Thirteen Wonders (ShíSānYāo) : Chapter 40 - One Tiao Nine Tiao
Chapter 40: One Tiao Nine Tiao
Chen Xuze cleaned up the house thoroughly, getting rid of the things that made Zhou Yao blush and ‘angry,’ tossing them far away with the garbage.
But no matter how she thought about it, she still felt uneasy.
In the afternoon, during a moment of rest, Zhou Yao walked over to him barefoot. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, and she pretended to kick a plush toy near his leg.
“What's wrong?” He looked up and pulled her down to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her into his embrace.
Zhou Yao stared at his face, deep in thought. “When did you become so... so... so—”
It was hard to describe, and she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Chen Xuze said, “Are you asking about my developmental history?”
“...” What are you even talking about!
Zhou Yao coughed and said, “I mean, when did you start having these dirty thoughts?”
“They're not dirty.” He corrected her first, then answered, “After the first time my sheets got wet, I read about it in a biology textbook and understood everything.”
Zhou Yao knew what he meant.
“I don't think this is something worth asking. Everyone grows up, and at a certain stage, when they mature, they start having these thoughts,” he said. “But I did confirm it that day.”
“Confirm what?”
He stared at her without speaking.
Zhou Yao found it strange.
After a while, Chen Xuze said, “Do you remember a morning in middle school when we walked to school together, but I didn't say a single word to you?”
Zhou Yao couldn't possibly remember. They had spent so many days and nights together. She shook her head. “No.”
“Well, it was that day. The night before, my sheets got wet, and that was when I understood what was happening.”
“...What does that have to do with anything?”
Chen Xuze looked at her slightly furrowed brows, her delicate nose scrunching up slightly. His gaze darkened. “Because that was when I first became aware of it.” Before she could respond, he continued, “I didn’t talk to you that whole morning because the night before, in my dream... I dreamed of you.”
Zhou Yao froze. Her usually quick-thinking mind took a long time to process his words. After a few moments, she finally understood—and in an instant, her face flushed red with heat.
“You…”
Chen Xuze wrapped an arm around her waist. “So, you see—”
“So what?”
“This is a completely normal phenomenon. At different ages, people have different reactions. Did I ever do anything inappropriate back then? No. Every boy goes through this growing-up process—there’s nothing strange about it.”
“—Besides.”
He pinched her chin, tilted his head, and pecked her lips, looking entirely serious as he defended himself. “My thoughts about you are not dirty in the slightest.”
Zhou Yao secretly pouted, huffed lightly, and didn’t argue with him.
She leaned back, unable to hold back a smile at the corners of her lips, settling comfortably into his warm, solid chest.
……
When the sun was at its peak, Chen Xuze went to collect the dried laundry while Zhou Yao went out alone to buy groceries. Chen Xuze wanted her to wait for him so they could go together or at least wait for the sun to be less scorching, but she waved him off indifferently. “It’s just a few steps away. The market is really close, and I’m not buying much. I’ll be back soon.”
As she spoke, she changed her shoes and headed out. Chen Xuze, holding the laundry, walked into the living room and said, “Take an umbrella.” She didn’t want to bother, but he insisted, grabbing a sunshade umbrella from the rack and handing it to her.
Zhou Yao pouted at him in dissatisfaction.
Speaking of which, this sun umbrella was something Zhou Yao had bought for Chen Xuze. As a guy, he never cared about sun exposure, but Zhou Yao worried he’d get heatstroke in the summer, so she got him one. When the first one broke, he was too lazy to replace it, so every year, Zhou Yao bought him a new one.
Thinking about it, she realized she had worried about countless things for him.
Holding the umbrella, Zhou Yao stepped out the door. She only saw Chen Xuze close the door after she had walked quite far. She found it amusing—she had walked through this alley hundreds of times. Even though she was now taking a slightly different route, it was still familiar territory. What was he so worried about?
When it came to daily life, Zhou Yao was quite experienced. She had been sensible since childhood, helping out with housework, so grocery shopping was no challenge for her.
