Chapter 23

By sixth grade, with limited spots for the provincial key schools, it seemed every classmate had entered a state of high-strung study.

During breaks, Yu Mian would quietly survey her surroundings and arrive at this conclusion.

Her deskmate Liang Zhixing was the exception.

Liang Zhixing spent most of his time sleeping, leaving the world nothing but the back half of his head.

Even so, the teachers didn’t dare push him out. Rumors had circulated in class forever: his father had donated two hundred computers to the school, so the teachers didn’t dare touch him.

Others said he was a playboy who collected love letters from girls everywhere — flirting with one today, another tomorrow. Said his family was loaded. Said Young Master Liang used to have excellent grades, but after transferring in he’d sunk to the bottom of the class.

All this gossip came from Xu Xiaoyan, who was determined that Yu Mian not be fooled by that somewhat handsome face of his.

Yu Mian had always kept to her own world, like an ancient swordsman devoted only to the blade. She never paid attention to other people’s quarrels, never discussed who was good or bad. As for being deceived — impossible. The two of them hadn’t exchanged a single word; an invisible boundary line ran down the middle of their desks, keeping the distance.

The class bell rang.

Soon the math teacher arrived and handed back last week’s weekly test papers.

No. 1 Primary School’s math teaching was nationally famous, and the tests were always brutally hard. When the papers came back, sighs and groans rippled through the class, the newly pubescent youngsters looking devastated, trying to salvage their math-shattered hearts.

Yu Mian received her paper and raised an eyebrow. Ninety-seven. The last big problem was missing one step of proof — three points docked.

The math teacher was still going over the overall results at the podium when Gao Man at the front desk turned around and leaned over to look. “Freak! Another score this high!”

Yu Mian smiled good-naturedly.

“Let me see your paper!”

“We’re about to go over the problems. After class, okay?”

Gao Man pouted. “Fine… Ugh… why do I torture myself every single time.”

Yu Mian flipped to the last page, filled in the missing step of the proof, then set down her pen and flipped the paper back.

The math teacher began going over the problems, and the class quieted down. Even the perpetually slumbering “Sleeping Beauty” Liang Zhixing, remarkably, lifted his head from the desk, his gaze flicking — deliberately or not — over her paper.

Yu Mian blinked and looked back at him earnestly.

But Liang Zhixing quickly turned away, lounging in his seat, spinning his pen with a devil-may-care air, staring blankly at the blackboard.

Yu Mian: “…”

Fine. Apparently her deskmate still had no intention of studying.

Math was followed by PE. After being brutalized by math, no one could sit still — everyone wanted to go to the field and clear their heads.

But Xu Xiaoyan was on leave that day. Yu Mian thought about it, decided not to go out, took out a math olympiad workbook, and started on problems.

She had competed in math olympiad before and won awards, but as academic pressure mounted she’d grown indifferent to competitions and prizes. She only did fun problems when she had time, devoting more of her hours to her painting lessons instead.

Once she started working, she slipped quickly into her own world, oblivious to her surroundings.

Until someone yanked her hair from behind. This time the pull was hard — she hissed in pain, the pen flying from her hand, her eyes reddening involuntarily.

Her upbringing kept her from losing her temper. “Zhou Yang?”

The same boy who’d pulled her hair yesterday. Seeing her reddened eyes, he seemed to panic a little. “Are you going to cry?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Liang Zhixing walked into the classroom, dribbling a basketball, and heard that sentence with perfect clarity. His face changed instantly; he seized the little fatty’s collar. “You hit people and bully girls?”

Zhou Yang had meant to apologize, but being snarled at in front of Yu Mian lit his own temper. He struggled to push the hand away. “What’s it to you?”

Liang Zhixing sneered and dragged him toward the door. “Bullying girls — you’re not a man!”

Yu Mian hurried after them anxiously. “Liang Zhixing!”

Zhou Yang was really a timid, withdrawn kid; one scare and he fell apart. “You… you’re going to hit me! I-I-I-I!”

