Waiting for the Stars to Fall - Chapter 2

After school Zhu Xingyao was picked up by her driver, Old Liu. On their way home, the car passed an old residential area called He Xi Xiang. As real estate development had thrived in the surrounding areas, the neighborhood did not align well with downtown Jiang Cheng. The residential area was the only place that hadn’t been demolished for new development yet. From there, after bypassing two more streets, they would have been able to reach the Xing Mao housing compound where Zhu Xingyao had lived.

She looked out the window and accidentally spotted two students wearing the uniform for No. 1 High, who were standing at the end of the alleyway. From the back the boy had a very tall and skinny figure, it was Jiang Tu.

Across from him stood a petite girl who looked up at him and smiled. He took the pink backpack that she had been holding and hung it on the handle of his bicycle. Zhu Xingyao was so surprised that she instantly sat up. Her eyes widened as she stared at the two, even when her car had already driven away, she still couldn’t resist the urge to look back.

Even Old Liu was curious and asked, “Miss, do you need me to stop the car?”

Zhu Xingyao slowly looked back and told him that there was no need. This had been the first time that she had seen Jiang Tu talk to a girl, not to mention helping them with their backpack. A girl who got Jiang Tu to help them with their backpack, they must have been very close. Regardless, it was none of her concern.

Her palms rested in her lap, and she straightened her posture.

Jiang Tu pushed his bicycle into the narrow alleyway. The houses were so close together, as he walked further inwards the street darkened as the light got blocked out. However, the houses located on the outskirts had been repainted several years ago. According to others, it had been for the sake of appearance.

As six o’clock passed, the alley already appeared as if it were late in the evening. Jiang Tu’s home was located on the first floor. Before he reached his building, Jiang Tu could already hear Jiang Jinhui’s cursing. “I told you! This area will go into development any day. Regardless of how they calculate the compensation for the demolition, it is going to be more than a hundred thousand yuan (approximately 13,800 USD). Paying you back 20,000 yuan would be no problem at all.”

“They will demolish this area by next year at the lastest. I’ll give you 2% interest.”

“Why would I lie?”

Bang!

Jiang Tu threw his bicycle on the floor and kicked the front door. He expressionlessly walked toward Jiang Jinhui and grabbed the old cellphone from him. Not even bothering to ask who the caller was, he held the phone straight to his ear and said, “If you choose to lend him money and he can’t pay it back in the future, don’t expect me to give you a penny.”

Immediately, he hung up the phone and threw it back.

Jiang Jinhui gritted his teeth in anger, looked at his son, who was half a head taller than him, and cursed, “What are you doing! You really don’t take me, your father, seriously!”

Jiang Tu ignored him and walked out the door. He removed the pink backpack from his bicycle, walked to the building across the street and gave it to a middle-aged woman. “Aunt Lin, here is Lin Jiayu’s backpack.”

Jiang Tu and Lin Jiayu were in the same year, they grew up together in this neighborhood, went to the same elementary and middle school, and then entered the same high school. Sometimes, they worked together part-time. She was the girl who was closest to him. As everyone lived in the same neighborhood, they were of similar economic status. However, Lin Jiayu’s parents were honest and humble, which made her family situation far better than his. Not everyone was unfortunate enough to have a gambling addict for a dad.

Aunt Lin took the backpack, looked ahead and kindly said, “Your mom has the night shift today. You and Xiao Lu should come eat with us in a bit.” （Xiao Lu is the nickname for Jiang Tu’s younger brother; the name translates to Little Lu in English）

Jiang Tu refused, “No need, thank you.”

At almost seven o’clock, Jiang Lu finally decided to return home after having enough fun.

Jiang Jinhui had already gone out. As for where he went, it went without saying.

—

Sunday evening, after finishing his part-time job for the day, Jiang Tu untied his apron. By the time he left the coffee shop, it was already 7 o’clock.

The coffee shop was located near a plaza downtown. After walking several hundred meters, he entered an internet café and dragged out Jiang Lu, who was watching people play World of Warcraft while leaning on the back of their seat.

