Chapter 7

Translator: Amber.es

Editor: merahmapple 🍁

If one thinks that with the convenience of being classmates sitting side by side, two children will become bosom friends, then one will be wrong.

In fact, no matter the teacher, classmates, or Mrs. Qu, they were a little puzzled: Why do the two children with such different personalities always stick together? No matter their quarrels, no matter their fights, they would still come together in the end. With so many children of the same age in the school, Qu Zhengyan and Du Yongjin were two rare “high achievers” babies.

The Qu family has always pursued self-management, allowing the children to arrange their own schedules. Of course, the influence of parents should not be underestimated. Although there was no hard and fast rule, Qu Zhengyan developed the habit of morning exercises and night reading like his parents. During holidays, he usually went out to play at the Children’s Palace 1 A public space in China for children to engage in extracurricular activities or head towards exhibitions, or shopping, or hiking. Sometimes he would go with his parents, sometimes with friends.

In order to satisfy these hobbies, he has to be punctual and leave on time for school. Even finishing up his homework just before dinner. His academic performance was not excellent, always being the tenth-odd in class. Fortunately, his parents did not force it.

Compared to his elder brother who inherited all the advantages of his parents’ looks and brains, Qu Zhengyan was just an ordinary child. There was nothing special about him and he was not a troublemaker.

Du Yongjin however, was the complete opposite. His high degree of freedom came entirely from the indulgence and arrogance of the people around him. He also had several strong points to back-up this luxury. First of all, he was beautiful, and beautiful children were always more likely to be favored, sympathized and tolerated by adults. Secondly, he was smart. Without any effort, he could easily be the top or second highest in the elementary school exams. Finally, and most important, he has a good background. The inextricable relationship between the elevator elementary school and the university made Du Yongjin an object of special care and accommodation.

Just like the status of the “First Old Lady” in the family household, Du Yongjin was also a special kind of existence between the teachers and students in the elevator primary school.

The people surrounding Du Yongjin’s table after class were always plenty, and there were also many willing people wanting to help him carry his school bag when he arrived at school.

When Du Yongjin threw his schoolbag to Qu Zhengyan for the first time, there were still people staring at this lucky guy. But when it came to winter and summer vacations, the only one who was willing to go to Du family to visit Du Yongjin was Qu Zhengyan. The one who remembered to call during the Chinese New Year was also only Qu Zhengyan.

This curious situation of being both sought after and being very lonely made the sensitive Du Yongjin, who was forever dissatisfied with Qu Zhengyan, still maintain a small friendship with him.

But in the fourth grade of elementary school, their friendship experienced a major test. The matter stemmed from Qu Zhengyan’s first discovery of Du Yongjin cheating in an exam. How he knew, it could only be blamed for Qu Zhengyan growing too fast. This year, for the first time, his height surpassed Du Yongjin, and he was transferred to sit at the back row. Because of this, there was one scene clearly played out on the front. Needless to say, this poor boy didn’t even dream that the exam could still be tested like this.

Coming out of the classroom, Qu Zhengyan flushed, and finally couldn’t help but asked Du Yongjin: “Why are you like that?”

Du Yongjin rolled his eyes. He already knew what Qu Zhengyan was talking about, and asked indifferently: “Why?” He was accustomed to Qu Zhengyan’s impolite tone and casually added, “What’s it to you! Stop talking nonsense, I’m hungry. I want to eat bread, you go buy it.” As he said this, he threw the school bag into Qu Zhengyan’s arms.

Qu Zhengyan looked at Du Yongjin, unable to speak for a long time. After a long silence, he pushed the school bag back into Du Yongjin’s arms. Silently lowering his head, he turned around and left.

Du Yongjin froze. “What are you doing? Hey! Hey…” Seeing Qu Zhengyan walking away, ignoring him, Du Yongjin got angry. “Huh! I already told you it was none of your business. Since you want to leave, just scram then!”

For the first time in four years, these two people walked their separate ways.

1

A public space in China for children to engage in extracurricular activities