Chapter 23 Chapter 23
There was still some time before lunch, so the two of them walked along the short lawn path towards the park entrance. Most of the people coming and going were families on a trip. Children were learning to walk on the lawn, holding dark pink balloons, and golden retrievers were wagging their tails and chasing the frisbees thrown by people.
The two walked and chatted all the way, from Teacher He to English, and from American TV series to music. Ren Li was surprised to find that apart from the dazzling halo of a top student, Wen Shuo also had the side of a normal high school boy.
Wen Shuo seemed a little different today than usual, but Ren Li couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly was different.
Later, when she reached the park entrance, she finally figured it out: it was the atmosphere.
Wen Shuo went to the park's ticket office and bought two tickets. Ren Li approached and asked, "How much are these? I'll transfer them to you."
He handed one of the tickets to Ren Li: "Two, just treat me to something to eat later."
Ren Li: "Only two dollars?"
Wen Shuo: "Yes, student tickets are half price."
Ren Li saw the ticket in her hand. There were pink cherry blossoms printed on the long paper, and the words "Student Ticket" were very conspicuous in the upper right corner.
In the past, she always wanted to grow up quickly, to see the vast world and experience every possibility. But at this moment, she suddenly didn't seem to want to grow up so much anymore.
Because growing up means you can no longer enjoy those privileges at half price.
"Let's go." Wen Shuo reminded her when he saw that she was distracted again.
Ren Li nodded, quickly followed his footsteps, scanned the code and swiped the gate to enter the park.
The park was larger than I'd imagined, with a central lake dotted with pleasure boats. It was autumn, and everything was bathed in its autumnal colors. The leaves of the cotinus and maple trees had turned red, and the sunlight filtered through the branches, casting shadows across the walkway. The park was peaceful, and time seemed to slow down.
Ren Li remained curious about the world. As she walked, she took out her mobile phone from time to time to take various photos. Sometimes she stopped, picked up some fallen leaves from the ground and put them in her bag, intending to take them home to use as bookmarks.
Wen Shuo hadn't originally been particularly interested in parks or other attractions; he'd chosen this place solely because of Jiang Lan's suggestion the previous night. He hadn't been sure if Ren Li would enjoy it, but seeing her so enthusiastic along the way, he couldn't help but think that girls' preferences were truly peculiar and difficult to fathom.
Not far along the lake, there was a boat dock. Ren Li's eyes turned into little stars, and her attention was completely attracted by the duck boats on the lake.
Wen Shuo easily saw through her thoughts.
"Want to go boating?" he asked.
Ren Li nodded decisively: "Yes."
The two of them lined up to buy boat tickets. There were several types of boats here: the battery boats were ordinary in shape, and the pedal boats were in the shape of ducks that Ren Li had seen before. Ren Li liked the shape of the boats more than anything else, so she chose the latter without hesitation.
Although Wen Shuo felt that the shape of the boat did not fit his usual personality, he could not resist Ren Li's liking for it, so when the other party looked at him expectantly, he had no choice but to surrender without any principles.
Pedal boats are powered by humans, essentially pedaling. The two of them boarded the boat, Wen Shuo sitting inside with his long legs spread out. The scene was... quite tireless.
Ren Li was still completely immersed in the excitement of rowing. The duck boat slowly left the shore, and ripples appeared on the water surface. Facing the cool breeze, the view gradually became wider.
The emerald green of the lake, the autumn-hued shores, and even the nearby TV tower were visible in the distance. After rowing for a while, Wen Shuo stopped the boat in the middle of the lake and let it drift slowly. Time began to slow down again, and Ren Li finally became aware of the subtle atmosphere.
In the small space, Wen Shuo sat very close to her. He rested his arm on the edge of the boat and turned to look at Ren Li.
There was a restless mood in the air. When they looked at each other, she saw Wen Shuo's Adam's apple roll slightly.
The boy's eyes were bold and fiery, undisguised. She saw Wen Shuo slowly approaching, and everything before her seemed to go into slow motion.
What does he want to do? Ren Li thought.
Her heart was pounding. At that moment, she knew for the first time what it felt like to feel a girl's heartbeat.
Later, she watched many romantic movies and met many types of boys, but she never felt the same as that day again.
