Chapter 5
"Tsk, you just want to drink my Yakult!" A boy with short natural curly hair walked in with a bunch of Yakult. His pair of dark almond-shaped eyes rolled around, and he casually distributed a few bottles of Yakult to the students in the front row who called him.
"Yakult, congratulations on finally getting into our class!" Class monitor Li Xiaoyuan said politely, but he took a whole row of Yakult from Tianranjuan's arms without any hesitation.
"Hey, don't take it all away from me, go buy it yourself." Tianranjuan held the drink tightly in his arms and ran quickly to the last row.
"Brother Qinhe!" He placed a row of drinks in front of Lin Qinhe like he was presenting a treasure, and casually placed his schoolbag on Lin Qinhe's desk. He smiled and said, "I can't get up in the morning, so I just wait until the physics class is over before coming here."
Lin Qinhe hummed, and his usual indifferent expression was obviously less distant. He naturally handed the black notebook on the table to Tianranjuan.
"Oh, thank you! But you don't have to write it down for me next time. I don't understand it anyway, and I'll ask you when I get back." Tianranjuan flipped the notebook and closed it without caring, and wrinkled his nose.
"Hey, why don't I know this new classmate?" His eyes rolled, as if he finally noticed the classmate sitting next to Lin Qinhe.
Li Xiaoyuan happened to follow with a form in his hand and took the initiative to introduce: "This is a new student who transferred to our class. He is the number one in Qingshui County!"
Tianranjuan said "oh", nodded, and said to Taoxi with a smile: "Hello, my name is Yang Duole, you can call me Yakult like them."
After saying that, he leaned over and placed a bottle of Yakult on Taoxi's table. Around his outstretched right wrist was a red string with a peace knot and gold beads strung together. Under the red string was a very conspicuous red round birthmark.
Tao Xi stared at the red birthmark, then at the boy's face. It seemed like a long time had passed, but it also seemed like not long at all. He heard someone say:
"My name is Tao Xi."
He didn't know how ugly his expression was, so ugly that almost everyone around him noticed that he was in a bad mood.
Yang Duole seemed to think that this new classmate was a little strange. He blinked in confusion, but at this time the bell rang and the students hurried back. Yang Duole had no choice but to carry his schoolbag back to his seat.
Before rushing back, class monitor Li Xiaoyuan placed the form in his hand on Tao Xi's desk and reminded her, "I forgot to give it to you yesterday. This is the information form of all the students in our class. Just fill it out and give it to me." After that, he ran away quickly.
Tao Xi stared at the form blankly, and his eyes quickly locked on a name on the form.
Yang Duole, 16 years old, birthday December 25, mother Fang Sui (deceased), father Yang Zhengming…
"Are you okay?" Bi Chengfei turned his head and looked at Tao Xi worriedly. The man sat there motionless, his face was pale, and the pair of eyes that he thought were the most beautiful were empty and lifeless.
Bi Chengfei felt that he was the only one who knew why Tao Xi was so distraught.
It must be because Lin Qinhe rejected him again.
Bi Chengfei sighed and looked at the culprit, only to find that Lin Qinhe had turned his head slightly and was looking at Tao Xi who had his head lowered.
But he quickly withdrew his gaze, took out an English book from the drawer, his face still expressionless.
Alas, Master Lin is good in every way except that he is too aloof. This has hurt the heart of Xiao Baicai from Qingshui County again.
"Bi Chengfei, is your head in the sky and on the back of your head? Last time I asked you to go to your father to make an appointment, what did Doctor Bi say?"
Suddenly, a cold female voice came from the podium. Bi Chengfei, who was worrying about a pair of classmates sitting at the back seat, was startled and turned back in fear.
The whole class laughed to death. Everyone knew that Bi Chengfei's father, who was also Bi Aoxue's older brother, was the director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Wenhua City Hannan Hospital.
And the nickname of Aunt Bi also comes from the fact that she is the aunt of Bi Chengfei.
