My Straight Childhood Friend Successfully Pursued Me After The Breakup - Chapter 5

Eleven years ago, Lushi No. 1 High School.

The moment the bell rang signaling the end of the first class in the afternoon, the subject teacher walked out with their books, and half of the students in Class 2 of Grade 1 began to relax, playing and joking, while the other half fell into a deep sleep amidst the noise.

In the last row by the window, the girl with a ponytail was sleeping soundly, her face half-hidden in the crook of her arm, with her long-sleeved autumn school uniform jacket used as a pillow.

“Zuo Xian, someone is looking for you!”

The student acting as the messenger at the door scanned the classroom, spotted the sleeping Zuo Xian in the corner, and was about to go over and call her when he was stopped by a girl outside the door.

“Wait a moment, no need to call her. Could I trouble you to give this to her? Just put it on her desk, thank you.”

The girl smiled slightly, the gentle warmth in her eyes and demeanor like a spring breeze. When she stared directly at someone, the focus in her eyes couldn’t help but make them blush.

The messenger student nodded, a little embarrassed, and took the item from her hand. “No problem, no problem.”

After the person left, the messenger student couldn’t help but ask his deskmate, “What was that girl’s name? She was really pretty.”

“You don’t know her?” His deskmate was slightly surprised but immediately understood. “It’s normal that you don’t know her since you’re not even willing to do your homework. Her name is Tao Ran, and she was the top scorer in Lushi’s high school entrance exam.”

“A top student? Wow, if she were my friend, I’d definitely boast about it to the high heavens.” The messenger student was shocked and suddenly felt the small box in his hand weigh a lot more. He weighed the box in his hand and walked up to Zuo Xian.

Sunlight streamed through the window and shone on Zuo Xian’s face, casting a small shadow beneath her long, slender eyelashes. Her breathing was steady, with no sign of waking up.

Her skin was delicate, her nose bridge high. Looking closer, she was even more stunning, which was why she had become slightly famous throughout the school for her looks soon after the semester began.

The messenger student hesitated for a moment, placed the small box on the desk, and left without waking Zuo Xian. He even thoughtfully pulled the curtain slightly.

Ding-a-ling-ling—

As the class bell rang, Zuo Xian slowly woke up, supporting her head. She yawned and took out the book for the next class from her desk drawer.

Her eyes suddenly caught sight of the pale pink box on her desk. She picked up the box and shook it twice, hearing that the item inside wasn’t very large.

If it were someone else who suddenly found a strange object on their desk, they could at least ask their deskmate. But the number of students in Zuo Xian’s class was odd, and she was precisely the “odd one out.”

Fortunately, although Zuo Xian didn’t have a deskmate, she did have a loud voice.

She was just about to raise her hand to ask whose item had been left on her desk, but before she could lift her hand, the English teacher appeared at the door.

Zuo Xian had no choice but to put the box on the desk, intending to deal with it after class.

Forty minutes of class was truly agonizing. Zuo Xian finally waited until the class ended, but all the students in the class slumped over their desks.

If she shouted, she would probably be minced into pieces by her classmates. It had only been two months since the start of Grade 1, and Zuo Xian still wanted to get along well with her classmates.

Zuo Xian could only poke the back of the student in front of her. When the girl in front turned around, Zuo Xian asked, “Is this box yours?”

“No,” the girl paused. “Xue Shuangxi put it on your desk. You were asleep at the end of the last class, and she even helped you pull the curtain after putting it down.”

“Xue Shuangxi?” Zuo Xian was stunned, looking at the girl sitting by the classroom door.

They had hardly ever spoken to each other, so why was Xue Shuangxi inexplicably sending her a box?

“Yes, the one by the door,” her deskmate thought she didn’t recognize Xue Shuangxi, so she kindly pointed her out.

“Thank you.”

After thanking her, Zuo Xian picked up the pink box again and examined it repeatedly, trying to find any clues.

The box was just an ordinary pink packaging box, about the width of two palms, and nothing special.

When she opened it, there was a box of chocolates inside, and beneath the chocolates lay an envelope.

The envelope was pink, sealed with a cute little deer sticker on the cover.

The chocolates seemed to be some foreign brand; Zuo Xian vaguely remembered it was a very popular brand in Lushi on Valentine’s Day some years ago.

Zuo Xian’s heart sank first. She took out the chocolates, put them on the desk, and carefully took out the envelope.

The envelope carried a faint, sweet scent of flowers and fruit. It didn’t smell like perfumed stationery but rather like someone had intentionally sprayed perfume on it.

