Chapter 29 I see all living beings as mere grass and trees, only I see…

Ning Yao smiled and looked up at Huo Li, saying, "I want to talk to you about the rumors from a few days ago."

Huo Li straightened up, looked down at her innocent-looking, fair face, raised his right eyebrow slightly, and his voice seemed to roll out from his throat.

"rumor?"

Ning Yao nodded generously, "Yes, about the rumor that you called me 'Brother Ning'."

Huo Li never harbored much malice towards her, but in her eyes, he didn't show much kindness either.

She was treated a little better than her classmates.

She didn't expect him to tell her directly whether Ning Ge and she had a relationship.

Ning Yao thought about it for a long time last night and decided to start with this rumor.

"Heh." Huo Li snorted coldly, "I didn't shout that."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If that's what you're asking, then you don't need to ask. There's no such thing."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Ning Yao hurriedly called out, "But you two really do know each other, right?"

Huo Li stopped in his tracks.

He glanced around and found that the classroom was now empty, with only him and Ning Yao remaining.

For some reason, he didn't stop his actions at all.

He kicked the chair, and it spun around.

Huo Li sat down directly, tilting his chin towards Ning Yao who was standing, and said, "Sit down. Didn't you have a lot of questions you wanted to ask me? Sit down, and we'll talk slowly."

Ning Yao paused for a moment, realizing that she was still too inexperienced.

Huo Li's current posture and the undisguised mockery in his eyes made it clear to anyone with eyes to see that he was about to cause trouble.

Her mind raced, and she pulled up a chair and slowly sat down.

"Ask away," Huo Lisa said with a smile.

Ning Yao clasped her hands together and, out of sight, tightly gripped the fingers of her other hand.

She wondered if asking directly would attract Ning Yiwen's attention.

Ning Yao then forced a smile onto her face, her eyes instantly filled with curiosity.

"I'm just curious, how did you and Brother Ning end up chatting together?"

Huo Li smiled and teased, "What if I said I'm not familiar with him?"

Ning Yao shrugged. "So what if we're not familiar? But if we weren't familiar, you wouldn't have asked me to sit down, would you?"

His behavior clearly indicated that he had something to say to her.

Having figured this out, Ning Yao relaxed a lot and leaned back in her chair.

In the blink of an eye, she neutralized Huo Li's teasing.

Huo Li's smile faded considerably; he hadn't expected Ning Yao to be able to turn the tables so quickly.

He did have some ulterior motives; he wanted to cause Ning Yiwen some trouble.

But Ning Yao...

Huo Li narrowed his eyes and looked at Ning Yao: "Heh, you're not bad at all."

Moreover, she is clever in just the right way, so as not to be annoying, and is much more likable than Ning Yiwen.

A brilliant idea instantly formed in my mind.

Huo Li laughed and said, "How about this, you do me a favor, and I'll tell you some of Ning Yiwen's little secrets, how about it?"

His tone became extremely soft, and his words carried a seductive undertone.

Ning Yao naturally couldn't agree directly. "What is it? Tell me."

Huo Li pulled his long legs back and leaned his entire upper body towards her.

"I need you to help me... write a love letter. In a woman's voice."

A love letter?! And written in a woman's voice?

Ning Yao was surprised, her eyes widening. "To whom?"

Huo Li shook his head, "You don't need to know this, and it doesn't need to be signed."

Ning Yao nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Besides not signing your name, what other requirements are there for the love letter?"

Huo Li: "A love letter, one thousand words, must be written by you personally, not copied. That's all."

Ning Yao nodded: "Okay."

Huo Li was pleased to see Ning Yao being so cooperative. "Alright then. Since you've agreed, I'll tell you about your Ning Yiwen. He's really quite annoying."

Ning Yao frowned as she listened, displeased with his words about Ning Yiwen.

Huo Li pretended not to see it and continued to talk at length.

"Ning Yiwen is a wicked man. When I first met him two years ago, he already had a stern face, like a little old man, looking old-fashioned and uninteresting. Later, when we occasionally met, he didn't like to talk to me, and often just went about his own business..."

Ning Yao listened intently to Huo Lidong's rambling, incoherent ramblings, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

She felt like it was as if he hadn't heard her at all.

But out of politeness as a listener, she did not interrupt, but simply kept the questions that kept surfacing in her mind to herself.

