Chapter 83 IF Line (2): You are first and foremost yourself.
A gust of hot wind brushed my face, blowing away the stray hairs hanging down my forehead.
Song Yunqing turned back again, their eyes met for only a moment, and she awkwardly complimented, "Your name is also very nice."
The hand that was resting its cheek on its hand, which had been tapping casually a couple of times, suddenly stopped.
Pei Yanli was slightly taken aback.
At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with what was said; it's just normal small talk. The key issue is the person who said it, a child who looks about 12 or 13 years old and is somewhat shy.
He quickly suppressed his emotions and turned to look at the children gathered in the distance. "Why aren't you playing with the others? Don't you get bored playing alone?"
Song Yunqing lowered her eyes dejectedly, unconsciously fidgeting with her fingers. "I don't know what to say."
He can no longer communicate with people his age.
"Moreover, I also have to write test papers." Every day he has to write at least sixteen test papers covering all subjects.
Even though I came to the Pei family with my mother today, I still have to make up for it when I get back.
The tutor will conduct a thorough check the following day.
"Are you tired?" Pei Yanli suddenly asked him after a long time.
Caught off guard by the question, Song Yunqing didn't know how to answer.
The twelve-year-old boy sat on a long wooden bench, one hand clenched tightly beside him.
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.
Writing exam papers is actually not tiring for him at all.
What he was truly afraid of...
It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the cicadas were chirping incessantly in the treetops outside the pavilion.
After several quiet minutes, Pei Yanli slowly sat up straight, picked up the kettle on the table, poured herself a cup, and poured one for him as well. As she poured, she said, "Many years ago, my brother had similar troubles to you. Someone told me this back then."
He pushed the water to the other side, saying, "You are first and foremost yourself, then your son, your brother, and other roles in society, so... you have to prioritize yourself, please yourself, and do what you love."
Pei Yanli laughed after she finished speaking: "Isn't it too profound?"
Song Yunqing nodded, then shook her head.
"To paraphrase my sister-in-law, if you like it, do it; if you don't like it, don't do it. Why think so much?" Pei Yanli reached out her hand and flicked his forehead before he could react. "You're only 12 years old. Don't always frown."
Song Yunqing was a beat slow to react, clutching her forehead. She turned her half-clenched fist over, opened her palm, and there was a lemon candy inside.
His eyes widened instantly.
Pei Yanli: "You like sweets?"
Song Yunqing nodded repeatedly as his gaze followed the piece of candy as it moved from side to side. The next second, the candy stopped in front of him.
Song Yunqing eagerly reached out, about to take it, then looked up and blinked: "Really for me?"
"certainly."
"Thank you, brother!"
He thanked him and accepted it.
A strange young man strode over and immediately launched into a tirade of complaints, "Boss, what are you doing hiding here?"
Pei Yanli: "You said you were hiding, so I have to find a secluded place."
Chen Zhao's lips twitched, and without saying a word, he pulled the person up, "Don't try to talk to me, the old man needs to see you."
Pushing the child out of the pavilion, he turned back to look at the child inside, who was tearing open a candy wrapper and squinting as he ate it. "Whose child is that?"
"The Song family."
“Song?” Chen Zhao thought for a moment. “Oh—that’s the Song family, the one that openly and secretly compares themselves to you, saying that they also have a genius in their family.”
He instantly realized, "Could it be him?!"
Pei Yanli smiled faintly and simply said, "Indeed intelligent."
"However—" she changed the subject again, "being precocious is never a good thing."
Too much intelligence can be harmful; such excessive promotion, as seen in the Song family, is detrimental to children in every way.
…………
After secretly finishing the candy, Song Yunqing got up and left the pavilion.
Watching the children laughing and playing in the long corridor in the distance, I for some reason remembered the older brother's words: "Pleasure yourself and do what you like to do."
He took two steps back, turned around, and left.
Rather than trying to please his peers, he prefers to be alone, even if it's just to do a couple of practice papers and prepare for next year's college entrance exam.
He will definitely... next year
"Help... glug glug... help me... glug glug..."
After circling most of the garden, Song Yunqing faintly heard cries for help. She slowly stopped, but before she could listen carefully again, she heard a splash into the water.
Someone has fallen into the water!
