Hands that don't want to let go
The evening breeze brushed against their cheeks, and the next second, Jiang Jingshu felt warmth in her hand.
Xie Zhijin reached out and grabbed Jiang Jingshu.
The two of them boarded the Ferris wheel. Xie Zhijin looked outside.
She knew Xie Zhijin's emotions hadn't calmed down, and she hoped that her words would help Xie Zhijin lower his guard and trust her a little.
Her intuition told her that Xie Zhijin was the same kind of person as her; no matter how much bitterness she had inside, she would not say it out loud and cause trouble for others.
Jiang Jingshu understood Xie Zhijin perfectly, and she didn't force him to reveal his sadness. After all, everyone has a side they don't want others to know.
So she just sat quietly opposite Xie Zhijin.
"Jiang Jingshu, are you sure it's alright to go home so late?" As it grew darker, Xie Zhijin looked at Jiang Jingshu and said, "Let's go back after we finish this round."
Jiang Jingshu nodded as the Ferris wheel slowly rose.
"Xie Zhijin, we're going up." Jiang Jingshu sat down next to Xie Zhijin from across the room. "This is my first time riding a Ferris wheel, thank you."
"Jiang Jingshu, it's beautiful outside." Xie Zhijin looked at Jiang Jingshu beside him. "Jiang Jingshu, thank you."
In the semi-transparent space, the two people's positions slowly rose, which was a very strange feeling. Jiang Jingshu looked outside and said, "Do we count as having reached the highest point together?"
Xie Zhijin nodded, "Okay."
Jiang Jingshu suddenly wanted to say something, "Xie Zhijin, you are really a very good person. You have shown me many things that I have never experienced before."
Hearing Jiang Jingshu's words, Xie Zhijin's gaze dimmed. "Perhaps I'm not as good as you think."
"Why would you say that?" She felt a pang of sympathy for Xie Zhijin's reaction. "You have such good grades, and you're so smart and meticulous. Why do you look down on yourself?"
"You don't know the real me. I'm not as wonderful as you imagine."
"Do you think this is the person I imagined?" Jiang Jingshu looked at Xie Zhijin. "What kind of person do you think I am?"
"You?" Xie Zhijin replied without hesitation, "You treat your friends very well, you have an indomitable passion for everything, you are hardworking and ambitious, and you can also very sensitively perceive your friends' emotions. You are a very, very good person."
"Isn't this the me you imagined?" Jiang Jingshu retorted.
“How could that be? I experienced all of these things myself, how could it be something I imagined?” Xie Zhijin quickly replied.
“So, what I just said is based on my own experience.” Jiang Jingshu repeated Xie Zhijin’s words. “Xie Zhijin, you are so tolerant of others, so why are you so demanding of yourself?”
Xie Zhijin was somewhat stunned. Did he have high expectations of himself?
"How can I make you believe that you are actually a very, very good person?" Jiang Jingshu slowly approached Xie Zhijin.
Xie Zhijin shook his head. "Thank you, Jiang Jingshu."
The Ferris wheel was about to reach its highest point. Jiang Jingshu leaned over the bed and said, "Xie Zhijin, the stars are very bright."
Xie Zhijin's gaze followed Jiang Jingshu's gaze, then shifted to Jiang Jingshu's profile.
Fireworks then went off outside at just the right moment.
Jiang Jingshu was intently watching the stars outside when she was dazzled by the fireworks in front of her. Xie Zhijin stared at Jiang Jingshu and suddenly said, "They are indeed very bright."
Jiang Jingshu turned her head and met Xie Zhijin's gaze. "It's not just the stars that are shining."
It's not just the stars that shine, it's you too.
After the lap, Xie Zhijin took Jiang Jingshu home.
When they arrived at their apartment building, Jiang Jingshu seemed still worried about Xie Zhijin's mood and comforted him, "Xie Zhijin, go back and get some rest. Your own feelings are the most important thing."
Xie Zhijin nodded. "You are a very important friend to me."
"Why are you suddenly saying that?" Hearing Xie Zhijin's words, Jiang Jingshu smiled gently. "You are also a very important friend of mine."
After Jiang Jingshu finished speaking, she turned around and went upstairs.
