Chapter 145 Lucky Star

The next morning, what Zhao Ran waited for was Shi Qiu Shui, who looked listless and had an aura of having no desire to live.

Zhao Ran: "Huh? What's wrong with you?"

Shi Qiushui waved his hands and said weakly, "Oh, don't mention it. My dad found out that I went out to eat yesterday and he deducted my pocket money for this week and next. From now until the end of the college entrance examination, I won't get a penny of pocket money!"

"Ah?" Zhao Ran: "How did Uncle Shi find out that you were cheating on me?"

Qiu Shui got angry when she talked about this. She scratched her head and said irritably, "Yesterday, when I was eating spicy hot pot, I wasn't paying attention and got some oil splashed on me. My dad found out while we were eating."

She turned to look at Zhao Ran, with a hint of complaint: "Zhao Ran, it's all your fault. It's okay if I didn't notice it myself, but why didn't you notice the oil stain on my clothes yesterday?"

Shi Qiushui was clearly being unreasonable and venting his anger, but Zhao Ran wasn't angry at all. He echoed Shi Qiushui's words, "Well, it's all my fault. I wasn't paying attention. If I had noticed the oil splashed on you earlier, Uncle Shi wouldn't have deducted your pocket money."

Zhao Ran's attitude soothed Shi Qiu Shui's little emotions very well.

She reflected on herself for a moment and said, "Well, I can't blame you for everything."

Shi Qiushui scratched his face and said, "My dad deducted my pocket money mainly because I had a stomachache again last night. If I didn't have a stomachache, he wouldn't have planned to deduct my pocket money.

Zhao Ran frowned: "Did you have stomachache again last night?"

"Yeah." Shi Qiushui nodded, his face sad. "I went home and ate again last night, and I had some indigestion. As soon as I lay down on the bed, I started to feel uncomfortable. I tossed and turned but still felt uncomfortable, so I got up to look for medicine. I happened to run into my dad getting up to go to the bathroom."

"So Uncle Shi deducted your pocket money?" Zhao Ran asked.

Shi Qiushui: "Yes, my dad helped me find the stomach medicine, and then he announced that he would deduct my pocket money."

She hung her head, sad about the pocket money that was going away from her.

Zhao Ran was silent for a moment and asked, "How are you now?"

Shi Qiushui: "No, I'm so sorry, my pocket money—"

She wailed with fake tears.

Zhao Ran: "...I'm asking if your stomach is feeling better? Is it still painful?"

Shi Qiushui: "Oh, my stomach doesn't hurt anymore. I took some medicine last night and everything is fine now."

She said, "I'm just sad about my pocket money. The new issue of Fireworks magazine is coming out soon, and I wanted to wait until my pocket money comes out to buy the magazine."

Seeing Shi Qiushui's depressed look, Zhao Ran sighed and said, "Don't be sad. When the magazine comes out, I'll buy it for you."

"Really?!"

Zhao Ran: "Yeah."

Shi Qiushui instantly stopped feeling depressed. She said with bright eyes, "Zhao Ran, you are so nice. I love you so much!"

Zhao Ran complained softly, "You only say nice things at this time."

Shi Qiushui didn't hear what he said clearly, and subconsciously asked: "Huh? What did you say?"

Zhao Ran: "...Nothing, let's go, it's time to go to school."

Shi Qiushui: "Yeah, let's go. Are you seated? I'm about to leave."

Zhao Ran: "Have a seat, let's go."

Shi Qiushui: "Okay, let's go——"

Shi Qiu Shui rode her bike to school at lightning speed. When she reached the bicycle shed, the school's preparatory bell rang, but Shi Qiu Shui was not in a hurry at all. She calmly asked Zhao Ran to get off her bike, then parked the bike and locked it in one go. After locking the bike, she carried her schoolbag and strode towards the teaching building.

She arrives at the classroom on time every day and is confident that she will not be late.

In fact, Shi Qiu Shui was not late. The bell rang as soon as she stepped into the classroom.

As the school bell rang, Shi Qiushui and Zhao Ran sat down in their seats. Shi Qiushui whispered, "Hey, Zhao Ran, do you remember whose morning reading class is today?"

