Wen Qing was taken aback. Something was wrong.

She remembered that in her past life, Ji Yanjun always looked like he wanted to teach her a lesson. When she got angry, he wished he had never met her. Why, why did he see pain and reluctance in her eyes when she said it was over?

He wasn't like the Ji Yanjun she knew. Ji Yanjun should want her to stay far away from him. Why couldn't she understand the Ji Yanjun now? Or... did she never know Ji Yanjun at all?

Wen Qing looked completely bewildered.

Ji Yanjun stared straight at her, trying to get a response from her, but she did not respond at all.

Just then, voices came from the alley, and Wen Qing and Ji Yan both snapped back to reality.

A man and a woman entered the alley, pushing bicycles popular in that era—Forever brand bicycles, with rather bulky and tall frames. Wen Qing saw this and stepped aside to let the bicycles pass. As soon as she turned around, she felt the man and woman looking at her.

Before Wen Qing could react, Ji Yanjun suddenly took off his black shirt and quickly tied it around Wen Qing's slender waist, completely covering her buttocks, and glared fiercely at the man pushing the bicycle.

The man lowered his head, pushed his bicycle, and followed the woman away.

Wen Qing seemed to sense something, her fingers slipped through Ji Yanjun's shirt and touched her own buttocks, immediately feeling a wet patch.

Wen Qing's face flushed, and she lowered her head, saying, "Thank you."

Ji Yanjun resumed his normal demeanor and picked up the money from the ground: "Take it."

"No need, I have money."

Ji Yanjun didn't insist any further and stuffed the money into the pocket of the black shirt tied around Wen Qing's waist.

“Let’s go get your clothes,” Ji Yanjun said.

Wen Qing followed.

The two did not exchange any more words along the way; Ji Yanjun walked in front, with Wen Qing following behind.

Wen Qing looked up. His black shirt was tied around her waist, and he was only wearing a black vest, which she had bought for him. It accentuated his strong, well-proportioned physique, giving him a powerful and handsome look.

"Here are the car keys." A moment later, Ji Yanjun turned around and handed over a set of keys: "I'll be right back. The clothes are in the car."

Wen Qing took it.

"Do you still remember which key it is? The one with the red string tied to it." Ji Yanjun paused for a moment: "The one you tied."

Wen Qing held the key: "Mm."

After saying that, Ji Yanjun left.

Wen Qing took the car keys and walked to the truck. She inserted the key into the door, opened it forcefully, climbed in, and saw her clothes in the passenger seat. Instead of getting out, she moved from the driver's seat to the passenger seat. Just as she settled in, Ji Yanjun returned, a strange blush appearing on his face. "Change your pants before going back to school," he said, handing Wen Qing a package of oil paper.

Wen Qing took it, opened it, and saw that it contained a menstrual belt and a stack of toilet paper.

“If you go back to school wrapped in my clothes, your classmates will talk. Change into something else, there’s nowhere else to go. I’ll keep watch for you outside the truck.” Ji Yanjun jumped out of the truck, closed the door, pulled a piece of burlap from behind the truck bed, and threw it onto the windshield.

Wen Qing's vision darkened, and the slight sweat on the oiled paper in her hands was unusually clear. She thought to herself that this might be his last act of tenderness after the breakup; he wouldn't usually be this nice to her.

Wen Qing wanted to get back to school as soon as possible, so she turned around and crawled into the empty space in the back seat of the car. She folded up the toilet paper, stuck it on the menstrual belt, took out her old pants, and after some fussing, put the light-colored, soiled pants into a cloth bag and opened the car door.

Ji Yanjun was smoking by the car. When he saw Wen Qing, he stubbed out his cigarette, turned around, and asked, "Are you still eating?"

Wen Qing: "No, I need to go back to school."

Ji Yanjun nodded.

Wen Qing returned his black shirt to him: "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Then I'm leaving."

"Um."

Wen Qing, carrying her clothes, took two steps, then turned back and asked, "What I said..."

Ji Yanjun looked at her, then suddenly smiled, a roguish air about him: "Give me some time to think about it."

What happens after you consider it?

"After consideration," Ji Yanjun smiled again, "after consideration, we should find a suitable way to separate."

