CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60: ENLIGHTENED

Zhao Meimei didn’t succeed in occupying Xu Xu’s prime desk spot, but she wasn’t angry. She was mainly over the moon with Xu Xu’s compliments and didn’t know what to say.

She turned her head and squeezed her stickers before returning to her seat, eventually pasting them over her schedule, covering up an old picture.

What Xu Xu said was true. Others might not have noticed Zhao Meimei’s changes, but since starting fifth grade, Zhao Meimei’s eyebrows and eyes had become more defined, and her whole appearance began to change significantly. Even Xu Xu’s mom, on rare occasions when she saw Zhao Meimei, would compliment how Meimei was becoming prettier as she grew.

By sixth grade, the overall vibe of the class started to change. The silly girls and mischievous boys who used to be wild were starting to pay attention to their image, and discussions slowly turned to what kind of clothes were in style and how to style their hair.

Boys and girls would secretly talk about who in the class was good-looking and who was handsome.

Zhao Meimei was one of the later bloomers. Her happiest thing every day now was her nightly, unbreakable phone call routine with her Brother Yangyang.

Zhao Meimei could hold the phone and chat with Shi Yang for half an hour, giving a play-by-play report of everything she’d done from morning till night, and then she’d make sure to ask about Shi Yang’s recent activities, mainly focusing on whether there were any pretty sisters eyeing him and what girls he thought were particularly pretty.

From a young age, Zhao Meimei had developed a sense of crisis, always worried that her Brother Yangyang would suddenly bring home a girlfriend, and they’d go from siblings to strangers.

Whenever Shi Yang received Zhao Meimei’s calls, he usually put the phone on speaker and continued doing whatever he was doing. He only needed to listen and occasionally respond, so much that Shi Yang’s dorm mates knew he had a sister who stuck to him like glue, and the two had a particularly close relationship.

During the second semester of sixth grade, it suddenly became trendy from somewhere; everyone started keeping a notebook for memories. You could buy them at the stationery stores outside the school, and they contained printed pages with various formatted sections for people to fill out. You’d pass them around for others to write in.

For those closer or by special request, you’d even paste a nice photo you were satisfied with, carefully fill out your detailed info alongside it, and finally write some words of blessing.

Typically, whoever bought the memory book first would write their name on the inside page and then pass it to the front row; everyone would write in it one by one.

While Zhao Meimei was busy copying notes, her deskmate handed her the written memory book and, with a mysterious air, asked, "Hey, deskmate, guess who our class committee for arts likes?"

Zhao Meimei was curious. Their class’s arts committee was a particularly good-looking girl, and she would often glance at her.

Zhao Meimei asked, "Who?"

Her deskmate chuckled twice, lowered their voice, and said, "Xu Xu."

Zhao Meimei’s first reaction was, "Xu Xu? You must be mistaken, who would like him?!"

Xu Xu was almost always glued to her from morning till night at school; he’d never hung out with anyone else. Why would anyone like him?

Her deskmate shrugged with a know-it-all look, "Why wouldn’t there be! I’m telling you, at least some people in our class secretly have a crush on him. I’m talking about the ones who’ve been already revealed, not to mention those deeply hidden, yet to be discovered!"

Zhao Meimei looked at the four fingers her deskmate held up in front of her and was shocked.

At noon, Zhao Meimei sat with Xu Xu for lunch. They mixed their dishes, taking food from each other’s lunchboxes.

Liu Xiue always made sure to bring extra food for Zhao Meimei, sometimes sneaking in a couple of sausages or salted duck eggs, which Zhao Meimei would share half of with Xu Xu.

Just as Xu Xu tossed a salted duck egg yolk into Zhao Meimei’s bowl, she grabbed his chin suddenly, like those playboy characters in TV shows outrageously flirting with girls, and leaned in to scrutinize Xu Xu’s face.

Hmm, thick and bushy eyebrows, dark and bright eyes, a high and straight nose, full and rosy lips, and fair and tender skin...

Although Xu Xu frowned, he didn’t struggle, letting Zhao Meimei pinch his chin.

He asked, feeling somewhat uneasy, "Meimei, what are you looking at?"

After scrutinizing him, Zhao Meimei seriously concluded, "Xu Xu, you’re quite good-looking, just a bit less than my Brother Yangyang."

Xu Xu’s pale ears blushed, and he felt embarrassed by Zhao Meimei’s compliment.

That evening, when Zhao Meimei got home, she hugged the phone and reported to Shi Yang, slipping in a question, "Brother, do you think I’m good-looking?"

Shi Yang was leaning against his chair, rocking it back and forth on the legs, and nearly toppled over on hearing this, "Why did you think of asking this all of a sudden?"

Zhao Meimei repeated what her deskmate said today and then asked, "Brother, do you think I’m not good-looking? Is that why no one in class has a crush on me?"

Shi Yang laughed, revealing white teeth, "Isn’t it obvious? A crush is secretly liking someone; if they tell you, how can it still be a crush?"

Zhao Meimei thought about it and realized it seemed to make sense, chuckled happily, and asked, "Brother, then how many people in our class have a crush on me?"

Shi Yang knew her intention to compare with Xu Xu so well that he cooperated and said, "At least five, I’d say!"

Zhao Meimei was delighted. Her Brother Yangyang praised her, so she quickly reciprocated with praises, "Brother, the people who have a crush on you must be more than those who have one on me—at least six!!"

Shi Yang’s lips curved into a smile, "Am I really that handsome?"

Zhao Meimei praised exuberantly, "Of course! You know, my idol sticker on my desk, the girls in my class say he’s super handsome, but I still think he can’t compare to you!"

Shi Yang felt very pleased with the compliment and laughed joyfully over the phone.

In Zhao Meimei’s eyes, in fact, no one in the world looked better than her Brother Yangyang. Who could be more handsome than her Brother Yangyang? Absolutely no one!

The usually oblivious Zhao Meimei was finally enlightened by this incident.

Every morning, she began to seriously wash her face, comb her hair, and then would even proactively apply some of her mom’s lotion, dressing herself up to smell fragrant and look clean.

After one bath, Zhao Meimei dragged her mom to a hair salon, insisting on getting the then-popular blunt bangs, completely covering her forehead that was usually glowing and shiny under the sun.

With a brand-new hairstyle, Zhao Meimei completely hid the fatal flaw on her face. Once her forehead was covered, her face immediately looked smaller. She originally had a heart-shaped face, and its nice shape was now fully highlighted.

At this moment, Zhao Meimei began to show the early signs of becoming the most popular beautiful woman in the future, with sharp features, slender but not bony arms and legs, and when those slender eyes squinted a bit, compared to the traditional beauty standards of big eyes and thick eyebrows, she had a unique appeal.

Therefore, when Zhao Meimei walked into the classroom with her new look, she immediately caught the attention of some male classmates who had just begun to have crushes but had no particular targets yet.