“Thank you.” Jin pulled out another twenty-dollar bill and handed it to Zhao Zhenzhen.
Zhao Zhenzhen waved her hand, holding up the bills she had just straightened. “You’ve already given me plenty.”
Looking at the crumpled bills that refused to lie flat no matter how hard she tried to smooth them, Jin remembered that he had thrown them at Zhao Zhenzhen earlier. Panic flickered across his face.
“Ah, I…” Jin immediately felt that the twenty he’d given was too little. He patted his pants pockets, then turned his head and barked at the twin-tailed girl and her group huddled in the corner, “You guys, get over here!”
The twin-tailed girl was the first to bounce over, reaching out to grab Zhao Zhenzhen’s arm. She didn’t get angry when Zhao Zhenzhen dodged, her eyes sparkling as she asked, “Are you two done talking? What did you say? Jin, did she really say your other name?”
“Cut the crap. Why do you need to know so much?” Jin frowned and spoke gruffly. “Got any cash on you? Scrounge up a hundred for me.”
Zhao Zhenzhen was about to wave her hand and say it wasn’t necessary, but then she heard the second half of Jin’s sentence and suddenly found nothing worth refusing.
—”We’ll… settle it later.” Jin said it vaguely, but being in America, those who knew, knew.
Well then, no problem. Zhao Zhenzhen shifted from “You’re giving me too much” to “Since you’re giving it, fine—this is all what I deserve” in record time.
Jin collected the money while glaring at the crumpled bills in his hand with a frown. “Straighten these out properly next time!”
As he spoke, he carefully smoothed each bill flat, then rolled them up and handed them to Zhao Zhenzhen.
Respectful and cautious, he said, “I didn’t mean to throw money at you earlier.”
Zhao Zhenzhen stared at Jin, then at the Virtual Lightbulb above his head that kept cycling through yellow, white, and green, flashing like a neon sign. She watched for a while.
She stared until cold sweat broke out on Jin’s forehead, then finally nodded and took the money. “…It’s fine.”
She didn’t understand, but she’d take the money.
And besides, after taking the money, the other party was the one saying thank you.
Jin let out a huge sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted. “Thank you.”
The twin-tailed girl and the others seemed to snap out of it too, quickly pulling out their cash, straightening it, and handing it to Zhao Zhenzhen.
They shoved money into her hands with sincere words while continuously showing their friendliness. “Don’t be mad, okay? Don’t be mad.”
Especially Leo, who had initially flexed at her like a bodybuilder and flirted with her—he directly stuffed a fifty-dollar bill into Zhao Zhenzhen’s hand.
Zhao Zhenzhen didn’t understand, but she was deeply shaken as she accepted everything without objection.
She nodded at each person and answered each one solemnly, “I’m not mad.”
Just as Zhao Zhenzhen was starting to feel dazed, wondering if she’d somehow stumbled into some bizarre ritual, the absurdity was finally dispelled by the school bell.
“School’s out!” The twin-tailed girl looked at Zhao Zhenzhen expectantly. “Wanna come find some fun with us?”
“?!”
Wait, school’s out already?! It’s only two in the afternoon!
Back home, this would be right after lunch break ended, and afternoon classes were about to start!
Zhao Zhenzhen was shocked. “School’s over?”
This early?
Her questioning made the twin-tailed girl and the others start doubting themselves instead. They looked at each other, scratching the backs of their heads uncertainly. “It should be out, right? Isn’t it time?”
The others shrugged.
“Don’t look at me. I always thought school started at ten.”
“I sometimes leave at ten.”
“Same here.”
Well, that.
A bunch of slacker delinquents who had never once followed the school schedule.
The group fell silent. The twin-tailed girl turned her head. “Hey, what time does school start and end anyway?”
Betty hugged her school bag and answered immediately, “From 9 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon.”
She glanced cautiously at Zhao Zhenzhen, “So right now it really is the school dismissal bell.”
Zhao Zhenzhen had just gone through the original body’s memories and already knew this.
“Alright.” Zhao Zhenzhen patted her forehead, “I almost forgot.”
“Then…” Jin hesitated.
“Let’s go?” Zhao Zhenzhen said, puzzled, “I need to head home too.”
They breathed a sigh of relief, politely said goodbye to Zhao Zhenzhen, and quickly slipped away. Only Betty remained, hugging her school bag in the corner.
