CHAPTER 10: As long as Su Jiasui exists, the future will always be worth looking forward to

Just as Chen Xu expected, it only took a single afternoon for gossip about Su Jiasui and Ji Mutian to spread across the entire senior year cohort. No matter how grueling the studies, senior students always put gossip first, and everyone was dying of curiosity.

Su Jiasui was like a short-fused dragon who could explode at any moment. Who in their right mind would dare ask her for details? So naturally, all eyes turned toward the new student who looked soft-spoken and easy to talk to.

When Su Jiasui returned to the classroom, Ji Mutian was surrounded by a group of students. The moment they saw her, they scattered like birds, and a few who didn’t like studying even started deliberately discussing math problems.

Damn it.

If Cheng Xiangxue were in the Rocket Class, she’d probably be coughing up blood from rage by now.

Su Jiasui slumped into her chair, chewing her gum fiercely. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out what went wrong. Was this the so-called protagonist halo? The moment the heroine appeared, her good popularity vanished into thin air, and she immediately became the wicked supporting character that everyone feared?

“Simiao, stop working on the problems for a sec,” Su Jiasui nudged her deskmate. “Look at me. Do I annoy you?”

Lin Simiao’s thought process had been interrupted, so she was a little irritated. She answered honestly, “A little.”

“…Fine. Carry on.”

“You’re not busy? There’s a big test on Friday.”

Su Jiasui had been feeling restless, but that one sentence from Lin Simiao snapped her out of it like a slap to the face. Right—there’s a big test on Friday. Who gives a damn about popularity? The college entrance exam doesn’t have a “social relationships” section. In the end, even if Ji Mutian hadn’t shown up, she and Ji Jing might not have ended up together. Male lead, female lead, it’s all just fluff.

Studying hard and bringing honor to the Su family—that’s the real deal.

Knowledge will never betray you!

Su Jiasui spit out her gum, cleared her mind, and shifted back into senior year survival mode.

On the first day of the new term, the school added a one-and-a-half-hour evening self-study session. Different subject teachers would rotate supervising the class, answering questions while making sure students stayed focused.

But in senior year, it was all about self-discipline. Evening self-study wasn’t mandatory. If someone lived far away and needed to catch the last bus home, the teachers allowed them to leave early.

Chen Xu couldn’t go home early. His grandma was counting on her eldest grandson to make something of himself. She even swallowed her pride and used her late husband’s connections to squeeze him into the Rocket Class, hoping he’d be influenced by good students and finally buckle down.

But Chen Xu was interested in everything except studying. The fact that he wasn’t ditching class and could sit obediently in the classroom was already an act of divine filial piety.

“Jing, let’s go play a bit of pool?”

“…Wait a sec.”

Ji Jing wasn’t quite the same. Su Jiasui often said he was like a lazy donkey—only moved when whipped. If he really applied himself, he could do well, but his mind always wandered, and he couldn’t concentrate.

Usually, the moment Chen Xu pulled him in, he’d be tempted to go.

“What are you waiting for?”

“I’ll ask Sister Sui first.”

“Bro, you’re ten steps away from her. Do you really need to text?”

Ji Jing raised a brow in Su Jiasui’s direction. “There’s that Tsinghua war god sitting next to her. The moment I walk over, she gets annoyed. If I go too many times, she’ll stop sitting with Sister Sui.”

Lin Simiao had always been ranked first in the grade. Only once—when she was sick and feeling awful—did Su Jiasui’s unusually good performance push her out of the top spot. Ji Jing didn’t dare provoke the first-ranker lightly.

Bzzt—

If her phone vibrated during the day, it was ninety-nine percent Ji Jing. But at night, it wasn’t always him. Sometimes Ms. Sun would message to ask what she wanted for dinner.

She checked her phone—yep, it was still Ji Jing.

[Sister Sui, Chen Xu wants to go play pool…]

Su Jiasui pursed her lips and slammed the keypad. Her Nokia E71 had been violently abused for so long that the letters on the keys were already worn off beyond recognition.

[Have you finished memorizing your vocab!!! Done your homework!!! I really don’t want to have to push you to study like your damn mother! Can’t you have a little self-control!!!]

[I memorized everything, know it cold. Still got a few problems I can’t solve, but I’ll listen closely when the teacher explains them tomorrow!]

[Then get lost.]

[Aye aye!]

Ji Jing’s black E71 was in even worse shape than hers. Between constantly texting Su Jiasui and dropping it on the ground all the time, it was so beat up that even a secondhand store would only give him a kitchen knife or washbasin in trade.

“I heard the iPhone 4 is coming out soon. Seems pretty decent. You not thinking about upgrading?”

“If Sister Sui doesn’t change hers, how can I change mine?”

“Pfft. Sister Sui, Sister Sui, it’s like your brain only has one person in it all day long. You even let her sit on your clothes and now they’re all wrinkled. I ironed them for half an hour last night, you know that? Okay, fine, my family’s maid did it, but still—it’s the thought that counts.”

“So?”

Ji Jing stopped walking and stared at Chen Xu. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Mm… I think you should act more like a man and put her in her place a little.”

“Listen to yourself. I’ve already decided to stay out of her way this year so she can focus on the college entrance exam.”

“What? Worried Ji Hanhua’s gonna go hassle Uncle Su again?”

“I’m worried Sister Sui might impulsively go after Ji Hanhua.”

Chen Xu couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t mean crush that kind of spirit. Whatever, forget it. Only the one who’s suffering knows how it feels.”

