Zhou Xingqi yawned, still a little sleepy, and sat down next to Shen Moyu. Looking at the book full of math problems, he felt a chill run down his spine. "My god, bro, are all high schools in China this devilish? So much to do?"
Shen Moyu looked up at her messy desk, seemingly too annoyed to look at it again: "Yeah, it's nothing like the relaxed high schools abroad. We're in our final year of high school now, about to take the college entrance exam. We're exhausted."
Zhou Xingqi picked up the notebook of wrong questions and flipped through a few pages. He saw many questions that he had never encountered before. Some of them seemed to be related to what he had learned, but they didn't seem to be closely related. He was confused after a while.
"Ugh! Forget it..." Zhou Xingqi decisively chose to give up: "I don't understand a single one."
Shen Moyu chuckled, "It's okay if you don't understand, since it's not on your exams anyway."
Zhou Xingqi nodded in strong agreement, and at the same time felt a little relieved.
He glanced at the error notebook again, a little puzzled by the blue and green markings. Quick-witted as he immediately realized, "Bro, you didn't write this for yourself, did you?"
"No, it's not." Shen Moyu took back the notebook of incorrect answers.
Zhou Xingqi watched Shen Moyu carefully pointing out typos, and suddenly realized something: "Is this for Su Jinning?"
Shen Moyu paused, glanced at him quickly out of the corner of her eye, and said frankly, "Yes."
A single "hmm" instantly enraged Zhou Xingqi, who slammed his fist on the table in anger: "Why are you being so nice to him?! What kind of spell has he cast on you?"
But Shen Moyu didn't even look up, as if the topic meant nothing to him: "It's none of your business."
His words, like his gaze, made Zhou Xingqi uneasy. He suddenly felt a sense of resentment, as if something he cherished had been taken away.
"I told you to stay away from him, he's no good! Why are you still so nice to him?!"
Without saying a word, Shen Moyu slammed the collection of wrong questions in her hand onto the table behind her, making a crisp sound.
"I'll say it again, what he's like is none of your business, and there's no need for others to know how good he is."
Shen Moyu looked down at Zhou Xingqi, and the sudden sense of antagonism frightened Zhou Xingqi.
"What other people?" Zhou Xingqi seemed to be on the verge of tears: "Shouldn't it be him instead of 'other people'? We've known each other the longest!"
Shen Moyu quietly looked at the reddened corners of his eyes, but showed no emotion.
"I've been so good to you... why are those outsiders able to take my place time and time again?" Zhou Xingqi felt extremely wronged, like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away, and started to throw a tantrum: "Last time it was Gu Junxiao, this time it's Su Jinning! Have you forgotten how Gu Junxiao treated you? Do you want to repeat that?"
"Aren't you talking too much?!" Shen Moyu grabbed Zhou Xingqi's thin shoulder and squeezed it so hard that Zhou Xingqi almost cried out in pain.
"He's different from Gu Junxiao," Shen Moyu said, leaning closer to him so he wouldn't miss a word. "There are some things you don't need to get involved in, and you certainly don't need to pretend you know a lot and criticize me."
Shen Moyu let go of his hand and walked past him out of the bedroom.
He didn't want to lose his temper with the child, nor did he want to strain their relationship.
But he is very stubborn about some things.
For example, Su Jinning.
That was the first time Shen Moyu had spoken to him so fiercely. In his eyes, his brother's face, the most beautiful and gentlest in the world, seemed to become unfamiliar in an instant.
And all of this is because of Su Jinning.
An outsider who suddenly intervenes.
A villain who bewitched his brother!
Zhou Xingqi felt both angry and aggrieved, clenching his fists with gritted teeth.
Zhou Xingqi ate his meal in a hurry and was about to leave. He didn't say a word to Shen Moyu during the meal. His face was frighteningly cold. Even Xia Wei asked him several times what was wrong, but Zhou Xingqi just kept a long face.
Shen Moyu also felt a little sorry for him. Perhaps he was too harsh. After all, he was just a child who had helped him a lot. It was really not worth it to say a few unintentional words.
Shen Moyu offered to take Zhou Xingqi home, and he acquiesced. When they reached the first floor, Shen Moyu finally called out to him, "Xingqi, are you still angry?"
Zhou Xingqi paused as she walked downstairs. It seemed that in an instant, the displeasure in her heart was wiped away by that gentle "Xingqi".
Shen Moyu rarely called him "Xingqi," but he liked it very much.
He was touched, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and he nodded with a wronged expression.
Shen Moyu sighed, stepped forward and patted his head: "Brother was wrong, I spoke to you so fiercely."
Although Zhou Xingqi's anger subsided, he couldn't help but feel a little wronged.
"I didn't mean to say that... Why are you so fierce, just because of that lousy Su Jinning!" His eyes immediately reddened, his bright, starry eyes glistening with tears, making him look truly pitiful.
Shen Moyu couldn't bear to see others cry; her conscience was pricked. Helpless, she hugged Zhou Xingqi, patting his head and comforting him, "Don't cry, okay?"
Zhou Xingqi listened to his gentle voice and gave a muffled "hmm". He knew that Shen Moyu was actually a very gentle person, but sometimes his outward appearance was too fierce and his temper was not very good, making others feel that he was not easy to get along with and too aloof.
That's why he calms down so quickly whenever Shen Moyu speaks to him so gently.
After a brief chat, Zhou Xingqi said he had to go see his friend and hurriedly went downstairs, leaving Shen Moyu feeling relieved.
But after climbing just a few steps, a wail came from downstairs: "Ah!"
It was Zhou Xingqi's voice. Shen Moyu's heart skipped a beat. She rushed downstairs and saw Zhou Xingqi curled up on the stairs, his ankles and wrists scraped and bleeding.
Shen Moyu tried to help the person up: "How are you? Can you get up?"
"Don't! My ankle hurts too much!" Zhou Xingqi blurted out in English, her pale face covered in sweat, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Shen Moyu was also frightened. She squatted down and slowly lifted his sprained ankle, otherwise it would hurt even more if it was left like that.
"Let me help you up to go to the hospital, your foot injury is really bad!"
"NO!" Zhou Xingqi's eyes were filled with fear: "The doctor will massage my feet. It really hurts!"
Shen Moyu simply picked him up and carried him on his back: "You have to go, whether you like it or not, or you'll be crippled."
The two hailed a taxi and rushed to the hospital. Zhou Xingqi was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face, and Shen Moyu didn't dare to massage him, only patting his back to comfort him.
——
"Hey? Xiao Ning's here?"
Su Jinning nodded politely to Xia Wei and pointed to her schoolbag: "I've come to him to review my lessons."
"But he and Xingqi went out early this morning. Why don't you wait for him for a while?" Xia Wei said.
"You went out with...Zhou Xingqi?" Su Jinning's face was full of disbelief.
He carefully recalled what Shen Moyu had said last night, and not a single word of it mentioned that he was going out, especially with Zhou Xingqi.
"Yeah, I don't know where I went either." Xia Wei thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Why don't you come in and sit for a while? You'll probably be back soon."