Chapter 6
On the way back, Qiu Li kept laughing. You followed behind him, but Qiu Li didn't turn his head. After he finished laughing, he fell silent and walked ahead alone, seemingly not intending to talk to you at all.
"Where is my brother?" You have no choice but to ask, "Have you found the goose?"
Qiu Li did not refuse to answer: "We encountered geese on our way down the mountain and asked the girls. We learned that you had run out to look for geese. Your brother waited for a long time but you didn't come back, so he decided to come out and look for you together. I also wandered around the mountain and happened to find you."
It takes a long time to walk from here to the halfway point on the mountain. Qiu Li walked a lot to find you. You're not a stubborn person, and once you understood, you sincerely said thank you.
Qiu Li glanced back at you, and you, feeling a little embarrassed, sniffled and apologized, "And I shouldn't have thrown stones at you before."
Qiu Li didn't speak. You looked him straight in the eye sincerely. After a few seconds of eye contact, he touched his nose, a little embarrassed: "It's okay. You... didn't know me before. It was kind of strange of me to act like that."
Then, as if relieved, he happily put his arm around your shoulder. You didn't shake off his hand. Qiu Li was no longer angry and had regained his initial cheerfulness: "At first, I thought, if you don't want to talk to me, then don't. You have such a bad personality, why should I bother to be nice to you?"
You retort, "I have a great personality. It's just that the way you got to know me is weird. Why are you following a middle school student?"
Qiu Li gave you a tight hug and said, somewhat annoyed, "Damn it, we went to the same middle school, what do you mean by 'following'?"
You counted on your fingers: "And then there was that time you pulled on my backpack strap. With so many bad students around you, of course I was scared."
Qiu Li confidently declared, "Everyone at school says you're the top student in the first year. I had no idea you'd react so strongly, like a little girl. And even a little girl wouldn't swing her backpack at me. It's your fault!"
You snorted in exasperation, not intending to argue with him about the issue. Qiu Li said, "Forget it, forget it. I'll let you have your way since you're younger. From now on, we're friends. You can't act like that again."
Now it's your turn to be confused: "Why do you want to be friends with me?"
Qiu Li thought for a long time but couldn't come up with anything: "I just find you pleasing to the eye, so we're suitable to be friends."
After returning to the mountainside, everyone counted the number of people to make sure no one was missing.
In the middle of the night, everyone gathered around the fire to eat roasted potatoes. When Qiu Li peeled potatoes for you, your second brother and Lin Youdong's expressions were almost cracking. They couldn't understand why you could become so familiar with Qiu Li after getting lost once.
You don't need to explain. After we finish eating the potatoes, we'll all go down the mountain together.
As for the pheasants, there wasn't a single feather in sight. They were simply going up the mountain in the snow; they had no idea how to catch pheasants.
When you got home, you faced your second brother with a look on your face that said, "Tell me quickly, I really want to know what happened," and without hesitation, you wrote down ten word problems.
"Unlock it, and I can tell you part of it."
The second brother, utterly dejected, said: "I've been looking for you for over an hour, and this is how you treat your own cousin?"
You open your math book and say intently, "I didn't get lost on purpose. Thank you for looking for me, but this has nothing to do with doing my homework."
...
After that, you became close to Qiu Li. He was in Class 3 and you were in Class 1. The rumor that was circulating in the men's restroom—that the leader of Class 3 was going to beat up the leader of Class 1—was dispelled as you became closer.
You know that Qiu Li's father is the director of the teaching affairs office and her mother owns a coal mine. They are very wealthy, but their parenting style is extremely extreme.
Qiu Li's father was very strict with her from a young age. If she did poorly on a test or her grades dropped, he would use emotional abuse on her. Her mother, on the other hand, was infinitely lenient with her. She would give her whatever she wanted and let her spend her allowance in large amounts.
Because of this, the couple often quarreled. Qiu Li gradually disliked staying at home and often went out, thus making many friends outside of school.
