Chapter 19

For Xia Ruirui, the entire senior year of high school was painful and long.

Because her home was near the school, Xia's mother arranged for her to attend school as a day student in her senior year of high school. She also changed from being a boarding student to a day student.

One evening, because of Jincai’s anniversary celebration, the evening self-study class was cancelled.

All day students can go home early, and Xia Ruirui is no exception.

In the room, she munched on an apple while starting to do her homework. The workload in her senior year was extremely busy, and two test papers every day seemed to be the standard.

As soon as she solved a somewhat complicated test question, she put down the apple and picked up a pen to write and calculate on the draft paper.

She couldn't help but feel excited because she had solved another difficult problem, but outside the room she heard the quarrel between Xia's father and mother.

As if they were afraid of disturbing their daughter who was studying, both of them deliberately lowered their voices.

But what they didn't know was that the quarrel outside could be heard clearly in the room.

"I told you, when you take off your clothes, check your pockets for napkins. If you do, take them out."

"Can't you just turn over the clothes when you wash them?"

Xia's father didn't take it seriously, but Xia's mother was even more upset when she heard this: "You're always like this! You don't even know to put the toilet lid down after using it."

Father Xia didn't understand Mother Xia's breakdown at all, thinking she was looking for trouble: "Then why don't you just turn it over?"

…

Xia Ruirui listened to the quarrel between the two in silence. The little joy she had originally felt disappeared. She silently took out the noise-canceling headphones beside her and put them on.

Her ears felt quiet instantly, but when she looked at the test paper, her mind felt blank and she couldn't learn anything.

She glanced at the bitten apple beside her. The bitten part had turned black due to oxidation.

Xia Ruirui looked at it expressionlessly, as if she was looking at a rotten apple, or as if she was looking at the long-rotten marriage of Xia's father and mother.

Such trivial disputes have long become the norm. From time to time, the two will have a fierce quarrel, followed by a cold war.

The two of them ignored each other at the dinner table. Although there were three of them eating together, it seemed as if she was the only one eating.

Xia Ruirui asked herself a question: which was more painful, the death of Shen Yuqing's parents, or was it more devastating for her to live in this suffocating environment every day?

She didn't know the answer, but she knew one thing: in this house, the three of them were very miserable and each had their own misfortune.

*

The next day in physical education class.

Xia Ruirui was lying on the runway, looking at the sun through her fingers in a daze. She was looking at the sun, but Shen Yuqing beside her was looking at her with a frown.

"Xia Ruirui, I will start tutoring you next week."

Hearing the voice, she looked at him and blinked, not understanding why he suddenly mentioned the tutoring.

Thinking about the monthly exam not long ago, I seem to have fallen out of the top 200 in the grade.

She laughed and looked at him as if he were a fool: "I won't be sad because my grades have dropped. That's lame."

"..." Shen Yuqing obviously didn't believe it, "Then why are you so depressed?"

'Why are you so unhappy?'

"Because my broken family is about to fall apart." Looking into Shen Yuqing's eyes, she said in her heart.

Thinking of the divorce agreement in Xia's mother's bedroom drawer, Xia Ruirui suddenly felt suffocated.

She even hated herself a little. If she hadn't suddenly wanted to know when she was born yesterday, she would not have found the divorce agreement.

If they hadn't discovered it, would they have gotten divorced?

If I were also the top student in the grade like Shen Yuqing, would they be as loving and affectionate as other parents because of their daughter's excellence?

But things went against her wishes. Her grades kept dropping and she soon fell out of the top 300 in the grade. The head teacher also called Xia's father to the school.

At the classroom door, Father Xia looked at his daughter with a depressed face in the class, and suddenly remembered that his daughter was still cheerful when she was in junior high school.

He was silent for a long time and then called Xia Ruirui out.

She was not surprised to see Xia's father appear in the school. She picked up her schoolbag which had been packed long ago and walked out while Shen Yuqing looked worried.

In the car, the father and daughter were silent.

It wasn't until they realized it wasn't the way home that Xia Ruirui asked, "Aren't we going home?"

Father Xia parked the car in front of the hospital and looked sideways at his daughter, who had a calm face. He sighed with emotion: "Dad remembers when our Ruirui was in the first year of high school, Ruirui always had a smile on her face."

"Why has my precious daughter stopped smiling since she entered her senior year of high school?"

“…”

Upon hearing this, Xia Ruirui tried hard to hold back her tears, but when Xia's father patted her shoulder, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Ruirui, the doctor here is Dad's friend. Can we go see him together?" His guess was confirmed, and Father Xia felt mixed emotions.

Although they lived together every day, he had never observed his daughter carefully until he saw his daughter with a calm face outside the classroom door, and then he seemed to suddenly understand.

Outside the hospital, Father Xia squatted at the door and smoked a cigarette.

When the time came, he asked Xia Ruirui to go back to the car and wait for him, and he went into the consultation room alone. His childhood friend looked at him and shook his head with complicated eyes.

"Mild depression, and your daughter seems to have known about your divorce."

Upon hearing this, Father Xia looked up at his childhood friend without saying a word.

The childhood friend brought him a glass of warm water and asked, "Do you and your wife always quarrel in front of the children?"

Although it was a question, it was spoken in an affirmative tone. Father Xia lowered his head, his shoulders slumped, and he looked a little decadent.

