Chapter 9
"Did you pass?"
"Oh, it's only been a short time, why are you in such a hurry?"
He Xi sat bored in the back seat of the car, and the two people next to him had been talking non-stop since they got in the car.
The driver stared at the rearview mirror for a few times, and frowned when he saw that the four people looked young.
The air conditioning in the car was sufficient, but the traffic was unbearable, and the honking of horns outside the window made people even more annoyed.
The driver stepped on the accelerator and took a few steps when he saw a car from the side and rear trying to cut in. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and slammed on the brakes.
He Xi staggered due to the car's shaking. He rubbed his forehead as the driver cursed at him. The words that were about to come out of his mouth were swallowed back silently at his dark face.
There was silence in the carriage for a moment.
"Master, we are not in a hurry. Can you drive slower and be more careful?" He Xu glanced at the person next to him and reminded him angrily.
"Hey my little one, it's a good thing I'm such a great driver, otherwise the car in front would have collapsed on the road long ago."
The driver seemed to have found a new topic, speaking in a dialect mingled with traditional Chinese culture, and began to speak unilaterally. The people in the back seat looked at each other in confusion, wondering if they were used to it.
"Young man, don't you think so?"
The air froze for a few seconds. He Xi raised his eyes and looked at the seat in front of him. He couldn't see what expression Zhao Lin had on his face when the driver suddenly spoke to him.
"First, I think you should apologize to the passenger who was hit. Second, if you really can't accept the platform's rules, you should cancel your driver's operating status as soon as possible."
The voice came from the passenger seat, and the tone was even more impatient than the driver's.
"After all, this is good for everyone, don't you think?"
He Xi instantly felt the air in the car become tense. The vehicle, which was driving steadily, swayed slightly, and after finally passing the congested section, it began to speed again.
"Tsk, you're so brave, little brat."
The man in the rearview mirror had a forced smile on his face, and it felt like the words were being squeezed out gently from behind his back teeth.
No one responded for a long while, and the car became quiet again.
He Xi carefully stared at the navigation on his phone, holding his breath all the way to his destination. The people in the back row quickly got out of the car.
"Awesome, you're worthy of being my brother Lin."
He Xi walked out a few meters quickly and heard the laughter behind him. He was so confused that he felt overwhelmed.
*
On a summer afternoon, the mall, with its pleasant temperature, was bustling with people. A few people arrived at the hot pot restaurant, looked at the noisy waiting area, and resignedly received their number plates.
He Xu looked a little unnatural. He wanted to take advantage of Qiao but was afraid to go too far. There was a hint of apology in his tone but it was not perceptible. Instead, it showed that he was in pain.
He Xi knew his personality very well. He was touched in his heart but still looked unappreciative.
"We're going to give him a good beating later, don't you think, Xixi?" Xiang Yuzhi was used to dealing with things. He glanced at the person scratching his head next to him, and took He Xi's arm.
"Tsk, as long as you are not afraid of holding on."
These two were always so childish. He Xi glared at his brother, who was rolling his eyes. His peripheral vision swept to the side, where a boy sat quietly, his brows lowered, his expression seemingly lost.
She looked at it carefully and somehow felt a strange sense of pity.
She put her hand to her forehead, and vague memories of her childhood flashed through her mind, as well as the scene when Yan Runqing hesitated and evaded the question when Zhao Lin was mentioned that day.
Confusion, contradiction.
In He Xi's world, he was still a mystery. She withdrew her gaze, frowned, and quietly closed the narrow door that had been pushed a crack.
"Customer A086, please have your meal."
Mechanical electronic sounds rang out one after another, and the four of them stood up and followed the waiter to the dining table.
"Please order first." He Xu handed the electronic menu that had just been handed over to the two people opposite him with a polite look.
"Oh, that's great, brother. You're on to something."
"Of course not, it's all thanks to you."
The two of them started singing in unison again, and He Xi automatically blocked out the noisy voices.
She quickly ordered the hotpot base, and the dishes she checked were all the ones the three of them usually ate. When she turned around to return the menu, she unexpectedly glanced at the person opposite her and was stunned for a moment.
"Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
"without."
The man opposite was decisive and efficient, but He Xi clearly remembered the scene he had accidentally witnessed in Grandma Li's kitchen that day, the wound on his arm...
Perhaps noticing her vague gaze as it passed over his arm, Zhao Lin calmly pulled down his sleeve and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry about me."
"oh."
He Xi was choking on him, and after a pause, he sighed inwardly for a second, then gave the other person a cold look without a trace of emotion. Although he was secretly complaining about his hands, he still changed the hot pot base that he loved to have spicy food to a double-flavored hot pot.
If it weren't for Grandma Li, she would not have tolerated this man's bad temper.
With this thought, she felt inexplicably relieved.
"Let's go, let's go first..." After handing over the menu, He Xi was about to ask Xiang Yuzhi to go get the bowl of condiments together, but unexpectedly, when he turned around, he saw her with a joking smile on her face.
"Our Xixi is so considerate, hehe..."
"Of course not. It's my fate to worry." She responded with a laugh. She was well aware of Xiang Yuzhi's teasing.
Without letting her continue, He Xi dragged her up. As she lifted her foot, she subconsciously glanced across at Zhao Lin, who was looking down at his phone. She breathed a sigh of relief for no apparent reason.
"I said, could you please stop making such a fuss?"
"What? It's so boring." Xiang Yuzhi muttered in dissatisfaction with her serious face, "You should be happy after you get out!" After saying that, he looked at her again, with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
He Xi was helpless because of what she said, but still reminded him worriedly: "After all, we are not familiar with him, so we still have to be careful."
