Chapter 5: Moving Forward
"How do you... know my name?" The ointment in Jiang Jinyue's hand fell and was caught by Lu Qingmian.
As he spoke, he backed away and soon shrank to the other corner of the sofa, trying his best to stay away from Lu Qingmian.
Lu Qingmian gently placed the ointment on the table: "Jiang Jinyue, everyone in Ze County No. 2 Middle School knows you."
A simple sentence tore apart Jiang Jinyue's precarious self-esteem.
Everyone in Ze County No. 2 Middle School knows Lu Qingmian, because he is outstanding, handsome, and comes from a wealthy family. Every aspect of him that can be thought of is an advantage.
No one in Ze County No. 2 Middle School didn't know Jiang Jinyue, because he dressed strangely, was suspicious, always lost control and went crazy for no apparent reason, and there were rumors that he had been kidnapped as a girl. Every time he was mentioned, he was accompanied by sneers and mockery.
In high school, Jiang Jinyue had already accepted his fate. He put on thick armor and hid himself in a shell, hoping that everyone would ignore him and not see him. He didn't want to go crazy and lose control of himself because of some ordinary physical contact, nor did he want to cause trouble for Wang Xiaoya and watch her come to school again and again to apologize humbly in front of others.
At school, he always stayed in a corner. Unless necessary, he would never go out during breaks. He had also long ago asked the school not to participate in the physical exercises.
But there are always unexpected things.
At the beginning of his second year of high school, Lu Qingmian transferred to the school and caused a huge sensation in the small Ze County No. 2 Middle School. As soon as the get out of class was over, countless classmates crowded in the corridor to watch Lu Qingmian.
Jiang Jinyue and Lu Qingmian met for the first time in a crowded corridor.
At that time, he was holding the homework book that was left behind by the class committee, carefully avoiding all possible collisions, and approaching the teacher's office little by little.
Lu Qingmian came out of their class at this time. As soon as he came out, the corridor became more crowded and the classmates rushed forward frantically. No matter how careful Jiang Jinyue was, he was still bumped into by someone.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay calm, but collisions continued one after another, and terrible illusions eventually replaced the reality before his eyes.
By the time he calmed down, there were no more classmates crowded around him.
He was lying on the ground, covered in dust, with his homework book thrown aside and covered with footprints.
Those classmates stood around him, looking at him with pairs of eyes, whispering to each other from time to time, with strange lights flashing in their eyes and the slight curves of their lips, all of which frightened Jiang Jinyue.
At this time, Lu Qingmian walked through the crowd and extended his hand to Jiang Jinyue.
"Classmate, are you okay?"
The hand was big, with long fingers and neat, clean nails, without a speck of dust on them.
Unlike him, covered in dirt, curled up on the ground like a beggar.
Jiang Jinyue didn't touch the hand. He got up and ran away quickly.
While escaping, he heard some classmates talking to Lu Qingmian. He resisted hearing those voices, but the conversation became clearer and clearer in his ears.
"Lu Qingmian, don't get close to him! He's the psychopath in the school! He has a mental problem!"
"Didn't you see he went crazy just now? Someone just accidentally touched him and he fell to the ground."
"He's still shaking like he's having an epileptic seizure!"
…
The homework was never handed in. When he secretly went to look for it later, the homework book that was covered with footprints was gone.
Maybe he was thrown away like garbage, like he had no future in life.
Now, Jiang Jinyue looked at Lu Qingmian sitting on the other side of the sofa and subconsciously denied and resisted.
"I'm not sick! I don't need treatment!"
When coming to H City, Wang Xiaoya had repeatedly reminded Jiang Jinyue not to tell anyone that she was sick and not to tell anyone about her affairs.
Jiang Jinyue lowered his head and saw Lu Qingmian's hand beside him.
Those hands were still slender and beautiful, clean without a trace of dust.
Jiang Jinyue escaped from the sofa and huddled in the corner of the room. He didn't look at Lu Qingmian, but only stared at the door.
