Xie Sui pushed his sleeves up a little, revealing his pale wrists, and sat down opposite Song Yu.
His gaze, however, landed on Song Yu's blank chemistry paper. He chuckled. "Not a single idea?"
Why wasn't he using that method of wearing through stone one drip at a time and trusting Heaven to reward hard work?
Song Yu's mind wasn't on the paper at all. He asked Xie Sui, "Do you remember someone called Zhu Zhixing from your middle school class?"
Xie Sui paused. His memory was excellent, and he recalled him a moment later-the idiot who had spent all three years of middle school doing nothing but trying to unite the whole class in ostracizing him?
"What about him?"
Xie Sui's tone was mild. He couldn't care less, but he still put on a surprised expression.
Watching his face, Song Yu assumed Zhu Zhixing really had been Xie Sui's middle school nightmare, and grew even angrier.
"Got anything you want to curse him out with? I'll post it on his mom's restaurant page."
After thinking it over, he tossed his phone to Xie Sui. "Forget it, doing the cursing yourself might feel better. I have a thousand accounts. Curse him out all you want."
Xie Sui lowered his head and saw that Song Yu's phone was open to the page for Zhu Zhixing's mother's restaurant.
There was an entire string of one-star reviews from alternate accounts, one posted just three seconds ago.
"I was so angry today that I took one less breath of air. Your restaurant needs to take responsibility. One star."
Further up were even more unreasonable ones.
"Every bite of rice reminds me of the impoverished people in Africa. So pitiful. Here's a glowing one-star review."
"..."
Xie Sui.
Song Yu drank his milk tea, mumbling around the tapioca pearls he was chewing. "Don't hold back on my account. Go ahead and curse."
Xie Sui couldn't help laughing. For some reason, some of the things Song Yu did always made him laugh.
"Thanks, but there's no need."
Song Yu gazed at him with wide eyes. "Would that not be satisfying enough? Then should we go beat him up when school starts?" The midsummer sunlight fell through the glass onto Song Yu's eyelashes. The boy's lashes curled upward, coated in a faint layer of gold by the light. With his teeth around the thin straw and his soft, light-colored hair, he looked sweet and gentle.
Yet what came to Xie Sui's mind was Song Yu's sharp gaze and cold smile under the lights last night. This kid's tone had been outrageously arrogant, too.
He smiled and shook his head. "No need."
Song Yu glanced at him, took back his phone, and went on stirring up trouble himself.
The milk tea shop was quiet now. Outside, the camphor trees rustled in the hot wind.
Xie Sui unconsciously touched his right wrist, a habitual gesture when he was thinking, only to discover that it was bare. There was no watch... His dark eyes stilled as he remembered that he was fifteen now.
For Xie Sui, rebirth came with no particular obsession. In his previous life, he had taken every revenge he needed to take, and not one person who deserved to die had been spared.
Having returned to his youth, his only regret was probably Grandma Chen's death during his final year of high school. Beyond that, nothing could stir his emotions.
Even his trip to Linshui to collect evidence of Wang Beidan's drug use had happened because the Wang family had provoked him first. That mother and son had brought it on themselves, too.
After his rebirth, the young master Xie who had unleashed bloodshed in City A in his previous life had become much less driven by worldly desires.
After Xie Sui's shift at the milk tea shop, Song Yu took him to get a SIM card.
"Once you have a phone, we can keep in touch online. I've been coming here every day, and even my grandma's getting curious."
Walking along the street, Xie Sui wore the hint of a smile. "Then what have you been telling her?"
Song Yu said, "What else could I say? Didn't you place first in the city on the high school entrance exam? I told her I'd met a study god and was coming to ask him for help studying."
Xie Sui smiled, remembering Song Yu's math paper from yesterday, which had been painful to look at. "What an honor."
But there was no need to ask for help. He was beyond saving.
When they reached the crossing, there were only a dozen or so seconds left on the green light. Seeing that, Song Yu grabbed Xie Sui's hand and ran.
"Hurry across."
As the boy gripped his wrist and rushed forward, Xie Sui froze for a moment.
The evening glow bathed the ground in orange, and the wind carried the scent of camphor trees. In the distance came car horns, broadcasts, and the conversations of passersby.
He watched Song Yu's back, his gaze growing deeper.
They wasted a lot of time queuing for a SIM card at the mobile service center.
By the time their turn came and they finished, it was already seven in the evening.
"Save my number first, then add me on QQ."
Xie Sui entered the number and searched for the contact. When he saw "Your husband, Brother Yu," he clicked his tongue inwardly. He really was a kid.
"Why did you pick this name?"
Song Yu's answer was straightforward. "It's cool."
He accepted the contact request.
Song Yu discovered that Xie Sui's current username was just a period, his status message was also a period, and his profile picture was solid black. He looked even more chuuni than Song Yu.
"Mr. Period? You're so emo."
Xie Sui: "..."
After leaving the mobile service center, Song Yu felt thirsty and went to the little shop next door to buy a bottle of water. While paying, he also picked up a bag of mints.
He really liked refreshing things like lemon and mint. Having them in his mouth left him feeling refreshed and clearheaded, even dispelling much of the summer heat.
As they headed toward Lianyun Street, the traffic gradually thinned, and even the lights grew dimmer.
"Want one?" Song Yu offered the mints to Xie Sui.
Xie Sui didn't like candy and shook his head.
"Oh." Song Yu put the candy away.
Just then, a dark, cold voice suddenly sounded ahead of them.
"I want one. Will you give me one, little friend?"
It was followed by wicked laughter from a group of people.
Song Yu and Xie Sui looked ahead.
A group of thugs emerged from an alley beside them-the very same bunch from last night, only there were twice as many of them now.
Red Hair held a pair of nunchucks, a chilling sneer on his scarred face. If his hatred had been directed solely at Xie Sui yesterday, today it included Song Yu.
Yellow Hair, Green Hair, and Purple Hair followed behind him, their faces now full of resentment as well.
"You little brat! You really bluffed us yesterday! This time I've caught you on your way home. You won't even get to make a call."
With new grudges piled on old ones, Red Hair, one of Lianyun Street's local tyrants, was seething with hatred after being humiliated by two little brats.
"No bullshit today! Beat them up first!"
The lackeys behind him were furious at having been tricked yesterday, too. Holding knives and clubs, they charged at Song Yu and Xie Sui.
"You're not leaving today without shedding blood!"
Song Yu: "..."
Fuck.
Xie Sui narrowed his eyes, feeling that these thugs really needed to be dealt with. He tugged at Song Yu's hand, wanting him to leave first. But just like yesterday, Song Yu stepped in front of him.
Red Hair gave a vicious laugh. "Scared? Too late for that!"
Song Yu said, "Scared of you, my ass! You want blood? Fine."
He pushed up his sleeves.
Utterly fed up, he roared, "I'm short on everything except insurance! Make me lose one drop of blood, and the compensation will bankrupt every last one of you!"
Xie Sui: "..."
"!!"
At first, Red Hair and his gang were intimidated, but then they remembered that this was exactly how they had been tricked yesterday.
They instantly flew into a rage.
"At death's door, and you're still so fucking cocky."
"You're done for!"
Xie Sui said, "I..." I'll handle it.
But the remaining words were stopped in his throat.
Because Song Yu had already grabbed his hand and started running toward the other end of the street, fast as the wind.
"Run!"
One second he was talking tough, and the next he turned tail and ran.
The thugs froze, then realized they had been played and stamped their feet in fury.
"Get away from me today, and I'll call you Dad!"