Chapter 136, Chapter 7: The Academic Genius in Campus Novels
The proprietress's smile faded slightly.
"Looking for Qinglan? She's washing dishes in the kitchen."
She didn't invite Mr. Xu into the store, but instead waved to the waiter who was tidying up the tables and chairs inside.
"Go and call Qinglan out. Tell her her father is looking for her!"
The waiter was a young man who glanced at Xu's father with a hint of disdain, nodded, and lifted the curtain to enter the kitchen.
A short while later, Xu Qinglan came out from inside.
Xu Qinglan was a petite and slender girl.
She is already fifteen years old, but looks like she is twelve or thirteen.
His face was thin, which made his large eyes look somewhat frightening.
She was wearing a faded, ill-fitting coat, and despite the increasingly chilly weather, her ankles were still exposed.
Seeing the person standing at the door, there was no joy on his face, but rather a sense of disgust and helplessness.
Upon reaching the proprietress, Xu Qinglan thanked her softly and politely before pushing her father a few steps outside.
Her weak voice was filled with sobs.
"Didn't I already pay you your salaries this month? Why are you here again!"
Her entire attention was focused on her father.
They didn't even notice Xu Qingzhou and Yu Wanwan, who were standing a little further away.
Those excessively large eyes were filled with weariness, fear, and a hint of barely perceptible anger that were beyond their years.
The waiter's disdain, the proprietress's faint wariness, and Xu Qinglan's slightly trembling words.
Like a sharp sword, it was deeply etched into Xu Qingzhou's heart.
He could almost imagine how, before he arrived, the original owner of this body and her family had repeatedly exploited the frail girl's salary on Weibo.
A fire was burning in Xu Qingzhou's heart, and anger made his whole body tremble.
Having experienced so much of the world and encountered so many scumbags.
But never before had he felt such a strong urge to tear the original owner of his body to pieces!
Seeing Xu's father instinctively open his mouth as if to scold him, Xu Qingzhou could no longer hold back and stepped forward, his voice hoarse.
"Qinglan!"
Xu Qinglan was startled by the sudden sound and turned her head sharply.
When she saw Xu Qingzhou, a look of bewilderment first appeared on her face.
A few seconds later, she seemed to recognize him, but the wariness and distance in her eyes did not lessen in the slightest.
Instead, he subconsciously took a half step back, his body tensing up even more.
"……elder brother?"
The weak voice was filled with uncertainty and wariness.
Clearly, in her heart, this brother was no different from her parents.
In fact, if it weren't for him, she wouldn't be going through all of this now.
Seeing her younger sister looking like a frightened little animal, Xu Qingzhou felt as if her heart was being squeezed tightly.
He couldn't care less about maintaining the original owner's persona in front of Xu's father.
Try to make your voice sound gentler and more reliable.
"Qinglan, don't be afraid, I'm not here to ask you for money."
He stepped forward, intending to pat his sister's shoulder, but Xu Qinglan instinctively dodged away.
Xu Qingzhou's hand froze in mid-air, and he felt even worse.
He withdrew his hand, no longer trying to do anything to offend her, looked into her eyes, and clearly stated his purpose, word by word.
"I'm here to take you back to school. I've already earned the tuition fees, so you don't need to work anymore."
Xu Qinglan froze, her dark eyes staring straight at Xu Qingzhou, as if she hadn't understood what he was saying.
It took her a while to seem to slowly process what she had just said.
A faint glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, only to be quickly swallowed up by deeper doubt and bitterness.
She forced a smile, a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Study? Do you think I'm someone who's easily fooled?"
The childish voice carried a mockery and despair that were inappropriate for his age.
"Is your family short of money again? Or are you trying to trick me into going back to marry that cripple Zhang? I won't go back... I'd rather die than go back! Forget about it!"
By the end, she practically screamed it out.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back tightly.
Xu Qingzhou was at a loss as to what to do with his younger sister.
Of course, he could use the same tactics he used on Mr. and Mrs. Xu last night to deal with her.
He made her think that sending her back to school was just for his own face.
But seeing his sister like this, he couldn't bear it.
Yu Wanwan sighed.
She didn't say anything to comfort her, but simply stepped forward, took out the stack of money she had taken from Xu Qinglan yesterday from her bag, and handed it to her.
"This is the prize money your brother Xu Qingzhou won in the school's subject competition, totaling 16,000 yuan. He kept 6,000 yuan for his tuition and miscellaneous expenses, and the remaining 10,000 yuan is not much, but it is enough to support you to graduate from junior high school."
Yu Wanwan spoke slowly, making sure Xu Qinglan could hear her clearly.
After glancing at Xu Qingzhou, Yu Wanwan decided to play the good guy to the end and started making things up without even blinking.
“You are young, and your brother is not much older either. Even if he is anxious about you being forced to drop out of school, there is nothing he can do.”
Ha, what's the rush for that scumbag? All he thinks about are those luxuries that are out of his reach.
"In order to get this bonus, your brother studied day and night at school, working himself to the bone, just so that his sister, who was implicated by him, could return to school."
He was so engrossed in his studies that he almost neglected his studies in order to seduce Ye Shutong, that rich girl.
Xu Qingzhou's eyelashes trembled, and he gave Yu Wanwan a strange look before quickly lowering his head.
