Brother's Lover

Chapter3

5.

Tang Qiqi, Qianzhi's desk mate, pulled her along, and as they ran outside, she said, "Let's go watch. This is a classic scene at Hai Xin. You'd regret missing it." Perplexed, Qianzhi could only be dragged forward.

What's going on here?

On the playground, the glaring sunlight made it impossible to open one's eyes. More than ten girls surrounded a thoroughly soaked and bedraggled girl, her face marked with traces of slapped cheeks.

A girl who seemed to be the leader held a crumpled pink letter and threw it harshly at the wet girl. "How dare you confess to our Xing Tuo looking like this!"

"Ugly freak!"

"Do you have any shame left?"

"Get out of Hai Xin!"

The crowd of onlookers also started hurling insults at her, but she remained silent. Bending down, she picked up the crumpled pink envelope, carefully smoothing it out as if handling a precious item. She looked up, facing the crowd without a hint of trembling in her eyes, and said slowly, "Is it wrong to like someone?"

Qianzhi was captivated by the light in her eyes, staring at her blankly, not knowing where she was.

"Humph!" The leading girl sneered, "Why don't you go look in the mirror! You dare to like Xing Tuo!"

"Acting like Cinderella? Know your place!" Laughter broke out among the crowd, and the girl's face flushed. At this moment, someone reached out and pushed her, even tugging at her hair. The girl was pushed to the ground, desperately protecting her long hair. Cruel insults and laughter continued, drowning out the sound of the bell ringing for class.

"Enough! Shut up, all of you!"

A domineering voice rang out, and suddenly, everyone fell silent.

"Ah! It's the 'Third Prince'!"

Someone whispered in surprise.

Under the scorching sun, three handsome boys, akin to princes, walked leisurely. The leader was the protagonist of this incident, Xing Tuo.

"What are you all doing? Fighting?" Shen Xinghao looked at the girl lying on the ground, frowning.

No one answered.

Xing Tuo impatiently said, "It's so hot, and you're still bothering me! Get back to class!"

Lei Xi, who had been silent, bent down to pick up a pink envelope with Xing Tuo's name on it.

"Tuo, here's your letter! A love letter?" Lei Xi smiled and handed it to him.

Xing Tuo didn't even look at it. He caught it and tossed it into the air. "Boring! Let's go, it's too hot!" Qianzhi watched as the three of them walked past the crowd as if nothing had happened.

Soon, the crowd dispersed, leaving the girl sitting alone on the ground, still clutching the letter that Xing Tuo had thrown away. Qianzhi walked over to her, took out a pack of tissues, and handed it to her, saying, "Quick, wipe your tears and go back to class."

As she took the tissues, tears suddenly streamed down the girl's face. Qianzhi spoke softly, "Don't cry. Do you know? You're not ugly at all because you have the bravest, most sincere heart. So believe in yourself." Hearing her words, the girl froze, staring blankly at her, forgetting to cry.

Tang Qiqi pulled Qianzhi away again, saying, "Don't meddle too much. Let's go back to class."

It was lunch break again.

Qiqi said to Qianzhi, "Shall we take a walk outside? It doesn't seem as hot today."

Qianzhi looked outside and nodded. "Sure."

The campus of Hai Xin was beautiful, with tall French plane trees and phoenix trees lining the paths, their lush foliage covering the sky. In the rose garden, roses of all colors were in full bloom. Qianzhi saw black and green roses for the first time. But Qiqi said, "What's this? The real beauty comes when winter transitions to spring! That's when the plum blossoms in the north garden are in full bloom, and the cherry blossoms in the east have just blossomed. With the white snow, it's simply a fairyland on earth."

"There's also a whole forest of maple trees on the back mountain. Let's go see it in a month; it's also beautiful."

"But even in such a beautiful campus, there are still such terrible things happening."

"Are you talking about what happened yesterday?" Qiqi asked.

Qianzhi nodded.

"What's that? There are worse things than that! You just haven't encountered them yet."

Qianzhi couldn't believe her ears. "Are you saying that incidents like yesterday's happen often?"

"Yeah."

"Doesn't the school do anything about it?"

Tang Qiqi sneered. "What does the school care? I heard the 'Third Prince's' father is on the school board, and with their wealth and power, the school can only turn a blind eye. No one dares to defy the 'Third Prince' at Hai Xin. If you mess with them, it won't be fun. If you provoke them, you'll become the enemy of the whole school."

