Small Jade Seal

"Wow, it's so beautiful here!" Xiao Xiaoyu exclaimed while holding the supplements.

She thought that she would become an old woman in the future, and come to Sister Zhou's house to live out her days, lying down and watching videos, feeling very happy.

"Yes, yes." Gao Yuanyuan nodded frantically, freed one hand, took out her cell phone and started clicking.

Taking advantage of the month-long holiday, Xiao Xiaoyu and Gao Yuanyuan went to Zhou Xi's house to visit her grandmother.

Although Zhou Xi told them that it was not necessary, there was nothing to see, the conditions were not good, and the journey was long, he kept advising them not to come. They finally had a vacation, so they should have a good rest at home.

However, Zhou Xi's words were like talking to a deaf ear, because Xiao Xiaoyu and Gao Yuanyuan had made up their minds and could not change them.

The journey was a bit far, and Xiao Xiaoyu was mentally prepared. No matter how bad the environment was, she would endure it. But she didn't expect that this was what Zhou Xi meant by "nothing".

The buildings here are all in the style of an ancient town. They have not been developed and have retained their original appearance. Although they are relatively old, they are full of ancient charm, with winding paths and gurgling water. It is really suitable for relaxation.

Gao Yuanyuan was shocked and envious. It turned out that she always thought that Zhou Xi's unique temperament came from here.

Zhou Xi is different. She is like an unpolished jade, clean and transparent.

"Sister Zhou, there are so few of you!"

"Be careful where you step." Zhou Xi led them through the winding paths.

The goose eggs were wet by the fog and dew in the early morning, and they were still wet until almost noon. It was easy to slip and fall when walking on them.

"Well, many people only come back for the New Year, leaving only the elderly and children at home. They can't even afford to go to school, so they all go to the next town."

"Tongtong, your friends are here to visit!" A woman chopping stuffing at the door greeted her.

Zhou Xi nodded: "Aunt Hu, you are busy."

They spoke in their hometown dialect, which Gao Yuanyuan and Xiao Xiaoyu could not understand.

"Hmm? What?"

Gao Yuanyuan shook her head: "It's okay. Then you guys, do you have to get up very early for school?"

"It's earlier, and then I take the school bus back and forth every day."

Xiao Xiaoyu sighed: "Ah, Sister Zhou, you had such a hard time when you were little, you are such pitiful little ones!"

"fine."

Actually, Zhou Xi didn't feel tired at all. After all, their town was very close to the next town, and they went to market together.

Xiao Xiaoyu discovered something: "Tongtong?! Sister Zhou, what's your nickname?"

"Well, I was born on Children's Day, so my name is Tong."

She came up with her own full name. At that time, a bunch of people gathered around her to give her a name. There were so many different ideas that they couldn't choose one, so they agreed to give her a nickname first and let her draw lots on the day of the full moon banquet.

There were many name slips placed there, but Zhou Xi only grabbed the small pendant on Yang Jinyang's clothes - a jade seal.

So I chose a single word, Xi.

"Oh wow, Tongtong! Tongtong! Tongtong! It sounds pretty good!" Xiao Xiaoyu finished broadcasting through the loudspeaker.

"Hahaha!" Gao Yuanyuan was very supportive. She even freed up one hand even though she was holding something, and kept clapping and cheering.

Zhou Xi: “…”

The little mouth can be closed.

"Hey, Sister Zhou, please slow down and stop running. Are you shy?"

"No."

"Yeah……"

"Yes, I'm really excited, ouch..."

Xu Shulan was very happy when she heard that Zhou Xi was going to bring his friends to play. She followed Zhong Yinan and busy herself around the house. She didn't help much, but she talked a lot.

"Shulan, stop walking around. You're making me dizzy. Sit down." Zhong Yinan sat on a small stool and picked vegetables.

He went out to buy vegetables early, picked the freshest chickens and ducks, and went to the vegetable garden to pick some seasonal vegetables that he grew himself.

