Chapter 6
"Is Mingxi not planning to come home?" Madam Zhao asked the Zhao family's driver.
The relationship between Mingxi and her mother was very complicated. Although she knew that this child was her biological daughter, she had never seen her for the past 15 years, hence she felt unfamiliar around her. Physical interactions like hugs were awkward as well.
Furthermore, she had to be wary of Zhao Yuan's feelings too— Yuanyuan has had a weak physique ever since she was young. She never fought to take anything from other people. If she realized that everyone around her paid more attention to Mingxi, would she be depressed due to the feeling of abandonment?
Therefore, for the past two years Madam Zhao always kept Mingxi at arms length.
Nonetheless, Mingxi was her biological daughter. No matter how rebellious she was, there was no way she could truly ignore her.
The driver locked the garage door, shook his head and said, "When I went to pick them up, only Miss Zhao Yuan and Young Master Yuning got on. I didn't see Miss Mingxi at the school gate."
"She thinks she's all grown up now. It's already been two days and she still hasn't come back." Madam Zhao looked angry.
The driver asked, "Maybe I should go look for her after school tomorrow and bring her home?"
"It's fine. There's no need." Madam Zhao was rather frustrated. "I just said a few words and she decided to run away from home. Who indulged her to have such bad behaviour? If she doesn't come home then so be it, don't voluntarily bring her home! Also, she didn't bring a lot of clothes and shoes. I think she didn't even plan on staying in school for long!"
As this concerned another person's family, the driver didn't feel like it was in his position to say anything.
Madam Zhao turned and entered the house. Zhao Yuan wasn't home yet as she had cultural activities today. As for Zhao Yuning, no one knew what he was angry about. Instead of having dinner, he immediately entered his room to play games the moment he reached home.
While Madam Zhao was eating a simple dinner alone, she realized that Mingxi's specialty dish, sweet and sour pork ribs, wasn't here. After dinner when she was watching TV on the couch, Mingxi was also not there to massage her shoulders. She felt annoyed and it was only then that she felt that the house was exceptionally cold and cheerless.
It was impossible for her to put down her pride to ask how Mingxi was doing in school. Thus, she couldn't help but to go upstairs and knock on Zhao Yuning's door.
"Did you see your elder sister in school today? Did you ask when she will stop all this nonsense and come home?"
"I didn't see her. I'm in Year One, why would I be in the Year Three area for no reason?" Zhao Yuning was still thinking about how Mingxi ignored him at the canteen this afternoon. He pulled a long face. "Mom, stop asking me. Weren't you the one who scolded her to the point that she decided to run away from home?"
Madam Zhao was stunned. She couldn't rebut this, hence she could only leave.
When the noise outside the door dissipated, Zhao Yuning turned off his game and opened WeChat.
He couldn't wrap his head around it. Did Zhao Mingxi have to get so angry this time— Aside from the matter of not giving him a lunchbox, she also treated him like a stranger in school by ignoring him. What did this mean? Also, she wanted to leave home for real and completely sever her ties with them?
What kind of huge matter was this? Wasn't it just that Zhao Yuan triggered her allergy and their family scolded her a little? Previously when she got burnt, she didn't even say anything.
Furthermore, he was planning on apologizing to her in the afternoon. It was she who ignored him first.
Then if he sent her a message on WeChat, wouldn't that be embarrassing? For him to continuously lower his head for her?
But what if she still doesn't come home and stop giving him lunch?
During dinner today, Zhao Yuning couldn't swallow his food properly. All this was too out of the ordinary for him.
Zhao Yuning thought back on how he faced Zhao Mingxi's empty room when he got home. He furrowed his brows and scratched his head. After typing and deleting several times, he finally closed his eyes, gathered up his courage and pressed send.
"Zhao Mingxi, what did your actions in the afternoon mean?"
He sat on the bed and crossed his legs. He suppressed the unhappiness he was feeling as he had to lower his head again. He planned on seeing how Mingxi was going to reply.
In the end.
Unexpectedly, he saw a red exclamation mark.
Zhao Yuning was speechless.
[You are not their friend. Please send a friend request first. After they accept, you may begin chatting.]
Zhao Yuning was stunned. He immediately called Zhao Mingxi.
But the sound of voicemail quickly came: "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable."
He got blocked on both WeChat and on her phone?
Zhao Yuning almost fell out of bed. His jaw dropped out of shock as he stood there dumbfoundedly.
Zhao Yuning couldn't think for a good few seconds.
This was the first time that such a thing has happened since Zhao Mingxi returned to the Zhao family.
It wasn't as if she didn't leave home or say that she was going to stay in school before this, but they were all unsuccessful as she would always return home after two days with reddened eyes— Actually, Zhao Yuning knew that after that old grandmother who adopted and took care of Mingxi at their small Northern town passed away, Mingxi had nowhere else to go.
But this time, she wasn't showing any signs of wanting to come home. She even blocked him on all platforms.
Zhao Yuning quickly thought of a question. Was he the only one she blocked, or was the whole family blocked as well?
Zhao Yuning didn't know why, but when he thought of the unconcerned expression Mingxi had when she left home, he had a feeling which couldn't be explained in any other way but bad.
Just while he was pacing in his room, wondering if he should talk about this with his eldest brother Zhao Zhanhuai, there were noises downstairs indicating that his eldest brother had returned.
It seemed as if someone else was here as well as his mother was greeting them.
A short while later, there was a knock on his door. "Young Master, Young Master Liyao is here. He said there's a matter to discuss. Madam has asked you to go downstairs."
Shen Liyao was the blueprint for 'the kid next door'. Throughout his life, he had obtained countless gold medals as well as prizes from creating new robots and winning chess competitions.
Zhao Yuning felt that he was too indifferent and arrogant, hence he didn't like him that much. However, his parents were very welcoming toward him. Previously, they tried to bring him and Zhao Yuan together, but after Mingxi's return, this engagement naturally turned to become one between Mingxi and Shen Liyao.
But it was rare for him to voluntarily come over to their place. Even if he came, he was always cold, as if someone owed him eight million yuan. So what was the matter today?
If he didn't go downstairs today, he would definitely be nagged by his mom tonight.
Zhao Yuning furrowed his brows. He could only put aside the matter of being blocked by Zhao Mingxi and walked downstairs.
He Yang lived in the same area as the Zhao family. Thus, what happened that night at the Zhao family quickly travelled to Mingxi's ears.
He Yang sent her a message: "I heard that Shen Liyao went to your house tonight."
Mingxi was stunned. She had the same thought as Zhao Yuning. Shen Liyao voluntarily went to the Zhao family home— Did the sun rise from the west today?
He Yang's message popped up again: "Someone saw him go to the Evergreen Class after class today to look for E Xiaoxia. Do you think that he got some information from E Xiaoxia and went to your house to prove how the matter of Zhao Yuan's allergy had nothing to do with you? You can rid yourself of this matter now!"
"I don't know," Mingxi replied. "Anyway, I don't really care about how the Zhao family members think of me anymore."
In her past life, it was precisely due to the fight with her family in order to prove her innocence that she lost all common sense.
But in this life, her thoughts were clear. As long as she confirmed that the allergy incident was related to E Xiaoxia, Mingxi actually had many ways to prove this to the Zhao family as well. Be it getting the hospital's CCTV footage or tricking E Xiaoxia to confess.
However, the problem was that Mingxi couldn't be bothered with how they thought of her anymore. Thus, she didn't want to waste her time on this.
To her, the care and trust of the Zhao family was like a cake.
She wanted it so desperately in her past life, but in this life it had already expired so she no longer wants it.
Nonetheless, what was Shen Liyao doing at the Zhao family home? It couldn't be that it was as He Yang guessed whereby he was trying to help her, right?
Mingxi was washing her hair when someone gave her a missed call. Later, while she was drying her hair, she saw a missed call and message from her eldest brother Zhao Zhanhuai.
