Chapter 40 “Real life is too real…
Chen Ningzhou walked up and bumped her shoulder. "What are you thinking about? Why are you walking so slowly?"
Chen Xiyu was in a bad mood and a little uninterested. "You walked from behind me, even slower than me."
Chen Ningzhou followed her gaze and saw Liang Qi walking in front.
"What happened to you guys?"
Chen Xiyu frowned, "What do you mean, what happened again?"
Chen Ningzhou no longer took their arguments seriously. "It's nothing. I just feel like you guys don't argue enough every day."
"Alas." Shen Xiyu wanted to defend herself but was powerless to say anything, because she and Liang Qi did quarrel all the time, and the core issue of the quarrel was always the same. She realized it, but didn't know how to solve it.
"Maybe I should have listened to you."
Chen Ningzhou knew she was referring to what he had said last time in Shangri-La, "You two were together and then broke up again?"
"No." Shen Xiyu waved his hand.
She didn't know how to tell Chen Ningzhou. She couldn't just say that she had kissed him for two days without any formal relationship.
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Chen Xiyu didn't want to talk about this topic anymore. "I always forgot to ask you."
"You left that day without even telling me when."
Chen Ningzhou was a little confused, "Which day?"
"It was the day Liang Qi went to the gifted class with us."
"Oh." Chen Ningzhou rolled her eyes at her. "It's been so long, and you're asking me now."
"That's because I didn't think of it before." Shen Xiyu's eyes were still unconsciously on Liang Qi who was not far away.
"I had something to do that day, so I called Brother Weifang. Liang Qi saw that I was anxious, so he said he would wait there and let me go first."
Chen Ningzhou thought for a moment and then said, "I told you, I called you and your line was busy."
Shen Xiyu was busy looking at Liang Qi's phone records that day, and now he remembered that there seemed to be a missed call that day.
"Something's wrong with you lately." Shen Xiyu focused his attention entirely on the conversation between the two.
She had actually noticed earlier that Chen Ningzhou's condition was not right, but she had things to do one after another and had no time to think about it carefully, but she was always worried about him.
Chen Ningzhou suddenly fell silent.
The sudden silence made Shen Xiyu realize that something might have happened.
*
The school is now arranging examinations at a very tight pace.
I have to take an English exam and the entire science exam in just one afternoon.
Shen Xiyu stayed in the examination room for the entire afternoon. She had to admit that not being able to see Liang Qi relieved her of a lot of invisible pressure, but she also thought of him unconsciously.
On exam days, school will end earlier than usual. Although most day students will choose to stay and attend evening self-study classes with the boarding students, the school is very lax in its management. Those who want to stay can stay, and those who don’t want to can go and do their own things.
After school, Shen Xiyu did not go back to the classroom to get her schoolbag. Chen Ningzhou was taking an exam in that classroom and took her things out directly.
The two agreed to meet at the fried chicken shop at the school gate.
…
"No more fried chicken." Chen Xiyu pointed to a shop with a red sign on the roadside. "Food stall?"
Chen Ningzhou had no objection, so Shen Xiyu pulled him in without saying a word.
"Boss, I want a bunch of beef skewers, two skewers of potatoes, one eggplant, and four skewers of baby cabbage..."
Seeing that Shen Xiyu was ordering more and more, Chen Ningzhou quickly stopped her, "Alright, alright, if you order any more, you won't be able to finish it."
He knew that Shen Xiyu was a typical hungry-eyed person. If she ordered so much, she would not be able to finish it and would have to finish it herself.
The fragrant white smoke from the barbecue skewers made Shen Xiyu's eyes blurry as she leaned close to smell it. She hadn't been this happy for a long time since the fight with Liang Qi.
This scene reminded her of when she was in junior high school, Chen Ning and Zhou Fei said they would treat her to the most luxurious barbecue. In the end, they ordered more than 300 yuan worth of dishes. The two of them ate at the barbecue restaurant for a full three hours, and vomited all over the place when they got home.
"Hey, do you remember..."
"Don't say it." Chen Ningzhou knew what she was going to say before she finished. Every time she came to the barbecue restaurant, she would always mention it to disgust herself. "Don't bring up that disgusting memory of mine again."
"Hahahahaha." Shen Xiyu laughed so hard that he fell backwards. "Who told you to insist on eating leeks then?"
Chen Ningzhou was disgusted when he thought about his miserable situation at that time.
"Come to think of it." Chen Xiyu picked up a bunch of mushrooms and put them into his mouth. "It's been a long time since we've had a meal together."
From kindergarten to junior high school, Shen Xiyu and Chen Ningzhou were the only two people playing together. Although they each had classmates who they got along well with, they were not as close as they are now.
So most of the time, it was just the two of them eating together and going to and from school together.
"You must miss the time when you could eat and dine with me every day." When Chen Ningzhou is alone with people he is familiar with, the offensive power of his mouth doubles.
In junior high school, perhaps because he had just awakened to his gentlemanly manners, Chen Ningzhou would always rush to pay for every meal.
