Chapter 91: Childhood Sweethearts 2 [Du Qingjia in the Parallel World] (1)
"I say, why are you running in the community? It's so dangerous. There are so many luxury cars in our community. With that kind of acceleration, if someone catches up with you, they can crush you to death with a loud bang!" Du Qingjia scolded angrily.
Then she realized that this was a young boy about her age.
At the age of thirteen or fourteen, he is really good-looking, with a face like a jade, red lips and white teeth, and sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. If he were put in the entertainment industry, he could perfectly portray the teenage state of all the emperors who have been obsessed with female fans throughout history...
Unfortunately, the handsome boy just glared at her fiercely and turned away.
"What's going on? Are there any laws?" Du Qingjia, imitating the characters in old movies, angrily complained to her friends. "If someone didn't know, they would think I hit him!"
"That's right!" Wu Zige, an eyewitness, echoed, then defected on the spot, "But he's Lin Tingfu."
"Lin Tingfu?" Du Qingjia felt the name sounded familiar. "Who? Should I know him?"
A group of people around laughed loudly. Yan Han nudged Meng Qian with his elbow and said with a smile, "I told you, Jia Jia never took that kid seriously. Are you relieved now?"
Meng Qian forced a relieved smile from his lips.
Du Qingjia didn't see it, but just asked: "So, who is this? Don't tell me, I actually think it sounds a little familiar."
"Oh, Qingjia!" Wu Zige couldn't stand it any longer. "He's your mortal enemy! He went to the same school as you since childhood. From elementary school to junior high school, you were always the first in every exam, and you didn't even remember him?"
Oh. I remember now, it was Lin Tingfu! It was the one the homeroom teacher always hesitated to say, "I heard Lin Tingfu from Class 3 is doing well in her review."
"Because you're the eldest daughter of the Du family, your homeroom teacher must be crazy to tell you, 'For my salary, you must study hard and get first place in the grade'? Wouldn't he have to hint at you discreetly?"
"But, Jiajia has never paid attention to these things, right?"
"Lin Tingfu has always been keeping an eye on Jiajia. Now, he's finally caught our young lady's attention with a special method."
"But it's no use even if it's aroused."
They chatted at once. At first, Du Qingjia didn't pay any attention and was drinking her drink. But the last sentence caught her interest: "Why didn't it work?"
"Because the Lin family went bankrupt, the person you met yesterday was him chasing his mother, right?"
When Du Qingjia heard the word "mom", he immediately stopped what he was doing: "What happened to his mother?"
"What else can he do? He just left. I heard that his mother secretly returned to the Lin family yesterday and stole a life-saving talisman that had been passed down from generation to generation. His father was almost dying of illness and had been reluctant to use the talisman, wanting to keep it for Lin Tingfu to sell for money, but he didn't expect it to be sold to that woman. Lin Tingfu chased after her all the way, trying to beg his mother not to do this..."
As Yan Han was speaking, he was hit by Meng Qian, and he suddenly realized that something was wrong.
But it was too late.
Du Qingjia had heard it all.
So yesterday, when the Lin family moved out of Yulong Bay, the woman she bumped into was Lin Tingfu's mother. If she hadn't just passed by, and if he hadn't cared about her safety, Lin Tingfu could have stopped his mother.
If it weren't for her...
Du Qingjia felt extremely sad.
She felt that she had done something wrong at that time and ran to look for Lin Tingfu, but in just half a day, she could no longer find him.
The Lin family had declared bankruptcy, all their assets had been sold off, Lin Tingfu had dropped out of junior high school, and the Lins were nowhere to be found. Du Qingjia searched everywhere for information, but found nothing.
Until a year later.
A year later, because Du Qingjia was too naughty, his father sent him to Yingde High School, a boarding school known for its strict teaching.
Miss Du has a heart as big as the universe, but she just doesn't know how to be content. Every day she thinks about doing good deeds and roaming the world. Being sent to a boarding school is like being in prison for her, and she's not allowed to use her phone! It's almost like she's dying.
Fortunately, the young lady has a best friend who is willing to stick by her side.
Du Qingjia started planning his escape route on the first day of school. He successfully found a blind spot where surveillance cameras were blocked and skillfully climbed over the back wall of the school.
Then, I bumped into a boy who was also climbing over the wall across the street.
