Chapter 86 - Transfer (1)
Li Jinyuan didn’t hesitate too long before he decided to transfer to another school.
Zhong Yuhuan wasn’t surprised.
He was, after all, a male lead in a book. He might be tender and gentlemanly on the outside, but for sure he had his own decisiveness and strength underneath it.
What surprised Zhong Yuhuan was that Huo Chengming switched to a different school as well immediately after him.
Zhong Yuhuan couldn’t help but smile as she asked, “Are you two going to spy on each other?”
“No!” said the two almost simultaneously.
“Okay, then you switch too. But I am staying here. Once I get into college, there will be much more freedom.” There weren’t a lot of academic requirements in the high school here, but there were a lot of extracurricular activities that occupied most of Zhong Yuhuan’s life, much like she was back in China. Zhong Yuhuan was happy where she was and didn’t want to change.
The two quickly completed their applications to transfer and switched to a high school nearby.
It was an alright high school, but the male lead and the villain have very strong ability to learn, so the studying environment should not be that important. As such, Zhong Yuhuan didn’t have too much opinion on this.
Zhong Yuhuan took a day off on the day that they started at the new school, and the three went to the new high school together.
Zhong Yuhuan watched them walk inside the school before she turned around and started walking away.
On the other end, Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan were barely a few steps into the school before they exchanged a look and suddenly remembering something. They turned around and ran back out after her.
Zhong Yuhuan heard footsteps behind her and turned around. She saw the two tall young man following behind her.
“Eh? What’s the matter?” asked Zhong Yuhuan as she stopped walking.
“It’s not safe on the road,” said Li Jinyuan.
“We will take you back,” said Huo Chengming.
Zhong Yuhuan didn’t know what to say to that, “I came here with you, then you go back with me. Are we just going to go back and forth like this?”
“We will take you back, and you won’t need to come back with us again,” said Huo Chengming as he grabbed her wrist before she could say anything else and waved down a taxi.
Once the taxi had stopped in front of them, Huo Chengming was the first to get in, then he pulled Zhong Yuhuan into the taxi, followed closely by Li Jinyuan. Once they were all seated, Li Jinyuan quickly closed the door.
Zhong Yuhuan sat down obediently and said, “Okay, then you two take me back to my school and come back here.”
The tensed Huo Chengming finally relaxed and said, “Mmm.”
Li Jinyuan started to smile a little as well.
After they the taxi arrived at their previous school, Li Jinyuan opened up the car door and got out. Zhong Yuhuan, on the other hand, said to the driver, “Don’t go yet. They will take your car back.” Having said that, she got out of the car.
Huo Chengming was going to get out as well before Zhong Yuhuan gave him a stare. “Chengming-ge ge, did you really want me to take you two back again? That’s too much of a hassle. We will be tired.”
Having said that, Zhong Yuhuan stood next to Li Jinyuan. With her hand to his back, she pushed him toward the car, “Hurry up. Go!”
Li Jinyuan stood next to the car and didn’t move.
Zhong Yuhuan blinked at him and saved goodbye to him, “I am taking off now!”
Having said that, she turned around and walked toward the entrance of the school.
Slowly, she walked farther and farther away.
Huo Chengming, sitting inside the car, said in a deep voice, “Li Jinyuan, you are in my way.”
Li Jinyuan frowned a little and shuffled aside a little so Huo Chengming could be able to see the back of Zhong Yuhuan as she walked away.
They still did not leave.
It was after Zhong Yuhuan had completely disappeared from their sight before Li Jinyuan slowly got back into the car.
The two young men sat quite far apart, with an obvious spot in between them. The separation was clear.
“Let’s go,” said Huo Chengming in a low voice.
And the driver stepped on the gas pedal.
Zhong Yuhuan walked for a little and looked up at the sky. The sky seemed a little low; like it was about to rain.
That was normal.
It rained 9 out of 10 days here. Never heavy rain, and there was no need for an umbrella.
