【33.】

  When I went home over the weekend, I clearly felt that Liu Xin had something on her mind. I didn't dare to ask more questions and could only wait for her to come and confide in me.

  As expected, after a while, she came over with an air of embarrassment: "Sis... can I ask you for a favor?"

  "Really?" I looked at her with disdain. "Do you need to beg me just to talk? Look at how anxious you are."

  She took a glance at my mom who was watching TV in the living room and said softly: "Our class is going to have a spring outing!"

  Whoa! I almost jumped up, fortunately Liu Xian had foresight and pressed me down.

  I couldn't help but get angry: "You're in high school! What's the point of going?! She was very conflicted: "But Shen Zhuo is going..."

  ……

  I was speechless, and when I heard Liu Xian say this name, I felt a deep sense of guilt.

  Liu Xian tugged at my arm: "Sis, help me out."

  "How can I help?"

  "You can just say it's an English exchange tour and come with us."

  I looked embarrassed: "Me too? No way..."

  "Sister..." Liu Xian's coquettish appearance was really hard to resist.

  But I still had a lump in my heart: "Forget it, I'll go live with the Tao family. You can just go by yourself."

  "Do you think this little trick of ours can fool your mom?"

  Can't fool...

  "But aren't they all your classmates? I don't think it's suitable for me to go."

  "What's wrong with that! The more people there are on a trip, the livelier it is!"

  Sometimes I wonder if Liu Xin were a bit more overbearing and not so good to me, would the knots in my heart be fewer? But as soon as I have this thought, I feel ashamed of myself.

  It's really unfair to Liu Xin in this matter. I don't know how to tell her, but hiding it from her makes me feel guilty too. She's still so young, and I don't want her to get entangled in these complicated relationships too early. Although I'm just her sister, I'll instinctively protect and cherish her. I don't want her to suffer like I do today, tossing and turning at night because of family and love.

  That Saturday went smoothly with Liu Xin, the old lady trusted me so much that it made me feel a bit uneasy. Sometimes family members just need to give us trust, and it will make us feel deeply guilty.

  This morning, Liu Xian was very happy as she had been busy last night, taking out many clothes and even finding a snow-white skirt. I helplessly told her that we were going on an outing, not attending a banquet. Only then did she reluctantly put it back.

  I didn't have much enthusiasm for traveling, so I just simply wore casual clothes and brought a hat.

  I saw Liu Xin's classmate, Shen Duan, at the agreed place. He was very tall and wore a white hat, with his head down fiddling with his phone. After a while, he took out his earbuds and plugged them in, seemingly making a call. Under the sunlight, he was already beyond description, and everyone's gaze couldn't help but be drawn to him. I caught snippets of a few words, but couldn't make out what they were saying, so I gave up trying.

  A person who seemed to be in charge walked over and looked at Liu Xian: "Who is this?"

  Liu Xian pulled me by the arm and dragged me forward: "This is my sister."

  The boy smiled at me and said: "Welcome. My name is Lü Ge."

  "Hello."

  He also smiled and said: "Hope you have fun."

  When Lü Ge left, Liu Xin mysteriously leaned in: "This is our vice-class monitor! Isn't he very majestic?"

  What majesty is this?

  Some people only need to take a glance at you to know what kind of person you will become in the future. This Lu Wu is top-notch, whether it's his temperament or his speech, he has a noble air about him. I reckon that with just a few more years of honing his skills, he'll definitely become a great talent.

  I nodded in agreement: "Good."

  "Do you know who our class monitor is?"

  Actually, I was just thinking that if a person like Lü Guo can only be the vice class leader, then in Liu Xian's class, there is only one person who can surpass him.

  She couldn't wait for me to guess and directly told me: "It's Shen Zhuo!"

  I guess so too...

  "Uh-huh."

  "Ah......" Liu Xian looked around "Speaking of Shen Zhong, why can't I see him?"

  I pointed to a nearby place: "Make a phone call."

  Liu Xin saw it and ran over to ask Lü Ge: "What's Shěn Duó doing?"

  Lü Guo's anxious face: "The car we rented originally had some problem today, I don't know what happened. Shen Zhong is contacting another car."

  "Oh." Liu Xian was slightly disappointed and asked again after a while "The outing won't be cancelled, will it?"

  Lü Guo didn't know how to answer this question either, and could only say: "It's still unclear, let's wait and see what Shen Duan says later."

  After about five minutes, Shen Duan finished the call, took off his headphones and turned around to see me. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "You're here too."

  "Uh-huh." I nodded.

  "He said to Lugo: 'Wait another twenty minutes.'"

  It's really worthy of Shen Zong... I think ordinary people can't handle this kind of situation.

  Twenty minutes later, the car finally arrived. Everyone rushed up, I wasn't in a hurry, so I waited at the back. The driver got out and spoke to Shen Dang: "Sorry, you've been waiting for a long time."

  Shen Duan was probably in a bad mood and didn't look at that person, nodding slightly.

  The driver rubbed his hands together, looking very embarrassed: "Oh dear, you should have said earlier that you knew Director Cao, I would have pushed everything aside for you!"

  This sentence is really infuriating, I'm afraid Shen Duan will quarrel with others, so I shouted: "Shen Duan, get on the bus."

  He looked at me and I shook my head slightly. He sighed and said to the driver, "It's okay, let's get on the bus."

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Liu Xin reserved a seat for me, it was the last row in the back, she called me and Shen Zhuo, Shen Zhuo walked over, I just realized that she had actually reserved two seats, she sat in the middle, left side was mine, right side... probably Shen Zhuo.

  Xiao Xin took his seat in front of everyone, which made many classmates laugh and tease him.

  Shen Duan didn't want to embarrass her either, so she just sat there. I have a history of motion sickness and didn't sleep well last night, which is making me feel terrible right now. Liu Xin also knew about my motion sickness and leaned over to ask me, "Sis, are you okay?"

  I shook my head and didn't want to talk.

  "What's wrong with her?"

  "My sister gets car sick."

  Shen Dang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly shouted loudly: "Stop the car!"

  Everyone looked over, and the driver stepped on it. That's what I call speed.

  He pulled my arm: "Get off the bus."

  Huh?

  I looked at Liu Xin, and Liu Xin was also confused.

  "It's nothing..." That's all I could say.

  "Shen Duan looked at Liu Xin: 'I'll take your sister in another car, okay?'"

  Liu Xin nodded foolishly, and later I asked Liu Xin why she had agreed so readily that day. Liu Xin said it was because Shen Zhuang had never spoken to her in a tone of negotiation before, so she completely ignored why Shen Zhuang wanted to say that.

  "He can put aside his own pride for you." Xuan Yu said to me "He really loves you."