Before Du Qingjia could figure out whether to call the police, Wu Zige covered his mouth and screamed, "Oh my God! You... Lin Tingfu?"
Who? Du Qingjia thought she had misheard, but the next second she decisively left her bestie and phone behind and sprinted across the street.
Wu Zige also ran over, with unconcealable surprise in his eyes.
Lin Tingfu was once a renowned, aloof, and distinguished young man from a wealthy family. He was a striking, dazzling, and exceptional pianist. He held annual recitals, drawing acclaim from the media and the public.
He is the prince charming in every girl's heart, unattainable and desirable.
How could it be...how could it be the person in front of me?
The young man before him was tall and thin, his face radiating the haggardness of overwork and the paleness of malnutrition. He wore an extremely baggy white T-shirt and a pair of equally baggy, ill-fitting blue sweatpants.
The white T-shirt was clean, but yellowed from washing, with a big logo printed on it: No. 11 Middle School.
"You..." Wu Zige exclaimed again, covering his mouth with his hands, "You are studying in No. 11 Middle School now?!"
"Pigeon!" Du Qingjia's tone was unprecedentedly harsh, and he immediately turned around and apologized: "I'm sorry..."
But the boy ignored him. He glared at Du Qingjia coldly and fiercely, without saying a word, and took a few steps back.
Du Qingjia knew what he was going to do and quickly called out, "Lin Tingfu! I'm Du Qingjia! I'm from Yingde High School next door. Can I be your friend?"
The boy's answer was to climb over the wall and disappear.
——
At that time, Du Qingjia had just entered the first year of high school, had just turned fifteen, and was still a middle school girl.
She naively thought that she had seen the fickleness of human nature and the treacherous nature of human hearts, but after meeting Lin Tingfu, she realized that she was just a fool who turned a deaf ear to the world outside.
"No. 11 Middle School?" Du Qingjia used the smuggled phone to text Wu Zige, "Why are you yelling so loudly? What happened to No. 11 Middle School?"
"Jia Jia, come on, you don't even know about No. 11 Middle School? You guys are still next door!"
Wu Zige quickly gave her some common sense.
In a sense, Yingde High School and No. 11 Middle School are both famous high schools in Jiangcheng, and the two schools are located on the east and west sides of the same street.
Although they were in the same area, the two schools had one gate on the east side and the other on the west side. The two campuses were nearly 2 kilometers apart, so students from the two schools would rarely see each other unless necessary.
A road, like a deep chasm, separates the students of the two schools.
Yingde High School is a famous aristocratic school with a strong faculty. Every year, countless students are admitted to Ivy League universities abroad.
Eleventh Middle School is a city-wide notorious garbage school. If it weren't for the universalization of twelve years of compulsory education, the students of this school would have no chance of going to high school. Even so, Eleventh Middle School still produces a lot of bad students.
Smoking, drinking, staying out all night, and bullying classmates are all small things. There are also all kinds of gangsters, hooligans, welfare girls... and problematic teenagers who are jumping back and forth around the high-voltage line of criminal offenses.
"I didn't expect that Prince Charming Lin Tingfu actually went to study there. It's really..." Wu Zige didn't know what to say, so he could only sigh and warn. "Jia Jia, be careful in the future and don't mess with the people from No. 11 Middle School."
"Oh." Du Qingjia heard it, but didn't listen completely.
From that day on, she would climb over the wall whenever she got the chance and look for Lin Tingfu in various ways.
——
Lin Tingfu was extremely annoyed.
He didn't understand why he had attracted the young lady's interest. Du Qingjia would hang around him whenever she had free time, looking for things to do and things to talk about every day.
Every once in a while, a girl wearing an exquisite suit and short skirt school uniform would wave to him on the roadside at the back door of No. 11 Middle School.
"Lin Tingfu~"
From then on, his peaceful days were gone, and all the things that happened in the past were turned upside down.
Everyone knew that he was once a wealthy and noble son, the legendary "Young Master Lin." But in just one summer vacation, he fell from the clouds to the mud.
The once high-ranking young master of the Lin family has become a fatherless teenager, his father dead and his mother missing, who must rely on the community for support. Not only has he lost his luxurious life, living alone in a low-rent apartment with a shared kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, but he has also lost all his friends.
Because the enjoyment and life that those friends needed were no longer something he could afford, and the way he worked to earn money, studied hard, and won scholarships in his life was something they could never imagine.
