SSB – Chapter 1.2

　　At the school gate.

　　Yin Zhenru said goodbye to Sang Zhi and then approached the group of Fu Zhengchu’s friends.

　　Fu Zhengchu’s expression softened as he stared at Sang Zhi’s figure. He asked knowingly, “Sang Zhi isn’t coming?”

　　Yin Zhenru nodded, “She got scolded by the teacher, so she’s in a bad mood.”

　　Fu Zhengchu’s brow furrowed, “Was she asked to call her parents again?”

　　Yin Zhenru replied, “Yes.”

　　”…”

　　This is getting close to a record number of times for her.

　　Where could her delinquent’s face be put?!!!

　　Fu Zhengchu stood still for two seconds, then suddenly turned and walked towards the school.

　　Another boy, Liu Weiqi, quickly stopped him, “Hey! Where are you going? Aren’t we going to buy ‘King’s Hero’?”

　　Upon hearing this, Fu Zhengchu turned back and gave Liu Weiqi’s head a hard smack, “I keep telling you to study more.”

　　Liu Weiqi instinctively covered his head: “?”

　　”It’s ‘Queen’s Hero,’ you idiot.”

　　”…”

　　On the other side.

　　Sang Zhi continued to send messages to Sang Yan—scolding him heartlessly and ruthlessly, accusing him of abandoning his thirteen-year-old sister who still couldn’t take care of herself, just to pursue a university education, leaving her to fend for herself.

　　She waited for a while.

　　Sang Yan didn’t reply to her.

　　She waited a little longer.

　　The heartless Sang Yan still didn’t reply to her.

　　Sang Zhi gave up hope entirely, got on the bus back home, and started contemplating how to explain to her parents about the third parent-teacher meeting this month.

　　How should she explain it?

　　Should she say that she was too outstanding, which made the teacher jealous and resulted in the meeting?

　　Or perhaps, she unintentionally caused a misunderstanding during class, making the teacher feel threatened in his career?

　　Or maybe, it was just too hot, and the teacher was too bored, so he wanted to invite parents over for some tea…

　　Sang Zhi scratched her head in frustration.

　　It seemed like none of those excuses would work.

　　She looked up and realized that she had already arrived at her stop.

　　Sang Zhi got off the bus and slowly walked towards her home.

　　Upon entering the house and seeing the familiar surroundings, she felt her scalp tingling, making it even harder to express herself.

　　Just then, her mother, Li Ping, called from the kitchen, “Zhizhi, are you back?”

　　Zhizhi was Sang Zhi’s nickname.

　　Sang Zhi replied with a mumbled response as she slowly took off her shoes. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice a pair of sports shoes on the shoe rack that she had never seen before.

　　Li Ping called her again, “Zhizhi, come here for a moment. Help me out.”

　　Sang Zhi was still contemplating how to be honest when she vaguely said, “What?”

　　”Take this plate of fruits to your brother’s room,” Li Ping came out of the kitchen and said, “Your brother is back—”

　　”Hmm…Huh?” Sang Zhi suddenly became alert, her tone rising a few notches, “My brother is back?”

　　”Yes.”

　　This unexpected development left Sang Zhi in disbelief.

　　A flood of surprise emotions surged up in an instant. The cold and unfeeling pest, Sang Yan, at this moment, transformed into a perfect big brother image in Sang Zhi’s heart, cold on the outside but warm-hearted inside.

　　Li Ping continued speaking, “Be careful when you go in, your brother brought—”

　　”Okay, okay, okay!” No longer patient enough to listen, Sang Zhi took the plate of fruits and dashed to Sang Yan’s room, “I got it! I’ll give it to him right away!”

　　With her hands empty, Li Ping watched Sang Zhi’s unusually enthusiastic figure and wondered, “What’s up with this child today…”

　　Thinking that she didn’t have to face parental scolding, Sang Zhi couldn’t help but smile and pushed open Sang Yan’s room door with force.

　　The room was spacious and bright, with sunlight pouring in.

　　Instantly, a warm and pleasant aroma filled her nostrils. But in the next moment, a strong smell of tobacco rushed towards her. It choked her a bit, and she couldn’t help but cough.

　　She wrinkled her nose and scanned the room.

　　In a dim area, a slender man sat on the sofa by the computer desk, looking down at his phone. His back was facing the light, his appearance obscure and gloomy. One hand rested on the side of the sofa, with slender fingers holding a cigarette, glowing crimson.

　　His figure bore some resemblance to Sang Yan’s.

　　Yet, he appeared unexpectedly unfamiliar.

　　Sang Zhi’s footsteps halted, and she blinked in hesitation. Before the word “Gege” hadn’t come out of her mouth yet…

　　The man looked up.

　　In that moment, she saw his appearance clearly and inexplicably held her breath.

　　His expression was indifferent, with distinct facial features, and a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, giving off an approachable yet distant vibe.

　　His slightly upturned peach blossom eyes had light brown irises. The eyebrows and eyes had a somewhat alluring charm.

　　Completely different from her brother’s deep black eyes.

　　Thinking she would meet her brother, she instead saw a stranger, and her brother was nowhere to be found.

　　For a moment, Sang Zhi’s mind went blank, not knowing how to react.

　　The scene seemed frozen.

　　Both of them stood still, without any unnecessary movements.

　　Not long after, the man lowered his gaze again, leisurely extinguishing the cigarette, his expression lazy. He seemed indifferent to her presence, remaining silent as he got up and opened the window for ventilation.

　　Watching his actions, Sang Zhi called out hesitantly, “Gege…?”

　　Upon hearing this address, the man’s movements paused, and he raised an eyebrow. He stared at Sang Zhi, his peach blossom eyes gentle yet playful. Then, he curled his lips and replied in a teasing tone, “Hmm?” 

　　”…”

　　This response felt like a bolt of lightning striking Sang Zhi’s head.

　　All the uncertain things were instantly outlined by her vivid imagination.

　　Her Gege, whom she hadn’t seen for several months, had now transformed into the person standing before her.

　　She could hardly believe it; she felt petrified, struggling to form a word, “You, you…”

　　A few seconds of pause.

　　Sang Zhi swallowed nervously, and cautiously finished her sentence, “Did you have plastic surgery?”

　　”…”

Note: The phrase “拖腔帶調” (tuō qiāng dài diào) is a literary term in Chinese that describes a drawling or lingering tone, often used to convey a playful or teasing manner of speaking.