LYD: Chapter 16 Part 2

Toffee (2)

She looked at it very seriously, and her voice was soft and thin, "I, your humble subject Li Mi, have this to say: As ordained by my untoward lot, misfortune befell me in my early childhood. Six months after my birth, my kind father died. When I was four my mother was deprived of her will to remain in widowhood by my maternal uncle..."

Her voice had recovered, and Lu Zhi listened to her quietly.

He was illiterate in a certain sense because he was poor in terms of poetry. In addition, it was written in classical Chinese, so Lu Zhi couldn't understand what she was reading. He just thought it sounded good, even better than singing.

Lu Zhi waited for her to finish reading it. Then reached out and moved her pile of books to the top right corner of his own.

Ning Zhen raised her eyes to look at him, frowned, and said, "Lu Zhi, what are you doing?"

"Ning Zhen." He looked at her, "You chose to sit here in this position."

"..." There were only two seats left, and she couldn't go to the podium.

"So, your deskmate doesn't have books. Shouldn't you be nice?"

"You have books."

"Hmm, but I didn't move them over."

"Why didn't you move them?"

He smiled. "I forgot. Can you do it, please? Is it so difficult to share half a book? Don't you understand spirit of helping the people wholeheartedly¹?"

She had a fair-skinned little face, her sparkling black eyes were filled with annoyance, and her straight bangs made her look like a well-behaved kid no matter how one looked at her.

Ning Zhen held her breath and shared half of the book with him.

The two got a little closer.

In the midsummer of June, the fans creaked over their heads, and her hair fluttered softly. Ning Zhen held a water-based pen and made comments on the book from time to time.

Her handwriting was not very beautiful, but her writing was serious and delicate.

Lu Zhi suddenly remembered last week's flag-raising ceremony. Lin Zichuan said with a smile, some people are not in the same world as us. 

Not in the same world, so she doesn't like him? Think he's bad? Afraid of him?

"Ning Zhen, what is this text about?"

Ning Zhen looked at him in surprise. He was frowning at the textbook. His black eyes were deep and serious.

"Well, this article was written by Li Mi to resign from his

 official position. It is about his lonely childhood. After his father died and his mother remarried, he grew up alone. Later, when Shu Han was destroyed, Li Mi became a prisoner and he had the opportunity to become an official. But, for one, his grandmother was old and needed someone to support her. Secondly, he missed his old country and didn't want to be an official in the new country. Do you understand?"

"Lonely childhood?" Lu Zhi smiled coldly.

Ning Zhen's hand holding the pen halted.

Lu Zhi he...

She suddenly remembered something in her previous life. Although she didn't know much about Lu Zhi's family, only bits and pieces, she knew that he had a bad life when he was a child.

Or rather, he was always sad.

She suddenly regretted telling him this. He might not know that this article was in the textbook if she didn't tell him.

Ning Zhen glanced at him quietly. Lu Zhi lowered his eyes, and there was no smile on his lips.

She suddenly didn't know what to do.

Ning Zhen took out her schoolbag and unzipped it.

"Lu Zhi," She whispered to him.

Lu Zhi tilted her head, "Hmm?"

"Are you in a bad mood? I'll give you some candy." She spread out her palm, and two pieces of toffee were in it.

The sound of reading was loud in the classroom. She looked at him cautiously with a bit of apprehension in her eyes. With her small white hand under the desk, she handed him candy.

He took one from her hand. He hadn't eaten it yet, but it felt so sweet that his heart melted.

"Ning Zhen, how can you..." How can you so easily attract people to dote on you...

"What?" Ning Zhen didn't hear clearly.

He chuckled softly, "I said, the Chinese teacher is looking over."

"...!" Ning Zhen looked at the book in a panic, not daring to look up at the Chinese teacher's eyes. It's over. What did the teacher see?

Lu Zhi's shoulder trembled slightly in laughter.

"Okay, ten minutes are up, Now I'll pick students to read and translate." 

The wind blew the books. Lu Zhi suddenly whispered, "Cutie."

"Huh?"

A toffee was stuffed into her mouth, the milky fragrance spread, and the sweetness followed. Lu Zhi looked at her with a smile. "Good girl, you are the one who is suited to eat this."

But! She pressed the candy with the tip of her tongue.

Ah ah ah ah Lu Zhi, this bad guy, this is class!

Xia Xiaoshi's eyes widened. What the hell did she see... Lu Zhi fed Zhen Zhen candy...

After school in Third High, Lin Zichuan walked to the first row. Xie Yu was packing her school bag.

He picked a piece of chalk from the podium to play with.

He drew on Xie Yu's desk.

Xie Yu raised her head to look at him. There were chalk marks on her desk. 

"Classmate Xie Yu." Lin Zichuan smiled gently, "May I trouble you to go out for a cup of tea with us."

Xie Yu's face turned pale.

She tried to calm down. "What do you want to do? I didn't offend you."

Lin Zichuan broke off the chalk. "Explain that to Ah Zhi." He added softly, "Cooperate by yourself or with violence. Consider it. We'll see you at the school gate."

******

1. The original text, 雷锋精神, can also be translated as Lei Feng spirit. Lei Feng was a Chinese soldier and is seen as a symbol of selflessness, modesty, and dedication.

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