saw that his table was empty.

"Where is Fu Yangxi?" Mingxi couldn't help asking. "It's not the weekend, so why is his stuff missing?"

Ke Chengwen said, "He took two days off. I think he'll come back the day after tomorrow. Don't worry."

"Why did he suddenly ask for leave?" Mingxi thought of the sudden rainstorm and cold current last night, and was inevitably a little worried. "Is he sick?"

Ke Chengwen looked at Mingxi, feeling a mix of emotions. He said vaguely, "He got caught in the rain after school yesterday."

"Does he have a fever? Is it serious?" Mingxi asked.

"Nah, he's okay. It's just a little cold," Ke Chengwen said.

Mingxi had no choice but to sit down first. In the end, Fu Yangxi didn't come to class at all today.

As Mingxi had to prepare for the Hundred School Tournament, she didn't think too much about it.

But once she started doing the questions, she raised her head, and when she saw the empty seat beside her, she felt a little uncomfortable.

This was the first time that Fu Yangxi didn't give her a heads up before he decided to not come to school.

Without his voice around her, everything seemed much quieter.

Finally, when school was about to end, Mingxi couldn't hold back anymore and texted him.

"Xi ge, Ke Chengwen told me that you caught a cold."

"Do you have a fever? There should be a private doctor at home, right? Have you seen the doctor yet?"

"What's your body temperature?"

"Is there anything you need? I can send it over to you."

Mingxi kept holding the phone. She was restless. When she saw that Fu Yangxi never answered, she couldn't help but send another one: "Was it so uncomfortable that you fell asleep? If you can see my message, please reply me QAQ*."

QAQ is a crying emoticon

Even after she was done with her messages, there was still no reply from him.

…

Mingxi subconsciously began to look through the chat records between her and Fu Yangxi. In the past, in order to improve her luck, she only sent three messages to Fu Yangxi every day, and almost all of them were three periods.

This was the first time that she had sent Fu Yangxi five messages with actual content in them.

Mingxi felt uneasy.

It was mainly because of the fact that she had recently discovered Fu Yangxi's fear of dogs, and she often found scratches from glass explosions on his body. Although he said that he got those scratches when the glass bowl exploded after being filled with overly hot instant noodles, Mingxi always felt that something wasn't quite right with his story.

She started packing her school bag the moment the final school bell rang. She was planning to visit Fu Yangxi's house.

She turned around and asked Ke Chengwen, "Do you know the address to Fu Yangxi's home? Can you send it to me?"

Ke Chengwen was stunned. "Didn't you not want it before?!"

Mingxi said, "I'm scared that he can't take care of himself. Didn't you say that there are no adults in his home and that he lives by himself most of the time?"

…

After getting the address from Ke Chengwen, Mingxi carried her schoolbag, bought some anti-fever medicine and anti-fever stickers, and hurried to Fu Yangxi's address with an umbrella.

Over at this side, after she left, Ke Chengwen quickly sent a text message to Fu Yangxi: "Crap. Xi ge, I couldn't stand the temptation of a beautiful girl and told Zhao Mingxi your address. It's the address of your own apartment, not your mother's villa."

After falling out of love, Fu Yangxi, who was curled up in the bed decadently, continued to stare at the WeChat messages sent by Zhao Mingxi. His mood was complicated and sad. A hundred episodes of life and death in TV dramas had already been staged in his mind.

When he saw the message from Ke Chengwen pop up, he withdrew from the chatroom and took a look. Then he immediately sat up.

What the hell? Little Mask is coming? But I haven't even washed my hair yet!

Fu Yangxi was in absolute despair. She said that she didn't like me, so why does she still care about me?

Just let me die!

Chapter 36

Following the address, Mingxi ended up at a high-end residential area. It looked a lot like a commercial district on the outside, but when she walked into the building, she realized that it was a service apartment.

She went to the security guard to explain the situation. The security guard took the walkie-talkie and most likely spoke to Fu Yangxi before he took her to the penthouse.

Mingxi stood outside the door, carrying a bag of anti-fever medicine, and rang the doorbell.

After a while.

Someone opened the door.

Fu Yangxi's red hair was damp, his frizzy hair scattered around his forehead. He was wrapped in a quilt as he opened the door.

There was no light on the entrance. Due to the thunderstorm, there was barely any light here. His lips were pale and dry, and his face was abnormally flushed.

In short, he looked exactly like someone who did not receive any care while being sick.

Mingxi looked up at him and was startled. "Xi ge, why is your hair wet? Did you wash your hair while having a fever?! Do you want to die?"

Fu Yangxi rubbed his forehead and instead asked nonchalantly, "Why are you here?"

Mingxi didn't notice his strangeness. She directly looked into her house. "Ke Chengwen said you're sick. Is there anyone at home—"

After taking a look inside, Mingxi was certain that there was no one in Fu Yangxi's house.

The interior of the penthouse was far too deserted. The curtains were drawn, the living room was empty and there was no furniture at all, not even a background behind the TV. There was only a sofa and white walls. It was as if he only bought a floor within this 200 square meter building.

The marble top on the open kitchen counter looked new, and the warranty label on the refrigerator had not even been torn off yet.

Thank goodness I came. Otherwise, this— What would Fu Yangxi eat tonight? Is he still going to eat takeaways although he is sick?

Before she could see everything else clearly, she was pushed out by Fu Yangxi with a finger against her forehead.

The fingers on the forehead are hot.

Fu Yangxi would not let her in.

"Aren't you going to prepare for the Hundred School Tournament and meet the person you want to see? I can't believe you still have time to come and visit a deskmate like me." Fu Yangxi said coldly with a hoarse voice.

"Huh?" Mingxi was stunned. "I finished my review during the day, and I'm only free after school. I heard that you're sick, so I just—"

Fu Yangxi interrupted her with a sad tone, "Why does it matter to you whether I'm sick or not? Do you care?"

Mingxi: ???

What?

The fever must have gotten to his head!

I haven't seen him for just a day, yet the way he spoke has become strange.

Mingxi was afraid that his brain had truly overheated, so she anxiously hung the medicine bag on his wrist and pushed him in. "Hurry up and blow your hair dry! Then go and lie down on the bed!"

She accidentally pushed him a bit hard, causing Fu Yangxi to stagger, and the heat emanating from his body suddenly overwhelmed her.

Mingxi hurriedly supported him.

"Exactly how heavy are you?!" Mingxi asked strenuously. She felt as if a great mountain was pressing on top of her. She was almost crushed to the ground. Her height of 1.7 meters was like a small bamboo shoot swaying in the wind, ready to break at any time. "You usually look so thin—"

"I'm 1.88 meters tall, okay?! You go and ask for the weight of other guys who are 1.88 meters tall!" Fu Yangxi said angrily. "And the quilt is practically another 20 kilograms!"

He was filled with righteous indignation as he thought, only Shen Liyao is light; only Shen Liyao is thin.

Forget about the fact that she didn't like him, she was even criticizing his weight?!

"I don't need your help." Fu Yangxi was furious. He shook Mingxi's hand away, turned around and walked inside.

Mingxi: "…"

Mingxi closed the door, took off her school bag and looked around. Fu Yangxi didn't even have a coffee table in this huge penthouse, so she had to place her things on the ground first.

Fu Yangxi sat down angrily on the sofa.

Mingxi walked over. Fu Yangxi was very hot, and she could feel a heat wave coming from him even though he was wrapped in the quilt.

She raised her hand to touch his neck and was so scalded that she retracted her hand. She thought, this is bad, he has to go to the hospital.

Mingxi hurriedly said to Fu Yangxi, "Didn't your family doctor come? Shall I accompany you to the hospital?"

"I don't want to go to the hospital." Fu Yangxi glanced at her, his eyes red-rimmed. There was a mix of emotions on his face, a combination of irritation, anger, desolation and hurt.

He quickly turned away. "Don't touch me."

Mingxi: "…"

Mingxi thought that his brains must have been fried by the fever, so she didn't bother to argue with him.

"Forget it then. Either way, it's not good for you to go out and get blown by the cold winds after the rain. We'll just have to break your fever at home. Do you have boiled water here?"

Mingxi went to the entrance to turn on a light, and then went to the kitchen counter to find some water.

After realizing that there was no hot water, she tiptoed out, found a kettle from the kitchen cabinet and started to boil the water.

