Chapter 13

"Run! Let's see where you can run to!"

Liang Yue awoke with a start from his daze, abruptly looked up, and surveyed his surroundings.

It is a bright and spacious classroom.

Liang Yue had insomnia last night and stayed up all night reading comics. He was feeling very dizzy and was just about to bury his head in his arms to take a nap when he heard the sounds of cursing and hitting coming from next door again.

This classroom was near the end of the corridor, right next to the toilet in the corner. Liang Yue was sitting in the first row by the window, less than a meter away from the toilet window.

Unable to bear the noise any longer, she sighed, propped herself up from her desk, and slowly made her way to the toilet.

restroom.

Ji Shuyi was dragged along by several strong young upperclassmen, one of whom grabbed his hair tightly and pushed him into the dirty pool where mops were washed.

He braced himself on the edge of the pool, veins bulging on his arms, his jaw clenched tightly, struggling with all his might.

"Heh," a teasing voice rang out, "you've got some energy. I'd like to see if your hands are stronger or my feet are."

As he spoke, the man stepped on Ji Shuyi's back, leaving a dirty and obvious footprint on the faded school uniform.

Liang Yue stood at the toilet door.

Ignoring whether anyone inside hadn't finished urinating, she stepped inside without asking any questions, putting on a righteous and indignant expression, and said, "Let him go! If you don't let go, I won't be polite!"

The four of them looked at him at the same time.

"Who are you?" one of them asked disdainfully. He was leaning against the toilet door with his hands in his pockets. He hadn't participated in the fight at all. He was plain-looking with a somewhat monkey-like face. The other one, who had been tugging at Ji Shuyi, was big and fat with a buzz cut. He looked like someone you didn't want to mess with.

"Who I am is none of your business, just release him first."

"Oh, is this Ji Shuyi's little girlfriend? What, not content with stealing Ming Ge's girlfriend, you're also flirting with someone else. You're quite popular, aren't you?" As she spoke, she patted Ji Shuyi's face a few times, the insult obvious.

The "Ming" he was referring to was the skinny guy leaning against the toilet door. His father was the school's dean of students and secretary, holding multiple positions. Like his son, he was an old monkey—sharp-tongued and mean-spirited, always pacing back and forth in the corridor with a gloomy face.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that in broad daylight, the Black and White Impermanence were randomly coming to claim someone's life.

Liang Yue took a few steps closer, grabbed a mop and held it in his arms, one end of the stick facing him and the other end facing the three people. He tentatively took a few steps forward and said, "Let him go. If you don't let him go, I'll call for help."

“Go ahead and call,” the three said confidently, hands behind their backs, staring at Liang Yue with amusement. “We want to hear who you can call in.”

Several boys attempted to enter the restroom, but upon seeing the commotion, they quietly left.

Everyone knows that these three tall and strong boys are the school's famous "young masters." To avoid encountering them, you have to step over a fire pit to barely ward off bad luck.

We dare not provoke them, we really dare not provoke them.

Liang Yue frowned, took a few steps closer, and glanced at the four people in front of him one by one.

The skinny monkey slowly straightened up and walked closer to Liang Yue, looking him up and down. "I must say, you're quite good-looking. How about you spend the night with me, and I'll reluctantly let him go?"

Ji Shuyi struggled to no avail beneath the man with the buzz cut. He closed his eyes and reluctantly accepted the outcome, humiliatingly burying his head little by little in the pool.

"Wait!" Liang Yue shouted, "I've recorded everything you said and did." She pointed to her chest pocket, where a cell phone was kept recording ever since she entered the restroom.

Everything that happened here was recorded on that small mobile phone.

This includes the arrogant, skinny monkey and the buzz-cut man, as well as the fragile Ji Shuyi.

"Fine," the skinny monkey said angrily, reaching out to snatch it away.

Although he didn't care about his reputation, he couldn't have concrete evidence, otherwise it would be difficult to explain to his father.

“I can delete the video completely,” Liang Yuekong swallowed, and pleaded in a gentle tone, “You promise to let Ji Shuyi go and never cause him any trouble again.”

The skinny monkey gave Ji Shuyi a sinister look. Ji Shuyi lay helplessly on the pool, his face and chest splattered with dirty water—the crew-cut guy had just stomped on the water a few times.

