Zheng Qingyuan’s shameless demeanor made Chu Xubai, who had just relaxed his guard, tense up again.
He pushed up his glasses.
Something was off!
Very off!
Acting on instinct, Chu Xubai firmly refused.
“Ruying, even though you’re my online friend and business partner, personal matters are personal. This time, it’s our school’s volunteer activity.”
“Bringing you back to school isn’t appropriate. If you want to tour our campus, I can invite you another time.”
Chu Xubai’s response was watertight.
Zheng Qingyuan’s lips twitched.
Who wants you to show me around the school? Two grown men—are we that bored? he thought to himself.
So he turned to Qiao Liuyue with a pitiful look.
Qiao Liuyue nodded and chimed in, “The class monitor is right.”
A faint smile curled at the corners of Chu Xubai’s lips.
With a hint of smugness, he waved at Zheng Qingyuan.
He laughed as he sat on the school bus.
Zheng Qingyuan, on the other hand, sat in his sports car and wanted to cry.
The vehicle slowly began to move.
After about ten minutes of driving—since the volunteer group was small and the seats were mostly empty—Qiao Liuyue ended up sitting alone in the last row.
Chu Xubai had been up front explaining the time, location, and details for the next activity.
When he finished, he suddenly walked toward the back of the bus.
Qiao Liuyue blinked and said, “Class monitor, I already heard everything you said. You don’t need to repeat it.”
She assumed he was coming over because she was too far back in the last row and might have missed something.
But he just smiled and pointed to the empty seat beside her. “Is it okay if I sit here?”
Qiao Liuyue nodded. “Go ahead.”
Chu Xubai glanced around, making sure the other classmates were busy with their own things and no one was paying attention to them. Then he suddenly spoke.
“Liuyue, don’t you remember me?” he asked.
Qiao Liuyue was baffled. “Ah… huh?”
Chu Xubai gave a helpless smile. “Actually, we’ve known each other since we were kids,” he said.
Qiao Liuyue blinked her eyes wide. So that was a thing?
Chu Xubai explained, “Before elementary school, you lived at your grandfather’s house. Do you remember the little chubby brother who lived next door?”
At this, Qiao Liuyue dug through her memories.
It seemed like there was something like that.
But the kid in her memories—the timid, crybaby, somewhat dark-skinned little chubby brother—
And the guy in front of her now—fair-skinned, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a long neck and a prominent Adam’s apple, radiating high intelligence?
Were they the same person?
Chu Xubai met her astonished gaze and nodded.
“Yes, it’s me.”
“When we were kids, we used to play outside with a bunch of children. They all thought I was dark and fat and didn’t want to play with me. You were the only one willing to be my playmate.”
Qiao Liuyue remembered now.
It was true.
But it wasn’t as heroic a rescue as Chu Xubai imagined. In reality, Qiao Liuyue herself had been skinny and scrawny as a kid, almost like a little monkey.
Those kids didn’t want to play with her either.
So she had no choice but to hang out with the little dark chubby brother.
“They say girls change a lot growing up, but I never expected boys to change so much too. Little Dark Chubby Brother, you’re nothing like that name anymore.” Qiao Liuyue laughed openly, her eyes clear, as if she had no other thoughts.
Chu Xubai’s courage, which he had just mustered up, waned slightly when he saw her smile.
“Yeah. Later, my family moved away. I was young back then, and we didn’t have a chance to exchange contact info. I always wondered when I’d get to see you again.”
Qiao Liuyue asked, “So how did you recognize me?”
Because she didn’t look much like her childhood self, and her outfit when she first entered school could only be described as a disaster—ugly and messy.
It was even worse than just “plain and unremarkable.”
“I wasn’t sure before, but when I met you in the game, I recognized you.”
“Ah? Why?”
“When we played house as kids, you never wanted to play bride and groom. You said you wanted to be a great general, made me be the bandit, and then you’d pretend to execute me with a wooden stick…” Chu Xubai recounted this with a hint of amusement.
Although some of their childhood antics seemed ridiculous in hindsight, the innocence and joy from those days could never be found again.
Qiao Liuyue gave an awkward laugh.
Chu Xubai didn’t want to push too hard. He changed the subject.
“By the way, Zheng Qingyuan said he was your neighbor. So after my family moved away, did he move in shortly after?” His tone was probing.
Qiao Liuyue didn’t see any point in hiding the truth.
“Not at all. He made that up! We’ve actually known each other for less than a month. We met through Dong Jiaoyan.”
“Dong Jiaoyan?” Chu Xubai frowned.
He didn’t like Dong Jiaoyan, but what could he do? His good friend Xie Linchuan was completely under her spell.
Qiao Liuyue didn’t elaborate. She just vaguely said, “Zheng Qingyuan used to be Dong Jiaoyan’s in-game partner too, but later he found out she already had a boyfriend.”
Though it was said vaguely, Chu Xubai understood the implications.
That evening, while Chu Xubai and Xie Linchuan were duo-queuing in a game, he subtly dropped a hint.
Xie Linchuan was busy playing the jungle champion Mirror, happily stealing monsters in the enemy jungle, and mumbled vaguely,
“I know what you’re saying. It’s probably because Jiaojiao doesn’t feel secure. After all, we’re in a long-distance online relationship.”
“Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, and I’m planning to give her a surprise.”
Chu Xubai asked, “A surprise? What kind of surprise? Don’t tell me you’re coming to our city.”
Xie Linchuan laughed heartily and said, “Yeah, bro, you’re so smart! That’s exactly what I’m thinking. I want to secretly surprise Jiaojiao.” Then he quickly added, “You have to keep it a secret, okay?”
Chu Xubai’s lips twitched slightly.
“I’m not close to Dong Jiaoyan, and I’m not about to stir up trouble for no reason.”
“But you’d better stay sharp. Don’t let yourself get played for a fool.”
Xie Linchuan said with great confidence, “Relax! There’s no way I’m that dumb!”
Chu Xubai silently thought to himself: Xie Linchuan, you are that dumb.
If Zheng Qingyuan could hear this line of thinking right now, he would excitedly shake Chu Xubai’s hand and loudly agree, “Bro, you’re absolutely right!”
……
Today is Valentine’s Day.
Early in the morning, Dong Jiaoyan carried an oversized delivery box back from the parcel station.
This box was different from the ordinary yellow cardboard ones. Its outer packaging was a soft pink-and-blue Hello Kitty design, looking adorable and very cute.
Ever since the bar incident last time, Dong Jiaoyan and Xie Linchuan had been in a conflict.
Neither had been the one to make up.
But yesterday, Dong Jiaoyan suddenly received a message from Xie Linchuan.
Xie Linchuan said, “Jiaojiao, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I sent you a big box of gifts.”
The moment Dong Jiaoyan heard about a big box of gifts, her anger instantly dissipated. She took this as an opportunity to smooth things over.
Cheerfully, she went to the parcel station to pick it up.
