Chapter 5
Song Youran had a rare good sleep, and when she woke up, the sky had become even bluer.
The chef handed him breakfast and told him that Wen Chu had already gone to the car.
Ah, you ignorant child, you shouldn't have shown mercy yesterday.
Song Youran judged others by himself. If he got up early, he would usually wait in the restaurant. Going out together was basic courtesy, and the gate of the villa was also a door. However, he was not very interested in Wen Chu's politeness.
Song Youran brought breakfast into the car. Wen Chu sat obediently in his seat, his head down, staring at the book on his lap. He looked very focused. Song Youran slammed the car door shut. Wen Chu didn't look up, nor did he greet him as usual.
Song Youran shrugged indifferently. It was just right not to talk so that her ears would be quiet.
When the car arrived at the school gate, Song Youran said goodbye to the driver, pushed open the car door, and glanced behind the driver's seat. Wen Chu was still the same as he saw when he got in the car, reading a book with his head down.
There's something wrong with you! Song Youran cursed in her heart.
Song Youran went to the playground, put her schoolbag on the chair next to her, and took out milk and a sandwich from the paper bag on her lap.
Yesterday Yang Xu said he would bring him eggs, so he can eat the sandwich now.
The weather was hot, but the food was still warm. Song Youran took a sip of milk and a bite of sandwich...
Um?
I looked down and took another bite... I squinted my eyes and peeled the bread apart. Inside was not lettuce and egg but cheese and beef.
What's going on?
Did the chef have a change of heart? Or did he win the lottery and quit his job?
Well, never mind. Just eat what you can. It’s not his fault anyway. If you ask, just say you don’t know.
After a full meal, there was a snack in the morning. Song Youran and Yang Xu hid under the desk to peel eggs.
Yang Xu opened his hands to catch the eggshell and suggested that they go to the auditorium together at noon to secretly watch the princess rehearse the program.
Song Youran took two bites of an egg and said, "Aren't you going to have lunch?"
"Go after lunch." Yang Xu said, "Eat slowly. No one's going to snatch it from you."
"Just wait till class starts."
Song Youran deftly cracked open another egg and stuffed her cheeks full. Yang Xu grinned, "You look like a squirrel."
Before he could finish laughing, there was a knock on the desk. The monitor wrinkled his nose and sniffed the air: "What's that smell? Yang Xu, are you eating under the desk?"
Student Rules: No food may be brought into the campus without permission.
Yang Xu stood up, holding the eggshell in his hands, which was the stolen goods.
The monitor said, "Yang Xu, you're not allowed to bring food into school. Don't you know that?"
"I know." Yang Xu puffed out his chest, "But I'm hungry. This is my breakfast."
The monitor adjusted his glasses and frowned, saying, "School rules state that no food, including breakfast, is allowed on campus." He pulled out a small notebook and picked up a pen to write it down. "Since this is your first time, I'll deduct 0.5 points this time. Next time, it'll be double the deduction."
"Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead," Yang Xu patted the eggshells in his hand and sat on the chair with his legs crossed. "See how capable you are. How many months can you still deduct?" His face was extremely arrogant.
The monitor's face turned red and then pale: "Yang Xu, if you do this again, I will tell the teacher!"
Yang Xu waved his hand: "Go ahead, you snitch."
When the bell rang, the monitor returned to her seat, crying. Song Youran sipped her water and said, "He'll definitely be staring at you from behind if you make such a scene."
Yang Xu raised his chin: "I'm not afraid. It's only been two months anyway."
They will graduate before the end of this summer. I don’t know if we can continue to be classmates in the future, but the offense has been committed.
After lunch, Song Youran and Yang Xu put down their chopsticks at the same time and took their plates to the recycling station. Yang Xu joked, "You were pretending this morning, but now you're exposed. You were so focused on going to see the princess that you ate faster than usual."
Song Youran didn't want to explain her different eating habits when she was hungry and full, so she agreed, "Yes, yes. Let's go. It's too late. The princess ran away."
