Chapter 15 Summer Night
Lin Yu is a lively and cheerful person, especially when it is time for dinner. He is just like a teenager of seventeen or eighteen years old. He holds the bowl tightly in his hand and uses chopsticks very quickly.
The beef hotpot was bubbling with hot air. Lin Yu used a serving chopstick to pick up a piece of tender beef and put it into the pot. He looked focused and silently counted the time.
Chen Wan was paddling rice silently, occasionally glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.
After counting to eight seconds, Lin Yu quickly picked up the beef and placed it on Chen Wan's white rice.
Unexpectedly, he could still snatch food from Lin Yu's mouth. Chen Wan poked the fat beef half a beat late and looked up at him. "Haven't you been staring at it for a while?"
She was really surprised and subconsciously teased him.
"Yes, I heated it up especially for you. Senior Sister said I'm here to eat for free and act as a flower protector. Come and try it. Is it delicious?"
Lin Yu raised his eyebrows and smiled, but his mind was not idle and he continued to count silently. Then he picked up another piece of beef tripe for Chen Wan.
Chen Wan uttered an "oh" and wanted to laugh, but he suppressed it. He ate two bites silently, then met Lin Yu's sharp gaze and nodded, "Delicious."
"Let me tell you, there are certain tricks to using beef and tripe in hot pot. For example, you have to cook the tripe seven times and eight times, and you have to count carefully."
Everyone at the table couldn't help laughing when they heard Lin Yu talk about the techniques of eating hot pot in great detail.
Chen Wan looked at the steaming hot pot and everyone's smiling faces and felt very warm.
She once read a book by Wang Zengqi, in which he wrote, "Family members sit leisurely, the lights are intimate."
I instantly understood this human warmth.
Although Chen Wan and Qiao Yue are not biological sisters, she has always treated herself as her own sister and allowed her to integrate into this happy family without any hesitation.
Chen Wan felt that the joy in his heart was like the bubbles boiling in the pot in front of him, bursting out uncontrollably.
Lin Yu and Qiao Yue were both talkative people, and with Yuan Ke's timely interruptions, the three of them talked freely and the meal was a very enjoyable one for both the host and the guests.
Under Lin Yu's care, Chen Wan ate most of the plate of fatty beef and tendons. His mouth felt a little greasy and the Coke in his cup was empty.
When she was about to refill her cup, Lin Yu took her cup away and replaced it with a can of Wangzai milk next to her, saying, "Milk can help with the spiciness."
Chen Wan thanked him, holding the can of Wangzai milk with a smile on his face.
Lin Yu always paid attention to these details and gave her the most caring care.
Qiao Yue stood up with a cup of Coke in hand and said with a smile, "We're halfway through the hot pot. Come, let's elevate the main point of our meal!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yuan's parents, Yuan Ke, and Lin Yu all raised their glasses to Chen Wan with smiles on their faces. "Let's raise our glasses to congratulate classmate Chen Wan on a successful college entrance examination and a successful place on the list!"
Chen Wan was stunned for a moment, then slowly raised the Wangzai milk and looked at everyone, especially Lin Yu next to him, who was grinning with his white teeth and looking silly, just like the Big Head Boy on the milk can, which made Chen Wan laugh completely.
She wrinkled her nose, took a deep breath, and clinked glasses with everyone one by one, expressing her sincere gratitude, "Thank you, sister, and everyone!"
She used to feel like she had been living in a stuffy dead end, unable to get out and no one was willing to come in.
But Qiao Yue and Lin Yu never treated her as someone living in darkness. They treated her as an ordinary girl.
After she said thank you, Qiao Yue raised her hand and rubbed her eyes, "Hateful, so sentimental."
Lin Yu immediately responded, "You are made of iron, but you can shed tears too!"
The two of them bantered again, and calmly restored the atmosphere to its previous cheerful state.
Chen Wan also laughed.
After dinner, considering that Chen Wan was a candidate, everyone hoped that she would go back early to rest and get enough energy, so they did not force her to stay.
Before leaving, Lin Yu took away a portion of braised beef and happily promised Qiao Yue, "Don't worry, Senior Sister, I promise to complete the task of protecting the flower from beginning to end."
Chen Wan said goodbye to Yuan's parents obediently, and then went home with Lin Yu.
After getting in the car, Lin Yu rolled down the window, and the evening breeze blew into the car, mixed with the light scent of jasmine, lingering between the two of them.
Chen Wan fastened his seat belt and looked out the window casually.
The city is always bustling on summer nights. The daytime heat is blown away by the evening breeze, and people who are looking for cool air are strolling in the streets and alleys.
Chen Wan saw rows of fruit stalls on the overpass in the distance, with emerald green watermelons lined up on wooden boards for people to choose from.
There was a small glass bulb hanging next to the stall, and the goose-yellow light enveloped the fluffy peaches and apricots, casting a halo of light.
Passersby walked leisurely along the long street, occasionally stopping by the roadside to look at the sky in the distance.
From the distance came the unbridled laughter of young people, and one could imagine their youthful and handsome faces.
The old man was leisurely waving a palm-leaf fan, holding the hand of the child who was eating popsicles, and slowly passed by one dim street light after another.
