Chapter 101: Dinner Party Stopped by Rain
Bookstore at night

Su Xiaoqiang held a copy of "Detailed Explanation and Refinement" in her hand, pretending to be reading a supplementary teaching book, but her pretty eyes were secretly looking at Lu Mingfei, who was selecting supplementary teaching materials while standing opposite her with his back to her.

There are all kinds of supplementary teaching materials on the market. In his previous life, Lu Mingfei had never seriously read a supplementary teaching book. The famous "Five-Year High School Entrance Examination and Three-Year Simulation" was not published until after 09.

So now when I start choosing supplementary teaching books and test papers, I don’t know which one to get and can only flip through them one by one.

A haughty female voice came from behind:

"The test paper in your hand is not good. The question types of the mock tests are very old and have long been out of touch with the high school entrance examination. Moreover, the analysis of the reference answers is not comprehensive enough." The little angel said lightly.

God knows why he would meddle in other people's business and start teaching Lu Mingfei how to choose study materials. When Su Xiaoqiang came back to his senses, the words came out naturally.

Damn it, he chose a crappy supplementary textbook and didn't do well in the exam, which should be a good thing for me! Why do I talk so much! Su Xiaoqiang cursed in his heart.

Lu Mingfei was actually quite surprised. The little angel had been reviewing in class and doing papers after class these days, and she had been nowhere to be seen after school. She just wanted to surpass him in the entrance examination.

Now he would actually take the initiative to tell me which teaching materials are not good?
If other girls said this to him, Lu Mingfei would probably suspect that she had other conspiracies.

For example, deliberately saying that good teaching materials are bad, and bad teaching materials are good, trying to deceive yourself.

But Lu Mingfei knew Su Xiaoqiang's personality. She always kept her mind to her own business. She never boasted about her family's wealth nor would she hide the fact that it was rich. She would even tell him directly who she liked. How could such a little angel bother to play tricks?

"Which test paper is better?" Lu Mingfei asked.

The consequence of meddling in other people's affairs is that the person you have been actively avoiding these days suddenly can't be avoided anymore.

Su Xiaoqiang wanted to sigh but couldn't. He put the "Detailed Explanation and Refinement" in his hand back to the bookshelf beside him, put his hands on his waist and walked coolly to Lu Mingfei's side, stopping about fifty centimeters away from them.

Perhaps because it was hot and humid at night, she took off the coat over her school uniform and tied it around her waist, like the hem of her school skirt extending from hers. She wore only a silk, translucent white shirt on her upper body.

"Which one do you want? One with more basic questions or one with more advanced ones?" Su Xiaoqiang asked, staring at the bookshelf.

Su Xiaoqiang had seen Lu Mingfei's high school entrance examination results and was afraid that if he recommended a school that was too difficult all at once, Lu Mingfei would not be able to cope with it.

“Let’s go for the more advanced level and sprint forward.” Lu Mingfei said.

With his current level, he actually doesn't need to consolidate his basics. He just needs to practice some questions and refresh the knowledge points that he has slightly forgotten, and he should have no problem coping with the entrance examination.

Since Lu Mingfei said he wanted more advanced questions, Su Xiaoqiang nodded, then waved his hand back at Lu Mingfei, "Then you make way."

Lu Mingfei stepped back a little, and Su Xiaoqiang walked to where Lu Mingfei had been standing before, standing on tiptoe to reach a book on the upper shelf.

Su Xiaoqiang was originally quite tall, close to 170cm tall, and she looked even taller when she stood on tiptoe. Even her long school skirt couldn't cover her fair and slender thighs, which only stopped about an inch above her knees. She stretched out her arms gracefully and lightly.

As she gently hooked her two fingers around the spine of the book, the heel of her flat shoes hit the ground with a click, and the booklet fell lightly into her hands.

"Here, this one is pretty good. I just finished this set of math and physics yesterday. It contains real exam papers from recent years, as well as some difficult simulation papers, and the explanations of the answers are also relatively comprehensive." Su Xiaoqiang handed the test book to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei flipped through the book and took a quick look. It was indeed much better than the one he had just picked up.

"You've been studying really hard lately, afraid that I'll surpass you in the entrance exam, so why are you so kind to recommend materials to me?"

Lu Mingfei didn't mention that matter, but it seemed like he did. Because the mood that Su Xiaoqiang had suppressed with great difficulty became strange again because of Lu Mingfei's words.

Of course Lu Mingfei didn't take that seriously, but Su Xiaoqiang felt that Lu Mingfei seemed to have taken it seriously. What was even more annoying was that she herself seemed to be taking the matter a little seriously.

