From that day on, he would become Bai Qingxia's protective shell.]
"Bai Qingxia, if only I'd met you sooner in my previous life."
Lu Yuanqiu looked at his pants and murmured softly.
Only through his homeroom teacher, Liu Wei, had Lu Yuanqiu learned that Xu Yan had frequently bullied Bai Qingxia back in their first year of high school. He had even learned about Bai Qingxia's hair being cut.
And this time, the bullying had been prompted by nothing more than the news that Bai Qingxia would carry the placard at the head of their class formation.
Xu Yan didn't want to see Bai Qingxia shine in front of everyone, so she wanted Bai Qingxia injured. That way, Bai Qingxia wouldn't be able to carry the placard.
Being beautiful was something countless people dreamed of, but for Bai Qingxia, it had brought nothing but trouble.
That was why the hair hanging over her face and the school uniform covering her so thoroughly had become her protective shell.
Once she put on a hair clip and changed into the class outfit, that "shell" would disappear. Just as the flower plucked from a garden was always the prettiest one, she would become the most conspicuous "target" in everyone's eyes, leaving her vulnerable once again.
But that didn't matter.
Lu Yuanqiu hugged the pants embroidered with grass and little flowers tightly to his chest, smiling as though they were something precious.
From that day on, he would become the shell that protected Bai Qingxia.
Happiness Court.
When Lu Yuanqiu got home, he spun around and danced along with light steps, parading his cargo pants before his parents.
Su Xiaoya and Lu Tian craned their necks forward, but before they could get a proper look, Lu Yuanqiu showily slid across the smooth floor on one knee, holding his cargo pants high in one hand.
His expression was solemn and reverent.
"Ta-da!"
Lu Tian glanced up at him. "What's all this? Are those pants made of gold?"
Su Xiaoya looked curious. "Exactly, son. You weren't even this happy when the school publicly praised you yesterday. What happened today?"
Lu Yuanqiu glanced at the two of them, walked over, and proudly held out the embroidered grass and flowers for them to see.
"See this? My pants got torn, and Bai Qingxia mended them for me."
"Oh my! She's so good at this!" Su Xiaoya's eyes lit up, and she took the pants to examine them.
"What a thoughtful girl! This embroidery is beautiful!"
Then she looked at her son with a broad smile. "Invite her over for dinner sometime!"
Lu Yuanqiu shrugged. "I've thought about it, but she probably wouldn't agree."
Lu Tian took a look at the pants too, then turned to his son with even more disdain in his eyes.
"Honestly, how can two kids at the same school be so different? She's younger than you, yet she's hardworking and capable, pretty, and gets good grades too."
Lu Yuanqiu said, "She's younger than me? How do you know?"
Lu Tian crossed his legs. "I saw her ID last time. September nineteenth. She hasn't even turned seventeen yet... Come to think of it, that's only a few days away, isn't it?"
Lu Yuanqiu turned toward the wall calendar. "Eleven days."
It happened to fall on the day before the sports meet.
"Aren't you going to get her a present? The fact that she was willing to mend your pants alone tells you she's a good girl."
Lu Tian shook out the newspaper in his hands and raised his eyes to his son as he spoke.
A week later, during the long morning break.
Class monitor Wang Haoran suddenly entered the classroom and slapped the door.
"I need a few guys! Our class outfits are here. Come help carry them!"
The moment he finished speaking, everyone froze.
Then the entire classroom erupted.
Gao Qiang said, "I'm coming!"
Zhong Jincheng said, "Me too!"
Normally, these two avoided any task that required physical effort whenever possible. Today, however, they led the charge, rushing out of the classroom with determined looks.
Lu Yuanqiu turned his gaze back to his deskmate. Bai Qingxia had just looked away too, and their eyes unexpectedly met before she looked away again.
It was as though a transparent barrier had appeared between them.
Ever since she had tearfully said those things to Lu Yuanqiu that night, Bai Qingxia had deliberately kept her distance from him, starting the very next day.
