The Little Childhood Sweetheart's Counterattack - Chapter 9

Chapter 09: Unexpected Encounters

The mid-term exam papers were handed out, and Xiang Yang carefully reviewed them several times, especially the questions she got wrong. For the ones she couldn't figure out, she paid extra attention during the teacher's explanation.

After school that day, it was her turn to be on duty. Hou Xingrou had something to do at home, so she switched duty with a girl in the class. However, the girl felt unwell, and Ding Wanjun, being a good friend, let her go home early and stayed behind to help her with the duty. 

Xiang Yang knew that she was supposed to be on duty with her. She just smiled politely and started sweeping diligently.

Ding Wanjun worked for a while, then stopped and started a conversation with her, “Xiang Yang, you did great on the exam this time! You're amazing!”

“Thank you.” Xiang Yang didn't know what else to say. Compared to Ding Wanjun's eloquence, she found herself to be very bad at expressing herself.

“By the way, I mentioned it to Hou Xingrou the other day, and she said you often explain math problems to her. If I have any questions, can I ask you too?”

Xiang Yang couldn't figure her out. Her math scores were pretty good too! So, she could only say, “Then let's discuss them together!”

“Xiang Yang, you're so nice!” As soon as Ding Wanjun finished speaking, she heard a clear and pleasant male voice calling Xiang Yang's name.

“Xiang Yang!” Although Ding Wanjun had only heard this voice twice, she remembered it clearly.

“Fu Guanxian?” Ding Wanjun walked to the window and looked out. The tall and handsome figure standing in the hallway outside the classroom door was indeed Fu Guanxian.

Ding Wanjun looked at him, then turned back and looked at Xiang Yang in shock.

Xiang Yang tightly gripped the broom in her hand. She didn't want to talk to Fu Guanxian. Even though school had just ended, and the teachers hadn't assigned much homework because of the recent exam, the students had all dispersed. Only Xiang Yang and Ding Wanjun were left in the classroom. But could she ignore him?

Fu Guanxian had taken off his white jacket and left it in his backpack on the basketball court. He was now wearing a plain white T-shirt. But he was handsome and good-looking, and he was much taller than other boys his age. So, even in a simple T-shirt, he still looked different. Well, he looked good.

Xiang Yang looked at the golden light shining through the window glass and hesitated.

Fu Guanxian, obviously, didn't have much patience. He was in the middle of playing basketball when a classmate reminded him that his phone in his backpack was ringing. Although the school had a rule against students bringing their phones, Fu Guanxian liked to go against the rules. He tossed the ball, ran to answer the phone. It was Xiang Yi calling, saying that the driver had a car problem on the way and was still under repair. He and Jiang Manxin both had things to do, and they wanted Xiang Yang to take a ride with Fu Guanxian.

Fu Guanxian readily agreed, “Uncle Xiang, don't worry, it's no problem. It's just that school's been over for a while. Will Xiang Yang have already left?”

“She's on duty today, so she won't leave that early.”

“Okay, Uncle Xiang, I'll take care of it!” Fu Guanxian hung up the phone and shouted to Lian Rui and the others, “You guys keep playing. I'm going to the bathroom!”

“Hurry back!” Lian Rui reminded him.

Fu Guanxian ran to Xiang Yang's classroom and found that she was still there. He called out her name, but she didn't react. Fu Guanxian lowered his voice and changed his address, “Xiang Xiaoyang.”

Hearing this address, Xiang Yang gritted her teeth. She didn't care about Ding Wanjun's expression and quickly walked out.

Seeing her standing in front of him with her head lowered, he complained, “Are you deaf? I just called you, didn't you hear?”

Xiang Yang knew that she couldn't answer this question. No matter what she said, it would be wrong. She changed the subject, “What do you want?”

Fu Guanxian crossed his arms, looked at her for a moment, then said, “Your driver's car broke down. You're coming home with me.”

“Ah?”

“It seems your ears really are deaf. Let me see!” He leaned in and pinched her small earlobe, lowering his head as if to pretend to look.

Xiang Yang quickly covered her ears and took two steps back.

Fu Guanxian saw her react so strongly. He had wanted to continue teasing her, but when he saw her pink earlobes, he couldn't help but stop. He looked at the golden sunlight shining on the hallway, thinking, he shouldn't scare her anymore.

Xiang Yang covered her ears, and she could clearly feel the heat in her palms. She lowered her head slightly, not daring to look at him.

Fu Guanxian didn't look at her either, afraid of putting pressure on her. So, his bored gaze wandered around, and he noticed the girl from Xiang Yang's class, who looked somewhat familiar, staring at him in disbelief. Her expression was full of shock.

Fu Guanxian knew that she had probably seen the intimate interaction between him and Xiang Yang. This person was really unpleasant. Shouldn't she have pretended not to see it? Fu Guanxian glared at her sharply.

Ding Wanjun was intimidated by his gaze. Even though her heart was racing, she understood that if she continued to look, Fu Guanxian would be unhappy. So, she quickly turned away.

Fu Guanxian looked at the hallway in the distance. There were still quite a few students coming and going. He looked at Xiang Yang again, thought for a moment, and decided to get it over with quickly. So, he said, “Wait for me at the school gate. If I don't see you there, you can expect to come to my house to do my homework tonight!”

“You...” Xiang Yang wanted to argue, but Fu Guanxian didn't give her a chance. He turned around and ran back to the basketball court.

Xiang Yang watched his receding figure, full of worry. She really didn't want to go home in Fu Guanxian's car. If someone saw them, they would probably be curious about their relationship. She really didn't want to be associated with him at school.

