Chapter 24.1 - (Part 1) (1/2)

Only when Zhao Zhanhuai got back to his room did he realize that there were many things belonging to Zhao Yuan in his room. There were two pillows on the couch, and she left a short jacket in his room as well.

Zhao Zhanhuai was experiencing a pounding headache.

In terms of a brother-sister relationship, their actions may be a little too close for comfort in the eyes of a stranger. Yuanyuan didn’t seem to be this reliant on their other family members as well.

Zhao Zhanhuai didn’t think much of this back then. He didn’t think that the current Zhao Yuan had that kind of feelings for him either. But Mingxi’s words were like a police siren for him, making him come to a sudden realization— It didn’t matter if she had that thought or not. He was doing to kill it before it could be born.

There was an urgent need to create a distance between them.

Zhao Zhanhuai put aside his own pain and quickly got the secretary to clean up the things that Zhao Yuan had left in his room. Then, the items were all placed in a cardboard box and returned to Zhao Yuan.

There were a few other items which he didn’t know if they belonged to Zhao Yuan. So long as it was for female use, he would get the secretary to pack them in. Since he kept mostly to himself and has never brought anyone home before, these things could only be Zhao Yuan’s.

While he was tidying up the things, Zhao Zhanhuai gradually noticed an increasing sense of biasness.

He didn’t have a single thing in his room that was related to Mingxi.

If he were to recall carefully, it was likely Mingxi had never entered his room before.

Zhao Zhanhuai’s heart sank even further.

When Zhao Yuan received the cardboard box from the secretary, she felt so wronged that her chest began to heave. She slammed the door with a loud thud, and she never came downstairs even though it was already dinner time.

The auntie knocked on her door twice, but she still kept her head tucked under her blanket, refusing to eat.

It was rare for Zhao Yuan to do this at home. This was because everyone at home spoiled her, and she had never been bullied by anyone.

But whenever it was to a point where she would refuse to eat, her family members would definitely take turns to coax her out.

But today, their mother wasn’t home yet. There was only Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning in the house.

Zhao Yuning wasn’t one who could read the room well. He was unkind to anyone he spoke to. He came over, knocked on the door and said, “Yuan jie, are you eating dinner? If you aren’t then at least tell us. Is it worth doing all this just because Auntie Zhang was fired? Da ge said that Auntie Zhang has always treated Mingxi jie poorly. Is Auntie Zhang more important or is Mingxi jie more important?”

Zhao Yuning muttered to himself, “Needless to say, firing 100 Auntie Zhangs would not be as important as Mingxi jie’s return.”

“…”

Zhao Yuan’s heart was in great pain.

Zhao Zhanhuai was supposed to ask about her. However, he was adamant on creating a distance between him and Zhao Yuan. Furthermore, for the whole night he couldn’t help but to recall what Mingxi’s ex-homeroom teacher told him this afternoon.

The guilt he felt for Zhao Mingxi was so overwhelming— Back then when Mingxi refused to eat, he had never bothered to coax her. Why did he have to only spoil Yuanyuan?

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhao Zhanhuai said with furrowed brows, “Let her be.”

Even though she waited until it was 10 p.m., no one came to comfort Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan’s eyes were swollen to the size of walnuts. Gradually and finally, as if she had ants in her pants, she panicked.

This was completely unexpected.

Why is this happening?

Around 11 p.m., a bright light coming from a car flashed through her windows, signaling the return of their mother who had just returned from promoting her birthday banquet.

After a while, Zhao Yuan’s door opened. Madam Zhao walked in, sat by the bed and gently lifted up Zhao Yuan’s blanket. She sighed and consoled her, “Yuanyuan, do you have to go to this extent for an Auntie Zhang? It was truly Auntie Zhang’s fault this time. Your brother is still mad about it.”

“If you are truly unwilling to let go of her, after the birthday banquet when Mingxi returns, I’ll get Auntie Zhang to apologize to her and admit her faults. Then I’ll hire Auntie Zhang again.”

Her mother still cared for her.

Zhao Yuan felt greatly relieved. She sat up and sniffled. “Okay…”

But actually, was she really doing all this because of Auntie Zhang? What she truly cared about was her eldest brother and Zhao Yuning’s attitude.

