Meeting on a narrow path

The Second Middle School of the city hasn't changed much, but Bai Yixia can still see that many of the facilities have been renovated.

She stood under the bulletin board looking at the photos; they were all of this year's most outstanding students.

Zhou Qingchi was a very good student; he was on this list in high school. Bai Yixia liked to come here often, and then she would embarrass him when she got home.

But Zhou Qingchi didn't seem to care much and let her joke around.

"Sister Xiaxia!"

Zhou Qingyan's voice came from behind her, and Bai Yixia turned her head to look.

After autumn arrived, the boy changed into his autumn school uniform, a black and white windbreaker, which was quite different from his year's uniform, as it seemed to have become more weathered.

Bai Yixia waved to him, "Xiao Yan."

Compared to last summer, Bai Yixia's hair had grown considerably longer; what used to be short at her neck had now reached her collarbone. She had it pulled back into a side braid, wearing a grey coat over a fluffy white sweater, making her look a bit more mature than usual.

But her eyes are rather round, and she still looks quite young when she smiles.

Zhou Qingyan walked up to her and said with a smile, "I was just saying I was coming to pick you up, but I forgot you're my senior."

Bai Yixia smiled slightly, "More than that, even the security guard at the gate still remembers me."

She could chat with almost anyone she met, and during the final stretch of her college entrance exam preparation, she would leave the school right at closing time, which meant she ran into the security guards quite a few times.

"Why did you ask me to attend the parent-teacher conference? Did you not do well on the exam this time?" Bai Yixia asked.

Zhou Qingyan waved his hand, "How could that be, Sister Jiajia? If I do poorly on the exam, all the tutoring I went to would have been for nothing."

Bai Yixia thought about it and realized that Zhou Qingyan did indeed enjoy playing games, but only on free weekends and holidays. He wasn't seen playing games at other times; during the last National Day holiday, he spent four of the seven days in tutoring.

As Bai Yixia was led to the classroom, he listened to his rambling.

"I've thought about this a lot, and you're the only one who has the time."

Zhou Qingyan counted on his fingers for her, "My mom is flying to some country and can't come back. My brother is in some competition again? I asked him if he could come, and he said he would try."

After saying that, Bai Yixia saw Zhou Qingyan seem to laugh in anger, and helplessly spread his hands, "I asked him how long he would take, and good heavens, by the time he gets back, it will be dark, and then there will be no parent-teacher conference."

Bai Yixia tilted her head and thought for a moment. She hadn't been communicating much with Zhou Qingchi lately. He had only mentioned that he had participated in some competition, but hadn't asked for any details.

Zhou Qingyan continued, "I originally wanted to trouble Aunt Lin or Uncle Bai, but they both seemed to be very busy, so I didn't feel comfortable doing it."

"Oh, so you have the nerve to bother me?" Bai Yixia pretended to be angry as she looked at him.

The boy waved his hands frantically, "No, sister!"

His eyes are very similar to Zhou Qingchi's, and when he smiles, Bai Yixia is always reminded of his brother.

"Xiaxia is the best to me," Zhou Qingyan said, trying to sound innocent.

Bai Yixia wasn't really angry with him, and upon hearing this, she smiled with her eyes crinkling.

As they spoke, they had already reached the front of the classroom, where two or three students were guiding parents through the front door. A sharp-eyed student spotted Zhou Qingyan, ran over excitedly, and slapped him on the shoulder, the sound so loud it made Bai Yixia feel a pang of pain.

"Brother Zhou," the classmate called out.

Bai Yixia was stunned for a moment. She wasn't sure how many friends Zhou Qingchi had, but it seemed like that was how they addressed him. For a moment, it felt like she was back in high school.

The classmate noticed Bai Yixia, instantly stopped being so lively, and shyly lowered his hand, greeting her awkwardly, "Hello, sister."

Bai Yixia smiled at him and waved, "Hello."

The boy's cheeks flushed slightly. Zhou Qingyan, unable to bear it any longer, gently nudged him. "Has Lao Yuan arrived yet?"

"Not yet." Another person crowded around, immediately spotting Bai Yixia, and blurted out, "Brother Zhou, is this your sister-in-law?"

Bai Yixia looked up at the sound, pursed her lips to suppress her smile, and blinked awkwardly.

Zhou Qingyan felt like the sky was falling, and rolled her eyes at him, "I give up, she's my neighbor's sister."

Bai Yixia didn't say anything, she just looked at them and smiled.

The three boys started arguing again. Bai Yixia glanced at the small flowerbed outside the classroom; it wasn't much different from two years ago, with several camellia bushes. The largest tree was a sycamore, exactly the same as she remembered.

A girl came out of the classroom after a short while and said that the parents could go in.

Bai Yixia felt a little excited to be among a group of parents in their forties and fifties, as if she were pretending to be an adult.

Just like his brother, Zhou Qingyan was smart and a top student. He ranked first in the grade but remained calm and didn't show off.

Bai Yixia held his test paper and looked at it. She found that she still couldn't understand the science subjects, but she could tell that his main subjects were very good.

Having watched him grow up, Bai Yixia felt a sense of pride seeing Zhou Qingyan's excellent grades. She wanted to reach for her phone to send a message to Zhou Qingchi to share the good news, but when she looked up, she saw the teacher staring at her from the podium.

Even though she had graduated two years ago, Bai Yixia still kept her distance from the teacher group. She immediately sat up straight and smiled with her lips pursed.

