I especially like Chapter 14.

The wind in the wilderness blew on his hot face, and Jin Zhao felt that he was really clever.

What kind of ordinary genius could be so calm and collected to throw away such an embarrassing situation?

She then briefly explained why only poisonous mushrooms remained. Given Meng Yanxi's aloof nature, she should have nodded and said goodbye by now.

Unexpectedly, Meng Yanxi was behaving very strangely today. After a moment of silence, she continued walking forward: "What level of poison?"

Jin Zhao: "...?"

She suspected that Meng Yanxi had eaten poisonous mushrooms before she arrived.

Seeing that she hadn't followed, Meng Yanxi turned around and asked, "I have a younger sister who can be quite annoying when she wants to. Do you know any mushrooms that would be suitable for her to eat?"

“…The toxicity cannot be guaranteed.” She followed him under his gaze.

Meng Yanxi: "Never mind then, I don't want to poison her for the time being."

He said he would forget about it, but he didn't stop walking. Jin Zhao suspected that he hadn't given up the idea of ​​poisoning his sister.

Meng Yanxi suddenly asked, "Where do you usually dance?"

Jin Zhao: "..."

She had no idea what was wrong with Meng Yanxi today. One minute he wanted to poison his sister, the next he was frantically stomping on her awkwardness.

"I don't dance often. I was just... cold." Jin Zhao made up an excuse against his conscience and subtly reminded him to move on and not bring it up again. "Wave up and warm up, but I'm not always this cold."

Meng Yanxi glanced at her sideways: "I know, what I mean is, where did you learn to dance?"

Jin Zhao: "A stunning dance."

Meng Yanxi finally stopped asking questions and took out her phone from her pocket. Jin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say that she should go back first when Meng Yanxi suddenly handed her the phone.

"Which one?" Meng Yanxi asked.

Searching for "Jinghong Dance" on the map yields five results.

Jin Zhao didn't know where he got such a strong drive, so Meng Yanxi explained, "My sister wants to learn."

Jin Zhao leaned over, swiped down the screen with her fingertip, and pointed to it for him: "The environment and teachers at this place in Tingfeng Lane are very good, but I rarely go there now."

Meng Yanxi lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the girl's soft, black hair.

"Why?" he asked.

Jin Zhao looked up and met his dark eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered briefly, and she looked away. After two seconds, she said softly, "Because I have to study."

After a moment of silence, Meng Yanxi asked again, "Who is your teacher?"

Jin Zhao looked at him, puzzled.

Meng Yanxi: "Your teacher must be very good. I want my sister to learn from her too."

When the dance teacher was mentioned, Jin Zhao's eyes sparkled, and he did not hold back his praise: "Teacher Yu Yu is indeed very excellent. She has been on the Spring Festival Gala and is also very patient. She is very good at explaining those abstract emotions and movements in a concrete and thorough way."

"Fish?" Meng Yanxi looked at her. "Fish in fish soup?"

Jin Zhao: "..." How unromantic.

"The Yu in Yu Meiren, the Yu in Yu Ji," she said.

Meng Yanxi nodded.

Then there was a brief silence; he must have finished asking his questions.

Jin Zhao pointed behind him: "Then I..." went home first.

"Do you have any other local specialties here?" Meng Yanxi continued to ask.

Meng Yanxi was unusually talkative today, and Jin Zhao felt that she must be not used to it, so she asked blankly, "Huh?"

"Besides mushrooms, are there any other local specialties?" Meng Yanxi asked. "I want to bring some back for my sister."

Jin Zhao had always envied Meng Yanxi's younger sister, even though Meng Yanxi had recently considered poisoning her. However, she could tell that he was just sharp-tongued; in reality, he deeply protected his sister. To ensure she grew up carefree, he personally stayed by her side to watch over her, even giving up his guaranteed admission to the best university for this purpose.

He is an extremely responsible older brother.

