Chapter 18: Girls Should Take the Initiative
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Xie Buchen left. Lin Zou returned to his seat and ordered another shaved ice. Old Xu asked if he was at the maternal uncle’s place, wondering why he loved sweets so much. Lin Zou said his heart was bitter, so he had to sweeten his mouth.
The long-haired guy was Jin Junsheng. His father was from Guangdong, so his Mandarin occasionally mixed in some Cantonese. That was why he usually acted aloof; otherwise, people would laugh when he spoke.
“What’s going on? Your little sister has a crush, and you got dumped?”
Old Xu laughed heartily.
Although the two had already laughed behind Lin Zou’s back, laughing again in front of him was evidently more enjoyable.
Lin Zou irritably scratched his hair twice.
Jin Junsheng said it was because the older brother acted like that that the sister liked a little troublemaker. Old Xu said, “What’s wrong with a little troublemaker? He even rides a motorbike to take the sister shopping.”
Lin Zou raised his hand and gave each one a light slap—it was anger, but it somewhat opened his energy channels.
“Learning bad from bad people, will learning good from good people work?”
Jin Junsheng raised an eyebrow. “No way, boss, are you appointing a brother-in-law now?”
Lin Zou snapped, “Get lost. No brother-in-law. I just want Shushu’s circle of friends to be cleaner. Damn it, when Mom and Dad asked if I wanted a brother or sister, I should have said brother. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about this now.”
Another burst of laughter.
Old Xu asked if he was going to XXheart tonight.
“I’m going.” Lin Zou suddenly perked up. “Why not go?”
There was nothing else like it in Tong City; the nearby provinces were famous for their bars and nightclubs. XXheart was newly opened, claiming to be the largest in Asia. He came back this National Day holiday just to try it out. Otherwise, why would he have rejected several girls asking him to travel?
Old Xu put his arm around Lin Zou’s shoulder and shook his head. “You kid.”
“Let’s go.” Jin Junsheng stood up, stretched, and tossed his jacket over his shoulder. “Don’t worry. He knows how to treat his sister well; if he doesn’t, we have ways to deal with him—chop off a hand, is that enough?”
Lin Zou laughed out loud.
Jin Junsheng’s look, combined with the vibe of an old Hong Kong gangster film, was simply hilarious.
The three guys each started their supercars and blasted out of the underground garage, revving the streets in broad daylight.
…
Lin Shu’s head was spinning from writing. She looked up; her iced coffee was gone—this was her fuel for life!
Forget it…
There was still some left, she’d finish it at home.
She packed up to go home but didn’t see her older brother. Aunt Zhu wore a bright silk scarf, beaming with joy. She said it was a gift Lin Zou had brought back, and she got one too.
Lin Shu curled her lips, thinking, “Then why didn’t I get one?” Back in her room, she saw the embroidered fan on the table and instantly smiled widely.
A lifelike double-sided embroidery of a kitten—so cute no matter how you looked at it.
She could barely count Lin Zou as a brother, but at least he brought her a gift.
Zhou Ya sent some photos looking quite happy.
Lin Shu also wanted to go out and play. She called her parents, complained a bit, and they transferred her some money, saying she could go out with Lin Zou.
Lin Shu said, “Money isn’t everything. You can’t just use money to solve everything...”
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Dad said, “Then send it back.”
Mom said, “Oh, child, just find friends to hang out with. Didn’t you say you wanted new shoes and a jacket? There are still VIP tickets for the amusement park, right? Invite your classmates to go.”
…
Finding classmates to hang out with, but not going to too expensive stores, or others would feel uncomfortable. She was always given tickets to go along, but those who came were the ones who treated her like a cash cow.
Lin Shu sighed and told them to be careful.
After hanging up, Lin Shu searched her contacts. Among all those people, there wasn’t a single one she wanted to invite.
From middle school, besides Zhou Ya, there was one girl she used to hang out with, but it had been too long, and they had drifted apart.
