Chapter 11 Death Anniversary
A week later was Ning Zhen's death anniversary.
The cemetery was very deserted on Monday. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and a few drops of dew hung on the unknown little flowers on the ground.
Wen Eryu's trouser legs were wet as she walked along. She was holding Ning Zhen's favorite lilies in her hand.
Wen Eryu took a day off today and came here early in the morning to accompany her.
"Mom, I'm here to see you." Wen Eryu gently placed the scented lily in front of Ning Zhen's grave, then took out a tissue from her pocket and carefully wiped away the water droplets on the tombstone.
Ning Zhen's surroundings were covered with weeds, but Wen Eryu did not remove them because she knew her mother loved lively places. With the company of flowers, birds, and plants, the cemetery seemed less deserted.
The morning light broke through the thick clouds, golden light spread in the mist, and the cemetery looked like a fairyland.
Wen Eryu sat on the ground with her legs crossed, leaning quietly on Ning Zhen's tombstone. At this moment, she wished she could go back not to her second year of high school, but to the time when her mother had not left her, even though she had no memory or consciousness at that time.
I don’t know how long it took, but Wen Eryu woke up in the scorching sun. She opened her eyes and rubbed the corners of her eyes, only to find that it was already noon.
It suddenly started to rain heavily on the way back, and Wen Eryu ran home as soon as he got off the car.
As soon as she entered the room, she saw Xu Wenrou and several of her sisters sitting together playing mahjong, and the whole living room was filled with their laughter.
Wen Eryu was about to go upstairs to change clothes, but found that the ink painting originally hanging on the wall of the second-floor corridor had been replaced with a photo of Xu Wenrou, her mother and Wen Liang.
The smiles on the three people's faces made Wen Eryu feel nauseous, but more angry. The ink painting was a relic left by Ning Zhen during her lifetime. It had been hung here by Wen Liang and no one dared to touch it.
But now Wen Liang has gone abroad to discuss business, and Wen Eryu can't think of anyone other than Xu Wenrou who could touch the painting.
She didn't care about her wet clothes and ran downstairs and shouted to Xu Wenrou, "Where's the painting?"
Xu Wenrou covered her ears at the noise and frowned in dissatisfaction: "What kind of painting is that? I don't know. Do you want eight?"
Yang Shu helped Xu Wenrou speak: "Eryu, how do you talk to our elders? Wenrou is half your mother after all. You should know some manners now that you are old enough."
These people were called by Xu Wenrou when Wen Liang was away on business. Wen Liang usually didn't allow her to play mahjong at home, but Xu Wenrou was a big addict and always secretly called a few sisters to play behind Wen Liang's back.
Wen Eryu clenched her hands tightly and gritted her teeth: "I asked you where the painting in the corridor on the second floor went?"
Xu Wenrou stopped what she was doing, her eyes darting around as she pretended to think for a moment. "So you're talking about that painting? I asked you to throw it away this morning. I don't know why your dad kept it. It's so ugly, but he still hangs it there like a treasure."
Upon hearing this, Wen Eryu could no longer control her anger. She walked up to Xu Wenrou and pushed the mahjong tiles to the ground.
Xu Wenrou had never seen Wen Eryu like this before, and she was so scared that she couldn't speak for a long time.
The same was true for the other three people. They hugged each other and didn't dare to fart.
"What are you, you, doing?" Xu Wenrou stood up and asked in confusion, looking at the mahjong tiles on the floor.
Wen Eryu held back her tears, her voice trembling slightly: "That was painted by my mother, give it back to me."
Only then did Xu Wenrou realize that what she had thrown away were Ning Zhen's things.
But at this moment, she not only did not feel any apology or guilt, but she was even somewhat glad that she had thrown away the painting, so that Wen Liang would not have to look at the painting and think about that woman every day.
"I threw it in the trash can, you can find it yourself." Xu Wenrou said impatiently as she looked at the manicure on her hands.
But Wen Eryu held her wrist tightly and said word by word: "Go and get it back for me."
Xu Wenrou screamed at the top of her lungs, "Why? You damn girl, let me go now, or I'll call for help."
After saying that, she gave Yang Shu a look.
Yang Shu immediately understood and walked over to Wen Eryu and twisted her arm: "Let go quickly, or I'll strangle you to death."
The other two people saw this and came over to help Xu Wenrou, grabbing Wen Eryu's hair.
Wen Eryu couldn't withstand the attacks of these four people, and finally let go of Xu Wenrou in pain.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced herself to hold them back. Her heart ached more than the physical pain. If Ning Zhen were still alive, she would definitely not let these people bully her.