Jin Zhao thought for a moment and said, "The Buddhist supplies shop in Jinjue Temple has a lot of bracelets, sachets, and cultural and creative products. It's quite famous."

Meng Yanxi: "Is there anything else?"

"The rice wine here is also very famous."

"Um."

"And wood, peach wood."

"Um."

"Raspberry juice".

"Um."

Jin Zhao then mentioned several more things, but Meng Yanxi only responded in agreement and did not show any obvious interest.

As dusk fell, only the last rays of the setting sun shone orange. The two walked side by side along the ridges of the field. The evening breeze was gentle, and so were their steps, casting long, slender shadows.

“Oh, right,” Jin Zhao suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up, and he looked up at the boy beside him, “Our clay sculptures are very famous here.”

Meng Yanxi: "Clay sculpture?"

Jin Zhao smiled, revealing two small, white, pointed fangs: "Yes, my grandfather was very good at..."

"Lingling".

Someone called her name from not far away, interrupting her before she could finish speaking. Jin Zhao turned her head.

In the countryside, relationships between people are closer than in the city. People from the same village are often related by some kind of kinship, and even if they aren't, there's a lot of social interaction. Jin Zhao can't quite figure out the interpersonal relationships of her grandparents' generation, but she can recognize a few familiar faces.

She smiled and called out to the elderly woman walking towards her, "Grandma Zhang."

The old man, who was over seventy years old, was still very healthy. He carried a basket full of grass on his back and greeted Jin Zhao with a big smile in his local dialect: "You're back for the New Year? It's been so long since I've seen your family!"

Jin Zhao also answered in dialect, "Yes, I'm coming back for the New Year."

"Your grandparents, parents, and father are back too, right?"

Jin Zhao said, "Grandpa and Grandma are back."

As she spoke, Grandma Zhang walked up to Jin Zhao and took her hand, her eyes full of affection: "What a good daughter! You've grown even more beautiful."

As he spoke, he looked at the boy next to Jin Zhao.

In small towns, people get married early, especially in the countryside. It's not uncommon for childhood sweethearts to be engaged at a young age. The older generation has seen this many times and is even less reserved. After looking Meng Yanxi up and down, they turned to Jin Zhao and asked, "Is this your boyfriend? Are you bringing him home for the New Year?"

Jin Zhao was caught off guard, and her face flushed red. She glanced at Meng Yanxi in a panic and quickly denied it: "No, Grandma Zhang, please don't talk nonsense. I'm still in school. He's just my classmate."

"Ah, classmate." Grandma Zhang nodded, not feeling embarrassed about her misunderstanding at all. Instead, she generously commented, "Your classmate is really handsome, just like a big star on TV, even more handsome than those stars on TV."

They walked away, laughing and talking.

Jin Zhao forced herself to say goodbye, and when she felt Meng Yanxi's gaze on her, she was extremely glad that they were speaking in dialect.

The dialect of Jinjue Town is difficult to understand; Meng Yanxi probably didn't understand it either.

Jin Zhao reluctantly turned back.

Meng Yanxi reminded him, "You just mentioned clay sculpture."

Jin Zhao silently breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that Jin Zhao must have genuinely misunderstood.

But Granny Zhang taught him a lesson, and Jin Zhao's face was still burning hot, so how could she dare to bring him home again?

She made up an excuse: "Yeah, I was just about to say that clay sculpting takes quite a while. If you like, I can bring it to school for you when the semester starts next semester."

That was just a polite remark; Meng Yanxi didn't seem like the type to bother others.

Without a second thought, Meng Yanxi nodded and said, "Okay."

Jin Zhao's feelings were complicated.

After watching Meng Yanxi leave, she couldn't help but wonder: How many poisonous mushrooms did Meng Yanxi eat before going out today?

*

The Meng family left Jinjue Temple on the third day of the Lunar New Year, and Jin Zhao and his grandparents spent the Lantern Festival in the countryside.

