Chapter 42: Chapter 41: Making Zhou Mochen Suffer Is Xu Su’s Greatest Joy

Rao Lu had already paid the ten-yuan activity fee yesterday. As the arts committee member, she cared a lot about their first high school class party.

When she saw Xu Su come over specifically to ask, Rao Lu’s face lit up. She took the paper Xi Zirong had written on, and after a quick glance, grandly added a few more necessary items to the bottom.

“That should be everything.” She added, still a little worried, “How about I go with you this weekend? Otherwise, I’m worried you’ll pick ugly ribbon colors.”

The girl seemed to be taking the matter very seriously.

Xu Su happily agreed. “Sure! We’ll go together this weekend. We can ask the class president to get a few guys to help carry things.”

After settling things with Rao Lu, Xu Su returned to her seat and handed the updated shopping list to Xi Zirong. “You hold onto the list. Rao Lu is going shopping with us this weekend, too.”

“Mhm.” Something she said must have pleased him, because when Xi Zirong took the list, his smile was obvious. “Alright.”

Xu Su was speechless. ’I really don’t get him…’

The weekend arrived quickly. All the classmates had paid up, including Xi Zirong, who handed over a ten-yuan bill.

After the last class of the morning, Xu Su, with a fortune of 680 yuan in her pocket, went to the cafeteria with Rao Lu, Xi Zirong, Wan Youping, and Fu Jun.

They had the afternoon off. Huang Feng had to rush home for lunch, but the other five were heading to the wholesale market, so they decided to eat at the cafeteria first.

Xu Su ordered a plate of fried noodles. In the past few months, she had tried pretty much everything on the menu at City No.1 High School, but the fried noodles were still her favorite.

The portions were generous, it only cost 1.5 yuan, and you could add the cafeteria ladies’ homemade chili sauce. Paired with the fried noodles, the taste was to die for.

Only the second-years and third-years were in the cafeteria on weekends. With an entire grade level missing, there were plenty of empty seats to choose from.

Not long after Xu Su sat down with her tray, Xi Zirong sat down across from her.

He’d gotten rice with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish. Two fried chicken legs also sat conspicuously on his tray.

Xu Su was instantly reminded of his recent strange antics. The moment Xi Zirong picked up a chicken leg, she lightning-fast clapped a hand over her own tray.

She glared at him fiercely.

“PFFT…” A burst of suppressed laughter came from nearby. Rao Lu, Wan Youping, and Fu Jun were standing a short distance away with their trays, and there was no telling how much they had seen.

When she saw them both look over, Rao Lu couldn’t hold it in anymore and doubled over with laughter. She said without a shred of restraint, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Xi Zirong, you’ve finally met your match!”

Her tone was very familiar. Xu Su remembered hearing that Rao Lu had also attended Experimental Middle School, which most likely meant she was another one of Xi Zirong’s middle school classmates.

Feeling inexplicably embarrassed by the laughter, Xu Su started to wonder if she’d overreacted. ’Maybe he wasn’t even going to give me the chicken leg.’ The more she thought about it, the more mortified and annoyed she felt. She shot Xi Zirong another glare before burying her head in her noodles and ignoring everyone.

Xi Zirong watched the girl eat with her head lowered and rubbed his nose in resignation. He then turned to look at the culprit. After being stared at for two seconds, Rao Lu, caving to his silent pressure, finally stopped laughing sheepishly and picked a seat far away to obediently eat her food.

After finishing their meal, the group went to the bus stop. They had already planned to go to the nearest wholesale market to buy the necessary items. The journey would take about an hour.

The bus fare was one yuan per person, which was to be deducted from the activity fund. As the “treasurer,” Xu Su paid for everyone.

After boarding the bus and paying the fares, Xu Su found a window seat. She pulled a small notebook and a pen from her pocket and started her accounting: Bus Fare – 5 yuan.

Someone sat down in the empty seat next to her. Xu Su turned her head.

Ugh…

It was Xi Zirong, who had been haunting her like a ghost these past few days.

Xu Su was beyond speechless. ’But it’s not like I own the bus, I can’t just tell him to get up, can I?’ she thought. Resigned, she could only turn her head to gaze at the scenery outside.

Chang City in the early 2000s was in a period of rapid development. High-rises were being constructed one after another, and the landscape was slowly but surely urbanizing. While not as prosperous as it would be a decade or so later, its burgeoning style was already beginning to show.

As a high school student who was always up early and staying up late, Xu Su was severely sleep-deprived. As she watched the scenery go by, she dozed off again.

When Xu Su woke up, she found herself leaning on Xi Zirong’s shoulder. The boy was sitting perfectly straight, rigidly holding his posture as if terrified of waking her. When he saw that she was awake and looking at him, he even offered her a smile.

Xu Su froze. She quickly sat up straight and scanned her surroundings. Only after confirming that none of their classmates had noticed did she let out a small sigh of relief.

She turned to Xi Zirong and whispered, “Couldn’t you have woken me up? You just let me lean on your shoulder?”

Xi Zirong leaned in a little closer, his expression innocent. “You looked really sleep-deprived. I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

“…” A flicker of misplaced anger rose in Xu Su. She couldn’t hold back anymore and said bluntly, “Xi Zirong, I told you I’m not interested in puppy love.”

Xi Zirong was silent for a few seconds, then said, “I’m not asking you to date me.”

It was like punching a wad of cotton. Xu Su was left completely speechless.

Just then, the bus arrived at the Xiangshan Bridge Wholesale Market.

It was an old wholesale market. The long street, lined with wholesale shops, stretched as far as the eye could see. All sorts of vendors, big and small, came here in their cars and trucks to stock up.

Luckily, it was the weekend, a time most vendors avoided for restocking. Only a few small retailers were scattered about the street in twos and threes.

They started by buying two large bags of apples, making sure there was enough for everyone in the class to have one. Then they weighed out thirty-three pounds of tangerines. That took care of the fruit.

Next, they went to a dry goods wholesaler and bought sixteen pounds of candy, thirty-three pounds of sunflower seeds, and over ten pounds of haw flakes.

When they were about to buy two cases of soda, Xu Su stopped them. “We’re carrying enough heavy things as it is. Let’s just get the soda from the school’s convenience store. It won’t be that much more expensive.”

And with that, they had all the snacks.

Finally, after asking for directions, they found a shop on a street corner specializing in party ribbons and decorations. This was Rao Lu’s area of expertise, so Xu Su and the others stayed out of it.

Whatever Rao Lu said they needed, they bought. Xu Su’s only job was to pay.

They were clear on their objectives and moved with extreme speed and efficiency. In less than two hours, they were heading back, fully loaded with their purchases.

On the way back, not wanting a repeat of the earlier embarrassing incident, Xu Su deliberately found a single window seat.

’Xi Zirong had helped her a lot with her studies. Even though she couldn’t understand his behavior, she didn’t want to be mean to him. All she could do was try to avoid him.’

In fact, across her two lifetimes, Xu Su had really only ever been cruel to one person: Zhou Mochen.

There was a time when Xu Su’s greatest joy came from making Zhou Mochen suffer.

Back at school, they put all their purchases in Teacher Wu’s office. He had told them to do so beforehand, even giving Xu Su his office key in advance.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep