Chapter 94

On the overpass, Lu Siwen wiped the corners of her eyes and the sides of her nose, her pale fingertips carrying a bit of moisture.

She said in a panic: "Classmate Zhai... I'm not crying... really."

Zhai Da: ...

I didn't even ask.

And if there wasn't a mist of water on your eyelashes, maybe I would believe it more.

Zhai Da felt his pocket. This time he didn't play any magic tricks, but simply handed a tissue to Lu Siwen.

Lu Siwen finally stopped being stubborn and used the tissue to wipe away the not-too-many tears.

Youth is really good; one dares to wipe their face with paper when crying, not worrying about makeup smudging.

It was clear that this girl had been immersed in her emotions for a while, but Zhai Da didn't ask why, just waited for her to calm down on her own first.

Lu Siwen took a deep breath, her voice somewhat dry:

"I originally wanted to go to Class 8 to find you during the day, but I went twice and it was either already class time or not yet class time, so I thought I'd wait here and see."

Zhai Da asked in confusion: "Why not send a message? Calling would work too."

Lu Siwen helplessly showed Zhai Da her phone.

It was a rare full-keyboard design, looking very complicated. Zhai Da remembered this brand was called "BlackBerry," which followed a business route and seemed to be positioned even more expensively than Nokia.

"Got a new phone? Very high-end, and then?"

Lu Siwen lowered her head and said: "The original one was taken away by my mom. This is my mom's spare phone. I can't memorize your phone number... I guessed wrong more than ten times and sent it to many strangers... I didn't intentionally not reply to your message yesterday, I'm sorry..."

"Oh, your mom's... I'll just give you the number again."

Zhai Da didn't care. The number of times he didn't reply to Lu Siwen's messages was close to the number of times Lu Siwen sent him messages; these were all small matters. This shouldn't be the reason Lu Siwen was crying.

Zhai Da reported a string of numbers, and Lu Siwen quickly entered them, but hesitated when saving it, saving the contact as "Yu Jia."

She was afraid her mom would check her phone.

Since the two of them were in a startup partnership, Zhai Da felt he still had to ask.

Although it sounded like family business, at this age, how many things weren't "family business"?

Lu Siwen had no guard against Zhai Da and said quite a bit intermittently.

She actually hadn't accurately judged where the problem lay. Her little brain still thought that her unsatisfactory third mock exam score was the fuse for everything. Yesterday after dinner, she was just about to reply to Zhai Da's message when her mom knocked on the door and entered her room.

Using "the college entrance exam is starting soon, don't get distracted" as an excuse, she took away her phone and also forbade her from using the computer.

Qian Yarong didn't understand computers and was too lazy to move it away, but she took away the power cord.

Before leaving, she also had a long talk with Lu Siwen, not mentioning Zhai Da or grades, just repeatedly emphasizing the "unshakability" of the plan to go abroad, and described the beautiful life after going abroad.

Sweet air, food without additives, harmonious and enthusiastic people, a fair and just environment...

Zhai Da felt a bit constipated listening to it.

Whether to go or not is someone's freedom, but this thinking is too naive, right? This isn't America; this is Utopia...

But he wouldn't mock Qian Yarong. How many people left with this kind of thinking?

Don't think that rich people are smart people; the proportion of people who think they are smart among the rich is higher.

An apple falling and getting stuck on a hedgehog's back doesn't mean this hedgehog is smarter than other hedgehogs; it just happened to pass through a forest that kept bearing fruit.

Perhaps it would even keep describing its achievements as its own specialness and excellence to prevent others from going under that tree...

"So you suddenly don't want to go abroad, making your mom unhappy. Did I summarize it correctly?"

Lu Siwen nodded first, then shook her head: "Actually, I haven't fully thought it through... I just expressed a little hesitation, and Mom reacted so intensely..."

For a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl to think clearly about the pros and cons of going abroad, the difficulty is no less than letting a new recruit jump with a parachute directly.

The viewpoints she came into contact with were basically given by others, and it's normal for "reversals" to appear as she grows older.

What Lu Zetao said wasn't entirely wrong either. Not adapting and being nervous are inevitable situations when facing a new environment. One cannot adjust plans for such a big matter just because the child is nervous.