She didn't contact Zhao Zhanhuai often, hence she forgot to add him to her blocked list.
"Liyao just came over. What happened to Yuanyuan previously seemed to have been accidentally triggered by her friend. Everyone misunderstood you, I apologize for that."
"But Mingxi, this habit of yours of leaving home whenever you feel slightly wronged isn't good. We'll talk when you get home. Mom has been really frustrated for the past two days. When are you coming home? I'll come and pick you up."
When Mingxi saw this belated apology, she remained unmoving. She was just a little surprised.
He Yang's guess was correct.
However, Mingxi soon felt that all this was normal.
Although Shen Liyao didn't like her and treated her coldly, they have known each other for two years and could be considered as friends. Furthermore, Shen Liyao wasn't just cold to her, he treated everyone the same, and someone as proud as him couldn't just let such a matter go.
It could be that he decided to help her after finding out that she was now staying in school.
Despite the fact that what Shen Liyao did was unnecessary, Mingxi still felt grateful. It was worth how she spent so much time being in love with him in her past life.
Mingxi sat at the side of her bed, and with a light swipe of her finger, she deleted Zhao Zhanhuai's message. This time, she searched up every single Zhao family member's phone number and WeChat and deleted them.
The world was now peaceful.
There was no way she was going home. What could she do if she went home? Repeat the steps to getting cancer like in her past life? The fact that Zhao Yuan was a lucky child was something that could not be changed. If she didn't spend more time on changing her fate for the better, then she might end up dying at the age of 23 again.
When Zhao Zhanhuai didn't receive Mingxi's call or reply to his text, he spoke to his mother who appeared guilty, "It's already past 10 p.m., she must be asleep by now."
The Zhao family members felt unsettled.
This was more apparent in Zhao Yuning. After sending Zhao Yuan to the hospital last weekend, they didn't even bother to listen to her before scolding her. Mingxi must've felt so wronged then. No wonder she still hadn't come home after so long this time.
"No one really blamed her anyway, we just said a few words! Moreover, even if Yuanyuan's allergy had nothing to do with her, couldn't she show more care toward Yuanyuan who was still in the hospital room instead of arguing with us?"
Although their mother appeared guilty, her words were still cruel, "Her temper has gotten worse too. Just because of a few words she decided to stay in school."
Zhao Yuning was a little angry. "Mom, will it hurt for you to speak less?"
Meanwhile, Zhao Zhanhuai pulled her to sit and said, "Mingxi is just like a child throwing tantrums. She'll be fine after some coaxing. I'll go pick her up during the weekend. But after she comes home, you should still apologize to her. You're just firm in speech but soft in heart."
Madam Zhao furrowed her brows. "Alright. This child really stirred up the whole family. We'll talk once she gets home during the weekend."
Zhao Yuning who was at the side moved his lips, but in the end he didn't manage to tell them about how Zhao Mingxi had already blocked him. Could they still bring her home— Will it be that she won't even come home tomorrow?
When he saw the guilty and furious expression on his mother, a thought appeared in his mind.
Why is it that this matter clearly had nothing to do with Mingxi and Mingxi couldn't even explain herself when she was right, but the whole family still blamed her at the first instance?
Furthermore, after Shen Liyao explained what happened, their mother still blamed Mingxi for being immature.
If this sort of biasness occurred to him, what would he do?
Bias.
The 16-year-old Zhao Yuning suddenly understood this word for the first time.
Zhao Zhanhuai's sudden message didn't affect Mingxi's good mood at all. She finished her homework and looked at her fruits of labor today— 4 complete buds. She felt extremely motivated.
This afternoon she sat beside Fu Yangxi for a whole three periods of class. By right she should've received quite an amount of luck. However, the fifth tiny bud only moved the soil a little and didn't even show any signs of shooting out of the earth.
She didn't know why, but after that, the luck that she got from inhaling didn't seem to be as strong as when she sniffed Fu Yangxi the first time she met him.
The system explained to her: "Diminishing marginal effect. The first time you appeared beside Fu Yangxi, it was equal to 'the villainess met Fu Yangxi and sat beside him' in the novel. It stimulates the readers of the novel, hence it can give you some luck. However, the novel cannot keep on repeating the fact that you have continued to sit beside him and breathed. The readers will criticize the writer for writing unnecessary things, thus the luck that you can get from that would be lesser."
Mingxi was a little disappointed. She asked, "Does this diminishing marginal effect apply to everything else I do?"
"Yes, basically everything." The system said: "On the same day, the effect of the same thing will be weaker each time it is repeated."
"It's so difficult to live as I still have to keep on creating opportunities."
While Mingxi was talking, she suddenly remembered that she got Fu Yangxi's WeChat. As she immediately went shopping after school, she had yet to send him a message.
She braced herself, blow dried her hair, got on bed and charged her phone.
On the other side, Fu Yangxi was lying on his velvet bed in the Fu Mansion with his freshly showered red hair dripping wet. He had been coldly staring at his phone for the past two hours.
He had truly underestimated the transfer student. She actually spent the 100,000 yuan he gave all in one go. He wasn't bothered by the money, but this transfer student actually failed his experiment!
With fiery anger in Fu Yangxi's heart, he looked up at the clock and rubbed his dry eyes before continuing to stare at his phone.
It was already 11.30 p.m.. What was up with the transfer student? She asked for his WeChat but didn't send him any messages.
Even investors would get a "thanks" upon spending all their money on buying a person.
So why didn't he get anything?
Even if she had her eye on his money, could she at least have some sincerity in her pursuit?
Suddenly, his phone vibrated. A notification appeared on the WeChat conversation page. Fu Yangxi immediately sprung up, causing his phone to fall off the bed.
He quickly flipped over to get it.
A maid's voice could be heard from outside. "Young Master, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Don't come in."
Over here, Mingxi leaned on her bed frame, thought of something and sent: "Young Master Fu, you can just mute me."
After sending such a message, the other didn't reply. Mingxi wasn't expecting a reply anyway. She quickly looked at the flower pot. As expected, the first time's effect was the strongest as immediately, half a bud had grown.
Mingxi got excited instantly and sat straight up.
Even though there was no response from the other, Mingxi didn't mind. She sent another message: "Goodnight."
This time, the fifth bud grew by a quarter.
"By the way." Mingxi asked the system. "Will the length of the message affect anything?"
The system said: "I'm not sure. Give it a try."
Thus, Mingxi typed randomly across the keyboard and sent: "An shiji dasuo fasheng de ka siji de ka shi kan de jian ai shen de jian a sa de jingan si jian da jian dashi jia daji ai shen de jian jiu dakai daka SDKask da san kao de sa ke da ka kan de kai ka sa ding ka si ke de ka SD ka sikeda de ka SD ka ke dao ke ka sa ding ka ka sakesi kan da kan dao ka sa ding shuang ka shuang dai ka ka sudu kuai ka danshi kan dao*."
ray's note: this is basically gibberish
This time, the fifth bud only grew by ⅛.
Looks like neither the length or content of the message would affect the growth of the bud.
The only thing that would have any effect would be the order of messages.
The barefoot Fu Yangxi used a clothes hanger and spent a lot of effort before successfully pulling his phone out of the bottom of the bed. The moment he switched on the screen, all he saw was this message full of nothing he understood.
He was speechless.
What is this? Why did he feel as if the transfer student was checking if he was a robot before registering for an account?
After Mingxi was done checking all the factors, she sent another ".".
This time, there were no changes to the small bud.
Through these four tests, Mingxi could basically be certain that everyday, only the first three messages will have the effect of stimulating the growth of the bud. From the fourth time onward, the diminishing marginal effect would be close to zero.
If this was so, then it looks like she would only need to send Fu Yangxi three messages daily.
As she got another half of a bud, Mingxi happily turned off her phone and went to bed.