Zhao Ran: "Morning reading is taught by the English teacher."

Shi Qiushui: "Oh, oh, it's from the English teacher. Hey, didn't the English teacher say that we should do the listening comprehension that we didn't do on the previous test paper during the morning reading today?"

Zhao Ran: "Yes, we need to do the listening section of the Chaoyang Second Mock Exam."

"Chaoyang Second Model School, * OK, I'll look for it." Shi Qiu Shui bent down and reached into the table drawer to search.

"Eh? What is this?"

Shi Qiushui had just put her hand into the desk drawer when she suddenly touched a strange bottle. She took it out and said curiously, "This isn't mine. Who put it in my desk drawer?"

Zhao Ran subconsciously looked at what was in Shi Qiu Shui's hand. The moment his eyes touched the bottle, his expression changed.

It was a round, short, big-bellied glass bottle. Without opening the bottle, you could see that it was filled with all kinds of stars, the kind of five-pointed stars made of star paper.

Zhao Ran pursed his lips, trying to make his emotions less obvious as he said, "Well, maybe someone put it in the wrong place."

Shi Qiushui scratched his head: "Maybe."

She bit her lip and put the bottle back into the desk drawer, saying, "The English teacher should be here soon. I'd better find the test paper first. Let's talk about this after class."

As he spoke, Shi Qiu Shui stuffed the bottle into the innermost part of the drawer, as if he didn't want to see it.

In fact, Shi Qiu Shui really didn't want to see this thing.

As soon as she saw the stars in the bottle, she realized that some boy must have deliberately stuffed them into her desk drawer.

This thing has been very popular in school recently. It is said that these stacked stars are lucky stars that can bring good luck, but they are more of an expression of one's heart. She has seen the meaning of the number of lucky stars posted by the owner of a small shop at the school gate.

One lucky star means you are my only one; two lucky stars mean we are in love; three lucky stars mean I love you; four lucky stars mean...

Shi Qiushui wasn't interested in folding lucky stars, nor had she thought about giving them to anyone, so she just glanced at the paper and ignored it. She hadn't expected someone to actually give her a lucky star...

Thinking of this, Shi Qiushui couldn't help but be distracted. The bottle was so full, how many lucky stars must have been put in it? The person who sent the gift must have spent a long time stacking it, right?

Although she was not interested in Lucky Stars, she had seen other classmates folding them, and it took them a long time.

"Shi Qiushui, please stand up and answer this question. Shi Qiushui? Shi Qiushui?"

The English teacher at the podium noticed that Shi Qiu Shui's eyes began to dull, so she called her name and asked her to stand up and answer the question. However, after calling her several times, Shi Qiu Shui still did not respond. Finally, it was Zhao Ran next to her who poked Shi Qiu Shui's arm and called her up.

Shi Qiushui stood up and apologized to the teacher directly: "I'm sorry, teacher. I was distracted just now."

English teacher: "Well, don't be distracted, just stand and listen during morning self-study."

"Okay, teacher."

Shi Qiu Shui stood aside with the test paper he had found and did not return to his seat until the get out of class was over.

Returning to her seat, she couldn't help but want to take the bottle out of the drawer.

If she didn't open the bottle, Shi Qiu Shui wouldn't know who sent the stars in the bottle, let alone what the person wanted to do. Although she roughly guessed that the person who sent the stars wanted to confess his feelings to her, what if the other person didn't have that idea? What if she was just overthinking it?

She wanted to open the bottle to see what the other party meant. If it was really what she thought, she would definitely return it.

Shi Qiu Shui looked around and found that no one in the classroom was paying attention to her. She quickly took the bottle out of the desk drawer. After taking it out, she opened the lid stealthily like a thief.

"Xiao Qiu!"

Shi Qiu Shui had just opened the lid of the bottle when she felt someone pat her shoulder. Her body shook violently and she almost dropped the bottle in her hand to the ground.

Fortunately, she finally caught the thing and didn't let it fall to the ground.

She breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately it didn't fall. After all, she still wanted to return it. If it had fallen, it would be difficult to return it!

