Together
Li Cheng wasn't particularly angry after being slapped by the beautiful woman. He just grinned and said, "Hiss, you're so fierce. Be careful no one will want you in the future."
Li Cheng's tone was slightly sarcastic, and Nan Qi was clearly stung by his words. She could tolerate him saying those things about herself, but she couldn't stand it when he said them about Song Zhao to her face.
"You..." Nanqi was about to retort fiercely when she heard Song Zhao's trembling voice.
"And what are you anyway?!" Song Zhao frowned, his gaze sharp, and his lips trembled slightly, seemingly out of control.
Calling you a scoundrel and a rogue is an understatement!
She was panting heavily, and sneered, "But I believe someone will want you, after all, someone has to collect your corpse."
The atmosphere between the two was extremely tense, as if swords were about to clash at any moment. Nan Qi was so shocked that her eyelids trembled. She was worried that Li Cheng would suddenly lose his temper, and she did not expect Song Zhao to be so angry.
Li Cheng's face darkened, and his back teeth clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound. Seeing that he was about to make a move, Nan Qi stepped in front of Song Zhao first, saying, "Brother Cheng, it's shameful to argue with a girl."
Li Jia also went over and pulled him away, saying, "Brother, they're all my classmates. It's rare for them to come to our house. Don't make things difficult for me. Besides, Mom and Dad hate to see you fighting."
Li Cheng spat and left dejectedly.
Nanqi's twitching eyelids finally calmed down. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Jiajia, the class monitor and I are going back now. We'll come find you to play again next time."
"Okay, I'll bring the pomegranate over to you tomorrow," Li Jia said with an awkward smile.
"I'm counting on you. I've been missing your Shiliu for almost a year."
Song Zhao calmed himself down, forced a smile, said goodbye to Li Jia, and then walked back with Nan Qi.
On the way back, Song Zhao was still sullen. When they were almost at the taxi stand, she finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Why didn't you resist?"
"ah?"
Song Zhao said in a deep voice, "When he was holding you..."
"..."
Nanqi was silent for a moment, then replied seriously, "I'm scared."
Song Zhao was somewhat surprised and found it hard to believe that anyone could frighten Nan Qi to the point that she didn't even dare to resist.
“Li Cheng is five years older than Li Jia and me. He has always been stronger than us since he was a child. When he was little, he always took Jiajia’s things, food and toys. His parents also favored him. Once I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I came up with a plan to mess with him. Li Jia and I installed a lock on the toilet door in advance, and when he was taking a dump, we locked him inside from the outside.”
Nanqi sighed, "In the end, he kicked the lock open in no time, and then he chased us for half a mile. If Li Jia's parents hadn't stopped us, we might have lost our lives."
"It was probably that incident that triggered my stress response, so I won't get into a physical altercation with him unless absolutely necessary."
Song Zhao said, "He really was born a scoundrel."
"Actually, he was alright when he was little. Although he always took Li Jia's things, he wouldn't do anything to us if we didn't provoke him. He would even protect us. Once, we were beaten up by older students. After Li Jia told him about it when she got home, he even went over and fought with them."
"After he dropped out of junior high school, he probably came into contact with some bad people and became the way he is now, a complete scoundrel who smokes, drinks, fights, goes to bars, and speaks in a thuggish manner that annoys people. His parents are also strange. At first, they would scold him, but later they couldn't control him anymore, so they stopped caring and even spoiled him more, as if he was their good son just because he was alive."
Nanqi said helplessly, "In comparison, Jiajia is much more pitiful. She is busy with housework and farm work every day. If she does not do it well, her parents will beat and scold her."
Seeing that Song Zhao was also feeling melancholy, Nan Qi said, "You must be speechless about their family, which is why I said that as long as I make a name for myself in the future, I will take Li Jia away, give her a job, and make sure that her parents and brother can't find her."
Song Zhao said with a half-smile, "You're so good to her."
Nanqi paused for a moment and then said, "Really? You're even jealous of her?"
“A little.” Song Zhao sighed heavily. “But I feel more sorry for her. She’s a good girl, and life has been so unfair to her.”
Nanqi ruffled her hair. "Well then, if you didn't have a good time today, how about I make it up to you a little?"
"Hmm?" Song Zhao stared intently at her.
Nanqi suppressed her smile, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slowly approached Song Zhao. Their faces drew closer and closer, and their breathing became clearer and clearer.
This was the first time she had ever tried kissing someone, and she was terribly nervous.
