Jiang Yi naturally picked up the teapot and poured some tea into the cup in front of Xia Anmian. His movements were practiced and considerate as he said gently, “Class Monitor, have some water. It must’ve been hot outside, right?”
His voice was warm, his tone full of concern, and his eyes looked completely innocent.
Xia Anmian raised her eyes and glanced at him. Her lips moved slightly before she finally said, “Thank you.”
Xia Cuihua sat down across from them and began taking snacks and drinks out of the red plastic bag, chatting all the while. “Old Jiang, look at these two. What a coincidence that they’re already classmates! Their scores are pretty close too. If they apply to the same university, they’ll be able to look out for each other. Anmian has always been sensible, and her grades are excellent. She can help her little brother with his studies in the future.”
Jiang Jianguo nodded repeatedly, his gaze moving between the two children with undisguised satisfaction. “Exactly! I think Little Yi should learn more from his class monitor. This boy is just too quiet. He hardly ever talks to girls. I’ve even been worried he won’t be able to find a girlfriend once he gets to university!”
After saying that, Jiang Jianguo burst into hearty laughter.
At just the right moment, Jiang Yi lowered his head. The tips of his ears turned faintly red, as though his father’s words had embarrassed him. He picked up a piece of pork rib with his chopsticks, placed it in Jiang Jianguo’s bowl, and said, “Dad, just eat. The food’s getting cold.”
“See? This boy is so filial.” Jiang Jianguo immediately turned to praise his son to Xia Cuihua. “Every day after school, he goes straight to his room to study. He barely even uses his phone. The one he has is still that old model I bought him a couple of years ago. It’s probably only good for making and receiving calls at this point. I’ll have to get him a new one before university starts.”
Jiang Yi’s chopsticks paused halfway through scooping up some rice.
He kept the food in his mouth without chewing.
Xia Cuihua clicked her tongue in admiration. “Goodness, you hardly see kids like that anymore! Our Anmian is nothing like him. She’s glued to her phone all day—”
She turned and shot Xia Anmian a look. “Tell me yourself. Who are you always chatting with? You’re constantly smiling at your phone like a flower in full bloom, but whenever I ask, you refuse to tell me anything.”
Xia Anmian nearly lost her grip on her chopsticks.
“Mom—” She dragged the word out, her voice filled with the embarrassed irritation of having her secret exposed. “I’m not chatting with someone all day.”
“You’re still denying it? A few nights ago, I got up to use the bathroom at midnight. The light in your room was still on, and you had your head buried under the blanket. The glow from your phone was shining through the gaps like a little night-light.”
After exposing her daughter without mercy, Xia Cuihua turned toward Jiang Yi again, her tone suddenly enthusiastic. “Little Yi, don’t laugh at your sister. She’s stubborn and refuses to admit things, but she’s actually very softhearted. She treats her friends well too. Anyone who becomes her friend is lucky. You’ll understand once you’ve spent more time with her.”
Jiang Yi set down his chopsticks and raised his head, looking across the table at Xia Anmian.
She had lowered her head and was stabbing her chopsticks into the rice in her bowl. She was using enough force to crush the grains into a mess, making her irritation painfully obvious.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Xia,” Jiang Yi said softly, his expression sincere and innocent. “The Class Monitor really does take good care of us at school. She’s strict with us, but everyone knows she only does it because she wants what’s best for us. I’ll definitely learn from her from now on.”
After saying that, he even smiled at Xia Anmian.
The curve of his lips was just right, revealing a single canine tooth and giving him the bright, youthful charm of an innocent teenager.
Xia Anmian raised her eyes and looked at him. For once, a trace of genuine confusion flickered through her gaze.
This Jiang Yi was nothing like the one she knew at school.
The Jiang Yi she knew slept during class, procrastinated on handing in assignments, and whenever a teacher called on him, he would stand up and say nothing except, “I didn’t hear the question.”
Even the way he walked was lazy and loose, as though there wasn’t a single bone in his body.
Because of him, Xia Anmian had lost her temper twice during evening self-study. The third time, she had simply grabbed his schoolbag and thrown it into the corridor.
Yet the person sitting beside her now had perfect posture and impeccable manners. His eyes curved pleasantly whenever he smiled. He poured tea for others, served food to his father, and behaved exactly like the model of a thoughtful younger brother.
The two completely contradictory versions of Jiang Yi overlapped in her mind, leaving Xia Anmian with a strange sense of unreality for a second or two.
Before she could think about it any further, Xia Cuihua was already fussing over her again. She picked up a large piece of braised pork and dropped it into her daughter’s bowl. “Eat more. Look how skinny you’ve gotten.”
Jiang Yi naturally followed suit, placing a piece of sweet-and-sour fish onto her plate. Lowering his voice, he said, “Class Monitor, this fish is good. Try some.”
As he reached over, his fingers lightly brushed against hers.
Xia Anmian instantly jerked her hand back as though she had been burned.
The meal lasted nearly forty minutes.
By then, two bottles of beer on the table were empty, and Jiang Jianguo and Xia Cuihua had become increasingly engrossed in conversation. They went from discussing which workers slacked off at the construction site to which market sold the cheapest pork, occasionally weaving in their boundless hopes and plans for their children’s futures.
Throughout the meal, Jiang Yi maintained the same impeccable demeanor. He spoke neither too much nor too little, and even his smiles carried an appropriate sense of restraint. Whether answering the phone, pouring tea, or passing someone a tissue, he did everything naturally without drawing attention to himself.
The more Jiang Jianguo watched him, the more satisfied he became. He probably felt as though every good deed he had accumulated throughout his life had finally been repaid through his son.
Xia Anmian, however, grew quieter as the meal went on.
Most of the time, she simply tormented the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. Occasionally, she responded to something Xia Cuihua said, but even then, her voice sounded subdued.
There was too much weighing on her mind.
The boy named Ning Gui hadn’t replied to her all day.
He had deleted her.
He had blocked her.
He had rejected every friend request she sent.
And even now, she had no idea why.
Her phone screen lit up, went dark, then lit up again. Every few seconds, Xia Anmian couldn’t resist checking it, yet her message list remained painfully empty.
Halfway through the meal, Xia Cuihua stood up to call a server over for more soup when her phone suddenly rang.
She quickly pulled it out and wedged it between her ear and shoulder while continuing to serve the soup.
“Hello? Your daughter is the provincial top scorer. Shouldn’t you be incredibly busy right now? How do you have time to call me?”
The moment she finished speaking, Xia Cuihua’s expression froze.
The hand holding the ladle stopped in midair.
“What? How is that possible? How could Xiaoyue do something like that? Stop joking around!”
At the same time, while the warmth from the meal still lingered over the table, Xia Anmian’s phone suddenly began vibrating at the corner of the table.
The instant the screen lit up, Jiang Yi caught the caller’s name from the corner of his eye.
“Homeroom Teacher Wang.”
Something stirred faintly inside him, but nothing showed on his face. He calmly continued reaching for the final piece of sweet-and-sour fish with his chopsticks.
Xia Anmian answered the call, a trace of lingering irritation from her mother’s teasing still in her voice. “Hello, Mr. Wang?”
The voice on the other end wasn’t particularly loud, but with the private room suddenly falling silent, every word came through with startling clarity.
“Anmian, where are you right now? Something happened! Xiaoyue… Su Xiaoyue is on the rooftop! We just got a call from her mother saying she’s going to jump! You’re her closest friend. Can you hurry over here?”