Chapter 5: Come closer, the butterfly flies away. ...

During the period from the age of seventeen to twenty-four, the question He Dongli heard most often in interpersonal relationships was, how did you and Zong Chi meet?

If you think about it, she hasn't been asked this question for about five years.

I even forgot how she answered this question at that time:

Classmates and alumni. They were classmates for two years before they went to college. After the division of arts and science classes, they became high school alumni.

Then, the person asking the question became curious again. It turns out that children from wealthy families also study within the system. I thought he would have left early to attend high school in the United States.

Back then, among the gossips about Sohei and Sohei's love affair, the one that was most regarded as a campus cliché was that in order to be closer to his girlfriend, Sohei ignored his parents' opposition and stayed in the country alone to finish high school.

Occasionally, during these chaotic conversations, He Dongli would soberly dispel the rumors: "No, he was very naive back then, and so was I. We weren't even friends. Everyone said his family was rich, but before he started high school, he never even paid me back for a six-yuan beef noodle meal."

Everyone burst into laughter, and Zong Chi didn't feel embarrassed. He told his playmates everything in detail: You still remember it, and you said you were not secretly in love with me.

He Dongli is not as shameless as him. Even if Zong Chi is drunk, she will still criticize him. Who has a crush on you? You are dreaming. Zong Chi, you were so annoying at that time. You went out without money. When you were hungry, you spent your female classmate's money to buy noodles, and you didn't even pay it back. How dare you!

A dazed man took her back to the hotel, the smell of alcohol intertwined with a malicious smile. He always wanted to be the leader, or perhaps he was too perverse in the smooth years, and could not tolerate the slightest setback. At that time, Zong Chi was young and full of vigor and blood. When the romance was gone, he was too lazy to explain anything. He even looked at He Dongli. He knew that she had some pain that he could not understand, but he still picked her up and answered her questions wildly:

Zong Chi, is this the only reason you came back to see me?

certainly.

*

He Dongli stood at the door of the Liang family's bathroom. In the silence that was sometimes short and sometimes long, the reunion after five years seemed a bit long and tedious.

It seemed like it was just yesterday that she and the man not far away broke up.

The breakup happened during the Spring Festival holiday. Zong Chi had ignored family gatherings and banquets and flew back to China, only to be sued by He Dongli's mother, who then called his father to complain. He Dongli couldn't forget the day his father, accompanied by his men, found them, and how furious he was, slapping him in front of everyone.

Call him a bastard!

That year, City A experienced the heaviest snowfall in years. The north-south main trunk of Sangtian Road, along with several radiating branches extending throughout the scenic area, blocked all routes up and down the mountain.

Zong Chi, who was slapped by his father, lifted up the hem of his shirt and wiped the lens in his hand roughly, then turned his head and spat out something. He Dongli saw a pool of blood on the carpet.

Zong Jingzhou sternly ordered Zong Chi to personally escort He Dongli down. "If you say no again, I will break your legs."

The moment the villa door opened, the wind and snow poured into the greenhouse like cotton wool, and also poured into He Dongli's senses on the mudflats.

A hazy azure, a vast expanse of white. Zong Chi simply walked her to the door without a word, then immediately turned and went inside. He Dongli, her limbs limp as footsteps rustled in the snow, climbed into the car. An unsettling feeling welled up in her chest. She tried hard to suppress this physiological reaction, closing her eyes. Finally, the car started moving, waves and rows of cars, all transformed into a cloud of fog on the glass, a line of pearls...

It has been more than five years since we last met.

As he said, He Dongli had a good memory since she was young. She couldn't forget what she had learned, and it was even harder to forget the people she had interacted with. Over the years, she was frequently asked how she and Zong Chi met, but she never mentioned it. At the very beginning, they were both transfer students attending the affiliated high school for the school selection process. They had randomly selected their seats, and Zong Chi sat in the row in front of her.

After the written test, when she passed the paper forward, she saw the boy in front of her copied two of her multiple-choice questions in a row.