After her mother was done consoling her, she looked out the window at the cold night and couldn’t help but to say, “I wonder how Mingxi is doing in school. She hasn’t been home in a while. I regretted it the moment I scolded her back then, but I had no means of backing down.”

The relieved expression on Zhao Yuan’s face instantly went hard.

The hand that she had placed underneath the blanket curled up into a tight fist silently.

“She will come home once she has thought things through.” Zhao Yuan could say a few consoling words while forcing out a smile.

Her mother nodded. “After she returns from the banquet, let’s buy her some of her favorite things.”

Zhao Yuan, “…”

As her mother was a little tired as well, she spoke no further and left the room.

For the whole night, Zhao Yuan found it hard to sleep. She was both anxious and agonized.

She didn’t know if it was just a mere misconception, but it felt as if ever since Mingxi left home, everything at home seemed to have changed, quietly and unnoticeably.

*

The next day, Zhao Yuan’s eyes were a little swollen. They were so prominent that even some powder could not cover them up.

During the Flag Raising Ceremony, Pu Shuang immediately noticed it and asked, “What happened to you? Did something happen at home last night? I’m sorry for misleading you yesterday. I didn’t know that your brother really went to look for Zhao Mingxi…”

After giving it some thought, Pu Shuang consoled her, “I think that the reason why everyone has their attention focused on Zhao Mingxi is because she left home.”

“I know.” Zhao Yuan turned, her eyes unconsciously locked on Zhao Mingxi who was standing not far away at the third row of the International Class. There were also many people like her who were secretly looking at Zhao Mingxi.

After Zhao Mingxi took off her mask, she was getting prettier and prettier with each passing day. In the morning mist, her complexion was milky white, her facial features delicate and beautiful, and as she stood in the crowd doing absolutely nothing, it was enough to make others turn into her background.

Furthermore, she didn’t bring many clothes with her when she left home, but for some reason she was constantly wearing well-tailored branded clothing lately, and it made her appear even more outstanding.

Zhao Yuan furrowed her brows. “But I can’t possibly follow in her footsteps and leave home as well.”

“What are you afraid of?” Pu Shuang whispered. “Our teacher said that our October monthly exam results will be released today! Zhao Mingxi’s results are definitely going to flop while your results have always been good.”

“When you show your results to your mother and eldest brother, they will definitely pay attention to you again.”

…

During the Flag Raising Ceremony, all the homeroom teachers from all three classes were not present. They were all rushing to arrange the rankings for the newly marked monthly exam results.

There was only the dean who was in charge of discipline.

Every class was separated into a square-shaped formation. As Mingxi was considered quite tall for a girl, she stood at the middle of the third row.

She was still thinking about last weekend’s monthly exam as well as the questions she asked Professor Gao yesterday.

Over at Professor Gao’s place, Mingxi felt a long-awaited, simple sense of happiness from studying.

Just like how she was back at the small Northern town, she didn’t need to think or care about anything. She only needed to focus on her studies.

The mere action of bringing the praise from her teachers back to her grandmother and Mr. and Mrs. Dong was enough to make her happy.

It was a shame that she could only go there once a week.

While Mingxi was absent-mindedly thinking of all these, suddenly, someone whistled loudly at her. The girl behind her carefully pulled her hand. Mingxi lowered her head and turned back. The girl stuffed a phone case in her hands.

Mingxi was confused. What is this?

Someone whistled.

She instinctively looked back and saw the tall Fu Yangxi standing at the last row. His red hair which was like a porcupine stood out among the morning mist and cold winds. His pale face still had a sheen over tiredness on it, but his face revealed a happy expression.

When he saw that he had attracted her attention, Fu Yangxi immediately raised his hand and pointed at the item she was holding in her hands.

He wanted her to look at her phone?

Mingxi looked closer and noticed that the phone cover of the phone in his hands was black in color, and it was the same design as the one that girl had just stuffed in her hands.

The only difference was that his black phone case had a simple design of a small sun.

As for her own white colored phone case, it bore the design of a small mask, outlined by black ink.

Mingxi: ???

Matching phone cases?