Chapter 13 (1/2)

Zhao Yuning was stricken with panic. “What- What should we do?”

Da ge’s appearance was pointless. Mingxi jie threw away the photo.

“What did Mingxi want you to tell us?” Zhao Zhanhuai asked.

Zhao Yuning didn’t dare to keep quiet any longer when he saw how angry Zhao Zhanhuai was. He could only repeat what she had said. Once he was done, he felt even more fearful, “Da ge, do you think she said that she wanted to sever all ties with us out of anger or… why do I feel like she’s taking it seriously this time?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?!”

Zhao Yuning didn’t dare to even let out a whimper.

Zhao Zhanhuai’s thoughts were in turmoil. He took a glimpse at Zhao Yuning and said, “Forget it. Get the driver to bring you home. I’ll talk it out with Mingxi.”

Zhao Yuning was out of his wits. He could only say, “Okay.”

Fu Yangxi had just picked up his bag and left the class from the back door. The moment he turned, he saw Zhao Mingxi leaving the two men and the atmosphere was quite bad.

“Who are the two idiots standing there?” He subconsciously walked over.

Ke Chengwen quickly pulled him back behind the door. He whispered, “Xi ge, don’t butt into other people’s family affairs.”

Fu Yangxi quickly realized what was going on. Those two must be Zhao Mingxi’s eldest brother and her younger brother who was studying in Year 1 at their school.

According to what Ke Chengwen heard, Zhao Mingxi was not on good terms with her family.

Furthermore, due to some unknown reason, they had a fight and she ended up staying in school.

Fu Yangxi didn’t know what was going on in her family, but when he recalled what the person whom he tossed a pen at earlier today said, he quickly concluded, it can’t be that Little Mask’s family members are biased, right?

Or else why would it be that everyone in the Evergreen Class knew that Zhao Yuan had a tall, rich and handsome elder brother who would always fetch her home but when it came to Zhao Mingxi, no one had ever heard of someone purposely coming here to pick her up?

Three flames were ignited in Fu Yangxi’s heart. “Are her family members blind? Did they all think that just because that school beauty was prettier and smarter than Little Mask that they could favor her more?”

Ke Chengwen thought, maybe there’s other reasons. However, even he himself was not familiar with the affairs of the Zhao family.

Fu Yangxi snarled, “Isn’t Little Mask 100 times better than that Zhao Yuan*?”

ray’s note: he used 圆 (= circle) instead of 媛 (= zhao yuan’s ‘yuan’) here

Ke Chengwen agreed like the bootlicker he was, “I think so too.”

Fu Yangxi took off his bag and contemplated it for a while. Ultimately, he felt that the weight was not suitable, so he took up his bag again and walked toward the back of the classroom to pick up a basketball.

Ke Chengwen instantly stopped him. “This is the transfer student’s family after all. I don’t think it’s right for you to hurt them.”

“You’re right. It’s not right for me to hurt them. How else will I get along with them in the future?” Fu Yangxi mumbled.

Ke Chengwen was just about to let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Fu Yangxi pushed the basketball into his arms. “You’re more suited for the job.”

Ke Chengwen: “…”

Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning were walking down the stairs to the fourth floor.

Out of nowhere, a basketball came flying down on them from the sky and hit directly on Zhao Yuning’s head.

It landed with a ‘thud’.

Zhao Yuning’s head was almost sent flying.

A bump began to form on his head as stars appeared in his vision. He turned around in anger. “Who was that?”

After a short moment, a tall young man with short black hair stepped out from the International Class. He strutted before knocking Zhao Zhanhuai on the shoulder.

Then, he walked over to pick up the basketball and speedily ran downstairs.

Zhao Yuning felt disturbed. He yelled at Ke Chengwen’s retreating figure, “Do you guys in Year 3 have any manners?”

Zhao Zhanhuai furrowed his brows as he placed a hand on Zhao Yuning’s shoulder. “Forget it. I don’t think that student did it on purpose. Don’t cause trouble.”

As Zhao Yuning noticed that everything was not going as expected, he felt even more depressed.

The two of them went downstairs. Zhao Yuning went to the school gates, got in the driver’s car and went home.

As for Zhao Zhanhuai, he received the directions from a student who was passing by and walked with vigorous strides toward A High’s dorms.

When he arrived at the dorms, he was stopped by the lady who was on duty that day. “Male guardians are prohibited from going up. Only the student can come downstairs.”

Zhao Zhanhuai subconsciously took out his phone before belatedly realizing that he had been blocked by Zhao Mingxi.

He felt helpless as he spoke, “She didn’t bring her phone.”

“A child without a phone? In this decade?” The lady’s expression turned skeptical.

Zhao Zhanhuai went visibly pale. He could only reply, “I’m looking for my younger sister. Her name is Zhao Mingxi, she’s in the Year 3 International Class.”

The lady furrowed her brows. Nonetheless, seeing as how he was a handsome young man with a graceful appearance, she explained patiently, “I can’t just let you up with a name and class, or else wouldn’t any Tom, Dick and Harry be able to go up by simply stating a name? You must have registered and signed when you sent your child here, right? Do you remember which page you signed on? If you remember, I can cross-check it and allow you to go up.”

Zhao Zhanhuai said, “…When she came to stay in school, she brought her own luggage here. No one sent her.”

“Leave!” The lady’s gaze turned sharp. “I can’t believe that a well-dressed and handsome man like you would want to try and get into the girls’ dorms! The people who live here are all petite female high schoolers whose family members would always worry and fret as they send them over. Who would believe you if you said you let her come alone?”

Seeing as how he refused to leave, the lady took up her broomstick.

The veins on Zhao Zhanhuai’s forehead seemed ready to pop.

But at the same time, he felt unsettled. “Other people’s children…were all accompanied here?”

“Of course. There aren’t a lot of them who stay in school, so it would usually be one person per room. There aren’t any lifts in the dorms as well. The guys would be okay with it, but how could a girl carry her luggage all the way up to the sixth floor alone? She would have to clean up her own dorm room as well. I don’t think she could’ve done it on her own in one night!” the lady said. “Your family is absolutely ridiculous. How could you have let a child come here alone?!”

Zhao Zhanhuai felt a lump in his throat.

He never actually thought about this problem.

When Mingxi left home out of anger, they let her leave just like that. But what if it was Zhao Yuan? They probably would’ve gone after her immediately. Even if Zhao Yuan was adamant on staying in school, he would’ve definitely sent her here.

Yet why was it that when it came to Mingxi, he—

He never thought of how Mingxi must’ve cleaned up her room for the whole night and cleared the drains before falling asleep out of exhaustion.

It was the same as how he never thought of a few small matters that had happened before. For example, whenever the whole family went out to eat, they would always subconsciously order the dishes that Zhao Yuan liked to eat. What could’ve gone through Mingxi’s mind then?

He always felt that these were small matters.

However at this moment, two images appeared in this mind. The yearning and anticipation in Mingxi’s eyes when she first entered their home and the emotionless way she threw away that photo just now at the academic building.

It was only then that he had an abrupt awakening.