46 Chapter Forty-Five (Two chapters combined)

This was the first time Li Yingqiao had ever been genuinely angered to tears.

Everyone stared at Wu Juan in shock. If their makeshift department head, Li Yingqiao, seemed difficult to fool, Wu Juan was the complete opposite—a pushover. The last time the scenic area's response unexpectedly went viral, because a netizen commented, "The editor probably wanted to do this a long time ago," she was so angry she wanted to resign. Li Yingqiao had to persuade her to stay.

Zhuang Ding was no pushover either. Now that he was soaked to the bone, he was even more furious. He roared, "Wu Juan, what are you doing!"

Wu Juan stood there, her face flushing red and then turning pale, before stammering, "...No, I'm sorry, the soup was too hot, I couldn't hold it..."

"What are you pretending for? Everyone knows you're doing this on purpose—"

Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud "splash" as another bowl of noodle soup was poured over his head.

This time it was Pan Xiaoliang who didn't give the other side a chance to speak at all. He launched into a tirade: "So what if you did it on purpose? Are you bullying us because we're not good enough? Can't you just shut up and eat quietly? You have to keep whining like this, it's unbearable. You can choose to dance the girl group dance or not, if you don't want to, go talk to Li Yingqiao yourself. Yu Jinyang teaching you to dance is like teaching a fish to ride a bicycle, don't you have any sense of how outrageous that is?"

The person on the other end was absolutely furious. Seeing that these three small fry were still united like a string of peanuts, he scoffed contemptuously: "Pan Xiaoliang, what are you trying to prove? If you like dancing to girl group songs so much, go dance to them yourself. Or you might as well change your name to Pan Xiaolian. You have no manly qualities whatsoever."

"What's wrong with Pan Xiaolian? Why are you spouting such pungent and spicy farts here! Your mother doesn't have a name, does she? Remember this, from now on your father's name will be Pan Xiaolian."

"you!"

"What do you mean, 'you'? When your father gave birth to you, did the family not have a spittoon, so they unscrewed your skull and spat phlegm into your head? Shut up, I can smell your father's phlegm as soon as you open your mouth."

Pan Xiaoliang cursed with such fervor that his blood boiled, unleashing a barrage of insults across the entire arena. He was as if he were ready to meet any challenge head-on. Even Gao Dian, who rushed out to cheer him on, was not spared. His head was buzzing as he was met with a swift and sharp retort: ​​"You get lost too, you bunch of stinking idiots."

Gao Dian was stunned for a moment, then kicked his foot and said with a straight face, "No, Xiaolian, I'm not Gao Dian, I'm Gao Diandian."

Apart from the burly man who slammed his fist on the table and stormed off in anger at Pan Xiaoliang, everyone else in the office burst into laughter unexpectedly.

The cleaning lady, who was responsible for cleaning today, couldn't laugh. She stared incredulously at the soup and water on the floor, about to yell at someone, when she suddenly saw someone stand up, put the chair back in its place, and say to her, "It'll be done soon. You can clean the office next door first."

The older sister looked at the refined, handsome, tall man and her anger immediately died down, as if a dud had been fired.

When Pan Xiaoliang and Wu Juan arrived at their afternoon workday, their alarm clocks went off the moment they met. Pan Xiaoliang immediately asked Wu Juan, "Has the office been cleaned?"

Wu Juan suddenly remembered, mechanically shaking her head, but her eyes held a strange fear. "Oh no. Is it... the landlady on duty today?"

As the name suggests, the landlady owns five apartments in Xiaohua City, all of which were demolished properties years ago. Her surname is Bao, and while she does have a bad temper, she's serious about cleaning. Anyone who crosses her will be met with a barrage of criticism in their office; she fears no one. Even Li Boqing, who has stood before her, has been lashed out with a mop before, but he can't do anything about it—she has a son working in the provincial government.

Pan Xiaoliang was about to rush to the office at noon when Gao Dian suddenly grabbed him and handed him two cups of coffee: "Someone has already cleaned up. He asked me to thank you both."

Pan Xiaoliang calmed down and didn't accept the coffee. Instead, he glanced at Wu Juan, whose face was flushed, and said, "Why not say thank you in person? That's so insincere."

Wu Juan accepted the invitation without hesitation and said with a smile, "Actually, there's really no need to be so polite."

Gao Dian said, "Juanmei, why don't you hesitate for even a second?"

