It was about 6 in the morning, as Jie and I were preparing to go our parents' villa to prepare for Jie's birthday party that was happening the day after and to catch up with what's going on with our lives. Just to clarify, both of us don't live with our parents anymore. After Jie started college a few years back, she bought a house for the two of us which our parents were okay with, as long as we promised to visit them whenever we came back to Shanghai.

I was still in my room, just applying some last-minute touches. I was wearing a white long-sleeved top with a blue-collar accented with black polka dots, and matching cuffs that was tucked into a black high waisted school girl skirt, and finally some black high heeled ankle boots. I fastened on some diamond stud earrings and curled my hair. I heard a knock on my door, and Jie poked her head in.

"You ready meimei?" she asked as she went inside. She was dressed in a white and yellow striped sleeveless crop top, a matching skirt, and white block heels. Her hair was pulled back into a curled ponytail and she was wearing some gold hoop earrings. I smiled and nodded as I grabbed my dark blue clutch and phone, and headed downstairs to my car. We got in and fastened our seatbelts, as I started the car.

I drove us to the villa, which was just a little far from where our house was. Jie was beside me, calmly looking at the scenery outside. Then, I saw the big golden gates with the letters "Tengtang" engraved at the top.

I honked my horn and the guard out front opened the gate for us. Jie and I thanked him, as I drove inside and parked the car near the entrance of the villa. As we got down from the car, we were greeted by familiar faces.

It was Uncle Liu and Auntie Cindy. Uncle Liu was our family's butler while Auntie Cindy was my and Jie's nanny growing up. They are married and had served our family for years- they were both like our grandparents growing up. Uncle Liu was this happy grandfather who taught us to be brave and spoiled us with candy, while Auntie Cindy was this sweet grandmother who would braid our hair and tell us stories before we slept.

"Uncle Liu!" I exclaimed, as I hugged and smiled at the old man.

"Our little Shuijing has grown up to be a fine little lady! And Jing here has become such a beauty!" he complimented, as he gave me a warm smile and clasped my hand in his. "I better not be hearing about boyfriends from you missy! Both of you!" he warned playfully at me and Jie, which made us laugh as I went to give Auntie Cindy a hug.

"My my, you girls have grown up so gracefully.." Auntie Cindy said as her eyes began to tear up, which made Jie and I hug her tighter. She pulled away from the hug and softly caressed both our faces with a motherly smile. "I'm so proud of both of you." she said, as she pulled us in for one more hug before we headed inside.

Going inside made me remember a lot of memories- both good and bad, but nevertheless, I smiled at the nostalgia it brought. Someone took mine and Jie's bags to our rooms, while we walked through the halls of the villa and finally arrived at the dining room, where our parents were waiting for us. I observed the table and saw that an abundance of all our favorite food was prepared for me and Jie. Cheese omelets, sweet and sour pork, our favorite fish soup, garlic bread, fresh green salad, and more.

"Jing. Shuijing." My mother greeted, as she gave us both a kiss on the cheek and passed us on to our father who was sitting at the head of the table.

"Hi dad." we both said, as Dad smiled at us and gestured for us to take our seats. I sat next to Dad on his left side, while Jie beside me. Mom was seated on the other side of the table on Dad's right side.

We proceeded to get some food, as Mom began to ask us about how we were. She mostly talked to Jie and I just continued eating my food. I was used to it. Jie was Mom's favorite. Come to think of it, she was Dad's favorite too. I frowned but continued to chew the bacon on my plate.

"Shuijing." I heard my Dad sternly call my name which made me look up from my food and give him a small smile.

"Yes, Dad?" I asked softly as he continued to tear through his pancake.

"How are the business proposals for the company doing?" he asked seriously, not looking up from his plate.

"They're okay, Dad. Most of them are quite good and I had emailed you my inputs already." I answered as I drank my juice. He nodded in contentment.

"That's good to hear. It's good that you're focusing on work rather than just partying every day." He said back. Oh boy, here we go.

"Dear! You know our Shuijing. She works so hard and barely has friends so she doesn't party that much." Mom defended if you can call it that. I saw it as more of a backhanded compliment, but still, I silently thanked her with a warm smile which she returned.

