Side Story 2: Meng Xiaoyang
Side Story 2: Meng Xiaoyang
Shufen was busy all day today.
Buying groceries, cooking... even lunch was just a quick bowl of noodles, all in preparation for a delicious dinner to treat the two soon-to-be college students who had just finished their college entrance exams.
Her son, He Linjie, had been performing at an average level for the past three years at No. 1 High School, but his grades were relatively stable. He seemed to be doing well this time as well, and getting into a regular university shouldn't be a problem. She wasn't a strict or demanding parent; her only expectation for her child was that he would have a good life. As for Meng Xiaoyang, he had always been an outstanding student and was determined to get into the alma mater of his deceased parents. She wondered how well he was doing this time—she planned to ask him about it when she saw him later.
Meng Xiaoyang arrived in the afternoon.
It's actually the same neighborhood as my uncle's, except that He Linjie's family moved to a newer building that was added later, closer to the other side of the neighborhood gate.
On the way here, Meng Xiaoyang passed by a flower shop and bought a bouquet of tulips as a gift for Shufen.
This bright and vibrant gift undoubtedly delighted Shu Fen. She accepted the flowers and immediately called Meng Xiaoyang into the house. Then, she quickly found a vase that hadn't been used for a long time, washed it several times before filling it with water, carefully trimmed the flower stems, and placed them inside.
Meng Xiaoyang said, "Aunt Fen, have you been busy for a long time today?"
Shufen placed the vase in the center of the dining table, looking at it from left to right, liking it more and more each time. "I'm not in a hurry, I just cooked some of your favorite dishes. But Xiaoyang, those are all your favorite dishes. I didn't know your tastes had changed in the past few years?"
“Nothing has changed,” Meng Xiaoyang replied with a smile. “I like everything Aunt Fen cooks.”
Shu Fen was pleased and called out to the bedroom door, "He Linjie! What's wrong with you? Xiao Yang is here! Aren't you coming out?" Then she looked at Meng Xiao Yang and said with a smile, "I asked him to cut a basket of shrimp for me at noon. It took him an hour or so, and his neck is sore."
Meng Xiaoyang smiled and said, "That must be very kind of you. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No, no, dinner will be served soon—He Linjie! Did you hear me? Come out right now!"
After much urging and pleading, He Linjie finally came out.
He's been busy having fun these past two days since the college entrance exam, and he didn't get home until the early hours of last night. He got up early today to go to the market with his mom to buy groceries, so he looks like he has dark circles under his eyes and his hair is all messy.
Upon seeing this, Shu Fen immediately put on a stern face: "You've been fussing for so long, I thought you'd at least tidy yourself up a bit, but why are you so sloppy? Hurry up and go straighten your hair. Look at Xiao Yang, so neat and tidy, unlike you!"
After finishing the college entrance exam, students immediately feel the inequality of the world. He Linjie has been scolded by his mother a lot these past few days, but he's used to it. He casually scratches his head and says, "Isn't it pretty good?"
He saw Meng Xiaoyang sitting at the table, and nodded at him, "You're here."
"Mm." Meng Xiaoyang nodded.
Shu Fen glanced at the two children, felt the atmosphere was good, and smiled, saying, "Hey, you two chat, come over and bring me the dishes later."
Meng Xiaoyang stood up: "Let's go now..."
"Oh no," Shufen pushed He Linjie, "Hurry up and go entertain Xiaoyang."
"Hmm," He Linjie said, looking at Meng Xiaoyang, "Want some ice cream?"
"OK."
In addition to ice cream, He Linjie also brought out a plate of fresh, juicy grapes.
The two sat facing each other, and Shufen was busy in the kitchen and wouldn't let them interfere, so they could only eat their ice cream in silence.
He Linjie was the first to speak, asking, "You haven't left school yet, have you? When are you moving? I can come help you."
Meng Xiaoyang said, "No need, I'm not moving here either."
"Move to the countryside?"
"Um."
"Then we'll have to move it downstairs too, right?"