After buying a few ingredients for dinner, Zhou Yao headed back along the same route.
The alley was quite long, and she was bored. As she left the market, she put on her earphones and played some music on her phone to keep herself entertained.
Along the way, she passed several groups of women chatting in the alley. Zhou Yao smiled politely and nodded at each group, seeing from their lip movements that they were greeting her in return.
As she neared the last group, she followed the same routine—smiling and nodding. “Hello, Aunties.”
Just at that moment, the music in her earphones stopped. A few voices replied, “Hello,” “Hello,” “Such a pretty girl.” She continued walking, about to check her phone to see why the music had stopped, when a sharp female voice, neither too loud nor too soft, reached her ears from behind:
“Oh my, girls these days are really something else. No shame at all. So young, yet already living in a man’s house…”
Zhou Yao’s footsteps paused slightly, but she remained composed and pretended to squat down to tie her shoelaces.
“Oh, don’t say that,” another woman interjected. “Isn’t that Zhou Ma’s daughter from the alley? We all know she’s always been a good girl. She and that boy from the Chen family grew up together. He was the city’s top scorer, wasn’t he? That day, the leaders from No. 7 High School even came over with firecrackers, setting them off right in front of their houses, and they hung up that red silk banner. We were all envious! Both kids are so outstanding…”
Before she could finish, the sharp-tongued woman interrupted, “So what if they’re outstanding? So what if he’s the city’s top scorer? Zhou Ma raised a daughter like this—no matter how good her grades are, I wouldn’t want her as a daughter-in-law! Just eighteen and already living with a man. And you all know about the Chen family—the parents live in the city center, and his grandparents passed away ages ago. It’s just that one boy living alone. And yet, instead of staying in her own home, she moves in with him? What do you think two young people of that age are doing?”
“Stop it!” another woman tried to cut her off. “Zhou Ma’s daughter only left home because she had a big fight with her mother. Everyone in the alley knows about it. And besides, those two kids grew up together, always coming and going together, going to and from school every day. They’re close, and they make a great pair. Two top scorers in the city—that’s fate! It’s natural for young people to fall in love, isn’t it?”
“No matter how you put it, this isn’t normal. Living together? Hmph, shameless!” The sharp-tongued woman sneered, her tone dripping with malice. “You know, I saw them hugging in the courtyard the other day. No shame at all! Disgusting!”
“Oh, come on…”
Zhou Yao tied her shoelaces, stood up calmly, and walked toward the Chen house, ignoring everything behind her.
……
When she arrived home, Chen Xuze had already folded all the clothes and put them away. As Zhou Yao set down the groceries, she heard him say, “No need to cook dinner tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Ying Nian called—she’s back and wants to treat everyone who’s still in town.”
Zhou Yao raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t she call me?”
She picked up her phone and saw a missed call. The music must have stopped earlier because Ying Nian had called, but she had accidentally switched the phone mode, so there was no sound or vibration.
“Well, alright.” She smiled and put the groceries in the fridge. “I’ll save them for tomorrow morning and make noodles. It’s all just vegetables anyway, and I didn’t buy much meat.”
Chen Xuze hummed in agreement.
They rested at home until the evening. This time, when Ying Nian called, she was loud and excited, urging them to hurry over because she was already at the restaurant.
Zhou Yao and Chen Xuze changed their clothes and headed out. Just as they stepped out of the door, Zhou Yao suddenly stopped.
Chen Xuze glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”
She smiled. “Nothing.” Then, she reached out her hand and spread her fingers. “Hold.”
He took her hand, interlocking their fingers.
……
It had been a long time since they had last met, and Ying Nian had a lot to say. Once she started talking, neither Zhou Yao nor Zheng Yinyin could stop her.
Zheng Yinyin tried three times to get her to calm down, but Ying Nian suddenly pointed at her and said to Zhou Yao, “Let me tell you, this person! She’s so sneaky!”
Zhou Yao mimicked her tone. “How sneaky?”
