After the Nerd Marked the Top Omega - Chapter 37.1

Seeing Fang Xu hang up the phone, Yiyi quickly asked, “Sis, did you agree?”

The sound of the last sentence on the other end was a bit low, and she hadn’t quite heard it.

Fang Xu chuckled and said, “I agreed.”

“Yay!” Hearing this, Yiyi was also very happy and asked, “Sis, should we go to the supermarket again?”

Not long ago, she still felt they bought too much. But if one more person was coming, it seemed the vegetables and fruits didn’t look like too much anymore.

Fang Xu looked at the contents of the refrigerator: “Shall we go buy some more groceries and snacks tomorrow?”

The nearby supermarket closes on the 29th and won’t open until the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Stocking up now will be convenient for the next few days.

Yiyi nodded, looking particularly enthusiastic: “I’ll go with you, Sis!”

Fang Xu looked at her and asked with a smile, “Is there something else you want to eat?”

“I was clearly worried that there were too many things for you to carry, Sis,” Yiyi leaned close to her, affectionately: “Just grabbing some spicy strips while we’re at it.”

“Did you finish the ones we bought last time?”

“No,” the child’s voice was lower, “But I heard there’s a new flavor, I want to try it.”

“If you get inflammation again from eating spicy strips, I won’t help you with the medicine.”

“Sis, how can you be so heartless? If I get sick, you’re the only one I have!”

“What, you really want to get sick from eating spicy strips?”

“No way!”

“…”

Without a reply from Pei Yunci, Pei’s mother continued to send messages the next day. Even Pei’s father, whom she hadn’t contacted in a long time, sent a message.

First, he said that he didn’t know about Feng You and Weizhou’s matters, and if he had known, he wouldn’t have needed Pei Yunci to step in, he would have resolved it himself. Then, he said that the rest of the illegitimate children were ordered by him to stay abroad quietly and wouldn’t come to bother her.

Finally, he didn’t forget the purpose of this time, asking her to come home for New Year’s Eve.

Pei Yunci’s gaze swept over the text on the screen. After muting the sender, she gently tapped the back of her chair with her fingertip.

The reason they were racking their brains to get her back this time was nothing more than the matter of arranged marriage.

It’s not hard to understand. If the Pei Group is tied to the interests of another conglomerate, and she is tied to the interests of a certain Alpha, then from now on, for the sake of both families’ reputation, she naturally cannot act as willfully, and only then can she truly be “obedient.”

Pei Yunci had a rare moment of free time. After completing the game event, she looked at the falling snow outside the window. Flakes fluttered down, and four or five children were building a snowman by the roadside.

Her phone rang.

She looked at the name, Du Xing’an, before answering.

The two were very familiar, so there was no need for formalities. Du Xing’an asked her, “I went to look for you yesterday, you weren’t at the Pei residence?”

Pei Yunci replied with an ‘mm’: “I’m in Yucheng.”

Du Xing’an asked, “Are you still not planning to go back to the Pei residence for the New Year this year?”

She knew Pei Yunci’s habits and could easily guess why she was in Yucheng—to stay far away and not have to deal with those bothersome people.

Pei Yunci said ‘mm’: “I’ll go back after the New Year.”

“Envy,” Ji Qiongsi stayed on the second floor, looking at the children in the living room, and then turned back to her bedroom: “When can I also stop attending these boring New Year banquets.”

After she finished speaking, Du Xing’an interjected: “I’m envious too.”

Pei Yunci wasn’t surprised by the sudden appearance of the voice, after all, these two could be together anywhere: “When you sit in that position in the Ji family, you won’t have to be envious.”

Ji Qiongsi chuckled: “That might take a while.”

She had outstanding scientific research achievements, but when it came to managing the conglomerate, various journal papers, and academic fame were useless. The old veterans felt she was insufficiently qualified and too young, occasionally harboring small ambitions that made things even more chaotic.

Du Xing’an also sighed: “Besides, even if we gain real power, we still have to maintain relationships with the people in the family, let alone important events like New Year banquets. We can’t escape them at all.”

She didn’t like these things, but she was forced to endure them every year, and even a slow learner could understand by now.

