Chapter 28: He is Special

Spring in Beijing was very different from that in Nancheng, and Jiang Mingzhi was having some trouble adjusting.

The air was always filled with the pollen from the cypress trees, and whenever the wind blew, it seemed to stir up a haze of dust.

Although she wasn’t allergic to pollen, her nose was still suffering a lot, with constant sneezing. Qiu Tang even thought she had caught a cold.

“Wear a mask when you’re outside.”

“Okay, Mom, I have one in my backpack.”

Jiang Mingzhi put on her mask and carried four gift boxes to the underground parking garage.

These were all gifts from Nancheng for her friends. Each one was packed in a beautiful paper bag, ready to be given to them later.

The gifts were placed in the trunk of the car, intending to be handed out after school.

After all, carrying so many things into class would definitely attract attention.

As soon as she sat down, her deskmate, Meng Yuanyuan, pulled something out of her backpack. “This is your pottery.”

Since Jiang Mingzhi had made a trip to Nancheng and didn’t have time to pick up her pottery, she had asked Meng Yuanyuan to bring it to school for her.

The ceramic little cake she had made was delicately baked, clear and bright, and looked quite cute.

It was wrapped in old newspapers to prevent any damage.

Jiang Mingzhi checked it over and arranged it just as it was, mentally counting the days until Uncle Pei’s birthday.

Yang Hui walked by and said, “Hey, you have pottery too? Is it really that popular now?”

Jiang Mingzhi instinctively looked over at Zhuang Heyang. He was proudly showing off his handmade Cassie to his classmates.

Wei Daiqing seized the opportunity to add, “You two didn’t go to make pottery together, did you?”

Yang Hui smiled mischievously, “Oh? What’s going on? Are you two a thing?”

Zhuang Heyang casually picked up a book from his desk and tossed it at him. “Stop talking nonsense.”

Then, he raised his eyebrows smugly. “We went in a group of five or six, and I made the best one.”

Meng Yuanyuan also chimed in, “Too bad I forgot to bring my cup today. I’ll show it to you tomorrow. My pottery skills are much better than Zhuang Heyang’s.”

Jiang Mingzhi laughed, “Zhuang Heyang, stop bragging. Even Guan Jingxu’s dog bowl looks better than yours.”

When Wei Daiqing heard that Guan Jingxu had also gone, she immediately felt sour, as though she’d just eaten a lemon.

She had been sitting in front of him for a semester, and every time she tried to make plans with him during breaks, they never worked out.

Why did Jiang Mingzhi, who had only been here for half a semester, get along so well with him?

The morning bell rang, signaling the start of class. Jiang Mingzhi was grateful to Meng Yuanyuan. She was someone who didn’t talk much, and today, she had spoken up to help her, proving that she had made the right judgment about her.

During adolescence, interactions between boys and girls were easily misunderstood. Although it wouldn’t cause any major issues, it could still be a bit troubling.

Once a boy and a girl were assumed to have that kind of relationship by their classmates, they would seize every opportunity to stir up trouble.

In the early morning, the entire school gathered at the sports field, where the duty students came to check on everyone’s appearance and attire.

Jiang Mingzhi had all her hair combed back and stood in the sunlight, feeling as though she was bathed in light.

Her face was a little flushed from the sun, so she raised her hand to shield her forehead, silently urging the headmaster on the podium to finish the speech quickly.

She didn’t notice that a pair of eyes at the back of the boys’ team were following her figure.

Finally, the morning assembly ended, and Jiang Mingzhi’s face was slightly red from the sun.

She blended into the crowded mass of students heading to the classroom. Beneath the trees, only the lucky ones could grab a spot in the shade.

The boys weren’t afraid of being squashed, while the girls all crowded under the trees.

Although the sun wasn’t very strong, the UV index was high.

While Jiang Mingzhi was discussing which sunscreen brand to buy with Meng Yuanyuan, she suddenly heard someone shouting her name from behind.

“Jiang Mingzhi!”

Two tall, slim boys were waving at her from a short distance away. When they reached her, the boy smiled and said, “I’m on the same team as your brother. My name is Huang Yan.”

Huang Yan?

That name…

Jiang Mingzhi’s second reaction was: Who is my brother?

She frowned, “Pei Jinyang?”

Huang Yan smiled so wide that his gums showed. “Yes, I even asked him for your WeChat before, but he wouldn’t give it to me.”

Jiang Mingzhi: “…”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to give it to him. He probably didn’t have it at all.

To this day, Jiang Mingzhi had never added Pei Jinyang on WeChat; they were only in the same family group chat.

Jiang Mingzhi asked, “Does he dislike you?”

“Of course not!” Huang Yan replied. “We’re pretty good friends.”

Jiang Mingzhi said regretfully, “Oh.”

If Pei Jinyang really disliked him, maybe she would have given him her WeChat, at most blocking, deleting, or muting him later.

Although Huang Yan appeared to be a carefree, sports-type guy, to make Pei Jinyang dislike her, she wouldn’t mind giving him one WeChat contact.

Two seconds later, Jiang Mingzhi raised her eyebrows. “That’s too bad. I only get along with people I dislike, and I don’t play with people I dislike either.”

