Whispers of the Heart

Someone has their back

Yú Xīnyán had been fuming all morning because of Yú Zhī's face.

As soon as lunch break arrived, she immediately found her best friend Hé Lín to vent.

“What’s going on? I’ve heard people say that the new country bumpkin looks better than the school beauty. Is that true or not?”

Yú Xīnyán said angrily, “What’s so good-looking about her? She’s just got two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, just like any normal person. Those stupid boys are just saying she’s pretty because she’s new.”

Hé Lín could tell that Yú Xīnyán was so angry, which meant that there was some truth to the rumor. She remembered when the school beauty transferred last time, Yú Xīnyán had said the same thing.

After calming down, Yú Xīnyán asked, “What’s everyone saying about her now?”

Hé Lín relayed everything honestly.

“They say the school beauty selection is next month, and everyone’s saying that this girl named Yú Zhī is going to win, with you coming in second. Whether you can even be third is still in question.”

“What? I’m not even guaranteed to be third?” Yú Xīnyán’s face twisted in anger. She had been directly crowned the school beauty when she first arrived, and now she was being overshadowed by this newcomer.

Hé Lín took a glance at her friend and, seeing her uncomfortable expression, hesitated to continue, but Yú Xīnyán insisted, “What’s the matter, just say it.”

Hé Lín could only tell her the rest. “The forum says your classmate, Liang Bèi, the art student, used to keep her hair short and dressed like a boy because she was sick, but a few days ago she joined a swimming competition. Someone took a picture of her, and suddenly everyone says she looks amazing and has a great figure, so…”

Yú Xīnyán’s face turned black with anger.

The bell for class rang.

Yú Xīnyán angrily walked back to class, and Hé Lín shouted from behind, “Xīnyán, don’t be mad, Master Fu is going to celebrate with you tonight, cheer up.”

Yujie sniffed and cooperatively said, "It smells nice."

……

In the classroom, it felt like a party.

Even though the bell for class had already rung, no one seemed ready to start. Yú Zhī, who had been quietly doing her homework, couldn’t help but think—this top high school doesn’t have the study atmosphere of our small town.

Just as she planned to keep working, she noticed the eyes on her from the side.

She turned to find her deskmate staring at her.

“Hi, is something wrong?”

Yú Zhī thought that no one would just stare at her without reason. She guessed her deskmate probably wanted to talk but didn’t know how to start since she was new.

Liang Bèi, curious, teased, “You love studying so much, why come to this class? Don’t you know this class is famous for being full of slackers?”

“I didn’t know before, but I don’t really have a say in it,” Yú Zhī answered truthfully.

The school had been arranged by Xu Lan, and the school probably thought she was a connection and assumed her grades weren’t great. They put her in this class to avoid putting pressure on her by putting her in a top class.

Liang Bèi paused. This new student was too direct, leaving her not knowing what to say next.

“Well… do you need anything else? If not, I’m going back to my studies,” Yú Zhī said, her tone soft. The “good girl” label seemed to suit her well.

“Go ahead, go ahead,” Liang Bèi thought this new classmate looked so soft and wanted to ruffle her hair, but she didn’t want to keep disturbing her. So she turned back to her comic.

……

Finally, the school day ended, and Yú Zhī rubbed her ears, which had been bombarded all day, before packing her things to head home.

On the way, Yú Xīnyán suddenly blocked her path.

Yú Zhī furrowed her brows, pressed her lips together, and gave a slight displeased glance.

“What’s up?”

Yú Zhī was trying to stay aloof, but her naturally soft voice made it sound anything but intimidating.

Yú Xīnyán hated the pitiful look on her face and sneered, “Yú Zhī, I’m warning you. Don’t let anyone find out about our relationship, or I’ll make sure you can’t stay in this school.”

“I don’t want anyone knowing I have a poor, country sister like you.”

Yú Xīnyán huffed and stood tall, trying to make herself appear superior.

When Yú Zhī didn’t respond, she snapped, “Did you hear me?”

“Oh.”

