After returning to the dormitory, Song Qingcheng put the luggage into the public locker. She had just washed her face and came out of the washroom when she received a call from Yu Jing. "Let's have dinner together. I have something for you."
Fifteen minutes later—
Song Qingcheng came to the second floor of the canteen as arranged with Yu Jing.
"Over here!" Yu Jing waved her spoon around, ignoring the surrounding gazes.
Song Qingcheng sat down opposite her and noticed that the girl had the floral patterned umbrella beside her.
Yu Jing took a bite of pancake and pushed the umbrella over. "Second Uncle said you left it in his car."
"Your uncle sent it to you?"
"No, Second Uncle called me. I went downstairs to get it." Yu Jing curled her fingers and scratched the corner of her mouth. She swallowed the pancake in her mouth and said unhappily, "I wanted to extort a big meal from him, but he was being called to a blind date."
Song Qingcheng casually poked the rice with her chopsticks. "I thought he was married."
"He was… once. But he's divorced now." Yu Jing's face was full of disapproval. "You don't know this, but ever since my second uncle got divorced, we've been inundated by matchmakers. My great-grandfather has had to be hospitalized several times every year because of my second uncle's marriage. Previously, there was even a girl whose family was on the verge of bankruptcy who wanted to swindle us into marriage. She was only keen on the fact that my second uncle's now in charge of the company. Did she really take us for idiots? There was just no way she'd be allowed to take advantage of us!"
Song Qingcheng smiled lightly. "The fact is you have an excellent family background."
"That's true." Yu Jing pursed her lips smugly.
…
After dinner, the two of them returned to their dorms.
Song Qingcheng changed into her school uniform, shut the closet door, took her school bag from beside the bed, and headed off to evening self-study.
Just as she stepped out of the dormitory, her vibrating phone buzzed.
Yuan Wei didn't have strict control over the students' communication tools and turned a blind eye to these things unless a student used them openly in class and exasperated the teacher.
Song Qingcheng slowed down as she lowered her head and took out her phone from her school bag.
She held the phone in her hand and stared at the caller ID blinking on the screen. Her feet felt as though they were glued to the lawn in front of the faculty building.
The dim streetlamps cast their light on her shoulders, making her look even thinner than she already was.
Seeing this number again after two years still had an effect on her emotions, which was beyond her control. In a daze, she hit the answer button and raised the phone to her ear. "Hello."
"I thought you wouldn't answer my call." A delicate female voice came from the other end of the line.
Song Qingcheng remained silent.
The other party didn't expect her to reply and continued, "Shen Zhi is already handing over his work. We will be back by the middle of next month at the latest. You've been living in the Lu family all these years. I think we should inform you about this first. After all, you grew up together with Shen Zhi, and he has always treated you as his younger sister."
Younger sister?
These two words were like a sharp knife that ruthlessly stabbed into her heart. A heart-wrenching pain instantly spread.
Lu Yunxuan continued, "Qingcheng, Shen Zhi and I will never forget what you've done for him. However, guilt shouldn't be used as a tool to repay favors. In the world of relationships, it's never about who came first. It's all about whom one loves and cherishes. Don't you agree?"
Lu Yunxuan was still the same Lu Yunxuan. She had not changed at all. She was the pampered daughter of the Lu family, the granddaughter that the Ge family doted on the most, and had a bunch of childhood friends who supported her.
Because she had the resources to back her up—even if she had stolen what belonged to someone else, she could act as if it was only right and proper.
The hand holding Song Qingcheng's school bag was slowly clenched.
"Are you still on the phone? Come and eat." A man's gentle voice sounded from the other end of the line.
The voice that was once so familiar to her was now filled with love and acceptance.
This was followed by Lu Yunxuan's girly reply: "Okay, I'll be there right away. How many times have I told you? You don't have to cook personally every time. Look, your white shirt has grease on it again."
Song Qingcheng could hear the man's deep laughter clearly even through the phone.
In a daze, she hung up.
Shen Zhi, Shen Zhi, Shen Zhi…
Song Qingcheng closed her eyes and silently recited this name in her heart. Every word was like a cold current flowing into her body, making her limbs go cold.
She thought that she had really forgotten about it. She thought that she could really let it go.
Unfortunately, things never go according to plan.
…
The next morning, Song Qingcheng looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was a little pale. Perhaps because she didn't sleep well all night, her eyes were bloodshot. When she came back from a toilet break in between classes, she was blocked by Yu Jing at the entrance of Year Two, Class Five.
"Why do you look so dispirited?"
"A little heatstroke." Song Qingcheng's gaze landed on her hand. It was a math textbook.
Yu Jing looked around and made sure there were no teachers. She pulled Qingcheng to a corner. "I'll exchange books with you. I'll return it to you after math class. Our math teacher is a freak. He said that the students have to take turns answering the questions in the next class. I remember that you're two classes ahead of us."
"Wait." After a short while, Song Qingcheng returned with her homework.
Yu Jing beamed.
The bell rang.
Song Qingcheng entered Class Six's classroom and just as she returned to her seat, An Ran—who sat next to her—turned to look at her hesitantly. Before the history teacher came, she thought for a while and said in a low voice, "When did you become so familiar with Yu Jing from Class Five?"
Yuan Wei was full of students from wealthy families, but many students also came from ordinary backgrounds. An Ran belonged to the latter.
Yu Jing, on the other hand, was a typical representative of those rich kids.
Her family was rich, and she did not like to study. Usually, they would copy the homework of their classmates. During the examinations, they would cheat a little. If they were caught by the invigilator, they would act bold and unafraid. What to do? They had all the money in the world. It was said that every time Yuan Wei had a major event, Hengyuan Corporation would definitely be on the list of sponsors.