20. Special Friend
The summer between Tang Sizhuo's elementary school entrance exam and middle school was the hottest in Jiangming City in fifty years. The villa's air conditioning ran 24/7. The cooling on the first floor wasn't as good as in her bedroom, so Tang Sizhuo stayed in her bedroom all day. She was thin and hadn't previously been particularly sensitive to the heat, but this year, she was acting strangely. After a restless July, her body finally revealed the reason—her first period had arrived.
Xiao Tong wasn't home. She'd been away a lot lately, sometimes for three to five days, sometimes for half a month. She'd said she was on a business trip with Sun Changming, but in reality, she'd seen the projects he and his first wife had previously invested in becoming increasingly prosperous, and she was worried the man she'd finally snatched away might return. She didn't want to divorce him at all, so she kept a close eye on him. She'd talk to Tang Sizhuo every day, mostly just briefly, asking about homework or piano. But if she got upset outside and had no one else to talk to, she'd tearfully pour out her frustrations to him, finally concluding, "Mom misses you."
Every time she answered the phone, Tang Sizhuo would feel a few seconds of joy, but also a surge of fear. By the end of Xiao Tong's conversation, she'd start crying too, unable to articulate why, feeling dejected and powerless. So when she found blood on her underwear, she didn't tell Xiao Tong. Instead, she ran downstairs to find the housekeeper. The housekeeper was delighted, taught her how to use sanitary pads, and even made her a basket of brown sugar buns, as was customary in her hometown.
Later, in the bathroom, Tang Sizhuo stared at the blood trickling down her thigh, feeling a sense of inexplicable panic. In her dream, she saw a slender, sharp knife carving into her body, carving out the shape of her gradually swelling breasts. The pain made her sweat, while in the darkness, someone laughed and applauded, congratulating her on her adulthood. Then, the blade's cold gleam dulled, taking on a human warmth. Tang Sizhuo looked up and saw that the knife wasn't a knife at all, but her mother's exquisitely manicured nails. Yet, her mother didn't seem to be her mother anymore, her features shifting and changing, and in a trance, she pieced together her own image.
She woke up again and again in the night, stumbling to the window in a half-asleep state and looking out, hoping to find a familiar figure in the silent night, but he did not come.
By the time she turned fourteen, Zeng Xia had grown rapidly, reaching nearly 5 feet 4 inches tall. She could no longer fit into this villa complex. Tang Sizhuo tried every possible excuse to leave, but Xiao Tong found it difficult to agree. She was already using every trick in the book to force Sun Changming to divorce her, but she didn't want to risk further trouble. She kept Tang Sizhuo at home for almost the entire summer, hiring various tutors to help her with her studies, but forbidding her from contacting anyone through her phone or computer.
It wasn't until the junior high school opening ceremony ended, as Tang Sizhuo was leaving the auditorium with the crowd, that he suddenly caught a glimpse of Zeng Xiasheng standing outside the school through the fence. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, and he seemed taller, blending in with the waiting parents, making it difficult to distinguish him. Tang Sizhuo dawdled and fell to the back of the line. Once everyone else had entered the cafeteria, he turned and ran towards the playground. Zeng Xiasheng followed her through the fence, not even needing to run; he simply quickened his pace and easily caught up with her.
Tang Sizhuo stopped in the corner behind the podium, hiding in the shadow of the osmanthus tree. She stared at him blankly, her lips moving but unable to utter a word. She wanted to tell Zeng Xiasheng about her recurring, uneasy dreams, but her aunt said she couldn't talk about menstruation with boys.
Zeng Xiasheng originally had his mouth wide open, revealing a row of white teeth, but when he saw that she seemed to be hesitant to speak and had a complicated expression, he slowly retracted the corners of his mouth.
He was nearly grown up, so naturally, his grandparents sent him to help out at a relative's auto repair shop. He'd spent the entire summer working from morning till night, covered in dust. Eighth graders didn't have to undergo military training, and school would start next week, so he'd been at the shop full time again this week. Zeng Xiasheng looked down at himself and sniffed twice, figuring he'd showered several times and changed into fresh clothes before coming here, so the smell of motor oil shouldn't be there.
Two months had passed, and for some reason, they were at a loss for words. The two of them stood there, bathed in the sweet scent of osmanthus, sweating profusely from the heat of autumn. When the bell rang, signaling Tang Sizhuo's departure, Zeng Xiasheng suddenly spoke rapidly, "I'm helping out at my uncle's auto repair shop, just down the street. If you don't want to take the bus home after school, we can walk a little way together."
Tang Sizhuo paused, but didn't dare to agree to him directly. She nodded and said okay, and she would go back and ask her mother.
After she ran away, Zeng Xiasheng suddenly felt annoyed. He realized he hadn't made it clear. It sounded like he was skipping school, but it had clearly been a long time since he'd skipped classes. Although he was still at the bottom of the class when he entered junior high school, unable to understand or learn, and barely passing a 120-point test, he wore his uniform and sat in class for every class. He wore the small conch shell Tang Sizhuo had given him a few years ago around his neck, tucked inside his clothes. It was the first gift he'd ever received, and he didn't want to take it anywhere dirty.