Zhong Yuhuan licked her lips and felt a bit odd inside of her.
Was it because it was the first time they were apart in years?
They were in different schools now.
Zhong Yuhuan wrinkled her nose and thought to herself; why did I have to see myself like an old hen?
It was natural that the male lead and the villain needed to experience their own life.
They were not her kids!
Chapter 87 - Transfer (2)
As she was walking, a white boy walked by her. He smiled at her and used her English name, “Heloise, you left school today?”
Zhong Yuhuan nodded.
She knew this boy. He had deep green eyes, tall nose, and a commonly-seen pretty face for a white boy his age. When he smiled, he looked like an angel.
She had met him before during a debating contest; they were both debaters.
She couldn’t remember his name anymore.
Zhong Yuhuan frowned slightly.
But, the interruption by the white boy had dissipated the odd feelings that she had earlier.
The boy changed his direction and walked alongside Zhong Yuhuan, “Have you joined this other event? It’s very interesting,” said the boy to her excitedly.
Zhong Yuhuan was always interested in all sorts of random events, so she chatted with the boy until she was in front of her classroom building.
“I have to go upstairs,” said Zhong Yuhuan as she pointed above.
The boy nodded and said, “Okay, I will meet you at the library next time. I have this book that I swear you’d love. I must recommend it to you! Off you go now!”
Zhong Yuhuan smiled at him and said, “Alright.”
As she was walking away, the boy said loudly behind her, “Hah! I knew you have forgotten my name. My name is Langdon!”
Zhong Yuhuan paused in her way and smiled much more sincerely to him this time, “Okay, I will remember it this time.”
As he was friendly and passionate and announced his own name in poise, it wouldn’t hurt for her to be a little friendly toward him.
As she returned to the classroom and taken her seat, Zhong Yuhuan flipped open her textbook in front of her and that odd sensation that she was feeling earlier returned.
Was she sad that they were gone?
Zhong Yuhuan looked down and stared at the book in front of her.
Zhong Yuhuan pursed her lips, forced herself to feel more cheerful, and continued to stare at the book in front of her.
***
Zhong Yuhuan always had very high adaptability.
After a month of this new life, the odd sensation that she had felt had finally lessened. Li Jinyuan had gradually appeared more and more in magazines and videos. Huo Chengming, on the other hand, would give her a call once a day, rain or shine. He seemed to be quite busy as well, and every time he called her was time that he squeezed out during his breaks.
One time, Zhong Yuhuan could tell that he was tired just from his voice.
And another time, Huo Chengming went silent half way through their phone call.
Zhong Yuhuan knew what Li Jinyuan was up to, but she had no idea how Huo Chengming was so busy. She thought about it long and hard and finally gave Chen Mingye a call.
Chen Mingye picked up the phone quickly and asked on the other end, “What’s going on, Huanhuan?”
Zhong Yuhuan briefly mentioned her thoughts about Huo Chengming to him, “You don’t need to look into him for me. I just want to understand that there were no undesirable elements around him is all…”
Chen Mingye chuckled loudly, “And here I was wondering what was going on. So that was why you called? Xiao Huo didn’t mention to you? He was helping me out on something.”
Zhong Yuhuan trusted Lang Jinzhi quite a bit.
Lang Jinzhi had very high standards for himself. Never mind about anything else, at least he was a straight shooter. And since Chen Mingye was the friend that he picked to take care of her, then he would also be a trustworthy person.
Zhong Yuhuan thought about it for a little bit and didn’t ask any more about what was it that Huo Chengming was helping him with.
Now that she knew he wasn’t in any trouble, she didn’t need to worry anymore.
They had all started doing their own things as they headed into their adulthood.
Zhong Yuhuan felt that it was also about time for her to learn more. Everything would be useful when she returned to China.
“Mr. Chen, let’s do lunch some time.”
