Chapter 18 Jealousy
Time flies when you're young. Before we knew it, it was the end of April. The affiliated high school organized a monthly exam, and after the exam came May Day, a three-day holiday.
For students about to enter their senior year of high school, a three-day holiday is a luxury. On the day the exams ended, the classroom erupted in cheers like firecrackers, as if they wanted to blow up the classroom that had been confining their youth.
Jin Zhao lowered his head and quietly packed his things, repeatedly pondering the last math problem in his mind.
She couldn't do it.
She's consistently ranked in the top 20-25 of her grade, but she can't seem to climb any higher. She clearly works very hard at practicing problems, but it's like she's hit a plateau, making one question whether she actually has any talent at all.
"What's wrong?" Lu Jingyue, her deskmate, asked when she noticed her sullen expression. "Are you unhappy during the holiday?"
Jin Zhao turned to look at him.
Lu Jingyue is like irrefutable proof that talent truly exists.
The temperature suddenly rose these past few days, reaching as high as 26 or 27 degrees Celsius. The 16 or 17-year-old boy, who was sensitive to the heat, had already changed into short sleeves. The setting sun shone through the school buildings, like a handful of broken gold flowing obliquely into the window, landing on the two desks side by side, and the ends of the boy's hair were also touched by the light gold.
Jin Zhao had a sudden thought and blurted out, "Did you solve the last big math problem?"
Lu Jingyue was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Does my face really look like a math problem?"
Jin Zhao stared at him blankly.
Lu Jingyue: "Have you noticed that every time you look at me for more than three seconds, the next thing you say is always a question?"
Jin Zhao: "?"
Did she? Why was she completely unaware?
Her face flushed, and just as she was about to apologize, Lu Jingyue reached out his hand to her: "Give it to me."
Jin Zhao: "What?"
"Paper and pen," Lu Jingyue said magnanimously.
Jin Zhao quickly took it out of his bag and placed it respectfully in front of him.
As school ended, students left in twos and threes, their laughter and chatter mingling with the light dust motes reflected in the setting sun, creating a scene of golden fragments that resembled a warm, ancient painting. As soon as school was over, Luo Heng and Si Tian ran off mysteriously. Meng Yanxi sat in her chair with her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on her deskmates diagonally in front of her.
Seventeen-year-old Lu Jingyue had the slender build typical of a young man, and his shoulder blades protruded when he hunched over slightly. He held down the paper with one hand, wrote a few lines of formulas with his right, then quickly put down the pen, propped his elbow on his hand, and lazily glanced at the girl beside him, his left hand lightly tapping the formulas on the paper.
Jin Zhao leaned forward, head down, listening intently to the boy beside him explaining, his eyes fixed on the paper. Occasionally, he would look up at him and ask a question or two.
The young men and women came and went, as if a warm feeling was flowing between them.
Meng Yanxi stared blankly in their direction. The rays of the setting sun fell directly on the ground in front of his table, dividing the space into light and shadow, with him in the darkness.
The last math problem was very difficult; Jin Zhao guessed that very few people could solve it. Lu Jingyue's grades had always been average, neither high nor low, but he always managed to solve these kinds of difficult problems and could even explain the thought process with ease.
"You're amazing." Jin Zhao looked up at him, completely convinced.
When she becomes that capable, she'll have less to fear.
"They're gone."
A cold voice came from beside them. Meng Yanxi walked over with her schoolbag, her gaze sweeping over the draft paper in front of the two of them.
The last big question.
Is it difficult?
Meng Yanxi glanced at Lu Jingyue.
Lu Jingyue chuckled.
Lu Jingyue doesn't laugh much, only very occasionally, but most of the time Jin Zhao doesn't understand what he's laughing at, which makes her look at him in confusion.
Lu Jingyue stood up: "Let's go, deskmate, have a good holiday."
Jin Zhao nodded: "Goodbye."
Meng Yanxi remained standing still, looking down at her.
Jin Zhao's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
Unlike her natural and casual conversation with Lu Jingyue, she always seemed to need to mentally prepare herself before speaking to him, as if she needed to bolster her confidence.
Meng Yanxi's Adam's apple bobbed, and she spoke first: "My sister asked me to ask if you're going dancing during the May Day holiday."
Jin Zhao was a beat behind and replied softly, "No, I won't go for now."
Meng Yanxi stared at her, his peach blossom eyes with dark pupils.
Two seconds later, his gaze swept over the draft paper on the table again, and he asked, "Didn't you understand the question?"
Jin Zhao followed his gaze and quickly said, "No, I understand. Lu Jingyue is very good at explaining problems."
She also made sure to praise her deskmate who often helped her with her homework.
Her deskmate had already walked to the back row, but stopped to wait. He leaned back against the desk, looking at their direction with a lazy yet patient expression.
