51. Counting Diamonds
After Xu Wenqiang finished crying, she found herself hugging Xiao Cheng without realizing it. Although she had been close to Su Xiaoshan and the others before, the fact that the other person was Xiao Cheng made Xu Wenqiang a little uncomfortable.
She let go of her hand first, "Xiao Cheng, it's a bit cold."
"The wind at the beach is a bit chilly." Xiao Cheng immediately took off his coat and put it on Xu Wenqiang, "Let's go back."
Neither of them mentioned the past grudges or the hug just now, but when Xu Wenqiang got on the motorcycle, she put her hand on Xiao Cheng's waist.
I've already hugged her, so a little waist doesn't matter, Xu Wenqiang thought shamelessly.
Xiao Cheng glanced at Xu Wenqiang's hand on his waist, said "Sit tight", and started the motorcycle.
Xiao Cheng sent Xu Wenqiang to the gate of the farmers' market. Before leaving, he said to her, "In the conflict between your mother and Chen Yang's mother, there is someone hiding."
"Chen Long!" Xu Wenqiang said a name viciously.
Back then, the two women had fought over Chen Long, but Chen Long himself was nowhere to be found. Later, when Aunt Lu died, the blame was placed on the Xu family, and no one pursued Chen Long's affair. Even more shamelessly, Chen Long cast himself as a victim, fanning the flames and allowing Chen Yang to torment Xu Wenqiang.
"Xu Wenqiang, if Chen Long really and your mother—"
"Absolutely not!"
Xu Wenqiang interrupted Xiao Cheng abruptly.
When she returned home, Xu Wenqiang found someone talking in Xu Yanmei's room, and it was a man's voice.
Occasionally, strange men would appear at home, so Xu Wenqiang didn't make a fuss. She just walked lightly towards her room.
Just as she returned to the room and closed the door until only a crack was left, a man walked out of Xu Yanmei's room.
Xu Wenqiang looked through the crack in the door with bloodshot eyes. The man was Chen Long.
It was not until dinner time that Xu Wenqiang came out of the room.
When Xu Yanmei saw her, she was like seeing a ghost. "When did you come back?"
Xu Wenqiang didn't answer. She walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Mom, what do you want to eat tonight?"
Xu Yanmei followed him into the kitchen and looked at Xu Wenqiang's face. "Eat whatever's available. How come I didn't hear you come back?"
Xu Wenqiang turned around and said to Xu Yanmei with the knife in hand, "Mom, I'm here, just get out."
Xu Yanmei shivered a little from the shaking of the knife. "The knife is sharp, take it easy."
Xu Wenqiang turned around and started cutting meat. "Mom, there are so many men in the world, why don't you find one?"
Xu Yanmei heard this and came over to punch Xu Wenqiang. "Do you think I don't want to? I'm so old, who would want me? It's easy to talk without any pain in your waist. Hurry up and cook."
After dinner, Xu Wenqiang pulled out a photo album from a drawer and pulled out a yellowed photo. In the photo, she and Chen Yang were still little kids, snuggling up to Xu Yanmei and Lu Xue respectively.
Xu Wenqiang's fingers touched the photo, but she didn't dare touch the person in the photo.
After Aunt Lu's death, everyone continued to live their lives as before. Xu Yanmei continued to work from dawn to dusk, she continued to be in a daze, and the farmers' market was still bustling with people.
Until one day, Chen Long punched and kicked Chen Yang in the market, "You got such a low score on the test, are you really going to face your mother?"
Everyone was watching the fun as usual. Xu Wenqiang heard Xu Yanmei mutter, "Lü Xue has been dead for so many years, who still remembers her..."
Xu Wenqiang didn't say anything. She poked her conscience and said, at least you can't forget.
When Lu Xue was alive, she always nagged Chen Yang and Xu Wenqiang to study hard, and then she began to regret not taking the high school entrance exam.
Xu Wenqiang thought, "Then I'll take the high school entrance exam, just as an apology to Aunt Lu." Then, in her third year of junior high, after a year of hard work, she finally got into Qingshi No. 1 Middle School.
It’s a pity that the person is dead, and even if the living people do something wonderful, we won’t be able to see it.
"Aunt Lu, you were right to call me a wolf in sheep's clothing."
Xu Wenqiang put the photo away.
————
On Monday, when Xu Wenqiang appeared in the classroom with short hair, many people were shocked.
Lin Tong even grabbed two handfuls and said dejectedly, "Akagi Haruko is gone."
Xu Wenqiang halfheartedly comforted Lin Tong, saying, "There was no Akagi Haruko in the first place."
"You don't understand anything!" Lin Tong turned his head away.
Ning Yi had become somewhat familiar with Xu Wenqiang due to the class committee election. He turned around, looked at the short-haired Xu Wenqiang and said, "She does look quite like Rukawa Kaede."
Just as Xu Wenqiang was about to speak, Lin Tong turned around and glared at Ning Yi, "Xu Wenqiang is a woman, how can she be like that fox?"
"I'm sorry." Ning Yi turned his head timidly.
Lin Tong was stunned. "Hey, Ning Yi, don't look like you've been wronged."
…
Xu Wenqiang lay on the table with her head in her hands, thinking that she might as well shave her hair.
After the break, Xu Wenqiang ran to Class 12 to find Xing Jiaqi, intending to give her the birthday present she had prepared after visiting several boutiques yesterday.