"Oh, Doctor Bi said that my brain problem is hopeless, it's hereditary." Bi Chengfei touched his head and said calmly.
The whole class was laughing so hard that they fell over. They never got tired of watching the bickering between the aunt and nephew.
Bi Aoxue sneered, stretched out her finger and pointed at Bi Chengfei in the air, meaning "just wait for me."
She cast her gaze towards the last row and first looked at the new kid, Tao Xi. The kid was staring blankly with his head down. She frowned, thinking that maybe he had not yet adapted to the new environment.
Then he looked at Lin Qinhe who was standing beside him.
The sun rose from the west, but this ancestor was not late and did not read any other books. Instead, he was looking at the English textbook on the table.
Bi Aoxue swept her eyes to other places in the classroom, and sure enough, she caught another person who was secretly sipping a drink with his head down.
"Yang Duole, what's the matter? You just came to a shift and you want to go back now?"
The boy who was called out was so shocked that he almost choked. He quickly stuffed the Yakult into the drawer and shook his head, saying, "I was wrong. I don't want to go back."
Tao Xi suddenly came back to his senses, and the three words "Yang Duole" instantly tore him away from his rugged memories.
He raised his eyelashes and looked to the boy with naturally curly hair in front of him on the left.
In those dark eyes there welled up a sneer and malice that no one could see.
Guo Ping's face rubbing her head in sorrow appeared in his mind again, and she said in the tone of his most hatred: "He has been in poor health since he was born. I was obsessed and thought that hospitals in big cities are better and they will definitely take good care of him."
Last summer, Tao Xi just returned to his home in Taoxi Bay with the first place in the town's high school entrance examination. Tao Le went to his grandmother's house to play. Tao Jiang had just finished a part-time job, but lost all the money he earned playing cards. He was idle at home all day and was angry.
He hid in the woodshed to paint and accidentally heard Tao Jian and Guo Ping quarreling.
"He's my own son. What's wrong with me going to look for him?! That woman surnamed Fang must have a lot of money. We raised their son to this age, so it's not a big deal to give him some support, right?"
"No! You can't go find him, you will ruin him!" Guo Ping said loudly in a rare fierce tone.
"Do you think you can hide the truth? We are related by blood, and it will be discovered sooner or later! I was wondering why Tao Xi doesn't look like me at all. If my mom hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known I was raising someone else's son!"
Tao Jian cursed for a while, and suddenly asked in a stern voice: "What name did the painter woman give to my son?"
Guo Ping remained silent.
What followed was Tao Jian's angry cursing, and the noise became louder and louder, as if a fight had broken out.
Tao Xi pushed open the door of the woodshed and looked at them expressionlessly.
Guo Ping's numb face finally showed a crack when she saw him. Her cloudy eyes with drooping eyelids were full of fear and avoidance, as well as a trace of barely perceptible guilt.
Tao Jian hadn't expected Tao Xi to be in the woodshed. He didn't have a deep relationship with either of the two children. He looked at Tao Xi with a frown for a while, rubbed his messy short hair irritably, and scolded Guo Ping, "You can't hide it now, you might as well tell it honestly."
Guo Ping seemed to have finally collapsed. She slowly sat down on the bench, covering her face and not saying a word.
After a while, as if she was about to unload a heavy burden she had been carrying for years, she spoke out the old story that had tormented her for a long time.
Sixteen years ago, a beautiful young woman came to the remote Taoxi Bay. She came alone with her luggage and painting tools. Judging from her appearance and clothing, she was obviously from a big city.
The villagers did not find it strange. Although Taoxi Bay was poor, it did have beautiful scenery. Two years ago, a young man took some photos and brought them back. Since then, some idle people have come here to sketch and take photos.
However, this woman was pregnant. It was not very obvious at first, but as she lived in the village longer and longer, the villagers began to talk about this woman named Fang Sui.
They thought that she might be pregnant with an illegitimate child and was ashamed of her family finding out, so she found a remote place to hide and paint.