"I'm not sick. I don't know what you're talking about. Lu Qingmian, please go away. Please leave my house."
Lu Qingmian's expression remained unchanged. He stood up from the sofa and slowly walked towards the door.
Jiang Jinyue stared at Lu Qingmian's back, his heart in a mess. He just hoped that Lu Qingmian would leave quickly, leave him alone, and let him retreat into his shell again.
Lu Qingmian held the door handle, but did not open the door. Instead, he turned around and looked over.
"Jiang Jinyue, you're always running away. Do you think that just because you're away, you can just pretend that what happened didn't happen?"
"Whether it's your illness or your wings, do you think no one would know if I didn't tell them? This building is indeed on the edge of the community, and the occupancy rate is not high these days, so there are almost no people here. But when you flew down last night, the window on the 9th floor was open."
Hearing that he might have been seen by others when he flew out last night, Jiang Jinyue's wings trembled, but he still leaned against the corner without moving, and only whispered back: "You are not a doctor, you can't help me cure my illness."
Even doctors can't cure his illness.
Lu Qingmian tilted his head:
"Who said I'm not? Haven't you heard? I was admitted to the Medical University in H City. Jiang Jinyue, as long as you agree, I will help you treat your illness and help you deal with the people on the 9th floor, and you don't have to do anything."
"Why?" Jiang Jinyue didn't understand.
Lu Qingmian smiled and said, "I'm very curious about you."
Jiang Jinyue buried his face, shook his head, and shook his head again, still refusing: "I don't want it, I don't need it, go away, please leave my house."
Lu Qingmian was not angry either, he just said: "I'll wait for you to change your mind and come to me on your own initiative."
Lu Qingmian left, and the pink bubbles disappeared with him.
The rental house returned to silence. Apart from the fried rice and chicken wings scattered on the floor, it seemed as if no one had been there.
After leaving, Lu Qingmian took out the vibrating phone in his pocket, ignored the pile of unread messages, and opened the mailbox directly.
There was an unread email lying quietly in the mailbox. Lu Qingmian clicked it and found a very brief notice that the game had been removed from the shelves.
"Hello author, your game has been permanently removed from the shelves because it is too bloody and violent."
Lu Qingmian was not surprised when he saw the email, he just sneered briefly.
At this time, a QQ group message notification with @all members popped up above the mobile phone screen. The message came from the "H University Freshman Group".
Like Jiang Jinyue, Lu Qingmian was admitted to H University, which is not some weird medical university at all.
Inside the rental house, Jiang Jinyue sat in the corner for a long time before getting up to clean up the mess.
Too many things happened in the past two days, so many that it was completely beyond his ability to solve and accept.
Only after the rental house was clean and tidy again did Jiang Jinyue relax and throw herself on the sofa.
He leaned against the leather sofa and felt a chill on his back.
Jiang Jinyue was stunned for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and touched his back. The zipper of his jacket was only one-third zipped up, leaving it empty, and he touched his back immediately.
"The wings...the wings are gone!"
Jiang Jinyue ran into the bedroom, took off his coat, and turned his back to the full-length mirror to look at his back.
The skin on the shoulder blade where wings once grew was intact and smooth, with no sign of abnormality.
He is finally back to normal!
Jiang Jinyue couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth and smiled cutely at the mirror.
Jiang Jinyue caught a glimpse of his own smile in the mirror and stood there in a daze, the smile on his face gradually becoming stiff.
How long has it been since he last laughed?
Jiang Jinyue turned around, faced the mirror, and pulled the corners of his mouth again, revealing a stiff arc. He tried to show his standard eight teeth, but it still couldn't be considered a smile.
The skin and flesh were pulled, stiff and unfamiliar, and very ugly.
Jiang Jinyue put on his clothes and sat by the window.
He habitually opened Tieba and posted a new thread in his own secret base:
The angel who couldn't escape disappeared. What good would it do if I grew wings? I couldn't save myself.
