Chapter Six

  After the holiday was over, Yu Cai returned to her quiet and orderly life, except that Xiao Bai Lian would reveal a "I know your secret" smile whenever she saw her, everything else was fine.

  A week later, the annual school sports meeting began. Yu Cai was a sports idiot and naturally had nothing to do with it, but unexpectedly she was appointed by Lao Mei as the class correspondent, together with Qiao Jia and Gu Yueyue, one of her best friends in high school, to report on the heroic deeds of their class.

  Yu Zai wasn't interested in such childish things, and it was more practical to think about her plan to buy a house. Fortunately, Qiao Jia loved to show off, and Gu Yueyue, as the representative of the language class, was also good at writing drafts. Yu Zai could then slack off, sitting in the audience listening to gossip and spacing out, enjoying the rare leisure time. During this time, she only stood up to watch Mo Fei's 200-meter dash.

  On the third day in the afternoon, Yu Cai was lamenting that her carefree and happy time was about to pass when Xiao Bai Lian came running over excitedly and asked her to go watch Qi Shi Zhi's high jump competition.

  Yu Cai didn't expect Ji Shi would jump high and also use both hands, so she followed suit.

  The venue was surrounded by a crowd of people, among whom the most eye-catching one was Xia Yunyun, who wore sportswear and looked even more youthful and beautiful.

  Xia Yunyin surprisingly still remembered Yu Cai, and upon seeing her radiant smile, she waved enthusiastically and assured her, "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll definitely get first place!"

  Yu Cai was slightly infected by her enthusiasm and youthful emotions, and he also smiled brightly back at her.

  The rod rose higher and higher, and the delicate face of the released one was more solemn than usual, but it had a more mature taste. Yucai couldn't help but hear the girls' exclamations of "so handsome", and his mouth involuntarily curled up into a smile. Being young is great, even if he were to go back to being 15 years old, the girlhood feelings of that year would never come back again.

  The game ended with a landslide victory for Qi, and Xia Yunyun's smile grew even brighter as she rushed over to hand out water and towels.

  Yu Cai's smile deepened at the corner of her mouth, this was why she chose to be a high school teacher back then, what she saw were always the proud youth and radiant smiling faces, young, how great!

  "What's so funny?"

  "Uh—"

  "What's so funny?"

  Yu Cai was startled by his suddenly approaching face and hastily retreated several steps, vigilantly looking at him, "What are you doing?"

  The little white face stood up straight, hugging his arms, "You laugh really strangely".

  Yu Cai didn't respond, still staring at him warily. He didn't mind, deep in thought, and opened his mouth to say, "The way you smiled just now reminded me of the smile of an elder when they see their children, warm, with a hint of doting..."

  Yu Cai Xin was shocked by his sharpness and immediately interrupted, "Sorry, I think I have to point out a fact. You really don't suit the 'poor and handsome' route. Not every boy is suitable for being Ma Jing Tao." After finishing speaking, she didn't wait for him to react and quickly ran towards the audience seats.

  Since that day, Yu Cai, who was already avoiding Xiao Bai's face, became even more evasive, but they were in the same class, and it was inevitable to see each other. Moreover, that guy seemed to be interested in her pseudo-Lolita appearance, so he would make several attempts to get close to her every day.

  But as soon as they looked up and saw nothing, then looked down and saw something, Yu Cai's hands were clutching the list, and she cried out in surprise, "Fei Yuanfan!"

  The originally noisy classroom suddenly fell silent, dozens of pairs of eyes stared at her, and Yu Zai couldn't help but bite her own tongue.

  A boy stood up in the corner, "What's going on?"

  Yucai struggled to control her facial nerves and said seriously, "Don't forget to clean up today."

  As they watched their classmates return to their usual greetings, Yu Cai quickly wrote down four names in the corner of the blackboard, including the three words that had caused her to lose control: "Fei Yuan Fan".

  The bell rang, and the people around her began to read aloud loudly. Yu Cai pretended to think seriously with a math book in front of her, but her mind had already flown to that boy named Fei Yuanfan.

