Where did you find such a lovely girl?
What was that headshake supposed to mean?
Before Lu Yuanqiu could ask, Bai Qingxia turned away with a shy look in her eyes. Holding both straps of her backpack, she lowered her head and quietly walked ahead.
Watching the day students pass them one after another, Lu Yuanqiu understood. She was probably embarrassed.
There were so many eyes at the school gate, after all.
And if even one of those people knew Bai Qingxia and saw the Cold-Faced School Belle sitting on the back of his bicycle, the story would definitely spread through school by tomorrow.
Remembering how another girl had secretly pushed Bai Qingxia down the steps, Lu Yuanqiu couldn't help thinking, I've been too careless.
Bai Qingxia had a certain reputation at school. If people bullied her, there would certainly be people spreading rumors about her too.
Pushing his bicycle, Lu Yuanqiu deliberately slowed his pace, leaving a considerable distance between himself and Bai Qingxia.
Once she noticed his considerate gesture, Bai Qingxia's nerves eased a little.
The boy and girl walked on like that, one ahead of the other, keeping ten or twenty meters between them.
Every so often, Bai Qingxia looked back to check whether Lu Yuanqiu was still following. He would tilt his head and smile at her.
Before long, after they had turned a few corners and no students from No. 7 Middle School remained in sight, Lu Yuanqiu got on his bicycle and rode up beside her.
"Hop on. Nobody will see us now."
Sure enough, Bai Qingxia obediently walked around the bicycle, rose onto her toes, and sat sideways on the rear seat.
Lu Yuanqiu said with some exasperation, "If you don't hold on to me, you're going to fall off."
At those words, Bai Qingxia's long eyelashes lifted. She slowly reached out a small, fair hand and, as furtively as a little thief, gently pinched his school uniform jacket between her fingers.
Speechless, Lu Yuanqiu started pedaling, though he kept one hand free, ready to catch the girl behind him at any moment.
As the bicycle moved, Bai Qingxia instantly lost her balance. With a muffled gasp, she hurriedly wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, gripping so hard that her pink fingernails went white.
Seeing that she wasn't completely inflexible, Lu Yuanqiu chuckled and returned the hand he had kept ready to protect her to the handlebars.
"Nobody can see us, and there's nothing going on between us anyway. What's wrong with holding my waist while you're riding?"
Lu Yuanqiu spoke casually from up front.
Of course, he knew nothing of the secret feelings hidden deep in the girl's heart.
Bai Qingxia lowered her head, both ears scarlet. Her arms felt numb, and she didn't dare tighten them, only keeping them wrapped around him.
Had anyone else been riding the bicycle, she might not have cared so much or felt so awkward.
But the person in front of her was Lu Yuanqiu.
Bai Qingxia had never imagined that the boy she could only gaze at during those ten-minute breaks between classes would now be giving her a ride on his bicycle...
With no one there to see, a rare, happy smile appeared on the girl's lips once her shyness had passed.
If only the world could stop at this moment, she thought wistfully.
But Bai Qingxia knew that happiness could belong to anyone-anyone except her.
Misfortune had chosen her. It had been that way since childhood.
"I gazed at your face, gently strumming the chords~"
"First love filled every page of the handwritten past~"
Lu Yuanqiu softly hummed Jay Chou's song as he leisurely pedaled toward his family's large supermarket.
Bai Qingxia looked up curiously. "What song are you singing?"
"It's one of Jay Chou's."
"I haven't heard this one."
"Huh? Really?"
Lu Yuanqiu turned his head slightly and slowed his pedaling. Only then did he remember that "Handwritten Past" seemed to have come out in 2014.
But it was 2010 now.
Lu Yuanqiu smiled ruefully. He had almost forgotten he had been reborn.
Still, he had no musical talent and didn't want to plagiarize anyone's work. Besides, he liked Jay Chou. Nobody could ever replace Jay Chou, not even his reborn self.
Given a second life, Lu Yuanqiu's first wish was to get into a good university and make up for never having attended one in his previous life.
He thought of all the rebirth novels he had read. Every protagonist plunged straight into starting a business. They were all the same.
To Lu Yuanqiu, there was an order of priorities after being reborn.
You've been reborn, and you're still spending all your energy making money?
You were a slave to money before, and now you want to do it all over again?
What's the most important thing about being reborn?
First, it gives you your youth back!
Only second does it give you opportunities to make money.
The whole reason I wanted a second life was to enjoy my youth!