The affiliated junior high school started on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month. Today, Grandpa and Grandma Showa are from the sixteenth generation of the city.

School starts in the second semester of the second year of high school. On the 17th, Jin Zhao brought her deskmate and the students in front and behind her some raspberry juice from Jinjue Town. The purplish-red juice was in a clear glass bottle and tasted sweet and sour. Si Tian took a sip and was so moved that she cried out loudly, confessing her love to Jin Zhao. Meng Yanxi glanced at them several times.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Lu Jingyue unscrewed the bottle cap, tilted his head back and took a sip, raised an eyebrow, and then took several more sips.

"It's actually quite delicious!" For once, Luo Heng didn't disagree with Si Tian and immediately tilted his head back and gulped down more than half of it.

Feeling a cool sensation behind him, he turned around and saw Meng Yanxi staring at him. Luo Heng generously handed him the raspberry juice on the spot: "This is delicious, Brother Yan, want some?"

Meng Yanxi glanced at Jin Zhao with a calm expression.

Jin Zhao was leaning over the table, whispering to Si Tian.

Meng Yanxi: "I don't like sour food."

"It's not sour, it's sweet." Luo Heng chuckled, "Just as sweet as Jin Zhao!"

"Smack!"

Meng Yanxi's textbook flew out of his hand and hit Luo Heng's face accurately, almost knocking over the strawberry juice in his hand. Luckily, he held on tight.

"Ouch!" Luo Heng cried out in pain, covering his face. "Meng Yanxi, what's wrong with you?!"

The commotion startled Si Tian and Jin Zhao, who were speaking in hushed tones, and both of them turned to look at them.

Meng Yanxi warned Luo Heng expressionlessly, "Don't speak recklessly."

Luo Heng: "?"

He only mentioned Jin Zhaotian, and didn't say anything excessive, right?

Are we not even allowed to compliment girls these days?

On the first day of school, everyone was still adjusting and somewhat dazed. Jin Zhao frequently looked down at the small blue cardboard box hidden under his desk.

Although it was just a polite remark, since Meng Yanxi had said she wanted to give it to her younger sister as a gift, she still asked her grandfather to help her sculpt a delicate and exquisite little Fuwa doll.

Judging from Meng Yanxi's cold and indifferent demeanor today, it seems he has completely forgotten about this matter.

Jin Zhao spent the whole day agonizing over whether or not to deliver the Fuwa dolls. She was worried that Meng Yanxi might have genuinely forgotten that she was supposed to deliver the Fuwa dolls, which would make her look like she was sending a love letter. She was also worried that Meng Yanxi hadn't forgotten and was inwardly cursing her for being untrustworthy.

After school in the evening, Luo Heng and Lu Jingyue invited Meng Yanxi to play basketball, but Meng Yanxi refused without hesitation. In the end, Lu Jingyue and Luo Heng left the classroom with the basketball.

Jin Zhao secretly turned around and saw Meng Yanxi sitting alone in her seat, looking down at a book.

It was that book again, *History of the Black Sea*. He seemed to particularly like it. Jin Zhao later looked it up and found that the book was about Eastern European geopolitics, culture, and economics.

Meng Yanxi is interested in Eastern Europe. Does he want to study there?

Jin Zhao was lost in thought when Meng Yanxi, who was reading a book, suddenly looked up. Jin Zhao couldn't dodge in time and their eyes met unexpectedly.

An awkward moment crept onto Jin Zhao's scalp.

How embarrassing! Caught red-handed peeking. Jin Zhao was in a bind, so he hurriedly pulled out a cardboard box from under the table and pretended to have important business to attend to as he approached him.

"This is for you." She carefully placed the small blue cardboard box on Meng Yanxi's desk.

Even though he was the one who asked for it, her heart was pounding. Those who knew her were just giving her Fuwa dolls; those who didn't might have thought she had hidden a love letter inside one of the dolls.

Meng Yanxi picked it up and opened it.

