Meng Shixu’s appearance at the affiliated high school caused quite a stir.

 

At seventeen or eighteen, teenagers were still far from understanding the true weight of the three characters “Meng Shixu.” Their world was largely dominated by exams and grades; what little space remained left them with only a vague impression of him—rich.

 

A Rolls-Royce, Italian hand-tailored suits, assistants and bodyguards… but it was said that whenever Meng Shixu came to attend a parents’ meeting, the assistants and bodyguards never appeared.

 

Jin Zhao had never seen Meng Shixu before. Class A’s parents’ meetings were held separately and did not follow the grade-level schedule.

 

That afternoon, a heavy rain had fallen. By the time it was time to leave, sparse raindrops were still falling from the sky. Jin Zhao came out of the office in a sorry state, still immersed in an inexpressible humiliation, when a classmate running past from behind suddenly bumped into her, making her stagger a step.

 

“Ah, sorry!”

 

The girl who had run into her hurriedly turned back, apologizing with her mouth, but her eyes were full of urgency and excitement. Without caring whether she knew Jin Zhao or not, she familiarly grabbed her hand. “Sis, come quick and look—Meng Yanxi’s dad!”

 

The balcony was packed with students. Jin Zhao was dazed, dragged along by this suddenly acquainted “sis” and squeezed into the front row.

 

The afternoon downpour had turned into a fine drizzle. When the wind blew, it slanted across the faces of the students leaning out.

 

Jin Zhao’s face felt cool. Following everyone’s gaze downward, she saw a group of people walking toward them across the small square in front of the teaching building.

 

The man at the front was the tallest and most upright. He wore a dark shirt and slacks. His features were proper and correct, the kind of dignified, upright handsomeness fit for the Spring Festival Gala, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses resting on his nose bridge.

 

His legs were long, his stride large yet steady. On his right, the principal attentively held up a large black umbrella, shielding him from the fine rain.

 

Behind them followed a group of school administrators.

 

“Ahhh! Look! Meng Yanxi’s dad—Meng Shixu!”

 

“My god! Half a year without seeing him and my father-in-law is still this handsome! I’m going to faint from how good-looking he is!”

 

“I’m different—I saw my father-in-law this morning. He even told me and my husband to go home earlier after school.”

 

One boy couldn’t stand it anymore and spat with a laugh, “Pah! Have some shame, you two. Are you even girls?”

 

Then he turned his head and suddenly shouted downstairs, “Dad, are you still lacking a son!”

 

“Scram!”

 

“You’re the most shameless one!”

 

Boys and girls at this age were reckless and fearless, heedless of heaven and earth. Relying on the fact that they were on the top floor and the principal couldn’t reach them, they laughed and cursed on the balcony, turning it into chaos.

 

Jin Zhao couldn’t help laughing too. That bit of unspoken sorrow was unexpectedly scattered away by Meng Shixu’s sudden appearance.

 

Downstairs, the group quickly went up the steps. The principal followed closely at Meng Shixu’s side, a smile piled on his face as he leaned over to say something. Meng Shixu slightly lowered his head to listen, refined and courteous, elegant in demeanor.

 

Though these classmates were loose-mouthed in private, they still cared about appearances. Seeing Meng Shixu step onto the staircase, they scattered in a flash.

 

“I’m going to pick up my dad!”

 

“Me too!”

 

“I won’t go. My father-in-law likes me quiet—I’ll go back to studying!”

 

Each one’s mouth was harder than a duck’s, but they ran faster than dogs. In the blink of an eye, everyone was gone.

 

Jin Zhao also prepared to return to the classroom, a smile still lingering at the corner of her lips.

 

She turned around—and the smile on her face froze.

 

Meng Yanxi came out of the office and happened to walk to her side.

 

There was no expression on his face, a pair of beautiful eyes clear and cold. He must have heard the jokes just now. He swept a glance downstairs, then quickly withdrew his gaze and let it settle on her face.

 

Jin Zhao’s face instantly burned.