6.

Qianzhi said, "You seem to disdain them a lot."

"I do disdain them! What 'Third Prince'? In my eyes, they're nothing more than three frogs! All appearance and no substance! Yet, so many girls are infatuated with them, willing to get beaten up for them! So, I say, that girl from yesterday doesn't deserve any pity at all. It's all her own fault!"

If she knew that one of the 'frogs' she mentioned was my brother, I wonder what she would think? Qianzhi thought to herself as she looked at her indignant expression.

She had always thought that Xing Tuo was just a bit spoiled and bossy since childhood, but she never expected him to be so arrogant and domineering at school. If she hadn't seen what happened yesterday with her own eyes, she would have had a hard time believing it.

"So, I say, don't let their appearance deceive you," Tang Qiqi repeatedly advised her.

Qianzhi chuckled and said, "Do I look like that kind of girl to you?"

Tang Qiqi looked at her seriously for a while and finally said, "Although I haven't known you for long, I don't think you're shallow. So, I've decided to be friends with you."

Hearing her say that, Qianzhi was slightly taken aback. Friends? She liked this straightforward girl too, but no one had ever been so direct about wanting to be friends with her before. Friends, should be a closer relationship than just classmates, right?

As they passed by the basketball court, lost in her thoughts, Qianzhi didn't realize that danger was approaching her.

"Watch out!" With a shout, a basketball came straight at her head, and Qianzhi blacked out.

"Qianzhi! Qianzhi!" It was Qiqi's anxious voice.

"Are you okay, classmate?" This time it was a deep, slightly hoarse male voice.

"i***t! Didn't you see her faint? Hurry and take her to the infirmary!" Qiqi's voice sounded irritated.

Then, she felt herself floating in the air, warm and comfortable, and then she lost consciousness.

When Qianzhi woke up, she found herself lying on a white bed, with an IV drip in her wrist, and Qiqi's worried face beside her.

"Ah, you're awake! Do you know how worried I was?" Qiqi exclaimed in delight.

"What happened to me?" she asked in confusion, looking around, "Am I in the hospital?"

"This is the infirmary. You were hit by a basketball just now and passed out. Don't you remember?" Qiqi asked anxiously.

She shook her head. "I don't remember."

"Oh! You didn't lose your memory, did you?" Qiqi exclaimed. Then she turned to a strange boy and said, "It's all because of you! If something happens to our Qianzhi, you'll be responsible!"

Only then did Qianzhi notice the tall boy standing beside Qiqi.

"Qiqi, who is he?"

"He's the one who brought you to the infirmary. But you don't need to thank him because he's the one who hit you with the basketball!" Tang Qiqi glared at the boy, her tone unfriendly.

The boy smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry."

The deep, slightly hoarse voice sounded somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

"I'm Zhong Mingjie from Class 5 of the third year. Nice to meet you!" Zhong Mingjie introduced himself.

"Um, we're from Class 7 of the third year. I'm Xia Qianzhi, and she's Tang Qiqi." Qianzhi, having her first encounter with the opposite s*x, felt a bit shy.

"Shall we shake hands?" Zhong Mingjie said with a bright smile.

Looking at his bright smile, Qianzhi unconsciously reached out her hand, and Qiqi reluctantly shook hands with him.

Something seemed off. Since she returned from the infirmary, Tang Qiqi was thinking as she looked at Qianzhi, who was lost in thought by the window.

Their classroom's window was right opposite the basketball court. Could it be? It couldn't be.

"Qianzhi, what are you looking at? You've been staring for so long!" Tang Qiqi asked.

"I-I'm not looking at anything." Qianzhi hastily turned around, feeling guilty as if she had been caught red-handed.

"Qianzhi."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to go down and see?"

Tang Qiqi's face had a mischievous smile.

Qianzhi's face flushed even more. "W-What are you saying?"

"I'm saying—" She deliberately elongated her voice, "It's not spring yet! Someone's feeling love in the air."

Qianzhi's face turned even redder. "You, you're

talking nonsense!"

"Did I say something? You're so easily embarrassed," she said with a laugh. "Tang Qiqi! You're doing this on purpose!" Qianzhi reached out to her neck in frustration.

"Cough, cough... okay, okay, I surrender!" Tang Qiqi raised her hands, struggling to catch her breath.

Qianzhi was amused by her childish behavior and had to let go of her hand.