Chapter 45
In mid-January, Chen Zhiyi's results for the first semester final exam of his senior year of high school, which was also the first city-wide unified college entrance examination simulation exam in Jinshi, came out. His score was not low, and his school's overall ranking had entered the top 100.
At their school, being in the top 100 in total score means that getting into a 211-level university is a certainty, and with a little more effort in the second semester, getting into a 985-level university is also possible.
Chen Lan was very pleased, and at the end of the year, she gave Lin Ting an extra-large bonus. Lin Ting felt it was too hot to handle and wanted to refuse it, but Chen Lan said...
"Then I'll give you a bag; girls all like them."
Turning around, she picked up a small square bag starting with the letter L. It was exquisite and beautiful, the kind of bag that girls would fall in love with at first sight. But for Lin Ting, holding it in her hand was not only hotter than holding the wad of cash, but it was also burning her eyes.
If this were taken back, anyone with a discerning eye would immediately say, "Tsk, Lin Ting must have hooked up with a rich guy, or to put it bluntly, she's definitely being kept."
"Three men can make a tiger"—what a frightening rumor!
Seeing Lin Ting's embarrassed expression, Chen Lan said with a smile, "Either take the money or give me a handbag. I won't be able to have a good New Year if I don't give you something."
Why are rich people so self-righteous when giving gifts? Lin Ting had no choice but to exchange the red envelope for a cash gift.
"That's more like it. This is just one month's salary for you. Normal companies give their employees year-end bonuses. We're not exactly a company, but Auntie really likes you, trusts you, and is grateful to you. Consider this a New Year's gift for you. Happy New Year, Teacher Lin!"
Lin Ting forced a smile and said, "Thank you!" But inside she felt bitter and conflicted.
She recalled that nightmare: she and Chen Zhiyi were just sitting together having a casual chat, but Chen Lan had been so harsh and unrestrained in her anger that she had to berate her. She was afraid to face the uproar if they were ever caught in the act.
Therefore, she felt a sense of comfort again. However, when she faced Chen Zhiyi and thought of all the good things about him, she had truly fallen in love with this big boy and couldn't bear to give him up.
This reminded Lin Ting of the word "adultery," but since ancient times, adultery has never ended well.
Chen Zhiyi could tell that Lin Ting had something on her mind, and he also knew the source of her worries.
He knew that this was the kind of person she was; when she was upset, she would keep it to herself, and once she figured it out, it would be over; if she couldn't, it would become a dead end.
He stopped her, grabbed her shoulders, and made her look directly at him.
Although it was nighttime, this was on Xiangyi Zijun residential road, with many passersby coming and going. It would be embarrassing if someone they knew saw them. Lin Ting raised her eyes and tried to pull her hand off his shoulder, but he only gripped it tighter.
Lin Ting looked around, "Be careful not to be seen by others."
"If you see it, you see it. Whether you've done anything wrong or not."
Lin Ting's inner unease was immediately apparent; it was a guilty conscience, so he lowered his head.
Chen Zhiyi lifted her chin, and their eyes met again.
"My mom likes you in one way, and I like you in another. There are many forms and meanings to liking someone, but there is only one reason: you. Because you are outstanding enough."
With just this one sentence, Lin Tingju's slight sense of comfort vanished.
With the Spring Festival approaching, Lin Ting finally set off for home on the 29th of the lunar year, after Chen Zhiyi used various excuses and pleading.
As soon as I entered, I saw Lin Qin sitting in front of the tap preparing various kinds of fish and meat. It's Chinese New Year, and according to custom, some salted goods are always prepared.
"Mom, I'm home."
Lin Qin's face lit up with joy. "I was just about to call and ask where you were. It's good that you're back."
Lin Ting put the luggage back inside, put on her apron, grabbed some plastic gloves, and came over to help.
She moved a low stool over and sat down next to Lin Qin. "Didn't Aunt Zhang come today?"
Lin Qin stretched out her right leg to show her, "The cast has been removed. She can walk around the house on one leg, it's no problem. It's the New Year, everyone has things to do at home, so I haven't let her come over recently."
Lin Ting pressed Lin Qin's right leg with her hand, "Does it still hurt? How's the recovery going?"
"It hasn't hurt for a long time. My uncle and his family took me for a check-up last week. The doctor said my bones are healing well and I'll be able to walk normally again in a while."
"That's good!" Lin Ting put on plastic gloves. "Mom, I'm back. You can rest now. I'll take care of the rest."