Inside the box was a tiny Fuwa doll, lying in the palm of my hand, smaller than a fist. Dressed in light-colored Hanfu, it sat cross-legged on a lotus leaf, its delicately carved face beaming with a smile, its two little hands raised to its ears as if sweetly asking for a hug.

Meng Yanxi ran her fingertips over the area, feeling a cool, delicate sensation.

"Thank you," he said.

Jin Zhao smiled and said, "You're welcome."

She thought for a moment, then offered to explain, "I mentioned wild raspberry juice to you the other day, but you didn't seem interested, so I didn't bring it for you."

Meng Yanxi: "Hmm, I thought it was sour."

"Not sour, sweet."

Meng Yanxi: "What kind of sweetness?"

Jin Zhao stared at him blankly.

She is a bit straightforward, and often she doesn't easily understand the unspoken meaning behind someone's words. But because he is the person she cares about, she always can't help but put in more effort.

She wasn't sure if Meng Yanxi wanted her to describe the taste of the raspberry juice, or if he wanted her to bring him a bottle.

She was a little afraid of being presumptuous.

Fortunately, Meng Yanxi quickly changed the subject: "By the way, it seems we didn't find the right teacher, Ms. Yu."

"Huh?" Jin Zhao was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "No way, I just went to dance once before the Spring Festival, and Teacher Yu Yu was still there."

"Did another Teacher Yu come? After all, this surname isn't uncommon."

"No, if new teachers share the same surname, they will be distinguished by their given names."

Meng Yanxi: "Distinguish by name?"

Jin Zhao: "Yes, for example, my name is Jin Zhao. If there is already a Zhao Zhao teacher in the dance studio, then I will be called Teacher Jin Jin."

Meng Yanxi's dark eyes stared at her: "Isn't your name Lingling?"

Words with a final nasal ending always carry an intimate connotation. When uttered by a secretly admired boy, they feel like a feather gently brushing against the heart.

Jin Zhao's face immediately flushed uncontrollably, and he explained in a low voice, "That's my childhood name."

Meng Yanxi remained noncommittal and asked, "What time do you usually go dancing?"

The dance studio uses dance cards. Jin Zhao's dance card was a pass her mother got for her when she was alive. Each use is one less pass, like the last connection between her and her mother. Subconsciously, she cherishes the few remaining passes and only goes to dance once very occasionally.

Meng Yanxi: "My sister is shy around strangers, probably because she didn't get along well with the teacher. She was very resistant to the first visit, crying and making a fuss. If it's convenient for you, you can bring her along."

Jin Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll go back and make an appointment with Teacher Yu Yu."

Jin Zhao started dancing at the age of eight and has been dancing for so many years, but now she can only take one-on-one lessons and needs to schedule a time with the teacher in advance. She doesn't have Teacher Yu Yu's contact information, so she always tells Jin Wenhui, who then contacts her.

Jin Wenhui made the appointment for her on Friday, at 3 pm on Sunday.

On Saturday, Jin Zhao told Meng Yanxi the time.

That night, the Meng family's crying could be heard across the street.

"I don't want to go! I don't want to learn to dance!" Little Meng Zhuxi sat on the floor and wailed. She even rolled around twice, crying, "I don't like dancing!"

But her brother remained unmoved, sitting regally on the sofa with a laptop next to him displaying intricate candlestick charts on the screen.

He kept a close eye on the market trends, seized the right moment to enter, and with a light tap of his long, white fingers on the touchpad, millions of dollars were instantly invested in corn futures. At the same time, he could still distract himself from arguing with his sister: "No, you like it, you really like it."

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Author's Note: My darlings, I'm going to be posting on the author's list tomorrow. To get a good spot, please don't hoard your chapters and subscribe promptly! I won't be updating during the day today or tomorrow. The next update will be at 11 PM on September 9th. Mwah!

Oh, and there's a giveaway, so please check it out!