“……”

Sang Zhi stared at him silently for a long moment. She seemed to feel aggrieved, and after holding it in for a while, she finally blurted out, “No wonder your shop has no business.”

“Hmm?”

Sang Zhi pushed the money toward him, clearly not wanting to give even a penny more. Her little face was extremely serious as she emphatically uttered two words, “Scam shop.”

Duan Jiaxu found it amusing. “Charging you an extra yuan makes this a scam shop?”

Sang Zhi kept a straight face. “I didn’t peek at you.”

“Okay.” Duan Jiaxu picked up the money from the table. “It’s Brother who’s talking nonsense.”

Sang Zhi glanced at him but didn’t say anything more, intending to return to her seat.

Before she took two steps, Duan Jiaxu called out to her, “Wait a moment.”

Sang Zhi paused and turned back. “What?”

“Come here.”

Sang Zhi looked suspicious and was reluctant to go over. But he just stood there quietly, as if certain she would come like he was dealing with a dog that would come when called.

After standing there for a long while, Sang Zhi reluctantly walked over and asked again, “What?”

“Would Brother really take your money?” The counter was about a meter high. Duan Jiaxu bent down, grabbed her wrist across the table, and stuffed the money back into her hand. “Keep it to buy candy.”

Sang Zhi was stunned for a moment, but he had already withdrawn his hand.

Behind the cash register was a large counter filled with various ingredients. After speaking, Duan Jiaxu turned around, took out two clean bowls, and started making desserts.

Sang Zhi quietly put the money back into her pocket.

Why was it always like this?

A slap and then a piece of candy.

And she never managed to refuse.

She stubbornly argued with him over his ‘slap’, only to embarrassingly accept the ‘candy’ afterward.

Returning to her seat, Yin Zhenru leaned over, this time lowering her voice to whisper, “Sang Zhi, is your brother’s friend treating us?”

Sang Zhi nodded. “Seems like it.”

“Hehe, that’s great.” Yin Zhenru was very happy. “After buying the gift, I don’t have much pocket money left. I still want to buy a new hat in MapleStory^[1]a free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, it’s so pretty.”

“How much have you spent already?”

“But it’s pretty.”

Knowing that Sang Zhi wasn’t interested in this subject, Yin Zhenru changed the topic, “By the way, Fu Zhengchu messaged me on QQ just now, asking where we were. I told him.”

“Oh.”

“He said he’s coming over to find us with Liu Weiqi.”

Sang Zhi asked, “Why don’t they get a room first?”

Yin Zhenru replied, “It’s only 12:00 now and the KTV opens at 1:00 in the afternoon. They’ve already called to reserve a room so they’re coming over to meet us first, then we’ll have lunch together.”

“Who else is coming?”

“Probably a few more people from their class.” Yin Zhenru continued, “But they will go directly to the KTV after 1:00.”

Just then, Duan Jiaxu brought two bowls of desserts. Hearing their conversation, his eyebrows rose slightly and his peach-blossom eyes glanced over. He casually asked, “Going karaoke?”

Yin Zhenru immediately fell silent.

Sang Zhi nodded.

Duan Jiaxu didn’t say much and just reminded, “Go to a reputable place and remember to come home before dark. Don’t stay out too late.”

His tone sounded like he was helping Sang Yan discipline her, but actually, Sang Yan didn’t really manage her much.

Sang Zhi replied with an “Oh.”

After he left, Yin Zhenru leaned over again, “Your brother’s friend talks just like my dad. He also told me the same thing before I left the house.”

Sang Zhi agreed, “My dad said the same thing to me.”

“……”

They hadn’t finished eating when Fu Zhengchu and Liu Weiqi arrived.

Sang Zhi didn’t see these two often. Now that she saw them, she noticed they seemed to have grown taller. Dressed in casual clothes, they looked like little adults.

Yin Zhenru put down her spoon, grinning. “The birthday boy is here.”

Fu Zhengchu rubbed his nose.

Liu Weiqi, covered in sweat, was the first to sit next to Yin Zhenru. “Hurry up, I’m starving. Should we just go to the KFC next door?”

Yin Zhenru said, “I don’t have money for KFC.”

With two more people, the small shop became lively.

Yin Zhenru ate quickly and had already finished, so the other three waited for Sang Zhi. Listening to Yin Zhenru and Liu Weiqi bicker, Sang Zhi ate faster.

Seeing Sang Zhi also done, Yin Zhenru handed her a napkin. “Let’s go.”

Sang Zhi nodded.

The two boys stood up first and walked out. Yin Zhenru held Sang Zhi’s hand, wanting to pull her along.

Passing by the cash register, Sang Zhi seemed to remember something, stopped, and withdrew her hand from Yin Zhenru’s hold. “Wait for me outside.”

Yin Zhenru glanced at Duan Jiaxu and understood. “Okay, hurry up.”

She then walked out.

Duan Jiaxu was casually sitting in a chair playing with his phone, one foot on the chair’s edge. Seeing this, he put his phone down and asked with interest, “Kid, what do you want to say to Brother?”

Sang Zhi hesitated for a few seconds before directly asking, “Brother, are you short of money?”

Surprised by her question, Duan Jiaxu smiled and asked, “Hmm? Why?”

“Last time, when we went for a barbecue, Brother Qian Fei said you were doing tutoring nearby,” Sang Zhi whispered, “and today I saw you working here.”