Mingxi hurriedly boiled the water while urging, "Hurry up and blow-dry your hair. Then after you're done, put on a fever-reducing patch. Drink hot water, take your medicine and go to bed. You'll be fine after you sweat it out."

After a few minutes, the water was boiling.

Mingxi thought that Fu Yangxi had also gone to the bathroom to blow-dry his hair. However, when she turned her head to check on him, he was still sitting on the sofa with a pale face, staring at her with a dead gaze.

His eyes were red-rimmed, and he looked so weak it was as if he had experienced the end of the world.

Mingxi: "…"

Isn't it just a cold? Why is he acting like he fell out of love?!

However, Mingxi remembered how she got drunk last time and vomited on him, so she immediately gave up on the thought of lecturing him.

Mingxi found a glass and poured a cup of hot water. Then she went to the bathroom to get a bath towel and a hair dryer— The water on the bathroom tiles hasn't dried yet. Fu Yangxi had just washed his hair?

Mingxi couldn't understand what was going through his mind. Why would he wash his hair when he's sick?

She walked up to Fu Yangxi, handed him the hot water, and asked him to hold it with both hands. "Drink some water, your lips are very dry."

Fu Yangxi took the water, like an eggplant beaten by frost, his head was continuously hung low.

Mingxi took a towel and put it on his head, wiping the water off him indiscriminately.

She couldn't identify the scent of Fu Yangxi's shampoo. However, she did notice that it was the source of the faint scent of pine on his body, coupled with some gardenia, it was refreshing and fragrant.

But when Mingxi wiped his hair and felt his warm forehead under her fingers, she no longer cared about freeloading on his luck. She wanted to quickly dry his hair so that he could lie down on the bed and sweat it out under the quilt.

Fu Yangxi stared at the ground, thinking bitter thoughts, Little Mask treats me very well, but she only thinks of me as her boss.

She doesn't like me at all.

What is so good about Shen Liyao? Is he taller? Is he richer?

"Xi ge, do you use this towel to wipe your hair? I just took one randomly." Only when Mingxi was almost done drying his hair did she recall this question.

Fu Yangxi looked up at her weakly.

"It's a mat," he said with a bitter tone.

Mingxi asked, "…Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Fu Yangxi simply did not have the mind to care about such things. "Don't call me Xi ge."

Mingxi stopped what she was doing. "What's the matter? Should I call you Boss then?"

'Boss', this damn word. He thought she liked him, but she just regarded him as her boss!

Putting in all his feelings on someone who didn't even like him back was too embarrassing.

Fu Yangxi couldn't help but angrily yell, "Don't call me Boss!"

"Then what should I call you?" When Mingxi saw that his red hair had been wiped dry, she threw the towel aside. She then picked up the hair dryer and started blow-drying his hair.

Fu Yangxi said with an utmost saddened tone, "I was reckless when I was young, and I was arrogant to accept you as my follower. Now, you are no longer my follower."

Mingxi: "…"

It's only been a month since you were 'young'?

Fu Yangxi lowered his voice and said, "You should call me Young Master Fu."

"…"

Mingxi stopped blow-drying his hair once it became dry, soft and fluffy.

She lowered her eyes to meet Fu Yangxi's gaze.

Fu Yangxi's eyes were red-rimmed. She didn't know if it was because of the fever or something else, but his fair skin was very pale, and the tiny tear moles at the corner of his eyes were more obvious.

It's not the first time that Mingxi found him extremely good-looking, but with his freshly blown hair, his attractiveness seemed especially fatal. Messy short red hair, a high nose bridge, a fragile look due to his illness, and the watery glaze over his eyes.

While Mingxi looked at his face, she actually fell into a daze with the hair dryer in her hands.

Only after Mingxi came back to her senses did she fully process what he was talking about. She simply took his advice and said, "What? Oh, alright then, Young Master Fu, have you taken your medicine? And I mean medicine in the literal sense.* If you haven't, I bought you some medicine for the cold."

Mingxi is explaining because the Chinese have a tendency to ask whether one has eaten medicine or not to indicate that they are acting a little out of the ordinary/crazy.

Fu Yangxi: "…"

She really doesn't love me! She just called me Young Master Fu so nonchalantly!

Mingxi took out two pills from the medicines that she had brought, stuffed them into Fu Yangxi's hands, and put a white fever-reducing patch on his forehead. She said, "Take the medicine and go to bed. I'll go and make some porridge first."

Fu Yangxi's eyes followed her, staring at her as she cooked the porridge.

Mingxi looked for rice everywhere, but found that Fu Yangxi had nothing at home. So in the end she had no choice but to take out her mobile phone and ordered a takeaway, asking the fresh food store to send over some millet and vegetables.

The place where the rich lived was very convenient. In less than 10 minutes, a delivery guy had already delivered the goods to the door.

Mingxi took the things, walked over to the open kitchen, and began to make porridge.

She noticed that Fu Yangxi still hadn't gone to bed. Instead, he had his head against the white walls, sitting on the sofa while looking at her.

Mingxi didn't give it much thought.

It's fine so long as he's eaten the medicine. The fever-reducing patch should work later, so even if he sits in the living room wrapped in a quilt, the effect will still be the same.

There was a momentary silence in this double-storey penthouse.

Fu Yangxi suddenly said with a hoarse voice, "So… it's been a while since you changed classes, yet I haven't heard you talk about other people before."

"Don't you know He Yang?" Mingxi said without turning back. "Then there are some people I knew before, but you wouldn't want to know them. Even if you do know them, you probably can't remember their names, such as Geng Jing, the monitor of Class 6…"

Mingxi said a bunch of names. Fu Yangxi scanned through them and found that she had left out Shen Liyao's name.

"What about those from the School Representative Team? Do you know anyone from there?"

Mingxi heard Fu Yangxi's hoarse voice coming from the sofa.

"What's up with the School Representative Team?" Mingxi thought that Fu Yangxi could not sleep so he was chatting with her casually. She said, "I know a few people. Those people are young and vigorous, and they often win gold medals. They are really amazing."

Fu Yangxi asked, "Do girls like that type of guy?"

Mingxi thought about the number of love letters Shen Liyao had received before. In just one weekend, the letters stuffed in the table could fill a trash can. He should rank first in their school, and no one could be ranked second.

So she answered, "I suppose that's the case for most girls."

Then she stopped speaking.

The porridge was almost ready. Mingxi squatted down to look for the bowls and spoons. She eventually found two sets of bowls in the disinfection cabinet. She raised her head and asked Fu Yangxi, "There are black and red ones, which bowl do you want?"

Fu Yangxi replied, "I'm fine with anything."

Mingxi subconsciously chose the black-colored bowl and began to serve the porridge.

Fu Yangxi's hand which was placed in the quilt suddenly clenched silently. Anger, embarrassment, loss, sadness, all these emotions surged into his heart.

He envied Shen Liyao.

He was in utter despair.

Mingxi watched as he shook his head before he turned listlessly and left for his bedroom.

"What's the matter? Drink the porridge first and then sleep." Mingxi looked at him with the porridge in her hands.

Fu Yangxi didn't say a word. He walked into the room wrapped in a quilt and lay down on the bed. Then, he wrapped himself into a bear, and buried his head in it.

Mingxi carried the porridge in, thinking that he must be feeling uncomfortable. After taking the medicine, he should be starting to feel sleepy. So she put the porridge on the bedside table next to him and said, "Get up and eat while you still have some strength. I've also kept some in the rice cooker so that it can stay warm."

Fu Yangxi said, "Okay."

Once Mingxi saw this, she knew she couldn't stay any longer.

She closed the door gently, turned to go out, and turned off the light. She picked up her school bag and planned to leave.

However, just before leaving, she saw Fu Yangxi's mobile phone dropped on the ground, so she picked it up for him and took it to the room.

Mingxi suddenly noticed that Fu Yangxi's phone was without the phone case——

Isn't it his gang's phone case? Why did he take it off so casually?

…

On the one hand, Mingxi felt that she became as naive as Fu Yangxi as she still cared about this. However, she couldn't help but stare at the phone case that was no longer similar to her own.

For some reason, she felt a sense of loss.

It may be her misperception, but the Fu Yangxi today seemed to be a little stranger than before. He even asked her to call him Young Master Fu again.

Nonetheless, Mingxi immediately changed her mind. Maybe it's because of the fever and discomfort?

