Li Shuangjiang instantly went silent as a chicken.
He then created a small private chat with the ones who’d said they were going, and added Tao Zhi and the others as well.
By the time he’d pulled everyone in, Tao Zhi was still biting her fingertip, struggling through Wang Zhezi’s worksheets. When she next picked up her phone, the chat already had 99+ messages.
Tao Zhi tapped in for a look—it was all familiar faces. Zhao Mingqi, who was always active in anything unrelated to studying, had been the first to respond.
To her surprise, even Jiang Qihuai was there.
Li Shuangjiang had even @-mentioned the two of them—
【Zhizhi Grape, Jiang Qihuai, Huai-ge and Boss, don’t just lurk. We’re waiting on you two—coming or not?】
Seeing her name appear right next to Jiang Qihuai’s, Tao Zhi felt oddly uneasy. Unconsciously, she lifted a hand to scratch her nose before scrolling further down.
【Jiang Qihuai】: Not going.
Of course—top student, busy spending his Golden Week with his girlfriend.
Tao Zhi pinched her nose and blew out a small puff of air through her mouth, thought for a moment, then lowered her hand to type.
【Zhizhi Grape】: What time?
【Li Shuangjiang】: How about ten in the morning? It’ll be packed over there. If we head out early, by ten or so there shouldn’t be any lines, right?
【Zhizhi Grape】: Can’t get up.
Immediately, two more +1s appeared from Fu Xiling and Zhao Mingqi. Outvoted by the majority, Li Shuangjiang reluctantly compromised, and they finally decided to meet at eleven o’clock at the Happy Valley entrance.
Ji Fan had already made plans that day with old friends from his former school. Tao Zhi informed Aunt Zhang and Uncle Gu; Aunt Zhang thought she was going on a picnic with classmates, so she spent the whole morning preparing sandwiches, burgers, and sliced fruit—each packed neatly in plastic wrap and sealed in lunch boxes.
Watching her work so carefully, Tao Zhi couldn’t refuse. She carried the bag of food and set off.
By the time she arrived, most people were already there. From a distance, Fu Xiling spotted the car and ran over to wait by the roadside.
As soon as Tao Zhi got out, the girl rushed up to give her a hug. She was wearing a short skirt and long socks, with a pair of Mickey Mouse ears on her head—looking much livelier than she ever did at school. Petite and cheerful, she smiled brightly. “Deskmate! I missed you!”
Li Shuangjiang waved at her from the gate.
The two of them walked over. Tao Zhi greeted the others as well, then stood by watching them continue to chat—none of them seeming in any hurry to actually go inside.
She turned her head and asked, “Is someone still not here?”
“Waiting for Huai-ge.” Li Shuangjiang glanced at his watch. “He should be here soon.”
Tao Zhi froze in place, her expression flat. “Didn’t he say he wasn’t coming?”
Li Shuangjiang grinned proudly. “Is there anyone that the seven-hundred-point comrade Li Shuangjiang can’t handle? I called Huai-ge again last night and successfully talked him into joining.”
Tao Zhi’s face was completely blank.
Li Shuangjiang was still there, expecting praise, chattering away. “I used my three-inch unbreakable tongue and even said, ‘Even our President Tao is coming—how could the Beautiful Girl Justice League possibly be complete without you—’”
Fu Xiling glanced at Tao Zhi, then at the clueless Li Shuangjiang, and secretly reached out to jab him in the waist from behind.
Interrupted, Li Shuangjiang looked at her in confusion. “Why are you poking me?”
“…”
Fu Xiling rolled her eyes in secret. “Idiot. How did you even score seven hundred?”
Li Shuangjiang, unfairly attacked: “??”
Tao Zhi absentmindedly listened to their chatter, her head lowered, fiddling with the ticket in her hands.
The thin paper was rolled into a circle around her finger, then released. She toyed with it for a while before hearing Li Shuangjiang suddenly call out, “Huai-ge!”
She reflexively lifted her head.
Jiang Qihuai was walking over from the street in the distance. It was early October; he wore a long coat, with a white thin sweater underneath. From afar, he looked slender and tall.
Tao Zhi silently withdrew her gaze, turned her head away, and looked off to the side, pretending to be indifferent.
Once everyone was there, Li Shuangjiang handed Jiang Qihuai his ticket, and the group passed through the turnstile into the park.
They had bought general tickets, meaning all attractions could be played without time or number limits. Tao Zhi handed hers over; the staff tore it and stuck a colorful wristband on her wrist.
It was nearing eleven in the morning, and the entire amusement park was buzzing with excitement. On both sides of the path, food trucks lined up selling fried chicken and hot dogs, and every few steps someone was selling big bunches of colorful, differently shaped balloons.
