Chapter 3: Three Sharing One Umbrella

Heavy rain poured outside the classroom. Even so, when the dismissal bell rang, few people remained in the room. Most had private cars to pick them up.

Fang Chuning was still sitting at her desk, working on exercises. The noisy sounds of students leaving didn’t affect her at all. Gao Qiong quickly stuffed the books on her desk into her bag. “You’re still writing? Stop it, finish at home.”

Fang Chuning had a habit of never stopping until she finished a problem that was nearly complete. She responded perfunctorily while continuing to solve the problem with her head down.

Gao Qiong said, “I have a date later, so I won’t wait for you.”

She swung her bag onto her back and left the classroom humming a tune.

The classroom fell completely silent, with only occasional sounds of books closing and fading footsteps.

By the time Fang Chuning finished writing, she was the only one left in the classroom. She packed her books, put on her backpack, and went downstairs. She thought everyone would have left by this time, but when she reached the first floor, she glimpsed a figure.

The young man’s back was slender. He lowered his head slightly, his fine bangs gently blown by the wind. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were clear and gentle. His fair, flawless long fingers held a book that he seemed engrossed in, not even noticing someone approaching from behind.

Fang Chuning walked over slowly, then changed direction, stopping about five meters to his left.

Under the guise of taking an umbrella from her bag, she secretly observed the person nearby. It seemed he hadn’t brought an umbrella and was waiting for the rain to stop. Her movement of taking out the umbrella slowed as she glanced outside. The rain was pouring heavily, and it was unclear when it would stop.

Her gaze drifted back to the young man, just as his honey-colored eyes met hers. His eyes were truly beautiful, the kind of enchanting peach blossom eyes that seemed to be flirting with just a glance.

They looked at each other for no more than two seconds before the young man averted his gaze, closing the book and hugging it to his chest as he looked up at the rain outside.

It felt somewhat impolite to leave without a word at this point. After pondering for a moment, Fang Chuning tentatively asked, “Is no one coming to pick you up?”

Xu Muzhou’s parents were in overseas business. Although they had been classmates for many years, Fang Chuning had only seen them once or twice. For any parent-child activities at school, it was always Xu Muzhou’s aunt who attended. A private driver usually picked him up in the morning and evening.

The young man’s long, curled eyelashes lowered slightly. His peach-colored lips pressed together before parting, “Tang Yi had something to do and couldn’t come today.”

This Tang Yi must be his family’s driver.

Fang Chuning looked outside. “This rain probably won’t stop anytime soon. If you just wait here, you might be waiting until dark.”

The young man tightened his grip on the book he was holding. He lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together without speaking. His beautiful profile had a delicate and weak helplessness that made one want to commit a crime.

Fang Chuning felt even more uneasy about leaving alone. At the same time, she found it strange. His relationships in class were quite good; it shouldn’t be difficult to find someone to give him a ride.

What shallow friendships!

“How about… I give you a ride? We’re heading in the same direction anyway.”

Fang Chuning remembered he lived in a high-end apartment in the South District.

There was no response for a while, and just as Fang Chuning thought he was going to refuse, the young man suddenly nodded slightly, as if he had gone through some mental struggle before reluctantly agreeing.

Sometimes Fang Chuning was very curious about why this person, who was polite and gentle to others, disliked her so much. She didn’t remember doing anything to offend him.

The umbrella was small, meant for one person, making it a bit cramped for two. Moreover, they subconsciously maintained a finger’s width of distance, leaving the outer half of their shoulders somewhat exposed to the rain.

Believing it better for one person to get wet than two, Fang Chuning quietly moved the umbrella more towards herself. She sneaked a glance at the person beside her. The boy’s face was fair, and his figure was thin, looking so frail that a gust of wind might knock him over.

In the end, pressured by her conscience, she shifted the umbrella back towards him.

They walked in silence. Fang Chuning had never realized before how far the teaching building was from the school gate! Each step seemed to take an eternity.

Just as she was feeling completely uncomfortable, perhaps because the ground was too slippery, the young man suddenly performed a flat ground fall in front of her. His frail body lurched forward, and she reacted with surprise, instinctively reaching out to grab his arm. Perhaps because she was too hasty and couldn’t control her strength, the person who was originally falling forward suddenly crashed into her arms.

It happened so suddenly, lasting only a few seconds. If Fang Chuning hadn’t known it was Xu Muzhou in her arms, she would have thought he did it on purpose.

She held the umbrella tightly with one hand, the other still on his arm. From her angle, she only needed to lower her head slightly to see how thin his waist was and how perky his buttocks were.

Fang Chuning swallowed and quickly straightened her gaze, staring straight ahead, putting on the air of a hypocrite observing propriety.

The person in her arms quickly moved away, standing under the umbrella and looking at her with resentful eyes for a while before turning his face away. That expression was like accusing her of deliberately tripping him, then deliberately pulling him hard to make him fall into her arms.

Fang Chuning pondered, feeling the need to explain herself, “I didn’t… I haven’t… you misunderstood.”

The weak explanation had no convincing power at all.

Xu Muzhou pressed his lips together, and after a while, he said softly, “Let’s go.”

“Oh.”

The two continued walking towards the school exit. Along the way, the young man deliberately maintained a palm’s width of distance, not minding even if his shoulder got wet from the rain.

Outside the school, the driver was already waiting by the car with an umbrella. Seeing her young mistress, he hurried forward, “Young Miss, the rain is too heavy, please get in the car quickly!”

Fang Chuning nodded and said to the person beside her, “I’ll take you home.”