Zuo Xian, treating it like a great enemy, tore open the envelope.

Sure enough, it was an unsigned confession letter.

With her side canine tooth gently pulling at the skin of her lower lip, Zuo Xian hissed through her teeth, her face full of annoyance.

Difficult, oh so difficult.

Waiting until all the afternoon classes were finished, and the teacher had assigned homework, the students in the class started packing their things, ready to go home. The sound of rustling book pages filled the classroom.

Xue Shuangxi finished packing and was also about to leave when she was suddenly called out by Zuo Xian.

“Xue Shuangxi, wait a minute, I have something to tell you.”

“Me?” Xue Shuangxi pointed to her own nose, puzzled.

“Yes, you.” Zuo Xian’s fingers, hidden in her desk drawer, lightly tapped the pink box to relieve her tension.

Although Xue Shuangxi was confused, she still walked towards Zuo Xian and stood in front of her with her backpack on. “What is it?”

By this time, most of the people in the class had left. The remaining few were either still packing their things or had their attention drawn by Zuo Xian’s shout to Xue Shuangxi just now, subconsciously looking in their direction.

Zuo Xian glanced around, immediately judging that this was not a good time for a chat.

She said to Xue Shuangxi, “Um… why don’t you sit down first.”

“Alright.” Xue Shuangxi plopped down and looked directly at Zuo Xian. “What’s up?”

Seeing that Xue Shuangxi wasn’t shy and it seemed only she herself was struggling, Zuo Xian was momentarily astonished by Xue Shuangxi’s contrast, especially since the words in the confession letter were so subtle and reserved.

Only when almost, everyone had left did Zuo Xian take out the box and push it towards Xue Shuangxi.

She earnestly said, “I’m sorry, I can’t reciprocate your feelings, but thank you very much for your liking.”

“Huh?”

“Um…” Zuo Xian scratched her head, avoiding eye contact with Xue Shuangxi, and said with slight embarrassment, “I know it must have taken a lot of courage for you to take the initiative, and I truly admire your bravery. But… but I feel that the most important thing right now is studying, you…”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Xue Shuangxi interrupted Zuo Xian, poking the pink box in front of her. “You misunderstood; this box wasn’t given to you by me. It was a girl from another class who asked me to give it to you.”

This time, the “Huh?” belonged to Zuo Xian. She suddenly looked up, staring wide-eyed at Xue Shuangxi. “It wasn’t sent by you?”

“Yes, it wasn’t sent by me.”

Zuo Xian blinked, her distinct black-and-white eyes filled with stupefaction.

If it wasn’t sent by Xue Shuangxi, what exactly had she been doing just now?

Just making a fool of herself?

Zuo Xian plunged into crazy shame. Xue Shuangxi stroked her chin, deep in thought. “Listening to what you just said, this thing is a confession letter? My goodness, do you know who asked me to hand it to you?”

“Do you think I know, Classmate Xue?” Zuo Xian forced a smile. If she knew who sent it, she wouldn’t have been so embarrassed.

Zuo Xian stuffed the box into her bag, stood up, and just wanted to quickly escape this embarrassing place of trouble.

She maintained the last shred of politeness, saying to Xue Shuangxi, “Excuse me, I misunderstood. In that case, I’ll go home now.”

She was about to run, but Xue Shuangxi grabbed her, pleading, “Wait, wait, wait. I know who confessed to you, listen to me.”

“No need, no need, really no need.” Zuo Xian smiled politely, pulling away Xue Shuangxi’s hand. “I’m not curious at all, really, not curious at all. Let me go home.”

“No, you’ll be absolutely surprised if you know who it is.” Xue Shuangxi’s eyes lit up.

Please, the top student in the high school entrance exam and the stunning art student—who could resist gossiping about that?

Xue Shuangxi’s words had no effect on Zuo Xian; instead, they intensified her determination to run.

“I’m truly not interested.” Zuo Xian raised her hand to look at her empty wrist, pretending to be anxious. “My grandma is about to be dismissed from the Senior University at this time, and I have to pick her up. Gotta go, goodbye.”

Taking advantage of Xue Shuangxi’s inattention, Zuo Xian bolted out of the classroom. Looking back, she saw Xue Shuangxi following her out, and she ran as fast as if a ghost were chasing her.

With one long stride, she covered two or three steps of the stairs, and the remaining five or six steps were cleared with a big jump, sprinting all the way to the school gate.

Seeing the familiar black sedan, her eyes lit up. Whoosh—she darted to the car, quickly opened the door, got in, and closed the door in one smooth movement.

