————————————
The girl’s movements were beautiful. Anyone could tell her basketball skills were good. She was even better than many boys, but she was just second to Ji Xiao Zhuo.
Naturally, a beautiful girl who was even good at basketball caught everyone’s attention. Whenever people from Class One played basketball, they attracted many spectators.
The girl was called Wei Jia. She just transferred from the capital. She spoke with a Beijing accent and she could speak English too. She was tall and her figure was slender. Her skin was snowy white and her clothes were all branded. Her dimples were obvious whenever she smiled. She was very beautiful. Anyone could tell she would be stunning when she grew up.
Boys at age twelve or thirteen were starting to discover love with the opposite gender. Many children started to date secretly. In the eyes of children at this age, dating was a normal thing. Therefore, a girl like Wei Jia naturally attracted many boys. From her second day, love letters started appearing on her desk and there were more and more letters as the days went by. Within half a month, Wei Jia became a well-known person that was comparable to Ji Xiao Zhuo. She went to the top of the list as the school beauty.
But Wei Jia was different from traditional school beauty’s, she was not a weak and delicate girl. Instead, she loved sports and worked to improve under the sun. Boys enjoyed sports and games and she also liked it too and was good at them, especially basketball. Her basketball skills were pretty good. An average boy was not her opponent. Only Ji Xiao Zhuo could compete with her.
Apart from his father, it was very rare for Ji Xiao Zhuo to meet a rival of a similar age whose basketball skills were comparable to his. He couldn’t help but get excited. In the past, he didn’t like paying attention to other girls apart from Nuo Nuo. But after a few rounds of gaming and basketball with Wei Jia, Ji Xiao Zhuo didn’t reject her from joining their activities. As time went by, they would take the initiative and invite her instead. Naturally, they would also bring her along to their group dinners after playing sports. Their group gained another member. Apart from Nuo Nuo, the only other girl was Wei Jia.
As for Nuo Nuo, she didn’t enjoy speaking and she didn’t like showing off either. Instead, she preferred to sit quietly which easily made others overlook her. Compared to Nuo Nuo, Wei Jia’s personality was the total opposite. She was open, generous, and didn’t care about trifling matters. She could get along with anyone. She was just like a bright little sun, so the group naturally preferred to interact with Wei Jia. It wasn’t that they disliked Nuo Nuo, but she was just too quiet. They didn’t know how to get along with her. So Wei Jia was the one who the group doted on.
Because Wei Jia was somewhat similar to Ji Xiao Zhuo with strong abilities and a quick temper, everyone soon called Ji Xiao Zhuo as Brother Zhuo and Wei Jia as Sister Jia. It sounded like they were a couple.
But the two people involved didn’t take it seriously.
A year went by, and their primary school years soon ended. Once their final exams were finished, the school created a basketball competition for the whole school. Class One’s team was the most unusual team because they were the only team that had a female member participating, and the female member was publicly known as the school beauty. As a result, Class One’s basketball team gained the most attention. Of course, they were the strongest team too. Under Ji Xiao Zhuo’s lead, they got past all obstacles and took the champion.
On the night they won the competition, everyone agreed to go celebrate. Apart from the participating team members, only Nuo Nuo and Zhu Zi Xiao, who weren’t part of the team, joined the celebration.
The class monitor was also part of the team so arranging things was naturally his responsibility. He decided on a well-known restaurant and led everyone there.
They were soon entering junior high and in their eyes, they were pretty much young adults. So someone suggested they should drink some alcohol. Everyone favoured the suggestion. Without another word, the class monitor brought two boxes of beer.
Everyone started to yell excitedly and picked up the bottles to open them. Someone said, “Today is a good day. We all should drink a cup. No one can refuse!”
As he spoke, he placed a bottle in front of Nuo Nuo and blinked at her, “We’re all happy tonight. Little sister Nuo Nuo should also drink some. Don’t worry, you won’t get drunk from beer.”
