Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Attitude
Afterward, Shi Hai entered the girls' dormitory to help Shi Meng carry all her luggage downstairs.
The heaviest items were mainly textbooks and the piles of reference materials distributed since the beginning of high school.
First High School is a prestigious high school, so from the first year, it's already a high-pressure study environment.
However, in return, students with good grades are given more freedom.
As long as their grades are good enough, they can apply to skip evening self-study sessions or even take a leave of absence.
Shi Hai helped with the heaviest suitcase while Shi Meng walked beside him.
Jian Sichun and Zhu Lingjie tactfully walked behind them, giving the siblings some space to communicate for the first time.
Shi Meng was still troubled by what had happened earlier.
"Brother… you really didn't need to bother with those three fools."
Although Shi Hai stood up for her, she didn't want to cause him any trouble.
Only I can take care of my brother!
It doesn't work the other way around!
If Shi Hai hadn't intervened, she was ready to drive those three away and ignore them forever.
"Indeed, if it were just me, I could ignore them. But you still have to be classmates with them."
Shi Hai felt that if there was a chance to avoid the worst-case scenario, he should try to avoid it.
"If I act tough and drive them away, making them lose face, they might turn around and bully you."
"They wouldn't dare do anything to me."
"Even if they don't dare bully you outright, if they cause you little troubles here and there, it would still bother you, right?"
Three years in high school, with classmates seeing each other every day, having someone you dislike around would feel like a thorn in the side, affecting your mood.
"Many times, small conflicts can become the start of grudges. What if the other person holds a grudge over such trivial matters…"
"I also don't want any potential threats to remain around you."
"So why not settle things peacefully from the start, isn't that better?"
Shi Meng silently listened, feeling a wave of emotions in her heart.
As expected, her brother was still her brother...
Even though in her memories, Shi Hai always said their mother was foolish, always being kind but never enjoying any rewards herself, and would often tell her never to be a 'saint.'
But in reality, her brother had inherited some of their mother's traits.
He would try to avoid actions that could create enemies.
Peaceful coexistence was better than anything.
But he would always say, "I just hate trouble."
"Those three only like you, that's why they wanted to keep you around. There wasn't much malice in their intentions."
"After all, they're just starting high school, and they're not mature yet. Their requests weren't overly excessive."
"In a few years, when they look back on this, they'll probably think it was a cringeworthy moment, a total embarrassment that they would never bring up ever again, haha."
Shi Hai laughed.
"After all, youth without a bit of foolishness is not youth! Who hasn't been impulsive when they were young?"
You haven't.
Zhu Lingjie muttered silently from behind.
"Or are you saying you want me to be tougher and just kick them out?"
Shi Hai thought for a moment, then put on a fierce face and said, "Who do you think you are? Get lost!"
It wasn't something he couldn't do.
In fact, he just wanted to use this opportunity to see if he could remember anything from the future, which was why he agreed.
Shi Meng shook her head and said.
"…No, this is fine."
Indeed, those three were just fools, not really bad people.
Shi Meng knew her brother's character; he would protect his sister but wouldn't blindly do so.
For people he could communicate with, he would use a gentle approach.
But if the other party was truly unreasonable, like a thug, he wouldn't mind showing a tough and domineering side, making sure they wouldn't dare think of revenge again.
It's just a matter of using different strategies for different people.
"Thank you, brother."
"This is nothing, you don't need to thank me. I'm your brother, I'll protect you."
Shi Hai replied with a smile.
"From now on, we're family."
That familiar smile, those familiar words, brought back memories for Shi Meng.
She remembered the first time Shi Hai came to pick her up.
That day, snow was falling.
He brushed the snow off her shoulders, squatted down, patted her shoulder, and said to her tear-streaked face:
—Don't worry, brother is here to take care of you. From now on, we're family—
The vague figure in her memory overlapped with the clear one in front of her.
Shi Meng couldn't hold back any longer, tears streamed down her face as she replied with a sob.
"…Mm…"
Shi Hai watched his little sister cry and reached out to gently stroke her head, comforting her.
At that moment, she, who was alone, found her place of belonging.
...
Back home, they opened the door and saw Liu Zhenshan slouching on the sofa.
Liu Zhenshan had originally planned to follow behind Shi Hai and the others to spy on them, but due to some last-minute work, her plan fell through.
Although she had said she would take leave to follow them, when someone asked her for help, she couldn't refuse.
Seeing everyone had returned, Liu Zhenshan wearily raised her hand to greet them.
"Oh… the kids are back?"
Shi Hai placed Shi Meng's luggage in the living room.
Smelling the sweat on Shi Hai, Liu Zhenshan frowned and shooed him away.
"Ugh! You're all sweaty. go take a shower!"
"Yeah, I'll go freshen up."
Shi Hai ran off to take a shower, while Liu Zhenshan opened her arms toward Shi Meng.
"Come on~ Mengmeng~ Mommy wants a hug~"
She just wanted to recharge herself by hugging her daughter, who was now her little angel.
Seeing Liu Zhenshan's tired state, Shi Meng frowned slightly.
"Mom, did you overwork yourself again?"
"Oh, it's nothing, really…"
"Seriously, you need to take care of your health!"
Despite her scolding, Shi Meng still went over to give her a hug.
Liu Zhenshan cozily nestled on the sofa, using her daughter as a cushion, enjoying the emotional comfort while asking,
"By the way, why is Shi Hai so sweaty? What did he do?"
Jian Sichun replied.
"He played basketball with Mengmeng's classmates for a bit."
"Shi Hai plays basketball?"
Liu Zhenshan was puzzled.
She remembered when she visited their school sports day, all she saw was Shi Hai sitting quietly, not active at all.
On the contrary, Liu Zhenshan had been the star during the parents' relay race, leaving an impression on the teachers and other parents.
"I also didn't expect Shi Hai to be so good at basketball… In high school, he never really played seriously during PE class."
Zhu Lingjie had never seen Shi Hai play basketball either.
In her memory, the most exercise Shi Hai did was running.
He could run ten kilometers without stopping, his breathing steady, with great lung capacity and endurance.
Jian Sichun recalled the scene of Shi Hai playing basketball just now and couldn't help but say,
"Yeah! He's so good at it! He was incredibly cool!"
So cool! So cool! So cool! She repeated in her heart several times.
No matter how many times she said it, it still didn't feel like enough.
She had almost wanted to shout it out on the court and had to restrain herself from rushing over to hug him and give him a kiss after the game ended.
Shi Meng felt quite touched; she hadn't seen her brother so lively in a long time.
In her memory, her brother was always lying in a hospital bed…
Come to think of it, why were Jian Sichun and Zhu Lingjie still here?
She didn't want to see these two women getting close to her brother.
"Are you guys my brother's friends?"
Jian Sichun nodded and said.
"Yes, we are. We just introduced ourselves to you on the way back."
"Well, we're going to have dinner at home soon, so I think it's time for you to leave now."
Shi Meng, speaking as a member of the Shi family, issued a clear order to leave.
"Eh?"
"…"
"Huh?"
Jian Sichun froze, Zhu Lingjie was also stunned, and even Liu Zhenshan was a bit surprised.
None of them expected Shi Meng to so openly ask them to leave.
This was really strange…
Jian Sichun recalled her relationship with her sister-in-law…
She remembered that the first time they met, they got along very well.
At that time, she had moved in as Shi Hai's girlfriend and was warmly welcomed by her sister-in-law.
Even after living together, their relationship was deep, like that of biological sisters.
But what's going on now?
She wasn't getting any friendly reception!
Why?
Was the sister-in-law's attitude towards her brother's girlfriend and his ordinary friends really this different?!
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