"Are you slacking off again?" Wen Shuo stopped a few feet away and asked with a frown.
A gentle breeze blew across her face, and Ren Li finally came back to her senses from her groundless fantasies, and her hot cheeks cooled down slightly.
"No." She turned her face away, looking at the calm lake in the distance, silently angry with herself because of the association she had just made.
Wen Shuo saw her eyes drop again and tutted. He knew that girls' emotions were unpredictable. After thinking for a moment, he said, "How about I take a picture of you?"
After all, if you open your own circle of friends, you will see countless selfies of girls, so in the eyes of girls, you need to take pictures when you go out to play.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Ren Li turned her head back.
She hadn't originally wanted to take a photo, but the opportunity to take a photo with the duck boat was rare, so all those messy thoughts were instantly thrown out of her mind and she nodded: "Okay."
She turned on the camera mode and handed her phone over. Wen Shuo didn't take it and took out his own phone from his pocket: "Use mine."
When Ren Li saw the latest mobile phone in his hand, which had just been released less than a week ago, she couldn't help but wonder, is this a blatant show-off?
Meanwhile, Wen Shuo held up his phone, conscientiously taking photos for a long time. Ren Li wasn't very good at posing to begin with, and since it was a boy taking the photo, her movements became even stiffer.
She sat there for a long time with a smile on her face, watching Wen Shuo snap away at the camera, but he still hadn't said it was done, so she finally couldn't help but ask, "Are you done?"
Wen Shuo put his phone down and flipped back to his photo album. Ren Li leaned over and saw rows of nearly identical portrait thumbnails.
"Does it make any difference?" she asked.
"Of course there are differences." Wen Shuo raised his eyebrows and pointed at the photos, enlarging them one by one. "This one has the face tilted a little, this one has better lighting, and this one has a duck boat in the background..."
Ren Li: ...
Is this the superpower of a top student?
She randomly picked a few pictures, and Wen Shuo sent them to her phone. The midday sun was blazing, and Ren Li put away her phone, staring blankly at the tranquil lake in the distance.
After a while, she sighed, "It would be nice if I could stay here forever. But I'm a senior in high school, and I have to go back to do my homework, and then I have to go back to school on Monday."
Wen Shuo didn't know why her little head was thinking about this, so he answered casually: "So, is going to school difficult?"
Ren Li: ...
"Of course you can't understand the feelings of ordinary people like us."
Wen Shuo shrugged. "You haven't experienced your future life yet, so how can you know that going to school is a difficult thing? Maybe, when you look back on it in the future, you will feel that going to school is actually the simplest thing in life."
Ren Li almost got goosebumps: "Hey, you really sound like Teacher He right now."
Wen Shuo curled up the corners of his mouth unconsciously. He had indeed heard these words from Teacher He's daily nagging.
Ren Li turned her head back and continued to look at the shimmering lake, as if talking to herself: "But I'm not like you. From childhood to adulthood, I have never felt that learning is an easy thing. Learning English requires memorizing words, learning mathematics requires memorizing formulas, and in physics, I can never get the last big question right. In fact, every time I set foot on the campus, I look inexplicably nervous. Now that I am in my third year of high school, it seems like there is a string in my head that is always tense. I don't want to disappoint my teachers' expectations, and I also want to be someone my parents can be proud of. I have no other choice but to study hard every day, although I don't know whether God will bless me for this.
When I was in elementary school, I was chosen by my school to represent them in a table tennis competition. Honestly, I was quite conceited back then, naively believing that everything I wanted would come true. I vividly remember being completely crushed by a short-haired girl from the next school. The only two points I won the entire match were ones she deliberately gave me. I held onto a simple dream, fully expecting a miracle to happen, but in the end, it didn't. After it was over, everyone was cheering for her, but I still cried.
Maybe you find it hard to understand this feeling, but for me, many things in the world are fair. Any laziness I've ever taken will come back to haunt me at some point in the future. So from then on, I always prepared for the worst. I hope to be the one everyone envies, to stand on that glittering podium, but I also have to work harder than everyone else.
She said a lot in one breath, not expecting Wen Shuo to understand, but just because the scenery today was so beautiful, she wanted to say it.
