Thief

Things don't seem so bad anymore.

A spring rain came hastily, and it happened to be lunchtime. The students who did not bring umbrellas were huddled together and wailing in pain.

Xu Zhiyi stood on the steps, staring at the splashing water on the ground in a daze.

Just as she was hesitating whether to go out in the rain, a black umbrella was unexpectedly stuffed into her hands.

She turned around in surprise and saw Song Chengrui walking to the side in an unnatural manner.

He was surrounded by a few good friends, who were joking and playing with each other.

“What are you going to do!”

This was the first time Xu Zhiyi cared about Song Chengrui since their cold war.

Song Chengrui didn't care, hugged his brother next to him, and pretended to be carefree. "Don't worry, we're going to compete in speed!"

After saying that, as if afraid of being rejected by Xu Zhiyi, he rushed into the rain first, chasing his buddies around him from time to time.

Xu Zhiyi held the umbrella tightly and stayed where he was. The grievances he had felt at the beginning and the depression in his heart over the past few days began to slowly dissipate.

"Hey, Zhiyi, do you have an umbrella?"

Zhang Ningxia hurried over and said, "I just searched for a long time and couldn't find where my umbrella is. Isn't that strange?"

Xu Zhiyi opened the umbrella with a sullen expression.

The two of them shared an umbrella in the rain. "Song Chengrui gave it to me."

When Zhang Ningxia heard it was him, she immediately became interested.

"Oh~ Song Chengrui, Zhiyi, doesn't he really care about you? Why are you arguing?"

"You don't even know that some people in our class said some really bad things in private, saying that you two broke up."

Xu Zhiyi also heard these words being discussed in the toilet.

"But, they're just jealous and vindictive. They want to destroy what they can't have. They're just slandering me on purpose. It's really too much!"

Xu Zhiyi smiled slightly and said, "Let's not talk about them. What do you want to eat?"

"Eat something light. I feel like I've gained several pounds since the Chinese New Year. No, at least ten pounds!"

The two chatted and laughed all the way to the cafeteria.

After the rain stopped, Xu Zhiyi folded his umbrella and stood at his usual spot on the basketball court waiting.

Song Chengrui walked over from the other side of the fence with the ball in his arms, and stopped when he saw Xu Zhiyi.

Suddenly, he ran towards Xu Zhiyi cautiously, his eyes full of anticipation.

"Here's your umbrella back." Xu Zhiyi handed over the umbrella.

"No, you can keep it for yourself."

Song Chengrui confiscated it, and the atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

"No need, I have an umbrella." Xu Zhiyi handed the umbrella to him again.

She was silent for a moment, then continued, "I was too impatient last time and shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I'm sorry..."

Song Chengrui immediately admitted his mistake, "No, it's my fault..."

"You've already talked about my problem!" Xu Zhiyi emphasized his tone this time. Song Chengrui immediately shut up and gestured to mute the phone.

The scene was still a little awkward, but Xu Zhiyi didn't feel so heavy in her heart anymore. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders, and her mood became much more relaxed.

"Have you not slept well recently?" Song Chengrui followed Xu Zhiyi slowly, but his eyes stayed on her.

"Maybe there's too much homework..." She made up an excuse, although it sounded fake.

Song Chengrui actually understood that she must be sad because of recent events, which affected her sleep.

"You still have to pay attention to your health and don't get too tired."

"Um……"

The two sides walked around the playground for almost half a circle, and because they really didn't want to attract too much attention, they quickly separated.

She had just returned to the classroom and hadn't even sat down when the noise started again.

“Who on earth is it?”

Zhang Ningxia stood in the last row of the classroom and yelled in a harsh and aggressive manner.

"You're not going to tell me, are you? You're stealing someone else's umbrella and you're refusing to admit it, right?"

Xu Zhiyi stood up quickly after seeing this and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Ningxia was holding an apricot-yellow umbrella in her hand, her face full of anger.

