"Sister Xiaoxiao, when are you planning to go blow up Wei Zhao?" Zhong Pinliang asked, rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation.

"Your Fire Tree Silver Blossoms aren't even ready yet. What am I supposed to blow up with?" Feng Xiaoxiao shot Zhong Pinliang a glare. "Is your plan even going to work? Don't let Wei Zhao find out!"

"It should be fine. Besides, once we've made sure and tied the firecrackers onto him, we light them and blow his backside wide open! Make him lose every last shred of face!" Zhong Pinliang pictured Wei Zhao's rear end blown bright red, disgraced before the whole school — that was his dream!

"Fine. But when will your Fire Tree Silver Blossoms actually arrive?" Feng Xiaoxiao asked, looking at Zhong Pinliang, who stood there gaping like an idiot.

"Soon. I've already called them several times!" Zhong Pinliang said. "It's being airlifted in by plane right now. It's called an Eskimo tree!"

Feng Xiaoxiao gave Zhong Pinliang a strange look. Only a lunatic like him would have a tree flown in by air. "Then play by yourself. I'm going back."

Feng Xiaoxiao turned and headed toward the classroom building. It had to be said: Feng Xiaoxiao seemed to command the wind and call the rain. As the youngest of the campus's Four Great Bullies, she could still order around the second and third of them — how impressive was that?

But Feng Xiaoxiao was lonely. She did not have a single friend she could truly open her heart to. Watching silly Shen Yushu beside Gu Mengyao, and Xi Suiyou beside Wei Zhao, Feng Xiaoxiao felt a twinge of envy. They all had friends; only she had none.

Friends? I don't need them! Feng Xiaoxiao said in her heart. I don't need friends, and I don't need friendship! I'm happy just being on my own. That way I won't have to face the parting of life and death later on.

"Brother Liang, why do I get the feeling Feng Xiaoxiao's in a bad mood?" Gao Xiaofu said curiously, watching Feng Xiaoxiao's somewhat forlorn figure.

"Wei Zhao drenched her in piss and humiliated her. How could her mood be good?" Zhong Pinliang curled his lip, unimpressed. "Let's just focus on tonight's Fire Tree Silver Blossoms plan. Do you really think Gu Mengyao will like this 'fire trees and silver blossoms on a nightless sky'?"

"I think so!" Gao Xiaofu thought for a moment. "Brother Liang, how about you write some more notes declaring your love for Gu Mengyao, fold them into hearts, and hang them on the tree? If Gu Mengyao happens to glance at them, she'll be thrilled!"

"Mm, that makes sense. Then go find some paper and help me write them!" Zhong Pinliang thought the idea was not bad at all and nodded. He had nothing better to do anyway; writing a few notes beat sitting around idle.

"This... the two of us probably won't be enough. We'll have to find some people to help!" Gao Xiaofu said. "Still, as long as we hand out a bit of money, plenty of people should be willing."

"Fine. I'll leave it to you, then!" Zhong Pinliang fished out a thousand yuan and handed it to Gao Xiaofu. "You handle this first. I'm going to drum up some attention!"

With that, Zhong Pinliang went off to find Gu Mengyao. He wanted to tell her the news in advance, so that she would come out tonight and see his declaration of love...

"Xiaoshu, why did you stop digging?" Gu Mengyao asked, puzzled, looking at Shen Yushu sitting on the ground rubbing her hands.

"Oh, I'm tired." Shen Yushu had long since tossed her shovel aside. At first she had found planting trees novel, but after digging for a while she decided it was too tiring and simply stopped, planning to wait until Gu Mengyao finished the hole and then plant both trees in the same one. "Sister Yaoyao, how about we plant both trees together later? What do you think?"

"I don't think much of it. You little slacker!" Gu Mengyao rolled her eyes in exasperation. So Shen Yushu had made her into a beast of burden! "Get up and dig with me!"

"But Sister Yaoyao, I'm tired. You're the older sister, you're older than me, so you have to go easy on me." Shen Yushu refused to get up.

"That Wei Zhao. He doesn't even come to help. All he knows is chasing girls!" Gu Mengyao could do nothing about Xiaoshu, so she could only dig at the soil shovel by shovel, grinding her teeth, sweat streaming down her forehead, cursing Wei Zhao without pause. "That bastard, I'm docking his pay! Has he no sense of what it means to be a sidekick? Doesn't he know this is when he should be helping?"

"Well... how about I go get Shield Bro to come help?" Shen Yushu also felt it was a bit unfair to sit there while Gu Mengyao worked alone.

"Him? Forget it! He's off chasing girls. When would he have the mood to bother with us?" Gu Mengyao snorted. "I don't know what's so great about Tang Yun. Our Xiaoshu is way prettier than her, and cuter too..."

"Oh, Sister Yaoyao isn't bad either. Why don't you go seduce Shield Bro? Give him a little taste of sweetness and he'd work himself to death for you, wouldn't he?" Shen Yushu suggested.

"If it's such a brainless idea, why don't you go? You've got the bigger chest, so you're perfect for seducing him!" Gu Mengyao glared at Shen Yushu.

"All right. Then I'll give it a try next time..." Shen Yushu nodded, deeply convinced.

Gu Mengyao was about to lecture Xiaoshu a little more when she heard her cry out excitedly: "Sister Yaoyao, we've got help! The laborer's here!"

"Hm?" Startled, Gu Mengyao raised her head and saw Zhong Pinliang striding over. She lowered her voice. "You don't mean Zhong Pinliang, do you?" "Hehe, that's right. Free labor like that — why not use him?" Shen Yushu said, and waved to Zhong Pinliang. "Liang, Sister Yaoyao's calling you!"

The moment Zhong Pinliang heard Shen Yushu call him "Liang," he was overjoyed. To go with tonight's Fire Tree Silver Blossoms, he had deliberately worn a casual suit today, and he assumed it was because of the suit that Gu Mengyao had decided he had become handsome. So he came trotting over eagerly. "Yaoyao, Xiaoshu, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Sister Yaoyao, aren't you tired? Go rest on that bench over there for a while. I'll dig the hole!" Shen Yushu said, snatching the shovel from Gu Mengyao's hands and shooting her a meaningful look.

Gu Mengyao found it both funny and impossible to resist. This Shen Yushu — when they were alone together she was more scatterbrained than anyone, but the moment an outsider appeared she turned sharp as a tack. Whether it was an act or not, Gu Mengyao could not tell. Shen Yushu was almost certainly trying to send her away so she could trick Zhong Pinliang into digging the hole. She knew too that if she stayed, she would never have the nerve to let Zhong Pinliang dig; but once she left, Shen Yushu could use her name to make Zhong Pinliang do the heavy lifting.

"Then I'll go rest for a bit..." Though Gu Mengyao did not want Zhong Pinliang's help, the digging really had worn her out, and she truly wanted a rest.

So Gu Mengyao pretended not to know what Shen Yushu was up to and let her handle it. If Zhong Pinliang wanted to play the hired hand, then let him. Xiaoshu was the one who had called him over, after all; it had nothing to do with her! At that thought, Gu Mengyao felt a little better, and turned to go rest.

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