Chapter Nineteen
The laughing crowd paused their expressions at the sudden sound and all looked towards the person who had entered.
Zhou Mo still felt a lingering tingling sensation on the outside of her left leg. Her left hand unconsciously gripped the seam of her school trousers. Her eyes held the same unwavering determination and composure as always. She didn't look at Yu Xi, she didn't look at anyone, she was just looking in their direction.
Yu Xi frowned slightly when she saw that it was Zhou Mo.
Before he could speak, the man who had jokingly said he wanted to pursue Zhou Mo spoke up, "Isn't this Little Jasmine?"
"I haven't even pursued her yet, and she's already offered herself up. Tell me, should I still pursue her?"
“I was asking him a question, why are you interrupting?”
Everyone gasped. They had never seen anyone dare to speak to their leader like that. Their gazes cautiously fell on the man's face. The man raised his arm, and everyone tensed up, waiting for his command.
The expected command did not come; the man simply nudged Yu Xi with his elbow and said, "Did you hear that? Little Jasmine is asking you a question."
"What?"
Zhou Mo: "I won't have any food when I get back."
Yu Xi's furrowed brows slowly relaxed, becoming smooth. "Didn't go into the kitchen? It's warmed up inside, but never mind, it's probably cold by now."
"Oh," Zhou Mo replied slowly.
An eerie calm settled over the atmosphere.
The man looked at Yu Xi with amusement. He didn't say anything, and the others didn't dare to move or speak.
"It's getting late, let's go back. Don't let Jasmine go hungry."
As the man spoke, he leaned closer to Zhou Mo, raised his wrist, and showed her the incomplete temporary tattoo. "Next time, I'll get a real one, okay?"
The man was good-looking and stood out from Yu Xi. He spoke with an upward inflection and a drawn-out ending, which sounded tender and affectionate.
However, Zhou Mo wasn't buying it.
"Whatever."
"My name is He Ru."
Zhou Mo didn't reply, and turned to leave.
Yu Xi said something to He Ru and then left with Zhou Mo. The shadows of the two of them, side by side, were gradually lengthened and then rapidly shortened due to the streetlights, repeating this cycle until they finally disappeared from sight.
"Brother, this woman is so ungrateful! How can she talk to you like that?!"
"Who am I?" He Ru asked with a smile playing on her lips.
The man replied, "You're the eldest brother."
“She doesn’t know. She only found out my name is He Ru today.”
He Ru left, humming a song.
The remaining people looked at each other in bewilderment.
No way, is my brother really going to date this Zhou Mo?
Yu Xi followed Zhou Mo silently, his gaze falling on Zhou Mo's left leg. He had just noticed that Zhou Mo's walking posture was awkward, there were obvious tear stains on her face, and her eyes were swollen like a rabbit's.
Zhou Mo thought she had concealed it well, but in reality, it was full of loopholes.
Yu Xi couldn't help but wonder if this person was crying because he wasn't home.
He then gave a self-deprecating laugh, saying that the relationships between people and things in this world are as fleeting as mayflies, changing in an instant.
Who can stay with whom for a long time?
"Yu Xi, I made a decision today."
"What?"
Zhou Mo suddenly stopped. Yu Xi stood casually behind her with his hands in his pockets. He didn't care what decision Zhou Mo had made. In his eyes, Zhou Mo was just a child pretending to be an adult.
He was, to put it bluntly, a pitiful child.
Like a fox borrowing the tiger's might, each seemingly calm attack is like a kitten showing its claws, utterly harmless.
Zhou Mo believed that this would protect her, so he cooperated with her acting, since she had indeed saved his life.
This favor will be repaid sooner or later.
"Although you are not a good family member, now that we have reached an agreement, I will not give up on you easily."
"What?!" This time, the "what" sounded particularly genuine compared to the previous one.
Zhou Mo looked directly into Yu Xi's eyes, "Even if you're a scoundrel, it doesn't matter, you'll become a good person."
Yu Xi looked at Zhou Mo in disbelief, as if she were looking at some alien species.
Zhou Mo stopped looking at him and said to herself, "You can't skip school, and you can't neglect your moral character. I'll ask Zhang Xing for help; he'll get your student registration sorted out."
"Zhou Mo, Zhou Mo!" Yu Xi called out a few times, but Zhou Mo acted as if she didn't hear him, preoccupied with planning Yu Xi's future. He took a big step and grabbed Zhou Mo's arm. "What exactly do you want? Don't you and I both know? This is just a game of make-believe. Back in the hospital, when you said those words to me, it wasn't my idea, it was you begging me to think about it. I agreed to it only to repay your life-saving grace."
Zhou Mo: "I know, I know I crave a family more than you do, but so what? Didn't I get it? If honesty could make this outcome unchangeable, I could tell you every day that I begged you, I begged you to be my family."
If Zhou Mo's tone had truly carried a hint of pleading, Yu Xi could probably deceive himself and let today's events temporarily fade away.
But Zhou Mo was provoking him; this person was really trying to take over his life.