When people around heard them shouting "Princess, Princess", they thought it was the princess in the fairy tale, not knowing that the princess was the class beauty.
The princess's long black hair was tied up behind her head, revealing her slender white neck. She stood on tiptoe and danced on the stage like a graceful swan. Under the stage lay a group of toads covered with warts.
Yang Xu sneered: A bunch of Wu Dalang.
After watching for about ten minutes, I couldn't figure out what it was. The half-grown boy had limited aesthetic taste and kept saying just one word over and over in his mouth: beautiful!
The teacher in charge of the rehearsal stood up and said that the hand here was wrong, then the foot there was wrong. To sum up, everything was wrong. As he spoke, he got angry and drove away all the little chickens surrounding the stage.
Song Youran stood out among them, truly a towering figure. Yang Xu looked around, feeling somehow proud. His thin chest puffed out, his face showing no sign of embarrassment at being chased away; instead, he smiled broadly.
Walking out of the auditorium, the flowers wilted in the sun outside, and she asked quietly, "Are you really going to Jiangbei?"
Walking along the playground, Song Youran teased, "Why, you can't bear to leave me?"
Yang Xu said frankly: "Yes. If you go to Jiangbei, it will be difficult for us to meet again in the future. Besides, Jiangbei is so far away. From now on, I will be on this side of the river and you will be on the other side of the river... Alas!"
Yang Xu's sorrow could not move Song Youran. In his cognition, people will always be separated, either in life or in death. Everyone is a passer-by in someone else's life, coming into this world alone and leaving alone. This is a fate that people cannot escape.
Yang Xu frowned: "You don't have a cell phone, how can I contact you in the future?"
Song Youran said, "I remember your phone number. Just don't change it."
Yang Xu nodded solemnly: "Okay, it's settled."
Not knowing what was agreed upon, Song Youran smiled helplessly.
After walking for a while, sweating profusely, the two found a big tree and sat down.
"I don't like studying, I like playing." Song Youran supported her chin and looked at the sunshine-filled meadow in the distance. It was a large green area, perfect for rolling around.
Yang Xu plucked a blade of grass and held it to his nose and sniffed: "I don't like studying either. I like playing too."
It seems that everyone is like this, doing things they don't like with their hands and thinking about things they like in their hearts, thinking that when they have done enough of things they don't like, they can do things they like. But the reality is that when they do things they don't like too much, they become the whole of their life. In the end, when they think about the things they like again, they find that they don't like them that much and there is no reason why they have to do them.
Song Youran gave Yang Xu five dollars and asked him to help buy handicraft materials after school.
Yang Xu turned the banknotes over and over: "Do you have pocket money now?"
"No." Song Youran said with a dull expression, "I definitely don't have enough money. You can help me out first, and I'll pay you back later."
Yang Xu was still wondering where the money came from, so he asked, "Did you pick it up?"
Song Youran glanced at him and said, "Why don't you try picking one up?"
The naughty boy in the class walked over along the wall. Song Youran said, "Here's the money."
The Naughty King took out a few exercise books from his schoolbag and clasped his hands together in front of Song Youran. "Please."
Song Youran smiled and nodded. "No problem." She rubbed the cover of the exercise book with her fingertips. "Is it inside?"
The Naughty King blinked and said, "Don't worry, I know the rules."
"What's going on?" Yang Xu scratched his head as he watched the Naughty King's receding figure.
Song Youran opened one of the exercise books, pulled out five yuan from the pages, and handed it to Yang Xu: "Don't think about saving money, choose good quality."
Yang Xu was stunned: "What are you doing?"
Song Youran pretended not to understand: "I'm going to confess."
To make ends meet, the old man did whatever he could, moving goods in the factory during the day and crafting under a light bulb at night. A frail child, his palm-sized face adorned with only two large, prominent eyes, trembled as he stepped on a stool, holding onto a table taller than he was, as he collected the old man's paper flowers one by one into a colorful woven bag.
