29. Good classmates forever

Xiao Cheng met Xiao Yi at the entrance of the cafeteria. This was the first time the two brothers had met at school since the start of the semester.

Xiao Cheng noticed that Xiao Yi had changed his hairstyle again, so he smiled and said, "Brother, I haven't seen you for a few days. You look handsome again."

Xiao Yi smoothed his hair: "Is this hairstyle okay?"

Xiao Cheng gave a thumbs up and said, "Like Takeshi Kaneshiro."

Xiao Yi walked into the restaurant with satisfaction.

Xiao Cheng was about to follow when Gao Zhe, who had been silent the whole time, stopped him and said, "Xiao Cheng, let's not have dinner with Xiao Yi, okay?"

"What's wrong?"

"His hairstyle is too ostentatious."

"Showy?" Xiao Cheng didn't care. "Compared to Xiao Yi himself, he's much more ordinary."

The restaurant was packed.

After Xiao Cheng finished his meal and was looking for a seat, he saw Xu Wenqiang.

He watched her, carrying her plate, walking through the bustling restaurant, her head lowered, avoiding those around her, searching for a place to sit and eat. Most of the time, Xu Wenqiang was alone, walking in and out of the classroom, facing all the malice and injustice alone.

Finally, she sat down at a table where two girls were already sitting.

"Don't--" The two girls were from their class and had a good relationship with Wu Ruixue. The rumors all started from them.

But Xiao Cheng's attempt to stop it could only be stopped in his heart.

As soon as Xu Wenqiang sat down, the two girls got up and went to other tables. Then, everyone around Xu Wenqiang left, leaving only Xu Wenqiang and a bunch of empty seats.

Xiao Cheng looked at Xu Wenqiang, watching her sitting alone in the lonely place, eating seriously with an expressionless face.

Xiao Yi came over and said to Xiao Cheng, "There's an empty seat over there."

But Xiao Cheng walked in another direction: "I'll sit over there."

Xiao Yi was stunned and followed Xiao Cheng.

He first accidentally spotted a familiar person, and then he realized something was wrong.

Xiao Yi was all too familiar with this kind of discomfort. Ever since he started kindergarten, it felt like someone had deliberately left a space around him, always empty and devoid of people. Whenever someone approached, it was always Xiao Cheng and his friends.

But this time, the person Xiao Cheng wanted to approach was the lonely girl.

Xiao Yi looked at Xiao Cheng who was striding in front of him, and wondered, when did this guy start to like meddling in other people's affairs?

Hearing Xu Wenqiang call him "Senior Brother", Xiao Yi's face immediately fell: "Why are you still calling me Senior Brother? Am I still acting so senior?"

"Senior Brother is still young, doesn't it make people feel more friendly to call him Senior Brother?" Xu Wenqiang finished his flattering smile, looked around, and then said to Xiao Yi, "Senior Brother, why don't you sit somewhere else."

"No need to change, just sit here." Xiao Chengxian sat down next to Xu Wenqiang.

"Then sit here." Xiao Yi also sat opposite Xu Wenqiang.

After Xiao Cheng sat down, he looked at Xu Wenqiang and then at Xiao Yi, "It seems you two know each other."

"She's the one who called me 'old'." Xiao Yi glared at Xu Wenqiang and said.

Xu Wenqiang smiled apologetically, "Brother, it seems you also know Xiao Cheng."

"My name is Xiao Yi, and his name is Xiao Cheng. You can tell from the names that we are cousins."

Xu Wenqiang stuffed a mouthful of rice and sighed, "What a fate!"

Gao Zhe was late in the queue for sweet and sour pork ribs, and he looked at the remaining empty seat with hesitation: "Should we sit here?"

Xiao Yi said unhappily, "What's wrong with sitting here?"

"Nothing..." Gao Zhe sat down.

One by one, people filled up the empty seats around Xu Wenqiang. Knowing that someone was watching her, Xu Wenqiang deliberately raised her head and looked around, rejecting many of the overt and covert glances.

She looked back at the three people sitting beside her. Xiao Cheng was handsome and elegant, Gao Zhe was sunny and bright, and although Xiao Yi had an exaggerated hairstyle, he had deep eyebrows and eyes and was also good-looking. Sitting between them, she felt lucky.

Xu Wenqiang was secretly happy when she heard Xiao Yi ask rudely, "Classmate, are you being isolated or bullied?"

With a "bang", the ribs in Gao Zhe's mouth fell onto the table.

Xu Wenqiang didn't intend to hide it. After swallowing the sweet and sour pork ribs in her mouth, she said to Xiao Yi, "Brother, you really have a sharp eye. I think I am being bullied and isolated."

Xiao Yi showed disdain: "It's so obvious, even if I'm not a genius, I can see it."

There was another "bang" sound, and the ribs that Gao Zhe had just stuffed into his mouth fell onto the table.

He wanted to cry, the cafeteria aunt only gave him four pieces of ribs. Xiao Yi said two words, and he lost two pieces.

Xu Wenqiang couldn't bear it any longer and said to Xiao Yi, "Brother, even if you are powerful, you should at least be reserved."