Wu Juan felt even more embarrassed. Pan Xiaoliang scoffed, "Where is he? Is he still going to practice this afternoon?"

Gao Dian smiled and said, "Xiao Lian, what's the rush? It's just that Zhuang Ding left the group, so we need to fill the gap. Miao will go find his old friends to fill the position."

With a "bang," the badminton shuttlecock soared high into the air, tracing a perfect arc before landing on the other side of the court. Yu Jinyang, anticipating the landing based on the height of the arc, calmly stepped back a few paces, took a backhand slam, and spoke gently and directly to the person opposite him: "How about it, Taihe, can you lend me a hand?"

The opponent jumped up and smashed again with a powerful spike. Raising his racket, he pointed at the person across the net: "Yu Jinyang, can't you even play seriously?! I've been trying to get you to play for ages, and you wouldn't come. I finally got you to come to me, and you want to drag me into some girl group dance? Are you crazy? You'd better beat me into submission first—"

Before he could finish speaking, the opponent delivered a powerful smash, and the badminton shuttlecock landed first with a long-lost whooshing sound.

"..."

If they won't respond to gentle persuasion, then I'll have to resort to force.

"Is it ready?" Yu Jinyang asked calmly.

Sun Taihe still can't handle Yu Jinyang's smashes. As a professional amateur badminton enthusiast, he feels that Yu Jinyang went too far, "It's a sneak attack, isn't it?"

"You're not blind, why are you blaming me for not realizing it yourself?" Yu Jinyang chuckled through the net, glancing at him and telling him to pick up the ball. "Alright, here you go."

Sun Taihe scooped up the shuttlecock and gave him a wary look: "I don't play political badminton. I still remember how pathetic you looked playing with those leaders last time. The water was so high, you almost flooded the Star Tower."

"Stop talking nonsense, are you going to fight or not?"

Seeing his expression turn cold, Sun Taihe suddenly realized that Yu Jinyang had been trying to get his father's disability certificate before the trial. He recalled how Aunt Tang was constantly going back and forth between the hospital and the Disabled Persons' Federation, but for some reason, she kept giving them incomplete documentation. The brothers were both angry and amused; even the fourth brother was lying there, clearly aware that without that official stamp, nothing would work.

Sun Taihe passed the ball over: "Isn't your case about to go to trial? Haven't the disability assessment results come out yet? Won't the longer it drags on, the worse it will be for your father's disability assessment results?"

Yu Jinyang retaliated with a "Hmm".

It's hard to say. If the patient gets a prosthesis later and recovers well, regardless of the court's ruling, even the family members will lower their expectations for the outcome, because the hardest days are over.

"It's very likely that Li Boqing is putting pressure on them." Sun Taihe raised his racket high, smashed it hard, and said breathlessly, "Otherwise, it's impossible that we can't even get a disability certificate. These people are really despicable."

Before this, Yu Jinyang had made many trips, but to no avail. Now, no matter how much he urged him, it was useless. He made an appointment to play ball with Li Lianfeng this weekend, intending to try to get some information out of him. If Li Boqing could control everything to this extent, he would have no choice but to find another way.

***

At five o'clock, during the rush hour, vehicles were coming and going from the small art market. The two comrades who were so energetic at noon were now wilted like frostbitten eggplants. Pan Xiaoliang squatted on the ground smoking in silence, and only after cursing incessantly did he remember that next month's payslip was still in Zhuangding's hands.

Wu Juan also silently took a step to the side and said, "We were too impulsive. Nana from the finance department next door told me that Zhuangding has already complained to the vice president. I don't know what they'll do to us tomorrow. I should have known better than to listen to Yingqiao and stay."

Pan Xiaoliang clicked his tongue, took a drag of his cigarette, and said, "Keep lying to yourself. Don't you know why you stayed?"

Before Wu Juan could reply, Gao Dian came running down the stairs in a few steps, hooked his arm around Pan Xiaoliang's and said, "Come on, Miao got it sorted out. He said he'd like to treat you two to a meal. Would you do me the honor?"

Pan Xiaoliang didn't answer, but gave Wu Juan a mocking look.

Wu Juan asked, "Where should we eat?"

Gao Dian said, "There's a food stall by the river. Which of you two has a car?"

Pan Xiaoliang shook the electric scooter key. "Only one person can ride. Which of you two will ride?"

