Chen Shihua's mouth quivered slightly, his reckless smile also becoming somewhat restrained.
Pei Zhen looked up at him. His gaze lingered on the crowd behind Chen Shihua for a moment before he gently nodded. He was courteous and graceful, his sharp eyes no longer displaying yesterday's madness, calm as if nothing had happened at all.
Damn!
Chen Shihua felt a pang of sadness for himself. Usually, his frustration from his father's scoldings had no outlet, and he liked to pick on the weak. He thought he had picked the weakest one, only to find it was an iron plate. He had been taken down hard.
Initially, he was angry and felt humiliated. Later, however, he felt a strange sense of respect. So many people couldn't beat Pei Zhen; it proved he was truly impressive.
Just as the thought of revenge began to kindle, cold reality snuffed it out. He heard that Young Miss Xu had suddenly proposed to visit his home. If this news reached his father, he was sure he'd be scolded to death.
A cold wind rustled against the door, creating an opening in the stuffy air.
Chen Shihua dawdled at the door for a moment. He then made his way through the crowd toward Pei Zhen, holding a bottle of ice-cold soda the nanny had just delivered. It was still covered in a layer of white frost. He placed it on Pei Zhen's desk with an awkward grumble,
"Uh, here. This soda's for you."
"Thank you, but no need. I prefer plain water," Pei Zhen said, looking down at his test paper, his tone very mild.
"You..."
The words "you ungrateful..." were stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
Chen Shihua pursed his lips and decided not to speak. Making himself at home, he craned his neck to see which subject's test paper Pei Zhen was working on. He was also curious to see which characters formed Pei Zhen's name.
His gaze shifted to the section where the name was written.
Instead, he found two completely unrelated characters: Wang Zhanghao.
"TSK."
Chen Shihua's eyes darkened instantly, his thick eyebrows knitting together, his expression stormy. The 'little tyrant' persona he had barely suppressed flared up again, and his voice grew much louder.
"What the hell? Whose exam paper are you writing? Didn't we agree yesterday that we're friends? And you're letting someone bully my friend like this!"
The classroom fell dead silent. Only the faint sound of pens scratching against paper remained, heavy and dark.
In those days, the textile and real estate industries were booming. Consequently, students in elite schools also paid close attention to background. Chen Shihua's family was among the highest-ranked in the school but also one of the most troublesome. Although the students were all privileged and not particularly afraid of him, no one wanted to provoke him without reason.
Silence only fostered this arrogance.
Chen Shihua felt he was truly loyal.
Just like a movie hero, irresistibly charismatic.
Pei Zhen finished writing the last few words and gently set down his pen. "I'm writing out solutions for money," he told Chen Shihua. "Keep your voice down; don't disturb the other students."
He then turned to the embarrassed Wang Zhanghao. Pei Zhen's usually subdued eyes twinkled with a smile as he said, "Sorry about that."
Wang Zhanghao liked Pei Zhen a lot and just shook his head. "It's nothing."
Chen Shihua scratched his head, not having expected Pei Zhen to be doing this voluntarily. After a moment's thought, he reached into his back pocket and asked in a very low voice, "Are you that short on cash? Doesn't Young Miss Xu give you spending money? Isn't your family pretty well off? That's outrageous!"
Pei Zhen answered quickly, his eyes cold and serious. "She does. She's very good to me. Don't speak ill of her."
On the first day of school, Butler Ge had put a bank card and some cash in his backpack, enough for all his school expenses and pocket money.
Xu Si even often encouraged him to spend more.
Whenever he thought of his parents, she would tell him, "Azhen, you can be angry, but you can't resign yourself to fate."
No one was better than her.
"That's what I thought. So why are you still making money this way?" Chen Shihua asked, puzzled. "Are you bored? Or do you just enjoy doing problems?"
Pei Zhen's slender fingertips propped up his firm chin. His gaze drifted to the window, where the sky was a clear, tile blue, dotted with pale white clouds.
"I'm not bored. There are just some things I want to buy with money I've earned myself."
He felt that only in this way could he properly express his gratitude.
