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.

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.

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?”