As soon as Jiang Chizhou appeared, Bian Bian quieted down considerably, following him obediently.

Holding the dog food, Yan Xi grumbled unhappily, “Little traitor…”

While Bian Bian continued to act affectionate, Jiang Chizhou’s gaze deliberately shifted elsewhere—toward Shu Yu, who was sitting properly on the sofa, looking content.

“Hosting a guest here, are we?” His tone carried a hint of sarcasm, and as the two boys exchanged looks, a silent tension seemed to build between them.

“Shu Yu came over to deliver mooncakes. It started raining suddenly, so I invited him up while it passed,” Yan Xi explained casually, not mentioning the bracelet and making sure to clarify the boundaries of her relationship with Shu Yu.

Shu Yu lifted the disposable cup Yan Xi had just given him, took a small sip, then placed it back down. He gave Jiang Chizhou a polite smile, without any hostility.

As Jiang Chizhou passed by the sofa, he subtly guided Bian Bian closer to Shu Yu. Sure enough, Bian Bian bristled, its black eyes filled with wariness.

“Sorry about that, Bian Bian is a bit shy around strangers,” Jiang Chizhou said calmly, before calling the dog back to his side. The difference in treatment was obvious.

Yan Xi, trying to be a good host, brought out all the remaining fruit in the house and set it on the coffee table with a fruit knife. “Help yourself, take whatever you like. Don’t be shy.”

Hearing her gentle tone, Jiang Chizhou clicked his tongue in apparent disapproval. In the quiet living room, his sound was particularly noticeable. Yan Xi turned to Shu Yu with a forced smile before frowning as she looked at Jiang Chizhou, “What are you even doing here?”

Finally getting noticed, Jiang Chizhou, who was squatting next to Bian Bian, took a moment before responding, “Good news.”

Surprised to hear those words from him, Yan Xi wiped the water droplets off her fingers with a tissue and asked casually, “What kind of good news?”

Jiang Chizhou stood up after washing his hands and waved her over mysteriously from the doorway. “Come here.”

Slightly intrigued, Yan Xi mumbled under her breath but walked over. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, with a red bill on top.

“Whoa!” Yan Xi was caught off guard. “Why are you giving me money?”

“Your allowance. I, Jiang Chizhou, keep my promises.”

Yan Xi’s eyes lit up as she remembered—this was from the bet on the first day of school!

“Wow, I didn’t think you were serious back then! I’m so touched!” Just hearing the word “allowance” made her feel emotional. But when she lifted the top bill, she found that the thick stack beneath it was all small change.

It was truly “pocket change”—apart from the single hundred-yuan bill on top, the rest were five-yuan, ten-yuan, and mostly one-yuan bills.

As she counted the money, Yan Xi suddenly muttered, “This feels a bit like being a sugar baby.”

Jiang Chizhou responded, “…Can you speak normally?”

Yan Xi shrugged, “Feels a bit cheap.”

Jiang Chizhou replied, “…Just stop talking.”

She finished counting and found it totaled 300 yuan. Yan Xi pouted. “Chizhou, are you broke now? You had to scrape together one-yuan bills for my allowance?”

Seeing her worried expression, Jiang Chizhou couldn’t resist teasing her. “Yeah, what can I say? My mom says I need to be more self-reliant.”

“For real?” Yan Xi squinted at him suspiciously, not fully believing him.

He sighed dramatically, his deep eyes reflecting a trace of melancholy. “I saved up this money for a month just for you. So don’t complain, okay? This is all I’ve got.”

His acting was so convincing, he really seemed like a poor, struggling teen.

Yan Xi’s face scrunched up, and she stuffed the money back into his hand. “Wait here.”

She left those three words behind as she rushed back to her room, shutting the door behind her.

Jiang Chizhou had no idea what she was up to, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He stuffed the small bills back into his jacket pocket and leaned leisurely against the wall, rubbing his neck.

When Yan Xi returned, her hands were hidden behind her back. She grabbed his wrist without hesitation, then revealed what she had been hiding—a few tightly gripped bills. She pressed them into his hand, saying, “Here, take this.”

Sensing something unusual, Jiang Chizhou, who had been slouching a moment ago, stood up straight. He opened his palm to find several hundred-yuan bills lying there.

“What are you doing…” His cool composure wavered, and for a moment, he was thrown off balance. Within just a few minutes, the one asking the questions had become him, his voice tinged with irritation.

But by this point, Yan Xi was completely convinced by his earlier act.
Growing up, Jiang Chizhou had never worried about money. A one-yuan coin meant nothing to him—he always dealt in hundreds. The fact that he gave her a bunch of small bills today must mean something was wrong.

“If you’re this broke, how could I accept your pocket money? This is what I’ve saved up—take it.” She pressed the money back into his hand. “Don’t feel bad. I’m just helping you out for now. No need to put yourself through hardship.”

Feeling guilty, Jiang Chizhou scratched his nose, trying to explain, “Actually…”

In reality, he had just exchanged his money for small bills to make her count them and remember who had provided her pocket money every time she spent it.

