Chapter 47
There was no ranking list for this exam, but looking at the scores, one could roughly calculate the standing. If there were a master ranking, his performance this time would at least land him in the middle.
This result not only shocked all the teachers, but the entire second-year student body also couldn’t believe it. Especially knowing he got a perfect score in Englishâsomething even Lin Xiu didn’t achieve. The only perfect score was taken by him.
The exam results had been out for two days, yet during every break, students from other classes still came to the Class 1 door to ask if it was true.
Chi Aibei wanted to use these results to curry favor with Lin Xiu, but Lin Xiu didn’t buy it at all. He didn’t even comment on the exam results. Everyone else, including Jiang Yu, was so surprised, yet Lin Xiu was as calm as if this was something Chi Aibei was supposed to do.
After school that evening, Lin Xiu left without a word again.
Chi Aibei sat in his seat with his head drooping. He couldn’t even muster the energy for his favorite activityâeating. The sunset spilling over him couldn’t mask his gloom; he was dispirited to the extreme.
His phone rang for a long time. Knowing it couldn’t be Lin Xiu calling, Chi Aibei dawdled before taking it out. Seeing it was Chi Wendong, he pressed answer and let out a weak “Hello.”
Chi Wendong: “I heard you tested well this time?”
Since the results came out, all the teachers’ attitudes toward him had changed. As his guardian, it wasn’t strange for Chi Wendong to be notified. He let out an uninterested “Mn.”
Chi Wendong noticed that he had only made two sounds in two sentences. He asked, “What’s wrong? You sound so listless.”
Chi Aibei’s nose soured, and he whimpered, “Brother Lin Xiu is ignoring me. He’s mad at me.”
At the school gate, Lin Xiu was sitting in the passenger seat flipping through files. Chi Wendong glanced at him, then put the phone on speaker. Hearing Chi Aibei’s crying, Lin Xiu’s hand paused.
Lin Xiu had witnessed various fake cries from Chi Aibei, but this kind of sobbingâstifled, sniffling sounds full of grievance without wailing aloudâdidn’t sound fake.
Chi Wendong asked, “Why is he ignoring you?”
Chi Aibei was the only one left in the classroom. Sitting by the window, head down, tears pattered down. “I made him angry.”
Chi Wendong shot a displeased glance at the person who made his brother cry. Lin Xiu silently continued flipping through the files, not planning to speak.
Chi Wendong frowned. “Don’t cry. We’re hosting a cocktail party at home this weekend. Are you coming?”
Chi Aibei pulled out a tissue and blew his nose. “I’m not going.”
Chi Wendong: “Forget it then. Mom and Dad wanted to meet Lin Xiu anyway. I’ll pick you up after the party ends.”
Chi Aibei’s crying stopped. “Why are they meeting Lin Xiu?”
From the moment Chi Aibei blocked Lin Xiu on the playground, he always called him “Brother” or “Brother Lin Xiu.” Hearing him call his name directly for the first time sounded a bit novel to Lin Xiu.
Chi Wendong: “They can’t just never meet him.”
Why not? They just need to give the money; why meet the person?
Thinking of the party Chi Wendong mentioned, there would surely be many people. What if they didn’t keep their word and revealed the matter of sponsoring Lin Xiu…
Chi Aibei quickly said, “I’m going too!”
Chi Wendong had intended to help him make up with Lin Xiu faster, though he didn’t know what had happened. “I’ll pick you up on Saturday. Have you eaten? Do you want to come out and I’ll take you to dinner?”
Forget dinner. Chi Aibei couldn’t eat. “No, I still have to write homework.”
Chi Aibei couldn’t say it, and Chi Wendong didn’t directly mention that Lin Xiu was in his car. He hung up the phone and looked at Lin Xiu. “Talk. How did he provoke you?”
Lin Xiu handed the revised file to Chi Wendong. “Why didn’t you just order me to go in and coax him?”
Not knowing the full picture, Chi Wendong didn’t plan to lose his temper at Lin Xiu. Moreover, based on his understanding of Lin Xiu during this time, this kid’s character was even steadier than his own. To be angry with Chi Aibei, something unknown must have happened.
