Chapter 18 Zhang Yang, you're always like this, saying things and then forgetting them, so irresponsible...

As the Model UN conference came to an end, it was nearly dusk. Outside the teaching building, the light and shadows slanted down, and the sunset glow on the horizon quietly painted the entire sky, like a canvas slowly fading.

The occasional sizzling of sizzling iron plates from nearby food stalls drifted over, and the signboard of Yinbinglou lit up in the twilight. To express his gratitude, Gao Hexin bought donuts for Ning Jiu at Yinbinglou.

"No need," Ning Jiu said, looking at the donut that had been forcibly stuffed into her arms. "The bus is crowded, I'm afraid I'll get squashed."

"Just put it in your schoolbag—wait, why is your schoolbag so bulging today?" Gao Hexin glanced at her schoolbag and asked in a slightly surprised tone, "Why is your schoolbag so bulging today?"

Ning Jiu remembered something: "I just went back to the classroom and saw a nice book in the book corner. I'm planning to take it home and read it."

The three waved goodbye at the school gate. Ning Jiu opened her phone, intending to send a message to Yuan Liangjing, but her phone vibrated first.

The number has no notes, and the location is shown as Berlin, Germany.

Her upturned smile froze on her face. Her fingertip hovered over the hang-up button for two seconds before she finally pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Your mother called you so many times, why did it take you so long to answer?"

Almost the instant the call connected, the woman's steady yet undeniable voice landed directly in Ning Jiu's ear.

Ning Jiu walked to the bus stop with her schoolbag on her back: "What's wrong, Mom?"

"Why didn't you tell me your dad didn't go to Jiangcheng with you?" The voice on the other end came down abruptly without warning. Even without the video call on, Ning Jiu could imagine her frowning face. "Your uncle's house is so small, how could you possibly live there? You should have received the money I transferred. Don't be like your dad and not touch a single penny. What is that if not stupidity?"

Yuan Shu is always like this, using the coldest tone to deny this and criticize that, as if she is the only one who is always on the right side.

Bus No. 38 has arrived.

Ning Jiu let out a soft breath, interrupting Yuan Shu.

“I’m quite comfortable staying at my uncle’s,” she said. “To be honest, it’s much more comfortable than when I was living with you guys. I have someone to keep me company during the day on weekends, and I don’t have to listen to endless arguments before bed at night.”

"......"

Yuan Shu didn't speak, and Ning Jiu didn't expect her to speak either, so she put down her phone.

"Mom, I'm hanging up."

Ning Jiu exited the call and opened WeChat, but did not find any messages from Yuan Liangjing.

In the past, he would always send her a message regardless of whether he came to pick her up or not.

Ning Jiu probably forgot because there were too many people in the store today, and without thinking much about it, she boarded the bus.

Surprisingly, the bus wasn't crowded today; she was the last to board and still managed to get a seat.

The wheels creaked on the rough road, and the car swayed from time to time with the bumps. Ning Jiu felt sleepy, but was also really disturbed by the bumpy road.

She remembered the book she had just borrowed from the book corner.

She was organizing her schoolbag at the time when she glanced up and spotted a book that interested her on the top shelf of the book corner. She registered it and put it in her schoolbag.

Ning Jiu took the book out of her bag, flipped through a few pages, and then realized that the handwriting next to it looked increasingly familiar.

It's a book by George Bolin.

The pages were somewhat worn, with some pages bearing heavy creases and markings.

Ning Jiu turned to the page with the oldest crease and looked at the line of poetry in the very center of the white paper.

Let my love, like sunlight, surround you

and yet give you illuminated freedom.

Let my love surround you like sunshine.

And yet you are given glorious freedom.

The bus braked, and Ning Jiu's heart skipped a beat. Her fingers, gripping the book pages, tightened until they turned white, and a feeling she couldn't quite describe welled up inside her.

So, he wasn't trying to talk nonsense during that Chinese class.

Love, sunshine, freedom.

Rain, typhoon, raging.

It has to be said that their views are quite different.

The familiar station name rang in her ears. Ning Jiu got off the bus with her juice in hand, stepped onto the familiar old street's cement ground, walked around a row of haphazardly parked electric bikes, and when she reached the street corner, she unexpectedly bumped into something.

It has a soft body and a slightly cool fragrance.

For a fleeting moment, the cloying sweetness of the juice clashed with the slightly bitter aroma of the coffee in the other's hand, creating a strange yet not unpleasant smell. Both of them paused, as if stunned at the same time.

Ning Jiu looked up, and in just one glance, she met a pair of clear, bright eyes.

It was a very beautiful face, with clean features, clear contours, and a kind of understated, aloof beauty. It was gentle, yet not easy to approach.