The rain outside was heavier than before. A muffled thunder struck in the yard, startling everyone in the house.
The thunder made Xu Wenrou shiver, and she turned her head away guiltily, not looking at Wen Eryu.
The next second, Wen Eryu rushed out of the house, ran to the trash can in the backyard in the rain and started searching with his bare hands.
The rain was getting heavier, and the rain flowed down Wen Eryu's forehead, blurring her eyes. She wiped the water from her eyes while crying, repeating the movements in her hands.
Aunt Zhao couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so she came out with an umbrella and held it for Wen Eryu.
"Miss, it's raining so hard now, let's go inside first."
"Why can't I find it?" Wen Eryu ignored Aunt Zhao's words and kept muttering.
Aunt Zhao hugged her distressedly and said, "Good girl, let's go in first. Aunt Zhao will help you find it later, okay?"
Wen Eryu shook her head mechanically, her eyes dull, as if she were a walking corpse: "No need, Aunt Zhao, I'll find it."
There was a small path outside the backyard. A man with a black umbrella walked over there and then turned back after a moment.
Song Bowen had just finished his piano lesson in the morning and was about to go back when he heard crying coming from the Wen family.
At first he didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that the TV volume was too loud, but when he passed by, he saw the girl's thin figure rummaging through something in the rain.
"Eryu?" Song Bowen shouted across the fence.
However, the sound of rain drowned out the man's voice, and Wen Eryu did not hear it.
At this time, she finally found the painting at the bottom of the trash can.
The feeling of regaining what she had lost spread in Wen Eryu's heart. She hugged the painting tightly and knelt on the ground.
Seeing this, Song Bowen threw down his umbrella and ran in through the small door in the backyard. He took the umbrella from Aunt Zhao and hugged Wen Eryu in his arms.
The girl lay helplessly on his chest, crying softly: "...Finally found it."
Song Bowen didn't know what was going on. When he saw bruises on Wen Eryu's arms, his heart immediately tightened.
His throat was dry and he didn't know how to ask her, but she must have been bullied. Then he was silent for a few seconds and said, "I'll take you away from here."
Wen Eryu didn't say anything, but just closed her eyes and curled up in the man's arms.
Song Bowen's eyes darkened. He picked her up from the ground and held the umbrella on her side.
Just as he was about to take Wen Eryu away, he was stopped by Xu Wenrou.
"Who are you? Did I allow you to take her away?"
Song Bowen, who was always gentle, couldn't help but look cold. He guessed that Xu Wenrou had caused the injury on Wen Eryu's body. His attitude suddenly changed and he said fiercely: "No one can stop me from taking the person I want to take away."
No one had ever spoken to Xu Wenrou like this before. She knitted her brows together and gritted her teeth as she grabbed his clothes to prevent him from leaving.
Song Bowen exerted a little force and pushed the woman away.
Xu Wenrou lost her balance and bumped into the wine cabinet next to her. The pain made her scream, and Yang Shu hurried forward to support her.
The Wen family was in chaos. Wen Eryu said weakly, "I don't want to stay here anymore."
Song Bowen tightened his arms and held her a little higher: "Okay, I'll take you away."
After leaving the Wen family, Song Bowen took her back to his apartment.
Wen Eryu was lying on the sofa, his brows furrowed and his lips pale.
Song Bowen squatted down and gently touched her forehead with the back of his hand. It was very hot, probably because she had a fever.
Then he got up and took a newly bought towel to wipe Wen Eryu's wet hair, and gave her some fever-reducing medicine.
"I'll go buy you some clothes to change. You wait for me at home." Song Bowen moved very gently, for fear of hurting her.
Wen Eryu's brain was confused at this time, and she didn't hear what Song Bowen was saying at all. She wanted to sit up, but soon closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Song Bowen stopped what he was doing and looked carefully at the girl's sleeping face. He reached out to tuck her hair behind her ears, but he gave up the idea. His Adam's apple rolled up and down, and he got up and went out.
The apartment building is right downstairs from the downtown area, and the streets start to get crowded in the evening.
The rain had stopped at this time, and the sky seemed to have been washed, clean and clear, and the setting sun was reflected on the glass windows of the office building.
Song Bowen walked into a women's clothing store and carefully selected clothes.
Seeing this, the clerk came forward and asked, "Are you buying clothes for your girlfriend?"
Song Bowen was stunned for a moment. He wanted to refuse, but looking at the clerk's gaze, he was too embarrassed to say it out loud: "Yes."