Of course, Lu Yuanqiu knew that she didn't dislike him, nor was she ungrateful.
Even her tears during PE that day hadn't been because Xu Yan's failed attempt to hurt her had frightened her afterward.
She had cried because she had seen Lu Yuanqiu acting recklessly for her sake and feared that he would be punished.
She was keeping her distance because she was afraid something like that would happen again.
She always thought about not causing trouble for others, never about herself.
Lu Yuanqiu sighed. He understood all of that.
She was sensitive and insecure, seeing herself as nothing but a burden. Even when someone treated her well, she would worry that she might cause them trouble.
But how could Lu Yuanqiu possibly be afraid of any of that?
Someone who had been reborn had nothing to fear, especially at school.
Teaching these brats a lesson was as easy as crushing ants. He had plenty of ways to make it impossible for them to get by in Lu City.
Lu Yuanqiu took a deep breath and twirled his pen, his mind on something else.
Bai Qingxia's birthday was only a few days away, and he had been thinking about what to get her.
He didn't need to think twice to know that her last birthday celebration must have been ages ago, let alone the last time she had received a birthday present.
Just then, a commotion came from the classroom doorway. Several boys had carried the class outfits back, and Wang Haoran placed a large package on the teacher's desk.
"Take your own size. Don't grab the wrong one."
"What size are you? Want me to get yours?" Lu Yuanqiu asked her.
Bai Qingxia gently shook her head in refusal, stood up, and went over herself. Lu Yuanqiu called after her, "Then get mine for me! XXL!"
A short while later, she returned with two outfits and placed Lu Yuanqiu's boys' uniform on his desk.
"Oh, black knee-high socks..." Lu Yuanqiu looked at the white shirt, blue tie, navy pleated skirt, and two black knee-high socks on Bai Qingxia's desk. Unable to keep his hands to himself, he reached out to touch them. Her earlobes reddened, and she quickly snatched them away and stuffed them into her desk compartment.
"So stingy," Lu Yuanqiu remarked.
The girl pressed her lips together and continued ignoring him, as though she had cast a silencing spell on herself.
Just then, two girls in the row ahead began discussing their outfits. "What shoes go with knee-high socks?"
"White sneakers? Regular athletic shoes?"
"Black leather shoes would look best, wouldn't they? Ah... But I don't have any."
Lu Yuanqiu heard
their conversation and knew that Bai Qingxia surely didn't own black leather shoes either. As far as he could remember, she had only ever worn canvas shoes.
There it was-her birthday present!
But a serious problem immediately presented itself.
Lu Yuanqiu frowned.
What shoe size did Bai Qingxia wear?!
He couldn't just ask her outright. This was supposed to be a surprise. What the hell kind of surprise would it be if he asked?
Evening self-study ended.
The Four Seasons Fresh Supermarket.
Wearing a little red vest, Bai Qingxia stood in the meat section, sorting the frozen meat in a cardboard box.
Holding a cup of water, Lu Yuanqiu crept up behind her like a thief.
Fatty Wang, who was chopping meat, saw the young boss approaching and was about to greet him when Lu Yuanqiu suddenly shushed him.
Fatty Wang obediently closed his mouth, glanced at Bai Qingxia, and realized that she was Lu Yuanqiu's target.
Sneaking up behind Bai Qingxia, Lu Yuanqiu pretended to tilt his cup accidentally, pouring all the water inside onto her canvas shoes.
Then he shouted in feigned horror, "Oh, shit! Sorry! Sorry!"
Startled, Bai Qingxia quickly pulled her feet back and looked at him in surprise. Lu Yuanqiu immediately crouched down and began undoing her shoelaces. "Quick, take them off! Take them off! What if your feet get cold?! I'll dry your shoes for you! No need to thank me!"
"What are you doing?!" Bai Qingxia pushed him in alarm.
Lu Yuanqiu ignored her, swiftly pulled off her shoes, and sprinted outside with them in his hand.