Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Can We Still Be Brothers After This?
Xu Xu sat at his desk, gripping a pen and poking small holes into his eraser, venting his anger one jab at a time.
This eraser was given to him by Wang Jiayue. She bought three in total, one for him, and one for Zhao Meimei, so each of the three got one.
Xu Xu frowned, pouting, and stubbornly jabbed a perfectly good eraser into something resembling a honeycomb coal.
Xu Xu found Zhao Meimei and asked, "What do you mean by this?"
Zhao Meimei lifted her thin eyelids, looked at Xu Xu, and said nothing.
Xu Xu’s fair face flushed with a hint of anger, almost like a heated interrogation, "Why did you scratch my name out from the tutoring class enrollment! Do you look down on me, or what?"
Zhao Meimei held back for a while before saying earnestly, "With your grades, you really don’t need tutoring. It’s three hundred per subject, why give the money to the teacher? Why are you going to the tutoring class? To do homework?"
Xu Xu said deflated, "I still want to go anyway!"
Zhao Meimei, feeling a bit helpless, closed her eyes as her head ached, and after a moment of silence, she asked, "Do you dislike Zhang Zhao? Are you upset because I played with him? It’s really not necessary, Xu Xu, to me, my best friends are you and Da Bao, honestly! When have I ever lied to you?"
Xu Xu kicked at the small stones underfoot, suddenly feeling a heat in his eyes, stubbornly saying, "If he keeps sticking around you, will you still have room for me in your heart?"
Zhao Meimei glanced at him and grew a bit impatient, "Xu Xu, what’s wrong with you today? If it’s because of Zhang Zhao, it’s really not necessary. And you, be honest, since we met, have I ever looked down on you? I scratched your name off the tutoring list without your permission, made a decision on my own, that was my fault, I’m apologizing, okay? In the future, I won’t do anything like this without asking you first!"
As Zhao Meimei spoke, she suddenly grew a bit displeased, feeling her good intentions had been treated like food for a dog—a particularly good-looking breed that makes one feel unwilling to scold anyway!
Zhao Meimei suppressed her anger, thickening her skin, and coaxed, "I was doing it for your own good, wasn’t I? Why would I care about this for anyone else?"
Zhao Meimei reached out and patted Xu Xu’s arm, saying, "Xu Xu, don’t worry, no matter when, you’re my best friend."
Xu Xu: "..."
As Zhao Meimei left, Xu Xu stared with wide eyes at Zhao Meimei’s ponytail swaying back and forth, and with a sour expression, he kicked away an innocent pebble, thinking to himself, yeah, I’m your best friend, but the one in your heart has never been me.
Zhao Meimei turned towards the teaching building, planning to use the restroom before class. Just as she climbed to the second floor, Zhang Zhao caught up with her.
Zhang Zhao’s school uniform revealed the hoodie inside; he was tall and slim, making the hoodie look quite cool.
Zhang Zhao blocked Zhao Meimei’s way, shot a look at her: "Come over, let’s talk."
Zhao Meimei followed him, the two veered to the side corridor, standing side by side by the window.
Zhang Zhao nudged her with his elbow, "Is it because of me that you’re at odds with Xu Xu?"
Zhao Meimei thought of Xu Xu again, feeling a headache, but she couldn’t bring herself to badmouth Xu Xu in front of Zhang Zhao. She shook her head, "It’s not because of you."
Zhang Zhao glanced at her, pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "You’re not angry with me, are you?"
Zhao Meimei raised her eyebrows, slowly, "...I’m not angry with you."
Zhang Zhao discreetly breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you’d feel I went overboard because of what happened this morning."
Zhao Meimei replied, "This can’t be blamed on you, don’t overthink it."
Zhang Zhao snorted, "That’s what you think, but others might be petty. Who knows what they are cursing me for in their hearts right now!"
Zhao Meimei thought of something, and couldn’t help but laugh, "Honestly, you’re quite capable, managing to make Xu Xu cuss... Haha... Ever since I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him lose his temper! Actually, I really admire you, haha!!"
Zhang Zhao was flustered by Zhao Meimei’s heartless remarks.
Zhang Zhao glanced at her, stopped pursuing the matter, the two stood silently for a while. Zhang Zhao tugged at the corner of his mouth, calmly spoke: "I get close to you purely because I find you interesting, nothing else."
Zhao Meimei glanced aside, "You wouldn’t dare have other ideas!"
Zhang Zhao teased, "Right, if I had ideas about you, your guy would beat me to find my teeth all over the ground, wouldn’t he?"
Zhao Meimei felt a sweet shiver at his words, "your guy," suddenly clearing the previously clogged feelings. Recalling Shi Yang’s stylish toss of a thousand yuan towards her in the morning, the gesture was quite impressive.
Zhao Meimei’s eyes filled with a smile, she kicked Zhang Zhao lightly, "Alright, stop messing around, I need to go to the restroom, class is starting soon."
Zhang Zhao stepped aside, giving her room.
Zhao Meimei took off running, just two steps in, Zhang Zhao called out from behind, "Hey! Are you still going to be buddies with me in the future?"
Zhao Meimei abruptly stopped, turned back, smiling at Zhang Zhao, "Of course!"
After saying this, Zhao Meimei quickly ran away.
Standing behind her, Zhang Zhao suddenly grinned, showing a row of white teeth.
He stood for a while longer before turning to leave, casually humming two lines of a song: "Whether it’s a cloudy day, whether it’s a rainy day, my heart will be a sunny day..."
After school at night, Xu Xu deliberately farted around with packing his bag, smoothing out his textbooks one by one, then took a cloth to clean his desk again, all while secretly glancing at Zhao Meimei.
Wang Jiayue was on duty today. Zhao Meimei was hunched over her desk doing homework, not giving him even a passing glance.
Xu Xu felt uneasy, wanting to make up, yet a bit embarrassed, and afraid Zhao Meimei was genuinely angry with him.
Xu Xu’s heart wrestled back and forth until Wang Jiayue finished cleaning and returned to her seat.
Wang Jiayue packed up her bag, glanced at the still tangled Xu Xu, and went to Zhao Meimei proactively, saying, "Meimei, I’m ready, let’s go!"
Zhao Meimei looked up and replied with a smile, "Okay!"
Xu Xu stood in front of the classroom with Wang Jiayue, waiting for Zhao Meimei.
Once Zhao Meimei quickly packed her things and followed them out, Xu Xu hesitated, then quickly looked up at Zhao Meimei. Just one glance dispelled all his worries; how could Zhao Meimei be mad over such a trivial matter? Others might not know what she’s like, but he does!
In his mind, Xu Xu slapped himself hard and scolded, "Serves you right for being a fool!"
He didn’t hesitate any longer, reached out to take Zhao Meimei’s bag, the two exchanged looks without any additional apologies, but they both knew that the matter was completely resolved, what happened was bygone.