"Okay." Xiang Yuzhi had experienced He Xi's vigilance before.
After the hot pot was served, He Xu volunteered to take on the responsibility of serving the dishes. He hurriedly picked up several plates of meat and put them all into the spicy hot pot, and symbolically put some leafy greens into the mushroom soup pot.
Everything happened in a few seconds, and when He Xi wanted to stop it, it was already too late.
"Why did you put all the meat here?"
"Why, you have your period and can't eat spicy food?"
"Someone come! I... Can't I change my taste once in a while?"
He Xi really couldn't eat spicy food during those days of the month, but when he said it so loudly in front of the other boys, her face instantly turned red.
He raised his eyes and glanced at the opposite side. Zhao Lin seemed to be deaf to the noise. He picked up the chopsticks and calmly picked up a piece of brown sugar rice cake and put it into his mouth.
Xiang Yuzhi looked at this and that, and looked at He Xi with a meaningful look.
"Eat, eat, the meat is almost overcooked." He Xi picked up the colander and served the food to the two of them to avoid their chattering and annoying others.
*
They ordered a lot of dishes, and He Xi felt full after eating for a while. He looked at his phone several times during the meal and always felt a little uneasy, especially since the two people next to him went to the bathroom one after another.
She turned her head and looked around. The hall was still full of customers and the atmosphere was bustling.
"I'll put the greens in your pot, huh?"
There were only two people left at the table, and she continued to greet the person opposite her.
"Don't...get off yet."
He Xi was holding the dish in her hand, neither moving it up nor down. She felt that Zhao Lin's voice seemed to have some hidden meaning, so she suddenly raised her eyes.
Following the sound of laughter around him, he looked over and saw the conspicuous Bao Hexu.
Xiang Yuzhi and several staff members pushed the cake and got closer and closer behind He Xu.
For a moment, He Xi wanted to leave, but the dining table was already surrounded by people watching the fun. She covered her face with her hands and hid in the corner behind the sofa.
As they saw that several people were approaching, the surrounding people started to cheer one after another.
"Sister, I was wrong!"
He Xu started right away, "At this moment, in front of everyone, I want to express my apologies to my dear sister. I hope she can forgive my earlier careless words and overlook my misdeeds."
“Wow—”
“Forgive—forgive—!”
He Xi finally couldn't help but stand up after hearing the unanimous jeers. She slapped He Xu's arm unhappily and said, "Alright, stop it. I forgive you."
He Xi was not simply angry with him. Besides, she was also at fault in this matter. She had actually calmed down after a few days, but she was just concerned about her reputation.
Who would have thought that this kid would do something like this.
The crowd gradually dispersed, and everything around returned to normal. The meal took nearly two hours, and near the end, He Xi took the opportunity to go to the bathroom and went to the front desk to pay the bill.
She didn't spend money lavishly like He Xu, and with her scholarship and time spent helping out at her cousin's noodle shop, she had saved some money.
"Wait for me outside."
He Xu went to check out, only to be told that someone else had already paid. He left the mall and shuffled uncomfortably towards He Xi, his expression smug and arrogant.
"We agreed to treat you, why did you sneak off to pay the bill, sister?"
He Xi held her forehead and smiled bitterly. She should have listened to Xiang Yuzhi and taught this kid a lesson. Now he was getting cocky again, and the tone of his voice made him deserve a beating!
"Save your little money for that autographed basketball."
"I knew it—you're the best, sis!"
He Xi quickly waved his hand to stop the person who was about to rush over to hug him, and his disgust was written all over his face.
*
When they returned to the library, the place where they had been that morning was already occupied.
He Xi simply went to the reading room and said, "You can go back if you want."
Xiang Yuzhi was instantly delighted when she heard that, "Xixi, I knew you wouldn't have the heart to torture me." She put her hands on He Xi's back and didn't forget to wink at He Xu.
"Ahem... well, in that case, let's go back first. Sister, don't study too late and go home early."
The two of them stuffed the books they had pretended to borrow in the morning into He Xi's hands and walked out of the study room briskly.
"I knew it." He Xi sighed in frustration, tightened the books in his arms and continued walking towards the reading room.
"Give me the book."
The sudden sound above her head startled her. When she looked up, she found that the person who was supposed to go back with He Xu did not follow him.
"You...why are you still here?"
The words came out of her mouth with a slightly stiff tone. After she finished speaking, she saw Zhao Lin's brows slightly frowned.
"Why, only top students are allowed to come to the library?"
"You—! I didn't say that."
He Xi stared into his eyes for a few seconds. The boy looked serious. She was too lazy to argue with him and quickly put the book in his hands.
Those two people took things at random, so it will take some effort to put the books back to their original places.
Zhao Lin watched the people walk away, lowered his head to glance at the numbers of several books in his hand, and walked towards the reading room.
The phone in his pocket vibrated several times before he answered it. He Xu's voice was mysterious.
"I have something to do in the afternoon, so go by yourself if you want to." He didn't sleep much last night, and now he doesn't have the energy to accompany him to have fun.
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Lin quickly retrieved the information of several books from the reading room's network system, and after seven or eight minutes, all the books were put back in their original places.
After finding a few physics books that interested him, he spent his time leaning against the bookshelf in the corner.
Before he could read for long, the text message alert sounded on his phone. He let out a light click and reached out to unlock it.
"Are you interested in coming over and chatting?"
Zhao Lin started receiving strange messages two or three days ago. At first, he didn't intend to pay attention to them until the other party mentioned He Xi.
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