Chapter 17 - Little Ashley Is So Charming

Not knowing if his voice was too loud, or because what he said was too unacceptable, Ashley obviously looked shocked and stood still.

The footsteps of the two stopped at the same time.

The silence made the atmosphere awkward.

Ethan stared at her eyes and gradually dodged, and his ears became blushed.

He touched his head, pretended to be calm, and asked, "Why don't you talk?"

Ashley didn’t respond, a little at a loss.

It was not that she hadn't been confessed, but she usually got love letters or text messages. This was the first time to have a face-to-face confession, not to mention such a high profile.

"Ah."

Ashley directly assumed that this hypothesis was true, she suddenly became curious, "Do you remember when you knocked out one of my teeth?"

"…"

Ethan extremely regretted this, but he did do it, and now he could only defend himself in a far-fetched way, "It happened many years ago. Didn't I break my finger at that time?"

Ashley didn’t hold a grudge, "Cool."

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, looking forward to her next words.

The word "euphemism" didn’t exist in Ashley’s mind, so she said directly, "Then you'd better not like me. I don't like men younger than me."

Ethan paused for a moment and said angrily, "Isn't this age discrimination?"

"…"

"You have to say something I can change, right?"

Ashley thought for a moment, "I like good-looking ones."

"…"

Ethan took a deep breath and pointed his finger at her. "No one has ever said I'm ugly but you. Are you targeting me? Did you add an ugly filter to me? "

"Just--" Ashley said, "everyone's aesthetic is different."

Ethan was extremely aggrieved, "Can I still have plastic surgery?"

"I don't mean that."

Ashley was also a little aggrieved by his yelling, and said slowly, "So didn't I tell you not to like me?"

"Forget it."

Ethan gave up talking to her, "Forget it."

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, Ashley began to regret whether she had gone too far and said, "Why do you like me?"

Ethan glanced at her and said some superficial words, "You are good-looking."

Ashley, "Oh."

Ethan, "Is that your reaction?"

Ashley, " I can't refute you."

"…"

The two were still parked in front of the escalator on the third floor.

Ethan suddenly felt very upset. After staring at her for a long time, he asked, "You are not into puppy love, right?"

Ashley nodded, "This is part of the reason."

"Another part is that I am young and ugly." The more he said, the more he felt unwilling. He pursed his lips hard, and his eyes began to turn red. "Ashley, today is my birthday. Can't you turn me down another day? "

"…"

Ashley was confused. "Are you crying?"

"Hell no!" Ethan felt humiliated, turned his head and rubbed his eyes, and wanted to say something else when he suddenly noticed a man standing behind him.

Ethan ran into sight with him.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds.

Ethan's tears drifted away, and he inexplicably felt that the person in front of him looked familiar.

But he couldn't remember where he has seen him for a while.

Sensing that Ethan was silent for a long time, Ashley looked suspiciously back along his line of sight and was surprised to see the figure of Jacob.

No one knew how long he stood behind them.

Seeing that they all looked over, Jacob raised his eyebrows playfully, "Am I bothering you?"

"…"

Ethan immediately remembered who this man was.

Ashley's brother.

He saw him last time in the office.

Thinking of what he had just said, Ethan straightened his back, bowed abruptly, which looked like he had been caught for doing evil things, "Hello, It’s nice to meet you!"

Jacob gave a hum.

Ethan ran to the other side with the same hand and foot, "Goodbye, brother!"

"…"

Strangely, nothing has been done wrong, but Ashley actually had the feeling that she had done something bad. After a few seconds of thinking, she decided to be pre-emptive, "Brother, are you eavesdropping?"

Jacob looked down at her and said, "Yes."

"..."

He just admitted it, which made Ashley swallow the next words in an instant. She was a little caught off guard and didn't know what to say, so she simply kept silent and went on.

Jacob followed her slowly, "Our little Ashley is so charming."

"…"

He seemed to find it extremely funny and laughed out loud, with a shallow breath, "Make the little boy cry?"

Ashley did not know what to reply, but she blushed and said, "Why do you keep asking me questions?"

Jacob, "Brother cares about you."

Ashley was very awkward, "Don't mention that."

"All right."

Jacob changed the subject and put a smile on his face. "What did brother say to you after I helped you meet the teacher last time? Repeat it to me."

She understood the implication of his words in an instant.

"I don't remember what you said, but I'm not in puppy love."

After a pause, Ashley stressed again, "Absolutely not."

Jacob, "Good girl."

Ashley snorted unhappily.

Jacob thought for a moment and suggested in a low voice, "It's ordinary for teenagers to have these thoughts. But don't hurt others when you reject them, you can thank them for their love and then refuse. "

Ashley, "I didn't hurt him."

Jacob, "Didn't you make him cry?"

"I've made him cry so many times." Ashley said confidently, "I used to fight with him, no matter who won, he was the one who cried."

Jacob scanned her up and down and said with a laugh, "--do you still know how to fight?"

The two people went out of the gate of the mall and went to the nearby station to wait for the bus.

Ashley said honestly, " I was a kid."

