Chapter 22

“Xiaoxiao.”
Hearing her name, Su Xiaoxiao turned around to see Zang Xiaoya. She smiled politely. “Oh, you’re in this class too?”
Truth be told, Su Xiaoxiao had never been close to Zang Xiaoya. The girl always gave off an air of arrogance and disdain, so Su Xiaoxiao had rarely interacted with her.
She remembered when she had first transferred into Class 3-2. Zang Xiaoya had come over holding a small fruit and said smugly, “Su Xiaoxiao, I heard you’re from a big city. Do you know what this is? I bet you’ve never seen one before.”
Su Xiaoxiao had replied calmly, “Isn’t that a kumquat?”
Zang Xiaoya’s face had flushed bright red. “No, it’s not!” she had insisted.
Not wanting to argue with a child, Su Xiaoxiao had asked, “Okay then, what is it?”
Zang Xiaoya had lifted her chin proudly. “It’s not a kumquat, and I’m not telling you what it is.”
Then she had marched away with her head held high.
At the time, Wang Xiaoxia and Dai Lainan had never seen a kumquat either and had spent ages debating what it could be.
Even now, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help finding the memory ridiculous. Thank goodness she’d known what kumquats were, or she would’ve become Zang Xiaoya’s next laughingstock.
Now Zang Xiaoya said, “I’m glad we’re classmates again.”
Su Xiaoxiao blinked, she hadn’t expected Zang Xiaoya to say something so friendly. So she smiled politely in return. “I’m happy to be classmates again too.”
But Zang Xiaoya wasn’t happy at all. She didn’t like Su Xiaoxiao one bit. Before Su Xiaoxiao had joined their old class, she and Cai Meng had maintained a perfect balance: Cai Meng excelled in Chinese, she excelled in math, and their total scores were always neck and neck. The teacher liked them both equally.
Even their looks were constantly compared, some said she was prettier, others said Cai Meng was. Naturally, Zang Xiaoya believed she was the prettier one.
But after Su Xiaoxiao arrived, that balance had shattered. Su Xiaoxiao was better at studying and better looking, and that wasn’t up for debate; everyone agreed.
No one praised Zang Xiaoya’s grades or her looks anymore. All eyes were on Su Xiaoxiao.
But that was the past. Over summer break, she had hired a private tutor. In middle school, she was determined to surpass Su Xiaoxiao.
Zang Xiaoya noticed an empty seat in front of Jin Qishan. “Is anyone sitting here? If not, I’ll take it.”
Shen Hua looked up with a smile. “No one. Go ahead.”
The moment Zang Xiaoya saw how beautiful Shen Hua was, her face stiffened, but she quickly recovered.
So she’s pretty, doesn’t mean she’s smart, she thought. Right now, the only person she disliked was Su Xiaoxiao.
She sat down and started chatting with Shen Hua.
Seeing them talk so happily, Su Xiaoxiao felt a twinge of disappointment. Her “daughter” was so distant toward her but so warm toward someone else.
Cai Meng arrived a little late. Most of the seats were already taken, so she picked one at random, a desk next to a boy.
Su Xiaoxiao’s instinct to “protect the delicate flower” kicked in again. “Qishan, look, Cai Meng doesn’t have anyone to sit with. Shouldn’t you go rescue her?”
Jin Qishan was speechless. He couldn’t understand why Su Xiaoxiao always tried to pair him with Cai Meng.
“What’s it got to do with me whether she sits alone or not?” he replied flatly.
A moment later, a middle-aged man entered the classroom.
While writing his name on the blackboard, he introduced himself: “Hello, everyone. My name is Wang Qing. I’ll be your homeroom teacher and math teacher. For the next three years, I’ll be responsible for your studies and daily life. I hope we can work together and help each other.”
After taking attendance and confirming everyone was present, he said, “For now, sit where you are. Once the teachers and I get familiar with you next week, we’ll rearrange the seats.”
Su Xiaoxiao glanced around. In this class, besides Zang Xiaoya and Cai Meng, there were two boys from her old school, Xu Hao and Wang Jun, but she didn’t know them well.
Zang Xiaoya also looked around. Other than Su Xiaoxiao, Jin Qishan, and Cai Meng, she recognized Xu Hao and Wang Jun. They had all been top students in Class 6-2.
Class 1-7 was the Advanced Class of No. 1 Middle School, gathering the county’s best students, and the county’s best teachers.
The morning passed quickly as Su Xiaoxiao covered her new books in protective paper and got to know her classmates and teachers.
When lunchtime came, Jin Qishan stood up and called to her. “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”
“Wait a sec.”
She patted Shen Hua’s shoulder. “Hey, are you eating with anyone at noon?”
Shen Hua nodded. “I’m eating with Xiaoya.”
“How about we all go together?” Su Xiaoxiao blinked mischievously. “You, me, Xiaoya, and Jin Qishan, we can share a table. What do you say?”
Zang Xiaoya glanced toward the doorway, where Cai Meng was standing and waiting, and said, “I don’t think we can, there are already three of us.”
Su Xiaoxiao looked at Cai Meng, then back at Shen Hua, feeling her disappointment deepen. She really wanted to eat lunch with her Hua Hua!
At lunchtime, Jin Qishan was ladling soup for Su Xiaoxiao in the cafeteria when he overheard two girls whispering nearby.
One said, “Hey, look, that boy’s eating with a girl, and he’s even getting her soup. What do you think their relationship is?”
