Even if you beg me, I won't sell myself to you tonight...
There were many patients being discharged in the afternoon, and Xin Xiaomei was busy until the end of her shift without even having a sip of water.
After leaving the hospital, she didn't rush home. Instead, she took a detour to Xinhua Market, where there was a stall that specialized in selling black-haired pigs. She bought two pounds of pork ribs to make braised pork ribs for Lin Shiren that evening.
That kid is incredibly picky about food. He can tell at a bite whether it's a factory-farmed pig or a farm-raised pig. If he doesn't like something, he'll complain about wanting to lose weight. He's very difficult to please.
By the time I finally got home after the evening rush hour, it was almost 7 p.m.
Xin Xiaomei, carrying a plastic bag in one hand, opened the front door with the other, bent down to take slippers from the shoe cabinet, and suddenly the bedroom door opened from the inside. Lin Shiren came out wearing pajamas, his hair disheveled, looking like he had just woken up.
Xin Xiaomei exclaimed, "Why did school let out so early today?"
Lin Shiren looked at her, and her nose gradually began to sting. She gripped the hem of her pajamas tightly with her fingers, trying to suppress her emotions.
Seeing Lin Shiren remain silent and just stand there blankly, Xin Xiaomei's brow furrowed even more: "Why are your eyes swollen? Did someone bully you at school again? I'll..."
She had only spoken half a sentence when she was suddenly hugged around the waist. Lin Shiren buried his face in the crook of her neck and whispered, "Mom, you love me very much, don't you?"
She was usually reserved and rarely expressed her emotions directly. She always carried an air of premature aging that didn't suit her age. Xin Xiaomei had never heard such cloying talk in her life.
The entryway light was on, casting two shadowy figures, one in the light and the other in the shadow.
Xin Xiaomei was still a little taken aback when the plastic bag fell from her hand, and the orange rolled out. She hugged her back and said in a deliberately irritable tone, "What love? I'm carrying so many groceries, and someone has to help me carry them. How can I be in the mood to love you?"
Lin Shih-jen muttered in dissatisfaction, "You just like to say one thing and mean another."
Xin Xiaomei snorted: "I call this honest advice hard to hear! Your dad is good at giving sweet talk, I'd be stuffed to death by all the promises he makes, don't learn from him."
It's always like this. Lin Shiren couldn't help but defend Lin Zhiyuan: "Dad didn't do anything to you, why do you always scold him? Besides, you've been divorced for so long, you still look like you haven't let go..."
"I can't let go of that jerk!"
Xin Xiaomei's voice suddenly rose, startling Lin Shiren. He immediately shrank back and said awkwardly, "Then why don't you find a boyfriend?"
"You dare to talk back to your mother now?" Xin Xiaomei pretended to hit her, but before she could raise her hand, Lin Shiren had already run out of her arms.
After a while, she secretly moved over again to help Xin Xiaomei pick up the scattered oranges, then followed her into the kitchen. Xin Xiaomei, annoyed by her clinginess, tapped her forehead with a stern face: "What's wrong with you today?"
Lin Shih-jen looked at her with soft eyes: "Mom, do you love me?"
The two stared at each other for a while. Xin Xiaomei smoothed her hair and looked away defeatedly. "Otherwise, why would I divorce your father and fight for you? Why would I work hard from dawn till dusk to earn money? Why would I be exhausted and still have to make you sweet and sour pork ribs?"
Every sentence omits the word "love," yet every sentence is filled with love.
Lin Shiren loved hearing such words. His eyes smiled like the crescent moon in the sky. He couldn't help but shake Xin Xiaomei's arm and push his luck: "Then can you hug me every day from now on?"
Xin Xiaomei slapped her forehead with her palm: "Lin Shiren, who are you trying to smack to death with your mushy talk?"
She laughed, dodging the slaps, and turned on the tap: "I'll help you wash the vegetables."
*
The school intentionally handled the incident that day in a low-key manner.
