Chapter 63 The Middle School Entrance Exam: It's fortunate to leave; I wish I never to return. ...
Ye Yuying finally ushered in the true peace she had longed for.
Without Ge Jie's coercion and without her father's shadow, she could devote herself wholeheartedly to the final sprint before the high school entrance examination.
Her grades improved steadily, rising one place from third in the grade, with an unstoppable momentum.
Her performance on the track, thanks to her unwavering focus, has consistently led her to break her own records.
Sun Ying often appeared in the same competition as her. After Ye Yuying exerted her full strength, she could only remain in second place. At first, she was unconvinced, but after accidentally hearing some stories about Ye Yuying, her impression of her changed.
Finally, I took the initiative to talk to her in the lounge: "I knew you could lose in small competitions of that level before. It turns out you were bullied at school. But I heard you solved the bullying problem in your area. I, Sun Ying, never admire anyone who beats me on the field, but you did a really good job in this matter!"
The admissions office of Rongcheng No. 1 High School extended an olive branch, recruiting her as a student with special athletic talent and offering her a lower admission score. However, she ultimately chose the path of taking the college entrance examination.
Everything seemed to be moving in the best possible direction.
Sometimes she even started to think that now that everything had settled down, perhaps Ji Zi should come back.
She doesn't need to keep taking leave out of fear of Ge Jie.
When the bullying and violence on campus are gone, and Ye Yuying becomes strong enough to protect those around her, then the girl who made mistakes because of cowardice should be able to return to school with peace of mind...
Although they certainly can't be best friends again like before.
However, the last time I heard from Ji Zi was when her mother came to the school to process her withdrawal from school.
After Ji Zi's mother left, Ye Yuying entered the office and, without any opening remarks, asked the teacher why Ji Zi had dropped out of school.
"The high school entrance exam is just around the corner. She has such good grades, why did she drop out of school?"
She didn't understand. She didn't understand at all.
She thought that once she dealt with the biggest "evil," everything would be back on track.
Seeing her devastated expression, the homeroom teacher could only shake his head helplessly: "Her mother... didn't say much. She only said that Ji Zi hasn't been feeling well lately and needs to go back to her hometown to rest, so she can't go to school anymore."
"What illness is it? Is it serious?"
The homeroom teacher said, "I heard it's not serious, but she needs to rest. The last time the police came to see Ge Jie, it was Ji Zi's parents who called them. They initially suspected that Ji Zi's health had been damaged by prolonged bullying, but in fact... that's not the case."
The homeroom teacher glanced at Ye Yuying's expression and comforted her, "Ji Zi is fine. She can just repeat a year after missing it. She can take the high school entrance exam next year, and by then she will be better."
"The high school entrance exam is next month, and you have a competition tomorrow, right? Based on your usual grades, if you play steadily, getting into Rongcheng No. 1 High School is a sure thing. Whether you get in through special talent or the regular entrance exam, getting into Rongcheng No. 1 High School means you've already stepped one foot into the door of a top university..."
"Keep up the good work..."
When Ye Yuying returned home that day, her thoughts were in turmoil. She thought about many details of her time with Ji Zi and even wondered how serious her illness really was.
Even though they could never go back to the way things were, she still hoped that Ji Zi could have a good time in high school and college...
*
When the bell rang to signal the end of the last exam of the high school entrance examination, echoing throughout the campus, the students, who had been holding back for so long, surged out of the various examination rooms like a flood bursting its banks.
The air was instantly filled with all sorts of sounds of relief and relief. There were cheers as people threw down their books, hugs filled with tears of joy, tense discussions in twos and threes about the answers, and boundless anticipation for the upcoming two-month summer vacation.
The entire campus was immersed in a grand celebration of youth.
Ye Yuying was caught in the noisy crowd, but felt as if she were in a quiet world of another dimension.
She didn't check the answers, nor did she hug anyone. She simply carried her empty backpack and, step by step, slowly walked out of the examination room and out of the school building.
As she stood at the edge of the playground, looking back at the building where she had spent three years and which held all her pain and glory, a tremendous, belated sense of relief finally enveloped her completely.
it's over.
Her long and chaotic junior high school years, filled with bullying, betrayal, pain, struggle, sweat, glory, and self-redemption, finally came to an end at this moment.
That summer, the sun shone brightly, even to Ye Yuying's eyes, it was somewhat dazzling.
She said goodbye to her teacher and then prepared to visit Ji Zi in the hospital.
However, she received news that Ji Zi had been transferred back to her hometown.
Ye Yuying felt a little regretful, but then her phone vibrated in her pocket; it was Cheng Mingdu.
She answered the phone, her heart pounding with excitement: "Brother, I've finished my high school entrance exam! I think it went pretty well!"
Cheng Mingdu's voice sounded particularly deep on the phone, as if he were driving: "Where are you? I'll come pick you up."
Ye Yuying's heart skipped a beat. She noticed that Cheng Mingdu seemed unusually serious at that moment, and asked hesitantly, "What's wrong?"
"I'll take you back to my hometown..."
Cheng Mingdu's voice, coming through the receiver, carried a heavy, suppressed tone that felt unfamiliar to Ye Yuying.
