-
Cheng Buxi didn't know what had happened, but she clearly sensed that her extremely busy elder brother was in a bad mood. The line of his jaw was sharp and straight, adding to his cold and stern appearance. She assumed it was a work issue and didn't ask further.
He rarely drove, but his skills were second to none.
Passing through the long, narrow path lined with tall goldenrain trees on both sides, the wind blew, and the accumulated rainwater dripped down sparsely, hitting the car windows. The bright yellow streetlights were blurred into distant spots.
After the rain, the view was dark with hints of ice blue, with bits of gold scattered everywhere.
Cheng Buxi thought he was driving particularly slowly tonight. She glanced at the dashboard—barely over 30 km/h. "Why are you driving so slow..." she said, feeling restless.
"In a hurry? I remember your class is tomorrow morning," he raised an eyebrow, his voice light and flawless.
"I just... want to go back early to review. There's an exam tomorrow."
"Mm, the road is slippery after rain. Better to drive slowly."
"..."
What a joke? The road is slippery? Then who was it that won the F1 championship that year, and the national riding and shooting competition? Compared to those rugged and dangerous tracks, this road was as smooth as could be, child's play. Cheng Buxi couldn't be bothered to say more.
Slow is fine; it's not like she was the one driving.
The A8's seats were indeed comfortable, no wonder they were the top choice for executives. They could even make her bones limp. As her body relaxed, her mind began to wander, fixating on the past.
Cheng Buxi stared at the street scenes flickering by outside the window, her mind repeatedly replaying the scene from the study earlier.
The woman claiming to be an assistant had an incredibly seductive face and did work like a hostess. And she? Simple, childish, unreasonable when things went wrong, prone to tears and rudeness.
She had always been gentle in the eyes of strangers, never harboring such hostility or prejudice toward anyone. Raised to always be grateful.
But tonight, she was terrible, no different from those petty, insidious gossips. Now, upon calm reflection, all she felt was regret, even her eyes tinged with a sullen, malicious look, reflected on the car window.
The car was playing Massenet's "Meditation" on repeat. The violin piece was tranquil and peaceful, like a maiden devoutly confessing to God.
Should she also confess for her actions?
And so, with these messy thoughts, she drifted off to sleep.
Little did she know, the person beside her had been watching her closely all along.
-
When she woke up, the car had already stopped at the school gate, and she didn't know how long it had been parked.
Cheng Buxi rubbed her eyes, making a sound like a kitten.
It was already very late. There was a curfew at this hour, and there were few people at the gate.
Lu Tingzhou was concentrating on helping her organize her copy of "Mankiw's Principles of Economics," his demeanor focused and tall. Although she had solemnly brought the book home, she hadn't opened a single page.
—When she was little, she wasn't kind to her books, a true little slacker. Her books were often in a mess, with creases and folds on every corner.
Back then, her elder brother had already shown his extremely strong patience and his nature as a patient older brother. Those messy, crumpled books he organized to be as neat as brand new, smoothing out every corner and edge.
Today was no exception, including that erotic manga—seeing her slowly waking up, Lu Tingzhou glanced at her and spoke softly: "I'm staying in Huadong tonight. Do you want to come with me, or go back to school?"
Huadong was his territory, filled with a dazzling array of star-rated hotels and ultra-luxurious shopping districts, and its income-generating ability was evident to all.
As he spoke, he handed her the books, his eyes bright like stars in the deep night, trembling with a hint of anticipation. Cheng Buxi took the two "bomb books" with mixed feelings, pursed her lips, and whispered, "School..."
Her elder brother's jaw tightened slightly. He didn't insist, just hummed in acknowledgment.
Perhaps not completely giving up, he added, "If you want to come, call me anytime."
Then, "This car—" he paused, "I'll park it in the Huadong parking lot."
Cheng Buxi nodded like a chick pecking rice, her mind solely focused on making a quick escape.
Just as she opened the car door, his warm, old-fashioned voice sounded from behind, carrying a hint of the superior's archaic lecturing: "Xiaoxi, you should practice driving."
As if reciting a binding spell on the spot, she stumbled, almost hitting her head.