Although Zhou Xi said that he would just make some and wouldn't eat much, he was used to cooking and thought the more the better.

Xu Shulan clasped her hands and looked outside: "Oh, this is the first time Tongtong has brought a friend home, I can't be happy!"

She knew that her son Tongtong had few friends since he was a child. He used to have a friend, but after that incident, he became all alone. Fortunately, he is now in high school and has a new beginning.

It’s good to have more friends. That way, when she passes away, Zhou Xi will at least have friends to accompany him and won’t be too lonely.

"Comrade Shulan, could you please help me wash the vegetables?"

"Go wash yourself. I'm still a patient, don't call me." Xu Shulan, leaning on a crutch, went to check the gifts prepared for the two children.

"Okay, take your time, don't rush upstairs."

"good."

"Hello, Grandma Xu!"

As soon as Xiao Xiaoyu and her friend entered the room, Xu Shulan came over and greeted them.

"Hey, hello, hello, come in and sit down!"

The first time Xiao Xiaoyu saw Xu Shulan, she felt that she must have been a great beauty when she was young.

Although her hair is now gray and wrinkles have long appeared at the corners of her eyes, her eyes are still bright, as if one can still see the charm of her youth.

"Grandma Xu, this is a little gift from us."

"Hey, you're here now, but why are you bringing anything? Put it down quickly. Aren't you tired of carrying it all this way?"

Xu Shulan was busy chatting with the two of them, leaving Zhou Xi aside. Zhou Xi had no choice but to silently carry the things and put them into the storage room. It was good that she didn't have to listen to Xu Shulan's nagging.

"Not tired, not tired."

"Hey, the girls are here!" Zhong Yinan came out of the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a spatula in his right hand. "Wait, there's another dish. We'll eat soon!"

This little old man is also very handsome. He looks very energetic. He has not gained weight in his old age and still has muscles. It seems that he is really self-disciplined. Xiao Xiaoyu laughed and said, "Hello, Grandpa Zhong!"

Zhou Xi greeted the two of them, saying that Zhong Yinan was the neighbor's grandfather, so as to avoid any jokes.

At the dinner table, with Xiao Xiaoyu being the lively one who adjusted the atmosphere, everyone was having a lively meal. If Xiao Xiaoyu could have her true nature exposed, she would have wanted to drink and play finger-guessing games with Zhong Yinan and talk about brotherhood. It was really fucking interesting.

Xu Shulan and Zhong Yinan kept exposing Zhou Xi's past, making her and Gao Yuanyuan laugh so hard that they couldn't straighten their backs. They didn't eat much, as they were full after listening to the interesting things.

Before leaving in the afternoon, Xu Shulan personally handed the gifts to the two little girls who appeared to be smiling brighter than flowers but were actually in great pain inside.

Even Zhou Xi couldn't help but smile.

Several carefully prepared math test papers and study materials.

"Thank you, grandma. We will study math well and make sure we finish it!"

“Grandma, you’ve worked so hard!”

"It's not hard, it's not hard. Just study hard and treat me to your graduation banquet when the time comes!"

"good!"

What a hammer, so annoying.

Zhou Xi sat in the classroom office holding the competition registration form, and his ears rang with the math teacher's intermittent instructions on the competition.

I didn’t expect that the organizer of this year’s competition was Wencheng, and the venue happened to be the Children’s Palace.

It was like a bomb, blowing out all the memories she had deliberately forgotten.

"Okay, thank you teacher. I will prepare well when I get back." Zhou Xi put away his pen.

That was the place she was most familiar with. Too many of her past memories were related to it, her mother, and the piano.

There was a dull pain on my left hand where I wore the watch, and the dense tingling sensation climbed up my arm little by little and spread throughout my body.

The branches are reveling, the dust is dancing, and the cold air is adding to the fun. It's quite joyful.

Zhou Xi looked up. The leaves on the tree were almost gone. Only a few leaves were stubbornly hanging on the bare branches, refusing to fall.

