Chapter 24: Twelve Years Old – Zodiac Pairing

Meanwhile, Xuezhu was packing her bag, preparing the textbooks she would need for school the next day.

She thought to herself, “I’ve ‘fixed’ Brother’s MP3. I wonder if it will make him a bit happier.”

The teacher always liked to teach students the idea that “giving is always more joyful than receiving.” She used to think, “How could that be? I was the happiest when my parents bought me snacks and new clothes.”

Now she realized that this saying was true.

Xuezhu was even happier than Meng Yuning.

She kept this mood throughout the Monday that followed, but a piece of bad news from a distant place soon brought her spirits crashing down.

During dinner that evening, Xuezhu didn’t ask to watch the cartoon channel. Instead, she obediently sat with her parents and watched the news. The normally composed and calm news anchor was visibly shaken. As she read through the news script, her voice trembled more and more until, with gritted teeth, she forced herself to finish the story.

Pei Lianyi and Song Yanping also had red eyes, sighing, “Ah, a natural disaster.”

For three consecutive days, the school required all students to stand during breaks to bow their heads in silent tribute to those who lost their lives in the Wenchuan earthquake.

Her father gave Xuezhu 200 yuan to donate to the teacher. Xuezhu also donated the small change she had managed to save over the past days. She had promised to save money to pay back Chi Yue, but now she had to discuss postponing it with him.

Chi Yue, for once, didn’t argue with Xuezhu. Sniffling, he said, “If you’ve donated it, then you’ve donated it. Anyway, I don’t need this little bit of money from you.”

In her final year of elementary school, Xuezhu thought, in the cities hit by the earthquake, there were many children like her, looking forward to the upcoming junior high school life. There were also many older brothers and sisters, like Ningning and Zihan, who were eagerly anticipating the college entrance exam a month later, ready to start their new life journey. But all these expectations were fleeting, wiped out by the natural disaster.

Although she couldn’t truly feel their pain, donating her small pocket money was the only thing Xuezhu could do.

Happiness, it turned out, wasn’t indestructible. No one had expected that in 2008, a year everyone had been waiting for, bad news would arrive before the Olympics.

—

After a brief period of silence, the college entrance exam came as scheduled in June.

The “book rain” of every year never missed its timing. After the last exam, the high school seniors running out of the exam center showed relieved smiles. Regardless of the results, they had passed this small hurdle in life. What followed was the new, adult life awaiting them.

Starting on the 15th, the students began filling out their college applications. Xuezhu overheard from her parents that Zihan’s first choice was Xiehe University, and his second was Shou Medical University. All his other choices were universities in Beijing, with clinical medicine as his major. It was clear to everyone that they knew exactly what career he was aiming for.

This was the teachers’ and staff’s neighborhood, and doctors were regarded by adults as an even more honorable profession than teaching.

So, the people in the whole neighborhood praised Zihan for his great ambition.

Only Xuezhu knew that this wasn’t Zihan’s decision.

Because his QQ signature after the exam had changed to: “Did pretty well~ A man’s romance is in mechas, mechanical engineering here I come hahahaha /proud/ proud/ proud.”

Zihan clearly preferred screwing in bolts over wielding a scalpel.

But since his application was already filled out, Xuezhu assumed he had accepted this decision.

Of course, Xuezhu also checked Meng Yuning’s signature. He rarely updated his status, and his space was not decorated at all. In contrast, several of Xuezhu’s classmates had spent money on VIP memberships to decorate their spaces with flashy designs. Meng Yuning’s space was simple to the extreme.

It was rare for him to update his signature for something as big as the college entrance exam.

His new signature read: 【Hello, Beijing.】

Concise and to the point, Xuezhu understood that both of her older brothers were going to university in Beijing.

They were just like He Zhengyue after her college entrance exams, with daily gatherings with classmates, eating out for every meal, and then going to karaoke to sing at night. Xuezhu felt a little upset in her heart. While she was doing her homework in her room every night, she couldn’t help but think about them, enjoying delicious food and drinks outside. It felt like fate was being unfair to her.