As for Fu Yangxi, he was trying his best to stop himself from sending her a few question marks.
Only
He had to be cool.
A cool school hunk would not reply to the first five messages.
He had to wait until the transfer student begged in her sixth message, then only he would reply.
However on this night, even though Fu Yangxi had stayed up until morning, he didn't get another message.
He was speechless.
With heavy eye bags under his eyes, Fu Yangxi looked at the random words on his screen. He started to question the world. Could this be another one of the transfer student's methods to attract his attention?
This gold digger was only pursuing him for his money.
He'll block her tomorrow.
Chapter 7
Mingxi who woke up the next day had no idea that her position in this Young Master Fu's heart had fallen so low. She was practically no different from a scammer.
After she was done washing up, she combed her hair and took out her phone. She sent Fu Yangxi a period: "."
As usual, the Young Master did not reply.
Looks like he really muted her.
This was exactly what Mingxi wanted. She felt relieved as she could send whatever she liked after this.
Thus, Mingxi conveniently sent him another two periods.
With this, her task of sending three WeChat messages was complete.
Mingxi looked at her flower pot. As expected, the luck obtained by these three messages were not as much as it was yesterday. The fifth bud only grew by a little. However as the saying goes, no matter how skinny a mosquito's leg was it was still meat, hence Mingxi was already very satisfied.
She looked at the left side of her face in the mirror again. There was only a very light mark left.
Fu Yangxi didn't get any proper sleep that night, therefore he was in a bad mood when he woke up. Even the servants did not dare to approach him while he was drinking coffee in front of the French windows. Suddenly, his phone vibrated a few times. He opened them angrily and saw the messages sent by the transfer student.
Three periods.
Fu Yangxi was truly wondering if he only had 0.2G of data, or else why would he not understand what the transfer student was sending him? It was as if it was in Morse code.
He tried his best to ignore it, but he still couldn't help but to open up Baidu. He searched up 'What does three periods mean?'
Very quickly, he saw…
One of the answers were: Actually in romance novels, there is a secret. Three periods means I miss you, I love you and you don't have to reply to me. This is my secret, and this is something you will never find out.
?
This was what the transfer student meant?
Fu Yangxi was very doubtful.
She sure was full of tricks.
However, no matter what she meant, he did not plan to play along with her anymore. Bye bye.
Thus, the moment Mingxi entered class while dragging the things she bought yesterday, she realized that her table and the books on it had all been moved to the last row.
The whole class, including her, would actually come up to a total of 42 students. Six rows and seven columns.
But now her table seemed to stick out at the last row beside the vending machine. They had forced out a seventh row. Now, the whole class' seating arrangement looked absolutely hideous.
Mingxi didn't think that Fu Yangxi would be this stingy! Yesterday, she thought that when Fu Yangxi said to exchange her two sweets for one afternoon was a joke. She didn't think it would be to the extent of forcefully sending her away the next day— In the end, he was unexpectedly stingy!
Mingxi was so shocked that her feet were stuck to the ground. She didn't feel good at all.
Ke Chengwen yawned while walking over. "Xi ge usually comes late and leaves early so he isn't here yet. He figured you won't voluntarily swap seats with the class monitor, so he got us to move your seat away first. Also, you're on cleaning duty today…"
Before he could finish, Ke Chengwen noticed the same transparent plastic bag Mingxi had with her yesterday. But unlike yesterday, it was carrying various grape flavored desserts. When he saw that, his eyes brightened.
"You won't be able to pursue Xi ge anyway, so why not give this to me? I'll take over your cleaning duties for one semester!"
Mingxi already had her breakfast. She originally wanted to bring these for Fu Yangxi, but seeing as how her seat was already moved to where the trash can was, she suddenly didn't feel like giving them to him anymore.
"Then I'll give these to you. You'll be in charge of cleaning the board."
Ke Chengwen accepted the desserts with both hands. She had left a more favorable impression on him, hence he felt immediately closer to her.
"Transfer student! If you bring another set for me tomorrow, I'll give you Xi ge's address!"
Mingxi asked the system, "Will my buds grow if I find out Fu Yangxi's address?"
System: "No, unless you visit him."
She knew that it would be impossible for her to walk through the gates of the Fu family home, hence Mingxi could not be bothered to find out Fu Yangxi's address. She waved her hand in dismissal, walked over to her seat at the last row and sat down before saying, "No thanks."
Ke Chengwen was stunned. What's going on? Just like this, she gave up on her pursuit?
Mingxi flipped open her book. She memorized today's content while contemplating if she should shamelessly move back.
It was very obvious that everyday, only the first deep breath could trigger the growth of a bud. Every sniff she took of Fu Yangxi after that was useless— This meant that it wasn't actually necessary for her to sit together with Fu Yangxi, right? As long as she could find a way to get a good sniff of him everyday, it should be fine.
Later if she ever felt dizzy again, she would just have to run to Fu Yangxi's side. They were in the same class anyway.
…Furthermore, being Fu Yangxi's seatmate seemed to create more difficulties for her. This guy with a redneck personality seemed to be quite short tempered. She didn't know if he would cause trouble for her in the future.
…It seemed like Jiang Xiuqiu who had a 2% return rate was still absent due to his flu. She wondered if it would be easier to find a way to sit next to him instead.
While Mingxi was thinking, Fu Yangxi entered the classroom from the back door with a long face, a pair of headphones hanging on his neck and his hands stuffed in his pockets.
As he didn't sleep well, his whole person looked lethargic. His short red hair wasn't as spiky as usual as he didn't have time to blow dry it. Instead, it was extremely tame and it fit so well with him that it brought out the paleness of his skin and the sharpness of his features.
Usually, the first thing he does when he enters the class would be to lie down on the table and sleep. However today, the first thing he subconsciously did was to look at the seat beside him—
It was empty.
Fu Yangxi recalled that he had already got his followers to move the transfer student's seat away.
He immediately shifted his gaze in a nonchalant manner to the seat at the corner of the last row.
This time, the transfer student made no noise about it and immediately sat at the last row. She was reading her book quietly and didn't even look up at him. The shadow at the back of her uniform was littered with flecks of the morning sun.
It was rare for Fu Yangxi to look at a girl. Prior to this, men and women were all genderless creatures to him. This was truly the first time he realized that a girl's figure was way thinner than a boy's.
Can it be because she's so poor that she can't eat any good food?
Then it seems like she is worth forgiving for approaching him for money.
Either way, it didn't matter. It had nothing to do with him.
Fu Yangxi retracted his gaze, and with a gloomy expression on his face, he walked toward his seat.
When he walked over, he noticed that Ke Chengwen had his head dipped low. He was hiding under the table as he ate something sneakily.
"You didn't finish eating your breakfast?" Fu Yangxi walked over to him. Ke Chengwen shuddered and lowered his head even further. For some reason, Fu Yangxi had a bad feeling about this. He squeezed the back of his neck and, as if picking up a dried shrimp, forced him to lift up his head.
Then, Fu Yangxi saw the desserts which Ke Chengwen were hastily shoving into his mouth. He also saw the plastic bag that was similar to the one the transfer student gave him yesterday and that he had yet to throw away.
He was speechless.
Fu Yangxi's gaze darkened. He felt betrayed. Didn't the gold digger say that she was going to pursue him? Even if she was only after his money, she shouldn't have changed her target like this! How could she be so— so— so casual?! She was still sending some sort of secret code to him in the morning, yet the moment she came to class she gifted someone else with sweets?!
She's so licentious!
"Did you give her money?"
When Ke Chengwen saw Xi ge's dark circles, he quickly wrapped his head in his arms protectively like a tortoise. "No."
"Did you talk to her?"
Ke Chengwen answered honestly, "I did."
"What did you guys talk about?"
Ke Chengwen said, "I asked her if she wanted your address. She said no."
