*Chapter 25, A Sudden Arrival
A storm raged in the girl's heart. She swallowed, and despite the looks from those around her, walked straight towards Ji Linxue.
Hesitantly, she asked, "Do you... still remember me?"
Ji Linxue stared at her for a few seconds, then shook his head.
The atmosphere instantly became awkward. She quickly tied up her loose hair, revealing a fair face. Unfortunately, with the heavy makeup, Ji Linxue had no recollection of her.
The girl seemed anxious, stomping her foot, "I know you. Your name is Ji Linxue, right? I was also from No. 3 Middle School. We went to the same junior high."
Ji Linxue frowned. There were too many classmates in junior high, he couldn't remember her at all, "...And you are?"
"I wasn't in your class, but I often came to your class to play," she said. "You might not remember me, but you definitely remember Zhao Xinye, right? I'm his friend."
Zhao Xinye?
Ji Linxue couldn't help but marvel at the subtlety of fate.
Just a few days ago, he had discussed this person with his mother, and today he heard the name again.
He looked at the girl in front of him more closely and indeed recognized the face from his memories.
"So it was you," Ji Linxue said with a hint of emotion. Zhao Xinye was quite popular in school back then. Although his grades weren't great, he had the advantage of being tall and handsome, and he was also the captain of the school basketball team.
Many girls liked him, and he had several girlfriends, the girl in front of him was one of them.
Ji Linxue remembered her because once, when the two of them had an argument, it even involved him. The girl complained that Zhao Xinye was never around, always trailing behind Ji Linxue every day, and didn't care about her at all.
Zhao Xinye was also very stubborn, retorting who was trailing behind Ji Linxue. The two had a chaotic argument that made Ji Linxue feel a bit awkward, so he quickly left. Not long after, he heard the news of their breakup.
"You finally remembered," the girl sighed in relief. "Where did you go for high school? No one had your contact information, we didn't know how to find you."
"I studied in another city."
As they chatted, Gu Hengzhi appeared from nowhere, familiarly placing an arm over his shoulder.
"An acquaintance?"
Ji Linxue said, "We went to the same junior high."
Noticing his highly possessive posture, the girl's heart skipped a beat. She stopped reminiscing and asked, "Has Zhao Xinye contacted you?"
"No."
"Is that so..." The girl remembered something and said, "His home seems to be nearby. Can I ask him to come over and join us?"
Ji Linxue was a little surprised, but still agreed, "Sure."
To be honest, there wasn't much conflict between him and Zhao Xinye. Zhao Xinye was loyal and had a humorous personality, making him quite popular in class. The troubles he caused were just annoying minor incidents, and it had been several years anyway. Ji Linxue hadn't taken any of those things to heart.
"Great!" The girl said excitedly, quickly pulling out her phone to send a message to the other side.
Looking at her, Ji Linxue smiled, "I thought your relationship with Zhao Xinye wasn't very good."
The girl paused, "Why would you say that?"
Ji Linxue also paused, "Isn't he your ex-boyfriend? on the internet, they say ex-boyfriends are creatures to be deeply hated."
"That was so long ago," the girl said, a bit embarrassed. "We were just kids back then. Our 'relationships' were just like playing house, it was just for fun."
Pink Hair finally found an opportunity to cut in, "Come on, everyone, please sit down. It's tiring standing here."
Ji Linxue was pulled by Gu Hengzhi to sit in a corner.
The private room was noisy, you could only hear each other by leaning close. Gu Hengzhi leaned in, staring at Ji Linxue's small, fair earlobe, and said quietly, "You two are chatting so happily."
Warm breaths brushed against the soft flesh of his earlobe in waves. Ji Linxue, ticklish, shrank back, "I was just talking about a classmate I know."
Gu Hengzhi felt inexplicably annoyed, narrowing his eyes, "Oh? Someone you like?"
Ji Linxue was speechless, "That person is a guy."
To his surprise, upon hearing this answer, Gu Hengzhi not only didn't relax but became more vigilant, "What guy? Are you very close to him?"
He didn't know why he was so sensitive, perhaps it was his sixth sense acting up.
Ji Linxue couldn't stand his persistent clinging, "I'm not familiar with him."
While the two of them whispered in the corner, Shen Shaoyan on the other side had already started playing with the newly arrived girls.
They took out a few dice cups. The loser had to accept a truth or dare penalty.
Shen Shaoyan had bad luck today, he lost on the first round. He chose truth.
Their question was simple, "Among you four, who is single?"
Shen Shaoyan pointed to himself, "Except for me, they're all single dogs."
As soon as he said that, he saw the eyes of the girls opposite light up instantly.
One girl covered her mouth, incredulous, "So handsome and still single? Impossible!"
Shen Shaoyan shrugged, "Why would I lie to you? Each of them is incredibly difficult."
Not to mention those from other schools or encountered on the street, there were many girls at Deyin High who secretly admired them. Yet, in three years of high school, none of them had succeeded.
The girls didn't take it to heart. Difficult? How difficult could they be?
After playing a few rounds, they started to get restless. Shen Shaoyan saw through their intentions and didn't stop them.
Who told them to always bully him!
A girl, holding a wine glass, walked over. Looking ahead, her steps suddenly faltered. In the dim light, two tall boys sat in the corner of the private room, huddled together, whispering.