"Please. I've seen the articles. What kind of life are you leading in France? Just look at your sister. She has never embarrassed us." Dad said which made me hang my head low to keep him from seeing my tears. I felt Jie hold my hand, which made me look up and smile at her. I held my head high and continued eating.

"Wait a minute...I forgot to ask the most important question! Silly me!" Mom laughed awkwardly while trying to change the subject. Jie and I looked at her.

"What is it Mom?" Jie asked kindly.

"Are there any boyfriends that your Dad and I should worry about?" She teased which made Jie and I stop eating. Dad looked at us while Mom waited for an answer.

"Well is there?" She pressed as she gave us a teasing smile but we both shook our heads. Dad smiled.

"As it should be. You two are too young to have boyfriends. You're my little girls." Dad stated as he picked up a piece of fruit.

"Dad, I'm turning 24 tomorrow and Shuijing is turning 22 soon. We're not little anymore." Jie stated, which I nodded to.

"So no one? Really? What about your F4 friends? You're both very close with them since you were children and those boys have all grown up so handsomely!" Mom complimented, as she remembered our childhood friends.

"Ah yes...Those boys certainly have proven themselves worthy of their family name. If only all children were like that.." Dad said as he finished drinking his coffee and slightly glanced at me. I frowned and ate the last of my omelet.

"Well? Jing, Lei seems to have grown into a fine young man. I heard he has garnered quite an impressive amount of music scholarships and he seems to like you very much." Mom cut in as she smiled at Jie then turned to me.

"And you Shuijing? Aren't you close with the son of the Feng Corporation? Meizuo is it?" She asked as she recalled Zuo's name which I nodded to.

"Yes we are, Mom, but that's it. We're really just the best of friends. But, I think it's a different story for Lei and Jie." I teased as I nudged Jie- who in turn, blushed and made Mom laugh. Even Dad tried to stifle a laugh.

"Well, they both seem quite like charming young men, I expect them both to be there at the party okay?" Dad said as he referred to Jie's birthday party, which Jie nodded and smiled at.

The rest of breakfast went well, except for the fact that Dad's words kept ringing in my ears.

After finishing up, I got a text from Ah Si. He said he wanted me to drop by Mingde to see something important, as well as join him and the rest of the boys for lunch. I texted him back and said okay. I excused myself from my parents and asked Jie if she wanted to come with me. She politely declined and said that she wanted to oversee the details of the party. I nodded and bade them goodbye- and told Jie I'd see her at home. I got in my car and drove to Mingde.

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When I got there, I saw Shancai and Qinghe near the big steps talking. I walked up to them.

"Hi Shancai. Hi Qinghe." I greeted the two as they looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi Shuijing!" Qinghe greeted cheerfully.

"Hi Shuijing. What are you doing here?" Shancai asked curiously. I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Ah Si said he wanted to see me for something. You haven't seen him or the rest of the boys have you?" I asked as she shook her head.

"Oh nevermind then. So what were you guys talking about?" I asked kindly as I sat down beside Shancai.

"We were talking about how great our last night at Sanya was." He added as he remembered the memory.

"My aunts and uncles heard that I won F4 over with squid-fishing. They're so proud." He said, as I laughed. Shancai just stared at him, looking lost in thought.

"Didn't you see the squid I grilled? All of them started drooling. They loved it. I've managed to make F4 like me with my food!" He exclaimed as if he just won a gold medal. He suddenly got hit on the head by Meizuo and Ximen who had just gotten down the stairs. Meizuo grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the two, waving them goodbye as I continued to walk in pace with the two seniors. I was wearing heels, so Meizuo dragging me around wasn't exactly helpful. He apologized and asked Ximen to stop for a while. We sat down on a bench near the Nutrition Department, where Shancai and Qinghe's classroom was.

"Well, good morning to you too." I groaned as I rubbed my feet. The combination of heels and getting dragged around was not fun. Meizuo stared at me sheepishly.

"Sorry Shui, I didn't mean to." He said as he stared at my reddening ankle. I waved it off and told him it was fine. He gave me an apologetic smile, as he helped me up. As soon as I got up, my left foot tripped over my right foot and I closed my eyes while waiting for the hard impact.