Meng Xiaoyang glanced at him and smiled faintly, "It's okay, my roommates haven't left yet, we'll help each other out. It's so hot, there's no need to make a trip."
He Linjie felt a little awkward from his laughter and coughed, "Okay, fine."
After a while, he asked again, "What about summer vacation? Are you spending it in the countryside too?"
Just then, Shufen came out. Upon hearing this, she frowned and said, "Are you spending your summer vacation in the countryside? There must be a lot of things to do at school. It's not convenient to keep going back and forth."
“I’m not going now,” Meng Xiaoyang explained. “I’ll come back after I move my things back.”
"Wow, quite a lot of stuff, huh? He Linjie, could you help me move it at school, okay?"
"Uh, no need, Aunt Fen, I have several roommates here, they can help," Meng Xiaoyang had to decline again. "Are you about to serve the dishes? I'll go help!"
He Linjie then stood up, ignoring his mother's glare, rubbed his shoulders and said, "Finally, we can eat. I'm starving."
When he was a child, Meng Xiaoyang often came here to eat and was very familiar with Shu Fen's cooking skills. To be honest, he missed it very much.
Shu Fen kept serving him food, smiling and asking him if it was good, while her own son seemed neglected in comparison. He Linjie glanced at her occasionally and found it a little funny.
Meng Xiaoyang had already piled up all the food in his bowl, and hurriedly said, "Aunt Fen, let me eat slowly, there's too much food piled up."
“You need to eat more. Look how thin you’ve become! You’re so young, yet you’re so skinny.” Shu Fen muttered as she put another shrimp into his bowl. “You’re eighteen now, an adult. You should be more dignified.”
He Linjie interjected, "Is it a child or an adult?"
"What's it to you?" Shu Fen retorted.
He Linjie was speechless: "You're the one who contradicted yourself. Besides, there are a lot of thin guys at this age. I'm not fat either."
“If Xiaoyang looked like you, would I have said so much?” Shufen said anxiously. “Everyone else is talking properly, but you keep interrupting.”
"Okay, okay," He Linjie said, raising his chopsticks in surrender. "I was wrong."
Meng Xiaoyang smiled.
This smile truly touched his heart, unlike the previous lukewarm politeness. When He Linjie saw it, he was a little surprised, but also a little relieved.
Shufen then asked many more questions, such as how the exam went, whether she was confident about getting into Z University, what her plans were after leaving school, and whether she wanted to travel during the summer vacation.
Meng Xiaoyang answered each question one by one. When asked about his plans for the summer vacation, he said, "After I finish my schoolwork, I will go back to my grandma's house for a while. It has already been arranged beforehand."
“That’s fine, that’s fine,” Shufen said, her expression calming down. “Go to the countryside and have a good rest and some fun.”
Then, after a moment's thought, she asked, "So, once you get your acceptance letter, is your uncle or your grandma planning to throw you a celebration?"
He Linjie was getting a little anxious. "Mom, you're thinking too far ahead. It's still more than a month away."
Meng Xiaoyang didn't react much, only saying, "We've already discussed it and decided not to hold it. We'll just have a family gathering then."
Shufen knew this was quite a dilemma. She thought about it silently for a moment and suggested, "Xiaoyang, how about we have a meal together after you get your acceptance letter? His father will be back by then, and we can celebrate for you both."
Meng Xiaoyang was taken aback.
He Linjie also turned his gaze to his face.
Meng Xiaoyang looked at the mother and son and put down his chopsticks. "Aunt Fen... there's no need to go to so much trouble. You've made so many dishes for me today, I'm really happy, but really, there's no need to go to so much trouble, I don't mind."
Shu Fen sighed, then smiled and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Oh, right, I have a lily soup. You two wait here, I'll go get it."
She got up and went to the kitchen, leaving He Linjie behind. Looking at Meng Xiaoyang, she said in a low voice, "If you don't have anything else to do, come and eat. I'm very happy that you can come."
