Chapter 101: Speed Up

  Mù Yuè listened to Hóu Jìngyǎ say this, and didn't think deeply about it, just thinking that she really hadn't heard anything, after all, her father had told her that Hóu Jìngyǎ was a top student at Number One Middle School. A good student who only reads books and doesn't know what's going on outside is normal. Her father used to scold her for watching those pop stars and handsome actors every day, but she just liked it. Life without entertainment besides studying would suffocate her. Originally, she hated people who studied all day, but now seeing Hóu Jìngyǎ, in her heart and eyes, there was only admiration, no other feelings arose, maybe because of the relationship with Jiǔ Fēng's distant cousin.

  When she thought of this place, her face felt a little warm. Before, Ji Fengyuan had asked her and Nan Xiuxiu to apologize and not gossip about others behind their backs, so she wanted to quietly tell Hou Jingya, "Jingya, you're from class 10, maybe you don't know what the girls in other classes say, but you have to keep it a secret, don't spread it around. I'm not that kind of girl who likes to gossip about others, especially your older cousin, don't tell him I told you." As she spoke, Mu Yuemu blushed and lowered her head, smoothing out her hair.

  Hou Jingya thought that since Mu Yuemonth liked her older cousin, it would be easy to get information out of her or use her for something. So Hou Jingya smiled and said: "Yuemoth, look at what you're saying, this isn't what I asked you, how could you possibly be the kind of girl who likes to gossip about others behind their backs? You don't seem like that kind of person either. And besides, this is our little secret as girls. How can we tell those boys? Sometimes when my older cousin encounters something, he won't even tell me, so why would I go and tell him what you and I talk about?"

  Muyue felt a surge of pride and excitement when she heard Jingya call her "sister". Everyone knows that when people are happy, they tend to say whatever comes to mind. Muyue glanced over at Ji Fengyuan, who was playing happily with Luo Yiyang and Lu Zhenfei, and didn't seem to notice what was happening on this side. Feeling reassured, she continued, "Jingya, you don't know that the person who first said Nanyao was two-timing was someone I knew, a student in Cao Qiang and Dai Junyi's class, our senior. But I always called her by her name, Li Xinxin - after all, she's only one year older than me, and we played together when we were kids. Later, her family moved away, but now we've run into each other again."

  Hou Jingya saw Mu Yuemu getting further and further away, so she quickly interrupted: "Yuemu, let's talk about Li Xinxin later, one thing at a time. You first tell me about Nan Xiao Xiao."

  Mù Yuè couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sorry about that, Jingya. I suddenly thought of something from my childhood and got sidetracked. Let me continue talking about Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo. So one day after lunch, Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo was carrying a pretty bag to the second grade six class, and she went straight to Cáo Qiáng's side. From Cáo Qiáng's tone and words, it seemed like he and Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo had known each other for a long time. Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo asked Cáo Qiáng to give the bag to Dài Jùn Yì, and then she left the classroom. Cáo Qiáng might have been heartbroken, because he stood outside the classroom for a full ten minutes before coming back in. That Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo is really something else - she already has Cáo Qiáng, but she's not satisfied and wants to flirt with Dài Jùn Yì too. You don't know, but according to Lǐ Xīn Xīn, Cáo Qiáng is usually known as the 'ice mountain' in their class. It's not that he doesn't talk to people or is cold, it's just that he keeps his distance from girls. But when Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo came that day, Lǐ Xīn Xīn said Cáo Qiáng was smiling so brightly, like the sun and stars shining together. Cáo Qiáng is really silly - he actually gave the bag to Dài Jùn Yì. Dài Jùn Yì and Cáo Qiáng are desk mates and good friends, so of course he had to accept it out of politeness. But what's weird is that when Dài Jùn Yì opened the gift, he suddenly burst out laughing, which really annoyed Lǐ Xīn Xīn. It turned out that Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo had given Dài Jùn Yì a jacket, exactly the style and color he liked. Lǐ Xīn Xīn said she must have been paying attention to him for a long time, using Cáo Qiáng as an excuse to do something. Recently, Cáo Qiáng and Dài Jùn Yì got into a fight, and Lǐ Xīn Xīn guessed it was probably because of Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo. Lǐ Xīn Xīn also said that although Cáo Qiáng is good-looking, has good grades, and is capable, when she helped the teacher organize things, she saw that he's from a rural area and his family seems to be struggling financially - he even applied for a work-study program. Nán Xiǎo Xiǎo probably grew up in the same village as him, so she must be poor too. She sees that Dài Jùn Yì's family has money, so she wants to cling to him - what a shameless and uncultured country bumpkin!"