When this group passed by Betty, they deliberately bumped her with their shoulders. Betty was knocked around unsteadily but said nothing, just lowered her head and hugged her bag even tighter.
Zhao Zhenzhen couldn’t stand it—she hated this kind of thing the most.
“Hey!”
Jin and the others shrank their necks and immediately stopped, turning around.
“Don’t bully her.” Zhao Zhenzhen said seriously.
The group immediately raised their hands high in a “fine, fine” gesture of compromise. Finally, they could walk away properly.
The twin-tailed girl even grinned as she approached Betty, looked her up and down, then yanked open her school bag and pulled out a bag of something to stuff into her own.
Seeing Zhao Zhenzhen watching her, she patted her bag and said, “This is mine, I just left it with her for a while.”
Betty let out a big sigh of relief when the twin-tailed girl took the stuff, and now she nodded vigorously in agreement on the side.
“Oh.” Zhao Zhenzhen responded dryly.
Only then did the twin-tailed girl shake her head and chase after Jin and the others as they left.
Zhao Zhenzhen also headed out—she needed to go back to the classroom to get her school bag.
Betty hugged her bag and followed right along, looking at her with eager eyes and speaking rapidly, “I can help you with homework, any subject, and what do you like for breakfast? Chinese or Western style? I live near Chinatown, so bringing breakfast is easy, and I can save you seats, buy movie tickets, oh! Do you like swimming?”
“Stop, stop, stop.” Zhao Zhenzhen looked at her, “What are you doing?”
Betty looked at her sincerely, making Zhao Zhenzhen think of a certain kind of puppy.
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel—a cute little hunting dog with big floppy ears, a small stature, soft and gentle fur, and round, sparkling eyes.
Who could resist that kind of look?
Zhao Zhenzhen was now being looked up at by Betty with that exact expression.
—Even though she was actually the taller one.
“I… I want to be your sidekick!” Betty took a deep breath, “I can do anything!”
“Why?”
“Because if I follow you, no one will bully me.” Betty’s eyes sparkled, “And even Jin and the others are afraid of you.”
“Afraid of me?” Zhao Zhenzhen couldn’t help asking, “Afraid of what?”
Afraid of her short arms and stubby legs?
“Of course they’re afraid that you…” Betty glanced at the surrounding students and leaned in close to Zhao Zhenzhen, whispering, “afraid you’ll curse them.”
“???” Zhao Zhenzhen pointed at her own nose, “Me? Curse them?? I can’t do that!”
Betty looked at Zhao Zhenzhen with an “I get it, I get it” expression, “Understood, understood. You can’t.”
“No, I really can’t!”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, right, right, you can’t.” Betty brushed it off and continued looking at her with eager eyes, “So do you agree to let me be your sidekick?!”
“…” Zhao Zhenzhen.
She really couldn’t defend herself against this one.
On the other side, Jin and his group swaggered out of the school gate. Along the way, no matter whether students were playing around or doing something else, they all saw them from a distance and quickly moved out of the way.
Jin and the others walked straight ahead, eyes fixed forward, as if no one else were there. The twin-tailed girl and her group, on the other hand, would deliberately pick a “lucky one” from the crowd to mess with from time to time.
Even if the target of their teasing was bullied until their face flushed red, they didn’t dare make a sound.
They would only silently pick themselves up off the ground and hurry away.
“Jin,” Leo said, still feeling uneasy. “Are you sure Zhao Zhen isn’t angry?”
“Should I stuff some more nice things in her desk tomorrow?” Or maybe bring a gift? Leo pondered, then turned to ask the twin-tailed girl, “Lily, what do girls like?”
“Something shiny?” Lily shrugged, answering uncertainly.
Seeing Leo lost in thought, she let out a scoff and said, “Zhao already said she’s not angry, so she definitely won’t do anything else. Stop being so paranoid.”
“…Really?” Leo looked at Jin. Seeing him nod as well, he finally felt a bit relieved. “Then I can relax—”
A splat of bird droppings fell from the sky, landing with pinpoint accuracy right on Leo’s head, slowly sliding from his forehead down to the bridge of his nose as his companions stared in horror.
“Look! Did you all see that!” Leo stood frozen in place, shouting. “She hasn’t forgiven me!”
“This is proof! This is it!”
Author’s Note:
Years later, Leo jolted upright from his deathbed: I knew she never let me off the hook!