"Please, Xiao Shu! You're the only one who can help me!"
Ji Shuhe was dizzy from being yanked by her sleeve. She quickly held down the girl beside her and said helplessly, "An Qing, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I really don't know Wen Shaoyu well. I don't have his phone number, WeChat, or QQ."
The girl in front of Ji Shuhe was her new deskmate, a lively and outgoing person who could chat with anyone—a textbook social butterfly.
Sure enough, not long after school started, she had gotten to know everyone in the class. By chance, she sat next to Ji Shuhe, who was sensitive and quiet, and had helped her solve many social problems.
Although their personalities were polar opposites, pure teenage friendship couldn't be stopped. Ji Shuhe got along well with An Qing, who complemented her.
One would often sneak naps in class, while the other listened attentively and had to secretly wake the sleeper. Their division of labor was clear, but occasional mishaps happened when they weren't in sync. After several rounds of this strange adjustment, even Ji Shuhe had become a bit more lively.
Especially after learning that An Qing had also moved out of Yong'anli, their friendship instantly deepened into mutual understanding without any need for testing.
From deskmate to friend, An Qing became the first friend Ji Shuhe recognized in Xinhai.
With this friendship, Ji Shuhe couldn't outright refuse.
At this moment, An Qing's doll-like face had her big, watery round eyes fixed on her with a pleading look. Her eyes drooped at the corners, her gaze focused, resembling Lizi when it acted spoiled. Ji Shuhe wanted to blindly agree to all her requests.
Unfortunately, it involved Wen Shaoyu.
Ever since that day when Wen Shaoyu made a scene in front of his biological father, attracting the neighbors' attention and finally angering Granny Zheng to the point of taking heart medicine, Ji Shuhe hadn't dared to talk to him for several days.
She had heard something about the past between him and his father.
Wen Shaoyu's mother had been in poor health, bedridden for years before passing away. But soon after, his father married her close friend to become his stepmother, claiming that since they were familiar, she would take care of Wen Shaoyu out of old friendship.
Regardless of the timeline of that relationship and whether Wen Shaoyu's mother knew, Wen Shaoyu couldn't accept someone he almost regarded as a godmother becoming his stepmother. He made a big fuss at home and came to Yong'anli to live with his grandmother.
The father and son barely saw each other except during holidays, and as long as they didn't interact, it seemed they could get along. But once they met, they would inevitably argue painfully.
Ji Shuhe certainly couldn't judge who was right or wrong, but she felt that Wen Shaoyu's direct confrontation with his father was harmful to both his present and future.
He looked down on her compromises, and she couldn't understand his stubbornness.
They simply couldn't see eye to eye, which explained why they always bickered.
"Hmm... I guess so. Since you live under the same roof and see each other every day, there's really no need to add contact info."
An Qing deflated, not noticing Ji Shuhe's thoughtful expression, and sighed.
Ji Shuhe's right eyelid twitched. She felt that the words were misleading—if heard by other boys and girls their age, they might spark rumors. So she explained again like a broken record.
"Not the same roof. He's in his home, I'm in mine. We just live in the same building."
"I know, I know." An Qing dismissed the point with a wave. "My sister and I lived in Yong'anli for many years. In that place, if you talk a bit loud, the upstairs and downstairs can hear you. If you need to find Wen Shaoyu, you just have to shout."
"No, I don't... have a reason to look for him."
Ji Shuhe instinctively refuted, but then thought of Lizi running up and down the stairs. She swallowed the words, leaving herself some room to argue.
Afraid that An Qing would ask further details without thinking, she quickly changed the subject: "So why is your sister interested in Wen Shaoyu? That guy..."
Not good or bad, Ji Shuhe felt that apart from his looks, Wen Shaoyu had nothing to make a girl's heart flutter.
"Well," An Qing pondered, "why is my sister interested in Wen Shaoyu..."
An Qing had a twin sister, An Yao. They looked identical and shared a love for excitement.
But An Yao was more stable, scoring twenty points higher than her sister in the high school entrance exam, landing in the top class, while An Qing barely made it into the regular class.
The sisters were in the same school anyway, visiting each other during breaks, so Ji Shuhe naturally got to know her too.
"Why is that..."
An Qing rubbed her chin, uncertain herself. "Maybe it's because Wen Shaoyu is too good-looking, stirring my sister's youthful heart? Or maybe it's simply because he's good at studying, and she admires that?"
An Qing listed many reasons but found them insufficient. After a moment's thought, she added, "But I think the most likely reason is that Wen Shaoyu doesn't get along with Jiang Hao! You should have seen Jiang Hao, right? That sleazy fat guy in your alley!"
Ji Shuhe was speechless. Though the description was crude, she immediately thought of the person and nodded silently.
Seeing this, An Qing got excited: "Damn, let me tell you! That fat guy has always loved to cause trouble and gossip, and he's especially good at bullying people! But his mother spoils him endlessly and often turns the tables, saying others provoked her son. My sister and I often suffered from his tricks when we were kids."
From An Qing's account, Ji Shuhe thought of her first encounter with Wen Shaoyu.
He had been leaning against the wall, facing insults and mockery with a calm expression, showing no regret or panic for overstepping.
No wonder no one believed he was the victim...
An Qing was in full swing, not noticing Ji Shuhe's distraction, and continued, "The worst time, I remember clearly! We were just starting elementary school then. School ended early, and there were no evening classes. After finishing homework, a few of us would play in the alley."
"Something about a yo-yo or a Tamagotchi? Anyway, Jiang Hao argued with my sister. When he couldn't win verbally, he pushed her. She lost her balance and hit the corner of the wall, cutting her skin under the eye. It bled."
This was an old story from many years ago, but even though people grow up and change, Ji Shuhe wasn't surprised by Jiang Hao's behavior based on An Qing's description.
Because the same person had gathered a group of kids to spread Wen Shaoyu's family affairs, deliberately poking at the pain of his mother's death.
That was a malice so straightforward it frightened her. But Wen Shaoyu wasn't afraid. The provoked boy directly confronted the group, or rather, relying on his height and long legs, he beat them all up.
In the end, it aroused public anger, bringing all the parents together.
More coincidentally, Wen Shaoyu's father was also there that day. Some adults who loved to put on airs wore fake grievances on their faces, twisting the truth and making a scene.
They even managed to get compensation from the "wrongdoer," and then turned around to lecture Wen Shaoyu condescendingly.
Ji Shuhe felt she shouldn't speak ill of a mother, but compared to Wen Shaoyu's impulsive violence, this way of crying and confusing the truth was harder for her to accept.
As for the onlookers, they were all long-time neighbors of over a decade. Maybe they knew the fault didn't lie entirely with Wen Shaoyu, but they all pretended not to, agreeing and echoing the narrative that turned a decent person into an unruly delinquent.