Gao Dian immediately realized, "Then I'll definitely ride. It's not appropriate for the two of you to ride alone. Juanmei, go scan the shared bike."

***

A gentle breeze wafted along the river, and cumin seeds crackled and popped in the glowing embers, releasing their oily aroma. Lights along the banks lit up one after another, clusters of neon lights like shattered fragments of light falling onto the river's surface, making the calm waters seem alive, their shimmering reflections mirroring the lifeless faces of the people on the shore.

"How's the battle going for you two?" Gao Dian asked impatiently as soon as he sat down.

Sun Taihe waved and ordered a dozen beers, his anger flaring up: "He has no sportsmanship, he shaved my head, so I'm going to give him a good beating. Don't be shy, order whatever you like." After saying that, he glanced at Wu Juan behind the two of them and blurted out in a glib tone: "How come all the staff at your scenic spot look like fairies? I ran into Miao Jia at the stadium the other day, she's so beautiful now."

Sun Taihe met Yu Jinyang at a joint school arts performance during their high school years. They later joined a dance troupe and knew that Yu Jinyang had a good relationship with his childhood friends. Gao Dian was more involved with him, while the other two girls rarely saw each other.

In terms of looks, Sun Taihe can rival Zhong Su. Zhong Su's temperament is similar to Yu Jinyang's; both belong to the cool and handsome type. But Sun Taihe has a roguish charm; he's quite the charmer when it comes to seduction, but if you actually ask him to sleep with someone, he'll say, "You wish!" No wonder these two single women can get along so well.

As for Gao Dian, looks are no longer important to him; his intelligence has already cost him a lot of points.

So Wu Juan sat down with a blush, while Pan Xiaoliang sat down with a dark expression and asked Yu Jinyang, "Is your friend a decent person?"

Yu Jinyang glanced at him, then continued scanning the QR code for ordering, saying, "Not very familiar with him, I picked him up at the gym."

Sun Taihe glanced at him, stood up and said, "Then I'll leave?"

Yu Jinyang laughed and pulled him back, tossing the phone to him. "Order your food. Do you think you can get rid of your anger today if you don't rip me off?"

Sun Taihe: That's more like it.

He slurped down nearly five hundred skewers, and Gao Dian, not to be outdone, quickly ordered nearly five hundred as well, not forgetting to tease Sun Taihe: "Sun Taihe, have some shame. Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows, but you're always gnawing on the grass right next to me."

Sun Taihe said, "Nonsense. When have I ever harmed anyone around Yu Jinyang?"

Gao Dian honestly couldn't recall. Sun Taihe would only make a couple of half-hearted flirtations each time, never actually following through. The owner quickly brought over the skewers, and Gao Dian happily ate them before suddenly remembering, "Where's Qiao? I don't think I've seen her at the scenic area all day. Didn't you call her?"

Yu Jinyang leaned back in the plastic chair at the barbecue stall. Whether it was because he was too relaxed or something else, the chair back creaked under his weight. He picked up the half-can of beer in front of him, took a sip, and, having not driven today, planned to walk back, slowly swirled the beer in his mouth: "I didn't call her."

Gao Dian stopped eating the skewer, his lips still smeared with bright red chili powder, and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? How dare you not call her?"

Mentioning the name reminded Sun Taihe of something. Actually, back when he was preparing for the high school entrance exam, he and a few friends were leaning against the wall by the school gate, practicing smoking. They couldn't afford good cigarettes then, so they smoked cheap brands like Daqianmen, the cheap tobacco making him cough. It was at that moment that he and his buddies suddenly heard three idiots start howling in unison at the school gate—

"Liu Yuxi! His courtesy name was Mengde!"

"This is a humble abode, but my virtue makes it fragrant!"

"The broken halberd lies buried in the sand, its iron still uncorroded; I will polish it myself to recognize the former dynasty!"

"Li Yingqiao! See you in the pool!"

"See you in the pool!"

Sun Taihe remembers it all too clearly. It was a huge shock to him at the time. He was already feeling nauseous from the strong fumes from the Daqianmen cigarette, and he almost coughed up his lungs. With a lingering, bitter expression, he said, "I thought to myself, I must never read too many books in my life!"

Gao Dian was stunned. He was completely in the dark, and no one had reviewed the situation with him afterward. He couldn't even eat his skewers, and his eyes were full of shock: "Wait, were you three really that immature back then? Damn, all these years, you didn't tell me anything."