The gap between the poor and the rich was so huge that they had nothing to say to each other.
They were both ashamed to be in each other's company.
Especially the young masters and daughters of the wealthy families, as if looking at him for even a second would tarnish their nobility. Whenever he accidentally passed by, they would always shout and ridicule loudly, as if only in this way could they show that they were no longer the same kind of people.
To put it bluntly, in just two months, Lin Tingfu has experienced the ups and downs of life, seen through the fickleness of the world, and understood how precious money is.
He no longer believed that anyone was truly kind to him.
Therefore, he was extremely annoyed by Du Qingjia's appearance.
He knew Du Qingjia.
Not to mention that they went to the same school from kindergarten to elementary school and junior high school, and have been competing for who is the number one since they were young. Just take the name of the Du family, the only daughter of the richest man, the future heir of Runjia Investment, who would not know her?
If it were in the past, when he was still Young Master Lin, and Du Qingjia came to visit, he would have thought she was genuinely interested in making friends. He'd heard of her reputation for being cheerful and carefree, and knew she had friends everywhere. He might even have admired her personality, felt a mutual appreciation, and wanted to be friends with her.
But now, he just felt that Du Qingjia was here to humiliate him.
How could the arrogant daughter of the richest man make friends with an orphan who was poor and could only survive by relying on community welfare?
The eldest daughter of the Du family must have lost a bet where she had to "make him fall in love within a limited time, then quickly dump him." This was a common tactic played by the wealthy young men and daughters of their generation, and he had seen it all too often.
He used to look down on it and tried to stop it again and again, but now, he hates it even more.
He maintained his last bit of composure, keeping a cold face and saying nothing, treating Du Qingjia as if he were air. However, Du Qingjia appeared again and again, attracting countless rumors and sarcasm for him.
"Hey, Master Lin." The boys nearby whistled and mocked. "Is the young lady looking for you again?"
"Mr. Lin, stop being so arrogant. Why don't you just obey the eldest lady?"
day to day.
Lin Tingfu was determined to ignore it, but a slight anger rose up on the young man's pale and thin face, which he could not hide.
Until one day, when the taunts rang out again, he couldn't hold it in any longer and turned around to curse, "Du Qingjia! Are you done yet? Do you have any sense of shame? Do you still have any conscience? Do you think playing with me and letting everyone mock me makes you happy? Are you happy enough now? Can you get out of here now?"
He had always treated her coldly and ignored her as if she were air. Du Qingjia obviously did not expect that his temper would suddenly explode, and he scolded her so mercilessly that she was stunned.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." The girl's face turned pale and she stood there at a loss.
Lin Tingfu said nothing, looked at her angrily, and left in a rage.
Without even looking back.
It was not until he returned to his low-rent apartment at night that Lin Tingfu calmed down and realized how despicable and pathetic he was.
He didn't know who he was angry with, perhaps he just wanted to find a place to vent his depression and dissatisfaction. So, the poor girl became his punching bag.
If he didn't want her to appear again, he could have just explained the matter to Du Qingjia in a cold and sarcastic tone, "I don't want to participate in your ridiculous game."
Finally, he left in a graceful manner, which showed that he lived up to the wealthy education he had received.
Instead of this, losing all composure and yelling at a girl.
If he were to put himself in Du Qingjia's shoes, what if she was really just an innocent girl who simply wanted to be friends with him, but was treated like this... Lin Tingfu found it hard to imagine how Du Qingjia would feel at this moment, and whether she would hide and cry secretly.
"No, she won't." He forced himself not to think that way. "Who do you think she is? She's Du Qingjia, the eldest daughter of the Du family, who's known for her carefree nature. You've been classmates with her for so long, don't you know her personality well? She won't care."
But… Lin Tingfu had another voice whispering in his heart: No matter what, she's just a 15-year-old girl. Let alone the doted-on daughter of a wealthy family, even if she were a girl from an ordinary family, her parents wouldn't have the heart to scold her loudly. How could she have ever suffered such injustice?
The more Lin Tingfu thought about it, the harder it was for him to forgive himself, and the more obvious the guilt in his heart became.
"If..." he said to himself, "If she shows up again tomorrow, I'll apologize to her sincerely. Then, I'll tell her not to come to me again. I don't want to play this boring game with her anymore."
However, from that day on, for a whole half month, Du Qingjia did not appear near No. 11 Middle School again.
