The yellow dress made Wen Xi look like a bright little princess.
At fifteen years old, the girl had already grown into a graceful young lady. Whenever people saw her, they would say, “Director Wen’s daughter is really beautiful.”
Zhou Jingchen originally planned to greet his grandfather before going to school. But then he remembered that his grandfather had just finished a long night shift yesterday and was probably still fast asleep, so he decided not to disturb him.
The two of them carried their backpacks out of the courtyard, walked through Kangshi Alley, passed Haiping Park, and arrived at school at 7:15 a.m.
The classroom was packed with students. Everyone was holding textbooks and reciting passages aloud.
Wen Xi deliberately reached out and held onto Zhou Jingchen’s arm. Under the teacher’s watchful eyes, the two entered through the back door of the classroom and slowly made their way to the seats in the last row.
Because Zhou Jingchen’s leg was injured, the middle seats were too cramped for him, so he could only sit in the last row. Since childhood, Wen Xi had always sat beside him.
Officially, Wen Xi sat with him to help take care of his injured leg. In reality, it was simply because the last row made it easier to do little things without the teacher noticing.
Even though they were late, the homeroom teacher didn’t say anything. She knew that Zhou Jingchen had difficulty moving around, so it was understandable if he occasionally arrived a little later than other students. Besides, Wen Zhiting had personally spoken to the teacher and asked her to look after Zhou Jingchen.
Not even ten minutes after sitting down, Wen Xi began twisting and shifting in her seat as if there were nails on the chair poking her.
The loud voices of students reading during morning study echoed throughout the campus. She stacked the books on her desk high to block the teacher’s view. Holding a book in her left hand, she reached behind her back with her right hand to scratch, feeling something inside her clothes that was irritating her skin.
Zhou Jingchen asked what was wrong.
Wen Xi frowned and silently mouthed one word: “Itchy.”
Zhou Jingchen glanced around the classroom and whispered,“Just scratch it yourself.”
Wen Xi shot him a look and whispered back,“I can’t reach.”
A moment later, the homeroom teacher stepped out of the classroom. Wen Xi immediately bent forward, grabbed Zhou Jingchen’s hand, and pushed it inside the collar of her dress.
“Hurry, scratch it for me… near my left shoulder blade… I can’t reach…”
She was half leaning across his knees, completely unconcerned since they were the only ones sitting in the back row, boldly letting him scratch her back in the middle of the classroom.
The other students were immersed in reading, their voices rising and falling like waves.
Zhou Jingchen sighed helplessly. Taking advantage of the distraction, his cool fingers slipped inside her collar and touched her smooth skin. With practiced ease, he felt around briefly and precisely pulled out two long strands of hair from inside her clothes.
Wen Xi took the strands of hair and held them in front of her eyes.
“No wonder it was so itchy… my beautiful hair has fallen out again…”
Then she added dramatically,
“I lost quite a bit of hair while brushing this morning too. Zhou Jingchen, do you think I’m sick?”
Her pretty face was full of exaggerated shock and grief.
“I heard that hair loss is an early symptom of cancer… wuwuwu… am I going to die soon?”
Zhou Jingchen’s mouth twitched. He lightly patted her back and reminded her,
“Sit properly. The teacher’s coming.”
The next second, the homeroom teacher walked back into the classroom through the front door, and Wen Xi immediately sat up straight.
Near the end of morning study, Wen Xi looked through the classroom window toward the small convenience store outside. She licked her lips and lightly rubbed her knee against Zhou Jingchen’s leg.
Zhou Jingchen quietly moved his leg away.
But she leaned closer again and continued rubbing.
The pale-yellow hem of her dress brushed against his jeans. Her eyes looked at him pleadingly, her curved eyelashes fluttering repeatedly.
Zhou Jingchen knew exactly what she wanted. Clearing his throat, he moved his chair slightly farther away.
Unexpectedly, the little rabbit got impatient. She stopped pretending and acted angry instead.
Her hand slipped under the desk and went straight into his pants pocket. Her soft fingers pressed against his thigh through the thin fabric.
Zhou Jingchen froze and tried to stop her.
Wen Xi checked the left pocket—nothing. Then she stretched her arm farther to search the right pocket while secretly glancing at the teacher at the front.
Before Zhou Jingchen could react, Wen Xi had already pulled out fifty cents from his pocket.
The girl smiled mischievously and stuck out her tongue at him.
“That’s enough to buy tube candy and spicy strips.”
As soon as the bell rang for class to end, she dashed toward the convenience store outside.
Through the window, Zhou Jingchen watched the lively figure in the pale yellow dress running away and felt a little guilty toward Aunt Xiang.
Wen Xi loved snacks. When she was younger, she had been quite chubby. Later, Xiang Qin enrolled her in dance classes and controlled her diet, and only then did she gradually slim down.
Xiang Qin worried that Wen Xi would secretly buy snacks at school. Girls in puberty who gained weight found it especially hard to slim down again. So she limited Wen Xi’s allowance and asked Zhou Jingchen to keep an eye on her, forbidding her from buying snacks and telling her to just eat proper meals.
But Aunt Xiang didn’t know that he simply couldn’t control her.
He couldn’t out-argue her, and he certainly couldn’t beat her. Whenever she pouted or frowned slightly, he would surrender unconditionally. It was common for her to confiscate his pocket money.
