Lin ChuSui was lounging at a table by the floor-to-ceiling window in a milk tea shop, chewing on her straw and gazing listlessly at the students coming and going outside.
She still couldn't figure out Xu SongBai's ways, but judging from the gloating look on Xu JiaNing's face earlier, he must have been disciplined by Xu SongBai plenty of times in the past.
Xu JiaNing was his own son, so any discipline was justified.
But what right did Xu SongBai have to treat her like that?
Although Lin ChuSui had the upper hand in their first skirmish, she was still unhappy.
Because Xu SongBai wasn't her biological father, she felt picked on.
She lowered her gaze slightly and saw a red mark on her slender wrist where Xu SongBai had grabbed her earlier.
She hadn't felt anything during their quarrel, but now it stung.
In the past, when mosquitoes bit her and she scratched the bumps until they bled, Mr. Lin would scold her, saying a young lady's skin was delicate and she shouldn't scratch randomly.
If she was really itchy, he would use the "cross seal method" to pinch her for relief.
If Mr. Lin knew how Xu SongBai had just treated her, he definitely wouldn't let it slide. He might even get into a fight with Xu SongBai.
There was no way Xu SongBai could beat Mr. Lin. That man couldn't even defeat her, let alone Mr. Lin.
Mr. Lin was the strongest, most agile and quickest to react among the firefighters. He won the "Outstanding Firefighter" award every year and had saved countless lives.
Thinking of this, Lin ChuSui suddenly felt aggrieved and rubbed her sore eyes.
If Dad was still here, he would have protected her.
"The tough girl is crying again, missing your Mr. Lin?"
Lu Chi and Zhang ChengYu sat down on either side of Lin ChuSui. Lu Chi patted her shoulder, "Save your tears for later, let's get through this English test first."
Zhang ChengYu held out his phone to Lin ChuSui, "ChuChu, why don't you call over one of your admirers to do homework together?"
"No way, I won't take advantage of his feelings just for some homework."
Zhang ChengYu patiently advised her, "A man in love with you won't feel used at all. On the contrary, he'd be honored to be useful to his goddess."
"A man who feels honored and smug about being used isn't a man at all, he's a lapdog." Lin ChuSui patted Lu Chi's shoulder, "Like this gentleman here who's been lapping away for a hundred years."
"So, how are you going to tackle this English test?"
"I'll do it myself!" Lin ChuSui took out her English test paper, "When have I ever copied someone else's homework? Could copying get you into Tsinghua or Peking University?"
"You really are a principled one." Lu Chi said, "Oh right, I overheard the English teacher in the office saying if you get everything wrong in this English test again, you'll have to go up and sing an English song every English lesson from now on."
Lin ChuSui: ...
She quietly erased all the Cs she had filled for the multiple choice questions.
Just then, Xu JiaNing walked into the milk tea shop.
He had a messenger bag on one shoulder and wore a loose, round-necked long sleeve T-shirt with a touch of mint green as an undershirt. Looking sunny and fresh like a summer breeze.
The shop's girls all fixed their eyes on him, including Lu TianBai next to Lin ChuSui. Her gaze was even more smitten than when she saw her idol Wu Yanzu in person.
Lu Chi nudged Lin ChuSui, "Here's your walking English homework! Don't let this chance slip by."
Lin ChuSui lazily went to the counter, ordered a full sugar cheese milk tea with extra cheese, pearls and coconut jelly... she got everything she could added. Then she brought it over to Xu JiaNing.
"Have this, my treat."
Xu JiaNing elegantly tore open a straw and said, "Quite gutsy to go head to head with Old Xu."
"He's not my real dad, what do I have to fear?"
"Hmm."
"Did he control you like this before? Demanding you rank in the top few in your grade, know your place at home, and have manners outside?"
Xu JiaNing smiled, "That's why I turned out so outstanding, thanks to him."
"Hmm, don't see anything outstanding. But you do have a sense of humor."
"I suggest you behave yourself and avoid conflicts with him." As one who's been there, Xu JiaNing sincerely advised Lin ChuSui, "You can't overpower your elders. You'll regret it in the future, little girl."
"I don't want to fight with him either, as long as he leaves me alone."
"That's impossible. Old Xu is very traditional and controlling. He'll plan out the life he wants for you, including your studies, hobbies, college major and even your future boyfriend."
"But he's not my dad."
Xu JiaNing smiled, "Just you wait and see."
Lin ChuSui leaned on the table, moving closer to him, "Hey fake foreign devil, we have a common enemy now. That makes us allies, right?"
Xu JiaNing: "Before becoming allies, please show some basic respect to your ally."
Lin ChuSui enunciated slowly, "Xu-Jia-Ning."
"Legally speaking, I'm your brother, so..."
"Don't even think about it!"
Xu JiaNing took out his completed English test from his bag.
Lin ChuSui rolled her eyes. Reluctantly, she called out, "Brother."
Xu JiaNing flattened out his English test paper and placed it in front of Lin ChuSui. Just as she was about to copy it, he snatched away her pen. "I heard you have an amazing memory. Weren't you called a genius girl in middle school?"
"I'm not that amazing. I just looked good compared to my classmates."
"In that case..." Xu JiaNing patted the test paper, "I'll give you one minute to remember as much as you can."
Lin ChuSui's mouth curled into a smile, "Testing me?"
"After all, this is your only chance to avoid singing an English song on stage every lesson."
