Chapter 93 Chapter 93 A Cold Kiss
After less than two weeks at home, the New Year arrived quietly. Song Yucong still had no plans to return, and Tao Ning let him be. However, he was still brooding over the fact that he wasn't the first man brought home. It wasn't until New Year's Eve that his sullen expression finally softened.
Tao Ning said, "You are the first man to spend the Spring Festival with me." As she said the last two words, her voice gradually became softer, and her cheeks wrapped in the fluffy collar turned slightly red, like a small white furry animal that was coaxed out of a hole in winter.
Although it is the truth, I always feel embarrassed to say it out loud.
Home-built houses aren't well insulated, especially in the mountains. Even with a warm charcoal fire burning inside, it can still be a bit chilly. Song Yucong, standing in front of Tao Ning, blushed from the tips of her ears to the base of her neck as she heard this. She stared at Tao Ning's face intently. When she realized what was happening, she quickly turned her head away and snorted, "Slippery tongue."
Then he pretended to be disgusted and said, "This country house is so cold that my face is red from the cold... Country bumpkin, find me some clothes to wear."
Tao Ning smiled and placed a bowl of cabbage stewed with vermicelli on the table. "Okay, I'll give it to you later. Sit down first. It's time for the New Year's Eve dinner."
"Here they are, the snowflake meatballs are here." Tao Yuan rushed out of the kitchen carrying the last bowl of food. The snowflake meatballs, a symbol of reunion, were placed in the center of the table, grinning from ear to ear. "Why are you all standing there like idiots? Sit down and eat! I bought a ton of firecrackers for Spring Festival this year. After dinner, Ningning, take Xiao Song and Xiao Meng out to play. Your second aunt asked me to play cards. You little brat, don't call me back on such a busy day!"
"good."
Song Yucong scoffed softly, "He's looking so sick and he wants to take me to set off fireworks? Tsk, I'm afraid he'll be scared to tears by the sound of the fireworks."
But on second thought, if the boy begged him to light the firework stick in his hand, called him "Master" in a soft voice, and smiled beautifully and sweetly. Or hugged him and said aggrievedly "The sound of firecrackers is so scary" and then took the initiative to get into his arms and so on.
Song Yucong's heart skipped a beat, and he thought that such a boring activity as setting off firecrackers was not a bad idea.
Tao Yuan overheard this and burst out laughing, clapping his legs and saying, "Our Ningning was already eight years old and already dared to set off a torpedo that would blow up the lake. He scared the other kids to tears but she still kept playing. Hahahaha. He's very brave. Xiao Song, just relax and play with Ningning."
Song Yucong: “…”
My fantasy was shattered. It turned out that Tao Ning, that idiot, had no idea what fear was.
At 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve, the sound of firecrackers blared outside, while a preview of the Spring Festival Gala played on TV. Laughter and joy filled the air. Inside the small, self-built house deep in the mountains, greetings of "Happy New Year" echoed one after another.
Happiness is so simple.
......
However, once people find themselves in a whirlpool of happiness, it usually means that the day of separation has arrived. Tao Ning gave the valuable gifts that Song Yucong asked him to pass on to Tao Yuan and Xiao Meng, saying that he had brought them back with three suitcases after much difficulty.
Tao Yuan smiled from ear to ear and accepted it without hesitation.
Later, Tao Ning was pulled aside by her to talk about taking care of his health, and she stuffed some money into his pocket. Finally, she reluctantly let him go.
"Ningning, Sister and Xiaomeng will always have your back. We just want you to be happy. No matter what you want to do in the future, whether you want to stay in the city or come back to sell lemons with Sister, Sister will support you."
"good."
On the bus back, Tao Ning handed Song Yucong a wooden box.
"What is that?" Song Yucong felt like vomiting because of the smell in the car. He frowned and took it. After opening it, he found an exquisite gold bracelet inside with a red envelope underneath.
"This is the bracelet Mrs. Song gave me when I first visited your house. I gave it to my sister, but she thought it was too valuable and kept it. Now I'm giving it back to you...keep it as a keepsake." Tao Ning paused. "Below is my New Year's money for you. Happy New Year, Song Yucong."
"May you be safe and sound every year."
Tao Ning smiled faintly, the light from the car window casting a silent melding of the winter chill. Song Yucong stared at the bracelet and red envelope in his palm, his expression unclear because he was looking down.
At this time, the bus passed through a tunnel and the surroundings suddenly became dark. The person next to her approached unexpectedly and a somewhat cold kiss fell on Tao Ning's cheek.
The whole process took only two or three seconds, so fast that Tao Ning couldn't react at all.
"Ahem," Song Yucong quickly straightened up after stealing the kiss, turned his head to look at the scenery that had reappeared outside the window, coughed uncomfortably a few times, and his ears turned red like boiled shrimps and crabs, "Then I'll reluctantly accept it."
So he didn't see that the person behind him covered the place where he was kissed in surprise, with a dazed expression, as if he remembered something.
Later, Song Yucong had a thick gold necklace around his neck, which made him look less like a rich young man and more like a nouveau riche flaunting his wealth. He gave others a cold look when they tried to touch him, so they pulled their hands back. But that's all a story for later.
*
After returning to school, Tao Ning's life returned to normal. He commuted between class and the dormitory, occasionally going to the Olympiad training camp to practice. Since he was the only one left in the dormitory, the school assigned him a new room. Coincidentally, his new roommate happened to be Lu Jue. However, Lu Jue looked less cheerful and cheerful than before, and instead had a melancholy look on his face.
