The sight was oddly familiar to Xu Zhilu, almost as if it overlapped with a memory she couldn’t quite place.

Before she could fully process the memory, Shen Siyan walked over to her.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

He reached out and took her phone from her.

Xu Zhilu pursed her lips and stared at him. “Why are you here?”

Shen Siyan replied calmly, “Cheng Song dropped Xin An’an off.”

“…oh.”

Shen Siyan added, “The game was too boring, so I came over to see what you were up to.”

Xu Zhilu nodded. “Oh.”

Shen Siyan looked at her blankly, feeling a bit helpless. He reached out and patted her head. “Stop talking. Let’s go.”

Xu Zhilu curled her lips into a reluctant smile. “Okay.”

She murmured, “Let’s go home.”

“Alright, and I need some tutoring from you when we get back.”

Xu Zhilu looked at him in disbelief. “What did you say? You need tutoring?”

Shen Siyan nodded. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

Xu Zhilu was taken aback and shook her head. “No.”

She was puzzled. How had he suddenly become so keen on studying?

_

After Xu Zhilu got home, she didn’t rush to find Shen Siyan.

Aunt Liu, who helped with the cooking, was resting today, as she did occasionally.

Xu Zhilu went upstairs to put her schoolbag away. When she came back down, she met Aunt Liu, who was preparing dinner.

The two exchanged looks, and Xu Zhilu called out, “Aunt Liu.”

Aunt Liu smiled gently at her. “How was your day?”

“Fine.”

Xu Zhilu noticed the strong sunlight outside and said, “It’s so sunny out. Why aren’t you using an umbrella?”

Aunt Liu replied with a chuckle, “At my age, why should I use an umbrella?”

Xu Zhilu pursed her lips and said, “It’s necessary. The sun is too intense.”

Aunt Liu looked at her with amusement and asked, “What would you like for dinner tonight?”

“Anything is fine.”

Xu Zhilu hesitated for a moment and then asked, “Aunt Liu, can I ask you something?”

Aunt Liu was surprised but responded as she walked to the kitchen, “Sure, ask away.”

Xu Zhilu blinked and inquired, “Last year on my birthday, didn’t a lot of people send me gifts?”

Aunt Liu nodded. “Yes, Aunt Liu has collected several batches of them for you.”

Most of the gifts were from friends of Xu Zhilu’s parents, as well as some from classmates.

Xu Zhilu said, “Oh, I just wanted to know if you kept any records.”

Aunt Liu was puzzled. “Records of what?”

“A record of the gifts I received.”

Xu Zhilu explained, “I’m trying to remember who gave me what so I can return the favor when their birthdays come around.”

Aunt Liu agreed, “I see.”

She thought for a moment and then said, “I believe I made a note of it at the time. Let me check.”

“Okay.”

Xu Zhilu waited patiently.

After a brief pause, Aunt Liu pulled out her phone and said, “The deliveries and things brought to the door should all be recorded.”

She pointed and said, “There were quite a few on the table in the living room. How many did you take upstairs?”

Xu Zhilu tried hard to recall. “There seemed to be three or four.”

Aunt Liu nodded repeatedly. “Yes, that’s right. You even thanked me for them.” She flipped through her records from that time and handed them to Xu Zhilu. “Here, there are two gifts from your classmates, and Aunt Liu took photos of them.”

Xu Zhilu leaned in to look. She vaguely remembered the gifts, though they were somewhat familiar.

“All four are here,” she said.

Xu Zhilu looked puzzled. “Is that all? I thought I received more than four gifts that day.”

Aunt Liu glanced at her. “We collected them the day before yesterday. These are all of them.”

They exchanged a look, and Xu Zhilu noticed that Shen Siyan’s gift was missing from the list.

She hesitated for a moment. “Is that everything? Aunt Liu, did you take photos of all the gifts?”

Aunt Liu nodded and flipped through the pages. “Yes, except for Siyan’s. All of them are here.”

Xu Zhilu’s eyes lit up. “Why didn’t you take a picture of Shen Siyan’s gift?”

Aunt Liu, not thinking much of it, explained, “Siyan delivered his gift just before Jiajia came home. Before I could take a photo, Jiajia had already taken it upstairs.”

