Ying Yunsheng was taken aback. Before he could say anything, the other person shoved the box into his hand and turned to leave.
.
When Ji Li first enrolled in Tingfeng Lane, the homeroom teacher arranged for him to sit next to Ying Yunsheng, because the class had always had an odd number of students, and Ying Yunsheng was the only student who occupied a table by himself.
It wasn't that the teacher had a problem with Ying Yunsheng, nor that they hadn't tried to arrange other people as his deskmates. It was just that each time, the relationship didn't last long. Over the two years, no one seemed to be able to say more than a few words to him. Later, the homeroom teacher simply stopped insisting and, after asking for opinions, simply made him the only one.
Ying Yunsheng thought that this time would be the same as before, with both sides consciously abiding by the principle of peaceful coexistence, without disturbing or interfering with each other's learning progress. However, in reality, the peace between the two sides only lasted for a week before he was entangled by the other party.
The literal meaning of "entanglement".
When Ying Yunsheng went to the cafeteria, Ji Li followed him; when Ying Yunsheng went to the office, Ji Li followed him; when Ying Yunsheng stayed behind to clean the classroom, Ji Li didn't go home, but stayed by his side quietly reading a book.
On my way home, I had to pass through Tingfeng Lane. Because there were no garages, a row of electric motorcycles was parked on both sides of the narrow residential buildings. Someone was riding one backwards, and the rear of the motorcycle crashed straight into a person in the middle of the road.
Ying Yunsheng, walking ahead, didn't see what was behind him. He only felt his arm being suddenly pulled by someone behind him, almost causing him to crash into a bicycle next to him. He couldn't control his tone any longer: "What exactly do you want by following me?"
Ji Li let go of his hand and said, "You didn't finish reciting 'Xisha Islands' in class, so I'm going to watch you recite it again."
"On what grounds?"
"That's what the teacher said."
"What's it to you?"
"Um."
“Uh…” Ying Yunsheng was a student who was very unbalanced in his studies. Specifically, he consistently got full marks in math, while his Chinese scores fluctuated depending on the difficulty of the test papers. In the teacher’s words, he was wasting his learning talent.
At that time, I don't know where the "one-on-one" activity started to become popular. The homeroom teacher was also a Chinese teacher. He couldn't bear to see him wasting his talents like this, so he handed over the task of supervising his memorization to his newly appointed deskmate.
Although it's called helping students, in reality, very few students in the class actually take it seriously, and even those who are initially interested can't stick to it for more than a few days.
Ying Yunsheng originally thought that if he waited a few more days, the other party would lose patience and lose interest in him. He didn't bother to ask the other party to leave. He walked out of Tingfeng Alley and went straight into the abandoned little house next door. He put down his schoolbag and started fiddling with the soda cans in the corner.
Ji Li followed him in closely, and seeing that he had no intention of communicating, he sat down on a small stool next to him, took out his homework, and started writing.
The room was originally unused; it was covered in thick dust, and the chandelier was broken. It was fine shortly after school ended in the evening, but as time went on and it got dark, he couldn't see the words in his textbooks anymore, so he had to stop and watch the other person play with an aluminum can.
The vendors outside set up and packed up, and people going home after get off work closed their doors. Ying Yunsheng looked up and saw that the people next to him were still in the same place. Without saying a word, he picked up his schoolbag and walked back to the tenement building where he lived.
The next day, after school, Ying Yunsheng went to the other end of Tingfeng Lane and the bottom of Heyuan Bridge, where Ji Li was memorizing vocabulary words.
On the third day, Ying Yunsheng went to a closed clothing store outside the school after school, and Ji Li read the text next to him.
On the fourth day, Ying Yunsheng hid in a classroom on the first floor after school, while Ji Li wrote his weekly journal next to him.
Every time after school, Ying Yunsheng didn't go home. Every time, he would find a place where no one else was around and linger until the moon was high in the sky before he would finally set off for that place called "home".