"Just now when I returned to the classroom, I don't know who used my umbrella and threw it in the trash! If I hadn't looked for it again just now, maybe they would have thrown it directly into my hands when taking out the trash today!"

She raised her voice again, "Hurry up and tell me, who is it?"

"Which bitch? Don't wait for me to find you! You're dead!"

“Who on earth is it!”

After Zhang Ningxia roared for a long time and no one paid attention to her, she could only run to her seat and complain to Xu Zhiyi.

"What kind of people are they? They're so disgusting! They steal someone else's umbrella and throw it in the trash after use. How can they be so mean?"

Xu Zhiyi also didn't expect that such a thing would happen even though their class was already recognized as the top class in the second year of high school. It turned out that a person's grades could not be equated with his or her quality.

Not long after this incident, Zhang Ningxia became like a detective, suspicious of everything, and even began to doubt every student in the class.

According to her, she felt that everyone except Xu Zhiyi was a suspect.

Xu Zhiyi said that she was under too much pressure and was very angry, and comforted her, saying that at least she was lucky that she didn't lose her umbrella.

But Zhang Ningxia has always been brooding over this matter.

Until the evening of Xu Zhiyi's birthday.

Xu Zhiyi's birthday was in early April. She had originally planned to celebrate it at home as usual, but Zhang Ningxia suggested that they celebrate with friends at school, which could also be considered a memory of high school.

She had planned this event long ago and chose a small corridor near the school library. There are usually few people here, the scenery is beautiful, and it is also suitable for celebration.

The owner of the school dessert shop is a young man. Zhang Ningxia chose this shop specifically on the recommendation of his classmates.

After she took the cake, she and Xu Zhiyi called Song Chengrui and others over.

This time, Song Chengrui was very cooperative. He waited there with the cake in his hand, allowing Zhang Ningxia to take pictures of him and Xu Zhiyi.

After the filming, he would give a few comments.

"Yes, that's fine."

Xu Zhiyi turned around and teased him, "Oh, you have aesthetic taste too?"

Song Chengrui nodded: "I learned it from you."

Xu Zhiyi just smiled and didn't say anything.

Everyone had a tacit understanding and gathered in another group, talking quietly, leaving the remaining space for Xu Zhiyi and the others.

"Would you like milk tea? I ordered some!"

Zhang Ningxia suddenly had a surprise and looked at Xu Zhiyi with a smile, "Zhiyi, do you want to drink? If you do, I'll get it now."

Xu Zhiyi frowned curiously, "It's almost evening study time, and there's still milk tea?"

Zhang Ningxia held up her phone and said, "Yes, the owner of the dessert shop specially reserved some for today, but it can only be made ten minutes in advance. So, if you guys want some, I'll tell you now and you can almost get it by walking over."

Xu Zhiyi glanced at Song Chengrui and saw that he was looking forward to it, so he nodded and said, "Okay."

Zhang Ningxia just walked out, touched his face, and looked up at the sky. "It seems... it's raining..."

Xu Zhiyi looked at her: "Did you bring an umbrella?"

Zhang Ningxia ran over and pulled out her apricot-yellow umbrella from a bag. "Dangdangdang~ I'm prepared! Haha!"

Xu Zhiyi also stood up and said, "I'll go with you. I have someone to help you get it."

Zhang Ningxia immediately shook her head and rejected the proposal. "No! It's your birthday today, you can't be an errand boy. So," she glanced around and pointed at Zheng Yan, "Zheng Yan, come with me!"

Zheng Yan was enjoying his meal and was a little reluctant, "Me?"

"Hurry up, it's going to rain hard soon!"

"Okay, here I come~"

After the birthday party, everyone walked towards the teaching building. Xu Zhiyi saw that Zhang Ningxia's face looked not very good.

"What's wrong Ningxia? Why are you unhappy?"

When two people play together for a long time, sometimes they can feel each other's emotional fluctuations at any time.

