There was some smoke in the barbecue restaurant, and Jiang Tu's glasses were covered with a layer of fog. He looked at the girl in front of him through the fog, then lowered his head and picked up the chopsticks.
After a while, he stood up as if he remembered something.
When he came back, he was holding a bottle of soy milk with a straw in his hand and placed it in front of her.
Zhu Xingyao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you."
It was not until half past seven that Jiang Tu stood up and Zhu Xingyao realized that he didn't seem to have eaten much, while she was almost full.
Jiang Tu took off his glasses, took a tissue and carefully wiped off the mist on them, then looked down at her: "How are you going to get home tonight?"
Zhu Xingyao stood up, pulling her schoolbag, and said, "My mother will come to pick me up after she finishes her work."
"That's good." He nodded and pulled out a chair. "I'll take you to the door."
Jiang Tu sent her to the store door and watched her walk away in silence before turning around to change clothes and going into the kitchen.
At around ten o'clock in the evening, Zhu Xingyao got into Ding Yu's car. As soon as he sat down, Ding Yu came over and sniffed: "Why do you smell like cooking oil? What did you eat?"
Ding Yu has a very good nose. Zhu Xingyao was very impressed. "I'm going to have barbecue with my classmates tonight."
Ding Yu raised an eyebrow: "I was wondering, which classmate are you with?"
Zhu Xingyao lowered her head to fasten her seat belt and whispered, "Just... Xixi."
"You two are destined to be together. You are now in the same class." Ding Yu drove out. "How is she going to get home?"
"She took a taxi."
Zhu Xingyao lied without blinking.
She leaned back in her chair, thought for a moment, took out her phone, opened the address book, and sent a text message to Jiang Tu: "Brother Tu, I'm home. Thank you for the barbecue tonight." After thinking for a moment, she added, "When God wants to give a man a great responsibility, he must first make his heart suffer."
This was the first time the two had ever texted each other.
A few minutes later.
Jiang Tu stood at the back door of the barbecue restaurant, staring at his phone for a while, then he pressed the buttons on his phone one by one: "OK."
He put his phone back into his trouser pocket, looked up at the starry sky, and thought that it wasn't really that bitter.
In the evening, Zhu Xingyao spent a long time in the bathroom washing her hair, blow-dried her hair, and lay on the bed to see that it was already twelve o'clock. She suddenly thought of Jiang Tu. He was still working, so he should be very busy, right
On Monday morning when Zhu Xingyao went to school, she saw Xia Jin getting out of the black car behind her. The two of them met and she smiled: "Good morning."
Xia Jin also smiled: "Morning."
The two had been in the same class for a few days but had hardly spoken to each other. Just as Li Xixi said, "There's no room for two tigers in one mountain." Zhu Xingyao could feel that Xia Jin didn't like her very much. After she greeted her, she stopped talking and walked past her.
Xia Jin walked behind her and suddenly asked, "Zhu Xingyao, are you and Jiang Tu in a relationship?"
Zhu Xingyao suddenly stopped and looked back at her: "Why do you say that?"
Xia Jin walked over briskly and raised her eyebrows: "On Friday evening, my car was driving across the bridge, and I saw you sitting behind his bicycle..." At that time, she even asked the driver to slow down, fearing that she had seen it wrong.
Zhu Xingyao didn't expect to be seen. She explained: "No one from my family came to pick me up that day. I happened to meet Jiang Tu at the school gate. He was also going to the square and he just took me with him. Don't think too much."
"That's it?" Xia Jin didn't quite believe it.
"That's it, don't talk nonsense." Zhu Xingyao looked a little serious and cold when he wasn't smiling, "It's almost time for morning reading, let's go."
When he arrived at the classroom, Zhu Xingyao saw Jiang Tu already sitting in his seat, doing his homework.
Ding Xiang was copying furiously beside him, and Li Xixi was mocking him: "Lilac, can you do your homework by yourself for once?"
Zhu Xingyao walked to the table, Jiang Tu raised his head, and their eyes met. She pursed her lips, wondering whether she should tell him in advance, what if Xia Jin told others? Should she also let him be mentally prepared
Anyway, she has been criticized so much that she is not afraid of it.
But Jiang Tu is different. He seems to have never had any scandals.
Jiang Tu raised his eyes and looked at her face: "What's wrong?"
Zhu Xingyao used to think that Jiang Tu and Lin Jiayu had a close relationship and that there must be something going on between them. But after getting to know each other better, she discovered that Jiang Tu’s attitude towards people was either familiar or unfamiliar. If he was familiar with you, he would talk to you a few more words, and he would not refuse care and help within a reasonable range.