 

Thinking of that business about husbands and fathers-in-law… the embarrassment from being overheard earlier when he listened to and stated the dialogue vanished completely, replaced in an instant by sheer awkwardness.

 

She cast a pleading look around her. The balcony that had just been packed with people was now completely empty. With her and Meng Yanxi as the center, within a three-meter radius, every single person had run off without exception—she was the only one caught red-handed by the person himself.

 

The feeling was exactly like when she was little and had gotten into trouble with her friends—everyone else ran, and she alone was the one who got caught.

 

“I didn’t say…” Jin Zhao didn’t even know what she was trying to explain, her fingers awkwardly tugging at the hem of her school uniform.

 

Meng Yanxi looked at her.

 

The wind carried fine rain onto the balcony. The wisps of hair on her forehead were blown aside and then fell back, briefly revealing gentle brows, like distant mountains in mist and rain.

 

The rain felt even colder than before. Jin Zhao cried “I’m done for” in her heart—she must be blushing.

 

“Meng Yanxi.”

 

Lu Jingyue’s voice came over, and Meng Yanxi withdrew his gaze.

 

Meng Shixu had already arrived and was standing at the classroom door, with Lu Jingyue beside him.

 

“Dad.”

 

Meng Yanxi walked past Jin Zhao, the scent of cold mountain pines and mist, mixed with the fresh clarity after rain, rushing into her nose.

 

-♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

 

During the parents’ meeting, students were free to do as they pleased and were to return at seven in the evening for evening self-study.

 

In most people’s eyes, this was equivalent to a holiday. Si Tian and a few girls made plans to go to the snack street outside the school to drink milk tea. Jin Zhao declined their invitation and carried her schoolbag alone to the library to do practice problems.

 

The high school library had very few people. After all, high school students were already overwhelmed just dealing with their subjects day in and day out. Morning and evening self-study periods were sometimes taken over by teachers for classes, leaving no extra time to come to the library. On the rare occasions they did, it was usually just to find a book, borrow it, and leave in a hurry. Still, the affiliated high school’s library provided self-study seats for students, with rows of solid wood desks and chairs placed by the windows.

 

By late September, there was already a hint of chill, and today there had even been an autumn rain. Jin Zhao opened the window, letting the fresh, moist wind blow in through the half-open frame.

 

There were several osmanthus trees downstairs by the library. Their fragrance was rich, mingling with the gentle wind and fine rain.

 

Between the bookshelves nearby, Ji Haoxuan finally found that volume of literary criticism and suddenly noticed Jin Zhao by the window.

 

She was lowering her head as she worked on a math test paper, her right hand holding the pen to calculate, her left hand occasionally sweeping aside strands of hair blown loose by the wind and tucking them behind her ear.

 

The girl’s back was slender and straight. Her jet-black long hair was tied into a ponytail with a simple hair tie, revealing a stretch of neck that was fair and long.

 

Outside the window, plane trees stood in fine rain, the daylight clear. With her brows lowered and eyes downcast, her profile was gentle and moving, so pale it seemed to glow.

 

Like a painting untouched by dust.

 

Ji Haoxuan’s step, just as he was about to leave, halted. After a moment, he changed direction and came over to sit in the empty seat across from Jin Zhao.

 

In the span of two hours, Jin Zhao finished one math test paper—except for the final major problem.

 

She wasn’t biased toward any subject, but math was relatively her weakest. And while the other subjects could be made up for with diligence, math was the one that sometimes truly left her helpless. She struggled for another half hour without results and finally gave up.

 

Seeing that the time was about right, Jin Zhao began packing up, preparing to ask Si Tian about it during evening self-study.

 

The person in front suddenly turned around.

 

Jin Zhao recognized him as her deskmate and smiled lightly as she greeted him. “Class monitor.”

 

Ji Haoxuan seemed to notice her only then and asked with mild surprise, “Jin Zhao, you’re here too?”

 

“Ah, I came to do homework.” Jin Zhao lifted her schoolbag and said goodbye to Ji Haoxuan. “I’ll head out first, class monitor.”

