Chapter 48

Carrying two small puddings, Jiang Jiayi found Jiang Jiawei's study room with practiced ease.

"sister."

She didn't know when it started, but Jiang Jiayi would come to pick her up every night without fail. After spring, she grew taller like bamboo shoots, and now she could touch the top edge of the door frame with her hand. Her originally unpleasant hoarse voice had transformed into a deep and magnetic cello tone, and her Adam's apple was more prominent.

According to an informant from No. 1 High School, Jiang Jiayi has become the school's undisputed heartthrob, and many girls like him.

Jiang Jiawei disagreed, saying that although she had grown up, she was still a child when they got to know each other.

For example.

"Sis, how about we play a game of Ludo when we get back?" Jiang Jia suggested, munching on her little pudding.

"OK."

"The loser buys spicy strips."

"Okay, I agree."

"Here, it's written. See if you can understand it."

He handed Jiang Jiawei a draft paper with detailed and complete steps.

Liu Xinze from next door turned off his light, came over and said goodbye to Jiang Jiawei, "I'm leaving now."

"Okay."

As soon as the person walked away, Jiang Jia, who was biting on an ice pop stick, narrowed her eyes and said, "Sis, he really does come to greet you every day without fail."

"Could he like you?"

Jiang Jiawei tapped his head lightly with her pen to warn him against his wandering thoughts, "This is a revolutionary camaraderie."

"Tch, that would be best."

Jiang Jiawei seized the opportunity to ask, "Do you have someone you like?"

Jiang Jiayi stretched out her finger and shook it, her eyes resolute, "I have dedicated myself to the truth of this world!"

Jiang Jiawei: "..."

"Let's go back too."

Jiang Jiayi skillfully reached out and took the schoolbag that Jiang Jiawei handed over.

When the lights were turned off, Jiang Jiayi, clinging to Jiang Jiawei's clothes, became a true tail following closely behind.

Jiang Jiawei deliberately brought up a sore spot, saying, "There are no ghosts, so what's there to be afraid of?"

As expected, this immediately provoked an excited reaction from Jiang Jiayi, "Sis!!!! Don't talk nonsense! What if? You don't know, a place like school—"

"You should watch fewer horror movies with your grandmother when you go home in the future."

"It's not that I want to watch it, it's that Grandma likes to watch it. None of you are with her, so I'm risking my life to keep her company!"

"Nonsense, it's clearly you who always watches it even though you're too scared to look at it."

"I think the location of your study room is really not very good."

"Hmm, what do you mean?"

"First of all—Aaaaaaah!!!!!!!!! Sis, it's a ghost!!"

Mu Zhengxi, his face darkening, stared at Jiang Jiayi who had screamed, speechless. "What the hell! I'm your brother!"

Jiang Jiawei, who was being held tightly, raised her hand and patted her younger brother's back, almost unable to breathe.

"Yes, Jung-hee."

The arms binding her loosened a little, and Jiang Jia opened one eye to take a look. "How can you be sure he's human?"

Mu Zhengxi stepped forward and pulled the person away from Jiang Jiawei.

"Is it confirmed now?"

Jiang Jiayi glared at the person with resentment, "What are you doing standing here for no reason!"

"I'll just stand under the light, okay?" Mu Zhengxi felt she couldn't reason with him and said disdainfully, "Aren't you being a bit too timid?"

"Then why don't you say anything!"

"Am I even given a chance to speak?!"

Catching her breath, Jiang Jiawei silently raised her hand to cover her ears and moved her feet in silence. She had only taken two steps when fate seized her by the throat.

"sister!"

"Jiang Jiawei!"

"Don't you think it's his fault?!"

"He was the one who started yelling!"

"It was clearly you standing there like a ghost!!"

"That's called turning the tables on me!!"

"Sis, whose fault are you blaming?!"

Jiang Jiawei, still covering her ears, turned around and said cheerfully, "How about we go eat teppanyaki squid and tofu?"

Mu Zhengxi immediately chimed in, "Okay!"

Jiang Jiayi: "No, you tell me first, didn't he scare me first?!"

"Shall I buy you another chocolate-flavored egg waffle?"

Jiang Jiayi considered it for a moment, then said, "Okay."

"What about me?!"

"Add another serving of watermelon ice!"

Mu Zhengxi reluctantly agreed, "Alright."

Two people who were arguing fiercely just a moment ago are now standing together again.

Why are you back at this hour?

"Our school had fun sports today, and we finished school around 3 p.m.

"Damn, this feels so good."

Did you watch Manchester United's game last night?

"Brother, it's 2 a.m. How am I supposed to tell if I still have to go to school?"

"Tsk, you're obviously a fake fan."

Jiang Jiayi rolled her eyes and readily admitted to this identity, "I am, okay?"

"You haven't been back for more than a month this time, have you?"

"What, you missed me?"

"Stop being so narcissistic, bro."

"I even bought you chocolates all the way from Hong Kong."

"Brother~ I missed you so much!!!" Jiang Jia raised her hand and swore, "The sea may dry up, the rocks may crumble, the sky may collapse, and the earth may crack, but my feelings for you will never change!!"

Mu Zhengxi twitched his lips. "Could you be any more hypocritical, Jiang Jiayi?"

"No, that's the limit. Any more and I'll be struck by lightning."

Mu Zhengxi glanced at Jiang Jiawei walking ahead, gauging the volume so low she couldn't hear anything, and asked, "How is it?"

Jiang Jiayi gave him an OK sign, assuring him that she was safe and sound.

Mu Zhengxi patted him on the shoulder with appreciation.

In Evergreen, hours are measured in minutes.

