Chapter 21 Silk Adorned with Feathers

The early summer evening breeze carried a hint of dryness, ruffling the wisps of hair on the girl's forehead.

Jin Zhao's eyebrows are not dark, but their shape is beautiful, like distant mountains in the misty rain of Jiangnan. Her almond-shaped eyes are clear and clean, and her lower eyelids resemble two shallow crescent moons.

She was so pure and ethereal, it made people want to protect her.

Meng Yanxi couldn't even continue to criticize Lu Jingyue while looking into those eyes. Although a pure person sees everything as pure, Jin Zhao couldn't possibly have imagined this direction from him.

She looked up at him blankly, not understanding what he meant. After a while, she seemed to understand and tentatively asked in a low voice, "Do you want me to tell him to study hard?"

Meng Yanxi: "?"

Jin Zhao nodded in deep agreement: "Lu Jingyue is indeed smart. He can apply what the teacher has explained to other problems after hearing it only once. He is just a bit lazy and doesn't like to do homework. If he is willing to put more effort into his studies, it shouldn't be difficult for him to become one of the top students in the grade."

Meng Yanxi: "..." That's enough.

"goodbye."

Meng Yanxi walked away without looking back.

He even impatiently jaywalked across the road.

Although this street is just a small road, only wide enough for two cars, not a main road, and not very busy, and most people wouldn't bother to use the crosswalk, Meng Yanxi is different. Meng Yanxi is quite noble; he just expressed his disdain for Yu Lei and his cronies running a red light.

Jin Zhao was a little confused. Watching the boy's indifferent departing figure, he reflected on his own logic.

Meng Yanxi told her out of the blue: Lu Jingyue is not the first in the grade.

Without any context to refer to, doesn't this imply that they hope he becomes the top student in the grade? And for someone as smart as Lu Jingyue, even if he doesn't become the top student, becoming the second-best shouldn't be difficult.

Meng Yanxi quickly reached the other side and met up with Lu Jingyue. The latter looked past him and waved to Jin Zhao across the traffic.

Jin Zhao became even more convinced of her logic; Lu Jingyue was indeed a very good deskmate. She smiled at him, then walked alone to the bus stop.

What are you doing here?

Meng Yanxi walked past him, and perhaps because the road was too narrow, he bumped into Lu Jingyue's shoulder, causing Lu Jingyue to take a step back.

Lu Jingyue wasn't annoyed. Even though the other person's words sounded sarcastic, he answered every question: "I've been with you since I came out of the security room."

Meng Yanxi frowned.

Lu Jingyue smiled enigmatically: "Meng Yanxi, you're a bit too naive. I've been with you for so long and you haven't noticed anything. If I were the bad guy, you'd have already lost today."

Meng Yanxi glanced at him sideways: "Are you a good person?"

Lu Jingyue thought for a moment and readily agreed: "That's true. But if you had really gotten into a fight with those young punks, I would at least have helped you fight."

"Thank you."

The car that picked them up was parked in the parking lot outside the school's front gate. The two of them were now walking towards the school's back gate, going around to the front gate from there. Meng Yanxi strode ahead, exuding an awkward and unsettling aura.

Lu Jingyue lagged a few steps behind him, scrutinizing that aloof and upright figure, and pondered, "Why do I feel like the person you really want to beat up today is actually me?"

Meng Yanxi remained silent, it was unclear whether she hadn't heard or acquiesced.

Lu Jingyue nodded with great self-awareness: "Then it really is me."

He didn't ask Meng Yanxi where he had offended him. He took a few quick steps to Meng Yanxi's side and walked alongside him.

"Have you considered that you were too impulsive in taking action just now?" Lu Jingyue looked ahead, his jokes gone, his tone more serious. "This is her own business, she should handle it herself, using her own methods and pace. If you make things worse and cause her trouble, then you're just asking for trouble. In the end, beating her up is Meng Yanxi's method, you can do that, she can't, but can you take her to and from school every day?"

Meng Yanxi let out a soft, breathy laugh.

Lu Jingyue understood and nodded: "Yes, I was wrong. I forgot that you are best at undermining the enemy's strength."

Meng Yanxi glanced at him, thinking that Lu Jingyue was just pretending and he despised him. He quickened his pace, as if crossing a river between Chu and Han.

Lu Jingyue caught up again and hooked her arm around his shoulder even more aggressively.

Anyone who didn't know better would think the two had a great relationship. Meng Yanxi pulled him away in disgust, but Lu Jingyue jumped down and used the momentum to hook his neck and pull him down, forcing Meng Yanxi to put her arm around his shoulder.

The two were walking towards the back door when students came out through a small door next to the driveway. Although there weren't as many as before, there were still quite a few. Meng Yanxi slapped his hand away in disgust and warned, "Lu Jingyue."

Lu Jingyue, with a forgiving expression, chuckled and conceded: "Alright, the fight's over, the madness's gone. Let's go home together."

Meng Yanxi walked away aloofly: "It's not on my way."

Lu Jingyue stood still and said slowly, "Alright then, I was originally planning to talk to you about changing seats on the way."

Meng Yanxi stopped in her tracks.

The next second, she turned around and stared at Lu Jingyue: "Why aren't you leaving yet?"

Lu Jingyue chuckled and followed.

The two brothers walked side by side, remaining silent for a long time. Both possessed exceptionally intelligent minds; many things didn't need to be said, they understood each other implicitly.

After a while, Meng Yanxi asked, "Who is that 'wood and fire illuminate'?"

"Which one is brightly lit by wood?" Lu Jingyue pretended to be stupid.

Once you understand something, reason and patience return. Meng Yanxi's temper subsided, and she was no longer easily angered. She slowly glanced at Lu Jingyue and said, "You'd better never let me find out."

