Brown sugar water
The wound on Lin Luo's hand gradually healed. She took the potatoes that Zhu Changyu gave her home. She hadn't paid attention to them during her review in the past few days, so when she was relaxing the night before the exam, she found that they had sprouted.
She walked into the living room. There was an empty flowerpot on the balcony with soil in it, but it had been unused for a long time. She buried the potatoes in the soil and watered it.
Tang Heng came out to drink some water, sleepy-eyed. Seeing her, he asked softly, "Lin Luo, why are you still not asleep so late?"
"Uncle, I buried a treasure." She thought naively, believing that as long as she planted the sprouted potatoes, they would definitely bear fruit.
Tang Heng washed the cup and put it back where it belonged. He said to her, "Now that you've buried it, go to bed! It's getting late."
Why didn't he ask her what she buried? How boring. Lin Qiao patted the dirt around her and whispered, "When the fruit grows, don't let Uncle Tang eat it."
The next day, school started with an exam, which happened to be Lin Luo's period. She didn't have dysmenorrhea, but she had an inexplicable headache from the beginning of the Chinese exam, and she was sweating profusely after the exam.
Before the math test, Tong Yun fed her a painkiller, and she barely managed to start the test. However, she felt a little sleepy in the middle, so she pinched herself hard to wake up and continue answering the questions.
After finishing all the exams, she has to attend classes for half a day. In her senior year, she only has half a day off on Sunday afternoons, and she also has to attend evening self-study classes. Lin Xi can't relax at all.
Du Yunyan poured her a cup of brown sugar water and walked out to close the door of her room. The soundproofing was poor, so Lin Luo could clearly hear her conversation with Aunt Li in the living room. "Do you want to prescribe her some Chinese medicine to replenish her qi and blood?"
"Chinese medicine is too bitter. I can't even stand it, let alone Xiaoxiao."
"Isn't this the third year of high school?" Du Yunyan paused for a moment. "Although Ruan Ye's grades don't need to be a big concern, you still have to pay more attention to him."
"I've been quite busy lately. Is there anything wrong with him?"
"I can smell cigarette smoke on Ruan Ye."
"Are you saying that my Ruan Ye smokes?"
"I'm not talking about him. It must be Fu Xingchuan who smokes. They're not having a good time, but Ruan Ye smells like cigarettes."
"No way, I've met Fu Xingchuan a few times. He's a very polite and well-behaved kid."
"Who knows if he's pretending, but you better be careful."
"OK."
They started chatting about other things, and Lin Qi tuned out the noise and focused on correcting her test paper. She probably already had an idea of her grades.
She picked up the cup of brown sugar water on the table and drank it all in one breath. It was obviously sweet, but it tasted bitter in her mouth after she finished it.
The smell lingered until she finished dinner and went to evening study.
"Xiaoxiao." As she walked out of the house, Aunt Li called her, "Have you ever seen Ruan Ye smoking?"
Lin Luo shook his head.
"Then can you help auntie keep an eye on him?" Aunt Li held her hand, and Lin Luo nodded.
Ruan Ye had stood behind her at some point, startling her. "Why are you walking so quietly?"
"There was a sound, but you felt guilty." Ruan Ye said as he looked at Lin Luo.
He must have heard it, so he wouldn't suspect that she was the one who complained, right? Lin Qiao said calmly, "Auntie, we're going to school."
"good."
She and Ruan Ye went downstairs and immediately clarified, "I didn't complain. My mom smelled cigarettes on you, and Aunt Li asked me to keep a closer eye on you... I think you'd better quit smoking!"
"I'm quitting."
Lin Qi was not interested in his reasons for quitting smoking and casually said, "Isn't it difficult?"
He didn't say anything, and Lin Luo didn't ask any more questions. She always felt that she couldn't get close to Ruan Ye.
The results of the opening exam were not released until two days later. Because this was a joint exam for nine schools, the new honor roll in the lobby of Shouxin Building also included the city ranking.
Fu Xingchuan was not only first in his grade, but also first in the city in the joint exam. Ruan Ye was second in his grade and seventh in the city.
It happened to be Teacher's Day, and the students sent a lot of flowers to the office. Among all the teachers in the senior year, Ding Wenxin and Director Wang received the most flowers, and Director Wang was very happy.
