Chapter 25

The sun was the world’s best painter, tirelessly outlining the young girl’s figure, every detail fine and meticulous.

Her superior brow bone pressed over her eyes, her long, dense lashes casting shadows. Those eyes were deep and lazy, and beyond that, they seemed to carry some other flavor.

Just like that night in London three years ago.

It made Shang Jinyue freeze for a moment.

But the only one stunned by this sentence and this gaze was Shang Jinyue.

Shi Xiu did not care at all. After speaking, she tied the hair tie around her hair herself.

Shang Jinyue’s gaze dropped slightly.

She realized that Shi Xiu did not remember saying these words.

Just like how she did not remember that Shang Jinyue had once said to her, “Tour the room later. Go shower first.”

That was right. She had already wanted to divorce Shang Jinyue. Keeping those memories would be useless, so perhaps it was cleaner to forget them completely.

Reality came cruelly, reminding Shang Jinyue again and again.

And every time, she was caught off guard, a burst of sourness rolling through her chest, her eyes pressing down an uncontrollable disappointment.

“Did I disturb you?” Shang Jinyue hid her emotions and naturally took up Shi Xiu’s question.

This person’s acting skills were practiced, and Shi Xiu did not notice anything unusual. Her little tied-up head shook. “No.”

Her attention just now had been entirely focused on the drawing. If she had not glanced out of the corner of her eye and seen the shadow on the ground, she would not even have known Shang Jinyue had come out.

But precisely because she had noticed, suddenly chasing this person out became so difficult.

The sunlight on the floor traced upward along Shang Jinyue’s long legs. Her skirt hem brushed past her knees, abruptly stopping the gaze.

Shi Xiu tried to ignore Shang Jinyue, but the figure wearing her clothes had been drawn into her mind and would not go away.

Clearly, when Shi Xiu bought this shirt, she had always disliked its bad cut. So why did it not look bulky at all when draped over this person? There were not even any unnecessary folds. It fit so well it looked as if it had been bought especially for her.

She should have given Shang Jinyue the one with an even worse cut.

Shi Xiu muttered in her heart. She revised the sketch on the easel twice, but no matter what, it did not look pleasing.

Only when her hair finally fell down “in the way” again

would Shi Xiu never admit that she had been affected by Shang Jinyue. Leaning beside her easel, she asked with a calm face, “Are you going to wait for me to finish revising this bit, or are you going to tell me your tutoring plan now?”

Shang Jinyue thought she did not mind waiting for Shi Xiu to finish revising her drawing.

That way, she could stay with Shi Xiu a little longer.

But before Shang Jinyue could speak, Shi Xiu spoke first. “Forget it. Start first. You still have to go back to class. I won’t delay you.”

And I won’t delay myself either.

Shi Xiu secretly added this in her heart. She moved her easel aside, signaling for Shang Jinyue to come sit.

Looking at the chair Shi Xiu had pulled out for her, Shang Jinyue only wanted to say one thing to Shi Xiu: I’m not afraid of you delaying me.

But what kind of tone should she use to say such words?

No matter how those six words were said, they would sound ambiguous.

Rather than tangling unclearly through words, practical action was better.

“This is the Monday-to-Friday study plan I made for you. Take a look.” Shang Jinyue took ​bailiantales.com​a tablet out of her schoolbag and handed it to Shi Xiu.

This schedule was plain and orderly, strictly arranged according to time, without any unnecessary decoration.

Shi Xiu could tell at a glance that this was Shang Jinyue’s style.

Her eyes slowly followed Shang Jinyue’s plan. Surprise appeared, then turned into something obscure and unclear.

Looking at what she had to do each day, Shi Xiu did not feel forced at all.

So Shang Jinyue also knew how to consider her actual situation and make plans according to her thoughts.

Careful, meticulous, considerate everywhere.

Then what had the her of the past counted as?

“How long did this plan take you?” Shi Xiu lowered her eyes and asked seemingly casually.

“I made it Sunday night,” Shang Jinyue answered.

“I see.” Shi Xiu nodded, her voice hiding gloom.

This person’s acting skills really were not as perfect Read on BaiLianTalesas Shang Jinyue’s. Shang Jinyue could hear her gloom.

Shi Xiu’s current expression was also the same as when they had confronted each other in the school corridor back then.

The better the current Shang Jinyue treated her, the more it made the Shang Jinyue from back then seem as if she had never cared about her.

