Chapter Seventeen

The conversation was abruptly ended. Zhou Mo had already understood the other party's intentions. They saw that she was an orphan and easy to bully, and wanted to extort money from her. They didn't care at all whether what their son said was the truth or whether there were other hidden reasons for Zhou Qinian's death. They only saw a huge profit beckoning to them.

After sending the unreasonable couple away, the homeroom teacher left Zhou Mo alone in the office.

Outside the window came the sounds of students laughing and shouting, a lively and energetic rustling sound. Zhou Mo couldn't help but look out the window, and for a moment she was in a daze, as if the natural disaster was just a nightmare.

But she was eventually pulled back to reality by her homeroom teacher's voice.

She really shouldn't continue having the fantasy that it was a nightmare; it's not good for her to continue living.

"Zhou Mo, if you have any difficulties, you can tell your teacher. Your teacher will do her best to help you."

Zhou Mo nodded obediently, "Thank you, teacher, I understand."

Her ponytail lay neatly against her fair neck, giving Zhou Mo a gentler and more obedient look, making the homeroom teacher cherish the girl in front of her even more.

Actions speak louder than words.

The homeroom teacher stopped saying those high-sounding but useless things. She patted Zhou Mo on the shoulder and said, "Go back."

As Zhou Mo turned to leave, her homeroom teacher couldn't help but ask again, "Zhou Mo, aren't you living in the dorms anymore?"

"Hmm." Zhou Mo thought for a moment, but still didn't tell him about her relationship with Yu Xi. "I'm living at home now." Perhaps afraid that the homeroom teacher would be worried, she added.

"I have family."

Hearing that her family was with her, the homeroom teacher felt much more at ease. Although she wasn't there in person, she had heard a lot about what had happened outside the disaster relief tents. Her refusal to be adopted by her aunt had caused quite a stir at the time.

The homeroom teacher felt that no matter how much they quarreled, they were still family, so she naturally assumed that the family Zhou Mo was referring to was her aunt, and didn't ask any more questions.

As usual, Zhou Mo carried her schoolbag and walked towards Yu Xi's courtyard. When she passed by that familiar path, she felt a sudden panic. Sure enough, when she looked up, she saw the young thief Lao San with a wolf tail.

What was his name again?

Shawn.

Zhou Mo silently repeated the name in her mind, feeling a little strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Hey, come here."

Zhou Mo sighed helplessly, but still walked over. "Is there something you need?"

Seeing Zhou Mo's helpless state, Shawn laughed out loud, "Why don't you run away?"

"Can I outrun you?"

"I never pursue people."

"Should I run now?"

Shawn found Zhou Mo quite interesting. If he didn't have important business to discuss today, he probably would have kept arguing with Zhou Mo until someone came looking for him. "How is Qi Xiao feeling today?"

Zhou Mo: "?"

"Don't make that face. I know you know about me and Qi Xiao."

Zhou Mo: "so?"

Seeing Zhou Mo like this, Shawn inexplicably thought of that person. He scratched his head impatiently, "Is your face done?"

Zhou Mo thought of the injury on Qi Xiao's face before. Because they were in a cooling-off period of their friendship at that time, she never had a good opportunity to ask about it. In addition, Qi Xiao's family situation was special, so she didn't want to speak rashly.

"You did it?"

Shawn reacted as if his tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling, "Nonsense! Why would I hit her? Do I feel a sense of accomplishment from hitting her? What reward would I get for beating her? Is it manly to beat her up like that?"

A series of questions left Zhou Mo somewhat confused. "I'm just asking," she said.

You doubt me!

ill.

Zhou Mo closed her eyes and silently rolled her eyes. Was there even a normal person around her?

"Her injury has almost healed, leaving no scars or marks."

Have you two made up?

Zhou Mo: "?"

Why do you care about everything, including whether other people have made up or not?

Shawn: "Don't look at me like that, I feel like hitting you."

Zhou Mo gripped the straps of her schoolbag tightly with both hands, quickly took a step back, and looked wary.

Shawn was speechless. "I was just saying."

"Is there anything else? No, I'm going home."

"Stay away from Yu Xi. You're Qi Xiao's friend, I..."

"Stop!" Zhou Mo interrupted Shawn Ke by raising her hand. "I've heard this many times, so you don't need to remind me again. I won't say much about your relationship with Qi Xiao, because I know that Qi Xiao is a person with normal intelligence and subjective judgment. I won't easily interfere with her life and choices. I chose to talk to you because of Qi Xiao, but we don't know each other, so there's no need to talk about other people."

Zhou Mo turned and left. Shawn opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't call out to Zhou Mo.

A black shadow appeared behind him, silently enveloping Shawn. By the time he reacted and made a move, it was too late.

Shawn was slammed against the wall, the rough edges of the red bricks cutting his arm without any mercy. He shook it off nonchalantly and looked at the person who had come in. "You're pretty good at enduring things, no, I should say you're pretty good at pretending."

"Stay away from her."