Before Jiang Lu could realize it, he was already being dragged near the entrance. He quickly started to struggle free. “Brother, release me! They are in the middle of a match; I haven’t finished watching yet! Wait until I am done!”

“How does their match concern you?”

“Let me go back; just let me watch for a bit. It will only take 20 minutes…”

As Jiang Lu was struggling, he did not consider his actions. He was waving his hands around, when suddenly there was the sound of something dropping on the floor. Jiang Tu’s glasses had been knocked off and flew several meters. They landed near a parterre.

It was silent for a few seconds.

Jiang Tu frowned, then as he looked up, he saw a girl with a red cello case who stood near the parterre. She was wearing a white sweater, a checkered-patterned skirt. Her flowy long black hair draped over her shoulders.  She blended in so well with the sight of the amber- colored sunset over the road—just refreshingly beautiful.

She was staring at him with a surprised expression.

He loosened his grip.

Jiang Lu looked at the glasses he had knocked off.  Scared that Jiang Tu would scold him, he turned around and ran. “I’ll head back home on my own in a bit!”

Jiang Tu didn’t look at him at all; he was staring at Zhu Xingyao. He watched as she moved her feet and took a couple of strides forward. As she was carrying her cello on her back, kneeling was a bit slow. The backs of their hands touched, and they both froze at the same time.

Zhu Xingyao stood up and looked back down at Jiang Tu. She realized he appeared more handsome when he wasn’t wearing glasses. His hair in front of his forehead fell on his eyebrows, his eyelashes were dark and thick, and the corner of his eyes was slightly lifted. The whole appearance made him seem cool and reserved.

Jiang Tu quickly picked up his glasses and stood up straight to look at her. Zhu Xingyao was standing in front of him and looked behind him. “Was that your younger brother just now? He really looks like you.”

Jiang Tu quietly agreed in a low and deep voice.

Jiang Lu hippity-hopped back into the internet café. Zhu Xingyao remembered what Li Xixi had said about Jiang Tu having a brother that was five years younger and liked to cause a lot of trouble.

Having witnessed it for herself, she realized that he indeed did not make his life any simpler.

Zhu Xingyao asked, “You aren’t going to chase after him?”

Jiang Tu didn’t realize that she would see him in such a wreck, had she not been standing there, he would have gone after his brother.

This was not their first time talking, he knew that during the holidays she would always carry her cello to this building. There was a private music tutor in this building, and she was either there for class or practice.

This past summer vacation, she had carried her cello to the café to buy lemonade several times. There was once when the cashier was in the washroom, he had collected her cash, however, he was wearing a mask at the time. She didn’t appear to have looked at him, even if she did, she probably would not have remembered.

He lifted his head to look at her. “Never mind, since he wants to watch the match, I’ll just let him finish.”

Zhu Xingyao didn’t know what to say at first, she suddenly remembered what Zhou Qian had said when roasting her younger brother.  Zhou Qian had mentioned that her younger brother was very naughty to the point that it angered others. Li Xixi had asked whether there was nothing she could do. How had Zhou Qian answered back then? She said, “Of course there is, you just need to beat him once and then he’ll remember to be obedient.”

“Your brother…” she pointed at the internet café. With a very serious voice, she said, “if he is too disobedient, you just need to beat him. Zhou Qian said when her younger brother doesn’t listen to her, she just needs to beat him once for him to remember.”

Jiang Tu surprisingly looked at her, he did not expect her to say such remark.

A black Mercedes stopped in front of them, and the car window rolled down. Ding Yu who was sitting in the front seat looked over at them. “Xing Xing, get in the car.”

After she didn’t hear anything from Jiang Tu, Zhu Xingyao glanced at him. “I am going to leave first then,” and after hesitating for a second, she added, “See you tomorrow… at school.”

Jiang Tu froze for a second and nodded.

Zhu Xingyao smiled and pulled open the car door. She set down her cello first before she carefully lifted the hem of her skirt and entered the car. Zhu Yunping was on a phone call; he drove off after he heard the car door close.

Ding Yu looked at the rearview mirror. “Was that boy your classmate?”

Zhu Xingyao suddenly felt a bit annoyed. Jiang Tu’s father was violent; he grew up in that kind of environment, and yet she still said things like, “you just need to beat them once for them to remember…”

Was she stupid?