Seeing that he was no longer insistent, Wen Qing nodded.

At this moment, Ji Yanjun suddenly became serious and asked, "Qingqing, can you give me a reason?"

Wen Qing paused for a moment and said, "I want to live more like myself."

Ji Yanjun was silent for a moment before saying, "Okay, go ahead and study hard."

"Um."

"If Ningzhi annoys you at school, teach her a lesson, but don't go too far."

Wen Qing paused for a moment, then nodded. After a while, seeing that Ji Yanjun didn't say anything more, she turned and walked forward.

She didn't hear Ji Yanjun speak again until she turned the corner. She loosened her grip on the cloth bag, and at the same time, a strong feeling of hunger came over her. She felt empty inside and out, as if her whole body had been suddenly hollowed out.

She was very hungry. She looked around and spotted a noodle shop among the row of shops. She went in and ordered a large bowl of beef noodles. It was loaded with chili oil, scallions, and beef chunks. It cost 25 cents, which is about 25 cents a bowl.

While waiting for her noodles, Wen Qing was extremely anxious and somewhat at a loss. She would clutch her clothes tightly for a moment, then loosen them, then clutch them again. Only when the noodles arrived did she become restless, eating with a large bowl until sweat beaded on her forehead. She even drank all the broth. After eating her fill, Wen Qing felt completely revitalized.

She carried her clothes back to school and went to the girls' dormitory.

Wan Min and Ji Ningzhi were not there.

Wen Qing got her period. She had been carrying a backpack and a blanket all day and was very sleepy. She climbed into bed, covered herself with a thin sheet, and fell asleep facing the wall.

I had just fallen asleep when I started having vivid, dreamlike dreams.

She dreamt of Ji Yanjun, some of which were based on real events, while others were unknown to her.

In her dream, she waited for Ji Yanjun at the four-way intersection in the county town. She was overjoyed, and even the light drizzle couldn't dampen her enthusiasm. Soon, Ji Yanjun's car stopped in front of her. Ji Yanjun opened the car door with a displeased look: "Why are you here again?"

In an instant, Wen Qing's enthusiasm was extinguished.

"Get up here quickly," Ji Yanjun said sternly.

Wen Qing climbed into the car and was displeased to see his furrowed brows: "You never give me a nice look!" She had been waiting for him for almost an hour.

Ji Yanjun paused, holding the towel. "Don't wait here if there's nothing wrong."

"Where should I wait? At your house? Does your mom want me to go? At my house? Will you come looking for me?"

"Dry your hair first." Ji Yanjun didn't argue with her and handed her a towel.

"I won't wipe it!" Wen Qing threw the towel away.

Ji Yanjun's face darkened. He picked up the towel and threw it at her, then started the car and drove to the parking area.

After parking, Ji Yanjun got out of the car first, slammed it down with a thud, and walked towards the parking lot entrance, ignoring Wen Qing. The old man at the parking lot entrance came up with a grin and asked, "Yanjun, did you and Qingqing quarrel again?"

Ji Yanjun took the white porcelain jar unhappily: "You're always so disobedient, running to the four-way intersection in the rain without even bringing an umbrella."

Always so disobedient...

Always so disobedient...

In her sleep, Wen Qing kept repeating this sentence in her mind. Her once orderly dream was disrupted by this sentence, which led to countless chaotic scenes. It finally ended with Wen Peng pitifully saying, "Big sister, I want to eat pork and cabbage."

Wen Qing woke up. She didn't remember anything else, but she clearly remembered that Wen Peng said he wanted to eat pork and cabbage. She suddenly remembered that she hadn't informed her family yet. Shuiwan Village didn't have a telephone, but the county town did. She just didn't know when Yao Shiling would come to the county town.

Wen Qing simply wrote a letter and sent it back to Shuiwan Village.

By the time Wen Qing finished writing the letter, it was already dark, and Wan Min came back from outside carrying a thermos.

"Wen Qing, you're awake?"

Wen Qing asked, "Where are they?"

You mean Ji Ningzhi and the others?

"Um."

"She went out to eat. Ji Ningzhi's brother gave her 100 yuan today, and she doesn't have to go to school this afternoon, so she treated some of her close classmates to stir-fry dishes outside the school."

Why didn't you go?