  Yu Cai's impression of Fei Yuanfan began on a certain afternoon in the second semester of her sophomore year. Wearing a bright red jacket, Fei Yuanfan was playing ball with several boys in the corridor, his mouth tightly pursed, and his pale, elegant face radiating a strong scholarly aura under the sun. His frameless glasses added to his refined and elegant demeanor. For a moment, Yu Cai's mind went blank, leaving only a line from the Book of Songs: "Is he not a gentleman? Like jade, like a precious stone... Having obtained such a gentleman, how could one not be delighted?"

  From then on, Yu Cai had an additional hobby. Whenever she was tired, bored or annoyed, she would secretly glance in the direction of Fei Yuanfan's distant sail, as if to draw strength from it. At that time, her thoughts were really simple, just wanting to take a look at him, looking at the perfect gentleman image in her heart, and perhaps also the prince image.

  During college, I had thought about getting close to such a warm and refined gentleman, but more often than not, it was fear that held me back. Fear that everything was just an illusion, and once I got to know him better, the perfect image in my mind would crumble at the same time. Finally, one day when I accidentally found out he hated reading, Yucai immediately dropped all her thoughts and stopped contacting anyone or anything related to him, just to preserve the perfect image in her mind...

  Before the second year of high school, Yu Cai didn't even know that he was in her class, or rather, she knew him as just another name on the list of people who needed to do cleaning duties. So when she suddenly saw his name today, Yu Cai was shocked and lost color, but fortunately, she still had some quick thinking and managed to cover it up. In any case, she didn't want to leave a bad impression on him...

  The book in front of her was suddenly pulled away, and Yu Cai reflexively stood up, "I'm sorry, sir...... it's you!"

  "Otherwise, who do you think it is, Old Mei?"

  Yu Cai sat down with a bad temper, and before she knew it, the class was already over. "Is scaring people all day fun?"

  "It's quite fun," Xiao Bailian bent down and leaned on Yu Cai's desk, "You this morning——"

  Yu Cai sprang up abruptly, this guy was too sharp, previously avoiding him was indeed the best choice, but now, what to do, what to do, for a moment, Yu Cai's brain was running like a Pentium 6.

  "This morning you——"

  Yu Cai pushed him and said, "Let's go out and talk," Qiao Jia and Li Miao, those two gossipers, were both listening with their ears perked up.

  Xiaobai's face floated up a victorious smile, this girl was guilty, heh heh.

  The two walked out of the classroom, and Yu Zai immediately composed himself and said, "I thought about it for a long time after I got back yesterday, and I found that you seem to have been paying attention to me ever since you knew I was Ah Shi's sister. In fact, I have self-awareness, someone like me would never catch your eye, so there is only one possibility..."

  Yu Cai's voice stopped abruptly, and Xiao Bai Lian immediately urged, "What could it be?"

  Yu Cai's face was solemn, "Actually, Ah Shi is a lovely person, and since you're human... don't worry, I absolutely won't look down on you, nor will I gossip about you with Ah Shi or anyone else. However, the way you always try to get Ah Shi's attention through me, I really can't take it anymore, just let me off!"

  Xiaobai's face was twisted by Yu Cai for half a day, and he finally found out that he had been deliberately distorted. He was furious and ready to settle accounts with Yu Cai, but she had already disappeared. Xiaobai stormed into the classroom, just as the class bell rang, saving Yu Cai's life and causing Xiaobai's handsome face to twist for an entire lesson.

  Since then, whenever Yu Cai saw Xiao Bai Pian showing signs of coming to pick a fight, she immediately put on an "I understand your pain" tolerant elder demeanor, which left Xiao Bai Pian speechless and unable to say anything, after all, he couldn't yell at her, I don't like Ah Shi, am I gay?!

  Yu Cai achieved a complete victory and finally got rid of the entanglement of the little white face. Her days became more comfortable, when Qi Shi handed her an envelope that was obviously stuffed with 100-yuan bills, Yu Cai felt that the sky had never been so blue, the air had never been so fresh, and she even forgot about Qi Shi's icy face. With a particularly heroic tone, she said, "I'll treat you to dinner, let's go!"

  Yu Zai had just spoken when she regretted it, inviting this iceberg to dinner, he would give face, who knew that a miracle appeared, Qi Shi nodded and packed up his things and left the door first.