At this time, the group owner of the part-time group sent him a message, informing him that he could get his health certificate the day after tomorrow.
After Jiang Jinyue replied, he clicked on "Yue's Nest" again.
He flipped forward bit by bit, and among several "failed" posts, there was one that read: New city, hope everything will be fine.
Hope everything will be fine.
Jiang Jinyue clenched his phone and decided to queue up at the bun shop again tomorrow morning.
Early the next morning, Jiang Jinyue joined the queue in front of the bun shop.
He lowered his head, anxiously paying attention to the footsteps of people passing by, calculating the distance in front and behind, gritting his teeth and determined to get to the front of the line smoothly this time, even if he was bumped into by others.
The bun shop is still doing a booming business. The uncle in the bun shop is quick and efficient in packing the buns. Although the line is long, it moves forward quickly.
Jiang Jinyue followed the team forward. The man who bought buns and left in a hurry in front of him accidentally bumped into Jiang Jinyue's shoulder when he passed by him.
He tilted his body, then stood up straight immediately, hiding his hands in his sleeves, digging his palms tightly with his nails, trying hard to control the trembling of his body, and staring at the land in front of his feet through his glasses without prescription.
It was just an accidental collision, and Jiang Jinyue's body immediately gave the most resistant reaction.
The team kept getting shorter and shorter. Jiang Jinyue rubbed the ground with his toes and took another step forward.
Just like this, step by step, we will definitely succeed today.
Jiang Jinyue closed his eyes tightly, trying to drive away the darkness that was gradually encroaching on him.
The loud hawking voice of the man in the bun shop began to fade in my ears, and the sound of traffic on the road became more and more harsh, as if the rustling voices through a layer of cloth became clearer.
"What's this little sissy's name? Jiang Jinyue? Such a feminine name. Can you blame me for arresting the wrong person?"
"It's so annoying! The roads are blocked, how can I escape now?"
"It's all this little sissy's fault. I'm going to beat him to death!"
"Don't really beat him to death. If he can run, he still has a chance to sell him."
"I see. The wound from this needle is small but more painful than a knife cut. I guarantee he won't die."
Jiang Jinyue shook his body and followed the team a little further forward.
The office worker standing in line behind Jiang Jinyue was a little anxious. Seeing Jiang Jinyue walking slowly, he reached out and pushed Jiang Jinyue's shoulder, "Walk a little further, there's still so much space in front of you!"
Jiang Jinyue tried hard to keep his feet on the ground. The voices of the people behind him turned into a buzzing sound in his ears, and he couldn't hear anything clearly.
The line shortened a little further ahead.
This time Jiang Jinyue could no longer see, as everything in front of him was already pitch black.
He didn't move, and the anxious office worker behind him became even more dissatisfied. He pushed Jiang Jinyue's shoulder again and squeezed forward. "No, what's wrong with you? Move forward!"
Because they were too close, the office worker's breath blew across the back of Jiang Jinyue's neck.
The breath carried an unfamiliar temperature, which eventually ignited Jiang Jinyue's suppressed fear and broke his tense nerves.
Jiang Jinyue finally heard it clearly, but it was an illusion from him.
"Little sissy, if we can't escape this time, I'm going to chop you into pieces and grind you into a paste to feed the dogs!"
"We've already plucked all our fingernails. How about we pluck our toenails this time?"
Jiang Jinyue, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly turned around and ran away with all his might, but stumbled and fell to the ground.
The person in the illusion had already walked in front of him. Jiang Jinyue was so scared that he covered his eyes, his whole body was shaking violently, his teeth were clenched, and he dared not make a sound.
Seeing this, the office worker immediately took a few steps back, his face filled with fear. "What's wrong with this guy? Is he having a seizure?"