"She didn't let me go," Wan Min said. Actually, it was because Ji Ningzhi had shown interest in Wen Qing, so she didn't want to take her. Wan Min looked at Wen Qing, who was clutching her stomach, and asked, "Are you having your period?"

Wen Qing nodded: "Yes, it hurts a little on the first day."

"Then drink some hot water." As she spoke, Wan Min found Wen Qing's water cup and poured water from her own thermos for Wen Qing.

Wen Qing: "Thank you."

After drinking some boiled water to relieve the pain, Wen Qing spent four cents outside the school to mail a letter to Shuiwan Village.

On the way back, I saw several boys and girls walking together laughing and joking on the road outside the school. One of them was Ji Ningzhi.

Ji Ningzhi looked shy, holding onto her female classmate's arm, her gaze seemingly glancing at the boy next to her.

The boy intentionally or unintentionally leaned against Ji Ningzhi as they walked, and Ji Ningzhi did not dodge.

Before Wen Qing could think further, the group had already entered the school. When Wen Qing re-entered the school, she only saw Ji Ningzhi and her roommates.

Wen Qing had no choice but to follow Ji Ningzhi and the others into dormitory 202.

The first night in the dormitory went smoothly.

There were light bulbs in the dormitories, but the electricity was only turned on after it was completely dark, around 7:30 PM. All the dormitories turned on their lights, and by 9:30 PM, both the male and female dormitories had their lights turned off. If you secretly tried to read by kerosene lamp, the dorm supervisors would yell at you during room checks.

Wen Qing was used to making clothes and shoes under the kerosene lamp, but now her schedule was completely disrupted, and she had no choice but to go to bed early.

The next day, Wen Qing started attending classes. Because she had chosen humanities and had prepared in advance, she didn't have much trouble keeping up with the lessons.

After class, she sat quietly at her desk reading, neither making a sound nor going out.

After school, I took the white porcelain mug and went to the cafeteria with Wan Min to get food.

In the evening, I would sit on the bed to read or draw, and then go to sleep quietly after turning off the lights.

Three days passed peacefully, and at the same time, Wen Peng received a letter from Wen Qing.

The mail carrier was wearing a military green uniform and riding a Forever brand bicycle. A military green canvas bag was strapped to the back of the bicycle, with two large white traditional Chinese characters embroidered on it: "Post Office".

"A letter from Yao Shiling, a letter from Yao Shiling!" the postman called from the village entrance.

Someone immediately gave directions, and Wen Peng happened to be home. He ran over and asked, "My mother went to the fields. Who sent the message?"

"Sent by Wen Qing from Nanzhou No.1 Middle School."

“That’s my eldest sister.” Wen Peng quickly put away the letter.

Yao Shiling happened to be returning with a bamboo basket on her arm.

"Mom, my eldest sister has sent a message back."

Yao Shiling quickly dropped the bamboo basket and came over to look.

Wen Liang also came out of the main room.

The family of three sat in the yard reading the letter. Yao Shiling didn't know as many words as Wen Liang, nor could she read the letter as fast as Wen Liang, so Wen Liang read the letter while she and Wen Peng listened from the side.

Wen Qing briefly explained her situation at the school to reassure Yao Shiling.

Yao Shiling was relieved.

Wen Peng asked, "Mom, should we write back to our eldest sister? Tell her that Ji Yanjun came to see her, bringing a lot of things, but Mom returned them."

"I won't tell," Wen Liang said.

Why?

"For no reason."

Yao Shiling said, "He only came to see your eldest sister once."

“He might have wanted to come looking for me before, but my older sister was too proactive. Before he even arrived, she had already run off to the county town,” Wen Qing said casually.

"Don't talk nonsense," Wen Liang scolded.

Yao Shiling also spoke up, saying, "Let's not mention this. Just write that our family is doing well and let her study hard."

“Mom, our family isn’t doing well. Aunt Xiao’s tailor shop opened across the street, and it sells the same clothes and shoes as us, but at a lower price. What’s so good about it?” Wen Peng said again.

Wen Liang was so angry at Wen Peng's quick tongue that he couldn't speak.

Yao Shiling turned to look at Wen Peng.

Wen Peng asked, "What's wrong?"