CH 38

After Zheng Baozhu finished speaking, Qu Zhi fell into an even longer silence than before. Zheng Baozhu, on the other hand, sat aside feeling upset, only understanding now how deeply cunning Qu Zhi could be!

Since elementary school, Qu Zhi had excelled in his studies, leaving a lofty impression on others. He even crafted an image of himself as a scientist, always advocating for the country. Who would believe that such a smart, ambitious, and good classmate would be beating someone up in a small alley?

Even Yue Buqun would feel inferior if he saw him!1

Zheng Baozhu picked up an unopened bottle of mineral water from the table and twisted it open. She then drank almost half of it in one go.

"..." Qu Zhi sat quietly beside her, watching her drink water like that.

When Zheng Baozhu had nearly finished drinking, she put down the bottle and looked at Qu Zhi, "So, you were well ahead of time. At that time, the entertainment industry wasn't even creating personas yet."

"..." Qu Zhi pursed his lips. "Someone said earlier, 'since you saw it with your own eyes, why didn't you just ask me directly? You spent so many years silently cursing me in your heart, couldn't you have asked me directly'?"

Zheng Baozhu: "..."

Wow, how the tables had turned.

"I didn't see any need to ask you. I saw you beating someone with my own eyes, but my mom and the teacher didn't believe me. If I asked you, would you have admitted it?" Zheng Baozhu snorted coldly.

Qu Zhi slightly pursed his lips. He also picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table, twisted it open, and took a sip, "This incident did happen."

Zheng Baozhu sneered, "Alright, let me hear your well-crafted story."

Qu Zhi: "..."

He still remembered that day. The weather wasn't great, his parents were both at the research institute and hadn't come back. He was alone at home for the weekend. Although Aunt Su had said he could always go to their house for meals, he didn't want to bother Aunt Su since he had a strained relationship with Zheng Baozhu.

When he was in elementary school, he was too young to cook for himself and had to rely on Aunt Su's hospitality. But in junior high, he knew how to cook for himself, so when he felt lazy, he would just find something to eat downstairs.

New He Street was not far from where they lived and there was a place there that served delicious braised dishes. Qu Zhi was cooking rice in the pot and had some money in his pocket to buy some braised dishes to go with it.

Shortly after he entered the alley, he heard some commotion up ahead. When he looked from a distance, he saw a male student taunting an auntie. The auntie seemed unable to see and was crawling on the ground, searching for something in a miserable state. The boy was holding a plastic bag, laughing and teasing her.

Qu Zhi quickly approached and handed the blind woman her cane that had fallen aside. The boy, displeased by his interference, questioned him, "What are you doing? Who asked you to pick that up?"

Qu Zhi turned to look at him. The other person appeared to be around the same age as him, but he was much more muscular, probably twice his size.

"I can pick it up if I want to, do I need your approval?"

The boy became even more defiant and tried to snatch the blind person's cane from Qu Zhi's hands, saying, "You're so nosy, will you compensate me for the cake money?"

Not far from them, there was a cake that had been knocked over and ruined, mixed with dirt and oil on the ground, making it look very unpleasant.

Qu Zhi had come down just to buy some pickled vegetables and hadn't brought much money. He took out all the money he had and exchanged it for the boy's contemptuous sneer, "Just this little? Do you know how expensive my cake was? Poor guy, don't try to act like a righteous hero!"

Saying that, the boy tried to snatch the blind person's cane again and the two of them quickly started struggling. Since the other boy was much larger than him, Qu Zhi had to exert all his strength to subdue him and pin him down.

However, he never expected that this scene was witnessed by Zheng Baozhu, who happened to pass by.

"That's the story. Auntie Xiao lived on New Grain Street. I met her shortly after she was discharged from the hospital. She lost her eyesight in a car accident and hadn't adapted to the life of being blind yet. When she was buying things, she accidentally bumped into that boy and ruined his cake."

Zheng Baozhu frowned, "Even so, there's no need to be so unreasonable. He wasn't intentional. Couldn't you just compensate him for the money?"

Qu Zhi sneered, "He didn't really want the money. He just seized the opportunity to bully the weak."

Zheng Baozhu pondered for a moment and suddenly realized, "Wait, what you said is just your side of the story. How do we know if it's true?"

Qu Zhi snorted lightly and said, "Tomorrow, I'll take you to meet Auntie Xiao. It also happens to be that I have something to give her too."