Summer is hot and lively, and it makes people's emotions surge like rising water vapor, wanting to be released.
The endless chirping of cicadas, the hum of the air conditioner starting up, and the sizzling sound of ice cola.
The lush plants are green and juicy, there are big red watermelons, and sweet and crisp peaches.
Jasmine flowers as white as snow, hydrangeas clustered like clouds, and fragrant white gardenias.
Summer is the happiest season, which can evoke the most genuine emotions in people's hearts and make them boil and spread.
Chen Wan's eyes were clear as he thought about things limited to summer.
Just as we encountered a red light, the surging traffic slowed down and the headlights formed a twinkling galaxy.
Lin Yu's fingers on the steering wheel tapped the rhythm carelessly, and he tilted his head to look at Chen Wan.
Her profile was coated with a warm color by the dim light. She was staring at a hibiscus flower outside the window in a trance, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.
Lin Yu couldn't help but smile.
"What's wrong? Are you happy about being stuck in traffic?" Chen Wan was brought back to his senses and asked casually.
Lin Yu leaned back calmly and met her eyes, "I'm happy for you."
"Our classmate Chen Wan will soon be free from the mountains of books and the sea of exams. Are you happy?"
Chen Wan pondered for a moment. "Actually, many people say that university essays and defenses are more tiring, and that high school is the happiest period. Can I be considered to have escaped from this sea of suffering?"
Lin Yu was startled when he heard this, then laughed, "How come you are so unpredictable, kid? I can't even say the words I prepared."
"Then just pretend you didn't hear it." Chen Wan pointed to his ear and said sincerely, "Officer Xiaolin, please start your performance."
Lin Yu raised his eyebrows slightly. At this moment, Chen Wan seemed to have completely let down her guard. She was just a simple seventeen-year-old girl, with eyes as clear as amber.
"Actually, what you just said is correct. High school is the happiest period because your goals are clear and your thoughts are simple."
For most students, from elementary school to senior high school, a full nine years pass, from children to teenagers.
Especially the three years of study in high school are like putting the teenagers into a long and narrow corridor.
The college entrance examination is the end of this corridor. Crossing this boundary, from a social perspective, means leaving behind youth.
The corridor is flanked by parents and teachers with high expectations. They are both a shelter and a shackle.
People in the corridor feel depressed because they have to bear too many expectations.
Always wanting to express oneself, and eager to mature early, as if this would allow one to break free from the shackles of the outside world.
But in fact, only when you really step out of the ivory tower will you realize that student days are really the simplest and happiest time.
Especially the college entrance examination, the whole country prays and blesses it.
This is the most sincere expectation of the entire society for young people who are just starting out.
"Most people actually think high school is hard and tiring. Starting freshman year, you're slogging through mountains of exams and daily drudgery, burdened by the high expectations of your family and teachers. It's physically and mentally exhausting. But after you graduate, you'll find you remember more of the joys of high school," Lin Yu said softly. "For example, even after graduating so long ago, I still remember the pickled pepper beef rice noodles in the high school cafeteria, and the indescribable joy I felt every time the bell rang at mealtime."
Chen Wan could hear the nostalgic feeling in his tone, and the content was nothing but eating and drinking, which was very much like Lin Yu's style.
He is not good at preaching big principles, and what he says is very daily and trivial, but it is precisely this that makes it the most real.
After Lin Yu talked about a long list of delicious food in the school cafeteria, he realized that he might have gone off topic. He scratched his hair and looked at Chen Wan, "Do you understand what I mean?"
"You just want to tell me not to be nervous and face the college entrance examination calmly, right?" Chen Wan said seriously, trying to give him a way out.
"Yes, that's what I meant." Lin Yu chuckled twice. "Anyway, I just want to say that you don't have to care too much about the college entrance examination, and don't look forward to it being over. It's just an ordinary exam. Don't worry too much about it. There will be many things worth worrying about in the future. You just need to be happy and worry-free now."
Lin Yu didn't ask her to work hard, he just wanted her to be happy.
"You said before that your grandfather planted that pomegranate tree so that your parents would have something they love throughout their lives. I think so too. I also hope that you will have something you truly love throughout your life."
So he wanted to take good care of the tree. He hoped that Chen Wan would be happy when he saw it.
Hearing him say this, Chen Wan closed his eyes slightly.
She thought that the one she loved was right beside her, within reach.
When she realized that she liked Lin Yu, even though she admitted it in her heart, she told herself not to take any inappropriate actions.
Chen Wan carefully carried this secret feeling in her heart, keeping a proper distance from Lin Yu, but greedily accepted his clumsy advances and silent protection.
Chen Wan has expectations for Lin Yu. When you like someone, you will inevitably have expectations.
Hearing Lin Yu casually say that he hoped she would have something she liked, she felt relieved.
This feeling is very strange, but there are traces of it.
It was her relief at indulging herself that opened her heart and gave herself the opportunity to rely on Lin Yu.
"Look, this person is worthy of my love." Relief.
She always bears all the emotions silently, digesting these sad feelings by herself like licking her wounds.
But now with Lin Yu, he will protect her, give her happiness, and keep her behind him.
It's natural for her to like Lin Yu, there's no need to compare or compare.
References when writing
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