"It's just marinating a little bit to fit the New Year atmosphere. Luckily, my daughter and I have always kept the Spring Festival simple, so we don't need to prepare too many New Year's goods. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had time to prepare anything by the time you came back today."
Lin Ting glanced at her mother, knowing there was a hidden meaning in her words, and kept her lips tightly closed, saying nothing.
Lin Qin smiled and said, "Tell me, why are you back so late this year? In the past, you would come back after the Lunar New Year, no matter how busy you were."
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Lin Ting's face, and she said somewhat vaguely, "There's a lot going on at school."
"Is she busy with schoolwork, or is she busy tutoring Xiao Chen?" Lin Qin pointed out incisively.
Now, Lin Ting's originally fair cheeks turned slightly red, and her eyes were lowered.
“I could tell when Xiao Chen came to my house last time. If he didn’t like you, why would he rush back with you overnight, change my room to a VIP ward, and buy me a wheelchair? I can see the look in someone’s eyes when they like them, and I can also tell that you have feelings for him too.”
No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Lin Ting was a little flustered. "Mom, aren't you angry with me?"
"Is it because my daughter is too outstanding?" Lin Qin patted her head. "On the contrary, I am very happy. I have kept in mind what you said when you came back during the National Day holiday. I have always felt guilty towards you. I don't want you to live in the shadow of my failed marriage and miss out on people who are good to you and treat you sincerely."
Now that there was no one else around, Lin Ting, who always talked to her mother about everything, poured out all her heart.
"Chen Zhiyi has indeed treated me very well, and I admit that I like him, but I don't know why I always feel uneasy about this feeling. Last time he accompanied me to the hospital to get medicine for you, we happened to run into Qin Qiang and Xie Yuling."
Mentioning these two names brought an indescribable pain to Lin Qin's face, and Lin Ting would not elaborate further on them.
“I had a big argument with them, and Chen Zhiyi heard everything. Later, he found out everything. He comforted me, encouraged me, and took the opportunity to confess to me. At that moment, I couldn’t deceive my heart and accepted his feelings. We agreed to officially be together after he finished his college entrance exam. His family trusted and respected me and genuinely treated me as a teacher. However, I developed feelings for him that went beyond the teacher-student relationship, which made me feel guilty every time I saw his family.”
"Have you said these things to Chen Zhiyi?" Lin Qin asked.
“I never said it to his face, but he was in the midst of the crucial college entrance exam and I didn’t want to distract him. But sometimes he could sense what I was thinking and would try to comfort me and tell me not to feel pressured.”
“You did a great job of making him realize what is most important to him at the moment.”
"Well, thankfully, his grades have been steadily improving and haven't been affected."
"Isn't that great? It shows that Xiao Chen is a person with his own opinions and can distinguish between priorities, and that a healthy relationship between a man and a woman can help both parties grow together."
Lin Ting knew her mother was comforting her; that's just how her mother was—she supported whatever she did.
Lin Ting can handle other matters on her own, but when it comes to matters of the heart, she becomes hesitant and prone to overthinking. She wants to take a step forward, but worries that things won't turn out the way she envisions, and feels unwilling to back down.
Ultimately, she was still afraid of getting hurt; Lin Qin's bloody lesson constantly reminded her of this.
“But there are still other problems between us. For example, his dream is to become an actor, but I just want to learn a skill to make a living and find a well-paying job so that I can live a peaceful and stable life. But once he enters the entertainment industry, it will be completely different from the future life I envisioned. In addition, our families are too far apart. A relationship between people who are not well-matched cannot last long. It is a mistake to do something that is not known.”
Lin Qin knew her daughter's personality well; she was very clear-headed. People can only live a simple life if they are a little confused. Just like herself, if she had kept harping on Qin Qiang's infidelity all these years, making a scene and refusing to let go of him or herself, she would have been better off turning away and leaving. She would rather live a desolate life guarding the ruins of a collapsed love than suffer in the fire every day.
In short, we must learn to look forward and go with the flow.
"You may see what is wrong and what is impossible as mistakes, but it is also an impulse to avoid regrets. People should act according to their conscience," Lin Qin advised her.
"Acting from my heart?" Lin Ting thought. Yes, if it weren't for her heart, she wouldn't have gotten this far with her past personality. Following her heart's desire, she would go where she wanted to go. Perhaps this love could have a good ending; she shouldn't waver anymore. "Mom, so you support me?"
"Whether I support you or not is not important; I will support you no matter what. But you must remember that Xiao Chen is still young. If I'm not mistaken, this is probably the first time you two have liked someone else. It's your first experience with love, and first experiences often influence the future. Even if you can't stay together in the future, don't let him be like you were in the past and become disappointed in love."