Sun Taihe said, "Is he been beaten up back then? His face was swollen like a pig's head. Later, when we danced together at the inter-school performance, I didn't even recognize him. This kid is so handsome."

Gao Dian had a lot to say about this. He grunted, took a sip of beer to clear his throat, and said, "You don't know this, do you? Let me tell you! A few days before the high school entrance exam, he was kidnapped and disappeared for several days. None of us knew at the time. It wasn't until the night before the exam that Qiaoqiao deduced it from the text messages he sent, and then had the teacher call to confirm. Oh my god, he really had been kidnapped! Then Qiaoqiao rescued him by cracking a string of numbers. It was like a movie, so exciting!"

Pan Xiaoliang stared wide-eyed at this, then suddenly threw down the bottle and said, "Wait a minute, I have a question."

Gao Dian crunched on a skewer of grilled chives and said, "You put it on."

"Which school did Li Yingqiao graduate from?"

"..."

Wu Juan subconsciously rolled her eyes at him: "Pan Xiaoliang, is it true that no other school besides your Tanzhong can produce talented people?"

Gao Dian grinned: "What a coincidence, Qiao graduated from Tanzhong."

Pan Xiaoliang was stunned, and the mushroom in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud": "Damn! She's actually from Tanzhong. Her behavior is really not like that of Tanzhong at all. What Tanzhong person would be so crazy?"

"Where did you get this stereotype from?" Yu Jinyang rarely chimed in.

Pan Xiaoliang counted on his fingers and said, "Anyway, people from our graduating class from Tanzhong either work in municipal units, state-owned enterprises, or the public security, procuratorate, and judicial organs. Banks are considered at the bottom of the food chain. Oh, and there are a few accountants in jail."

Sun Taihe asked, "...So everyone has to work for the government, right? Aren't you an exception?"

Pan Xiaoliang: "That's why I'm the worst off; I've never even been to a class reunion."

Obviously not entirely. Wu Juan knew this. She said, "He always wants to compare himself with the best. There are people who are not doing well, but he just can't see it. He is a very contradictory person. Sometimes he is very confident, and sometimes he is extremely insecure."

Gao Dian smiled, put his arm around Xiao Liang's shoulder and said, "Xiao Liang, this is just you being immature. Me, Miao, Miao Jia, and I all graduated from Tanzhong High School. So what?"

Pan Xiaoliang was truly incredulous: "...The gate to the pool is so easy to enter, even Gao Dian and you are?"

Gao Dian smiled mysteriously and said, "This story begins with a woman named Liang Mei."

At this point, Gao Dian suddenly remembered something and, looking at Yu Jinyang, said with a sudden idea, "By the way, meow, aren't Teacher Liang and Zhu Xiaoliang still teaching in G Province? How about we find some time to go visit them as a group?"

"You'll have to ask your idol about this," Yu Jinyang said casually, leaning back.

Back then, Li Yingqiao not only made harsh remarks to him, saying she would not return to her hometown until she made something of herself, but she also did the same to Liang Mei.

At that time, they had all received their university acceptance letters, and everything was settled. Li Yingqiao thought that their hard work in getting into university would give Liang Mei the confidence to go back to teaching. Even if Huacheng Elementary School didn't work out, they could try a few more schools. Eventually, after carefully learning about her story, some school would be willing to let her go back to teaching.

They were too young to know that Liang Mei's lawsuit against the school and Qian Dongchang had a significant impact in a small town where personal connections were deeply intertwined, not to mention that someone had lost their official position because of it that year.

As a result, Liang Mei's name became a taboo subject within Fengtan's education system; no one dared to take on this hot potato. Zhu Xiaoliang even asked Hu Zheng to pull strings at the Education Bureau, but they were repeatedly turned away.

But Li Yingqiao and Yu Jinyang, unaware of the inside story, didn't understand that the world isn't black and white, and not everyone can stand in a clear-cut line of black and white. God didn't give anyone a handicap; who the werewolf and who the good guy are would be revealed at a glance. Far too many people were wrongfully killed; one Liang Mei was nothing compared to a hundred Liang Meis—they would all be buried the same.

But they still had many innocent expectations for the world, so, including Fang Yue and the other three, a total of five people wrote a four-page letter to Liang Mei, totaling twenty pages. They even photocopied each of their university admission notices, carefully bound them, and prepared to send them to the Education Bureau.

