After a while, just as Duan Jiaxu thought Sang Zhi had left, a clear and crisp “Goodbye, Brother” sounded from behind, followed by the sound of footsteps hurrying away.
Duan Jiaxu cleaned the table with a cloth and glanced back.
His gaze fixed on the table.
There was a pile of money on it, apart from the ones he had given back to her earlier, it seemed like she had added quite a bit more. At the bottom, there was a red one-hundred-yuan bill, and on top of it were various five-yuan and ten-yuan coins. On the very top, she had neatly stacked six or seven one-yuan coins, along with two fifty-cent coins.
It looked organized and tidy.
As if she had put all her belongings on the table.
Duan Jiaxu was stunned for a while. After a long pause, he hesitantly reached out and poked the stack of coins. The tower of coins collapsed as a result, sliding onto the table.
His eyebrows raised, and he suddenly burst out laughing.
What’s going on?
Why does it feel like this time he actually feels a bit guilty… about possibly taking money from the Kiddo?
-
Sang Zhi indeed didn’t keep a single penny for herself; even her lunch was bought with borrowed money from Yin Zhenru. When she was with a group of unfamiliar classmates and had no money, she always felt insecure.
At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, everyone was happily singing in the KTV. Sang Zhi held a cup of tea, her ears hurting from the loud noise. After struggling for a while, she finally said to Yin Zhenru, “Yin Zhenru, I’m planning to go home.”
Yin Zhenru couldn’t hear clearly and looked up: “What did you say?”
Sang Zhi had to raise her voice, “I said I’m going home!”
At that moment, the song ended, and a section of instrumental music began, making her voice suddenly stand out. Everyone turned their attention to her.
Soon, the music started again, breaking the tense atmosphere.
The others didn’t pay much attention to her words.
Only Fu Zhengchu walked over and sat next to her, asking, “Sang Zhi, are you leaving?
”Yeah,” Sang Zhi said, “My dad wants me to be home before it gets dark.”
After a moment of thought, she added, “Happy birthday.”
Fu Zhengchu was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Shall I accompany you to the station?”
”Why would you accompany me? The station is just downstairs,” Sang Zhi looked strangely at him, stood up, and said, “You stay here, I’m leaving.”
She turned to bid farewell to the people nearby and left the KTV.
Sang Zhi took out her student ID card from her bag.
The KTV was on the fifth floor of this shopping mall, while Duan Jiaxu’s dessert shop was on the fourth floor. As she rode the escalator down to the fourth floor, she stopped in her tracks.
Suddenly, Fu Zhengchu’s voice sounded behind her, “Why aren’t you leaving?”
”…”
Sang Zhi was startled and immediately turned around, feeling as if she had been caught doing something wrong. She replied indignantly, “Why are you following me?”
”I’m not following you.” Fu Zhengchu’s expression turned somewhat awkward. “I just came out to get some fresh air.”
”Oh.” Sang Zhi continued walking down. “Then get some air, goodbye.”
Fu Zhengchu still followed her and said, “I’ll just walk you down.”
Sang Zhi couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.
”By the way,” Fu Zhengchu scratched his head, finding a topic to chat about, “We’ll have class placement tests at the beginning of the next semester. Did you know?”
Sang Zhi nodded. “I heard you improved in your final exams.”
”…”
”Did you rank fifth from the bottom in the grade?”
Fu Zhengchu felt embarrassed and reluctantly said, “I fell asleep during the exam.”
Looking at him in this state, Sang Zhi pondered. She recalled the time when he said on the bus, “I’ll aim for first place next time, just for fun.” Also, he mentioned that he got called by the parents for not paying attention in class, but in reality, he had voluntarily asked the teacher to call his parents.
She suddenly asked, “Are you suffering from an inferiority complex?”
Fu Zhengchu: “?”
”It’s not a big deal, but mainly because I haven’t seen you studying much,” Sang Zhi said, “If you study hard, your grades should improve. Just don’t be lazy and focus on your studies. No need to feel inferior.”
”San Zhi,” unable to hold back anymore after being lectured, Fu Zhengchu finally spoke, “I don’t believe you can’t see it.”
Sang Zhi paused: “See what?”
Fu Zhengchu didn’t say anything.
”What can’t I see?” Hesitating as she recalled Yin Zhenru’s words, Sang Zhi asked, “Are you secretly in love with Yin Zhenru?”
”…”
Fu Zhengchu almost couldn’t bring himself to mention it.
He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and asked, “Who told you that?”
Sang Zhi innocently replied, “I guessed.”
Fu Zhengchu: “Can you stop making random guesses?”
Sang Zhi looked puzzled: “Well, you can’t possibly be secretly in love with me.”
Fu Zhengchu stared at her expressionlessly and, with a reckless attitude, said, “Why not?”
”…”
Sang Zhi’s expression finally changed a bit: “Huh?”
In the heat of youth, using the most arrogant tone, he said the most cowardly words, “If—I mean, if! If I were secretly in love with you, what can you do about it!”
”…”
Peek-Aboo 
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