6 Chapter 6

There was more traffic at this time than during the day, so Zhou Baixi could only take a look at the situation in the back seat while waiting for the traffic light.

Chen Ying usually wears her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, though on rare occasions, she lets it fall to her shoulders. Her long hair, slightly curled at the ends, falls naturally, with a few loose strands tumbling across her forehead, covering half her eyebrows and eyes.

She wore the coat she brought with her and leaned quietly in her seat.

Zhou Baixi noticed that she was a little sleepy, so he didn't speak to her along the way. The car was silent.

Chen Ying fell asleep halfway through the journey, and when she reached her apartment, she was still resting with her eyes closed. Zhou Baixi didn't wake her, but quietly stopped the car and turned off the engine.

Chen Ying began to dream. In the dream, she was seventeen years old and had just entered her second year of high school. Everyone was wearing the newly revised black and white school uniform and was running around every corner of the campus.

In my second year of high school, a boy transferred into our class. He was tall, clean-cut, and bright-looking. Perhaps because he was new and unfamiliar with the class, he was quiet. Because of his obvious height advantage, the teacher assigned him to the last table.

The classmates were always gossipy about the new student and would discuss his legend during breaks.

Someone said: "He has learned Brazilian Judo! So cool!"

"Really?! He's still so handsome and has such good grades!"

"How do you know he has good grades? What if he's just good looking but useless?"

"I just found out last class that he's been studying in another province. He's doing really well, always at the top of his grade, and he's almost got one foot in Tsinghua University. I heard he came back because his mom missed life here, so his dad was planning to move the whole family back, and he came with her."

"His dad is so nice!"

The above was the gossip Chen Ying was forced to overhear during recess. On her second day at school, the gossiping classmates already knew a lot about him. Chen Ying had no real interest in the new transfer student; she was only worried about what to eat tonight.

In the new semester, because the school uniforms were revised, Chen Ying had to order new uniforms. She did not tell her family and bought them with her living expenses. Now, she has very little living expenses left, and next month is still a long way off.

She was bored and drew a table in her notebook, writing down Monday to Sunday, as well as morning, noon and evening, and then listing what she would eat for each meal and the approximate cost.

Chen Ying started learning to cook at the age of eight. Her mother would always rent a small house for her and then leave her alone. From then on, she had to cook for herself.

I definitely can't eat meat anymore; it's so expensive, even though I rarely eat it. Vegetable prices have also gone up recently, so I have to buy less.

With this calculation, there are not many vegetables left to buy.

Chen Ying lay on the table in distress.

Every time a new teacher came in, the new students would be asked to repeat their self-introduction. After two or three times, the three words "Zhou Baixi" were written in a small corner of the blackboard so that the teacher could see it as soon as he came in.

——However, Zhou Baixi still couldn't escape the fate of being introduced again.

It seems that this is something that every new student will encounter. The teachers are all curious about the new students, but it is more like a process, a ceremony for freshmen.

After hearing his name so many times, Chen Ying of course remembered it. The girls around her kept chattering about Zhou Baixi all the time. After hearing the three words "Zhou Baixi" so many times, Chen Ying had an illusion and a sense of déjà vu.

It's strange, I'm obsessed with the three words "Zhou Baixi".

On Fridays, all the boarding students in the school have to go home, and there will often be a crowd at the school gate. Chen Ying is too lazy to squeeze in, so she usually stays in the classroom until the last one to leave. Today, there is one more person who has not left.

Zhou Baixi.

One sat in the fifth row by the window, and the other sat in the last row on the other side. These two people, who had nothing to do with each other, sat quietly in the classroom. No one spoke, and only the fan above their heads was whirring.

Chen Ying was going home, and when she left, she turned off the fan above her seat.

Zhou Baixi said, "Please close this one too, thank you."

"oh."

"What's your name?" he asked again.

Chen Ying uttered an "ah" and didn't react. Zhou Baixi smiled faintly, took the class seating map the monitor had given him, and found the spot where Chen Ying had been sitting.

"Chen Ying?"

Chen Ying said "hmm" again.

"It's okay, thank you."

Chen Ying turned off the phone on his end as well, then left without looking back, leaving Zhou Baixi alone in the classroom.

Just after arriving home, her uncle called and said that an old friend would come to his house for dinner and would cook a seafood feast, and asked Chen Ying to come to his house for dinner. Chen Ying was reluctant. Her uncle treated her very well, but the children in his family didn't like her, so she didn't want to go either.

But her uncle didn't give her a chance to refuse. He said he would pick her up personally and then hung up the phone.

Chen Ying thought that if there was a car to pick her up, she could save on the fare and a meal.

It seems...it's okay?

As for that cousin, just avoid him when the time comes.

At that time, Chen Ying was so poor that she could forget her cousin's bad face in order to save money for a meal.

Chen Ying lived in a small bungalow in a remote area. Her uncle's house was in the city center, far away. Chen Ying waited at the door for about half an hour and finally saw her uncle's familiar car.

"Uncle...cousin?"

The car window rolled down, and the somewhat unfamiliar face of my uncle's son, Wu Qianqiu, appeared.

"I came to pick you up, are you disappointed?"

Wu Qianqiu's voice was calm and his emotions remained unchanged. He just looked at Chen Ying expressionlessly.

