Chapter 9: Encountering Yuxiu

For Xu Yuting, the sound of the school bell was absolutely the happiest time of the day.

“That horrible teacher, dragging out the class again. She’s so annoying.”

The girl zipped through the campus, muttering to herself nonstop.

At a corner, distracted, she collided with Lin You, who was rushing to see his grandmother.

Girls are naturally physically stronger than boys, plus she was a second-grader—a clear level advantage.

The frail Lin You was immediately sent flying, landing squarely on his bottom on the ground.

‘It’s… her.’

Lin You instantly recognized her as his friend from the children’s park at night.

For a moment, the boy was so nervous he forgot to get up from the ground.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Yuting also had a slight impression of Lin You; she had even discussed him with her friends on the way to school that morning.

‘Did she recognize me?’

Lin You glanced at the top of Yuting’s head. The green from last night was gone, replaced by the white that represented a stranger.

“Get up.”

Seeing the boy still sitting on the ground, Yuting had no choice but to extend her small hand to try and pull him up.

“…”

Lin You wasn’t sure if she had recognized him, but if he spoke, she definitely would.

He remained silent the entire time, not accepting Yuting’s help, and instead scrambled to his feet on his own.

“Hey, hey, you’re not planning to tattle to the teacher, are you?”

Yuting interpreted his silence as anger, and her mood instantly tensed up.

For every mischievous elementary school student, the thing they feared most was someone tattling to the teacher.

“…”

Lin You just shook his head and turned to leave.

“Don’t lie to me. You definitely want to tattle to the teacher.”

He wouldn’t say a single word. If that wasn’t anger, was he mute? Yuting didn’t dare let Lin You leave just like that and quickly blocked his path.

“I’ll give you candy, don’t be mad. It wasn’t on purpose. You were looking down and not watching where you were going too. Even if you tell the teacher, you’ll get criticized as well.”

The girl reached into her pocket, pulled out a gummy candy, and tried to bribe him with it.

“…”

Lin You quickly took the candy, then tried to brush past her.

“You took my candy, at least say something. How do I know if you’ve agreed?”

Yuting was still worried and insisted the boy give her a clear answer.

“I know.”

Left with no choice, Lin You deliberately deepened his voice and responded.

He was almost certain Yuting hadn’t recognized him. This was a good thing; otherwise, he would have lost his first-ever friend.

“That’s more like it.”

Yuting was finally at ease and let Lin You leave.

‘That weird guy, why does he seem so familiar? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.’

Only after he had walked far away did the girl belatedly realize something was off.

“Whatever, I’m starving. I need to get home quick.”

She didn’t dwell on it for long and soon pushed it to the back of her mind.

At the school gate.

Grandma Lin was already there, waiting for her grandson to get out of school.

“Grandma!”

Lin You’s eyes searched the crowd, and he immediately ran towards his only family member.

Falling into his grandmother’s arms, he felt safe again, no longer alone.

“Hehe, Youyou, how was your first day of school? Did you make any friends? The other kids didn’t bully you, did they?”

With her good grandson away from her for the first time, his grandmother was also worried sick, afraid the boy would be unhappy at school.

“Everything was fine. You don’t have to worry at all, Grandma.”

An ordinary elementary school student would have long since complained to their family in tears.

Lin You was different. He suppressed all the unpleasantness of school in his heart, trying his best to show only his best side.

His grandmother already worked so hard; he didn’t want to make his old family member worry any more.

“To celebrate Youyou starting school, Grandma will take you out for beef brisket noodles!”

His grandmother took her good grandson’s small hand, preparing to splurge.

“The usual is fine, Grandma. You can’t waste money.”

Lin You clearly remembered that his grandmother had already spent a large sum of money for him to attend school, something about school book fees…

“We’re celebrating today, so we’ll make an exception just this once!”

Normally, it was the child begging the adult to spend money, but with this grandmother and grandson, it was the other way around.

“Alright then.”

Lin You couldn’t bring himself to refuse his grandmother’s kind gesture any longer.

Besides, he hadn’t eaten beef brisket noodles in a very, very long time, and deep down, he was craving a bite.

The pair soon arrived at a noodle soup shop they had visited before.

“What would you like to eat?”

“A bowl of beef brisket noodles, please!”

The shop owner greeted them warmly, and his grandmother stated their order.

“Ma’am, can we have two small bowls?”

Lin You knew his grandmother was trying to be frugal again, so he mustered up the courage to make a small request.

“No problem. You two go find a seat and wait a bit, it’ll be ready soon.”

The owner had some impression of the grandmother and grandson; she often saw them scavenging. Moved by pity, she planned to add some extra ingredients for free later.

Entering the noodle soup shop.

One had to admit, fate was a curious thing.

Lin You saw a familiar face here.

To be precise, it was his deskmate, Zhong Yuxiu.

She was eating noodle soup with her parents, chatting and laughing.

‘Why is he here too…’

Zhong Yuxiu also noticed the boy’s arrival.

There was no interaction. The boy and girl were like strangers, each keeping their respective family company.

“Youyou, is that girl over there your classmate?”

No one knew her grandson better than his grandmother. Noticing that he had glanced over at Zhong Yuxiu’s table a few times, she made a guess.

“Yes, but we don’t know each other well yet.”

Lin You didn’t hide it, replying with a very normal reaction.

“It’s only the first day of school, you haven’t spent much time together. Of course it’s not that easy to get familiar. Youyou should make more friends with outstanding classmates, to learn and progress together.”

His grandmother had simple thoughts. She hoped her good grandson would be a bit more cheerful and outgoing, like other children his age.

“Mom, I’m full.”

Ever since Lin You arrived, Zhong Yuxiu had quickened her pace of eating.

Perhaps it was because she had turned a blind eye to Lin You being isolated by their classmates.

Zhong Yuxiu didn’t quite know how to face Lin You.

She was kind by nature; otherwise, she wouldn’t have volunteered when Lin You needed a deskmate.

But as a young girl, she didn’t yet have the courage to go against her peer group for Lin You’s sake.

Everyone disliked Lin You. Even if she didn’t share that sentiment, she could only remain silent and be a bystander.

After leaving the noodle soup shop, Zhong Yuxiu became even more sullen.

“Yuxiu, what’s wrong? Tell Mom what’s on your mind, don’t keep it inside.”

Mother Zhong had always been perceptive and noticed her daughter’s abnormality.

“I think I became a bad person. That boy just now is a classmate of mine… he…”

Under her parent’s questioning, Zhong Yuxiu couldn’t hide her thoughts and poured everything out.

“Yuxiu, since you wanted to help him, you should see it through to the end. Giving up halfway is irresponsible to yourself and to others.”

After understanding her daughter’s troubles, Mother Zhong immediately offered her guidance.

This would also help Zhong Yuxiu shape a correct moral compass.