Humans are like this – once you get used to being intimate with someone, your emotions will undergo a subconscious change even when the smallest details are changed in that person, and all this would happen before you could understand the reason why.

Mingxi inexplicably became depressed along with Fu Yangxi's gloomy mood.

She shook her head to stop herself from overthinking and left Fu Yangxi's penthouse.

When she got downstairs, she was worried about how she was going to get back to school. Just then, a car slowly came to a stop in front of her.

Lawyer Zhang, whom she had already met last time, poked his head out of the driver's seat and said, "Miss Zhao, it's raining outside. Young Master Fu has asked me to give you a ride back to school."

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Chapter 37

After Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuning came back from the hotel that day, they also caught a cold because they were exposed to the rain.

As a young boy, Zhao Yuning had a pretty good physique. He was alright after drinking a bowl of ginger soup cooked by the nanny. However, Madam Zhao was seriously ill.

It may seem like the illness was caused by external factors, but it was actually an illness stemming from the mind.

The Zhao family knew why, but they couldn't do anything. Zhao Mingxi was almost 18 years old so they couldn't forcefully bring her back.

Besides, even if they did bring her back, there was no way they could go back to how they were before. Zhao Mingxi would only hate them even more.

The Zhao family finally realized this in all sobriety.

Nonetheless, no matter what, the Zhao family did not give up. A biological relationship is the most unbreakable thing in the world. Zhao Mingxi can be angry and resent them for a year or two, but it is impossible for her to not want them for a lifetime.

In addition, now that they know to repent and compensate, won't their relationship slowly ease up over time?

The question now was how to alleviate it.

Just as Madam Zhao and Zhao Yuning had seen outside the hotel, now whenever Zhao Mingxi saw any one of them from the Zhao family, she wouldn't even spare a glance at them, let alone greet them.

Going head-on to look for her would have no effect at all. She would definitely turn around and leave just like before.

They may not even be able to say a word before their efforts would be regarded as futile and annoying.

There must be some other way to soften her resolve slowly.

The Zhao family members were each thinking of a way.

Mr. Zhao still hadn't fully accepted the gravity of the situation. Although he heard Zhao Zhanhuai's account of what happened during this period, he still felt that Mingxi might have only been trying to throw a tantrum and that this matter could be changed.

Mingxi was disappointed because the family was always standing on Zhao Yuan's side. It may have started out as small matters, but these disappointments accumulated in layers which led to her final decision to leave the house.

So where was the source?

It was their partiality.

Mr. Zhao had a private conversation with everyone in the family, emphasizing that in the future, Zhao Yuan and Zhao Mingxi must be treated equally. Regardless of whether Mingxi was present or not, they must be fair and just.

Occurrences like Madam Zhao giving Mingxi's skirt to Zhao Yuan at the last birthday party will never happen again.

In particular, he reprimanded Zhao Mo. "Watch your mouth. I don't mind you using foul language on a daily basis, but you must be more aware of what you say during critical moments."

He also said to Madam Zhao, "You have the greatest impact on Mingxi. You must act fairly in the future. Also, Mingxi is our biological daughter. It's okay to take her side a little more, especially at times like this."

Zhao Zhanhuai also had a conversation with Zhao Mo and Madam Zhao respectively.

He mainly lectured Zhao Mo, "To be honest, if you waited for me that day instead of impulsively finding Mingxi, maybe you wouldn't have entered the police station and things would not have developed this way. You are the main reason why this happened."

Zhao Mo was so angered that he was amused. "You're all ganging up on me just because of a little girl? You're all trying to teach me a lesson, right? How would I know that on that day—"

Before he could finish speaking, Mr. Zhao, who just came in, gave him a heavy smack on the head. "I have already told you! Change the way you speak! Can't you say the word 'little sister'? Did you have to call her a 'little girl'? This situation happened because of you! If you still want to stay at home, go to the study and write down the word 'little sister' 100 times for me right now!"

Mr. Zhao's face was ashen.

He always had the image of a strict father and the whole family feared him.

Zhao Mo could feel the anger crawling into his heart, but he chose to take the brunt of it all. He turned around and went to the study to write down some Mandarin words.

The conversation between Zhao Zhanhuai and Madam Zhao was mainly to analyze the reasons why things have become like this.

The two recalled some past events. The more they recalled, the more they remembered more details about how they had neglected Zhao Mingxi because of Zhao Yuan. Madam Zhao's face was pale and she started crying again.

Zhao Zhanhuai had a headache and reminded Madam Zhao, "You should mainly start from these details in the future and pay attention to Mingxi's feelings." After that, he hurriedly left.

In addition, Mr. Zhao also held a meeting for the family's drivers and other employees, emphasizing that Zhao Mingxi is their biological daughter and that she must not be neglected in the future.

If things like what happened with Nanny Zhang happens again, they will be immediately fired.

…

Zhao Yuan was naturally excluded from the private conversations of the Zhao family.

It wasn't that they were deliberately hiding it from her, but it was their own family matter. She didn't need to be mixed up in this. If she were to appear in front of Mingxi, it would only trigger Mingxi even more. So it was better for her not to show up.

What's more, the Zhao family also considered her feelings.

But Zhao Yuan only felt that her family was acting weird recently. They often went to the study two by two, as if they were deliberately avoiding her in order to do some sort of illegal transaction.

Aside from them, their servants were acting oddly too.

The gardener began to buy the seeds of flowers that Zhao Mingxi liked and the chef began to study the dishes Zhao Mingxi liked to eat. When the driver brought her something, he would also find other students to inquire about Zhao Mingxi from time to time.

She also saw Zhao Yuning, who would get too hungry to sleep in the middle of the night, get up and go to the kitchen to study how Zhao Mingxi used to cook. He wanted to try making a lunch box so that he could take it to school to Zhao Mingxi—

Of course Zhao Yuan knew that this was their form of compensation for the loss of their family member.

Because he had eaten too many lunch boxes made by Zhao Mingxi, yet he never knew how to be grateful. Now that he has lost it, he feels empty and wants to make up for it.

But when she saw all this, it only made her extremely anxious and irritable.

Although Zhao Mingxi had left this home, she was still everywhere in this house.

Even her presence was stronger than when she first came two years ago.

Zhao Yuan was both scared and jealous.

A human's energy and love are limited. Once more energy is put on Zhao Mingxi, the Zhao family will inevitably ignore her.

Not to mention that although Zhao Zhanhuai was still gentle to her all this while, he was actually avoiding her.

Aside from that, there was the problem of her stiff relationship with Zhao Yuning.

Even Mr. Zhao no longer personally taught her golf on the weekends. Instead, he left her to a coach. Zhao Mo didn't spend much time at home, but he kept looking at her with scrutiny in his eyes. He was no longer as close to her as before Zhao Mingxi came.

Zhao Yuan felt anxious and knew that she could not let this situation go on any further.

…

She called Aunt Zhang. Nanny Zhang was still expecting Zhao Yuan to get her back.

But in this situation where Madam Zhao had already rejected her once, Zhao Yuan had no idea how to ask the Zhao family to ask for Nanny Zhang to be re-hired again.

Zhang Yufen heard Zhao Yuan crying with great grievance. She got anxious and quickly comforted her. "There's no rush, Miss. There is no need to hurry about my matter. You must take care of yourself first. You must stay calm, study and compete in the Tournament. Don't slack, especially with regards to the one you're about to participate in—"

Zhao Yuan said, "The Hundred School Tournament."

"Yes, especially for this Tournament. You can't lose to Zhao Mingxi. You have to make your family see that you are better than her," Zhang Yufen advised. "Secondly, you have to find a way to repair your relationship with the Zhao family. You have to take the initiative. Now that the situation has changed, you can't sit and wait anymore."

Zhao Yuan was upset, but still she agreed, "I understand."

It would not be easy for her to take the initiative.

For the past fifteen years, as the only girl in the Zhao family, Zhao Yuan had always been spoiled like a little princess. So when Zhao Mingxi first came, she felt a little sense of crisis.

Having been spoiled all her life, she only knew how to be spoiled. She was not good at the act of pleasing others.

As far as she knew, she only needed to be beautiful and obedient. How could she have known that the whole family would become like this now because of Zhao Mingxi's departure from home?

Zhao Yuan thought for a while. Finally, she recalled something.