 

Ji Haoxuan put away the book in his hand and stood up as well. “I should be leaving too. Let’s go together.”

 

Ji Haoxuan was tall and slender, wearing glasses, holding Wang Guowei’s Renjian Cihua¹Wang Guowei’s Renjian Cihua (《人间词话》) is a classic work of Chinese literary criticism, written in the early 20th century by the scholar Wang Guowei (王国维)., making one think of a talented scholar from the Republican era.

 

The two walked out together. Ji Haoxuan took the initiative to start a conversation. “Are you getting used to the teachers’ pace of lectures?”

 

Jin Zhao thought for a moment and said, “It’s faster than before, and they go deeper too, but it’s fine.”

 

Ji Haoxuan turned his head to look at her, wanting to say, if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come ask me.

 

On second thought, that sounded especially immodest. After a brief silence, he changed the topic. “At today’s parents’ meeting, I didn’t see your parents. Did they have something come up and couldn’t make it?”

 

The smile at the corner of Jin Zhao’s lips faded.

 

“Beep—”

 

The library’s anti-theft gate let out an alarm. Ji Haoxuan, who had been about to follow Jin Zhao out, only then remembered that he hadn’t checked out his book yet.

 

He hurriedly stepped back two paces and scratched his head in embarrassment. “I’ll go check out a book first…”

 

Looking into Jin Zhao’s eyes, he wanted to say, wait for me.

 

Jin Zhao went along with it smoothly, waved at him, and said, “Okay, goodbye, class monitor!”

 

Ji Haoxuan: “……”

 

-♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

 

After leaving the library, the rain had already stopped. Jin Zhao decided to go back to the classroom first to put down her schoolbag and umbrella.

 

The parents’ meeting had ended. The classroom was empty, with only Lu Jingyue and Meng Yanxi inside.

 

Jin Zhao didn’t notice and went straight in through the back door. By the time one foot stepped inside, it was already too late.

 

Meng Yanxi had both hands in his pockets, leaning back against a chair, his long legs stretched out and spread without restraint. Lu Jingyue was sitting on the desk in front of him, head lowered as he spoke to him.

 

Both were tall, long-legged, strikingly handsome, equally eye-catching. Their features even shared a hint of resemblance, but Meng Yanxi’s eyes were too stunning, making him look even more handsome, while Lu Jingyue’s features were sharper and colder.

 

With two top-tier heartthrobs standing together like this, no matter when, they could easily make a group of girls secretly fall for them, hearts pounding.

 

But not Jin Zhao. A string of awkward moments in such a short span made her want to turn around and flee the instant she stepped in.

 

Unfortunately, it was already too late. Lu Jingyue was facing the back door, and the moment he lifted his eyes, he saw her.

 

To make matters worse, noticing Lu Jingyue’s movement, Meng Yanxi—who had been facing away from her—also suddenly turned his head.

 

At the instant their eyes met, Jin Zhao quickly lowered her head.

 

She didn’t even know what she was feeling guilty about. Heaven and earth bore witness—those shouts of “husband” and “father-in-law” were not hers.

 

Whether it was because the air-conditioning was set low or because the classroom was empty, Jin Zhao felt a chill. Lowering her head to stare at her feet, her fingers gripping the strap of her schoolbag tightly, she forced herself to walk over.

 

As she passed by him, that cold mountain pine-and-mist scent once again rushed into her nose.

 

Jin Zhao heard Lu Jingyue say, “Did you really have to make him come to the parents’ meeting?”

 

“Mm,” Meng Yanxi’s voice was low, lazy yet carrying a hint of indifference. “A person’s life is just an experience. If you don’t experience it here, you’ll experience it somewhere else. Only when he’s experienced enough with me will he stop thinking about going off to be someone else’s dad.”

 

Jin Zhao lowered her head and put her schoolbag into the desk. She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Meng Yanxi had been looking at her the whole time.

 

That clear, cool gaze came from diagonally behind her, making the tips of her ears burn.

