Chapter 18

Back in the classroom, Qian Ning, who sat next to him, asked, "Where did you go? Did you have diarrhea?"

"It's you who has diarrhea," Wang Bo replied, noticing that Qian Ning never had anything good to say. "The homeroom teacher needed me for something. I just went to her office."

"What was it about? Did you and Huang Daxian get caught?"

Qian Ning's keen sense of gossip was indeed impressive, as his guess aligned with Wang Bo's thoughts before he went.

"It wasn't that. She just asked me about the Cultural Festival performance. I'm representing the class, so she naturally wanted to know how the preparations were going." Wang Bo casually lied.

Jin Xiaoli, who was sitting in the back row, heard their conversation and poked Wang Bo's back, then asked, "Did the homeroom teacher ask you about the Cultural Festival? Did you tell her about our accompaniment?"

Wang Bo thought for a moment and said, "I did tell her. If there's no accompaniment, the performance won't have any appeal." Since he was already fibbing, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity to involve her.

"Hey, I haven't agreed to accompany you yet," Jin Xiaoli frowned, complaining, "Why did you tell the teacher?"

"I couldn't help it. She wanted to know the details, and you know how serious Ms. Xu is." Wang Bo continued to chat casually, "I had to be honest. Sorry, President Jin. If you want, you can go talk to the teacher and tell her that the recording might be better."

"You... You're despicable!" Jin Xiaoli lightly punched him and stopped talking to him, biting her lip as she thought about what to do next. After some thought, she poked Wang Bo again and said, "My schedule is really tight. Besides rehearsing with you, I have to do homework and finish the school newspaper's editing work. I really don't have time to practice the guzheng. How about this: you help me with some of the school newspaper work, and I'll find time to practice and try to perform by the weekend."

Wang Bo thought about how he had also stayed up late doing homework last night, and he felt a bit guilty. He said, "That's fine. Just give me the tasks you can delegate."

Jin Xiaoli nodded and took out a list from her desk. "This is the list of correspondents from each class. You can run errands for me and collect their articles. You might have to make several trips, and you'll need to remind some of them. The deadline is every Wednesday, and the latest they can submit is Friday. The names with a checkmark have already submitted their articles. The rest are up to you."

"Running errands?" Wang Bo took the list and said, "What's the point? You don't need to remind them at home, and it won't affect your guzheng practice, right?"

"By running errands for me, I'll have time to do my homework, and I can practice the guzheng in the evening," Jin Xiaoli explained with a smile, clearly taking advantage of him again.

The hardest part of the school newspaper work wasn't editing, proofreading, or printing; it was the constant reminders for articles. Having someone share this burden would make her life much easier.

"Okay, I'll give it a try," Wang Bo said without much confidence.

After the morning study session, it was time for morning exercises. There was about ten minutes of break before the next class. Wang Bo used this time to run to Class 6. Everyone thought he was looking for Huang Wen, but he called out another girl and talked to her about the school newspaper's call for articles. After getting her promise to submit the article the next day, he went to Class 5.

The correspondent from Class 5 was quite slippery and wouldn't give a specific submission time. No matter how much Wang Bo tried, he only got a vague promise. After visiting two classes, the bell for the next class rang, and Wang Bo hurried back to his classroom.

Every break, he could be seen running between classrooms, writing and marking on the list. He realized that the students who submitted articles on time were mostly good students, while the rest were quite difficult to deal with. He wondered how they managed to become correspondents, as each one was more slippery than the last.

Technically, he was a hidden big shot in the school, with a somewhat dubious reputation. However, when it came to work, these people didn't seem to fear him. They acted as if they had a right to be late with their articles. Despite this, his constant running around made him more familiar to people, and many who didn't know him learned that he was Wang Dali from Class 2-7, who could throw a shot put 18 meters and could take on eight people in a fight.

Before lunch, Wang Bo had run through the entire second year. As soon as the class ended, students rushed out of the classroom to the cafeteria. Today's special was fried chicken legs, which were always in limited supply. If you arrived late, you wouldn't even get the bones. You had to queue up quickly.

Wang Bo usually ate in the cafeteria and always joined the rush for fried chicken legs. However, today, as soon as he rushed out of the classroom, Huang Wen walked up to him with a smile, tugging at his clothes and pleading, "I want to eat salted pork with rice and bone soup. Take me there."

Her tone was pitiful, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. He watched as his classmates rushed past him, knowing that even if he started now, he would be too late. Reluctantly, he said, "Okay."

The two walked side by side through the campus. Huang Wen didn't insist on holding his arm today. Wang Bo asked, "You usually don't eat lunch in the cafeteria?"

"Sometimes I do, but the queue takes too long, so I usually eat outside."

"Outside? Do you always eat at Kaiden Castle?"

Huang Wen shook her head. "I don't go there often. I prefer Dong Family Private Cuisine, Hechuan Kitchen, and Baiwei Family. I can take you there next time?"