Zhang Ningxia chose not to say anything, and Xu Zhiyi was also tactful enough not to ask.

The evening study session that day was Chinese class, and Gao Xingxing happened to be handing out test papers. When she walked up to the podium, she found that Zhang Ningxia was still talking to the person next to her.

She warned Zhang Ningxia twice with her eyes, but Zhang Ningxia didn't take it seriously.

Still talking.

"Zhang Ningxia!"

This time, she didn't give Zhang Ningxia any face and directly knocked on the podium.

Zhang Ningxia, contrary to her usual behavior, loudly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Shut up, the test is about to start!"

Gao Xingxing stood there. At the moment, she represented authority, so she couldn't be outdone by Zhang Ningxia's momentum, so she stretched her neck and stared at Zhang Ningxia.

"What if I don't?"

Zhang Ningxia was also tough today. She threw the textbook directly on the table, and it seemed that she was determined to fight Gao Xingxing to the end.

Seeing the tension between the two, Xie Lin glanced at Gao Xingxing and said, "Forget it, Xingxing, hurry up and finish the test."

Gao Xingxing was so angry that he simply sat down to write the test paper, but Zhang Ningxia just said something to him.

"It's hilarious that a thief can be so noble."

"Zhang Ningxia, what did you say?"

Gao Xingxing stood up quickly.

Zhang Ningxia sat in her seat with a sharp look in her eyes.

"Whoever tells me knows, don't pretend!"

"Zhang Ningxia, what do you mean? Why are you being so sarcastic today?"

"Why am I being so sarcastic?" Zhang Ningxia glared at her. "Someone stole my umbrella and refused to admit it. What's wrong with me telling the truth? Is that illegal?"

"Who stole your umbrella?"

When Gao Xingxing said this, he was obviously lacking in confidence.

"It's you!"

Zhang Ningxia raised her voice, "I already asked you today. It was raining that day and you went to the milk tea shop with an umbrella to buy milk tea. When you left, you forgot to bring your umbrella. It was the boss who reminded you to take it! If you don't admit it, you have the guts to come with me to confront the boss after class!"

"boring."

Gao Xingxing sat down and ignored Zhang Ningxia, "What are you looking at? Do your homework!"

Everyone immediately started discussing the matter privately. Even Xu Zhiyi was a little surprised. Gao Xingxing had stolen Zhang Ningxia's umbrella? She felt it was a little unlikely.

She quickly wrote a note and planned to find Zhang Ningxia to ask for clarification, but the conflict in the classroom escalated again.

Because this time Zhang Ningxia wrote a note and threw it towards Gao Xingxing on the podium.

After reading it, Gao Xingxing was instantly shocked.

"Zhang Ningxia, are you done yet? I told you, I didn't steal your umbrella!"

"Okay, explain how my umbrella ended up in your hands. I'm telling you, I've confirmed it. The umbrella the boss saw that day was my umbrella! You definitely took it! You stole it, but you deny it, Gao Xingxing, how can you be so shameless?"

Gao Xingxing was furious, "I said I didn't steal it, that's it!"

"Then tell me, where did the umbrella come from? Tell me!"

Gao Xingxing was so angry that she heard Xie Lin say, "That umbrella..."

“I picked it up!”

Gao Xingxing interrupted Xie Lin and said, "I found it at school. It happened to be raining that day, so I used it. When I got back, I put it on the balcony. How did I know it was yours?"

"You're a thief, you're a thief! And you picked it up, Gao Xingxing, you're a thief!"

Xie Lin frowned at Zhang Ningxia and defended Gao Xingxing, "Zhang Ningxia, could you please not be so harsh?"

Zhang Ningxia was almost amused and sarcastically said, "Why, she did something wrong and she's right? I spent the whole day looking for her and she didn't even say a word, and now you still have the nerve to speak up for her? This person has bad character, and you're still friends with her. I advise you to break up as soon as possible."