Yú Zhī tilted her head and said, “Actually, I don’t want anyone knowing I have a sister like you either. It’s embarrassing.”

Hearing Yú Zhī call her embarrassing made Yú Xīnyán snap. “What did you say? Say it again!”

Yú Zhī wasn’t afraid of her and continued, speaking each word clearly, “Yú Xīnyán, your mom is a mistress who stole someone else’s man. And you’re a bastard, someone who can’t be shown off. So if you try to mess with me, I won’t be polite.”

Though her tone was soft, the words she said pierced to the heart.

Yú Xīnyán’s expression faltered.

If Yú Zhī really exposed this, she could forget about staying at this school.

“You…”

Yú Xīnyán had come to threaten Yú Zhī, but now she was the one being threatened. She didn’t dare say anything else, but she wasn’t ready to leave just yet.

It felt like swallowing a bitter loss.

Just then, Liang Bèi came over and pulled Yú Zhī behind her.

“Yú Xīnyán, what are you doing?”

Yú Xīnyán was already in a bad mood, and seeing this busybody, she became even more impatient. “None of your business, stay out of it.”

Liang Bèi grinned provocatively, “What do you mean ‘none of my business’? You’re bullying my deskmate. This matter, I’ll handle it.”

“Crazy!” Yú Xīnyán sneered. “Liang Bèi, I know you like Song Háng, but he likes me. What can you do about it? He’s going to my celebration tonight with Fu Qí. Instead of trying to oppose me here, you should think about how to be more girly, tomboy!”

With that, Yú Xīnyán left, smugly.

Yú Zhī glanced at her deskmate, worried she might be upset, but to her surprise, Liang Bèi didn’t care at all.

Once Yú Xīnyán left, Liang Bèi asked, “How did you offend this little princess?”

“I don’t know, I’m not close to her.” Yú Zhī’s expression was a little proud.

She had always kept her distance from Yú Xīnyán and her mother, but every time, Yú Xīnyán would try to pick on her. She used to have no choice at Yú’s house, but now that she had nothing to do with them, she wouldn’t back down.

“If she bullies you again, just tell me. I’ll help you,” Liang Bèi said, looking like she was ready to stand up for her.

“She can’t bully me.”

Yú Zhī knew what Yú Xīnyán was afraid of, so she wasn’t worried at all.

Liang Bèi sized Yú Zhī up, only seeing “I’m easy to bully” written all over her, clearly not believing what she had just said.

Yú Zhī didn’t bother explaining. She knew Liang Bèi was just trying to be kind, so she said seriously, “Thank you.”

Liang Bèi casually threw her arm around Yú Zhī’s shoulder. “No need to thank me. Anyone who Yú Xīnyán hates is my friend.”

Yú Zhī: “…”

Liang Bèi had a weird way of making friends, and her mouth was pretty tough too.

Worried the driver was waiting, Yú Zhī hurriedly said, “It’s getting late. I need to go home.”

“Well, now we’re friends. Don’t you want to exchange contact info?”

At school, Liang Bèi, with her neat short hair and loose sportswear, could easily be mistaken for a handsome boy if not looked at carefully.

Yú Zhī added her on WeChat, and then quickly jogged away.

……

Back home.

Xu Lan had already prepared the meal. Fu Míngmíng, who got home early, was playing games.

When he saw Yú Zhī return, he jumped up from the sofa and ran over to her.

“Sister, can you play games with me later?”

“Sure,” Yú Zhī said, as she also wanted a little rest after the noisy day at school.

Xu Lan smiled and reminded, “Xiao Wǔ, go wash up with your sister, dinner’s ready.”

Fu Míngmíng agreed, “Got it.”

Yú Zhī and Xiao Wǔ went to wash up.

Afterward, Xiao Wǔ put his hands near his nose and sniffed, looking up at Yú Zhī. “Sister, smell this. Doesn’t it smell good?”

Yú Zhī sniffed and cooperatively said, "It smells nice."

Xiao Wu proudly smiled, “It smells good, right? Because I bought it.”

“Really impressive.”