Ji Li never took the initiative to offer any advice, and Ying Yunsheng was also very patient. Although he was always full of questions whenever he saw the other party, he knew that if he took the initiative to speak in this situation, he would lose. Since that time, he had not taken the initiative to speak to the other party, just waiting for the day when the other party would give up on his own initiative.
This situation continued for five, six, seven, eight, or nine days. After the students returned to school over the weekend, the homeroom teacher organized another dictation test during class time.
Ying Yunsheng, as usual, handed in a blank paper.
Ji Li's grades, however, plummeted from a perfect score to a passing grade.
Then he was called up by the homeroom teacher and criticized for half a class period under the watchful eyes of sixty or seventy classmates.
At that age, it was really embarrassing to do something like that.
Ying Yunsheng still can't remember exactly what the teacher said that day, and he doesn't even know why he didn't dare to look the other person in the eye during the whole process. Therefore, he doesn't know what the other person's expression was when he remained silent throughout the criticism.
What was clearest were the whispers coming from the front and back of the classroom during that half-class period.
Ji Li's sudden arrival and immediate takeover of first place made him a positive example for teachers and parents, which inevitably drew jealousy from some.
Now that he has lost power, some are curious, some are contemptuous, and some are gloating.
Ying Yunsheng got angry for no reason after hearing this.
Even if those comments weren't directed at him at all.
After school that day, Ying Yunsheng still didn't go home, but went to the small dilapidated house at the end of Tingfeng Lane.
Ji Li still followed.
Ying Yunsheng really couldn't understand what the other party was thinking.
Others might not know why Ying Yunsheng's grades suddenly dropped so much, but Ji Li couldn't possibly not know. Every time Ying Yunsheng went after school, his starting point was to hide from others. Naturally, he would only go to secluded and dark places. Therefore, as soon as the sun went down, the surrounding light was no longer enough to support a normal reading. He had to stay outside until after midnight before he could go home to sleep. He could not rest for long before he had to get up early to attend the normal morning self-study the next day.
The two teenagers wandered around outside late at night every day, and it's only thanks to the bad guys not being able to see them that they weren't abducted.
If this continues, how can the results be maintained?
Why waste so much time and effort on something that doesn't pay off?
Ji Li then asked, "Can you recite 'The Zhaozhou Bridge' now?"
Ying Yunsheng decisively turned his head back.
Five seconds later, he turned his head back: "The teacher was just saying that. If we could really improve our grades by helping each other, we wouldn't need a teacher. Even if you don't follow me, the teacher won't say anything to you."
Ji Li said, "But I've already promised the teacher."
“You told the teacher you had tried your best, but I didn’t listen.”
"Whether something is done and whether it has an effect are two different things."
"You follow me around every day and you never have to go home?"
"Don't you also not come home every day?"
"Going home just to get beaten?"
“Uh…” Ying Yunsheng would never normally say such a thing.
During his summer vacation, he witnessed his parents' relationship evolve from breaking pots and pans to replacing them, then breaking them again. He learned that if he couldn't handle the situation, he should avoid it. He would leave before they woke up and return after they fell asleep.
But today, I can't say whether it was because I was furious at the other person for being so "degenerate," or because I felt guilty for causing their grades to drop due to my late nights, or because I felt wronged for being accused of ruining someone's future.
Or perhaps it's simply that the mouth and the brain use two separate systems.
Ji Li was silent for a few seconds, then asked him, "Do you want to come to my house?"
Even after stepping into the other party's house, Ying Yunsheng still couldn't figure out how things had gone from him trying to avoid it to him actively going to the other party's house.
Quite by chance, Ji Li's house was on the floor above Ying Yunsheng's, only four or five meters apart.
The difference is that his house is a single-story building, while this house is a two-story building. He bought two units at once and then built a staircase in the middle. The tiled floor is so shiny that it reflects your image. Compared to the small house with cigarette butts, bottles, and plastic bags piled up on the ground floor, they are two extremely striking extremes that could be put into a work of art.
Ying Yunsheng stood in the living room, not even knowing how to take a step, and suddenly regretted agreeing to come over.