After Fu Guanxian left, Xiang Yang returned to the classroom with heavy steps. Sure enough, Ding Wanjun had been watching their every move. She thought about it and decided to ask, “Xiang Yang, do you know Fu Guanxian from the second year?”

Xiang Yang didn't answer immediately. She told the first lie of her life, “No, he said he just ran into the head teacher. The head teacher asked me to go to her office tomorrow morning.”

“Fu Guanxian and the head teacher?” Ding Wanjun recalled the familiar interaction between Fu Guanxian and Xiang Yang. It didn't look like they had just met. Ding Wanjun didn't dare to think from another perspective.

Xiang Yang lowered her head and swept the floor while making up a story, “Yeah, his head teacher and our head teacher share an office. They probably ran into each other in the office.”

Hearing this, Ding Wanjun smiled and didn't say anything. She knew that she had gone to the head teacher's office after school. She had also asked the history teacher where the head teacher was. The history teacher said she had something to do and left after the bell rang. Ding Wanjun subtly glanced at Xiang Yang, who seemed to be diligently sweeping the floor. Her expression was gloomy.

Fu Guanxian thought that Xiang Yang, who always did what he said, would be obediently waiting for him at the school gate. However, after he finished playing basketball and ran to the school gate ahead of Lian Rui and the others, he looked around, even waited for a few minutes, but he didn't see her.

The driver saw him sweating profusely and rushed to get out of the car to get a tissue to wipe his sweat. Fu Guanxian took it and wiped it off roughly, then asked, “Where's Xiang Yang? Did she come?”

“The little girl from the Xiang family? She left.”

“What? She left?”

“Yeah, I just arrived, and I saw her walking away by herself. I saw her, and she even smiled and waved at me. But she seemed to be in a hurry, and she left quickly.”

“Haha!” Fu Guanxian crumpled the tissue in his hand and replied unhappily, “In a hurry? She's just running away from the crime, she's guilty!”

“What running away from the crime?” The driver was confused.

“It's nothing. Go home!” Fu Guanxian got in the car, full of anger. But as soon as the car turned onto a street, Fu Guanxian told the driver to take the right-hand road.

The driver looked at the traffic conditions and said, “It's rush hour. That road is the most congested.”

“Take that road.” Fu Guanxian insisted.

Although the driver didn't understand, he did as he was told. Fu Guanxian kept looking out the window the whole way, which surprised the driver. This was the first time! Was it because the scenery on this road was good? So, the driver, stuck in traffic, moving like an ant, also looked out the window from time to time, trying to find some unique scenery. But he didn't know that Fu Guanxian was just looking for someone. The driver often took this road when going home. But until they arrived at his doorstep, Fu Guanxian didn't see Xiang Yang.

Fu Guanxian jumped out of the car and “humph”ed twice, his face full of anger. His anger lasted until the evening. When Kong Yiyue came back, she noticed that something was wrong with him. She called Fu Jinting when she went back to her room to change clothes, “Is your precious son in trouble at school?”

“Is he? Did the teacher call you?” Fu Jinting asked back.

“No, that's why I asked you.”

“What happened?” Fu Jinting stopped what he was doing and asked.

Kong Yiyue chuckled, “If there's nothing big at school, then he might have been bullied. Looking at his face, he seems pretty angry.”

Although Fu Jinting thought this was unlikely, he still said, “Child's mother, isn't it a bit unfeeling of you to be secretly happy about this?”

“Oh, thinking about it, maybe it is. I'll go and see what's wrong. Remember to come home early after work.”

“Okay, I'll be back for dinner.”

Kong Yiyue hung up the phone, went back to the living room, and saw Fu Guanxian flipping through a book. But every time he flipped a page, he did it so forcefully, as if he was venting his anger. Kong Yiyue sat down next to him and asked, “What's wrong? Not happy?”

“No!”

 

“Did you do poorly on the mid-term exam?”

“Mom, can you stop underestimating me?”

“Then did you fight with a classmate and lose?”

“I would never lose a fight.”

“Then why are you so angry?”

“I'm angry because...”

“Because of what?” Kong Yiyue was very curious.

“It's nothing. Mom, go ahead and do what you need to do. I'm going to read.”

Kong Yiyue couldn't figure it out. It wasn't until Xiang Yang and Jiang Manxin came over at eight o'clock that she seemed to guess what was going on. Jiang Manxin said, “Xiang Yang insisted on coming over after dinner. She said she had some questions for Guanxian.”

“Alright! Guanxian is upstairs. I'll go get him.” Kong Yiyue replied with a smile.

“Auntie, no need to bother. I'll just go up.” Xiang Yang said with a smile.

“Okay.” Kong Yiyue waited for Xiang Yang to go upstairs, then heard Jiang Manxin say, “Before, when she didn't understand something, I told her to ask Guanxian, and she wouldn't say anything. Tonight, she's quite proactive.”

Kong Yiyue thought about it and tentatively asked, “Do you think they might have had a fight?”

“Ah? No way!”

Kong Yiyue nodded, “I think it's probably true. My son came back from school, and his face was as black as if someone owed him eight million.”

Jiang Manxin was surprised.

When Fu Guanxian heard the knock on the door, he immediately replied from inside, “Mom, I told you, I don't drink milk.”

Xiang Yang tugged at her sleeve and softly replied after a while, “It's me.”

There was a long pause, then Fu Guanxian suddenly opened the door, his tone sarcastic, “Oh, who is it? Isn't this the one who's grown wings and wants to fly? What are you doing here?”

Xiang Yang gathered her courage and said in one breath, “Didn't you say I could either ride your car back or come to your house to do your homework tonight? I chose the second option.”

Translator's Note:

I'd love to get your feedback on my translation so I can keep getting better. Do you have any Chinese novels in mind that you'd like me to translate? Thanks!

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