Tao Ning asked him what happened. Lu Jue sighed and said that his brother was hit by objects thrown from a high altitude and was now unconscious in the hospital, so he was very worried.
Thinking of the confident and dazzling black-haired young man at the biology lecture that day, Tao Ning also became worried. She also comforted him and said that he would definitely get better.
Lu Jue gave a wry smile and changed the subject. "Oh, by the way, Ningning, do you know Xu Jun? He was in our class, the former student union president with the expressionless face. He took a leave of absence to start his own business. Now he's so arrogant, the boss of a financial company. Oh, you know how frustrating it is to compare yourself to others. When he was a freshman in high school, the principal personally invited him from No. 1 Middle School to our school. Since then, he's been the top student in the grade for almost three years. He also went from being a transfer student to the powerful student union president, and he met a lot of people from the upper class. Now he's taken a leave of absence and become a big boss again. Oh, Ningning, don't you think this is infuriating?"
"Damn, I forgot, Ningning, you're top of the class now! You nerds are so annoying! Let me tell you..."
Tao Ning nodded absentmindedly.
After returning to school, he had neither news of Zhao Jingqun nor seen Xu Jun again. These two people seemed to have completely disappeared from his life. He only occasionally got some news about Xu Jun. Just as Lu Jue said, he was now in high spirits and should be doing very well.
Zhao Jingqun, however, had completely vanished without a trace. Only Sun Laoer would occasionally take him to the hospital for checkups, though his expression was always heavy. Song Yucong had also seldom said anything unkind lately, though on weekends he'd half-threaten and half-negotiate Tao Ning into taking various supplements.
He seemed very busy and Tao Ning rarely saw him.
Until one day, Tao Ning saw Song Yucong in the newspaper. The media news headlines read "a musical talent that emerged out of nowhere" and "a controversial wealthy singer". Later, Tao Ning even saw Song Yucong on TV.
On the LCD screen, Song Yucong's face remained stern, dressed in a black, British-style suit and red tie, with countless flashes focused on him. Tao Ning felt as if she had returned to the time when she first met Song Yucong. He was indeed as proud as a peacock.
It turns out Song Yucong has become a singer. Tao Ning thought, no wonder he always appears wearing a black mask recently. Even having a meal with him is so secretive and mysterious, and he has more and more bodyguards around him.
"Ningning, are you listening?" Lu Jue's voice sounded in her ears. A hand waved in front of her eyes. Tao Ning came back to her senses and nodded slowly.
Lu Jue's expression had shifted from initial melancholy to relief. "Especially that Liu Yuliang. He spread rumors about you cheating, fanning the flames and goading everyone into insulting you. Thankfully, Ningning, you've been proven innocent, and Liu Yuliang got what he deserved, now facing a hornet's nest of insults on the forums. I thought he'd become a quiet man after that, but you have no idea how annoying Liu Yuliang is. He took advantage of you being away from school because of your poor health and started badmouthing you again. Thankfully, this evildoer got his comeuppance; he was recently expelled from school, hahaha, all for cheating! It's so satisfying!"
When this incident was brought up, Tao Ning finally remembered who Liu Yuliang was. She didn't think much about the fact that he was finally expelled for cheating. After all, to Tao Ning, Liu Yuliang was an unimportant person.
If Lu Jue hadn't mentioned it, he would never have remembered who Liu Yuliang was.
"Damn it, it's going to be dark if we don't leave now. Ningning, I'm going first. My brother is still in the hospital..."
It was Friday and school was over. After Lu Jue packed his schoolbag, he said goodbye to Tao Ning and hurried out of the dormitory. After watching him leave, Tao Ning also started to pack her clothes and return to the apartment.
He did not forget his promise to Zhao Jingqun. He just lived in the dormitory from Monday to Friday and returned to the apartment on Saturdays and Sundays. Occasionally, when Song Yucong called him, he would send a car to pick him up and take him back to the Song family to rest.
The days passed one by one, and it seemed very peaceful, but Tao Ning always felt a little uneasy because he had lost the system and had no news of Zhao Jingqun for a long time. The latter asked Sun Laoer, but Sun Laoer hesitated and was vague.
Gradually, Tao Ning stopped asking.
Until this day, Tao Ning remembered his two mobile phones, opened them and was stunned.
On the phone Zhao Jingqun had given him, there was a text message from an unknown number, containing only four short words: "Happy New Year." And on the phone Xu Jun had given him, there was a message about a change in the balance of a bank account. Tao Ning's card had suddenly had a large amount of money added to it, a full two hundred thousand yuan.
Because of these two text messages, Tao Ning was distracted while walking on the road and almost hit the van in front of him.
"Are you blind? How can you see the road? Will you pay for the damage if it happens?!" Several tall and strong men suddenly got out of the van, speaking in a very aggressive tone.
Suddenly coming back to his senses, Tao Ning quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He looked down at the rear lights of the van and didn't see any scratches. Come to think of it, he just bumped into it with his body. With the elasticity and softness of human flesh, it could not cause any damage to such a metal vehicle.
He wanted to point it out to them, but unexpectedly these men suddenly surrounded him. Tao Ning then realized that these people were all wearing masks, dressed in uniform, with hideous tattoos on their wrists, and had unfriendly eyes. After looking at each other, they all looked at him.
These people... don't seem to be here to investigate the incident of him hitting the car!
Without hesitation, Tao Ning turned around and ran.
"Fuck him! This guy is too sharp! Chase him!"
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