Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Although they could have an in-depth discussion about whether to be in a college relationship in private, in order to save trouble at school, the two of them tacitly maintained a "no one knows each other" state.
Even when we meet by chance on the street, we always act as if we didn't see each other.
So much so that some rumors came out of nowhere.
At noon, Xu Zhaoli rushed into the classroom in a hurry.
The chair was dragged back with a harsh sound. Shen Ye, whose train of thought was interrupted, looked up from the Chinese test paper and glanced at him coldly.
Xu Zhaoli hesitated to speak: "Brother Chen, have you heard..."
Chen Ye retracted his gaze and continued to struggle with a reading comprehension question: "Let it go."
Xu Zhaoli bravely said, "Someone actually said that you were completely rejected by Shu Yao from Class 5, and you couldn't bring yourself to do anything with her anymore."
Shen Ye paused his pen and looked up at him: “Have you spread such rumors?”
"Damn it!" Xu Zhaoli straightened his back in indignation. "Am I such a boring person? How could I spread such a stupid rumor!"
"Very good." Shen Ye nodded, put a period at the end of the sentence, and said casually, "Go and pass it on now."
Xu Zhaoli:?
He was stunned for a long time before he reacted: "Did you spread this rumor yourself?"
Chen Ye remained silent.
It seems to be the default.
"No, what are you after?" Xu Zhaoli was puzzled. "Everyone's male protagonist is like that. There are rumors about who he likes and who he's been with. Then when they ask him about it, he calmly replies, 'It's not a rumor.' But you're saying you were rejected?"
Shen Ye's answer didn't sound ashamed at all, but rather proud: "Then can I be the same as others?"
“…”You are awesome.
Thanks to Xu Zhaoli, the loudspeaker, the rumor that was originally known to only a few people spread throughout the school in less than three days.
But Shu Yao's side was still quiet.
In Zhao Tiantian's words, those boys didn't dare to harass her before because Chen Ye was pursuing her, and they still don't dare to harass her now because: she doesn't even like Chen Ye, so how can she like them?
Even the homeroom teacher, Lao Wang, seemed to have heard about this. When she handed in her homework, he tentatively asked, "Have you encountered any difficulties recently? Mainly in life. If you have any, please communicate with the teacher in time."
Shu Yao stood in the middle of the aisle, hands clasped behind her back, her posture obedient: "It's not difficult."
"That's good. I know you're an obedient child." Lao Wang took a sip of tea and spat out a floating leaf, his face full of satisfaction. "You've made progress on this monthly exam compared to the last one. Study hard for the final exam. I believe in you."
"Thanks--"
Before Shu Yao could finish his words, there was a knock on the office door.
As the word "teacher" came out of his mouth, the head teacher of Class 8 behind him responded "Come in".
A tall figure in school uniform pushed the door open and walked in. Shen Ye's eyes met hers for a moment, and he took the initiative to look away, as if he didn't know her, and walked straight towards her.
There were two desks standing side by side, and there was only so much space in the aisle. When Shen Ye stood behind her, the surroundings suddenly became crowded.
Shu Yao was about to leave, but as she turned around, she heard Teacher Liu ask, "I heard from your mother that you have plans to go abroad?"
Shu Yao stopped instantly.
Seeing that she didn't move, Lao Wang looked up at her, as if asking with his eyes: Is there anything else?
Shu Yao's mind raced as he whispered, "Teacher Wang, I don't understand the solution to the last question on the test yesterday. Could you explain it to me again?"
"The last one?" Lao Wang immediately began to search through the pile of test papers on the table.
At the same time, Shen Ye’s answer came from behind: “No, I’m not planning to go abroad.”
Shu Yao immediately felt relieved.
Lao Wang found the test paper, turned to the last page, picked up the black-framed glasses beside him and put them on. He looked at it carefully for a while and tapped the table with the tip of his pen: "Look, the question is this..."
Shu Yao leaned closer.
Although she got the answer to this question right, it took her a lot of time. So after discovering that the solution steps given by Lao Wang were indeed simpler than her own, Shu Yao listened carefully and no longer paid attention to the movement behind her.
Until, the hands behind the back were suddenly tapped by someone's fingertips.
Shu Yao was as if she had been hit by a needle, and she didn't move at all. But Chen Ye behind her stuffed something into her palm while answering the teacher's questions calmly.
“I will stay in the country to go to university.”
Shu Yao wanted to grab the thing with his right hand, but because he couldn't see it, he accidentally grabbed his index finger into his palm.
He came in from outside, his fingertips were slightly cool. Shu Yao's heart suddenly shook, and then he immediately relaxed a little.