They met two years ago, but how did they meet?

Ning Ge was busy with his own things in front of Huo Li. What were they?

Moreover... Ning Yao had one more major question: was Huo Li really that easy to talk to?

Is the son of the renowned Shanghai Chamber of Commerce President Huo such a guileless person?

When asked, he spilled everything out.

She did not question the credibility of Huo Li's words, but she did question his motives for saying them.

When Huo Li finally stopped talking, his throat dry, Ning Yao asked, "You said you knew each other two years ago? How did you meet?"

Huo Li chuckled upon hearing this, "Well, I'll have to tell you that after you finish writing your love letter. There's no reason to pay upfront."

Ning Yao: "..."

So that's what they were waiting for her here.

However, this actually put Ning Yao at ease.

Because if Huo Li is too easy to talk to, she will always worry that she might be deceived by him.

Huo Li stood up, casually flicked an invisible dust off his clothes, glanced at her, and said, "I'm hungry. Shall we go eat together?"

Ning Yao refused outright, "Go by yourself, I have other things to do."

A bad pen is worse than a good memory.

She needed to go back and write down all her questions, and think about the details carefully later, so as not to overlook anything and be tricked by Huo Li, which would be bad.

Huo Li scoffed, "Fine, you'll just use it and then throw it away, huh? Then I'll go by myself."

He didn't care, he simply put his hands behind his head and lazily walked out of the classroom.

Ning Yao watched his carefree figure disappear into the distance, her brows furrowing involuntarily.

If she remembered correctly, Huo Li had a sour face when he came in the morning.

He didn't seem to be getting any better during class, so why does he look so relaxed and carefree from behind right now?

Was it because he said a lot of bad things about Ning Yiwen in front of her, or did he actually trick her without her noticing?

It's no wonder Ning Yao made that connection; mainly because when she's in a bad mood, doing something bad can make her feel much better.

...

Ning Yao still hadn't found the answer by the time get out of class ended in the afternoon, but she had written most of the love letter, about eight hundred words long.

When Ning Yiwen came to pick her up, Ning Yao quickly walked out of the classroom.

However, as she reached the classroom door, she couldn't help but slow down.

The person who said yesterday that he didn't need her help is now standing quietly on the veranda with a smile in his eyes.

She was surrounded by her classmates, and some of them would greet her as they passed by.

He would nod his head back one by one, and occasionally he could even say a few words in response.

Gentle, with just the right amount of politeness.

Ning Yao withdrew her gaze and slowly walked up to him. "Let's go."

Ning Yiwen looked down and could only see the whorl of her hair, and she could tell that she wasn't in a good mood.

She asked softly, "Did your class not go well today?"

Ning Yao didn't look up, she just shook her head, "No."

The two kept a distance that was neither too close nor too far as they walked out of the school together.

Ning Yao stopped at the street corner and called out, "Brother Ning."

Ning Yiwen: "Hmm?"

Ning Yao pointed to a fork in the road ahead. "I want to go this way, to Wanzhong Girls' High School. Is that okay?"

Ning Yiwen looked in the direction she was pointing. Wanzhong Girls' High School was located on Lewen Street, to the left at the end of the street.

Nalewen Street is one of the streets with the highest pedestrian traffic in the vicinity.

However, considering that the school was all girls, it was not advisable to choose a remote location for Wanzhong Girls' School. So, they spent a lot of money to buy a residential area in the city center, demolished and rebuilt it into a girls' school.

Although the girls' school was located in a bustling area and was quite safe, Ning Yiwen still said, "Shall I take you there?"

Ning Yao quickly waved her hand, "No need, Brother Ning, I think there are quite a lot of people on this road, you go home and wait for me."

After saying that, seeing that Ning Yiwen didn't object, he seized the opportunity, grabbed his small backpack, and said cheerfully, "Then I'll go first. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

He ran without stopping for a moment, covering a distance in the blink of an eye, but soon stopped again.

Ning Yao turned around and looked back.

On the bustling street, Ning Yiwen remained standing in the same spot, his expression unchanged from before.

But his gaze remained fixed on her.

Ning Yao raised her hand and shouted at Ning Yiwen, "Brother Ning, you should go back."

After saying that, he turned and ran towards Wanzhong Girls' High School, never looking back.

She had no idea that Ning Yiwen would stand there motionless until her figure disappeared long afterward, before slowly walking down that road, the road they walked home every day.