Meng Yanxi didn't speak, nor did he leave. His eyes seemed to suggest he wanted to say something, but after a few seconds of silence, he said nothing.
Jin Zhao thought for a moment and asked considerately, "You didn't manage to do it either?"
Meng Yanxi lifted her eyelids slightly: "How could that be?"
Jin Zhao also realized she had asked a silly question. Meng Yanxi had always been the top student in the grade, so how could he possibly not be able to solve the last big problem? She nodded and said goodbye to Meng Yanxi.
Meng Yanxi gave a somewhat indifferent "hmm," picked up her schoolbag, turned around, and left with Lu Jingyue.
Looking at the two men's impressive figures from behind, Jin Zhao wondered if his intuition was wrong.
Did Meng Yanxi have something to say to her just now, given her expression?
"Didn't you tell her about winning the lottery?"
After going downstairs, Meng Yanxi immediately took out her phone and contacted Teacher Feng via WeChat.
He was some distance behind Lu Jingyue and used voice chat directly. Lu Jingyue, who was ahead, only heard the words "won the prize" and assumed Meng Yanxi was talking to him, so he turned around and asked, "What prize?"
"Nobody's talking to you." Meng Yanxi glanced at him indifferently and walked past him.
Teacher Feng always replies to WeChat messages instantly. Without using voice messages, she typed a text message: "As I said, I contacted her father the day you transferred the money."
A screenshot was attached at the end, showing a WeChat conversation between Teacher Feng and Jin Wenhui. According to Meng Yanxi, this was a 30th anniversary celebration event for Jinghong Dance, where lucky winners would receive 30 free private dance lessons from Jin Zhao, with the teacher of their choice and no time limit.
Meng Yanxi put away her phone, her expression indifferent.
Lu Jingyue caught up, staring at him thoughtfully: "Did I offend you?"
Meng Yanxi ignored him.
*
Although Jin Zhao said she wouldn't go dancing, Meng Yanxi still booked three classes for Meng Zhuxi during the May Day holiday, and Meng Zhuxi went every day, which made Meng Zhuxi a little tired of studying.
She is clever, but no one is born loving to learn, especially not dance, which requires real hard work and dedication.
On the last day, Meng Zhuxi really didn't want to go out. She hugged a pillar in the corridor and wailed, crying and cursing Meng Yanxi for being adopted: "You're not my brother! You were adopted! Go find your biological parents!"
Meng Yanxi took out her phone without any expression.
Meng Zhuxi had practiced too hard yesterday, and her arms and legs still hurt. Ignoring Meng Yanxi's attempts to comfort her, she hugged the pillar and cried her eyes out. Meng Yanxi tried to pull her up, but she kept climbing up the solid wood pillar, clinging to it tightly and refusing to let go.
Meng Yanxi was surprised to find that she had this skill, and her expression was quite pleasant: "Your dance practice is quite effective. You might become a dancer when you grow up."
"I'm just a useless person, a useless person can't be a dancer, sob sob sob!" The little girl hugged the pillar, sobbing that she even cursed herself.
Meng Yanxi stared intently at her phone screen, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and said, "Someone sent me a carnival gift."
He looked up at Meng Zhuxi and said, "Give me ten more, and I'll make up the money to buy you a phone."
Meng Zhuxi cried even harder, climbing down the pillar to hit him as she cried. While being beaten, Meng Yanxi took the opportunity to pull her into the car.
This May Day holiday, Meng Zhuxi definitely had the hardest time, even more so than Jin Zhao who leaves early and returns late every day.
On the morning of the day they returned to school, Jin Zhao met Si Tian and Luo Heng at the school gate. The two got out of the car mysteriously. Si Tian didn't have her schoolbag on her back; she was holding it in her arms like a treasure. Luo Heng stretched his head and leaned over to take a look.
Jin Zhao greeted the two of them, and Si Tian, seeing her, waved excitedly, "Zhao Zhao! Come here quickly!"
Si Tian was a generous girl. When Jin Zhao walked up to her, she couldn't wait to unzip her backpack and show Jin Zhao a sliver of it.
Jin Zhao first heard a "chirp chirp" sound, which was different from the usual bird calls; the chirp was soft and gentle. Looking down closer, he saw a small birdcage in Si Tian's schoolbag, inside which was a small bird about the size of a fist, round and plump, with a particularly round belly. Its feathers were snow-white, except for its beak and claws, which were a tender pink.
"Isn't it pretty? This is a pearl bird that Luo Heng and I bought on Xianyu." Si Tian winked at Jin Zhao proudly.
"It's pretty, but is it okay to bring it to school?" Jin Zhao also liked the soft little bird and couldn't help but reach into his schoolbag to touch its soft feathers through the gap in the birdcage.