If I'm not familiar with you, I won't even bother to look at you.
Very cold and very cool.
Lin Jiayu and he grew up together, so they were as close as could be. As for her, Li Xixi, and Ding Xiang...
He should have classified it as something he was familiar with, so he would take the initiative to care and ask, otherwise... the cold and cool Tu Ge would not bother to pay attention to you! Tu Ge probably didn't even frown when he heard those gossips, and would even comment that they were boring.
Zhu Xingyao was amused by her own thoughts. She couldn't help laughing: "It's okay."
Jiang Tu was inexplicably amused by her laughter. She had already sat down. He looked at the ends of her hair swaying gently, then lowered his head to continue doing his homework.
Zhu Xingyao felt that Xia Jin was not the kind of person who liked to gossip. Everything had been explained clearly, so she probably wouldn't say anything nonsense. Besides, others might not believe it if she told others.
Xia Jin, on the other hand, became a little curious about Jiang Tu. She was in Class 15 before and had heard that there was a boy in the first year of high school who had a family accident and came to school more than a month later. His family owed a lot of debts and made trouble at school, etc. She just listened to those things. When others ran to watch Jiang Tu, she didn't even look at him. She thought, he was just a poor boy, what was there to see
When she was assigned to Class 1, she found a tall, thin and straight boy with fair skin and wearing glasses. This boy was aloof and cold, and it seemed difficult to get along with him at first glance, but he stood out among the boys. Only then did she realize that he was Jiang Tu.
She observed carefully for two days and found that Jiang Tu's attitude towards Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi seemed to be similar. However, she saw Lin Jiayu talking to Jiang Tu twice in the corridor.
The two seemed to be more familiar with each other, which made her more curious.
On Wednesday afternoon, Class 1, Class 2 and Class 9 had physical education class together. While the physical education committee member went out to borrow equipment, the girls ran to the shade of the trees to cool off.
Zhu Xingyao saw Lin Jiayu and called out with a smile, "Jiayu."
Lin Jiayu ran towards her, but before she reached her, Xia Jin called out, "Lin Jiayu."
"Ah." Lin Jiayu looked at her and smiled, "Xia Jin."
The two were in the same class before. Xia Jin's family was rich and powerful, and she was always surrounded by all kinds of boys and girls. Lin Jiayu was busy studying and handing out flyers while working part-time. Although they were in the same class, they were in two completely different circles and rarely talked to each other.
Lin Jiayu originally thought that Xia Jin just greeted her on a whim, so she responded and walked towards Zhu Xingyao.
Xia Jin was a little unhappy, frowned and said: "I called you, why are you ignoring me?"
"I thought you were just saying hello..." Lin Jiayu explained hastily, scratching her clothes before walking up to her, "Do you want to ask me something?"
Xia Jin glanced at Zhu Xingyao before saying, "I want to ask you, are you familiar with Jiang Tu?"
Lin Jiayu was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, we grew up together."
So that's how it is.
Xia Jin smiled and said, "Nothing, I just saw you talking to him and I was a little curious."
What are you curious about
Zhu Xingyao subconsciously thought of what happened that day. She glanced at her, then at Lin Jiayu, and always felt that Xia Jin's curiosity was not a good thing. Li Xixi glanced in the direction of the equipment room and snorted: "Zhang Sheng always asks Brother Tu to get the equipment during physical education class. It's a personal grudge."
"You said last time that they almost got into a fight?" Lin Jiayu only heard a little bit last time. She knew Jiang Tu wasn't popular, but he wasn't the type to fight. "Who started it first?"
Li Xixi said: "That must be Zhang Sheng."
Xia Jin was curious again and looked over: "I didn't expect Jiang Tu and Zhang Sheng had a fight? Why?"
Jiang Tu and Zhang Sheng have been at odds since their freshman year, and they haven't gotten along yet. If Jiang Tu hadn't been calm, the two would have fought eight hundred times. A girl from Class 7 said, "Ah, it seems to be because of Zhu Xingyao..."
Li Xixi retorted: "No, it was because Zhang Sheng said he wanted to exchange seats with Jiang Tu for 2,000 yuan, but Jiang Tu refused, and then the two of them had a fight... It was Zhang Sheng who took the money to insult others, okay?"
Zhu Xingyao nodded: "Yes."
The girl whispered, "That's also because of you. Zhang Sheng wanted to change seats because of you."
But this also has two meanings, right
Xia Jin said sarcastically, "She is indeed a goddess, because she can make two boys fight over one seat."
Zhu Xingyao frowned: "I told you that the fight wasn't caused by me, it was Zhang Sheng who provoked them." She paused, and then said, "And Jiang Tu didn't want to fight either. This happened a long time ago, so there's no point in talking about it now."