“No need,” the young man said, then seemed to realize his reaction was too strong. He lightly bit his lower lip, his lowered brows showing a faint aloofness, “Can you lend me your umbrella?”

“You want to go back by yourself?”

“Mm.”

Since he was unwilling, Fang Chuning couldn’t force him. She generously gave him the umbrella and shared one with the driver. “Here, you don’t need to return it to me.”

Xu Muzhou didn’t say anything, just took the umbrella and politely said a soft thank you to her, then turned and left without any lingering.

The driver, who had been watching the scene, had a look of satisfaction. “Is this Young Miss’s boyfriend?”

Fang Chuning turned her head, “Does he look like my boyfriend to you?”

Seeing how Xu Muzhou seemed to want to stay ten thousand miles away from her, how could he be her boyfriend?

“I think he does. It’s good to have a boyfriend early, better to have several. You can gain more experience and won’t be at a disadvantage in the future.”

These frivolous words somehow made sense to Fang Chuning.

“Liu Yi, you can drop me off at West City Street and then go back yourself. Tell my father I’ll be back later.”

“Alright, sure.”

After the luxury car drove away, Xu Muzhou walked out from around the corner. He quietly gazed in the direction the car had left, his hand holding the umbrella tightening even more.

By the time they reached West City Street, the rain had lessened considerably. There was a food street here, and Fang Chuning particularly craved a small oden stall, visiting almost every other day.

The stall was a mobile cart type, with a rain-proof canvas awning. Fang Chuning didn’t mind the rain-soaked stool, wiping it with a tissue before sitting down. “Boss, I want one radish skewer, two fish cake skewers, one fish ball skewer, one seafood soup bun, two Kanto-style grilled skewers, one crispy intestine skewer, one dried scallop skewer, and make it extra spicy.”

The stall owner was a woman in her thirties with a round face. When she smiled, her eyes almost disappeared. Business was slow today due to the rain, so she perked up at the sight of a customer, her voice booming: “Coming right up!”

As soon as the food arrived, Fang Chuning dug in, the spicy flavors stimulating her taste buds and making her forehead break out in sweat. The more she ate, the more enjoyable it became.

It seemed another person had arrived at the stall, but Fang Chuning didn’t look up, focused on eating.

“Boss, I’d like three fish ball skewers and two crispy intestine skewers.” A clear, pure voice filled with the unique youthful energy of a young man.

The boss responded, quickly preparing the skewers and placing them in front of him.

Just as Fang Chuning was about to reach for a few more skewers, the young man suddenly exclaimed “Ah!” and the next moment, her sleeve was stained with milk tea.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It was an accident…”

The young man apologized hurriedly, grabbing a tissue to help her clean up.

Fang Chuning dodged him, looking at the distance between them with a strange expression. To spill milk tea on her from a seat away, he must have really put in some effort.

“I’m sorry…”

The young man continued to apologize. His doll-like face with large almond eyes looked pitifully wronged, as if he was the victim, seeming like he might cry if he said two more words.

“Forget it,” Fang Chuning didn’t want to deal with him further and was about to continue eating, but the young man persisted.

“It was my carelessness. How about… how about you tell me how much your clothes cost? I’ll compensate you…”

Honestly, Fang Chuning really disliked people chattering in her ear while she was eating. Her appetite instantly vanished. She abruptly extended a hand towards him, “Fine, then compensate me. This school uniform is custom-made, totaling 30,000. Do you want to pay in cash or online?”

A school uniform costing 30,000 shocked even the stall owner, let alone the young man whose face turned red.

He hadn’t expected her to actually ask for compensation, much less such an expensive amount. The young man bit his lip, his eyes slightly red, “I… I don’t have that much money…”

The rain outside had stopped, and the night market was getting busier. Many people gathered to watch the commotion. Those who arrived later, seeing the young man’s appealing appearance and tearful expression of being bullied, stepped up to play the heroine.

“How can you, a woman, shamelessly bully a young boy like this? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“You look decent enough, but you’re just doing things that disgrace women.”

“Let me tell you, the better-looking ones often have the most abnormal hearts. That’s why I often advise you young boys not to judge people solely by their appearance. When looking for a woman, you should find someone dependable. What use is it to just have a pretty face?”

Among the onlookers were a few students from nearby schools. They noticed the “Xinxing” embroidered on the girl’s school uniform chest and became more curious about her face.

Being so beautiful and rich, whether her psychology was normal or not became secondary.

Fang Chuning looked at that sour face and said, “Sister, it’s fine to speak, but can you control the saliva spewing from your blood-bowl-sized mouth? It stinks.”

The woman was only about twenty-five years old. Although she looked mature, being called “sister” now and being told her mouth stank made her face darken. She spat, “What are you pretending for!”

“Um…” The young man interrupted the woman’s attempt to curse, explaining, “I was the one who dirtied her clothes first. She didn’t bully me.”

After saying this, he ignored the woman’s embarrassed face and fixed his almond eyes on the outstanding-looking girl in front of him. “How about I help you wash it clean?”

Fang Chuning hadn’t intended to pursue the matter. She waved her hand to indicate it wasn’t necessary, took out a new hundred-yuan note from her pocket to give to the boss, and then stood up to leave.

“Hey, young lady, I haven’t given you your change yet!” The boss called out to her.

“Keep it for next time when I come to eat again.”

Seeing there was no more show to watch, the onlookers dispersed. The young man quickly blocked her path, his doll-like face showing a bit of stubbornness. “If you just leave like this, I’ll feel guilty. I’ll gather the money to pay you!”

Fang Chuning had never seen someone so eager to pay compensation. She was almost moved by his persistence. “Then come find me when you’ve gathered enough.”