"Speaking of truth, did you cheat me out of money when you were little?"
When Shen Xiyu was a child, there were not many adults around her, but she had a lot of pocket money. Chen Ningzhou, who was also a little kid at the time, was very envious and she was thinking of ways to cheat her of her pocket money every day.
"Give me 100 and I'll take you to McDonald's." In fact, it only cost more than 50.
"Give me 50 and I'll buy you the most beautiful Barbie doll." But in fact, she bought a plastic doll for 20.
There are countless examples like this, and the key point is that Shen Xiyu was fooled every time.
In the end, it was Chen Ningzhou's sister who found out and beat him up.
"Chen Xiyu, where do you want to apply for the college entrance examination?" Chen Ningzhou suddenly asked her.
The college entrance examination has changed from something they have heard about repeatedly since childhood to a reality that is really approaching them.
"I don't know." Shen Xiyu always liked to look out the window on various occasions.
"Will you stay here?"
This time, Shen Xiyu answered very clearly, "No."
"In the future, you will all have your own families and your own lives. We can't stay together forever." Chen Xiyu was somewhat sober and sad, "and this is not my home."
Chen Ningzhou had no way to comfort her because he understood that what Shen Xiyu said was true. A place without family is not called home. Shen Xiyu had never had a home in her life.
They had grown up together, stumbling along the way, and no matter how many friends and confidants they had now, only Chen Ningzhou had witnessed the pain Shen Xiyu had endured every year.
Sometimes he couldn't help but favor Chen Xiyu, because he felt that fate was playing a special trick on this close friend of his since childhood. In their more than ten years of life, he had accompanied Chen Xiyu through too many hardships and joys, and had long regarded her as an inseparable relative in his heart.
"What about you?" Shen Xiyu looked at Chen Ningzhou.
"have no idea."
The two chatted for a long time and ate most of the food they ordered. Finally, Shen Xiyu remembered what his original intention was.
"What happened?"
The smile on Chen Ningzhou's face faded, "My parents are divorced."
Shen Xiyu couldn't believe it and tried to find a trace of lying on his face, but she knew very well that Chen Ningzhou couldn't joke about such a thing.
"Uncle and aunt..." Shen Xiyu wanted to comfort them but found that she could not find any words. This incident had a great impact on her. She could not imagine that such a seemingly happy family would end up like this.
"When did it happen?"
“When we just came back from Shangri-La.”
Shen Xiyu suddenly felt guilty. She had no idea what had happened and was only immersed in her own world and emotions.
,,
"I'm sorry..." Shen Xiyu stammered, "I... I should have discovered it earlier."
Chen Ningzhou didn't seem to be bothered at all. He went to the front desk and got two bottles of drinks for the two people.
"How can I blame you for not noticing this sooner?" Chen Ningzhou comforted her instead. "At the beginning, things weren't finalized yet. Telling you would only add to someone else's worries and would be pointless."
Chen Ningzhou is quite open-minded. "Relationships are a matter between the two of them."
Shen Xiyu could see that he was far from being as calm and composed as he appeared, but he couldn't bear to let go of the dignity that his friend had worked so hard to maintain.
"Let's go." Chen Ningzhou stood up and looked at the late sky outside. "I'll take you home."
The wind is not very strong tonight. There is a chill in the air, but it is not biting and feels very comfortable.
The dark environment made Chen Ningzhou very tired. He really wanted to say something, no longer just excuses or funny jokes.
"Chen Xiyu, I just don't understand." Chen Ningzhou lowered his head and kicked the stones on the roadside. "I don't understand. They were obviously so in love before."
"My father was reluctant to speak harshly to my mother for most of his life. My mother followed him when she was 18 and spent her best years with him."
"I don't understand why two people like this would break up."
"I just can't believe they don't love each other anymore. And they haven't loved each other for a long time. Their disgust for each other has long surpassed that little bit of love and family affection."
Chen Ningzhou's voice was a little choked. "I know I shouldn't tie them down with emotion, I just... I just can't figure it out."
Shen Xiyu didn't look at Chen Ningzhou. She knew that he was a very proud person and would not want her to see him crying.
She didn't try to comfort Chen Ningzhou, but instead answered him seriously, "Maybe the feelings of youth were too pure. In the end, the feelings generated by dopamine are easily worn away by the day-to-day life."
Chen Ningzhou laughed, "Real life is too realistic."
It was a nonsensical sentence, but Shen Xiyu couldn't help laughing.
"Most commercial works that are circulated in front of the public only tell the story of the hero and heroine when they were young." Chen Xiyu laughed enough and continued, "Because no one knows whether they will still love each other when they are old."
These were very discouraging words, but they inexplicably soothed the sadness in Chen Ningzhou's heart.
The two of them walked to the gate of the community. Shen Xiyu had already walked a few steps out, but suddenly turned back, gave Chen Ningzhou a comforting hug, and patted his back.
"Chen Ningzhou, no matter what they do, just be yourself."
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Chapter 40, let's take a break
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