"So what kind of future do you want?" Wen Shuo asked.
"future?"
The future was too far away, and she had never really imagined it. She always believed that if she took every step carefully and down to earth, the future would one day give her the answer.
"Maybe, I'll get into a better university." Ren Li thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't really know. What about you? What kind of person do you want to be in the future?"
Wen Shuo: "Anything is fine, as long as I'm someone needed by society."
I also hope to become someone very important to you.
Ren Li was still immersed in Wen Shuo's answer, and felt a sense of awe. "Well, as expected of you, you have lofty ideals. And I, actually, don't have any ideals either."
Wen Shuo couldn't help but rub her head with his hand: "Maybe, you will know it naturally in the future."
Ren Li was afraid that he would mess up her hair, so she quickly took the initiative to sit further away: "Hey, don't touch my hair."
Wen Shuo smiled, glanced at the time, and took the initiative to end the conversation: "Let's go, it's time for you to treat me to dinner."
The two of them returned the same way, returned the boat to the pier, and then walked out of the south gate of the park and continued to look around for a while. Although they had agreed to treat everyone today, Ren Li was completely at a loss at the moment.
In the past, when she went out to eat and shop with her female friends, they usually ate casually, at small shops on the street or food stalls in the mall, whatever was simple. But now, when she wanted to treat a boy to a meal, what to eat was beyond her knowledge.
She took out her phone and browsed the review app for half a day, but in the end she couldn't come to a conclusion. Wen Shuo saw her looking at her phone as she walked, and several times she almost bumped into the pillars because she didn't pay attention to the road. He couldn't help but remind her several times.
"Have you decided what to eat?" Wen Shuo asked as they passed an intersection and stood at the zebra crossing waiting for the red light.
Ren Li: "This is so difficult. How can there be such a difficult choice of what to eat? You didn't tell me what you want to eat. After all, I can't treat you to McDonald's."
Wen Shuo: "When did I ever say that you are not allowed to treat me to McDonald's? Really, anything is fine with me today, just choose what you like."
Ten minutes later, the two sat in a spicy hot pot restaurant along the street.
Wen Shuo: ...
This is what you like to eat.
In fact, when passing by this store, Ren Li happened to be hungry. It was because the aroma wafting out from the store door from time to time was too tempting. What's more, there was a small takeaway window outside the store, which sold some fried starch sausages and the like. Ren Li sniffed twice and immediately decided to go here.
Of course, she didn't have the nerve to go directly to buy fried starch sausage. The two of them stood in front of the rows of food shelves in the spicy hot pot restaurant. Ren Li took two tongs and handed one to Wen Shuo. Seeing Wen Shuo's puzzled look, she wondered if Wen Shuo had never eaten this kind of thing before.
But the academic master's ability to learn is more than just talk. Wen Shuo immediately understood the situation and didn't even make a mistake when he blindly selected the dishes.
This is an old-fashioned ma la tang restaurant in the city, a bit different from the more popular ones. It's a small, family-run establishment. In the center sits a large, rectangular hot pot. Upon entering, you're handed a metal plate covered in a disposable plastic bag. After grabbing a pair of tongs, you can choose your ingredients from the back. The vegetables are pre-cooked, skewered and neatly arranged. Once you've made your selection, you hand them to the owner. Once they're done, you can take them from the pot and place them on the plate. Then, drizzle some sesame paste and sprinkle some cilantro on them for a truly delicious dish.
Before chain ma la tang restaurants like Yang Guofu became popular, Ren Li's impression of ma la tang was like this. She remembered that as a child, she always liked to ask Ren Quan to take her to eat this kind of food. The storefront in her memory was also like this, small, with only a few tables of people sitting inside. In winter, it was freezing cold outside, but the house was steaming hot. She took her plate and ate happily. Every time, Ren Quan would smile and ask her to eat slowly, anyway, no one would compete with her, but Ren Li always argued: Eat quickly, otherwise her mother would be home soon, and she couldn't let her know...
As she thought about it, she slowly selected the dishes. From Wen Shuo's perspective, Ren Li was holding a plate in front of him, and because of something she was thinking about, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.
Is she so happy just eating spicy hot pot? Wen Shuo thought, anyway, as long as she is happy.
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