Chapter Eighteen: Jealousy

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Xia Wei was forced backward by Zhou Ziyang, only to find herself sitting down on the desk behind her. Zhou Ziyang clearly had no intention of letting her go; one hand propped on the desk as he leaned toward her.

“Ugh!” Xia Wei instinctively leaned back.

In this half-supported position, her snow-white, beautifully long legs became even more striking. Because she kept retreating onto the desk, her feet left the floor; one small foot, wrapped in a white sock, hung vertically, making her legs appear even more slender.

Even Zhou Ziyang couldn't help but steal a few extra glances.

At first, Xia Wei had been scared, closing her eyes, thinking Zhou Ziyang might do something. She had waited in anticipation, but nothing she expected happened. Curious, she slightly opened her eyes.

To her surprise, Zhou Ziyang was staring at her thigh beneath the hem of her skirt.

This made Xia Wei somewhat uncomfortable, and she gently pressed her legs together.

Zhou Ziyang looked up, a faint, almost mocking smile playing on his lips, as he said, “You’re just worried about me, aren’t you?”

“No!” Xia Wei denied firmly.

“Is that so?” Zhou Ziyang chuckled and leaned his head closer to her.

Just as Xia Wei, frightened again, closed her eyes tightly, she didn’t realize Zhou Ziyang wasn’t doing anything else—he merely tilted his head toward her ear and softly breathed warm air into it, whispering, “That’s a pity. I thought maybe you felt something for me.”

Every time Zhou Ziyang breathed into Xia Wei’s ear, she felt her legs weaken, a ticklish sensation spreading from her ear to the back of her neck—a strange but pleasant feeling that made her secretly wish he would keep doing it.

Yet Xia Wei still retained some rationality. Her breath began to falter, and with slightly parted lips and a breathy voice, she weakly said, “We... it’s... impossible...”

“My mother married... your father...”

“We... it’s impossible...”

“So what does that matter?” Zhou Ziyang replied, whispering by her ear. “We’re not bound by blood.”

“If it really doesn’t work, your mother can just divorce him, right?”

Divorce?

Hearing that word, Xia Wei immediately snapped back to clarity and pushed Zhou Ziyang away forcefully.

The sunset gradually faded.

The classroom grew dim.

The boy faced the girl.

Xia Wei’s feet lightly touched the ground.

There was a faint blush on her cheeks, but she had already composed herself.

She said firmly, “My mother will never divorce my uncle!”

“Oh.” Zhou Ziyang showed no particular expression.

He had only been teasing Xia Wei; whether his father and Xu Qing divorced was none of his concern.

Even if Zhou Guowei and Xu Qing did divorce, so what?

This time, Zhou Ziyang was destined for greatness; why would he care about his mother reconciling with his father?

Seeing Zhou Ziyang’s indifferent demeanor, for some reason, Xia Wei felt a bit disappointed.

She said, “You don’t really like me, do you?”

“Why would you say that?” Zhou Ziyang asked.

Xia Wei said, “You approached me only because you want my mother and your father to divorce, right?”

After saying this, she stared directly at Zhou Ziyang.

Xia Wei felt somewhat disappointed because Zhou Ziyang had indeed stirred her emotions.

She had been troubled by this very thing recently.

So it turned out...

“Think whatever you want.”

Zhou Ziyang gave no explanation, his expression still cold.

“What good is liking you? Didn’t you say it’s impossible between us?”

“I’m going to eat now. I’ll keep the notebook.”

Zhou Ziyang shrugged with indifference, shaking the notebook in his hand.

Then he left.

The classroom was left with only Xia Wei.

The sun finally disappeared below the horizon.

The classroom, awash with fading light and shadows, slipped into complete darkness.

Just like Xia Wei’s mood at that moment.

So strange.

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Clearly, Xia Wei had rejected Zhou Ziyang.

Clearly, she had seen through Zhou Ziyang’s scheme.

But why did her heart feel so empty and lost?

Why did he leave so decisively?

Could he really refute her?

Did he truly not like her?

Zhou Ziyang had no time to dwell on such trivial questions—truly worthy of being the city’s top student.

Xia Wei’s collection of wrong questions was immensely helpful to Zhou Ziyang.

He didn’t need to memorize them carefully; simply copying all the problems made him understand every technique and formula thoroughly.

In the following days, Zhou Ziyang continued to rise early and stay up late, studying diligently.

Perhaps it was the will of rebirth, or maybe the regular running combined with healthy sleep, but Zhou Ziyang’s entire demeanor improved remarkably.

One day in class, he bumped into a carefree girl who smiled and said, “Hey! Zhou Ziyang, I’ve noticed you’ve gotten even more handsome lately!”

Zhou Ziyang smiled lightly at her: “Really?”

“Absolutely! I’m good at judging men!”

Usually such words wouldn’t affect Xia Wei’s mood; she wouldn’t even let them register in her ears.

But today, just hearing the name “Zhou Ziyang” pulled her in uncontrollably.

Looking up, she saw Zhou Ziyang chatting and laughing with another girl.

Strangely, Xia Wei felt a pang of discomfort in her heart.

She was a little angry—why was Zhou Ziyang having so much fun talking to another girl?

The girl commented that Zhou Ziyang seemed not only to have changed in appearance but also became more cheerful.

Zhou Ziyang only smiled and said, “No, I’ve always been like this.”

“That means you never paid attention to me before.”

“Not true~” he replied, adding that he’d been running and sleeping well lately.

The two laughed and talked in the classroom.

Zhou Ziyang, smiling, looked up and suddenly noticed Xia Wei staring at him.

Their eyes met.

Xia Wei’s eyes were full of quiet grievance.

Zhou Ziyang, as if not seeing her, continued chatting with the girl, even saying they would go to the cafeteria to eat that evening.

