Chapter 31

Zhou Yanzhou looked at Chen Xi with composed leisure and replied in a flat tone, "Not eating."

Chen Xi: "Oh."

Zhou Yanzhou scoffed and added unhurriedly, "Besides not eating grass behind me, I don't eat rainbow farts either."

Chen Xi: "..."

Was he beating around the bush to insult her?

The wound on Chen Xi's forehead was somewhat deep, and she couldn't remove the gauze for a while.

Once, after changing the dressing for her, Zhou Yanzhou saw a Z-shaped scar on her otherwise beautiful, full forehead, and his brows furrowed deeply.

Later, he ordered the doctor to prescribe many scar-fading ointments and urged Chen Xi to apply them daily.

Sometimes, when Chen Xi herself would forget about it, Zhou Yanzhou would persistently remind her like a haunting spirit: "Don't forget to apply the medicine."

Every time this happened, Chen Xi couldn't help but sigh; she had never met someone so stubborn.

Why was he so meddlesome?

On the day before the competition, Chen Xi finally took off the gauze. The remaining scar was pink, looking particularly conspicuous against her forehead.

Chen Xi didn't dare look in the mirror; she felt ugly every time.

Seeing her looking gloomy, Zhou Yanzhou took her to a hair salon that afternoon and found the best stylist to cut her some bangs, the length just right to cover the scar.

Walking out of the salon, Chen Xi gazed intensely at the man standing by the side of the road making a phone call.

The man noticed her gaze and naturally waved at her, signaling for her to get into the car.

Chen Xi looked back at her reflection in the glass; the new straight bangs clung to her forehead, hiding the scar completely. She grinned at the glass, then turned and ran joyfully toward the car parked by the roadside.

After finishing his call, Zhou Yanzhou stood on the concrete curb by the road, hands in his pockets, and glanced at the young girl who had finally revealed a smile, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Once in the car, Chen Xi turned to look at the man sitting beside her replying to emails. She thought about the rehearsal she had scheduled with He Xu for the day before the competition; she hadn't yet figured out how to tell Zhou Yanzhou.

This past week, Zhou Yanzhou had put a lot of effort into taking care of her. He stayed at the hospital for all three days she was admitted, and in between, Chen Huai brought him stacks of documents to sign; he was so busy he didn't even have time to eat.

Chen Xi didn't dare disturb him; she finished her meal alone and found a corner to work on her practice papers.

By the time she finished two papers, Zhou Yanzhou had already started a video conference.

There were many projects requiring his approval and confirmation, and he was following up on all of them. Sometimes, before a video conference was even finished, an important call would come in.

He was torn, but after finishing the call, he would continue with the meeting.

For the first time, Chen Xi realized he wasn't one of those rich kids who just drifted through life, hanging around and playing everywhere; he was truly working.

Well, she had misjudged him.

Chen Xi had memorized her speech until she could recite it backward; she could spell every word with her eyes closed.

The only drawback was that her pronunciation wasn't very fluent or standard, suffering from a strong Chinese accent.

Not daring to bother Zhou Yanzhou, she would take her manuscript to the hospital's fire exit, finding a secluded spot to recite it in a low voice.

One time, after Zhou Yanzhou finished his emails, he found the room empty. He went out to look for her and finally found Chen Xi in the fire exit.

A small, huddled figure sitting on the cold steps, facing a sliver of light from the window, reading her speech in a low voice.

When she encountered more difficult words, though she could read them, she lacked confidence in her core.

Zhou Yanzhou listened for a few moments, then stepped forward and took the manuscript from her hand. Under her startled gaze, he squatted beside her and read the entire speech from start to finish.

His accent was standard, British-style, and combined with his mellow, magnetic voice, he sounded like a leading man in a British film.

For the first time, Chen Xi was entranced. She looked up at Zhou Yanzhou, who was bathed in a layer of warm light, her eyes overflowing with a fascination she hadn't even realized herself.

Under Zhou Yanzhou's strict demands, Chen Xi crammed and learned to recite the speech, which contained over three thousand English words, quite fluently and with genuine emotion.

Her accent also improved significantly; at least it sounded like it had a bit of flavor.

Zhou Yanzhou said, "Children in Beijing are occupied by all kinds of tutoring classes since they are young; anything they pull out is a specialty. English is their most basic subject, and from middle school, parents arrange for them to take IELTS and TOEFL, eventually sending them abroad."

For the first time, Chen Xi felt that the gap between people is evident from birth.

In the small city where she lived, few parents had the foresight to arrange for their children to study abroad; their most long-term goal was to get into a good university and go to Beijing in the future.

And Beijing was merely the starting point for Beijingers.

They could struggle for a lifetime and still only reach someone else's starting point.

Seeing the helplessness and frustration on Chen Xi's face, Zhou Yanzhou rolled his Adam's apple and said without much emotion, "Fate is inherently unfair; there's no point in internalizing it."

"Once you're at the gambling table, besides praying for a good hand, you need good luck."

Having said that, Zhou Yanzhou looked with pity at the somewhat dejected girl and offered a rare comfort: "Setting that aside, effort is still quite useful these days. Keep it up."

Chen Xi squeezed out a reluctant smile and said softly that her luck wasn't very good, so effort was the only thing she could try.

Zhou Yanzhou wanted to say something but held back; he wanted to say her luck wasn't bad, but the words died on his lips as he remembered how they met—it was hard to say that was a good thing.

