"Hmm." Xiang Yu saw that he was still wearing his pajamas and went to the living room by himself.
Yang Shuhuan had already left. Xiang Yu sat in the living room, staring straight ahead at the coffee table, not giving anyone else's home much attention.
'Bang, bang, bang'
A regular knocking sounded. Wang Zehao was washing up in the bathroom, and with foam in his mouth, he mumbled, "Fish pot, help the demon stop the door."
Brother Yu, could you open the door for me?
Xiang Yu understood and went to open the door.
Gu Chen stood outside the door, holding a stack of photos in one hand and a bag in the other, the transparent bag containing bread and soy milk.
Gu Chen was already smiling, but when he saw that it was his deskmate who opened the door, his smile became even brighter.
"Mouse's family doesn't stock up on snacks, so I brought some breakfast over. I remember you're lactose intolerant and can't drink milk, right?"
[Author's Note: Gu Chen: I'm so thoughtful, praise me!]
】
Chapter Sixteen: Gu Chen, this won't do. You two can't, at least I won't allow it.
Chapter Sixteen Gu Chen: This won't do, my deskmate, you two can't, at least I won't allow it.
"He's busy. In his free time, Brother Chen is either studying or helping others." Wang Zehao answered Xiang Yu's question while happily eating a piece of bread and a sip of soy milk.
Gu Chen came and went in a hurry. By the time he realized he was suffering from lactose intolerance, he had already disappeared, leaving only a plastic bag full of breakfast.
Xiang Yu drank his boxed soy milk and said nothing more after hearing that.
It's not surprising that someone with Gu Chen's personality likes to help others; that's easy to see.
“Brother Chen, this is just a habit.” As one of Gu Chen’s best friends who has been with him the longest, Wang Zehao is quite talkative. Without Xiang Yu having to ask any further questions, he continued the conversation on his own. “Those things like ‘Three Good Students,’ ‘Top Ten Youths,’ ‘Little Lei Feng Award,’ it’s no exaggeration to say that he’s received them so many times since he was a child that his hands are sore.”
"He is outstanding," Xiang Yu praised generously.
“Absolutely.” Wang Zehao continued, “Yu Ge, you’re not bad either. Chen Ge often praises you to me and Huanhuan.”
"He praised me?" Xiang Yu paused, unable to sip his soy milk. He was rarely praised by Gu Chenshao, but hearing it from someone else felt strange.
“Absolutely,” Wang Zehao said bitterly, “We go home together every night, and Huanhuan and I are getting tired of hearing it.” “You know how big my brother Chen’s mouth is; once he starts talking, he’s not going to shut up easily.”
Xiang Yu: "What did you say?" He regretted it as soon as he said it, as asking such a question made it seem like he cared too much about being praised.
I hadn't originally intended to voice this question, but ideas always lag behind practice. Fortunately, Wang Zehao didn't find it strange that he asked it.
"Kind-hearted, good at studying, and good-looking." Wang Zehao succinctly summarized the three points. Seeing the other person looking at him with a complicated expression, he continued, "Don't underestimate these three points. Anyway, I've never seen Brother Chen use these three 'goods' to praise the same person. Let's take our classmates as an example."
Wang Zehao coughed twice, cleared his throat, and said, "Take the class division in the second year of high school for example. Chen-ge only praised Luo-zai for being good-looking and Song-er for being good at studying. He said the other girls were beautiful and kind-hearted, and the boys were strong and healthy. Do you think he was being perfunctory?"
"It's alright." Xiang Yu really couldn't imagine Gu Chen being so perfunctory. At least so far, in his eyes, Gu Chen had always been serious about everything and everyone.
Who knows? He's only been here a week, and there are still so many people he can't see through.
After finishing a simple breakfast, the two began their formal studies. Xiang Yu found that Wang Zehao was quite smart. His foundation wasn't great, but at least he wasn't as clueless as Xiang Yu had imagined. Knowing a little about humanities subjects would make things easier; he just needed to review the knowledge points that required memorization.
Wang Zehao, a liberal arts student, was mainly afraid of math.
Xiang Yu could have predicted this; he was very responsible for what he promised, and he brought a lot of math teaching materials and his own notes with him when he came.
If you only help someone review for one day, you can't start from the basics, so Xiangyu simply helped him with a batch of practice questions, explaining what would be tested and how. In the end, the process filled five or six A4 pages.
This move left Wang Zehao speechless.
"Damn, Yu-ge, you're amazing!" Wang Zehao flipped through the life-saving papers, practically worshipping them. "Being both the school bully and the academic genius is too much! I don't even care about passing. As long as I can get over 80 in math this time, Yu-ge, you'll be my bastard!"
"...There's no need to exaggerate like that."
Before I knew it, it was already afternoon. Xiang Yu finished her work for the day, packed her schoolbag, and prepared to leave.
Wang Zehao asked, "Yu-ge, where are you going?"
Xiang Yu said, "Go home."
Li Yifan just messaged me saying that his aunt and uncle are working overtime again, and they're planning to order takeout for dinner. He asked when they'd be back so they could order together when he gets back.
He immediately replied, "Is there anything else?"
“Brother Yu, have you forgotten?” Wang Zehao looked at him and said, “Luo Zai said he’d treat us to dinner this weekend.”
"Hmm." He hadn't taken it to heart at first and had indeed forgotten about it, so he wasn't sure if he could refuse now.
Wang Zehao seemed to see through his intentions and immediately said, "Don't even think about refusing. This meal is specially treated to you by Luo Zai. We're all benefiting from your kindness."