The childhood friend didn't say anything else, but sighed and patted his shoulder.

"How can you quarrel in front of the children?"

"Just get some psychological counseling."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

“…”

*

On the other side, after receiving a call from the class teacher, Xia's mother rushed to the school from the company immediately.

When she arrived at the school, she was told that her daughter had been picked up by the child's father.

Looking at the report card given to her by her homeroom teacher, her grades were a mess and her ranking was even worse than at the beginning of her senior year of high school.

Mother Xia's face darkened, and her hand holding the report card became a little unsteady.

Seeing this, the head teacher also mentioned her premature love affair: "It seems that the child is in a premature relationship, although both of them deny it."

"But adolescent children are bound to..."

When Xia's mother learned that her daughter was in a premature love relationship, she couldn't accept it for a while. After asking her class teacher about her premature love, she made an appointment with Shen Yuqing alone.

In the office, Mother Xia looked at Shen Yuqing. Her original anger had subsided a lot. Thinking of what the head teacher said about his parents being dead, she felt a little sorry for the child.

"Yu Qing, I'm Xia Ruirui's mother."

Before Shen Yuqing came, the head teacher also asked him what he thought. After he agreed, the head teacher took him to meet Xia's mother.

He looked at Mother Xia and greeted her politely: "Hello, Auntie."

Seeing his attitude, Xia's mother had a much better impression of him.

But when she turned her eyes and saw Xia Ruirui's grades on the table, she became cruel and decided to be the bad guy and separate the two children.

"Auntie knows you're a good kid, but... you and Ruirui aren't a good match. You're both too young."

She paused for a moment: "And Auntie also hopes Ruirui can find someone with a happy family..."

Shen Yuqing's heart skipped a beat, his eyelashes drooped and he didn't look at her again, but his spine became more and more bent.

Realizing that she had said something out of turn, Xia's mother paused again.

Remembering what the class teacher said about the child's financial difficulties, Xia's mother spoke carefully: "You have excellent grades. Auntie can sponsor you to go to university."

“…”

Shen Yuqing was silent for a long time, then looked up at Mother Xia and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Auntie, I can earn my living expenses and tuition by myself during the summer vacation."

After saying that, he stood up, bowed politely, and walked out.

Mother Xia stopped him: "Auntie doesn't mean that."

"I know." As if to reassure the other party, he added, "I won't mention our conversation today to Xia Ruirui."

After saying that, he left.

Mother Xia looked at his stubborn back with a complicated look in her eyes and murmured, "What a pity."

“…”

She spoke softly, but was still heard by Shen Yuqing in the corridor outside the door.

He paused for a moment, glanced sideways at the sun, and suddenly felt that the sun today was particularly dazzling.

But he did not stay for long. He tilted his head and looked at the sun until his eyes were blinded by the sunlight. Then he slowly walked back to the classroom.

In the office, Xia's mother thought about what the head teacher said and felt a little guilty.

“Chen Yuqing is a really good kid, his parents passed away when he was in junior high school.

My aunt's family received two high-value insurance policies, but they were barely able to afford living expenses.

Fortunately, he studies very hard and always gets first place every year. Just two days ago, he filled out his application form and said he wants to apply to Xijing University."

Before leaving, Xia's mother found Shen Yuqing's homework book on the head teacher's desk and stuffed a thousand yuan into it.

Thinking of the stubbornness in the boy's eyes, she slipped another note in there.

"That's not what I meant. I admire you very much, but I don't want Ruirui to suffer too much."

After quickly putting the notebook away, Xia's mother left.

After leaving school, Xia's mother did not return to the unit, but went straight home.

When I got home, Father Xia was quietly playing chess with Xia Ruirui. Seeing her come back, Father Xia asked with concern, "Are you back?"

Seeing her husband's long-awaited greeting, Xia's mother was a little surprised and nodded.

Father Xia asked Xia Ruirui to do her homework while he pushed Mother Xia out of the house.

When they got in the car, Xia's mother frowned: "What happened?"

Father Xia didn't say anything. He leaned over and took out the medical record and a series of examination reports from the back seat and handed them to her.

Xia's mother took it without knowing why, and burst into tears after reading it.

Father Xia handed her the tissue from the car and said in a deep voice, "Qihang said Ruirui is suffering from mild depression and that she seems to have discovered our divorce."

Thinking of the divorce agreement she had casually put in the drawer, Xia's mother felt extremely regretful.

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's pretend nothing happened."

"……good."

*

After returning to the classroom, Shen Yuqing looked at the test paper, and the tip of the pen in his hand unconsciously increased the strength.

Thinking of Xia's mother's attitude, he was a little worried that Xia Ruirui would be scolded by her family.

He was worried that she would be sad because of these things. Although she always looked indifferent, he knew that she was easily hurt.

During the two weeks that Xia Ruirui was taken home, Shen Yuqing had been living in fear and was very irritable.

Even when Gu Zijin and Shen Qingli came to him for dinner, he refused and bought some bread in the supermarket and had a quick meal.

I thought she would be back this Friday, but it happened to be a fortnight, and Jincai's first to third year of high school were on vacation.

Chen Yuqing knew that Xia Ruirui would not be back until next Monday, so he packed his bags and went back to his aunt's house...