Not only the office workers, but the long queue in front of the bun shop immediately dispersed. Everyone avoided Jiang Jinyue from a distance, but did not leave. They surrounded Jiang Jinyue, pointing and whispering, as if they were looking at some rare animal.
Many people have taken out their mobile phones to take photos and videos.
Jiang Jinyue felt so weak that he couldn't even stand up, so he could only curl up.
The incident happened suddenly and everything changed in just three or two minutes.
Behind the noisy crowd, Lu Qingmian stood there, his eyes as dark as the abyss looking at Jiang Jinyue who was out of control in the crowd, his hands clenched into fists. He pushed the crowd aside and was about to walk over, but he saw a figure and suddenly stopped.
The uncle from the bun shop pushed through the crowd and ran over, helped the powerless Jiang Jinyue up, and took him into the bun shop.
"I'm sorry, I can't do business today. Everyone, please go away. This child is my relative. I'm sorry to have caused you all trouble."
The shutter door of the bun shop was pulled down, and seeing that there was nothing exciting to watch, the crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed.
Jiang Jinyue was sitting on a chair in the back kitchen of the bun shop, with a cup of hot water stuffed into her hand by the shop owner.
It took a long time for his consciousness to return to normal. After the illusion disappeared, he naturally realized what he had done.
He went crazy in the crowd, he got into trouble, and he was treated as a madman for the umpteenth time.
Although he had hot water in his hands, Jiang Jinyue felt cold all over.
Seeing Jiang Jinyue like this, the man at the bun shop sighed. He carefully chose his words and said, "My dear classmate, although I don't know what happened to you...some things you can't get through on your own. Sometimes, you have to rely on others."
Jiang Jinyue's fingertips holding the cup moved. He slowly stood up, put down the cup, took out all the money on him and put it on the table, then bowed deeply to the uncle in the bun shop.
"Thank you for today's help. I'm sorry for the trouble."
Jiang Jinyue stood up straight and walked out with unsteady steps.
Lu Qingmian was right. Running away would not change what had already happened, and he could not escape his current hell on his own.
Jiang Jinyue walked out of the small door of the bun shop. The haziness of the early morning faded away and the sun was shining brightly outside.
Lu Qingmian stood in the sunshine, looking at Jiang Jinyue quietly.
Jiang Jinyue was stunned when he saw Lu Qingmian.
Behind Jiang Jinyue, the uncle from the bun shop took the money that Jiang Jinyue had placed on the table and also saw Lu Qingmian. He nodded to Lu Qingmian.
Jiang Jinyue's eyes were stung by the dazzling sunlight. He rubbed his glasses with his fingers, ignoring the wetness on his fingertips, and slowly walked towards Lu Qingmian.
Behind him, the small door of the bun shop had been closed, isolating the uncle's mumbling inside.
"These two little classmates are really weird. They came to me early in the morning and stuffed several thousand yuan into my pocket, asking me to help take care of a little classmate who might come to buy buns. And then the little classmate who was buying buns inexplicably went crazy in the crowd..."
In the early morning, Lu Qingmian came to the bun shop.
He gave the man in the bun shop a good amount of money and warned him that if he saw Jiang Jinyue, he should be careful not to let anyone touch him, not to make him nervous, not to...
Lu Qingmian said no countless times, and the uncle in the bun shop did take note of the money when he received it, but he forgot about it when he got busy. When he noticed it, Jiang Jinyue had already fallen to the ground.
The man in the bun shop put the money away, feeling nervous. He thought the tall young man wouldn't come to him to ask for his money back...
Outside the door.
Jiang Jinyue walked towards Lu Qingmian step by step, taking off his mask and glasses as he walked, until he stood in front of Lu Qingmian.
He looked up, his face was pale, the corners of his eyes were red from crying, and there was a deep bite mark on his lower lip.
Lu Qingmian lowered his head, a hint of heartache flashing in his dark eyes.
He saw Jiang Jinyue's eyelashes tremble and a tear fell.
"Lu Qingmian, please help me heal my illness."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