Song Zhao cupped her face and stopped her. Nan Qi opened her eyes, her face flushed, and looked at Song Zhao helplessly.
Song Zhao said, "No, I don't want this kind of compensation."
"..."
Song Zhao stared straight at her, his eyes clear as water. "Please tell me honestly, do you like me or not?"
Nanqi, her face flushed, said, "I like it."
"Explain clearly, what kind of liking are you referring to?"
Nanqi bit her lip; she didn't know how to express this feeling.
Song Zhao stared at her forcefully, giving her no time to think, "Tell me, what kind of liking is it?"
"Yes, yes, I like it so much right now, my heart is pounding." Nanqi felt extremely shy and wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground. She glanced away and pouted, "Oh dear, I'm not good at saying things like that."
Song Zhao smiled, hugged Nan Qi's neck, and kissed her. Nan Qi instantly went from shy to stunned, and then became infatuated by Song Zhao's gentle kiss, unconsciously closing her eyes.
"Was this our first kiss?" Nanqi asked, bewildered.
"If you say so, then so be it," Song Zhao said softly.
"I will always be good to you," Nanqi said.
"Me too."
The two kissed again. This time, Nanqi felt at ease and began to enjoy the sweet kiss. It was the most wonderful taste she had ever experienced, sweet and delicious, making her intoxicated and unable to stop.
Back home, Nanqi was still immersed in the sweet feeling, her face beaming with an undisguised smile, which caught Nanyue's attention.
How was the date?
"Not bad," Nanqi blurted out unconsciously.
"hehe…"
Nanqi quickly covered her mouth upon realizing what had happened.
Nan Yue tidied up the things on the table and continued to ask, "What does your brother-in-law look like? Is he handsome?"
Nanqi rested her chin on her hand and said in a gushing tone, "It's pretty."
"Is that good for you?"
“It’s exceptionally good.” She emphasized the word “exceptional.”
"Okay, that's good." Nan Yue smiled slightly, but her mood immediately dropped the next second.
Nanqi quickly noticed the change in her mood and said half-jokingly, "What's wrong? Did your Xiaodong brother upset you again?"
“I was the one who broke up with him. I asked him why he was ignoring me, and he just replied with an ‘hmm’, so I brought it up.”
"Isn't this a cause for celebration? You've finally come to your senses!"
"But... my heart aches so much... I was the one who said we should break up, so why am I so sad? I've thought about it so many times, so why... am I still so heartbroken..."
Seeing Nan Yue's tears falling down her face, Nan Qi felt extremely distressed. She hugged Nan Yue in her arms, stroked her hair, and comforted her, "Cry, cry, I'm here for you."
"Sis, do you think he never liked me at all? Why did he agree to break up with me the moment I said I wanted to? He even deleted all our contact information. Why can he be so nonchalant? It makes me feel like I'm the one who got dumped..."
"He's been cold to you so many times before, and he's been flirting with other women outside. He must have wanted to break up with you for a long time, but he just wants you to be the one to say it first. My silly sister, stay away from him. Only by staying away from him can you be happy."
"I know, but I can't bear to part with our past."
"You said it yourself, what you can't let go of is the past, not the present. Let the past be the past. Mom always says to look forward. Life and love are the same. Nothing is more important than your happiness."
Fortunately, one of us will always be happy.
"What do you mean by 'alone'? We'll all be happy. Believe me, there will definitely be even better handsome guys waiting for you in the future."
"No way..."
"Of course there are. Look at your brother Peng, he's great. He's tall, good-looking, and has a good character."
"Pfft, no way. Peng-ge falls down as soon as he gets into a fight. He's such a noob."
Nanqi chuckled, pinched her chin, and said, "You have such a sharp tongue, you really know how to insult your brother Peng."
After being comforted like that, Nan Yue stopped crying. Seeing Nan Yue's pain, Nan Qi couldn't help but think of her own situation.
Although she had never been in a relationship before, she had seen people around her do. Li Jia had also been heartbroken because of someone. The rule that people break up after graduation is rarely broken. It seems that everyone is destined to experience the bitterness of love, whether it's with this person or that person.
She had just tasted the sweetness of love today, feeling as happy as if she were in a dream. If one day it were her turn to experience something like that, she wasn't sure if she could bear it or remain as rational as she was now.
But maybe Song Zhao is different from others. Maybe she can't bear to make herself sad. Yes, she can't bear to.
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