Shen Ye pulled his fingers out of her hand and let out a chuckle.
Although Shu Yao couldn't see his expression, she could imagine it perfectly: his eyes and brows couldn't hide the smile, and there was a bit of a triumphant look on his face.
Teacher Liu was confused. "Why are you laughing? I'm serious. If you plan to stay in China and take the college entrance exam, your Chinese can't continue like this. Although you've made some progress this time, it's still not enough."
Shen Ye said in a deep voice: "I know, I have already found a tutor for extra lessons."
"Are you really willing to study hard? Your mother told me that several tutors have come and gone."
"This won't happen." Shen Ye said leisurely, "I am very satisfied with this."
"That's good. I'm really worried about you being partial to one subject."
The conversation behind him was still going on, but Lao Wang's answer had ended.
He took another sip of tea and exhaled a long breath of hot air: "Do you understand?"
Shu Yao nodded: "I understand."
"Well, let's go back to the classroom and get ready for class."
"Okay, thank you, teacher." Shu Yao leaned forward slightly and bowed, put his right hand into the pocket of his school uniform jacket, and quickly walked out of the classroom.
The thing was sharp and angular, and it made her palm feel a little itchy.
Shu Yao walked to the stairs, took it out and took a look, and found that it was a small piece of paper folded into a square.
Since his cell phone was confiscated, Shu Yao actually thought about asking him to borrow one. Chen Ye didn't look like someone who didn't have a few old cell phones at home.
But later she found that after getting used to life without a mobile phone, her life became much quieter and she was able to focus more on studying, so she didn't say anything.
So Chen Ye seemed to have gotten used to using this primitive way to convey information.
She leaned against the railing, lowered her head and carefully opened the note. There was only one sentence written on it:
[I have to go back home tomorrow morning. Please come in first if you arrive first.]
With two "di" sounds, the fingerprint lock is unlocked.
Shu Yao pushed the door open and walked in. The room was indeed quiet. It seemed that Shen Ye had not returned yet.
Little Biscuit was originally curled up in the doghouse, but when he heard some noise, he poked his little head out.
After seeing that it was Shu Yao, its tail instantly turned into a propeller, and it rushed towards her, grabbing her trouser leg and pulling it towards the door.
Shu Yao knew that Chen Ye was probably in a hurry to go out in the morning and didn't take it out for a walk, so now it was extremely restless and wanted to go out and play.
She looked up at the time, took the leash from the sofa, squatted down and put it on its head: "Okay, your dad hasn't come back anyway."
In the dead of winter, the morning sun was not very warm, but the cool breeze whistled into the sleeves. Shu Yao took it for a walk in the community for half a circle, and then he backed off.
"Biscuit, let's go back. It's cold."
Little Biscuit is full of energy. He smells the flowers and the grass happily.
Another gust of wind blew by, raising a little dust. Shu Yao squinted his eyes, and finally, unable to bear it any longer, he pulled the leash and prepared to go home.
However, just as he turned around, he heard an uncertain voice behind him, "Shu Yao?"
This voice sounds so familiar.
Shu Yao was stunned in the spot. It took a long time for him to mentally prepare himself. He turned around with a smile and looked at Teacher Wang who had already arrived in front of him: "Hello, Teacher Wang."
Teacher Wang was wearing a black down jacket, holding a box of wine in his left hand and two bags of fruit in his right hand. He looked like he was visiting relatives or friends.
Teacher Wang had visited her uncle's house before, so he naturally knew her address. He glanced down at the dog circling around her legs and said with a kind smile, "I remember you didn't live here?"
"Yeah." Shu Yao nodded calmly, "My other aunt's house is here."
"I see." Teacher Wang looked at it without any doubt.
Shu Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, chatted with him for a few words, and then took Xiaobingbing's hand and walked towards another building in the opposite direction of Teacher Wang.
However, before he had taken a few steps, Little Biscuit suddenly ran two steps in the other direction in a restless manner. Due to being restrained by the leash, he barked twice again.
Shu Yao and Teacher Wang, who had not walked far yet, both looked in the direction of its gaze.
Shu Yao's head was buzzing.
Shen Ye was walking towards Building 3 while talking on the phone with someone. He turned his head and looked over when he heard Little Biscuit's call.
When their eyes met, the three people had different expressions.
The atmosphere seemed to be frozen by the cold weather, only Little Biscuit was wagging its tail wildly at Shen Ye with excitement.
Teacher Wang's face was ashen, and his tone was as sharp as ice.
"Tell your parents to come to my office the day after tomorrow."