Zheng Baozhu carefully scrutinized him, "You better not hire an actor to deceive me. I'm a professional now, I can tell at a glance."

Qu Zhi replied, "You'll see for yourself tomorrow, then you'll know."

"Alright, let's see," Zheng Baozhu agreed. She then glanced at Qu Zhi, a bit curious, and asked, "Is your decision to make a guide robot related to this Auntie Xiao?"

In Qu Zhi's story, this Auntie Xiao was a blind person, which coincided with Qu Zhi's expertise in guiding robots.

Qu Zhi said, "Not entirely. I want to help countless people like Auntie Xiao."

"Oh..."

"Actually, I was hesitating about what research direction to choose in the future. After this incident, I realized that I don't have to follow in my parents' footsteps and focus solely on powerful matters to have meaningful research. Caring about some small things and the masses in everyday life, contributing to them is also meaningful."

"..."

Although Qu Zhi's words sounded very serious, Zheng Baozhu had heard similar things from him countless times since they were young, but she couldn't help but ask, "No, you were just in the second year of junior high at that time and you were already contemplating your future research direction?"

Qu Zhi remained silent for a moment and replied, "Yes, it was indeed a bit late."

Zheng Baozhu: "..."

Looking at Zheng Baozhu's expression, Qu Zhi couldn't help but chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?" Zheng Baozhu glared at him.

Qu Zhi grinned slightly and asked, "So, when you saw me getting into a fight with someone, you didn't come to help me, but thought of going home to complain?"

"..."

Zheng Baozhu shrugged, "If you dare to fight, handle it yourself. Why would you expect a girl to help you? Not calling the police to arrest you was already helping you."

"Oh, thank you for sparing me then."

"You're welcome," Zheng Baozhu took another sip from the water bottle and said with some disdain, "Why do you only have mineral water here? Don't you have any other drinks or tea?"

"Drinking those is unhealthy."

"Who drinks those for the sake of being healthy?"

"..."

Qu Zhi said, "Next time, I'll have some in my room."

After he said this, Zheng Baozhu suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, "Who cares about next time? It's not like I'm coming to visit you."

As they were talking, fireworks suddenly started outside. Zheng Baozhu was taken aback and quickly ran to the stage to watch the fireworks, "Fireworks! It's almost the New Year!"

"Mm," Qu Zhi also walked over, placing his hands on the railing of the stage and looking up at the fireworks blooming in the night sky.

"Wow, these are so beautiful," Zheng Baozhu took out his phone and started taking videos and photos of the fireworks. Qu Zhi looked at her, and the colorful fireworks intermittently illuminated her face, making it appear somewhat unreal.

Just like all these years, it seemed that he had never truly understood or known her.

"Zheng Baozhu," He called out, but Zheng Baozhu was busy capturing the fireworks and only responded with a casual "Mm".

Qu Zhi continued to look at him, his eyes also flickering intermittently, "We've known each other for almost twenty years, except for the nine years we were apart, there have been ten years of time together. I've always believed that I knew you well, but in reality, I didn't. Over these years, I did misunderstand you and held biases against you. Here, I want to apologize to you."

Zheng Baozhu paused, raising her head to look at Qu Zhi with some surprise. What was this situation? Qu Zhi was actually apologizing? Was this some kind of New Year's prank?

The countdown for the New Year started outside. The moment the New Year's bell rang, Qu Zhi extended his hand to Zheng Baozhu, "Happy New Year, Zheng Baozhu. In the coming year, I look forward to getting to know a better version of you."

Zheng Baozhu looked at his slender and straight fingers and playfully tapped his palm, "We're even now, both of us have misunderstood each other."

After leaving Qu Zhi's room, Zheng Baozhu still felt a slight warmth in her palm. She sat on the sofa for a while, then suddenly remembered that she needed to explain to Miao Siyu, so she took out her phone.

After several revisions, she finally sent the edited message.

Zheng Baozhu: Hello, Miao Siyu, I am Zheng Baozhu. After going back, I asked Qu Zhi about what happened in the past. I don't know if you'll believe my explanation, but I genuinely didn't know you were behind that day. We were discussing color combinations in class, and that's why the topic came up. I thought those classmates were genuinely talking about color matching and had no idea it was about you. However, I still want to apologize because I unintentionally hurt you.

