Chapter 52: First Meeting

What, another new student? Who is it?

Hearing the homeroom teacher say that, the people who had risen from their stools had no choice but to sit back down unwillingly.

"Old class, is there another transfer student from another school?"

Only seeing Homeroom Teacher Lao Liu shake his head in denial, he said, "No, this new student is from Class 1."

"What?"

"I didn't hear wrong, did I?"

"How could a student from Elite Class One end up in our Class 12?"

Instantly, a rustle of surprised discussion rose all around, various expressions of disbelief.

Not to mention them, even Lao Liu himself found it unbelievable; when the grade head came before class to inform him of this, he was dazed, and he also couldn't understand why his class's 'charm' had suddenly risen in a straight line lately.

Shu Shu wasn't particularly curious.

She was flipping through, under her desk, the review post for the specialty restaurant Xiao Musi had recommended, which they planned to go eat after school, when the next second she heard Shu Lingchen beside her exclaim in surprise.

"Huh, is it her?"

"Who is it?"

Shu Shu instinctively lifted her head to look, then froze.

She saw Homeroom Teacher Lao Liu waving at the classroom door, a plump girl with soft, fair fingers gripping the shoulder straps of her backpack, obediently following Lao Liu inside.

"Xiao Musi?!"

Shu Shu exclaimed in surprise.

The transfer student from Class 1 is actually Xiao Musi?

Shu Shu suddenly recalled that Xiao Musi had said she transferred to An Shi San Zhong from Jing Shi because of her, and now she had moved from Class 1 to Class 12...

This kid really...

Shu Shu felt a mix of laughter and tears.

As expected, Xiao Musi's gaze swept over the crowd and locked onto her; seeing her, she smiled with chubby cheeks, her peach blossom eyes faintly flashing with anticipation and excitement, and she quietly waved at her from below.

Shu Shu raised her eyebrows and smiled back.

The grade head had told Lao Liu that this girl from Class 1 was somewhat shy and introverted, so Lao Liu took the initiative to introduce her to the students below: "Classmates, this is the new student transferring from Class 1 to our class."

"—Her name is Pei Muyin; everyone, welcome her."

The moment Lao Liu's words fell, Shu Shu's expression froze on her face, and her thoughts paused for half a second.

For a moment she wondered if she had misheard.

"What is Xiao Musi called?"

Then, Lao Liu cleared up Shu Shu's confusion; he took a piece of chalk from the small box on the podium, turned around, and wrote freely on the blackboard behind him:

Pei, Mu, Yin.

The next second, Shu Shu shot up from her seat, staring in disbelief at the name on the blackboard.

Pei Muyin.

These three characters were exactly the same as the three characters written in the notebook on her desk, filled with the name of the daughter from her dreams.

It is Pei Muyin.

Xiao Musi is called Pei Muyin...

Shu Shu's gaze drifted from the blackboard, inch by inch, onto Pei Muyin, onto the Pei Muyin who was looking at her with an affectionate smile.

In an instant, all her sensory functions shut down; the voices around her, the people nearby, all blurred, leaving the whole world with only Pei Muyin sharply focused in her sight.

She watched, wide-eyed, as after the homeroom teacher said dismiss, Pei Muyin walked against the flow of the crowd heading out, toward her.

The girl stopped in front of her and happily said, "Musi sis, from now on we'll be classmates."

After Pei Muyin said that, there was no response for a while; she blinked and asked, "... Musi sis, what's wrong with you?"

A hand gently touched her face.

Shu Shu felt the palm's touch—soft, warm, and undeniably real.

She heard her own voice, trembling slightly, ask: "Xiao Musi, is your real name Pei Muyin?"

Pei Muyin blushed and nodded: "Yeah, that's right—the Mu in Musi, the Yin from music."

Shu Shu almost urgently reached for Pei Muyin's left hand at her side, grasped it, lifted it, and held it before her eyes to examine.

She saw that the girl's several fingertips, pale and tender, had similar indentations; touching them gave a slightly hard feeling.

Shu Shu instantly recognized these as calluses from years of playing the violin.

Pei Muyin, violinist's calluses.

And in her dream, the daughter was also named Pei Muyin, a violinist.

Shu Shu's breath hitched, then she lifted her gaze to Pei Muyin again, carefully scanning her forehead, brows, eyes, peach blossom eyes, nose, chin, back and forth.

That faintly familiar brow and eyes, the longer she looked, the more her heart trembled, the more astonished she became.

She reproached herself, asking herself.

Why hadn't she noticed before? Why had she never realized?

Her fondness for Xiao Musi at first sight, that inexplicable softening and pity toward Xiao Musi, that feeling of closeness without any reservation—

These details had been reminding her all along.

...... Shu Shu struggled to suppress the emotion welling up in her chest, and finally asked: "Xiao Musi, is the second character of your father's name... the 'du' of ferry crossing?"

Pei Muyin widened her eyes in surprise, looking at Shu Shu: "Sis, how do you know that?"

In the dream, the daughter lived with her father, named Pei Muyin, and was a violinist.

——Everything matched up.

At this moment, Shu Shu's eyes brimmed with hot tears.

Xiao Musi is a daughter.

She is the daughter she had been searching for all along.

It turned out to be right nearby!

Shu Shu held her daughter's hand, lowered her head, sniffed hard, her gaze had nowhere to rest, and so overwhelmed she couldn't say a word.

Everyone had left the classroom, only three people remained, the room empty and quiet.

Pei Muyin and Shu Lingchen were both startled by Shu Shu's sudden move.

What's wrong?

Sister, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?

The girl's soft voice reached her ears; Shu Shu shook her head, could no longer hold back, reached out and embraced Pei Muyin, embraced her daughter.

"I'm fine." Her voice tinged with a hint of suppressed sob.

The nearest Pei Muyin heard it, she froze instantly, then hurriedly said, "Sister, are you unhappy? Is it because I decided on my own to transfer into your class without telling you first, making you uncomfortable? Sorry, I—"

"Of course not. You've come, I'm happy." Shu Shu tightly embraced her daughter, her chest aching soft, and she spoke softly and affectionately: "I just wanted to say, nice to meet you, please take care of me."

Baby, I'm your mother, please take care of me.

"……" Pei Muyin became even more puzzled: "Sister, we've obviously known each other for a long time."

No.

Shu Shu didn't speak, only silently denying it in her heart.

Because it truly was their first meeting, as mother and daughter.

Beside him, Shu Lingchen stared at Shu Shu, wondering why; looking at such a mother, a sour, bloated feeling suddenly welled up in his chest.

What's going on?

…

Shu Shu composed her emotions as quickly as possible.

She heard Pei Muyin asking if they should go straight to that restaurant for dinner.

Shu Shu looked at her, her eyes soft, and said: "How about we don't go? Today, let's eat at home."