Chapter 127 - Friday evening.

It was soon Friday evening. 

Xiao Zhihao was sitting at the bleachers and watching the rugby players while they trained for their upcoming competition. He glanced at his watch and sighed. "5.30 pm."

He was waiting for his mother to arrive and pick him up. Even though he said that he could go home by himself, Xiao Lei insisted to come and pick him up. When he asked for the reason, her reason was that she wanted him to see her in all her "office-wear glory".

While he lay down, he took a name card out of his pocket. 

"Lyle Du," Xiao Zhihao murmured. The name card was a high quality black glossy name card, and there were only a name and a phone number on it. "What kind of teenager has his own name card?" 

As he held the card between two fingers, he wondered if his mother had something to do with it. The past few days were... weird, to say the least. The three idiots who had been bothering him for most of the days the past few months suddenly stopped bothering him. 

Well, they didn't stop completely, but it was pretty tone down compared to before. At least now, there were no bugs or weird creepy crawlies crawling out of his backpack. And he did not have to look behind his back while walking down the stairs. 

Ever since they pushed him down that one time a few months back, he had been living in constant alert and it was rather tiring.

The last time, Xiao Zhihao did not sustain any serious injuries due to luck. He mostly got bruises around his knees and palms.

Since then, he was on high alert. If those three were to fool around again, and if Lady Luck was away, he might end up breaking a bone or two. 

Lately, those three merely threw verbal abuse or glares at him. Xiao Zhihao was still being shunned by most of the classmates, but other than that, it was a relatively peaceful school life. 

Well... until this morning when a kid from a different class came to visit him at his classroom. Thinking that the kid came for someone else, Xiao Zhihao did not pay much attention to him until he heard the others in the class gasping loudly. When he looked up, that kid with a solemn expression was already in front of him.

"Xiao Zhihao?"

Xiao Zhihao blinked for a few seconds. He then stood up and nodded. "Erm... Yeah." 

The kid placed a black name card on Xiao Zhihao's desk and slid it across the table until it was right in front of him. "I'm Lyle Du."

Xiao Zhihao looked at him and nodded. "I think everyone in this school knows who you are." 

Lyle smirked, which sent some of the girls into frenzied giggling. He then said in a low voice, "Keep this card well. I'll talk to you soon."

After Lyle left the room, Xiao Zhihao felt even more uncomfortable than before. He was pretty sure that the girls were thinking about something stupid. Compared to being alone, he felt more uncomfortable at being the center of attention. 

Xiao Zhihao sat up and then walked up and down the bleachers while he thought about Lyle. 

"What does he want from me? He said he would talk to me soon, but for what reason?"

What could a rich heir like Lyle want with him?

"He can't possibly like me LIKE ME, right?" Xiao Zhihao groaned when he could not think of anything. Just as he was worrying about things that were out of his control, he suddenly heard the sound of notification. 

Ting!

He glanced at his phone and saw the message from his mother. 

[ My pretty boy, I'm outside your school now. Main gate. Just look out for the prettiest woman on the street. ]

"Man, my mum has gotten weirder..." Xiao Zhihao mumbled as he picked up his bag and put the name card back into his jeans pocket. However, even though he said so, he had a smile on his face. After all, it had been a while since his mother acted so shamelessly. 

It was as if his father's disappearance had caused Xiao Lei to be afraid of everyone. She was no longer spunky, and she did not even dare to talk back to people who picked on her. Xiao Zhihao did not like the weak version of Xiao Lei.

He preferred to see her like this-- shameless and confident.

As he walked toward the shuttle bus that would send him to the main gate, he typed a reply. 

[ Coming out. ] 

When he saw his mother in her office wear, he pretended not to see her and just walked past her. 

"Hey, I'm here!" Xiao Lei said and reached out to pull his shoulder back. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

Xiao Zhihao grinned. "I'm looking for the prettiest woman on the street." 

"You brat..." Xiao Lei chuckled and hugged her son. She then took a step back, turned one round, and asked, "So how? Pretty?" 

"I think you're always pretty..." 

She laughed and ruffled his hair as she said, "Ah, you silver-tongued boy. I wonder who you inherited it from."

"You. Dad's not the type to say shameless words." 

Xiao Lei smirked. He was right. Her husband wasn't the type to say such things. 

"Are we taking the bus?" Xiao Zhihao asked as they walked across the street. 

Xiao Lei shook her head. "Oh, no. My boss sent me here."

She then pointed to a BMW that was waiting near the bus stop. 

"Your boss? Mr. Luo? Or Mr. Shenlong?" Xiao Zhihao asked. The last time they met, those two drove another car. 

"None of them. It's my boss at the office."

"Why is he being so kind?" Xiao Zhihao frowned. "He's not doing anything improper to you, is he? You know, if he bullies you, you can tell me!"

"Aw, my protective little warrior. No, don't worry. Your mum is smart enough to avoid that kind of scandal. His younger brother is studying here as well, that's why he's giving us a lift. And besides, he's also our new neighbor."

"Oh. You didn't tell me that."

Xiao Lei smiled. "Hehe. They are waiting in the car. Come, let's go."