She pulled Meng Yuanyuan along as they left, leaving Huang Yan and his friend frozen in place. The friend patted Huang Yan’s shoulder. “You should’ve said that when you asked for her WeChat. If you told her that, maybe she would’ve given it to you.”

---

After evening study, Jiang Mingzhi stopped Zhuang Heyang and Guan Jinxu. “Wait, let’s go together. I brought some local specialties from Nancheng for you guys.”

Zhuang Heyang, holding his bag in one hand, grinned widely. “That sounds great! I didn’t expect Xiao Jiang to think of us when she went to Nancheng. It wasn’t for nothing that I helped you with the questions.”

Meng Yuanyuan asked, puzzled, “What questions did you help her with?”

Zhuang Heyang was caught off guard and pulled Guan Jinxu’s shoulder. “If Xu Ge explains it, it’s the same as me explaining it, right?”

Guan Jinxu made an annoyed face and shrugged him off, tossing his bag over his shoulder.

The group walked out of the classroom. Guan Jinxu asked Jiang Mingzhi, “Did you go to Nancheng for Qingming to visit relatives?”

Jiang Mingzhi nodded. “Mm, I went to pay respects to my father.”

“…”

There was a brief silence.

Guan Jinxu apologized, “Sorry.”

He had thought it was for grandparents or older relatives.

At this point, Zhuang Heyang felt his friend’s emotional intelligence was a little lacking. For Qingming, it was definitely to visit closer relatives, asking about it like that was almost poking at someone’s feelings.

“Is there any specialty from Nancheng?”

Good bro, you’re on your own now.

Jiang Mingzhi wasn’t offended, calmly introducing the local specialties of Nancheng and explaining how to cook the mushroom dish.

They talked all the way to the car waiting outside the school to pick them up. Zhuang Heyang excitedly rubbed his hands. “Sounds like good stuff. It’s good for the brain. Perfect for a high schooler like me who uses his brain too much.”

Jiang Mingzhi opened the trunk and handed out the gifts to the three of them. There was one left for Lin Wan, but since she didn’t want to attend evening study, Jiang Mingzhi decided to give it to her the next day at school.

For Guan Jinxu, she had made a small note, adding a stick of ink to his gift.

She had originally planned to give him just the ink stick, knowing he practiced calligraphy. But when buying the local specialties, she ended up getting more things for the others. The ink stick felt a bit light, so she decided to buy him a more substantial gift.

This way, he ended up with the most stuff.

However, Jiang Mingzhi didn’t think it was inappropriate. After all, she would still need his help in academics in the future.

She was so used to treating others well that it had almost become second nature to her, like a job.

Zhuang Heyang opened the bag and glanced at the gifts. “Wow, so many things! Xiao Jiang, from now on, you’re my real sister.”

Meng Yuanyuan tightly gripped her bag and smiled, “Thank you!”

Guan Jinxu didn’t immediately check his gift. He reached out to help Jiang Mingzhi close the trunk. “Thank you.”

Pei Jinyang had been waiting in the car for her for a while. Seeing her still chatting and laughing with the others, he impatiently called out, “Are you coming or not?”

Jiang Mingzhi waved her hand. “It’s fine. You guys go ahead. I’ll leave first.”

She got in the car without even giving Pei Jinyang a second glance and spoke to the driver, “Let’s go, Uncle Zhou.”

The moment Pei Jinyang saw her ignore him, he got angry. She was all smiles to others, but when it came to him, she seemed like she couldn’t roll her eyes far enough.

However, he had clearly seen that there were four gifts in the trunk, and she had only given three away. That must mean…

“Hey…”

Jiang Mingzhi was typing on her phone, not even glancing up.

Pei Jinyang called out again, and when she still didn’t respond, he straightened up and tugged at her school jacket.

Jiang Mingzhi looked at the hand pulling her clothes with a cold, unfriendly stare.

The message was clear: “Let go of your dirty hand.”

“First of all, I don’t…”

Pei Jinyang withdrew his hand and rubbed his nose. “Alright, Jiang Mingzhi, where’s my gift?”

Jiang Mingzhi looked at him incredulously.

She clearly hadn’t expected Pei Jinyang to ask for a gift in this situation.

But it wasn’t surprising. He had always been the kind of person who would directly ask for whatever he wanted.

“There’s none!”

Pei Jinyang froze, not expecting her to refuse so decisively.

He grinned in anger. “You took my pocket money and didn’t even bring me a gift?”

Jiang Mingzhi stared at him in disbelief, almost laughing from his audacity.

“That’s because you made a mistake. Uncle Pei owes me compensation.” She paused before adding, “Besides, didn’t you eat the two dishes yesterday?”

As soon as they returned to Beijing, she had given the gifts to Uncle Pei, who was so happy that he had the chef prepare two dishes using mushrooms for dinner.

The whole family ate, and Pei Jinyang benefited too.

Pei Jinyang licked his back teeth, angrily saying, “Jiang Mingzhi, you’re something!”

“Crazy,” Jiang Mingzhi muttered quietly, continuing to chat with Lin Wan on WeChat.