“She secretly opened a Weibo account and writes all these romantic lines every day, pairing them with cute little hand-drawn illustrations. And she never told us! She already has thirty thousand followers!”
Zhou Yao looked at Zheng Yinyin in surprise, impressed. “Really? That’s amazing!”
Zheng Yinyin looked embarrassed. “It’s nothing, really… I just post random stuff.”
“I’m telling you, her writing really hits you in the heart! I’ve read some of it—several of her posts really moved me.” Ying Nian first exposed her and then couldn’t help but praise her. “And honestly, Yinyin, you should’ve told us! You’re so talented, and yet you secretly gained all these followers? If you had just told us from the start, we could’ve followed you right away. It’s not like it’s anything to be ashamed of.”
“I was afraid you’d think my posts were too sentimental…”
“Sentimental? Not at all! Look at that—thirty thousand people love it! That just proves you’re really good at this. You should keep going!” Ying Nian encouraged her and suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right! Weren’t we going to follow each other? Come on, let’s do it now!”
The restaurant had a great atmosphere—upstairs had private dining rooms for meals, while downstairs was perfect for afternoon tea. Since not everyone had arrived yet, those who were already there sat downstairs to wait. The girls left Chen Xuze and Jiang Jiashu at another table, effectively exiling them from the conversation.
The three girls sat around a small round table, sipping coffee. Ying Nian and Zheng Yinyin took out their phones and logged into Weibo. After logging in, Ying Nian leaned over the table, prompting the other two to move closer as well, their heads almost touching.
Zhou Yao didn’t use these platforms, so she simply watched them ‘solemnly’ follow each other.
“Huh?” Zhou Yao glanced at Ying Nian’s screen and noticed something. “You have a lot of followers too—eighty thousand!”
“It’s not that much,” Ying Nian waved her hand with a humble smile.
“But your username…” Zhou Yao squinted slightly, wondering if she was seeing it correctly.
“My username? What’s wrong with it? It’s…” Ying Nian turned her phone to show her, reading it aloud, “Yu Linran, Marry Me. I’ve been using it for over two years now.”
—Yu Linran, Marry Me.
That was quite a bold name. Zhou Yao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Don’t the other fans… attack you for it?”
“Not at all.” Ying Nian wanted to explain, but the backstory was too long. “Ah, whatever, it’s fine. My fans even gave me a nickname, and I love it!” She casually opened one of her Weibo posts. Most of the comments were from fellow SF team fans—some supported Yu Linran, while others favored different team members.
Her fans called her ‘Yu Qu,’ derived from her username ‘Yu Linran, Marry Me.’ Most of them added suffixes like ‘Yu Qu Dada,’ ‘Yu Qu Juju,’ or ‘Yu Qu Taitai’ as a sign of admiration.
“They call me ‘Taitai’ or ‘Juju’ because, within the fanbase, I have some credibility,” Ying Nian explained briefly. Since Zhou Yao wasn’t into gaming, she didn’t go into too much detail.
Meanwhile, Zheng Yinyin’s username was ‘Yinyinyu Yinyin(殷殷欲吟吟).’ ‘Yin(殷)’ was from ‘earnest,’ and ‘Yin(吟)’ was from her name, Zheng Yinyin. Just from the username alone, it had a romantic and poetic vibe.
After Zhou Yao witnessed the mutual following of a newly popular romance blogger and a big name in the fan community, more people gradually arrived.
The group moved upstairs to a private room. Just after they sat down and ordered food, a boy who had gone downstairs for something and returned said, “I think I just saw someone from our school.”
“Who?”
“Huang Xin, the one who always gets bullied, and Yu Jiao from their class.”
Having been classmates for three years, they were all familiar with the more active students in their grade.
“Huang Xin and Yu Jiao? They're here?”
Huang Xin was often bullied in class. Because his family was poor, the other boys didn't like playing with him. He was quiet, dressed in outdated clothes, and never actively made friends, always keeping to himself.