Shi Qiu Shui looked up with lingering fear and found that the person who patted his shoulder was Xiao Taozi.

She patted her chest and said, "Xiao Taozi, it's you. I thought it was someone else!"

Xiao Taozi: "Of course it's me. I came to play with you."

She tilted her head, gave Shi Qiushui a strange look, and said, "Xiao Qiu, something's wrong with you. I just came over and saw you looking down at something. Tell me, what is it?"

Shi Qiushui pretended to be dumb: "What the hell, I don't know what you are talking about."

Xiao Taozi: "Don't play dumb. I saw it when I came over just now. You were holding something in your hand. It was the thing you just stuffed into the desk drawer! What is that?"

Shi Qiushui continued to play dumb: "What, what? There's nothing."

Xiao Taozi snorted and reached directly into Shi Qiushui's desk drawer. Shi Qiushui frantically reached out to stop her, but Xiao Taozi succeeded. She pulled the glass bottle filled with stars out of Shi Qiushui's desk drawer and said, "Haha, I finally got it. I want to see what it is that you can hide it like this!"

Little Taozi exclaimed, "So it's a bottle of Lucky Stars. Why are you hiding them? I thought they were something special."

But soon, she tilted her head and began to wonder again: "Xiao Qiu, didn't you say you weren't interested in these things? Why are you stacking them now?"

She misunderstood that the stars in the jar were stacked by Shi Qiu Shui.

Shi Qiushui pursed her lips and explained to Xiao Taozi in a low voice: "No, I didn't make this bottle of stars."

Xiao Taozi: "Ah? You didn't fold it, then, then what is this...?"

Shi Qiushui said honestly, "I found it in my desk drawer. I found it as soon as I came here this morning."

"Then, then this was given to you by someone else?!" Xiao Taozi exclaimed in surprise, unable to control her voice.

Seeing that someone in the classroom had already noticed him, Shi Qiushui quickly covered Xiao Taozi's mouth and said, "Keep your voice down, ancestor, keep your voice down!"

Xiao Taozi also realized her loss of composure at this time, and she nodded quickly. Only then did Shi Qiu Shui stop covering her mouth.

Xiao Taozi's eyes flashed with gossip: "Xiao Qiu, who gave this to you? Is he interested in you?"

Without waiting for Shi Qiushui to reply, Xiao Taozi asked himself, "Giving away Lucky Stars, and such a huge jar of them, there must be over a hundred of them, right? It would take ages just to stack so many Lucky Stars. There's no doubt about it, the other person is definitely interested in you, I guarantee it!"

After saying that, she excitedly nudged Shi Qiushui twice and said, "Who is it? Who is it? Who is Xiaoqiu? Who is interested in you? Is it someone from your class?"

Shi Qiushui shrugged helplessly: "I don't know who sent it. It was in the desk drawer when I got here this morning, and I didn't see who sent it."

"Oh, I see..." Xiao Taozi blinked in disappointment, then her eyes lit up and she said, "Then have you ever opened it and looked at it? Have you ever opened all the stars inside and looked at them? I read a novel where the heroine wrote something she wanted to say on a lucky star paper she folded for the hero, but because the hero didn't open the lucky star, he didn't see the words inside, so he missed out on seeing the heroine. What a pity..."

Xiao Taozi said with sincere emotion, "Xiao Qiu, you must open the Lucky Star and take a look. You can't miss the other person like the male protagonist in the novel!"

Shi Qiushui: “…”

She said speechlessly, "I was going to open it before you came, but..."

Xiao Taozi scratched his head: "Hey, because I came, you haven't had time to open it yet, right?"

Shi Qiushui nodded: "Yes."

Xiao Taozi: "Well, then you can open it now. I won't disturb you if you do."

She was afraid that Shi Qiushui would chase her away, so she added, "Don't worry, I'll just watch from the sidelines without saying anything. I can also help you keep an eye on the people around you!"

Shi Qiushui: ...

Forget it, if Xiao Taozi wants to watch from the side, then let him watch from the side.

Shi Qiu Shui took the bottle full of lucky stars from Xiao Taozi's hand, opened the lid, took out a lucky star from the top, and carefully opened it.