No matter whether Lu Mingfei took it seriously or not, as long as his grades surpassed hers, it would be as if this incident had never happened! This is what Su Xiaoqiang thought.

"Two different things."

Su Xiaoqiang didn't look at Lu Mingfei when he said this.

"I studied hard because I wanted to win the bet with you. I recommended materials to you because we are buddies. These two things are unrelated."

When she said this, she emphasized the word "brother" deliberately. It was unclear whether she was emphasizing it to Lu Mingfei or to someone else.

Lu Mingfei actually wanted to tell Su Xiaoqiang that he didn't take your joke to heart at all.

And even if he really surpassed Su Xiaoqiang in the entrance examination, he couldn't really use that as an excuse.

Who is Su Xiaoqiang? She is a little goddess, the first crush of one-third of the boys in Shilan Middle School. She is so beautiful, so smart, and so proud. There are several mines waiting for her to inherit at home. She will definitely have her own life and happiness.

He is not a scumbag like Zhao Menghua, who flirted around with the most beautiful girls in class, dumping one after another, and finally couldn't get together for a class reunion decades later.

Lu Mingfei actually felt that Zhao Menghua also wanted to tease the little angel at the beginning, but the little angel's personality was too overbearing. She was not a soft persimmon like Liu Miaomiao and Chen Wenwen who could be easily bullied. Zhao Menghua was completely unable to control her.

In addition, her family background was much stronger than Zhao Menghua's, so Zhao Menghua never dared to take action against the little goddess.
However, for some unknown reason, Lu Mingfei did not tell Su Xiaoqiang what he was thinking in the end.

"Which books do you want? Do you want all the books on math, physics and chemistry?" Su Xiaoqiang asked.

"I can do it myself."

"no need."

Su Xiaoqiang stood on tiptoe, took down the physics and chemistry booklets, and handed them to Lu Mingfei.

"Do you want test books for other subjects?"

"I'll just buy a review book on biogeography."

As for English, I am already proficient in it, so there is no point in practicing questions. As for Chinese, I just need to review it and throw away the ancient poems. Maybe I need to take a look at the knowledge points of biology and geography.

Su Xiaoqiang nodded, and helped Lu Mingfei pick out two books on biogeography that he needed from the bookshelf.

To express his gratitude, Lu Mingfei originally wanted to pay for Su Xiaoqiang's information, but the little angel waved her hand and refused.

"No, no, just go and buy yours. I need to pick some more."

"Row."

Lu Mingfei nodded.

The little goddess was not the kind of person who would hesitate. If she said no, she really didn't want it. So Lu Mingfei didn't force herself to be polite and took his few documents to the front desk to pay.

……

After watching Lu Mingfei's back slowly disappear from his sight, Su Xiaoqiang withdrew his gaze and took out his cell phone from his pocket.

Nokia N73, red and white. When she bought a phone for Lu Mingfei, she thought the red and white model looked good, so she bought one for herself as well.

After pressing the dial button, the phone screen that had been off finally lit up. The screen was full of notifications of missed calls, more than a dozen of them, the earliest one was at 5:32, and the latest one was just now.

She muted the sound and set her phone to vibrate mode. When she was helping Lu Mingfei choose the test paper, the phone had been vibrating in her skirt pocket, pressing against her thigh, making her feel numb.

Fortunately, there were a lot of students around, so it was actually quite noisy, and Lu Mingfei probably didn't hear it.

At this time of year, she would have gone home long ago.

But today was different. Dad had a business partner who was coming to visit us, the one who played golf with him two days ago. He was called Uncle Liu, and that business partner had an annoying son who was also coming.

Her father had many business partners, and she had met many playboys, but there were few who would keep pestering her after she had clearly rejected them. The one with the surname Liu was the most annoying one among them. They were in the same junior high school, and she had to see his ugly face several times a day. If she hadn't been concerned about her father, she would have slapped him in the face long ago.

It was for this reason that she hid it from anyone and filled in Shilan Middle School on her high school entrance application form.

It’s 7:20, so no matter how long the dinner was, it should be almost over.

Su Xiaoqiang clicked on the missed call and called back.

beep - beep - beep -

"Hey, Mast."

The man's voice sounded calmly on the other end of the phone, but Su Xiaoqiang could tell that behind this calmness there was obviously some suppressed emotion.

"it's me."

"Are you back now? Your Uncle Liu and Xiaowei just left."

Su Xiaoqiang changed his standing posture, leaning lightly against the tiled wall behind him, standing on one foot and stepping on the wall with the other, and lowering his head.