But from Yan Xi’s perspective, his expression only made him look embarrassed.

With a serious look, she patted Jiang Chizhou on the shoulder like a parent giving life advice. “I get it, boys don’t like to lose face. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. If your parents really cut off your allowance, I’ll keep helping you out.”

Jiang Chizhou stared at her, not blinking.

Yan Xi, feeling his intense gaze, could feel her heart race for some inexplicable reason. She pushed down her confusing emotions and took a step back, crossing her arms and huffing proudly, “But I’m only lending you the money—you’ll have to pay interest!”

The odd atmosphere between them made them forget their surroundings. Jiang Chizhou slowly raised his hand, almost touching the top of her head.

Suddenly, Yan Xi backed away quickly. “What are you doing? Trying to mess with me?”

“There’s something on your head.” He coughed, smoothly covering his tracks.

His casual comment was enough to coax her back toward him, tilting her head down for him to inspect. “Where? Help me get it off!”

As he smoothed down her stray strands of hair, Jiang Chizhou thought he could hear the rapid beating of his own heart.

—

When the rain stopped, Yan Xi personally escorted Shu Yu downstairs. “Sorry for taking up so much of your time today, and thank you for the holiday wishes.”

“No need to thank me.” He had done everything of his own accord.

At the entrance to the complex, Yan Xi handed Shu Yu a box of unopened mooncakes she had found at home. “A gift in return.”

Shu Yu didn’t refuse, but little did she know, the real gift had been left behind at home.

After seeing Shu Yu off, Yan Xi happily skipped back home, twirling her keychain with a smile.

Just as she pressed the elevator button, a familiar voice sounded from behind her. “It’s not like he doesn’t know the way. Was it necessary to walk him all the way to the gate?”

Yan Xi spun around, only to see Jiang Chizhou leaning against the wall across from her, looking rather annoyed.

She frowned, “What are you doing here?”

“Taking out the trash!” Jiang Chizhou scoffed, slipping into the elevator as soon as it opened.

With his sudden moodiness, Yan Xi couldn’t figure out what had upset him this time.

—

The bracelet hidden behind the fruit basket wasn’t discovered until the day before the National Day break ended.

Her family usually didn’t hang out in the living room much, and the fruit basket was mostly for decoration. Given that Shu Yu had purposefully hidden it, Yan Xi, being oblivious, hadn’t noticed it at all. It wasn’t until Xiao Ran volunteered to clean that it was finally found.

When Yan Xi saw the box, she sighed inwardly, deciding she’d return it to Shu Yu at school the next day.

She didn’t get a chance all morning, but after school, she managed to catch up with Shu Yu. Handing the gift back to him, she gave the same rejection speech as before.

The smile on Shu Yu’s face slowly faded as he stared at the small box in her hand, a wave of helplessness washing over him.

Jiang Chizhou, carrying some snacks, arrived at the entrance to Class 1. By then, most of the students had already left, leaving only a few scattered around the classroom.

Earlier, Yan Xi had tricked him into giving her pocket money, and while he hadn’t admitted it at the time, now he was planning to slowly return the favor with snacks.

But his timing couldn’t have been worse—he saw Yan Xi handing over the small gift box to Shu Yu, and it seriously annoyed him.

By the time

Yan Xi noticed Jiang Chizhou standing at the door, his face was already as dark as a storm cloud.

Holding a plastic bag full of Yakult, Yan Xi’s eyes lit up. “Did you buy that for me?!”

As she reached out, Jiang Chizhou quickly hid the snacks behind his back and huffed, “It’s for the dog.”

Yan Xi’s eye twitched. She pushed him aside, “Who cares! Move!”

After taking a few steps, she stopped abruptly and rushed back. Jiang Chizhou was about to smirk, but then Yan Xi snatched the entire bag of snacks from his hands. “Isn’t this all bought with my pocket money? Why wouldn’t I take it?”

Before Jiang Chizhou could argue, she angrily took a Yakult from the bag, leaving the rest on Shu Yu’s desk. “Here, you can have the rest.”

“Yan Xi!” someone yelled, furious.

Yan Xi ignored the outburst, happily sipping her Yakult.

The two of them ended up in a strange, silent conflict for two days, with Jiang Chizhou acting odd. Yan Xi decided it was just one of “Jiang Chizhou’s weird days.”

But on the third day, Jiang Chizhou kept walking around her with a book in his hand.

At first, Yan Xi didn’t want to talk to him, but eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s your problem, Jiang Chizhou?!”

“I’m reading.”

“Can’t you read somewhere else? Stop waving that book in my face!”

“Nope!”

Yan Xi tried to keep her cool, but eventually, she snapped. She grabbed the book and looked at the page he was on.

One sentence was highlighted in red:
“In relationships with the opposite sex, we often mistake admiration and attraction for love. But this is not true love.”

“What book is this?”

She flipped to the cover, and the title looked oddly familiar: *Seventh Grade Political Science Textbook (Second Semester)*.

Yan Xi: “…You’re nuts.”

A high school sophomore reading a middle school politics book?