Recently, Zhao Zhanhuai has been having a headache because of a matter in the company. His company intends to take over a piece of land, but the other company has always kept the price high, so Zhao Zhanhuai's acquisition has been hindered.

Zhao Yuan remembered that company, it was the Lu family's company. It was the Evergreen Class' Lu Ye's family company.

Lu Ye used to like her, so she could help her eldest brother. This way, her eldest brother would definitely treat her differently.

As she thought about this, Zhao Yuan opened her WeChat and wondered how to make Lu Ye do this willingly.

…

Fu Yangxi did not come to class again on Thursday. Mingxi was at a loss, looking at the seat beside her almost 300 times a day.

She counted her young shoots. It had already reached 180.

500 was still too far away, but Mingxi was no longer as urgent now. After all, the injury on her face has healed and she was no longer as unlucky in her exams. The amount of luck she freeloaded had already made her a lot more lucky.

As for the rest, so long as she continued to stay by Fu Yangxi's side, she could always get 500 trees before graduating from high school.

This was also the reason why when Fu Yangxi was away, she did not go to Jiang Xiuqiu for luck.

It was not until Friday when Fu Yangxi finally came to school.

Both his cell phone and pillow fell to the ground when he hurriedly jumped into the bathroom to wash his hair on Wednesday evening.

The phone case was cracked and the pillow was soaked. Thus, he could only put it on the balcony. And since it has been raining for the past few days, it could not be dried.

Fu Yangxi had no choice but to leave it at home.

As soon as Fu Yangxi came— Maybe it was because he hadn't come to class for two days, Mingxi couldn't help keeping her eyes on him. Therefore, Mingxi, who had never paid much attention to detail, discovered that he hadn't brought the Pikachu pillow.

He has never separated from the pillow ever since I gave it to him. What happened in the past two days?

Because of the strangeness in her heart, Mingxi couldn't help but to look at Fu Yangxi's handsome face for a long time.

She kept staring at him as he walked into the classroom with a blank expression, pulled out his chair and sat down.

Mingxi felt that he was obviously depressed, his aura was full of low pressure.

When he walked in, he was wearing his noise-cancelling headphones. Although he didn't look pissed, it was blank. He started to sleep as soon as he sat down and took off his jacket. He didn't say a word nor did he greet Ke Chengwen, Jiang Xiuqiu or her.

Mingxi looked at Fu Yangxi's silent and dull mop of red hair and murmured in her heart.

…What happened?

If it wasn't because only she and Ke Chengwen were on the call when she was reminded that she forgot Fu Yangxi's birthday, Mingxi would have almost thought that Fu Yangxi was angry because of this.

However, she figured he wasn't this petty.

Mingxi thought that he might have just been in a bad mood because of his sickness.

It was quite uncomfortable to be sick, so Mingxi didn't bother him and let him sleep peacefully all morning. In fact, when his followers in the class passed by him, she put a finger on her lips and reminded them to keep quiet.

During the third period break, Mingxi saw that Fu Yangxi was still quiet. Thus, she couldn't help but run to the convenience store to buy a bag of sweets.

"Is there a bitter aftertaste in your mouth? Take this then." Mingxi shook him awake gently.

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Chapter 38

"I don't want to eat this. Stay away from me." Fu Yangxi raised his head and glanced at Zhao Mingxi. Then his gaze fell on her hand pushing against his arm. He added, "Also, it is improper for a man and woman to touch each other so casually, so you should be more careful from now on."

Mingxi: "…"

Mingxi tried her best not to squint her eyes in confusion. She unpacked the package and handed it to Fu Yangxi. "What's wrong with you today?! Just try one, there are both lemon and strawberry flavors available. When you're sick you need to replenish your energy!"

Fu Yangxi glanced at her with eyes full of sorrow. "Do you really care if I still have energy or not?"

He pressed his lips tightly and leaned his whole body on the cold wall.

As soon as Mingxi leaned forward and he retreated, the whole scene turned into a scene of Mingxi oppressing him, forcing him to put his hand on the edge of his chair, trapping him in the corner, and his look as if he would rather die than obey.

The whole class couldn't help but look over out of curiosity.

"…"

Mingxi's cheeks were hot. She hurriedly withdrew her hands and set her back straight.

"Are you still ill?" Mingxi had no choice but to put the sweet into her own mouth. She muttered and asked, "If you're still not feeling well, why not ask for another day off? Did you bring a thermometer? Have you taken your temperature?"

She felt that his fever had gone away. She could feel it while she was sitting next to him for three periods in the morning. She no longer felt the scorching heat coming from his body as compared to when she was at his house the day before yesterday.

Boys at this age are physically strong so they would recover quickly.

But why is it that even though the fever is gone, he still looks so tired?

Thinking of this, Mingxi stretched out her hand subconsciously to check the body temperature on Fu Yangxi's forehead.

However, Fu Yangxi avoided her again.

He even stood up abruptly.

With a crash, the chair fell on the floor.

Fu Yangxi turned around and walked out of the classroom. He looked cold and tired. "I have recovered from my illness, so you don't have to worry about me anymore."

Mingxi looked up at him. She turned her neck like a sunflower would to the sun and asked inexplicably, "Then why are you unhappy?"

Mingxi grabbed his shirt in confusion.

Fu Yangxi turned away. "I'm not unhappy."

Did she want me to say, "Because I thought you liked me; because I have always been playing into this one-sided love. Now that my dreams are broken, my self-esteem is also smashed to the ground. I feel like a humiliated clown."? Did she want me to say such embarrassing words?

It was too mortifying. He didn't know how to face it.

"Bullshit," Mingxi said. "Xi ge, I can still read your mood. Did something happen to you at home?"

"…Nothing happened."

Fu Yangxi fell silent before pushing Zhao Mingxi's hand away. "Remember that it is improper for a man and woman to touch each other so casually."

Mingxi: "…"

Mingxi watched as Fu Yangxi left the classroom. She felt really puzzled.

…

At first, she thought that Fu Yangxi was just unable to lift up his spirits because of his illness, but now it seems that something bad must have happened to him, maybe something troublesome.

Maybe something happened at home? But she didn't know anything about his home…

At the beginning, Mingxi's mind was only filled with her terminal illness, so she didn't want to ask so much.

Later, she became friends with Fu Yangxi, Ke Chengwen and the others. She didn't know if he would be provoked if she used her humble status as a follower to inquire about his privacy. Thus, she suppressed her curiosity and refrained from questioning him.

And now— Mingxi panicked. She didn't care anymore. She turned her head and asked Ke Chengwen about this.

"Xi ge is acting weird these days. Did something happen?"

Ke Chengwen was shocked when he saw Zhao Mingxi. He immediately used a book to block his face. However, Mingxi quickly took the book away. "Don't avoid my question."

"You're probably thinking too much about it," Ke Chengwen murmured. "Xi ge is the same as usual."

He reached out a hand to grab the book.

"What do you mean 'same as usual'?" Mingxi grabbed his book and rebutted. "He used to practically write the words 'cocky' and 'narcissistic' on his face, but why is it that ever since he got sick, he looks as if someone had beat him up?"

"He was scolded by his grandfather, that's why he's in a bad mood. He'll be fine in another two days."

Ke Chengwen thought, wouldn't telling you be equivalent to embarassing Xi ge?

Besides, you were the one who said that you didn't like Brother Xi on the phone. Won't you feel embarrassed and awkward after knowing Xi ge's thoughts? Won't you run away and reject him?

Ke Chengwen felt that once he said it, not only would Zhao Mingxi and Fu Yangxi never get to be a couple, they might not even be friends.

This kind of 'I like the enemy, but the enemy doesn't like me. But for a long time, I mistakenly thought that the enemy liked me, and finally found out that the enemy already had someone else they liked'— This sort of mess. Ke Chengwen's straight-oriented brain was buzzing when he thought of all this.

He felt that if he got caught in the middle, he would become the bad guy.

So Ke Chengwen casually said, "He is that type of person. He isn't targeting you. Didn't you see that he has been indifferent to us all day today? Just let him figure it out himself."

After two days of thinking, maybe the 'feeling of being betrayed' would disappear, and everyone can continue being friends, as if nothing had happened.

Although Ke Chengwen said that Fu Yangxi's dampened mood was due to his grandfather.

Mingxi still felt like something was wrong.

…

She didn't want Fu Yangxi to be unhappy.

She couldn't bear to see Fu Yangxi depressed, but she didn't know how to make him feel better.