She was the deepest and sharpest thorn stuck in Shi Xiu’s chest. The more she wanted to pull it out, the more it would also tear Shi Xiu into unbearable pain.

And along with it, she felt pain too.

“From now on, whenever you want to find me, you can. When I see your message, I’ll reply to you immediately,” Shang Jinyue promised Shi Xiu.

“All right.” Shi Xiu nodded, and the look in her eyes had already been well withdrawn.

She thought she should separate this Shang Jinyue from the Shang Jinyue of the past.

Perhaps the so-called butterfly effect was like this. She had been reborn, so some things in this life would also change. This Shang Jinyue was not the Shang Jinyue she had loved. Whatever this Shang Jinyue did had nothing to do with her Shang Jinyue.

Because of this, she would not change her view of the Shang Jinyue of the past.

Nor would she therefore fall in love with this better Shang Jinyue.

Their fate had already ended in the previous life.

“I see you wrote that I’ll tutor with you every Saturday.” Shi Xiu focused on Shang Jinyue’s schedule and asked her, “So are we changing the time this week?”

Shang Jinyue nodded. “Is Sunday all right?”

School had just started, and the studio was not yet that urgent. Shi Xiu had not had anything planned for the weekend anyway, so she agreed readily. “Sure.”

“Then don’t come back too late on Saturday. You still have class the next day,” Shang Jinyue instructed, her gaze falling on Shi Xiu.

This kind of calm gaze would not let anyone detect the purpose behind her watching you.

Shi Xiu was the same.

She lowered her head and looked at Shang Jinyue’s schedule, replying faintly, “I know.”

Then she discovered that Shang Jinyue had not marked a time for the weekend tutoring and took the initiative to ask, “So weekend tutoring is from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon?”

But Shang Jinyue answered her, “All day.”

“Even at night? Chinese, math, and English in the morning, physics, chemistry, and biology in the afternoon—isn’t that perfect?” Shi Xiu was shocked, as if she saw her freedom waving goodbye to her.

And Shang Jinyue’s tone was flat, lightly cutting off Shi Xiu’s freedom. “Your math isn’t good, so I want [unauthorized copy]to use the morning to tutor you in math.”

Perhaps in order to soothe Shi Xiu and prevent her from developing a rebellious mentality toward her arrangements, Shang Jinyue continued, “If later on, you can keep up with the class progress, we can tutor according to the schedule you mentioned.”

Although this person’s tone had softened somewhat, Shi Xiu still propped her cheek in frustration.

She only wanted to borrow Shang Jinyue’s strength so that in the future, she could get far, far away from Shang Jinyue.

How had she also ended up sacrificing her evening freedom?

The lamplight swayed. That shadow propping its cheek paused slightly, then leaned toward Shang Jinyue. “But… it won’t be safe for you to go home at night, right?”

Shi Xiu spoke seriously, and her bright eyes looked at Shang Jinyue with exceptional concern.

The fruit fragrance in the young girl’s hair was the one Shang Jinyue had been missing just now. As it evaporated along with her body heat, it tempted the heart.

Although Shang Jinyue felt that this sentence of Shi Xiu’s had no prior transition at all, she still uncontrollably felt that Shi Xiu was caring about her.

She even felt—

“Why don’t we switch the evening to online classes?”

Unfortunately, a certain someone could not hold herself back and immediately exposed her purpose.

The light brushed past Shi Xiu’s figure and fell into Shang Jinyue’s eyes. She looked toward Shi Xiu’s smiling eyes and had never felt that these eyes she loved could be so dazzling.

Bang!

“Sister Shi, I brought delicious food back for you! Jumbo Mits rice balls. They’re super popular. I grabbed three in one go!”

Movement came from the living room. Feng Xinyang unceremoniously pushed open the door and instantly shattered the quiet environment.

This person’s words were as dense as the raindrops outside, crackling nonstop as they carried into the room. “Aiyo, the rain outside is really huge. Good thing I listened to you and brought an umbrella.”

“That walk back, let me tell you, I carried your rice ball in my arms the whole way. Aren’t you very tou—”

At this point, Feng Xinyang paused.

She looked at Shi Xiu’s open door and was surprised by the other person who had appeared here. “Shang Jinyue? Why are you here?!”

“Hiss… Isn’t that shirt—”

This person’s eyes changed quickly, and with one glance, she recognized Shi Xiu’s clothes.

Shi Xiu saw it and knew this person was thinking crooked again. [bailiantales.com]She hurriedly cleared things up. “Shang Jinyue came to bring me books. Her clothes got wet, so I lent her something to change into.”