"I should be saying this to you, Yu Xi! Stay away from her! You monster!" Shawn Ke usually had a carefree and irresponsible image in front of outsiders, and rarely did he appear so disheveled and reckless.

"Ha, what right do you have? As her best friend's ex-boyfriend?" Yu Xi kicked Shawn in the stomach, and Shawn clutched his stomach and knelt on the ground. Yu Xi was completely different from his usual self. He stepped on Shawn's shoulder and grabbed his hair with one hand, forcing him to look up at him. "Mind your own business. You don't want me to go find Qi Xiao, do you?"

Does Zhou Mo know you look like this?

"She doesn't need to know, and she doesn't care."

His scalp was being pulled painfully, and Shawn suspected that he might be going to go bald. "People like you will get their comeuppance sooner or later."

"You talk as if you're some kind of good person." Yu Xi pressed down hard with her foot, and Shawn Ke knelt down completely.

Yu Xi casually rested her elbows on her knees and leaned slightly forward. "Don't go looking for her until I've had my fun. Once I'm done, you can do whatever you want."

"brute."

Shawn's head was knocked to the side, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The next second, his body relaxed, and he leaned back against the wall, breathing slightly heavily.

As darkness fell, Shawn looked up and could only see Yu Xi's blurry figure. He seemed to want to say something, but he fell silent because of a glance from Yu Xi as she turned around.

When Zhou Mo returned home, the lights were on, but Yu Xi was nowhere to be found. She didn't care where Yu Xi had gone and put down her schoolbag to start working on today's subject test.

Yu Xi returned leisurely, carrying a bag of pears and walnuts, halfway through the test.

He put the things in the kitchen, then leaned against the wall and watched Zhou Mo write her test paper. Zhou Mo was not disturbed by the sudden gaze and focused on writing her test paper.

"Are your grades very good?"

"good."

"You're too modest. I've seen your school's ranking list, and you're in the top three."

Zhou Mo didn't even lift her eyelids. She wrote the exact answer in the last blank with a black ballpoint pen, "Then why are you asking a question you already know the answer to?"

How are you feeling today?

"fine."

"That couple came to the school looking for you, aren't you angry?"

When this matter was brought up, Zhou Mo finally had a different reaction. She raised her eyes, but there was no emotion in them that Yu Xi had imagined.

Most people would break down, feel wronged, feel helpless, or be angry after experiencing something like this, but none of them should be as calm as Zhou Mo.

Zhou Mo is a very special person.

Yu Xi knew this from the moment they first met.

"You are more inhuman than I imagined."

Yu Xi: "?" Was he being called inhuman?

"Uncle Zhang sent you a message." This is not a question, but a statement.

Yu Xi pulled over a chair next to him, sat down backwards, placed his hands on the wooden crossbeam, and kept fidgeting with his feet, turning a perfectly proper chair into a rocking chair. "He was afraid you would be sad, so he asked me to take care of you."

"Buying pears and walnuts so I can cook for you, is that what you call taking care of me?"

"You promised to cook for me, so is there a conflict between taking care of you and cooking for you?" Yu Xi said matter-of-factly.

Zhou Mo changed the subject, "What did you watch today?"

"Anti-gang crackdown."

"I would suggest you take a look at the criminal law and the civil code."

Yu Xi said knowingly, "You want to become a lawyer because your father was framed, is that why you have this idea?"

Zhou Mo's calm heart was like a stone thrown into it, causing ripples.

She didn't know if it was because of Yu Xi's eccentricity or something else, but she was able to see through the seemingly insignificant little information in her words.

Seeing that Zhou Mo didn't speak, Yu Xi said to herself, "It seems that's not the case. Being a lawyer isn't easy. You're not suited to be a lawyer."

"Have you seen a lawyer?"

"It's in Forensic Heroes."

Zhou Mo was speechless and stopped talking to Yu Xi. She took out another set of test papers from her schoolbag and began correcting her mistakes for the day.

Yu Xi, unusually perceptive, didn't disturb Zhou Mo. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders, rested half her face on her arms, and only showed her eyes as she looked at Zhou Mo.

The two spent a very quiet hour together.

After Zhou Mo finished all her studies for the day, she remembered that there was someone else next to her.

She looked over and found that Yu Xi had fallen asleep on her arm at some point. Zhou Mo silently observed Yu Xi and noticed that although he looked skin and bones, there was still some flesh squeezing out of his cheeks when he curled up.

Zhou Mo stared for a while, then her gaze shifted to the ballpoint pen on the table.

It's so round, perfect for drawing an emoticon.

My hands are itching to draw.

As soon as Zhou Mo looked away, Yu Xi opened his eyes as if by telepathy, without a trace of the drowsy confusion of someone who had just woken up.

"Aren't you going to seize this opportunity? I won't be so lenient next time."

Zhou Mo unexpectedly met Yu Xi's eyes.

She heard herself say that in her mind.

Oh no, I misjudged Yu Xi.

This person is very shrewd.