The other snorted. “No way it’s that kind of relationship. Look at him, he’s so ugly. There’s no way a pretty girl like that would like him.”
Jin Qishan’s hand jerked, and the soup nearly spilled.
He was gloomy for the rest of the afternoon, clearly bothered by the comment about his looks.
Because honestly, they weren’t the first to call him ugly. Su Xiaoxiao had said it too once, hadn’t she? Something about how he should drink more milk or he’d never grow taller,
He glanced down at himself, barely 160 centimeters, about the same height as Su Xiaoxiao, and grew even more dejected.
At twelve or thirteen, the age when boys and girls begin to see themselves and the opposite sex in a new light, self-consciousness hits hard.
Jin Qishan was no exception. He’d never thought much about his appearance before, only about his grades. But now he was starting to realize, maybe he really did look a little plain.
Meanwhile, Su Xiaoxiao had no clue what was going through his head. All her attention was fixed on Shen Hua.
“Hua Hua, want some yogurt?”
“Hua Hua, want a sausage?”
“Hua Hua, need to go to the bathroom?”
Jin Qishan had to listen to Su Xiaoxiao call out “Hua Hua” hundreds of times a day. Finally, he snapped, “Why don’t you just sit with Shen Hua instead?”
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t catch the sarcasm, she actually started considering it seriously.
She looked a bit embarrassed. “If I sit with Hua Hua, what about you? And I don’t even know if Hua Hua would want to sit with me,”
That only made Jin Qishan more frustrated. He turned away, refusing to talk to her anymore.
During break, the ends of Shen Hua’s hair brushed over Su Xiaoxiao’s desk.
Su Xiaoxiao stroked a strand in awe. As expected of the heroine, she’s effortlessly perfect, even her hair is flawless.
Then she piped up again, “Hua Hua, do you use conditioner or a hair mask or something?”
“No,” Shen Hua said softly, still smiling. “Mom says kids shouldn’t use that stuff.”
Su Xiaoxiao pouted enviously. “Your hair is so pretty, long, silky, thick, and so shiny.”
Shen Hua ducked her head shyly. “Xiaoxiao, you’re so sweet. Do you just like complimenting people?”
Jin Qishan let out a disdainful snort.
Shen Hua flinched a little and whispered, “Xiaoxiao, is Jin Qishan upset? Did I do something wrong?”
Su Xiaoxiao waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about him. That’s just his default grumpy face.”
“Ah? There are people who look like that naturally?” Shen Hua asked, surprised. “I thought he didn’t like me.”
Su Xiaoxiao said gently, “You’re so cute, who could possibly dislike you?”
Shen Hua blushed again, lowering her head with a small, bashful smile before turning back around.
Heaven rewards the persistent. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Through constant effort, sharing snacks, drinks, even bathroom breaks, Su Xiaoxiao managed, in less than a day, to become best friends with Shen Hua.
After school that afternoon, Jin Qishan asked casually, “What kind of boys do you think are handsome?”
“Broad shoulders, slim waist, long legs,” Su Xiaoxiao said dreamily. Thinking of handsome boys brought her mind straight to Shen Yi, the male lead. She wondered when she’d get to meet him.
Jin Qishan fell silent. He recalled the comics Su Xiaoxiao had been reading lately, the boys in them were all tall and athletic.
He asked again, trying to sound offhand, “Does drinking milk really make you taller?”
“Of course!” Su Xiaoxiao said seriously. “You’ve gotta pair it with exercise though, like basketball or stretching. The more you stretch, the taller you’ll get.”
Jin Qishan nodded, taking mental notes.
The next day marked the start of freshman military training.
Su Xiaoxiao, Shen Hua, Zang Xiaoya, and Cai Meng were about the same height, so they stood in the same row.
After a week of drills, Wang Qing, their homeroom teacher, had gotten a sense of everyone’s personalities and finally began rearranging the seating.
He kept most people in their spots, just shifting a few, taller students toward the back, shorter ones forward.
Since the school had a strict rule against boys and girls sitting together to prevent early “puppy love,” Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan were split up. The same happened with Cai Meng and Zhang Dongshan.
Wang Qing paired Jin Qishan with Zhang Dongshan and Su Xiaoxiao with Cai Meng.
Just as everyone was getting ready to move, Zang Xiaoya suddenly stood up. “Teacher, how about letting me sit with Cai Meng instead? We were elementary school classmates, and we know each other better.”
The real reason was simple, Zang Xiaoya now hated Shen Hua even more than she hated Su Xiaoxiao.
During training, everyone else had gotten tanned except Shen Hua, whose skin only seemed to grow paler and glow under the sun. Standing next to her, Zang Xiaoya looked even darker.
To make things worse, a boy had asked Shen Hua for her phone number in front of Zang Xiaoya in the cafeteria the other day, and other boys from different classes had even asked her to pass Shen Hua love notes.
But what she couldn’t stand most of all was Su Xiaoxiao fawning over Shen Hua like an eager puppy every single day, complimenting her, buying her snacks, showering her with attention.
Why did everyone only see Shen Hua?
With everyone’s consent, Wang Qing approved the change, Zang Xiaoya sat with Cai Meng, and Su Xiaoxiao moved into Zang Xiaoya’s former seat. Zhang Dongshan took Su Xiaoxiao’s old one.
For a moment, Su Xiaoxiao didn’t know whether she should be annoyed, or thank Zang Xiaoya for granting her wish so perfectly.