Chapter 4: Boasting Meets an Acquaintance

Parents were away from home. They were currently busy setting up a new factory site, so tied up that they had no time to return.

The housekeeper prepared her favorite dishes. After eating, Lin Shu began to feel drowsy. She watched some television, bathed, and went to bed. She chatted with Zhou Ya, asking her to send over the assignments given by their teachers, and then the conversation shifted to a headache-inducing topic.

Lin Shu: I don’t want to enroll in a cram school…
Zhou Ya: Everyone is doing it. If you don’t, you’ll fall behind.
Lin Shu: I haven’t been in a good state of mind lately. I’ve forgotten many of the key concepts, so even if I go, I won't be able to keep up.
Zhou Ya: Holy crap, are you depressed or something?
Lin Shu: Huh?
Zhou Ya: One of the signs of depression is memory deterioration. Shu-Shu, I’ve been wondering why you suddenly lost interest in Ji Xingshen. What on earth is going on with you?
Lin Shu: Absolutely impossible!
Zhou Ya: It’s highly possible!
Lin Shu: Stop diagnosing yourself on Baidu…
Zhou Ya: Hahahahahaha, how did you know I Baidu-ed it?
Lin Shu: Ya, don’t push yourself too hard. Adjust your mindset. If there’s a hurdle, tackle it bit by bit; you’ll overcome it eventually.

Zhou Ya didn't reply. Lin Shu knew that Zhou Ya must have been obsessively searching for "depression" to learn those symptoms. Even though Zhou Ya’s own state wasn't exactly great, she still found the energy to care about her.

A few minutes later, Zhou Ya replied: Cheesy.
Lin Shu: This damn school… if I can finish it, fine; if not, so be it. Who knows if aliens will attack tomorrow? By then, none of us will have to study, we’ll all be smashed into pieces—no one will survive.
Zhou Ya: Dying of laughter, holy crap.

Lin Shu rolled over and sent Zhou Ya a heart emoji. Zhou Ya responded with a sticker of a giant, flying, red-lipped cockroach—truly returning kindness with malice.

It was nearly ten o’clock when they finished chatting. Girls could talk endlessly, but it was such a joy to be able to talk to Zhou Ya like this. Lin Shu turned off her phone and fell asleep, feeling content.

Her dreams were chaotic. So many people, so many events, all noisy and bustling. Someone was singing, "In those hurried years, we rashly made unbearable promises, only waiting for others to fulfill them..."

Oh, it was her phone ringing. Why did she set that as her ringtone? Her liver ached just hearing it. Lin Shu groggily answered, letting out a "hello," thinking it was her parents, but it turned out to be an unwelcome guest.

"...Lin Shu?" The voice with a slight nasal tone was Ji Xingshen.
"Yes, it’s me." Lin Shu’s sleepiness vanished instantly, and she sat bolt upright.
"I can’t get through to your parents..."
"They’re probably out in the field, the signal is bad. Try again tomorrow."
"Tuition for the cram school is due tomorrow."

Ji Xingshen’s voice was strained, carrying a hint of displeasure as he said this—the tone was as if her family owed him something. In her previous life, when he called late at night, she had been so happy she was incoherent, offering to use her own pocket money to pay his tuition. Ji Xingshen had paused for a long time before finally asking, "Lin Shu, do you really have that much pocket money?"

Indeed, one term of cram school cost several thousand yuan. Which kid had that much spending money? To put his mind at ease, Lin Shu had claimed it was pocket money, even though she was using her own red-envelope money. After that, Ji Xingshen asked for money more and more frequently, and it became increasingly taken for granted. Everyone at school thought Ji Xingshen’s family was wealthy, but in reality, it was Lin Shu who was the wealthy one.

Ji Xingshen was a needy student sponsored by the Lin family. In addition to his tuition and living expenses, the support included his grandmother’s medical bills. Technically, the cram school fees didn't have to be covered, but Lin Shu’s parents, seeing his academic excellence, were moved by compassion. With Lin Shu’s encouragement, they even sponsored the high cost of his cram school in full.

Whenever payment was due, Ji Xingshen would call Lin Shu’s parents. At that time, Lin Shu didn’t understand a boy’s pride—especially the pride of a boy like Ji Xingshen, who excelled in everything but came from a poor background. She had a crush on him and did everything in her power to help him. The new phone her parents bought her, the limited-edition sneakers her brother treasured, and even the designer school bag she couldn't bear to use herself—all were given to him as gifts.

The more she gave, the colder he became. It was as if everything she did was an insult to him. His later cold violence and infidelity were perhaps his way of taking revenge.

After Ji Xingshen finished speaking about the tuition, Lin Shu didn't offer to pay for him with her own money like she did in her past life. She responded politely, offered feasible suggestions, and remained silent when silence was appropriate.

Lin Shu said, "...It’s too late, I’m going to sleep."
Ji Xingshen’s voice grew urgent. "Is there no other way to contact your parents?"
Lin Shu felt a bit helpless. "If they are out of the service area, I can’t reach them either."
"But it’s due tomorrow, and there’s the Olympiad class. That teacher is very hard to book. Can you..."
"I don’t have enough pocket money."

Lin Shu interrupted him at the right moment. Holding her phone, she let out a long sigh of relief. Ji Xingshen remained silent on the other end, but he wouldn't hang up. He seemed convinced that Lin Shu would find a way.

