Zhu Zhixi pushed aside her phone and milk tea, snorting, "Too busy being a simp to care about me. I don't want your belated concern."
Zhu Huaiqian clicked his tongue in displeasure. "What do you mean 'simp'? It's called pursuing someone."
Zhu Zhixi retorted, "Simp, simp, simping till you end up with nothing."
"You and Meng Tingyin won't work out. She doesn't like your type."
In their previous life, when Zhu Huaiqian was at the peak of his career, Meng Tingyin had entangled herself with him despite his marriage. Yet after his downfall, she immediately got engaged to someone else.
Zhu Huaiqian scoffed. "Me? Sunny, rugged, youthful high school guy, shining with handsomeness—how could she not like me?"
"She likes ugly guys, not narcissists."
Zhu Zhixi stared at him expressionlessly. "Why don't you get plastic surgery? A flat nose, small eyes, and a broad face—she'd definitely go for that."
Zhu Huaiqian gritted his teeth. "……"
He simply assumed Zhu Zhixi was jealous.
Who doesn't like handsome guys?
"Stay away from that Xie Jin. He has ill intentions toward you."
Zhu Huaiqian leaned in, squinting as he warned her, "Did you hear me?"
Having grown up with Zhu Zhixi, Zhu Huaiqian never thought she was particularly beautiful, but he couldn't deny that ever since starting high school, boys had been approaching her and sending her love letters.
Just thinking about it made him furious.
The way Xie Jin looked at Zhu Zhixi—well, he didn't like it.
"Get lost."
Zhu Zhixi rolled her eyes at him.
That evening, Zhu Zhixi worked on half a math exam paper, a rare occasion where she tugged at her hair in frustration.
Why wasn't Zhu Huaiqian back yet?
Resting her chin in her hands, she swayed her head and sighed, glaring at the exam paper as if it were her opponent.
Rather than tormenting herself, she thought it better to torment Zhu Huaiqian instead—a classic case of shifting the burden onto someone else.
She called Zhu Huaiqian twice in a row, but no one answered.
Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, she jumped up from her chair in alarm.
Her hands grew slightly cold and began to tremble.
The phone still played the robotic female voice: "Sorry, the number you dialed cannot be reached. Please try again later…"
She called Zhao Moran next, but again, no one answered.
Panic surged in Zhu Zhixi's heart.
Zhu Huaiqian, Gu Qishen, and Zhao Moran were as close as brothers, inseparable wherever they went.
"Sorry, the number you dialed cannot be reached. Please try again later…"
Her heart sank, and her thoughts grew increasingly chaotic.
She knew Gu Qishen's number by heart. Clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white, she wondered—should she call him?
Her scattered thoughts then turned to Xie Jin's number.
But she didn't know Xie Jin's current number.
Was it the one she had memorized?
That was Xie Jin's number from ten years later.
Her hands trembled as she dialed the digits one by one. It seemed right, yet it also felt wrong.
Never mind.
She'd try it first.
In the dimly lit alley, Xie Jin's phone vibrated incessantly. The screen's glow pierced through the fabric of his clothes, illuminating the face of the person standing opposite him.
The night blurred Gu Qishen's outline, but his voice was clear: "Stay away from Zhu Zhixi, Xie Jin. I don't care what you do at Yizhong, but let's just get through our senior year peacefully. After that, we can each go our separate ways."
Xie Jin glanced down at his phone—an unfamiliar number.
He didn't answer, slipping it back into his pocket instead.
With a light chuckle, he responded to Gu Qishen, "How do you know it's me who's after her?"
He clicked his tongue, his tone infuriatingly smug: "After all, I'm better-looking than you. Maybe Zhu Zhixi has taken a liking to me—it's not like she's blind."
"Fuck."
Something flew straight toward Xie Jin, accompanied by Zhu Huaiqian's curses: "Go to hell! Stay away from Zhu Zhixi, don't even think about her. I knew you were up to no good."
Xie Jin clenched his fist, his brow furrowing.
"Zhu Huaiqian, you should really thank your lucky stars you have a good sister."
"Fuck."
A string of curses echoed through the dim alley, punctuated by the dull thuds of fists against flesh and bone.
