41. I was already dragged into this by you
After the bell rang to end the last evening study session, most of the people in the classroom did not move, as if they had collectively gone deaf.
To accommodate the high school seniors taking the next year's college entrance exam, the school extended the lights-out time. However, the first and second year students followed suit, so the extended lights-out policy became a schoolwide practice.
Xu Wenqiang stopped writing, started packing up and prepared to leave.
"Xu Wenqiang, are you leaving now?" Lin Tong raised his head and said dissatisfiedly.
"Well, I'm sleepy." Xu Wenqiang said with a yawn.
"Why are you so sleepy all day long? Look, no one's moving in the classroom except you. As soon as the bell rings, you rush out."
"I'll go home and study for a while longer." Xu Wenqiang said with a smile.
"You keep saying this every day. Can you still learn it when you get home?"
"I can learn it, I can learn it."
…
After being scolded by Lin Tong for a few more times, Xu Wenqiang put on her schoolbag and hurriedly walked out of the classroom of Class 4, Grade 1.
After walking out of the school gate, she looked around. Besides a few small vendors selling grilled sausages and pancakes, there were also a few students with backpacks wandering on the roadside.
It doesn't look like anything special.
A gust of wind blew, and the smell of chili and cumin from the grilled sausage rushed into Xu Wenqiang's nose. Her nose felt itchy and she sneezed violently.
Someone chuckled.
Xu Wenqiang turned around and saw a boy and a girl standing under the sycamore tree. The boy looked embarrassed and kept scratching the back of his head. The girl tilted her head back, looking at him with a frown.
Xu Wenqiang coughed twice and lowered her voice, "Which class are you from?"
The girl was startled and hid behind the boy in panic. The boy glared at Xu Wenqiang angrily, "Which class are you from?"
Xu Wenqiang whistled at them teasingly, then got on her bike and rode away with a playful grin on her face.
After riding a few dozen meters from the school and passing an intersection, I turned onto Liqun Road in Qingshi City.
In the past, Liqun Road was considered Qingshi City's main thoroughfare, lined with shops and serving as its primary commercial street. However, in recent years, the city has seen the construction of numerous large and medium-sized shopping malls. People have grown accustomed to strolling through these brightly lit, warm-in-winter-cool-in-summer malls, and have become more lazy about traipsing through the streets and alleys, entering and exiting each shop one by one. As a result, the shops along Liqun Road have gradually dried up, and the road has fallen into a state of desolation.
Along with Liqun Road, the street lights on the roadside also declined.
In Xu Wenqiang's impression, the street lights here were brighter than all the lights in her home combined, but now, she feels that this street light is not much better than the street lights in her bungalow area.
Xu Wenqiang looked around and everything seemed normal.
However desolate Liqun Road may seem, and however dim the streetlights, there's still a constant flow of vehicles and pedestrians. But once you reach the intersection ahead and turn onto the small road leading to the farmers' market, all that's left is darkness and desolation.
Every night when she reached this intersection, Xu Wenqiang would tell herself, don't be afraid, you have a knife on you.
And there is someone behind you.
On the first day, she thought that person was Yu Yong. But Yu Yong would not follow her all the way and do nothing.
The next day, she thought the man was Su Xiaoshan, but Su Xiaoshan said he would stay until the lights were turned off in the classroom before going home.
On the third day, she thought that the man would not follow her anymore. But when she looked back carelessly, she saw that there was still a man following her not far away, not close, until she got home.
…
Xu Wenqiang stopped at the traffic light, intending to make her point clear. While Yu Yong was indeed a potential threat, they were not even related, and it wouldn't be a good idea to keep causing him trouble for so long.
And thinking of the deserted streets, under the dim streetlights, in the mottled shadows of the trees, she was in front, he was behind, he was always looking at her, but she pretended not to know...
Although the scene was full of romance and youth, Xu Wenqiang got goosebumps all over her body. It seemed that she was not lucky enough to enjoy it.
Xu Wenqiang turned around, trying to call the person behind her over. But just as she turned halfway, a person and a car stopped in front of her.
Xu Wenqiang looked at Xiao Cheng's face in front of her and held her breath for a moment.
Normally, he always had a gentle smile on his face, and was the most docile and kind but fake. But in this dark night, he had become the most pleasing person to her.
Calm, indifferent, but always meddling in other people's affairs.
And the first thing he said was, "Xu Wenqiang, do you want to go see the largest internet cafe in Qingshi?"
Xu Wenqiang's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't say anything.
In the middle of the night, instead of going back home to find their mothers, they went to the Internet cafe that the school had repeatedly forbidden to enter. It was obvious that Xiao Cheng was planning a dangerous and exciting plan.
But neither danger nor excitement was a good thing for Xu Wenqiang. Moreover, she already lived in danger and excitement every day, and really didn't need to experience more.
"The Internet cafe is not far from your home. And I promise that as long as you go there, there will be a surprise. If you don't go, you will definitely regret it." Xiao Cheng began to persuade.
Xu Wenqiang directly refused, "Xiao Cheng, I think it would be safer for us to go home and sleep now."
Xiao Cheng tapped his fingers on the handlebars, watching the changing traffic lights ahead. "You don't believe me?"
He knew she had concerns, and he could have told her the reason for inviting her to the internet cafe directly. But he was being aggressive, just to see if she could go with him without any concerns.
"Of course I believe you."
Xu Wenqiang spoke with such certainty that Xiao Cheng smiled contentedly.
But Xu Wenqiang continued, "But I can't go with you."
"Why?" Xiao Cheng didn't understand.
"You're taking me to the internet cafe to look for Yu Yong, right?"
Xiao Cheng was stunned, "You actually guessed it."
"Yu Yong has been hanging out in Internet cafes since junior high school. Everyone in the market knows it, so it's not difficult to guess. But Xiao Cheng, this matter has nothing to do with you. I don't want to drag you into it, so just stop meddling in other people's business." Xu Wenqiang frowned and said a little irritably.
Xiao Cheng smiled nonchalantly and said, "But you've already dragged me into this. And you've already dragged me into this a long time ago."
Xu Wenqiang was stunned. It was really easy to find a pretext to accuse someone. "When was it? How come I didn't know?"
"We can talk about this later. We have plenty of time." Xiao Cheng said with a smile, "The most important thing now is that Chen Yang is already waiting for us at the Internet cafe. If we don't go, he will attack us alone. Although he has always wanted to do this, I still hope you can get justice for yourself."
"You..." Xu Wenqiang looked at Xiao Cheng, the emotions in her eyes changing again and again. Finally, she lowered her head and said, "You know."
"I don't know anything." Xiao Cheng gripped the handlebars tightly and didn't reach out to touch Xu Wenqiang in front of him. "I only know that you have to come with me now."
Only by following me and seeking justice for yourself can you and I feel at ease.
Xu Wenqiang was silent for a long time, then looked at Xiao Cheng, "I can go with you, but tomorrow night, don't send me home again. You don't know, I'm afraid that if you send me home, it will be too late to go home, and I will have to pack up and leave as soon as the evening self-study class, and I will have to be scolded by Lin Tong every day."
Xiao Cheng chuckled softly, "Every time I see you rushing out of the classroom, I want to tell you, don't worry."
"You know I know it's you?" Xu Wenqiang said a tongue twister, but Xiao Cheng understood it. "I know."
"How do you know I know it's you?" Xu Wenqiang said another tongue twister, but Xiao Cheng still understood it. "I just know it."
Xu Wenqiang was speechless.
After a while she said, "Let's go and get justice."
"Justice is waiting for you." Xiao Cheng said.
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