Lin Shu paused, then said in a low voice, "It’s very late, you should sleep too."

For the first time in two lifetimes, she hung up first. It was as if they were strangers, as if Ji Xingshen was no longer anything special to Lin Shu. It turned out that quitting him wasn't as difficult as she had imagined.

In truth, Lin Shu didn't want to spend her red-envelope money on him. She could have called the uncle in charge of their finances and had him transfer the money to Ji Xingshen, but then she thought, why bother? What did his bright future have to do with her? Besides, it was so late; it wouldn't be good to disturb the finance uncle’s sleep.

She wasn't intentionally taking revenge on Ji Xingshen. She was simply stripping the divine halo from him and treating him like an ordinary classmate—nothing more. Ji Xingshen valued his dignity so much; he could use that dignity to pay his own tuition.

Two more calls came in during the second half of the night. Lin Shu had become wiser; seeing it was Ji Xingshen, she muted the phone and eventually threw it into the living room to charge. A dark sense of pleasure began to grow. Was this right? Certainly not. Relying on a wealthy background to treat a bright, struggling student in need of tuition this way—in any era—was base and sordid. But as scenes of him looking down on her flashed through her mind, Lin Shu felt that being a little base and heartless was still better than being eaten alive and trampled underfoot one day.

She had become a little bad. But at least she wasn't digging her own grave anymore.

...

Her sleep was shallow. The housekeeper said her phone had been vibrating constantly. After washing up, Lin Shu picked up her phone and deleted the missed calls. Later, her parents called, mentioning Ji Xingshen’s cram school and asking if she wanted to go. Lin Shu said no. Her mother became interested, asking if he wasn't the one she loved to use as a role model, and how she had made such a fuss when they weren't assigned to the same class in high school.

Lin Shu’s face turned red. To be assigned to the same class as Ji Xingshen, she really had whispered some ridiculous things into her parents' ears. What role model? Sigh, how embarrassing.

Lin Shu held back and said, "Now that we have evening self-study starting this semester, if I have to attend cram school on the weekends too, does your daughter even get to live?"
Her mother laughed out loud.

Her father grabbed the phone and said, "That’s right. Studying every day will make a person dull. Don’t go if you don’t want to. Our Shu-Shu can reach the top ten in the grade without cram school."
"Dad!" Lin Shu bristled. "I’ve only ever placed in the top ten once, don't frame me!"
Now, her father and mother were laughing heartily together on the other end of the line.

After hanging up, Lin Shu added this tally to Ji Xingshen’s account. Study, study, study—you’re already first in the grade and you still study like your life depends on it, making everyone else look like trash. You really are something, Ji Xingshen.

Although she said that, she still had to study. Lin Shu opened her computer, stumbled through searching for answers, and once she finished the assignments, she dove into the sea of learning. If she didn't study, she would be doomed by the midterm exams. If her grades plummeted, the teachers would definitely talk to her, then her parents would talk, then her brother would talk, and she suspected Zhou Ya wouldn't let her off the hook either. By then, rumors would spread among classmates like, "Lin Shu gave up on herself because she couldn't get Ji Xingshen." Haha, that would truly be the death of her.

After two days of high-intensity study, Lin Shu was wilted. Seeing her pale complexion, the housekeeper kept feeding her donkey-hide gelatin and red date cakes. On Sunday evening, Zhou Ya called her out for a stroll, and only then did Lin Shu reluctantly put down her textbooks to get some air.

They met at their usual spot, Jinyuan Plaza. There wasn't much to browse in the mall, but the street running through the atrium was lively, filled with snacks, and people were riding BMX bikes and skateboards on the steps. Hehe, just buy two ice cream cones and you could sit on the steps to watch trendy guys and pretty ladies. Of course, you had to ignore those live-streaming on the street. It was too awkward.

Actually, Zhou Ya and Lin Shu were just as boy-crazy; the difference was likely that Zhou Ya was more rational, while Lin Shu was too easily swayed by emotion.

"Shu-Shu! Did you see that guy with the slicked-back hair? So handsome!"
"Hm? Which one?"
"The one who just walked by!"
"Didn't see his face..."
"Ugh, you’re useless." Zhou Ya licked her ice cream fiercely, then, still savoring it, grabbed Lin Shu with an iron grip, making her almost scream. "Look! Look!"

A white sleeveless vest, black wide-leg trousers, skin so fair it glowed, tall enough, with an arrogant aura and great proportions. The best part was the curve of his arms—just the right amount of muscle and a sexy vein popping out. Tsk, tsk.

"Okay, this one is good! Mark him!" Lin Shu echoed, holding her ice cream.

Zhou Ya smiled, happy that Lin Shu was finally able to step out of Ji Xingshen’s shadow. The two best friends took female objectification to the extreme, tracing their eyes from the handsome guy’s clean sneakers upward. They were still laughing when they locked eyes with Xie Buchan, completely caught off guard.

Zhou Ya’s eyes widened, and she held her breath instinctively. Lin Shu silently licked the ice cream in her hand and looked away as if nothing happened. Who understands? The sheer intensity of catcalling a handsome guy on the street only to run into the school’s notorious troublemaker? Is there any tofu to run into? They planned to bump into it and then just die.