Parent-teacher meetings are nothing more than the same old stuff: how parents need to supervise their children, how crucial it is to build a solid foundation in the first year of high school, and so on.

Bai Yixia almost fell asleep while listening.

The parent-teacher meeting lasted a little longer than usual, as some subject teachers also gave speeches in addition to the homeroom teacher.

Bai Yixia, bearing the title of a good student's parent, felt no pressure from being called out and watched the spectacle for two hours as if it were a show.

After a long wait, the meeting finally ended. Bai Yixia quickly took a picture of Zhou Qingyan's report card and sent it to Zhou Qingchi. She was caught by the homeroom teacher when she was about to leave.

The homeroom teacher's surname is Yuan. She is a strict middle-aged female teacher who teaches English. Bai Yixia was also her student before.

Teacher Yuan looked at Bai Yixia, who was blinking, glanced at the list, and asked, "Which parent are you hired from?"

Bai Yixia was confused. "Huh?" She quickly realized what she meant and explained, "You misunderstood Teacher Yuan. I'm Zhou Qingyan's neighbor. All the parents have been busy lately, so I came instead."

Teacher Yuan didn't have much doubt in the first place; she just wanted to confirm.

Bai Yixia had a good relationship with her teachers when she was in school, so she couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Yuan, is it true that some people find fake parents?"

Ms. Yuan nodded and gave her some examples of disobedient children from older grades. Then, curiously, she asked, "Is Zhou Qingchi her brother? Why didn't he come, but you did?"

After the students graduated, the teachers became less serious, and there was even a hint of teasing in Teacher Yuan's eyes.

Bai Yixia was secretly delighted, but she looked embarrassed. She waved her hand to explain that Zhou Qingchi couldn't come back, and then said as if trying to cover up the truth, "He and I are neighbors."

He spoke vaguely about this, and it's unclear whether he was referring to Zhou Qingchi or Zhou Qingyan.

Teacher Yuan laughed and said, "Back then, Zhou Qingchi shielded you from a lot of confessions. You two were always hanging out together, and the teachers in the disciplinary office were on guard, ready to catch you red-handed at any moment. And then..."

Bai Yixia couldn't be happy. She added with a hint of resentment: "In the end, we've never been together, not even now."

The teacher and student chatted for a while longer before saying goodbye.

School ended early on the day of the parent-teacher conference. Bai Yixia waited outside for a while for Zhou Qingyan to pack his things, preparing to go home with him.

When they got to the playground, Zhou Qingyan saw that the small supermarket was still open. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Sister Xiaxia, do you want some grilled sausage?"

The chili powder in the school's small supermarket seemed to be specially made, and Bai Yixia was also a little tempted, so she nodded vigorously.

Zhou Qingyan smiled and said, "Then I'll go buy two. Wait here for me."

Bai Yixia readily moved aside to wait for him, and when she looked down at her phone, she found that Zhou Qingchi had replied to her message.

-Please have some porridge: I know, he bragged about it to me the day his results came out.

Bai Yixia was amused. Zhou Qingyan didn't seem to be showing off at the moment, but she hadn't expected that he had already gloated with his brother.

Bai Yixia lowered her head and thought for a moment, wanting to tell him about the classmate who had mistaken her for her sister-in-law, but after typing half of it, she felt a little embarrassed and hurriedly deleted it.

She was focused on the conversation and didn't notice someone approaching. A light tap on her shoulder made Bai Yixia think it was Zhou Qingyan returning, so she turned to look.

I was stunned when I saw that person; their eyes were wide open.

The boy looked to be about the same age as Zhou Qingyan, as if he considered her a peer. He waved his phone in his hand a couple of times, gave her a rather impolite once-over, and said with a smug grin, "Hey classmate, can we add each other on WeChat?"

Bai Yixia felt he looked somewhat familiar at first glance, and his flippant gaze only made her dislike him more. She frowned and refused, "Sorry, I don't have WeChat."

The boy was taken aback for a moment, then reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her phone up to his face. He glanced at it and said, "Isn't this it? It won't kill you to add her on WeChat."

He actually tried to snatch her phone, but Bai Yixia pulled her hand back forcefully, glared at him, and said in a harsher tone, "What are you doing?"

The boy's face turned sour, and he stared at her intently. Suddenly, as if recognizing her, he exclaimed, "Holy crap, were you just chatting with Zhou Qingchi? You're Bai Yixia?"

Bai Yixia did not answer him.

To his surprise, he took another step forward, "What, sis? What did you save his name as? A heart? You like him?"

"What's it to you?" Bai Yixia said coldly, stepping back to create distance between them.

The boy scoffed dismissively, "What's so great about that idiot pretending to be something he's not? Everyone treats him like a treasure." He gave Bai Yixia a dirty look, "I'm his younger brother, and I'm not any worse looking than him."

He grinned and pressed forward, "Sister, why don't you consider me? I'm younger than him. I'm a male high school student."

Bai Yixia frowned at him, "Don't come any closer to me, how disgusting are you?"

The boy's face instantly darkened, and he cursed in a gloomy tone, "What's so great about that slut? You like her? Watch out, she might end up with—ah!"

Before he could finish his provocative words, he was kicked away and fell heavily to the ground.

The boy's voice was filled with anger, clenched through gritted teeth, "You still dare to show your face in front of me? Have you no shame, Zhou Yaohua?"