—
In the evening, Xie Zhijin returned home. All the way home, his mind was filled with Jiang Jingshu's words.
"Xie Zhijin, why don't you believe that you are a very good person?"
"Xie Zhijin, you are smart and meticulous, why do you look down on yourself?"
As he was thinking, another voice seemed to rise in his mind.
"You kid, other kids are getting first or second place in their exams, look at you, don't embarrass me."
"You don't even greet people when they come to our house. How did I raise a child like you?"
"If you do this badly on another test, you're not allowed to come home to see me, do you hear me?"
"When will you ever be able to behave properly? When someone brings you gifts, are you so tongue-tied and can't you say anything nice?"
"I told you not to wear black, you look terrible in it, you know that?"
"Your grades are bad and you still want to go out and have fun? What kind of dream are you having?"
"You got first place? With your level, how did you get first place? Did you cheat?"
When will you realize that you are nothing? I really don't know what you're living for.
Xie Zhijin stopped his hand from opening the door, trying to shake these words out of his mind.
"Xie Zhijin, they were just being polite and saying nice things to you. How could you believe that? How could you be so stupid?"
"Come on, I shouldn't have raised you in the first place."
Xie Zhijin lingered at his doorstep for a long time before turning and leaving.
He didn't want to go back to this oppressive home.
—
On the day of the parents' meeting.
"Jiang Jiang, there's a parent-teacher conference today. I think I'm going to get a beating from my mom when I get home." Su Xiaoyue looked at Jiang Jingshu with a look of utter despair.
"Things will work themselves out." Jiang Jingshu patted Su Xiaoyue's head and comforted her, "Don't worry, it's just a little pain, you'll get through it."
"Speaking of which, Jiang Jiang, you shouldn't worry, right? I don't think you've ever been hit before, so your uncle won't hit you," Su Xiaoyue said to Jiang Jingshu.
“A gentle attack can actually be quite terrifying.” Jiang Jingshu paused for a second, after all, she had been beaten before. Although it wasn’t her father, Emperor Yongning, who gave the order, but rather one of his concubines.
Su Xiaoyue nodded in agreement, "Exactly. Every time they talk to me nicely, I feel scared. It would be more comfortable to just slap them."
Then Su Xiaoyue asked Xie Zhijin, "Xie Zhijin, have you ever been beaten?"
Xie Zhijin glanced at Su Xiaoyue, but didn't say anything immediately.
"It's so tiring to talk to you. You barely respond unless Jiang Jiang asks you something." Su Xiaoyue stared at Xie Zhijin with displeasure, clenched her fists, quietly moved closer to Xie Zhijin, and slowly said, "You treat me so badly, how could I possibly let you win over Jiang Jiang?"
Xie Zhijin:?
When will Su Xiaoyue finally understand that Xie Zhijin and Jiang Jingshu are just friends?
Just friends?
Xie Zhijin asked himself this question in his heart. His hand holding the pen trembled slightly.
We're just friends.
Parents arrived one after another.
Zhou Xiao stood on the podium, parents sat in the students' seats, and children stood next to their parents.
Zhou Xiao first gave a brief explanation of the holiday precautions, and then began to discuss the child's grades.
Jiang Jingshu's gaze wandered left and right, and she noticed that Xie Zhijin's seat was empty.
Jiang Jingshu wondered why Xie Zhijin's parents hadn't come.
The following content is specifically for parents.
The students left the classroom, waiting for the parent-teacher meeting to end.
No matter how Jiang Jingshu looked, she couldn't find Xie Zhijin anywhere.
Su Xiaoyue took Jiang Jingshu for a walk on the playground. On their way downstairs, they encountered a sophisticated middle-aged woman. The woman wore exquisite makeup, but her features had a slightly sharp edge, giving off an impression of being unapproachable.
"Excuse me, how do I get to Class 1, Grade 11?" The woman called out to Jiang Jingshu and Su Xiaoyue, who were coming down the stairs.
"Class 1, Grade 11?" Jiang Jingshu guessed that the person opposite her might be Xie Zhijin's mother, so she politely said, "Auntie, I know, let me take you there."