“My mother isn’t home; it’s just the two of us here.”
Ji Li pulled out a new pair of slippers and placed them beside his feet: "So you acted as if you saw..." He carefully considered his words, "a den of dragons and tigers."
Ying Yunsheng remained silent, changed his shoes in silence, and looked up at the white equipment in the corner: "What's that?"
"Camera." Ji Li put down the fruit bowl. The black and white plastic box was divided into two equal halves by a raised arc in the middle. Candy was placed on the left and cookies and dried bean curd on the right, arranged neatly with salty and sweet flavors. "Take whatever you like. I'll go get a glass of water."
Ying Yunsheng only ate one piece of chocolate.
That day, the text they had just learned was "Zhaozhou Bridge." When they read the part about "the bridge being over fifty meters long and over nine meters wide, with carriages and horses passing through the middle and pedestrians walking on both sides," a whistle suddenly sounded downstairs, and the loud noise instantly drowned out the reading.
Finally, the sound of the glass being slammed onto the coffee table brought him back to his senses.
Ji Li pushed the glass in front of him. The clear, freshly squeezed juice was clean and bright, shimmering with a warm, luminous hue.
Would you like some orange juice?
Ying Yunsheng stayed at Ji Li's house for half a month, from after school until he went home at night. Whether it was a coincidence or something else, Ji Li's parents never appeared during this time. Occasionally, when an adult knocked on the door and came in, it was the aunt next door who came to deliver food.
Ji Li said that was a nanny his mother hired for him, who was responsible for his three meals a day.
Ying Yunsheng couldn't understand why some parents couldn't find the time to go home for a whole two weeks. Even his own parents, who were tired of each other, would stay home all day worried that if they were away for too long, the other would occupy the house.
However, this actually prevents him from being asked questions like "What's your name?", "Where do you live?", and "Why don't you go home after school?" if he happens to meet the other person's elders.
It wasn't until the Chinese test more than half a month later that Ji Li returned to the top of the list, while Ying Yunsheng's score soared to the top of the class under the shocked gaze of the homeroom teacher.
Primary school curriculum is already limited, and they learn even less. It's far from the point where talent matters, so catching up is actually quite easy if they really want to.
The homeroom teacher organized the students on the podium to exchange gifts in support groups.
People around me gave me pens, notebooks, cartoon stickers, candy, and soda.
Ji Li handed him a heavy box: "This is a reward for you."
Ying Yunsheng originally thought it would be something like a notebook, but to his surprise, when he tore open the paper package, he saw a beautiful gold gift box with English letters printed on the front and a ribbon tied into a bow with the edges hanging down.
Open the box, and inside are pieces of chocolate, some round, some square, some heart-shaped, black, white, and brown.
He had only touched the snacks in the fruit bowl on his first day at the other person's house, and he picked out a piece of chocolate. He had tasted it once when he was very young, before the constant bickering he experienced now, and he remembered that taste for a long time.
Ji Li then gave him a box.
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
School Clinic
Life goes on, and amidst the fluttering pages of books and the swishing of pens, the end of the month arrives in the blink of an eye.
It rained heavily this Thursday, and the raindrops hitting the ground splashed up in a white mist, making even breathing feel heavy.
In Ye Ruhui's words, it's suffocating without any repercussions.
"At least we don't have to have PE class in the afternoon, right?"
"Not necessarily," Ye Ruhui said. "The school also has a gymnasium with a roof."
Jian Mingyuan lay half-dead on the table: "Do you have to be this dedicated?"
Ye Ruhui, who served as the sports committee member, showed no empathy: "Last time I asked you to run 1,000 meters, and everyone else had already reached the finish line while you hadn't even run half the distance. Your performance alone can lower the average level of our class. Instead of thinking about how to skip PE class, you should think about how to improve your speed as soon as possible."
Jianming couldn't help but say, "Running is something that depends on talent; we can't force it."
Ye Ruhui didn't even lift his eyelids: "So you're admitting you're useless?"
"I'm not the only slow runner in the class, why are you making such a fuss about it?"