She nodded nonchalantly. “Yes, we just bumped into each other.”

Ding Yu didn’t think too much of it and smilingly explained, “Did you wait for long? There was some issue with a patient right as I was about to get off work.”

“Not too long.”

Zhu Xingyao rolled down the car window and looked into the rearview mirror. From the back, Jiang Tu still looked tall and lean; he was walking further and further away.

After Jiang Tu returned to the internet café, Jiang Lu was already done watching the match. Without needing to be dragged, he followed behind Jiang Tu. The two walked home, and by the time they reached the entrance of the alleyway, it had already been half an hour.

A thin figure with a ponytail stood at the entrance of the alley.

Jiang Tu lifted his head as Lin Jiayu ran over and explained, “I am too afraid to go through the alley as the light is broken and it is too dark. I was just about to call my dad to pick me up, and then you two came.”

The streetlamp had been broken for two days. Jiang Tu looked at the dark alley and led the way. “Let’s go.”

Jiang Lu said with contempt, “You are such a scaredy-cat, Sister Jiayu”

Lin Jiayu: “None of your business.”

Jiang Lu moved out of the way to let her walk first. “I am not afraid, you can walk before me. My brother and I can protect you.”

Lin Jiayu ignored the little devil and carefully held on to Jiang Tu’s jacket. Jiang Tu frowned and started to walk faster. As he walked ahead, the jacket naturally got yanked out of Jiayu’s hand. While Jiayu attempted to call him back, she remained in the same spot and angrily stomped her foot. He was so petty; he didn’t even let her hold on for a moment. It was fine for them to hold hands when they played together when they were young. However, why had it become harder to get along with him as they grew older.

She followed him and spoke to him from the back. “Brother Liang said that one of the workers on Sunday asked to be excused; they can’t make the night shift. Do you want to go fill in for them? If you do, I can let him know for you.”

Unlike others, when Jiang Tu worked part-time, he only had one stable job. Other times when people needed someone to fill in for them, regardless of the work and the time of day, as long as it did not interfere with school, he was willing to go as the pay for filling in was usually higher.

Lin Jiayu sometimes thought that he put in too much effort.

As they walked through the alley, a ray of light was ahead of them. It came from the windows of the residential buildings.

“Okay, please tell him for me.”

Jiang Tu’s voice sounded indifferent.

Lin Jiayu said, “When you get the chance, you should go buy another phone; that way, it will be more convenient.”

During high school, most of the students had cellphones, you could use it as long as you were not playing with it during class. Jiang Tu had a very old brick phone that he normally used for contacting part-time jobs. However, when the loan sharks previously came, it broke while he was fighting with them.

When the three arrived at the front door, Jiang Tu nodded before they all returned to their respective homes.

The food was already set on the table when they opened the door. Jiang Jinhui was still not home yet. As long as he wasn’t home, their family had a moment of peace. Shu Xian carried the plates out of the kitchen and smiled, “You two are back! Go wash your hands and get ready to eat.”

Jiang Lu was already starving and ran over to grab the chopsticks.

Jiang Tu was not reluctant to drag him back and quietly said, “If you test my patience again, I’ll beat you.”

Jiang Lu: “…”

He unwillingly dropped his chopsticks and followed behind his older brother to go wash his hands.

As Jiang Tu was washing his hands, he suddenly remembered Zhu Xingyao’s serious comment: “You just need to beat him once for him to remember.” For some reason, he thought it was funny, which led him to smile.

Jiang Lu acted as if he had seen a ghost and ran out right after he washed his hands.

On Monday morning, Zhu Yunping, on a rare occasion, sent Zhu Xingyao off to school during his free time. After seeing them, Li Xixi exclaimed, “Every time I see your dad, it reminds me of my dad. Even though both are men in their 40s, your dad remains quite fit and handsome like a gentleman. My dad has a beer belly and has started balding. If he becomes completely bald in three years, I am going to feel so embarrassed during parent teacher conferences.”