Although Nan'an No. 1 High School is a key high school, it is ultimately located in a small third-tier city with an underdeveloped economy. Only a handful of students can be admitted to Peking University every year. Now that one or two seem to have secured success, he is naturally happy.
But his smile disappeared soon because these two ignorant brats refused to join his sprint class.
"You think you can easily pass the college entrance exam just because you did well in the joint entrance exam, right? Do you know how many variables could happen in less than a year? There are countless examples of top students failing the college entrance exam. You... Oh..."
Director Wang was scolding the two of them at the front door of Class 20. Lin Qi, reciting a book, glanced up. Fu Xingchuan, hands in his pockets, raised his chin slightly, looking nonchalant. Ruan Ye, of course, maintained his icy expression.
She noticed that Cheng Kaizhong, who was sitting on the podium, smiled secretly, and then lowered his smile when she saw him.
She ranked 421st in the grade in this exam, thousands of points outside the city, and her math score was 89, just one point short of passing.
It seemed as if the entire summer vacation was just a dream. When she woke up, she was now facing the cruel real world.
After school in the afternoon, she went to a dessert shop with Xu Yangyang and Zhu Changyu. Tong Yun ranked 49th in her grade and was admitted to the sprint class. They agreed to celebrate for her.
"Zhu Changyu, hurry up. Why are you dawdling?" Xu Yangyang said as she picked up the mirror and looked at her face.
Zhu Changyu took out an exquisite gift box from the desk and said, "I'm getting a gift!"
"You even prepared a gift? Didn't Tong Yun say that we could just get together and have a simple celebration with a cake?" Xu Yangyang remembered something. "Are you going to confess?"
Her voice was a little loud. Zhu Changyu looked around and said, "No, I've made great progress this time. I have too much pocket money and don't know where to spend it. Tong Yun also helped me a lot during the summer vacation, so I bought something for her."
"What is it?" Lin Luo was curious.
Zhu Changyu opened the box. Lin Luo first saw a notebook, and then noticed that there was a scarf underneath.
Xu Yangyang looked out the window. Everyone coming and going was wearing short-sleeved summer school uniforms. "It's only autumn now, why are you giving someone a scarf?"
"I saw online that giving a girl a scarf means sending warmth."
"It's too early. Why don't you give her a thermos?"
"Yes."
"You should have asked me what girls like before buying it." Xu Yangyang said seriously. Zhu Changyu didn't respond and closed the box. "Stop being so conceited and leave! They must be getting impatient."
"Hey, I don't know who was taking so long here just now, and now you're blaming me."
Zhu Changyu walked in front with his hands covering his ears. Lin Luo was holding Xu Yangyang's arm so she didn't go over and yell in his ear.
When they arrived, everyone else had also arrived. Zhu Sui'an hadn't come to school these past few days. Seeing her smiling face, Lin Luo guessed that she must have gone out to play again!
Qi Yao and Fu Xingchuan were making cakes in the kitchen. Xu Yangyang went in to help. Zhu Changyu gave the gift to Tong Yun, and Ruan Ye stood by as a pillar.
Lin Luo looked at Fu Xingchuan through the glass. He was wearing an apron over his school uniform and patiently decorating the cake with a cream bag in his hand.
Zhu Sui'an bumped her shoulder, winked, and asked in her ear, "How is it? Have you tried it?"
"Well, he doesn't like me. Don't say that anymore. It's not good for our friendship." Lin Luo said lightly with empty eyes as she watched Fu Xingchuan write the words on the cake stroke by stroke.
"How could I guess wrong?" Zhu Sui'an muttered softly. Fu Xingchuan raised his eyes and she quickly shut her mouth.
Fu Xingchuan's voice drifted over through the glass, "You just watch and don't come to help"
Zhu Sui'an glared at him and said, "I'm tired and don't want to do it anymore."
After saying that, she turned and left. Lin Luo came back to her senses and saw Fu Xingchuan staring at her. She walked in blankly and watched Qi Yao and Xu Yangyang cutting fruit by the sink. Fu Xingchuan's cake was almost finished, so she asked, "What can I help you with?"
"Give me some suggestions!" Fu Xingchuan moved the cake in front of Lin Luo. She took a closer look. On the cake, written in red buttercream, were words: "Congratulations to Tong Yun for getting into the sprint class." There was also a piece of white chocolate with the words "Bright Future" written on it.