The registration form in my hand was tossed back and forth in the wind, without giving it any time to recover. It looked so messy, just like myself, disheveled in the wind.

"What's wrong with you? Aren't you cold standing here?"

Gao Liyang walked over with his homework book in his hand and saw her standing under the tree in a daze. Her face was not good at all and she was shrouded in a certain emotion.

Zhou Xi straightened the flying papers: "It's okay, just a little tired."

The two walked towards the teaching building together. Gao Liyang looked intently at the girl's face, trying to find something, but she had already hidden it.

"You want to participate in the competition?"

"Yeah, are you going to join one too?" Zhou Xi raised his hand, pointing to the watch in his hand, and changed the subject.

Gao Liyang raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes: "No, I'm just an ordinary person. It's difficult for me to get even a little bit of this kind of thing."

"Oh." Zhou Xi was a little amused and told the truth.

"Are you still participating in this autumn sports meeting?" Gao Liyang remembered that she seemed to have signed up for a 1,500-yuan running event, which moved Lu Zisheng so much that he knelt down and called him dad.

Zhou Xi frowned and shook his head: "Turn it off. I should have training by then, and there will be a conflict."

"The sports meet is held every year, so there's always a chance."

"It's a pity for our Shengsheng..."

Zhou Xi looked at Gao Liyang nonchalantly: "Wouldn't it be easier if you played a game with him?"

Gao Liyang pointed at Zhou Xi, then at himself, incredulous: "You abandoned him, and I coaxed him. Doesn't this seem a bit wrong?"

"You can do it, I believe in you, come on, Brother Yang."

"Oh my god, what a trick! Since I've already called you, okay, I'll reluctantly agree."

Zhou Xi folded the registration form into four pieces and put them into Gao Liyang's big pocket. He smiled again and said, "You're the best."

"That is, who am I..."

“Oh my god…”

Gao Liyang pushed open the classroom door and was hit in the face by all kinds of smells, almost making him vomit.

He distributed the notebooks to the groups, slipped away, opened the window next to his seat, and breathed in some fresh air.

“I give in!”

Zhou Xi picked up a book that fell on her stool and opened it. The handwriting was very clear.

Zhou Xi glanced at Gao Liyang's desk. Books were scattered randomly, and the newly handed out papers, exercise books, and fountain pens were forgotten in the corner. He seemed to be watching coldly, quite arrogantly.

"Book."

Gao Liyang took back his book with both hands: "Haha, it's time to put it away. All my things are gone to you. Sorry, sorry."

Gao Liyang picked out the books he had brought from home and put them away neatly. He simply stuffed the rest onto the table, and those that didn't fit in his bag to take home.

Zhou Xi heard Gao Liyang's stomach rumbling, and if someone didn't know better, they would have thought he was demolishing the house.

The school loves to distribute all kinds of miscellaneous books, indoctrinate students with chicken soup for the soul, and there are test papers flying all over the place. Gao Liyang really suspects that the paper in the school printing room is free, so that teachers of various subjects can make as much as they want and never finish teaching.

If I guessed correctly, I didn't write 50% of the test paper, and I was too lazy to write the remaining half, so I copied Zhou Xi's.

"well!"

Speaking of exams, Gao Liyang remembered that he hadn't finished the math paper his teacher was going to teach him tomorrow. His head was spinning. There were so many questions he couldn't answer...

"Yuanyuan, do you have any homework?" Zhou Xi stuffed the registration form into the desk and opened the book.

Gao Yuanyuan looked up, not at Zhou Xi, as if thinking: "Yeah, it seems there is chemistry homework, the textbook here..."

She opened her chemistry book and pointed it out to Zhou Xi.

"Thank you." Zhou Xi took out a pen from his pencil case and ticked the question number.

Gao Yuanyuan pursed her lips. She had sent a message to Zhou Xi, but she thought she hadn't seen it yet. She felt uneasy, wondering how she would react when she saw the message.

Will she hate me? After all, I sent this message, which means she also knows about Zhou Xi's past.

