Chapter 17 A Long-Awaited Reunion She certainly didn't want to transfer schools again...
Yu Kui opened her eyes and saw the admiring looks from Sun Shuya and her classmates. Only then did she realize that she had finished the entire dance, and a clear smile appeared in her eyes.
After bowing to take her bow, she quickly returned to her seat, but her heart was pounding like a drum, and it took her a long time to calm down.
She realized that she could dance, and could fully express what dance conveys. This realization made her feel wonderful.
“You did a great job jumping,” Xie Xingzhi said, appearing beside her at some point and grabbing a banana from the table. “I’ll give you first place.”
Yu Kui glanced at him, and the boy stared at her with a smile. "What? Can't I compliment you?"
"Why are you in our class?" Yu Kui frowned and asked, "Don't you have any performances?"
"Yes, there are, but I don't like them," Xie Xingzhi shook his head, "Your class's are much better looking."
Yu Kui: "......" How should I explain to him what class collective honor means?
"You think I shouldn't leave the group?" Xie Xingzhi seemed to be able to see through her thoughts and chuckled, "I don't think so at all. Where do you get so much sense of responsibility?"
Yu Kui felt her face burning up at his words and couldn't help but retort, "You're also a member of your class."
Upon hearing this, Xie Xingzhi laughed even harder. He said, "You know that's our class, so what are you worried about?"
"You..." He was too willful, and Yu Kui was no match for him at all. She could only glare at him fiercely and ignore him.
Xie Xingzhi sat down next to her, not only watching their class's party but also eating the fruit and melon seeds their class had bought—it was simply outrageous. Yu Kui glanced at him several times during the event, but Xie Xingzhi didn't seem to care. He even winked at her, acting like a shameless rogue who would chase her away if she dared.
Yu Kui had never met such a shameless person before, so she could only focus her attention on the class program, thinking that he would leave in a while.
As the party was drawing to a close, Xie Xingzhi stood up and quietly left through the back door. When Yu Kui turned around, she only saw his tall, languid back.
"You did a great job today," Sun Shuya said, giving Yu Kui a notebook as a prize after everything was over. "I'll also sign you up for next year's party."
Next year... that will be the senior year party.
Yu Kui lowered her eyelashes. "Okay."
The school will have a three-day holiday for New Year's Day.
As the two packed their bags and headed outside, snowflakes began to fall. Yu Kui recalled this time last year when she and Qin You walked home together and even had hot pot on the way to celebrate the New Year.
But now, she hasn't spoken to Qin You in a long time. They've become like two parallel lines, with no possibility of ever intersecting again. This realization caused Yu Kui immense pain, but she couldn't tell anyone.
"What are you thinking about?" Sun Shuya noticed that something was wrong with her and asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Yu Kui shook her head, forcing a smile, "Want some hot pot? It's on me."
Sun Shuya's eyes lit up. "Great! There's a shop near the school. We should still have seats if we go now."
The two walked towards the hot pot restaurant through the thin snowflakes. As soon as they entered, they saw Tao Jiang sitting by the window. There was no one sitting opposite her, but there was a cup of steaming tea.
"Have you made new friends already?" Looking at her exquisitely made-up appearance, Yu Kui thought to herself, "It's only natural that someone as beautiful as her would have new friends. I don't need to focus my attention on her anymore."
"Yu Kui?" Tao Jiang also saw the two of them and asked with a flicker in her eyes, "Are you eating hot pot too?"
Yu Kui pursed her lips and said, "Mmm."
"That's such a coincidence," Tao Jiang said. "My former classmate is also coming to have dinner with me. Would you like to join us?"
"No need," Yu Kui refused without hesitation, "I won't bother you."
Just then, a boy walked over from the direction of the restroom. Before he even got close, he smiled at Tao Jiang and asked, "Have you ordered yet?"
“No,” Tao Jiang looked away and pushed the menu toward the boy. “Take another look.”
“Okay.” The boy looked down at the menu. The unfamiliar face was one that Yu Kui had never seen at school before. Could this person be the “tutor” that Tao Jiang had mentioned before?
But if they were outstanding students from this school, they would definitely be praised at the opening ceremony, but Yu Kui had no recollection of it at all...
"Why are you looking at her?" Sun Shuya grabbed Yu Kui's hand. "Aren't you hungry?"
Yu Kui snapped out of her daze, found a seat a little away from Tao Jiang, and after the hot pot boiled, she cleared all her questions from her mind and focused all her attention on eating.
"How are your grades these days?" Zhou Xiao placed the cooked vegetables into Tao Jiang's bowl and asked with concern, "Are you keeping up with your studies?"
"It's alright," Tao Jiang smiled and glanced at him. "Since you're so worried about me, will you tutor me?"
“If you need it,” Zhou Xiao said immediately, “I’ll find a tutor for the two of us.”
"Forget it," Tao Jiang shook her head, "With your grades, you're not even as good as me."
"What are you saying?" Zhou Xiao glanced at her, blushing as he retorted, "I just didn't study hard enough. If I had studied harder, I would have left you far behind."