Nuo Nuo had never touched alcohol and didn’t plan to touch it either. When she was about to refuse, Ji Xiao Zhuo, who was sitting beside her, took the bottle away. “Go, go, go, little girls like Nuo Nuo shouldn’t drink alcohol. Us, young masters, will drink. The girls will have soft beverages.”
Since Ji Xiao Zhuo had spoken, the boys naturally didn’t dare to give Nuo Nuo alcohol. When it was Wei Jia’s turn, they planned to skip over her but who knew, she would take a bottle. She smiled and said, “I’m not so weak. I can drink alcohol. You can treat me like I’m not a girl.”
When everyone else heard this, they started to clap and yell.
“Ok, as expected of our Sister Jia, so awesome!”
“Amazing. Sister Jia, it seems like your tolerance isn’t weak.”
“666, I need to drink a few more glasses with Sister Jia tonight.”
Wei Jia lifted the atmosphere to the peak. Instantly, their private room became extremely lively. From the fuss, Ji Xiao Zhuo also had to lift up a glass to drink. In response, Nuo Nuo pulled on his trousers below the table. She shook her head when he looked at her. She quietly said, “Brother Zhuo, we’re still young. Don’t drink. Alcohol isn’t good for us.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo smiled and comforted Nuo Nuo by patting on her, “It’s alright. The alcohol percentage in beer is low. I’m just drinking some. I won’t get drunk.”
Everyone else joined in, “That’s right. We won’t get drunk from beer. It will be alright!”
“Little sister Nuo Nuo, we’re not young anymore. There’s no need to be so well-behaved!”
“Be good, little sister Nuo Nuo. Go and eat obediently, we’ll get you something delicious later!”
Wei Jia also smiled at Nuo Nuo and said, “Nuo Nuo, don’t dampen everyone’s spirit. I still want to drink with Ji Xiao Zhuo. I want to see if my alcohol tolerance will be better than his.”
When she finished speaking, Wei Jia directly patted Ji Xiao Zhuo’s shoulder, “How about it, Ji Xiao Zhuo? Do you dare to compete with me? I don’t believe you can beat me when it comes to drinking.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo rolled his eyes at her, “Go, go, go, don’t talk nonsense. If you want to drink then drink.”
“Alright, I was waiting for you to say that.” Wei Jia directly raised her head and finished a glass.
In response, Ji Xiao Zhuo also drank a glass.
“Good! Our Brother Zhuo and Sister Jia are awesome. Another glass. Another glass.” Everyone else started to drumroll and poured another glass for Wei Jia and Ji Xiao Zhuo. Wei Jia did not refuse. She knocked her glass against Ji Xiao Zhuo’s before raising her head to drink again.
Ji Xiao Zhuo poked her with a finger, “Have you gone crazy today?”
Wei Jia gave him a provoking look, “Admit defeat if you don’t want to drink. It’s not like I’m making it difficult for you.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo laughed. Then he raised his head and drank as well.
Their actions hyped the atmosphere to the max. Everyone else in the private room started to drink as well. Instantly, everyone was bustling with excitement and pushing glasses around. Only Nuo Nuo and Zhu Zi Xiao, who were afraid of getting beaten up by their father, sat quietly and didn’t drink.
Nuo Nuo watched helplessly as Ji Xiao Zhuo drank glass after glass. Smoothing her lips, she finally let go of the leg of his trousers that she was holding. She lowered her head.
Zhu Zi Xiao sat on Nuo Nuo’s other side and saw her state. He pulled on her sleeve and quietly comforted her, “Nuo Nuo, don’t take it to heart. They’re only like this because they are too happy. Also, we will be changing schools soon. They just want to have a good meal.”
Nuo Nuo let out an “En” sound. Then she picked up her chopsticks and started to eat. She didn’t look up again.