Si Tian: "It's okay, it meows very softly."
Luo Heng, a big boy, chimed in, "Yeah, such a low sound won't be noticed."
“Its chirping is very soft, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t chirp,” Jin Zhao chuckled. “If it chirped during class, you would all be caught immediately.”
“It’s alright,” Si Tian said confidently. “Luo Heng and I have already discussed it. Whenever it cries out, we’ll take turns sneezing to cover it up.”
Jin Zhao: "..." Absolutely astonishing.
What are you doing?
Meng Yanxi and Lu Jingyue got out of the car and noticed the three people who were tightly gathered together at the school gate from afar.
Si Tian looked up at the sound and exclaimed in surprise, "Meng Yanxi, Lu Jingyue! Come here quickly, I have something good to show you!"
Meng Yanxi looked at Jin Zhao, who was also looking at him, her eyes sparkling with an unconscious joy.
He strode over to her and glanced at the birdcage in Si Tian's schoolbag.
He had no interest in small animals, neither liking nor disliking them, and turned to ask Jin Zhao, "Did you go bird catching during your vacation?"
Before Jin Zhao could reply, Si Tian spat and said, "What do you mean 'caught'! I bought it! It cost me 20 yuan!"
Just as Jin Zhao was about to say it was a pearl bird, she looked up and suddenly noticed that Lu Jingyue, who was about to step forward, suddenly turned pale and took a step back.
When she arrived at the classroom, Si Tian took out the small birdcage and, before the teacher arrived, placed the pearl bird in her palm. The tiny bird, round and plump, stood in the girl's soft palm, chirping softly, immediately attracting the attention of her classmates who gathered around to watch.
Si Tian turned around, stretched out her hand in front of Jin Zhao, and happily shared, "Zhao Zhao, look how cute it is! Ahhh, I can't take it!"
Jin Zhao smiled, but did not show the affection he had shown outside the school.
She noticed that something was off with her deskmate.
In her memory, Lu Jingyue had always been composed and collected. Although he didn't smile much, when he did, it had a kind of pretentious, profound, and genuinely impressive quality. He had never shown such a loss of composure before: his face was pale, his breathing was rapid, and veins were bulging on his forehead... Especially when Si Tian turned around holding the pearl bird, his body would subconsciously flinch backward, a signal of resistance and fear from his body.
Jin Zhao looked thoughtfully at the pearl bird in Si Tian's palm.
"The teacher is coming, quickly put it away," Jin Zhao urged.
Si Tian exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly put the pearl bird back in its cage and stuffed it into her schoolbag.
Lu Jingyue seemed a bit off all morning.
His face was pale, his breathing was deep and rapid, and his body was tense, as if he was on guard against something. Later, he became even more disturbed and started trembling all over.
During the long break, Meng Yanxi called him several times from behind, but he didn't hear her. Even Jin Zhao heard him and turned to remind him. Lu Jingyue suddenly stood up and said, "I'm going to buy a bottle of water."
Whether it was from getting up too fast or from dizziness, his legs went weak and he suddenly collapsed.
Jin Zhao was startled, but luckily she was close to him and had been watching him closely. She instinctively rushed over to support him, preventing Lu Jingyue from hitting the corner of the table and falling on her.
After May Day, the temperature once reached thirty degrees Celsius. Both of them were wearing short sleeves, their skin pressed together. Jin Zhao felt that the boy's body was terribly cold, icy and shivering slightly. She was startled and called out worriedly, "Lu Jingyue?"
Meng Yanxi was the first to rush over and help Lu Jingyue off her.
"It's nothing." Lu Jingyue's Adam's apple bobbed, he pushed Meng Yanxi away, and quickly left the classroom.
"What's wrong with him?" Meng Yanxi asked Jin Zhao.
Jin Zhao gently shook her head and turned to look at Si Tian, who was also looking back in confusion, still holding the pearl bird in her hands.
She thought she probably knew the reason.
The road scenery is likely that of a moa.
But he kept quiet, even though the fear he experienced was very dangerous. He was so scared that he fainted, yet he still forced himself not to speak. Clearly, he didn't want others to know his weakness.
Soon, other classmates gathered around to play with Si Tian's bird, but Jin Zhao didn't join them. Instead, he quietly opened all the windows.
As the pearl bird was passed around among the students, it indeed flew out of the window.
These birds don't fly very high, only able to fly just outside the window. Unfortunately, Chen Shu saw them just as they flew out, passing by in the corridor. Chen Shu confiscated Si Tian's pearl bird in his office, telling her to take it back after evening self-study and promising never to bring it to school again.
Si Tian and Luo Heng covered their heads and wailed.
When Lu Jingyue returned, the birds that had frightened him were no longer in the classroom. He whispered to Jin Zhao, "Thank you."