Little Biscuit looked at the two people on the sofa who ignored him with a wronged look on his face, as if he didn't understand what he had done wrong.
Chen Ye ignored it and helped Shu Yao put a straw into the milk on the table. Shu Yao's slightly pale face came into view, and the scene just now emerged in his mind.
Faced with Teacher Wang's questioning, he explained as a matter of course that he knew Shu Yao was short of money, so he hired her to walk the dog, but she didn't know that he was the dog's owner, and they had no direct contact.
Teacher Wang's face was full of doubt. He said there were many ways to help her. He let a little girl come in and out of his house, and he lived alone. If this got out, how much impact would it have on her reputation? Had he considered it?
Shen Ye did not deny it at all, but lowered his head to admit his mistake, saying that he had not considered it carefully.
Unexpectedly, Shu Yao beside him suddenly interrupted and said, "We are friends."
All the explanations made by Shen Ye turned into bubbles.
The back of Teacher Wang, who left in anger, seemed to still be in front of my eyes.
Shen Ye handed her the milk and asked seemingly casually, "Why did you confess just now?"
Shu Yao took the milk and drank two sips, biting the straw in silence.
She couldn't explain why she impulsively interrupted his apology just now. Obviously, from a rational point of view, what Chen Ye said was indeed the best way to save her, and even for both of them.
If Teacher Wang believed it, he would at most scold Chen Ye a few words and perhaps take back the decision to call the parents.
But Shu Yao always felt that Chen Ye shouldn't be like this.
The Shen Ye she knew was a young man with a strong will. He would never bow his head unless it was his fault.
He shouldn't have shattered his pride and taken on false charges just to protect her.
A bite mark appeared on the white straw. Shu Yao put down the milk. After the impulse, he felt no regret, but extreme calmness.
"I don't think we're wrong."
Shen Ye raised his eyebrows slightly and asked again: "So?"
"So—" Shu Yao turned sideways to look at her, his eyes clear and pure, revealing visible determination, "There's no need for us to be sneaky, no need to pretend to be strangers in school, and even more no need to take on a crime that shouldn't be yours just to protect me."
Shen Ye was silent for a long time.
Finally, he looked down at the biscuit stuck to his leg and scratched its neck tenderly, but he said to Shu Yao: "This is the first time in your life that someone calls you their parents. Aren't you nervous?"
Shu Yao clenched his fists: "What's there to be nervous about?"
So nervous.
Especially when sitting in an office so silent that you can hear a pin drop, this sense of tension seems to be magnified a hundred times.
Before coming, Shu Yao had already confessed to his uncle Shu Ming the reason why he was called to school as a parent, so Shu Ming did not ask much, but just smiled and handed a cigarette to Teacher Wang.
Teacher Wang raised his hand to refuse, his expression looking relatively calm: "Uncle Shu Yao, I think Shu Yao should have already told you about this matter. I wonder what you think about this matter?"
Shu Ming had graduated from high school decades ago, but when he heard the teacher's question, he still straightened his back as if facing a great enemy, placed his hands on his thighs, and answered politely: "I have already severely criticized her!"
"Then—"
Before Teacher Wang could finish his words, he was interrupted by Shu Ming.
"If you need money, you can tell the adults. Although our family is not rich, we can still come up with this little money. How can we waste time for such an important period of time in senior year? Teacher Wang, don't you agree?"
Teacher Wang twitched his lips awkwardly. "That's true, but right now, the other problem is clearly more serious."
"Besides?" Shu Ming was puzzled. "What other questions are there?"
"It's about Shu Yao's close relationship with boys."
"Ah, I've heard that too." Shu Ming smiled innocently and scratched the back of his head. "But I think, children, after all, who doesn't have some youthful... what's that called? Twitching? Cute?"
Shu Yao tugged at his sleeve and reminded him, "Throbbing."
"Oh, yes! Throbbing!" Shu Ming nodded in agreement. "The throbbing of youth, Teacher Wang. To be honest, my wife and I were high school classmates. Back then, I pursued her for quite a while..."
Teacher Wang took off his glasses, pressed his eyebrows, raised his hand and called for a halt: "Uncle Shu Yao, how about this, let's wait for the boy's parents to arrive, and then we can talk together. What do you think?"
"That's fine." Shu Ming lowered his head and adjusted the hem of his coat, then looked at Shu Yao and asked, "Am I dressed okay today? Isn't it a bit shabby to meet my in-laws dressed like this for the first time? Why didn't you tell me earlier so I could go buy a suit?"
Shu Yao: “…”
Teacher Wang: “…”
After a while, there was a knock on the office door.