The places she mentioned were not well-known, but they were famous local restaurants with high prices. Wang Bo felt they lived in two different worlds. Huang Daxian was a typical rich girl, and one meal cost more than his weekly food budget.

"What do your parents do, and how much do they give you for pocket money?" Wang Bo asked casually.

Huang Wen said straightforwardly, "My father is the chairman of Guangfa Real Estate. Haven't you heard of it?" Her identity wasn't a secret in the school, but not many knew about it. However, if you were willing to find out, you could. So she didn't try to hide it from him.

Wang Bo was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, "No wonder." His mind was flooded with thoughts of how she was the daughter of a billionaire.

"You have money, so you don't have to worry about spending it," he said without thinking.

"My family is really rich," Huang Wen answered honestly. Her personal account had never had less than seven digits, and she could buy anything she wanted. She knew she was different from ordinary people, but she didn't think it was something to hide. Being rich wasn't a mistake, and there was no reason to be ashamed of it.

She scoffed at the idea of finding a match from other rich families. How many good rich boys were there? Many were already womanizing at a young age, and even if they didn't want to, there were always women who would throw themselves at them. Could you control that?

Since she was rich, why should she care if the other person was rich? As long as they had enough to live on, that was fine. Seeing the family business her parents had worked hard to build be devoured by her husband's family wasn't unheard of. Why chase after a match? It was better to find someone she liked and live freely.

"Wang Bo, what do your parents do, and how much pocket money do they give you?" Huang Wen asked with interest.

"My father is a worker at a machinery factory. He has some technical skills and often travels for after-sales service, earning a decent living. My mother works at Baihe Textile Factory as a team leader. When I was young, she worked in the U.S. and saved up some money. After returning, she saved it until a few years ago when we bought our current house. Our family is considered well-off. My parents give me fifty yuan a week for pocket money, in addition to my food expenses."

Hearing his calm narration, Huang Wen was slightly moved. In return, she introduced herself, "My father is the CEO of Guangfa Real Estate, and my mother is the CEO of Guangnan Property. They don't usually give me money. I have 1% of their company's shares, and the finance department regularly transfers the dividends to my account. This is enough for my expenses."

She said this without any intention of showing off, just stating a fact.

The small restaurant was close to the school, and they arrived in a few steps. Wang Bo ordered a plate of rice with vegetables and a bowl of soybean soup, while Huang Wen ordered a plate of rice and a bowl of soup, plus a side of pork ribs. They found a seat and started eating. Wang Bo continued, "Your life is so different from ordinary people. Do you have friends at school? It seems your social circle is more like that of adults."

Huang Wen laughed and said, "There are students at school who are similar to me, but I don't socialize with them. As you said, my social circle is mostly adults. At school, I only have classmates, not friends."

"Not many people can be your friend," Wang Bo said.

"You're wrong. It's not that they can't be my friend; it's that they don't want to. Maybe they think we're from different worlds. Do you think we live in two different worlds?"

Wang Bo nodded slightly. "You and we are different. You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth, and it does create pressure to be your friend."

"See? It's actually that people are afraid to be my friend. Maybe they think I look down on them, but I don't. However, others don't see it that way. Once they know my background, even close friends keep their distance." She spoke calmly, with a hint of helplessness in her voice.

The rice and vegetables were served, and they started eating. Huang Wen asked curiously, "If you had known all this earlier, would you have acted differently yesterday?"

Wang Bo chewed his food and thought for a moment, then said, "I would still have done the same. I'm your boyfriend, so it doesn't matter."

"Hey, you're just pretending," she said, seemingly complaining, but she was actually quite happy. Wang Bo didn't distance himself because of her background and could talk to her so openly, like a friend, which made her very happy.

"Even if it's pretend, there are still benefits, as you said," Wang Bo said playfully.

The soybean soup was served, and they both took a sip.

"Mm, it's fragrant!" Huang Wen praised, and Wang Bo smiled, "I've been wanting to bring you here, but you wouldn't come."

"I'm used to choosing my own places and don't like being told what to do," she explained her reluctance from the other day.

Wang Bo suggested, "You should change that habit. Friends need to compromise with each other. Otherwise, it's not friendship but servitude."

She didn't take it to heart. A habit of over ten years wasn't easy to change. She changed the topic and asked, "Are you going to practice tonight?"

"Yep, I have to. Time is short, and I haven't practiced enough." In fact, after practicing yesterday, he knew his movements were already very smooth and didn't need more practice. As long as the two girls practiced their accompaniment, he could join in on the spot. However, as the main performer, he felt it would be unfair to the two girls who were working hard to skip practice and risk them quitting.

Huang Wen's eyes flickered, and she asked, "Can I watch you practice?"

She looked at him expectantly, but Wang Bo firmly refused, "No, the accompanists are very sensitive. If they haven't practiced enough, they might quit. The performance is still a work in progress, and it wouldn't be appropriate to bring you along."

He took another sip of soup and said, "Wait a few more days. The preliminary selection is on Sunday, and you can come to the school auditorium to watch."

Huang Wen pouted and said, "Okay, fine."

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