Chapter 4, Chapter 4, "Then you..." (Choose the same...)

After that day, he and Song Mingli still rarely met. However, another thing was that the other party's experiment was coming to an end. It was finally completed when the holiday was almost halfway over. Before leaving that evening, Shan Yanda gave him several toys in one go, as if he would never see him again. After spending so many days together, Ying Shixue had a deep understanding of his slightly unusual aesthetic sense. After refusing many times without success, she could not win him over.

Song Mingli checked the time: "Aren't you going to stay for a meal?"

Si Chengjun shook his head, his smile fading slightly: "I won't go, the old man is coming back today."

Shan Yan: "I need to go back and take a look too."

Song Mingli said no more. Chengjun put his arm around Shan Yan's shoulder and said, "Then we're leaving, Ah Li." He then turned to Ying Shixue, bent down, and stared at him with a smile, "Xiao Xue, see you next time."

After everyone left, the atmosphere in the living room gradually quieted down again. Ying Shixue looked down at the floor beneath her feet. Strangely, Song Mingli did not leave immediately either.

What was he staying for... Ying Shixue wondered casually, when Aunt He suddenly poked her head out from the guest room again: "Young Master, dinner is ready!"

The two men looked at each other but remained standing still. Finally, Song Mingli glanced at him indifferently and said, "Let's go," before leaving first.

Ying Shixue was a beat slow in moving, but then she also walked to the dining table and sat down.

Considering local dietary habits, Aunt He prepared a table of dishes with a relatively light flavor. Since she couldn't eat much in the evening, Ying Shixue ate with her head down, her small bowl of rice bulging out as she ate.

Song Mingli's gaze lingered on it for a few seconds, then casually looked away. Just as he was about to continue, a burning sensation suddenly rose from his throat and choked him, causing him to cough violently twice.

Song Mingli pulled out a few tissues to tidy up, and only then did he realize that he had just accurately picked up the only spicy chili pepper used for seasoning among all the dishes on the table.

...He threw the soiled tissue into the trash can, and as he turned around, a glass of water was suddenly pushed in front of him.

Ying Shixue had already withdrawn her hand from pushing the water. Her profile was beautiful and aloof, as if she hadn't done anything and she was focused on the rice in her bowl. Only her eyelashes, which were trembling more frequently than usual, and the tips of her ears, which were slightly red, betrayed her actions.

Song Mingli felt as if something soft had touched his heart. He drank the water in his glass in one gulp, rested his chin on his hand on the table, and looked at him for a while: "Thank you."

Ying Shixue's eyelashes fluttered, and she paused for a moment before slowly placing her chopsticks back on the table: "It's nothing."

He hesitated for a moment: "Thank you for the bear thing."

Song Mingli raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "Starting junior high school?"

Ying Shixue hummed in response. Song Mingli looked at him thoughtfully, not as indifferent as he appeared on the surface. In fact, on the second day after Ying Shixue arrived, his past life information had already been placed on his desk.

Ying Shixue, an orphan from the Tongzuo County Orphanage in Changling Prefecture, was adopted by four families between the ages of 7 and 11. However, without exception, they all sent him back. It is said that he forgot everything before the age of 7 because he had a high fever when he arrived. But based on the clothes he wore when he first arrived and his unusually handsome face, the caregivers at the orphanage guessed that he was born and abandoned by a wealthy merchant's mistress. A week ago, the Song family contacted him to propose adoption. After a series of procedures, he was brought to Tianjin on the eighth day. No wonder everyone speculated that he was Song Qi's illegitimate son from his early philandering.

—That's impossible, of course.

The DNA test report from the private hospital, known for its confidentiality, definitively showed that Ying Shixue had no blood relation to him or Song Qi. So why did Song Qi bring her back?

Song Mingli tapped the table lightly with his slightly bent index finger. In recent years, Song Qi had become increasingly capricious in his actions, so blatantly bringing him in and arranging for him to enter St. Fran Academy, which was known as a cradle of talent... He leaned back in his chair and said after a long while, "I will be going out for summer training in a week. When I come back for the start of the new semester, you and I will ride in the same car to school."