Yu Jiao, on the other hand, was a class monitor—academically outstanding, from a well-off family, with an attractive figure and fair, delicate features. She was somewhat pretty. She was always harsh with Huang Xin; whenever she collected homework or class fees, she spoke to him in a stern and aggressive tone. Everyone thought she disliked him. Yet, whenever someone bullied Huang Xin, she would step in to defend him and seek justice.
It was hard to figure out.
“Huang Xin?” Ying Nian couldn't recall the name.
But Zhou Yao remembered. Not long after Cheng Yuan's suicide, she had been sitting on a bench when she saw Huang Xin cleaning out a dirty ditch. Yu Jiao had walked by and sharply reminded him to pay some fee. Later, when some boys from their class passed by and started bullying Huang Xin, throwing a basketball at his back, Yu Jiao appeared just in time to stop them, making them apologize to him.
Now, matching the names in her mind, Zhou Yao realized that Huang Xin and Yu Jiao were those two.
She asked, “What are they doing here?”
Seeing her interest, the boy who had witnessed them said, “Not sure. They seemed to be arguing.” He sounded surprised as well. “Huang Xin might be working a summer job here, probably in the kitchen, which is why we didn't see him earlier. He was wearing the restaurant's uniform and apron, standing outside the door, and Yu Jiao was talking to him—looked like they were having a heated argument.”
“Huh?” Jiang Jiashu was baffled. What could they be arguing about? His curiosity piqued, he immediately got up. “Let's go check it out!”
Some people were too lazy to move, but Jiang Jiashu took two guys with him out of the private room. Zhou Yao thought for a moment and decided to follow. Seeing her leave, Ying Nian and Zheng Yinyin naturally went along.
Chen Xuze had no interest in this at all, but now he had no choice but to follow as well.
Eavesdropping was a skill, and while they had gone downstairs, it wouldn’t be appropriate to just barge in on the two. Before Ying Nian and the others could figure out how to approach, Jiang Jiashu sent the boy who had accidentally stumbled upon them earlier to ‘gather intelligence.’
It wasn’t long before the boy came back looking stunned. “Oh my god!”
“What?!”
The group, hiding just out of sight, listened as the boy reported, “Yu Jiao is confessing to Huang Xin!”
“WHAT—?!”
The guys were the ones who exclaimed in shock.
There were plenty of boys at school who found Yu Jiao attractive. She had always been completely uninterested in romance, carrying herself like a proud swan. But now, she had fallen for… Huang Xin?!
The girls, however, thought it made some sense. Though Huang Xin came from a poor family, they vaguely remembered he was exceptionally good at a certain science subject. If not for a weaker subject dragging him down, he could have ranked among the top students.
His clothes weren’t great, and his skin was a little yellowish, but his facial features were undeniably good-looking.
Zhou Yao had seen it clearly when he had accidentally bumped into her once. When he had apologized, their eyes had met. And those eyes—aside from Chen Xuze’s—were the most beautiful eyes Zhou Yao had ever seen.
He had a high nose bridge, delicately shaped features, striking eyes, and a thin yet handsome lip shape. His face was the classic handsome type.
If you overlooked his sallow complexion, the way his dark clothes made him look dull, and his poverty, his face—along with his steady, gentle personality—was full of good qualities.
A diamond in the rough. The phrase suddenly came to Ying Nian’s mind, and she thought—Yu Jiao actually had good taste!
“And then?” the guys pressed for more details, while Chen Xuze remained indifferent, only keeping his eyes on Zhou Yao.
“Then Huang Xin rejected her! Yu Jiao is crying! She's talking non-stop, but Huang Xin isn't saying anything—he's just listening while she cries and questions him!”
“What the hell?!”
The guys were frustrated by this unexpected turn of events. What was he thinking? They wished they could take Huang Xin's place and accept on his behalf.
As they whispered among themselves, outside the door, the conversation between the two seemed to come to an end. Yu Jiao wiped her tears and turned to leave. Huang Xin stood there for two seconds, then lowered his head. Jiang Jiashu clenched his fist. “Go after her! Chase her down!” He was even more anxious than the people involved.