Fu Yangxi was about to explode in anger. He felt as if he was being cheated on. He turned, pulled out his chair violently and sat down in a huff. There was a huge flame of anger in his mind yet he had nowhere to let it out. He calmed himself and pulled on his collar. Then, he put on his noise-cancelling headphones and took out some bottles from his desk drawer.
It was at this moment when his right leg seemed to have hit something.
Fu Yangxi looked down with a furious gaze. It was a box.
What is this? With an exasperated look, Fu Yangxi kicked the box from the bottom of his table to the side of the wall. Then he asked Ke Chengwen, "Is this yours?"
"No," Ke Chengwen hurriedly replied, "I saw the transfer student drag this to class this morning."
Seeing as how Fu Yangxi didn't seem to be in a good mood, Ke Chengwen quickly made amends for his previous fault. He went over, bent down and opened the box. "Xi ge, could it be a gift for you?"
"I don't want it. What can a poor person give? A box of potatoes?" Although Fu Yangxi said this with a cold tone, he still took a glimpse of it.
Then, he was stunned.
So many things.
A foldable ergonomic chair which would allow one to sleep on the table for as long as they like without having to later experience the ache in their muscles. A Pikachu bolster with a hole in its middle. It was specially designed for those who liked to sleep on the table. There was also a lavender fragrance and at the corner of the box were a few bottles of eye drops.
No wonder. This ergonomic chair would have cost about tens of thousands of yuan.
She bought all of these for him!
Fu Yangxi's expression turned from one of sadness to joy.
Ke Chengwen and a few busybodies came over and exclaimed, "As expected, girls are really attentive. Although you've been sleeping in this class for three years, you have never even thought of buying these."
"These are such ridiculous things."
Fu Yangxi tried his best to stop the ends of his mouth from curling up, but the tips of his ears still went uncontrollably red.
Ke Chengwen opened up the ergonomic chair from the box and replaced Fu Yangxi's old hard chair with it. He was about to sit down. "Xi ge, let me try it out for you."
Fu Yangxi grabbed hold of the back of his shirt and picked him up instantly. "I'll cut off your butt!"
Ke Chengwen felt his bottom go cold. He quickly moved aside.
Fu Yangxi sat down. Although he didn't feel any difference from his hard chair, since it was chosen by the transfer student, it should not be bad. Then, he took out the 'ridiculous' Pikachu bolster and other things.
While he was taking them out, Fu Yangxi tried his best to maintain a look similar to that of a strict leader checking through the items. However, his heart was all soft, as if he just ate a marinated soft boiled egg.
Actually, no one had ever treated him this well before.
Fu Yangxi had completely forgiven the transfer student's licentious behaviour of giving Ke Chengwen desserts today.
Furthermore, he felt that it wasn't such a bad thing for her to be his desk mate.
As he thought of this, Fu Yangxi stole a glimpse at Mingxi.
However, Mingxi was not looking at him. After Mingxi was certain that he had opened up the gifts, all her focus went to her flower pot. As expected, as this was the first time she gave Fu Yangxi gifts, the little buds grew quickly. In just a few seconds, there was already a total of seven buds,
Mingxi asked the system happily, "How many tiny buds can grow in this pot?"
"999," the system answered. The moment it saw that Mingxi was about to break down in tears, the system quickly said, "However, the moment you reach 500 buds, your fate as a villainess will have dissipated. If you continue to plant after that, your luck may even exceed Zhao Yuan's."
With this, Mingxi gained back some of her will to fight.
Only
Fu Yangxi was waiting for the transfer student to look at him, or even beg him to allow her to sit beside him so that he could have her as his desk mate again.
In the end, even after a whole period of class, she didn't look at him.
Fu Yangxi was speechless.
Fu Yangxi had been picturing what could have happened for that whole period. The transfer student happily wanted to give him gifts this morning, but in the end all she saw was her table and books moved to a corner. He could only imagine that it was like a bucket of cold water poured all over her feelings.
Oh no. Fu Yangxi thought.
Did he hurt her feelings?
Today, the whole of the International Class watched in shock as this was the first time in three years that the Fu Young Master did not fall asleep during the first period of class. Instead, he spent all that time looking at a girl.
The first miracle of A High had occurred.
Chapter 8
When those boys moved her table, they were careless and made a mess out of her books.
During their lunch break, Mingxi tidied them up. Suddenly, she saw two dark blue colored, clean and practically abstinent notebooks in her pile. It was very different from her stack of colorful books.
Upon opening the book, she saw that the words inside were neat and the steps to answering the questions were clearer than the answer itself.
This wasn't her handwriting.
Mingxi went blank for a moment before realizing that this was Shen Liyao's.
Back when she used to like him, she would use borrowing and returning his notebooks as an excuse to meet Shen Liyao in his class every Tuesday. This must be the notes she borrowed from him last week. It was still with her.
In this life, Mingxi no longer wanted anything to do with Shen Liyao. Thus, she didn't want to return it herself.
She sent a message to He Yang, asking her for a favor.
Then, Mingxi leaned closer to the table and wrote gracefully on a sticky note: "Thank you with regards to the matter concerning E Xiaoxia."
She was prepared to stick this in the notebook.
But she paused. She thought for a while and figured that this was unnecessary.
Shen Liyao had probably lent her a hand out of convenience, but if she took this too seriously, he might think that she was being annoying again.
Furthermore, considering how she used to give Shen Liyao and his friends all kinds of good food, she's just going to consider his help this time as a way to clear their debts to each other.
With this thought in mind, Mingxi crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash.
Despite having stared at Mingxi for the whole morning, she never came to Fu Yangxi asking to move her seat back. He couldn't help but to be a little annoyed and even slightly wronged. During lunch break, he noticed that there was no one at that corner. Fu Yangxi took off his headphones and gestured for a follower to come over to him. "Where's the transfer student?"
The follower said, "I think she went to look for her friend in the Normal Class."
Fu Yangxi contemplated for a moment before asking someone to get him Ke Chengwen who was playing basketball at the sports field.
He was leaning on the wall while flipping a book. His red hair had exploded again. He pretended to play with his pen nonchalantly as he said lazily to Ke Chengwen, "Do you know how to find out who the transfer student was friends with and what she liked before she transferred to our class? All in all, I want to know every single detail. Can you do it?"
Ke Chengwen who was sweating bullets while carrying the basketball in his arms was extremely shocked.
Having known Xi ge for three whole years, this was actually the first time he had seen Xi ge ask about someone. Moreover, it was about a girl.
"Xi ge, could it be that you—" Ke Chengwen couldn't help but to move closer and ask in a soft voice, "…are really interested in her?"
"Piss off." Fu Yangxi was repulsed by the smell of sweat coming off him. He pulled him away by his collar and raised his eyebrows. "I'm not interested. The International Class has always had 41 students yet suddenly there is another. So of course I would want to know about the background of this student. Who knows, she might be someone sent by my enemies to spy on me. If I accidentally reveal my weakness to her, it might result in my inheritance being split."
Ke Chengwen thought about it for a while before saying, "Alright. I'll see what I can find out."
When Ke Chengwen finished speaking, he stole a glimpse at Fu Yangxi. He didn't know if he should tell him about something.
Just now while he was playing basketball with those people from the Gold Medal Class, he heard that the person who was fervently pursuing Shen Liyao was this transfer student who had just transferred to their class— Of course, as he didn't witness it himself, Ke Chengwen did not dare to come to a conclusion.
However, if that was true, then the question of whether that transfer student was really going after Xi ge or if she was just playing with him so that she could make Shen Liyao from the next class jealous would remain unanswered.
As the Fu family's Young Master, Fu Yangxi's status was enough to affect many. He always slept in school and did not care about gossip. Even when he heard about the person nicknamed 'God Yao' who had won eight competitions within two years, he only scratched his ears, saying that he couldn't recall such a person. Therefore, he would naturally be ignorant about the past between the transfer student and Shen Liyao.