There were quite a few people fighting outside Class 12's classroom. Xu Wenqiang was just about to find someone to help her call Xing Jiaqi when she heard someone behind her call out, "Xu Wenqiang, what are you doing here?"
Xu Wenqiang turned around and saw that it was Chen Yang.
Seeing Chen Yang, Xu Wenqiang thought of Chen Long in the crack of the door. She didn't want to face Chen Yang yet, so she lowered her head and said, "I'm here to find Xing Jiaqi."
Chen Yang first walked to the classroom door and shouted, "Xing Jiaqi, someone's looking for you." Then he walked back and stared at Xu Wenqiang gloomily and said, "I heard that you slapped Chen Mengyao twice yesterday."
Chen Mengyao didn't come to school today. Xing Jiaqi told him about the beating she had received. Xing Jiaqi said that Chen Mengyao had offended Xu Wenqiang because she stood up for him, so he should go visit her. Chen Yang asked Xing Jiaqi how Chen Mengyao had offended Xu Wenqiang, and Xing Jiaqi repeated the curse words Chen Mengyao had used to him.
Chen Yang immediately said that he would slap Chen Mengyao back for those two slaps.
Knowing that Chen Yang was coming to accuse her, Xu Wenqiang said, "If you feel wronged for her, then slap her back. But it's not convenient to do it in school, so wait until after evening study."
Chen Yang thought he had misheard and looked at Xu Wenqiang in confusion, "Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Xu Wenqiang said, "I really took the wrong medicine before."
"It seems that you are not only sick, but also seriously ill. I won't argue with a sick person for now." Chen Yang walked towards the classroom as if he had seen a ghost.
Xu Wenqiang asked from behind, "Then after evening self-study, I'll wait for you at the school gate?"
Chen Yang started running.
When Xing Jiaqi came out of the classroom and saw Xu Wenqiang, her expression became extremely complicated.
Xu Wenqiang handed her the gift she had prepared. "I'm really sorry for ruining your birthday party. Also, I've prepared another birthday present for you. Just pretend you didn't take the pen. I didn't buy anything expensive. I just picked out sixteen hair ties, each with a different color or style. If you don't mind, take them."
Xing Jiaqi knew that Xu Wenqiang had prepared this gift sincerely. Because it was her sixteenth birthday, she had chosen sixteen different hairbands.
However, Xu Wenqiang's sincerity was only sixteen hairbands, while Chen Mengyao's family had been doing business with hers for several years. Compared to the two, Xu Wenqiang's sincerity was too shabby. So even if the strong Xu Wenqiang was more to her liking than the lovely Chen Mengyao, she couldn't accept her gift.
"Xu Wenqiang, birthday parties happen every year. If we mess it up, we mess it up. But after you slapped Chen Mengyao twice in public that day, she cried at home for two days and hasn't come to school until today. As her friend, I won't accept this gift from you."
Xing Jiaqi rejected Xu Wenqiang indifferently. As she was leaving, she added, "Also, from now on, just pretend we don't know each other."
Xu Wenqiang looked down at the beautifully packaged box in her hand and thought to herself, I shouldn't have bought this box that is more expensive than all the hairbands.
She was actually mentally prepared that this gift would most likely not be delivered. After all, Xing Jiaqi and Chen Mengyao had a close relationship, while she and Xing Jiaqi had only dealt with each other twice. Moreover, her motives for interacting with her were not pure; she was just trying to make money.
But thinking about it, Lin Tong's words were not wrong, "You still have to consider the gap between you two."
It seems that she and Xing Jiaqi will have no connection with each other in the future.
Because the next class was physical education, after the break, Gao Zhe, as the physical education committee member, simply asked everyone to line up in front of the teaching building.
Xu Wenqiang wanted to go back to the classroom to put down the gift box, but Gao Zhe saw her and waved his arms and shouted, "Xu Wenqiang, hurry up, you're the only one missing!"
"Coming!" Xu Wenqiang agreed and simply threw the exquisite gift box in her hand into the trash can.
The next PE class was to test boys on pull-ups and girls on sit-ups. Xu Wenqiang did this easily, but Lin Tong always fell short of the mark, so after class, Xu Wenqiang accompanied her in practice.
"Lin Tong, try harder, we still need two more!" Xu Wenqiang said to Lin Tong who was lying on the mat.
Lin Tong said weakly, "I don't have any energy left. I won't practice anymore."
"If you don't want to practice, then don't practice." Xu Wenqiang lay down next to Lin Tong.
Overhead, a massive tree stood, its branches like an umbrella, stretching out across the sky and earth, its dense leaves blocking out the sunlight. Xu Wenqiang squinted at the dots of light dancing among the leaves, wishing they could turn into diamonds and fall into her arms. If this single dot of light were a diamond, how many would it take...
Just as Xu Wenqiang was resting her head on her arms, happily counting the diamonds, two black diamonds suddenly appeared before her eyes. The two diamonds fell on her handsome face and turned into a pair of dark and deep eyes.
Xu Wenqiang stared blankly at those eyes, at the handsome face against the blue sky and green trees, and her mind went blank.
"Xu Wenqiang, do you want to play ball?" Xiao Cheng asked, looking down at Xu Wenqiang lying on the mat.
When Xu Wenqiang realized that the person above her head was Xiao Cheng, she sat up from the mat.
Xiao Cheng supported himself on his knees with his hands and had no time to dodge, and the two men's foreheads collided.
"hiss--"
Both of them covered their foreheads with one hand and pointed at each other with the other.
"It's all your fault..."
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