But Huang Xin didn’t chase after her. Instead, he turned around and went back into the restaurant.
The guys sighed.
Then, suddenly, Zhou Yao walked out.
“Hey—!”
The group was startled, unable to stop her in time.
Huang Xin, surprised to see her suddenly in front of him, nodded briefly and was about to walk past her when Zhou Yao spoke. “Do you remember? You bumped into me once and apologized.”
“…Ah. Oh.” Huang Xin responded.
Zhou Yao didn’t waste time on small talk and got straight to the point. “You like Yu Jiao, don’t you?”
The emotionless look in Huang Xin’s eyes flickered but disappeared quickly. “I'm sorry, Zhou Yao, I…”
“I was sitting nearby that day when you were cleaning the ditch. I saw those guys bully you, and I saw Yu Jiao stand up for you.” Zhou Yao said, “At the end, she told you to remember to fight back.”
Huang Xin pressed his lips together.
“I heard your response,” Zhou Yao frowned slightly. “After she left.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Huang Xin finally looked her in the eye.
“I'm saying that some things, if you miss them, you might regret them for a lifetime. She's leaving now, and you might not get another chance… Do you understand?” Zhou Yao’s voice was calm but firm. “When she turned around and walked away, you responded—but she couldn’t hear you. She didn’t know. No matter how much you say, no matter what you say, it doesn’t matter—because she doesn’t know. In the future, you might not even get a chance like this again!”
As Zhou Yao spoke, her tone became slightly more forceful.
Huang Xin looked at her in silence for a few seconds. “Zhou Yao, I know you mean well, but…” He tugged at his uniform. “You came here to eat, right? I have to get back to work in the kitchen.”
He continued, “I have nothing. If I really care about her, I shouldn’t hold her back.”
With that, Huang Xin gave a slight nod and stepped past Zhou Yao, heading toward the kitchen.
“—You think this is what's best for her?!”
Zhou Yao suddenly raised her voice. She quickly turned around and strode in front of Huang Xin. “Have you ever asked, even once, what Yu Jiao actually wants? You decided on your own that this is what's best for her, but have you ever considered whether it really is?!”
Huang Xin was stunned by her question.
Zhou Yao forcefully yanked off his uniform apron and threw it to the ground. Then, she turned to the counter, pulled out a fifty-yuan bill, and slapped it on the glass display case. “I want that chocolate cake with strawberries. Pack it in a box, and put it in a plastic bag.”
The cashier hesitated for a moment, then quickly complied.
Zhou Yao took the small cake and walked back to Huang Xin. “We've been classmates, not for long, but meeting here during summer break is a kind of fate. I'm treating you to a piece of cake.”
“Now, you have two choices.”
She held out the bag and said:
“Pick up your uniform, put it back on, and go back to work in the kitchen.”
“Or—”
“Take this cake. Girls like chocolate, and they like strawberries. Now, go outside and chase after Yu Jiao!”
The air seemed to freeze.
The group hiding nearby held their breath, eyes wide with anticipation. Ying Nian silently chanted, ‘Go after her! Go after her! Just go already…’
When Huang Xin bent down to pick up his uniform, Ying Nian almost rushed out in disappointment. But within two seconds, he seemed to murmur a ‘thank you’ to Zhou Yao, then flung his uniform onto a chair.
He took the cake from Zhou Yao’s hands, then abruptly turned and sprinted out of the shop, running in the direction Yu Jiao had left.
“Whoa—!”
Jiang Jiashu and the others couldn't hold back their cheers, not even knowing why they were so excited. A group of them jumped out from hiding. Ying Nian and Zheng Yingying even hugged Zhou Yao and bounced in place.
“I wonder if he'll catch up to her!”
“He should.” Zheng Yingying clenched her fists and nodded. “He definitely will!”
Jiang Jiashu looked at Zhou Yao. “You’re really something, meddling in all this.”
