Chapter 3: Three People Sharing One Umbrella

Outside the classroom, the rain was pouring heavily. Even so, when the bell rang to end class, there were only a few people left in the classroom, as most of them had private cars to pick them up.

Fang Chuning was still in her seat, working on practice problems. The noisy sounds of school ending didn’t affect her at all. Gao Qiong swiftly stuffed the books on the desk into her bag. “You’re still writing? Don’t write anymore, finish it when you get back.”

Fang Chuning had a habit of never stopping until she finished a problem when she was near the end, so she responded perfunctorily and continued solving the problem with her head down.

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

After saying that, she slung her bag over her shoulder and left the classroom, humming a song.

The classroom became completely quiet, with only the occasional sounds of books closing and gradually fading footsteps.

When Fang Chuning finished writing, there was no one else in the classroom except for her. She packed her books, put on her backpack and went downstairs. She thought that everyone should have left by this time, but unexpectedly, she caught a glimpse of a figure when she reached the first floor.

The young man had a slender back. He lowered his head slightly, his fine bangs gently blowing in the wind. Under his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were clear, gentle and flawless. His long, fair fingers were holding a book, seemingly engrossed in reading, not even noticing that someone was approaching behind him.

Fang Chuning slowly walked over, and after a moment of thought, she changed direction and stopped about five meters to his left.

She took the opportunity of taking out an umbrella from her bag to secretly observe the person not far away. It seemed that he didn’t bring an umbrella and was waiting for the rain to stop. Her movements of taking out the umbrella slowed down. Fang Chuning glanced outside; the rain was pouring so heavily that she didn’t know when it would stop.

Her gaze drifted and couldn’t help but drift to the young man. Just then, her eyes met his, which had a faint honey color. His eyes were really beautiful, the kind of captivating peach blossom eyes that could make you feel electrified with just a gentle glance.

The two looked at each other for no more than two seconds before the young man shifted his gaze first. He closed the book, held it in his arms, and looked up at the curtain of rain outside.

At this moment, leaving without saying a word seemed a bit unkind. After pondering for a while, Fang Chuning asked tentatively, “No one is coming to pick you up?”

Xu Muzhou’s parents did overseas business. Although they had been in the same class for many years, Fang Chuning had only seen them once or twice. For any parent-child activities in the class, Xu Muzhou’s aunt would fill in. There were also private drivers to pick him up in the mornings and evenings.

The young man’s long, curled eyelashes drooped slightly, and his pink, peach-colored lips pursed before moving. “Tang Yi had something to do today and couldn’t come.”

This Tang Yi should be his family’s driver.

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

The young man tightened his grip on the book. He lowered his gaze and pursed his lips without speaking. His beautiful profile had a delicate and helpless feeling, making people want to commit a crime.

Fang Chuning felt even more uneasy about leaving alone, and at the same time, she found it a bit strange. He had good relationships with classmates, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find someone to give him a ride on the way.

This plastic friendship between classmates!

“How about… I give you a ride on my way? After all, your home is in the same direction as mine.”

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

The other side was slow to agree. Just when Fang Chuning thought he was going to refuse, the young man suddenly nodded slightly, as if he had gone through some sort of ideological struggle before reluctantly agreeing.

Sometimes Fang Chuning was very curious as to why this person, who was gentle and polite to others, disliked her so much. She remembered that she hadn’t done anything to wrong him.

The umbrella was the kind that one person could hold. It was a bit cramped for two people, especially since they subconsciously maintained a finger’s width of distance, exposing a small half of their shoulders to get a bit wet.

Based on the principle that it’s better for one person to get wet than for two people to get wet, Fang Chuning quietly moved the umbrella towards her side. She stole a glance at the person beside her. The young man had a fair complexion and a thin figure, looking so weak that it seemed he would fall over with a gust of wind.

In the end, she still moved the umbrella towards his side under the pressure of her conscience.

They walked in silence. Fang Chuning had never realized before that the teaching building was so far from the school gate! Every step felt like it took a century.

Just as she was feeling uncomfortable, probably because the ground was too slippery, the young man suddenly performed a faceplant in front of her. His delicate body lunged forward. She was startled and instinctively grabbed his arm. Perhaps because she was too hurried and didn’t control her strength, the person who was originally lunging forward suddenly crashed into her arms.

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

She was holding the umbrella tightly with one hand, and the other was 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 hurriedly adjusted her gaze to look straight ahead, putting on the appearance of a hypocritical gentleman who kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart.

The person in her arms quickly left and stood under the umbrella, looking at her with resentful eyes for a while before turning his face away. His expression seemed to accuse her of deliberately tripping him, then deliberately pulling him hard, and deliberately making him fall into her arms.

Fang Chuning pondered and felt that she needed to clarify. “I didn’t, I haven’t, you misunderstood.”

The pale explanation had no persuasive power at all.

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

“Oh.”

The two continued to walk out of the school. Along the way, the young man deliberately maintained a palm’s distance, not caring even if his shoulders got wet in the rain.

Outside the school, the driver was already holding an umbrella and waiting by the car. Seeing his young mistress, he hurried over. “Young Mistress, the rain is too heavy. Hurry and get in the car!”

