Candied Haws

Lin Luo and Tang Heng went home together. Lin Luo did not speak, but Tang Heng asked her, "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head.

"I'm hungry, come eat something with me!" He walked slowly, and when he saw that Lin Luo didn't answer, he took her as her agreement.

They came to a noodle shop in the alley that was still open. The owner of the noodle shop knew them and greeted them warmly, "What would you like to eat, father and daughter?"

Tang Heng ordered a bowl of mixed noodles and a cup of hot milk for Lin Luo. The shop was not big, with only two rows of tables. The owner had not had time to clean up, and the surface of the tables was sticky with oil. Tang Heng wiped it all over with paper.

Lin Luo just looked at him silently. In fact, she probably guessed what Tang Heng was going to say to her next. It was nothing more than that you are so old now and should be more sensible and considerate of your mother.

She was waiting for Tang Heng to speak, but their meals were served and he didn't say anything. Lin Luo held the milk carton in both hands and took a few sips. It felt warm and her heart softened.

"Lin Xiao."

Tang Heng hesitated for a moment, then put down his chopsticks and spoke, "Uncle doesn't have a daughter, so I don't know how to get along with a girl your age."

Lin Luo loosened the straw, she guessed wrong.

"You and your mother haven't lived together for so many years, and she may not know how to get along with her daughter. We all need a running-in period, which may take a month, half a month, or even longer."

"She touched your things, hit you, and said those nasty things. She was wrong. At this time, I failed to comfort you on behalf of your father. It is my fault."

He was admitting his mistake. Lin Luo squeezed the milk carton, and the milk was squeezed out and flowed onto his hand through the straw. Tang Heng handed him a tissue.

"I'm not well educated and I'm not very good at speaking, so please don't mind if what I say is wrong.

"Before your father comes to pick you up, I hope we can get along well. As for you and your mother, you have to reconcile on your own. I can only play a role in fueling the flames. Do you understand?"

Lin Xiao wiped her hands clean and didn't answer him directly, "Uncle Tang, the noodles are clumping together, eat them quickly!"

He laughed and responded, "Okay."

When she got home, Du Yunyan didn't apologize to her. She was still as usual, as if nothing that happened in the morning had happened and as if she was not wrong.

"There's bread in the refrigerator. Eat it if you're hungry. Lock the door. Stop playing with your phone and go to bed early."

"Yeah." She answered her awkwardly in a whisper.

When she entered the room, she saw that her bed had been changed and the duvet cover had been changed to pink.

Du Yunyan passed by the door. Lin Luo was sitting on the bed looking at her. She walked over and secretly poked her head out from the door, just meeting Lin Luo's sight.

She cleared her throat. "The bed before was not firm. It collapsed when I sat on it. I changed it to a new one, including the quilt. It's pink. Wasn't that your favorite before?"

She had long since disliked it, but she didn't tell Du Yunyan. Instead, she said, "Thank you... Mom."

"Go to bed early!" She returned to her room and closed the door. Lin Luo lay on her side on the bed, with the quilt pressed against her face, the side that Du Yunyan had hit her in the morning, and closed her eyes.

Did Lin Xiao forgive Du Yunyan? She herself couldn't tell.

But what's the use of forgiving them for the time being? There is still a gap between them, just like there is a needle in the quilt. She has to be careful when covering herself with it, for fear that if she moves casually, the needle will pierce the quilt and prick her.

*

Fu Xingchuan went to Huaicheng, and Zhu Sui'an asked for leave every few days. Cheng Kaizhong didn't know what benefits he received, but he turned a blind eye and approved her leave.

Fang Shao and Xu Yangyang are together. Xu Yangyang said that she wrote a love letter to Fang Shao to express her feelings, which broke the window paper.

Zhu Changyu didn't tell Tong Yun about his birthday. On Saturday, he went to visit Tong Yun's grandmother.

As for Lin Luo, she is still strictly implementing her growth plan, although no progress has been seen so far.

On Saturday night, Lin Luo didn't have to go to evening self-study. The light in her room was broken, and she had to wait for Tang Heng to get off work to fix it, so she had to do her homework on the dining table.

After finishing a math test and calculating her score based on the answers, she still only got over 60 points. She was briefly discouraged and took out a copybook to practice calligraphy.

"Tang Muchen, the first thing you should do when you get home is wash your hands." Du Yunyan picked up Tang Muchen from kindergarten.

Lin Luo didn't look up. She heard the sound of water, and then Du Yunyan's order, "Share the candied haws with your sister."

Tang Muchen walked towards her with a bulging mouth. Lin Luo reached out to take it, but Tang Muchen deliberately didn't give it to her and put it on the table.

It has been more than a month, and Tang Muchen still doesn't like her. Lin Luo sighed.

She put down her pen, picked up the candied haws, and removed the plastic film on the surface. The red and round hawthorns were covered with syrup. She took a bite and it tasted sour and sweet.

Lin Luo watched Tang Muchen open the door. Du Yunyan quickly grabbed his clothes and said, "Where did you go? You haven't finished your homework yet!"

The corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up, with a look of gloating. Tang Muchen saw it and glared at her.

Du Yunyan stood in front of him and said, "Take your homework book and write it here with your sister. You are not allowed to leave until you finish it."

"snort."

He climbed onto the table and sat opposite Lin Luo, staring at her.

"What are you looking at? My teacher said your handwriting is terrible. You need to rewrite it." Du Yunyan said, noticing that Lin Luo was also holding a copybook. "My handwriting is very good. I don't know whose it is that you two resemble."

Lin Luo thought of Lin Dayong's ugly handwriting. She had never seen Tang Heng write, so she didn't know whether it was beautiful or not.