Meng Xiaoyang gave a slight smile and said softly, "I understand."
The meal lasted a long time, mainly because Shufen had prepared so much that Meng Xiaoyang ended up eating a lot of fruit after the meal. They also talked a lot about their childhood, mentioning how pitiful Meng Xiaoyang was as a child and how he had grown up and was about to go to university. Shufen's eyes even reddened a little, and Meng Xiaoyang quickly comforted her, saying, "Aunt Fen, I'm doing pretty well now."
Shufen said, "It's nothing, it's probably just that I'm getting old, I'm always prone to... You two are both adults, why do you need me to worry about you like this?"
He Linjie quickly said, "How can you say you're old? Aren't you going to the community nursing home tomorrow to do an activity and be the host? Which of the other aunties is as young and beautiful as you?"
Shu Fen burst into laughter through her tears, "Stop being so talkative, you always talk too much."
“That’s true,” Meng Xiaoyang chimed in. “Aunt Fen hasn’t changed at all over the years; she’s still as beautiful as ever.”
Shu Fen couldn't take it anymore, shook her head and laughed, "Alright, alright, stop praising me, the more you talk, the more ridiculous it becomes."
She looked at Meng Xiaoyang again, sighed slightly, and said slowly, "Xiaoyang, actually, Aunt Fen knows that you two are still having a disagreement."
Meng Xiaoyang and He Linjie were both taken aback.
Shufen continued, "At first, I thought, you two have always been so close, you never argue, what could be so serious that you've become so estranged? But now I think about it, you're both adults, not like children who argue and make up quickly. Young people have their own ideas, and I won't interfere. But in the future, don't always be alone. Your uncle is busy, and the child is still young. Nowadays, schooling isn't as easy as it was when you were young; it's quite troublesome. Besides, your grandmother is getting old... If they can't take care of you, please don't mind. When you go to university and come back, come here, and I'll cook for you. Your father is always away, and after you all go to school, I won't have anything to do at home. If you can come back when you have time, please come and visit Aunt Fen, okay?"
Meng Xiaoyang was slightly taken aback, but a sour feeling welled up in her nose.
He tried to hide his unease and smiled at Shufen, "I know, Aunt Fen, I'll definitely come back to see you often."
It was almost 10 o'clock when we said goodbye. Shufen was so engrossed in chatting that she looked up and was startled to find it was so late. She quickly said that we should hurry back to school, otherwise the dormitory would be locked.
Meng Xiaoyang then earnestly thanked Aunt Fen several more times, which prompted Shu Fen to repeatedly say, "You little kid, you're always so polite."
He Linjie was ordered to send Meng Xiaoyang back to school, but Meng Xiaoyang declined, saying, "No need, I can go back by myself, it's not far."
“The buses have all stopped running at this hour,” Shufen disagreed. “Let him take you. Xiaojie, you two be careful, it’s too dark outside. Why don’t you take a taxi?”
"No need, let's take a walk, it'll help us digest."
And so, these two close friends from their childhood, after more than three years, finally walked to school side by side once again.
They were classmates in elementary school, and then again in junior high. They walked together almost every day. In Meng Xiaoyang's memory, it was a very common thing to wait for He Linjie downstairs every day and then go to school with him.
Everything came to an abrupt end in the third year of junior high school.
Along the way, He Linjie tried to say something several times, but failed each time.
He was a head taller than Meng Xiaoyang and had a handsome face, making him very popular with girls at school. However, he had never actually been in a relationship. In his relationship with Meng Xiaoyang, he was caught in a vicious cycle of disgust, jealousy, and contradiction, and his life was not as flamboyant and carefree as it seemed on the surface.
With just one more turn ahead, and they were almost at the street where the school was, He Linjie finally spoke, "I..."
Meng Xiaoyang looked at him: "Hmm?"
It was so dark that everything could be hidden. He Linjie took a deep breath silently and said, "I've always wanted to apologize to you properly."
