Chapter 77
After saying that, he turned his head away and didn't say anything more.
He knew in his heart that once the conflict was provoked, as long as one person took action, regardless of the initial reason, their momentary impulse would be the fault of the whole group. However, since Chen Zhoujing was an important part of the cause, it seemed as if this was a matter concerning only him.
He took full responsibility in his office, and during the week he stayed at home, he single-handedly resolved everything. Everyone involved was notified to return to school to continue their studies, and none of them received any serious punishment.
But he was the only one who didn't come back.
After reading the message, Jian Sheng behind him slowly sat up straight.
She leaned back in her chair, the cool breeze enveloping her, and affectionate kisses landed on her icy cheeks.
The hot tears welling up in her eyes melted in the cool breeze and cold air, falling into her lips, salty and bitter.
That's nonsense; she doesn't cry at all.
He didn't even come to talk to her in person.
Tears blurred her vision, and she lowered her head, hearing the encouraging voice coming from the microphone.
She should have listened, but she couldn't concentrate.
All she could hear was his usual nonsensical tone when he spoke to her.
All she could think of was his smiling face.
His disappearance didn't seem sudden; it was gradual, slowly fading from her life.
Even the teachers who loved to use him as an example in their subjects no longer mentioned his name.
She started burying herself in practice tests, studying from morning till night, doing problems when she was sleepy, and even when she couldn't sleep.
Now, the things that keep her company the longest are the small desk lamp and alarm clock on the table, and the myriad lights outside the window.
The sudden onslaught made her almost forget to eat and sleep, and she fell into a desperate state. Whenever Ye Hua got up at night and opened the door, she could always see light shining through the crack in her room.
She would always knock on her door with a long face, but Jian Sheng would deliberately remain silent, pretending that she had forgotten to turn off the light and was sleeping.
Ye Hua couldn't say anything, but she made sure to pay more attention to her diet. She also asked Jian Qingyao to buy her a smartphone and teach her how to download apps and access the internet.
After she learned how to make them, she started learning healthy recipes online every day and cooking for herself according to them.
She also learned how to shop online from the elderly people in her community. She would go to the shopping website to buy things recommended by someone on the app for high school seniors.
As a result, Jian Sheng would notice that there were more things in the room every few days.
There are pillows, soft bench cushions, a spinal massage chair, and a lot of other little gadgets.
She went to Ye Hua to tell her not to buy it anymore. At this point, Ye Hua adopted a haughty attitude, scolding her while telling her to use the items.
She had no choice but to accept it.
After a while, Chen Zhoujing seemed to have simply disappeared. She thought she must have forgotten about him, since she no longer had time to think about him.
But she remembered that they had a common goal: Huaiyin University.
So she pinned her hopes on this school.
And so they strive for it day after day.
Everything seemed to have passed just like that. In the monthly exam the second month after he left, she successfully won first place in the class, tied with Lin You, and ranked eighth in the grade.
For this, Zhong Mei specially pulled the two of them onto the stage and praised them highly.
Zhong Mei was the first to applaud: "Very good! Congratulations to our class monitor and Jian Sheng for successfully entering the top ten in the grade."
"I won't say much about Lin You. Your grades have always been so good, and your teachers have a lot of confidence in you. I hope you can keep it up."
“Jian Sheng.” She called her name first, then smiled with relief, walked to her side, and whispered in her ear, “When you first came here, your grandmother said something to me.”
"I'll give you some time, you'll climb up on your own."
"The effect is obvious."
Zhong Mei praised her a few times, then looked at the students below the podium: "It's not just these two students. I have seen the efforts of each and every one of you. Over the past three years, I have watched you grow up slowly, become more sensible, and make progress. I also believe that as long as you keep moving forward, every step is under your own feet. No matter what the future holds, you will be able to grasp it well."
"I'm so happy to have spent these three years with you. There are less than two months left until the end of this phase. I hope you can all keep pushing forward and get closer to our goal."
A thunderous applause erupted from the audience. The two people on stage exchanged glances and then smiled slightly.
Jian Sheng withdrew her gaze and looked at the smiles on each tired face below. Her heart was stirred. When Zhong Mei told them to return to their seats, her gaze inadvertently fell on that empty seat.
She stared at that spot, walked on until she reached her seat, paused for a few seconds, and then sat down.
The sound of basketballs bouncing will no longer be heard near her seat, the densely packed new test papers will no longer be on her desk, and the hot water will no longer be placed steadily in her upper left corner.
The only constant was that there were always some small snacks in the drawer of the table; they didn't say anything, but she knew it herself.
She just kept thinking during her spare moments about when Chen Zhoujing would come back.
But she didn't allow herself to think for too long. When it came to getting to the point, she would pick up a new test paper and dive right in to do practice questions.
She remembered that they were going to go to the same university.
After the results of the eighth-place ranking were announced, she immediately wanted to take the document back to show Ye Hua, but there was still a long time before school ended.
She could only wait; the sun shone brightly in the morning, but by the afternoon it had become overcast outside the window.
Gradually, a strong wind picked up, causing tree branches to sway and eventually fall over in large areas.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the back door, and the door shook a few times as it was hit.
The commotion was so loud that everyone turned their heads.
Jian Sheng turned around and her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was. She slowly stood up, a tingling sensation spreading throughout her body: "Jian Qingyao?"
Jian Qingyao's face was deathly pale. His voice was unsteady, but he tried his best to suppress it: "Come back with me."
“Simple voice…” Zhong Mei called out.
Jian Sheng's ears were ringing. She tried to suppress her panic, but the rapid throbbing in her brow prevented her from calming down.
Without packing her things, she held a ranking list in her hand and followed behind Jian Qingyao without saying a word.
A vague suspicion made her instinctively want to avoid the situation, and prayer seemed to be the only hope in her suffering.