However, Qiu Li has no bad intentions, and of course he won't fight every day like the rumors suggest. He's just bored and a bit rebellious.
As for becoming friends with you, although he initially insisted that it was because of a connection, after a semester of getting to know each other, you learned that his father often mentioned you when he was in elementary school, using you as a comparison to provoke Qiu Li.
Qiu Li was completely thinking, "I want to see what's so special about this guy's attitude when he approaches you."
You ask him, "So what do you think of me now?"
Qiu Li slurped up her yogurt: "Should I tell the truth?"
"certainly."
Seeing your serious expression, Qiu Li slowly sat up straight, recalling and refining her words: "I've discovered that you have a lot of flaws."
"For example, you completely ignore the atmosphere, talk to yourself, don't give others face, and always act like an annoying genius, thinking that everyone else is a gorilla from Uganda."
"Also, you really dislike things going off track, and you get very angry when things are disrupted. Was the worst time you were so angry that you cried?"
"As for his personality, he's stubborn and petty. He holds grudges when others make mistakes and insists that they admit their errors. And even though he likes making friends, he always acts like he doesn't like anyone."
“Last time, when Lin Jiangjun and his brother made progress in their grades, you were clearly very happy and had prepared a surprise. But then you said something like, ‘These grades are far from enough to get into a top high school. If you don’t want to go to a third-rate high school, drop out, grow potatoes for the rest of your life, and then hope your children will become successful and go to university, repeating this tragic fate, then hurry up and go to study.’”
"You saw the sad and dejected expressions on their faces, didn't you?"
Your expression gradually froze, and Qiu Li added, "Yes, yes, that's exactly the expression your two older brothers had back then."
"It can't be that bad!" you think angrily, "I was just telling the truth."
Moreover, since you completely neglect your older brothers, your aunt and uncle seem to have placed all their hopes on you, how can you live up to their expectations if you are not strict with them?
You frowned, crossed your arms with a very serious expression, and said, "I won't accept any of these."
Qiu Li said helplessly, "Alright."
You: "Quickly admit you're wrong."
Qiu Li's lips twitched: "You're forcing me to admit my mistake right now, aren't you?"
Your expression froze, and you glared angrily at Qiu Li. Qiu Li even had time to flip through her biology book and point to the pufferfish in the book: "Your expressions are exactly the same right now."
Same as what?! You want to smash his head in.
Qiu Li sighed and leaned back on the sofa: "You made me say it, but you're unhappy now that I've said it."
You immediately seize the opportunity, as if you were in a debate: "Because those are not objective statements, you can criticize them, and I can also prove that your criticism is one-sided."
Qiu Li: "Afei, that's why the other classmates are afraid of you, okay?"
You take a deep breath and silently begin packing your schoolbag.
Qiu Li scratched her head awkwardly and leaned closer: "But we're still good friends, and there are people who can handle your personality."
You hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but say, "Every time I try to liven things up, it's those people who suddenly become cold and have an expression on their face that says they have nothing to say."
"And when interacting with others, isn't sincerity the most important thing?"
Qiu Li hissed, scratched his head in exasperation, and looked utterly helpless.
You originally wanted to tell him that he could speak his mind directly, and if he couldn't, he should promptly admit his mistake and correct it.
However, you had planned to go home and supervise your two older brothers doing their homework, so even though you were feeling annoyed, you still went home with your schoolbag on your back.
This little thing didn't bother you for long; Qiu Li knows how to communicate with you.
He's the opposite of you. Although his grades are average and he only has a superficial understanding of various knowledge points, he can get along with everyone, treats everyone like brothers, has friends all over the world, receives a lot of gifts on his birthday, and is often invited out to play.
You didn't take it to heart and stuck to your own way of doing things. You happily made it to the third year of junior high school, and your two older brothers were able to successfully enter the junior high school of the same school and were placed in the top class full of high achievers. As long as they continue to work hard, they can easily get into a key high school.