Liang Zhixing shoved him against the corridor wall, the corner of his mouth curling. “You what?”

Zhou Yang’s face went red from holding it in. “Don’t fight! Don’t fight! I-I-I-I… I just like her!”

Yu Mian, who had just followed them out, froze, her expression blank, and took an uncomfortable step back.

She didn’t understand… why would he say he liked her? They were just ordinary classmates. She’d explained one problem to him — why would he like her… And if he liked her, why pull her hair?

And liking someone… what kind of feeling was that, exactly?

She didn’t know.

Liang Zhixing scoffed and let go. “Childish.”

He clapped off his hands and returned to the classroom, lounging insolently in his seat. When Yu Mian came in, he stood to let her pass, then lay back down — leaving behind that half of a haughty, aloof back-of-head.

Yu Mian sat down and calmed herself for a moment, setting aside her confusion for now, and poked his elbow. “Thank you, Liang Zhixing.”

Liang Zhixing said nothing, shifting his arm away.

But Yu Mian kept talking, her voice clear and sweet. “Let me buy you a strawberry smoothie, okay?”

Auntie Pei had told her: when someone shows you kindness, you must cherish it and know gratitude.

Liang Zhixing raised his head impatiently, scowling. “Don’t flatter yourself into thinking I did it for you. I just… I just can’t stand watching a man hit a woman.”

Yu Mian looked at him, her eyes clear and clean. “Mm. Men really shouldn’t hit women. The news sometimes even tells women to endure it, but that’s wrong.”

Liang Zhixing stared. “…Really?”

Yu Mian nodded earnestly. “Yes.”

The boy raked a hand through his hair in frustration, though his voice dropped low. “My dad used to beat my mom all the time… Then one day my mom poisoned him while he slept. He was in the hospital for half a year, and she jumped off a building and died. Everyone around me says she was vicious. Says she… deserved it.”

Yu Mian made a small sound. “…I’m sorry. I made you remember something unhappy.”

Liang Zhixing immediately flopped down. “I was joking. Don’t take it seriously.”

Was he insane? Why was he telling family matters to a classmate he barely knew… He didn’t know… maybe he really was going crazy. He didn’t know who he could tell — everyone around him said his mother was wrong. But he didn’t think so. It wasn’t like that.

Yu Mian said nothing more, turning his words over in her mind, feeling an indescribable ache.

She wanted to say something to him, but never found the chance — until the last music class was taken over by the math teacher for problem review, and when Liang Zhixing snuck another look at her paper, she seemed to find her opening.

Yu Mian slid the paper quietly toward him. “Want to look?”

Liang Zhixing kept a straight face and said nothing, forcibly maintaining his cold persona.

But… but he’d missed a lot of classes, and the math teacher assumed everyone in the class was a top student, leaping through the explanations in ways he couldn’t follow — while this little deskmate’s paper… her handwriting was neat and clean, her solution paths crystal clear. He could understand it.

But why should he understand, why should he study? The person who loved him was gone anyway.

Until the bell, he never once gave her paper a proper look.

When the dismissal bell rang, Yu Mian didn’t put the paper back in her folder. Instead she pushed it openly in front of him. “Go on, look.”

Liang Zhixing frowned. “Why?”

Yu Mian tilted her head, her eyes curving. “Because you want to study hard. I can tell.”

Liang Zhixing froze.

The pride and honors that had once been his, the envious glances others once cast… none of it mattered anymore. But he hadn’t felt the sensation of striving toward something for a long, long time — like a ship sailing a boundless sea, unable to see its direction.

He said quietly, “But I don’t know what to do.”

Yu Mian handed him the paper, wrote the day’s key points on a sticky note, and stuck it on his desk. “Then just do well what’s in front of you! I’m heading off now.”

The boy stared blankly at the note. “Why help me?”

The girl was adjusting her backpack straps. “Because I once met someone very, very good, and she was my Lucky Star. I hope everyone can be that lucky.”

Liang Zhixing frowned. “You’re weird.”

