Secret in the Hidden Compartment

暗格里的秘密

secret-in-the-hidden-compartment

Chapter 2 Part 1

Jiang Chen was terrified of this young master with morning grumpiness. He threw out "Your mom's calling you for dinner" and bolted downstairs, rushing through the living room and kitchen like a gust of wind.


 Hey, wait—


 He suddenly shifted his gaze, landing precisely on Ding Xian, sizing her up.


 Ding Xian sat next to Mrs. Chen, wearing a small white dress, her features delicate, her hands neatly placed on her lap, looking well-behaved.


 Only, the swollen bump on her forehead looked a bit comical.


 Jiang Chen froze, 'Where did this girl come from?'


 Behind him, Zhou Siyue came downstairs, rubbing his eyes with a sleepy expression. His slippers shuffled noisily as he walked slowly with his hands casually in his pockets. When he reached the last few steps, he quickly took a few light steps, his long legs touching the ground, then resumed his unhurried pace. As he passed Jiang Chen, he habitually ruffled the back of his head with one hand and casually asked, "Gone silly?"


 His voice was magnetic and pleasant to listen to, the best male voice Ding Xian had ever heard, yet there was a hint of impropriety in his clear enunciation.


 Unlike Jiang Chen's slippery Beijing accent.


 Jiang Chen was about to ask him who this person was, but the young master didn't even glance at Ding Xian, heading straight for the dining table. He pulled up a chair next to Song Yijin and sat down with his legs spread.


 Jiang Chen immediately followed and sat down beside him.


 Ding Xian, who had been looking down, heard that rich voice and instinctively looked up, then was stunned by a boy with a messy bird's nest haircut.


 He was indeed a young master with fair skin, his features and lines exuding an innate arrogance.


 Zhou Siyue had just woken up, his hair piled messily on top of his head; a few casual grabs would tame it. His entire face seemed flawless, except for the slightly prominent dark circles under his eyes.


 Ding Xian sighed inwardly: 'My soul is captivated by his beauty, oh my soul is captivated by his beauty!'


 Zhou Siyue hadn't noticed there were three strangers at the table. He lowered his head and drank his soup, until Mrs. Zhou called his name, "Siyue."


 "Hm?" Zhou Siyue finished the last mouthful, pursed his lower lip, and slowly looked up.


 Mrs. Zhou: "This is Aunt Ding, and this is Ding Xian. You met them when you were little."


 Zhou Siyue was a little nearsighted and didn't like wearing glasses. He squinted for a while to recognize them, having no recollection. He leaned forward and politely said, "Hello, Aunt Ding." His greeting was neither humble nor arrogant, showing no awkwardness towards strangers, completely at ease.


 He then turned his gaze to Ding Xian, a faint curve on his lips, full of aristocratic air.


 In contrast, Ding Xian looked like an idiot, her eyes having nowhere to settle. She nodded awkwardly, then frantically lowered her head to stare at her bowl, unsure what she was so shy about.


 "This must be Siyue, he's grown so well." Mother Ding smiled as if seeing her own son: "Auntie even held you when you were little. Who would've thought the children would be so big now."


 Father Zhou echoed with a smile, sighing, "Yes, time really flies."


 Mother Ding nudged the silent Ding Xian beside her: "Xianxian, this is Siyue. You two even slept in the same bed when you were little."


 Clearly.


 Both parties involved looked bewildered.


 Mrs. Zhou cleared her throat. Seeing her son frown impatiently, she spoke up to smooth things over: "Let's not mention childhood things, they were too young to remember back then. Oh right, Xianxian, I heard you also got into Third High School?"


 Ding Xian hadn't snapped back to reality. Suddenly called out, she blurted out instinctively, "Six hundred eighty-five points."


 This sentence structure had become a habit for her. After the high school entrance exam, Ye Wanxian boasted everywhere that she had gotten into Third High School, so much so that whenever Ding Xian went out, people would ask her, "Did you get into Third High School? How many points?"


 The six hundred eighty-five was truly a habit.


 The two families had only met once before, when Ding Xian and Zhou Siyue were very young. Mrs. Zhou was quite fond of Ding Xian—a well-behaved, sensible child who studied hard. She didn't find anything wrong with Ding Xian's score of six hundred eighty-five.


 However, for the poor students at the table, eagerly announcing your score before anyone even asked isn't showing off? What's the difference between that and saying, "Oh no, I didn't do well this time, only got 99 points."


 Since ancient times, underachievers and academic elites have been incomparable.


 Can an underachiever's sixty points be the same as an academic elite's sixty points?


 Of course, except for a certain young master. He was born with an oppressive aura; even if you scored higher than him, people would still feel he was number one in the world. Ding Xian at the time was simply intimidated by his noble presence.


 "Our Xianxian, she studied until two in the morning before the exam, no matter what we said, she wouldn't listen, she loves studying so much." Knowing that Zhou Siyue's score wasn't as high as Ding Xian's, Ye Wanxian still deliberately asked, "Siyue, what about you? How many points?"


 "Six hundred seventy." Zhou Siyue replied quite candidly.


 Ding Xian subconsciously calculated Zhou Siyue's city ranking.