Liang Yue just wanted to smooth things over, so he urged, "Think about it quickly, get out of class is about to end, and you don't want these bad deeds to be witnessed by the whole school, including your girlfriend."

“Okay,” the skinny monkey said, reaching out his hand. “Give me your phone first, and I’ll have someone release Ji Shuyi.”

"Release Ji Shuyi first, then I'll give you the phone."

"Fine, fine, fine," the skinny monkey hadn't encountered such a bold person in a long time. He chuckled twice and gestured for the two people behind him to release their grip on Ji Shuyi. "Get lost."

He said to Ji Shuyi.

"Give me your phone now."

Liang Yue pulled his phone out of his chest pocket, randomly tossed it into a urinal, immediately turned around, grabbed Ji Shuyi, and ran out.

Several furious roars came from behind.

-

Ji Shuyi was a head taller than Liang Yue, and very thin. The worn-out short-sleeved T-shirt hung loosely on his body. He was so thin that the bone in his arm looked like it might pierce through his skin at any moment.

Liang Yue pulled him straight to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria has several windows that are open from morning to night, making it convenient for students to come and eat whenever they feel hungry.

It was during class time, and there weren't many people in the cafeteria. Liang Yue dragged Ji Shuyi to a window that served fried rice. She tugged at Ji Shuyi's sleeve the whole time and said to the lady at the window, "Two bowls of green pepper and shredded pork fried rice."

"Okay."

Liang Yue and Ji Shuyi sat facing each other at a blue metal table. The paint on the tabletop had faded, revealing a dark brown base. Liang Yue took out a crumpled piece of paper from his bag, unfolded it, and wiped the tabletop in front of him.

Ji Shuyi watched her actions without saying a word, then suddenly pulled a thin card out of his pocket.

It's a meal card.

He got up again and went to the window to pay for the two servings of stir-fried rice with green peppers and shredded pork.

Liang Yue's mouth was slightly open, and she looked a little dazed. She didn't mean to take advantage of Ji Shuyi, but she just realized that she didn't have her meal card with her.

"Thank you," Ji Shuyi asked softly, "What's your name?"

"Liang Yue, Yue with the wood radical, your name is Ji Shuyi, right? You're first in your grade."

“Okay,” Ji Shuyi nodded. “I’m in Class 1. If you have any questions in the future, you can come to Class 1 to find me.”

Class 1 is the best science class in the entire grade, followed by Class 2 and Class 3, while Liang Yue is in Class 9.

It's a bad class in the common sense.

The aunt brought over fried rice.

Ji Shuyi took it and handed one to Liang Yue, "Eat it, get out of class is almost over."

Liang Yue wasn't hungry, so he just stuffed a few mouthfuls into his mouth. The food in the cafeteria was heavily seasoned with oil and salt, and he wanted to drink water after a few bites.

But Liang Yue didn't have a meal card on him.

He could only stare longingly at the Coke in the freezer.

If I could take a sip right now, it would be incredibly refreshing.

Ji Shuyi noticed where her gaze had fallen and followed it.

A red freezer was filled with all sorts of drinks.

Ji Shuyi got up again and came back with a bottle of room temperature mineral water in his hand.

“Here,” he kindly unscrewed the bottle cap, “you’ve been staring at that for a while, are you thirsty?”

"Thank you," Liang Yue said, taking the cup with both hands and sipping it a few times.

But what she wanted to drink was cola, not this bland mineral water.

Ji Shuyi finished all the fried rice on his plate and then promised, "I will return your phone to you."

"No, no need," Liang Yue waved his hand. Judging from Ji Shuyi's appearance, he probably didn't have enough money to buy an expensive phone. "That phone was a free gift with a phone plan. It was of very poor quality and was only good enough for me to sneak peeks at novels and comics during class. Now that it's gone, I can finally study properly. If you give me a new one, I won't be able to control myself from reading again."

Upon hearing this, Ji Shuyi frowned slightly. "Then I'll buy it first and give it to you after you graduate."

“Alright,” Liang Yue nodded. “There’s no rush to buy a phone. I have other things to do.”

"Um."