That's really troublesome. Since things have come to this point, Xiang Yu shouldn't refuse, but she really doesn't want to go.
'Bang, bang, bang'
The regular knocking sounded again. Wang Zehao went to open the door, and sure enough, it was the same familiar person outside.
Gu Chen asked, "Mouse, how's your studying going? Where's my deskmate?"
"He's inside." Wang Zehao stepped aside to let Gu Chen in. "You did exceptionally well this afternoon. My brother Yu is truly my brother Yu. This time, he helped me catch up on math, and we're all set!"
"Hey." Gu Chen was amused by his confident demeanor and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Keep it up!"
Wang Zehao, encouraged by another top student, felt he couldn't be more capable than ever. For the first time, he wanted to ramble on and share his thoughts on the monthly exam, but then he saw his brother Chen walk towards the other student without even turning his head.
Oh shit.
Wang Zehao felt very sad that there was no audience.
Is this the pain that Brother Chen feels when he has a thousand words to say but no one listens?
"Thank you for your hard work, deskmate." Gu Chen was still smiling, and Xiang Yu couldn't understand what made him so happy every day.
"It wasn't hard work." Xiang Yu ultimately earned 5 morality points, which was considered a reward, so there was no need to talk about hard work.
"That's good. Haozi is quite smart. I think he won't make things difficult for you." Gu Chen smiled and put his arm around his deskmate's neck familiarly. "Let's go. Luozi and the others are still waiting outside."
Before Xiang Yu could say anything, Gu Chen pulled her downstairs. She didn't try to break free, since she couldn't anyway and was used to it. He found it quite remarkable that this idiot was so strong yet didn't know how to fight.
Yang Shuhuan waited for them at the entrance of the building. Xiang Yu greeted them briefly, and the four of them walked out of the community. A black minivan was waiting by the roadside.
The car window slowly rolled down, and the people inside waved to them.
Xu Youluo: "Come quick! My sister wants us to eat at Manjianglou!"
"Wow, here it comes." Wang Zehao got into the car incredibly fast, darting in like a mouse as soon as he opened the door.
Yang Shuhuan and Gu Chen followed, while Xiang Yu, holding his phone, was a step behind and was urged on.
"Come on, deskmate," Gu Chen said, patting the empty seat next to him. "Sit here."
Xiang Yu: "...Hmm." Since things had come to this, he could only leave Li Yifan at home ordering takeout alone.
The car started moving, and Wang Zehao, Yang Shuhuan, and Xu Youluo chatted in the back seat. Gu Chen was also busy, telling Xiang Yu about what happened at the orphanage that day.
“I took a lot of photos for everyone last time, and they all liked them when they were developed.”
"Um."
“A little girl drew a portrait of me, and I took it home with me when I went upstairs, but I took a picture of it. Take a look, my deskmate.”
"Um."
Xiang Yu was busy sending messages to Li Yifan to soothe his unbalanced heart and didn't see the phone Gu Chen handed her.
Li Yifan: Why, bro? Last time I was eating instant noodles at home while you and your classmates went out for barbecue.
Li Yifan: This time I'm eating takeout at home, while you and your classmates go out to eat.
Li Yifan: I'm so sad.
-Li Yifan: [A River of Sadness Flows Backwards].jpg
-East Corner: ...
Does your brother eat takeout at home?
Seeing that the other person's eyes were glued to their phone, Gu Chen leaned over to take a look. When he looked up and saw Xiang Yu staring at him, he immediately understood. He rubbed his nose and smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to look."
"It's nothing." It's not a private matter anyway.
While Xiang Yu was busy comforting her cousin who was overwhelmed with grief, Gu Chen, unusually quiet, looked out the window without saying a word, an unease creeping in without the person in question being aware of it.
"Is your cousin Li Yifan?" Xu Youqing, who was resting with her eyes closed in the front passenger seat, asked.
Xiang Yu: "Hmm."
Xu Youqing opened her eyes and turned to look at him. "You're in the same class as me, let's invite you to come along." You seem to be in a difficult position.
She didn't say that, but added, "Anyway, one more won't make a difference."
"Sister Xu is so generous!" Wang Zehao shouted as soon as he heard what was said.
"Okay." Xiang Yu relayed the message to Li Yifan, who was very excited and asked for the address before preparing to ride his electric scooter there.
"Thank you," Xiang Yu said politely.
Xu Youqing seemed to be in a good mood this afternoon, and smiled lightly, saying, "You're welcome." She then handed over her phone, saying, "Want to scan the QR code to add me as a friend?"
"Okay." Xiang Yu added the other person as a friend.
I glanced at the other person's nickname profile.
-The tortoise lives a long life.
"..." Strange and unusual names.
After the two became friends, they didn't talk much. Instead, Gu Chen, who had been looking out the window, fell into deep thought as he watched the scene reflected in the car window.
Out of consideration for my deskmate, even though I know it's impossible for us to be together, just in case... well, it seems I should tell my deskmate about the dangers of early romance beforehand.
[Author's Note: Xiang Yu: Is it really necessary to be so nervous about adding a friend?]
Xu Youqing: Don't be nervous, I'm just adding you as a friend.
Chapter Seventeen: A Hesitant Refusal to Communicate
Chapter Seventeen: A Corner: Heh, Refusal to Communicate
The van stopped outside Manjianglou. Xu Youluo got out as soon as the car stopped, walked around halfway around the car, and opened the passenger door.