Chapter 14
Lu Mingxiao turned his gaze to the person behind the grade director. The tall and slender boy had just entered from outside the door. His soft, dark brown hair was gently swayed by the wind in the corridor. The transfer student calmly surveyed the students in the class.
He felt no awkwardness in a new environment and quickly found his target—his eyes met those of Lu Mingxiao.
Those eyes curved slightly, seemingly quite pleased with Lu Mingxiao's surprised expression. A lively, youthful energy suddenly shone through their originally cold and clear pupils.
Lu Mingxiao stared at him in a daze as he walked up to the podium, gave a brief self-introduction, and neatly wrote his name on the blackboard.
Jiang Huaiyu.
It's strange, the corners of my lips just started to turn up, and I couldn't bring myself to do it.
The old man had a good impression of the student with beautiful handwriting. He nodded and gestured for Jiang Huaiyu to find a seat. Then, remembering that another student with equally beautiful handwriting was still being punished by standing, he glared at Lu Mingxiao with a hint of disappointment and told him to go back to his seat.
The seats in the class are not arranged according to height. Each time you change seats, you move diagonally in front of yourself. Tall students also have the opportunity to sit in the front row. Lu Mingxiao is currently in the fourth row by the window. The only empty seat in the class is the fourth row, which is the furthest away from him and is against the wall.
Jiang Huaiyu sat with a petite girl and found the chemistry textbook from a pile of newly received teaching materials.
Lu Mingxiao's deskmate, Liang Jing, poked him with his finger. "Brother Xiao, what are you craning your neck to look at? The transfer student?"
"Hmm." Lu Mingxiao smiled slightly, resting his chin on his hand, his gaze sweeping across the entire class before landing on Jiang Huaiyu: "This new boy is quite handsome, isn't he?"
Liang Jing gave him a strange look: "That's true, but what are you so proud of?"
Lu Mingxiao remained silent, but quietly took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Huaiyu.
[Lu Mingxiao]: Jiang Xiaobao, you're something else! You gave me a surprise without saying a word.
But Jiang Huaiyu was clearly the kind of good kid who wouldn't play on his phone during class. He was holding a pen and taking notes in his new book. Lu Mingxiao didn't expect him to reply immediately, so he put his phone in the book to hide it. He looked at the textbook with the wrong page and twirled his pen. After twirling it twice, he realized that the question the old man was talking about was one that Jiang Huaiyu had explained to him before. He flipped through two pages, found the question, and drew a small triangular fish on the question number.
Jiang Huaiyu hadn't looked at his phone. The watch on his wrist, which was linked to his phone, flashed. His pen paused on the paper, and he had already guessed what Lu Mingxiao had said.
The bell rang, and the old man had just stepped out of the main gate when Liang Jing cheered, "Let's go, Xiao-ge, let's play basketball?"
Lu Mingxiao threw down a sentence, "Go by yourself," got up, walked around the two rows of seats in the middle and the students who had finished class, and went straight to Jiang Huaiyu, who was still sitting in her seat organizing her textbook.
"Jiang Xiaoyu!" Along with the voice came a warm, dry hand. Lu Mingxiao vigorously ruffled Jiang Huaiyu's fluffy hair, glanced back at the empty seat behind him, pulled a chair over and sat down, his long legs almost blocking the entire aisle: "Why did you suddenly come back? How long are you staying this time? You've already transferred schools, so... are you leaving again?"
His eyes were full of smiles, sparkling as if stars had fallen into them. Under the gaze of such eyes, Jiang Huaiyu couldn't help but smile as well: "I've discussed it with my parents and we plan to finish high school here, so... I'm afraid your room won't be able to be changed back anytime soon."
"That's terrible..." Lu Mingxiao said, but his eyes were full of smiles. "But since you bought me those shoes, I'll reluctantly take you in."
“That’s my home too.” Jiang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow, her tone teasing. “Speaking of which, you didn’t just receive shoes. Did you like the snacks I bought for you?”
"Brother Xiao, your teeth are really good."
"Huh? Jiang Xiaobao..." Lu Mingxiao laughed, "You've even learned to tease your brother now..."
Jiang Huaiyu's deskmate had been listening silently for a while, and finally couldn't help but lean over and ask, "Brother Xiao, do you know any new classmates?"
She turned to Jiang Huaiyu with a lively smile: "Hello, new deskmate, my name is Zhuoran, and I am the class's arts and culture representative."
Jiang Huaiyu nodded, smiling gently: "Hello."
“He’s my cousin,” Lu Mingxiao said. “So, what do you think? Aren’t our family genes good?”
Liang Jing suddenly appeared out of nowhere: "This is amazing, Brother Xiao! Does your family have a rule that if you're not handsome enough, you'll be kicked out of the family register?"
More people gathered around, chattering amongst themselves:
"Brother Xiao, is this your cousin? Will he hang out with us from now on?"
"Jiang Huaiyu, right? Do you play basketball? Let's play together in PE class!"
"Brother Xiao, please add the new classmate to our class group, otherwise he won't see any notifications."
"Brother Xiao..."
Jiang Huaiyu knew that Lu Mingxiao was popular, but she didn't expect that because of Lu Mingxiao's popularity, he was quickly absorbed into this class. It seemed that the moment he became "Lu Mingxiao's cousin", the students of Class 5 of the second year of high school had an unconditional trust in him.
He was a little uncomfortable with such enthusiasm, and Lu Mingxiao noticed it too. He got up and chased away the people who were making a fuss. Amidst the piano music with its distinct static, the students gradually returned to their seats. Lu Mingxiao took out a piece of candy from his pocket, took Jiang Huaiyu's hand, and put the candy into his palm.
