The girl's neat ponytail whipped behind her in the mountain wind. Song Qingcheng brushed away the hair that got into her eyes and subconsciously glanced into the car.
Gu Zhengshen noticed the direction of her gaze and smiled. "It's just me and CEO Yu. You do know CEO Yu, don't you? Your classmate Yu Jing's uncle?"
"…" Not only did Song Qingcheng not get into the car, but she even turned around and continued walking forward.
Gu Zhengshen was surprised by her response. He turned to the other man in the car and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
The car window rolled down a little. Yu Tingchuan's expression was calm as he extended the cigarette towards the window and flicked off half of the cigarette ash. "You simply had to provoke her."
"Fine! I should just mind my own business." Gu Zhengshen crossed his long legs and instructed the chauffeur to drive on.
On the winding mountain road, the champagne-colored car quickly left Song Qingcheng behind.
…
Song Qingcheng watched the car drive away as the sleeves of her school uniform fluttered in the wind. She halted by the road. Turning her head slightly, she happened to see a black MPV driving past.
The car drove forward for a distance before slowly pulling to a stop. Then, it reversed.
The passenger window rolled down, revealing half of Xu Dong's face.
"Miss Song?" Xu Dong looked at the thin sprinkling of perspiration on the tip of Song Qingcheng's nose and then saw that she was rather pale. He couldn't help feeling sympathetic. "We can't get a taxi here. Come on up, we're going back to the city, too."
This time round, Song Qingcheng did not refuse.
Two female employees from Hengyuan were sitting in the back row. They were both rather thin so it was not too much of a squeeze.
The MPV continued its way down the mountain road.
"How's Miss Song's hand? Don't forget to go to the vaccine control center this weekend to get a booster. The third booster would be due in another fourteen days." Xu Dong looked at Song Qingcheng through the rearview mirror and broke the silence in the car.
Song Qingcheng smiled. "The wound has already scabbed over. I won't forget the vaccination."
On the other hand, when Su Ying heard this, she glanced at the plaster on Song Qingcheng's left hand a few more times. Then, she said to Xu Dong, "Didn't CEO Yu just ask you to bring Kucha for a rabies vaccination last month?"
Xu Dong replied, "Yes, he's been vaccinated, and for Toxoplasmosis as well. Soon, he has to go for a booster.
Another female employee added, "When I was in the office the other day, I happened to overhear CEO Gu asking to borrow Kucha from CEO Yu. His Wuzi turns one this month. What do you get when you cross a Border collie with a Dachshund?"
The few of them started chatting.
Song Qingcheng had nothing to say; neither did she want to speak. She simply closed her eyes and leaned against the car window to rest.
Back in the city, the car came to a stop at a nearby subway station.
After thanking them, Song Qingcheng shut the car door behind her.
Su Ying watched from inside the car as the girl disappeared down the stairs. She asked Xu Dong, "Didn't Kucha used to be quite docile? Why did he suddenly bite someone?"
Xu Dong shook his head. "I was in the private room at that time. The Imperial Court staff came to inform me so I'm not sure about the details." He turned to look at Su Ying. "What's wrong?"
Su Ying smiled and replied, "Nothing."
She seemed to be in deep thought as looked at the entrance of the train station.
…
It was almost two in the afternoon when Song Qingcheng returned to school.
There was still ten minutes to go before class ended.
Rather than barging into the classroom, she walked over to the notice board to pass the time.
After a while, Song Qingcheng felt a hand resting on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw Yu Jing's smiling face.
"Physical education class?" Song Qingcheng asked.
Yu Jing took the opportunity to hug her arm. "Didn't you tell me before that you'll only be going back to your uncle's house every two weeks? The end-of-term exams are next week. I still have a lot of important points that I haven't highlighted. It's Friday today. Come to my house for the weekend after school."
"Your family doesn't mind you bringing strangers home for the night?"
"My grandfather and great-grandfather are the only ones at home. My mother usually isn't at home during the day and would only come back to sleep at night. She loves it when I make friends with people who excel in their studies. Besides—" Yu Jing leaned her head on Qingcheng's shoulder and asked coyly, "Are you a stranger?"
Song Qingcheng turned to look at the girl, who was trying to act adorable, and was suddenly amused.
Actually, they hadn't known each other for very long, but the reputation of 'a good student' always made people lower their guard.
At this point, the school bell went off.
Song Qingcheng patted Yu Jing's cheek lightly. "Stand firm on your own feet. I'm going back to class."
"You haven't given me an answer." Yu Jing refused to let go.
"We'll talk about it later."
…
Because Song Qingcheng said 'we'll talk about it later;, Yu Jing—with her school bag hanging upside down on her chest—was already squatting at the entrance of Class Six even before the last self-study session in the afternoon was over. Some teachers who passed by shook their heads when they saw her sloppy posture, but they could not be bothered to chide her.
The bell rang. When Yu Jing saw Song Qingcheng walking out with her school bag slung over one shoulder, she smiled and went forward. "Have you thought about it?"
"I have to make a trip to the rental house later. I won't have enough time to clean up after the exams next week." Song Qingcheng took out her notebook from her bag. "All the key points for Geography, Mathematics, and English are in here, including some of the sample questions I collected. Take a look at them this weekend. If you find them useful, you can make a copy."
Yu Jing took the notebook and frowned.
She wanted Qingcheng to go home with her. To a large extent, she wanted to muddle through the examinations.
The examinations were next week. Going home at this time, her family would definitely ask about her review. The worst thing was that the Yu family had a gathering every Friday. Her fifth aunt, who was a university professor, would definitely come home. This would be able to quickly see right through her by asking just a few questions. No matter how much she disliked studying, she did not want to see her family disappointed.
However…
It would have been different if she had a top student with her!
After all, adults subconsciously believed that kids hanging out with top students wouldn't be doing too badly themselves.
After analyzing the pros and cons, Yu Jing was even more unwilling to let her go. "Come and stay at my house tonight then. I'll get the driver to send us to your rental place tomorrow. At that time, I can help you clean up." Having said that, without giving Song Qingcheng a chance to reject, she pulled Qingcheng along by the arm and walked towards the stairs. "Let's go, let's go. I've already called home and said that I'm bringing a classmate…"
It was time for school to end, and there were cars parked all along outside Yuan Wei, waiting to pick up the children. Among them was the car belonging to the Yu family.
When she reached the school gate, Song Qingcheng's phone rang.
The caller ID showed Ge Wenjuan's number.
She did not pick it up. Instead, she switched her phone to silent mode and dropped it back into her bag.
…
The Yu family was located in the Violet Garden on Jingyun Road.
The car drove through the main gate of Violet Garden, past the tall and lush sycamore trees lining the road.
Even though she had been here once, Song Qingcheng's attention was still attracted by bungalows both near and in the distance. Violet Garden was built at the beginning of the century, and it had the reputation of being the top residence in South City. For more than a decade now, the market value of the resale bungalows here was far higher than that of any other single villas.