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

“No need.” The young man seemed to realize that his reaction was too strong after he said that. He lightly bit his lower lip, his lowered brows showing a hint of aloofness. “Can you lend me the 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. He took the umbrella, politely thanked her, and turned to leave without any hesitation.

The driver, who was watching the show, looked gratified. “Is this Young Mistress’s boyfriend?”

Fang Chuning turned her head. “Does he look like my boyfriend?”

Judging from how Xu Muzhou seemed to want to be 108,000 miles away from her, how could he be her boyfriend?

“I think he does. It’s good to have a boyfriend early. It’s best to have several so you can accumulate more experience and won’t be taken advantage of in the future.”

These trashy words actually made Fang Chuning feel there was some truth to them.

“Liu Yi, send me to West City Street later. You can go back first and tell Dad I’ll be back a bit late.”

“Okay.”

Until the luxury car drove far away, Xu Muzhou walked out from the corner. He quietly looked in the direction the car had left, his hand holding the umbrella getting tighter and tighter.

When they reached West City Street, the rain had lessened a lot. There was a food street here, and Fang Chuning especially craved the oden from a small stall, coming almost every other day.

The stall was a mobile cart with a rain curtain. Fang Chuning didn’t mind the rainwater on the stool. She wiped it with a tissue and sat down. “Boss, I want one skewer of radish, two skewers of fish cake, one skewer of fish balls, one seafood thick soup bun, two skewers of oden, one skewer of crispy intestines, one skewer of scallops, and make it super spicy.”

The stall owner was a woman around thirty years old with a round face. When she smiled, her eyes couldn’t be seen. The business was not good today due to the rain. Seeing a customer, she immediately perked up and said loudly, “Alright!”

As soon as the food was served, Fang Chuning dove in and ate earnestly. The spiciness stimulated her tongue, making her forehead sweat, and the more she ate, the more enjoyable it became.

It seemed that another person had come to the stall. Fang Chuning didn’t look up, as she was engrossed in eating.

“Boss, I want three skewers of fish balls and two skewers of crispy intestines.” The clear and pure voice was filled with the youthful vitality unique to young men.

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

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

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It was an accident…” The young man apologized in a fluster and tried to wipe it with a tissue.

Fang Chuning dodged him and looked at the distance between them with a strange expression. Even with a seat between them, he managed to spill milk tea on her. He really went out of his way.

“I’m sorry…” The young man was still apologizing. His doll-like face with apricot eyes looked pitiful, as if he was the victim. It seemed like he would cry if he said a few more words.

“Forget it.” Fang Chuning didn’t want to pay attention to him and was about to continue eating. However, the young man persisted.

“It was my fault. How about… how about I compensate you for the clothes? How much did they cost?”

To be honest, Fang Chuning really disliked people chattering in her ear while she was eating. It immediately ruined her appetite. She suddenly stretched out a hand to him. “Alright, then compensate me. This set of school uniform is customized and costs 30,000 in total. Do you want to pay in cash or online?”

A set of school uniform costing 30,000 made even the stall owner stunned, let alone the young man’s flushed face.

He didn’t expect her to really ask for compensation, and he didn’t expect it to be so expensive. The young man bit his lip, his eyes slightly red. “I… I don’t have that much money…”

The rain had stopped outside, and the night market was getting more crowded. Quite a few people gathered around to watch the commotion. Seeing the young man’s attractive appearance and his tearful look of being bullied, they came forward to be female heroes.

“You’re a woman, how can you have the nerve to bully a boy here? Aren’t you ashamed?”

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

“I always say, the better-looking they are, the more abnormal their hearts are. So 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’s the use of just having a pretty face?”

Among the onlookers, there were also a few from nearby schools. They glanced at the two characters “Xin Xing” embroidered on the chest of the female student’s uniform and couldn’t help but stare at her face more curiously.

Being so good-looking and wealthy, whether her mentality was normal or not had already become secondary.

Fang Chuning looked at the face that was souring the screen. “Big sister, you can talk, but can you control the saliva spewing out of your bloody mouth? It stinks.”

The woman was only around twenty-five years old. Although she looked a bit mature, being called “big sister” now and being told that her mouth stank, she said with a dark face, “What are you pretending for?”

“That…” The young man interrupted the woman who wanted to curse. He explained, “I was the one who dirtied her clothes first. She didn’t bully me.”

After saying that, he ignored the woman’s embarrassed face and gazed at the exceptionally good-looking female student in front of him with his apricot eyes. “How about I help you wash it clean?”

Fang Chuning had no intention of really holding him accountable. She waved her hand to indicate that it wasn’t necessary. After taking out a hundred-dollar bill from her pocket and giving it to the boss, she stood up and walked out.

“Hey, little girl, I haven’t given you the change yet!” The boss called out to her.

“Write it down, and I’ll come back to eat more next time.”

Seeing that there was no more drama to watch, the onlookers dispersed. The young man quickly blocked her way, looking a bit stubborn on his doll-like face. “If you just leave like this, I’ll feel uneasy. I will gather the money for you!”

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