He Dongli felt contempt. After coming out of the examination room, she witnessed this boy and several people who had been waiting outside the school gate for a long time pushing and shoving each other over a disagreement.

Outnumbered and vulnerable, he was dragged into a temple alley separated from the school by a wall, where a boy, a head taller than him, practically straddled him. Even though He Dongli detested his cheating, her instincts of survival and sympathy for the weak kept her from dwelling on it. She pulled out the secondhand, beat-up phone her mother had given her and prepared to call the police.

He Dongli was spotted by a boy who was following her, and she turned around and ran. After two or three steps, her schoolbag strap was grabbed. As her cell phone was taken away, she screamed. In the chaos, she didn't know how the suppressed boy got up again.

The cell phone was smashed by the boy who was holding her, and it almost fell from his hand. The boy who got up jumped towards her and kicked him in the heart.

An incident of bullying outside the school finally alerted the Affiliated High School security and the teacher in charge of the Saturday selection process. The teacher in charge of their exam stepped in and harshly reprimanded the boy who had finally started the fight. He Dongli heard the teacher call out his name: "Zongchi, what can I say about you? You're so aggressive! You'll be reborn as a fighting cock in your next life. If your dad finds out, he'll give you another beating!"

Only then did He Dongli realize that some students could get into the school they wanted regardless of whether they took an exam or not.

Whether you copy her two multiple-choice questions or not, the results are the same.

When she came out of the security room, the boy named Zong Chi called her and wanted to compensate her for her cell phone.

He Dongli said she didn't know how much compensation she would have to pay, and she had to go back and ask her mother.

Zong Chi's hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and she said that her cell phone was worth at most two hundred yuan.

He Dongli did not argue with him, but said calmly, "Well, I'll go back and ask, and you can pay whatever amount you want when the time comes."

Zong Chi didn’t understand, when would that time be?

He Dongli said that he would ask you for it after the school officially starts.

Zong Chi glanced back at the school emblem and sign at the north gate. He watched the girl walk towards the bus stop with such confidence and courage, "How do you know we'll all be accepted?"

"I know mine, and you just need to know yours."

Zong Chi choked and blushed. He thought she was referring to the two multiple-choice questions. So he simply asked her, "You got both the last two math questions right, right?"

"have no idea."

Zong Chi was more confident than her. The moment the bus arrived at the station, he said to her, "You look like someone who has everything right."

He Dongli rolled his eyes at this "bad student" and got into the car without another word. He drove away.

That evening, He Dongli received a call notifying her of a spot in the ninth grade at the affiliated high school. Her mother was overjoyed. She had already prepared dinner, but she wasn't happy about setting the table. She said she'd take her out for a meal and order whatever she liked.

He Dongli shook her head and said that they should eat at home. She didn't have anything in particular she wanted to eat, and besides, her phone was broken.

Yu Xiaohan comforted her daughter, saying, "It's okay, you're just helping your classmates. What's wrong with these kids these days? Why are they fighting over a test?"

He Dongli objectively stated that it wasn't a fight, but rather a case of the majority bullying the minority. It was obvious that those guys were older than the boy.

Yu Xiaohan followed his daughter's line of thought and asked, "Then how did the fight break out?"

He Dongli passed the exam and, as his mother wished, was admitted to the Affiliated Middle School of No. 1 Middle School. He felt somewhat relieved. He was a bit lazy in answering his mother's question, "You asking this proves that you are normal and won't bully the weak."

Yu Xiaohan laughed at her impudent little self. Mother and daughter cleaned up and prepared for dinner. Before dinner, He Dongli even asked her mother how much compensation she should ask the other party for the phone. Yu Xiaohan said it was okay, since it was just an old one.

"He said it was worth two hundred at most."

"Who is it?"

"The boy sitting in front of me who was being bullied seemed to have the surname Zong."

"He's been bullied, so forget it."

He Dongli blamed his mother for being soft-hearted, "It was because of him that my phone was thrown at me."