When Wen Xi returned to the classroom, she was holding two large sheets of spicy snacks. Her lips were red from the chili oil, and she was still slurping.
She handed one piece to Zhou Jingchen.
“Here. See how nice I am? I always think about you.”
“I don’t eat it,” Zhou Jingchen replied. He had no interest in snacks.
“But this is spicy strips!”
“I don’t like them. You eat it.”
“Fine then.”
Wen Xi tilted her head back and stuffed the large red spicy strip into her mouth, happily squinting her eyes.
“So delicious. Amazing.”
After she finished eating, Zhou Jingchen took out a piece of tissue and carefully wiped each of her fingers clean one by one.
At that moment, Fang Haoyu came over and patted Zhou Jingchen on the back. Glancing at the scene as if he were already used to it, he leaned close and whispered,
“There’s a performance tonight at People’s Cinema. Want to go check it out together?”
Wen Xi had sharp ears. She immediately kicked Fang Haoyu in the butt.
“Take me with you! Don’t even think about sneaking off without me!”
Fang Haoyu rubbed his backside and clicked his tongue.
“Don’t you go to dance class every day after school?”
“I don’t care. I’m going too! If you don’t take me, just wait!”
The three of them had always played together as children, but lately Fang Haoyu often invited Zhou Jingchen alone without her, which made Wen Xi feel excluded.
Zhou Jingchen didn’t really want to go, but seeing that Wen Xi seemed excited, he said,
“Then we’ll wait until you finish dance class and go watch the performance together.”
“Okay~” the girl replied happily.
When there’s something to look forward to, class time always seems painfully slow.
As soon as the bell rang, the three of them left the classroom together.
Wen Xi’s dance studio was on Changbai Street, not far from the school. A dance academy had opened there, and Wen Xi was learning ethnic folk dance. Every day after school, Zhou Jingchen accompanied her there before going home.
The dance studio was spacious, and some parents waited in the corner for their children. Zhou Jingchen and Fang Haoyu also sat nearby to wait.
Wen Xi soon came out wearing a pink dance outfit. Her fair skin made her look like a spring cherry blossom—delicate and beautiful.
Fang Haoyu glanced at her and joked quietly to Zhou Jingchen,
“Why don’t the two of us just go have fun? Why bring this little princess along?”
The teacher had already begun leading the girls to review yesterday’s dance moves. As if sensing they were talking about her, Wen Xi shot Fang Haoyu a sharp glare.
Fang Haoyu chuckled.
“See that, Jingchen? How do you tolerate her personality?”
Zhou Jingchen lowered his gaze.
“She’s always been like this.”
What other girl could roll her eyes so cutely?
Fang Haoyu complained,
“That brat is strong! The kick she gave me this morning—my butt still hurts.”
He expected some sympathy, but Zhou Jingchen calmly replied,
“You’re just too weak if you can’t handle one kick.”
Fang Haoyu grabbed his hair, gritting his teeth.
“Zhou Jingchen, being her lackey when we were kids was one thing. Why are you still doing it now that we’re older?”
Before Zhou Jingchen could answer, he added,
“Whatever. Your suffering will end soon anyway. After the high school entrance exam, with your grades you’ll definitely get into No.1 High School. With her terrible grades, even if Uncle Wen pulls strings, she might not get in. She’ll probably end up in some second-rate school. Then you won’t have to put up with her anymore.”
Zhou Jingchen’s fingers curled slightly, tightening.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the girl dancing in the crowd.
Wen Xi’s legs were beautiful—fair, long, and straight.
She looked like a little peacock, spinning and jumping lightly. Her skirt flared like spreading feathers, dazzling, lively, and radiant.
Zhou Jingchen lowered his head and glanced at his crippled leg, and at the crutch he both loved and hated.
Pressing his lips together, he murmured in a voice so soft only he could hear,
“In high school… I’ll still go to the same school as her.”
After finishing dance practice, Wen Xi’s cheeks were red like apples and sweat dotted her forehead.
“Wait for me a moment. I’ll change my clothes.”
“Hurry up. Women are so troublesome!” Fang Haoyu said impatiently.
The three of them left the studio and stood by the roadside waiting for the bus.
At that hour the bus was extremely crowded. When they finally squeezed on, there were no seats. Someone noticed Zhou Jingchen leaning on his crutch and kindly stood up to give him a seat.
He nodded in thanks and sat down. Immediately, the three of their backpacks were piled onto his lap like a small mountain.
Fang Haoyu and Wen Xi each held onto the seatbacks in front and behind him, chatting happily while standing.
Wen Xi asked,
“What kind of performance is there at People’s Cinema?”
“They say it’s a folk art troupe—there’ll be monkey shows, jumping through fire hoops, and…” Fang Haoyu paused mysteriously.
“And what?” Wen Xi asked eagerly.
He leaned closer to her ear and whispered,
“There’s also striptease. Hahahahaha!”
Fang Haoyu burst into laughter.
“Really?” Instead of being embarrassed, Wen Xi seemed even more excited than he was.
Her face lit up with anticipation.
“I want to see the striptease! I want to see the striptease!”
Fang Haoyu snorted and slung an arm over Zhou Jingchen’s shoulder.
“See? I knew she’d be even more excited than me. That girl isn’t a girl at all!”