Chapter Ninety-Four: Brother and Sister

At noon, Cheng Xiaoyu treated Xia Shamo, Cheng Haoran, and Wang Ou to a meal in the teachers’ cafeteria to celebrate passing the performing arts entrance exam.

He had originally planned to go to a hotel outside the school for a proper feast, but Cheng Haoran thought it was too far, so he settled for the nearby faculty cafeteria on the second floor of the dining hall.

After some hesitation, Cheng Xiaoyu still sent a text to Su Yuxi: I’m taking a few close classmates to the second-floor teachers’ cafeteria for lunch. Will you come?

Not long after, Su Yuxi replied with just three words: Already eaten.

Cheng Xiaoyu sighed inwardly, feeling oddly disappointed for reasons he could not quite explain.

The faculty cafeteria on the second floor was only half the size of the student cafeteria on the first floor. Half of it consisted of private rooms. Teachers usually ate in those rooms, while the other half had open seating with round tables.

Cheng Xiaoyu found a seat and ordered braised meatballs, red-braised pork with tofu curd, poached chicken, sweet-and-sour fish, and several other dishes. Just as he returned the menu to the waiter, he saw Li Liwei, Gu Manting, and seven or eight other classmates coming up the stairs, laughing and talking among themselves. It looked like they had also been invited to a meal.

One of Gu Manting’s close female classmates had also passed the performing arts exam and was treating everyone here to celebrate. Cheng Xiaoyu did not even know the ordinary-looking girl’s name; he only knew she had been one of the people he had criticized before.

Because the restaurant was truly not large, and there happened to be an unusual number of people treating others to meals that day, Li Liwei and his group had no choice but to sit beside Cheng Xiaoyu’s table.

Li Liwei was quite polite. He came over to greet them and congratulate Cheng Xiaoyu on passing the exam. He was the sort of person with both high intelligence and high emotional intelligence. Though he had always been proud, he was never blindly arrogant. To him, Cheng Xiaoyu was an opponent worthy of respect. He had always believed that a formidable rival mattered more than an insignificant friend.

Gu Manting was very displeased with Li Liwei’s behavior. She felt he had embarrassed her in front of so many classmates and turned her face away with a pout. Li Liwei was a little awkward too. Among the ten of them, he was the only one who had bothered to greet Cheng Xiaoyu’s table.

Cheng Xiaoyu did not care much for this childish display of pique. He smiled back at Li Liwei and said thank you. As for the contemptuous looks from the neighboring table, he pretended not to see them.

Li Liwei’s group only dared to look on with disdain; none of them dared to actually do anything to Cheng Xiaoyu. His battle-scarred mastery of verbal sparring had left them with a deep and lasting impression. He cursed people without a single vulgar word, never repeated himself, and it was impossible not to服 him.

The whole atmosphere around them grew somewhat stifled, and even their conversation was kept hushed.

Besides Wang Ou, everyone at Cheng Xiaoyu’s table was the sort who could barely utter a word if pushed. So this corner was unusually quiet amid the noisy hall. Anyone who passed by would glance over, then quickly walk around them.

Fortunately, Cheng Xiaoyu and the others ate quickly. The moment they left, the table immediately burst into lively chatter.

Gu Manting could not help but scold Li Liwei. “Why did you even greet that fat guy?”

Li Liwei was not angry. He explained calmly, “After all, I am the class monitor. Besides, to defeat an enemy you have to know him. Don’t you think we know far too little about Cheng Xiaoyu?”

Gu Manting said disdainfully, though with no real confidence, “Isn’t he just some rich kid who can put on a show and write a couple of lousy poems? That’s all he’s got.”

Li Liwei did not argue with her. He merely smiled faintly. A woman who had lost her reason was incapable of sound judgment, and he could not be bothered to tell her that Cheng Xiaoyu had broken the record on yesterday’s performing arts exam at the drama academy. He was only thinking that once graduation came, it would be time to say goodbye to this girl.

The others did not know what Li Liwei was thinking. They all echoed Gu Manting’s words. After all, once people form a fixed impression, it is hard to change it in an instant. Someone who had once been a wastrel suddenly appearing transcendent and above the world was not easy for them to accept.

It was like a poor, shabby neighbor of yours suddenly winning a five-million prize and living a life of luxury. Ordinary people usually have only two reactions: try to get a little benefit from it, and if they cannot, then only jealousy and resentment remain.

That afternoon, the campus radio even played Blooming to the End, a song requested by a boy from the class next to Cheng Xiaoyu’s, as congratulations to Ji Yunyun for being admitted to the dance academy at the drama university.

But it was not Xia Shamo’s version. It was sung by Liu Huaming, and was clearly recorded in a studio.

Wang Ou was utterly devastated. He could hardly believe that people could be shameless to such an extent. It felt as though something belonging to Xia Shamo had been stolen from her. He looked at Cheng Xiaoyu with grievance. “Little Fatty, you can’t just sit there and do nothing about this!”

Cheng Xiaoyu naturally understood how terrifying people could be. For the sake of profit, many had no bottom line at all. So long as they could obtain what they wanted, there was nothing they would not do.