She casually picked up Xu JiaNing's English test and started memorizing rapidly.
With dozens of multiple choice questions, just the ABCDs alone could make one's eyes spin, not to mention the gap filling, translations and essay after that.
Xu JiaNing didn't believe Lin ChuSui could remember it all anyway.
Some genius girl she claimed to be. More like she was propped up by those idiot classmates of hers.
He kept time on his watch. After one minute was up, he decisively took back the test paper.
"Let's see the genius girl's performance."
Lin ChuSui smiled faintly, picked up her pen and filled in the ABCDs one by one on her test sheet.
Xu JiaNing checked her answers against his own as she wrote them down.
He was still relaxed for the first few questions, but his expression grew more solemn toward the end.
She had remembered every single multiple choice question flawlessly. For the gap filling after that, she didn't even make a spelling mistake. It was an exact copy.
Xu JiaNing compared both test papers with disbelief and shock in his eyes.
It was hard to imagine the girl busily writing before him now was the bottom student who had learned none of this over her two years of high school.
"Well? Convinced?" Lin ChuSui asked with a smile.
Xu JiaNing put down the test paper. "You do have an amazing memory, however..."
"However what?"
Xu JiaNing pointed at the thousand word essay she had copied identically. "May I ask why you copied my entire essay verbatim? Were you afraid the English teacher wouldn't be able to tell you copied my test paper?"
Lin ChuSui: ...
"No big deal." She picked up her pen and started revising the essay, "Essays like this are a dime a dozen. Just tweak it a bit."
Xu JiaNing said in resignation, "Excuse me, but how does changing the male lead Tony's name to DaMing make any substantive difference?"
...
Lin ChuSui went to the copy shop next door to make another copy of the English test, then to the convenience store to buy a lighter.
There seemed to be a commotion nearby, with voices growing louder and more frenzied, mixed with women's screams.
Lin ChuSui walked out of the convenience store to see thick smoke billowing from the second floor of a shop across the street.
"Fire!"
"Where are the firefighters?!"
"There are still people inside! Hurry and save them!"
Seeing the rolling black smoke, Lin ChuSui's heart seized up. Blood rushed to her head and she gasped for breath with a hand over her mouth.
Dad...Dad!
"There are still people inside! Trapped!"
Sure enough, a woman was standing at the security bar window on the second floor. There was a raging fire behind her.
Bystanders on the street shouted advice:
"Jump! Hurry and jump!"
"How can she jump? Can't you see the barred window blocking her?!"
"Where are the firefighters?!"
"Already called!"
Black smoke billowed through the security bars. The woman desperately clung to the bars, screaming, "Help! Save me!"
With a fire like this, ordinary bystanders couldn't rescue her without tools. She was trapped by the bars and couldn't get out.
No one could save her.
All they could do was watch her clutch the bars and shriek hysterically.
It was a scene straight out of hell.
Just then, Xiao Yan, dressed in his school uniform, happened to cycle by. Seeing this, he instinctively dropped his bike and rushed toward the burning shop.
The old bike fell in front of Lin ChuSui.
She gaped as Xiao Yan ran to the car wash shop downstairs and removed the long hose attached to their faucet, coiling it around himself as he went.
Then, with the hose on his back, Xiao Yan charged up the residential building.
All the residents in their pajamas, with cats in arms, dragging luggage...everyone streamed down the stairs.
Only he ascended against the human tide, like a whale swimming upstream.
Lin ChuSui watched his retreating figure disappear into the stairwell. It overlapped completely with the image of Mr. Lin in firefighter gear walking away in her dreams...
"No! Don't go!"
Lin ChuSui reflexively moved to chase after Xiao Yan, but Xu JiaNing grabbed her collar, "Have a death wish?"
Just then, on the burning second floor of the shop, Xiao Yan appeared at the security window of the adjacent unit. With the hose in hand, he sprayed water toward the trapped woman.
As the flames crept closer and closer to her back, a jet of water suddenly sprayed from next door, instantly drenching her from head to toe and relieving her desperate situation.
The woman's screams grew much quieter.
The onlookers lowered their hands from their mouths and heaved a sigh of relief. If this had gone on, they would have had to watch this woman burn to death on the burglarproof window.
The fire inside the house still raged, but Xiao Yan had created a small safe zone for the woman with the water hose.
Soon several fire trucks came wailing in, and the high pressure water quickly extinguished the flames inside the house.
The woman was rescued by the firefighters and loaded into an ambulance.
Xiao Yan emerged from the residential building, soaked through.
His school uniform was covered in black smudges, the original color no longer discernible.
His fair face was also smeared with black grime as he panted heavily, gazing blankly at the charred house behind him.
A firefighter patted him on the shoulder, “Kid, your response was too timely. You were more professional than some of our team members. Did you have firefighter training before?”
“No.”
“Then you’re really brave. Thank you.”
Xiao Yan, exhausted, bent down to pick up his schoolbag, listlessly searching for his bicycle.
Turning around, he saw Lin ChuSui pushing his bike towards him.
Xiao Yan instinctively used a tissue he fished out of his bag to wipe the dirt from his face, then walked over and took the bike from her, “Thanks.”
Just then, Lin ChuSui tossed something into the basket and said in a trembling voice, “I’ll listen to you from now on.”
Xiao Yan looked down to see a cigarette box and lighter.
“I’ll do whatever you say from now on.”
Progress: 5%......
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