Chapter 86 That autumn and winter, Qin Yang...
"Panpan, what are you looking at?" Cai Xiaojing saw Chen Pan staring outside and subconsciously walked to the window.
Now, as senior high school students, they finally stood on the top floor of this six-story teaching building. Just standing here and looking down, Cai Xiaojing's mood inexplicably improved.
"Look at that boy over there, he is my neighbor. He went to the city a while ago. I didn't expect him to come back so soon." Feeling that the other party should know Qin Yang, Chen Pan roughly pointed at Qin Yang who was holding the information below.
"I know him. Isn't he the one who—"
"He's a new transfer student named Qin Yang. I heard the school has assigned him to Class 6. He should just be here to report today and won't officially start classes until tomorrow. I heard he's already 21 years old."
Cai Xiaojing was just about to say that the man was the owner of the small shop next to Chen Pan's sesame cake shop, but she had barely made the initial suggestion when Wei Dong, who often followed her around, immediately started recounting something he'd just heard from another classmate. When he mentioned the man's age, he looked particularly emotional; it was clear that in his eyes, 21 was very old.
"He was the original landlord of my family's pancake shop. His mother moved to the city, and they opened a small supermarket there. I haven't seen him in a long time. I thought he wasn't repeating his studies, or that he was going to a place like No. 1 or No. 2 Middle School to repeat his studies."
Knowing that Wei Dong, who had always lived on campus, actually had a bit of a nerdy personality, Chen Pan sighed and told him about Qin Yang's identity.
After Chen Pan said this, Wei Dong understood: "I remember now. He's the one who came with your grandmother to carry you when you fainted at school in the second year of junior high school. You said he was the original landlord of your family's pancake shop. Does that mean that the buildings above your pancake shop and the shops below are all his?"
"Wow, how rich will he be once the demolition is complete?"
Cai Xiaojing reacted and immediately covered her mouth exaggeratedly.
“Is it still uncertain what will happen with the demolition?”
Seeing the other party talking about this topic, Chen Pan leaned on the windowsill and said subconsciously.
"What do you mean by not necessarily? Haven't you seen that those houses next to our school are no longer allowed to be expanded? Generally speaking, if a village no longer allows residents to build new houses, it means that it is not far from being demolished."
The students standing to their left were excitedly discussing the TV series "White Eyebrow Hero" which had just aired last night. The students standing to their right were excitedly talking about Chen Jiadong, Liu Xiaoqing, and Wu Zetian.
Although their break time was only ten minutes, all the students in the class gathered together and discussed various things with great interest.
Chen Pan, standing at the middle window, had just finished looking at the two groups of students on his left and right when he saw Wei Dong, wearing a bleached white shirt, suddenly understand something. "I was wondering why I saw a forklift tearing down a house and a fight at the village entrance this morning. I was wondering why they were fighting in the middle of building, but it turns out they were the demolition team!"
"Did you really see it?" Cai Xiaojing was obviously quite interested in this kind of thing, and immediately looked at Wei Dong and asked excitedly.
"Of course I saw it. Let me tell you--" Seeing that Cai Xiaojing was interested, Wei Dong immediately leaned over the window and began to tell Cai Xiaojing enthusiastically.
"..." These two people could obviously stand together, but in order to avoid suspicion, they liked to surround Chen Pan in the middle.
Chen Pan, who saw through everything, sighed silently in his heart, then looked left and right in response to the situation and continued to act as a shield for his two good friends.
The two men were talking incessantly on both sides of Chen Pan, one on the left and the other on the right.
Chen Pan was sandwiched between the two of them and listened helplessly for a while. In the end, he felt it was boring, so Chen Pan shifted his attention to Qin Yang who had just left school.
In the summer when Chen Pan graduated from the third year of junior high school, Qin Yang unexpectedly brought his mother with him when he went to Shenzhen with his friends.
As a result, on that occasion, Qin's mother unexpectedly ran into a group of middle-aged and elderly people who were also traveling to Shenzhen. Because Qin's mother and the tour group got along so well during the trip, Qin Yang followed his mother's instructions and directly contacted the tour guide to arrange for her mother to join the tour group.
According to his mother, once they arrived in Shenzhen, Qin Yang could go to some factory with his two best friends to buy expensive printing machines, cutting machines, and binding machines. And she could also travel to places like Shenzhen and Guangzhou with those local people from Longcheng who she got along well with.
Because I had heard of that travel agency, and from everyone's conversation, I understood that most of the middle-aged and elderly people brought by the travel agency this time were retired teachers from Longcheng No. 1 Middle School and No. 2 Middle School.
Feeling that nothing would happen to his mother if she followed them, Qin Yang took out the travel money he had prepared for his mother and directly signed them up for the tour group midway.