Lu Siwen turned her head and looked at the slowly setting orange sun again.

"Classmate Zhai, if it were you, would you go abroad?"

"Me? I wouldn't..."

"Why not?"

"No reason, and the scope of 'abroad' is too big."

"America?"

"Even less. I'm afraid of having children, I'm afraid of American-style judo, I'm afraid of flying leaves hurting the body, and even more afraid of open-door..."

Lu Siwen's little face was filled with confusion... why couldn't she understand a single word.

Zhai Da also took a step forward and leaned on the railing with Lu Siwen:

"I'm not the one crying. Why ask me? I won't persuade you to go or not. This is an internal family problem... not something an ordinary friend should interfere with."

An ordinary friend, huh...

Lu Siwen felt a "natural" little disappointment in her heart.

Sad at first thought, relieved upon careful thought...

But immediately after, she heard Zhai Da say:

"But as a friend and partner, I can support your choice. Think clearly about what you want to do, and then work hard to do it. It's that simple."

He hadn't persuaded Lu Siwen, nor had he spread his own ideology. There are good things about going abroad, and good things about not going abroad; they are all one's own choices.

But...

If Lu Siwen had her own ideas, he was willing to support her.

Friend, isn't that what it means?

Lu Siwen felt the evening breeze blowing warmer, perhaps carrying a bit of youthful spirit.

Looking at Zhai Da's profile, she felt she had found a kind of strength... at least Classmate Zhai supported her!

Subconsciously, she moved a point closer to Zhai Da and gathered her courage to say: "Then... I want to persuade Mom..."

"Can't do it."

"Huh...?"

Zhai Da spread his hands: "Your mom's brain is already logically self-consistent; it's definitely not something that can be changed in a short time. At most, you can try to win over your dad. Of course, you still have to start from yourself."

"I just wanted to say... why does it feel like Classmate Zhai is scolding people..."

"Illusion. So, have you thought it through?"

Sometimes joking around is far more effective than big principles in helping people get out of entanglement. Lu Siwen's face unconsciously had more smiles and less melancholy.

Her almond eyes, moist like a deer's, also finally reflected the magnificent colors of the sunset.

"Then! I want to stay in the country for college!"

"Do you want to sever ties with your parents?"

Lu Siwen said hurriedly: "That won't do! That's not what I mean!"

Zhai Da nodded: "Just confirming. Different situations have different ways of handling them."

As an adult, he naturally wouldn't give a little girl a "plan to cut off all ties," just deliberately saying so to let Lu Siwen understand that "having family problems" and "abandoning the family" are two different things.

Bloodline is a bond that cannot be washed away; family is a foundation that cannot be changed. Patching things up is the norm in the world. Those who abandon their family at the slightest disagreement... are called perverts.

Lu Benqing excluded, that's scum.

No matter how you look at it, the Lu family hadn't reached that point. Lu Siwen didn't not love her parents, and Lu Zetao and Qian Yarong didn't not love her.

Persuading her to break with her family or take unconventional, intense measures to resist would be a wicked act of not doing human things.

"Then you need to have better grades, amaze everyone in the college entrance exam, and then firmly and preparedly advance your plan. You aren't persuading your mom to make a choice, but to make a choice yourself and execute it."

Lu Siwen nodded first, but then felt guilty and said: "I actually... my grades are getting hard to pull up. I've been hovering around 390 points for the whole third year of high school..."

Zhai Da smiled: "This is the part where I can help you."

At the beginning, Lu Siwen's grades were far better than his, so he didn't feel anything, holding the pen Lu Siwen lent him but never caring about Lu Siwen's studies.

In his 400 points, the [Literary Girl's Pen] contributed at least half the score. In Lu Wei's 460 points, nearly one hundred points benefited from Lu Siwen's equipment. Both of them actually benefited a lot from this little girl.

Now that she was busy running around for his affairs and urgently needed to boost her grades.

If he pretended not to know again, it would be a bit of a drop in character.

On the overpass, Zhai Da waved his hand, and a blue enamel fountain pen appeared in his palm.

Whether it was him or Lu Wei, the problems that "copying" could solve had already been solved. Allocating a portion of time every day for Lu Siwen to use it wouldn't affect their own study plans at all.