Zheng Baozhu: Also, don't mind what others say. You are outstanding and shining brightly ^_^

After sending the message, Zheng Baozhu noticed that Miao Siyu's status changed to "Typing...". It seemed that she was also revising her response. After a while, she finally sent a message.

Miao Siyu: Hello, Zheng Baozhu, there's no need for you to apologize, you're right. High saturation blue with red does look a bit glaring. I often see netizens complaining about it under Blue V's Weibo posts [haha]. Actually, that day, a male classmate in our class intentionally swapped my school uniform. When I walked to your class's door and overheard your conversation, I unconsciously looked at my uniform. When I saw the name of our school embroidered on it, I understood what had happened. It wasn't your fault.

Miao Siyu: Today, when I thanked you, it wasn't sarcastic. In fact, when I was studying, I admired you a lot. I wished I could be as beautiful, fashionable, and likable as you. Now, I have achieved that. Although I still can't distinguish colors, I wear the most fashionable clothes and stand on the most fashionable stage, attracting everyone's attention. I think I managed to persevere because I've always wanted to be like someone like you.

After reading the message, Zheng Baozhu felt moved: You don't have to be for me, you are already the most beautiful!

Miao Siyu: Thank you ^_^

The two didn't exchange further words; it seemed unnecessary. Zheng Baozhu scrolled through her friends' posts on WeChat Moments and saw Miao Siyu's latest update.

Miao Siyu: Everything that didn't kill me has made me stronger. [Picture]

The picture she posted was from today's runway show, resembling a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon.

Zheng Baozhu gave her post a like.

After a while, she saw Miao Siyu commenting below her own post: A high school classmate told me this phrase; it has been encouraging me until today. ^_^

Zheng Baozhu raised an eyebrow slightly, took a screenshot of the WeChat Moments post, and sent it to Qu Zhi: Is this classmate you? Should I introduce her to you again, maybe you two can rekindle your old connection.

Qu Zhi: ...No need, thanks.

Qu Zhi: There wasn't much of a connection, to begin with, and the way things are now is just fine.

Zheng Baozhu: Oh, such a cold-hearted guy. 

Qu Zhi: "..."

While Zheng Baozhu was chatting with Qu Zhi, Meng Yaxin video-called her. Zheng Baozhu pressed the call button and saw Meng Yaxin's face on the screen. She was still outside celebrating and the background looked lively.

"Mm," Zheng Baozhu nodded lightly, "Another year where you've witnessed failure."

"...I won't fail next year, I promise!" Meng Yaxin wrinkled her nose, "Besides, why are you criticizing me when you're a lonely soul? You spend every New Year alone, it looks pitiful!"

"Heh," Zheng Baozhu chuckled coldly, "Who said I'm alone? I just came back from Qu Zhi's room."

"?" Even without text, Zheng Baozhu could see the question marks on Meng Yaxin's face, "What's going on between you two? Are you already friends who celebrate New Year's together?"

Zheng Baozhu considered and replied, "Today, I bumped into Miao Siyu at the event, and because she said something about an incident, I went to ask Qu Zhi about it."

"What did she say?" Meng Yaxin asked curiously.

Zheng Baozhu said, "It's nothing much, but after talking with Qu Zhi, I realized how many misunderstandings we've had all these years."

"What? You're only realizing now that you've misunderstood each other!" Meng Yaxin exaggeratedly expressed surprise, "Whenever I asked you before, you always insisted that there were no misunderstandings and that Qu Zhi was just that kind of person!"

"Well..." Zheng Baozhu scratched her head, "Since third grade in elementary school, Qu Zhi tattled about me in front of my mom, claiming that I wanted to become a celebrity, so I started hating him. After that, I targeted him. You see, Qu Zhi Jian may seem pleasant and friendly on the surface, but he actually holds grudges like no other! Over the years, he must have noted down all the grievances he had against me in his little notebook, just waiting for the right opportunity to retaliate. From that moment on, it was destined that we wouldn't objectively look at each other anymore, right?"

Meng Yaxin reassured, "Ah, it's not a big deal. That's how people are with each other. Just because you've known each other for a long time doesn't mean you truly understand each other."

To emphasize her point, she gave an example, "Look at Cen Tongtong, she's known you and Qu Zhi since you were kids, so you've known each other for a while, right? She thinks she understands you both well, that's why she dares to make bold statements, saying that the two of you could never be together. But it's only when pigs fly that she'll realize how wrong she is!"

Zheng Baozhu: "..."