At noon, Mingxi deliberately pulled He Yang along with her to go outside the school. She bought a small pot of cactus and placed it on Fu Yangxi's table. She hoped that he would feel better when he saw some green plants.

Fu Yangxi didn't throw it away, but he didn't take another glance at it nor did he explode in anger like he would before and blame her for messing up his table.

The red bird in Fu Yangxi's heart seemed to be dead. It lay on the ground softly with two rows of tears. It could no longer show off.

As for Mingxi, she felt at a loss.

Because she was concerned about what happened to Fu Yangxi, Mingxi couldn't help but focus on him all day and turn her head to look at him from time to time during class.

As she watched, Mingxi stopped brushing the tip of her pen on the notebook. The accumulation of ink became a dot as she fell in a daze.

…Because she suddenly discovered that the person next to her was really good-looking.

Impeccable facial features, exquisite handsomeness, and when there's no expression on his face, there was an unapproachable feeling.

It made people feel a kind of, just a kind of— inexplicable, unclear, as if one's heart was crawling with ants, sour and vague feeling.

Mingxi's gaze subconsciously fell on his tightly pressed thin lips and suddenly felt an itch on her body. However, she couldn't reach out to scratch it.

Because no matter where she scratched, it was like she was scratching on a barrier.

Mingxi touched her chest unconsciously. Only then did she realize that her heart was the one that felt itchy.

…

Fu Yangxi was leaning his head on his hand, his eyelids not lifting at the slightest. He was trying his best to act indifferent, pretending not to notice Mingxi's gaze falling upon his face. He was also pretending that the roots of his ears were not crazily hot at all.

He knew it. He doesn't look bad, right? Why has Little Mask never stared at him before?

Now that Zhao Mingxi was finally staring at him like this, Fu Yangxi really wanted to Photoshop his profile a little so that he could become more handsome.

Nonetheless, he also knew that he was good-looking enough, so he boldly turned the pages of the book casually, pretending to be nonchalant about this.

After a while, he caught a glimpse of Zhao Mingxi's gaze, and Fu Yangxi's mood after a few days of cloudiness finally improved albeit by just a little.

He changed his posture so that his left hand was propped below his head while his right hand was holding his mobile phone underneath the table. He quickly went on Baidu and searched 'Which angle of a high school boy's face with a height of 1.88 meters is the most attractive to girls'…

While Zhao Mingxi was staring at Fu Yangxi's Adam's apple and swallowing unconsciously, Mr. Lu who was on the podium couldn't stand it anymore and yelled, "Mingxi! What are you looking at? Is the face of your deskmate blooming?"

Mingxi was taken aback. She quickly sat up straight and placed both her hands on the table.

The corner of Fu Yangxi's mouth twitched, and the little bird that was on the verge of death finally jerked its leg.

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Chapter 39 (Part 1)

While the atmosphere of the International Class had become really weird because of Zhao Mingxi and Fu Yangxi, the atmosphere of the Evergreen Class and Gold Medal Class were not much better either.

For the last fight for the seat in the Tournament, the entire Evergreen Class was defeated in public. So far, whenever they met people from the International Class on the road, they could not hold their heads up. The group of Fu Yangxi's followers in the International Class were also unkind with their words. Whenever they saw them, they would mock and ridicule them. They wanted to fight but they had no reason to do so, hence they were frustrated to death.

In addition, Miss Ye Bing, their homeroom teacher, was criticized face-to-face for offending Professor Gao. Recently, the air pressure in their class has also been extremely low. As soon as she entered the classroom, she would pull a long face, effectively strangling all the fun in the room. This caused the entire Evergreen Class to be in dire straits and miserable.

In such a situation, the entire class could easily start fights with each other.

At the beginning, when the title of School Beauty was given to Zhao Mingxi, the people in the Evergreen Class didn't think it mattered. Anyway, Zhao Mingxi was several times more beautiful than Zhao Yuan. This was a fact before their eyes. Afterwards, when Zhao Mingxi was about to become the host of the Annual School Celebration, most of the people in the Evergreen Class were still indifferent. After all, why did it matter who became the host…?

But after experiencing the last incident, the dignity of the entire Evergreen Class was trampled to the ground. They couldn't sit still anymore! They started to think of Zhao Mingxi as a member of the International Class and began to quarrel with the enemy!

So when the lineup of events for the Annual School Celebration was released and the Literature Department announced that this year's host was still Zhao Yuan, the entire Evergreen Class let out sighs of relief and cheered.

After all, the class of the host would have the right to perform at the finale.

Zhao Yuan also let out a mental sigh of relief. She was finally able to win something back after the recent series of incidents.

…

What Zhao Yuan and the Evergreen Class didn't know was that just after she had contacted the teacher of the Literature Department that day, that teacher still offered the position to Zhao Mingxi again.

But Mingxi flatly refused her.

Thus, this opportunity went round and round before it finally fell into Zhao Yuan's hands.

Mingxi's thoughts were very simple. She couldn't be bothered to fight with Zhao Yuan for what she has.

It was more sensible for her to have more time to study.

If this happened in the past, Mingxi might want to perform something for the show because the Zhao family would be watching during school celebrations. She would want to show off her face for the family to see.

After all, she was also a child who was full of expectations and wanted to be praised.

But now Mingxi didn't care about these at all.

Even without their love, she could live well by herself.

Except for those who participated in the Tournament, the Evergreen Class was celebrating.

They enthusiastically began to prepare for the finale of this year's school celebration.

Only two people were not so happy.

Li Haiyang thought this year's host would be Zhao Mingxi so he quietly looked forward to it for a long time, but now he was told that it was going to be Zhao Yuan?

What's the difference between this and a fan who waited for a long time for his idol's concert, but was suddenly told that a passerby would be on the stage?

He didn't like Zhao Yuan, so naturally she was just a passerby to him.

"Don't you guys find it boring?" Li Haiyang grabbed the gift from the table and couldn't help but murmur, "It was Zhao Yuan for the first two years. Don't the school teachers feel bored?"

"What are you talking about?!" Lu Ye, who happened to walk by, heard him and immediately came back and grabbed him by the collar. He almost fought him. "What's wrong with Zhao Yuan? Zhao Yuan is good-looking. If you're not convinced, just shut up!"

Looking at the wound on Lu Ye's face, Li Haiyang felt that Lu Ye was a little stupid. "You stole your father's bidding documents for Zhao Yuan and threatened your dad with your life! Does Zhao Yuan know that you did this? And even if you succeeded in helping Zhao Yuan, will Zhao Yuan remember you in the end?"

The two were friends, so Li Haiyang found it necessary to remind Lu Ye.

However, he was interrupted by Lu Ye before he could finish his sentence.

"What do you know? Zhao Yuan promised to go to the movies with me next weekend." Lu Ye glanced at Zhao Yuan's beautiful figure in the front row with a happy smile on his face. "At least I finally have a chance."

He ridiculed Li Haiyang again, "What about you? It's been so many days, yet you still haven't been able to give her a gift."

Li Haiyangyu was rendered speechless.

Another person who was not so happy was E Xiaoxia.

Her popularity in the Evergreen Class had declined to the point that only Miao Ran, who was her childhood friend, would still talk to her.

However, she couldn't figure out why everyone hated her yet not Zhao Yuan.

Can't anyone see that Zhao Yuan is not as kind as she seems?

E Xiaoxia glanced at Zhao Yuan who was smiling and talking to Lu Ye. Then, she lowered her head to open her stationery box and glanced at two palm-sized transparent sealed bags.

The first one contained a few hairs that she took from Zhao Yuning's sweater while he was playing basketball in school two days ago.

E Xiaoxia wasn't sure if it was Zhao Yuning's. To be on the safe side, she paid out several thousand yuan and asked Miao Ran to pretend to have a crush on Zhao Yuning's junior so that she could hand the money to one of Zhao Yuning's basketball teammates. That guy pulled a few pieces of hair from his head and put them in another sealed bag.

All that was needed next was a piece of Zhao Yuan's hair.

E Xiaoxia was thoughtful. For the past few days, she had been thinking of ways to get Zhao Yuan's hair. However, Zhao Yuan was being very defensive towards her now. No matter how cautious she was, as soon as she got close to Zhao Yuan, she would be pushed away by Pu Shuang.

So it was very difficult.

But E Xiaoxia did not give up. She always felt that her intuition wasn't wrong.