Fu Yangxi nodded before lowering his head to read once more. He feigned an unbothered look. "That's all. You can go. Make sure not to get caught by the transfer student while you're at it."
Ke Chengwen couldn't help but to remind him, "Gege, your book is upside down."
Fu Yangxi raised the book. "Go."
After the end of the school day, Shen Liyao remained in his seat. His gaze was cold and serious as he continued to work with the circuit board. Shen Liyao had his own workshop in school, but since there were quite a number of small components which he could not handle in time, he would usually end up doing it in class instead.
He was a little bit of a neat freak. The components were arranged neatly on his table, but due to how delicate they were, everyone around him was afraid of touching it, hence no one would usually approach his seat unless it was absolutely necessary.
Ye Bai had just returned from his basketball game. He yelled at Shen Liyao to go for lunch from one row away.
"You go ahead." After saying that, Shen Liyao subconsciously looked at his watch.
It was already 12.30 p.m..
He furrowed his brows slightly.
"God Yao, do you need me to get you lunch?" Ye Bai asked.
"No need. You can go by yourself."
"Okay." Ye Bai scratched his head and walked out of class with his ball in tow. He was playing basketball with a few students from the International Class and couldn't help but to gossip about Mingxi's current situation in the International Class.
At first he thought that Zhao Mingxi was going to feel isolated as she had transferred to the International Class which was filled with the rich, unique, ignorant and incompetent. To his surprise, Zhao Mingxi outsmarted her opponents. The moment she transferred there she ran laps for the boss of their class and even gave him gifts. Ultimately, the whole of the International Class became very friendly with Zhao Mingxi.
He didn't know if he should share this piece of information with Shen Liyao.
The moment he walked out of class with his basketball, he saw He Yang walking toward him with some notebooks.
As Ye Bai knew her because of Zhao Mingxi, he smiled as a sign of greeting. However, as He Yang never really liked Shen Liyao to begin with, she glared at him before quickly turning away.
After He Yang entered class to give those two notebooks to Shen Liyao, she turned to leave.
Shen Liyao paused his actions and the expression on his face changed ever so slightly. "Why are you the one giving it to me?"
He Yang replied without even looking back. "Once Mingxi was done with your notes, she lent them to me. I just returned them out of convenience. Why do you ask?"
Shen Liyao instantly furrowed his eyebrows.
He Yang turned back and looked at Shen Liyao with a questioning gaze.
Previously when Mingxi asked Shen Liyao to tutor her, Shen Liyao would always give her the cold shoulder as if someone had dug out his ancestral grave. He Yang despised how he always carried a look of arrogance and pride, as if he was a sacred god on a pedestal. Mingxi even had to ask Zhao Zhanhuai to be the middleman. Only then did Shen Liyao allow Mingxi to borrow his notes once every Tuesday.
Now that he doesn't have to see the annoying Mingxi, shouldn't Shen Liyao be overjoyed? Why is he still showing a cold expression as if someone owed him money?
However, He Yang didn't think too much about it. She left after completing her task.
Ye Bai who was at the corridor was astonished.
Zhao Mingxi used to consider Shen Liyao's things as priceless treasures. She wouldn't even allow people to touch it, let alone borrow it!
Besides, in the worst case scenario, even if He Yang was her best friend and she had lent it to He Yang, she would never miss out the proper chance to look for Shen Liyao in the Gold Medal Class every Tuesday!
What's going on?
Are all girls this scary when they're jealous?
Also, with regards to the matter of E Xiaoxia, didn't Shen Liyao's actions of going to the Zhao family home yesterday amount to helping Zhao Mingxi?
Ye Bai looked at the clock hanging on the wall, then at Shen Liyao's expression. A thought suddenly appeared in his mind: Could it be that God Yao didn't go to the cafeteria because he was purposely waiting for Zhao Mingxi?
He felt that this thought was way too horrifying, hence he quickly tossed it aside.
Ye Bai put down the basketball and walked back. "Have the notebooks been returned?"
Only
Shen Liyao ignored him. He simply stuffed the books into his desk drawer, his expression clearly stiff and cold.
Ye Bai couldn't help but to bring up what he heard at the basketball court just now.
"I heard that Zhao Mingxi gave the International Class' Fu Yangxi many things. An ergonomic chair, a Pikachu bolster and whatnot. Basically a lot of things— God Yao, do you think she's doing this on purpose? She knows that the news in the International Class will reach you in less than a day."
"Is she trying to incite you to go find her?"
Shen Liyao replied coldly, "Why would I voluntarily look for her? I don't like her."
"Exactly. I'm already thankful about the fact that she no longer bothers you!" Ye Bai said. "Although the sweets and lunch boxes she made were very nice, she's only holding you back. I still wish she won't come!"
He didn't know if it was his misperception, but the moment he finished speaking, Shen Liyao's expression seemed to have darkened.
Without saying another word, Shen Liyao kept the things on his table, turned and left the class.
Chapter 9
Mingxi left school for a short while during the afternoon. As the syllabus of the International Class was different from that of the Normal Class whereby there were more bilingual teaching courses, she felt the need to buy some reference books.
After making her payment, she turned and immediately saw Zhao Yuning entering the cybercafé from across the street with a few delinquents from another school who had ear piercings.
He's entering the cybercafé at this hour. Is he cutting class again?
When Zhao Yuning and his friends turned, they also saw Mingxi.
"Isn't that girl with the mask your sister?" A blonde-haired guy beside Zhao Yuning said with furrowed brows. "Is she here to stop you again? Why the f*ck are your family members so nosy?"
Prior to this, Zhao Mingxi had bumped into them a few times while they were skipping school, and every time she would drag Zhao Yuning back to school.
The blonde-haired guy and the rest already recognized her.
"You should leave now before your sister glares at us too—"
But before the blonde-haired guy could finish his sentence, Zhao Mingxi had averted her gaze, turned and left with her plastic bag full of reference books.
Wait a minute. She left just like that?
The blonde-haired guy, Zhao Yuning and the rest were stunned. "Amazing! Did your sister go through a change in personality today? She obviously saw us yet she didn't come over!"
"Let's go. Since your sister is in a good mood today and decided to let us be, let's seize the opportunity and enjoy ourselves."
However, Zhao Yuning's gaze was stuck on Zhao Mingxi's retreating figure. He was frozen on the spot while his mind buzzed.
Zhao Mingxi actually left in such an unconcerned manner despite seeing him with these delinquents?!
She actually—?!
This was even more unbelievable than when he got blocked!
How did she used to reprimand him? You are a product of your environment. When she saw him hanging out with these kinds of people, she would get so angry that she would instantly drag him back to school.
But why was she acting like this today?!
—Even if she was now on bad terms with their family, she didn't need to go to the extent of treating him like a stranger, right?!
Zhao Yuning used to hate it when Mingxi would butt into his affairs. He even once ridiculed her by saying that she really thought she was his sister.
But now that she was really ignoring him, he felt a sense of irritation.
As if he was suddenly going to lose something.
"You guys go in first. I have to deal with something."
"What do you have to deal with? You can't be f*cking trying to bail on us, right?" The blonde-haired guy was unhappy.
When Zhao Yuning saw that Mingxi's figure was about to disappear from his field of vision, he swatted the blonde-haired guy's hand away from his neck, ignored how his expression darkened and ran hurriedly after her.
Mingxi walked very quickly.
Zhao Yuning was panting heavily as a result of chasing after her. It wasn't until they almost reached the Year 3 floor did he manage to stop her.
"Zhao Mingxi!" Zhao Yuning blocked her path. He was panting with his hands on his knees. "Jie, when will you stop being angry at us? Da ge* said that he already sent you a text. Even da ge has apologized to you, is that not enough? I know that we've wrongly accused you as being the person behind this incident, but you can't keep staying in school. Where will you go during the holidays?"
