Lin Zhenzhen couldn't help but frown.
"You're already in your second year of high school, why join a literature club? I know you have good grades, but you still can't slack off. You need to focus on your studies, understand?"
Gong Yao moved closer, his warm breath faintly brushing against her head.
"I never intended to join a club."
Gong Yao chuckled softly, his eyes crinkling into a crescent shape: "So obedient, then what are you unhappy about?"
Lin Zhenzhen turned to the side and slowly took two steps back to create distance between them.
She looked into the other person's eyes and said, word by word.
Are you really going to drop out of school?
Gong Yao moved his lips and let out a breathy sound that sounded like a dry laugh.
"Yes, didn't I tell you? I can't continue my studies."
His eyes were bright, and his features appeared even more refined and elegant in the sunset: "I want to go out and make money, lots and lots of money."
"You're a minor, you haven't even graduated high school. How are you going to make money?"
Gong Yao was clearly taken aback, turned his head away, and avoided eye contact: "This is not something a good student like you should be concerned about."
Lin Zhenzhen's heart sank: "Gong Yao, think of your grandmother. If something happens to you, who will take care of her?"
"What are you thinking about?" Gong Yao pulled down his shoulder bag, took long strides, and easily jumped over the railing of the flag-raising platform, sitting steadily on it.
His chin was slightly raised, his eyelids were lowered, and his dark eyes were fixed on Lin Zhenzhen, his expression unusually serious.
"In your heart, I am the kind of villain who has no bottom line, no principles, no regard for the law, and can kill and set fires at will, right?"
Lin Zhenzhen looked up and stared at him for several seconds.
After a moment, she looked away: "No."
Gong Yao suddenly laughed, but while he was laughing, the tip of his tongue pressed fiercely against his cheek, making his cheek bulge slightly.
"Do you know that you're really bad at lying?"
Lin Zhenzhen paused for a moment: "You know I can't lie?"
"You're like a blank sheet of paper; your thoughts are written all over your face, making you very easy to guess."
Lin Zhenzhen nodded her chin, perhaps due to her unique temperament.
Even when she has a blank expression, she doesn't come across as fierce; instead, she exudes a kind of cute seriousness.
Gong Yao stared at her profile, a hint of lingering affection in his eyes.
Lin Zhenzhen raised her head again, her gaze meeting his directly.
Her brows were furrowed and her lips were slightly pouting, making her look like an angry anime character.
"If you really know me that well, do you know how worried I am about you?"
......
Gong Yao was clearly stunned.
His eyes widened slightly, and as he swallowed unconsciously, his Adam's apple slid slowly along with his throat, like a slow-motion scene in a silent film.
But this formed an extremely stark contrast to the uncontrolled pounding of his heart in his chest at that moment.
After a moment of stunned silence, Gong Yao suddenly realized how ridiculous he looked and quickly laughed to cover up his earlier panic.
“What’s there to worry about? I have food and drink and I can earn money. Anyway, I won’t learn anything staying in school, so I might as well find something to do.”
"You're not going to study anymore, and you're not playing basketball anymore? So when you said you wanted to join the provincial team, it was just a joke?"
These words came out of Lin Zhenzhen's mouth almost naturally.
She sensed something was amiss, but had no time to investigate further.
We'll see.
Gong Yao glanced down at his wrist, where he wore a black wristwatch that looked quite old.
"It's getting late, you should go back."
Gong Yao jumped off the fence, picked up the handbag on the ground, and said without further ado, "I'll take you to the bus stop."
Aren't you going home?
Gong Yao and Li Weiran are neighbors, and they both take the same bus home, so naturally they go the same way as Lin Zhenzhen.
Gong Yao turned his head and stared at Lin Zhenzhen. After a while, he chuckled and replied patiently, "No, I have something to do in the city center."
Lin Zhenzhen followed behind him, asking, "Going to make money?"
"That's right."
Lin Zhenzhen ultimately couldn't control her emotions, and her words became increasingly aggressive.
"You keep saying you won't do anything illegal or disorderly, so let me ask you, how exactly do you make your money?"
The atmosphere became somewhat obscure and difficult to understand.
Gong Yao, who was ahead, stopped in his tracks.
Just as Lin Zhenzhen was regretting that she had spoken too directly, he turned around and looked at her calmly.
"Playing with a bunch of rich young masters, billiards, basketball, fighting, whatever it is, as long as they're happy, we get paid."
Gong Yao did not gloss over the matter, but rather spoke about it in a lighthearted tone.
Lin Zhenzhen's pupils dilated slightly, and a dense, throbbing pain rose in her heart.
She still clearly remembers what Gong Yao looked like a year ago.
At that time, he was like a wild grass growing wildly in spring.
Fearless, energetic, and reckless.
He still stands tall with his back ramrod straight and a radiant smile.
But the smile didn't reach her eyes; her gaze held a desolation and struggle that she couldn't fathom.
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