She looked at him and grinned. Even the tone she spoke with was much gentler. "No worries, I won"t get fooled by his appearance. You can count on that."
Cao Yang seemed to be dazed, so she seized her chance and pulled her hair back. "Ha!" she said, quickly opening her room door and shutting it in his face.
Bang. That was the sound of the door in his face.
When Cao Yang came back to his senses he rubbed his lower jaw.
He puffed on his cigarette and stared at the door before turning around to go upstairs.
That was bad. That little girl had grown up way faster than he had imagined.
She had always been sweet and soft, but he had never thought she could be so coquettish.
It was bad timing this time. The next time… he had to have a proper talk with her.
Don"t ever use that coquettish look before other people! Don"t use that kind of soft tone with others!
She still didn"t know that men were unable to stand being teased.
When a girl was so pure and delicate, it became a kind of spell over a man.
Cao Yang looked through the window to stare at the night sky outside. It seemed like there would be a full moon that night.
It must be the moon that caused him to blur the lines between being a man and being a brother.
But, just as Cao An had said, the brothers and Xia Rou should… keep a fair distance between them.
Without a blood relationship, it was really troublesome.
The news that Xia Rou wasn"t Cao Xiong"s daughter spread quickly.
It had been confirmed by Xia Rou herself, so there was no need to suspect any falsehood.
Cao Yang had told her to "take a good look." Even though she didn"t want to, she in reality did have to take that look. The att.i.tudes of the people around her all changed. Some drifted from her, and others drew closer. Some were jealous, and others ridiculing.
The inconsistency in human affections could be seen vividly at school. And these were all half-grown kids, too.
"It"s just like that. The world is like this. You shouldn"t think we"re all bad," said Hu Xuan.
Xia Rou felt that his words were wrong. Translated by The Novelst
Stepping down a cla.s.s into the world of ordinary people was much simpler than having to consider family backgrounds and social status.
At this cla.s.s, the relationship between people didn"t only have to take into consideration whether or not two individuals had a favorable impression of one another. It also had to look at their parents, their family, and future trends.
It was too complex.
Her brain wasn"t enough to handle all that.
She was only suitable to become a normal person.
With her brain the way that it was, if she hadn"t had anyone to protect her at this cla.s.s, she would have been crushed into pieces, fed to the wolves.
"Why are you so free?" she asked Hu Xuan. "Are the seniors all done with homework already?"
"I"m not partic.i.p.ating in the national exams. I"m leaving soon."
"…When are you leaving?"
"Probably the end of April."
"…Oh."
"Hm? Huh, huh?" Hu Xuan was happy. "Can"t bear to see me leave?"
It wasn"t that she couldn"t bear to see him leave.
But sometimes the relationship between people was weird.
Xia Rou knew very well that if she was only "Xia Rou," then Hu Xuan would be a very dangerous existence to her.
But since she was "Xia Rou from the Cao Family," afforded protection under Cao Yang"s name, she could talk with Hu Xuan on equal footing. He didn"t seem to be dangerous to her any longer.
Over the last two years of their time in school, she and Hu Xuan had become close.
After all, she had already lived twenty-five years of her life. Even if her brain wasn"t quite up to par, she had already been a working adult. She wasn"t really able to relate to the teenagers that surrounded her.
Instead, she could converse with Hu Xuan.
No matter whether or not she disliked him, she had to admit that Hu Xuan was indeed more mature than others of his age.
After all, Hu Chen and Hu Xuan were brothers so excellent that even Cao Xiong had praised them before.
The reason she still talked to Hu Xuan even though he had been that way before was because she knew she couldn"t avoid him.
As long as she remained in the Cao Family she couldn"t avoid Hu Xuan.
She wasn"t totally clear on whether the relationship between the two families was based on interest or affection. But the Hu and Cao Families had maintained a good relationship for many years, up to her death.
That level of relationship wouldn"t be affected just because of her.
That was why if she couldn"t put the things that had happened before out of her mind, in the end it would only be her who ended up feeling awkward.
"…Give me one reason why I wouldn"t be able to bear seeing you leave," said Xia Rou.
"Probably because I"m good-looking?" Hu Xuan boasted without shame.
"Pui!"
"Probably because I"m smart?"
"Hmmph." Translated by The Novelst
Xia Rou didn"t feel comfortable with it, but she couldn"t deny that.
The first time she had seen Hu Xuan"s name at the top of the grade rankings, her eyes had been blinded just looking at it.
On the other hand, Hu Xuan smiled broadly.
Proofread by: Hannah