Actually, Chen Xi had overthought it. Zhou Yanzhou had been too busy these past two days to care about who she had made plans with.

After getting her hair cut, Zhou Yanzhou instructed Chen Huai to take her back to the hotel, while he took a taxi to Guomao for an appointment.

Chen Xi didn't want to be late, so halfway there, she embarrassedly asked Chen Huai if he could take her to Wudaokou; she had an appointment to meet a classmate.

Chen Huai hesitated for a moment before agreeing to her request.

Chen Xi followed the address He Xu sent and found they were meeting at a coffee shop.

She pushed the door open to find many customers inside. He Xu was sitting by the window with a cup of coffee on the table, waiting for someone.

Chen Xi walked over with her backpack and gently tapped He Xu on the shoulder, full of apologies: "Sorry, I was held up on the way."

He Xu turned around instinctively. Upon seeing Chen Xi, a gentle smile appeared on his previously calm face. He handed the menu to Chen Xi and asked softly, "What would you like to drink? My treat."

Chen Xi pulled out the chair opposite He Xu and sat down. She took the menu he offered and stared at it for a long while before finally ordering a raw coconut latte.

She didn't like bitter things.

Chen Xi looked around and asked He Xu in confusion, "Where are your parents?"

He Xu shrugged and said lightly, "They went to climb the Great Wall."

Chen Xi smiled and couldn't help but joke, "Aren't they worried about tomorrow's competition at all?"

He Xu shook his head helplessly, "Doesn't seem like it. They've been having a great time these past few days."

Chen Xi smiled slightly, feeling a bit envious of He Xu.

He Xu looked up and noticed Chen Xi had cut bangs, asking curiously, "Changed your hairstyle?"

Chen Xi instinctively covered her forehead. Meeting He Xu's concerned gaze, she parted the bangs slightly to reveal the pink scar, "...to cover a scar."

He Xu looked at the scar and asked worriedly, "How did that happen?"

Chen Xi shook her head and said with an indifferent expression, "A little accident, nothing serious."

He Xu frowned, "It even left a scar."

How could a girl not care about her appearance at all? Chen Xi actually cared about the scar too, but she had grown used to it over the past two days. She pursed her lips and feigned ease, "It's fine, it should fade. I'm using scar-fading ointment."

Chen Xi didn't want to discuss the scar on her forehead, so she skillfully changed the subject: "Shall we start? Do you know what number you are? I'm number 10."

He Xu was led along by Chen Xi and instinctively replied, "I'm number 1."

Chen Xi blinked in surprise: "Ah? Are you nervous?"

He Xu's grades had always been good, and he had participated in many large-scale competitions; his mindset was actually quite good. However, hearing Chen Xi's concern, he couldn't help but tell a small lie: "A little, since I'm the first."

Chen Xi thought for a moment, dug a handful of fruit candies out of her backpack, and placed them in front of He Xu: "I like to eat candy when I'm nervous. Want to try some?"

These candies were bought when Chen Xi and Zhou Yanzhou went to the supermarket two days ago. When checking out, Zhou Yanzhou saw the extra pack of fruit candies. He picked them up, looked at them, and seeing they weren't a famous brand, frowned and asked Chen Xi, "You like these?"

Chen Xi nodded vigorously, "I like them."

Zhou Yanzhou gave her a look of annoyance but eventually put the pack of candies back into the shopping cart and paid for them.

He Xu looked at the fruit candies on the table. He glanced at Chen Xi in surprise, and under her expectant gaze, he picked them up one by one and tucked them into his pocket.

When there was one left, he peeled off the wrapper and popped it into his mouth. He Xu didn't hesitate to praise, "Very sweet."

It was unclear whether he was complimenting the candy or Chen Xi.

The two spent the afternoon in the coffee shop until the twilight gathered outside, and only then did Chen Xi realize the passage of time.

Actually, they were both mostly prepared; today was just for a final rehearsal.

Walking out of the coffee shop, He Xu carried his bag, his eyes cast down as he watched Chen Xi standing to the side replying to messages, and asked her where she was staying that night.

The English speech competition started at nine tomorrow morning, and time was tight; He Xu was worried Chen Xi wouldn't make it.

After finishing his meeting, Zhou Yanzhou returned to the hotel and found Chen Xi missing. Fearing something had happened, he called her without a second thought, only for it to go unanswered.

Between seven and nine in the evening, Zhou Yanzhou made three calls and sent five text messages; Chen Xi didn't return a single one.

Just as Zhou Yanzhou was about to call the police, Chen Xi finally replied.

Chen Xi really hadn't expected Zhou Yanzhou to call so many times. To avoid distractions while studying, she had specifically turned off her phone, never imagining he would be looking for her.

She couldn't spare a glance for He Xu beside her. Turning on her phone to see the missed calls and unread messages, Chen Xi broke into a cold sweat.

She stood at the street corner, head bowed, repeatedly editing a message, only to delete it halfway through each time.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Xi mustered the courage to send the message she had edited so many times.

"I'm at Wudaokou exchanging details about tomorrow's competition with a classmate. Sorry, my phone was off, and I didn't see your messages."

The message was sent successfully. Chen Xi exhaled and looked up at He Xu in a daze: "What did you say just now?"

Just as He Xu was about to speak, a text message arrived on Chen Xi's phone without warning.

Chen Xi ignored He Xu and nervously opened the message box.

Fz: I've been waiting for you for two hours.