Chapter 98

"Did you hear? Bell was praised during the parent-teacher conference yesterday."

"Hehe~ did you hear? Keep it low-key."

Bell Tong raised her nose high.

After standing up to her dad yesterday, she even spoke with more confidence at home.

"But I heard that your dad and your sister stole the show even more."

She smiled and glanced at Roxie Lin.

"Is that really funny..."

Roxie Lin pouted, unable to laugh.

"Well~ I don't find it interesting when it's about others, but... if it's your dad, it's worth it, right, Yuyu?"

"..."

"Yuyu!"

"Huh?"

Raina Nan was startled and looked up.

"Why are you spacing out?"

"What?"

"What's wrong, didn't sleep well last night?"

"No..."

She blinked her tired eyes and turned her face slightly.

"I'm going down to buy a bottle of water, do you want anything?"

She stood up and twisted her arm.

"Can you bring me a bottle of orange juice?"

"I want one too. And get me some plain-flavored potato chips, nothing else!"

"I'll have one too."

"..."

She was speechless as she looked at both of them.

"I can't carry so much, go buy them yourself..."

"Well, you can just do whatever you want..."

"..."

She sighed before picking up her wallet and walking downstairs.

...

"Bell."

"Huh?"

"Does Yuyu have something on her mind?"

Roxie Lin whispered to Bell Tong, pulling her sleeve as soon as she left.

"Does she?"

"I'm telling you, she definitely does! I can tell at a glance."

"Then go ask her."

"..."

After being told this, Roxie Lin suddenly lost her voice.

"She won't say anything..."

"Then that's that."

With that, Bell Tong flicked her forehead with her finger.

Roxie Lin covered her forehead and glared at her.

"What... pretending to know everything..."

"..."

Bell Tong ignored her, propped her chin up, and looked out the window.

"It would be nice if I really knew everything..."

...

...

"Yuyu, where are you going?"

Raina Nan bumped into William Wei on the stairs.

"I... I'm going down to buy water."

"Oh, then hurry up, we have class."

"Yeah."

She nodded and hurriedly walked past him.

"..."

William Wei turned around to glance at her.

In his impression, she rarely left the classroom except to go to the bathroom...

Today is quite unusual...

...

The convenience store was not far from the classroom building.

She strolled along the road next to the playground.

Actually, she didn't really want to buy anything. She just felt the air in the classroom was stifling, so she decided to get some fresh air...

When she arrived at the convenience store and bought everything for the three of them, she checked the time. There were still five minutes until class, so she quickly took out her wallet again.

"Boss, a pack of Soft Cloud cigarettes!"

At that moment, someone rushed into the convenience store.

"Hurry up, I'm going to be late for class!"

He impatiently tapped the glass display case in front of him with his fingers and turned his head.

"..."

But the next moment, he stood still.

"Raina Nan?!"

"..."

It was Gu Zihang. He froze in place, staring at Raina Nan in surprise.

She glanced at him without saying a word.

"Soft Cloud, 23."

The store owner threw a pack of cigarettes in front of him.

"..."

He was dazed, glancing at Raina Nan beside him who remained silent for a while before saying again:

"You, did you mishear? I wanted a cola..."

"What? What do you mean? I'm not going to tattle on you to the teacher!"

The boss looked at him skeptically, seeming to recognize him as a regular.

"I don't want that, okay? Just give me a Coke!"

"Uh..."

The boss was speechless, not understanding what was going on.

Hesitant, he threw a bottle of Coke at him.

"She's with me," he said, taking out his wallet.

"No need," Raina Nan didn't look at him, gently placing the money on the counter.

"No, don't be so polite with me all the time..."

Gu Zihang felt a bit frustrated, remembering how she had also rejected him like this last time at the Lanhe Mountain hotel...

"Just two bottles of water, I can afford to pay for them."

"Huh? No, no, I didn't mean that."

He hurriedly waved his hands.

"Then, you know, usually there's this saying of guys taking the initiative to pay..."

Gu Zihang awkwardly scratched his head to explain.

"..."

"So, Raina Nan, it's time for class~"

At this moment, someone patted Raina Nan's shoulder from behind.

She turned around and saw the girl who had performed with her in the stage play last time...

"Ju Yingtai"

She almost called her that...

"Let's go."

"Oh, okay..."

Taking the girl's words as an excuse, she quickly followed.

...

Ding Ding Ding

The preparatory bell rang outside,

Leaving Gu Zihang alone standing still.

"What are you still looking at? Everyone has left, pay up!"

The boss knocked on the counter and called him.

"One pack of Soft Cloud."

"Huh? Didn't you want a Coke?"

"No, I don't want it."

"???"

...

...

"Just now, thank you..."

Walking back to the classroom, she whispered a thank you to the girl.

"It was nothing~"

The girl smiled calmly.

She turned her head to look at her.

"That guy has a thick face, you can't be indecisive with him~"

Her hands were in the pockets of her uniform as she spoke.

Since performing the play together last time, the two occasionally talked like this.