He wandered around like a fly for a long time, and when he turned a corner, he came to the edge of a pond, where he saw a chubby boy who was about the same age as him, soaking wet and lying on the bank.
"Are you alright?" He quickly ran over, squatted down, and poked the other person's round, fleshy cheek.
This poke caused an accident; the boy spat out a mouthful of water, began coughing violently, and slowly opened his eyes, looking completely bewildered: "Who are you?"
"My name is Song Yunqing."
"You..." The boy sat up, looked down at his soaking wet self, and scratched his head. "You saved me?"
“You were already here when I arrived.” Song Yunqing looked around and vaguely saw a figure in the distance. She pointed and said, “That should be that person.”
Huh? It seems to be the older brother who came looking for Pei Yanli before.
"Brother Xiao Zhao!" The boy quickly got up.
A moment later, two servants rushed over with dry towels, muttering "Young Master".
The First Madam, having received the news, also arrived shortly afterward.
Upon learning that her son was alright, she put one hand on her hip and pinched his nose with the other, saying, "How many times have I told you not to go to the pond and feed the fish?"
"Mom, Mom! It hurts, stop pinching!" the boy cried.
Tang Xining finally let go, turned her head, and asked softly, "Little friend, which family are you from?"
“The Song family, my name is Song Yunqing.”
"Oh, from the Song family, come here." Tang Xining pulled him to her side. "It's not safe by the pond. Let's go somewhere else."
"Mom!" the boy exclaimed, jumping up and down.
He was the one who just fell into the water.
"What are you shouting for? Hurry up and go back and change your clothes." Tang Xining held one in each hand, but her attitude was completely different. She looked at her own son with disgust, "What are you doing by the pond all by yourself?"
Boy: "...Feed the fish."
"Hey, hey, hey, keep feeding them! Those koi are about to burst. How about I give you an extra meal tonight?"
"That would be great!"
"Pei Nianchu!" Tang Xining didn't hold back at all and grabbed his ear.
Pei Nianchu cried out in pain again, then spotted the person beside her second uncle and ran over excitedly: "Brother Xiao Zhao~"
Chen Zhao had already changed his clothes and nodded: "Young Master."
"You're the one who saved me just now!"
"Just passing by."
“That’s what you call fate!” Pei Nianchu was quite talkative. “Why did it have to be this time, right when I fell into the water and you saved me?”
Chen Zhao raised an eyebrow and silently stepped back behind the boss.
The chubby boy couldn't resist... The young master was too enthusiastic, and his eyes sparkled as he looked at him.
"This is the life-saving grace they talk about on TV. There's no way to repay such a life-saving grace, except..."
"The boss just gave me a bonus." Chen Zhao felt something was wrong as he listened. "Young Master, you'd better change your clothes quickly, or the Madam will come and pull your ears again."
"I haven't finished speaking yet."
"No need to say anything, I understand, I understand everything."
Pei Nianchu's eyes lit up even more upon hearing this, but unfortunately, her mother quickly grabbed her ear and dragged her back home.
Even after walking a distance, you could still hear the First Madam complaining, "She's past the age of being hated by everyone, so why is she still so hated by everyone?"
"Mom, today is my birthday, could you at least try to be a little different when you scold me?"
...
If Tang Xining listens to him, he won't be called Tang Xining anymore.
I changed him into clean clothes, took his temperature, and then took him to see Grandpa Tang, who also gave him a scolding.
This, on the contrary, played right into Pei Nianchu's hands.
You see, both old men doted on him the most. They would never scold him, and they could even look at his chubby, round body and say without batting an eye that he had lost weight.
"Grandpa, maternal grandpa, it's all thanks to Brother Xiao Zhao. If it weren't for Brother Xiao Zhao, I would still be blowing bubbles right now."
"We really need to thank Xiao Zhao properly."
The person leading Song Yunqing to find Madam Song suddenly shivered.
Seeing that it was him who brought his son, Lin Wenting thanked him repeatedly, her lips curving upwards in a smile. "Did my Xiaoqing offend Second Master?"
Chen Zhao took in the joy on her face and knew exactly what was going on. "Don't worry, Madam. He didn't run into my boss. I just saw that he looked lost, so I brought him over."