The old man was very skillful, and paper flowers popped out from his fingers one by one. The child leaned over to look, and the old man slowed down his movements. Another paper flower popped out, and the old man asked, "Do you remember?"
The child blinked and said, "I remember it."
Some things, once seen, are never forgotten. Song Youran spread out her hand. The flower in her palm was clearly more vivid and lifelike than the ones she remembered, perhaps because of the quality of the paper.
Song You put the flowers away and took out an exercise book from his schoolbag. He agreed to help people with their homework for five yuan a day, until before the holiday.
Writing homework for others is a technical job. You have to imitate the other person's handwriting. The answers cannot be the same as your own homework, and there cannot be too many mistakes. Otherwise, it will be suspected that you are perfunctory, and the other party will cheat and not pay you.
On the morning of the festival, Song Youran got into the car carrying a big bag. Wen Chu, who had been in a cold war with him for many days, looked up at him for the first time, over and over again, as if he wanted to burn two holes in the paper bag on his legs.
Song Youran smiled secretly in her heart, and deliberately moved the bag to the middle of the seat, stretching her arms and wrists. In her peripheral vision, the bag was open and the contents were clearly visible.
Wen Chu widened his eyes and raised his hand. Song Youran put her arm around him and the paper bag returned to his lap.
How dare you do it, you want to eat it...
Song Youran didn't look at Wen Chu when he got out of the car, but he could feel the eyes behind him fixed on his arm.
Today is a holiday, so there are no classes. After the art performance in the morning, I can go home at noon.
Song Youran slumped in his chair, feeling drowsy. Yang Xu nudged his head, "What's wrong with you lately? Have you been sucked dry by a vixen?"
This guy must have watched some indecent videos, he's talking dirty.
Song Youran felt as if her internal organs were filled with cement and there were thousands of bees buzzing in her ears. It turned out that doing two homework assignments at night was too difficult for her.
"Let me lean on your shoulder. Call me when it's the princess' turn to go on stage." Pulling Yang Xu over and leaning his head against her, Song Youran closed her eyes.
He knelt on the ground. Xie Xueruo sighed, squatted down, and placed her hand on his face. "You are still young and your cognition is not complete. I don't blame you for wanting to take shortcuts, but you must know that everything in our life has a price. If you enjoy it early, you will overdraw your future and you will definitely regret it in the future."
"I'm starving to death. What future do I have left?" he roared angrily. "Take me to get an injection. I won't grow anymore after that."
He had heard Yang Xu mention that the growth-inhibiting injection was specifically for people with overdevelopment.
Xie Xuerou slapped him in the face, pointed at his nose and scolded: "For a meal, you don't even care about your dignity, you crawl on the ground like a dog, wagging your tail and begging for mercy. Is that what I taught you?"
"I'm hungry," he covered his face and cried, "Mom, I'm hungry...
"If I had never eaten my fill, I might be able to endure this hunger now, but now that I've tasted what it's like to be full, I'll never forget it. Every moment of hunger now is ten or a hundred times more painful than before... Mom," he let go of her hand and looked up at Xie Xueruo, who was standing high above him, "Which is more painful, hunger or death?"
After receiving another slap on the cheek, Xie Xuerou said, "If you give up now, all the hardship you've endured will be in vain. Are you willing to accept that?"
"I'm unwilling," he lowered his head, "but what can I do?"
His shoulders were grabbed and Xie Xueruo ordered him to raise his head and speak.
“Only by living and working hard can you get what you want.”
Some things can never be obtained. They are like flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water. They seem to be right in front of you, but in fact they are out of reach.
He burst into tears: "Mom, do you love me?"
"You are my child, of course I love you."
Xie Xueruo bent down and picked him up. He became a little child, his neck resting softly on her soft chest.
"Mom, I want some chocolate." He pointed at the white fence. "Little brother wants some too. Give him some, okay, Mom?"
Xie Xueruo carried the child to the fence. He stood outside the fence, watching the small balls wrapped in tinfoil fall from the palms of his hands above his head and roll into his outstretched hands.
He looked up and grinned, "Thank you, Auntie."