The clerk smiled and said, "It's okay. We often have male customers come to our store to buy clothes for their girlfriends. Would you mind telling me the girl's height and weight?"
Song Bowen coughed lightly, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. "He's 1.63 meters tall and weighs about... 90 kilograms."
The clerk nodded and showed him some of the latest styles of tops.
A few minutes later, Song Bowen came out of the women's clothing store with two bags in his hands.
After returning to the apartment, he woke up Wen Eryu and handed her the clothes in the bag.
"Put it on before you go to sleep, otherwise your cold will get worse." Song Bowen said, "The bathroom is in the room on the far right."
Wen Eryu got up dazedly, picked up her clothes and went to the bathroom: "Okay."
In the evening, Song Bowen specially made chicken soup for Wen Eryu.
At the dinner table, he didn't ask Wen Eryu what happened, but just silently put food into her bowl.
He said, "You're still weak from the rain this morning. Eat more meat."
Wen Eryu stuffed a piece of green vegetable into her mouth. Suddenly, she looked up and said, "Brother Bo Wen, where is my painting?"
Song Bowen said, "It's right on the coffee table. Don't worry, it won't get lost."
Wen Eryu nodded, finally relieved: "I have to go to school tomorrow. Can I stay here with you for one night? I don't want to go home."
Song Bowen paused, then quickly agreed: "Okay, I'll go make your bed now."
He stood up and walked towards the guest room, and Wen Eryu called him from behind.
"Brother Bo Wen."
"What's wrong?"
"Thank you for today."
Song Bowen chuckled: "It's a small matter. If you encounter trouble in the future, come to me. I will always stand by you."
*
When returning to school the next day, Lin Cheng widened her eyes at the two big dark circles on Wen Eryu's face.
She knew that yesterday was the anniversary of Wen Eryu's mother's death, but she was still a little worried about Wen Eryu's mental state.
"Are you okay?" Lin Cheng handed her a bottle of strawberry milk.
Wen Eryu forced a smile: "It's okay, didn't you have a lot of homework yesterday?"
Lin Cheng took out a stack of test papers from the drawer and placed them in front of her: "Here, they are all yours."
Wen Eryu: "...I shouldn't have asked."
"By the way, your teacher asked you to go to his office to see him at noon today." Lin Cheng said.
"Why are you looking for him?" Wen Eryu thought carefully and realized that he had not made any mistakes recently.
Lin Cheng spread his hands: "I don't know either."
At noon, Wen Eryu still went to find Yao Weimin. As soon as she entered the office, she saw Shen Jize.
When Yao Weimin saw her coming, he waved at her and said, "You've come just in time. I have something to tell you."
Wen Eryu walked to Shen Jize's side and looked at him.
Shen Jize was standing by an empty desk counting the test papers. When Wen Eryu came in, he accidentally counted the wrong one.
Yao Weimin took a sip of the strong tea in his glass and asked, "Zhou Yi is your brother, right?"
Wen Eryu shook his head: "No."
"..." Yao Weimin was silent for a moment. "He has violated many school rules recently. As his sister, please try to persuade him to do less bad things."
Zhou Yi was a transfer student, and Wen Liang got him in through his connections in the Education Bureau.
Yao Weimin didn't dare to interfere with him for fear of offending his superiors, but he couldn't continue to tolerate Zhou Yi's lawlessness in the school, so he could only call Wen Eryu over and pin his hopes of persuading Zhou Yi on her.
"Sorry, teacher, I can't do it." Wen Eryu smiled silently, "If there is nothing else, I will go for lunch."
After saying that, Wen Eryu walked out of the office without looking back.
Just as he was about to go upstairs, he was stopped by Shen Jize who had followed him.
"Is there something?" Wen Eryu stood on the steps and looked down at him.
The afternoon sun outlines the girl's graceful features, her watery almond eyes, and her small nose tip are particularly delicate and cute.
Shen Jize didn't dare to look into her hazel eyes. After a moment, he pointed at Wen Eryu's sleeve.
Wen Eryu lowered his eyes, but there was no dirt on his sleeves.
"What's wrong?" Wen Eryu asked in confusion.
Shen Jize didn't say anything, but reached out and pulled up her sleeve.
All the wounds on Wen Eryu's arms were exposed before his eyes.
Shen Jize's back teeth were almost broken. He puffed his lips and asked coldly, "Who did this?"
Wen Eryu pulled down her sleeves with red eyes: "It's none of your business."
Shen Ji Ze said hoarsely: "It's her, right?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