Finally, her mother told her that it was not worth two hundred, and one hundred was too much.

He Dongli chewed a mouthful of rice, swallowed it, and decided, "Then I'll just pay a hundred."

The school officially opened in September. He Dongli arrived at the classroom door in advance according to the instructions on the notice and waited for the head teacher, Mr. Zhu, to come.

Students were coming in and out of the classroom one after another. As they walked, some of them inevitably glanced at He Dongli. That day, she had thought she was alone, but unexpectedly, a boy wearing the same brand new school uniform as her stopped at the door of (1) class...

Each grade at the Affiliated High School of No. 1 Middle School consists of 30 classes, four of which are not parallel classes. Two are "Tianwen" classes, and two are "Jingdu" classes. The former are for students who have achieved "Three Good" status in the city and meet relevant school selection criteria, while the latter are advanced programs for outstanding students within the school district. All four classes were established with scholarships donated by renowned entrepreneurs who were alumni, with the goal of ensuring that every outstanding student is not hampered by financial worries.

The alumnus and scholarship donor behind the event is Zong Jingzhou's father. His father graduated from the affiliated high school in S City before moving his family to Southeast Asia. He subsequently lived through turmoil and never returned. Zong Jingzhou finally followed his father's wishes and divided his ashes into two parts: one half is buried where his children have settled and built their careers, and the other half is returned to his hometown.

According to Zong Jingzhou, if he had no other choice, he would never have the nerve to use his father's name to demand a favor.

Zong Chi got into a fight at his former school, and the incident escalated. The parents on both sides refused to give in and even resorted to using a team of lawyers.

For this reason, Zong Jingzhou locked himself in the room and resorted to the most brutal and primitive family rules. If Yu Weishi hadn't been crying and begging outside, he really wanted to beat the brat to death and put an end to it.

Therefore, he decided to transfer his son to another school. Zong Jingzhou believed that what he studied and how many grades he got on the test were unimportant; what mattered more to his children was the ability to engage in healthy competition and solve problems. Since he wasn't doing well in his current school, constantly messing around and causing trouble, he decided to go see how the kids in the top institutions studied and worked hard.

I didn't expect that he would have an accident when he was scheduled to take the exam.

The driver was waiting for him at the South Gate, while he was fighting at the North Gate. Afterwards, he walked home alone, taking many twists and turns.

After Teacher Zhu called Zong Jingzhou's secretary, Zong Jingzhou almost fainted from anger.

When he got home and saw that he was injured again, Zong Jingzhou was so angry that he wanted to find a suitable attacker, and kept saying, "You little beast, you are definitely the biggest retribution of my life!"

Yu Weishi had been ill and bedridden these days. Hearing the noises from the father and son, he quickly got up. Without waiting for her or the nanny to stop him, Zong Chi, with the speed of a leopard, leaped upstairs. Through the railing, he launched into a rant: "Zong Jingzhou, you know shit! Damn it! All you care about is your business and my mom. Who am I? Your reputation, your Nasdaq bell ringing, is more important than anything else! You can't lose to anyone. Even bringing someone down has to be justified. I refuse to accept this! I will never accept you!"

They were the ones who bullied our junior high school first. Why did they start it? I can't fight back! I will fight back. Since they won't accept my morality, integrity, and shame, then I will accept them with my fists and the truth!

Yu Weishi was so angry he saw stars and clutched his chest. "Xiao Chi, you're outrageous! Do you really want Dad to go to the police like those other parents? It would be glorious for you little kids to just get a record or a disciplinary action, wouldn't it? Yes, you didn't start the fight, but you colluded with your classmates to retaliate afterwards. That had a terrible impact. What do you want Dad to do? Go against the PTA and the school board just for your sake? Lawyer Zhou's lesson was wasted."

Zong Chi hated their inability to understand what he was saying, and finally muttered coldly, "You are even worse than an outsider."