Ji Shuyi and Liang Yue parted ways at the entrance of the building. Liang Yue had to go up two more floors, while Class 1 was on the first floor.

"Thank you," Ji Shuyi said to Liang Yue again.

Just now, Liang Yue had wet a tissue and wiped the footprints behind him almost completely. Although they were still dirty, they were no longer noticeable as footprints.

"You're welcome," Liang Yue said, then ran towards his classroom without looking back.

Ji Shuyi waited for her to go upstairs before turning around and entering the classroom after her figure turned the corner of the stairs.

-

Liang Yue lives a very routine life, going back and forth between two points every day.

She is cared for by two elderly people at home—her grandparents. Her parents work in the coastal area and live in a "handshake building," where the buildings are very close together.

Fortunately, they are able to earn money, and Liang Yue and the two elderly people live a relatively comfortable life. The grandfather was a teacher when he was young and has a pension of eight thousand yuan.

That's enough for their daily lives.

These two elderly people doted on Liang Yue, spoiling her rotten. Whatever she wanted or ate, they would make it happen to her within two hours, without waiting for the next day.

The courtyard house they lived in had a kitchen and dining room on one side, a living room and storage room on the other, as well as a toilet and washroom. The grandparents lived upstairs, and Liang Yue's bedroom was on the other side.

"Darling," Grandma said, holding a large bowl of watermelon cut into small pieces with a few tiny toothpicks stuck in it. "Your grandpa just cut this watermelon in the kitchen. It's very sweet. Try it."

There was a TV in Liang Yue's bedroom. She was wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt and black athletic shorts, lying casually on the bed with two pillows under her chest, staring at the TV.

The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and the glaring light made the television screen appear as a blurry white image.

Liang Yue ate a few bites, then got out of bed.

She was too hot; just iced watermelon wasn't enough. She planned to go out and buy a few cans of cola to freeze in the refrigerator, and also buy a few popsicles.

Seeing that she was about to go out, Grandpa took out a hundred-yuan bill that had been folded several times from his pocket and stuffed it into Liang Yue's hand. "Go to the convenience store and buy some potato chips and popsicles that you like. Grandpa will give you the money."

Liang Yue said sweetly, "Grandpa, what do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."

“I won’t eat them. If you can walk to that dried fruit shop, buy half a pound of melon seeds for your grandma.”

"Okay."

After receiving the money, Liang Yue changed into a pair of slippers at the door and walked leisurely toward the convenience store.

She spent quite a while browsing in the convenience store before buying everything she wanted. The shopkeeper packed her things into a transparent bag and reminded her, "You need to go home and freeze the popsicles early, before they melt."

Liang Yue thanked the proprietress, slung the plastic bag over his wrist, and eagerly opened the shop to open an ice pop to cool down. He then strolled towards the dried fruit shop.

The corner of the intersection is a slope, which is not very steep, but it is still quite difficult to walk on.

"Let me help you."

The voice sounded familiar to Liang Yue, and when he looked over, he saw it was Ji Shuyi.

He was still wearing his school uniform, helping an elderly woman who collected recyclables push her cart.

Under the blazing sun, the cement road turned into a scorching hot iron plate, and the heat seeped into Liang Yue's feet through the soles of his shoes.

"Ji Shuyi".

Liang Yue called out to him and ran a few steps up the slope.

Her slippers felt like they had melted and stuck to the cement floor; she stumbled and swayed, barely managing to regain her balance.

"Walk slowly," Ji Shuyi helped his grandmother steady the stroller, turned around and looked at her, "I'll wait for you here."

"Oh," Liang Yue was afraid of falling and losing face, so she didn't dare to run anymore. She took one step at a time and climbed up the steps. Before she could catch her breath, she said, "I'll help you."

As she spoke, she popped the entire popsicle into her mouth, freeing one hand to hold the cart, and gestured to Ji Shuyi with her eyes, "Let's go."

Ji Shuyi didn't move. One second, two seconds, three seconds, he reached out and pinched the exposed wooden stick. "Let go."

Liang Yue was confused and tried to let go as instructed, but then realized that the popsicle in her mouth had melted into water and she hadn't had time to swallow it yet. Pulling it like that might make her feel nauseous, so she immediately bit down on the popsicle, used her hand to push Ji Shuyi's hand away, sucked it clean, and then took it out. "What's wrong?"