Guilt gnawed at his heart, and irritability accumulated in him bit by bit. Lin Tingfu felt that he had to do something to relieve it.
So, when he himself did not expect it, he began to fight back against those who mocked him.
The result of the counterattack was certainly not ideal. Others formed cliques and factions, but he only had one.
That night, Lin Tingfu was blocked by a gang of hooligans in an alley behind the school.
"I don't have any money."
"No money? Are you kidding me? You used to be a rich and noble young man. I heard that playing the piano alone costs tens of millions. How could you be broke?"
"That's right! A broken boat must have three pounds of iron. I don't believe it! Search it for me! What's that on his neck? Hand it over!"
"Get out! Don't touch me!"
"Damn it! Hit me!"
Sticks, fists and feet came one after another without any explanation, all hitting him.
Lin Tingfu's two fists were no match for the four hands, and he was pinned to the ground, his hands about to be broken. Suddenly, a loud shout was heard:
"What are you doing? Stop it!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, including Lin Tingfu, and that one look was enough to scare him to death.
Why is she here at this time?
"Get out...!" Lin Tingfu cursed with all his strength, praying in his heart that she would be so angry that she would leave on the spot and stay away from these unreasonable thugs.
But neither God nor she heard the prayers in his heart.
Du Qingjia stood at the dark alleyway, facing the backlight, and ordered word by word, "I said, stop! Let him go! Otherwise, I will be rude!"
"Huh?" The hooligans all laughed. "What? The young lady is going to stand up for him? I've never seen that before."
"Let's see if we can do it!"
Someone else laughed and said, "How about the young lady play with us too?"
This is what Lin Tingfu fears the most!
The eldest daughter lived a life of luxury and had no idea what a young girl would experience if she encountered a group of thugs in an alley late at night! Her life would be ruined!
"Get out! I don't want to see you! Get out now!"
"I won't leave." Du Qingjia folded his arms over his chest. Not only did he not leave, but he leaned against the streetlight, holding up his phone and watching them with a grin. "You guys fight, I'll just film it and upload it online in real time. I'll see how the police deal with you when the time comes."
"Oh, by the way, a friendly reminder of my identity."
"I'm Du Qingjia, the only daughter of Du Jingyuan, the richest man in Jiangcheng. If you dare to touch a hair on my head, unless you all commit suicide by jumping into the river, you'll have a blast this time and there won't be another. Besides, my father will make you suffer a fate worse than death."
After saying that, the girl spread her hands elegantly and arrogantly: "Okay, you can start your performance."
The hooligans looked at each other, and finally let go of their hands in frustration. They pointed at Lin Tingfu and cursed, "You're lucky, kid. We let you go because of Miss Du. If you do it again, I'll chop off your head!"
Then he left without looking back.
Lin Tingfu slowly climbed up from the ground, stumbling a bit before being supported by a pair of hands. He looked down at the girl's clear eyes and asked hoarsely, "Why?"
"Huh?" Du Qingjia asked, bewildered. "Isn't it our duty to help those in need when we see injustice?"
"But you will lose yourself. It's too dangerous!" He couldn't help but teach her, feeling scared for her in his heart.
"It's okay, they won't dare to do anything. Besides, I'm just waiting for them to come over. I have a talisman for immobilization in case of emergency. I'm not stupid. I'm just doing something brave, not delivering a delivery."
Du Qingjia is full of confidence.
He still couldn't help but get angry: "Don't be so optimistic! You don't know how much the price will be! Besides, this person is me..."
"Yes." She nodded repeatedly, "Because it's you, I can't just sit back and watch."
Because it was him? Lin Tingfu was puzzled: "Just because it was me, shouldn't you be watching me get beaten up? That's why I scolded you..."
"Ah?" Du Qingjia became more and more confused.
She tilted her head and thought for a long time before revealing a look of sudden realization: "Oh...you are talking about this matter, but you didn't do anything wrong."
Lin Tingfu suspected that he had heard wrongly: "I haven't done anything wrong yet?"
He scolded her in the street, and his words were so harsh!
"That was my fault for causing you trouble. It was all because I didn't think things through! Don't worry, my dad has already scolded me severely and put me in solitary confinement..."
"You disappeared for half a month, so you were put in solitary confinement?" Lin Tingfu suddenly interrupted her.