She decisively gave up and turned her steps towards the isolated Lu Yu, "Hello, I don't know your name yet?"
Lu Yu looked up, giving a faint glance, "Lu Yu."
The screen in his hand emitted a faint yellow light. The girl remembered seeing him looking at his phone as soon as she came in and asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
Lu Yu raised an eyebrow, "Are you interested in this too?"
The girl thought she had found a topic and nodded, "A little..."
Her voice cut off abruptly. Lu Yu handed his phone to her, and a diagram of human anatomy was prominently displayed on the screen.
She forced a smile, "You come to sing and still look at this, haha."
Lu Yu nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty interesting."
Girl, "..." Can't chat anymore, I'm leaving.
While that side was full of bizarre situations, Ji Linxue and Gu Hengzhi's side wasn't much better.
A girl wanted to come over and drink with Gu Hengzhi, but Ji Linxue stopped her, "He's not good with alcohol, he can't drink."
Gu Hengzhi looked innocent, holding Ji Linxue's hand, and nodded.
The girl wasn't angry, "He can't drink, what about you?"
Before Ji Linxue could speak, Gu Hengzhi stepped forward, "He can't drink either, he's allergic to alcohol."
Looking at their clasped hands, the girl instantly understood something and said generously, "Okay then, I wish you happiness."
Gu Hengzhi, "?"
Ji Linxue, "?"
Fortunately, this situation didn't last long. The cake Shen Shaoyan had ordered arrived. It was a large two-tiered cake, simple in style, covered with fresh fruit.
The singing in the private room was paused and replaced with the birthday song.
Under everyone's gaze, Ji Linxue closed his eyes, made a wish, and then blew out the candles.
He cut the cake and distributed it to everyone.
Just then, the private room door suddenly opened from the outside. A tall, handsome boy pushed the door open, slightly out of breath, "Sorry, I'm late."
His gaze swept through the crowd, finally landing on Ji Linxue, where it remained fixed.
Ji Linxue met his gaze, his eyes showing no ripple of emotion.
Pink Hair already knew another person was coming and quickly said, "It's good you're here. We're still cutting the cake. Come on in."
Zhao Xinye nodded, his eyes still fixed on Ji Linxue.
Ji Linxue withdrew his gaze. Immediately after, a warm chest pressed against his back. Gu Hengzhi said sarcastically, "Not very familiar? Then why are his eyes glued to you?"
Ji Linxue found his words a little strange but couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
He could only go along with it, "He's a junior high classmate, after all. Maybe we haven't seen each other in a long time."
Gu Hengzhi scoffed twice, fully expressing his dissatisfaction.
For the next ten minutes or so, wherever Ji Linxue went, Gu Hengzhi followed, even guarding him while he cut the cake, like a protective dog guarding its food.
Ji Linxue had no way to deal with him. He truly didn't know what Gu Hengzhi was upset about.
A regular classmate, was he worth all this fuss?
After pushing away an approaching head once more, Ji Linxue helplessly said, "Don't stick to me, it's hot."
Gu Hengzhi was a little reluctant but still silently stepped back.
The cake was large. After everyone received a slice, there was still a lot left. Zhao Xinye stood furthest from the crowd. Ji Linxue walked over and handed him a slice of the cut cake.
Gu Hengzhi, having been warned by Ji Linxue, could only stand a short distance away, staring intently.
"What's going on here?" Shen Shaoyan glanced over. He had been busy playing games and had no idea why another person had arrived.
And a guy too, tsk, not interested.
"Don't know," Gu Hengzhi said coldly.
He closely watched Ji Linxue's movements. He saw Ji Linxue hand the cake to the other person, his lips moved, seemingly saying something, and then he saw the boy in front of them blush at a visible speed.
Gu Hengzhi clenched his fists, making a cracking sound.
Shen Shaoyan watched this scene, feeling strange. He pursed his lips, "He's even shy. It's not a girl. What's there to blush about?"
Ji Linxue finished distributing the cake and returned, meeting two gazes. He tilted his head in confusion, "Finished eating the cake?"
"Not yet..." Shen Shaoyan hadn't finished speaking when he saw that the person who had just had a dark expression had now changed. Gu Hengzhi smiled brightly, his tone gentle, "Mm, I'd like another piece."
Shen Shaoyan, "..." Hypocritical! Truly hypocritical!
Ji Linxue found it amusing, "I'll cut it for you."
"Okay."
Ji Linxue returned to the cart and cut him a piece. Fortunately, the cake cream was of high quality and not too rich.
As he cut, Gu Hengzhi stood beside him, watching.
He asked seemingly casually, "What were you two just talking about?"
Ji Linxue handed him the cake, looking a little confused.
Gu Hengzhi had to repeat, "What did Zhao Xinye just talk to you about?"
Ji Linxue didn't expect him to remember someone else's name just from overhearing, "We just chatted casually. He asked me how I've been doing lately, and I said I was doing well."
Gu Hengzhi believed what he said, but he didn't trust that tall guy much.
A junior high classmate he hadn't contacted in years, who rushed over as soon as he heard news of Ji Linxue, and with that kind of reaction.
No matter how he thought about it, something wasn't right.
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