She had to be very careful, as she was afraid that if she broke it, she wouldn't be able to put it back.

After spending a long time, he finally took apart the lucky star and unfolded the paper with the star on it. Fortunately, there were words on it, so Shi Qiu Shui's efforts were not in vain.

Shi Qiushui and Xiao Taozi, who had come over, looked at the handwriting on the note together. It read: "Hello, classmate Shi Qiushui."

"Hmm? Gone?"

Little Taozi came over and frowned in question.

She thought there would be something written on it, but it turned out to be just "Hello".

Shi Qiushui was also stunned for a moment, but she quickly reacted and said, "There should be more than just this one. There should be words on other slips of paper as well."

Xiao Taozi: "Then, shall we take apart a few more?"

Shi Qiushui: "Well, take off a few more."

She and Xiao Taozi were just about to fight when the bell rang.

Xiao Taozi: "Oh, class is about to start. Xiaoqiu, I have to go back to our class first. Wait until get out of class is over. Oh, no, our class has Chinese classes this and next. The Chinese teacher has to give consecutive exams, including the long break, so I can't come to see you."

Shi Qiushui: "Then come back at noon."

Xiao Taozi: "Yeah, Xiaoqiu, wait until I come over at noon."

After Xiao Taozi left, Shi Qiu Shui packed up his things and prepared to continue his class.

As usual, she put the bottle back in the drawer.

Zhao Ran, who had been quietly observing Shi Qiushui's behavior throughout the break, suddenly spoke up. "The Lucky Star was given to you by someone else. I thought someone misplaced it. If they were giving it to you, they should just give it to you directly. It would be so troublesome to be so sneaky."

Shi Qiushui nodded in agreement: "That's right."

If I give it to her directly, she can return it to the other party in person. This is so troublesome!

Hearing this, Zhao Ran's expression improved a lot. He continued to criticize the man who was delivering the gift: "Even delivering something can be done in such a sneaky way. It's obvious at a glance that he's not an upright person. Xiaoqiu, I think you'd better avoid contact with people like him."

Shi Qiu Shui: ...?

How come giving gifts is related to one’s character?

Zhao Ran: "Don't disbelieve me, look, this lucky star isn't something shameful. He could have just given it to you openly. But he didn't. Instead, he stuffed it in your hand quietly. What does that mean? It means he's afraid you'll reject him. He doesn't even dare to face a rejection head-on. Who is he? Do I need to tell you about that?"

Shi Qiu Shui stared at Zhao Ran for a long time, which made Zhao Ran feel a little uncomfortable.

He subconsciously touched his face and said, "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shi Qiushui said in surprise, "This is the first time I've heard you talk so much."

Zhao Ran: ...

Shi Qiushui touched his chin and said, "You're a little weird, huh? I've never seen you this excited before."

Zhao Ran coughed twice and said uncomfortably, "I, I, I'm just worried that you'll be deceived by someone with bad intentions."

Shi Qiushui: "Haha, you think too much. I'll open all the notes with Xiao Taozi at noon. Once we know who the other party is, we'll return the bottle to them. We won't be fooled."

Although he knew that Shi Qiu Shui would definitely return the things given his personality, Zhao Ran couldn't help but feel relieved when he heard this.

He said in a tone that was unclear whether it was relief or a matter of course: "I see."

Shi Qiushui: "Yeah."

-

A busy morning passed and it was lunch time. Shi Qiu Shui had lunch with Xiao Taozi. After lunch, she took Xiao Taozi back to her classroom. Most of the students in the classroom had gone for lunch, and only a few students were sitting in their seats studying.

Xiao Taozi and Shi Qiu Shui sat in front of Shi Qiu Shui's seat and quietly began to open the lucky star in the bottle.

It took me half of my lunch break to finally find all the notes with words on them.