"Hmm..." Du Qingjia scratched his cheek with his slender index finger and said uncomfortably, "Let's not talk about such an embarrassing thing... Well... Of course, it's not entirely because of you. I secretly took Meng Qian out to play a few days ago, and he got sick. I've taken leave these days to take care of him."
Well, all other emotions disappeared without a trace for the time being, and only one name was engraved in his heart, sour.
Meng Qian.
Yes, he always forgot that Miss Du had countless friends around her. She was warm, cheerful, loyal, and always willing to go to great lengths for her friends. In her life, he was neither the most special nor the one she cared about the most.
What she cared about most was the youngest son of the Meng family named Meng Qian.
Just at this moment, another female voice was heard. It was her best friend.
"Jia Jia... Jia Jia! Are you okay?" Wu Zige limped over with a crying voice, hugged Du Qingjia and burst into tears.
"Wow!!! I was scared to death!"
"Okay, okay, I'm fine, aren't I?" Du Qingjia hugged her, patted her head, and comforted her softly. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me on the wall? Why did you come down? What's wrong with your leg?"
"I... I'm afraid something will happen to you..." Wu Zige said sobbingly.
Du Qingjia was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "You were worried that something might happen to me, so why did you run down here? How many beatings can you take with your tiny arms and legs? Wouldn't that mean one more person would go to jail? Look, your legs are broken now, you definitely can't climb over the wall, and the two of us can only wait to be put in solitary confinement."
Wu Zige continued to sob and hold her in his arms. Lin Tingfu listened for a while and finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that Mr. Wu felt that Du Qingjia's education at Yingde High School had been very effective, so he sent his daughter, who was a fan of idols, there as well. But on the first day, Wu Zige refused to accept it.
She was making a fuss and insisted on going to a certain popular autograph session.
Du Qingjia had no choice but to use her expertise. Not only did she climb over the wall to send her bestie out at night, she also offered to be her personal bodyguard and had to climb over the wall to send her back at night. After finally getting Wu Zige safely to the wall behind the school, Du Qingjia heard shouting and cursing before she could even climb over it herself.
So, Miss Du took out the nunchaku from her schoolbag, took the talisman for self-protection, and threw the schoolbag to Wu Zige on the wall, and then she bravely came to help.
"..." After listening to the whole process, Lin Tingfu felt that Miss Du had not been beaten enough.
At this moment, he deeply felt Mr. Du's good intentions in sending Miss Du to a boarding school, and expressed his support with both hands.
"Alas..." Lin Tingfu sighed deeply, picked up his schoolbag from the ground, and said, "Let's go."
Wu Zige blinked: "Where are you going?"
Du Qingjia was overjoyed: "Help us get over the wall, right? Lin Tingfu?"
Lin Tingfu nodded helplessly and asked Du Qingjia to climb over the wall first. He then held Wu Zige up and asked Du Qingjia to catch him from above. He then climbed over the wall and waited on the other side. He and Du Qingjia worked together again to get Wu Zige safely inside the wall.
"Why……"
When Lin Tingfu climbed over the wall again and prepared to leave, Du Qingjia looked up and shouted, "Are we reconciled now? Can I still come to play with you in the future?"
What kind of childish talk was that? Lin Tingfu felt that she hadn't grown up, but was also glad that she hadn't. Finally, he nodded with mixed feelings and stabbed her heart mercilessly: "Let's talk about it after you get out of solitary confinement."
"Oh...Oh my God! Confinement!" the girl cried out in frustration.
Lin Tingfu sat on the wall, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
Everything else was fine, but he really couldn't do anything about the solitary confinement.
He's so naughty that he deserves to be put in solitary confinement for a longer period of time.
——
The relationship between the two changed from that day on, but Du Qingjia had to be in solitary confinement for a whole week before he had the chance to wait for him on the roadside again.
"Lin Tingfu! I have something for you!"
"No need." Lin Tingfu walked past without looking around.
He would be thankful if she didn't get into trouble and tried to be a hero.
Du Qingjia chased after her with a thump of her foot, the hem of her school uniform fluttering gently in the wind, attracting quite a few people, especially several boys from No. 11 Middle School, who were sloppily wearing their school uniform jackets, leaning against the wall by the roadside, whistling at her non-stop.
It's annoying.
"Hurry back!" Lin Tingfu scolded, "This is not the place you should be!"