However, there needed to be a reasonable explanation.

It's still that one, right...

Believe and it works, don't believe and it's traditional culture. This girl is also quite dull... sorry, she's quite cute.

Don't think it's outrageous; I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of college students are hanging Conan.

Zhai Da thought of one thing: "Let's make a deal... no, let's make a promise. I'll help you quickly improve your grades, and as a reward, how about you give me this pen completely after the college entrance exam?"

He wasn't taking advantage of the situation; it just happened to be brought up. Without this opportunity, he had many ways to get permanent ownership of the [Literary Girl's Pen].

Lu Siwen hesitated but nodded. For such a long time, Zhai Da hadn't mentioned returning the pen, and she already had a sense of accepting reality in her heart.

More importantly, this pen left by her grandfather being used by the "future writer" Zhai Da might be a better spiritual continuation. She didn't resist this.

Lu Siwen turned around, facing Zhai Da, close at hand.

She raised her pale neck and brought her lovely little face as close as possible, as if to let Zhai Da see more clearly.

Although she didn't know how Zhai Da was going to help her improve her grades, Lu Siwen still said sincerely:

"Classmate Zhai... thank you."

"No need to thank me, let's consider it an exchange. I got the pen, didn't I?"

If he could help Lu Siwen get through the difficulty, he would feel at ease claiming the [Literary Girl's Pen]. This was actually a very powerful [Equipment].

Lu Siwen shook her head: "It's not about that..."

It's probably... in the most confused age, being able to meet you, thank you...

The red sun reflected in Lu Siwen's eyes made her pupils look like gems. Zhai Da subconsciously turned his head away:

"Don't mind it, the most important thing is to rely on yourself."

Lu Siwen raised her pale little hand high above her head!

Smiling like a flower, full of energy.

"I will work hard! High five!"

Zhai Da was speechless. What the hell is a high five? So childish!

And Lu Siwen jumped around, persevering.

"Huh..."

Zhai Da finally reached out his hand...

"Clap."

Together with Lu Siwen, he held the sunset in his palm.

——————

The next day, in the classroom of Class 11, Lu Siwen was arranging the "Zhai-style Learning Matrix" one by one, comparing it with the text message on her phone...

"First, surround the books into three walls; the height cannot be lower than 20CM..."

Due to her full trust in Zhai Da, there wasn't the slightest doubt in her little brain, and there wasn't any surprise either. Adults burn incense during holidays, and they firmly believe that a few dozen yuan in incense money can bring back millions in feedback from the Buddha.

Or believe that throwing a one-yuan coin into a hole... can keep the whole family safe...

Just as Classmate Zhai said, believe and it works, don't believe and it's traditional culture.

Her deskmate saw Lu Siwen's setup and asked curiously: "Are you going to play on your phone in class?"

In her consciousness, only poor students who didn't study would set up such a formation.

Lu Siwen shook her head: "A friend taught me, saying this can strengthen memory."

The deskmate chose not to understand but to respect.

Lu Siwen took out the most important thing Zhai Da gave her during the morning self-study break from her bag.

Two stickers.

One was a basketball star she didn't know, and one was a very familiar death-bringing elementary school student.

One hung up, one couldn't be hung up; they couldn't be mixed up.

"Hang Kobe, don't hang Conan... it should be fine like this."

Lu Siwen felt a wave of confusion. Hanging a subject should be a college term, right...

Classmate Zhai had already adopted college learning methods! So amazing!

No wonder his grades improved so fast.

Finally, she filled her fountain pen, which she hadn't used for a long time, with ink, and the ritual was complete.

Classmate Zhai said it was just a loan and had to be returned to him before school ended...

Of course, there was the most important part: every time before starting the "Zhai Matrix," one had to have physical contact with Zhai Da, no limit on the part. This had already been completed during the break; the two of them shook hands.

Recalling the touch just now, Lu Siwen was a bit dazed. It wasn't that she hadn't shaken hands before, but it depended on who...

A young girl's unnaturalness depends on the object... when the palms of the two were firmly in contact, her heartbeat did indeed speed up by three points.

Suppressing her messy thoughts, Lu Siwen took a deep breath and started copying knowledge points...

After a long while, she looked up in shock...

"Classmate Zhai is really amazing!"