Tao Ran, sitting in the back seat, was startled and looked at the frightened Zuo Xian, who kept looking behind her.

She asked curiously, “Has the school’s dean started chasing you, too?”

Zuo Xian clicked her tongue and looked at Tao Ran. “Ranran, did you put on crow’s feet poison instead of lip balm when you left this morning?”

Tao Ran was taken aback for a moment, then burst into a radiant smile, amused.

“Aunt Li, hurry up, let’s go, get out of this place,” Zuo Xian leaned out from the back seat, urging the driver.

The sedan slowly started and gradually left the school. Only then did Zuo Xian sigh in relief, sitting back and starting to pour out her troubles to Tao Ran.

“You have no idea how embarrassing it was just now. I almost single-handedly dug out the foundation for a villa for my mom at the age of sixteen from sheer shame.”

“What happened?” Tao Ran asked.

“It’s a long story, but basically, I received a confession letter and thought a classmate from our class had confessed to me. I called her over after school and had a whole heart-to-heart with her. It was something like, ‘Thank you for your liking, but I want to focus on studying right now,’ and so on.”

Tao Ran nodded. “Very standard.”

“The problem is right there; the progression was not standard at all.” Zuo Xian’s eyebrows drooped, and she said brokenly, “The letter wasn’t given by her at all!”

“An O. Henry ending, very classic.”

Zuo Xian rubbed her face, looking mournfully at Tao Ran. “Are you doing a reading comprehension exercise?”

Tao Ran curved her eyes and said in a tone that made Zuo Xian furious but unable to do anything about it, “I just find it very novel.”

They had known each other for more than ten years, and it was no exaggeration to say they had a “growing-up-together” friendship. Over the years, Zuo Xian was always the one who wouldn’t let others have an easy time.

Even towards the unruffled Tao Ran, Zuo Xian had her ways of dealing with her, so situations where Zuo Xian was so desperate to avoid something were rare.

Tao Ran didn’t plan on asking who gave the confession letter. Zuo Xian had received countless confessions since childhood, and she would be exhausted if she asked about every single one.

Zuo Xian quickly regained her vitality and started chasing Tao Ran with questions about her class.

“Did you make any new friends today?”

Tao Ran thought carefully. “No, people don’t really talk to me much.”

“Then what interesting things happened in your class?”

Tao Ran struggled to recall. “The homeroom teacher’s megaphone today was the English teacher’s. Does that count?”

“Well… did anyone treat you unkindly or try to pick a fight with you?”

This time Tao Ran’s answer was decisive. “No, everyone is very busy.”

The two of them asked and answered, both so serious that it was a bit comical, and Aunt Li, who was driving, couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Zuo Xian leaned forward. “Aunt Li, what are you laughing at?”

Aunt Li glanced at her. “Xianzai, don’t you think you sound like Ranran’s parent just now? Asking how the child ate and how they learned as soon as they get out of school.”

“I’m worried,” Zuo Xian nestled closer to Tao Ran, right next to her, resting her face on Tao Ran’s shoulder and wrapping her arms around her waist.

She was completely hanging onto her, saying with exaggerated emphasis, “Ranran is this big, and this is the first time she’s not in the same class as me. How can I be at ease?”

Tao Ran helplessly pushed Zuo Xian’s face away. “A Xian, be serious.”

“No, I can’t be serious without you.”

Aunt Li peered into the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but marvel, “Even biological sisters might not have as good a relationship as you two.”

Tao Ran raised an eyebrow. “Of course! We are childhood sweethearts, innocent and dear friends.”

Chatting and laughing all the way, the car soon drove into a high-end residential complex.

To make it convenient for the two children to go to school, both families had bought two apartments near the school. It wasn’t the most luxurious area, but it wasn’t cheap either.

They specifically bought apartments on the upper and lower floors so the two of them could look out for each other.

Zuo Xian and Tao Ran entered the elevator and pressed the fifth and sixth floors respectively. Tao Ran got off on the fifth floor and said goodbye to Zuo Xian.

With the sound of the fingerprint lock, Tao Ran pushed the door open, her gaze suddenly fixed on the woman sitting on the living room sofa.

She suppressed the lingering smile on her face, quietly changed her shoes, and sat down opposite the woman.

“Mother.”

After a long silence without a response, Tao Ran lowered her eyes, waiting quietly.

“Ranran,” Jiang Ningxiu finally parted her lips, looking at the daughter she was most proud of, with deep disappointment in her eyes. “Why?”