Lu Tingzhou showed a reproachful expression, about to ask if she was hurt, but Cheng Buxi, without any hesitation, quickly opened the door and got out: "Brother, I'm leaving! Drive safe!"
With that, she left, fleeing, not giving him any chance to reproach.
The car still remained in place. She didn't look back even once.
...
Back in the dormitory, Cheng Buxi just wanted to lie down and end this chaotic day.
Just as she put down her books, "You're back quite late," said Guan Qianru.
Sister Guan was the dorm leader, older than the rest, and keen on matchmaking Cheng Buxi with her cheap cousin.
Zhang Hangyu, a freshman, had fallen in love at first sight with Cheng Buxi in the lecture hall, and later, upon learning she was in the same dorm as his cousin, he started showing up now and then to get familiar. Guan Qianru had hinted many times, but nothing came of it.
Cheng Buxi hummed softly without saying anything. She took off her jacket and went straight into the bathroom.
Hu Die from the next dorm was also there; she had come to visit. She had been in the lecture hall too. Her eyes followed Cheng Buxi as she moved, and being envious of the latter's renowned beauty, she recognized the logo on the jacket casually hung on the rack and said cattily, "You went out and changed your whole outfit. Oh my, it's Arc'teryx."
Then she noticed that Cheng Buxi's attire was much more stylish than usual: "Dressed up all glamorous, don't tell me you've been kept..."
Guan Qianru, who had sharp ears, caught this comment and her expression was quite amusing: "Huh? Really? Don't make things up!"
Almost at the same time, Feng Yuan snorted, "Arc'teryx doesn't have this style. It must be fake."
Hu Die showed a look of sudden realization: "Oh, so it's fake. Usually, she puts on airs, but who'd have thought she's that kind of person."
Gao Yabin, who had been ignoring them, couldn't bear it any longer. She swiveled her chair to face them, as if interrogating a prisoner: "I say, Feng Yuan, when your family was in trouble and you almost couldn't afford to go to school, Cheng Buxi was the one in the dorm who donated the most. Saying this now is a bit like biting the hand that feeds you, don't you think? A master of backstabbing. Besides, how do you know it's fake?"
Hu Die, a typical paper tiger, shrank back and played deaf and dumb without evidence.
"Why is it not?! I checked the official website, and this style doesn't exist there. If it's not fake, what is it?" Feng Yuan, with her inferiority complex and stubbornness, slammed her phone onto the table. "Don't believe me? Check for yourself! Am I wrong?"
Her reaction was so intense that one might think someone had bullied her. But it was she and Hu Die who started the trouble and gossiped. In the blink of an eye, they had become the victims.
Gao Yabin couldn't be bothered to deal with them. A bunch of gossiping small-minded people, just wagging their tongues. They'd behave once they got a good slap in the face.
As for the jacket that didn't exist on the official website, Lu Siyu was a darling of the fashion world, enjoying top-tier resources. Unlike celebrities who relied on endorsements, her family background spoke for itself. Even if she sat there without a word, plenty of people would flock to her. She was born with capital and never played pretend.
Major brands scrambled to curry favor with her. It was perfectly normal for her to have unreleased styles to wear first.
This windbreaker jacket happened to be in her suitcase; someone must have packed it. It was too small for her, so she gave it to Cheng Buxi. Who else to spoil if not the little sister at home?
These dormmates were too shallow; how could they have seen good things outside their frame? Cheng Buxi couldn't be bothered to explain. After all, reasoning with narrow-minded, self-centered people was a waste of energy, completely unnecessary. She had been living freely for the past three years, which was rare enough. She had long let go.
Changing into her usual clothes, Cheng Buxi came out of the bathroom.
She felt the dorm atmosphere wasn't right, but she had no energy to figure it out or handle it. All she wanted was to lie down. But the heavens didn't comply.
Xiao Yingying from the opposite bed burst in noisily, wearing leather jacket and leather pants, clearly from a date. She blurted out without preamble: "Who was the man who drove you back just now? An Audi A8 with plates ending in three 3s."
"Cheng Buxi, did you latch onto a sugar daddy?"
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the dormmates were simply bizarre, as entertaining as a talk show.
Author's note: ----------------------