bet

"How is it impossible? You are so amazing, everyone would choose you."

Zhang Ningxia spoke in a very exaggerated manner and praised Xu Zhiyi, which quickly dispelled the unpleasant thoughts in her mind.

When I got home, the house was pitch black.

Xu Zhiyi placed the keys on top of the shoe cabinet and hung her schoolbag on the wall nearby.

My parents haven't come back yet.

She walked into the living room and saw a piece of paper on the refrigerator slightly tilted up. The crooked ballpoint pen marks on it were not particularly obvious, as if they were written on something temporary.

"Xiaoyi, Mom is on duty tonight and won't be home. I left some mung bean soup for you in the refrigerator. If you think it's too cold, just heat it up yourself. I'll put some pocket money under your pillow. - Mom."

Following the note, Xu Zhiyi opened the refrigerator and saw mung bean soup.

She didn't heat it up, but instead served herself a bowl, took a spoon, and carried it into the bedroom.

The bedroom curtains were blown up by the evening breeze, and as she slipped her bare feet over the plush slippers, she kicked over the comic book that her father had confiscated last week. The cover still had fragments of it torn from the tug of war.

Since Xu Wangping is not at home today, Xu Zhiyi is not so restrained.

At home, Xu Wangping was the strictest with her. He forbade her to do this or that, and scolded her every few days.

Ever since the provincial number one scholar came out, Xu Wangping had been saying Zhou Yu'an's name to Xu Zhiyi all day long, and she was tired of it.

Suddenly, she felt the silence in the whole house was piercing.

After closing the door, she quickly turned on her phone, found an English song, and started playing it on loop.

"At break of day in hope we rise"

"At dawn we wake up full of hope"

…

She placed the mung bean soup on the table, and a layer of mist had already formed around the bowl.

When drinking the soup, the bottom of the spoon hit the edge of the bowl and made a "ding" sound, mixed with the unfinished song "in hope we rise" on the phone.

Suddenly, the phone screen lit up. It was a text message sent back by Xu Wangping.

【If you are not going home tonight, please remember to lock the door before going to bed.】

The cold light of the screen reflected the twitching corners of Xu Zhiyi's mouth, and the lock screen still had the wallpaper of the photo of the three of them from last year's birthday.

Come on, neither of you will go home today.

Xu Zhiyi walked out again, until the "click" sound of the lock cut off all the lights in the corridor, and the song was faintly played in a loop to the beginning "At break of day".

She came back and lay down on the bed. This time she turned up the volume on her phone.

Looking through the chat history on my phone, an unread message was still at the top of the list.

After hesitating for a while, Xu Zhiyi tapped the screen lightly with his fingers: He didn't say anything.

Less than a minute after I replied to the message, my phone vibrated.

The chat interface showed a familiar cartoon avatar of a Shiba Inu with a crooked mouth, which was flashing and jumping at the moment.

A series of news popped up.

[Just about to drive a tank]: Oh my god, you finally replied to my message?

[I'm going to drive a tank]: I thought your phone was confiscated again

【Just Want to Drive a Tank】: By the way, the comic book you said you wanted to read last time is sold at the back door of the school.

【Not a Valley】: Sorry

[Just drive a tank]: It’s okay, it’s not my fault. I’m just worried that you think too much. Sometimes you don’t have to take what your parents say to heart. Maybe they forget it after they say it.

【Not a Valley】: You are more talkative than my dad.

[I want to drive a tank]:? This is my father's love as high as a mountain

[Not a valley]: Smooth... round, understand?

Looking at the messages that kept popping up on his phone, Xu Zhiyi's mouth corners unconsciously rose.

[Just going to drive a tank]: By the way, do you want to go map hunting together this weekend?

The crushed ice at the bottom of the mung bean soup bowl slid down Xu Zhiyi's throat, making it so cold that she squinted her eyes.

【Not a Valley】: Okay

【Not a Valley】：But I have to wait until my dad goes out.

[I want to drive a tank]: I understand, old rules, always on standby

[Just about to drive a tank]: Are you in a bad mood today?

Xu Zhiyi was stunned. Could this person sense her emotions through the screen?

She stared at the phone screen for a long time before typing slowly.

【Not a Valley】: Today the house is eerily quiet

This time there was no immediate reply.

The ceiling was empty. She stared at it for a long time until her phone vibrated again:

[Just drive a tank]: Sometimes I turn up the game sound effects to the maximum and pretend I’m in a bustling market.

[I Want to Drive a Tank]: Do you want to log in now? I'll take you to see the newly discovered Rainbow Bridge

Xu Zhiyi glanced at the time: 23:47.

She imagined herself falling asleep in class and Xu Wangping coming to her angrily, and her fingers trembled unconsciously.

【Not a Valley】: Forget it today, let’s do it on the weekend

[I want to drive a tank]: OK, it’s settled then

【Not a Valley】：Yeah

She met this netizen in the school chat group. At that time, they were in their senior year and preparing for the college entrance examination. They were on summer vacation and had nothing to do, so she fell in love with a map-running game.

Unfortunately, Zhang Ningxia had already played this kind of map-running game and didn't want to take her to run it again, so he sent her to a chat group and asked her to find netizens to lead her.

She lurked in the group for a few days and finally mustered up the courage to speak.

"Excuse me, can anyone play Jungle Book with me?"

Xu Zhiyi’s avatar was a desk, and soon Zhang Ningxia heard the news and came over and made a domineering speech.

"My best friend needs a handsome guy for her map run. If you are a handsome guy, please add him as a friend immediately. No one will be waiting if you are late."