Besides, unless the song was being recorded for sale to make money, if it was only a cover, there was nothing Cheng Xiaoyu could do about it.

He looked at Wang Ou and smiled bitterly. “What can I do? You can’t expect me to seal someone else’s mouth with tape.”

Wang Ou said indignantly, “If they uploaded it to a music website, you can make them take it down.”

Cheng Xiaoyu shook his head. “They probably are not that stupid. Most likely they only posted it on some forums to boost their own fame.”

When Xia Shamo heard the song, she also turned to look at Cheng Xiaoyu, wanting to know what was going on. He could only shrug to show he did not know either.

Left with no better option, Cheng Xiaoyu could only think of calling Fu Xiyue after school to find out more.

The first class in the afternoon was physical education, since PE scores counted toward the college entrance examination, and there was no habit in this world of commandeering such classes for academic work. So it was rare indeed that physical education still existed for senior year students at this time.

Cheng Xiaoyu went to change into his sportswear. He had lost some weight lately and now weighed a little over one hundred and sixty jin. At present, he looked like a fair and somewhat handsome little fat boy, but the label of “fat” still clung to him, and true thinness remained far off.

In the gymnasium locker room, he changed with Wang Ou into their sports uniforms. The loose outfit now hung a little slack on him, so he tightened the drawstring at his waist and put on the white gym shoes.

Watching Wang Ou nearby, shirtless and revealing a body full of solid muscle and six well-defined abs, Cheng Xiaoyu could not help feeling envious. Wang Ou had won the national middle school games championships in both the one-hundred-meter and two-hundred-meter races, and after applying, had already been admitted without examination to the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education.

For the two of them, the remaining little more than a month was simply a time to savor the last of high school life.

When the two linked arms and walked into the gymnasium, most of the students were already gathered in the center on the left side.

But something about the scene seemed off to Cheng Xiaoyu. Most of the students were all looking toward the other side of the gym. He followed their gaze and discovered that the class taking PE over there was none other than Su Yuxi’s.

Without question, Su Yuxi was the center of everyone’s attention, wearing white-striped blue track pants and a white T-shirt, her ponytail tied to one side as she played basketball.

Even though she wore loose athletic pants, her hips were still beautifully rounded, her legs seemed especially long, and beneath the white T-shirt her chest rose in a graceful swell. It was not the kind of exaggerated fullness that bulged outward, but rather a shape and size that were just right, giving her an especially striking athletic beauty.

Especially when she dribbled, there was a lively rhythm to her movements. Sweat glistened on her fair cheeks and fell like sparkling diamonds. The eyes of the entire gym were fixed on her, yet she seemed completely unaware. With a clean, decisive turn and dribble, she gracefully shook off the girl blocking her path, then leaped into a textbook jump shot. The basketball swished through the net, and the whole gym erupted in thunderous applause.

Su Yuxi walked back expressionlessly. Her rose-colored lips were slightly parted, and the rise and fall of her chest added a touch of allure to her already delicate appearance.

For the first time, Cheng Xiaoyu realized that a girl playing basketball could be so pleasing to the eye. It was also the first time he understood that the seemingly frail Su Yuxi possessed such extraordinary athletic reflexes.

Their class whistle sounded for assembly, and Wang Ou slapped Cheng Xiaoyu on the butt. “Stop looking. The goddess Su and we are forever from different worlds.”

Cheng Xiaoyu refused to back down and slapped Wang Ou on the butt in return, laughing. “Don’t make her into some kind of saint. I think she’s just an ordinary girl inside.”

Wang Ou snorted. “Stop pretending you’re some romantic master. You’re still just a rookie who’s never even dated. If you dare go over and greet her right now, I, Wang Ou, will work like a mule for you for the rest of my life!”

Cheng Xiaoyu grinned. “You’d better not regret it.”

Seeing Cheng Xiaoyu’s sly smile, Wang Ou felt something was off, but he simply could not believe there could be any connection between Cheng Xiaoyu and Su Yuxi. He added, “And she has to reply to you for it to count!”

Cheng Xiaoyu frowned as though in mock difficulty. “That’s a bit hard, but not impossible.”

How could Wang Ou possibly be a match for a fox like Cheng Xiaoyu? He immediately took the bait and laughed. “Know when to retreat, boy. Goddess Su is not to be profaned by mortals. If you insist on risking your life, I won’t mind taking your knees as a trophy.”

Cheng Xiaoyu took one last look at the radiant Su Yuxi, said nothing, and entered the formation with Wang Ou. He felt a little ashamed at having made such a foolish bet with his own sister.

Blood ties are a remarkable thing. Once he knew she was his sister, an invisible thread naturally formed between them. Though Cheng Xiaoyu had never met Su Yuxi before, that did not in the least prevent him from feeling responsible for protecting her. No, more accurately, it was a duty.

No matter how divided things might be, no matter how unfriendly Su Yuxi’s attitude toward him, he ought to be the one standing in front of her when danger came. Such an act was as inevitable as it was self-evident.

Love built upon blood ties is often greater than love between man and woman, because it is more selfless and pure, like the love of parents or the love between brother and sister.

Through all the upheavals of life, husband and wife may one day part.

But no matter how the world changes, a brother and sister will always remain brother and sister.