And even if there was a mistake in her intuition and the DNA test shows that Zhao Yuning and Zhao Yuan are siblings, there was not much for her to lose.

At noon that day, when she saw that Zhao Yuan did not go to dinner with Pu Shuang and the others but left the school alone, she hurriedly followed.

Zhao Yuan seemed to have an appointment and was waiting at a Japanese restaurant.

E Xiaoxia pulled out the chair at another table and sat behind the green plants, only to find that the person who rushed to meet Zhao Yuan was a nanny.

E Xiaoxia took a closer look and found that she recognized her. She was the Nanny Zhang in Zhao Yuan's family— the one who treated Zhao Yuan the best.

Previously, whenever E Xiaoxia went to Zhao Yuan's house, she observed that Nanny Zhang was always very enthusiastic, but she was only enthusiastic to Zhao Yuan's friends. In comparison, her attitude towards Zhao Mingxi was really bad.

Now Nanny Zhang seems to have left the Zhao family.

E Xiaoxia saw Zhao Yuan giving Nanny Zhang some money, saying that it was for her daily expenses.

E Xiaoxia's eyes wandered around. She called a waiter, gave him tens of thousands of yuan and whispered a few words to him.

Although the waiter couldn't figure out why the customer would want him to take the hair of those from the table over there, he was certainly willing to do such a simple thing for tens of thousands of yuan.

However, after walking over and serving the hot pot, the waiter became a little nervous and for a moment forgot whether "that woman" which E Xiaoxia mentioned was the young one or the older one.

As he did not have so much time to think, he quietly took the sample from the both of them.

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Chapter 39 (Part 2)

Before Zhao Yuan could find out about her, E Xiaoxia got a few strands of her hair. Then, without eating any of her food, she hurried away.

After meeting Nanny Zhang, Zhao Yuan went back to school and bumped into Pu Shuang who was buying snacks in the supermarket near the entrance of the school.

The two walked back together.

"You gave your nanny money?" Pu Shuang was surprised when Zhao Yuan mentioned it. "Wasn't she fired because she said bad things about Zhao Mingxi? An employee who couldn't control her mouth, dismissal is worthy of the crime, right? I'm sure you can find a new nanny who is efficient at work-"

Before Pu Shuang finished speaking, she glanced at Zhao Yuan's face and quickly said, "Of course, I mean, it wasn't necessary to dismiss her. It's just a sentence from Zhao Mingxi and she didn't commit any big mistakes. It's too pitiful for her to be fired just like this."

Zhao Yuan said, "That's why I gave her 50,000 yuan. After all, it's not easy to find a job at the end of the year. She used to be very good to me. When I'm down with a cold, she will cook chicken soup for me and take care of me all night."

"You are too kind." Pu Shuang sighed. "50,000 yuan. That's enough for her to not work for half a year. You can give it to her this one time, but there shouldn't be a next time, or else she might just cheat you out of your money."

Zhao Yuan's expression relaxed. She said, "Yeah, I know."

When the two walked across the basketball court, Pu Shuang asked again, "What about your eldest brother?"

Zhao Yuan smiled lightly. "It's done."

Zhao Zhanhuai naturally didn't know how she managed it. He only thought that she invited her classmate to dinner and then that classmate begged his dad. That's why the Lu family showed signs of letting go.

Zhao Zhanhuai felt that she had helped a lot, so he took the initiative to call her last night.

This was practically the first time Zhao Zhanhuai had taken the initiative to call her this month.

Zhao Zhanhuai's company must now acquire that piece of land in order to make a new layout, otherwise the operating benefits of the entire year will collapse.

Even if the Lu family refused to lower the price, in the end Zhao Zhanhuai would still buy that piece of land for a big price.

Now, Zhao Yuan has helped him pry Mr. Lu's mouth open and the purchase price had a possibility of lowering. This could save Zhao Zhanhuai's company a large amount of working capital.

Of course Zhao Zhanhuai felt relieved.

Zhao Yuan won again and again, so she was in a good mood today. She just felt that everything could be restored by herself to the way it was when there was no Zhao Mingxi.

Next, it was time to prepare for the School Celebration and the Tournament.

"Lu Ye looks like he got beat up when he came to school today. I wonder if he was beaten by his father." Pu Shuang looked at Zhao Yuan. She hesitated. "Did you really agree to date him?"

"We're only watching a movie," Zhao Yuan glanced at Pu Shuang and said. "I've never promised to date anyone before."

Pu Shuang: "…"

Pu Shuang stopped, suddenly feeling strange towards Zhao Yuan. At that moment, she didn't know what to say.

But Zhao Yuan was already way ahead of her.

Pu Shuang stared at Zhao Yuan's back for a while, then followed after her.

The fact that Lu Ye helped Zhao Yuan quickly reached Ke Chengwen's ears. It wasn't that Ke Chengwen wanted to inquire about it deliberately, but the basketball court was only so big.

Lu Ye was so excited to be able to watch a movie with the goddess. He was so loud when he was proclaiming it everywhere.

In the afternoon, during the physical education class, Ke Chengwen went over with a basketball and immediately told Fu Yangxi and Jiang Xiuqiu about it.

Jiang Xiuqiu was wearing a down jacket as he curled up in the corner and shook his hands. His neck was tucked into his collar. He couldn't figure out the situation. "So? What does this have to do with us?"

After he said this, he smiled and accepted the love letters handed over by the two blushing girls.

"You don't understand," Ke Chengwen said anxiously. "You don't know the troubles in Zhao Mingxi's house! What is Zhao Yuan doing now? She is winning favor! The reason why she asked Lu Ye to do that is because she wants the Zhao family to turn to her side!"

Jiang Xiuqiu stuffed the love letter into his pocket and returned to his expressionless appearance. "But Zhao Mingxi has severed ties with her family, right? She doesn't care who the Zhao family will favor in the future. The emperor is not in a hurry, so why are you, the eunuch, so anxious?"

"Xi ge, what do you say?" Ke Chengwen could not communicate with Jiang Xiuqiu, so he looked directly to Fu Yangxi.

Fu Yangxi's arrogant red hair froze in the cold wind. His handsome eyes were filled with depression because of his loss of love.

He stared sullenly at Shen Liyao, who was playing basketball over there, and unconsciously pressed his fingers on the can of Coke until the liquid popped out and the can was squeezed into a twisted ball.

He didn't seem to be listening to what Ke Chengwen said.

But after Ke Chengwen finished speaking, he let out a cold sigh.

"Give me your phone."

Ke Chengwen quickly searched in his pocket and took out his phone for him.

Fu Yangxi picked up the phone, got up, walked a few steps away from them, and dialed a number.

Jiang Xiuqiu was so cold that he couldn't move his neck. He turned his whole body over to look at Fu Yangxi. He wondered, "He is-"

Ke Chengwen said in understanding, "Ruining Zhao Yuan's plans."

Jiang Xiuqiu: "…"

When Fu Yangxi came back, Jiang Xiuqiu sighed and said, "Zhao Mingxi doesn't like you at all. You've fallen out of love, yet you still care about her."

Fu Yangxi said angrily, "I'm not caring about her. I simply can't understand the Zhao family and don't want them to get better. This is my personal business, understood?"

Jiang Xiuqiu said, "Didn't I say this earlier? Ever since we were little, I have never seen anyone pursuing us because of our personality. You still don't believe in that. Look, it's true—"

Fu Yangxi's mentality instantly collapsed, and his sanity immediately exploded into burning fireworks.

His blood rushed up to his head. He stood up with a loud noise, dropped the coke can, and grabbed Jiang Xiuqiu's collar: "Do you want to f*cking fight?"

Jiang Xiuqiu's collar was deformed, but he was like an old, calm monk. He wasn't angry, instead, he sighed in mourning.

Fu Yangxi: "…"

Fu Yangxi let go of Jiang Xiuqiu's collar and sat down beside him in frustration.

The warmth on Zhao Mingxi's body was real. She once created a wonderful dream for him, and it made his limbs warm every night when he fell asleep.

Zhao Mingxi once gave him one more reason to dream, which made him a bit less afraid of the nightmares of the past.

But now, the dream is broken, and the light is gone.

Zhao Mingxi was still warm, and the candy she gave him was still very sweet.

But Fu Yangxi's fingertips remained cold.