"Wake up! Wake up!"
Song Youran opened her eyes and saw Yang Xu's enlarged face in front of her.
Yang Xu frowned, his lips opening and closing as he spoke anxiously, "...You've already stepped down, are you still able to confess?..."
Song Youran sat up straight and shook his chaotic head. "What did you just say?"
"I say, the princess has left the stage. If you want to confess your love, go find her backstage."
"Why didn't you call me earlier?" Song Youran picked up the paper bag under the seat.
"I called you, but you were sleeping like a dead pig. What could I do?" Yang Xu kicked Song Youran in the butt when she passed by him.
Song Youran turned around and glared at him. He laughed awkwardly, "Go quickly, Prince. Don't keep the princess waiting."
The show wasn't over yet, but the backstage was bustling with activity, as if everyone was engaged in a war. Song Youran asked a few classmates and learned that the princess had been called away by the teacher, and no one knew where she had gone.
Song Youran stood at the door of the auditorium. The sunlight outside was glaring. He lowered his hands that were shielding his eyes and saw a slender figure heading towards the playground.
He trotted over and saw the princess sitting on a chair in the stands, her shoulders twitching.
The timing is not good.
He squatted under a big tree and pulled a bunch of grass. The princess's shoulders finally stopped shaking. He took out the bouquet from the bag and slowly walked over.
"Why are you sitting here alone?" He casually handed over the flowers, colorful tulips wrapped in beige matte printed paper.
The princess was surprised: "This is for me?"
"Um."
The princess's makeup was smudged, red and black all over her face. Song Youran looked up at the sky and said, "I did this myself. It's not bad, isn't it?"
The princess took the bouquet and ran her fingers over the petals: "Amazing."
Song Youran chuckled, sat down on the chair next to her, pointed at her eyes and said, "Your eyes are so red, have you been crying?"
The princess looked sad and was about to cry again: "Something happened at home. My mother wants to take me somewhere else, but I don't want to leave here..."
"Oh, I know. They said you were going to Jiangbei. Is that true?"
The princess bit her lip and said, "I've only told this to my best friend. How did you know this?"
"There are no secrets under the sun." Song Youran turned her head to look at her. "People, when their mouths are not eating, they have to talk, otherwise they will suffocate to death."
"You talk so strangely."
The princess rubbed her eyes, her makeup smudged even further. "She's my best friend, and I trust her very much... Actually, I've been feeling this lately. Every time people see me, they stop chatting. I thought it was just my imagination, but I didn't expect them to be talking about me behind my back... How should I live my life from now on?"
"When you go to Jiangbei, no one will talk about you anymore. People there won't know you. If you think about it this way, going to Jiangbei isn't bad either. You can make new friends there and start over. Maybe it will be better than here."
The princess sniffed and asked hesitantly, "Is it really possible?"
"Then do you have any other options besides crying?"
The princess lowered her head sadly. "I cried in front of my mother and I cried in front of my father, but no one listened to me. They just said, 'Life is already annoying enough, can you be a little bit better?' I was too weak and could do nothing."
"Then accept it. I'll change it when I'm able to..." Song Youran suddenly paused, frowning. "I think I was influenced by my mother and said the same thing as her."
"I wish my mother could tell me the same thing." The princess took out a piece of hawthorn cake from her coat pocket. "Thank you for the flowers you gave me. This is for you as a return gift. It's not as good as the flowers you gave me, but it's my little token of my appreciation."
Song Youran picked up the hawthorn cake and said, "...Hawthorn is appetizing, right?"
"Yes, I've been in a bad mood recently and can't eat. I can eat after eating this. It's a pity that I only have this small piece in my pocket, otherwise I could give you more."
Song Youran laughed dryly: "One piece is enough."
The hawthorn cake tasted sour and sweet in her mouth. The princess tilted her head and asked, "Is it delicious?"
“Very sweet.”
The sweetness spread from his mouth to his heart. Song Youran thought, when he and the princess meet in the new school, the princess will be very happy...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