The boy's eyes were cold and dark, with an unspoken threat in them—or I'll kill you.

When Meng Yanxi got serious, even Lu Jingyue was afraid of him, so Lu Jingyue immediately backed down, leaving himself a way out. Pretending to suddenly understand, he said, "You mean a two-character name with 'fire' at the beginning and 'wood' at the end?"

“Fire in the front, wood in the back.” Meng Yanxi stared at Lu Jingyue and gave a meaningful laugh.

Jin Zhao's name is composed of wood in the front and fire in the back. He didn't believe that Lu Jingyue hadn't said that on purpose, deliberately trying to mess with him.

Just wait and see.

Meng Yanxi turned around and continued walking forward.

Lu Jingyue felt a chill run down his spine from Meng Yanxi's last look, and wisely followed her, offering a way out: "Want to go to the show tomorrow?"

Meng Yanxi, with her backpack slung over one shoulder and one hand in her pocket, said with an aloof expression, "I'm not going. You're annoying."

The more scenery there is, the more flexible one can be? He immediately said, "I'm not going, you take Xixi."

Meng Yanxi must think highly of him, right?

Lu Jingyue patted his shoulder: "Alright, it's settled then. You take Xixi to the fashion show tomorrow. The little girl likes pretty clothes, so try to please her from time to time. Don't always force her to dance. Otherwise, you'll be working so hard for her, but when she grows up, she won't understand your good intentions. Wouldn't you be furious?"

Meng Yanxi remained noncommittal.

The two walked in silence for the rest of the way until the sun had completely disappeared below the city line, and the light became pale and soft.

"How did you know?" Meng Yanxi asked, looking at the gentle orange-hued sunset on the horizon.

Lu Jingyue also looked ahead and said, "It can't be hidden."

Meng Yanxi: "What can't be hidden?"

Lu Jingyue: "What did you say?"

The two brothers walked out of the high school's front gate together, as if exchanging Zen words. The driver waiting in the parking lot across the street saw them from afar, got out of the car attentively, and bowed to open the car door for them.

*

The show Lu Jingyue mentioned was a special themed show held by a top international luxury brand in Suiyi. It had been promoted for six months in advance, and many A-list celebrities were invited to the event, making it extremely popular. On Sunday, Meng Shijin took Meng Yanxi and her brother to the event. Lu Jingyue, as expected, knew that his cousin had been looking down on him lately, so he didn't go with them.

Meng Shijin is of high status. Before the show started, when the celebrities were signing autographs, she was invited by the brand to visit the backstage area. Little Meng Zhuxi held her aunt's hand and followed beside her, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the beautiful dresses even before the show began.

Meng Yanxi wasn't very interested in these things. She was just trying to appease her younger sister, having exploited her for too long, and still had some conscience left.

The designer was a blond, blue-eyed French man, older and very tall, but still slender and upright. He stood beside Meng Shijin, explaining the inspiration behind each garment in his French-accented English.

Meng Yanxi didn't care about other people's inner thoughts; it was none of his business. He walked ahead casually, occasionally glancing down at his phone. His gaze suddenly fixed on a red silk dress adorned with feathers in front of him.

Meng Yanxi stopped in her tracks.

It was an almost flowing crimson, the color of red jade tempered in fire, or as if it had been crushed by the sunset and soaked into silk. The long dress was still on the mannequin, its drape concealing an extremely light flow, like a silent flame flowing within it. The finishing touch was that, from the waist down, the dress was gradually adorned with fluffy white feathers and crimson-tipped feathers, arranged irregularly, like feathers swept by the wind and falling onto the dress, snowy starlight waves floating in the flames.

The designer then led Meng Shijin over. Upon seeing Meng Yanxi, who had been lingering and admiring him for a long time, the blond, blue-eyed French man was overjoyed and immediately began to describe his creative ideas in his French-accented English.

He said his inspiration came from the goddess in ancient Chinese mythology, so he stitched the golden sunset and the shattered feathers of the clouds into the red dress.

The designer's inspiration came from goddesses in mythology, but Meng Yanxi felt that she had seen real goddesses.

On the day the show began, Meng Yanxi bought the silk feather-trimmed dress in advance.

Designers always appreciate finding a kindred spirit. Even though it was the final piece in the show, the brand readily agreed to it because the important client was completely captivated by it.

*

On Monday morning, Lu Jingyue and Meng Yanxi went to Chen Shu's office and switched seats during the first break.

Jin Zhao never dreamed that Lu Jingyue would switch seats with Meng Yanxi; it was all too sudden for her. Not only her, but even Luo Heng was shocked, helping to hand over things while asking all sorts of questions.

Jin Zhao seemed unable to hear their voices. She looked up blankly at the two boys exchanging items back and forth. The cold mountain mist washed over her face, and all she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat.

Lu Jingyue and Meng Yanxi didn't have much stuff, so they moved it all quickly.

Meng Yanxi sat down beside her, and the boy's tall figure, along with the aura of cold mountain pine mist emanating from him, completely enveloped her.

Lu Jingyue stood by the table and said goodbye to her: "I'm leaving now, deskmate. From now on, Meng Yanxi will have to explain the problems to you."

“Alright,” Lu Jingyue said, glancing at Meng Yanxi with a half-smile, “He’s first in his grade.”

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Author's Note: Alright, the feather skirt has appeared, and the campus arc is almost over, probably around three or four chapters. Enjoy it while it lasts! This is the male lead's most innocent moment; he'll be a domineering CEO when they meet again in the city!

Six days on, one day off! I've been updating for six days straight. I'll rest tomorrow, and see you again at 8 PM on Thursday, the day after tomorrow. Mwah! [kissing face]