Chapter 29: Her color changed

Zhao Xixia disliked Lin You.

There were two reasons.

He was ugly, which she found unsightly.

Second, his existence was an obstacle to her becoming friends with Zhong Yuxiu.

In art class.

Zhao Xixia was teasing and mocking Lin You.

In response, Lin You chose to tolerate and endure it.

To bear all this for his friend Yuxiu, the boy felt it was worth it.

“You, how long have you known Zhong Yuxiu? Are you neighbors?”

Zhao Xixia finally pulled her domineering little foot back from under Lin You’s desk, along with the drawing pad with the big red face.

“We met at school, it’s been two days… Classmate Zhao, why are you asking this? About Yuxiu’s matter, I apologize to you on her behalf. Please don’t bully her anymore. Bully me instead, I’m easy to bully.”

The moment Zhao Xixia mentioned Yuxiu, Lin You became highly tense, assuming she had bad intentions.

“Two days? Do you think I’m an idiot? You’ve only known each other for two days, and she cares about you that much, stands up for you like that?”

Zhao Xixia’s mind was not as innocent as her peers. She expressed suspicion at Lin You’s response.

“I’m really not lying to you. Everything I said is true…”

Lin You hadn’t told a single lie; it was Zhao Xixia who was being overly suspicious.

“Why would she be friends with someone like you? Are you even worthy?”

The arrogant girl continued to belittle the boy with a questioning tone.

“Classmate Zhao, my being friends with Yuxiu doesn’t offend you, does it?”

Lin You, who had been submissive, suddenly became assertive.

For his friend’s sake, he could endure Zhao Xixia’s bullying.

But she was trampling on the friendship he and Zhong Yuxiu had formed.

If he did nothing and continued to be submissive, Lin You would feel he had failed Yuxiu’s friendship.

“When a freak like you is friends with her, you’ll only drag her down and get her laughed at by everyone around you, understand?”

Zhao Xixia’s voice, which should have been clear and crisp, became harsh due to her cruel words.

“…”

Lin You fell into a brief silence.

He was aware of all this. That’s why he had kept his distance from Yuxiu’s friendship at the beginning.

It was just this morning that Yuxiu had cut off her waist-length hair and once again expressed her desire to be friends with the boy.

It was only after sensing Yuxiu’s determination not to be afraid of being laughed at that Lin You had dared to become friends with her.

Zhao Xixia knew none of this.

“Hmph, you selfish person.”

Zhao Xixia seemed to have found the boy’s sore spot and continued to use this topic to provoke him.

“Classmate Zhao, do you have any friends?”

Lin You didn’t want to prove anything to an outsider; it was enough that he understood Yuxiu’s intentions.

He looked seriously at the malicious girl before him and asked a heart-piercing question.

“What does it matter to you whether I have friends or not?”

That simple question made Zhao Xixia’s defenses crumble.

As the illegitimate daughter of the wealthy Zhao family in Jiangcheng, she had grown up with a silver spoon, wanting for nothing material. But her father only treated her as a tool for making money.

Her mother? She was the head of the Zhao family. Even on the rare occasions they met, they barely exchanged a few words. Even the same blood couldn’t hide their estranged relationship. Friendship was out of the question.

There were no peers around her.

It was in this environment of material abundance and spiritual deprivation that Zhao Xixia’s personality became twisted, unable to stand seeing Lin You have a friend like Zhong Yuxiu.

“Classmate Zhao, I don’t think you have any friends. Because becoming friends isn’t something one person can decide. Just like me and Yuxiu… we were both willing, that’s why we could become good friends.”

Lin You shared his thoughts on making friends, which made Zhao Xixia’s expression grow even darker.

“I would never be friends with a bunch of country bumpkins like you.”

Zhao Xixia said, word by word, as if arrogant, but it was also a form of inferiority.

“…”

Their conversation had gotten a bit loud, at least loud enough for the art teacher at the front to hear. But she was also aware of Zhao Xixia’s prominent status, so she pretended not to hear anything.

“I heard you have to study in elementary school for six years. If you stay here and have no friends, six years is a long time. Are you going to spend it all alone?”

Hearing Zhao Xixia’s self-destructive words, Lin You only felt a little pity for her.

Even an ugly freak like him could make friends like Yuxiu and Yuting.

Zhao Xixia was superior to him in every aspect, yet she didn’t have a single friend.

“Shut up.”

When Zhao Xixia was arguing with Yuxiu, she could still maintain a playful attitude.

But now, talking with Lin You, her defenses were completely shattered.

Although she didn’t want to admit it, she felt an unprecedented sense of concern from Lin You.

It wasn’t the kind of concern her father showed, who treated her as a money-making tool, nor was it like her mother’s concern, which was maintained solely by blood ties.

It was the simple, unadorned, and purposeless concern from a peer.

“Okay.”

Seeming to have pushed his deskmate to her limit, Lin You obediently shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

“…”

The silence didn’t last long. Zhao Xixia once again took the initiative to cause trouble.

Her little foot under the desk came over to Lin You’s side again, occupying his personal space.

“Huh?”

Lin You was surprised.

Not because of Zhao Xixia’s troublemaking foot.

But because the light above her head had changed.

What was originally the gray of dislike had turned into white.

This meant that Zhao Xixia neither disliked him nor liked him; it was the normal, ordinary relationship of a stranger.

“Hmph.”

Zhao Xixia snorted coldly, then used various colored watercolor pens to color the big red face in her drawing pad.

‘This guy, besides the red mark on his left cheek, there’s nothing special about him.’

When Zhao Xixia was no longer predisposed to disliking the boy, she would discover that his face was unbelievably delicate. Even with the conspicuous birthmark, it couldn’t be completely hidden.

‘Hmph, he’s friends with Zhong Yuxiu.’

She thought of Yuxiu’s relationship with the boy, and her mood soured again. The watercolor pen in her hand was gripped so tightly that it bent into an arc, ready to break at any moment.

This time, it wasn’t that she thought Lin You was unworthy of Yuxiu, but a kind of inexpressible envy.

“Snap…”

Due to Zhao Xixia’s rough treatment, the watercolor pen couldn’t take it anymore and gloriously sacrificed itself.

Perhaps as revenge against its malicious owner.

From the broken tip of the pen, a splash of red liquid shot onto Zhao Xixia’s fair cheek.

“Sigh…”

Zhao Xixia felt something sticky on her face and subconsciously reached up to wipe it away.

Doing so had the opposite effect. The smear of paint expanded, turning her right cheek crimson.

“Hahahaha…”

The surrounding students saw this and immediately burst into cheerful laughter.

“Serves you right.”

Even a quiet and polite girl like Yuxiu was laughing at her.

“Classmate Zhao, don’t touch it yet. Let me wipe it for you with a tissue.”

The only person who cared about Zhao Xixia was her deskmate, Lin You.

He took out the only tissue from his pocket and carefully wiped Zhao Xixia’s cheek.

“Class, be quiet.”

The art teacher spoke up to control the situation.

But the laughter of those around them, and Lin You’s kindness, were deeply etched into Zhao Xixia’s mind, lingering for a long, long time.