"No... didn't my uncle say he would come to pick me up..." Chen Ying wanted to run away as soon as she saw him, and her voice became smaller and smaller.

"He had something urgent to do, so he asked me to come." My cousin seemed to smile and said, "Why, I'm driving and you don't dare to sit?"

Chen Ying wanted to say that she really didn't dare to sit in the car, not because she was worried about his driving skills, but because she was afraid that he would drive the car directly to the countryside and sell her.

She believed her cousin was capable of such a thing, after all, it was not something he had not done before. If she had not met a kind-hearted person who called the police and sent her back, she would have remained there for the rest of her life.

"Get in, I'll drive slowly." His voice was surprisingly gentle. Chen Ying wasn't sure if it was an illusion.

"oh."

Chen Ying got on the bus reluctantly, but she kept an eye on every road sign she passed, fearing the bus would turn off to an unfamiliar destination.

Fortunately, Wu Qianqiu had no ill intentions this time, and Chen Ying arrived safely at her uncle's house. She suspected that her cousin had grown up and no longer cared about her, no longer bothering to take her seriously. She also wondered if he was planning something else, waiting for guests to arrive and kick her out when there were more people.

This idea became clearer and clearer in her mind. Chen Ying even imagined a complete story of being kicked out in front of guests. Then her uncle would get angry, her cousin would get beaten, her aunt would cry and hug her cousin, and there would be a bunch of strangers around. Some of them would persuade her uncle to stop beating her, saying that the child had been beaten like that and shouldn't be beaten again. Others would secretly tell Chen Ying, "Didn't you see your uncle beat your brother? It's all because of you. Go back first."

Then Chen Ying would flee in the angry and resentful eyes of her cousin.

——The foot that was about to step into the elevator retracted, she was still afraid.

She never cared about the embarrassment Wu Qianqiu had caused her when she was a child. Her uncle and aunt's kindness to her surpassed everything else. Chen Ying was worried that when guests came later, Wu Qianqiu would lose his temper and make a scene at home because of her, which would definitely make her uncle uncomfortable and the guests embarrassed.

She hesitated.

The elevator door closed, and Chen Ying suddenly turned around and walked out. She just wanted to go home.

Wu Qianqiu stood behind her, stretched out his hand to stop her, and asked, "Why don't you go in?"

Chen Ying dodged backwards, keeping a distance from him, and opened her mouth silently, but could not utter a word.

"Did something fall?" Wu Qianqiu asked again.

His voice was calm, neither anxious nor impatient. Chen Ying hadn't seen him in a long time. It was only last year, after he finished his college entrance exams, that Chen Ying and her family went to his house for dinner. That day, there were many guests at her uncle's house, and he had been entertaining them with them, so he had no time for her. It was the first time she had some quiet time.

Wu Qianqiu will be a sophomore at the beginning of this school year, and he has changed a lot. He has become calm and composed, his hair is combed like an adult, and there is no more hostility in his eyes when he sees Chen Ying.

But this did not prevent Chen Ying from being afraid of him.

Chen Ying wanted to leave silently, but Wu Qianqiu refused to let go of his hand that was blocking her.

"…Here we are. Downstairs… Well, she won't come up."

My uncle called at some point, and by the time Chen Ying reacted, Wu Qianqiu had already put the phone to her ear.

"Firefly?"

"uncle……"

"Come up quickly! Uncle hasn't seen you for a long time."

The elevator went down to the first floor again. This time, Wu Qianqiu pushed Chen Ying directly into the elevator, took the phone, said a few words and hung up.

The elevator was very quiet, with only the two of them. It was as dead silent as the atmosphere in the car. Chen Ying kept staring at the changing numbers. When it reached the 12th floor, the elevator stopped.

My uncle looks no different from what I remember him to be. He is as energetic and healthy as ever, and always full of vigor. But my aunt has changed a lot, with a few white hairs on her temples.

As soon as Chen Ying entered the door, she saw her uncle wearing an apron and helping her aunt wash vegetables. After a few greetings, she wanted to go into the kitchen to help, but her uncle pushed her onto the sofa and asked Wu Qianqiu to watch TV with her.

Chen Ying sat there awkwardly. Wu Qianqiu sat next to her and casually handed the remote control to her. Then he looked at his phone and ignored her.

Chen Ying held the remote control, at a loss.

Uncle came out of the kitchen, still holding a garlic clove in his hand, and sat next to Chen Ying. He looked at Wu Qianqiu, who was only playing with his phone, and started scolding him.

"Hey, kid, you just insisted on picking up Yingying, and even after you got her, you didn't say a word."

Wu Qianqiu said "hmm" lightly, without raising his head, and continued to look at his phone.

Chen Ying was upset, confused as to why Wu Qianqiu had volunteered to pick her up. But she didn't ask any questions. When her uncle asked about school, she simply answered a few questions and didn't say anything more.

My uncle sighed, got up and went to the kitchen.

There was a knock on the door. My uncle and aunt were in the kitchen. Wu Qianqiu was wearing headphones and didn't know if he heard the knock. Chen Ying had to go open the door.

They were uncles and aunts who came to visit with bags of gifts, followed by a boy.

It’s the new transfer student, Zhou Baixi.