“Sure!” replied Chen Mingye happily.
“I should let you go then,” said Zhong Yuhuan before she hung up.
She put her cellphone away.
She suddenly felt much more relieved.
So it wasn’t that difficult to raise the male lead and villain after all.
“Heloise!” came a boy’s voice from not too far away.
Zhong Yuhuan turned around and saw Langdon standing there, waving at her, “I haven’t seen you in a while, now that I have run into you today, let’s go see that book that I told you about…”
Chapter 88 - School is Out (1)
The first quarter went by without anyone noticing.
Everybody exchanged gifts and contact information, and one by one departed from the school.
Zhong Yuhuan gave Chloe a call ahead of time, so Chloe was already waiting at the front of the school for her. Zhong Yuhuan’s plan was to get into the car first then go pick up Huo Chengming. As for Li Jinyuan, he might not be at school.
Zhong Yuhuan happily picked up her backpack and headed outside.
She had just gotten downstairs before Langdon walked toward her and asked, “Going home?”
Zhong Yuhuan nodded.
Langdon smiled at her. There was a hint of shyness in his smile, but the words coming from him was very direct, “Lucas from your class had invited people from our class to go camping over the weekend… Are you going too? If so, I can go with you to pick up everything you’d need.”
Zhong Yuhuan looked at him.
He had a passionate look on him, and he wasn’t trying to hide it.
Zhong Yuhuan had finally realized that for the young boys and girls overseas, they were already old enough to date, or even have intimate contacts.
In her previous life, Zhong Yuhuan had been in and out of the hospital a lot, so she had never dated.
Even though she had always been aware of how passionate boys overseas were, she still couldn’t handle the way that Langdon was looking at her.
“Usually these items would be prepared by the assistants at home,” said Zhong Yuhuan in a roundabout way.
“Oh, that’s too bad. I have a lot of tips and hints on how to pick out these items and been meaning to share them with you.” Langdon did not try very hard to cover up the disappointment on him. His bright, green eyes looked straight at Zhong Yuhuan and in them, filled with his fondness for her.
As soon as Langdon had finished saying that, Zhong Yuhuan heard an unfamiliar voice coming from not too far from her, “Huanhuan.”
Zhong Yuhuan looked around and saw Li Jinyuan in a white sweater and a pair of light blue jeans. He looked clean and refreshing with no extra adornments. One could even say that he dressed a lot like someone walking straight out of a youth, puppy love show.
“Huanhuan,” Li Jinyuan noticed that she was looking at him and said her name again as he approached her faster.
Had Langdon not knew who Li Jinyuan was before, he certainly did now.
He stared at Li Jinyuan and said, “You are the… Li… Li....”
“Li Jinyuan,” said Li Jinyuan.
Langdon looked at Li Jinyuan, then at Zhong Yuhuan. With a heart-broken look, he said, “I see. Okay, I get it now. I’ll take off now. See you on camping day.”
He had already seen Li Jinyuan on TV for a few times. This was the Asian boy who started the Asian trend in the country and had a lot of fans. Even Langdon thought he was very good looking, so how could he possibly compete with him?
Having said that, Langdon left dispirited.
Zhong Yuhuan figured it out right away. Langdon had misunderstood. He thought she and Li Jinyuan were a couple?
How was that possible?
Zhong Yuhuan wasn’t sure what to make out of that.
But Langdon was already long gone and, naturally, she didn’t have a chance to explain.
She could only look on the bright side – at least Langdon wouldn’t be courting her openly from now on.
“Who’s that?” asked Li Jinyuan.
“A debater that I have met in a debating contest in the past. His name is Langdon.”
“He was talking to you just because you have been in the same debating contest together?” asked Li Jinyuan as he frowned. “Was his intention pure?”
That was more or less Langdon’s thoughts as well.
From Langdon’s perspective, an Asian look like that of Li Jinyuan’s was terribly attractive.
