Chapter 031

Two people stood outside the office door. The back of Wang Chaohai’s light blue-striped white shirt was marked with a patch of sweat.

Today was unusually hot, almost as sweltering as the day of that PE class.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief, adjusted his glasses, and asked Meng Li, “You want to live on campus?”

Meng Li nodded. “My mom just gave birth to her third child. There are only three rooms at home, and it’s too crowded. There’s no space for me, so I want to live on campus.”

Wang Chaohai looked at Meng Li and thought about her behavior over the past half-semester. She wasn’t as troublesome or unruly as the rumors had suggested. On the contrary, she had been quiet and well-behaved. Other than not paying much attention in class, she hadn’t broken a single rule.

After some thought, Wang Chaohai spoke. “Alright, I’ll help you apply to the school. Go back and wait for the result.”

Meng Li nodded again. “Thank you, Teacher Wang.”

When Wang Chaohai was about to turn and head into the office, Meng Li quickly added, “Teacher Wang, you know my reputation isn’t great. The other students are afraid to hang out with me, and I don’t want to cause trouble for anyone. Do you think you could help me apply for a room on my own?”

Wang Chaohai thought her request was reasonable. After a moment, he replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll ask around and see what I can do. We’ve been quite busy these past few days, so be patient for a little while. Once I’ve sorted it out, I’ll notify you. Does that work?”

Meng Li nodded eagerly. “Thank you so much, Teacher Wang.”

In a hurry to get back to work, Wang Chaohai waved his hand twice at Meng Li and said, “Go on now.”

Having explained her situation, Meng Li felt more at ease.

She returned to the classroom and went about her day as usual, with no visible difference in her demeanor.

However, as the day drew closer to dismissal, Ji Chen suddenly turned his head and asked her, “Are your gang of brothers coming tonight?”

Meng Li was caught off guard. Realizing he was talking to her, she hesitated before responding, “Not tonight…”

Ji Chen didn’t waste any words. He simply said, “Then wait for me after school.”

Meng Li: “…”

“What for?”

Wait for him after school again?

While Meng Li sat there frozen and silent, the classmates in the front row exchanged glances, looking back at Ji Chen and her with curiosity. Ji Chen hadn’t bothered to lower his voice much, and since it was a self-study session with no one else talking, his words rang out clearly.

Naturally, as soon as everyone heard, little notes began circulating with gossip. They were all wondering what Ji Chen meant by telling Meng Li not to leave after school. Was it one of those rumored “man-to-man” fights?

Previously, when Ji Chen had chased after Meng Li after school, everyone thought they were about to throw down. But the next day, neither of them had a scratch. No one knew what had actually happened—it was all a bit odd.

Meng Li herself found the whole situation strange. Swallowing nervously, she replied quietly, “Not happening.”

Ji Chen raised an eyebrow. “Try running off again, and see what happens.”

Meng Li: “…”

Once again, the front-row classmates turned back in unison, their curiosity visibly growing.

To avoid becoming the center of gossip and stares from her classmates, Meng Li turned her head away and ignored Ji Chen, treating his words as nonsense.

For the sake of her reputation as Third Master Meng, she didn’t bolt out of the classroom after school like she usually did. Instead, she slowly packed up her books, took her time organizing her bag, and casually strolled out of the classroom with an air of indifference, as if she couldn’t care less about Ji Chen.

Ji Chen followed her out. When they reached the school gate, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm.

Meng Li glanced back at him. “What are you doing?”

Ji Chen didn’t answer. He simply held onto her and led her toward a woman selling popsicles outside the school.

The popsicles were kept in a wooden box lined with a layer of white cotton blankets.

Opening the box, Ji Chen said to the woman, “Give me a box of cream popsicles.”

The woman handed him a small box of cream popsicles and took his money.

Ji Chen took the popsicles, shoved the box into Meng Li’s hands, and said, “For you.”

Meng Li: “…”

What was he, some kind of show-off?

Buying a whole box of popsicles?

Before Meng Li could process what had just happened, Ji Chen had already grabbed her arm and dragged her away again.

Along the way, their classmates spotted them, each casting strange looks their way.

Ji Chen, as always, paid no attention to what others thought. He pulled Meng Li all the way to the bus stop before finally letting go of her arm.

By this point, Meng Li had snapped out of her daze. She immediately shoved the box of popsicles back toward him.

Ji Chen didn’t take it. Instead, he looked at her and said, “I bought it for you.”

Meng Li frowned, completely puzzled. “Why would you buy this for me?”

Ji Chen shrugged casually. “Had some extra money. Just felt like it.”

Meng Li: “…”

She didn’t want anything from Ji Chen. They were sworn enemies—how could she accept his popsicles?

But before she could shove the box back into his hands, her bus arrived.

Seeing the bus pull up, Meng Li quickly turned and got on.

Ji Chen followed right behind her and sat down in the empty seat next to her.

As the bus started moving, Meng Li placed the box of popsicles on Ji Chen’s lap. “I don’t want it.”

Ji Chen picked up the box and turned to look at her. “What? You can only eat stuff your brothers buy, but not what I buy?”

Meng Li found his question strange and gave him a look. “Of course. What else?”

Ji Chen took a deep breath, clearly frustrated. Then, abandoning all sense of pride, he said, “Fine. Considering how well we’ve been getting along lately, how about this—let’s just be brothers from now on. I’ll take you to Lao Mo’s for Western food or to Xidan for the best ice cream. How’s that sound?”

Meng Li widened her eyes slightly and stared at him. After a long pause, she finally said, “Are you running a fever?”

The leader of the compound kids wanted to become brothers with her, the leader of the alley kids?

If word got out, would he still be able to command his group?

Ji Chen stared back at her. “I don’t think so.”

