Chapter 26 Part 1

Lu Xixiao hailed a taxi home.

Since the day Zhou Wan left his house, for a whole half month, fifteen days, she hadn't come to see him once.

‘She's got some backbone.’

Lu Xixiao tugged at the corner of his mouth and scoffed.

The taxi was filled with the sound of a tacky, cliché radio broadcast. The female host's voice was affected, her laughter exaggerated and deliberate.

Lu Xixiao rolled down the window, letting the cold wind mess up his hair as he scrolled idly through his phone out of boredom.

He paused when he opened his photo album; there was a picture of Zhou Wan.

It was taken on his birthday, after Zhou Wan had given him a photo frame.

Saying he would use that frame for her picture was just a casual tease at the time. Lu Xixiao hadn't even had the photo printed.

In the photo, the girl had a stunned expression, her eyes wide.

She usually had a calm and plain expression. The stunned look captured in this photo was rare, and looking at it for a while, it was actually a bit cute.

"Sir," Lu Xixiao spoke up, "is there a photo studio nearby?"

"A photo studio, huh? There's one next to No. 2 High School, but it's in the opposite direction of your address."

"That's fine, let's go to the photo studio first," Lu Xixiao said. "Sorry for the trouble."

*

Something happened at school early in the morning.

The story was that a first-year girl was caught in a puppy love relationship and her parents were called in. This kind of thing wasn't too unusual in high school, but the girl's mother had a strong reaction. The moment she arrived at school, she slapped the girl and cursed at her with exceptionally nasty words, shouting and screaming things that were unbearable to hear. In the end, it was the teachers who had to mediate.

At school, news like this spread quickly.

It was said that the girl was from a single-parent family, living with her mother but raised by her maternal grandmother.

Her mother was a public elementary school teacher with an explosive temper and had placed too many expectations on her daughter, hoping she would become a great success.

"How awful," Gu Meng said. "That mother didn't even raise her, yet she puts so much pressure on her and hits her the moment she gets to school. If I were that girl, I'd be so ashamed I'd want to transfer."

Another girl nearby turned to join the conversation: "I was on the third floor at the time and heard her mom yelling at her. I've never heard anyone curse so viciously. It was like that wasn't her daughter."

The class teacher knocked forcefully on the door panel, and everyone quieted down.

"I'm sure everyone already knows what happened today," the class teacher said from the podium. "You're all at a critical stage of high school. No one will bother you about dating when you get to college, but for now, I want you all to get your heads out of the clouds and focus on your studies!"

The class teacher's gaze swept from left to right. "I'll say this upfront: the school is cracking down on puppy love recently. If you're caught, I'll be calling your parents."

There were a few couples secretly dating in Class 1, and everyone's gazes swept over them inadvertently.

Zhou Wan kept her head down. Suddenly, the phone in her drawer vibrated.

Almost no one ever messaged her during school hours, so she had forgotten to put it on silent.

She fumbled to take out her phone and switch it to silent mode.

—A message arrived from "6".

Zhou Wan froze for a moment.

6.

‘Lu Xixiao?’

They hadn't been in contact for a long time.

She opened it.

[6: Lunch together?]

Zhou Wan's fingertips paused, hesitant.

She didn't know why Lu Xixiao was looking for her again. He hadn't been to school these past few days, and she thought he had already gotten a girlfriend and had no time to bother with her.

[Zhou Wan: I'm at school, I can't leave for lunch.]

[6: Me too.]

"..."

Many students at school had already misunderstood their relationship, and with the class teacher saying the school was cracking down on this, Zhou Wan didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble.

[Zhou Wan: How about dinner? My competition class ends around six o'clock.]

[6: Fine.]

The fourth period, Chinese class, ended.

Zhou Wan and Gu Meng went to the cafeteria for lunch together.

Because of Lu Xixiao's message, Zhou Wan kept an eye out on the way. He never wore the school uniform and stood out in a crowd, but Zhou Wan couldn't find him.

After lunch, Gu Meng went to the tuck shop.

"Wanwan, do you want milk tea?"

She shook her head.

Gu Meng bought a hot pearl milk tea, and they walked back to the classroom together.

As December arrived, the early plum blossoms by the school garden bloomed, a mix of red and white, filling the air with their faint, clear fragrance.

"Hey, isn't that Lu Xixiao?" Gu Meng suddenly nudged Zhou Wan with her elbow, whispering, "Why is he at school today?"

Zhou Wan looked up.

Lu Xixiao was wearing a black jacket, his brow slightly furrowed. The pale winter sunlight fell on his face, making his skin look even colder and paler. He looked impatient and weary, as if he had just woken up.

As if sensing something, Lu Xixiao looked up and saw Zhou Wan.

He tilted his head at her and was about to walk over when a shriek suddenly erupted from the crowd—

"Look at the roof!"

The crowd below looked up and saw a person standing on the roof. A girl in a school uniform. The hem of her clothes was being lifted by the strong wind, making her look increasingly precarious and causing one's heart to panic.

"Who is that?!"

"She's not going to jump, is she?"

"Quick, go get a teacher!"

"I think it's Xue Xi!"

Zhou Wan was so shocked her feet were rooted to the spot. She could only hear the discussions around her, saying that Xue Xi was the girl whose parents were called in that morning for being in a relationship.

She also heard someone in the crowd say that she usually had an introverted and withdrawn personality, was pessimistic about things, and had depression.

Zhou Wan saw Lu Xixiao turn abruptly and hurry upstairs.

She instinctively followed him.

"Wanwan!" Gu Meng called from behind her, but Zhou Wan didn't have time to answer.

Lu Xixiao's strides were long and fast. Zhou Wan couldn't keep up. By the time she reached the last flight of stairs, she was breathless. The door to the rooftop was open, the locked chain snapped.

Zhou Wan's hair was a mess from the wind, she could barely breathe as she ran over.

Lu Xixiao was standing at the doorway. His face looked even paler, his brow furrowed tightly. He was pressing his hand hard against the wall to barely keep his body from sliding down, the veins on the back of his hand distinct.

Zhou Wan remembered: he had a fear of heights.

But she hadn't expected Lu Xixiao to be the first one to rush to the roof to save someone.

...

The wind on the roof was strong, howling in her ears, and the sun was so bright it was hard to open one's eyes.

Lu Xixiao clenched his jaw, trying his best to stand straight and walk forward, but the image of his mother leaping from a rooftop long ago lingered in his mind, refusing to fade.

It was a day with a blazing sun just like this one. When you looked up, you looked straight into the sun, unable to open your eyes or see faces clearly.

With a dull "thud," his vision was stained with the color of blood.

The image in his mind was like a sealing spell, making it impossible for him to move a step, to look up, or even to make a sound.

His whole body was ice-cold, trembling imperceptibly.

Just then, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind him.

But Lu Xixiao didn't have the strength to turn and look. His head was spinning, his consciousness fading.

Until the next second, a warm palm gripped his hand tightly, and someone stood in front of him, blocking the blinding sunlight.

He smelled the unique floral scent of laundry detergent on Zhou Wan.

The girl's small frame stood before him, thin yet resolute. Her hair was tied up, her nape fair.

Zhou Wan squeezed his hand tightly.

His unbalanced heart, after a tremor, finally settled back into a normal rhythm.

"Xue Xi." Zhou Wan recalled the name she had just heard and called out softly.

The girl had already climbed over the rooftop railing and was sitting on it. Due to years of disrepair, it creaked with a harsh sound, making one fear it would break and fall at any moment.

Hearing Zhou Wan's voice, the girl turned around.

She knew Zhou Wan from the commendation list on the school-wide ranking board and from some recent rumors at school.