 

The conversation between Lu Jingyue and Meng Yanxi sounded almost like Zen riddles—she couldn’t understand it. As soon as she finished putting away her bag, she quickly fled the classroom through the front door.

 

They seemed to say something else after that, but Jin Zhao didn’t hear clearly. Passing the back door again, Lu Jingyue’s light scoff drifted out through the open doorway.

 

“Really has eight hundred schemes!”

 

Was he talking about Meng Yanxi? Could someone without a heart even have eight hundred schemes?

 

As she went downstairs, Jin Zhao couldn’t help thinking: someone like Meng Yanxi, heaven’s favored child, surrounded by admiration, with such a powerful and charismatic father—how could he have eight hundred schemes? He simply had no heart at all.

 

He didn’t even remember the name of the person he was dating.

 

Behind the affiliated high school was a lively snack street. During dismissal time it was always noisy, full of the smells and bustle of everyday life. Especially on summer evenings, the blazing sun shone over the whole street, seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds charging about recklessly, fearless and bold.

 

When Jin Zhao was in a good mood, she liked going there. Today, she didn’t feel like it. She avoided the back gate and left alone through the front.

 

Across the street from the school was a park lawn, where teachers’ cars were parked just outside the grass. There were no street vendors nearby, but a few hundred meters ahead were several small shops and a supermarket.

 

Jin Zhao ate dinner at one of the small shops, then went to the supermarket to buy yogurt and sausage. On the way back, she deliberately took a turn around the lawn across from the school—and sure enough, she saw that stray orange cat again.

 

The orange cat recognized her and happily rolled around on the grass, meowing as it ran over to rub against her legs.

 

Smiling, Jin Zhao rubbed its belly, took out a sausage from her pocket, and squatted behind a row of cars to feed the cat.

 

-♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

 

After the parents’ meeting ended, Meng Shixu went to the office to chat with Chen Shu for a while. By the time he came out, all the students’ parents had already left—only his son was still waiting for him in the classroom.

 

“Have you eaten?” Meng Shixu walked over and asked.

 

Meng Yanxi stood up and said, “Lu Jingyue went to buy food. I’ll see you out.”

 

Meng Shixu nodded.

 

Father and son left the school together. Along the way, they ran into school administrators, and Meng Shixu politely declined their dinner invitation.

 

Chen Shu had told him that Meng Yanxi’s grades were very stable, and with his national competition awards, whether by raw score or recommendation, getting into the country’s top two universities would not be a problem. He even had plenty of room to choose from even better universities abroad.

 

But Meng Yanxi’s attitude was the same as ever.

 

“My choice hasn’t changed. It’s still Suida.”

 

In the parking lot, Meng Yanxi opened the door of the Rolls-Royce for Meng Shixu.

 

Meng Shixu quietly looked at his son.

 

Meng Yanxi resembled him a great deal. Both father and son had high brow bones and high nose bridges, with deep, well-defined features. The only difference was their eyes. Meng Yanxi’s eyes took after his mother’s—large, peach-blossom eyes, tending toward beauty. Meng Shixu’s eyes were deep; they looked gentle and refined on the surface, but in truth were as unfathomable as an ancient pool.

 

“Alright. As long as you’ve decided.”

 

Meng Shixu knew what he was thinking and didn’t say more. He simply straightened his school uniform collar for him, then patted his shoulder and reminded him, “Remember to eat dinner when you get back.”

 

“Mm.”

 

Meng Shixu got into the back seat. Meng Yanxi stood outside the car, one hand bracing the door, and suddenly asked, “Dad, the thing I bought you last time—did you use it?”

 

It would have been better if he hadn’t brought it up. Once he did, Meng Shixu wanted nothing more than to kick him. But with himself already seated in the car, it wasn’t convenient to make a move. He could only point at him and curse in a low voice, “Meng Yanxi, do less of that damn nonsense in the future!”

 

Meng Yanxi clicked his tongue. “How is it nonsense? You’re in your prime, there’s nothing shameful about it. Just take proper precautions and don’t make a life by accident.”