This girl had an outgoing personality. Besides in their class, she seemed to have quite a few friends in their grade, as if she could chat with anyone.

"..."

"By the way, was it your brother who came to the parent-teacher conference yesterday?"

She thought for a moment and asked Raina Nan.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I was on duty, I stayed at school the whole day~"

"Oh, I see..."

"I saw your brother though~ but he probably wouldn't recognize me~"

"Hehe..."

She chuckled, waving her hand dismissively.

"That's just how he is, he's not really concerned about these things... don't mind it."

"Hahaha, I don't~"

The girl laughed, glancing at her from the corner of her eye, then after a while, spoke again:

"When Raina Nan talks about her brother... she always looks so happy~"

"No, that's not..."

She suddenly realized something, hesitated, and looked to the side.

"Speaking of which, yesterday..."

As the girl spoke, she seemed to remember something.

"After your brother finished the parent-teacher conference, he talked with Director Wang from the Academic Affairs Office in the classroom for a long time."

"Director Wang..."

She paused for a moment, suddenly stopped walking, and turned to look at the girl.

"What did they talk about?"

"I have no idea what they said."

"Is that so..."

She said, her voice getting much lower.

"With your grades, you don't have anything to worry about. The director won't say anything bad about you."

"..."

"Raina Nan?"

Seeing no reaction from her, the girl called out again.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing... let's go to class."

"Oh..."

The girl paused for a moment, but didn't ask any more questions.

Following behind her, they headed to the classroom.

...

...

Ding Ding Ding

The bell rang outside the window.

She was lost in thought until she saw the class monitor start erasing the blackboard, and then she realized that school was over.

"Xiaoyu, I'm leaving first."

"Yeah."

She waved to Roxie Lin and lowered her head to pack her backpack.

Vroom vroom~

At this moment, her phone suddenly vibrated.

She glanced at the screen and hesitated for a moment before pressing the answer button.

"Hello?"

His voice came from the other end of the phone.

"..."

She held the phone without saying a word.

"Xiaodudian?"

"Say..."

"Hey, if you're listening, speak up already!"

"..."

"Hello? Are you listening?"

Seeing that she was silent again, he spoke again:

"I'm at the entrance of your school now."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? Can't I pick you up?"

He said so.

"..."

She remained silent and quietly glanced outside the window.

After a while, she spoke softly.

"I'm not in the classroom, I went home..."

"What are you talking about? I've been at the school gate for almost half an hour and I didn't see you."

"..."

She was speechless. It turned out that he came to stakeout...

"I went out through the back door..."

She said softly, covering the phone slightly with her hand.

"The back door?"

"Yeah."

...

"Oh."

He responded with a casual "oh."

"I heard Wei Ge say recently that the back door is closed now, and only a hole is left in the wall for the delivery people."

"Huh?"

After he said that, she suddenly fell silent. It had been a long time since she had been to the back door.

"Xiaodudian, so you climbed over? On all fours?"

"I..."

"What do you mean 'I'? Come down!!"

He intensified his tone and shouted, sounding a bit angry.

"..."

She had no choice now...

After quickly organizing her backpack, she walked downstairs.

Walking down the stairs, she could see a tall and thin figure like a utility pole standing at the school gate from a distance.

She quickened her pace and walked over.

"Xiaodudian, can you please hurry up...!"

As soon as he saw her, he couldn't finish his sentence.

"You're yelling at me! Yelling at me! Yelling at me!"

She grabbed her backpack with both hands and hit him with it.

"When did I yell at you?"

"..."

While blocking, he thought for a moment and then spoke:

"Just now on the phone?"

"..."

She didn't say anything, remaining silent and looking beside her.

"I... Wasn't I just slightly louder on the phone? Is that considered yelling?"

He was speechless and reached out to take her backpack.

"What happened today? Who upset you again?"

"None of your business..."

"..."

After she resisted like this, he didn't know what to say for a moment...

Scratching his head, he walked to her side.

"Nevermind, let's not argue today..."

"What day is it?"

She glanced at him.

"Hey... How could you forget Dad's birthday?"

"Huh?"

She was momentarily stunned and then lifted her head slightly to look at him.

"Hey~ I'm so angry~ My daughter has become defiant, she even forgot my birthday! I'm so angry!"

He imitated his father's tone to scold her.

"..."

She was dazed, and after thinking carefully, it seemed like today...

She had been absent-minded all day and was thinking about other things... She actually forgot about this.

"Gift, I didn't buy a gift...!"

She suddenly remembered something and tightly grasped his sleeve.

"Now you're panicking, right?"

He sighed and looked at her.

"It might still be possible to go and buy one now..."

"Why didn't you say earlier?!"

She stomped her foot anxiously.

"If you didn't forget it yourself, can you still blame me...?"

"If I wasn't thinking about you, would I forget?!"

"What...?"

He stopped walking, turned around, and looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, really..."

She seemed to realize that she had let something slip, turned her head and looked aside.

After a while, she lowered her head and ran ahead, lost in her own thoughts.

"..."

"Wait for me!"

...

...