Still, despite being annoyed by Han Ye's message, Xiao Zhihao decided to take his advice. He turned back and went to the library, and when he was there, he saw Quinn reading in the library.
"Hey," Xiao Zhihao greeted her as he sat down opposite her. "Why are you reading the criminal statute book?" he asked as he pulled out the latest edition of The Economist from his bag. Now that he had some extra money in hand, he wanted to learn more about how to use his money wisely.
Quinn looked up at him and shrugged. "I'm bored, and this is pretty interesting. I thought that the difference would subtle, but no... There are a lot of differences."
"Shhhh..." The librarian on duty shushed them before sharing a disapproving glare at them.
"Sorry," the two teenagers apologized. Quinn then moved over so that she was sitting next to Xiao Zhihao.
"Aren't you going to go stand outside that Murong Yu's door?" Quinn asked in a whisper.
"What?" Xiao Zhihao looked up from The Economist and frowned at her. He shot a brief glance at the librarian before whispering back to Quinn, "How did you know?"
"I saw you there a couple of times when I was looking for a place to read quietly other than here. You always had this sad look on your face whenever you were there, as if someone has died or something. That's why I didn't go and say hi," Quinn said. "Are you close to that teacher who left?"
Xiao Zhihao thought for a moment. He turned his gaze back to the magazine and pretended to read them before answering her in a whisper, "Quite... He was... my first friend here."
"So you're also someone who can't get along with others?" Quinn asked.
"Also?" Xiao Zhihao glanced at her. "You can't get along with them? Why not? You are from the same background as most of them."
Quinn shrugged. She pointed to the white tuft of hair right in the middle of her forehead. "This is not really common here... and some of them gave me those glances... as if they would be infected by this. I know that they don't say it, but they don't think I'm pretty enough to hang out with them because of my mixed-race heritage. I'm slightly darker than them. My hair is curlier... and I have this..."
She scoffed. "Dumbass, the whole lot."
"I'm sure there are some who would accept that."
"Well... Some... but most of them are only interested in me because of Jack and Lyle, or because their parents told them to. You see," she looked at him with a wry glance and said, "my grandfather is quite a big shot here and so are both my mothers. Honestly, I don't need that those types of friends."
Xiao Zhihao blinked and shrugged. He then turned back to his magazine. After a moment of hesitation, he added in a soft whisper, "I think you're beautiful."
Quinn glanced back at him with a slightly shocked expression. After a while, she smiled and whispered back, "Thank you."
Those two then read quietly side by side.
When it was finally time to go back, Xiao Zhihao looked at Quinn and asked, "My driver is here. Do you want to go back? I can ask him to send you back."
"Nah, my godfather is picking me up personally," Quinn grinned as she packed her stuff. When they were walking toward the entrance, Quinn said, "We are going to go back and pick up my godmother and the babies. After that, we are going to a nice restaurant."
"Oh? Is today a special occasion?" Xiao Zhihao asked.
"Nah." Quinn smirked and continued, "He didn't want to see Uncle Callum."
She then told him what had happened, which caused Xiao Zhihao to laugh out loud, which was something that he had not done in a long time. He had been wondering why he hadn't seen Callum and Luo Guangying together for such a long time. When he asked his mother, she merely said that one or the other was busy, and he did not care for them enough to ask.
"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow," Xiao Zhihao said when he got to the entrance.
"Alright, bye~" Quinn waved before she ran toward DX, who was waiting at the entrance for her.
Xiao Zhihao watched her reach DX before nodding at DX. He then went to the car that was waiting for him. After greeting the driver who opened the door for him, he went in.
"Mum," he greeted her. "How come you're here today? I thought you are filming today?" he asked while pretending to not know beforehand.
Xiao Lei sidled closer to her son and put an arm around his shoulder while grinning at him. "I saw you walk out with Quinn. Are you guys close?"
Xiao Zhihao raised an eyebrow. He then thought for a moment before saying, "Not really, but she's kind of cool. You haven't answered my question."
"Obviously it's because I was really good," Xiao Lei replied with a smug expression. "Your mother is really great. Now, praise me."
"Are you a child?" Xiao Zhihao smiled as he looked at his mother, who seemed to have slowly gone back to her old self.
The driver turned around with a smile and asked, "Should we go now?"
"Yes, please," Xiao Lei replied politely.
The driver pressed his foot down on the accelerator when suddenly, Xiao Zhihao snapped, "Stop!"
The moment the driver stepped on the break, Xiao Zhihao immediately released his seatbelt and got out from the car.
"Zhihao!" Xiao Lei shouted.
She wanted to get out of the car, but the driver stopped her. "I'll go get him!" the driver said. "Lock the door once I'm gone!"
Xiao Lei thought for a moment before nodding.
The moment Xiao Zhihao got down from the car, he dashed straight to a sandwich shop nearby, which was about 100 meters from the car.
"No..." he murmured as he looked around the area. He then went into the sandwich shop, startling some of the customers as well as the owner, before scanning the area quickly. "No! Sh*t!" he cursed before running out.
He kept turning round and round, hoping to find the person that he thought he saw. Suddenly, someone placed their hands on his shoulders and stopped him from moving.
"Mur-" That small smile that was about to be formed on his face died down the moment he saw who it was that caught him. "It's you..." Xiao Zhihao muttered sadly.
The driver looked at Xiao Zhihao with a worried glance as he asked, "Young Master Zhihao, are you alright? Why did you run out just like that? Your mother is worried sick!"
When he saw Xiao Zhihao's sorrowful expression, as if the boy was holding back his tears, the driver was taken aback, and he immediately checked Xiao Zhihao's body for injuries.
Xiao Zhihao pushed the man's away as he murmured, "I'm fine..."
He then slowly dragged his feet back to the car, and from the back, he looked as if there were a dark cloud hovering above him.
"Zhihao!" Xiao Lei immediately took her son's hand, as if she was afraid that he might run off again. "What happened? Why did you just run off like that?"
Xiao Zhihao hugged his mother and shook his head against her shoulder. "I thought I saw an old friend... He... transferred overseas a long time ago," Xiao Zhihao lied. He did not want his mother to know that he rushed out to look for Murong Yu. Xiao Zhihao then forced a smile on his face as he looked at his mother. "He was my only friend for a long time, so when I thought I saw him, I got overly excited... But it's just someone who looked like him."
Xiao Lei was surprised to hear about this friend of his since Xiao Zhihao had never mentioned being close to anyone before. She wanted to ask more, but her son did not appear to be in a good mood to talk at the moment. "I haven't heard of him before. Are you guys close?"
Xiao Zhihao nodded. "We didn't really hang out much, but I really, really him a lot..."
"I'm sorry, Zhihao."
"It's no big deal," Xiao Zhihao murmured. He then put on his seatbelt and said to the driver, "Let's go home now."