"Welcome back, Jiang Xiaobao."
...
The new campus wasn't far from Lu Mingxiao's home, so he could ride his bicycle home for lunch. Jiang Huaiyu sat on the back of him, her long legs bent slightly to avoid dragging on the ground, which was a bit tiring.
"Just a little longer, we'll be home soon." Lu Mingxiao pedaled his bicycle at breakneck speed with ease, his open school uniform fluttering in the wind. "Let me make this clear, young master, you know Dad can't cook. His illness makes him unable to tolerate the smell of cooking oil. So Mom usually cooks extra food in the morning, and we can just heat it up for lunch. Mom makes dishes that won't be affected by heating them up, but if you still can't get used to it, then I'll have to give you instant noodles."
“I can eat here. I ate here during the summer vacation.” Jiang Huaiyu squinted her eyes contentedly in the cool breeze under the shade of the tree. “I went home first this morning and brought my luggage over. Mom had already gone out to work, and Dad wasn’t home either. Hu Zi opened the door for me.”
“Tiger only opens the door for people he knows. Dad probably went to deliver goods. He’ll be so happy to see your luggage when he comes back.” The road conditions were bad, and the bicycle was a bit bumpy. Lu Mingxiao said, “Hold on to me, don’t fall off.”
Without thinking much, Jiang Huaiyu raised an arm and hugged Lu Mingxiao's narrow waist.
Lu Mingxiao's back stiffened.
Even though Jiang Huaiyu wasn't using any force, the presence of that arm was so obvious. The arm gently wrapped around his waist and abdomen, and the body heat was transmitted to him through the thin summer school uniform short sleeves, making him feel inexplicably hot.
How strange. Li Rui had sat on the back of his seat before, and had even held him when the road was bumpy, but he felt that Li Rui's arms were no different from Hu Zi's dog paws. What was wrong with him today?
Is it too hot today?
He tried to divert his attention from Jiang Huaiyu's arm, so he asked, "Did you suffer a grievance when you went back?"
Jiang Huaiyu was stunned: "...No."
"Definitely." As he rode his bicycle downhill, Lu Mingxiao gently flicked the bell. With a clear, crisp sound, he said, "Little fish, little fish, swim quickly, don't let the fishing net get your heads caught..."
Jiang Huaiyu burst out laughing.
When Li Qing returned home in the evening, before she even entered the yard, she heard a clear laugh and a dog barking.
She stood there, stunned, until the clear, youthful voice angrily shouted, "Lu Dabao! You did this on purpose!"
She then came to her senses and reached out to push the door open, but then remembered something and awkwardly patted the dust off her clothes. Halfway through, she laughed again.
What is she doing? Her little baby won't dislike her.
She pushed open the door and saw Lu Mingxiao pouring water on Hu Zi with a hose. Hu Zi, however, nimbly dodged and hid behind Jiang Huaiyu. The dog leash almost tripped Lu Mingxiao, who struggled frantically, resulting in water soaking Jiang Huaiyu. After being drenched several times, Jiang Huaiyu realized that Lu Mingxiao was doing it on purpose, so she picked up a basin from the water storage bucket and splashed water on Lu Mingxiao.
"Ouch! Jiang Xiaobao! You splashed it in my mouth!"
The two boys were having a water fight, soaking wet, while Lu Chuan sat in the bedroom, watching them with a smile through the bright window.
Seeing this, Li Qing felt all her fatigue disappear. She laughed and scolded, "Are you two trying to rebel? It's chilly at night, don't catch a cold. Go take a hot shower!"
Jiang Huaiyu felt a little embarrassed, but strangely enough, his restless heart calmed down after Li Qing's teasing remark. He looked at Li Qing, his eyes sparkling, and the title slipped softly from his lips.
"mom……"
Li Qing had already hugged him and patted him hard: "Little Bao... you can be wherever you want. If you like staying at our house, then stay a few more days. Mom will cook delicious food for you. You can go back anytime you want. Your happiness is the most important thing."
Jiang Huaiyu raised her hand and gently encircled Li Qing, lowering her head to hide her reddened eyes.
...
At night, Jiang Huaiyu lay down on that single bed once again.
The window was open, and the occasional chirping of cicadas could be heard in the courtyard. The curtain, described as "precious as pearls," was blown by the wind outside the window, and a corner was slightly lifted. Lu Mingxiao, shirtless, came in while drying his hair. Immediately afterward, the bed on the other side of the wooden plank made a sound, and Lu Mingxiao lay down as well.
"Jiang Xiaobao," he asked, "Are you asleep?"
"Not yet." Jiang Huaiyu turned over, facing the wooden board, and asked sleepily, "But I'm a little sleepy. Is there something you want to ask?"
“It’s nothing…” Lu Mingxiao paused, scratching his wet hair in confusion: “Tsk, I still want to ask…”
He organized his thoughts, and after a while, asked, "I find it really strange. When you hugged me today, I felt like you burned me. Are you sick? But when I patted your forehead later, you didn't have a fever, Jiang Xiaobao..."
He waited a while, but heard no reply, so he went around the wooden plank and peered inside...
The young master, who had been busy all day, had fallen asleep, his slightly curled-up sleeping posture looking rather adorable.
Lu Mingxiao smiled and attributed the answer to the problem to the midday sun being too hot.
He whispered, "Goodnight, Jiang Xiaobao."
Author's Note:
Sorry for the long wait, my darlings! Here's one chapter for now, and I'll post another one around midnight, but it'll be a bit late. Don't wait, I'll send you a red envelope by clicking the paw icon after this chapter! [heart emoji]
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