Only Pei Yunci was willful, doing things according to her own wishes, and could choose to avoid anyone she found annoying.

Pei Yunci was in a good mood and said, which was rare: “If the Du family and the Ji family unite, you might be able to escape.”

If the two of them really got together, the Du family and the Ji family combined might even be able to surpass the Pei Group.

Hearing this, Ji Qiongsi didn’t speak, but Du Xing’an bristled: “Then I’d rather honestly attend the New Year banquet!”

Ji Qiongsi: “…”

For no apparent reason, she was pitted by her good friend again.

She changed the subject: “When are you coming back? Shall we meet up next month?”

For the next few days until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, she had to deal with relatives in the family and business partners.

The three of them gathering together could be considered a form of relaxation.

“Yes, yes, I heard the Jiang family opened a new restaurant, should we go try it?” Du Xing’an chimed in.

Pei Yunci said: “It depends.”

Ji Qiongsi was confused: “Depends on what?”

Pei Yunci: “I might stay in Yucheng for a little longer.”

Du Xing’an: “Yucheng? Is there anything fun there?”

Pei Yunci didn’t elaborate, only saying: “Looking at the scenery.”

Since she rarely said she was going to relax, Ji Qiongsi didn’t urge her to return: “Then call us when you get to Jiangcheng.”

“Okay.”

Just as she was about to hang up, Du Xing’an suddenly remembered something and said, “You like the studious one, but didn’t she say she only sees you as a good friend?”

After she returned from the hospital, she was chatting with Ji Qiongsi, who mentioned this matter coincidentally. But she didn’t quite believe it.

She knew her good friend well—she was aloof and reserved. It was rare for her to fall in love with someone.

All three fell silent for a moment. Finally, Ji Qiongsi covered the mouth of the person next to her and said, “You go for it.”

Then she hung up the phone.

Pei Yunci: “…”

Outside the window, the children were nearly done building the snowman.

However, the snowman didn’t look very smart; it looked a bit goofy.

She withdrew her gaze and thought: They are friends now, but it’s not certain they will still only be friends later.

The day after confirming the time with Pei Yunci, Fang Xu and Yiyi went to the supermarket again.

After returning and putting down the things, Yiyi’s face, numb from the cold, slowly recovered: “So cold!”

“Warm up,” Fang Xu handed her the poured hot water.

It had been snowing for several days in a row. They were saying it might stop today, but it snowed even harder, with the accumulated snow on the road reaching people’s ankles. Even the elderly people who usually exercised downstairs hadn’t been seen these past few days.

“Weather like this is suitable for staying curled up at home,” Yiyi changed into her home clothes and asked, “Sis, do you want to watch a movie with me?”

Fang Xu said: “I need to fix a bug in the game. I’ll watch with you later, okay?”

“Okay!”

However, the two of them didn’t get to watch the movie.

Fang Xu saw a message in her high school class group chat that the Chinese teacher, Luo Shuyuan, who was also Song Shu’s mother, had accidentally slipped and fallen on the road in the snow and was taken to the hospital.

In the previous few years, she and Song Shu were still in a relationship, and she would pick a time to visit with gifts during the New Year.

But now that she and Song Shu had broken up, it wasn’t appropriate to keep running to their house. She had originally planned to ask a classmate to bring the gifts over, without showing up herself, but she didn’t expect Luo Shiya to be hospitalized.

Luo Shiya was a dedicated teacher, and the students in the group were all locals from Yucheng. They discussed going to the hospital to visit today.

Fang Xu saw the time and hospital address and decided to go along as well, so that being mixed in with her classmates wouldn’t be too awkward.

After telling the child about this, she prepared to leave. If she left half an hour early and bought some things on the way, she should be able to arrive with her classmates.

Yiyi saw her off at the door: “Be careful on the road!”

The snow that had fallen earlier had melted into water and frozen into ice at night, covered by a layer of new snow, making it very easy to slip. They had seen several people fall on the way to the supermarket.

“I know. Don’t wait for me for lunch.”

“Mm-hmm,” Yiyi replied: “If you don’t come back, I’ll keep it warm in the pot.”

