After the scumbag dad was gone, mom became obedient and little brother was well-behaved. The younger brothers sent snacks, so Quan Zhisui had a good time for several days in a row.
She felt great, but Wei Shixu was unhappy.
That day, she was seriously doing questions when she heard Wei Shixu's voice behind her: "Want to eat pudding?"
Quan Zhisui shook her head: "One, two, three, four, five bought some for me."
The numbers referred to the nicknames she had given to Zuo Zichen's five younger brothers. She was too lazy to remember their actual names, so just called them by numbers. It made her seem very authoritative.
Wei Shixu asked again: "It's the weekend, want to go eat hotpot after school?"
Quan Zhisui shook her head again: "Promised my little brother to go shopping."
The school sports meet was coming up next week, and she still didn't have a proper pair of sneakers. The shoes she brought from Mount Wudang were for martial arts practice and slippers, with very thin soles.
Not everyone could practice martial arts in shoes with such thin soles, but Quan Zhisui was confident about this!
However, those shoes were unsuitable for competing, which was a disadvantage.
By this time, Wei Shixu's voice had gotten much colder: "What about tomorrow? Still going with your brother?"
Quan Zhisui answered very casually: "Tomorrow of course I'll be home studying!"
Wei Shixu didn't say anything more. He walked past her and went straight to the front row seat.
Two minutes later...
"Quan Zhisui!"
Wei Shixu suddenly turned around, his voice low and loud.
The whole class quieted down instantly, everyone startled by his abrupt shout.
Quan Zhisui was also frightened by his sudden yell, but the moment she looked up she started shouting back.
She yelled even louder than him: "What is it!!!"
Wei Shixu pressed his lips together, staring fixedly at her. His eyes were gloomy, as if covered by a layer of haze, giving off an oppressive feeling like a storm was about to come!
Seeing this look, Quan Zhisui knew he was having one of his episodes again. She stared back at him unmoving, a powerful and overbearing direct gaze.
He was fierce, so she would be even fiercer!
The rest of the class was even more horrified. These two had been getting along quite well recently, so why were they suddenly confronting each other?
What was going on?!
The prolonged staring contest was like fire and wind facing off. The auras of the two kept rising until the invisible energy colliding in the air exploded!
The atmosphere was extremely tense!
The entire Class 1 of Grade 10 was perfectly silent. Everyone was so frightened they didn't dare make a sound, and it continued for a long time. Some students were so scared they didn't dare breathe, holding their breath until their faces turned red!
At this moment, many realized the importance of Kong Mingze. If he had been here, he definitely would have come out to smooth things over.
Then it wouldn't have scared everyone half to death!
Finally, after a full two minutes, Wei Shixu was the first to look away. He seemed to sigh and said softly, "It's nothing."
"Oh," Quan Zhisui lowered her head and continued with the questions.
The rest of the class could finally breathe again, shouting "I'm saved!" in their hearts.
Why were these two so terrifying? It felt like a fight to the death was about to break out any second!
Just then, Kong Mingze and Zhuge Ying came back. Kong Mingze had gone to help the class president carry things for the upcoming school sports meet, which Zhuge Ying was very busy preparing for.
As soon as those two returned, the class went back to normal.
Kong Mingze was noisy and talkative as usual, immediately dissipating the terrifying atmosphere from earlier.
"Hey! Hotpot at my house tonight?" He put his arm around Wei Shixu's neck, laughing as he invited him.
Wei Shixu pried his arm off and said indifferently, "I'm not going."
He glanced again toward the corner. The girl didn't even lift her head, focused on studying and doing questions, not giving him a single look.
Dammit.
Was she unsolvable?
Made of reinforced concrete?
...
After school on Friday, Zhao Lin drove Quan Zhisui and Zuo Zichen to the mall.
Since Zuo Zhiyu was still away, Zuo Zichen didn't get his allowance this month. His mom didn't have much money either since she spent a lot. He would have to wait until his dad came back.
Quan Zhisui spent her own meal allowance to buy sneakers.
After trying on shoes for half a day, she chose a pair that cost 400 yuan.
By the time they left the mall, it was already evening. As soon as they stepped outside, a cold wind blew.
The weather was getting colder, with a big difference between day and night temps. On top of that, Quan Zhisui had very low body fat, so her ability to withstand cold was rather poor. She immediately tightened her collar against the chill.
Zuo Zichen was young and not observant, so he assumed his sister had a strong body from martial arts training and wasn't bothered by the cold at all.
"When will you have allowance money again?" Quan Zhisui calculated the time.
Zuo Zichen said, "Should just be a couple more days, but Dad's on a business trip for a week. Mom doesn't have much money either since she spends a lot. I won't get any until Dad comes back."
Zuo Zhiyu hadn't contacted them at all during his business trip. If it wasn't for Fang Yue sending the occasional deleted message, Quan Zhisui would've thought Zuo Zhiyu was dead.
She didn't push it further. If this scumbag dad didn't come back with money soon, she would have to continue using her own meal allowance to buy clothes.
Having been an orphan since childhood caused Quan Zhisui to greatly value anything she could get her hands on. She never wasted money. Even gifts from her master and senior brothers that were worn out after many years, she would carefully store away.
The 10,000 yuan she received when first coming to the Zuo family was the most money she'd ever had in her life. She didn't even know how to spend it all.
She wanted to save it, save it all, until the end of time.
Meanwhile, Zuo Zichen got 50,000 yuan in allowance every month, an unfathomable amount to Quan Zhisui.
Quan Zhisui didn't like the Zuo family and wanted nothing to do with Zuo Zhiyu, but she would never reject money.
She was a girl, already seventeen years old.
She had been raised by her master since childhood. Her overbearing temperament was ingrained, but her master had nurtured her well, ensuring she never developed an inferiority complex despite being an orphan for seventeen years. Mentally she was very healthy, and could face her own needs and preferences normally.
Sometimes she also wanted to try a different style, wearing nice clothes and shoes.
The more Quan Zhisui thought about it, the angrier she got.
So...
Right in front of Zuo Zichen, she called Zuo Zhiyu.
Zuo Zichen shook his head. "Dad doesn't answer calls or reply to messages when he's on business trips. Mom and I have tried for years. I suspect he might have a mistress out there..."
His voice got very small saying that last part. The word mistress was taboo.
But right then, Quan Zhisui's call went through.
Sounding like he just woke up, Zuo Zhiyu answered: "Hello?"
Quan Zhisui immediately started cursing: "Are you dead out there?!"
Zuo Zichen's eyes went wide in horror as he watched his sister.
Zuo Zhiyu: "What, what did you say?"
Just then another cold gust blew by, making Quan Zhisui even angrier.
She yelled: "I said are you dead?! Get back here! If you don't come back, send money! I'm out of money! I want to buy clothes! Expensive ones!"
Zuo Zhiyu held the phone away and glanced at the screen to confirm it was really Quan Zhisui's number before exploding in rage: "Is this how you talk to me?!"
Quan Zhisui: "Yes! Send money! Otherwise I won't acknowledge you as my dad!"
Zuo Zhiyu took a deep breath to restrain his anger and said: "Daddy will give you money when he gets back..."
He still insisted on waiting until he returned to give money. Quan Zhisui was so mad she directly hung up, not bothering to listen to whatever else he had to say.
Zuo Zichen beside her held up a thumbs up: "Sis! You're my one and only sis!"
You're the only one in the entire Zuo family who dares talk to Zuo Zhiyu like that!