“Well, I’m not suffering.” Ji Jing stretched lazily. “I’m counting on Sister Sui to succeed so I can freeload off her success.”

“You’re not just a coward—you’re a soft coward. No wonder she’s always bossing you around.”

“Didn’t you say I was doing a good deed for the people? Just think of it as my good deed of the day.”

Xinghai High School was a well-rounded institution. In the sophomore year, a student who was a professional snooker player had just placed second in the National Youth Championship. To ensure he could keep up his training while in school, they even prepared a dedicated billiards room for him.

After school, once the competition participants had gone home, the billiards room became the “principal’s” personal rec room.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly something to brag about, but it was still better than hanging around at those pool halls near the joint campus. Those places were full of shady types—some of whom had past grudges with Ji Jing and Su Jiasui. Although they were currently maintaining a surface-level peace of “you don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you,” if they ever ran into each other, all being young and hotheaded, who knew what might happen.

Su Jiasui actually preferred Ji Jing to stay on campus and mess around here.

“Simiao, I’m hungry. I’m heading out. I’ll finish this set of problems tomorrow morning.”

“Mm, bye-bye.”

“Jiang Yan, let’s go.”

Jiang Yan was a little startled. When he looked up, the remaining dozen or so classmates in the room were all staring at him. He finally understood why Ji Jing had introduced him as Su Jiasui’s relative this morning. In hindsight, that really had been a smart move.

“Give me a second. I’ll pack up my bag.”

“No rush. I’m going to find Ji Jing and the others in the billiards room first—second floor, around the corner.”

“Got it.”

As soon as Su Jiasui left, a girl couldn’t help asking in a roundabout way, “Did you guys know each other before?”

Jiang Yan pressed his lips together. He knew that if he told the truth, it would definitely lead to all kinds of rumors and gossip in the future. “…Su Jiasui and I are relatives.”

“No wonder. You two seemed really familiar with each other. You must be from her mom’s side, right? I’ve seen Su Jiasui’s dad around campus before. You don’t really look like him.”

Jiang Yan wasn’t good at lying. His face warmed with embarrassment, and after giving a couple vague “mm”s, he picked up his bag and quickly left.

The girl watched his retreating back, then nodded thoughtfully and whispered to her deskmate, “Su Jiasui’s mom came from a relocated household, you know. I heard they were really poor before the compensation. She even dropped out of middle school to work.”

“Wow, you really know everything, You Niannian.”

“Well, my mom is the head of the parent committee. Every time there’s a meeting, it’s always Su Jiasui’s dad who attends. That’s because her mom didn’t get much education.”

Her deskmate picked up on the smug tone underneath her words and found her a bit annoying.

When Su Jiasui arrived at the billiards room, Ji Jing and Chen Xu had just finished a game.

“Hey, perfect timing.”

“Who won?”

Ji Jing raised his hand like a schoolkid. “Narrow win, very narrow win.”

Su Jiasui looked at the few balls still left on the table. She was kind of tempted too. Since she had to wait for Jiang Yan anyway, she grabbed a cue and said, “Let me give it a try.”

The spring-summer girls’ uniform was a deep blue pleated skirt that ended just above the knees. But for the sake of fashion, Su Jiasui had rolled the waistband twice inward, so her skirt barely reached the top of her thighs. When she suddenly leaned over the table and lifted one leg, Ji Jing and Chen Xu were so startled they immediately turned their backs and exclaimed in unison, “What are you doing?!”

Su Jiasui shot them a glance. “Can you not be so dramatic?” Then added with a smile, “Not bad, your families raised you well.”

Ji Jing turned back, looking helpless. “Even with a lining, can you try to be a little more elegant?”

“Isn’t this how you’re supposed to play pool? I can’t reach.”

“There’s a cue rest, for god’s sake!” Chen Xu reached out and pinched the back of Ji Jing’s neck. “I’m starting to think she doesn’t even see us as guys.”

That line hit much harder than anything Chen Xu had said earlier in the hallway. Ji Jing had to admit—sometimes, Su Jiasui really didn’t treat him like a guy. More like a buddy. Maybe even a girlfriend.

After all that show, Su Jiasui ended up missing her shot completely. She didn’t even hit the ball. Immediately losing interest, she muttered, “What’s taking Jiang Yan so long? Did he get lost?”

Speak of the devil—Jiang Yan appeared at the door. “Not quite lost.”

“Okay! Now that everyone’s here, time to go home and eat!”

“I’m heading home today.”

“Ah…”

It made perfect sense for Ji Jing to go home. But whenever Su Jiasui thought about how lonely and unwelcomed he was at home, her heart couldn’t help aching. She really wished he could take the college entrance exam already. Once he got into university, he could finally move out with a valid reason.

After a long moment of internal conflict, Su Jiasui gave him a rare, genuinely gentle smile. “I’ll bring you breakfast tomorrow.”

Every time Ji Jing was about to go home, Su Jiasui would suddenly treat him extra well. Ji Jing was already used to it and casually took her schoolbag to carry for her.

The tree-lined avenue was flanked by tall, leafy sycamores swaying gently in the evening breeze.

Light steps, sneakers, white ankle socks, slender ankles, long straight legs, and that black hair swaying with each movement—every detail of the girl in front of him radiated vibrant, youthful energy.

Ji Jing carried the schoolbag and looked at his girlfriend’s back. He genuinely felt that he was incredibly lucky.

As long as Su Jiasui was there, the future is always worth looking forward to.