"No way." Xu Nian’an was smiling just a moment ago, but his expression hardened the instant he saw that girl.
The girl with the braided pigtails looked unhappy and glared at Xu Nian’an, saying, "Stingy, Nianhua, can you help me instead?"
She immediately placed the book in front of Xu Nianhua.
Xu Nianhua looked at the new book and then back at the girl, completely clueless about who she was.
The memory was too distant. She could still somewhat remember her relatives, but classmates and such, she just couldn’t recall.
"Zheng Jin, you should wrap your own books. Why always ask others?" Xu Nian’an pushed the book back to her, and Xu Nianhua’s silence made him think she didn’t want to help.
"Did you also wrap hers?" Zheng Jin asked with wide eyes staring at Xu Nian’an.
Her eyes seemed to question why she couldn’t ask others to wrap her book if her book was wrapped by him.
"I’m her brother," Xu Nian’an replied without a second thought.
So frustrating, is this because she doesn’t have a brother?
"Zheng Jin, it’s okay, wrapping books is really simple." Knowing her name as Zheng Jin, Xu Nianhua smiled warmly, took a piece of calendar paper, and started wrapping the book with Zheng Jin.
Zheng Jin wasn’t incapable of wrapping; she just wanted Xu Nian’an’s help with it. Unfortunately, Xu Nian’an was too lazy to even wrap his own books, always having Xu Nianhua do it.
In the end, Xu Nianhua insisted on wrapping Xu Nian’an’s books as well.
Xu Nianhua asked, "Second brother, how do you write this ’hollowed-out character’? Teach me."
Xu Nianhua was very interested in these hollowed-out characters. Not only were Xu Nian’an’s wrapped books tidy, but the characters he wrote also carried a kind of beauty.
"I thought you didn’t like studying?" Xu Nian’an gave her a sidelong glance, remembering how uninterested she had been when he tried to teach her before. Unexpectedly, she was interested now.
On the first day of school, besides the first lesson, issuing books, and breaks, classes started right away.
After a full day of classes, Xu Nianhua sadly discovered that except for foreign languages, which she understood without any issue, she could follow Chinese but, when it came to reciting poetry, she was utterly lost.
After so much time, how could she remember any of the ancient poems she had memorized?
And then, all the various formulas in math and science were completely baffling to her too?
"What’s wrong with you?" Zheng Jin initially wanted to find out where Xu Nianhua was living now, since they no longer boarded at school, but seeing Xu Nianhua’s despondent look, she couldn’t help but ask with concern.
Xu Nian’an, who was engrossed in doing problems, glanced at Xu Nianhua beside him. Nothing upsetting had happened today, had it?
"I..." Xu Nianhua started to say she couldn’t remember anything, then thought better of it. Forgetting everything over a summer break seemed unlikely, and who would believe that?
Xu Nianhua changed the subject, saying, "It’s nothing, I’m just thinking—I’m a bit hungry. I wonder what’s for dinner in the cafeteria."
Although they didn’t live at school, they still ate their meals there, and there were evening self-study sessions too.
"On the first day, there’s definitely going to be braised pork!" Zheng Jin answered without hesitation. She said, "But we better go early, or else only the fatty pieces might be left."
Thinking of the cafeteria’s braised pork, Xu Nianhua didn’t like the large chunks of fat.
"Little sister, what’s wrong? Did something happen? You seem unhappy today," Xu Nian’an asked with concern, noticing that his little sister wasn’t as cheerful as usual.