Lin Ting strongly agreed with her mother's view and nodded solemnly.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Our house might be slated for demolition?" Lin Qin changed the subject.
"Demolition?" Lin Tingyi was surprised.
Lin Qin explained, "A few days ago, people from the town government came to collect household registration books and property certificates, saying that they were going to build a high-speed railway and that our area would have to be demolished."
That's a good thing.
Lizhen retains the authentic charm of a Jiangnan water town. If it were developed into a key tourist destination, it could become a classic ancient tourist town. Unfortunately, due to inconvenient transportation, it has not been put on the agenda. Currently, it can only be reached by train and car. If the high-speed rail can be successfully opened, coupled with good marketing, it may bring prosperity to the tourism economy and create new business opportunities and jobs.
Everyone hopes their hometown will get better and better.
"So recently everyone has been discussing whether to move to resettlement housing or receive compensation."
Lin Ting pondered for a moment, "Mom, if that's really the case, I want to collect the compensation. I'm graduating soon, and I won't go back here. Once I have a stable job and a stable life, I want to bring you to live with me. Then we can use the compensation to buy a house that belongs to us. This place holds too many bad memories for you, and I want to pull you out of it and start a new life."
Lin Qin didn't hesitate, "Okay!"
The next day was Lunar New Year's Eve. Lin Ting started getting busy from the morning, putting up Spring Festival couplets, buying New Year's goods, offering incense to ancestors, and cooking New Year's Eve dinner. Although there were only two people in the family, even if the celebration was simple, all the necessary rituals should be performed.
Lin Ting had no other close relatives, only her uncle's family. She took some time to deliver New Year's gifts, including fine wine and cigarettes, and also gave her cousin a large red envelope, showing her uncle and aunt a lot of face and thanking them for taking care of her mother.
Chen Zhiyi started the chat with a "Happy New Year's Eve" message in the morning, but didn't send any other messages after that. Instead, he would send Lin Ting a photo every now and then.
I accompanied my mother to the temple to offer incense, visited elderly people living alone in the nursing home, gave New Year's gifts to children at the welfare home, played games with the children, and then visited the company to express my condolences to the employees on duty.
Lin Ting had the illusion of watching the evening news, the theme of which was that the young master of XXX company was sending New Year's greetings non-stop, with sincere feelings that warmed people's hearts.
Such a heartwarming scene should be accompanied by a warm smile, but apart from playing games with the children and looking happy, Chen Zhiyi's smile in the other photos is a lifeless, fake smile, giving the impression that he was forced into the role to make up the numbers.
As noon approached, Lin Ting took a picture of the lunch she had prepared and sent it to Chen Zhiyi.
Almost immediately, Chen Zhiyi called.
"I want to eat your cooking, it looks so delicious." She said in a coquettish tone.
Lin Ting said with a smile, "Aunt Chen's cooking skills are much better than mine. During the New Year, she has to show off her skills and serve up all kinds of delicacies."
Chen Zhiyi sighed, "Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen have also gone back to their hometown and won't be back until the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year. On Lunar New Year's Eve, I'll just have a casual lunch with my mom at the company, ostensibly to celebrate the holiday with the employees. Then we'll have New Year's Eve dinner with the whole family at a hotel in the evening. The restaurant's dishes are all the same formula, with no originality at all. They only have the same few dishes every year, and they're awful."
Lin Ting: "Isn't it just those same few dishes? Didn't you eat them last time you came?"
Chen Zhiyi: "That's different. I could eat your cooking every day and never get tired of it."
Lin Ting: "Glib-tongued."
Chen Zhiyi chuckled.
Lin Ting was very curious, "I saw that you went to the nursing home and welfare home this morning, you were quite busy."
Chen Zhiyi was even more frustrated when he mentioned this. "It's an annual project. They say they're going to some welfare institutions to offer condolences and take on the company's social responsibility. But isn't it just about showing up in front of the government and winning some goodwill? It's not just on New Year's Eve. They also go during other traditional festivals like Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. They just need to show their faces. Why do they always have to drag me along? It's a waste of my precious holiday time."
Lin Ting understood the intention. As the future heir of the company, it was necessary for him to make his public appearances as early as possible. Firstly, it was to promote the company's future image, and secondly, it was to make connections with relevant important people to pave the way for the future.
She suddenly became a little worried: was Chen Lan's agreement to let Chen Zhiyi participate in the art exam a delaying tactic or her true wish?