"No, it may take a while." She said a little tiredly.

"What are you doing."

"Did not do anything"

"If you haven't done anything, come back quickly. Tell me the address and I'll ask Lao Li to pick you up." said the man on the other end of the phone.

Lao Li is their family's housekeeper and driver.

"No, I'll call Uncle Li myself when I go back later."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and then he said, "Okay, that's it."

With the sound of "beep-beep-beep", the phone was hung up.

Su Xiaoqiang looked at the call duration on the phone screen and turned off the screen.

That’s why it is said that children’s words are the most innocent. Once people grow up, it becomes very difficult to communicate with their parents.

What she wanted to hear was not harsh criticism or interrogation like a prisoner, but just ordinary concern.

It was 7:20, already so late, but he didn't ask her if she had eaten.

……

Putting the phone back into his pocket, Su Xiaoqiang took out a few selected teaching supplementary books from the bookshelf and prepared to go to the front desk to pay.

In fact, for a moment, she even gave up on herself and wanted to put all the supplementary books back. What was the big deal? What would the impact be if her entrance exam score was higher or lower than Lu Mingfei's?
Anyway, that loser definitely wouldn't take that joke seriously.

Even if I take it seriously... so what? Can I really admit it?

However, this self-destructive thought immediately disappeared from her mind. She took a deep breath and walked quickly to the front desk.

Three books, ninety-seven dollars. She took out a hundred dollars from her wallet and threw it on the counter, then walked out of the bookstore with the books.

The bookstore was on the second floor, and the sensor lights in the corridor flickered on and off. After going downstairs and walking out of the corridor, Su Xiaoqiang's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Su Xiaoqiang frowned, and there were a few big words in his eyes: "Ghost lingers".

"I wanted to leave, but it suddenly started raining."

Lu Mingfei, who was standing under the eaves, shrugged and pointed outside the eaves.

The sultry nights had a warning sign: a gust of wind would turn into rain. Summer in coastal cities is like this, with changeable weather, wind and rain, and the sky cries more often than a child.

Fortunately, the rain was not heavy, just a drizzle. I just didn’t bring an umbrella, and I just bought a bunch of reference books. If I rush out, I’m afraid all the books will be lost.

Su Xiaoqiang looked at the rain that suddenly appeared, and the expression of seeing a ghost on his face turned into helplessness towards Lu Mingfei.

"Let me call home and give you a ride back later."

Originally, she wanted to hang out outside for a while, go to the Open Mind coffee shop near the school, find a corner, order a cup of milk tea and a dessert for dinner, and review while eating.

But the sudden rain obviously put a damper on her plans.

Su Xiaoqiang took out her cell phone from her skirt pocket.

"Hey, you're using Nokia N73 too?"

"Why, you are the only one allowed to use it but not me?"

The little angel rolled her eyes, found the phone number of the housekeeper Uncle Li, and dialed it.

"Hello, Uncle Li, it's me..."

After telling Uncle Li his current location in a few words, Su Xiaoqiang put his phone back into his pocket and said:

"It will probably take some time to get here from my house, so wait a moment."

"Row."

Lu Mingfei nodded and stood under the eaves staring blankly at the rain that showed no sign of abating. The next moment, as if he suddenly remembered something, he turned around to look at Su Xiaoqiang.

"By the way, I forgot to ask you!" Lu Mingfei said.

"What's wrong again?" Su Xiaoqiang, who was already in a depressed mood, put his hands on his hips, looking impatient.

"I haven't eaten yet, have you eaten yet?"

My heart was swaying in a daze, as if I was a balloon being blown back and forth, flying into the sky and falling to the ground.

Su Xiaoqiang turned his head suddenly and looked blankly at the boy beside him.

"I wanted to ask you this when I was in the bookstore just now, but I forgot about it for a moment. I just remembered it when I was waiting for the rain to stop."

The pitch-black night obscured the dazed expression on Su Xiaoqiang's face. Lu Mingfei could only vaguely see the beautiful facial features of the little goddess in the light coming from the bookstore window on the second floor.

"If you haven't had dinner yet, let's go eat something together. Just leave the books in the bookstore first. I know there's a small restaurant nearby. The food is good and hygienic, but it doesn't have Black Pearl or Michelin. I wonder if you can get used to it..."

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment, and seeing that the little goddess in the darkness had not responded, he said:
"If you have dinner, I will go alone..."

"Didn't eat."

The little goddess shook her head in the night, then raised her face and said, "I haven't eaten either, let's go together."

……

(End of this chapter)