Therefore, you did not feel any jealousy or resentment because of your differences with Qiu Li in how you handle things and treat people. On the contrary, you also found that Qiu Li had many flaws.
"He is careless, casual in his behavior, and half-hearted in his work, finding it difficult to concentrate on one thing."
"They often focus on the beginning but not the end, causing a huge mess that they have to clean up afterward."
"I am very considerate of other people's feelings. Even if I know that someone has done something wrong, I always downplay the seriousness of the matter and try to get away with it because I don't want to hear arguments."
"Because of family reasons, I just get by, there's nothing I dislike, but nothing I particularly like."
"He's an idiot."
You can list more than a dozen of his faults in one breath, but he is still your best friend. However, you have had a moment of doubt about this friendship.
That was during the third year of junior high school. You had a falling out over the high school entrance exam, and you stopped talking to each other until the exam was over.
Your grades are excellent. Several top high schools have contacted you through your school, hoping you can become a student there. You chose the school you liked, which offers full tuition waivers and half-price room and board.
On the day you graduated from junior high school, your long serialized novel in your notebook also officially ended. The girls in your class printed out the novel and asked you to sign it, and you kindly refused to charge them.
You stopped doing homework for others starting in the second year of junior high. You discovered a more stable and profitable way to save money: digging up wild vegetables and selling them to restaurants.
So when you graduated, no one came to you with your winter break homework for you to sign.
Junior high school ended quietly. In September, you started high school with your schoolbag and luggage. That year, you turned fifteen, and Qiu Li gave you a cell phone.
The new keypad phone has a small screen and a trendy white color. It costs over 500 yuan, plus a 100 yuan phone card and 200 yuan in phone credit. You won't have enough money saved up.
Qiu Li and you separated in high school. He went to the third-rate university you mentioned, which was a county away from you.
You are his good friend, but his grades haven't changed because of your influence, or rather, his grades are part of his protest against his family, and Qiu Li doesn't want to change.
You had a conflict with him because of this, and it was the first time he had ever been angry with you, so he was very impatient.
"I'm not one of your two brothers. I have my own ideas, okay!"
When he got angry, he turned around and walked away, saying loudly as he went, "No one can stand your temper."
You were really angry with him, and you were angry for a long time. This situation of ignoring each other continued until the end of the high school entrance exam, when things finally settled down.
He came to see you on your birthday, before you went to school. Your two older brothers were watching from behind the wall, but when you glanced at them, they vanished in a flash.
At that time, you hadn't spoken or seen each other for almost two months.
Qiu Li, dressed in a cool bomber jacket, rode his motorcycle with an air of nonchalance, patting the back seat: "Stunned? Stunned? Come on, I'll take you out for some fun."
You, wearing slippers, silently held the phone box, staring coldly at him. Qiu Li glanced around, clasped his hands together, and bowed: "I was wrong, I was wrong, Brother Fei, it's all my fault. I apologize to you, I'll clean your shoes, I'll be your little brother, please don't be angry anymore."
After a while, you couldn't help but complain: "You can't clean shoes properly. You have to brush them once, wash them once, brush them again, and then paste a layer of paper on them."
Qiu Li looked up and smiled, "Yes, Fei-ge is the best. I haven't been able to bear wearing the shoes you cleaned for me. I've kept them in my backpack. When I miss you, I take them out to smell them and look at them."
You don't know why, but the tips of your ears feel a little hot. You angrily emphasize, "I'm still angry with you."
Qiu Li said, "Don't be angry, I know I was wrong."
You start bringing up old grievances: "You said no one could stand my personality."
Qiu Li readily agreed: "Impossible, I can handle it. Even if ten more scoundrels came, it wouldn't be a problem, really."
With a cold expression, you hold out your hand to him: "Safety helmet."
Qiu Li respectfully invited with both hands: "Brother Fei, put on your hat."
Once you're in the car, Qiu Li turns around and says, "Sit tight, I'll take you out for some fun."
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