CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: CAUSED TROUBLE AGAIN

Zhao Meimei visited the first high school for the first time. Everything looked new to her, and people wearing the same school uniform as her Brother Yangyang were walking out in groups. Zhao Meimei cheerfully followed Peng Hui inside.

Peng Hui, who was familiar with the school, led Zhao Meimei to the senior year classrooms and eagerly pointed the way for her: "My sister is in class five. Your brother is in class one, the third classroom on the left."

Zhao Meimei quickly ran over with her backpack. She truly missed Shi Yang.

The last time Zhao Meimei saw her Brother Yangyang was on New Year’s Eve. Shi Yang had come over with his mom to have a reunion dinner together. The next day at noon, Shi Yang packed his backpack and clean clothes and rushed back to his teacher’s house.

Zhao Meimei couldn’t bear to see Shi Yang leave then, hugging his neck stubbornly without letting go. Shi Yang coaxed and persuaded her, and she cried loudly. That day, Shi Yang left with red eyes, feeling just as reluctant.

Zhao Meimei leaned at the door of class one, craning her neck to look inside. Many students were sitting in their seats, either eating or reading, creating a tense and dull atmosphere—quieter even than during self-study sessions under teacher supervision in Zhao Meimei’s class.

Zhao Meimei searched around but didn’t spot Shi Yang. She pursed her lips in disappointment but didn’t shy away. She asked the ponytailed girl sitting in the first row, "Sister, my brother is Shi Yang. I’m looking for him. Do you know where he went?"

Someone in the class had already noticed her, and now hearing her mention her family, before the girl she asked could respond, a pretty girl standing nearby got up and approached Zhao Meimei, wearing an amiable expression and smiling as she asked, "Who are you looking for, little sister?"

Zhao Meimei squinted her almond-shaped eyes and looked at the girl with sharp features and big eyes. She crisply replied, "Hello sister, I’m Shi Yang’s sister, I’m here to find him."

"Shi Yang!" When the girl heard she was Shi Yang’s sister, she became even more enthusiastic and offered, "He probably went out to buy lunch. How about you sit in the class and wait for him?"

Zhao Meimei hesitated for a moment, not moving from her spot.

The girl grabbed her hand and said, "It’s okay, this is break time, no teachers will come."

Only then did Zhao Meimei follow her into the classroom.

The other students in the class curiously stared at her. Someone asked, "Class monitor, is this little girl your sister?"

The class monitor laughed and explained, "She is Shi Yang’s sister, here to find him."

The students in the class immediately turned their attention to Zhao Meimei.

Zhao Meimei, feeling everyone’s gaze, blushed and lowered her head, following the class monitor to Shi Yang’s desk. The class monitor said, "This is your brother’s seat, you can wait here."

Zhao Meimei quickly thanked her politely, "Thank you, sister."

The class monitor smiled, patted her head, and asked, "What’s your name?"

Zhao Meimei quickly responded, "I’m Zhao Meimei."

The class monitor paused for a moment, took a good look at Zhao Meimei’s face, said nothing, smiled, and returned to her seat to continue eating.

Zhao Meimei sat excitedly at Shi Yang’s desk, looking around the classroom.

Shi Yang’s desk was different from hers. Zhao Meimei’s elementary school desk was a rectangular wooden table with two seats connected, and the chairs were wooden too, with several planks in neat rows.

Shi Yang’s desk was much more upscale—a separate single desk and chair, both made of iron with boards attached to them, in a light yellow color, looking quite classy.

Zhao Meimei curiously touched and looked around, reaching into Shi Yang’s desk and bookbag.

Shi Yang was not like her; his desk was always neat.

During the first recess every day, while Zhao Meimei ran outside to play, Xu Xu would quietly help her tidy up her desk and bookbag, but by the next morning, they would be a mess again.

Zhao Meimei never cared about these details, but looking at her Brother Yangyang’s neatly organized desk and the well-arranged books in his bookbag, Zhao Meimei suddenly realized that her Brother Yangyang had always been tidy and liked cleanliness.

Zhao Meimei marveled in delight, thinking her Brother Yangyang was truly great in every way.

Zhao Meimei casually pulled out a thick notebook onto the desk, flipping through it randomly. Shi Yang’s handwriting was beautiful, tidy, and clean, similar to the copybook characters Zhao Meimei practiced daily.

Finding nothing fun in the desk, Zhao Meimei decided to pull Shi Yang’s bookbag out from the desk. She was just reaching in to explore when Shi Yang returned.

Shi Yang carried a box of freshly made cumin lamb fried rice and a pancake with two hot dogs and two fried eggs. He was growing and thinking hard, so his appetite was large.

Shi Yang first noticed Zhao Meimei, almost dropping the dinner he had just bought in surprise. He called out incredulously, "Meimei?"

Zhao Meimei looked up at Shi Yang, feeling instantly excited. She tossed the bookbag onto the desk, jumped from her seat, and ran straight into her Brother Yangyang’s arms.

"Brother Yangyang!!... Uh... Brother!"

Shi Yang quickly shifted the items to one hand and hugged Zhao Meimei tightly with the other, delighted: "How come you’re here!"

The two embraced strongly, filled with the urgency and excitement of a reunion after a long absence, truly feeling like meeting a family member after half a year apart.

Zhao Meimei clung to Shi Yang’s lean and firm waist, pressed her face against him, and rubbed vigorously, deeply inhaling. Yes, it was his smell—the very same Brother Yangyang she knew, unchanged.

Shi Yang looked down at Zhao Meimei in his arms and noticed she had grown a bit. Though not obvious, he could tell she had grown somewhat.

Shi Yang lifted her head gently and inspected her carefully.

Zhao Meimei’s hair had grown longer, half tied, half loose, with a string of sky-blue little flowers on top.

Shi Yang chuckled, "Wow, you’ve gotten prettier. New headband, is it? Did your mom buy it for you?"

Now a fourth-grader soon entering fifth grade, Zhao Meimei had more homework, no longer running wildly around the residential area during breaks like before, and gradually her skin had grown paler.

Once she lightened up, she looked more vibrant.

Zhao Meimei flipped her almond-shaped eyes, grinned revealing her little white teeth, and turned to look at what her Brother Yangyang was holding: "Brother, you went out for lunch, huh? It smells so good! What did you buy?"

Shi Yang brought Zhao Meimei back to his seat, and Zhao Meimei eagerly helped clear the desk.

Shi Yang placed dinner on it and pulled an empty chair nearby, asking, "How did you get here? Did your dad bring you?"

Zhao Meimei reached to remove the plastic wrap on the fried rice container: "No, Peng Hui brought me."

Shi Yang paused: "Peng Hui? Peng Rui’s sister?"

Zhao Meimei nodded, "Yes, her dad drives a taxi, working the night shift today, so he gave us a ride."

Shi Yang asked, "Did your family know you’re here to see me?"

Zhao Meimei opened the fried rice lid, leaning in to sniff: "Smells so good!"

Shi Yang held Zhao Meimei’s hand: "I’m asking you, does your mom know you came to see me?"

Zhao Meimei shook her head: "I don’t know. I headed straight here after school and haven’t gone home yet."

Shi Yang’s face changed suddenly, his pretty eyes widened, and he shouted loudly: "Zhao Meimei!"

Zhao Meimei froze at his yell, instinctively hunching her neck. Only then did she realize she might have caused trouble again.