Although he did not know what Chu Xia was trying to do, Su Yang did not plan on finding out. Everyone had their own secrets anyway.
Besides, he always believed in the saying 'femme fatale'. The more beautiful a woman was, the more dangerous she would be, and given Chu Xia's looks, she might be able to bring down the whole city.
Therefore, it was better to stay away from her.
With that in mind, carrying the bag over his shoulder, Su Yang walked across the convenience store entrance without a second thought and headed into his neighborhood.
'Those who are curious can go find out themselves. I don't have any and I'm a man with principles.'
However, right after he made the turn onto the street, a beep came into his mind.
It was a new Random Mission!
'Huh? New Random Mission? From where?'
Su Yang stopped and tapped on it.
[Help Chu Xia to settle her problems at hand and ease her worries.]
'Chu Xia? Worries?'
His curiosity was piqued. Chu Xia was widely known as the sunny girl in class. Why would she have worries? It seemed like everyone had a side that was not known to others.
With that in mind, he turned around and looked at the convenience store that he walked past. A quick thought later, he decided to accept the mission.
It turned out that principles were actually worth as much as potato chips. After he ate them, he still had to accept the mission.
After accepting the mission, Su Yang headed into the convenience store.
Right after he stepped in, Su Yang heard the shop assistant speaking in an unfriendly tone, "Miss, are you trying to play a joke on me? You are taking too long and it's not the first time already! In the past few weeks, every time you come by to pay for your items, you just have to waste everyone's time by standing here. We don't have time for this. There are people lining up behind you."
Chu Xia's delicate face was slightly red while a layer of nervous sweat was on her forehead. She turned around and saw the line, then she glanced at the receipt in her hand. She looked terribly helpless.
Her mouth was tingling. She was actually mumbling, "3.50 plus 6 equals…equals…8.50. 8.50 plus 12, plus 20.50 plus 20.60…"
Su Yang was shocked by the scene.
Does…Chu Xia not know how to count?
After counting for a while, the sweat on her forehead started to roll down her cheeks. She mumbled, "No, no, it's not correct. The amount is wrong."
"Hold up, I'll count it with my phone," she said nervously to the store assistant, then she fished out her smartphone.
The store assistant sighed. "Miss, do you even know how to count? It's just a small amount, yet you have to bring out your phone? And it's a receipt generated by a machine. How can I be wrong?"
After the store assistant complained, Chu Xia got upset. She blushed and glared at the store assistant with her big eyes. "O-of course, I know how to count! I-I got 140 points for Maths during my high school!"
It was the first time Su Yang saw Chu Xia getting so angry and he was really shocked. Chu Xia was known for her good temperament, yet she lashed out at the store assistant. It seemed like she was really nervous.
Frightened, the store assistant raised his hands and surrendered. "Okay, okay, I got it. I'll keep quiet!"
Su Yang had no intention to let this farce continue. The people behind Chu Xia were starting to get restless. He stepped up and grabbed the receipt from her hand. A quick calculation later, the total amount was correct.
"Did you buy all these things?" he asked her.
Chu Xia gazed into Su Yang's eyes blankly. She never expected to see him in the store, but she nodded blankly.
Su Yang grabbed his smartphone and tapped on the Alipay payment option. "I'm sorry. My friend has been having a hard time lately. I'll pay for her."
The store assistant took the QR code for Su Yang to scan. "It's done."
Su Yang then grabbed the items Chu Xia bought and grabbed her by the sleeve before they left.
Chu Xia lowered her head throughout the process and did not utter a word. The fierceness that she exhibited previously was gone and the sunny image that she exuded on campus was also absent.
Su Yang brought her to a garden in his neighborhood and sat down on a bench. He put the items before her and started, "You…"
Chu Xia lowered her head and did not answer.
Su Yang did not want to say anything since she did not want to talk about it.
The two of them sat down quietly for over 10 minutes before Chu Xia finally whispered as soft as a mosquito, "Thank you."
"Don't sweat it. You helped me a lot as well…but if you can pay me back, I'll thank you instead," he said after a quick pause.
Chu Xia looked at him in surprise. She could not help but giggle. "You are really stingy."
"Of course, every cent is mine and my parents' hard-earned money. I must save whenever I can." Su Yang smiled in reply.
She clicked her tongue and said, "It's just like how money fell from the sky for me."
Su Yang looked up to the sky.
"What are you looking at?" Chu Xia asked curiously.
"I'm waiting for money to fall."
Chu Xia was rendered speechless, but because of the little joke, she brightened up a little. She finally opened up and explained, "Actually, ever since I was young, I have this little problem. I can't count in my head or even verbally. I can't even count 3 plus 2 properly. After I went for a check-up at the hospital, the doctors told me I might have an unusual kind of calculation disorder."
"I became the joke among my classmates ever since then and it became a secret that I never told anyone. When I grew older, maybe the condition got better or maybe I got better by familiarizing myself with it, so I'm able to add and subtract from 1 to 10, but beyond 10, I have to write it down."
"What's 5 plus 4?" asked Su Yang.
"Huh...9!" Chu Xia was stunned for two seconds before she came up with the answer.
Su Yang tapped on his chest and acted like he was relieved. "Thank goodness our class secretary isn't an idiot."
She pouted and gave him a soft punch. The punch was only stronger than an itch and was quite comfortable.
Chu Xia then looked further away and said softly, "That's why I came all the way here to buy stuff. I never thought I'd run into you here."
"I live nearby," he said.
She adjusted her sitting posture. Her slender long legs were straight and beautiful. This girl had a pair of legs that all women would be envious of.
"Because of the trauma, I cannot accept others criticizing my maths. Whenever I hear people criticizing my counting, I easily get angry. That is why the hardest subject for me during high school was Maths and I only got 140 points."
Su Yang moved his gaze away from her legs. "I thought you were cheating."
Chu Xia glared sharply at him. "Are you trying to be funny? Why do you keep teasing me!?"
He was playfully chuckling behind his hand, and soon Chu Xia was infected too. She giggled before she sighed, "When I chose the course for tertiary education, I picked Chinese Literature because this course has nothing to do with Maths. I've really had it with those numbers!"
He moved his hand away from his mouth and looked at her in astonishment. "Me too!"
Chu Xia blinked at him. "You hate Maths too?"
Su Yang shook his head. "Nope, but I hate English and picked Chinese Literature because I want to escape from English."
Chu Xia blinked blankly and said, "But…our course has English as a major."
Su Yang facepalmed himself. "Forget it about it. It's all blood, sweat, and tears."
As her eyes curled up into crescent moons, she covered her mouth in laughter.
Because of Su Yang's jokes, she obviously felt better. The two of them chatted for a while longer, and after Su Yang promised to keep it a secret, Chu Xia took her items and headed back to campus.
Su Yang had a heavy feeling as he watched her skip away.
'This girl hasn't paid me back the money…'
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