Chi Wendong said, “I’ll listen first before deciding whether to order you.”
Lin Xiu: “He didn’t provoke me. He went behind my back to schedule a fight with someone and I caught him. I haven’t talked to him for two days.”
Chi Wendong looked like he heard a new vocabulary word. He paused for a while before reacting. “Scheduled a fight? With whom? Did he win?”
Lin Xiu looked at him speechlessly. “If I said he won, would you praise him?”
Seeing Chi Wendong’s expression of “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Lin Xiu’s filter for this bigshot completely shattered on the floor. “Can you be a bit reliable? You’re his older brother, after all.”
Chi Wendong said, “You know I’m his brother too. So if you made him cry, shouldn’t I intervene?”
Lin Xiu really didn’t want him to intervene. This guy looked steady, but he clearly had no bottom line when it came to Chi Aibei. Letting him intervene would probably result in him failing to discipline the kid and instead backing the Little Fool up.
Lin Xiu said, “Since you handed him over to me, don’t interfere. I know what I’m doing.”
Chi Wendong felt like these words sounded as if Lin Xiu was trying to steal his brother. That wouldn’t do!
Chi Wendong reminded him, “I only asked you to watch over him. Just watch him well; don’t do unnecessary things.” I didn’t say I was giving him to you.
During evening self-study, Chi Aibei got angrier the more he thought about it. He kicked Jiang Yu’s chair. Jiang Yu turned around. “Which question can’t you do…”
Chi Aibei: “Give me Jiang Wenyu’s phone number. I want to schedule another fight with him!”
Jiang Yu: “…Have you gone mad?”
Chi Aibei had thought about it for days and finally figured it out. The culprit behind Lin Xiu ignoring him was Jiang Wenyu. If Jiang Wenyu hadn’t asked him out, he wouldn’t have sneaked out behind Lin Xiu’s back. If he hadn’t gone, Lin Xiu wouldn’t be angry. Although he knew he brought it on himself, he still wanted someone to vent on.
The fight didn’t happen, and he got scolded. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt.
Jiang Yu: “Calm down. If you go look for Jiang Wenyu again, Lin Xiu might really never talk to you again.”
Chi Aibei: “He’s already ignoring me.”
The next day, Jiang Yu intercepted Lin Xiu before he even entered the classroom. Jiang Yu came to plead for Chi Aibei, but as the “accomplice” in the whole affair, his pleading words were a bit hollow.
After listening to him, Lin Xiu said “I know” without giving any indication of his stance. After entering the classroom, just like the previous days, he still didn’t respond to Chi Aibei’s “Good morning, Brother.”
Watching Chi Aibei wearing a smile completely different from last night, Jiang Yu frowned with worry. If this continued, the Little Fool’s mental state would collapse. He smiled when Lin Xiu was present, but wilted as soon as the person left his sight. How was this different from schizophrenia?
The class bell rang. Chi Aibei quietly pushed over a noteâ
[Brother, I was wrong. I will never cause trouble again. In the future, I promise to tell you first if anything happens and never hide anything from you again.]
There was a drawing of a crying little stick figure at the bottom.
Lin Xiu had stopped being angry long ago; he just felt that if he acknowledged him too early, the kid wouldn’t learn his lesson. Actually, Lin Xiu was quite conflicted. Logically, since he did well on the exam, he should have praised him. But this incident happened at the same time. After weighing it, Lin Xiu felt the child needed to be disciplined first, then praised.
Between the crying on the phone yesterday and what Jiang Yu told him just now, he felt it was about enough. He put away the note. “Listen to the class.”
Hearing that Lin Xiu was finally willing to talk to him, Chi Aibei became completely hyper. He shot up from his seat with a whoosh. Zhou Xia, who was lecturing, was startled. Just as she was about to scold him, seeing it was Chi Aibei, she reeled in her tone. “What is it?”
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei in astonishment. “Sit down.”
Chi Aibei let out a “Hehe” laugh and sat back down with a thud.
Zhou Xia: “…” For the sake of your perfect score, I won’t hold it against you.
Recommended Reads
