Tenderly Embraced

Chapter 4

4. Provoked

Early in the morning, Jibai finished washing up and went downstairs for breakfast.

The aunt's cooking skills were excellent, and breakfast was especially abundant, with milk, toast, eggs, soy milk, and steamed buns, a combination of Chinese and Western styles.

Jibai now cherished her health very much. She had had enough of those painful years tormented by anemia. If she could start over, the most important thing would still be her health. If her body collapsed, she would have nothing left.

After breakfast, she packed her bag and was ready to go to school. Jifeifei just yawned and came downstairs.

Mrs. Tao couldn't help but say, "Feifei, look, your sister had a good breakfast today. Why are you still in bed?"

"Oh, Mom, I'm sleepy." Jifeifei acted spoiled towards her mother.

Mother lovingly rubbed her hair. "Then quickly eat something. You'll be late for school."

"It's okay. Let Uncle Zhang, the driver, take me."

Mrs. Tao said to Jibai, "Bai Bai, wait for your sister. Later, the driver will take you both to school."

"No need. I'll ride my bike." Jibai had already put on her white sneakers and walked out the door.

Mrs. Tao watched Jibai's back and said to Jifeifei, "Your sister seems to have changed a bit."

Jifeifei was busy chatting with her friends on WeChat and didn't hear her mother's words.

Jibai rode her compact folding bike slowly, which was a good exercise.

When crossing the road, she saw Xie Sui riding a mountain bike.

He was wearing a light t-shirt with a satchel slung behind him. Because the handlebars and seat of his mountain bike were level, he slightly arched his back, resembling a mountain.

It seemed that he was also preparing to cross the road.

Jibai sped up her pedaling, not wanting to meet him.

After crossing the road, Xie Sui also saw Jibai. She pedaled hard, panting heavily and blushing naturally with health on her cheeks.

"What's your name? I forgot to ask last time."

"Jibai."

"I f*****g don't know what characters those are."

He had always been arrogant in his way of speaking.

The morning sun shone on him, carving his handsome features sharply, and his black eyes were buried under his high eyebrows.

He looked at her, seemingly waiting for her answer.

Jibai patiently explained, "The 'Ji' in 'Jibai' means quiet, and the 'bai' means pure white."

Xie Sui rolled these two characters on his tongue, about to say "Let's go together," when Jibai suddenly pressed the brake. "Why don't you go first? I just remembered that I need to buy a pen at the stationery store."

Xie Sui also pressed the brake and casually said, "Let's go together."

"No need." Jibai pushed the handlebars and hesitated, "I also need to wait... wait for a classmate."

Xie Sui's face suddenly darkened, and there was a hint of sharpness in his pitch-black eyes.

His thoughts were so keen. How could he not see through Jibai's excuses and avoidance? She didn't want to get involved with him.

He turned the handlebars and left without saying a word.

A gust of wind swept by, swirling fallen leaves. Jibai watched Xie Sui's departing figure and sighed softly.

Whether it was love or hate, Xie Sui was extreme. In her previous life, after learning of her death, he even rushed into the funeral home and took away her body, which was about to be cremated...

Starting over, Jibai didn't want to be the source of Xie Sui's madness.

The school was not far away. She simply pushed her bike there.

...

Xie Sui walked into the classroom with his bag. Several boys in the back row saw him coming and immediately stopped chatting, exchanging meaningful glances.

On his desk was a delicate Napoleon cake. The cake shell was adorned with cute dolphin-shaped colored notes, which read—

Received by Xie Sui

Cong Yuzhou said, "It's from Ankeruo in Class 1."

Xie Sui sat down, didn't even glance at the cake, and didn't even bother to touch it. He picked up his book and casually waved it, and the cake flew directly into the trash can in the back row of the classroom.

"Damn."

"This technique deserves full marks."

Xie Sui slammed his bag heavily on the table, exuding an air of pent-up frustration.

The boys fell silent instantly.

After a while, Cong Yuzhou asked tentatively, "Who upset you so much?"

Xie Sui didn't reply. He stuffed his bag into the locker and went to sleep.

During the morning reading class, the Chinese teacher scolded him. Xie Sui didn't even look up, arrogantly continuing to sleep, completely ignoring the teacher.

The Chinese teacher was new this semester and probably had never encountered such a difficult student before. She was very angry and threatened to make him stand in the corridor as a punishment.

Xie Sui looked up, his dark eyes filled with deep resentment, and said slowly, "Get lost."

The Chinese teacher was intimidated by his demeanor and ran to the office to complain to the head teacher. The head teacher, upon hearing it was Xie Sui, could only shake his head and say, "Others are fine, but him... really hard to control."

Xie Sui belonged to the category of students that no teacher could control, whether they were the type to use force or the type to appeal to love and understanding.

He knew exactly what he wanted, and no one could change that.

...