But it never came. I opened my eyes and saw where I landed. I looked up and saw Meizuo's concerned face. My hands were pressed against his chest as he held me by the waist.

"Are you okay?" he asked with furrowed brows. I nodded and quickly stood upright, but he kept his hand on my waist since my ankle still hurts a little.

"Oh yeah, Shuijing, what are you doing here?" Ximen asked me.

"Ah Si wanted to see me for something. He said it was important." I answered back which he nodded to.

"Well he said to meet him at Shancai's locker." Meizuo answered.

"Well, let's go boys!" I said as I walked towards Shancai's locker, Meizuo and Ximen following closely behind me.

When we arrived there, I saw Shancai at her locker meticulously looking for something. Then I saw Ah Si who had just arrived as well. We walked closer to them and that's when I noticed Ah Si's feet. Instead of some shiny branded pair of shoes were some white lace-up sneakers that had half of his feet out because they were obviously way too small for him. I groaned and realized those were Shancai's.

"Good morning, Shancai." Ah Si greeted cheerfully as Shancai turned to look at him. Ah Si looked down, which made Meizuo and Ximen look down at the ruined pair on his feet. They both look so annoyed, and frankly, I was too. This was a grade school standard prank.

"Daoming Si, why are you wearing my shoes?" Shancai demanded as she looked at her shoes on Ah Si's feet.

"Are these your shoes? No wonder they're kind of tight." Ah Si answered as he smiled and tapped his feet teasingly.

"Daoming Si, is there something wrong with you? You're so immature for your age. I feel sorry for you." Shancai said as she slammed her locker and walked away, with Qinghe following close behind her. Ah Si laughed hysterically while Ximen, Meizuo and I were unamused.

"Hey." Ah Si said as he tried to call after Shancai while holding in his laughter, but he stopped when he saw our reactions.

"Hey. Did you see her face? She was so mad." Ah Si bragged as he reeled in his laughter.

"You woke us up so early today just to see that?" Ximen said as he gestured to Ah Si's feet.

"Yes. I didn't sleep last night so I can do this to pick on her." Ah Si said.

"This is the "important" thing that you wanted me to see?" I said as I looked at him, annoyed which he nodded cheerfully in response. I sighed and covered my face with my hands.

"We should really think about why we're friends with someone so immature." Meizuo said as he looked at me and Ximen, which made Ah Si glared at us.

"Don't worry. This is just the first part of my plan." He said. I looked at him, confused.

"You have a plan?" Ximen asked him, surprised at the revelation.

" Yes. My plan is to seduce her first, mess around with her, and then dump her. She'll be so sad. Nobody up there or down there will be able to help her." He said as he looked like some kind of genius.

"I feel like you'll fall for her first." Meizuo chimed in which made me laugh.

" I agree. Ah Si, at this rate she'll be the one that will have you falling at her feet." I said as he turned to look at me in disbelief.

"Are you kidding? Would I like someone that lame?" He answered back cockily. I shook my head and walked away from him, Meizuo and Ximen following after me.

"Hey, where are you going? Hey. Can you get me my shoes?" He called out for us but we didn't look back. Meizuo just gave him a wave goodbye as we continued to walk.

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I was eating lunch with them, Lei still wasn't here so I assumed he was practicing somewhere. I took a bite of my cake, as Meizuo and Ximen talked. I was beside Meizuo, while Ximen sat a little further from Ah Si. I was still a little sleepy since we went to Mom and Dad at about 6:30 and I had to come here at 7:15 to see something "important". Ximen turned to look at me, noticing my tired state.

"Shuijing, you okay? You look so tired." He said as he passed me a drink. Meizuo who was beside me, turned to look at me.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I had to wake up a little early today to visit Mom and Dad with Jie, and I was planning on sleeping when I got back from the villa but someone had to text me to see something "important"." I said as I turned my eyes to Ah Si who ignored what I had said and was smiling stupidly at his phone. He was watching the viral video of him and Shancai kissing- which someone had taken at the party.

"You visited your mom and dad? How was it?" Meizuo asked while Ximen listened intently.

"It was fine... I guess." I answered sadly, as I remembered what my dad had said earlier and a teardrop fell from my eye which I quickly brushed away and gave the boys a sad smile.

