Hearing that Huo Feng had already given up on Pu Sangzhi, Yao Meimei suddenly felt the pain of missing out on a thrilling episode!
"Oh my God... what have you been through these past two days? How did it end so quickly?"
Yao Meimei's face showed shock and regret, "How come I don't know anything? Did I miss a lot?"
Because of her excitement, Yao Meimei's voice raised significantly, and suddenly, the classroom discipline committee member gave her a killer glare, "Yao Meimei, that's a warning."
Evening self-study demanded a quiet learning atmosphere in the classroom, so the discipline committee member constantly monitored any chatter. The rule in this class was that each person had two warnings, and after two, the third would be noted in the discipline log and result in points deducted. Moreover, these points were linked to the daily grades of the semester, impacting the exam scores.
So, after receiving one warning, Yao Meimei's mouth zipped shut as if literally sealed tight.
But Yao Meimei's curiosity was so overwhelming that she hurriedly flipped open her notebook and wrote a message to Pu Sangzhi.
'Quickly tell me, what has your Huo Feng been through these two days? I really want to know!'
Pu Sangzhi glanced at the notebook and sighed lightly, she wrote back: 'Mind your own business!'
Yao Meimei frowned anxiously and hurriedly wrote another message, 'I really want to know! Huo Feng is so fierce, has he been nice to you? How did he pursue you?'
Pu Sangzhi pursed her lips and wrote back, 'Ask again, and I won't let you copy my homework.'
Yao Meimei sulked, her cheeks puffed out like she was holding her breath, resembling a pufferfish.
Pu Sangzhi couldn't help but laugh and picked up her pen to write another message, 'Maybe he learned it from watching Meteor Garden. His actions are just like Daoming Temple. But I don't like people lacking intelligence.'
Yao Meimei snorted out a laugh, nearly eliciting another century's worth of disdain from the discipline committee member.
She quickly covered her mouth, then wrote another sentence, 'So that means he didn't bully you, he was pretty nice to you?'
This question made Pu Sangzhi's face stiffen for a moment.
At that moment, Pu Sangzhi couldn't help but reminisce about the day she had spent being tangled up with Huo Feng.
In truth, Huo Feng wasn't as bad or as fierce as the rumors suggested.
Perhaps because he liked her and was pursuing her, Pu Sangzhi could vaguely sense that he was quite cautious with her.
During lunch at the canteen, Huo Feng, who was sitting opposite her, nervousily asked if the food was to her liking and which dish she particularly enjoyed?
Hearing that she didn't eat cilantro, he would carefully pick out the cilantro from the chicken salad for her.
Truth be told, Huo Feng did not scare her that day; at most, he was just annoying.
After thinking for a while, Pu Sangzhi's lips curved up subtly, and then, she wrote on the notebook: 'He's not that terrible, it's just that I don't like him.'
"Oh~"
Yao Meimei nodded slowly.
"Stop bothering me, or I won't let you copy the homework," Pu Sangzhi said softly, bringing an end to the conversation.
Yao Meimei wanted to chat more, but for the sake of her homework, she clenched her teeth and swallowed her gossip.
The usual quiet returned to Pu Sangzhi's side.
She flipped through the textbook in her hands, reviewing for tomorrow's class while her mind painted the idyllic scenes of the Tsinghua Campus.
Attending Tsinghua had been Pu Sangzhi's goal since elementary school.
The Tsinghua her father described to her was a place of freedom and comfort.
She wanted to see it, to experience it.
So her goal was clear.
Tsinghua, she would definitely go there.
As for the beautiful matter of falling in love, she hoped it would happen on Tsinghua Campus.
In her mind, her ideal partner was a gentle and elegant man, wearing rimmed glasses, whose every move radiated scholarly grace.
Like Xu Zhimo, like her father.
But no matter what, it would absolutely not be someone like Huo Feng, a troublemaker.
That was Pu Sangzhi's sketch for her future life blueprint. If nothing unexpected happened, she could proceed steadily and methodically to achieve the goals she had set for herself.
However, at this moment, she did not know that this little hoodlum, who had suddenly barged into her life, would be the man to influence her entire existence, the man with whom she would spend her life.
＊
In the blink of an eye, it was time to leave school on Friday.
First-year students at Longxiang attended school five days a week, leaving on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening before night study.
After entering the second year, students would leave school at noon on Saturdays, and return before night study on Sundays.
Therefore, during the two semesters in first grade, the students who were still able to enjoy a full day of rest on Saturdays would make sure to pack that day with activities.
They would hang out if they could, play if possible, or stay at home and play on the computer all day.
Only Pu Sangzhi, before leaving school, would get a few more test papers from Huo Mingshan and also borrow an English novel.
On Saturday, Sangzhi would not go out to play either.
Besides doing test papers, she also had to help her mom with work at home.
Now, Sangzhi was without her father, living with her mom, Chen Huifen, and depending on each other for survival.
A year ago, her father's company, a partnership with a friend, went bankrupt, leaving behind a vast debt, and he went into hiding somewhere far away.
Thus, in that year, Sangzhi and her mom moved from Shanghai to Wenzhou, then from Wenzhou to Rui'an, and finally settled near Longxiang High School, in an ancestral home left by her grandmother.
She experienced turmoil, endured much hardship, and nearly lost the chance to continue her studies.
In that year, Sangzhi transformed from a pampered young lady with guaranteed meals, a nanny, and a driver, to a poor student who, due to life circumstances and debt avoidance, could only choose the nearest school.
She underwent many changes, no longer delicate, and became more enduring and tolerant of hardships.
Now, Sangzhi's life was exceedingly simple.
She attended school from Monday to Friday and helped Chen Huifen work at home on Saturdays and Sundays.
Nearby were many shoe factories. To avoid creditors, Huifen could not go out and work publicly, so she took on some shoe-stitching work to do at home.
The mother and daughter duo would go out about once a week, on Saturdays to visit the vegetable market to buy enough vegetables for the week. After Sangzhi went to school, Huifen would never leave the house and would earn money stitching shoes at home.
Understanding the mother and daughter's predicament, the shoe factories would have workers bring over the shoe materials and also come to collect them. Their lives could be described as stable and straightforward.
By Friday night, Sangzhi had already finished the test papers she had gotten from Huo Mingshan.
On Saturday morning, she accompanied Huifen to the vegetable market to buy groceries and daily necessities.
At noon, she cooked and did housework, while Huifen stitched shoes. The mother and daughter worked in cooperation, matching each other well.
The kitchen was on the first floor, and there was a small window in the kitchen. Sangzhi was stir-frying green peppers with meat, and the spicy aroma made the whole kitchen pungently smoky, to the point that the exhaust fan seemed hardly effective.
"Cough, cough..."
Unable to stand it, Sangzhi hurriedly put down the spatula and ran to open the small window to ventilate.
The moment she opened it, she saw a very familiar face at the window!
Immediately, she exclaimed in surprise, "Huo Feng?!"