Da ge = eldest brother
Mingxi knew that she had nowhere to go.
Even so, she didn't want to go back.
"You stopped me just to say this? I have places I can go. Thank you. There's no need for you guys to worry about me. I'm gonna go upstairs now."
Seeing as how Mingxi was about to turn and leave, Zhao Yuning felt flustered and exasperated.
However, he knew that they were in the wrong this time for falsely accusing her. So it made sense for Mingxi to still be indignant about it.
Therefore, he tried his best to control his temper. He chased her to the bottom of the steps and said with a soft voice, "Jie, I beg you. Stop being angry at us. Mom always speaks with a sting in her words, but she really does care for you— I want to apologize as well for saying such disrespectful words to you when you left."
"We are a family. What issues can't we resolve? There's no need for us to stay in a cold war just because of such a small matter."
The more Zhao Yuning spoke, the more he felt wronged. He began to act coquettishly. "You ignored me, blocked me and pretended not to see me just now just because of a small matter?"
Mingxi quietly looked at the grass beside the academic building's walls. She couldn't understand what exactly was a small matter or a big matter.
Why did everyone from the Zhao family use the same words, "just because of a small matter"?
When she first arrived at the Zhao family home, she touched Zhao Yuan's piano and was berated by her er ge* Zhao Mo. He said, "Don't touch her things, you country bumpkin."
Er ge = second eldest brother
Were those incidents minor matters as well?
However, she no longer wanted to think about who was right and who was wrong, or who was biased and who was fair.
Mingxi decided to clear things up once and for all. She turned and looked at Zhao Yuning. "I am not in a cold war with you guys."
Zhao Yuning let out a breath of relief. "Then why don't you come home—"
"I don't plan on going back there anymore."
Zhao Yuning froze.
"You guys were living well as a family before I came two years ago. My arrival later on was just redundant and really unnecessary."
Zhao Yuning couldn't think of a response. He widened his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that you no longer have to come find me. I wish to sever all ties with you all and for everything to return to how it was two years ago."
Mingxi lowered her gaze, made a mental calculation and came up with a number.
"For the past two years, your family has spent some money on me. It should be about 130,000 yuan including the school fees."
"Obviously as of now I don't have the ability to return all this money at one go. I will slowly return them after my graduation. You guys have never given me a single cent for the first 15 years of my life and I cooked for you guys for the past two years. I will consider this as returning the debt of giving birth to me. I don't owe you guys anything else beyond that."
She still had to spend time to change her ending, so she could not spare any more time to deal with the Zhao family.
"Therefore, I'm going to have to trouble you to relay this message back to your family. Please give me more time. Don't rush for me to repay the debt everyday."
Even if Zhao Yuning turned the gears in his mind to the point of explosion, he would not have thought that this was what Mingxi was thinking. For a moment there he couldn't determine if Mingxi said all this due to anger or if it was the truth.
He was dumbfounded.
A short while later.
"What debt?! You are part of our family. We spent so much time and effort to bring you home. Who wants you to return a debt?!"
Zhao Yuning was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot.
Mingxi looked at Zhao Yuning quietly. She couldn't explain what happened in her past life to him.
Besides, she was too lazy to fight with him.
"Please relay my message to them."
Since she was done clearing things up, Mingxi turned and walked upstairs.
Zhao Yuning was in disbelief. On one hand he was trying his best to assure himself that Zhao Mingxi said all this due to anger. Who cares if she comes home? If she doesn't come home then so be it. When she sees how everyone no longer cares about her, she will definitely come home crying.
On the other hand, he looked at Zhao Mingxi's figure which appeared so cold, and thought about how she didn't care about him at all just now when they were outside school. A sense of panic began to bubble up in his heart—
What if Zhao Mingxi was speaking the truth?
It had never crossed Zhao Yuning's mind that Zhao Mingxi would truly leave this home and never return.
The sun shone harshly on Zhao Yuning as he stood there with his mind empty.
It wasn't until he realized that class was about to start that he turned and walked toward the Year 1 floor.
Zhao Yuan who was about to go for P.E. class at the sports field saw him and Zhao Mingxi standing at the bottom of the academic building.
She thought he was scolding Zhao Mingxi.
In the end when Zhao Yuning walked over, she realized that they didn't have a fight. Zhao Yuning appeared to be flustered, even his eyes were red. He looked as if he got dumped by Zhao Mingxi.
"What happened? Did you go and look for Mingxi? What did you guys talk about?" Zhao Yuan casually called over a guy and asked him to help her carry some of the equipment she was holding in her arms.
Zhao Yuning took a glimpse at Zhao Yuan.
"Zhao Mingxi said—"
Zhao Yuning stopped his sentence mid-way. Was he really going to relay the words Mingxi said out of anger?
If Mom hears of this and becomes infuriated, wouldn't this make their family's conflict even worse? Furthermore, what if Zhao Mingxi changes her mind later on?
"Nevermind, it was nothing."
Zhao Yuan furrowed her brows slightly. She couldn't understand what was going on. After she came home from her reunion yesterday, everyone in their family acted as if they owed Mingxi something. It wasn't until she asked that she found out that the person who triggered her allergy was E Xiaoxia and not Zhao Mingxi.
It seemed as if Zhao Mingxi had successfully obtained the pity and guilt of the whole family due to this matter.
"Can't you tell me what you guys talked about?" Zhao Yuan said in a joking manner. "You guys are beginning to keep secrets from me already?"
Zhao Yuning didn't even ask her about how things were so awkward between her and E Xiaoxia today.
She didn't like this feeling of everyone's attention being taken away from her.
"I already said that it was nothing. Stop asking me. You're annoying." Zhao Yuning walked toward the Year 1 floor in annoyance.
He was feeling troubled and had no intention of answering Zhao Yuan's questions.
Zhao Yuan looked at his retreating figure. She was so shocked that she was frozen on the spot.
Zhao Yuning and her were stuck together like glue ever since they were young. He followed her everywhere. It was common for him to listen to everything she said. Even at school, whenever he heard that she was being bullied, Zhao Yuning would immediately go into a fit of anger.
But now Zhao Yuning was actually calling her annoying because of Zhao Mingxi?
Mingxi rubbed her forehead. She felt that she had already cleared things up with Zhao Yuning. According to the proud personalities of everyone in the Zhao family, no one should approach her for a while after this.
She carried the plastic bag upstairs. She originally wanted to return to her class quickly so that she could rest a little more. However, she bumped into Kong Jiaze and Shen Liyao at the entrance to the corridor.
Were her stars misaligned today? Why did she keep on bumping into people she didn't want to see this afternoon?
Kong Jiaze was a famous school beauty and top student of their neighboring public high school, She knew how to dance ballet and had once joined a competition with Shen Liyao as her partner.
The two of them were standing opposite each other. Shen Liyao's gaze was lowered as he accepted some forms given by Kong Jiaze.
Mingxi immediately understood what was going on. It must be about the approaching Hundred School Tournament.
This tournament took place once a year and only 20 students could join from each school. The teacher who led them would usually only pick students from the Gold Medal Class and Evergreen Class. If there were still spaces left, they would bring some students from the International Class who were good in English.
Honestly speaking, Mingxi wanted to try joining the tournament as well. After all, if she managed to enter the top 20%, A High would give them some cash rewards. She was in need of money and thought it would be good to try competing against so many outstanding people.
However, she had just changed classes. When she gave it some further thought, she figured she would never be chosen.
When love rivals meet, they would be enraged. Thus the moment Kong Jiaze saw her, she furrowed her brows slightly.
She didn't need to guess. Based on Kong Jiaze's gaze, she must've thought that Mingxi transferred to Sheng Liyao's class, hence her appearance at this floor.
Shen Liyao was about to follow Kong Jiaze's gaze.
Kong Jiaze suddenly took a step closer to Shen Liyao and smiled as she gently placed a hand on his arm. "God Yao, can you tell me who will be joining from your class this year?"