High school classmates with good character were either traveling with family during the holiday like Zhou Ya or stuck in cram school trying to “catch up with the UK and US” during the five-day break. The rest… forget it. She wouldn’t even give them the tickets to rot in the drawer.
Take Huang Pingtin for example.
When they first started school, Lin Shu had invited her to eat burgers and pizza. Once during PE class, Lin Shu asked Huang Pingtin to bring her a bottle of mineral water, and Huang Pingtin said Lin Shu was acting like a princess, asking someone to fetch water—shouldn’t she give a tip?
Back then, Lin Shu was thin-skinned and actually gave her a tip.
Three-yuan water, ten-yuan tip.
Now Lin Shu would say…
To hell with that.
The shameless were always the most arrogant.
Lin Shu opened a variety show and did her remaining homework while scrolling through social media. Everyone posted photos of outings or study sessions at bookstores. Huang Pingtin was the organizer, and among the confirmed participants was Ji Xingshen. There were only about forty people in their class, yet the post had hundreds of likes and other classes commented they wanted to join.
“So lively… the academic god’s influence really is no joke,” Lin Shu muttered.
When she hit some tough questions, she had to take photos and feed them to an app, but the app was useless—it gave answers but no explanations.
Ahhh…
Why couldn’t she become a genius even after being reborn?
Well, compared to her brother, how could she not be an academic god?
Lin Shu snapped pictures of the problems and pretended to send them to Lin Zou, who was somewhere enjoying himself: “Brother, I don’t get these problems. You’re a university student now; they must teach this at school, right?”
…
Nightclub.
Under silver beams, a boy with dyed white hair was playing games, slightly tipsy. His sister sent a message.
A jumble of letters and symbols—what was that?
He passed it to Jin Junsheng, who glanced and tossed it to Old Xu. Though fierce-looking, Old Xu was the most earnest. After carefully reading, he messaged Lin Shu back: “Sister, I’m your Brother Xu. Even university students don’t know this one. Find someone else.”
Lin Shu: “Brother Xu, why isn’t brother replying to me? Has he passed out?”
Old Xu hurriedly shoved the phone back to Lin Zou.
Jin Junsheng chuckled nearby.
Lin Zou: “I’m not drunk.”
Lin Shu: “Oh.”
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Lin Zou: “Can’t you just get a tutor?”
Lin Shu: “Brother, have all those tutors you found worked?”
Lin Zou: “...”
Lin Shu: “Drink less; alcohol harms the brain, and you’re not that smart to begin with.”
Lin Zou: “Got it, big sister.”
…
Silly brother.
After teasing Lin Zou, Lin Shu set the problems aside. If she couldn’t solve them now, she’d leave them blank—maybe she’d think of the answers tomorrow. Having lived two lifetimes, she understood many things worked that way: if you didn’t know now, you’d find the answer later.
She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, the background noise from the variety show a bit loud.
She grabbed her phone and sent Xie Buchen a photo of the amusement park tickets.
“Want to go?” she asked.
Xie Buchen surprisingly replied instantly: “Don’t play, study hard.”
Lin Shu clicked her tongue and quickly typed: “I’ve nearly finished my holiday homework, only a few questions I can’t do and left blank. Can’t I have some fun? I’m not a study machine!”
Xie Buchen: “Fair enough.”
Lin Shu: “Exactly.”
Xie Buchen: “Alright, see you tomorrow?”
Lin Shu: “Bus stop on Xihe Road, eight in the morning?”
Xie Buchen: “Ok.”
Lin Shu: “Okay—”
Xie Buchen: “Why can you send voice messages?”
Lin Shu hugged her phone and smiled. He actually got her joke. She never let Zhou Ya hear it once—it was like he was reading her mind.
Lin Shu: [Kitten shaking a wine glass.jpg]
Xie Buchen: [Noob dog blooming.gif]
Lin Shu: “No more hidden meanings.”
Xie Buchen: “Oh.”
Lin Shu: “Xie Buchen, you silly dog.”
Xie Buchen: “...Oh.”
Ah!
This was truly hilarious.