Ximen gave me a sympathetic smile while Meizuo placed his arm around my shoulder.

"Don't think about it too much okay? You know how he is." Ximen comforted as he held my hand from across the table while Meizuo rubbed my shoulders.

"Yeah, and hey, we love you okay? We'll always be here for you." He said as he gave me a small smile and Ximen did as well. I hugged him and squeezed Ximen's hand in thanks. They both pulled away and turned to Ah Si.

"Look at him. How many times has he watched it?" Meizuo asked in disbelief that Ah Si was still grinning like an idiot.

"I don't know. But I do know that when you like someone, you have to follow her QQ space." Ximen added as I smiled.

"Well, I guess what I said earlier is true. It just came sooner than I thought. Ah Si has really fallen for her." I said as I ate my cake. We continued to talk minus Ah Si who was obviously looking through Shancai's pictures when suddenly 2 girls who I recognized were Shancai and Qinghe's classmates.

"Daoming Si. Do you remember me? I'm Xinhui, a freshman in the Nutrition Department. I really like you." She introduced herself while her companion shyly waved at Meizuo and Ximen. I raised my eyebrows. Why do I feel like there's trouble brewing? Something about these girls just didn't sit right with me.

"And?" Ah Si boredly said as he continued to look at his phone which made me laugh.

"My classmate, Shancai, has been rude to you. I have a video of her to show you." She added which made Ah Si perk up at the mention of Shancai. "Hopefully, she'll stay out of trouble." She went on to say as he held out her phone for Ah Si to take. The 3 of us looked at each other.

"Let me see." Meizuo said as he held out his hand to take the phone.

"No, it's for Daoming Si." She said as she continued to hold it out in front of Ah Si.

"Give it to me." Ah Si said as he grabbed the phone from Xinhui's grasp. Ah Si's eyes darkened and he was gripping the phone hard. This was not going to end well. Ximen felt that something was wrong too and grabbed the phone from Ah Si, showing me and Meizuo the video. It was Shancai and Lei. She was brushing something out of Lei's hair. The three of us turned to look at Ah Si who at any moment, looked like he was going to explode.

"What's the big deal?" Ximen said as he threw the phone in the middle of the table.

"Yeah. Shancai only touched Huaze Lei's head." Meizuo added while Xinhui just rolled her eyes. My blood boiled. This girl was really getting on my nerves.

"They've been meeting on the rooftop for a few times now. Even though Huaze Lei likes Jing, Shancai seems to be interested in him." she said which just added more fuel to the fire. Ah Si was really mad now.

"Shut up." Ah Si threatened but she just kept on talking.

"She kissed you once but now she's flirting with Huaze Lei." she said and that was the final blow. Ah Si picked up her phone from the table and threw it across the floor.

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?" Ah Si said angrily. Now, I was really worried what Ah Si might do now that he's been provoked.

"Ah Si, Xinhui's just trying to remind you that Shancai isn't as innocent as she looks. You should be careful." The other girl with her said and that was the last straw for me. I stood up which in turn made Meizuo and XImen look at me. I wasn't just mad now, I was furious.

"Get out of the way." Ah Si said as he pushed her away and stalked out of the cafeteria. We watched him leave but I stood my ground. I walked up to both the girls with a menacing look on my face. I wasn't as lenient as Jie when it came to bullies and frankly, my temper was worse than Ah Si's.

"Do you have any idea what the hell you just did?" I asked angrily as they both looked down and went silent. Meizuo and Ximen had stood up behind me and were watching the whole scene.

"Well? Answer me. You seem to be smart enough for this right? So, give me a damn straight answer as to why you provoked Ah Si." I threatened as my eyebrows raised in fury. Xinhui looked up at me but looked back down when she saw the anger in my eyes.

"We only wanted to warn him about Shancai. She's working her way up the ladder by seducing both Daoming Si and Huaze Lei. Who knows if she'll go after Ximen and Meizuo next?" She answered and I turned to look at Ximen and Meizuo who were also reeling in their anger. I turned back to Xinhui and her friend and laughed hysterically. They all, including the people in the cafeteria, looked at me like I was insane. I abruptly stopped laughing and looked at them dead in the eye.