  I was sweating profusely, fortunately it's the weekend, otherwise I would have been notorious for misleading others.

  As soon as they stepped out of the school gate, Ji Shi stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at Yu Cai with a questioning gaze. Yu Cai hastily said, "What do you want to eat? I'm easygoing."

  He nodded and turned left, Yu Cai followed him at a steady pace, keeping a distance of one and a half steps.

  About twenty minutes later, the two arrived at a small shop similar to KFC. At that time, XX county was still relatively backward, and neither KFC nor McDonald's had entered the market.

  The little sister who took orders saw Ji Shi and smiled, "The usual?"

  She nodded and turned to Yu Cai, "What would this little sister like to eat?"

  Yu Cai looked at the menu, "A slice of butter cake, a cup of yogurt."

  "Ah, okay, forty-seven in total."

  Yu Cai took out her wallet to pay, but before she could, Ji Shi had already paid. Yu Cai hastily said, "Hey, I said I'd treat."

  Qī shì zhī kàn yě bù kàn tā, tǔ chū liǎng gè zì, "wǒ lái".

  Translation:

  Ji Shi looked at her without looking at her and spat out two words, "I'm coming".

  Yu Cai Yan Qi Xi Gu, this was the first thing he said to her in a month, although it was only two words, she still unconditionally surrendered.

  The store is not big, but the environment is good. The two of them started eating their own food. Yu Cai had already eaten dinner and had been avoiding sweets for years due to weight issues, so she just held onto her cup of yogurt and drank it, occasionally glancing at the handsome guy across from her.

  His eating pace wasn't slow, but it was elegant. At a glance, you could tell he had received good family education. Yu Cai deliberately softened his gaze to let him know that he hadn't ignored him, yet wouldn't make him feel like he was receiving too much attention or that the two of them were eating in awkward silence. Since he spoke up today, it should be considered as accepting himself, right? Yu Cai's mouth curved upwards. This process was actually his favorite part of being a teacher.

  Jian Qi Xi started wiping his mouth with a paper towel and Yu Cai asked, "Are you full? Don't want to add some more?"

  Qī shì zhī diǎn tóu, mù guāng tíng liú zài yù cǎi miàn qián de tián pǐn shàng.

  English Translation:

  Ji nodded and his gaze lingered on the dessert in front of Yu Cai's face.

  "I've already eaten dinner," Yu Cai explained, "this store's environment is pretty good, you seem to come here often."

  Ji Shi nodded again, and Yu Cai continued to make small talk, "Do you have any plans for the weekend?" As soon as she asked, she realized that this question couldn't be solved with just a nod or shake of the head. To avoid an awkward silence, Yu Cai had no choice but to continue, "It's still okay now, I heard that from high school onwards, there's only one day off per week, thinking about it is painful!"

  Ji Shi remained silent, Yu Cai really couldn't think of any other topic to discuss, and was just about to suggest going back when Yu Cai's head-splitting voice rang out again, "A Shi? You're here too?"

  As they spoke, a certain pretty boy with red lips and white teeth had already sat down beside Xi Zhi without any politeness, loudly calling out, "Brother!"

  Yu Cai Ren struggled to hold back her temper and not throw the cake on the table into his face. But then he came out with an even more infuriating remark, "Considering you're Ah Shi Zhi's sister, I'll give you some advice: don't eat things like this in the future."

  Yu Cai has always been afraid of such words since she was a child, Yu Cai is slightly plump, but in her own eyes, it's a very standard figure. In the eyes of her parents, it's pitifully thin, and more tragically, Yu Cai had the misfortune of having a chubby face, which led to all sorts of people giving her suggestions, some kind-hearted, some teasing, and some malicious.

  Yu Cai made an effort to calm herself down, constantly telling herself that the other person was just a high school student, and that as a 30-year-old, she would lose her dignity and quality if she argued with him.

  "Thank you, I'll pay attention next time."

  Xiao Bailian obviously didn't expect Yu Cai to thank him seriously, thinking that this girl was plotting another vicious and poisonous remark that would be fatal. But before he could think further, Yu Cai had already stood up and politely smiled at Yang Xi who followed him, "Want to sit for a while?"