Tang Muchen didn't like Du Yunyan comparing him with Lin Luo, so he picked up his pen and started writing hard. Lin Luo knew that he was competing with her, so she put down the candied haws and continued practicing.

Du Yunyan complained: "Two stubborn guys, I don't know who they resemble."

Tang Heng didn't work overtime tonight and returned home at eight o'clock. As soon as he entered the door, he changed his shoes and went into Lin Luo's room to fix the light.

So Lin Luo and Tang Muchen stopped fighting and returned to the room.

She didn't lock the door, took out her cell phone, and the first thing she did was to send a message to Lin Dayong.

[Dad, how have you been lately? I miss you.]

"I'm doing well. I've made a lot of friends and I get along well with my family. You don't have to worry about me."

Lin Luo did not tell Lin Dayong about the conflict between her and Du Yunyan. Perhaps the first step in growing up is to learn to report good news but not bad news!

She looked through the chat history with him, fantasizing that one day Lin Dayong might see it and reply to her.

A pop-up message on her phone brought her back to reality. It was from Xu Yangyang: [What a close call! Fang Shao and I were almost caught by Director Wang at the Lotus Pavilion.]

[Don't overthink it, we went there to take pictures. Do you think it's pretty?]

After posting, she sent a link to Lin Xiao. She clicked on it and was redirected to Tieba, where Xu Yangyang's account had posted a message: "I didn't see the koi, but that's okay. In my eyes, you are the koi."

The accompanying picture is a photo of her and Fang Shao's shadow at the Lotus Pavilion.

婋老虎: [It looks good, but why don’t you post it on QQ space? ]

Xu Yangyang: [Undercover relationships don't need to be so high-profile. Tieba is very anonymous, and you can even share your little secrets there.]

Lao Hu: [Okay! I'll try it another day.]

Xu Yangyang: [Really?! Is it about Ruan Ye?]

Tiger: [No!]

Lin Luo sent an angry emoticon.

Xu Yangyang: [Don't be angry, it's not true, I believe you, and I won't say it again.]

Xu Yangyang: [The movie is about to start. I won’t chat with you anymore.]

Tiger: [Okay.]

She sat on the bed, looking out the window as the night deepened. From her direction, Lin Luo could vaguely see the sycamore tree in the old villa swaying in the wind. She didn't know what he was doing.

The phone vibrated, and Lin Luo dropped it onto the quilt because she didn't hold it firmly. When she picked it up again, the class group interface appeared on the screen.

There is no teacher in this group. Usually, students in the class like to complain in it. The number of messages is always 99+, and they are all worthless words. Lin Luo never reads them.

Suddenly she clicked on it and found that the latest message was sent by a special account. The avatar was a green field and the nickname was just one word: "OK".

She blinked, clenched her phone with both hands, and scrolled through the messages one by one, looking for the messages sent by Fu Xingchuan.

He only replied to a few of the hundreds of messages, but Lin Qi read them for a long time.

New messages popped up below, and Lin Luo accidentally pressed the return button to the bottom.

I heard that No. 7 Middle School is very strong in this physics competition, and since Ruan Ye didn't go, Brother Chuan is fighting alone. I think it's going to be a tough fight. Old Wang will turn into a dog again, biting people all day long.

OK: [I'll tie him up with the medal when I get back.]

Peace and safety every year: [Come on, kitty.jpg]

Many people followed suit: [Come on, Brother Chuan! ]

Lin Luo didn't answer. She clicked on Zhu Sui'an's homepage.

Her profile picture is a selfie of herself, wearing a crown, like a noble princess from a fairy tale. Her signature is: [Don't bow your head, or your crown will fall; don't cry, or bad people will laugh.] Her latest update is: [Stay away from bad people and live a good life.] The accompanying pictures are photos of her recent travels abroad.

The light above her head flickered due to poor contact, and there was no movement outside the door. She thought Tang Heng must have fallen asleep at this time. Lin Luo turned off the light and walked to the windowsill to look out.

Because the floor was not high and they were afraid of thieves, they installed anti-theft nets outside the windowsill. As Lin Luo looked at it, she suddenly felt that the window was like a cage, trapping her.

She sat on the windowsill and turned on her cell phone again in the moonlight. She did not open QQ again, but clicked on Tieba.

A popular post was pushed on the homepage, which was a story about a stranger’s secret love. Lin Luo clicked on it to read it.

"Classmate Y, the college entrance exam is less than two months away. I'm exhausted every day, and my grades fluctuate wildly. You've been recommended for admission to Kyoto University, and you only come to campus for major exams. Even though we're worlds apart, and you never stop to look at me, I still feel my secret love is worth it. Am I being silly?"

My good friend said I was stupid, but I didn’t plan to stop. I just wanted to stop here and pick it up again after the college entrance exam.

[I hope I can successfully get into Beijing University, go to Jinghe with you, be outstanding enough to stand by your side, and wait for you to look back at me.]

This is a post from a girl who has stopped updating. She has been updating her sad secret love story since her freshman year of high school.

Someone commented to her below:

【Not everything has to have an ending. We are lucky enough to meet each other.】

After reading all of this, I just want to say: "Do well in the college entrance exam. After the exam, be brave enough to confess your feelings to classmate Y. Don't leave any regrets."

Everyone has a classmate like Y in their youth! I really feel the same way.

After saving the post, Lin Luo turned off her phone, turned on the light again and sat down at her desk.

She firmly believed that she had to become excellent, to be excellent enough to have the courage to confess her feelings to Fu Xingchuan. She did not seek good results, but just did not want to leave any regrets in her youth.