Jian Sheng watched Jian Qingyao's fast-moving figure and his clenched fists. She ran a few steps to catch up, and only dared to glance at him when he got into the car and started driving.
His hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his forehead, just enough to cover the prominent veins, but not his bloodshot eyes.
Jian Sheng's voice went hoarse, and the sheet in his hand crumpled.
When Zhong Mei called her at the door just now, her eyes were red, as if she knew what had happened.
But clearly, when she left in the morning, Ye Hua even took her to the building where she lived.
Clearly...clearly, clearly I've always been perfectly normal.
When they arrived home, all of Jian's close relatives in the neighborhood had already arrived.
Jian Qingyao led her to Ye Hua's room and kowtowed three times beside her sleeping body.
She didn't realize until the night was over that more and more relatives were arriving, and Gu Shu and Jian Guangyao had also returned.
She watched as the two argued beside Ye Hua's body for half an hour before Jian Qingyao intervened and stopped them. Only then did they kowtow, get up, and put on mourning clothes.
The two then began kowtowing to the arriving relatives and busied themselves preparing for the funeral.
Jian Qingyao didn't say a word, but helped out from the side. He was so busy that he didn't eat a single bite of food and didn't sleep for several nights.
She followed silently behind him, always clutching the list in her hand.
Wherever Jian Qingyao went, she followed. He would occasionally hand her something, and she would help him with it.
During the journey, the two remained silent, until they were in the hearse heading to the funeral home. Jian Sheng, sitting in the car, began to sob softly.
Her voice was very soft, so soft that it was drowned out by the sound of the car moving.
Jian Qingyao noticed it when she trembled. He glanced at her as she turned her head to hold back tears, and his nose tingled with emotion.
After two busy days and nights, I suddenly had a moment of free time, and all my emotions seemed to surge up.
He tilted his head, blinked hard, raised his hand and gently took Jian Sheng's hand, his gaze fixed on the windshield in front of the car.
Jian Sheng turned around, looked at his hand that was tightly holding hers, and began to sob, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
As soon as she spoke, Jian Qingyao couldn't hold back and shed a few tears. After wiping them away, she turned her head and pretended to be fierce: "Don't cry!"
Jian Sheng sniffed, her eyes red and swollen, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word.
His mouth was filled with nausea and trembling spasms.
Jian Qingyao had no choice but to turn her head away and let herself cry along with her for ten minutes in the dimly lit car.
After the burial, all the relatives left. Gu Shu and Jian Guangyao left on the fourth day, taking all the documents that Ye Hua had put in the iron box with them.
Only Jian Qingyao and Jian Sheng remained in the room.
He looked at her red, swollen eyes and suddenly smiled, "Why are you crying so hard?"
Jian Sheng rolled her eyes at him: "You're sick."
"It still feels familiar." He snorted, got up and walked towards the kitchen. He fiddled around in there for a while, and then brought out two bowls of noodles. He placed them on the table and said to Jian, who was sitting in the living room, "Come and eat noodles."
Jian Sheng slowly walked over and sat down in front of him.
The noodles in the bowl were steaming hot, and her vision was a little blurry. She couldn't tell if it was white mist or tears that made it impossible for her to see the person in front of her.
She blinked, trying to wipe away her tears, and saw that Jian Qingyao's eyes were also wet.
For a moment, the two stared at each other in silence, making the atmosphere even more heavy.
Jian Qingyao suddenly spoke up: "Grandma taught me how to make these noodles."
"She often said that boys must know how to cook, so that when they are in a relationship, they can't always bother the girl. Even a bowl of noodles is better than not knowing how to cook."
"She used to joke with me all the time, saying she didn't even know if she'd see me get married..."
She also said that if she gets married in the future, she will definitely invite you over.
“Before you came, she often told the elderly people downstairs that she had a granddaughter who was studying in Jeju and was doing very well in school. She was also very proud that her eldest daughter-in-law used to be a great painter.”
"She often told me to be nicer to you and not to listen to other people's sarcastic remarks."
She also said... and that no matter what, she would support both of us.
"She's always tough on the outside but soft on the inside. She never tells us anything, so we don't have to worry, but she's always worried about us."
"After Grandpa passed away, she stayed by the phone all by herself, hoping that my parents would come back to visit more often. She was worried about me, worried that I would feel uncomfortable if my parents weren't around to accompany me during the college entrance examination. Actually, all I wanted was for her to be well."
“She’s a very soft-hearted person. She said she was cutting ties with Jian Zihua, but when she brought you here the year before last, she secretly gave him some money and visits him every year.”
“She felt that because of your father’s situation, she was a bad mother and tried her best to help you. Every year on the anniversary of your mother’s death, she would go to your maternal grandmother’s house in person, even though she was turned away every time.
“I had been carefully taking care of her health all along, but I never expected that the cerebral hemorrhage would come so suddenly.”
"It could have been saved, but the best opportunity was missed. If only I had come back sooner, if only I hadn't slept in and had booked a ticket for the morning."
As Jian Qingyao spoke, he rested his arms on the table, covered his eyes with his hands, and his voice choked with emotion.
“She called me the day before she passed away, telling me to take a vacation and come back to help me with my college entrance exam.”
"She also said she bought my favorite fish and would cook it for me when I get back."
"She told me to come back and teach her how to buy dog food for Wheatfield, which brand is good, and that once she knows how, she won't need to bother us anymore."
His voice was very soft, so suppressed that he could hardly breathe.
As Jian Sheng sobbed, she watched as Jian Qingyao, for the first time in front of her, let go of his fierceness and irritability, and lowered his head to cry softly.
He buried his head and cried for several minutes before finally saying, "Jiansheng, there is no grandma anymore."
Grandma is dead.
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