Seeing the depressing atmosphere looming above the two of them, Ke Chengwen couldn't help but to be affected as well. He sat down next to them. After thinking about it in distress, Ke Chengwen said, "Maybe-"

The two heads next to him turned to look at him.

Ke Chengwen was under a lot of pressure, but he could only bite the bullet and express his thoughts, "There's nothing too difficult in this world for the rich. Maybe we can think of a way to throw money at the Shen family to drive Shen Liyao away and make him transfer to another school?! If Zhao Mingxi can't see Shen Liyao, she will gradually forget about him!"

Jiang Xiuqiu shook his head. "Not necessarily. Have you never heard that long-distance relationships can stimulate people's hormones? By doing this, you won't know whether you are helping the two of them or breaking them apart."

Jiang Xiuqiu continued to analyze, "Moreover, if Shen Liyao transfers to another school so abruptly, Zhao Mingxi will definitely feel that something is wrong. Fu Yangxi could be like the villain in a TV series. Have you ever seen a villain getting together with the main female protagonist?"

"……"

"…"

The three of them couldn't think of any other methods.

Fu Yangxi continued to glare at Shen Liyao from a distance.

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Chapter 39 (Part 3)

Shen Liyao has also been upset recently.

The number of errors in his experiments had increased and he was absent-minded when playing basketball.

After that day when Zhao Mingxi declared that she no longer liked him in front of his teammates in the hallway, she never came to look for him again.

More than that, she was avoiding him deliberately.

The person he met every day just disappeared from his world.

At first, Shen Liyao still held some secret expectation with a cold face, thinking that this was another chance for her to act mischievous, and that she was perhaps not sincere.

However, as time passed day by day, Shen Liyao gradually realized that Zhao Mingxi, amidst the daily confusion and anxiety, really walked there and then stopped.

She will not approach his world anymore.

Shen Liyao was not used to this.

How could he get used to this?

She was no longer on the sidelines when he played basketball.

When he pushed the door of the broadcasting room, he subconsciously thought she would be inside and was ready to say hello, but it was other girls who greeted him.

They no longer encountered each other in the library. He used to stay in the computer science area because he thought Zhao Mingxi would still be there, pretending to be searching for him inadvertently— but no.

She never appeared anymore.

Although everything was out of his control, Shen Liyao was still desperately enduring the anxiety caused by these unusual occurrences.

If he made a mistake in an experiment, then he would punish himself by doing it again.

When he was distracted while reading literature, he would force himself to calm down.

He felt that he didn't like Zhao Mingxi. All the abnormal psychology that appeared now was just some of the consequences of the word 'unaccustomed'.

Once he gets used to the absence of Zhao Mingxi, everything will be back on track.

—That was what Shen Liyao thought.

But what was strange was that during Madam Zhao's birthday party, he could not help but pick the style that Zhao Mingxi said was the most suitable for him before, and pretended to scan the crowd casually to see whether Zhao Mingxi was coming.

Of course Zhao Mingxi didn't come that day. Later he heard that Zhao Mingxi had severed all ties with her family.

When Zhao Mingxi no longer appeared in his world, his speed of obtaining information seriously lagged behind. He could only latch on to some gossip between her and Fu Yangxi from others.

Shen Liyao began to realize that other emotions were breeding in his heart. It was not just an unaccustomed feeling, but also— the irritability of seeing gold medals fall into the hands of others when he was a child.

After all, the classrooms of the two classes were on the same floor, so there would be occasions when they would pass each other by in the corridor.

Shen Liyao pretended not to see her everytime. But through the corner of his eyes he caught a glimpse of Zhao Mingxi and noticed that she, too, was not paying any attention to him.

Shen Liyao was unhappy. He thought that Zhao Mingxi was actually holding it back. After the two passed each other by, Zhao Mingxi should look back. But when he couldn't help it and looked back.

He realized.

The only one turning back was him.

…

If he was just not accustomed to it, then in more than a month, he should have been accustomed to not having Zhao Mingxi in his life.

But why was he still so unhappy?

Could there be something else?

To prove this point, Shen Liyao accepted an invitation from Kong Jiaze a few days ago and accompanied her to the zoo. Kong Jiaze was excited. She even put on a skirt with her bare legs out in the cold wind of more than ten degrees. However, after finishing all the dating projects, Shen Liyao only felt disappointed. He even went back to the school laboratory in advance that night.

Kong Jiaze can't do it, others can't seem to do it either.

Shen Liyao gradually developed a terrible speculation in his heart.

Do I actually care about Zhao Mingxi—?

After a few days of solemn contemplation, Shen Liyao asked Ye Bai coldly in the laboratory, "If I go chasing after Zhao Mingxi now, what do you think?"

Ye Bai was shocked to the core. Although he discovered Shen Liyao's abnormality recently, he wondered whether Shen Liyao actually liked Zhao Mingxi. However, he never expected that Shen Liyao would have the idea of chasing people back! How determined was he?! At least Zhao Mingxi and a gold medal must be regarded as equally important.

"Are you serious?" Ye Bai's pupils were shaking. After he recovered, he thought about it and said, "I think, God Yao, if you are really uncomfortable, then you can chase her back. If it's you, surely Zhao Mingxi will come back as soon as you start. She used to like you so much."

As Shen Liyao received an affirmative answer, he was relieved and feeling a lot more relaxed.

He had a rare good night's sleep this night.

Shen Liyao has always acted quickly. On the second day, he began to formulate a series of schedules.

It was impossible for someone like Shen Liyao to confess rashly. He intended to take this step by step.

Let's be friends first.

So this Friday, after playing basketball, he returned to the classroom to take the school stipend and time schedule for training and walked towards the International Class.

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Chapter 39 (Part 4)

On Mingxi's side, she stared at Fu Yangxi during the first class in the afternoon. After being lectured by Mr. Lu, she dared not continue to stare at him.

The second class was physical education. She played volleyball with the girls in the International Class for a while, then went to the school gate to pick up a dessert delivered by the employees of He Yang's shop. She returned to the classroom before the class started.

Mingxi wiped the sweat from her forehead. When she saw that Fu Yangxi hadn't returned, she placed the dessert she was going to give him on his table.

Although she didn't make it by herself, she spent her own money on it, so some tender seedlings could grow.

But before she sat down, someone outside called her, saying that someone in the Gold Medal Class was looking for her to arrange the matters of the training camp.

A 10-day training camp will begin next weekend.

Mingxi was afraid that she might have missed something, so she hurried out.

She didn't expect that it was Shen Liyao who came to communicate with her.

Shen Liyao stood in the corridor, handed her the form, and pointed to the signature below, "The training camp's address is on the top. After school next Friday, all 20 of us will set off from the school gate. The school will be responsible for the transport. You don't have to worry about the accommodation nor the expenses. You only need to bring some workbooks, and if you are not used to the hotel, you can bring some daily necessities. After you've read it clearly, you can sign here."

After a pause, Shen Liyao said again, "Also, it will get cold next week, so bring more warm clothes."

Mingxi quickly signed the form and glanced at him strangely, "Why are you doing this? Isn't your team's Yue Teng in charge of this?"

Shen Liyao couldn't explain himself, so he just kept his face cold and didn't say a word.

…

When Fu Yangxi and his friends came up, they saw Zhao Mingxi and Shen Liyao standing in the corridor talking.

They were just talking about how to separate the two of them, but in the next second they saw them so close together.

Fu Yangxi's face turned green immediately!

It was tolerable but unbearable!

The string in his mind broke and the veins at his temples twitched suddenly. He was about to rush over but was stopped by Ke Chengwen and Jiang Xiuqiu. The two of them pulled him back to the classroom.

"Have you lost your mind?!"

"Xi ge, don't be so reckless! It's too childish of you to break them up just because they're talking! You will only lose points on Zhao Mingxi's side!"

Fu Yangxi was anxious and frustrated. "Then what should I do? Watch them get back together?"

"It's just a conversation—"

Fu Yangxi said angrily, "No, she is not allowed to talk to that damn skinny boy!"

After a while, Mingxi and Shen Liyao who were outside the corridor felt that the guys from the International Class were all trying to get out. When the two said one word, one person would squeeze between the two and walk over to fetch water, "excuse me", then after saying another word, someone else would squeeze between the two and walk back to the class from between them after going to the toilet.

Shen Liyao said, "This is a group training for—"

"Excuse me."

"20 people's—"

"Sorry, excuse me."