"My brother doesn't need to be reserved; he's a genius," Xiao Cheng said. "My brother's IQ is 129."

Xu Wenqiang had no idea what an IQ was, but Xiao Cheng's tone and attitude made it clear how rare it was. She recalled him once asking her if she was a genius, and she'd laughed at him, "Xiao Cheng, have you seen many geniuses? Or do you have any opinions about geniuses?"

"It turns out there really are geniuses out there," said Xu Wenqiang.

Xiao Cheng said: "Fortunately you are not."

Xiao Yi and Gao Zhe looked at each other. The man and woman opposite were playing charades and they ignored us.

"Who did you offend?" Xiao Yi asked again.

Xu Wenqiang thought about it and said helplessly: "I don't know who I offended, but I offended everyone."

Xiao Cheng continued, "They're playing it very sophisticatedly, following the mass line. She couldn't confront them head-on, so she had no choice but to endure it."

Xiao Yi sighed: "So, classmate, what on earth did you do to offend the world and cause public outrage?"

Xu Wenqiang also sighed: "It's not really a crime, it's just petty theft at best."

Then she told the story of how she had the lowest grade in the entrance exam but was the math class representative.

After hearing this, Xiao Yi couldn't help laughing.

"Just for a math class representative?"

He laughed so hard that he fell backwards. Everyone in the restaurant who had been silently watching them put down their chopsticks and looked at him as if he were a madman.

Gao Zhe almost buried his head in the plate. He now understood why Xiao Cheng said that Xiao Yi's hairstyle was ordinary. Xiao Yi himself was indeed more ostentatious.

After Xiao Yi finished laughing, he said to Xu Wenqiang in a deep voice: "If this matter wants to be resolved, you can no longer be the last one."

"Yeah." When talking about studying, Xu Wenqiang put down her chopsticks and said with a sad face, "I'm working hard."

Xiao Cheng on the side turned his head to look at her and smiled.

When Xiao Yi saw it, he felt a sweetness in his throat. Xiao Cheng's smile was really——

He couldn't think of the right adjective for the moment. He wanted to exchange glances with Gao Zhe next to him, but when he turned around, he saw Gao Zhe was concentrating on gnawing on the ribs.

Xiao Yi looked away in disdain, coughed twice and said, "Xiao Cheng, don't you plan to help your classmates?"

"Of course I will help." Xiao Cheng said.

Gao Zhe, who was chewing on his third piece of pork ribs, stopped and said, "Xiao Cheng, what can I do for you?"

Xiao Yi glanced at him and said, "What does this have to do with you? Just chew your ribs. Be careful not to drop them again."

Gao Zhe thought so too and decided to finish eating the ribs first.

Xu Wenqiang was reminded by Gao Zhe's words and said politely: "Xiao Cheng, actually this matter has nothing to do with you. I can handle it myself."

Xiao Cheng was also very polite: "Originally it was none of my business, but I promised Teacher Wang that I would help you."

"Teacher Wang asked you to help her?" Gao Zhe, who had just finished chewing on some pork ribs, interrupted again. "When did this happen? How come I don't know about it?"

Xiao Yi, who was watching the show, immediately came out to clear the area. "Gao Zhe, it's none of your business. Don't you still have a piece of pork rib? Go and chew it."

Gao Zhe pursed his lips and started gnawing on the fourth piece of pork ribs.

"Just agree to what Teacher Wang said," Xu Wenqiang said. "Teacher's words should go in one ear and out the other."

Xu Wenqiang actually wanted to stay away from Xiao Cheng, both for his help and for Xiao Cheng himself. She had never forgotten the sight of Xiao Cheng throwing his clothes into the trash can at the entrance of the farmers' market. Xiao Cheng, this prodigal son, was not someone to be trifled with.

"If Teacher Wang hears you say this, she will be sad." Xiao Cheng said with a smile.

"If you don't tell her and I don't tell her, she won't be sad." Xu Wenqiang said in a dishonest manner.

"Xu Wenqiang, you're a businessman. If someone is willing to help you, why wouldn't you do this kind of business with no capital?"

"A gentleman loves money, but he gets it in a proper way." Xu Wenqiang put aside her dishonest face and put on a serious look. "You and I are not related in any way, just ordinary classmates. I don't want to bring trouble to you, and I don't want to owe you a favor."

"Ordinary classmates?" Xiao Cheng couldn't help laughing. "Ask everyone in this restaurant. Ever since I sat next to you, does anyone still think you and I are ordinary classmates?"

Xu Wenqiang's heart sank, and she glanced around. After she, the last-ranked student, and Xiao Cheng, the top student in the grade, sat together to eat this meal, wouldn't she be charged with any more crimes?

Seeing Xu Wenqiang's fear of getting into trouble, Xiao Cheng sneered: "Forget it, since you don't want to implicate me, then I won't get involved in your affairs."

Xu Wenqiang smiled brightly upon hearing this: "That's right, it would be great if we could all be good classmates."

Gao Zhe, who had finally finished chewing the ribs, looked up and said, "Xu Wenqiang has a point."

Xiao Yi glared at Gao Zhe, then rolled his eyes at his brother and said, "I don't believe you."