Since Lin Shiren was the person who had the closest contact with Yu Xuehui that day, the principal and teacher Wu Ping both talked to her and had a psychologist give her psychological counseling.
When they returned to the classroom, the whole class stood up and applauded. Chen Mo gave a thumbs up, and Zhou Lin clapped along with everyone, a proud smile on his lips.
Lin Shiren walked towards her seat under intense scrutiny. Chen Mo spoke at length on the podium and praised her many times.
After that day, Yu Xuehui dropped out of school, but her incident served as a wake-up call for the school. After a two-day meeting, the school leaders unanimously decided to cancel the December monthly exam and instead hold a lecture on student mental health issues for all parents of senior high school students.
The principal had only been at Huiwen for less than a year. Even if he valued college entrance exam pass rates highly, he wouldn't dare to be careless about matters of life and death. Not only that, he also ordered the spiral staircase to be demolished. Garbage trucks made three trips back and forth to remove all the debris.
The day of the parent-teacher conference happened to be Christmas Eve. Parents borrowed classrooms from the first-year high school students to attend the lecture, while the third-year students had their evening self-study sessions in their own classrooms. Lin Shiren was called to the broadcasting station to answer questions for the teacher giving the psychology lecture.
The atmosphere in the classroom gradually became lively, with a sweet fruity aroma filling the air, and many students began exchanging apples.
Song Ci usurped Lin Shiren's seat, took a bite of an apple with a "crunch," and asked indistinctly, "What are your plans for New Year's Eve?"
There's no holiday for Christmas, but there's a one-day holiday for New Year's Day, and you can go out and stay up all night on December 31st.
Zhou Lin felt that he lacked the necessary self-awareness, otherwise why would he ask such a boundaryless question to a successful person who had a girlfriend? But he was in a good mood and generously shared without minding: "My wife and I went to the beach to watch fireworks."
Song Ci exclaimed "Ah!" and raised an eyebrow, asking, "But Lin Shiren agreed to spend New Year's Eve with us."
Zhou Lin put down the book in his hand, lifted his eyelids to look at him: "When did this happen?"
Around noon.
Song Ci glanced at his expression, hesitating whether to tell him the other piece of bad news. In the end, the desire to see him make a fool of himself won out, so she added, "And, she also lost you to me."
Zhou Lin's eyes were like knives, piercing his very soul.
Song Ci suppressed the corners of her lips that were turning up, and explained to him with a combination of words and gestures: "She lost a game to me and a game to Dong Rui. Dong Rui won the Kalabala keychain. I couldn't take it from her, so I was left with you."
Zhou Lin: "..."
Lin Shiren has been playing SWICE during breaks recently, but she's a beginner and has a lot of addiction to it, so no one wants to play against her. Zhou Lin never expected that she would do something like losing to him.
Song Ci was in high spirits: "How about we go to KTV to celebrate the New Year? We can sing karaoke and watch fireworks at the same time, and we won't have to stand in the cold wind outside..."
Zhou Lin lost patience and threw the apple peel at him, then pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands: "You're so sloppy every day. Don't come to my seat to eat in the future."
Song Ci: "?"
Displaced anger, blatant displaced anger.
When Lin Shiren returned from the broadcasting station, half of the evening self-study session had already passed. As soon as she walked back to her seat, she sensed the oppressive atmosphere beside her. She tilted her head to look over, and saw eyes that were lowered, long eyelashes concealing a gloomy mood, and an expression that seemed calm yet was unusually turbulent.
They were perfectly fine when they left, so who upset them?
Lin Shiren really couldn't guess, but in order to support her boyfriend, who was an activist, she cleared her throat and deliberately raised her little fist: "Who bullied you? Does that person have a death wish?"
In the past, Zhou Lin would have been charmed by her sullen expression, but at this moment, he merely glanced at her indifferently and forced a cold laugh: "Nothing, I just heard some bad news..."