The above words are connected as follows: "Hello classmate Shi Qiushui, I am Chen Muyang from the second class next to you. Although you may not know me, I have actually liked you silently in my heart for a long time. I remember the first time I saw you was on the podium of the school sports meeting. You were standing in the sun, holding the certificate handed out by the principal. Your smile was as bright as the sun that day, and my heart was moved at the first sight. I am a coward. I don’t even have the courage to stand in front of you, let alone the courage to confess my love to you. But with the college entrance examination approaching, I still want to put an end to my secret love, so please forgive me for taking the liberty to put this bottle with my feelings written on it on your desk. I don’t know if you will open it and see these notes. If you can see them, I wish you good luck in the college entrance examination and success in being admitted to the university of your choice."

Shi Qiu Shui really had no impression of Chen Muyang.

But looking at these notes, her heart was heavy. She didn't want to let the other party down, so Shi Qiu Shui folded the notes back one by one. She used the rest of the lunch break and all the breaks in the afternoon to complete this task.

When school was over in the evening, Shi Qiu Shui was the first to rush out of the classroom with the restored bottle.

She came to Class 2 next door. The students in Class 2 had just finished class and were still packing up their things. No one had left.

Shi Qiushui leaned forward and said to the student sitting in the front row, "Classmate, classmate, can you help me call Chen Muyang from your class?"

"Okay." The student sitting in the front row turned around and called out, "Chen Muyang, someone's looking for you."

In the second to last row of the classroom, a quiet boy wearing glasses looked up towards the front door when he heard this. After seeing Shi Qiu Shui standing at the front door, he looked obviously panicked for a moment, but he still walked out from the back.

He came up to Shi Qiushui and said, "You, you're looking for me?"

Shi Qiushui: "Are you Chen Muyang?"

Chen Muyang adjusted his glasses and said, "Yes, it's me."

Shi Qiushui shook the bottle in his hand and said, "You stuffed this into my desk drawer."

Chen Muyang lowered his head and said in a voice as small as a mosquito: "Yes, yes, I put it in. I'm sorry to trouble you. If you don't like it..."

Shi Qiushui interrupted him: "No, I don't dislike it."

With a bright smile on her face, she said, "I really like the stars you folded. Each one is very beautiful. I took them apart and tried to fold them back for you, but I found that none of mine were as beautiful as yours."

Hearing this, Chen Muyang looked up suddenly.

Shi Qiushui: "But, I'm sorry, I still can't accept your gift, so I still have to return it to you. I hope you don't mind the ugly stars I folded."

Chen Muyang had long expected that Lucky Star would be returned by Shi Qiu Shui, so he quickly accepted this matter and took the bottle from Shi Qiu Shui's hand.

Perhaps because Shi Qiu Shui was gentler than he thought, he was not in such a low mood at the moment. Looking at the lucky star in the bottle, he could still smile.

He said, "Actually, what you folded isn't ugly, it's just that the five corners are a little crooked."

Shi Qiushui: "Haha, yes, I also discovered this problem when I was folding it."

Chen Muyang: "But if you look at it tilted, it's straight."

Shi Qiushui: "Haha, then you can only look at it crookedly from now on."

Chen Muyang smiled and said, "Then, I'll go back."

Shi Qiushui nodded: "Yes, Baibai."

Chen Muyang: "Okay, Baibai."

He turned around and just took a step forward when he heard Shi Qiushui say, "Wait."

Chen Muyang turned his head: "What's wrong?"

Shi Qiushui: "I forgot to tell you, I also wish you good luck in the college entrance examination. I hope you can also be admitted to the university of your choice!"

She had a bright smile on her face, as bright as the day Chen Muyang first noticed Shi Qiu Shui.

"Okay, I believe we can all get into the university of our choice."

As the setting sun shone obliquely into the classroom, Chen Muyang put a perfect end to his teenage crush on flowers.

After returning the Lucky Star, Shi Qiu Shui returned to his classroom with ease. At this time, Zhao Ran had already packed his schoolbag, and he even helped pack Shi Qiu Shui's schoolbag.

Seeing Shi Qiushui coming back, he didn't ask any more questions, just said: "Is it over? Let's go home?"

Shi Qiushui: "Well, let's go home!"

Carrying their schoolbags, Shi Qiu Shui and Zhao Ran also walked home in the light of the setting sun. The orange-red sunlight in the west stretched their figures infinitely.