 

In outsiders’ eyes, Meng Shixu was forever steady and unruffled. Only he himself knew how much of a headache his pair of children, Meng Yanxi and Meng Zhuxi, gave him—especially Meng Yanxi.

 

Meng Shixu sneered. “I’m not ashamed—are you? Bringing that thing back from school for me, do you still remember you’re a high school student? Do you want your reputation or not?”

 

Meng Yanxi looked completely impervious, speaking with reckless insolence. “The pharmacy nearby had a buy-three-get-two-free deal. I just grabbed them along the way. What reputation? I’m not setting up a chastity arch.”

 

Meng Shixu truly couldn’t hold it in anymore. Forgetting all decorum, he stuck a leg out from the car and kicked Meng Yanxi.

 

“Ao—!” Meng Yanxi cried out exaggeratedly.

 

“What are you yelling for! As if I don’t know you.” Meng Shixu scolded him, but he was still afraid of actually hurting his son and didn’t make another move. He only warned, “Meng Yanxi, focus on your studies. Don’t meddle in things that aren’t your concern.”

 

“Fine. I won’t meddle in anything else—but condoms, I have to be the one to buy.” He spoke with double meaning. “The ones I buy are good quality. Not easy to get poked through.”

 

A high schooler buying condoms for his own father—however one heard it, it sounded shocking. Someone who didn’t know better might think it was a joke, but Meng Shixu knew Meng Yanxi wasn’t joking with him.

 

The black body of the Rolls-Royce reflected in the boy’s eyes, dark and heavy.

 

Meng Yanxi wasn’t talking about condoms—or perhaps he was, but not only that.

 

Ever since Madam Meng passed away five years ago, leaving behind a son not yet twelve and a five-year-old daughter, the Meng household had had no mistress. It wasn’t that Meng Shixu had never considered remarrying, nor that there had been no suitable candidates—it was that Meng Yanxi had blocked it time and again.

 

Meng Shixu was wealthy, charming, and a good father. But people’s hearts were fickle—who knew what they might turn into?

 

Rather than exhaust himself in the future dealing with endless variables, only to end up with familial bonds worn away and both sides wounded, it was better to forcefully stop it from the very beginning—to pull the rug out from under it.

 

Even if it meant resorting to any means necessary.

 

Meng Yanxi never thought of himself as a good person.

 

“Dad, before my sister turns eighteen, I won’t leave Suiyi, and you will only ever have two children—me and my sister.”

 

Meng Yanxi fixed his gaze on Meng Shixu’s eyes. The playful look withdrew from those beautiful peach-blossom eyes, leaving them pitch-black and icy, calling to mind the killing intent of weapons on a battlefield.

 

Jin Zhao was squatting behind a Volvo, stuck in an awkward dilemma.

 

She seemed to have, by accident, overheard a secret of the Meng family. If this were a political intrigue drama, would she be silenced next?

 

Luckily, no one passed by nearby at this hour, and the father and son didn’t notice her. The Rolls-Royce soon drove away, smoothly entering the tree-lined road in front of the affiliated high school.

 

At that moment, the orange cat finished the sausage in her hand with small bites and let out a satisfied “meow.”

 

Jin Zhao startled, quickly raising her index finger to her lips to silently stop it.

 

Meng Yanxi was just about to head back when he suddenly heard a cat’s cry from not far away and turned his steps.

 

Sensing someone approaching—and the ill intent in the aura—the orange cat immediately fled with heartless abandon.

 

Hey—you—keep it down!

 

Jin Zhao was still uselessly worrying one second, and the next, she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

 

The rain had completely stopped. The clouds dispersed, and the sun emerged. The evening light slipped through the gaps between the teaching buildings, slanting down onto the tall, straight-backed youth.

 

Footnotes

• 1
  Wang Guowei’s Renjian Cihua (《人间词话》) is a classic work of Chinese literary criticism, written in the early 20th century by the scholar Wang Guowei (王国维).