At that time, Fang Sui was renting a house in Guo Ping's house. Guo Ping was pregnant. Her husband Tao Jian went out to work, and she had a capable mother-in-law at home to take care of her.
But rural women can still go to the fields to work even if they are pregnant. Instead, the mother-in-law takes care of Fang Sui more, after all, she can get a considerable amount of money.
Fang Sui was very beautiful. Guo Ping still remembers her face clearly. She was the kind of rich lady who was spoiled since childhood. Her skin was white, and even after staying in the countryside for so long, she was not tanned at all. Her eyes were especially beautiful. They were like peach petals flowing on a clear river, with slightly upturned eyelashes and moist eyes. When she looked at people, there was always a bit of innocent affection.
There were several bachelors in the village who were ready to make some moves, but they were all driven back by the hot-tempered Guo Ping. While Fang Sui was sitting in the fields painting, Guo Ping was doing farm work nearby and keeping an eye on her all the time.
During breaks, Guo Ping would sit on the edge of the field and weave all sorts of little gadgets with vines or bamboo strips and give them to Fang Sui, who would then smile innocently and happily.
There are always some people in this world who are born to be lovable, and both men and women will have a desire to protect them.
Fang Hui was a talkative woman. Guo Ping had lived with her for such a long time, but she only knew that she was from Wenhua City and was a freelance painter. She was even more secretive about the father of her child and her own parents, and her expression would be gloomy whenever they were mentioned.
Guo Ping guessed that she might have eloped with her lover without her parents' permission, but her lover did not come to see her.
As the couple got closer to giving birth, the weather turned colder in autumn. Fang Sui stopped going out to paint and Guo Ping stopped doing farm work. Instead, they spent their free time at home making peace knots.
Guo Ping taught Fang Sui how to weave. Fang Sui's slender hands were very dexterous when drawing, but it took her a long time to clumsily weave a peace knot with the red rope.
Talking about the child's name, Fang Sui looked at the peace knot in her hand with a gentle expression: "I thought of many names before, but I felt that they were not meaningful enough. After thinking about it, I finally just hope that the child will be safe, free from illness and disaster, and have more blessings and happiness. So I still think that Yang Duole is the best name, which can be used for boys or girls."
That was the first time Guo Ping knew that the child's father's surname was Yang. Children in their village were given simple names, so they didn't think about it as much as Fang Sui did. She said indifferently, "I'm too lazy to think about it. Just give him a random name when the time comes. A humble name is better for raising a child."
Fang Sui smiled and said nothing. She walked to the table, sat down, picked up a pen, and wrote on the letter paper.
Guo Ping took a look and asked curiously, "Are you finally going to write a letter to your family?"
Fang Sui shook her head and said, "I will write a letter to my child and show it to him when he is eighteen years old."
Guo Ping felt that city people were just being picky. It was not like she would never see her children again when they grew up, so why not save the talk for that time?
As if it was a prophecy coming true, the day Fang Sui gave birth was particularly difficult. Guo Ping was not yet full-term and was anxious to give birth herself.
That day was December 25th, a Christmas that the people in the mountains didn’t know about or care about. It snowed early in the mountains and the snow covered the middle of the mountain.
The mother-in-law hurriedly invited two midwives from the village, and the three old ladies were so busy that they could hardly cope with it.
Guo Ping gave birth to a boy, but because the baby was premature, he was very thin and his crying was not loud. There was an obvious red round birthmark on his right wrist.
At that time, a midwife whispered to Guo Ping's mother-in-law, "It looks like this child is not easy to raise."
Guo Ping heard it, gritted her teeth and said nothing, looking at Fang Sui who was almost fainting from the pain.
It was past eight o'clock in the evening before Fang Sui finally gave birth to the child, also a boy, with a loud cry. Fang Sui took a look at the child, smiled and softly called "Le Le", then fainted from exhaustion.
Immediately afterwards, Fang Sui suddenly began to bleed heavily. Everyone in the room was terrified. The villagers quickly sent Fang Sui to the town on a tricycle, but when they arrived at the clinic, Fang Sui was already dead.