On Saturday morning, Jiang Jiawei went to class, while Mu Zhengxi and Jiang Jiayi went to the bookstore to do their homework as usual. In the afternoon, the three of them met up, read some books, and then went to get ice cream. Mu Zhengxi and Jiang Jiayi went to play basketball, while Jiang Jiawei and Chen Jingyu went somewhere else.

After dinner, we set up a card table at Sister Zhenzhen's shop.

The boys and girls were from different families, and Mu Zhengxi and Jiang Jiayi had exceptional luck at cards, winning the entire game.

Finally, we went to Brother Lin Chao's stall for barbecue, which was a perfect way to end the day.

After a series of meetings with jet lag, Zeng Yuan, her face etched with weariness, entered her home, rubbed her eyes, and glanced up at the second floor. "Where's Zhengxi?"

"They must have gone to Professor Jiang's place."

“I just came back from there.”

"Then they must have gone to a classmate's house."

"Really?" Zeng Yuan glanced at the housekeeper. "Give him a call and have the driver pick him up."

"good."

After washing up, Zeng Yuan went downstairs.

"Haven't they come back yet?"

"When I called, Mrs. Xu said that Mr. Xu had taken his children to a neighboring city for a trip and wouldn't be back until tomorrow." The housekeeper added, "Mr. Mu asked you to call him back."

"Um."

Mu Shaoqing's phone call prompted Zeng Yuan to fly directly to Canada that very night.

When Mu Zhengxi got home, his heart finally settled down. Sitting casually on the sofa, he genuinely felt for the first time, "It's good to be busy, it's good for everyone to be busy."

"You don't need to prepare my dinner tonight."

"I'm going to the family compound."

The housekeeper instructed, "Whatever you do, don't wander off again."

"Understood, Uncle Yang."

Before returning to the family compound, Mu Zhengxi went to the photo studio to retrieve the photos he had previously developed. The owner had already prepared them and placed them in his custom-made photo album.

Wearing glasses, Jiang Wenqing sat on the bed watching her grandson, who was beaming with excitement, describe the story in the photos.

After each presentation, you'll hear this closing remark.

"Isn't it cute?"

The photo shows Jiang Jiawei, wearing a navy blue overalls and working as a helper at a car repair shop. Mu Zhengxi touched her two braids, seemingly asking Jiang Wenqing but more like talking to himself, "Isn't she cute?"

"Yeah, I think so too."

He sat at his desk, imitating how Jiang Wenqing labeled his photos, writing the year and month on new photos in the album before putting them in the bookcase, continuing the record from 2004 to 2007.

Because the classrooms were used as exam venues for the college entrance examination, students in grades 10 and 11 received an extra two days of holiday.

Ink Fragrance Bookstore.

Each of them was munching on a Coca-Cola-flavored Want Want Ice Pop, sitting on the floor with the air conditioning on, comfortably flipping through a comic book magazine. At that moment, the tension of the exam room had nothing to do with them.

"Is it her?"

Yes, it's her.

"Really?"

"It's true, they said they often see the two of them studying together in the evenings."

"Someone like Liu Xinze would have a puppy love relationship? No way, that's unbelievable."

"She's in Class 12?"

"Yes, the class monitor of Class 12."

Sensing that someone was mentioning her, Jiang Jiawei looked up. The two people next to the bookshelf had already turned their heads and were trying to cover up their presence by picking out magazines in front of them.

Jiang Jiawei has resumed focusing on her comics.

"Hey, I told you not to be so loud."

"This is so embarrassing, let's go, let's go!"

The two paid the bill and hurriedly left.

Chen Jingyu, who was flipping through a book, burped and suddenly said, "They all say you're dating Liu Xinzhe."

Jiang Jiawei blinked, puzzled.

"Did you two leave at the same time during evening self-study?"

"No, we only went together a few times. Later, I told you that my brother came to school with me."

"They probably mistook your brother for Liu Xinze." Chen Jingyu propped up one leg, looking like a gangster boss, and said with some disdain, "These people are really blind. They can't believe they can mistake our handsome brother for Liu Xinze. It's unbearable."

Jiang Jiawei was also speechless; this rumor had really gone too far.

"You didn't believe that too, did you?"

"How could I possibly believe that?" Chen Jingyu's face seemed to say, "Am I that stupid?" She then pointed out the most crucial point: "You don't even like Liu Xinze."

Looking at the person who had suddenly come to this realization, Jiang Jiawei deliberately used an exaggerated tone of surprise to say, "So you knew that?"

Chen Jingyu punched her shoulder.

"I was just joking before, did you really think I took it seriously?"

Jiang Jiawei laughed: "Isn't that right?"

"Tch..." Chen Jingyu shifted her position closer to Jiang Jiawei and whispered in her ear, "You like Mu Zhengxi, right?"

His gaze fell on her cheeks with a tangible intensity.

Jiang Jiawei swallowed lightly, her fingers gently curling up a corner of the magazine, repeating the motion.

She said, her eyes lowered.

Is it obvious?

Let's rewind to the day we ate hot pot together.

Standing in the stairwell, Chen Jingyu looked at the backs of two people washing dishes inside the glass sliding door.

"Here's how you do it: blow gently, don't blow too hard."

"How come you still can't play it? Try playing it again and let me see."

"Watch closely."

"I'll try again."

"Why is it still not working?"

"Squeeze in some more dish soap."

"Alright, that's enough, that's too much, Mu Zhengxi."

"Why is it still not working!"

Are you an idiot?

"Try it again so I can see."

"Watch closely."

"Hmm~"

"Hahaha, you failed, Jiang Jiawei."

"And you've never succeeded even once!"

When Jiang Jia came up and asked her if she was ready, she suddenly snapped out of her daze, vaguely remembering why she had come up there, and then pushed the person downstairs, saying, "Not yet, there are so many bowls, wait a while."

"It's not obvious, it's just that I know you better~"