 Ye Wanxian exclaimed in surprise, "So you just barely passed the cut-off?"


 Mrs. Zhou gave an awkward laugh, trying to explain, but Jiang Chen interrupted, "Ah Yue is naturally gifted, he can pass the line even with a casual try. He was even playing games with us before the exam."


 Sensitive as she was, the teenage girl naturally understood the implication: 'Look, your daughter studied until two in the morning before the exam, and she only scored fifteen points more than him.'


 Ye Wanxian then tossed the question to Jiang Chen: "What about you? How many points did you get?"


 Jiang Chen shrugged, disdainfully.


 "Enough points is enough."


 Coupled with Young Master Zhou's usual indifferent expression, this sentence was truly cool and thought-provoking.


 Ye Wanxian wanted to continue, 'How can points be enough? Of course, you can never have too many points. How much money would it cost to lose even one point? These city kids are just rich and willful.'


 Mrs. Zhou explained, they were all a bunch of unruly boys, and also the last batch from the Affiliated High School to be directly promoted to the high school division, so they could get in no matter how many points they scored.


 Ye Wanxian smiled amiably, but inwardly, she was immensely proud; in the end, it was Ding Xian who brought her honor.


 Song Yijin, who had been silent for a long time, asked Ding Xian, "Sister Ding Xian, did you go to summer cram school?"


 "No," Ding Xian shook her head.


 Jiang Chen suddenly snorted, "Then you really lack a sense of urgency. Siyue and the others have already finished studying the first half of Senior One textbooks."


 "Aren't the textbooks not distributed yet?"


 Jiang Chen tutted, "Borrow from older students, of course. Oh, wait, you're probably the first one to come from Yanping, so there's probably no one you can borrow from."


 She was actually the second to get in, but the sarcasm in his words was too obvious, and Ding Xian couldn't be bothered to quibble over it.


 Ding Xian looked at Zhou Siyue beside her. He was intently peeling shrimp, indifferent to all the conversations at the dinner table.


 A young master was a young master; he seemed too lazy to show interest in anything.


 Ye Wanxian chimed in, "Our Xianxian doesn't need tutoring; she's very smart, she learns everything quickly, and we don't need to worry about her. And our Xianxian is very well-behaved, she never compares herself to other children."


 Uncle Zhou nodded in agreement: "Xianxian is clearly a good child. She'll definitely achieve great things in the future."


 "Exactly, she never gives me any worries. Siyue, if you have any study problems in the future, you can discuss them more with our Xianxian; she understands everything."


 Zhou Siyue finished peeling the last shrimp, popped it into his mouth, and said with a half-smile, "Alright."


 "That's right," Ye Wanxian said, her crow's feet almost reaching the back of her head. "You two should cultivate your feelings more often, after all, your grandfathers even arranged a childhood engagement for you."


 All the teenagers at the table were shocked.


 After all, childhood engagements were rare in their era, yet it happened to this young master. Now even Song Yijin, who was still talking to Ding Xian, stopped, pouting.


 Ding Xian subconsciously looked over, just in time to see Zhou Siyue opposite her twitch the corner of his mouth expressionlessly.


 Father Zhou cleared his throat and gave Mrs. Zhou a look: "There was such a thing, but isn't it too early to talk about it now? After all, they're only in high school."


 "I didn't mean anything else—" Ye Wanxian was cut off mid-sentence, and everyone at the table simultaneously looked in a certain direction.


 "What are the procedures for breaking off an engagement?"


 To Jiang Chen and the others, this was indeed Zhou Siyue's style. He was proud and looked down on an inconspicuous girl like Ding Xian, which was perfectly normal. Moreover, he spoke bluntly and never beat around the bush; it wasn't that he didn't understand, he just couldn't be bothered to play games, especially at that age full of youthful vigor.


 He hadn't had much contact with girls since he was little and didn't understand how to interact with them. Any female classmate who tried to chat him up would find the conversation dead within three sentences; in short, he was blunt.


 When Zhou Siyue smiled, his whole person was gentle; but when he pursed his lips expressionlessly, he was sharp-tongued.


 Ye Wanxian's smile froze at the corners of her mouth.


 Ding Xian lowered her head, picked up her chopsticks, and nonchalantly put a large mouthful of rice into her mouth.


 The meal was awkward and disjointed. Jiang Chen and the others quickly finished their food and ran upstairs to play games. Zhou Siyue also wanted to go but was held back by Mrs. Zhou.


 The young master sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, frowning slightly with impatience.


 Because Ding Xian hadn't finished eating.


 Ye Wanxian nudged Ding Xian, "Stop eating, hurry up and go talk to Siyue."


 Ding Xian quickly shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth, "I don't know what to say."


 Ye Wanxian gritted her teeth, "Do you believe I'll hit you?"


 Under the oppressive power of her mother, Ding Xian reluctantly finished the rice in her bowl and was pushed onto the living room sofa.


 Zhou Siyue was sprawled in the sofa, one arm draped over it, the other casually resting on his lap. He tossed the remote control to her, raising an eyebrow.


 Not a word.

Secret in the Hidden Compartment

Secret in the Hidden Compartment

Chapter 4 - Chapter 2 Part 1

Sleepy