“If,” Meng Xiaoyang looked at him, “you have already apologized for what happened before, and I have accepted it, there is no need to take it to heart anymore.”
"Back then..."
Thinking back to that chaotic and ridiculous confession, He Linjie felt like slapping himself. He said with great regret, "I was so stupid."
Meng Xiaoyang chuckled. "Don't say that. I can be even dumber than you sometimes."
He Linjie felt helpless. He gritted his teeth, listened to the two people's footsteps, and asked softly, "Even if I confess to you again now, you won't accept me, right?"
He was met with silence. After a long pause, Meng Xiaoyang said in a low voice, "Have you seriously told Aunt Fen about this? If she knew why we fell out, do you think she would still have asked me to come today..."
"She knows."
Meng Xiaoyang's heart skipped a beat.
"Wh-what?"
“I told her about this when I was in the first year of high school. It was about me and your roommate, Fang Yuenian, after we had a fight.”
Meng Xiaoyang was utterly stunned by what he saw. He stopped abruptly and stared at He Linjie. "You, are you serious?"
“My mom said I should learn to respect others, especially my friends. She was really angry when she found out what I did to you… she almost came to apologize to you herself.” He Linjie’s tone was full of self-deprecation. “I know many people think their parents are from the last century, stubborn and old-fashioned, but my mom’s thinking is much more progressive than mine. Later, when I shielded you from the cabinet and hurt my hand, she asked me when I got home, ‘If you can’t accept what happened to you, why did you do it?’ That’s when I…”
Meng Xiaoyang was still in shock and couldn't recover for a long time.
The school gate was just ahead, and it happened to be the end of evening self-study. The first and second year high school students filed out, creating a lively scene.
The two crossed the street, and He Linjie said in a low voice amidst the noise, "Xiao Yang, I... still really want to be with you."
Even after entering the dormitory, Meng Xiaoyang was still not fully awake.
Fang Yuenian went to take a shower, and he chatted with Cheng Bing for a few words. But before they could say more than a couple of sentences, Li Peixiang called.
Without paying attention, Meng Xiaoyang answered the call. As soon as it connected, the mysterious man shouted:
"Meng Xiaoyang! Listen carefully! I like you!"
He was so frightened he almost smashed his phone.
Cheng Bing, whether she heard him or not, had a somewhat amused expression. Meng Xiaoyang quickly left the dormitory and growled at the other end, "What are you yelling about? Are you crazy?"
He thought Li Peixiang was playing some kind of dare game, his mind was muddled, and he didn't take it seriously at all.
However, after shouting that, Li Peixiang felt much better. He lowered his voice and said, slightly out of breath, "I need you to know, to hear me clearly. Were you walking with He Linjie just now? Did he say anything nonsense to you? Never mind, none of that matters. Anyway, I, Li Peixiang, am officially confessing my feelings to you, Meng Xiaoyang. Can you consider me and be with me?"
Meng Xiaoyang: "..."
He mustered the courage to confront his orientation and love at the age of fifteen, only to be devastated shortly afterward.
He Linjie not only rejected him, but also pushed him far away with utter horror and disgust.
So, like crops battered by hail, he quickly became despondent and listless, and it took all his strength to pull himself together and get into high school.
In high school, if Meng Xiaoyang was a courageous and resilient companion to Fang Yuenian, then to Meng Xiaoyang, Fang Yuenian was a lively and enthusiastic friend who gave him his first taste of respect. As for Li Peixiang, his appearance was ill-timed, to the point that today, Meng Xiaoyang was so shocked by his words that he froze on the spot.
"You're...you're playing...a game?" he asked incredulously. "Don't be ridiculous..."
"I didn't play games! I didn't drink, and I didn't go crazy!" Li Peixiang said, each sentence punctuated by an exclamation mark. "I just like you! I've liked you since junior high! I thought you already knew! It's okay, it's okay if you didn't know before, I'm telling you now, Xiaoyang, will you accept me?"
From this point on, another story begins. (Author's note:)
End of Extra Chapter 2. This book...
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