Nothing really went wrong on that trip.
But when her mother came back from traveling with those old sisters, she established a long-term contact with one of the female teachers.
Then the two chatted on the phone every day, and at the end of 1994, the other party suddenly introduced a man to Qin Yang's mother.
The other party was a bachelor, a teacher who hadn't married at the age of 40. It was said that he had been criticized for his background. Because of this, his marriage was delayed, and it felt like he had been dumped by his fiancée. He had been through so much at the time, and as a young man, he was a bit hesitant to get married, afraid to bother others. Because of this and that, he hadn't married until he was 40.
And that older sister was the other party's colleague, and she knew the other party's character very well.
After learning that Qin's mother was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight and had been divorced for many years.
As she chatted with Qin's mother, she came up with the idea of bringing the two of them together.
No matter how many things she has experienced, Mother Qin's perspective seems to be the same.
She had just gone to the appointment out of courtesy that day and explained everything clearly.
But Mother Qin, who was 38 years old at the time, was attracted by the elementary school Chinese teacher who also wore glasses and looked gentle and refined.
Then, after dating for less than two months, they actually got married at the end of the year.
Anyway, Chen Pan really didn't understand the older generation's thinking. In her opinion, it was very hasty and bold for people to get married after knowing each other for only one or two years.
But Qin's mother, who had experienced a failed marriage, was so bold and brave.
After they got married, Qin Yang opened a small boutique near No. 1 Middle School where the other party lived.
He actually didn't close the shop completely, but hired a trusted cousin to look after it.
In the past year, he had been busy with the small boutique he had just opened for his mother. In addition to the boutique and the family store, he and his friends had opened an advertising printing company in the back of town, which occasionally needed him to attend meetings or something.
Anyway, Chen Pan really hasn't seen the other person in the past one or two months.
She thought he would not repeat his studies this year, or that if he did, he would choose No. 1 Middle School, where his stepfather taught. However, she did not expect that he would come back and choose to repeat his studies at No. 6 Middle School.
“Ding-ling-ling——”
The bell for class rang again, and Chen Pan immediately perked up and walked towards his seat.
All the students who had been chatting non-stop just now had also reacted and all of them returned to their seats as quickly as she did.
When the English teacher of this class strode in with a stack of papers, everyone shouted in unison and then resigned themselves to waiting for the teacher to hand out the papers.
*
Even in his third year of high school, Chen Pan still did not choose to live on campus.
After school, she went to her own pancake shop and said hello to Xu Yanni, Second Grandma and Sister Xiufen who worked there. Then Chen Pan went straight back to her home.
Although her grandmother opened a second pancake shop in the city, she did not choose to live in the shop. She came back home normally every night.
So when Chen Pan returned, her grandmother had already prepared dinner and her grandfather was home. Chen Laoshi and Chen Erbao were also there, as was Qin Yang, who had returned today.
Chen Pan had just entered the house when Chen Laoshi, who had become increasingly cheerful over the years, winked at her from outside and said, "Pan Pan, you're back. Your brother Qin Yang is here. He's been waiting for you for a long time."
"cut!"
Chen Pan didn't like such teasing very much. She chuckled softly and then went into the house immediately.
"Panpan is back. Your brother Yangyang is here today. Everyone has been waiting for you for a long time."
Chen Pan had just been teased by Chen Laoshi, and Chen Erbao, holding a bag of vinegar, whispered something to her again.
"Alas, second brother, if you do this, be careful or I will tell second sister-in-law that you secretly smoke and drink." After threatening the second brother who was preparing for pregnancy, Chen Pan really walked into the house with his schoolbag on his back.
"Panpan, your brother Qin Yang, come here!"
"Panpan, look who's coming?"
“Panpan!”
This time when Chen Pan entered the house, he saw Qin Yang and his grandfather sitting on the sofa, and his grandmother carrying ramen.
"Yeah, I see. I saw Brother Qin Yang at school today."
Smiling generously at everyone, Chen Pan then called Chen Laoshi and Chen Erge in for dinner. He then moved a small stool and sat opposite Qin Yang. "Brother Qin, why did you suddenly decide to repeat your year? I thought you would wait another year or two. I thought even if you were to repeat your year, you would choose to go to the better No. 1 Middle School or No. 2 Middle School!"
"The main reason is that if I delay any longer, I'm afraid I'll forget more and more of what I already know. Plus, my mom has finally gotten the hang of it, and my cousin can now manage the shop completely. I wanted to give it one more try while I'm still young."