Who would want to come to a new place but have the people around them know about their past bad deeds? That would make anyone feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.

"Bang!" The balcony door was sealed tightly and slammed shut.

Zhou Xi paused, silently burying his head in his arms. He closed his eyes, only aware of a faint glow in the darkness. He wished he could remain hidden like this forever.

Turkey: [Thank you, Yuanyuan, for telling me she is here.]

Turkey: [Can I talk to you face to face tomorrow?]

It was late at night and the air was filled with sadness.

Zhou Xi turned over and lay on his back, counting one, two, three after another. There were too many things weighing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

The whistling of the wind against the window was like a mocking sound mixed with swear words, hitting the eardrums and tormenting people.

The long dark night gradually erodes the fragile nerves.

In the dream, two blurry figures were constantly pulling each other, and someone was about to quarrel and make trouble unreasonably.

"Did you know..."

The rain seemed to hear people's anxiety and became more and more violent, as if it wanted to swallow up the old building.

"Zhou Xi, why did you betray her?"

"You know, I also...hahahaha!"

"I won't let you go!"

“Ahahahahaha…”

So cold...

"What are you two doing behind my back?" Xiao Xiaoyu frowned and stood blocking the back door with her hands on her hips.

Gao Yuanyuan looked at Zhou Xi for help: "No, we were just chatting."

"I don't believe it. Leniency will be given to those who confess, severity will be given to those who resist. Confess quickly." Xiao Xiaoyu narrowed her eyes and curled her lips.

Zhou Xi pinched his fingers: "Let's talk about some things in the past."

"Well, it's some bad things. I don't want to talk about it now. Can I tell you later?"

Xiao Xiaoyu frowned and grasped the word "before", wondering if they had known each other before. But after listening to the last sentence, she observed that Zhou Xi's face was not good.

"Well, okay, then I'll forgive you for keeping a little secret between you for now." Xiao Xiaoyu believed them, touched her mouth, and smiled mischievously, "Then you can accompany me to paint on the weekend!"

"I have training this weekend." Zhou Xi smiled bitterly.

"Oh, what about you, Yuanyuan?" Xiao Xiaoyu was slightly disappointed. She hugged Gao Yuanyuan and cried out in pain, "You can't abandon me like Sister Zhou did!"

"Okay, I'll go with you." Gao Yuanyuan was amused by her exaggerated expression, and a smile also appeared on her brows.

"Hello Yuanyuan, I love you, hehe..." Xiao Xiaoyu leaned on Gao Yuanyuan and poked the deep dimple on her cheek when she smiled with her index finger.

"I'll teach you how to draw when the time comes. I'm very good at it."

Xiao Xiaoyu's grades were not very good, but at least she had her own area of ​​expertise. She used to always ask Gao Lu and Gao Liyang to accompany her to paint. Gao Liyang also learned a lot of painting skills from her. She could easily draw simple sketches of little foxes and little dogs.

The mathematics competition is divided into grade groups. According to the school's arrangement, all three grades participate, with five places in each class. After preliminary screening in the class, the remaining candidates will participate in a one-week training at the school.

We will take one more exam and select seven people to represent the school in the competition. It is a relatively large-scale competition with a certain value.

"Look at this..."

"I think this"

“Yes, but…”

“…”

Zhou Xi did some calculations. They were in the first year of high school, with 25 classes and more than 120 students registered. The initial screening would probably cut half of them. Based on his level, he should be able to pass easily, right?

"well!"

The test papers given by the math teacher test comprehensive abilities. The question types are very rich and flexible. If you are not careful, you will fall into the trap dug by the test setter. Oh, who knows, it may be a trap within a trap.

After doing a set, I felt like I was out of another world and it was a bit difficult to adapt.

Quarrel!

I remembered that I had to get the answers to the test paper.

"Zhou Xi!"

Zhou Xi was using another way of thinking to check the last big problem in his mind, and did not hear it for a while. He only looked up when he was about to collide with the person in front of him.