It's perfect, just need to add some fruit decoration later, what else is there to worry about? She thought seriously.
Finally, she used black cream to re-draw the two words "Tong Yun". It was a bit abrupt. Fu Xingchuan probably didn't think that she had ruined his work. He asked her nonchalantly, "Why do you do this?"
"It doesn't mean anything else, I just want to do something."
She lied. In fact, one time when Lin Luo was helping Du Yunyan settle an account, she wrote someone else's name with a red pen. Du Yunyan reminded her, and she said that red pens cannot be used to write people's names because it is unlucky. Generally, only the names of deceased people are written with red pens.
Lin Luo didn't care about these things and thought Du Yunyan was superstitious, but she couldn't find any other way to help, so she had to start from here.
Next came the fruit. Lin Luo turned her head towards Xu Yangyang, only to see Xu Yangyang standing behind Qi Yao, looking at him with a rather unclear look. Lin Luo seemed to know something.
She turned around and looked at Fu Xingchuan with the same eyes. His attention was on the cake, and he corrected the two words "Tong Yun" she had framed.
It’s so bitter!
Her menstrual period had not yet ended, and every morning after breakfast, Du Yunyan would watch her drink the brown sugar water before letting her go to school.
For some reason, a bitter taste suddenly appeared in my mouth.
She never wants to drink brown sugar water again!
They ate the cake together. Tong Yun was very happy, and Lin Luo also laughed from the bottom of her heart.
The lively and joyful atmosphere was broken by a phone call. It was Ruan Ye's phone that rang. It was Aunt Li calling. Ruan Ye picked up the phone and handed it to Lin Luo, "Luo Luo, don't panic."
"What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.
"Your Uncle Tang was in a car accident and is in the hospital. He needs surgery now. I brought Mu Chen back home and he's at my house now. You should go to the hospital and accompany your mother."
"Okay." Lin Xixin was unusually calm, but she didn't notice that her whole hand was shaking when she handed the phone back to Ruan Ye.
"What's wrong?" Tong Yun asked.
"My uncle was in a car accident and needs surgery. I have to go there. Yangyang, please ask for leave for me and my second brother." She said calmly.
Tong Yun stood up immediately and said, "I'll go with you."
Thinking of what she had said about Director Wang being strict and difficult to approve leave, she was worried that she would leave a bad impression on the new head teacher. She shook her head and said, "No, Aunt Li said it's not a major operation."
After she finished speaking, she walked out without noticing that her hands and feet were tangled.
She walked quickly out of the snack street and hailed a car on the main road. The road was completely blocked during the rush hour. Cars kept honking their horns, again and again, like sound waves breaking into her body, impacting her heart and bringing out her tears.
A few days ago, she told Tang Heng that he would have to attend an extra evening study session in his senior year and that school would end at 10:10, which was too late, so she told him to go home without waiting. But he still waited for her at the same place every day.
Everything was fine yesterday, so why did it crash today? She started to panic. She couldn't stop a car, and the traffic was so bad that even if she got in, she wouldn't be able to move very far.
Tears kept flowing. She remembered that there were many bicycles parked at the school gate. She was about to run back to borrow one when Fu Xingchuan appeared in front of her and said, "Get on."
He was riding a white bicycle with a back seat, which looked like a girl's style. She choked up and asked, "Where did you get the bicycle?"
"I borrowed it." Fu Xingchuan threw her a pack of tissues. "Wipe your face clean. It's windy, and I don't want your snot to get on my clothes."
Lin Qi clutched the tissue tightly and quickly sat in the back seat, wiping her tears as she said, "Thank you."
The wind was indeed strong. Lin Luo didn't know whether he heard this sentence or not, but he seemed to have said something, but Lin Luo didn't hear it clearly.
Feeling that Fu Xingchuan's pedaling speed had slowed down, Lin Qi asked, "What did you say?"
"I told you to hold on tight, I'm going to speed up." Fu Xingchuan said as he took her hand and brought it to his side. He didn't let go until Lin Luo grabbed the corner of his clothes.
The speed picked up again, a drop of water fell on Lin Luo's hand and was quickly blown dry by the wind.
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