Shi Xiu spoke quickly, and for once, her logic was online. The teasing look in Feng Xinyang’s eyes instantly disappeared. “Oh, right, that mutual-aid group of yours, huh.”

The distance between them was pulled wide by this clarification. Shang Jinyue sat to the side and silently gripped her skirt hem.

A gust of wind came from outside the window, and raindrops smashed noisily against the glass, like the beginning of a change.

Feng Xinyang was no longer the wingwoman who created chances for Shang Jinyue and Shi Xiu to be alone in the past. As she spoke, she carried the rice balls into Shi Xiu’s room.

“Hiss, I wonder when the class monitor will come find me.”

“Old Guo really did well proposing this mutual-aid group. I was originally worrying about my cultural subjects.”

“You don’t know, if my grades drop too badly, my two honored mothers will give me a mixed double beating.”

At this point, Feng Xinyang’s face, which had just been sunny, instantly turned cloudy.

Looking at Feng Xinyang’s worry-filled face, Shi Xiu tugged at her hair. “The class monitor is patient. If there’s anything you don’t know, ask her more. Your grades won’t drop too badly.”

“If there’s really something you don’t know, you can also come ask me.”

For the first time ever, Shang Jinyue actively extended a helping hand to someone.

A trace of surprise flashed through Shi Xiu’s eyes. She truly did not understand why Shang Jinyue would say this.

What meaning was there for her in winning over Feng Xinyang?

But Feng Xinyang did not care about these things. Hearing that the first in the grade was willing to answer her questions, she was overjoyed. “Really? Then I’m definitely clinging tightly to your thigh!”

Feng Xinyang’s words were surprised and fawning, and the abacus in her heart clacked loudly.

She thought she could also use this opportunity to monitor Shi Xiu.

Who knew whether this friend of hers had truly stopped being love-brained, or whether it was only intermittent?

Although the situation just now was a misunderstanding, there was no guarantee what would happen in the future.

She had to observe clearly. If the situation seemed wrong, she had to hurry and remind Shi Xiu to wake up.

Thinking this, Feng Xinyang smiled at Shang Jinyue beside her.

Then she took out the rice ball that had originally been her breakfast for tomorrow and offered it as a gesture of building a good relationship with Shang Jinyue. “Shang Jinyue, do you want to try this rice ball? It’s really good.”

“Thank you.” Shang Jinyue did not show much emotion, but she rarely accepted Feng Xinyang’s rice ball.

Perhaps she also wanted to taste what the things Shi Xiu liked tasted like.

The packaging was opened, and the warm rice ball released the scent of salted egg yolk.

Shang Jinyue did not dislike this smell and simply took a small bite.

The cheap pork floss did not have that good a texture, but it could not be called very bad either.

But if it was something Shi Xiu liked, she could like it too.

“I almost forgot.”

At this moment, Feng Xinyang seemed to remember something and placed the box she had been carrying the whole time onto Shi Xiu’s desk.

“What is it?” Shi Xiu was curious. Before Feng Xinyang could reveal the answer to her, she opened it herself.

Inside that black box were dozens of high-end white paints packed full.

One had to know, for art students, white paint was the first most scarce and important thing.

It could even be said that whoever had more white paint was Mom.

Feng Xinyang watched from the side, her eyes filled with envy. Unable to control herself, she blurted out, “Damn it, your little sister really is thoughtful.”

The moment her voice sounded, Shang Jinyue’s face instantly froze.

Her gaze swept over her own schoolbag, then looked toward the paint Cen Anning had given.

Red was not the most glaring color in the world.

White was.

Feng Xinyang was no longer the bridge standing between her and Shi Xiu either.

And Shi Xiu tilted her head, looking at Feng Xinyang without understanding. “How did you run into Cen Anning?”

“It wasn’t me who ran into her. It was a chance encounter,” Feng Xinyang explained. “Just now, after I grabbed the rice balls, I ran into that little sister of yours at the gate. She asked me to bring this to you and said she didn’t have time to say goodbye to you this morning, but the gift couldn’t be late.”

“She also said there’s another gift she’ll give you when you meet on Saturday and told you not to forget.”

As Feng Xinyang spoke, there was still laughter in her voice.

She looked at Shi Xiu with great [unauthorized copy]interest, her gaze turning gossipy. “Sister Shi, what are you two doing on Saturday?”

“A date?”

“With your little sister?”