The meal lasted from 5 pm to 9 pm. The group were intoxicated but none of them was willing to go home. They want to sing karaoke. Nuo Nuo checked the time and remembered Auntie Tang Tang was waiting for them at home. She wanted to go home so she pulled Ji Xiao Zhuo who was flushed and clearly intoxicated, “Brother Xiao Zhuo, let’s go back. Auntie is still waiting for us at home.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo thought for a moment. He was going to agree but Wei Jia threw herself on him and drunkenly hung on his arm, “You’re not allowed to go. We agreed to stay till the end. Whoever lies is a dog!”
Ji Xiao Zhuo did say he would stay till the end tonight. Thinking that he shouldn’t go back on his words, he discussed with Nuo Nuo, “Let’s play a bit longer, Nuo Nuo. Let’s go home an hour later, alright?”
Nuo Nuo frowned. She didn’t want to go to karaoke at all. She didn’t like those places.
Seeing Ji Xiao Zhuo was still not moving, Wei Jia directly held his hand to pull him along, “Let’s go. Let’s go. What men dilly dally.”
Nuo Nuo stared at their hands. Her gaze dimmed. She looked up towards Ji Xiao Zhuo and quietly said, “Brother Xiao Zhuo, I’ll return first. I want to rest.”
On one hand, Ji Xiao Zhuo got rushed by Wei Jia and the others and on the other hand, Nuo Nuo wanted to return. While he was in a difficult position, he saw Zhu Zi Xiao standing near Nuo Nuo. He had a light bulb moment. He said to Zhu Zi Xiao, “Fatty, you send Nuo Nuo home and ensure she gets back safe. If she loses a single strand of hair, I will hold you responsible!”
Zhu Zi Xiao took a glance at Nuo Nuo before nodding in agreement.
As he got pulled along by Wei Jia, Ji Xiao Zhuo looked back at Nuo Nuo and waved his hand, “Nuo Nuo, you go back first. I’ll be back soon.”
Nuo Nuo did not respond by sound or action. She stood still quietly as she watched them get further and further away. She still didn’t move when she could no longer see their figures.
Zhu Zi Xiao scratched his head. Then he took Nuo Nuo’s school bag and said, “Nuo Nuo, let’s go home now.”
Without a word, Nuo Nuo remained still. After a long time, she made a sound of agreement before returning with him.
————————————
When Ji Xiao Zhuo got home that night, he didn’t see Nuo Nuo. Seeing no light from her door sill, he quietly muttered, “Sleeping so early. She didn’t even wait for me and went to bed. Never mind, I won’t disturb her.”
The summer holidays officially started on the next day so there was no need to go to school. Ji Xiao Zhuo slept in until the afternoon before getting up to have lunch. Tang Tang poked on his head and scolded, “Don’t return so late again. Waking and resting should be the same every day. You are still growing. You can’t stay up too late.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo smiled at Tang Tang to curry favour, “I know, my beautiful mum, it won’t happen again. Last night was an exception.”
Tang Tang knew he had propriety so she didn’t scold him anymore. She just ladled a bowl of soup for him to drink.
While Nuo Nuo constantly had her head down as she ate. Seeing that she still hadn’t spoken, Ji Xiao Zhuo took the initiative and asked, “Nuo Nuo, you slept really early last night?”
Nuo Nuo uttered a sound of agreement.
“Oh, come and play with me later. Yesterday, the others said they were going to go ice skating today. I’ll bring you to play.”
Nuo Nuo looked up at him and asked, “Who’s going?”
“Da Wei, Hou Zi, and Wei Jia.”
Nuo Nuo lowered her head, “I’m not going. I want to stay at home and read books.”
“Why? The summer holidays have just started. Go out and relax. It’s boring staying at home all day.”
Nuo Nuo still refused, “I don’t like ice skating very much. It’s not boring to read at home.”
Seeing Nuo Nuo didn’t want to go out, Tang Tang joined in, “Nuo Nuo enjoys peace and quiet. If she doesn’t want to go out then she doesn’t have to.”
Ji Xiao Zhuo sighed. He rubbed Nuo Nuo’s head, “Alright, then I’ll go alone.”