A sense of foreboding began to creep into her heart. "Why the rush? Is something wrong?"
There was a brief, suffocating silence on the other end of the phone.
The car slowly drove away from the hospital and merged into the traffic.
The carriage was eerily quiet.
For several hours on the way, Ye Yuying and Cheng Mingdu remained silent, unable to bring herself to ask why they were going home.
She had countless questions she wanted to ask, but couldn't bring herself to ask a single one.
The ominous heaviness emanating from his voice was like a boulder, pressing down on her heart, making her afraid to touch it, lest a gentle push trigger an earthquake.
The scenery outside the window gradually changed from a bustling city to a familiar, desolate countryside.
Cheng Mingdu slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a steady stop on the side of the road. Night had already fallen.
He didn't turn off the engine or say anything; he simply turned his head and looked at her quietly with his unfathomable eyes, which seemed especially deep in the darkness.
“Yu Ying,” he said, his voice hoarse, “we’ve arrived. Let’s get out of the car.”
The evening breeze, carrying the unique chill of the countryside, a blend of earthy and grassy scents, blew against her face. She could walk the path leading to her grandmother's courtyard with her eyes closed. But tonight, her legs felt as heavy as lead, each step incredibly difficult.
The closer you get, the stronger the ominous atmosphere becomes.
She smelled it.
That wasn't the familiar aroma of food from my grandmother's courtyard.
Rather, it was a kind of...sad smell that she had only smelled when she was very young, at the funerals of elderly people in the village, the smell of burning incense and paper money.
She thought that when she saw her grandmother later, she would ask if the elderly neighbor had passed away.
Her steps could no longer move forward.
Cheng Mingdu didn't speak, but simply took her cold little hand and held it in his palm.
He led her around that familiar corner that blocked their view.
My grandmother's small courtyard has been turned into a mourning hall.
Gone are the warm lights of yesteryear, gone are the cured meats and salted fish drying in the yard.
Instead, the courtyard was filled with white banners that fluttered sadly in the night wind.
In the very center of the courtyard, a simple shed had been erected. Under the shed, on a black square table, lay a familiar black and white portrait of a kind person.
In front of the portrait, two white candles burned with a faint light, the candlelight flickering and illuminating the loving face of her grandmother in the photo, still smiling gently at her.
Ye Yuying felt her mind go completely blank in an instant.
Her exhausted soul, having just caught a moment's respite from the battlefield of the high school entrance exam; her heart, having just escaped all nightmares, rekindled its hope for the future...
At this moment, I was utterly shattered by the cruelest and most undeniable reality before me.
The light in her world has been extinguished.
"grandmother……"
A broken, inhuman sob, filled with disbelief, escaped from her pale, trembling lips.
Immediately afterwards, her legs went weak, and her whole body, like a string that had been pulled out of its support, was about to fall straight down to the cold ground.
However, she did not collapse.
A pair of strong, powerful arms caught her from behind, gently catching her swaying, frail body.
He pulled her tightly and firmly into his arms, his broad and strong chest catching all her long-suppressed, almost tearing sobs.
Her voice, muffled by the dusty lapel of Cheng Mingdu's trench coat, became fragmented, filled with a childlike, helpless grievance and confusion, as well as the deepest regret.
She's about to... about to go to her dream high school, and she hasn't even had a chance to share her achievements with her grandmother yet...
Cheng Mingdu did not speak, nor did he offer any pale words of comfort such as "don't cry" or "accept your grief."
He simply let her cry, letting her vent all her pain, regret, and despair.
He tightened his arms around her, using his body heat and strength to create a small but sufficient shelter for her from the overwhelming sorrow before them.
The small, frail body in her arms trembled like a leaf in the wind.
That night, Ye Yuying cried until her eyes were red and swollen. She changed into black clothes and kept vigil for her grandmother's coffin.
When asked about the cause of her grandmother's death.
Cheng Mingdu pondered for a moment and said, "He passed away suddenly, from a sudden myocardial infarction."
"The doctor said she passed away peacefully in her sleep, without suffering much."
These words, like a faint yet warm ray of light, shone into Ye Yuying's dark world, shrouded in immense grief.
She stopped crying and shouting, and stopped questioning.
The image that terrified her most—that her grandmother might be struggling in pain—was gently erased by Cheng Mingdu's words.
Although the pain of parting still gnawed at her heart like a knife, at least she knew that the old man she loved most, the kindest man, had peacefully and painlessly gone to another world in his sleep.
This is probably the only, and last, glimmer of mercy in this enormous, unbearable tragedy.
He looked at her, knelt on the prayer mat, and with trembling hands lit three sticks of incense for the kind old woman.
The bluish-white smoke rose in wisps, blurring her profile.
She remained kneeling motionless on the dry prayer mat for a long time, as if she could hear a sound that only she could hear.
"I wish to leave, and never return."
Frida Kahlo wrote this before her death: "Grandma, perhaps she faced death with the same composure."
-----------------------
Author's Note: This chapter was originally supposed to return to the modern era, but I need to go get a job first.
50~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
