Chapter 13: Tears That Cannot Fall

The moment that name appeared, Qiao Weiwei's heart alarmed, and her expression instantly changed.

“Chen Jiazhi?” She furrowed her brows and asked urgently, “What did he say to you? How do you know each other?”

Fang Xue was surprised by Qiao Weiwei’s reaction and asked in confusion, “Why are you reacting so strongly? He just transferred here and doesn’t know much about the school. He was just asking me. Besides, we’re neighbors and classmates, so of course we help each other.”

Qiao Weiwei never expected that Fang Xue and Chen Jiazhi would meet like this.

Regretting it now was useless.

She warned Fang Xue, “Chen Jiazhi is not a good person. You should stay away from him in the future.”

Fang Xue disagreed with her judgment and said somewhat unhappily, “Weiwei, don’t be biased against classmates.”

Realizing her tone was a bit harsh, she explained, “Last weekend, I had a fever and nearly fainted. He took me to the hospital and even helped me with my homework. He also likes singing, and his voice is amazing.”

Seeing the admiration and appreciation in Fang Xue’s eyes for Chen Jiazhi, Qiao Weiwei knew that no matter what she said now, it wouldn’t help.

She put Chen Jiazhi aside for the moment and asked, “Have you played the song for Chen Jiazhi that you’re going to sing at the school anniversary?”

“Not yet…” Fang Xue shook her head.

Qiao Weiwei breathed a sigh of relief and pretended to be jealous, “You said this song was written for just the two of us. You have to promise me that before the anniversary, no one else is allowed to hear it.”

Fang Xue was sincere and wholeheartedly devoted to her friends, but she also liked to be contrary.

If Qiao Weiwei directly targeted Chen Jiazhi, it might cause resentment, so she had to hold back for the sake of the anniversary.

Sure enough, Fang Xue accepted her words without suspicion.

“Alright, I promise not to let anyone else hear it.”

...

Back at the villa, Qiao Weiwei began gathering information on Chen Jiazhi.

She discovered that Chen Jiazhi was actually an artist under the MG Company, managed by Lin Zhiyi’s aunt.

At twelve, he won first place in a national youth piano competition and was groomed by the agency as a piano prodigy, gaining many fans online.

Later, after an accident, he could no longer play the piano and was abandoned by the agency.

Recently, MG Entertainment has been preparing a competitive reality show for singer-songwriters, and Chen Jiazhi had signed up to participate.

Shengde School streamed its anniversary celebrations live on Weibo every year, and the centennial anniversary had already been heavily promoted.

It turned out the school anniversary was just a stepping stone for Chen Jiazhi, his real goal being the competition show.

However, in the previous life, by sheer luck, Chen Jiazhi met the diva Zhou Bing at the anniversary, which catapulted him to stardom.

Just as she was thinking this, a knock came at the door.

“Come in!”

Qiao Weiwei thought it was Aunt Liu bringing milk and remained lazily sprawled on the sofa.

“Uncle!”

Seeing who it was, she immediately sat up straight but forgot she wasn’t wearing a bra.

Though only seventeen, her figure was delicately developed.

“Cough, cough.”

Gu Jinnian awkwardly looked away, cleared his throat twice, and placed the milk on the table.

Only then did Qiao Weiwei realize and hurriedly wrapped herself in a shawl.

Her ears reddened, but she pretended nothing had happened and started drinking the milk.

However, the milk was unusually hot today, and her cheeks flushed even more.

...

Suddenly, she choked.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Milk splattered onto her chest, leaving patches of milk stains on the collar.

Gu Jinnian pulled out some tissues and handed them to her.

Qiao Weiwei loved wearing cotton clothes trimmed with lace, while Gu Jinnian was dressed in a suit with his sleeves rolled up, the veins on his fair arms visible.

Behind his silver-rimmed glasses, his gaze was cold yet subtly alluring.

This scene… somehow felt…

Just as such a thought crossed her mind, she quickly slapped herself.

This was her uncle! Gu Jinnian!

To have impure thoughts about him meant she must have stopped breathing the air of the living world.

“Thank you, uncle.”

She quickly took the tissues and wiped carelessly.

Her face blazed redder.

Qiao Weiwei hastily changed the subject, “Uncle, did you need something?”

Gu Jinnian spoke softly, “We’re going back to the old residence tomorrow.”

The old residence?

Could it be that Grandma Gu was in trouble?

Qiao Weiwei, ignoring her embarrassment, hurriedly asked, “Is Grandma Gu alright?”

Grandma Gu was strong-willed and usually didn’t bother the younger generation.

Gu Jinnian looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze and asked, “Why are you so worried?”

Oh no!

She almost let the truth slip!

Qiao Weiwei lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze.

Feigning calm, she said, “Although I rarely go to the old residence, Grandma Gu has always been kind to me in my memories. And since you’ve been so good to me, of course I hope both you and Grandma Gu live long lives.”

“Is that all?”

Gu Jinnian clearly wasn’t easily fooled.

“Of course!”

Qiao Weiwei nodded earnestly.

He stared into her eyes, searching for any flaw in her words.

But what she said made sense.

After a while, the pressure finally eased.

“Go to bed early.”

Qiao Weiwei pressed further, “Is Grandma Gu really okay?”

“Yes.”

Hearing this answer, her heart finally settled.

She then began thinking about what to prepare for Grandma Gu to eat over the weekend.

Grandma Gu liked sweets but had high blood sugar and couldn’t eat overly sugary foods.

Maybe she should bring a set of mahjong tiles?

Grandma Gu loved playing mahjong but often stayed up late, so the tiles had been taken away.

As she pondered, she laid out three sheets of A4 paper.

The next day, she nearly arrived late for class.

After school, she went to the alley entrance as usual.

But the car parked there wasn’t the Porsche that the housekeeper usually drove; it was Gu Jinnian’s Rolls-Royce.

“Uncle?”

Seeing the man in the back seat, Qiao Weiwei was surprised.

He was still handling work but looked up and gestured for her to get in.

The Rolls-Royce was too conspicuous parked here and had already attracted attention.

Before any classmates noticed, she quickly got into the car.

On the way, Gu Jinnian was on an international conference call, using professional English terms, many of which were unfamiliar to her.

It seemed related to finance.

The Gu family started in real estate, and later Gu Jinnian introduced internet ventures and expanded into gaming.

They had no financial business.

However, Qiao Weiwei wasn’t interested in the Gu family’s business dealings, so she started reviewing her math exam papers.

Sequences were manageable, but the composite function problems were beyond her.

She leaned back against the seat, covering her face with the paper, and sighed deeply.

She felt helpless and on the verge of tears...

But for the college entrance exams, no matter how hard it was, she had to persevere.

After comforting herself silently, she unfolded the test paper again, ready to wrestle with the math problems.

Suddenly, she noticed Gu Jinnian had taken off his earphones and was watching her.

He seemed puzzled.

Qiao Weiwei forced an embarrassed but polite smile. “This is what someone tortured by math problems looks like.”

“Very difficult?”

Gu Jinnian raised an eyebrow.

“Yes!”

She nodded emphatically. “Really twisted.”

The next moment, the man reached out his hand.

“Do you want me to look at your paper?” Qiao Weiwei asked doubtfully.

“Yes.”

Qiao Weiwei looked troubled. “Uncle, that’s a different field altogether; I’d better try to figure it out myself.”