Ning Yao moved with lightning speed, arriving at the entrance of Wanzhong Girls' School in the blink of an eye.

It was also dismissal time for Wanzhong Girls' Middle School. Ning Yao stood at the gate, looking at the school entrance.

Many girls walked out of the school gate hand in hand, in twos and threes, chatting and laughing.

Ning Yao was at a loss for words.

She hadn't made any appointments, didn't know which class Yan Sifan was in, or even if she had gone home yet.

After hesitating for a while, Ning Yao finally mustered up her courage, looked at the school gate where girls were constantly emerging, and stepped forward to stop three girls who were laughing very happily.

She found the three of them rather agreeable.

Besides, they were having so much fun that they probably wouldn't mind her interruption.

"Hello, do you know Yan Sifan?"

Ning Yao spoke very slowly, as if afraid they hadn't heard her clearly.

The three men's laughter abruptly stopped. Looking at the girl blocking their path, the most beautiful girl in the middle asked, "Yan Sifan?"

Ning Yao quickly added, "The color of 'yan' and the thought of 'si'..."

"I know." The girl rolled her eyes, interrupting her. "Who are you? Which class are you in?"

After saying that, he looked her up and down.

Suddenly, Ning Yao felt that she was reminded of Wan Hongye by this pretty girl.

He acts on impulse, and his likes and dislikes are written all over his face, giving people a feeling of arrogance without being abrupt.

Both of them have a proud and arrogant air about them.

Ning Yao smiled, instantly feeling much closer to the other person. "I'm from another school. I came here to find her. I don't know if she's gone home yet."

The girl pouted, sensing Ning Yao's kindness, and toned it down considerably, only saying, "She was in Class 3 of the middle school. But she's already left. Come back tomorrow."

Ning Yao was surprised that the person in front of her actually knew Yan Sifan. She was glad she was lucky and couldn't help but ask, "Could you please pass on my message? We'll wait here tomorrow."

The girl glanced at her sideways, speechless, and said, "Who's going to pass on your message? You can try your luck again tomorrow."

After saying that, he put his arm around his two friends and left.

Ning Yao: ? ? ?

They were talking fine just now, how come...

Do they have some grudge they don't know about?

Ning Yao looked completely bewildered.

But for now, I have no choice but to go home.

She walked slowly toward home, mentally drafting her speech as she went.

She planned to go home soon and finish writing the love letter she hadn't finished during the day.

This was, in fact, the first time she had ever written a love letter.

She came according to what was written in the book.

Speaking in a woman's voice, Ning Yao figured she should express her emotions more subtly...

Then, appropriately quote more classical Chinese poems about love and romance...

With these thoughts in mind, Ning Yao returned home.

As soon as I got home, I ran into Ning Yiwen, who was weeding in the yard.

He held iron tools in one hand and a small bundle of grass in the other.

Seeing Ning Yao return with a pensive look on her face, they assumed she had encountered something.

"What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"

Without a second thought, Ning Yao blurted out the few lines of poetry that kept popping into her mind.

"Undeterred by the green hills, we will stay together."

The clear voice reached Ning Yiwen's ears, and his heart was unexpectedly jolted. He involuntarily clenched the weeds in his hand tightly.

After a long pause, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice, "What did you say?"

Unexpectedly, Ning Yao blurted out, "I see all living beings as grass and trees, but I see you as a green mountain."

"If you are like the moon, always bright and pure, I would brave ice and snow to warm you."

With a "thud," the weeds in Ning Yiwen's hand fell to the ground.

Ning Yao's love poems, one after another, completely stunned Ning Yiwen.

His mind went completely blank, and his heart was racing uncontrollably.

"you……"

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

The author's note: Undeterred by the green hills, we will accompany each other. - *The Book of Songs*, *Bei Feng*, "Drumming"

I see all living beings as mere grass and trees, but you alone I see as a verdant mountain. - Li Yi (Tang Dynasty), "Inscription at the North Post Station of Dayu Ridge"

If only the moon could remain forever bright and pure, I would brave ice and snow to warm you. - Nalan Xingde (Qing Dynasty), "Butterfly Loves Flowers - The Moon in the Sky is the Most Pitiful in Its Hardship"

Hearing these words when you don't like them will definitely feel different than hearing them when you like them!