That evening, the school announced the written test results, and honestly, Zong Jingzhou was a bit surprised. Principal Nian had called personally to ask about Mrs. Zong's health and, after discussing Zong Chi's written test score and saying he'd barely made it in, he had a way to explain it to the public.

Not long after, Zong Jingzhou hosted a banquet for Principal Nian and Teacher Zhu. During the meal, he specially asked Zong Chi to offer them tea and wine.

What Zong Jingzhou and his wife meant was that since Teacher Zhu and Wei Shi were alumni, they would rely on this friendship and entrust the brat to Teacher Zhu.

Zhu Fengchun didn't refuse. After two rounds of drinking, they talked about Zong Chi's fight outside the school. Zhu Fengchun wanted to clarify things in front of the principal, saying that it was the first-year students who provoked him first. Some students also saw Zong Chi fighting back because he was forced to do so.

Everything should be judged by its own principles. Remember the past and learn from it, so that you can learn from it later.

Upon hearing this, Zong Jingzhou laughed and said, "Zong Chi, why don't you thank Teacher Zhu quickly?"

Zong Chi curled his lips and thought, shouldn't Xie be the one who saw it with eyes and spoke it out with a mouth?

It was also at this dinner that Zong Chi first heard He Dongli's name, because she had the highest score in the selection of this year's boarding students. Teacher Zhu praised her highly.

Zong Chi felt a little sour. As expected, a good student's words are worth a thousand words. He asked Teacher Zhu, "Which class is she in?"

Everyone at the table looked at him. Zong Chi, who was so full of lice, wasn't afraid of being bitten. "I caused her to drop her phone, and she said she'd have to pay me back when school starts."

The reason why Mr. Zhu was so proud and praised repeatedly was because such a good student was assigned to his Tianwen (1) class.

When Zong Jingzhou stood up to toast, he joked with Teacher Zhu, saying that he got a good student but also lost another one, so how could it not be considered as hedging the risk?

Amidst the smiles and compliments of the adults, Zongchi felt bored and wanted to escape...

He always remembered the first day of school at the affiliated high school. He approached the door of Tianwen (1) class and saw He Dongli, tall and slender, standing there in a blue and white school uniform.

A patch of sunlight shone through the clear green glass, and she stood in profile in that rectangular corner. The circle of light on her face looked like a spot, like a butterfly. When I got closer, the butterfly flew away.

Teacher Zhu greeted the two of them with a stack of teaching plans and said, "You two can come in together later."

He Dongli wore her hair in a high ponytail, facing the front door of the classroom. That summer, Zong Chi was experiencing a period of rapid growth. A month and a half later, he was already half a head taller than the girl he had only met once.

There are two lonely people outside the door,

He deliberately moved a little further away and lay on the balcony, facing outwards.

After a while, he remembered something and was about to turn around to talk to her, but Teacher Zhu finished the roll call and said there were two new students in the class, everyone welcome...

He Dongli walked in immediately.

That day, their names were written on the blackboard, one on the left and one on the right.

All three characters of He Dongli's name are easy to recognize. However, many students still don't recognize the "chi" in "zongchi". Some students read it as "xi" (Osmanthus fragrans).

Zong Chi turned around and marked the pinyin at the back.

When he turned around to face the whole class, he found that He Dongli was looking at the pinyin on the blackboard. The two people's eyes met unexpectedly, and then separated as if they were completely strangers.

The author has something to say:

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When I released the last chapter, I anticipated readers would be anxious. With this chapter, I'm sure they'll be even more anxious. However, a story of reconciliation wouldn't be complete without describing the journey back. (Those who disagree with this author's writing style should avoid this as a warning.)

The text also said that it was a flashback line. I personally think that the expired candies in the memory line are very important. Without these expired candies, they would not be able to wait until they meet again and still clearly understand that physiological love is the most charming.

I've been rambling for a while now. I'll switch to the present tense in the next chapter and talk about it. The two of them continue to behave abnormally, uh~

[Please]