You can see a lot from a person's eyes.

For example, at this moment, with just one glance, Ning Jiu could roughly judge what kind of personality this girl had.

He is clearly someone who lives in a gentle environment, with excellent manners. He is neither enthusiastic nor indifferent, but always calm and composed.

The girl's voice was as cold and calm as her appearance. Even though she hadn't bumped into anything, she politely apologized before leaving in a hurry.

With just a turn, the girl disappeared. The little incident passed, and Ning Jiu continued walking towards the residential building in the deep alley.

I stopped at Yuan Liangjing's dessert shop, and just as I was about to take a step forward, I heard a "smash" as a beer bottle fell from the second floor onto the doorway.

......

Ning Jiu's eyelids twitched suddenly, and she sensed something. She walked around the broken glass scattered on the ground and went upstairs. As expected, she saw the empty glass bottle and Ning Xuan leaning drunk against the corner of the wall.

The darkness was filled with the smell of cheap alcohol. The man's face was flushed, his eyes were unfocused, and he was still clutching the empty glass bottle in his hand, his knuckles white, as if he had grasped something that could save his life.

Yuan Liangjing stood awkwardly to the side, unsure whether to stand or sit.

When he saw Ning Jiu arrive, he turned around and waved, signaling her to go down first. But then he watched as the girl stepped over the pile of empty wine bottles by the door and walked straight toward the man slumped in the corner.

"Hey, sweet wine, you don't want it—"

"After hiding in Lingcheng for so many days, you finally decided to come back?"

Before Yuan Liangjing could finish speaking, Ning Jiu interrupted him.

The girl deliberately avoided the shards scattered on the ground, squatted down, and grabbed Ning Xuan's collar, which reeked of alcohol.

"Didn't I tell you? I hate it when you do this."

Ning Xuan suddenly seemed to wake up, opened his eyes wide and looked at Ning Jiu, his throat bobbing, but he didn't know what to say for a moment.

"A little wine..."

Ning Jiu: "Sell the bar and rebuild it; if the money's gone, earn it back. The way you're doing this—"

She loosened Ning Xuan's collar, her gaze sharper than before, gently pressing the tip of her knife against his pride.

“Like a deserter, Dad.” She slowly stood up, looking down at him, her voice so calm it was almost devoid of warmth. “You run away whenever something happens, bringing your bad mood to the people closest to you. You weren’t like this before.”

Ning Xuan stared blankly at the girl in front of him.

With her red lips and white teeth, delicate features, and a touch of girlish innocence, she now speaks with a cool and stern expression, each word like a sharp blade cutting through a deep wound, without the slightest hesitation or weakness.

Perhaps Ning Jiu herself didn't realize that she looked just like Yuan Shu when she was young.

Seeing Ning Xuan's expression gradually calm down, Ning Jiu's tense nerves finally relaxed a little. She turned her head and exchanged a glance with Yuan Liangjing, who secretly gave her a thumbs up.

Since separating from Yuan Shu, Ning Xuan's mental state has not been good. The guilt he felt over Wen Xingxiang's matter, which led him to sell the bar, only made things worse. In any case, Ning Jiu could not let him continue like this.

After calming Ning Xuan down, Ning Jiu breathed a sigh of relief and nudged Yuan Liangjing's arm, signaling him to go downstairs.

“What exactly did he go through in Lingcheng?” Ning Jiu collapsed into a chair in the kitchen, the old chair creaking loudly. “He seems to be in worse shape lately.”

“He still feels guilty,” Yuan Liangjing reflexively reached for a pack of cigarettes, but didn’t light one because he remembered Ning Jiu was still there. “I say, Brother Xuan is such a nice guy. Who could have predicted Wen Xingxiang’s car accident? It had nothing to do with him, but he still managed to get himself into this mess.”

The two sighed, and Yuan Liangjing, remembering something, remarked.

"Right now, the only things you can't let go of are him and that kid Wen Yi. Luckily, that kid didn't come to Jiangcheng and won't cause you any trouble, otherwise this matter would never be over—"

"Cough cough cough."

Ning Jiu choked on the water she was drinking, and Yuan Liangjing, with a cigarette in his mouth, patted her back, suddenly turning the heavy atmosphere into a comical one.

"Wen Yi, why are you reacting so strongly?" Yuan Liangjing narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Could it be...?"

Won't......?

Ning Jiu's heart skipped a beat, and she turned around to glare defiantly at Yuan Liangjing.

The latter rubbed the cigarette pack with his fingertips and continued, "You're not still thinking about your childhood friendship with him, are you? That kid has been like a different person ever since Wen Xingxiang's accident, he's gone crazy. You haven't been in contact with him lately, have you?"