During break time, Ji Bai saw Ankeruo crying with her head on the table, surrounded by many girls comforting her.

"What's wrong?" Yin Xiaxia asked, holding her hand. "She brought breakfast to Xie Sui this morning, but not only did he throw away the cake she brought, he also got really angry!" Ji Bai knew that Xie Sui's temperament was always unpredictable. Liking a boy like him was really hard to get along with.

But unfortunately, Xie Sui was also likable.

Unlike most boys who were humble and polite under discipline, he was uncontrollable, wild, and exuded a strong masculine charm.

Not to mention the female students, even the female teachers passing by couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.

Those years in high school were also the wildest for Xie Sui.

Dixin High School is a private school with excellent teaching quality and hardware facilities. The cafeteria is bright, spacious, and designed in an elegant European style, making it a popular choice for many students to stay and have lunch.

Jibai sat down with her tray next to her close friend. Not far away, Jifeifei was also eating with her friends.

Jifeifei was not only a internet celebrity, but also a well-known figure in the school. Many girls wanted to be friends with her. Although she would politely smile at everyone, she would only be real friends with those wealthy girls who had entered Dixing High School through high tuition fees, rather than those who had entered through excellent academic performance.

Jibai's friends were relatively ordinary in terms of family background. These girls had entered Dixing High School purely based on their excellent grades.

As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together," there were many groups in the school, and everyone had different ways and purposes for making friends.

Even though they were sisters, Jifeifei rarely communicated with Jibai at school. When they met on the street with a lot of people, she would pretend to be friendly and chat with her for a few words, but other than that, their relationship was distant and unfamiliar.

"Do you know that next month, the famous alumna, teacher Luo Qing, will come to our school for a visit?"

"You mean the famous singer Luo Qing? She has performed in Vienna and even appeared on the Spring Festival Gala last year!"

"Yes, it's her. She graduated from our school in 1998. This time, she specially came back to our school to select outstanding talents to perform in the city. The Weibo account of the Student Union's Art Department has announced it, encouraging students to sign up enthusiastically, saying that winning an award can increase their college entrance exam scores."

Yinxiaxia shook her head. "It seems that I have no chance. I can't sing or dance. My only talent is playing the flute, and I can only play the kind of song that goes 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'."

"Jifeifei will definitely sign up. She can dance, right? She even danced at the New Year's Eve party last year."

Of course, she would sign up. Jibai recalled the scene in the previous life when Teacher Luo Qing came to the school to select students. Jifeifei asked Jibai to play the violin accompaniment for her, and she danced a classical dance on stage.

Jifeifei's dance was very ordinary, without any particularly stunning parts. But because she was an inspirational idol who bravely fought against illness, she was very encouraging to young people, so Luo Qing gave her the opportunity to perform in the city's show.

The judges of the city's performance also gave her a third prize, which added points to her college entrance exam and enabled her to be admitted to a key university.

This performance could be said to be a key turning point in Jifeifei's future life path.

As for Jibai's violin accompaniment, it was overshadowed by Jifeifei's performance and was overlooked by everyone.

Of course, it couldn't all be blamed on Jifeifei. At that time, Jibai's violin skills were average.

But now it's different. Jibai now has a level 10 proficiency in playing the violin.

This time, she didn't want to be a foil to Jifeifei's performance. She also wanted to shine on her own path and let others see her.

After lunch, Jibai and her close friends went to the snack area of the cafeteria. Jibai bought a waffle with ice cream and walked out of the cafeteria with her friends, enjoying it.

French plane trees were planted on both sides of the plastic basketball court. Walking under the trees in the summer, with the gentle breeze blowing, was very pleasant.

"Bai Bai, are you also planning to participate in Teacher Luo Qing's selection competition next month?"

Jibai nodded. "Yes, I'm going to play the violin."

Yinxiaxia laughed, "Come on, your violin playing level is comparable to my flute playing."

Jiang Yun said, "Xia Xia, don't praise yourself too much. Although Bai Bai's violin playing is average, it sounds much better than your flute playing."

Yinxiaxia patted Jibai's shoulder. "It's okay, baby, your attitude of focusing on participation is still worthy of encouragement."

It seemed that her close friends were not very optimistic about Jibai's performance. It was understandable. If it were her previous level, Jibai wouldn't dare to take on such a challenging task.

Jibai ate her ice cream with a small spoon, listening to her sisters gossiping about campus affairs.

The gentle breeze caressed her cheeks. Having experienced death, she felt for the first time that it was really good to be alive, accompanied by friends.

At this moment, a boy rode past on a bicycle behind her, and when he passed by Jibai, intentionally or unintentionally, he had a "close encounter" with her.

Although the bicycle made a turn and did not hit Jibai, she was still startled and stumbled, falling down.

The waffle in her hand also flew out and landed on the asphalt road with a "smack."