It wasn’t until the 22nd, when the exam results were posted, that a festive red banner appeared at the school.

【Warm congratulations to our student Meng Yuning for achieving an outstanding score of 692 in the college entrance exam and becoming the top science student in the province for the 2008 exam!】

【Warm congratulations to Tongzhou No. 1 High School for having 907 students pass the first-tier university entrance exam, ranking first in the entire city!】

The photo, not sure who uploaded it first, later appeared in Xuezhu’s space feed.

【/Awesome/ Awesome/ Awesome! This year’s provincial top scorer has been announced! The liberal arts top scorer is Xu Nanye from Qinghe City Yingcai High School, Class 11, and the science top scorer is Meng Yuning from Tongzhou No. 1 High School, Class 2, both handsome guys~ Our province’s pride, share and spread it~】

The comments under the original post were lively.

【Dizzy, how can the gap between people be so huge?】

【Wow, they’re so handsome~】

【I’m just passing by0】

【Hehe, stepping in~~~!!】

【I wonder if these two handsome guys have girlfriends /fangirl】

【I like the guy wearing glasses!】

【So impressive /clap clap】

Yueyue (The Woman Left Stranded By You):【The science top scorer is my little brother! Girls who want to add him, come to me for his contact info /evil smile】

Brother Zihan (Daisuki Gundam):【Meng Yuning is amazing!】

Yingying (Angel’s Wings):【@CutePrincess, your brother is amazing!】

It was these familiar people who shared the post to Xuezhu’s space.

But the person involved, Meng Yuning, remained silent on his space, keeping it very low-key.

Xuezhu couldn’t resist clicking on Meng Yuning’s profile picture.

Cute Princess：【Hehe, are you there?】

Meng Yuning’s profile picture was always gray, and Xuezhu didn’t expect him to reply.

But to her surprise, the gray profile picture lit up, accompanied by the “ding ding” notification sound.

Island：【I’m here】

Cute Princess：【Brother, how are you online?】

Island：【I’ve always been, I’m just invisible】

Cute Princess：【Why are you always invisible? It makes me think you’re not online /angry】

Island：【Someone’s always looking for me, so being invisible is more convenient】

Cute Princess：【Huh? Who’s looking for you?】

Island：【Classmates, and some people I don’t know】

Cute Princess：【Alright, but it’s okay for me to find you, right?】

Island：【What do you think?】

Island：【/taps】

Xuezhu felt a sweetness in her heart.

Cute Princess：【Where are you online?】

Island：【In an internet café, playing games】

Cute Princess：【Oh, bye then, we’ll talk after you’re done /smile】

Island：【I already finished a round, you can talk now】

Xuezhu took a screenshot of the space feed and sent it to him.

She didn’t know what to say, so she just sent a series of congratulations.

Island：【Haha, thanks, Xiao Zhu】

Cute Princess：【You did so well on the exam, are you going to treat us to a meal?】

Island：【What do you want to eat? KFC?】

Cute Princess：【I meant your dad treating all of us to a meal】

Meng Yuning, who replied instantly, paused for a few seconds.

Island：【Probably not, but if you want to eat, I’ll treat you】

Isn’t he going to treat us after such great results?

Xuezhu remembered back when the college entrance exam results hadn’t been released yet and they were filling in the application. Her mother had asked Uncle Meng about Ningning’s school and major. Uncle Meng had simply said he didn’t know, that Ningning had chosen both the school and major himself.

Song Yanping was very surprised at that time.

For such an important decision as the college entrance exam, you let Ningning decide it himself?

What else could she do? She don’t understand either.

If Uncle Meng didn’t want to celebrate for him, then she should celebrate for him properly.

Xuezhu really wanted to eat KFC, so she happily agreed with Meng Yuning to go eat KFC together in a few days. Finally, the busy senior student would have time to accompany her. Xuezhu wondered if she should ask He Zhengyue and Zhong Zihan to join them. It would be more lively if the four of them went together.