He said lazily, "You are still a kid."

After a few seconds of silence, Ashley could not help saying, "No."

"Hmm?" Jacob turned his head and smiled. "OK, it seems that you have grown a little taller. And even know to be nice to brother. "

Ashley looked at him in silence.

Jacob, "Give me your hand."

Ashley reached out her hand hesitantly.

The next second, Jacob returned to her the "whole savings" that Ashley had just given him, bending his lips and saying, "Thank you, Little Ashley."

Ashley looked up awkwardly.

"Do you know what people will say about me when this event gets out?"

Jacob dragged his voice and said, "They will say that I blackmailed junior high school students and I might be arrested."

Ashley said earnestly, "It’s not blackmailing. This is the money I spent on dessert."

Jacob, "It won’t cost you 100 bucks. "

Ashley was speechless, then put the money back into his hand, "I'll give it to you anyway."

"Why do you give money to brother?"

Jacob smiled. "Do you think brother is miserable?"

"No." As soon as he mentioned this, Ashley remembered that she seemed to have made him unhappy just now.

She hesitated for a moment and apologized, "I'm sorry, brother."

"Hmm?"

Ashley stumbled out the words that had been brewing all afternoon, "I shouldn't have asked just now. I just see that you seem to be very busy, and then I always bother you before, so I feel quite sorry. Besides, this is your hard-earned money. I can't just spend it like that. "

"…"

Jacob smiled and said, "Why are you suddenly speaking so officially?"

Ashley said honestly, "My father said people had to admit when they had done something wrong."

"Who says you did something wrong?"

"I think what I asked made you unhappy." Ashley said, "This is doing something wrong."

"It's all right. I'm not unhappy." Jacob rubbed her head and said, "Take back the money, you can buy some candy."

Ashley put her hand behind her back, "I don't like candy."

"Then buy what you like." Jacob lowered his eyelids and stared at her bright eyes. "When brother is really too poor to eat, I will come and borrow money from you, ok?"

After getting on the bus, Ashley went to the back seat by the window and sat down.

She looked at Jacob out of the window and quickly looked back at the money he had stuffed into her bag.

Ashley zipped the bag up gloomily.

Night had not yet fallen, and the color of the horizon was dark red, coloring large tracts of clouds.

The distant mountains were picturesque and the outline was clear, embellished in this color.

Ashley held out her finger, write a "Jacob" on the window, and quickly rubbed it off.

She was suddenly in a low mood.

She was confused.

‘Is the older the age, the more troubles will follow?

But she didn't think she was very old.

Jacob was not, either.’

This unexpected encounter was the last time Ashley saw Jacob during this summer vacation. The following month, Ashley attended the summer painting class and began to do her summer homework.

Ashley did not ask Liam about Jacob, and never took the initiative to contact him.

She didn't know if he finally went home, or whether he was still working so hard as a part-time worker.

But she quietly bought a piggy bank.

Quietly, she saved a lot of unused pocket money in it.

Maybe it wouldn't be used later.

But she occasionally thought that she might use it in the future.

The new semester began in the second year of junior high school.

In the separate class examination at the beginning of the school year, Ashley got a great grade and entered the key class.

Most of her classmates were replaced by people she didn't know, and even Bella, who she was most familiar with, was assigned to another class.

In the same class as Ethan.

After changing classes, Bella seldom came to play with Ashley.

Ashley was not an active person, and the connection between the two was getting less and less. She herself was a loner and didn't pay much attention to it.

November was coming, Rising Sun Middle School began to prepare for the school sports meeting and they had to borrow a venue from South Star University.

Ashley was not interested in sports at all, but there were not many girls in the class, so she was insisted by the teacher that she must sign up for one game.

Ashley could only sign up for a long jump reluctantly.

The class also spent a lot of money on the class uniforms.

The class uniform was designed by Mr. Smith and he did not accept any rebuttal according to his taste. The pattern in the center was a magnificent sunflower, which looked gaudy.

It was the corniest class uniform Ashley has ever seen.

On the day of the school sports meeting.

Ashley was so ashamed that she changed into the class uniform at school, and then followed the people to the nearby South Star University.

Except for the time when Liam moved to the dormitory, this was the second time that Ashley had come, so she didn't feel fresh.

The boys around, who did not compete, huddled together in the stands and began to play games.

Ashley watched for a while, heard the radio call for girls in the second year of junior high school to check in the long jump, and then went to the check-in office with a girl in the class.

In addition to the venue, South Star University also arranged a bunch of volunteers for them.

Like now.

Ashley met her dear brother at the check-in office.

Liam sat under the tent. When he saw her, the corners of his lips bent slightly, and gently tapped his pen on the desk, looking like a bad boy, "Kid, you are not qualified for the competition, go back."

Ashley swallowed her anger and said, "Why?"

"Not tall enough."

"I haven't heard that height is required for the long jump."

With a glance, Liam leaned back and said, "It can't be less than 1.2 meters tall.." After that, he looked sideways at the sleeper next to him, smiled, and said, "Right? Bro. "