Xu Zhilu was silent. “I see.”

Aunt Liu then recalled, “You liked the gift a lot at that time. You even thanked me for it.”

“Ah?”

“Yes, you hugged me and said you liked it. I assumed it was the gift from Shen Siyan.”

Xu Zhilu slowly began to understand how the misunderstanding happened. Xu Zhijia had gone upstairs with all the gifts, including Shen Siyan’s. Xu Zhilu had followed afterward, also taking gifts upstairs. When she came back down, she had a smile on her face, and when Aunt Liu asked if she liked the gift, Xu Zhilu affirmed.

Because of this, Aunt Liu naturally thought the gift she liked was from Shen Siyan. Aunt Liu believed Xu Zhijia had put Shen Siyan’s gift in her room.

Xu Zhilu blinked and said nothing.

Aunt Liu noticed something was off and looked at her with concern. “Is something wrong? Did I say something incorrect?”

Xu Zhilu shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I wasn’t referring to Shen Siyan’s gift.”

Aunt Liu raised her eyebrows. “Were you not happy with the gift from Siyan?”

Before Xu Zhilu could answer, Aunt Liu continued, “I saw the packaging box in the trash this afternoon. It looked like a watch.”

Xu Zhilu’s eyes widened. “Really? I don’t even remember it.”

Aunt Liu smiled. “Your mind is focused on studying, unlike mine, which remembers these little things.”

Xu Zhilu responded vaguely and said with a playful tone, “No, I just have a poor memory.”

Aunt Liu laughed and said, “Alright, I’ll get started on dinner. Your parents will be home tonight.”

Xu Zhilu nodded calmly. “Thank you, Aunt Liu. I’ll head next door.”

“Okay.”

_

Xu Zhilu didn’t stay long. She quickly gathered the information she had prepared for Shen Siyan and went next door.

Shen Siyan opened the door. Seeing her hurried demeanor, he raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

Xu Zhilu looked at him. “It’s nothing.”

She stood on tiptoe and glanced around. “Where’s my aunt?”

“She went out.”

Shen Siyan took the book from her and asked, “Shall we go to the room?”

“Yes.”

Once inside, Xu Zhilu explained what she had just learned.

Shen Siyan frowned. “So it was her.”

Xu Zhilu pursed her lips awkwardly. “Why? Do you think I’m lying?”

Shen Siyan sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”

He reached out and ruffled her hair. “Why do you always misunderstand me?”

Xu Zhilu pouted. “Your tone sounded very surprised and disbelieving.”

Shen Siyan was at a loss for words.

After a moment, he suggested, “Should we check the surveillance footage?”

“It was months ago. Is it still available?”

Shen Siyan nodded. “Yes, the community keeps surveillance footage for a long time.”

Xu Zhilu was about to ask how he knew that but realized the answer. This community was developed by Shen Siyan’s family.

Later, she found out that her family lived next door because Xu’s father and Shen Siyan’s father were classmates in high school and college. Despite the vast differences in their financial backgrounds, the two families had maintained some business connections. When Xu’s father decided to buy a house, Shen Guangyuan offered him an internal price.

This led to the two families becoming neighbors and growing closer. However, Xu Zhilu knew that her family was in a dependent position. The Shen family did not need a partner from the Xu family and could even be considered indifferent.

This was also why Xu Zhilu’s mother was cautious around Shen Siyan’s mother. Generally, Xu’s mother would not refuse any request from Aunt Shen.

Xu Zhilu was silent for a moment before muttering, “Next time you get into a fight, I’d better not try to stop you.”

With the Shen family’s financial resources, donating another building would be a piece of cake.

Shen Siyan: “…”

He hadn’t even thought of that: “Who am I fighting for?”

Xu Zhilu opened the textbook in front of her and grumbled, “Who knows? You seem to have a hundred reasons to fight every day.”

“…”

Shen Siyan remained silent.

Xu Zhilu turned to look at him and asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

Shen Siyan stared at her for a few seconds, then gave her a hard tap on the head, saying, “You have no conscience.”

“…”