"Is that thing really that important? What did Zhang Xing and the others promise you? Can this thing clear your father's name? Do you really consider me family? Or just a bargaining chip?"
The argument erupted completely at that moment.
Zhou Mo tried to push Yu Xi away, but the difference in strength was too great, and she couldn't budge her no matter how hard she tried. "Don't involve my family! What does this have to do with them?!"
"Isn't it because they died that you came to me?! When you first asked me to be your family, was it because you wanted to or because of those other things?!" Yu Xi rarely lost control of his emotions like this. He was usually indifferent and nonchalant, seemingly uninterested in many things in life. Sometimes you would think he was focused on studying something, but if you looked closer, you would find that his gaze was unfocused and aimless.
"What?! Yu Xi, are you out of your mind?! They've been asking for those things for so many years, and you haven't given them to them, but you give them to me as soon as I arrive?! Who do you think I am? Am I that great?! You didn't even offer me any comfort when I was sad! Do you expect me to give you anything?! Am I even family to you?!"
Even if this is just a game, were you really into it?!
Zhou Mo's tears fell without warning, landing on Yu Xi's hand. The tears weren't actually very hot; in fact, they were even a bit cool when they landed on the back of her hand. But Yu Xi was still 'burned' and pulled her hand back.
He staggered back a few steps.
Looking directly into Zhou Mo's questioning eyes, Zhou Mo seemed to have acquired a weapon, approaching Yu Xi step by step, "Why are you condemning me? What right do you have to condemn me? Anyone can say I'm stupid, say I'm clueless, but not you! Because every time I'm stupid, every time I'm clueless, you're by my side. Isn't your indifference condoning me? Look at me, Yu Xi, look at me!"
Why did we become family?
"Yu Xi, do you think I can scare you?"
Yu Xi remained silent and did not answer.
The next second, Zhou Mo leaned forward without warning, and Yu Xi instinctively opened her arms and wrapped them around her.
At this moment, he seemed to have gained synesthetic abilities. Zhou Mo had hugged him like this that day, as if hugging a fireball. What was Zhou Mo's expression then? Anxious, questioning.
He remembered Zhou Mo patting her cheeks.
Following the actions from his memory, Yu Xi withdrew his hand just before touching Zhou Mo's cheek.
"You deserve it."
He carried Zhou Mo on his back and ran towards the nearest hospital.
"You can write in your essays later that someone carried you to the hospital in the middle of the night when you had a fever. Even though it wasn't raining or snowing, you can write that your family was anxiously calling your name." Yu Xi muttered to himself. He knew that Zhou Mo had already fainted from the fever, but he still didn't stop his incessant chatter.
"What does it feel like to be carried on someone's back, Zhou Mo?"
"Head of the household".
"What if we have to sign a surgical consent form later? We're not even registered in the same household."
Yu Xi laughed as she spoke, then cursed herself, "Crazy."
When they arrived at the hospital and saw Zhou Mo getting her injection, he had lost his earlier emotions. He seemed detached and out of place in the hospital.
People come and go at the nurses' station, and nurses are constantly typing on their keyboards, recording data.
"Hello, do you have any sticky notes?"
The nurse looked up and saw a handsome young man. She paused in typing, then nodded, tore off a sticky note from the side and handed it to the young man. The young man then borrowed a pen, and the nurse couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.
Fortunately, the boy finished writing quickly while leaning on the table. When the pen was returned to the nurse, she subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Only after the boy left did she remember to savor his appearance.
"Kids these days are really getting good nutrition, and they're all growing up to be so healthy and beautiful."
Yu Xi stuck the note she had written on to the palm of Zhou Mo's hand on the side where she hadn't received the injection. It was a very discreet spot, ensuring that no one else could see it and that Zhou Mo would notice it the moment she woke up.
After doing all this, he asked about Zhou Mo's condition and, upon learning that she was alright, he left the hospital.
When Zhou Mo woke up, the first person she saw was her homeroom teacher. Upon seeing her awake, the teacher immediately came forward to ask her how she was doing.
Are you thirsty?
Zhou Mo shook her head, subconsciously clenched her fist and stood up to draw attention to the sticky note in her palm. She raised her hand and saw the contents of the sticky note clearly.
The homeroom teacher had never seen Zhou Mo so out of sorts.
Although it was only for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
Zhou Mo crumpled the sticky note into a ball and licked her dry lips. "It's nothing, my dog just ran away."
"A dog?" The homeroom teacher didn't know that Zhou Mo had a dog. She only thought that Zhou Mo used the dog as a source of emotional support, and that she went out to look for it because it got lost. That's why she caught a cold and developed a fever and was sent to the hospital. "What does it look like? I can help you look for it. Do you remember what I said? You can tell me if you have any difficulties."
Zhou Mo shook her head again.
"I will find him myself."
The initial confusion and uncertainty completely disappeared because of this argument, and Zhou Mo understood what she had to do.
This game of pretend doesn't matter who starts it first.
Now, only she can stop it.
Don't even think about it, anyone else.
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