“Eating like this will hurt your teeth,” he said, helping his grandmother push the cart upstairs. There were several stacks of cardboard boxes and a bundled-up old refrigerator in the cart. “I’ll help you, you can eat yours.”

“Oh,” Liang Yue didn’t try to refuse; she had just tried and couldn’t push it.

She found a shady spot, and after a short while, Ji Shuyi walked towards her.

"Here you go," Liang Yue said, taking a popsicle from a bag and handing it to Ji Shuyi with the same flavor. "This is for you."

Ji Shuyi didn't take it. "Keep it for yourself."

“Okay,” Liang Yue noticed that his back was soaked, clinging to his protruding spine, and sweat was streaming down his face like a small stream. “What are you doing here?”

Ji Shuyi was facing the sun and squinted because of the light. "I'm delivering food to my mom."

Jiang Ying often goes to play mahjong downstairs in a residential building, sometimes for several hours at a time, and even needs Ji Shuyi to bring her meals.

"What about you? Have you eaten?"

Ji Shuyi prepared to head back, as it was on the same route as the dried fruit shop Liang Yue was going to, and the two could walk together for a while.

"We'll eat when we get back."

Several shops lined the roadside, their eaves barely forming long strips of shadow. Ji Shuyi silently switched places with Liang Yue, letting her go inside.

A small mongrel stumbled out, its black muzzle circling around Liang Yue's feet.

"Go away!" She was afraid of dogs, so the dog circled around her, and she circled around Ji Shuyi. "Go away!" Liang Yue stomped her foot at the little dog, who didn't seem to care and chased after her even more enthusiastically.

"Ahhhh, Ji Shuyi," Liang Yue circled around a few times, climbed onto Ji Shuyi's arm, and her two slender, fair legs were eager to straddle his body.

“Liang Yue,” Ji Shuyi released her hand, avoiding contact with her as much as possible, and reassured her, “this dog isn’t even as tall as your ankle.”

“...Yes,” Liang Yue calmed down for a few seconds and met a pair of round, black pearl-like eyes.

"Woof," the dog wagged its tail happily, "Woof."

"Go away," Liang Yue whispered, "Go away."

Ji Shuyi squatted down, scooped up the little dog, and put it back in the shop. "It's home now."

Liang Yue breathed a sigh of relief.

With the crisis averted, she recalled how, in her haste, she had grabbed Ji Shuyi's arm. His arm was hot and hard, feeling like a tree branch covered in bark in a fire.

"I'm sorry," Liang Yue rubbed his temples, feeling a little ashamed that he had almost climbed on top of someone.

Ji Shuyi clearly thought the same thing as her, and her hand, like a soft velvet blanket, rubbed and kneaded his arm repeatedly.

"Ahem," Ji Shuyi coughed lightly, "It's alright."

Ji Shuyi lived in an old-fashioned residential building. The ground floor was piled with various odds and ends, and several bicycles covered in thick dust were parked there. The stairs weren't tiled, the handrails were rusty and covered in cobwebs, and the originally gray walls had been used as drawing boards by mischievous children, who scribbled and wrote on them, including swear words like, "XXX is a jerk," and "XXX is an idiot."

Upon entering, you can smell a damp, musty odor.

"I've arrived. See you later."

Liang Yue waved to him, "Okay."

"Remember to walk on the other side when you go back; that dog won't cross the road."

"knew."

Liang Yue was in a good mood and went to buy melon seeds with light steps, humming a song.

-

Ji Shuyi entered the building and didn't go upstairs for a while. His peripheral vision fell on his light brown arm, where a thin, clear blue vein meandered upwards and disappeared under his sleeve.

The lingering warmth of Liang Yue seemed to remain on it, like a broken scar, the pain lingering endlessly.

It's so hot. He pinched the front of his clothes and fanned himself to create a few gusts of cool air.

Suppress the restlessness in your heart.

-

After Liang Yue returned home, he took a shower.

It was too hot, so I barely ate anything. I took a nap and then remembered I hadn't done my homework.

I reluctantly sat down at my desk, opened my pencil case, and stared at the questions.