The smile vanished instantly.
Lin Wenting pulled the child over and thanked him again, "Thank you for your help."
Neither Pei Yanli nor the Pei family patriarch showed up at the birthday banquet. Apart from uninvited guests like Lin Wenting, the attendees were either members of the Tang family or mutual friends of Pei Wenxian and Tang Xining.
"It's my nephew's birthday, and Pei Yanli didn't even show up?" Upon returning home and learning of this outcome, Song Jingguo's brows furrowed even deeper.
Lin Wenting sighed, "There are just too many people who want to ask him for favors or to discuss collaborations."
Even if they wanted to build connections, it wouldn't be their turn.
Undeterred, Song Jingguo asked again, "Did you speak with the eldest son of the Pei family? How are Xiaoqing and that young master getting along?"
At the banquet, Pei Nianchu did take the initiative to approach Song Yunqing, but besides him, there were also many of Tang family cousins.
It's already quite good if they can say a word or two.
"What a waste! He did poorly on the exam, and now he can't even make friends."
Song Jingguo angrily cursed a couple of times.
Song Yunqing had already gone upstairs, closed the door, and isolated herself in her own little world, turning a deaf ear to everything.
After reading it again.
Occasionally, he would still fall into the fear and dread of being a monster, and whenever this happened, he couldn't help but think of that time he went to the Pei family.
Later, Pei Nianchu found him, looked him up and down, and was extremely excited.
"I heard from them that you took the college entrance exam when you were twelve!"
"Didn't pass the exam? That's still amazing."
"However... he's not as good as my second uncle. He went abroad on a full scholarship back then."
Pei Yanli was even smarter than him.
This feeling is like finally finding a kindred spirit in the world, even if he is a monster, he is a monster with companions.
He is no longer alone!
Song Yunqing worked hard to overcome her fear and stopped trying to suppress it. Her momentum surged during her year of repeating the exam, and the following year she took the college entrance exam again. At the age of thirteen, she became the top scorer in the province and successfully entered the Computer Science Department of Peking University.
For a time, the name Song Yunqing remained a hot topic in newspapers, magazines, and trending news searches.
His father, who had once doted on him, also returned.
With a wave of his hand, he gave him five million as a reward.
He wasn't as happy as he had imagined.
He put in all his effort to take the exam entirely out of his own will; he liked it, so he was willing to do it, not for his father, and certainly not for the Song family.
But no one ever asked him what he thought.
…………
After getting into university and being able to rest for a while, freeing herself from the complicated formulas, Song Yunqing fell into anxiety about having nothing to do.
Over the years, aside from books and the piano he occasionally practices, he has had no other hobbies.
I feel empty and uninteresting.
Even with the five million yuan reward from his father, he didn't know what to do with it.
Should I go abroad for a trip like my brother?
He stood in front of the dessert shop counter, staring blankly at the various exquisite little cakes in the display case, when suddenly he heard a quarrel.
"Xiaoxue, you can't take this money."
"I'm sick of eating pumpkin every day. What's wrong with buying something better?"
"This money is for Xiaoyu's surgery."
"It's only five months old. Whether it will live to see a kidney transplant is still uncertain. Give it to me now, I want fried chicken!"
An elderly man with gray hair was pushed down by a boy who was about twelve or thirteen years old.
Song Yunqing carefully selected a small cake with blueberry and chocolate flavors. As she walked out of the store, she was almost bumped into.
He watched the boy run away without looking back, then looked at the old man lying on the ground, calling "Xiaoxue" repeatedly.
"Grandma, are you alright?"
The old man wiped away his tears and shook his head, but his face was still full of sorrow.
He carefully helped the person up and asked, "What's wrong?"
A screeching sound of brakes echoed from the intersection behind me.
The tiny person, amidst a shower of banknotes, was thrown several meters away, only a few steps from the fried chicken shop.
————————
In the alternate storyline, the eldest son of the Pei family marries the person he loves. Tang Xining, being a doctor, won't have children too early, so the eldest son of the Pei family is changed to be two years younger (a chubby 10-year-old, haha).
If it were an alternate storyline, I'd still like to see Xiaoyunqing, her grandmother, and the other children at the orphanage reunite in a different way. (=^_^=)
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