"Just take it. Once you take it, you'll know what it is." Du Qingjia ignored those self-righteous middle school boys and just chased after him. "Lin Tingfu!"
Jiao Jiao's soft voice, with its bold and decisive temperament, left him speechless. Lin Tingfu knew that he would not be able to hold on for long before his heart softened, but he still had to persist and could not surrender immediately.
"Miss Du, excuse me for reminding you that you still have 15 minutes until class. It will take you 12 minutes to climb over the wall and get back to campus this way."
"Oh." Du Qingjia was not afraid of him. She knew he was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Look, how long had it been? He even knew how many minutes it would take her to run back.
She threatened, "I'm telling you, there's a very talented transfer student in Class 13. If you don't accept me, I'll stay here forever, and then I'll be late for class, and I'll be scolded, and then my final grade will be deducted. If I don't get first place in the grade, I'll be embarrassed again."
She finished her rapid-fire speech and added, "Can you bear it?"
"Humph." Lin Tingfu refused to admit the slightest bit of reluctance in his heart and fought back stubbornly: "Why should I be reluctant? It's none of my business. You're a fool, you deserve to be put in solitary confinement."
Which girl is like her? She is like a falcon that has just left its nest. She cannot be caged at all and just runs outside to cause trouble.
"No." Du Qingjia said firmly, "You are a good person. You definitely can't bear to see me being punished for you."
Is this still a matter of course?
Lin Tingfu didn't want to pay attention to her, but he knew the school rules of Yingde High School. It was indeed an aristocratic private school, but the school rules were very strict and there was no indulgence. Yingde High School was committed to cultivating children of wealthy families with both good character and good behavior. If she was really late, even if she was the daughter of the richest man, she would still be punished by sweeping the stairs, and even the playground, and be publicly announced.
Then everyone will laugh at her.
Laughing at...the girl with the brightest smile.
Oh, it wasn't that he couldn't bear it, but his gentlemanly upbringing still remained and he wouldn't allow a girl to be punished because of him.
Lin Tingfu tried hard to put on an expression of intolerance, stopped, turned around, spread out his fingers, and said coldly: "Give it to me."
Du Qingjia immediately revealed a smug and cunning smile, placed a small box in his hand, turned around, got on his bicycle, and ran away quickly.
Hey! It's too dangerous for her to walk this road alone!
Lin Tingfu stuffed the box into his bag and followed her quietly until she reached the back wall of Yingde School.
The girl stopped at the foot of the wall, her hands on her hips, looking up for a moment, then took a few steps back, then suddenly leaped forward, pressing her hands against the top of the wall and flipping up, climbing onto the wall with ease. She straddled the wall and glanced back.
He hurriedly hid in the corner, determined not to let her know his worry, otherwise she would be even more proud.
But the wall is so high...
Lin Tingfu couldn't help but stick his head out again.
The girl smiled broadly, waved to him, and then jumped over the wall.
He felt relieved and rushed back to school, returning to the classroom just as the bell rang.
"Where have you been? You were almost late." asked my deskmate.
He tried to downplay it and said, "Nothing."
But where is the “nothing”?
The girl's bright smile kept lingering in front of his eyes throughout the whole day. It even broke into his dreams at midnight, completely disrupting his sleepiness.
He turned on the dim bedside lamp.
Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to study hard. But when I opened my schoolbag, something fell out.
It was the box she gave me.
There is also her flamboyant handwriting on it:
"Giving it back to you. I've always wanted to say, I'm sorry."
What? Sorry?
Lin Tingfu opened the box and his breathing stopped instantly.
Inside lay a familiar, long-missed, apricot-yellow talisman.
The legendary life-saving talisman passed down from the Lin family.
Lin Tingfu then remembered that the girl he bumped into in a hurry that summer vacation was her.
So many things had happened in the past year or so that he had completely forgotten about this matter. He also knew for sure that the talisman actually had more symbolic meaning than anything else and was actually completely useless.
But there was a silly girl who felt so guilty about it that she spent a lot of effort to finally find the thing and return it to him.
This worthless thing became priceless because of her thoughts.
It was her heart that remained consistent and sincere towards him, regardless of his background.
Late at night, Lin Tingfu made this specially processed talisman into a pendant and hung it around his neck together with the ring left by his father.
He warned himself to cherish this friendship. No matter what others thought, he believed that Du Qingjia was different from others. Whether he was poor or a nobleman, in her eyes, they were all the same.