Duan Jiaxu stared at her without speaking. His gaze was a bit unreadable, with no visible emotions.

Sang Zhi started to feel nervous. Swallowing, she said, “Aren’t you going home?”

“Yes, kinda.”

This seemed to answer her earlier question.

But Sang Zhi didn’t quite understand, responding with a slow “Oh.”

“Go play.” Duan Jiaxu’s expression was relaxed, as if not caring about this matter at all. “Your friends are waiting.”

After he finished speaking, he turned around and turned on the faucet to wash things.

After a while, just when Duan Jiaxu thought Sang Zhi had left, a crisp “Goodbye, Brother” suddenly rang out from behind him, followed by the sound of quick footsteps running away.

Duan Jiaxu wiped the table with a cloth and glanced back.

His gaze fixed on the table.

On top of it was a pile of money. Aside from the money he had just returned to her, there seemed to be quite a bit more. At the bottom was a red one-hundred-yuan bill, and on top of that were some ten-yuan and five-yuan bills.

On the very top, there were six or seven one-yuan coins and even a couple of fifty-cent coins.

It looked neat and tidy.

As if she had put her entire fortune there.

Duan Jiaxu stared at it for a long while. After a pause, he uncertainly reached out and poked the stack of coins. The tower of coins collapsed and scattered across the table.

He lifted a brow and suddenly laughed out loud.

What was going on?

This time, he really felt a sense of guilt, as if he had just tricked a child out of her money.

———pr


Sang Zhi had truly left herself with not a penny. She had borrowed money from Yin Zhenru to buy lunch. Out of money and with a group of unfamiliar schoolmates, she felt a bit insecure.

At five in the afternoon, a group of people were still singing happily on the KTV. Sang Zhi held a cup of tea, her ears aching from the noise. After hesitating for a long time, she finally said to her friend, “Yin Zhenru, I’m going home.”

Yin Zhenru didn’t hear her clearly and looked up. “What did you say?”

Sang Zhi had to raise her voice, “I said I’m going home!”

At that moment, the song’s climax had just passed, entering an instrumental section, so her voice suddenly stood out.

Everyone turned to look in her direction.

Soon, the music started again, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

The others didn’t take her words to heart. Only Fu Zhengchu came over and sat next to her. “Sang Zhi, are you going back?”

“Mm.” Sang Zhi said, “My dad wants me home before dark.”

After thinking for a moment, she added, “Happy birthday.”

Fu Zhengchu was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Shall I walk you to the bus stop?”

“There’s no need. The bus stop is right downstairs.” Sang Zhi said with a strange expression as she was standing up. “You stay here, I’m leaving.”

She turned to say goodbye to a few people nearby and left the KTV.

Sang Zhi took out her student bus card from her bag.

The KTV was on the fifth floor of the mall and the dessert shop where Duan Jiaxu worked was on the fourth floor. As she was about to take the escalator down to the fourth floor, she paused for a moment.

Suddenly, Fu Zhengchu’s voice sounded from behind, “Why did you stop?”

“……”

Sang Zhi was startled and immediately turned around. Feeling caught and embarrassed, she angrily asked, “Why are you following me?”

“I’m not following you.” Fu Zhengchu looked a bit embarrassed. “I’m just getting some fresh air.”

“Oh.” Sang Zhi continued on her way down. “Then go ahead. Goodbye.”

Fu Zhengchu still followed her. “I’ll walk you to the bus stop.”

Sang Zhi ignored him.

“By the way.” Fu Zhengchu scratched his head, trying to find a topic to talk about, “Did you know there will be a class placement test starting next semester?”

Sang Zhi nodded. “I heard you made progress in your final exams.”

“……”

“You ranked fifth from the bottom, right?”

Fu Zhengchu felt embarrassed and reluctantly said, “I fell asleep.”

Looking at him, Sang Zhi pondered. She remembered him telling her on the bus that he would try to get first place next time and that the teacher had called her parents to school because he hadn’t been paying attention in class. In fact, he had asked the teacher to call his parents over.

She suddenly asked, “Are you feeling inferior?”

Fu Zhengchu: “?”

“It’s not a big deal. I haven’t seen you study much, but if you put in hard work, your grades should improve.” Sang Zhi added, “Just don’t be so lazy and focus on your studies, then you won’t feel inferior.”

“Sang Zhi.” After her barrage of words, Fu Zhengchu finally couldn’t hold back, “I don’t believe you can’t tell.”

Sang Zhi paused. “Tell what?”

Fu Zhengchu didn’t say anything.

“What can’t I tell?” Thinking of Yin Zhenru’s words, Sang Zhi hesitated and asked, “Is it that you have a crush on Yin Zhenru?”

“……”

Fu Zhengchu almost choked.

He steadied his breath and gritted his teeth. “Who told you that?”

Sang Zhi innocently said, “I guessed.”

“Can you stop guessing?”

Sang Zhi was baffled. “You can’t possibly have a crush on me, right?”

Fu Zhengchu stared at her expressionlessly and said, “Why not.”

“……”

Sang Zhi’s expression finally changed a bit. “Huh?”

In his youthful bravado, using the most arrogant tone, Fu Zhengchu said the most timid words, “If— I’m saying if! If I had a crush on you, what would you do?”

“……”