Shen Liyao immediately pushed her away and took a step back with furrowed brows.
He subconsciously looked over at Mingxi who was at the entrance to the corridor.
However, Zhao Mingxi didn't even bother observing them any further. She lowered her head and hastily walked passed them toward the International Class. As she was wearing a mask, Shen Liyao couldn't even see the expression on her face.
Seeing as how Mingxi was about to reach the entrance of the International Class, she let out a breath of relief.
Damn that was awkward.
Looks like from now on I'll have to come up from the other flight of stairs.
But before she could enter, she was called by Shen Liyao who had walked over to her.
"Zhao Mingxi."
Shen Liyao's tone was as cold as ever.
Considering how he helped her yesterday, Mingxi could only turn and give him an awkward but polite smile. "You guys can continue."
Shen Liyao almost choked on his own saliva. For some reason, a flame was ignited in his heart.
When Mingxi saw how he didn't say anything else, she thought that he was just greeting her— But did the sun come up from the west today? Shen Liyao actually greeted her voluntarily upon bumping into her!
"I'll be going first." She turned and was about to enter class again.
Shen Liyao looked at her figure and said coldly again, "Don't make He Yang return the notebooks for you next time."
Mingxi was confused. She asked, "What's up with He Yang?"
Shen Liyao had one hand tucked in his pocket while the other was holding the application forms. His gaze was cold as he stared at her. "She is your friend, not your lackey!"
Mingxi didn't know why Shen Liyao hated her in both lifetimes. Although she always pursued him, she had never done anything out of line to him.
She could only answer softly, "Got it."
Mingxi paused. After some thinking, she said, "But I won't be borrowing your notes anymore."
Shen Liyao furrowed his brows. "The speed of the International Class is different from that of the Normal Class. Are you sure you can keep up?"
Mingxi said, "Then I'll borrow from my friends in the International Class. Besides, the speed of the International Class and Gold Medal Class are different as well. All in all, you can rest assured as I won't bother you every Tuesday anymore."
She thought that after saying this Shen Liyao would act as if he was freed from a burden. But for some reason Shen Liyao was glaring at her.
Mingxi: ?
For some reason the air in the atmosphere became really stiff.
Shen Liyao's expression was so cold that it was scary. He suddenly scoffed. "Your friends in the International Class? Fu Yangxi?"
Shen Liyao wanted to open up Zhao Mingxi's head to see what she was thinking. She would bother other people just to make him jealous? Did she ever think of what would happen if she fails to get rid of people like Fu Yangxi after successfully gaining his attention?
"Not him." Mingxi looked at Shen Liyao in confusion. "His results are not good."
Rely on the Fu family's Young Master's results which are always at the bottom? He had never even written down a word of notes in his three years of high school.
Shen Liyao's expression seemed to have brightened a little.
He gave an application form to Mingxi. His voice was steady as he spoke, "This is the application form to register for the Hundred School Tournament. Aside from filling up your information, there are a few questions as well. You can try answering them, then find a way to return it to me this Saturday before I submit them. If you want to join the Hundred School Tournament, there is a chance you will be chosen if you manage to get all of them right."
She might not be able to go even if she filled up this application form, and the teacher leading them would also personally choose the participants. Mingxi figured she won't be able to go for sure, but she didn't reject this opportunity.
She accepted the form. "Thanks."
She was about to turn and leave when Shen Liyao paused before saying in a cold tone, "I can tutor you on the areas which the tournament will cover this Saturday at the library."
This was the most surprising thing Mingxi had heard all day. She even wondered if Shen Liyao had eaten the wrong medicine. Previously when she asked Shen Liyao to go to the library with her, he would always glare at her as if he was hoping it could kill her.
But she quickly came back to her senses. Could it be that Shen Liyao decided to help her out of pity because he found out that she had a fight with her family and was now living in school?
Mingxi quickly replied, "No need."
She couldn't accept Shen Liyao's help.
Shen Liyao's expression turned cold again. "Fine by me. It's better if you don't come. I'm busy anyway"
Only when Mingxi saw Shen Liyao leaving without even looking at herself and Kong Jiaze did she feel that Shen Liyao was back to normal.
She sucked in a deep breath, turned and entered class.
Beside the windows, Ke Chengwen watched as Fu Yangxi peeked out half his head and stared at the nearby Zhao Mingxi and the next class' Shen Liyao as they spoke at the corridor. He couldn't help but to say, "Xi ge, stop staring. She's coming in."
Only
Fu Yangxi instantly sat down and pretended as if nothing happened as he put on his noise-cancelling headphones. He opened up a book and placed all his focus on it.
After two seconds, Zhao Mingxi had already sat back in her own seat in the last row. However, she didn't even look at him— In fact, she didn't approach him at all today.
The imaginary fur around Fu Yangxi were all spiked up. He wanted to pick a quarrel with her but he had to restrain himself from doing so. He couldn't help but to throw the book aside. "Who was the one talking to the transfer student? A friend she used to know?"
When Ke Chengwen recalled what he heard about in the afternoon, he gulped as he was too scared to say anything.
In his mind he was thinking, friend?
A friend who was involved in thousands of fierce rumors?
What will happen if you find out that you might've been used as a tool to make someone else jealous?
You will probably bring a bomb to school tomorrow.
Chapter 10
Ke Chengwen diffidently chose not to answer this question. Instead, he directly changed the topic. "Xi ge, why don't you just get someone to move her table back?"
Fu Yangxi raised an eyebrow as a form of warning: "?"
Ke Chengwen was oblivious to the danger around him as he continued to plan, "Or you could beat around the bush. You can force the homeroom teacher to arrange for you guys to sit together. Then when she's here, you can pretend as if you're pissed because the homeroom teacher forced you guys to sit together. Wouldn't that conveniently allow her to sit back here? It could also save you from the possibility of getting cervical spondylosis because of how you have been continuously turning to look at her."
When Fu Yangxi heard the last sentence, he almost picked up a book to hurl it at Ke Chengwen's head. "She's the one pursuing me, not the other way around! When did you see that I wanted her to move back here?"
Ke Chengwen retracted his head.
Fu Yangxi was about to explode in anger. "Why did you come up with such a messed up idea? Did I say that I wanted to be her desk mate? Didn't you see that I was getting better sleep due to her minding her own business for the whole of this morning?"
"Yes." Ke Chengwen quickly agreed with his words. "Like I said, why would Xi ge want her to be his desk mate?"
Fu Yangxi scoffed arrogantly.
Ke Chengwen continued to suck-up to him. "Sigh, I think that the transfer student doesn't know how to appreciate favors. She actually wants to try playing hard to get with you."
However, Fu Yangxi furrowed his brows. "How could you talk about her like that?"
Ke Chengwen: "…?"
Fu Yangxi said, "It's only normal for her to be sad because I moved her table away so early in the morning. Don't gauge the heart of a girl with your own mean measure. 'Playing hard to get' is such a bad term."
Ke Chengwen: "—"
Fine. It was his fault.
It's so difficult to survive as a male.
Two periods of afternoon class passed in the blink of an eye.
As there was an evening self-study session today, the teachers of various subjects gave a little more homework. Furthermore, as Mingxi was busy answering the messages on the discussion about replacing some students for exams, she couldn't spend time on figuring out ways to approach Fu Yangxi.
She looked at her pot which had not grown at all today. It was still stuck at seven buds. She felt a little worried. "Fu Yangxi hates me. He's unwilling to sit beside me. What other ideas do you have so that I can increase a lot of my luck in one shot?"
If she only relied on running errands for him or giving him sweets, only two or three buds would grow each time and that was far too slow.
She didn't know how long she would need to keep this up.
The system said: "You have read novels before, right?"
Mingxi: "Yeah. I read a lot of them."
The system asked: "When you read those novels, which parts would make your heartbeat speed up in happiness?"