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

The kitchen tap wasn't turned off properly, making a faint echoing sound.

The air was tense, then it was interrupted by Ning Jiu's soft laughter.

She leaned back like that, her voice low but clear.

"No."

"That's good."

Yuan Liangjing finally relaxed his shoulders, leaned back in his chair like Ning Jiu, and looked out at the gray sky.

Another rain arrived as expected.

“After this downpour, the autumn heatwave will arrive, and it’ll be fierce,” he said, putting his hand behind his head before thinking of another serious topic. “By the way, your dad’s back, he must be renting a place to stay.”

Before he finished speaking, Ning Jiu knew what Yuan Liangjing was going to say next.

His small place can't accommodate three people. Whether Ning Jiu moves out or stays is entirely up to her.

Ning Jiu wasn't one to dwell on things, so he reached out and took Yuan Liangjing's cigarette from his mouth.

Before he could react, she stated her decision with absolute certainty.

"I'll be living in the dorms starting next semester."

-

As Yuan Liangjing said, with the end of the last rainstorm, Jiangcheng ushered in a short but intense period of high temperatures in early autumn.

On Wednesday, the club culture festival arrived as scheduled. Jianglan Experimental School was unusually free of its usual tension, and a relaxed and light atmosphere permeated the air.

This kind of festival didn't mean much to Ningjiu in the past. It was the same when he was in Lingcheng Middle School. Most of the time, it was just something he would do when he got bored of doing practice problems and was dragged to watch a few familiar senior students perform.

But this time, it seems to be a little different.

"This meeting is now concluded. We thank the representatives of all countries for their rational remarks and active consultations. Finally, we announce that the proposal from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates has been adopted."

As soon as the host finished speaking, applause rang out in the hall. Gao Hexin was the first to rush down, dressed in a formal United Nations outfit, and went straight to the podium without even taking off her high heels.

"Sweet Wine, you did such a great job as the Model UN president! It's nothing like your first time!" She was so excited, her cheeks were still flushed from running. She leaned closer to Ning Jiu and whispered, "You didn't see the expressions on the faces of the people from Linjiang International just now. They finally got their revenge for last year!"

More important than offering their own opinions is maintaining a pragmatic attitude for the Model UN chairperson.

So ultimately it's because the students at Jianglan Experimental School were better prepared; she didn't deserve much credit.

"It's good that I didn't hold anyone back," Ning Jiu said. "By the way, He Zi, thank you for lending me your formal attire."

When I mentioned this to Gao Hexin earlier, she brought over a light green business suit from home without saying a word, saying that it was a suit her mother had prepared for her after graduation.

The light green color doesn't look too mature on a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. Before the meeting started, Gao Hexin specially changed the collar. The originally too stiff stand-up collar was folded inward and fixed with a not-so-obvious pin, making the lines much softer.

Gao Hexin smiled and said it was okay: "This color suits you perfectly, sweet wine."

The student club cultural festival did not strictly control cell phones. After taking the group photo, Qi Ruiheng took out his phone and said he wanted to report the good news to Qiao Bolin. He originally wanted Ning Jiu to do it, but the latter refused.

"You guys go ahead and say it. My stomach's a little upset. I'm going back to the classroom to rest for a bit."

Gao Hexin had known Ning Jiu for quite some time and knew that she had a sensitive stomach, so he turned to her with concern.

Do you need me to walk you back to the classroom?

Ning Jiu smiled at her: "No need, taking a pill will be enough for this."

The stomach pain was real, and so was the lack of a clear plan for dealing with Qiao Bolin.

Sometimes, avoidance is an effective option when you're unsure about something.

Ning Jiu took a water glass and left the meeting room. Looking out from the fifth-floor corridor, there were still many club booths on the playground. On the basketball court, teenagers in their uniforms were sweating profusely. The red light indicating the score was changing. Not far from the basketball court, in the southeast corner, there was also a large crowd gathered. Judging from the music, it should be the dance club.

Ever since her severe stomachache during PE class, even though she didn't want to listen to Yuan Liangjing, she still carried pills in her bag just in case.

After reaching the third floor, Ning Jiu swallowed a pill in the classroom, which relieved her stomach pain a bit. She then took her water cup and went outside to rest in the corridor for some fresh air.

The corridor is facing the dance club. I couldn't see it clearly before because of the angle, but now I can see the dance club's activities from this position.

The club president, Song Yunhe, was performing Chinese dance on stage in a white dress, dancing gracefully to soothing classical music. In the distance, several familiar classmates, including Li Mingyuan, could be seen.

Besides the students performing classical dance music on stage, the temporary backstage area had a different style. Several students dressed in cool outfits were rehearsing dance moves, and the next piece they were going to perform was probably a pop song.