“I couldn’t help it,” Zhou Yao said. “If Huang Xin didn’t like Yu Jiao, I would’ve just watched as a bystander.”
But—
The image of that boy crouching by the gutter, and the proud girl who walked away like a swan—when she recalled how, after Yu Jiao left, he had softly responded to her words, each syllable seemed to strike her heart, making it tremble with emotion.
For Huang Xin, that proud and lofty swan was probably the only warm and radiant moon in his dark sky.
“I wonder if I was being too nosy,” Zhou Yao sighed, but then quickly added, “But I don’t really think so.”
The group looked at her.
“Girls like chocolate and strawberries. I don’t know if Yu Jiao likes them, but I guess she probably does.”
She smiled and said:
“But, no matter if it’s chocolate or strawberries—whoever brings them to her, whoever runs after her to give her an answer… she must really, really like that person.”
……
Chen Xuze looked at Zhou Yao’s bright, shining eyes. Many years later, he still couldn't forget the expression she wore when she said those words.
At that time, he was reading a business magazine article—an exclusive three-page interview with the accomplished young entrepreneur, Huang Xin, and his wife, Yu Jiao. There were countless details about their journey. After all, in their industry, Huang Xin’s rise from nothing to success was nothing short of a miracle.
There weren’t many words dedicated to their past together, but each mention of it was enough to move the reader.
In the interview, Huang Xin was quoted as saying:
“I’m really grateful to that classmate from back then. If not for her, my life—our lives—might have turned out very differently.”
“I sincerely thank her. At the moment she tore off my uniform and handed me that cake, I finally understood what I needed to do.”
“Fortunately, I didn’t miss the right moment, nor did I miss doing the right thing. Many times later, on my journey of starting a business, I relied on the memory of that moment to make many decisions. In hindsight, they all proved to be the right ones—just like the time I ran after my wife and caught up to her.”
Huang Xin repeated his gratitude twice, showing that it was truly heartfelt.
The interviewer also recorded him saying:
“I've never had the chance to meet her again at class reunions. If I ever get the opportunity, I think I would definitely thank her in person.”
“I don’t know if she will see this interview, but since I have this chance, I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude.”
“—Thank you for helping me make the right choice from the very first step. It was the most important decision of my life.”
The interviewer’s words were deeply moving. As for this part, Yu Jiao responded:
“That classmate—I remember her very well. We never really interacted in school, so I never expected her to play such an important role in my husband’s and my life.”
“I’m truly grateful to her.”
“All these years, I’ve silently wished her well in my heart. I hope she and the person she loves are living a good life.”
The interviewer wrote that at this moment, Yu Jiao smiled before continuing:
“Of course, someone like her must be living well and happily. I believe that.”
……
All of this was something that happened a long time later.
At that moment, Ying Nian and Zheng Yingying were hugging Zhou Yao, the boys were talking about Huang Xin running after Yu Jiao, and Chen Xuze was looking at Zhou Yao. Their eyes met.
She asked, “He’ll catch up to her, right?”
Chen Xuze, who rarely smiled, gently nodded at her. “Mm. He definitely will.”
……
After dinner, on their way home, as they walked through the alley and approached her house, Zhou Yao suddenly mentioned the unpleasant things she had overheard at the market earlier that day.
Before Chen Xuze could react, Zhou Yao grabbed his wrist.
“Don't worry, I'm not angry,” she said with a smile. “No, wait—I am a little angry. But I don’t care.”
Under the moonlight, Chen Xuze looked at her.
“We're in a relationship, right?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said.
“Then that’s all that matters. I'm in my own relationship—what does it have to do with anyone else whether I’m shameless or not?”
She continued, “Besides, what happened with Huang Xin today made me realize something else.”
“What is it?”
Zhou Yao said, “I'm not living to please anyone.”
She took Chen Xuze’s hand again, stood on tiptoe, and lifted her chin to gently kiss him under the moonlight in the alley.
“We live for ourselves—to live well.”
Those who don't understand happiness will never understand.
How beautiful the moonlight is when you have someone to share it with.
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