Island：【Zhengyue went to Shanghai a few days ago, and Zihan has gatherings these days. I’ll take you to KFC first, and when they’re free, I’ll treat all of you to a meal】

Cute Princess：【So is it just the two of us going to KFC?】

Island：【Mm】

“……”

Xuezhu couldn’t put into words how she was feeling right now.

How should she say it? She felt conflicted, a little uneasy.

Island：【Xiao Zhu? Why aren’t you saying anything?】

Her fingers twitched aimlessly on the keyboard. She took a deep breath and told herself to stay calm and act normal.

Cute Princess：【Then you’re going to treat me to two meals? Wouldn’t that be a big loss for you? /dizzy】

Island：【It won’t be】

Island：【The 24th is your birthday, I’ll treat you to KFC】

Xuezhu was excited for a few seconds, but then quickly calmed down.

So, does this mean her birthday gift this year is just a meal at KFC? No surprise for her birthday?

She wanted to ask Meng Yuning if there would be another gift, but she didn’t dare to. She also felt like it might be too bold to ask.

Cute Princess：【Then when it’s your birthday, I’ll treat you to a meal~】

Island：【Haha, but I should be in university by then】

That meant he would already be in Beijing by then.

Before Xuezhu could express her disappointment, Meng Yuning said his classmates were calling him to play games and that they should talk later.

The sudden emptiness hit her. Xuezhu opened his profile and read through it several times. She then browsed through his empty space multiple times, reading every message, including those on his message board, even though she didn’t recognize most of the people. She still enjoyed going through everything from top to bottom.

After going through his space, Xuezhu finally focused on the birthday he had mentioned earlier.

1990-10-28.

That was his birthdate.

Xuezhu took out a pen and paper from the drawer next to her desk and wrote his name and birthdate on a blank piece of paper, then wrote hers below.

Although the year and month were different, the dates were only four days apart. Could this be considered a kind of close connection?

The profile automatically displayed his zodiac sign. She saw that he was a Scorpio.

Xuezhu quickly checked her own: she was a Cancer.

Some of the girls in her class really loved buying astrology magazines, including her good friend Zhu Qingying, who often talked to her about various astrology knowledge. Xuezhu hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but now, she suddenly became interested and shyly opened a webpage to search for relevant information about their zodiac signs.

She first carefully read the personality analysis for her zodiac sign, and it turned out to be quite accurate. Xuezhu immediately started to believe it, about seventy to eighty percent.

She quickly searched for information on Scorpio.

Cold, jealous, highly possessive, a little paranoid, fragile, and sensitive.

This isn’t accurate.

None of it is right.

For a moment, Xuezhu wasn’t sure whether she should believe it, when suddenly, the pink heart next to the webpage caught her eye.

【Astrology Love Compatibility】

【Click to check the fate between you and your partner】

Xuezhu didn’t know why she was drawn to it. Embarrassed, she lowered her gaze and scratched her head. Her cheeks felt warm, and something started to rise from her heart—a feeling that wasn’t supposed to be there at her age, and the culprit for why she had become less carefree around Meng Yuning recently.

After hesitating for a while, she clicked on the heart.

She made sure her room door was closed and secretly typed in her and her brother’s zodiac signs.

The progress bar on the page showed it was matching.

Suddenly, a big heart appeared in the center of the page.

【Scorpio Man & Cancer Woman】

【Compatibility Index: 100%】

【Congratulations! You are the perfect soulmates for each other!】

It went on to say a lot of other random things, but Xuezhu read it with the same seriousness as if memorizing her literature textbook, repeating each word and sentence several times. Each time, her heart fluttered a little more.

These intangible things—whether coincidence or luck, she wasn’t sure. She had long known there was no Santa Claus in the world, but she believed that the silent stars in the sky understood human nature better than Santa Claus ever could.

Not only Western astrology, but even Chinese name character pairings, the five-element compatibility, Xuezhu, who had studied science for three years and held scientific values, had now, at this moment, become a devout believer in superstitions.