Arranging a high-energy track after a soothing dance piece was undoubtedly a smart choice. As the energetic dance music ended, the atmosphere reached its peak, with some students even preparing confetti and bubble machines.

Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and the ribbons mixed with the rising bubbles, blowing towards the third-floor corridor.

Everyone looked up and saw sunlight refracted by the bubbles, dappling the girl's snow-white skin. Her eyes were soft yet held an inexplicable coldness, and her slightly upturned eyes were elongated by the light, her pupils slightly dilated like a cat's. She watched the bubbles rise listlessly, her beauty breathtaking.

Ning Jiu tilted her head back slightly and stretched out her slender index finger to pop a bubble. She glanced down casually and found that the crowd, which had been so lively just moments before, had all fallen silent and were looking at her with different expressions.

......

She cautiously withdrew her hand, deliberately ignoring the most direct and intense gaze in the crowd, and turned to go downstairs, but was blocked by the boy who rushed up at the corner.

Wen Yi's gaze swept over her light green coat, and he gave her a harmless smile.

"You look great today, sister."

"......"

In the dimly lit stairwell, his lazy voice echoed in the enclosed space, and Ning Jiu twitched the corners of her mouth.

Should I say thank you?

"No need, because it's the truth."

Actually, this word is more suitable to describe him today.

The temporary red hair dyed specifically for the club's cultural festival made the boy's already flamboyant features appear even sharper and more defined.

He wore a dark T-shirt, simple in style, which outlined his clean and neat shoulder line and figure, paired with gray sweatpants, relaxed and casual, with undisguised sex appeal.

“Remember, we were supposed to pretend we didn’t know each other,” Ning Jiu reminded him. “What are you doing here?”

"I came to see you," Wen Yi tilted his head and looked at her in confusion. "Pretending not to know you is not like I don't really know you. I went out of my way to say something to you, and this is your reaction?"

Ning Jiu recalled Yuan Liangjing's evaluation of Wen Yi a few days ago.

Absolutely right.

"Not bad," Ning Jiu said, while maneuvering around him, she was calculating which direction to run in to shake him off. "Looks like you're considering going in this direction in the future?"

Wen Yi chuckled softly and took a step closer to her.

“Ning Jiu, you know I’m not as smart as you, I can’t go into academia,” he said quietly, watching her wary expression as he subtly cornered her. “Remember when you said you were born to dance—”

Before Ning Jiu could speak, he added with a sigh, "But you certainly don't remember saying that. You're always like this, forgetting what you said as soon as you finish, so irresponsible."

During the years when Ning Xuan and Wen Xingxiang were at their best, they opened a bar together in Lingcheng. From the time Ning Jiu could remember, she and Wen Yi grew up in such an environment, and under their influence, they learned to read people's expressions and pretend to be well-behaved at a very young age.

Now, these skills they developed together have become evidence against her.

Ning Jiu was suddenly drawn into his memories, and only when the warmth drew near did she realize how close he was to her.

"What exactly do you want to say?" she asked coldly, her tone already showing impatience.

Wen Yi simply smiled, as if considering how to begin, or perhaps waiting...

wait?

The soft footsteps were clearly audible in the quiet stairwell. Ning Jiu suddenly realized something, looked up at him, but was stopped by his arm and taken another step.

The two were only touching arms, but because they were in the corner, it looked like their entire upper bodies were pressed together. Wen Yi even found a suitable angle, his conspicuous red hair completely blocking Ning Jiu's face, his neck slightly tilted forward, and from a distance, it looked like they were kissing.

The footsteps grew closer, and in the instant they paused, Wen Yi's lips curled into a cold smile, mingling with Ning Jiu's breath.

"I'm actually quite disappointed today, sister, because you didn't come to see my performance."

The stairwell was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"So, I can only prepare another surprise for you," he smiled, "I hope you like it."

The recent footsteps suddenly stopped, as if blocked by something, but then even more scattered and fragmented sounds followed.

They were on the third floor, and the commotion on the first floor was clearly visible to them. The sound they were making now was obviously not something that could be made by one person alone.

As light and shadow intertwined, Wen Yi's face was sliced ​​into distinct gray-white lines. Ning Jiu trembled with rage, and all her movements stopped abruptly the moment she heard Li Mingyuan's voice.

"Berlin, what are you doing standing at the top of the stairs?"

-----------------------

Author's Note: Warning: A chaotic love triangle is possible! [doge emoji]

-

Let my love,like sunlight,surround you

and yet give you illuminated freedom.

Let my love surround you like sunshine.

And yet it gives you a glorious and radiant freedom. —Rabindranath Tagore, *Stray Birds*