--

With only a month left, the servants in the villa were a little worried as the start of school approached. Aunt He got up early in the morning and prepared a table full of food. After watching the two of them finish eating, she stuffed a box of cookies into Ying Shixue's arms: "Young Master, you can have some if you get hungry during school. They are all low in oil and sugar."

Caught off guard, Ying Shixue was suddenly stuffed into Song Mingli's arms. Song Mingli glanced at him and said, "Let's go."

Three weeks of summer training can indeed subtly change a person. Song Mingli already had a sharp and aggressive appearance, and now he had gained a sense of composure and decisiveness between his brows. Young people grow very quickly, and he seemed to have grown even taller.

Ying Shixue sat in the car with him. The car slowly started moving, and Ying Shixue hugged her schoolbag and looked out the window.

It must be said that this is indeed a highly developed city, with towering buildings standing side by side, and bustling traffic and crowds. Ying Shixue slightly raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight, and only then did he realize that the car had stopped.

Song Mingli succinctly said, "Get out of the carriage."

Ying Shixue paused for a moment, then pushed open the door and walked towards the gate. After taking only a few steps, a voice came from behind her: "Ying Shixue."

Ying wiped the snow and turned around; her profile was somewhat blurred in the backlight.

Song Mingli had already rolled down the car window, his gaze turning serious: "Wait for the bus here after school."

Ying Shixue nodded, and seeing that the other party had nothing else to say, she waited a while before turning around and walking towards the door again.

Having already seen the junior high school map, Ying Shixue easily found her classroom by following her memory. One of the advantages of starting from the first grade is that she doesn't have to readjust to a group that is already established. Following the arrangement, Ying Shixue received her books and student card. After completing the registration in the morning, she ate and attended classes as usual.

St. Francis is very wealthy, and its cafeteria alone has three floors, with prices increasing with each floor. Ying Shixue got her food and found a less crowded spot to sit down. Just as she picked up her chopsticks, another person sat down diagonally opposite her.

here we go again.

Ying Shixue chewed on the rice in his mouth expressionlessly, enduring the gaze that had followed him ever since he stepped out of the car that morning—a gaze that he thought was secret but was filled with a strong desire to spy and explore.

St. Francis aims to cultivate diverse talents, but in reality, it is an absolute aristocratic school. On the surface, it is only different from other schools in terms of its academic system, but every little thing reveals a superior sense of hierarchy. From the annual fee of up to 210,000, including tuition, insurance, art fees, and activity funds, to the class and seating arrangements from the very beginning of class division, the allocation of rest and dormitory, and even the choice of deskmates and the price of the cafeteria, all of these have invisibly divided the class. Although the Federation calls for educational equality, the tuition alone has already drawn an insurmountable chasm for ordinary people.

Most of the people here come from prestigious families. The integrated academy from kindergarten to high school has created a secret network of relationships among them, and information flows extremely quickly. Many of the Federation's later prominent figures came from here. Every year, a few people engage in social exclusion, but the attitude of most is a dignified indifference formed from childhood, and a malicious spying on others that comes from their sensitivity to the changing environment required for survival.

Ying Shixue had no doubt that they already knew about her relationship with the Song family. Although she herself was also full of doubts about the past, it did not mean that she could tolerate such scrutiny from others.

Ying Shixue slowly clenched her fists around the wooden chopsticks, the veins on the back of her hand bulging. Suddenly, she shouted, "Hey!"

Dan Qi waved his hand in front of him, looking at him with some dissatisfaction: "I've called you several times already."

Oh, and this too.

Ying Shixue looked at him expressionlessly. When Shan Qi saw him looking over, he withdrew his hand, coughed, and pouted, "What are you thinking about?"

Ying Shixue: "Is there something you need?"

“It’s nothing,” Shan Qi said, pointing to his food. “I’m eating.”

Ying Shixue ignored him and continued eating her meal.

Seeing that he really didn't respond, Shan Qi's anger flared up again. He stammered for a long time, and when he saw that Shan Qi had finished eating and was about to leave, he straightened up and said, "Wait a minute!"

Dan Qi, his face flushed, stammered, "Um, you saw me in class this morning, right? We're in the same class."

Ying Shixue nodded.

"Then why didn't you choose me when you were choosing your deskmate?"