Hopefully it's the latter. If they change their minds at the last minute, this already fragile mother-son relationship will likely shatter completely, beyond repair.
"No matter what, it's a good deed," Lin said upon hearing this.
"Yes, yes, those elderly people and children are quite pitiful. Let's not talk about that anymore. What are we planning to do this afternoon?"
Lin Ting: "I went to pay my respects at my maternal grandparents' graves, and that was it. In the evening, I had New Year's Eve dinner with my mother and watched the Spring Festival Gala."
Chen Zhiyi asked curiously, "Aren't you making dumplings?"
Lin Ting: "We don't eat dumplings on New Year's Eve here. We just eat normal meals. I just heat up the food from lunch and add a small hot pot. It's just my mom and me. We've always lived a simple life."
Chen Zhiyi: "That's true. I don't like eating with them at all. My ideal Lunar New Year's Eve is when we're making dumplings while the kids play and laugh around with snacks. We keep glancing at them occasionally, reminding them to be careful. Once the dumplings are done, we cook them, and then the whole family eats them while watching the Spring Festival Gala. If we get into the mood, we take the kids out to set off fireworks. That's what a real New Year's Eve is all about—a true reunion, a truly meaningful experience."
As Lin listened to his vivid description, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up. "What do you mean, 'you guys' and 'we'? You're still kids yourself, yet you're fantasizing about having kids?"
Chen Zhiyi corrected: "This is not a fantasy, this is my life goal. Also, stop treating me like a boy, treat me like a man, a man who can protect you from the wind and rain in the future."
Lin Ting: "Okay, man, have you finished your winter break homework?"
Chen Zhiyi clicked his tongue twice, "You really know how to rub salt in the wound, and besides, it's New Year's Eve, can't you just leave me alone?"
Lin Ting could imagine Chen Zhiyi's aggrieved and helpless expression at this moment, and couldn't help but grin.
Just then, Chen Zhiyi called him to dinner.
"I'll hang up now, we'll talk again tonight."
"Okay!"
Although they didn't know if the future would really be as they imagined, Lin Ting felt as if he would be there for every New Year's Eve from now on.
Not long after finishing their New Year's Eve dinner, Lin Qin went to rest, while Lin Ting remained in her bedroom, nestled on a beanbag chair watching the Spring Festival Gala on her computer. She had always kept up the tradition of staying up all night on New Year's Eve.
When I was very young, I loved staying up late with my dad to welcome the New Year, listening to the countdown to midnight on the Spring Festival Gala, and looking forward to the moment when the dazzling fireworks would turn the night into day.
Even after her father passed away, she continued this habit.
Watching the lively and interesting Spring Festival Gala, the occasional sound of firecrackers exploding in my ears, and the smell of gunpowder and the aroma of incense filling the air are all unique to New Year's Eve.
In the midst of countless lights and joyous celebrations, the loneliness and solitude of a small person are completely concealed and hidden, as everyone is immersed in this lively and festive atmosphere.
The Spring Festival Gala has entered the midnight countdown segment.
My phone rang; it was a video call invitation.
Lin Ting answered the call but couldn't see any faces. The video was pointed at the night sky, and a countdown synchronized with the Spring Festival Gala was playing!
five
Four
three
two
one
In the video, a loud explosion occurs, and the four characters "Happy New Year" appear in the night sky as fireworks burst open.
So amazing! So dazzling!
Lin Ting was still in shock; this was the first time she had ever seen fireworks that could display words.
Suddenly the video switched to a familiar face, a beaming face.
"Lin Ting, Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year!"
Is it pretty?
Lin Ting stared intently at the fireworks in the video. "Beautiful! This is the first time I've ever seen such unique fireworks."
"Me too. This was a gift from one of my mom's friends who designs fireworks. There are also many unique ones that I've never seen before. I never imagined that fireworks could be designed into numbers, letters, patterns, and so on. It's amazing. Now I'll show you them one by one."
"good!"
Fireworks displaying New Year elements such as the year, zodiac animal, and Chinese knots bloomed one after another in the sky.
The last C, a heart, LT rises into the sky.
In the video, Chen Zhiyi shouts from behind, "Did you see that?"
Lin Tingming feigned ignorance, "What? I didn't see it."
"It's okay if you didn't see it. I'm willing to confess to the sky just like before. I love you, Lin Ting. I love you so much. I want us to be together forever."
Another cluster of fireworks soared into the sky, reflecting on Chen Zhiyi's face and blooming in Lin Ting's heart, so brilliant and vibrant.
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