At that moment, Xia Wei could no longer endure it.

“If you want to chat, take it outside! Don’t disturb others and don’t skip studying!” Xia Wei finally put on the study monitor’s stern demeanor and shot Zhou Ziyang a sharp glance.

“Why so fierce? It’s break time now!” the girl retorted, annoyed.

Zhou Ziyang said, “Whatever, we’ll talk outside.”

“Okay!” The girl was delighted.

As the two walked out side by side, Xia Wei could no longer hold back.

She directly pushed the girl away from Zhou Ziyang’s side.

“You come with me!”

Saying that, she grabbed Zhou Ziyang’s hand and led him outside.

They returned once more to the rooftop.

Zhou Ziyang asked her what was wrong.

“What? We can’t be together, and I’m not allowed to find someone else?”

“What exactly do you want?” Zhou Ziyang asked.

Xia Wei was angry. “Aren’t you supposed to be studying hard?!”

“If you’re not studying, give me back my notebook!”

“I gave it to you because I saw you changing and wanted you to study well! Not to fall in love!”

“There are less than two months left before the college entrance exam. Your foundation is so weak that even if you study every day, it might not be enough. And you still have the time to eat out with other girls? Are you trying to provoke me?” Xia Wei said.

Zhou Ziyang repeated his usual words, “What does it have to do with you?”

He said this and tried to leave.

But Xia Wei blocked him.

“This is the deal: if you study hard and surpass me in the college entrance exam, I’ll agree to anything.”

“?” Zhou Ziyang looked at her in confusion.

Xia Wei said, “As long as you can beat me, I’ll agree to everything, whether it’s your parents’ divorce or anything else.”

Zhou Ziyang sneered, “Girls never keep their promises.”

Xia Wei gritted her teeth. “I will. I always keep my word.”

“Really?”

“Mm!”

Xia Wei was currently ranked within the top fifty in the whole school; if lucky, she could break into the top ten.

With less than two months until the college entrance exam, Xia Wei firmly believed there was no way Zhou Ziyang could surpass her.

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In truth, this conversation was just a momentary impulse from Xia Wei. No one understood what had come over her.

“What else could it be? Jealousy!”

The girl left behind in the classroom pouted unhappily.

Nearby, a few classmates whispered sarcastically.

“You’re something else—flirting with Zhou Ziyang right in front of Xia Wei? Who can stand that?”

“Looks like Zhou Ziyang and Xia Wei are really in an early romance.”

Time flew like a fleeting horse.

It had been a week since Li Dongfeng left for the south.

That day was bright and sunny.

The homeroom teacher carried a stack of sealed envelopes, expressionless, and entered the classroom.

“Move the desks, exam time.”

Soon, the two floors of the senior year building buzzed with noise as students arranged desks.

This exam was sudden.

It was the third city-wide joint exam of the senior year, famously the one closest to the college entrance exam.

After the hustle died down, the classroom fell silent.

The sun still burned fiercely from east to west.

Students began to diligently work through the test paper.

“Damn it! Dongfeng! Let’s run! This is a trap!”

Now filled with illusions, Li Dongfeng finally faced reality.

What monthly salary of eight thousand? What independent dormitories? All lies!

As soon as he got off the train, a van had taken them somewhere unknown for a long time.

They arrived at a huge factory building.

Li Dongfeng asked, “Brother, is this where we’ll work?”

The man smiled, “More or less. Hand me your ID first.”

What followed was just as Li Dongfeng had described before: buying bedding, not being allowed to use what they brought themselves.

For the first two days, they waited to be assigned.

Meals consisted of a large pot of dark, unappetizing food with dry steamed buns, costing ten yuan per serving. Eating out was possible but there were no shops within ten miles.

Before assignment, they all had to sleep on the floor of this empty factory.

Hundreds had come from all over the country, all sleeping on the floor inside the factory.

The place looked increasingly suspicious.

Someone began to doubt: “Dongfeng, let’s run? This doesn’t look like a job paying eight thousand a month!”

“They took our IDs right away. Feels like selling us as slaves!”

“Yeah, maybe they’ll sell us abroad?”

“Run! Dongfeng, didn’t you say your friend was a second-generation official who could get us jobs paying five or six thousand?”

“Yeah, Dongfeng, now I’m thinking five or six thousand isn’t bad!”

On the train south, Li Dongfeng had boasted about Zhou Ziyang, but they had been full of ambition then.

“Whatever, reliable or not, we’re going south to make a fortune!”

But after arriving, they felt five or six thousand was decent pay.

Five or six thousand was still a high salary!

Better than being sold off, right?

“Bro, if you really have a five or six thousand salary back home, why come here?”

Hundreds slept on the factory floor.

Hearing Li Dongfeng’s talk, others gathered around to chat.

They said it was obviously a scam.

“Damn, I had a job like this in Xiangnan before: promised over ten thousand a month, but it was a lie. They tricked me into buying bedding and assigned me to a factory job. No ten-thousand salary, just hard labor and three thousand a month if lucky.”

“Then why did you still come?”

“Because I had no choice! Couldn’t find work! Bro, you really have a five or six thousand salary? That’s high pay. Can you hook me up?”

“Is it reliable? If it is, take me too.”

More people gathered; all were job seekers. Seeing the job was suspicious, they wanted to find another way.

“Of course it’s reliable. My buddy is a second-generation official!” Li Dongfeng said.

“Then Dongfeng, let’s go! Let’s go home! I miss home!”

Before leaving, they were full of hope, but reality showed only home was truly good.

Several of Li Dongfeng’s friends argued about returning home.

Even new acquaintances asked if he could help them get good jobs.

Li Dongfeng gritted his teeth, “Damn it! Being scammed by these idiots here, might as well go home!”

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