  Yang Xi had short hair and big eyes, compared to Xia Yunyun, she had another kind of youthful and vibrant beauty. Upon hearing this, she smiled and sat down, "You're also from XX High School?"

  Yu Cai nodded slightly.

  "It turns out that there is a cousin of mine in our school, and nobody knows about it."

  Yu Cai smiled and said, compared to Qi Shi, the ones that are more familiar with her are those who directly advanced from junior high school to senior high school at XX High School, such as Xiao Bai Lian and Xia Yun Yun. It seems that Yang Xi is also one of them.

  "Have you eaten?"

  Yu Cai hummed in response, and Yang Xi said disappointedly, "We just got here, I wish we had made an appointment together."

  Xiaobai immediately replied, "That's okay, anyway they're fine, just wait for us for a while."

  Yu Cai immediately became depressed, old man, may I ask how did you know we were okay?

  "No, let's go first."

  Yu Cai looked at Qi Shi with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, this guy actually spoke up again, could it be that today was indeed the so-called auspicious day for marriage, travel, and opening one's mouth?

  "Oh well, never mind then, let's plan again next time."

  Yang Xi guessed that the little girl wouldn't want two light bulbs with large wattage shining beside her either, so she immediately took advantage of the situation to slip away.

  Yu Cai smiled at her and said, "Then we'll go first," following Chi Xizhe's footsteps, of course not forgetting to bring the beautifully packaged cake before leaving.

  The two of them left the small shop and walked silently back to school. Ji Shi pushed his bicycle forward and said, "I'll send you back."

  Due to her previous two experiences, Yu Zai finally got used to this gentleman's way of speaking and immediately shook her head upon hearing his words. "You go back first, I'll stay in school for a bit."

  Ji Shi nodded and rode away, Yu Cai arrived at her usual high school classroom and found an empty seat to sit down. Although there were no teachers on duty in the classroom over the weekend, it was still very quiet, and this kind of environment where many people sat together but were silent was what Yu Cai liked the most, she quickly became fully engaged in reading her book.

  About half an hour later, the air was suddenly filled with a strong sweet fragrance. Yu Cai had quit sweets for many years, but she still liked them and was extremely sensitive to this kind of scent. She couldn't help but lift her head up. As a result, she found that the boy at the next table was savoring her cake with relish.

  Yu Cai was taken aback for a moment, and could only smile wryly. Just as she was about to continue reading her book, the boy noticed Yu Cai's confusion and also sensed that something was off. He asked in a low voice, "Is this cake yours?"

  Yu Cai nodded.

  The boy looked embarrassed and said repeatedly, "Sorry, I just woke up and found a piece of cake on the table. I thought it was bought by my classmate for me, so I took it and ate it casually."

  Yu Cai suddenly remembered that when she first entered the class, there was indeed a boy sleeping on the desk next to her, "It's okay, this was originally my extra portion anyway, and no one would eat it if I took it back. You just helped me out."

  That boy wouldn't believe it and insisted on giving Yu Cai one, so in the end Yu Cai had no choice but to say, "I'll come again tomorrow night, you can bring another one for me then".

  The boy immediately promised, Yu Cai smiled and lowered her head to read again.

  The next evening, when Yu Cai came again, the boy indeed brought a cake for her and kept apologizing, saying that he had forgotten what the cake looked like last night, so he just randomly picked one.

  Yu Cai looked at the cake that was obviously more exquisite than last night, and couldn't help but want to laugh. This guy is well-cultivated, he will definitely be a refined gentleman in the future.

  Yu Zai also knew his name, Zhao Ye, a typical science genius and liberal arts idiot, aiming for Tsinghua University, now worried that Chinese and English would drag him down and fighting a desperate battle with bilingual every day.

  Although Zhao Ye returned with an even better cake, he still felt a bit embarrassed. Seeing Yu Cai had marked a big red tick on the math materials she had opened, he immediately asked enthusiastically if she couldn't do it. After getting a positive response, he carefully and patiently explained it to Yu Cai once again.

  Yu Cai was delighted and sincerely thanked him. Later, she occasionally helped Zhao Ye solve some English problems, and the two gradually became familiar with each other. This is a story for later.