She would not look down on him just because he was poor.
——
Lin Tingfu and Du Qingjia became good friends. Du Qingjia began to come to him whenever he had something to do, and gradually became part of his life from school to his residence.
To be honest, Lin Tingfu was very nervous at the beginning.
He had experienced a life of luxury and had also seen what it was like to live on coarse food. He was worried that Du Qingjia would feel uncomfortable after entering his living environment.
You will feel that this place is dirty, that place is broken, the plastic stools are uncomfortable to sit on, and the boiled water is not tasty.
But Du Qingjia didn't have any.
She is not a spoiled and willful young lady, but a lively falcon who is full of curiosity and compassion for everything. She is not afraid of hardship or fatigue, and never thinks there is anything wrong with living with ordinary people.
Lin Tingfu worked at a car repair shop after school. When she came to visit him, she would join the shop's older men in complaining about picky customers. When she saw him buying vegetables at the market, he would memorize the prices. If she saw an elderly man or woman on the street struggling to get up a hill on his tricycle, she would run up to help push it without a word.
Because she was so nice, Lin Tingfu could hardly feel the difference between them. They were just like ordinary classmates, studying hard together, worrying about schoolwork together, and complaining about the teacher's strict requirements together.
Under her influence, Lin Tingfu began to gradually accept the great changes in himself, calmed down his mentality, and finally stopped being the cynical person he used to be.
Then in the blink of an eye, it was Du Qingjia's birthday.
Du Qingjia opened her eyes wide, looking at him expectantly. She clearly wanted to invite him to dinner, but she also knew that he was reluctant to go to those occasions. Various emotions rolled over and over in her eyes, and finally calmed down.
That day, she said nothing, said goodbye to him as usual, and went home.
But the expectation in her eyes was so obvious that Lin Tingfu couldn't pretend nothing had happened. He tried his best to change into his most decent clothes, took the gift for her, and went to the Du family without telling anyone.
The Du family's house was brightly lit. He entered the hall when no one was paying attention and had no chance to greet her.
Because at that time, Du Qingjia was wearing gorgeous clothes and dancing with Meng Qian.
There were sounds of discussion all around.
"Qingjia and Young Master Meng have a really good relationship. Look at this perfect match, they are truly a perfect match."
"Oh, you don't know how much Qingjia has been scolded for Second Young Master Meng. I heard that some time ago, in order to let Second Young Master Meng go out and have fun, she even discussed the dishes with the owner of Lingxi Food and made a lot of dishes specially for him."
"What a sweet and thoughtful girl."
"This is called childhood sweethearts, a match made in heaven."
There were four words in the long string of words that were particularly harsh. Lin Tingfu could not bear to listen to them at all. Without even seeing her face, he left quietly.
The next day, Du Qingjia went to the auto repair shop to find him as usual. Before she could say anything, she felt Lin Tingfu's gaze piercing her hand like a needle.
She usually doesn't wear jewelry when she goes out, so why is she wearing a bracelet today?
"Hmm? This?" Du Qingjia noticed his gaze and explained, "I have to wear this. It was given to me by someone..."
"Oh, your childhood sweetheart?" Lin Tingfu asked sarcastically while tightening the loose screws with a wrench.
Finally, I said out loud those four words that were stuck in my heart.
"Ah? Who?" Du Qingjia didn't understand for a moment, his almond-shaped eyes widened like a puzzled cat.
The boy pursed his lips, not wanting to remind her at all. He just lowered his head and fiddled with the car, but the sour feeling was running rampant in his heart, with no sign of stopping.
The more it's pricked, the more painful it becomes.
"Oh..." Du Qingjia suddenly realized, "You are not talking about Ah Qian?"
"It's very intimate." Lin Tingfu commented.
Du Qingjia tilted her head, looked at him, blinked, and suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Are you jealous?"
With a clang, the wrench fell down, causing him to almost jump up in pain. Lin Tingfu used this bit of anger to stir up trouble: "Stay away from me!"
Pursing his lips, he added, "I'll get you dirty."
"Oh~~~" Du Qingjia laughed, sat down obediently on the tire beside him, and handed him a wrench. "What nonsense, this is what Pigeon gave me, our sister bracelet. We agreed that when we die in the future, we will wear wedding rings on our fingers and sister bracelets on our wrists. Where did the childhood sweetheart come from?
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