Tao Zhi walked on the outer edge at the very back, standing diagonally opposite from Jiang Qihuai.
The two who were usually always together at school now had several people between them—one cold as ice, the other expressionless.
Jiang Qihuai being like that was nothing new, but Tao Zhi didn’t look quite the same as usual either.
Even Li Shuangjiang—who normally missed obvious things—could sense something was off.
He quietly leaned toward Fu Xiling and whispered, “What’s with those two? Did they fight? Boss isn’t talking to Huai-ge at all.”
“The top student isn’t talking to our Zhizhi either,” Fu Xiling said, displeased.
Li Shuangjiang looked left and right, then suddenly got an idea. He pointed toward a fried chicken stand by the roadside. “Anyone want some?”
Zhao Mingqi raised his hand immediately. “Me, me! Are you buying, Old Li?”
“I’ll buy, I’ll buy—come on, let’s go.” Li Shuangjiang hooked an arm around Zhao Mingqi and grabbed Fu Xiling with the other, dragging the two of them toward the fried chicken stall.
Before Tao Zhi even reacted, the people around her were gone.
She turned her head. Across the space where three people had been standing a moment ago, for the first time since entering, she looked directly at Jiang Qihuai.
Their gazes collided.
The boy’s light-colored peach blossom eyes were devoid of any emotion as he looked at her calmly.
Tao Zhi frowned slightly, unsure for a moment whether she should look away.
It somehow felt like if she looked away first, she’d be admitting defeat.
Yet she didn’t even know what kind of battle she was fighting.
She was lost in thought when a group of little kids came running past—about eight or nine years old, each holding a balloon, giggling as they dashed through the space between the two of them. They ran fast, and Tao Zhi didn’t notice in time; one of them brushed against her arm, bumping her sideways a bit.
Jiang Qihuai strode forward and caught the fabric of her coat sleeve, pulling her slightly toward him.
Tao Zhi came back to her senses, barely managing to steady herself.
Almost in the same instant, Jiang Qihuai had already let go. His eyes lowered as he said, “Why are you daydreaming? Watch where you’re going.”
His tone was still cold, carrying a faint trace of reproach and dissatisfaction, barely noticeable but real.
What right did he have to reproach her—what right did he have to be dissatisfied?
The fire that had been stifled inside Tao Zhi for several days suddenly flared up for no reason.
She had never been the type to swallow things down. If something bothered or annoyed her, she had to let it out. Lifting a hand, she tugged the corner of her mouth upward, trying to make her tone sound casual. “Why did Your Highness come alone today?”
Where’s your Consort Li?
Jiang Qihuai looked at her calmly, his expression even showing a trace of puzzlement.
The others had already gone ahead, leaving only the two of them lagging behind. Tao Zhi didn’t bother catching up. “That ball from last week,” she said slowly, head slightly lowered, “you could’ve stopped it, couldn’t you?”
Her voice was quiet and unhurried. “You already guessed that it was a fake move, you could’ve intercepted it. That shot was the deciding one—whoever scored would win. But you figured your opponent was just a girl, and when playing against a girl, letting up a little doesn’t matter, right? You let me score on purpose, so even in front of your girlfriend it didn’t feel too humiliating, right?”
He probably thought just like most people did.
Because she was a girl, the assumption was that she couldn’t play as well as a boy, maybe shouldn’t even be able to play at all.
Because she was a girl, it was fine to go easy, to not take it seriously.
Tao Zhi suddenly felt that all her loud confidence from before must have looked ridiculous in Jiang Qihuai’s eyes.
He had probably lost on purpose, while she had thought she’d actually won.
Like some kind of joke.
The air was thick with the sweet scent of cotton candy and the aroma of fried chicken. Nearby, the merry-go-round played cheerful music, the colorful lights flickering faintly under the daylight.
The girl stood before him with her head drooping, completely stripped of the arrogance she’d had on the basketball court, now looking both sad and disappointed—so out of place amid the joyful surroundings.
After a long moment, Jiang Qihuai finally spoke. “I don’t have any girlfriend.”
Tao Zhi froze for a few seconds, then lifted her head, face tilted up toward him.
The corners of her lips drooped slightly, her expression a little wilted, yet her dark eyes were bright. Her long lashes lifted, soft and feathery under the sunlight, making something itch faintly in the heart.
Jiang Qihuai paused, then sighed. “And it wasn’t because my opponent was a girl.”
In the amusement park, the laughter and music rose and fell around them. With his eyes lowered, Jiang Qihuai’s voice was light, almost swallowed by the background noise.
“I let you win because you looked unhappy.”