Teacher Wang quickly stood up, opened the door, looked outside and greeted, "Mrs. Shen."
Shu Yao looked up and saw a sister wearing a white windbreaker and delicate makeup. She looked to be in her early thirties. If the title of Teacher Wang had not revealed her identity, Shu Yao would have found it hard to believe that this was Shen Ye's mother.
After Qian Manqing entered the room, she first glanced at Shu Yao, smiled, and waved.
Shu Yao was stunned for a moment, and after two seconds he raised the corner of his mouth and nodded slightly in response.
Qian Manqing looked at the man beside her again, took the initiative to extend her hand and said: "Hello, hello, you are Shu Yao's uncle, right? I am Shen Ye's mother, my name is Qian Manqing."
"Hello, Shu Ming." Shu Ming stood up and shook hands with her.
"I'm sorry, my son has been willful and reckless since he was young. He doesn't know how to behave. I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."
"It's not a bother, it's not a bother. They're all children after all. Our Yaoyao just transferred here and she's already making new friends. I'm quite happy for her."
"That's good, that's good." Qian Manqing covered her mouth and chuckled a few times, then asked, "Are you guys free tonight? How about having dinner together? And getting to know each other?"
Not only Shu Yao was confused, but Teacher Wang was also confused.
"Um, Mrs. Shen." Teacher Wang interrupted the two people's greetings, "I invited you here today mainly to talk about..."
"Teacher Wang." Qian Manqing turned to look at him, her tone gentle, yet her aura was undeniable. "I know you're a very dedicated teacher, and you always prioritize student achievement. But in that case, you should have seen the results of the two children's most recent monthly exam, right? The little girl got third in the grade, and our son, who usually never passed in Chinese, actually improved by 20 or 30 points this time. He told me it was all thanks to Shu Yao's tutoring."
"That's true..." Teacher Wang hesitated, "but this is only short-term, and the negative impact hasn't manifested yet."
"How about this: if they can maintain their grades on the final exam and remain unaffected, then we, as older adults, shouldn't interfere too much in the normal friendship between these children. Teacher Wang, do you think this is feasible?"
Teacher Wang choked for a moment and turned to look at Shu Ming: "Uncle Shu Yao, what do you think?"
"Ah." Shu Ming finally came back to his senses and said with a smile, "I have no objection. Any restaurant is fine. I'll eat anything."
Teacher Wang:?
Qian Manqing's words were tantamount to giving them a guarantee in front of Teacher Wang.
In the following month, Shu Yao studied extremely hard, fearing that he would not be able to rank among the top three and would not be able to fulfill the promise he made to Teacher Wang.
Fortunately, the results were gratifying.
Shu Yao returned to first place in the grade, and Chen Ye jumped into the top 20 in the grade.
Shu Yao heaved a sigh of relief, put down her phone, and looked at Chen Ye, who was resting with his head propped up and his eyes closed. During this period, she had worked hard, but Chen Ye had even worked harder.
The faint blue in his eyes is the best proof.
Shu Yao called him softly, "Chen Ye?"
There was no response.
Really fell asleep?
She slowly lowered herself down, squatting on the carpet, and looked up at him.
Under the cold white light, the long eyelashes cast two shadows, like small fans. Shu Yao blinked, and couldn't help but raised her hand to touch it gently.
It wasn't as hard as hair, and her fingertips felt slightly itchy. She slowly moved her fingers down, landed on the tip of her nose, and tapped it.
Then the cheeks.
She seemed to have found a fun toy, poking it here and pressing it there.
Until Shen Ye closed his eyes and Youyou reminded him: "What are you looking for?"
Shu Yao's right hand froze in mid-air. After retracting it, he said seriously, "Find the switch."
Shen Ye slowly opened his eyes, and when their eyes met, he chuckled, "What switch?"
"You were in hibernation just now. Look, I accidentally pressed the switch and you started up."
Chen Ye did not laugh at her childishness, but continued seriously: "Actually, I am voice-controlled."
Shu Yao had only called his name just now.
It turned out that he heard everything.
"So your startup tone is Chen Ye?" Shu Yao sat back on the sofa, smiled sideways, "What about the shutdown tone?"
Shen Ye: “Guess.”
"good evening?"
Shen Ye shook his head.
"Bye-Bye?"
Shen Ye shook his head again.
Shu Yao pondered for a long time, looked into his dark pupils, and slowly uttered two words uncertainly: "Shu Yao."
Shen Ye smiled, closed his eyes, and fell forward onto her shoulder.
His hair brushed against the skin on her neck, itching and pricking. Shu Yao pushed him away: "Don't take advantage of me."