And, in the eyes of Li Jinyuan, a pretty body like Langdon might very well be Zhong Yuhuan’s type.
He didn’t know that Langdon’s look was quite common among westerners.
“The culture is more open overseas so dating at a younger age is quite common. I guess he has a little bit of that intention,” said Zhong Yuhuan helplessly.
Chapter 89 - School is Out (2)
Li Jinyuan took away her backpack with one hand, just like he had done that many times in the past with her previous bunny backpack.
He pursed his lips and tried hard to hide the unpleasantness in his eyes as he said softly, “Huanhuan, you can’t date too early.”
Zhong Yuhuan couldn’t help but chuckle, “The younger brother wants to interfere with the older sister’s affairs?”
“Of course,” said Li Jinyuan quickly.
Zhong Yuhuan turned and gave Li Jinyuan a closer look. His disposition has become more and more elegant. Each movement of his arm or leg exuded his attraction, no doubt a quality that he had gained through his experience from his shows.
Zhong Yuhuan asked, “What about you?”
“Me?” Li Jinyuan licked his lips and said softly, “I will, of course, not date early. I listen to the words of my big sister.” This was the first time he had referred to her as “big sister” since a long time ago. He was already a young man who was much taller than her, but there was still a shred of whininess in his tone.
Zhong Yuhuan couldn’t resist smiling. She shook her head. “I didn’t say you can’t date early. If there’s a girl that you have your heart set on, go right ahead. But you must be a responsible boy, don’t be like that Barbarian Nan.”
The Barbarian Nan she was talking about referred to Young Master Nan.
Hearing the two words “Barbarian Nan” immediately reminded Li Jinyuan that Zhong Yuhuan’s betrothal was arranged when she was just a child between her and Barbarian Nan.
Li Jinyuan didn’t look too happy ,but he immediately covered that up. He shook his head and said in a soft voice, “No, I am not going to do that. Not interested.”
For someone of Li Jinyuan’s age, being fond of the opposite gender was quite normal. Hearing his words, Zhong Yuhuan couldn’t help but asked curiously, “Then what is interesting?”
Li Jinyuan replied without hesitation, “Earning money for Huanhuan to spend. Be a more successful person so I can support Huanhuan in the future.”
Zhong Yuhuan couldn’t help but chuckle.
Hearing that certainly made her happy.
It had further proven to her that she had made the right decision bringing them home with her.
Zhong Yuhuan smiled and said, “I already have more than enough money to spend.”
Li Jinyuan smiled and said, “It’s not the same.”
“Eh? How is it not the same?”
Zhong Yuhuan looked at him quizzically, but Li Jinyuan had no intention to elaborate on that. He took one of her fingers in his hand and said, “Too crowded here. I don’t want to get separated.”
What Zhong Yuhuan wanted to say was “we are too old to get separated”, but she didn’t voice that thought after all. He meant well, why ruin something nice?
So, instead, she muttered a “mmm” softly.
When the two of them walked out of the school entrance, it had taken more than 10 minutes already.
It had just dawned on Zhong Yuhuan, “You don’t have work today?”
“Wei-ge arranged a day off for me knowing that you have today off.”
Zhong Yuhuan smiled and said, “That’s wonderful. Let’s go pick up Huo Chengming.”
Li Jinyuan suddenly went silent.
Eh?
Zhong Yuhuan turned her head and looked at him quizzically.
The moment that she turned to look at him was when he said, “Oh, okay.”
Zhong Yuhuan’s phone rang right after that.
She took out her phone and took a look at the caller ID and couldn’t help but chuckle, “Speaking of the devil.” She answered the call and said, “Hello?”
It was Huo Chengming’s voice coming from the other end, “Huanhuan, have you left the school yet?”
“Yeah, right outside the front door right now.”
“Wait there, I will be right over.”
“Huh?” Zhong Yuhuan blinked quizzically.
Huo Chengming did not hang up the phone, neither did he talk anymore.