Tang Sizhuo attended the best middle school in Jiangming City, affiliated with a key provincial high school. Besides its high enrollment rate, it also held the prestigious title of an experimental base for quality-oriented education reform. To ensure students could develop their interests while not neglecting their studies, the school offered an extra hour of optional activities after the daily academic period. These included dance, Peking Opera, debate, and more. Attendance was entirely voluntary. Unaccustomed to huddling with other students, Tang Sizhuo had initially decided not to join, hoping to return home early after school and quietly retreat to her bedroom. However, her deskmate, a girl, became interested and insisted she sign up for a watercolor class.
In elementary school, all the way through sixth grade, no one wanted to sit next to her. Everyone arrived reluctantly and left eagerly, using their brief two-week schedule to observe her spending, then whispering to others that she had never owned such expensive items before her father was replaced. But everything changed dramatically after she entered junior high. The long-standing rumors were significantly diluted, and many uninformed girls came to compliment her cuteness and scrambled to reserve a spot at her desk.
Tang Sizhuo's current deskmate, Xu Mengyan, is the most enthusiastic girl in the class. She is also smarter than others. She ran to fight for this opportunity with the teacher before waiting in line for seats.
She was lively and far more articulate than Zeng Xiasheng. There wasn't a single minute of silence during recess. Within a few days of school, every boy and girl around her had become her friend. Tang Sizhuo occasionally found the noise annoying, but rather amazed. Xu Mengyan was like a television set; once turned on, she would constantly report on the happenings of those around her. She could empathize, comment, and show concern for everyone. Xu Mengyan also seemed smarter than her, reading many novels and comics that Xiao Tong had forbidden her to read. She ranked in the top ten in her grade on the pre-school assessment, never letting her focus on her studies.
Tang Sizhuo rarely responded to her, but she was not unhappy. She coaxed and begged Tang Sizhuo to fill out the registration form, saying that they could go together to take a look, and if they didn't like it, they could leave.
After three weeks of watercolor class, Tang Sizhuo realized that Xu Mengyan's passion seemed unrelated to color and paper. Although they went together, Tang Sizhuo didn't want to get too close to others, sitting in a corner with her pile of painting supplies, while Xu Mengyan would sit right in the center, chattering non-stop with everyone until the teacher arrived.
What puzzled Tang Sizhu was that not only could the teacher shut down the noise, but it would also stop abruptly when a specific boy appeared.
The watercolor class had a small enrollment, so three grades were combined. Tang Sizhuo was initially surprised that the boy was so much taller than the others. Later, she heard that he was a ninth-grader with such good grades that he had already been accepted into the high school department early. As a result, the pressure of the high school entrance exam was greatly reduced, and he spent all his time painting.
Tang Sizhuo was more interested in observing Xu Mengyan than the watercolors. Her gaze flickered between the two of them, sensing a strange aura. She felt Xu Mengyan was very nervous when she met that boy, but this nervousness didn't seem to bring her boredom, but rather joy.
Tang Sizhuo couldn't figure it out, so she told Zeng Xiasheng about it after school. Zeng Xiasheng was preparing the collagen she wanted to drink, and when he heard her words, his breath stopped and he almost choked to death.
After the opening ceremony that day, Tang Sizhuo went home and pondered for a long time before finally coming up with an excuse: traffic at the school gate was so bad that the driver had stopped there to pick her up, and the swaying made her want to vomit as they moved out at a snail's pace. Xiao Tong readily granted her small request, instructing the driver to park at the end of the road from now on, so it would only take about ten minutes to walk there. Zeng Xiasheng, who didn't have any elective classes and finished school earlier than Tang Sizhuo, would go to the auto repair shop after school and then come over at her end of the day to walk her to the intersection.
Xiao Tong had also been on Xiao Tong's radar. She'd become increasingly aware of the passage of time during the battle for Sun Changming, and she'd bought boxes of imported supplements, both for herself and for Tang Sizhuo to share. Everything else was fine, but the collagen someone had brought back from Japan had a strange, fishy smell. Tang Sizhuo couldn't drink it, but she didn't dare tell him. She was even more worried about throwing it away and being confronted by Xiao Tong. So she found an excuse to bring it to school, and after Zeng Xiasheng finished each day, she'd give her an empty bottle to take home. Zeng Xiasheng didn't notice any strange taste, but she was surprised that someone would spend money on such a tasteless substance. But since Tang Sizhuo needed it, he was happy to help her with this minor inconvenience.
He forced himself to swallow the liquid in his mouth, his mind working at full speed.
Tang Sizhuo had little contact with others, and because of Xiao Tong's previous experience, she developed a strong fear of relationships. Her understanding of people seemed to be stuck in the past few years. After a few familiar faces, the rest were strangers, with little sense of gender. Zeng Xiasheng naturally knew what Xu Mengyan was thinking. His junior high school was terrible; no one wanted to take the entrance exams. Everyone was just hanging out, dating, hugging and kissing were commonplace, and there were even the occasional pregnancy scandals. However, he didn't know how to explain it to Tang Sizhuo. Xu Mengyan was undoubtedly much purer than those around him, but in the end, it was just the same story. Zeng Xiasheng feared that any missteps would be felt by Tang Sizhuo, and would be transformed into guilt and shame.
When he reached a point where he could vaguely see the car that was coming to pick her up, Zeng Xiasheng stopped. He could only take her there; if he went any further, he might be seen by the driver.
He capped the empty bottle and handed it back to Tang Sizhuo. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke softly.
"It's okay, it's not a bad thing. She just wants to be a special friend with him."
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