8 – Find out who the father is
Xin Jushang turned around and saw a spirited young man with dyed red hair, wearing a black tight-fitting top and leggings, sporting bean shoes.
At that moment, the guy was leering at her with a gaze she couldn’t bear to look at.
It was so disgusting it almost made her nauseous.
Just as she was about to step into the convenience store to find Xu Zhiyan, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the guy. His grip was extremely strong, squeezing her wrist until it hurt, making it impossible for her to break free.
Xin Jushang frowned in displeasure and warned, “Let go.”
Unexpectedly, after hearing Xin Jushang speak, the red-haired guy grinned even more creepily. He stared straight into Xin Jushang’s eyes and boldly took a step closer—
“Hey, sis, your voice sounds really nice. How about giving me your WeChat?”
Her patience was almost worn out by this scoundrel. Just as she was about to kick him in the knee, she was surprised to see the scoundrel suddenly let go of her hand.
…Not only that, but the scoundrel was now clutching his crotch and hopping around in pain.
At that moment, a familiar youthful voice sounded behind her: “Deskmate, girls need to protect themselves when they’re out.”
Xin Jushang turned around and bumped right into Zhou Yuchuan, who was walking toward her.
Standing at 1.7 meters tall, Xin Jushang didn’t consider herself short, but she still only reached Zhou Yuchuan’s chin.
His chin was really hard, making her forehead ache from the impact.
Rubbing her wrist, which had turned slightly bruised from the scoundrel’s grip, Xin Jushang lifted her gaze to look at Zhou Yuchuan. “What are you doing here?”
The young man twirled a pebble in his hand, smiling in an utterly captivating way.
He leaned down to meet Xin Jushang’s eyes, staring straight at her, his tone half-joking and half-serious. “What if I said I came to rescue you? Would you believe me?”
She quickly averted her gaze, but her voice still carried a hint of fluster. “I don’t know, but thank you anyway.”
The red-haired guy nearby finally caught sight of Zhou Yuchuan, the culprit. Still clutching his crotch and hopping in pain, he cursed loudly, “Who the hell are you? Are you crazy?”
This red-haired guy was a troublemaker from the vocational high school nearby. In his free time, he liked to hang around milk tea shops and convenience stores in the area, scouting for pretty girls and casting a wide net.
Zhou Yuchuan’s smile grew even more arrogant. He looked down at the red-haired guy and said word by word, “Ask around the four streets east, west, north, and south—find out who’s the boss. Zhou Yuchuan, heard of me?”
Hearing this, the red-haired guy’s face instantly changed, and his voice trembled. “B-Brother Chuan… Sorry, Brother Chuan! Nice to meet you, Brother Chuan! Goodbye, Brother Chuan!”
Even if he hadn’t met Zhou Yuchuan in person before, he had heard of his reputation—the top dog of No. 1 High School, who once single-handedly beat over a dozen guys until they knelt and called him “Dad.”
How dare he mess with Brother Chuan?!
So he immediately scrambled away from the scene, rolling and crawling, terrified of getting into trouble.
Just as Zhou Yuchuan was about to boast to Xin Jushang about his past heroic deeds, his deskmate seemed completely unfazed.
She looked utterly calm, as if she had seen it all before.
At that moment, Xu Zhiyan happened to come out after picking out some oden. Seeing Xin Jushang and Zhou Yuchuan standing together, she was surprised.
“Jushang, why is your deskmate here?” Xu Zhiyan asked curiously.
“He was just passing by.”
“I came to be the hero and save…”
Xin Jushang and Zhou Yuchuan answered in unison.
But Zhou Yuchuan felt a pang of frustration from Xin Jushang’s reply. He swallowed the rest of his words, forcing them back down.
What hero saving the beauty? His little deskmate was nothing but an ungrateful wolf.
Zhou Yuchuan thought bitterly.
The next day.
Xin Jushang arrived at the classroom early. She took a plastic lunchbox from her backpack, filled with freshly washed strawberries she had picked from a fruit stall on her way home the night before.
Thinking about how Zhou Yuchuan had helped her several times recently, she felt genuinely sorry. Not being good with words, she decided to express her gratitude this way.
Carefully, she placed the lunchbox inside Zhou Yuchuan’s desk drawer, then opened her book to start memorizing classical Chinese texts.
Deep down, she secretly hoped Zhou Yuchuan would arrive early.
But today, Zhou Yuchuan was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn’t until the long break after the second morning class that he finally showed up, carrying a six-inch strawberry cake.
The cake was exquisitely crafted, packaged in an elegant transparent gift box—clearly expensive.
Xin Jushang’s heart skipped a beat, as today was her birthday.
Could it be… that this was a birthday cake Zhou Yuchuan had prepared for her?
But she had never mentioned her birthday to him…
Her earlobes flushed slightly, but she forced herself not to overthink it.
To her surprise, Zhou Yuchuan only entered the classroom to drop off his backpack before hurriedly leaving again with the cake.
Xin Jushang’s heart sank a little.
She didn’t understand why she suddenly felt so disappointed.
Ten minutes later, Zhou Yuchuan returned to the classroom with the strawberry cake, his expression clearly displeased.
He tossed the cake directly into the trash bin at the back of the classroom, then slumped over his desk like a wilted plant, completely lifeless.
Xin Jushang found herself unable to focus on her homework. All she could think about were the little strawberries she had secretly placed in Zhou Yuchuan’s desk drawer that morning…
The poor little strawberries that Zhou Yuchuan still hadn’t discovered.
Now, she suddenly didn’t want to give them to him anymore.
For some reason, Xin Jushang felt her nose tingling with emotion.
It wasn’t until the end of the school day, just before Zhou Yuchuan was about to leave, that he finally noticed the box of strawberries in his desk drawer.
Holding the box in his hand, a faint smile finally appeared on his face, which had been cold all day.
“My dear deskmate, did you give this to me?” he asked, tilting his head and staring at Xin Jushang, the corners of his eyes slightly raised.
Xin Jushang remained silent.
She now regretted ever thinking of buying strawberries for Zhou Yuchuan, this narcissist.
Feeding pigs would have been better than feeding Zhou Yuchuan.
“No answer means yes.”
Zhou Yuchuan happily opened the lid and was about to pop a bright red strawberry into his mouth when Xin Jushang snatched the entire box away from him.
“Huh? Wasn’t this a gift for me? Why are you taking it back?”
Zhou Yuchuan was stunned, unable to make sense of the situation.
What was wrong with his little deskmate? Who gives a gift and then takes it back?
“I don’t want to give it to you anymore,” Xin Jushang replied calmly.
Holding the lunchbox filled with strawberries, she walked to the trash bin at the back of the classroom and threw it in, box and all.
The elegant strawberry cake Zhou Yuchuan had thrown away that morning still lay pitifully inside the trash bin.
Only then did Xin Jushang notice that besides the English words “Happy Birthday” on the cake, there were also three letters beside them—
ZJN.
Zhao Jianing.