"Oh, that's easy."
An idea struck Chen Shihua. He generously pulled a wallet covered in logos from his back pocket, took out a thousand yuan, and, making a slight detour, stealthily tucked it into Pei Zhen's desk.
"Hey, uh... could you do one for me too? I haven't turned in homework for ages. Next week is the parent-teacher conference, and I want the teacher to say something good about me for my old man to hear."
「After school.」
When Pei Zhen saw the familiar sedan, he noticed the driver was different—it wasn't Butler Ge. He realized it must be the 'uncles' Xu Si had mentioned.
From her tone, Pei Zhen sensed she didn't like those people.
He didn't dwell on it.
The driver, seeing him, smiled faintly. He mentioned he was going to pick up some spring shoes Xu Si had pre-ordered from the mall. Since the mall was very close to the Xu Mansion, he asked Pei Zhen if he'd like to look around there.
Pei Zhen decided not to go straight home and went into the mall with the driver.
The driver went to various stores, identifying himself as the Xu family's driver to collect the pre-ordered goods.
Pei Zhen stood before a high-end lipstick counter, listening as a sales associate recommended popular products to a customer.
"Miss, this shade is very popular and perfect for fair skin. It's a pure brownish-red. We're the only store in the country with it in stock; you won't find it anywhere else. Wear this lipstick to a business gala, and your presence will be absolutely commanding. We only received two, so it's definitely exclusive."
Glancing at the lipstick, Pei Zhen could immediately picture Xu Si. He recalled her advice on how to choose lipsticks.
It's no wonder, the color is quite beautiful.
Without hesitation, he took the money from his pocket and placed it on the counter.
"Hello, I'd like to buy this lipstick."
"Oh, certainly!" The sales associate beamed, taking five bills from the counter and handing back the folded remainder. "This is too much, sir. Here's your change."
Pei Zhen gently shook his head. "Please use the rest to buy other shades."
Earning money for the first time felt incredibly meaningful.
He had no intention of keeping any for himself.
Twenty minutes later, Pei Zhen returned to the Xu Mansion at Cloudtop Bay, carrying a shopping bag. The lipsticks inside were beautifully packaged. Each tube, with its crystal-cut design and logo embossed at the base, was nestled in an exquisite gift box. The bag's ribbon handle was so smooth it felt warm from his firm grip.
As soon as he walked in the door,
Xu Si immediately noticed the box in his hand. She was bending over, massaging her ankle while trying on the new shoes the driver had brought back. She held one up for him to see. "Azhen, take a look. Are they nice?"
Pei Zhen politely looked only at the shoes and nodded. "They're very nice. They suit you, Aunt."
"They do look good! I'll wear them to your parent-teacher conference." Xu Si chuckled, teasing him. "What are you holding onto so tightly you can't put it down? A gift from a classmate? It even has a ribbon—must be from a girl, right? So popular already? Well, our Azhen is certainly good-looking."
"It's not from a classmate." Pei Zhen looked down, smiling bashfully, and shook his head. His fingers were slender, the knuckles faintly pink, with pale blue veins visible on the back of his hand. He untied the ribbon on the box, his tone light. "I went with the driver to pick some things up and saw these lipstick shades. I thought they would suit you, Aunt."
His ears quietly turned red too.
"You bought lipstick? For me?" Xu Si arched an eyebrow. She picked up a lipstick tube, opened it, and dabbed a bit of the product onto her delicate fingertip. The shade was perfect—a reddish-brown suitable for the season. Spread thinly, it looked like the stain of fallen maple leaves.
"Not bad, you have good taste." She paused for a moment. "But why buy me lipstick?"
She remembered Pei Zhen asking her yesterday how to choose lipstick, but she hadn't expected him to actually buy any for her.
The setting sun, red as blood, dyed the vast courtyard. Pei Zhen smiled faintly. "You're going to the trouble of attending my parent-teacher conference, Aunt, so I wanted to give you something you'd like. After thinking about it, it seemed the only thing you might be missing is a lipstick you really like, so I decided to buy these for you."