"Attention, it's a handsome guy, don't disturb him if he's not handsome!"

When Xu Zhiyi saw this series of speeches, he was so embarrassed that he wished he could dig out a two-bedroom apartment with his toes.

However, there were many people in the group who followed suit, and the number of teasing messages quickly reached 99+, but no one added Xu Zhiyi as a friend.

Just when Xu Zhiyi was about to quit the group, someone added her.

[I Want to Drive a Tank]: Can we run the map together?

However, the two of them only played for three days, and the rest of the time Xu Zhiyi was forced by Xu Wangping to do homework.

I play with my phone occasionally and just chat to pass the time.

Xu Zhiyi was curious about the other person's age and name, but the other person never told her.

She only knew that the other person was also from their school, and she knew no other information.

After finishing cleaning up and seeing that it was already twelve o'clock, Xu Zhiyi secretly expressed his mood for the day.

“Ding Dong——”

The message popped up, it was Driving Tank who liked her mood.

[About to drive a tank]: Aren’t you going to sleep yet?

【Not a Valley】: Immediately

—

After a week of intense days, the date of the exchange meeting gradually approached.

During morning self-study, Xu Zhiyi's pen rolled into the aisle. Song Chengrui bent down to pick it up and handed it to her, with a drop of ink on his fingertips.

He casually pulled out a piece of paper and wiped it, grinning: "Your pen is heavy enough to be used as a weapon if it hits my foot."

"..." Song Chengrui's words are really poisonous.

Xu Zhiyi quickly apologized, but the other party acted calmly as if nothing had happened.

It has been so long, and Xu Dongxing has not announced the person who will present flowers at the exchange meeting. A group of people in the class were so bored that they simply placed a bet and started a guessing game.

Xu Zhiyi sat down to review the text step by step, with no time to pay attention to other things. Instead, her deskmate Qin Mingyue talked to her secretly.

"Xu Zhiyi, someone in the class was guessing who would present the flowers, and you got second place in the votes."

Xu Zhiyi looked up in confusion, "What?"

Qin Mingyue lowered her voice, "Zheng Yan and the others are running a voting contest. Whoever guesses correctly to present flowers will receive a copy of the latest comic book of the week. Many people in the class have already made their predictions."

Xu Zhiyi smiled helplessly: "With such a brain, it would be a waste of talent if he didn't go into business."

But in her heart, she thought: the person who bet on her will probably lose everything.

During the morning break, a sudden burst of laughter came from the back of the classroom. Zheng Yan was standing on a stool with a list of bets written crookedly on the back of the math homework book he was passing around, and he was talking confidently.

"Xie Lin is in first place, Xu Zhiyi is in second place. Hurry up and place your bets. If you lose money, don't blame me!"

Xu Zhiyi stood speechlessly at the podium, staring at the row of enthusiastic boys, feeling speechless. What on earth were these people expecting?

Just as she was about to wipe the blackboard, Song Chengrui blocked her hand.

"Come on, give me the blackboard eraser. Let me use it first."

Without waiting for Xu Zhiyi to answer, Song Chengrui nimbly took the blackboard eraser and headed towards the back row. He looked like he was going to fight.

"Zheng Yan, come here! Believe it or not, I'll give you a smack!"

Zheng Yan was jumping up and down at this moment, extremely active.

"Brother Rui, which one are you betting on?"

"I'll bet on your head!"

After saying that, the blackboard eraser drew an arc in the air, and Zheng Yan immediately hid in the crowd. Chalk dust fell on the hair of other girls, causing everyone to scream in an instant.

"Song Chengrui, you are sick!"

Everyone else in the classroom burst into laughter, only Song Chengrui was thick-skinned enough to apologize to everyone one by one.

"Sorry, accidental injury, accidental injury!"

Xu Zhiyi rubbed his temples, found an empty space in the corner of the blackboard, and wrote down the assignments for each subject for today.

The noise died down and Song Chengrui returned to the podium with the eraser. Suddenly, Xu Zhiyi heard the other person's voice.

"Your handwriting is quite good."

Xu Zhiyi's hand holding the chalk froze in mid-air, and chalk dust fell on her eyelashes. Against the light, she saw the boy standing beside her, and his blue and white school uniform seemed to be covered with a faint golden light.

Xu Zhiyi's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"This... is okay?" she blurted out subconsciously.

Chalk dust pattered onto the exercise book. Xu Zhiyi hurriedly took a half step back, only to bump into Song Chengrui's arm. The back of the boy's hand was still stained with blackboard eraser dust, and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing a sunburned wrist.

"Of course, I'll tell you a secret..." He suddenly lowered his voice, a sly smile curling up the corners of his mouth. "Xie Lin pestered Old Xu to revise his speech three times in the office yesterday. Old Xu's face turned green."

A new round of laughter broke out in the classroom. Zheng Yan was sticking the betting notes on the fan blades, and they made a rustling sound when the wind blew.

The chalk dust was still floating in the air when Xu Zhiyi suddenly heard a cough coming from the back door.

Xu Dongxing stood there at some point, holding a stack of test papers in his hand, his eyes behind the lenses sweeping over the betting slips rustling on the fan.

"Zheng Yan." His voice was not loud, but the whole class fell silent. "Come to my office after class."

The fan blades stopped abruptly. Xu Zhiyi lowered her head, pretending to organize her textbooks, but she heard footsteps stop beside her desk.

"Xu Zhiyi," Xu Dongxing handed her the test paper, "come over after class."