Meng Li: “…”

Before she could fully process what he’d just said, Ji Chen had already handed the popsicles back to her.

After that, he leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and said, “If you don’t want them, just throw them away. I don’t even like this stuff.”

Meng Li: “…”

Spending money on something just to throw it away?

The heat was unbearable, and Meng Li didn’t feel like arguing with him anymore. She pulled out a popsicle, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth.

Based on the past actions of the original Meng Li, eating a popsicle someone gave her was no big deal. If it hadn’t been given, she might have snatched it herself anyway!

After finishing one popsicle, Meng Li held onto the rest of the box.

When she got off at her stop, she casually waved goodbye to Ji Chen before heading home alone.

By the time she arrived, the popsicles in the box had partially melted.

Meng Li ate another one herself, then gave the rest to Grandma Cheng and Tang Yuan’er.

In the east room, Gu Huijuan was recovering from childbirth and happened to catch sight of them eating popsicles in the middle of the courtyard. Her face turned pale with anger.

The more she couldn’t eat something, the more they seemed to flaunt it in front of her. If that wasn’t intentional, what was it?

Tang Yuan’er, unaware of such nuances, even took a popsicle over to her mother. Wide-eyed, she asked, “Mom, do you want one?”

Already emotionally fragile during her postpartum recovery, Gu Huijuan felt a wave of frustration and suffocating irritation wash over her.

Before Gu Huijuan could say anything, Grandma Cheng’s voice came from outside: “Tang Yuan’er, your mom can’t eat that. Bring it back, and we’ll finish it.”

Tang Yuan’er obediently responded, clutching the popsicle as she turned and ran off.

Gu Huijuan leaned against the headboard: “…”

There weren’t many popsicles in the box, and it didn’t take long for them to finish.

Meng Li didn’t do her homework that evening. Instead, she went to the kitchen to help Grandma Cheng with dinner.

Even if she couldn’t contribute much, fanning her with a palm-leaf fan was better than nothing.

As Meng Li fanned her for a while, Grandma Cheng suddenly thought of something. She turned to Meng Li and said, “Meng Li, I hear you’re quite capable outside. Could you help Grandma with something?”

Meng Li waved the fan in her hand and said, “Grandma, just tell me. If it’s something I can do, I’ll take care of it.”

Grandma Cheng hesitated briefly before saying, “Grandma wants to get some lamb to eat. You know it’s not listed in our ration book. Your dad knows a few Hui folks, but their rationed lamb is all gone. Do you think you can get your hands on some meat tickets?”

After hearing this, Meng Li didn’t immediately think about whether she could get meat tickets, but rather why Grandma Cheng suddenly wanted to eat lamb. Without tickets, no amount of money would help in getting it.

Their family didn’t have lamb tickets—ordinary families like theirs just didn’t.

Hui people didn’t eat pork, but they did have lamb.

After thinking for a moment, Meng Li looked at Grandma Cheng and asked, “Is it Gu Huijuan who wants to eat it?”

Grandma Cheng smiled and didn’t deny it. “She’s in confinement, you know? Her body isn’t recovering well, and her mood’s off. She’s been craving things.”

When Meng Li realized it was Gu Huijuan who wanted it, she wasn’t too keen on helping.

But seeing the beads of sweat on Grandma Cheng’s face as she worked in the kitchen, Meng Li couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

This was the first time Grandma Cheng had asked her for help in such a long while.

If she were to turn her down with a cold face now, it would be heartless of her.

After silently wrestling with herself for a moment, Meng Li took a deep breath and looked at Grandma Cheng. “Alright, I’ll ask around for you.”

She added, “But just so you know, I’m doing this for you, Grandma, not for Gu Huijuan.”

Grandma Cheng chuckled. “She’s your real mother, don’t say it like that.”

Meng Li snorted. “She never treated me like a son, so I don’t treat her like a mother either.”

…

Having agreed to help Grandma Cheng, Meng Li lay in bed that night, thinking about how to go about getting the lamb tickets.

In truth, she didn’t have any direct solutions, but she had ways of going about it—brothers helping brothers.

They had a lot of connections outside, and many things were handled by asking people who knew people.

In Beijing, many people admired her as Meng Third Master and wanted to win her favor.

Because of this, the next morning, she woke up earlier than usual and went to Shuiyue Temple to find Zhuo Xi and the others.

When she arrived, she only managed to wake up Zhuo Xi. She told him about the issue of the lamb tickets.

Zhuo Xi woke up, his mind still a little foggy. He sat up on the cot and looked at Meng Li. “Leave this to me. I’ll give you an answer tonight, don’t worry.”

Meng Li nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Zhuo Xi gave a lazy smile. “What are you being polite for? If it weren’t for Third Master leading us, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

Meng Li thought about it and agreed. They had all gotten to where they were thanks to the original Meng Li’s leadership.

She didn’t bother with any more pleasantries, and after giving her instructions, she let Zhuo Xi go back to sleep.

After that, she used a great deal of effort to climb over the wall and then caught a ride to school.

When Meng Li arrived at school, she was still exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open. She laid her head down on the desk and fell asleep.

She slept so deeply that she didn’t even notice when Wang Chaohai came into the classroom to announce the midterm exam results.

It wasn’t until someone knocked on her that she groggily woke up. Blinking her eyes, she looked around and realized that everyone in the classroom was staring at her, including Wang Chaohai standing at the podium.

Feeling a chill run through her from being the center of attention, she snapped fully awake and hesitated before asking, “What’s going on?”

Ji Chen, looking at her as though she were some sort of strange creature, finally spoke up. In the silence of the room, he said, “We’re waiting for you to share how you managed to get full marks in every subject—no points deducted at all. How did you do it?”