Zhu Xingyao reminded her, “Even if he is bald, he is still your dad…”

Li Xixi was very concerned. “I know. I am just afraid that balding can be inherited.”

Zhu Xingyao: “…”

She couldn’t resist and said, “Does your dad know that you judge him so much?”

Li Xixi thoughtlessly laughed, “Of course not, I don’t dare to let him know.”

Zhu Xingyao walked toward school and left her with one sentence. “I’ll tell him next time I go visit you.”

Li Xixi: “…”

Outside of the school gate, many students walked around wearing the same uniform. The uniforms were usually loosely fitted, but sometimes, when someone had a nice figure, the uniforms made them stand out. Zhu Xingyao was that kind of person, Li Xixi could feel everyone’s eyes following Xingyao around. She quickly caught up to her and fiercely said, “Don’t you dare! If you say it, I’ll break off our friendship.”

Unafraid of her, Zhu Xingyao said: “You can’t bear to let me go, I am too pretty.”

Everyone returned to their classroom after the flag raising ceremony. The class representatives for each subject began collecting homework. This was the first time Zhu Xingyao ran into any problems while collecting homework. She stood near the first row of desks and troublingly looked towards the last. She could see a boy sound asleep with his head down on the desk.

Jiang Tu was sleeping with his glasses off. Along with his hand, it was placed on top of a pile of textbooks. His hands seemed long and strong, his fingers were slim, and the skin was so pale that you could clearly see the veins on the back of his hand.

Zhu Xingyao looked around his neatly organized desk and couldn’t spot his homework.

Ding Xiang seemed to be always copying his homework.

He quickly lifted his head and glanced at her before returning to his copying. “Jiang Tu’s homework is with me; I am almost done copying.”

So, he is completing his homework.

Zhu Xingyao looked at how carefully he was copying and couldn’t resist but say, “Could you complete your homework on your own at least once? I see you copying every day. That reminds me, Jiang Tu’s physics score was full marks, but your score last month was just passing.”

After hearing what his goddess had said, Ding Xiang’s face turned red and purposefully wrote a wrong answer, clearly his throat and said, “Then I’ll just make sure you don’t see me copying next time.”

Zhou Qian walked over and impatiently said, “are you stupid? That is not what Zhu Xingyao meant.”

Li Xixi was still angry at Ding Xiang for his comment about the soy milk. She immediately walked over and joined the group in their attack on him. “Idiot! What Xingxing meant was when you copy, at least copy with skills, okay?”

The math representative walked over and cursed, “Ding Xiang, hurry the f*ck up!”

The language and literature representative: “Quick, quick, quickly!”

The chemistry representative: “Hurry up!”

Ding Xiang: “…”

At that point, Jiang Tu’s desk was surrounded by a rowdy crowd.

Jiang Tu who had his head down could no longer sleep peacefully. His hand moved abit which pushed his glasses forward. After Ding Xiang completed his homework, he suddenly stood and slapped his homework on the table. “Here, here, here! Stop hustling me!”

The homework booklet accidentally lifted the frame and knocked the glasses out. Most importantly, no one clearly saw what had happened, it only seemed that something had fallen.

Zhu Xingyao was the first to collect the homework and took a step forward before she realized what she had done.

Crack

There was a very crisp sound

She looked down at her foot, she had stepped on the dark glasses frame that had just been near Jiang Tu’s hand only moments ago. Her step had been so forceful that the cheap-quality frame was now in pieces.

Zhu Xingyao: “…”

Everyone looked towards where the sound had come from, and all froze.

Ding Xiang was stunned. “Sh*t! It can’t be…” He looked down at Jiang Tu’s desk, the glasses had already disappeared. Then he looked at Zhu Xingyao and back at Jiang Tu. He was unsure of what to say. “Um…”

“That was Jiang Tu’s glasses, right? I didn’t see clearly; how did it suddenly fall?”

“I also didn’t see…”

“It was as if it suddenly flew off.”

It was too noisy.

Jiang Tu sat up, rested his chin on his hand and frowned. He looked very fierce without his glasses. His irritated expression silenced everyone around.

Zhu Xingyao bit her lips and turned around. “Um, I accidentally stepped on your glasses and broke them…”