"You girls, stop hiding under the tree and be lazy. Come here!"
The physical education teacher shouted with his hands on his hips.
The sports committee members of each class had brought all the equipment with the boys. Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi walked over and Zhang Sheng quickly handed them the tennis racket: "Here you go. You just said you wanted to play tennis, didn't you?"
Xia Jin said, "I want to play tennis, too. Why did you just pick up a pair of rackets?"
Zhu Xingyao glanced at her and said, "Then you take it."
She passed her and walked towards Jiang Tu, who was holding a badminton racket and a volleyball. He looked down at her and said, "Do you want to play this?"
"Um."
Jiang Tu handed her the racket and whispered, "If you want a tennis racket, there's one over there."
He went to borrow again.
Zhu Xingyao took it and whispered, "No need, just this one, I'll just play around until the get out of class is over."
Jiang Tu didn't know why she was a little unhappy, but it was definitely not because of the tennis racket. He watched her and Li Xixi walk towards the badminton court, then turned and ran towards the track and field field.
The badminton court and volleyball court are next to each other, both above the track and field stadium. Zhu Xingyao played with Li Xixi for a few rounds and then threw the rackets to others. She and Lin Jiayu sat on the steps together, looking at the track and field stadium. Jiang Tu was still running.
Zhu Xingyao looked at Lin Jiayu and asked, "Didn't Jiang Tu play basketball in junior high school?"
Lin Jiayu smiled and said, "Yes, he plays basketball very well, and there are girls who come to see him."
Zhu Xingyao muttered: "Really? I don't think I've ever seen him play basketball."
"Now... I have to go to work after school, so I don't have time."
Zhu Xingyao asked again: "Where else does he go to work?"
"He does everything. He's been to barbecue restaurants, bars, and internet cafes... He goes wherever he's needed." Lin Jiayu sighed. She looked at Zhu Xingyao, "Do you think he's having a hard time?"
Zhu Xingyao nodded.
Yeah, it’s painful just thinking about it.
After the physical education class, Zhu Xingyao came back from the toilet and saw a bottle of soy milk on the table.
She stood in front of the table, frowning as she stared at the bottle of soy milk. Suddenly, someone gently pushed her heel. She turned around and saw Jiang Tu leaning against the wall. He was not wearing glasses and his hair was a little wet after running. His skin was cold and pale, which made his hair and eyes look particularly dark.
He whispered, "I bought this by the way, it's not Zhang Sheng, drink it without worry."
Zhu Xingyao was stunned for a moment, then smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Brother Tu."
Jiang Tu's mouth corners curled slightly.
At the second to last table in the first group, Xia Jin tilted her head and was dazzled by Jiang Tu's smile. She was stunned for a moment, and it took her a long time to come back to her senses.
After school in the evening, Jiang Tu went to the Internet cafe first, pulled Jiang Lu out of the Internet cafe, and returned to Hexi Lane. He saw Shu Xian standing at the door talking to Lin Jiayu about something like a physics competition.
Jiang Tu stopped and looked at them, then turned and went into the house.
Jiang Lu ran over, "Mom, what are you talking about?"
Lin Jiayu didn't know if Jiang Tu was unhappy, and looked around worriedly. Shu Xian sighed, "It's okay. Xiao Tu didn't tell me anything when he came home. I can only ask you, otherwise I don't know what's going on with him at school."
Lin Jiayu thought to herself, it would be strange if he told everything when he got home.
When Shu Xian returned to the house, Jiang Tu had already cooked. She walked into the kitchen and looked up at her son, who had grown to over 1.8 meters tall. "Is it too late to sign up now? I heard that participating in this program can guarantee admission to Tsinghua University or Peking University..."
Jiang Tu said, "It's too late."
Shu Xian was silent for a few seconds before she said, "You should participate. Xiaolu and I have nothing to do with each other."
Jiang Tu wiped the water off his hands and said coldly, "It's easy to say, did you hide the money and not give it to Jiang Jinhui? Or were you able to beat him when he was beaten? Neither of them is possible." He paused, and his voice became colder, "Then don't talk about it, I will take the entrance exams for Tsinghua University and Peking University by myself."
He turned to go out, but he didn't expect to see Jiang Jinhui when he looked up. He walked straight into the room and treated him as if he were air.
It was rare for Jiang Jinhui to reply early. After hearing two sentences, he walked into the kitchen and looked at Shu Xian who was washing vegetables: "What did he say to you just now? Did he promise you to get into Tsinghua University or Peking University, and then let you divorce me?"