  Mù Yuèyuè's words became more and more impassioned, to the point where she didn't notice what she was saying anymore. Those kinds of words like "fox spirit" and "despicable" all came out. In the end, Mù Yuèyuè said: "Jìng Yǎ, your older brother that day hadn't even scolded me yet when Nán XiāoXiāo appeared, but a girl like Nán XiāoXiāo isn't worth him doing that, it really hurts my feelings."

  Hou Jingya roughly understood the situation, mainly that a girl named Li Xinxin liked Dai Junyi, but Xixi didn't know what reason she had sent gifts to Dai Junyi, and Dai Junyi had accepted them with pleasure. This made Li Xinxin angry, so she spread rumors saying Xixi was two-timing, but in reality, whether Xixi truly liked Dai Junyi or Cao Qiang was unknown.

  Hou Jingya knew about Xixi's family background; they didn't have much money before, but over the past two years, their situation had improved greatly. There was no need for Xixi to try to please Dai Junyi by doing something she wouldn't normally do. If she wanted to suck up to someone, she could have just done it with Xuan Yuanrui earlier.

  The Ding family's influence in N city was among the greatest. As classmates for several years, Hou Jingya understood Xixi well, despite their differences and the uncomfortable situation involving Wu Hanwen. She could still vouch for Xixi's character.

  As for her brother teaching Mu Yuemei a lesson, perhaps this was an opportunity for him to play hero and win Xixi's heart - after all, wasn't it common in stories for heroes to save beauties who then fell in love with them? Her brother and Xixi were actually quite compatible; Hou Jingya just never thought about what would happen if her brother didn't like Xixi.

  Thinking of this, Hou Jingya could only comfort Mu Yuemonth and say: "Yuemoth, don't be sad, my cousin has always been a kind-hearted boy who can't bear to see girls being bullied. That day, you two were talking about Nan Xiangxiang alone, and Nan Xiangxiang didn't say a word, of course, my cousin would help her speak up. Moreover, Nan Xiangxiang is also a student of Class 10, my cousin's protective sentiment is most obvious, and the collective sense of honor is extremely strong, so he can't tolerate students from other classes saying that Class 10 is not good. In the past when we were young, he once said: 'Even if my class is inferior, only our classmates can complain, but it's not allowed for students from other classes to say anything sarcastic.' So, forgive my cousin, I apologize on his behalf, Yuemoth, you just generously forgive him."

  Hou Jingya's next few words were extremely cute and coquettish, Mu Yuemu was amused and said: "Alright, alright, I forgive Ji Fengyuan, let me tell you something about school."

  "Great, I was just thinking that I didn't know enough about Number One, and now you're asking me."

  "YZX, I know, my dad has been nagging me all day long, he's also worked at YZX for over a decade..."

  Everyone had a great time at dinner, both adults and children enjoyed themselves. On the way back, Li Yixiao invited her sister Li Yijing and brother-in-law Ji Boyang to their home for a visit to catch up on feelings, Hou Zhiguo was also eager to do so, as there were some things he wanted to discuss recently. When they arrived at the Hou's mansion, the adults chatted in the living room, while Hou Jingya and Ji Feng went upstairs to play.

  "Hou Jingya said softly, 'Brother, last time I told you about Xiao Xiao's situation, you did put it in your heart, right? I've already heard from Mu Yuemei that you even scolded her on behalf of Xiao Xiao that day. Tonight, I roughly understood the truth of the matter from Mu Yuemei's words - it was all because a girl named Li Xinxin, who likes Dai Junyi and is in the same class as him, and the Dai and Li families are old friends... Brother, you should be able to handle this matter without wronging anyone, right? You've already been a hero once before. If you can resolve this matter perfectly this time, Xiao Xiao will definitely look at you with different eyes. And from my observations, Xiao Xiao is not the same towards you - whenever she sees you, she's always a bit shy and awkward, which shows that she has feelings for you. So you must seize this opportunity well! You promised me before that you would win Xiao Xiao over by New Year's Day, and now is the perfect chance. You should speed up your pace! I also need to find an opportunity soon - I believe we will both get what we want.'"

  Ji Feng didn't say anything, he just nodded solemnly. Actually, when his cousin first mentioned Nan Xiangxiang, he was just curious and asked a few more questions. After all, in his life, he had never met a girl who could be his match. But then his cousin actually proposed that he pursue Nan Xiangxiang, although he wanted to refuse, but he saw the determination in his cousin's eyes, so he agreed. Maybe it was true what his cousin said, that he and Nan Xiangxiang were very compatible, maybe he really needed to speed up his pace.