During this period, they kept making corrections, probably because they were in a hurry. They kept making typos and some small mistakes that they wouldn't normally make kept happening. They discussed whether to switch to computer typing, but computer typing doesn't have the same sincerity as handwriting. Would the leaders of the Education Bureau take it seriously?

After much deliberation, the group decided to write the letter carefully, stroke by stroke, revising and rewriting it. Once it was finished, each of them copied it out in neat regular script to ensure that every word was legible to the leaders.

Zheng Miaojia even wrote a separate comic book letter, drawing all the little things that happened between them in the comics—Li Yingqiao, the guardian of the little painting town who loves to play with crickets in class, can loudly pronounce "Chinese Great Sword Mantis" and confidently say Ostrovsky's full name; Yu Jinyang, the public enemy who always patiently corrects their mistakes and always takes the place of Teacher Liang to confiscate Li Yingqiao's comics; Gao Dian, who always makes a fool of himself but also always applauds them generously; the adorable herself; Zhu Xiaoliang, the math fanatic who always thinks they don't like math but is afraid they will actually fall in love with math and become like him; and Liang Mei, who can do everything with ease but always blows things up in the kitchen...

They even wrote a striking message on the envelope: "If the leaders don't have time to read this letter, we hope you can spare a little time to read this cartoon. It will absolutely, positively, positively save you more time than reading the letter. We guarantee it!"

They spent a whole week, except for the time it took to eat a few bites of food, focusing all their time on those letters. After they had carefully bound the letters with all their heart, they didn't tell Liang Mei, but secretly told Zhu Xiaoliang. Zhu Xiaoliang, whose side was unclear, actually told Liang Mei directly.

Liang Mei immediately braved the rain and waded through the muddy water to the farmers' market to find Li Yingqiao. She knew that Li Yingqiao must be the culprit. As soon as they met, she asked her to take out the things without saying a word, and tore up the letter in front of her without even looking at the ground.

In fact, Li Yingqiao didn't think she would be moved. Liang Mei was a cold-hearted person, but she didn't expect her to react so hysterically.

She was frozen in place, completely stunned, watching helplessly as the woman's knuckles turned white as she clenched the letters tightly. In that rainy night, under the streetlights, the woman's fingers were so fierce and deformed, her knuckles white and menacing, as if the bones were about to burst out.

By the time she belatedly realized she needed to protect her and reached out to grab her, Liang Mei had already been torn in two with a "rip." She turned her face away, her hair still dripping with water, but her eyes were dry, like withered grass crushed and trampled by the roadside.

Li Yingqiao couldn't understand why she was like this at all. Looking at the stack of torn letters in her hand, she was so angry that she trembled all over. She tried her best to clench her teeth and make a creaking sound, trying to stop herself from shaking so badly. She rarely had a moment when she was so angry that she couldn't speak.

Liang Mei stared at her coldly, then shouted at her for the first time with all her might: "Who asked you to be so presumptuous? Who asked you to meddle in my business? Mind your own business! Li Yingqiao, you think too highly of yourself! Do you think you can help me? Your pretentious nonsense will only make everyone more embarrassed!"

This was the first time Li Yingqiao had ever been genuinely angered to tears.

Yu Jinyang gave Li Yingqiao a complete set of Detective Conan that he had saved up for three years.

He stood behind them under the misty streetlights, watching the master and apprentice argue. He watched Li Yingqiao cry uncontrollably from anger, and then he grabbed Liang Mei's arm and bit her hard.

[Author's Note]

The adult bridge is not under construction today.

See you Friday and Saturday!

(Question mark][Question mark][Question mark]) The author is once again stunned by his own word count. If I can still reach this word count on Friday, please all rise up (stand up)!

Three hundred red envelopes~

A tip: I've seen some readers expressing anxiety about the romance plot. There's a major breakthrough here that requires some setup. I haven't estimated the word count for this story, and free novels don't have word limits. My focus is on the completeness of the story. If I can finish writing and explain all the characters' stories, I'll be satisfied! So I won't limit the word count, and there's no need to worry about the romance. I'll definitely write until you're all tired of it, so don't get anxious if there's only one or two chapters without romance.

(I am very grateful for everyone's support and encouragement during this period of serialization. It has been a real motivation for me, who has been a little afraid of serialization since I haven't written anything for three years. So I sincerely hope that everyone enjoys reading it.)