Upon reaching the classroom door, the woman grasped Jiang Jingshu's hand and said gratefully, "Thank you so much, little classmate. I didn't even know there was a parent-teacher conference. My son is so disobedient; he didn't tell me at all."
Jiang Jingshu just gave the woman an awkward smile.
What are you doing here?
Just then, Xie Zhijin's voice came, and Jiang Jingshu turned around, "Xie Zhijin, where did you go just now? Xiaoyue and I were just about to look for you."
Xie Zhijin smiled at Jiang Jingshu, but Xie Zhijin's mother suddenly spoke up. She pointed at Xie Zhijin fiercely and said, "You brat, you still have the nerve to ask me? I'm going to the parent-teacher conference first. You better behave yourself. I'll deal with you after the conference."
After saying that, the woman went inside with her head held high.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Jiang Jingshu and Su Xiaoyue exchanged a glance.
"I'm sorry you had to see this, I'll be leaving now." Xie Zhijin glanced at Jiang Jingshu and prepared to leave.
The next second, Jiang Jingshu grabbed his wrist.
"So even the most promising students get scolded by their parents, Xie Zhijin."
In the corridor, an unfriendly voice pierced the silence.
"Wang Shengli? It's you again." Jiang Jingshu let go of Xie Zhijin's hand. "You haven't been running around for so many days, are you out and about again these past two days?"
"Xie Zhijin, we had no grudges against each other before, but you insisted on making trouble. Tell me, if I told your mother about your early romance, what would she do?" Wang Shengli ignored Jiang Jingshu's words. At this moment, his eyes were only on Xie Zhijin, who had just been publicly scolded.
"Wang Shengli, haven't you had enough punishments already? How dare you spread rumors?" Jiang Jingshu couldn't believe that someone could be so shameless. She stood in front of Xie Zhijin and stared at Wang Shengli.
Because Xie Zhijin found evidence of his slander against others, he began to hate Xie Zhijin.
"Wang Shengli, if you have the guts, go and say it." Xie Zhijin suppressed his anger, clenching his fists, and Jiang Jingshu held his hand.
"If I tell your mother, won't she love you even less? How can someone like you deserve to be loved?"
Jiang Jingshu slapped him again. "If someone as good as him doesn't deserve to be loved, then you'll never get any love in your life."
The next second, she took Xie Zhijin's hand and walked away without looking back.
—
Jiang Jingshu led him to the lakeside on campus. There weren't many people there. Xie Zhijin stopped in his tracks. "Does your hand hurt?"
Jiang Jingshu didn't quite understand. "What did you say?"
"Hey, does your hand hurt?" Xie Zhijin pulled Jiang Jingshu's hand over.
Jiang Jingshu used all her strength in that slap, turning Wang Shengli's head to the side, so much so that her palm is still bright red.
“It doesn’t hurt.” Jiang Jingshu stared into Xie Zhijin’s eyes. “Your mother…”
"Don't worry about him." Xie Zhijin released Jiang Jingshu's hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to see him."
Xie Zhijin lowered his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Jiang Jingshu turned to look at him, "If, I mean if, you feel they treat you badly," Jiang Jingshu carefully chose her words, "then come find me."
Xie Zhijin looked up and heard Jiang Jingshu say, "I said, if you're unhappy in front of them, come find me."
"Come to me, and I will try my best to make you happy."
Xie Zhijin gave a self-deprecating laugh, "Jiang Jingshu, how do you know they're not good to me?"
“Hmm…maybe because,” Jiang Jingshu wanted to say, she actually understood his expression. Even in the deep palace, she was someone unloved by her parents. “You don’t seem happy.”
“If the root of your unhappiness lies with your parents, I’m sorry I have no other way to resolve this conflict, but you can always come to me.” Jiang Jingshu stared at Xie Zhijin, reached into her pocket and took out a piece of candy. “This is for you.”
Xie Zhijin took the candy from Jiang Jingshu's hand.
"If Wang Shengli tells your mother that we're dating too early, I'll talk to your mother and make things clear." Jiang Jingshu breathed a slight sigh of relief when she saw Xie Zhijin take the candy from her hand.
“This will be a secret between the two of us,” Jiang Jingshu said, extending her hand. “I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.”
Xie Zhijin grabbed those hands.
He thought that if he could, he would never let go.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