Of course, he couldn't neglect making money either, but that could wait until after the college entrance exams. Besides, Lu Yuanqiu's dad had money, which was another reason he wasn't in a hurry.
It would be wonderful if he and Bai Qingxia could get into the same university, though Lu Yuanqiu felt that was probably wishful thinking.
Bai Qingxia was destined to aim for Tsinghua and Peking.
As far as exams went, their seating assignments for the next monthly exam would probably be the only time his path crossed hers.
Once the monthly exam was over, Bai Qingxia would return to the first seat in the first exam room, looking down on a small fry like him from her position as the top student in their year.
And as for Lu Yuanqiu himself...
Suddenly, Lu Yuanqiu braked hard. Startled, Bai Qingxia pitched forward against his back.
The softness against his back gave Lu Yuanqiu a brief thrill. Then he collected his thoughts and solemnly gazed at the red light across the intersection as he declared his lofty ambitions to the girl.
"Bai Qingxia."
"Huh?"
"I'm not going to come dead last! I'm going to study hard! I refuse to stay in the last exam room! I'm going to get into a good university!"
Beside the crosswalk, passersby turned to stare in surprise.
The girl lowered her head behind him, her earlobes scarlet. "I'll do my best to help tutor you, okay? The light's green. Hurry up..."
Bai Qingxia urged him in a tiny voice, practically crumbling from embarrassment.
For the first time, Lu Yuanqiu's complete lack of social inhibition made her want to hit him.
After winding their way through the streets, the two finally reached the supermarket.
It was called the Four Seasons Fresh Supermarket.
It was one of the larger fresh-food supermarkets in the Wangjiang Road area.
After Bai Qingxia got off, Lu Yuanqiu parked his bicycle by the entrance and asked her to wait outside while he went in to give his dad a heads-up.
The girl stood where she was and nodded obediently, but the slender, pale fingers constantly tugging at her sleeves betrayed her nervousness.
Because this time,
she wasn't just meeting her boss. She was meeting Lu Yuanqiu's father too.
Although she knew meeting his father didn't mean anything for her, she was still terribly nervous.
Lu Yuanqiu entered the supermarket and saw Lu Tian holding a notebook, checking the goods on the shelves as he wrote something down.
"Dad!"
Lu Yuanqiu's shout made Lu Tian jump.
"What's all that yelling for? You calling your mom?!"
When his father turned around, Lu Yuanqiu couldn't help wanting to laugh at that face, which looked so much like Wei Xiang's. He had never found it funny before, probably because Wei Xiang wasn't famous yet at this point.
Lu Yuanqiu cleared his throat and pointed outside. "She's here. Just give her a quick rundown. Don't ask too many questions, okay?"
At that, Lu Tian walked over with some excitement. "Here already? Let me see which unlucky kid is about to have their studies ruined. Heh."
Father and son went outside. Bai Qingxia immediately turned toward them, her long, curled eyelashes trembling gently as she greeted him in a flustered voice. "H-hello, sir."
Lu Tian's smile froze, and he managed to squeeze out, "Hello..."
The moment he finished speaking, he grabbed his son's arm and dragged him back into the supermarket.
"You little brat, where the hell did you find such a lovely girl? I thought it'd be a boy! Aren't you afraid her dad will come after you?"
"Huh? She's... my deskmate," Lu Yuanqiu said.
Lu Tian promptly flicked him on the forehead. "One look tells you that girl's from a respectable family. How could she be short of money? Did you trick her into something?! What the hell did I do to deserve a son like you..."
As he spoke, he started taking off a shoe to beat him. Lu Yuanqiu's muscle memory kicked in, and he quickly twisted his hips to dodge aside, protesting, "I didn't trick her! She volunteered!"
Lu Tian stormed toward him in fury. "That's still not okay! Tell her to leave. Don't you get my whole supermarket shut down, you little punk."
He kicked Lu Yuanqiu in the backside, sending him out of the supermarket.
Forced through the supermarket entrance in a rather "alluring" pose, Lu Yuanqiu scratched his head awkwardly.
Bai Qingxia gave a strained little smile, her two small, fair hands twisting together in front of her. "Lu Yuanqiu, I'm going home."
With that, she lowered her head, the corner of her mouth twitching unnaturally, then turned and walked into the darkness.
Surprised by her sudden reaction, Lu Yuanqiu hurried after her and caught her arm.
"Wait!"
Forced to turn sideways, the girl hid her reddened eyes beneath her hair. Even so, she still managed a painfully unnatural smile.
"It's getting late. My dad will worry if he doesn't see me. I'm going home..."