He nodded politely to Chen Laoshi and Chen Erbao who came in to eat, stood up and took the ramen bowl from Grandma Chen, and then smiled and took the black chopsticks handed to him by Grandpa Chen next to him. Then Qin Yang looked at Chen Pan and everyone else and continued, "As for why I didn't go to No. 1 Middle School or No. 2 Middle School, my household registration is at No. 6 Middle School after all, and my previous academic record was also here, so repeating a grade would be easier. If I go to No. 1 Middle School or No. 2 Middle School, not only would I have to spend more money, but I might also have to use my stepfather's connections.
After all, he and my mother had only been married for a short time, so I didn't want to trouble him about this matter. Also, if I went to No. 1 or No. 2 Middle School, accommodation would be a problem. I'm already old enough, and I definitely wouldn't be used to living in a dormitory. But if I lived at my stepfather's house every day, it wouldn't feel right either—"
Qin Yang quickly expressed his concerns.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone nodded continuously.
Grandpa Chen, holding a bowl of ramen, said: "Indeed, why should we ask others for help when we can do it ourselves?"
Finally, after serving the noodles and silently giving way to Qin Yang, Grandma Chen, who was sitting on the sofa, also said, "According to what you said, Yangyang, it is indeed more convenient to go to No. 6 Middle School."
Chen Laoshi, who had been in an awkward situation before, nodded without hesitation: "Indeed, he is your stepfather after all, and you are so old. It is okay to visit occasionally, but if you live there all the time, it will be a little awkward."
"Actually, it's not a question of whether he's a stepfather or not. The main thing is that we're all so old now, and we basically don't want to be controlled by others. Qin Yang, if you really study with your mom and stepfather, you will definitely not be able to stand them controlling you all the time. So instead of this, you might as well separate from them early." Glancing at Chen Laoshi beside him, second cousin Chen Pan also talked while holding noodles.
"Indeed, since you have already registered at our school, Brother Qin Yang, then work hard and get promoted to our first class as soon as possible. If you have any questions, you can come to me. After all, I am the second-best student of our age group! Although I am not as good as the first-best student, I should be able to teach you for the time being."
Looking at Qin Yang who was squeezed in the middle of the sofa by his grandparents and was in a dilemma, Chen Pan said with a smile.
"I came here today just for this matter. My science grades have always been pretty good, but Chinese and English are completely terrible. I came here today to ask Panpan for advice on how to learn English and Chinese well."
Qin Yang looked at Chen Pan opposite him while speaking, and then looked at Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen on his left and right.
"I know that. My Panpan said that English and Chinese mainly rely on memorization. The first thing she does every morning is to memorize those words. One time, when she was washing up, I heard her mumbling words!"
This time, Grandma Chen spoke the fastest. Grandpa Chen also smiled and said, "You need to listen to this. We bought Panpan a small radio that plays English words last year. When Panpan is not using it, Yangyang can borrow it to listen to it. Or you can just buy one too!"
"I know that. My third child also bought it recently!" Chen Erbao, who has a repeater at home, said excitedly.
"Is that thing expensive?" Chen Aiguo seemed to be interested in that thing as well, and spoke hesitantly.
"I know this, it seems to be around a hundred yuan. If you want to buy it, we can make an appointment to go together to buy it."
Everyone ate and chatted.
From that day on, Chen Pan often saw Qin Yang at school.
Sometimes when she was walking to school at six o'clock in the morning, she would meet Qin Yang who was just going out.
From that day on, they almost always walked home together at night.
Since entering his senior year of high school, Chen Pan has started to attend real evening self-study classes.
When I think about Chen Pan leaving school at 10 o'clock every night and getting home almost always around 10:15,
Later, even though Qin Yang was seen sending Chen Pan home at around 10:10 every night, he would then walk back for more than ten minutes.
Chen Aiguo and Xu Chunhua, who were extremely busy, finally ignored it and let Qin Yang send Chen Pan back every night, and then returned home themselves.
That autumn and winter, Qin Yang sent Chen Pan off every night.
Chen Pan tutors Qin Yang in Chinese and English every day at noon. Of course, Qin Yang also teaches Chen Pan physics and mathematics sometimes.
By the time I reached the third year of high school, time had become extremely precious.
It is no longer cost-effective to go home for lunch and dinner, so Chen Pan and Qin Yang bought the school’s food coupons a long time ago and started eating lunch and dinner with the boarding students at school.
Seeing that they often get together to eat and study, Cai Xiaojing and Wei Dong, who had always used Chen Pan as a shield, naturally also often stayed together to study and eat.
The time in the first semester of senior year passed really quickly. When school reopened after the New Year, there was a big countdown to the college entrance examination on the blackboard behind them.
From that time on, Chen Pan, Qin Yang, and her classmates and friends all focused their attention on studying.
From that time on, almost all the topics between Chen Pan and Qin Yang were about studying. As for family matters and business, from that time on, Chen Pan completely stopped caring about them.
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