"What news?" She had indeed fallen for it, her almond-shaped eyes widening as she pressed for an answer.
Zhou Lin reminded him in a very soft voice, "I heard someone lost to me."
When he said this, the corners of his lips were turned up, but Lin Shiren felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were enveloped in the dead of winter, his whole body feeling cold to the bone.
She felt a little uneasy and gave a weak laugh: "How could that be? It was just a joke."
Zhou Lin knew it was a joke, but he was still annoyed. He was annoyed that she didn't spend New Year's Eve alone with him, and even more annoyed that she lost to him in a game.
Lin Shiren's face showed innocence, but also anxiety at having upset him. Where no one could see, she hooked his little finger around her finger and bit her lip: "Fine, I'll make you pay for that today!"
Zhou Lin had never known that his hands were so sensitive. A few gentle touches sent a shiver down his spine. He deliberately looked at her casually and asked, "Which one?"
She tilted her fair face up, her dark eyes sparkling, and blinked her long eyelashes playfully, like a kitten that was still a little clumsy at being affectionate.
Lin Shiren puffed out his cheeks, his ears starting to burn: "It's that one, don't pretend you don't know!"
Zhou Lin could tell from her shy expression that she meant kissing, but he deliberately forced her to say it: "I'm not a mind reader, how would I know which one you mean?"
Lin Shih-jen immediately seized on his words and started picking a fight: "You actually cursed me to have roundworms in my stomach, that's too vicious."
Zhou Lin refused to admit to the accusation: "When did I ever curse you to have worms in your stomach?"
"Just now, I heard it with both ears."
"And what about the fact that you sold me?" he asked.
Lin Shih-jen's eyes widened: "Are you accusing me of being a human trafficker again?"
"?"
Zhou Lin finally understood: never try to reason with a girl. He rubbed his face and gritted his teeth resignedly: "Fine, I agree to use that compensation."
She said matter-of-factly, "There isn't one anymore."
This time, Zhou Lin was puzzled. Wasn't this the condition she proposed? How could it just disappear like that?
Lin Shiren snorted lightly: "Because once you miss that village, you won't find another shop like it."
...
At that moment, Lin Shiren felt a gentle pat on his back. Turning around, he saw Xia Shaoxuan hand him a note, B5 size, clearly torn from a notebook, with four large characters written on it in blue highlighter—
"What are you doing?"
Below was a small note: If you don't want to write it, pass it on to the next person. Remember!!! Don't let the teacher find out.
I don't know where the note started, but when it got to them, it was already covered in writing, and each person had thoughtfully marked a number.
① Doing homework + daydreaming
②In renovating the desks
③ Correcting mistakes and engaging in lively discussions
...
⑧ Having attained enlightenment in life, one has ascended to immortality—how wonderful!
9. I'm wondering if my mom will treat me better when she comes home.
⑩ Looking at S University's admission brochure
...
The note didn't have a name written on it, but Zhou Lin recognized it at a glance. The tenth note was in Shen Xuqing's handwriting, and his pupils changed slightly at that moment.
Is it a coincidence that Lin Shih-jen's target university is also S University?
Lin Shih-jen was completely unaware of this and was still reading each comment with a pout. When he saw someone dreaming about Marx, he burst out laughing.
She seemed eager to try, but then, as if remembering something, she blinked at Zhou Lin and asked, "Do you want to play this?"
Zhou Lin wasn't initially interested in this childish passing of notes, but seeing her expectant little eyes, he took the note anyway, picked up a pen, and wrote: "I'm counting money for someone."
Others might not understand what he was saying, but Lin Shiren did. He was subtly mocking her, but she decided to pretend she didn't see it.
He slowly wrote on the note: "Selling my deskmate."
Zhou Lin, with his sharp eyes, immediately saw the words on it. He slowly leaned down, his expression inscrutable: "Tonight, even if you beg me, I won't stop during that time."
-----------------------
Author's note: 50 red envelopes~
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