Not only did Shen Ye not move away, but he rested his forehead against her shoulder and rubbed it gently.
"I'm asleep and can't hear."
On the day the cold wave hit, Shu Yao returned to Nanjiang for the winter vacation.
Fortunately, she got first place in the final exam and successfully got her cell phone back from her uncle, so even though they were hundreds of kilometers apart, her contact with Shen Ye was not affected too much.
On New Year's Eve, as usual, Shu Meiru felt that it would be too lonely for the two of them to eat at home, so she took Shu Yao back to her grandparents' house.
Grandpa and grandma knew they were coming, so they started preparing the New Year's Eve dinner early in the morning. It was quite lively at first, but when they actually started eating, the atmosphere became cold.
Grandma brought up the past again: "Mei Ru, you are not that old now, you should consider finding another one. Otherwise, it will be too hard for you to live alone with the child."
Outside the window, I don’t know who’s house has started setting off fireworks early. The banging sounds and the colorful and brilliant colors fill the entire night sky.
The room fell into a suffocating silence because of these words.
Shu Meiru said indifferently: "I am living a good life now."
Grandpa tugged at grandma's sleeve: "Don't talk about this at a time like this."
"Why can't I say this? I didn't agree to the divorce back then. You don't know what the people in the village were talking about back then. I met Jianhui's mother before, and she said Jianhui has been single for years. If you ask me, you should reconsider it, just for the sake of the child."
Shu Meiru put down her chopsticks silently and said, "I'm going to the bathroom."
When she walked into the bedroom, grandma turned her attention to Shu Yao again.
"Yaoyao, why don't you try to persuade your mother?"
Shu Yao picked up a pork chop and said expressionlessly, "No."
"You kid." Grandma frowned, but she was afraid that Shu Meiru would hear, so she lowered her voice, "You should also think more about your mother. She is raising you alone, it must be so hard. As a family, reunion is the most important thing."
This was not the first time Shu Yao had heard these words over the years.
It can even be said that I have heard it countless times.
From grandma to some older relatives.
It seems that in their eyes, the reason for divorce is not important, and whether they get along or not is not important. What is important is that the family is not broken up and is not laughed at by others.
They always say, for the children, for the children.
But in fact, no one asked her what she thought, and no one cared what she thought.
A gust of cold wind came in through the gap in the window, making Shu Yao shiver. The sound of fireworks outside had stopped at some point, replaced by some conversation and noise.
It's annoying to hear.
Shu Yao looked at the New Year's Eve dinner in front of him, which was barely touched, and lost all appetite.
Shu Meiru didn't eat much either.
After dinner, the two returned home early, but tacitly agreed that no one would talk about the unpleasant topic at the dinner table.
It was late at night. Shu Yao sat at the desk by the window with her cell phone in hand and sent a message to Chen Ye, asking him if he had finished the homework she assigned him yesterday.
But I realized after sending it out that today is New Year's Eve.
He must be having New Year's Eve dinner at home with his family. It is so inhumane to mention homework at this time.
Shu Yao quickly withdrew.
An abrupt withdrawal reminder was left on the phone screen.
If it was before, Shen Ye would definitely reply with a question mark and ask her what she withdrew, but today, he did not reply.
You must be very busy.
Shu Yao sighed silently and vaguely heard children laughing and playing downstairs.
"I want to build a little duck."
"Let's make a pile of bears."
“Ducks are cuter!”
Shu Yao opened the window and looked out, only to find that it was snowing outside. It didn't take long before the ground was covered with white snow.
Snowflakes were blown by the wind and fell on the back of her hand. A hint of coolness penetrated into her body through her skin. Shu Yao looked down and blew it away with a "whoosh".
Shu Yao didn't have any poetic thoughts, nor did he feel it was worth commemorating. He closed the window and drew the curtains.
She picked up her pajamas at the end of the bed and was about to go to the bathroom to take a shower when there was a sudden "bang" sound on the window.
Thinking that the two children had accidentally thrown something against the window, she didn't pay much attention until another noise was heard a few seconds later.
She was already in a bad mood, and now she couldn't stand it any longer. She pushed open the window and looked down: "You guys——"
Before she could finish her words, Shu Yao opened her eyes wide, and the blood in her body seemed to be boiling, making her feel cold in an instant.
Chen Ye was wearing a black sweatshirt and standing in the cold wind, looking a little thin. In his right palm, he was holding a puppy made of snow.
He looked up at her, the tiny starlight falling into his eyes. Perhaps because he was afraid of disturbing her mother, he did not call her, but only mouthed four words -
"Happy New Year."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