"Group—"

"It's me again. I can't hold it in anymore. Please excuse me."

Shen Liyao's face became more and more upset, it was almost cold. Like a talk show, he quickly finished the rest of his sentence, "Zhao Mingxi, add yourself to the group. All the activities will be notified in the group, remember to read the group announcement—"

"Excuse me."

Shen Liyao couldn't bear it anymore. "Did the entire International Class hold in their piss so that they can go to the toilet at the same time? And why must all of you squeeze in between us when the road is so wide?"

When Zhao Mingxi saw Fu Yangxi's group from the corner of her eyes, she started appearing contemptuous. She didn't want to talk nonsense with Shen Liyao. She hurriedly scanned the code, added herself into the group and said, "Thank you, we'll talk again when there's other matters."

After that, she quickly slipped back to the classroom.

Shen Liyao: "…"

Fu Yangxi was about to explode in anger. Why did she scan the code just now? They even exchanged contact information??? Do they think I'm dead???

Mingxi returned to her seat with the watch, and found that the air pressure around Fu Yangxi's body was more gloomy than in the morning. He stared outside as he sharpened a sharpener without saying a word. His face was dark, and a few broken pencils were thrown beside him.

Mingxi: "…"

"What's wrong with him?" Mingxi turned to look at Ke Chengwen. When Mingxi didn't receive an answer, she took out the dessert from the drawer of her table and handed it to Fu Yangxi. "Here you go."

Fu Yangxi continued to sharpen the blade. "I'm not eating it."

Mingxi asked, "Why? Although I didn't make this, He Yang's family specializes in desserts. The desserts from her family's shop are delicious. Why don't you like it?"

Fu Yangxi said coldly, "I'm on a diet."

Mingxi: "…"

The followers in class: "…"

The last class was a self-study class. Fu Yangxi sharpened the knife for one class, and when he looked sideways, he felt depressed and absent-minded.

Mingxi looked at him for a while. Then, she couldn't help but to take out her mobile phone and text He Yang.

"Why do I feel that Fu Yangxi is angry with me? Is it my misperception? Did Ke Chengwen tell you anything?"

The reply came quickly: "I'm in a normal class, so why would Ke Chengwen tell me what happened to you guys? But in general, trust your instincts. If you think so, the reason for his anger must be you."

…

Mingxi glanced at Fu Yangxi again. Fu Yangxi looked upset when she looked over.

"…"

Mingxi was 99% certain that the cause of his bad mood for the past few days was really related to her.

"I'm confused??" Mingxi typed quickly: "I even went to his house to give him medicine after he caught a cold. Why is he mad at me? Is it because I was angry that I went to his home without asking and violated his privacy?"

He Yang: "It shouldn't be that. Although I don't know much about Fu Yangxi, he doesn't seem to be that kind of person. He cares a lot about you. Would you like to ask him?"

Mingxi: "If he would tell me when I asked, I wouldn't be taking the risk of getting caught by the head teacher and sending you a text message right now."

…

For some reason, He Yang felt as if she was giving advice to a bad boyfriend who was confused as to the reason why his girlfriend was angry.

She shook her head and quickly tossed off the weird thought.

He Yang said: "Then it should be something that hurt his self-esteem, hence why he couldn't tell you. If you care about this friendship, just hold on and carefully find out what the reason is."

Of course Mingxi cared. There was no second person in the world who would get her a private jet just because she missed her grandma.

When Mingxi turned off her cell phone, the school bell rang.

Fu Yangxi was quiet. With a face of 'I'm dead, leave me alone', he stood up and started packing up his school bag. In fact, he didn't have any books in his school bag. He just threw his earphones and the bottles and cans in casually.

Mingxi glanced at it and wondered a little about what vitamins he was eating, but she couldn't understand the French words. She planned to take a photo of it and check it online.

This school week is over and it's finally the weekend. Then, it'll be two more days before I can see Fu Yangxi again.

But the misunderstanding hasn't been solved yet.

In the past, Mingxi naturally didn't care so much. But now, not only did she care, there were also some other indistinguishable emotions in her heart.

"Are you leaving now?" Mingxi asked.

Fu Yangxi raised his eyelids. "What else? Should I stay and observe how thin a person can be?"

"…"

What in the world is he talking about? Mingxi couldn't understand him at all.

"Who said you're fat?" Mingxi stopped him and racked her brains to find adjectives. She was good in science, but so-so in liberal arts. After thinking about it for a long time, she tried to comfort him, "You are 1.88 meters in height, everything looks nice on you, there's some meat in your bones and you're not fat at all."

These comforting words were totally unconvincing.

Fu Yangxi took away his hand, replied with an "Oh" and continued to walk away.

Mingxi blurted out, "You can't go!"

It may be that she was speaking too eagerly, but Ke Chengwen and a group of people in the classroom were looking over at them. Fu Yangxi's throat moved, and he looked over as well

Fu Yangxi's gaze fell on her pale face. He found the clear emotion showing that she cared in the expression on her face. The little bird in Fu Yangxi's heart kicked its legs again, and there appeared such a resurgence of sparks. His expression eased up slowly and he pulled the corner of his mouth downward: "Why? What else do you want?"

Mingxi choked.The gears in her mind began spinning. She turned through the question booklet without thinking much about it and pointed to a question. "I don't know how to answer this question."

"…"

Fu Yangxi was so angry! The Little Mask asked him to stay so that he could help solve the problem! Is he just a tool who will go where he is directed?!

All the sparks turned into a cold wind of merciless pain in an instant.

Fu Yangxi angrily threw his school bag on Ke Chengwen's desk and asked Ke Chengwen to go first. Then, he hooked the chairs with his feet, sat down dramatically, took Mingxi's paper and pen, and started writing.

In the process of solving the problem, Mingxi was surprised to find that his train of thought was very fast, not at all like the speed of a person who usually sleeps every day.

Mingxi couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you participate in the Tournament if you have this ability?"

Fu Yangxi did not even bother to look at her. "Is a hundred gold medals worth even one millionth of my wealth?"

Mingxi: "…"

Sorry for bothering you.

A few minutes later, the classroom was empty, and there were only two people left. Fu Yangxi handed the solved question in front of Mingxi, and one again, with a look of 'I'm dead, leave me alone', he picked up his school bag and walked out.

Mingxi couldn't be bothered to even take a look at the question. She hurriedly picked up her school bag and ran after him. "There is another thing. Aunt Li sent me a local product. One of them is for you. You should come with me to get it."

"Is there no one else?" Fu Yangxi glanced at her and asked coolly, "For example, those friends from your training camp."

His accent was placed on the words 'those friends' as he spoke through gritted teeth.

Mingxi replied, "No, it's only for you and Jiang Xiuqiu— Ke Chengwen, uh, she said that Ke Chengwen might not appreciate it, so there's none for him."

"…"

Fu Yangxi followed Mingxi to the ground floor of the dormitory. Because Mingxi herself was there, the lady in charge of the dorms was more lenient and asked Fu Yangxi to follow Mingxi up.

After he went up to get the local product, Mingxi suddenly said that her light bulb was broken.

Although Fu Yangxi was upset about the fact that Little Mask didn't like him, it was impossible for him to leave her alone like this. So he took a chair, placed it on the floor and stepped on it to change the light bulb for her.

In the end, the moment he looked up, he noticed something. This wasn't the case of a broken light bulb. The whole light bulb was practically gone!

Fu Yangxi: "…"

Fu Yangxi said, "You have to buy a light bulb. You can wait here, I'll go down and—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Mingxi take up a cup full of water and poured it on the lower bunk bed. The blanket was wet in an instant. Mingxi jumped up in a panic. "Oh no, what should I do? The blanket is wet and I can't sleep with it anymore."

…

Fu Yangxi suddenly had a guess in his heart. He swallowed and tried his best to pretend to be unaffected by this. He said, "What else can you do? I suppose you can come to my house for the weekend? Besides—"

Fu Yangxi licked his lips, trying to hold down the heat spreading to the tips of his ears. He said nonchalantly, "Besides, there are many rooms in my house."

As soon as he stopped speaking, he saw Little Mask with her head hung low. She sighed. "I guess that's the only solution."

Fu Yangxi: "…"

???

What's going on?

Why did he feel like Little Mask was trying every possible means to stay with him? Was it his misperception? Or was he being too narcissistic again???

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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