Chapter 1042: Xu Sheng’s Loneliness

Su Li had stepped outside to retrieve his ball when he unexpectedly spotted Xu Sheng, leaning over the railing of his own family’s yard, gazing longingly at their house.

It struck Su Li that Xu Sheng’s life must be dreadfully boring–he spent every day buried in textbooks or attending classes, a never-ending cycle of studying. If this went on much longer, even a robot would break down.

Su Li, who never liked seeing anyone trapped in such a dull existence, genuinely wanted to invite Xu Sheng to join his family’s celebration at the upcoming school banquet.

Xu Sheng straightened up immediately, trying to hide his discomfort. “What’s so fun about a banquet? I still have homework to do, Su Li. You should go by yourself. Don’t worry about me.”

Su Li was about to insist, but Su Bing appeared just in time to interrupt. “Xu Sheng’s mom isn’t home. Even if you want to invite him, you’ll need her permission first,” Su Bing said, ushering him away.

Resigned, Su Li waved a quick goodbye to Xu Sheng, but just as he turned to leave, he heard a deep, uncomfortable cough from behind him. He spun back around.

“You’re sick! You should really have your mom take you to see a doctor,” he said, concerned. “My mom always says that a cold can either be mild or serious. You can’t just ignore it. And listen, I’ll sneak some food for you, pack it up and leave it in the bushes here. You can come by and pick it up later, okay?”

Su Li spoke in a hushed tone, but Xu Sheng didn’t want to turn him down. It wasn’t like he had many options. His meals were becoming a sad routine of bread and whatever the new housekeeper cooked, but the woman’s cooking was a disaster–everything was either too sweet or too salty. Xu Sheng couldn’t bring himself to eat most of the time. Oddly enough, whenever his mom was around, the food was always perfectly fine. He couldn’t decide whether he should talk to her about it.

After Su Li’s small promise, he turned and followed Su Bing as they headed off to prepare for the celebration at the Golden Sun Hotel. Xu Sheng stared in the direction they had gone, his thoughts adrift for a long time.

Eventually, the housekeeper arrived, calling him back inside. The cold, indifferent look on her face made him feel lonelier than ever. At least the previous housekeeper had cared for him. This one seemed to barely tolerate him.

Meanwhile, in a teahouse across town, Huang Fei was meeting with Sun Qi, who had just called her. They had crossed paths before, and Huang Fei, sensing a kindred spirit in Sun Qi–someone who shared her distaste for Gu Zi–had wasted no time in bonding with her.

Sun Qi, a reporter for the Education Daily, had originally planned to cover an event at Renhe Middle School that day.

However, when she arrived, she discovered that her assignment was to interview none other than Gu Zi. Why on earth would she be the one to handle this? Sun Qi had dismissed the task and handed it over to an intern, only for the inexperienced intern to botch the job entirely, giving an opening for reporters from other outlets to swoop in. The intern never even got to meet Gu Zi.

Fuming, Sun Qi’s supervisor stormed in and tore into her. “You think you can just throw away an assignment like this? You’re a young lady, and yet you’re here pretending to be a journalist? Do you even realize how big of a story the province’s top scorer is? There’s nothing more important in our province this year. You should’ve taken it seriously!”

Sun Qi stood there, speechless, seething with resentment. All of her frustration was now directed at Gu Zi. She turned to Huang Fei and said, “I thought it was just a coincidence, maybe someone with the same name, but no, it really was Gu Zi. If I don’t manage to interview her, my boss will have my head. I have to figure out how to cover this up. Huang Fei, you’re clever–do you have any ideas?”

Huang Fei sipped her tea thoughtfully. “These reporters only care about the hype–the so-called ‘top scorer’ is just a headline to boost their paper sales. Why waste your time interviewing her? It’d only diminish your credibility. Why not skip over her and go for her adoptive parents instead? That’ll surely be more intriguing.”

Sun Qi’s eyes lit up. “That’s brilliant! Why focus on her academic title when her family’s story would be so much juicier? I’ll go speak with the Gu family. Thanks for the suggestion, Huang Fei.”

Huang Fei smiled, pleased with her own cleverness. She hadn’t expected Gu Zi, of all people, to rise to such prominence. Let her enjoy her moment of glory, but when the newspaper came out, there would be plenty to say about her family.

In the car, Su Li and Gao Ming continued discussing Xu Sheng’s coughing. Su Li, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about, said, “I had a really bad cold once, and my mom told me that if a cough like that isn’t treated quickly, it could turn serious. I think I should eat more, get stronger so I don’t get sick.”

He almost let slip his true intentions, but caught himself just in time, switching gears to talk about eating more to avoid illness.

What he really wanted to say was that he planned to sneak some medicine to Xu Sheng–something his mom had given him before that worked wonders for a cough. Su Li could only hope Xu Sheng wouldn’t be coughing for long.