"Forget it," Liang Yue said, not wanting to make things difficult for herself. If she couldn't do it, she couldn't do it; looking at it for a long time was useless and a waste of time. She opened her phone, opened a certain question-solving app, and took a picture of the blank homework. A few seconds later, the answer appeared on her phone screen.

Liang Yue copied it down with a clear conscience.

'Knock knock.'

"Nannan," Grandma called to Liang Yue from outside, "go open the door."

"Oh," Liang Yue said, slipping on his slippers and with a piece of preserved plum candy in his mouth, his words muffled as he looked towards the outside, "Wait for me."

As soon as the door opened, Ji Shuyi, whom I had met that morning, stood outside, carrying a small bag of cooked food.

"Hi," Liang Yue poked his head out and used his tongue to move the preserved plum candy to the side of his mouth, "Are you here to see my grandma?"

Ji Shuyi was clearly taken aback. He didn't know that the family's granddaughter was Liang Yue. Jiang Ying hadn't mentioned it when she told him to bring the things. If he had known beforehand that it was Liang Yue's family, he might have made an excuse to get rid of them.

After a long while, he nodded and obediently went into the house.

“Grandma,” Ji Shuyi followed Liang Yue’s address, “my mom asked me to bring you the money.”

"Oh dear, what's the rush?" Grandma came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on both sides of her apron. "If your family needs money, it's fine to pay it back later."

"Let's pay it back first," Ji Shuyi said, taking out the folded money from his pocket and counting it again in front of his grandmother. "Three thousand, please count it again."

"No, no, I don't want to order anymore," Grandma said, knowing Ji Shuyi was a good boy and feeling quite relieved. "Why don't you stay and have dinner with us?"

"No, I haven't finished my weekend homework yet, I have to go back."

"Sigh," Grandma sighed, thinking of something, and looked at Liang Yue, who was peeking in. "You are the best student here. My granddaughter is indeed struggling with her studies. How about this, Grandma will give you eight hundred yuan a month. If you have time on weekends, come over and tutor her. The college entrance exam is coming up soon, and I hope she can get into a university. That way, we can give her parents a good account of ourselves."

The three thousand yuan that Ji Shuyi brought today was money that Jiang Ying borrowed from a passing grandmother when she lost a lot of money at the mahjong parlor. She had borrowed it for a while but hadn't been able to pay it back. Even when she did manage to pay it back, Jiang Ying would secretly take it to gamble. This time, Ji Shuyi caught her and insisted that she pay back the money she owed first.

Grandma noticed Ji Shuyi's hesitation and, considering the time constraints, realized that she probably didn't want to waste her own study time tutoring her granddaughter. "If you think it's too little, Grandma will add another two hundred. If you don't want that, then forget it."

Ji Shuyi's palms were slightly sweaty. He clenched his fist and then loosened it. "Okay, Grandma, but a thousand is too much. I'll come over every Saturday evening after dinner to tutor Liang Yue for two hours. It's twenty yuan an hour. You can give me one hundred and sixty yuan."

"That's too little," Grandma said, feigning anger. "Let's round it up to five hundred yuan."

"good."

Liang Yue lay on the door panel, her ear pressed against it, unable to hear what they were saying, but she could vaguely hear her grandmother's laughter, and she had a bad feeling.

The laughter sounded as if she had been sold for a good price.

After discussing it with his grandmother, Ji Shuyi left the house, glancing casually at Liang Yue's room before leaving.

After he left, Grandma happily told Liang Yue the 'good news,' "Xiao Ji just agreed to it."

"What did he promise?" After the candy in her mouth melted, she peeled off another one and threw it into her mouth.

I promise to tutor you every Saturday.

"..." What kind of good news is this?

Even if Ji Shuyi is tall, handsome, academically excellent, and gentle, it doesn't matter. She wants to play, watch TV, play games, read novels, and read comics, but she just doesn't want to study.

Even Eddie Peng's encouragement to study was useless.

"Oh," Liang Yue replied perfunctorily, then tried to negotiate, "Can I not learn it?"

"You dare!" Grandma pretended to hit her with a broom. "Daughter, you'll be a senior in high school soon. Study hard. We don't expect you to get into a prestigious university, like a 985 or 211. Just get into a second-tier university and your grandpa and I will be satisfied."

"knew."