The classroom was empty. Yu Mian waved at him with a sunny, radiant smile. “Bye-bye! See you Monday!”

Liang Zhixing slowly clenched his fists, stood, and called after her. “Hey! From now on, this daddy’s got your back!”

Yu Mian was speechless. Lately all the boys in class loved saying “I’m your daddy” type stuff. So childish!

She picked up the compass the math teacher had left on the podium and warned him fiercely, “Don’t you dare! Say that again and I’ll stab you with this compass!”

Only after putting on this fierce act did she hurry out. Today she had a big event!

The very thing Auntie Pei had mentioned… taking her to the lingerie shop!

Yu Mian walked down the campus avenue, smiling as she went.

The driver dropped her at the foot of Pei Songxi’s office building. They’d arranged it beforehand: on Friday she’d come straight to the company after school, and they’d go shopping at the mall together. Just thinking about it made her happy — she hadn’t gone shopping with Auntie Pei in ages!

Wei Yi was waiting at the front desk as always, patting her little braids. “Wow! Has Mianmian grown taller again?”

Yu Mian nodded, beaming. “Yep! Sister Wei Yi, you can tell?”

Wei Yi, in a slim sheath dress with a graceful figure, said, “Of course. You’re practically growing like a weed these days.”

Yu Mian squinted in contentment and rode the elevator up with her.

There were already quite a few people in the elevator, all instinctively stepping back to give her plenty of room — over these years, everyone knew President Pei had a little girl at home, neither daughter nor sister. A tiny little dumpling who could make even the She-Devil, that cold iceberg, stop scolding people — so the employees all treated her as a Lucky Star and hoped she’d come every day.

Yu Mian was used to the stares. When they reached the twelfth floor, the door of Pei Songxi’s office stood ajar, and there seemed to be people talking inside. She poked her head in, intending only a stealthy peek — and happened to meet Pei Songxi’s gaze.

She smiled at her. Pei Songxi hadn’t meant to smile, but her features softened instinctively, and she gave her a small shake of the head.

Yu Mian waited obediently outside. After ten minutes or so, people came out of the office, and one of the sisters slipped her a milk candy.

She bounced into the office. “Auntie Pei!”

Pei Songxi was organizing files. She smiled at her and looked back down. “Give me a moment. Almost done.”

Yu Mian sat nearby and waited.

Ah — she couldn’t climb onto her lap anytime, anywhere like when she was little anymore. She was a big kid now.

She watched her the whole time she waited, without blinking. Pei Songxi noticed her gaze. “Impatient?”

Yu Mian shook her head. “Nope.”

“How was school today?”

“I became friends with my new deskmate. The super-aloof one!”

“Hm?”

“Because he thought someone was bullying me, and he stood up for me. Of course I had to thank him, so I lent him my math test paper. We’re friends now.”

Pei Songxi’s hands paused. “Who bullied you?”

“Oh, that…”

Yu Mian flushed a little and lowered her head, embarrassed. “It doesn’t count as bullying… it’s that boy… the one who pulls my hair. He did it again today, and said… said he likes me.”

Pei Songxi was stunned for several seconds, not knowing what to say. Only after a while did she adjust to a light tone. “So young, and our Mianmian already has boys who like her. You…”

Yu Mian cried out. “No no no no! I don’t like him at all!”

Pei Songxi teased her with a smile. “Then who do you like?”

Yu Mian winked playfully. “Guess!”

“All right, let’s go.”

Pei Songxi didn’t guess. The files were organized; she reached out a hand and gently drew the girl’s shoulder in. The little one grew tall so fast; her hand rested there casually, comfortably.

Yu Mian, dissatisfied, wheedled without realizing it. “You won’t even guess?”

Pei Songxi lowered her head, her smile tender and lingering. “I won’t.”

Yu Mian’s eyes curved smugly. “Then that means you can’t guess!”

Truthfully, she didn’t know herself. Liking someone… still seemed so far away.

Pei Songxi nodded with a smile, enjoying the sight of that little tail sticking up. “Mm. I suppose.”

This little fox.