"Lei Xirui, which school are you from?" Shi Xingwu didn't know what else to say to Lei Xirui.
However, at this moment, shifting her attention was the best course of action.
Rather than comforting Lei Xirui, Shi Xingwu would have preferred to exchange a few punches with her.
It might have been more enjoyable.
"I'm from Kyoto Imperial High," Lei Xirui replied.
"I've heard of it, a prestigious school, right?" Shi Xingwu patted his chest and said, "I'm from Z City First High."
"I know..." Lei Xirui lowered her gaze.
"You know? Huh? Am I that famous?" Shi Xingwu blinked and said, "Oh... you're just being polite, right?"
"No, I was sitting next to Xia Qingyu when you were cheering for her below the bus today." Speaking of which, Lei Xirui remembered the appearance of Liao Tingting walking onto the bus with blue-green hair.
At that time, Liao Tingting was still a living person...
She had originally planned to leave after receiving a call from home.
After much thought, she decided it would be better to say goodbye to Xia Qingyu first.
Her personality was usually introverted, and due to the potentially bad tempers of other family members, she had almost no friends at school.
Fortunately, due to her family's business, she was engrossed in antiques and cultural relics, so she wasn't too lonely.
If Shi Xingwu hadn't been acting so silly below the bus today, she probably wouldn't have dared to strike up a conversation with Xia Qingyu.
It was rare to find someone to talk to. Although they weren't from the same city, exchanging contact information to become online friends should be fine.
What if Xia Qingyu could come to Z City again in the future? It would be great if they could meet up and have fun together.
She had never gone out to play with friends before...
But Lei Xirui didn't know that she had seen Liao Tingting rush into traffic the moment she walked out of the hotel.
The sight of the splashing blood terrified Lei Xirui.
By the time she recovered her senses, she had already run over here.
She felt as if all her strength had drained away, barely supporting herself as she sat on the stone bench.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, and her mind was blank.
It was too terrifying...
"So that's how it is." Shi Xingwu suddenly understood and let out a dry laugh, saying, "That happened this morning."
After saying that, Shi Xingwu didn't know what else to say.
They sat there in silence, the atmosphere awkward and quiet.
After a long time, Lei Xirui was the first to break the silence: "Liao Tingting... is she... dead?"
"She should be," Shi Xingwu replied in a low voice. "The car just crashed like that, and she just ran into it... without any hesitation..."
He had been standing very close at the time, and he had seen Liao Tingting's expression.
So, that was what a person's expression looked like when they were determined to die, with such decisiveness and tranquility.
It was as if she had finally given up everything, or perhaps...
Shi Xingwu couldn't articulate it, only feeling that he would probably remember this scene for a long time.
Even though he didn't want to remember.
Lei Xirui seemed to recall that scene as well, shivering in fear, her hands hanging by her knees clenched into fists.
"Don't let my appearance as a strong guy fool you, but at that moment, I was really scared, and I felt like throwing up," Shi Xingwu said self-deprecatingly, noticing Lei Xirui's pale face. "Don't you think I'm a coward? That I just grew this big without purpose?"
"No," Lei Xirui looked at Shi Xingwu and shook her head. "It's reverence for life."
"Is that so? Oh my... people who are good at studying are indeed different." Shi Xingwu chuckled dryly, raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, and said, "Reverence for life... I'll probably never be able to say such things in my life."
"Aren't you from Z City First High too? Z City First High has someone as amazing as Xia Qingyu, so you shouldn't be bad either..." Lei Xirui looked at Shi Xingwu and said.
"I'm a sports specialty student, my studies are completely hopeless." Shi Xingwu raised his hand to show off his biceps and said, "Li Xiaozhong said that when I trained too much and didn't have enough protein, my body directly converted my IQ into muscle. I think he has a point."
"Pfft." Hearing Shi Xingwu's earnest nonsense, Lei Xirui couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Shi Xingwu looked at Lei Xirui, confused.
"IQ is a measure of a person's intelligence level, it's purely an intelligence quotient and has nothing to do with protein," Lei Xirui replied with a slight smile. "If you insist, protein deficiency can affect brain development, but the conversion between muscle and intelligence is not very plausible. Your friend was probably just teasing you."
"Ah, this..." Shi Xingwu recalled carefully, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, "No wonder he sighed when I told him his analysis made sense back then..."
"Pfft." Lei Xirui chuckled again upon hearing this.
"Don't laugh at me... I'm not good at this, but I'm really good at sports. My family runs a dojo, and my mom said that when other children were just learning to walk, I could already do a somersault." Shi Xingwu puffed out his chest, his face full of pride.
"That does sound very impressive..." Lei Xirui, who wasn't even good at running, let alone difficult things like somersaults.
"See?" Shi Xingwu chuckled, feeling much more relaxed, and continued chatting with Lei Xirui for a while longer.
Lei Xirui's expression became more and more relaxed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Shi Xingwu, appearing very interested in him.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since she had laughed like this with someone.
After all, her family situation was a bit special.
Her gaze deepened slightly, and Lei Xirui suddenly seemed to remember something and shot up from her seat.
"Oh my! You startled me!" Shi Xingwu was stunned when Lei Xirui suddenly stood up and patted his chest.
"I'm sorry!" Lei Xirui apologized. "My family is coming to pick me up, and they might have arrived by now. I... I have to go."
"Alright then, hurry back." Shi Xingwu said with a smile, "Bye~"
"Bye~" Lei Xirui immediately ran back.
"Wow..." Looking at Lei Xirui's retreating back, Shi Xingwu couldn't help but exclaim, "So someone can run that slowly..."
...
Meanwhile, outside the hotel, the crowd had gradually dispersed. Only the police tape and the bloodstains on the ground served as reminders that a young life had vanished forever.
A dark Aston Martin stopped by the roadside, its rear window rolled down to reveal a pair of deep eyes: "Where is Xirui?"
"Third Young Master, Fourth Miss has not been found yet."
"Keep looking." The owner of those eyes furrowed his brow, and his gaze casually fell upon a slender figure walking out of the hotel entrance: "Xia Qingtian? What is she doing here?"
Could she be here for Lei Xirui?
Tsk.