With trembling hands, Xu Qinglan took the stack of money that Yu Wanwan had placed in her palm.
The ten thousand yuan was placed in an envelope; it wasn't thick, and it was indeed the amount she had never seen in her entire life.
She looked up at her brother, who was filled with guilt and dejection, then at her gentle sister beside him, and finally, her gaze fell on her father, who looked embarrassed and pained but did not utter a word in rebuttal.
An immense, unbelievable surge of ecstasy and a sense of injustice simultaneously shattered the defenses she had desperately erected.
"Wow……"
Finally, this girl, who had been forced to mature early and be strong all along, could no longer hold back and burst into tears.
She cried her heart out, as if she wanted to cry out all the fear, grievances, and despair she had felt over the years.
With red eyes, Xu Qingzhou stepped forward and finally hugged her younger sister's small body tightly in her arms, patting her back and apologizing softly over and over again.
"I'm sorry... Qinglan, I'm so sorry... I'm late. I'll earn money to support your studies from now on, and I'll never let you suffer again..."
Yu Wanwan watched this scene quietly, silently stuffed a pack of tissues into Xu Qingzhou's hand, and took a step back.
He left the space to the brother and sister and turned to negotiate with the proprietress.
The proprietress overheard most of their conversation.
Looking at Yu Wanwan with her gentle smile, and then at the brother and sister embracing each other, he sighed deeply.
"It's good that he can go back to school. He's just a little kid..."
The landlady didn't say much, readily settled Xu Qinglan's wages, and took Yu Wanwan to the dormitory to pack her luggage.
It's called a dormitory, but it's really just a storage room.
Originally, such small restaurants did not include accommodation.
However, the landlady knew a little about Xu Qinglan's situation and took pity on her, so she cleared out the storage room for her to live in.
Xu Qinglan didn't have much luggage, just a cotton quilt, a thin blanket, and a few faded old clothes.
Before leaving, Yu Wanwan slipped a thousand yuan to the proprietress.
"Hey classmate! What are you doing?"
Yu Wanwan shook her head, her smile remaining unchanged.
"Thank you for taking care of Qinglan during this time."
"I didn't do anything, I can't accept this..."
Yu Wanwan had already quickly left with a burlap sack containing her luggage.
"Take it if it's offered to you; good deeds will be rewarded!"
By the time the proprietress chased after her, she had already jumped onto the tricycle with a burlap sack in a few swift movements.
The tricycle wobbled away and left the area.
The proprietress stood there, clutching the thousand yuan, at a loss for what to do.
Xu Qingzhou originally wanted Xu Qinglan to go to Yunchuan City to attend junior high school.
Yu Wanwan stopped her.
Given Xu Qinglan's current situation, it's not appropriate for her to go directly to the city.
One is an adaptation issue, and the other is an environmental issue.
People of this age tend to have some degree of competitive mentality.
Just like a scumbag, before he went to Yun Chuan High School, he wasn't that outrageous.
Xu Qinglan was already sensitive, and after experiencing so much, putting her directly into that kind of environment was not a good thing for her.
Xu Qingzhou was not unaware of these issues.
All I can say is that concern leads to confusion.
In the end, Xu Qingzhou took Xu Qinglan to the junior high school in town.
This is a boarding public school.
Although it wasn't a top-tier school, it was still much better than the one she had attended before.
The enrollment process should have been quite complicated, but with Yu Wanwan around, everything was easily resolved.
They sent Xu Qinglan to school and watched her smoothly enter her new class under the guidance of her homeroom teacher.
The heavy weight in Xu Qingzhou's heart was lifted.
As they walked out of the campus, Xu Qingzhou lowered his eyes and held her hand tightly with one hand.
"Xiao Wan, thank you."
Yu Wanwan glanced at him.
Like him, she travels through different worlds and embodies different people.
However, she never felt any sense of identification with or empathy for the original owners of these hosts.
She always kept the distinction clear: she was herself, and the original owner was the original owner.
So she doesn't really understand Xu Qingzhou's feelings right now.
Yu Wanwan gave a light hum, her tone still cheerful.
"It all has to be repaid. I'll keep track of the interest!"
Xu Qingzhou's suppressed emotions were somewhat dispelled by her attitude.
He smiled slowly, turned around and hugged her waist, pressing his forehead against hers with a smile.
"Yes, I'll pay you back, however much it is."
Yu Wanwan raised an eyebrow slightly, stood on tiptoe, and bit his lip.
Before he could react, she shoved him aside, put her hands behind her head, and strode forward.
Xu Qingzhou was stunned for a moment, then touched his lips with his hand. After a long while, he quickly caught up with her.
Sunlight streamed down the streets of the small town, casting long shadows of the two people.
After Xu Qinglan's return to school was resolved, the two did not stay here.
Before leaving, Xu Qingzhou left three thousand yuan for his parents.
Using the fabricated excuse from Yu Wanwan, he gave Xu's parents a warning, making them afraid to make any more moves against Xu Qinglan.
Only then did he and Yu Wanwan embark on their journey back to Yunchuan.
The journey back was no different from the journey there.
Xu Qingzhou remained in a bad mood the entire way.
Once he finally got off the car and stepped onto the smooth road, Xu Qingzhou breathed a deep sigh of relief.
He didn't have much time to relax and think; the preliminary rounds were about to begin.
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