Zhong Yuhuan looked around the school and finally spotted a black BMW slowly approaching her and stopped right in front of the school.
Li Jinyuan hadn’t said another word except to stare intently at the leaf that fell on top of Zhong Yuhuan’s shoulder.
He wanted to lift his hand and brush it off.
Chapter 90 - School is Out (3)
Then, the door of the BMW opened and Lisa was the first to get out before she opened up the door to the backseat.
The slender legs of the young man were the first out of the car, before the rest of his body.
He had on a black baseball jacket and black pants. At first glance, he even looked a little vicious.
But, his expression immediately softened the next minute.
He handed a bag over to Zhong Yuhuan.
Zhong Yuhuan took the bag from him and opened it up. Inside were chocolates and donuts. They smelled good and probably were freshly made, but…
Zhong Yuhuan shook her head and said, “Chengming-ge ge is such a straight man.”
It was apparent that Huo Chengming wasn’t quite certain about the meaning of that. He stared at Zhong Yuhuan. There was a shred of anxiousness in his vicious look. “Eh? What does that mean?”
Zhong Yuhuan shook her head again and said, “It’s a compliment.”
Lisa, standing beside them, smiled and said, “The gift that Mr. Huo prepared for Miss Zhong would cause her to gain weight. Girls are always worried about gaining weight.”
Immediately, Huo Chengming didn’t know what to do. He reached out to take the bag back, but felt that it was wrong to take a gift back. Now his hand was just hanging there in midair and he explained dryly, “I didn’t know… I didn’t think about that…”
“It’s alright. Having it once in a while won’t make me gain weight. They smell really good.” As she was talking, she pulled out a wet towelette from her purse and wiped her hands before she reached inside the back, cracked open a slit on the transparent, plastic box, pulled out a truffle ,and sucked on it.
“Sweet,” said Zhong Yuhuan as she smiled and squinted her eyes. “Having sweets make one happy.”
As she was talking, she pulled out another one and brought it over next to Huo Chengming’s mouth.
Her fingers were a little warm and soft. Huo Chengming paused for a bit and opened his mouth reflexively. Carefully, he bit the truffle while avoiding her fingers.
This wasn’t a good choice; it was a piece of dark chocolate and bitter.
But when the bitterness hit his tongue, it seemed to be converting into sweetness slowly.
Huo Chengming dared not even chew on it but just have it in his mouth. He slurred, “Mmm, it’s sweet.”
Zhong Yuhuan turned to Li Jinyuan and asked, “You want?”
Li Jinyuan stared at her fingers for a little and smiled, “Yes, I want Huanhuan to pick one out for me. I’m not worried about getting fat.”
“Nonsense, you are a model. Of course you worry about getting fat. Just one, okay?” said Zhong Yuhuan as she fished out another truffle.
She walked up a few steps, stopped in front of Li Jinyuan, and produced a truffle in front of his lips.
Li Jinyuan, too, carefully took the truffle with his teeth.
This one tasted even worse than the last. It was a piece of white chocolate. It was already sweet enough all by itself. Li Jinyuan had it in his mouth, he could taste its sweetness without even chewing. The sweetness took over his mouth, throat, and all his organ… as though his entire body was soaked in syrup. So sweet that he couldn’t even resist.
Zhong Yuhuan hadn’t noticed that at all.
She pushed the bag slightly toward Lisa and smiled, “Even though Lisa also needs to watch her weight like me, you must try one too.”
Lisa smiled and waved her hand, “No, it’s alright. This wasn’t easy to get. There were a lot of tourists and the quantity was limited. It wasn’t easy for Mr. Huo to get a small bag of these. Miss Zhong should keep them to herself.”
Zhong Yuhuan didn’t want to be too forceful, so she just nodded and put the bag away.
She did, however, noticed something else.
Lisa’s attitude toward Huo Chengming seemed to be even more respectful than before.