Gu Qishen's phone vibrated twice.
He glanced down, stepping farther away before answering. An urgent voice spilled from the other end: "Where's Zhu Huaiqian?"
Gu Qishen replied calmly, "I don't know."
Zhu Zhixi didn't believe him. She could faintly hear some noise from his end: "Then where are you?"
Her tone didn't sound concerned.
"Xibao, are you worried about me, or are you interrogating me?"
Zhu Zhixi fell silent.
The teenage Zhu Zhixi would never have spoken to Gu Qishen like this. Even when angry, she'd just sulk and wait for him to coax her.
Gu Qishen sighed, softening his tone: "I'm at Quan Ting. Want to come hang out? Your Brother Mozi is here too."
At Quan Ting.
Zhu Zhixi let out a soft sigh of relief.
If Zhu Huaiqian wasn't there, she felt uneasy, always suspecting he was up to something bad.
Maybe she was overthinking it, just being paranoid.
"No, I'm looking for Zhu Huaiqian. If you see him, tell him to call me back."
"Alright."
After hanging up, Gu Qishen lowered his gaze, a bitter, mocking smile tugging at the corner of his lips. So, she had called him last.
It wasn't like he hadn't seen Zhu Huaiqian and Zhao Moran's phones ringing.
When had he stopped being Zhu Zhixi's first choice?
The night was dark, making it impossible to tell whose blow struck Xie Jin's leg, sending a sharp pain through him. He staggered and collapsed to the ground.
Zhu Zhixi's eyelid kept twitching.
This inexplicable sense of unease and panic was the worst.
Staring at the unmarked phone number, she steeled herself and dialed again.
If it was a wrong number, so be it.
But if it really was Xie Jin… how would she explain having his number?
Just say she dialed wrong?
Ugh, lying was so hard.
While still racking her brain for excuses, the call connected quickly this time: "Hello, who is it?"
The voice was rushed, weak, and impatient.
Xie Jin tried to push himself up from the ground, but the pain in his back made him hiss softly. His patience completely worn thin, he felt like cursing at the person on the other end.
"Xie Jin."
A light, soft voice, like a feather landing on his heart, swept away a layer of gloom.
He trembled slightly.
Xie Jin regretted making a sound from the pain. Gritting his teeth, he leaned back fully into the corner, his chest sinking.
Perhaps thinking he hadn't heard her, Zhu Zhixi spoke again: "It's Zhu Zhixi."
A timid yet straightforward introduction.
Xie Jin chuckled, careful not to laugh too hard as it hurt: "Mm, I recognized it."
Silence returned on the other end.
Xie Jin's leg throbbed. Logically, he knew he should hang up and go to the hospital, but he didn't want to. He wanted to listen to Zhu Zhixi's voice.
Even if it was just her breathing.
He closed his eyes slightly. The darkness amplified his hearing, and Zhu Zhixi's breaths seemed to seep through his ear and into his very being.
It felt addictively soothing, refreshing.
He really must have gotten his brain knocked silly.
"Miss, did you call just to listen to my breathing? Which breathing technique would you like—high frequency, low frequency, or a mix of both?" Xie Jin opened his eyes, reverting to his lazy tone as he spoke without a care.
He wasn't satisfied with just hearing her breathing; he wanted to hear Zhu Zhixi's soft, gentle voice.
Like musical notes carrying a tilde.
Zhu Zhixi stood at the entrance of Quan Ting but didn't go inside.
She had been walking earlier and simply forgot to speak.
Hearing his voice, she felt completely at ease.
She let out a light hum, her tone haughty: "I was just contributing to China Mobile."
Xie Jin chuckled but didn't say anything more.
Zhu Zhixi had already decided to leave and to stop engaging in idle chatter with Xie Jin.
Xie Jin was sharp-witted, and she was afraid that if they kept talking, he would ask where she got his phone number.
She hadn't prepared an excuse yet.
But before she could say goodbye,
a roar came from the other end of the phone: "Damn it, are you trying to die, Xie Jin?"
"Who the hell is calling?"
Zhu Zhixi recognized Wu Liang's voice.
Her mind buzzed, and she suddenly remembered Xie Jin's injured leg.