I'm in high school, is my dating system working correctly?

As he slung his backpack over his shoulder, Lu Yu subconsciously sniffed his collar.

Fortunately, the sweat had dried, so it wouldn't spoil.

Shen Liyuan had left earlier, and there were only a few people left in the classroom.

Cheng Bailu was already waiting outside the door.

The golden sunset fell on her profile, outlining touching lines. The girl leaned against the corridor railing, waiting quietly, as if it were a scene she would see in her dreams years later, on a tired night after working overtime.

After school on Friday, the students' minds were already elsewhere, and no one noticed the two students who would never normally stand together.

They looked at each other, nodded, and Cheng Bailu walked ahead, with Lu Yu following closely behind.

When I went down to the second floor, two girls walked towards me.

Zhou Qianyun and Ji Xuan.

The two first politely said goodbye to Cheng Bailu, and then they saw Lu Yu.

Just as Ji Xuan was about to open her mouth, she realized something, quickly closed her mouth, and looked at Zhou Qianyun beside her.

"Remember Sunday."

Zhou Qianyun's gaze did not linger on Lu Yu. She left a sentence behind and walked past the two of them upstairs, seemingly at ease.

"bye."

Ji Xuan waved and followed her companions.

Lu Yu glanced at the two people going upstairs, then turned back to find Cheng Bailu standing there looking at him.

It seemed like he wanted to ask something, but silence prevailed.

"It's alright, let's go."

Lu Yu waved.

The sound of shouts still echoed from the playground. Under the shade of the sycamore trees, students walked out of the school in twos and threes, chatting about their weekend plans, daytime classes, games, variety shows, food, and gossip among classmates.

The dim twilight fell behind them, causing the shadows of the two walking figures to intertwine and become indistinguishable from each other.

"Thank you for what you did earlier. If it weren't for you, things might have gotten very difficult today."

Just as they were about to leave the school gate, Cheng Bailu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

"It's alright. Maybe the girl will find the money when she gets home and come to apologize to you the next day with her tail between her legs."

Lu Yu answered casually.

Do you think she will apologize?

Cheng Bailu seemed to be thinking about this question very seriously.

Lu Yu fell silent.

Judging from what just happened...

If Lu Yu hadn't noticed Cheng Bailu's crisis with his [Elementary Listening], and hadn't received the information from [True Vision] at noon, Sun Di would probably have dumped the contents of Cheng Bailu's schoolbag in front of all the classmates, crushing Cheng Bailu's dignity bit by bit.

Even if the money isn't found in the end, even if she realizes she made a stupid mistake that night, she probably won't sincerely apologize. In fact, even if we assume the worst, she might not tell us that the money was found at all.

Cheng Bailu will forever carry the suspicion of theft.

Even if the truth comes out later.

But shattered dignity can never be whole again.

"Actually, I know Sun Di hates me. We were classmates in elementary and middle school, and our parents, well, our parents know each other too."

Before Lu Yu could answer, Cheng Bailu spoke calmly.

The two walked toward the bus stop. There were still many students on the platform, some looking at their phones, others staring in the direction the bus was coming from, and the two walking together were joking around. They didn't feel like they were wasting their time after school.

"Maybe because of my family situation, or maybe because I'm 'someone else's child,' she's never liked me before."

Standing on the sidewalk behind the platform, Cheng Bailu spoke calmly.

Prejudice in people's hearts is like a mountain.

"I understand. My mom used to talk about Zhou Qianyun every day. I'm sick of hearing it."

Lu Yu casually kicked a stone block by the roadside.

"So you hate Zhou Qianyun?"

The girl glanced over.

"How old am I? Why would I argue with a child? It's not worth it."

Lu Yu chuckled softly.

"oh."

Cheng Bailu didn't dwell on Zhou Qianyun's matter, but continued the previous topic.

"As for my family's situation, it's more complicated... I just want to tell you one thing: my dad didn't steal the money."

"Um..."

Lu Yu responded and stopped kicking the stone block.

Judging from the reactions of others after Sun Di said that, they probably only knew that Cheng Bailu's family was struggling financially, but they were unaware of her father's situation.

Such rumors, whether true or false, will always have some impact on the person involved.

"Quite a few people in your class heard that just now, didn't you explain it to them?"

I don't care what they think.

"Then how do you explain to me that you care about my opinion?"

Upon hearing this, the girl turned her head to look at him, pursed her lips, and then gave her answer in a clear voice.

"...I just want to tell you that you didn't help the wrong person. You did the right thing today, both morally and logically."

"Oh! Then I'll have to put my hands on my hips for a bit, I'm so cool."

Lu Yu nodded seriously.

He didn't press Yu for details.

Because bus number 11 was about to stop.

"My car has arrived."

Lu Yu waved his hand, preparing to say goodbye to Cheng Bailu.

The girl followed behind him, walking towards the bus.

"?"

Lu Yu looked at Cheng Bailu, who had gotten into the car with him, and a question mark appeared above his head.

"I'm on this trip too."

Cheng Bailu's words were concise and to the point.

So last night you just didn't want to drive home with me?

Remember this, you'll never get to enjoy juice as well as I do in the future.

Lu Yu felt that this girl had a very strong sense of boundaries.

In other words, Lu Yu's relationship with her has now progressed from not wanting to take a bus home to being able to take a bus together.

That was truly a giant leap for mankind.

Because the No. 2 Middle School at the previous stop let out early, there were surprisingly empty seats in the back of this train, which happened to be double seats.

Which station are you at?

Lu Yu took a seat first and then turned to ask Cheng Bailu.

She pursed her lips and pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Cotton mill".

"Oh, you're one stop ahead of me, then I'll take a window seat."

Lu Yu crawled to a seat by the window and placed his schoolbag in front of him.

Cheng Bailu glanced at the seats for a second, then put down her backpack and sat down next to Lu Yu.

As soon as Lu Yu got in the car, he took out his earphones and put them on to listen to music.

Thanks to his father, Lu Yu has a somewhat retro taste in music, mostly listening to Jay Chou's songs.

The melody of "Simple Love," which I hadn't finished playing last time, started playing in my headphones.

Lu Yu's favorite thing to do was to listen to music and watch the pedestrians outside the window while riding in a carriage, imagining what kind of encounters these strangers might have. Sometimes he would even weave a fantastical story for them.

Of course, Lu Yu doesn't appear in the story, but that's okay, humans have their own order.

The bus seats were very close together, and Lu Yu was tall, so their arms would occasionally brush against each other as the bus swayed.

Whenever this happens, Cheng Bailu, who is doing her homework on her phone, will subconsciously look at the boy next to her.

The lingering orange hues of twilight cast intense light and shadow on the face of the boy intently gazing out the window. Following his gaze, Cheng Bailu saw only a bustling crowd, a stark contrast to the desolate Lu Yu.

A faint curiosity lingered in Cheng Bailu's heart; she wanted to know what the other person was thinking at that moment.

But she ultimately remained silent, collected her thoughts, glanced around the car, and continued working on her problems.

I don't know if it's just Cheng Bailu's imagination.

She always felt that an older woman standing in front of her seemed to be glancing in her direction.

He looked up and met Cheng Bailu's gaze.

The woman standing there smiled at him.

Confused, Cheng Bailu didn't know what expression to use when she saw the aunt approach, reach out, and pat Lu Yu's schoolbag, who was lost in thought.

Lu Yu turned around, saw the other person clearly, and was suddenly startled, blurting out.

"mom?"

*

New author, new book! Thank you all for your recommendations and monthly tickets!