Fang Xu carried milk and nutritional supplements. When she arrived at the hospital, she happened to run into her high school classmates.

The class monitor looked at her for a while, then tentatively said, “Fang Xu?”

They hadn’t seen each other for a few years, and Fang Xu had changed her glasses. She was also wearing the clothes Yiyi had helped her choose a couple of days ago, which Yiyi called “the best-looking,” “what young people wear,” and “very fashionable.” The class monitor didn’t recognize her at first glance.

Fang Xu nodded and asked, “Shall we go in?”

The others finally reacted and said, “Let’s go, let’s go, don’t stand at the hospital entrance.”

The class monitor had contacted Luo Shuyuan beforehand and knew which room she was in, so she led the way.

The other students chatted as they followed behind: “Are you in your final year of university? What are you planning to do?”

“Graduate school,” one person answered: “Still at the same university.”

“I remember you said before that you wouldn’t study anymore after college. Why do you want to go to graduate school again?”

That person smiled and replied: “No choice, I’m constrained. If I could choose freely, I definitely wouldn’t study.”

When this was said, the others also laughed: “Why are you saying that at such a young age?”

“But that makes sense,” one person interjected, then looked at the quiet person walking next to them and asked, “What about Fang Xu? What are you planning to do after university graduation?”

Fang Xu was only briefly discussed in high school whenever report cards came out.

“Everything in our grade changes, except for the grade’s first place.”

“Why is the gap between people so huge? I’ve been in high school for two years and still don’t know what it’s like to get a perfect score in math.”

“Fang Xu only does problems, while you are into games, chasing stars, and TV dramas—how can you compare?”

“Didn’t the teacher say that this physics exam was very difficult, and there were even bonus questions? How did she still get a perfect score!”

“…”

The rest of the time, she was low-profile, walking with her friends, often going unnoticed.

Fang Xu said: “Work.”

Some people were surprised, while others found it normal, but no one doubted her ability, nor did they doubt that she couldn’t secure a spot in graduate school.

After all, if Fang Xu couldn’t get in, then ordinary people wouldn’t need to work hard anymore.

“If there’s a suitable job opportunity, you should seize it.”

“Yeah…” They weren’t very familiar with Fang Xu, so they didn’t chat much, and the topic shifted to other things.

Some people still remembered that Fang Xu and Song Shu were dating. But looking at the situation now, it seemed like they had broken up. Otherwise, she would have come alone, why bother coming with them?

They wanted to ask, but seeing the quiet Fang Xu, they worried about the awkwardness and suppressed the question.

Walking a couple of steps forward, the class monitor knocked on the door of the hospital room. After hearing the permission to enter from inside, they followed him in.

Song Shu was also inside. Seeing them enter, she stepped aside, but her eyes unexpectedly met Fang Xu’s.

A moment later, Fang Xu looked away, placed the items she was carrying on the side, and greeted the teacher with the others.

Luo Shiya was very happy to see her students, but still said: “It’s already very kind of you all to come and see me, why did you bring gifts?”

The class monitor smiled: “Teacher, this is a small token of our appreciation.”

“That’s right, Teacher, please accept it. And some other classmates couldn’t make it because they had things to do at home, so they entrusted us to bring their gifts along.”

Luo Shiya sighed: “You’re all students, you don’t need to go to so much trouble.”

Afterward, she asked about everyone’s recent situation: “Xiao Liu is planning to become a teacher?”

Xiao Liu nodded: “My family wants me to return to Yucheng, and I’m still considering it.”

“It’s not bad to come back; it’s much more convenient near home,” Luo Shiya, being a parent herself, could understand her family’s thoughts: “If you come to our school, I can even look after you.”

Others joked: “Teacher, that sentence might scare Xiao Liu away.”

“How could it!” Xiao Liu retorted: “With a teacher guiding me, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Luo Shiya also smiled: “It’s lively when you all come; otherwise, staying in the hospital is lonely.”

She looked at the person next to her: “How is Xiao Xu doing recently?”

Some things couldn’t be asked in front of so many people, so she could only ask a couple of simple questions.

“She’s fine.” Fang Xu said: “I might stay in Jiangcheng after graduation.”

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