Jin Zhao looked down at the exam paper and whispered, "I won't tell anyone."
Meng Yanxi, sitting in the back, leaned back in her seat, glanced at Lu Jingyue, and then looked thoughtfully at the fully open window.
*
The incident with the pearl bird quickly passed, and no one at the affiliated high school knew about Lu Jingyue's fear of feathers, except for Jin Zhaohe and Meng Yanxi.
In mid-May, Meng Yanxi, for the first time ever, signed up for the campus arts festival and needed to coordinate with the school's arts department. The arts department head was a girl in the same grade who liked Meng Yanxi and had even sent him a letter, but hadn't received a reply. Taking the opportunity, she asked for his WeChat.
Meng Yanxi found Lu Jingyue: "Add me on WeChat."
"Why didn't you add yourself?" Lu Jingyue realized, "A girl?"
Meng Yanxi remained silent.
Lu Jingyue said, both politely and bluntly, "I'm sorry, I can't help you. For women, I only include direct blood relatives, collateral blood relatives within three generations, and my future wife."
"Your future wife?" Meng Yanxi frowned. "What the heck?"
Lu Jingyue: "Yes, the master has calculated it. My future wife's name contains both fire and wood, and the wood and fire are in harmony."
Meng Yanxi's brow twitched.
There was no broadcast gymnastics during the long break on Saturday. Lu Jingyue went downstairs to buy water, while Jin Zhao did his homework at his seat.
Suddenly someone sat down beside him, and at the same time, the scent of cold mountain pine mist wafted into his nostrils, causing Jin Zhao to stop writing.
Meng Yanxi sat in Lu Jingyue's seat.
Jin Zhao was still mentally preparing whether to turn around when Meng Yanxi's direct voice came: "Haven't you been dancing lately?"
Jin Zhao put down his pen and softly hummed in agreement.
Meng Yanxi: "As expected."
Jin Zhao turned his head in surprise and looked at him: "What?"
Meng Yanxi glanced sideways: "You didn't go, so you don't know. Jinghong Dance recently had a lucky draw. I just won 30 free private lessons for my sister from Teacher Yu Yu."
"Teacher Yu Yu's 30 private lessons? For free?" Jin Zhao was shocked. "Did the boss find money on the street?"
Meng Yanxi: "I don't know. They suddenly notified me to go online, saying it was to maintain old customers."
"Wow, you're so lucky!" Jin Zhao exclaimed sincerely. "I'm different. I never get to have these kinds of good things happen to me. I've never even heard of a lottery. Maybe I'm not part of the free customer group."
Meng Yanxi frowned.
Teacher Feng is useless; he can't even make money.
During recess, the classroom was bustling with people, filled with the sounds of chasing, playing, and laughing. Meng Yanxi sat in Lu Jingyue's seat and remained silent for almost a minute. His quiet presence seemed to make the air around Jin Zhao feel thin.
Jin Zhao lowered his head, wondering anxiously why he had suddenly sat down and why he was no longer speaking. How long was he going to sit there?
Meng Yanxi suddenly asked, "Which Zhao is your Zhao?"
Jin Zhao: "?"
He still hasn't memorized her name?
Although slightly disappointed, Jin Zhao still replied, "The 'Zhao' in 'the sacred flame shines brightly'."
Meng Yanxi: "The sacred flame shines brightly, it belongs to fire?"
Jin Zhao: "Hmm."
Meng Yanxi: "And today?"
Jin Zhao: "Today's Jin".
“No, what I mean is,” Meng Yanxi paused for a moment, then said, “what element does it belong to?”
Jin Zhao: "?"
She felt that Meng Yanxi was acting strangely today. No, Meng Yanxi had been acting strangely for the past two weeks, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.
She honestly replied, "I don't know, you can check it on your phone."
Meng Yanxi didn't say anything, nor did she take out her phone to check. After a few seconds, she said calmly, "I checked, it belongs to the wood element."
Jin Zhao didn't know how to reply, so he just said "Oh" and said, "Then it should belong to the wood element."
Meng Yanxi: "Yes, wood and fire are in harmony."
Jin Zhao: "?"
When did he start studying the Five Elements? Is it out of interest, or is he preparing to rake in another 5 million?
At this moment, Lu Jingyue returned from buying water and saw that Meng Yanxi had taken his seat. He raised his eyebrows in confusion and looked at him.
Even as Lu Jingyue walked to the table, Meng Yanxi did not get up. Instead, she slowly leaned back in her chair, stretched out her long legs domineeringly, and met his gaze indifferently.
-----------------------
Author's Note: There was a power outage at home today, so it's late. Sorry~ That's why I only updated 5k words. Surprised? Pretty self-motivated, right? Mwah!
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