Yú Zhī smiled gently. Fu Mingming felt so lucky to have an older sister. Normally, when he said things like that, he would just be ignored or dismissed by his third brother.

At the dinner table,

“Zhizhi, how was your day at school? Did you enjoy it? Did you run into any problems?”

Grandma Fu asked with a warm smile.

Yujie thought back to her day. Whether it was during class or after school, it felt like a battle. However, she responded sweetly to her grandmother’s concern, “I’m doing great. The students in my class are really nice~~”

“That’s good to hear. If anyone bullies you, you must tell me, Grandma will help you get back at them.”

Grandma Fu showed how protective she was.

Yujie felt very grateful, “Thank you, Grandma.”

“No need to be so polite with Grandma~”

Grandma Fu gently ran her fingers through her hair with a kindly, warm smile.

Yujie felt a warm wave of emotion rise in her chest, and the light breeze seemed to sweep away all the gloom of the day.

After dinner,

Yujie played games with Xiao Wu, and Xu Lan came over.

“Zhizhi, Saturday is coming up, your third aunt is taking you to buy some clothes. It’s getting cold, make sure you don’t catch a cold.”

“Third Aunt, I’ve brought some clothes,”Yú Zhī explained quietly.

“I saw them, but those clothes are too thin. You should buy a few thicker ones, or you’ll definitely catch a cold.”

“…” Yú Zhī couldn’t argue, so she obediently replied, “Thank you, Third Aunt.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t play for too long, make sure to get some rest.”

“Got it, Third Aunt.”

…

When Fu Qi came home, Yú Zhī and Xiao Wu had already finished playing games and were doing their homework in the living room.

Aunt Song said, “Third Young Master, you’re back, have you eaten?”

Fu Qi answered lightly, “I’ve eaten.”

Fu Mingming and Yú Zhī both glanced up at him.

Fu Mingming asked, “Third Brother, why are you so late again? Were you out fooling around?”

Fu Qi felt a little annoyed just thinking about how he had wasted the whole night at a boring KTV.

“Little brat, what do you know?”

Fu Mingming retorted, “When I was in elementary school, you called me an elementary school student. Now I’m in junior high, and you’re still calling me a little brat.”

“In my eyes, you’ll always be a little brat.”

Fu Mingming snorted, “You’re unreasonable. Someone like you will never find a girlfriend.”

“You’re so young, and already talking about girlfriends. What’s up, did you meet someone you like at school?”

Fu Qi quickly shifted the topic, and Fu Mingming, not wanting to argue anymore, stopped paying attention to him and pulled Yú Zhī back to their homework.

Yú Zhī didn’t pay much attention to this small exchange, and continued focusing on her homework.

After a while, Fu Mingming finished his work, watched two episodes of an anime, and noticed that Yujie was still working.

He curiously asked, “Sister, does your school give that much homework? I’ve never seen Third Brother do homework when he gets home.”

Yú Zhī smiled and answered, “It’s not that much, just some extra practice problems.”

For her, the homework from school was almost negligible.

“Wow.”

Fu Mingming looked at her with admiration, “Then I’ll buy extra practice problems too, and do them with you.”

“Sure.”

Yú Zhī kept working on problems until 10 p.m. when Xu Lan called them to rest.

Yú Zhī packed up her homework, said goodnight to Xu Lan and Xiao Wu, and went upstairs.

…

On Saturday morning,

Xu Lan took Yú Zhī and Fu Mingming to the mall to buy clothes. However, the mall was so big that Yujie got lost when she went to the restroom.

Standing in front of a clothing store, she tried to remember which way she had come from.

At that moment, not far away...

“Xinyan, look, isn’t that the new girl from your class? What is she doing there? Isn’t that store famous for selling cheap stuff?”

“Wants to wear brand names but has no money. Who would go to that kind of store? So embarrassing.”

Yu Xinyan spoke with clear mockery.

He Lin, knowing that Yu Xinyan disliked the new girl, chimed in,

“Didn’t expect her to be so vain.”

Yu Xinyan snorted and walked away disdainfully.