Mingxi thought for a moment before saying, "That would naturally be when the main characters make physical contact with each other."
"That's it," the system said. "Your actions of sending Fu Yangxi gifts and helping him run laps can only be perceived by the readers of the original novel as you turning from a side character to one of his followers. Although they might feel better about you, it's not much— Will you remember the followers of a popular character? Therefore your luck won't increase by a lot when you do these things."
"However— If you can go beyond being a popular character's follower and have more interactions with them, then the amount of luck you can obtain at one go would greatly increase."
Mingxi understood it immediately. "If I physically touch the people on the list I will obtain more luck?"
System: "Yes."
Mingxi felt unsettled. The mere act of wanting to sit beside Fu Yangxi had earned her nothing but glares full of unwillingness.
If she was to launch herself into his arms, she would be beaten to death by Fu Yangxi at the age of 17 instead of dying in this life at the age of 23 due to cancer.
The system encouraged her. "You should just give it a try, see how many buds will grow if you touch his skin. I don't think he will hit you if you accidentally made contact with him."
Mingxi started to think of ways to touch Fu Yangxi in a way that would seem purely accidental.
After all this talk, it seemed like she would still have to be Fu Yangxi's deskmate.
Only when they are seated together can no one notice if she accidentally touched Fu Yangxi's elbow and apologize.
Mingxi didn't know if her will to live was so strong that even God had heard her.
In the middle of the second period, when the homeroom teacher saw that she was sitting alone in the last row, she actually called her up and asked her if she had adjusted well to the class.
Mingxi immediately seized the opportunity and shook her head. "I'm not used to it. That spot is too far from the board."
Mingxi didn't say much. Her eyes were black and her hair was soft and obedient-like.
She left a great impression on the homeroom teacher. She asked, "Then where do you want to change your seat to?"
Mingxi hesitated for a short while before saying. "I think the only remaining seat is the one beside Fu Yangxi."
The moment the homeroom teacher heard the name of this overlord, she knit her eyebrows so strongly that it could probably wedge and kill a fly. "You want to sit with him? I think you would prefer to sit alone."
Nonetheless, Mingxi was adamant. "Just let me sit there. Fu Yangxi's English is very good and he can help me… Actually, he is quite a nice person."
The last sentence was spoken against Mingxi's will.
Anyway, no matter if the homeroom teacher agrees to her proposition or not, there was no harm in trying.
Outside the door, Ke Chengwen who had brought a bunch of people to listen in on their conversation was shocked. He quickly ran back to the International Class.
"Xi ge, the transfer student just told the teacher that she wants to sit beside you!"
A follower mimicked Mingxi's tone and spoke softly to Fu Yangxi, "Just let me sit there. Fu Yangxi is quite a nice person."
"Leave me alone." This time, Fu Yangxi was completely awake. He grabbed hold of a book and threw it on the board with a loud 'thud'. That boy quickly moved away. Meanwhile, the whole class was in an uproar.
Fu Yangxi scratched his head in annoyance. Although he was trying his best to appear angry and frustrated, the tips of his ears couldn't help but to flush red.
What is up with the transfer student? Why is she so clingy? She can't even hold it in for one day. Seeing as how she didn't do anything this whole morning, I thought she had already given up. But in the end, she secretly went and made such a request to the homeroom teacher.
She is really so clingy!
Mingxi who had just returned from the office could hear the noise coming from her class even from a distance. However the moment she entered, everyone went quiet.
Around 40 pairs of eyes were staring at her.
? What happened?
The homeroom teacher stuck her head out from behind and said to Fu Yangxi, "Get a few people to move Zhao Mingxi's seat back. Don't bully the transfer student. How impolite of you to let a girl sit alone in the last row?!"
The followers in the class all looked at Fu Yangxi.
If Fu Yangxi didn't say anything then they wouldn't dare to make a move.
Fu Yangxi had his arms and legs crossed. He glared at the homeroom teacher with a dark expression.
But inside, he was feeling anxious—
What is wrong with these people? Why aren't they listening to the homeroom teacher's instructions?
The homeroom teacher was so exasperated that her head was beginning to hurt. "Move it!"
Still no one budged.
Fu Yangxi: "…"
Fu Yangxi furrowed his brows and put down his leg. He stood up in annoyance before mumbling with an unwilling expression, "I'll do this one favor for the homeroom teacher. Move it."
Two followers immediately began to make the move.
When the homeroom teacher saw this, she glared at Fu Yangxi. Only after that did she take her books and leave.
Just like this, a short while later, Mingxi followed after them with her books and sat beside Fu Yangxi once more.
As the lesson was beginning, the noisy atmosphere in the class had no choice but to quiet down.
Mingxi secretly glanced to her side at Fu Yangxi. Fu Yangxi continued to sleep with his jacket tucked underneath his head. He had his noise-cancelling headphones on while his head was buried in his arms. She couldn't see his expression, but his ears were flushed red. It was almost as red as the arrogant color of his hair— Mingxi assumed that he was angry.
He was probably extremely furious for being forced to sit with her.
She came to a conclusion that Fu Yangxi probably hated her even more now that she had done such a thing. This might badly affect her when she approaches him in the future, hence she wrote a note.
[I'm sorry. It was the homeroom teacher who arranged it. I didn't know about this as well.]
Mingxi was very careful with her words.
Fu Yangxi opened one eye and looked over from his arms. He watched as a long and jade-white finger pressed on a note and pushed it over to him gently. Then, as if it was escaping, the finger retracted quickly.
The note that she gave him was as if it carried a hint of warmth.
Fu Yangxi snorted and did not raise his handsome face which was flushed red.
He only reached out two fingers and pulled the paper to him in a manner as if he was annoyed.
After taking a glimpse at the content of the note, the corner of Fu Yangxi's lips couldn't help but to curl up.
It's obvious that she was the one who asked the homeroom teacher to change her seat, yet she's telling me otherwise.
Liar.
He understood.
A girl's crush is like a poem, right?
Fu Yangxi scoffed and raised his head. He used his left hand to cover his face, conveniently covering up the redness in his cheeks. With his right hand, he picked up the pen on the table and quickly wrote a few words on the note.
Then, he bunched it up and threw it back.
As he wasn't looking, he missed and the note ended up at the right corner of Mingxi's table.
The teacher who was at the podium seemed to be approaching them.
Fu Yangxi immediately reached out to take it.
Zhao Mingxi stole a glimpse at him. She felt that this was a good opportunity so she pretended to take the note as well. She wondered how many buds would grow from pretending to bump into his hand.
As opportunities seldom knocks twice, Mingxi immediately reached out her hand.
As expected, both their fingers came in contact with each other.
Fu Yangxi's fingers were cold and he instantly felt the softness and warmth coming from the girl's fingers.
As if he had been electrocuted, he retracted his hands in anger. He questioned her with a whisper, "What are you doing?"
"Sorry." Mingxi apologized softly as well.
Then, Mingxi opened the note. Fu Yangxi only wrote a cold word on it: "Whatever."
Mingxi let out a sigh of relief. Although Fu Yangxi didn't seem to be happy about this, he was too lazy to fight against the homeroom teacher due to such a small matter. With this, there seems to be some progress and she can now sit on this seat in peace.
Only
Mingxi then raised her head and immediately noticed that five new buds had grown in her pot.
In addition to the initial seven, she now had a total of 12 buds.
What's going on? So much had grown just because our hands touched for the first time?
Mingxi wanted so bad to touch the hands of every single person at the top of the list.
Fu Yangxi continued to use the book to cover his face. Through the corner of his eyes, he saw how Mingxi's eyes were unabashedly curled up in happiness.
His face instantly flushed red as well and his heartbeat sped up.
—Did she have to act like this? She only touched his hand. It wasn't as if she had won him over. Did she have to be this happy?
So clingy. What am I to do in the future?