Guo Ping never wanted to think about those days. She didn't go with the family because she had just given birth. The next time she saw Fang Hui, it was her dead body that was dragged back. She was lying quietly, with a not-so-attractive red peace knot tightly clasped in her hand.
Guo Ping was feeding the two children alone. She found a notebook among Fang Sui's belongings, which contained some phone numbers. She went to a home in the town with a telephone and called it. A middle-aged man answered the phone, who should be Fang Sui's father.
Later, Fang Sui's parents came quickly and broke down in tears when they saw Fang Sui's coffin. Soon after that, a handsome young man came over. He didn't say a word, his eyes were red, and his chin was full of stubble.
Guo Ping has packed up all of Fang Sui's belongings, including the hundreds of paintings she drew in Taoxi Bay, the letter she wrote to her child when he turned 18, and the red peace knot.
But for some unknown reason, when she handed the child to Fang Sui's parents, she listened to her mother-in-law.
"She named the child Yang Duole, hoping that he would be healthy and happy." Guo Ping made up her mind and gave her son with a red birthmark to them.
The young man, who had been silent till now, suddenly burst into tears and choked silently when he heard these words.
They did not stay in Taoxi Bay for long and soon took Fang Sui and the child back. Before leaving, the Fang family wanted to give Guo Ping a large sum of money to thank her for taking care of Fang Sui during this period of time. They also wanted her to keep her mouth shut, after all, this matter was not glorious.
Guo Ping refused to accept it even if she died. She just quietly held her son and wiped away her tears while feeding the child before they left.
After that, the Fang family never came again, and all the clutter was buried under the December snow in Taoxi Bay year after year.
Guo Ping named the child who was left behind Taoxi.
"Tao Xi, Mom only asks you for one thing, please don't go looking for him, okay? Or, wait until he grows up and then look for him, okay?"
Tao Xi looked at Guo Ping squatting on the ground crying, and she didn't have the energy to get angry or blame her.
From beginning to end, Guo Ping never said sorry to him.
In the end, what she was most worried about was that he would go find her biological son named Yang Duole and destroy his affluent life.
For a moment he really wanted to ask Guo Ping, Yang Duole has not yet grown up, so has he, who was born on the same day, grown up?
He finally understood why Guo Ping had been so wary of his painting and all the excellence he had shown since he was a child, why his grandmother had never been close to him but loved Tao Le so much, and why a deceased midwife in the village had whispered to him before she died: "Child, you shouldn't be here."
I finally understood why his name was Tao Xi and his sister's name was Tao Le.
His "mother" hopes that he will stay in Taoxi Bay forever, and she will always miss the child who is wished good fortune and happiness.
When he was a child, he often wondered why his mother and grandmother favored his younger sister.
It turned out that he was not unfavored, he had never been loved.
"Tao Xi, read aloud what I just said." Bi Aoxue couldn't hold it in for a long time and finally frowned at the last row of new students who were obviously distracted.
Tao Xi came back to his senses again. He slowly stood up, but lowered his head and remained silent, not knowing what to say.
How to answer if you haven’t even heard it?
He was about to admit honestly that he didn't listen to the lecture, but he saw a slender hand pushing an open English textbook towards him. On the clean page, there was a paragraph of English with an abrupt frame drawn in black ink.
Tao Xi was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously read out that paragraph.
But while he was reading in English, several students in the class laughed quietly.
Because his spoken English is not standard.
Bi Aoxue glared at the students who were giggling, and after Tao Xi finished reading, she let him sit down and did not continue to embarrass him, even though she knew that it was Lin Qinhe who had helped this kid for the first time.
After Tao Xi sat down, he was stunned for a while and found that the English book had been taken back. Then he turned his head to look at Lin Qinhe beside him and said softly, "Thank you".
Lin Qinhe didn't say anything, but just closed the English book again, then lowered his head and took out the physics competition book to read.
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