Tao Jiang scoffed lightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Let's go see a movie after dinner," Zhou Xiao said tactfully, changing the subject. "There's a sci-fi movie out recently that we both like, and I've already bought the tickets."
"Go ahead," Tao Jiang wiped her mouth with a tissue, "My birthday is the day after tomorrow, have you prepared a present?"
“I’ve been planning this for a while,” Zhou Xiao patted his backpack. “Want to go out and play with me the day after tomorrow? I just got some money from my dad, you can do whatever you want.”
"We'll see," Tao Jiang didn't agree immediately. "We can go out together when we have time."
“Alright,” Zhou Xiao said, though a little disappointed, but he didn’t press her. He whispered, “Just don’t forget who I am.”
Tao Jiang deliberately asked, "Who are you? Aren't you just an old classmate?"
Zhou Xiao's expression changed slightly. "Just an old classmate?"
"Otherwise what?" Tao Jiang blinked. "Who do you think you are to me?"
“Old classmates won’t treat you as well as I do,” Zhou Xiao knew her quirky temper, and his expression quickly softened. “You better behave yourself.”
Tao Jiang smiled at him and held out her hand in front of him, "Where's the gift?"
Zhou Xiao took an exquisitely crafted gift box from his bag and placed it in her palm. Tao Jiang opened it and saw the crystal bracelet she had shared with him before. A smile instantly lit up her face. She took the bracelet out and tried it on, finding that the size was just right.
"You like it, don't you?" Zhou Xiao stared intently into her eyes. "I bought this with my New Year's money."
"I like it." Tao Jiang put on the bracelet, looked it over for a moment, and felt that it looked much better on her than on the milk tea shop manager. Her mood instantly improved. "You have good taste."
Seeing that she was satisfied, Zhou Xiao was also very happy. "It was worth all my preparations."
Tao Jiang looked up and met his gaze. The boy's eyes held undisguised affection. "Do you know that I even took the afternoon off just to see you..."
"Let's eat," Tao Jiang interrupted him before he could finish, "Don't we still want to watch a movie after dinner?"
"Okay." Seeing that she mentioned watching a movie, Zhou Xiao said enthusiastically, "You'll definitely like this movie."
After finishing their hotpot, it was already quite dark outside. Yu Kui went to the door to pay the bill and realized that Tao Jiang hadn't left yet. She was looking down at her phone, while the boy across from her was racking his brains to make her laugh, but Tao Jiang seemed a little distracted.
"Yu Kui, want to watch a movie together?" Hearing her talking to the cashier, Tao Jiang stood up and invited, "I'll treat you to a movie."
“No need,” Yu Kui shook her head. “It’s getting late, I need to go home.”
"I see," Tao Jiang nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "Then you can go back now. Goodbye."
"goodbye."
Yu Kui and Sun Shuya left. Tao Jiang looked at their figures leaning on each other, her expression somewhat unpleasant. Zhou Xiao asked, "Are those your classmates?"
“Hmm,” Tao Jiang lowered her eyes, “We used to have a good relationship, but now that she has found better friends, she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiao frowned immediately. "Why didn't you tell me you were bullied? I'll find someone to teach her a lesson."
"Why are you lecturing her?" Tao Jiang's heart skipped a beat. "I finally transferred schools, so don't do anything reckless. Who will be responsible if something happens?"
Zhou Xiao shrugged. "Why have you become so timid? You weren't like this before."
“I don’t want to transfer schools again,” Tao Jiang said, looking at the dim night outside the window. “You’d better not cause me any trouble.”
"I understand." Seeing that her expression was off, Zhou Xiao didn't press further. He simply said, "Tell me if you've been bullied. No matter who it is, if they upset you, I'll definitely stand up for you."
Tao Jiang smiled but didn't say anything.
It was already nine o'clock when Yu Kui got home. She opened the door and found Qin's mother sitting on the sofa talking to her mother. "Recently, Qin You has been coming home later than me. I called the teacher, but he didn't stay in the classroom to do his homework. He wouldn't say what he was doing. I'm so worried."
Yu's mother got up, took Yu Kui's schoolbag, and poured her daughter a cup of hot water. "Children grow up and have their own secrets. Why don't you ask him about it?"
“I can’t get any answers from him,” this is what’s giving Qin’s mother the biggest headache. “He was fine when he was little, but he’s become less and less talkative as he gets older. If his teacher hadn’t called last time, I wouldn’t have known that his grades had dropped so quickly.”
"Are they following behind?" Yu's mother urged her daughter to wash her hands and change into her pajamas, then sat down next to Qin's mother.
“No,” Qin’s mother sighed and said with worry, “His grades are still dropping, and the teachers can’t do anything about him. I really regret neglecting him because of work. Now my son and I have nothing to say to each other.”
Yu's mother was completely puzzled, "Qin You's grades are so good, how could they drop for no reason?"
“I’m wondering the same thing,” Qin’s mother said enviously. “If only he were like Yu Kui.”
Speaking of her daughter, Yu's mother naturally smiled, "Our Yu Kui's ranking has been rising recently, which makes her father and I quite relieved."
Upon hearing this, Qin's mother was filled with emotion. Who would have thought that Yu Kui, who used to need Qin You's tutoring, would now be among the top students?
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