The others hadn't expected this development either, but since it wouldn't affect them, they were naturally happy to push it along: "Absolutely not!"
Boy: "??"
Ji Li said, "If this requirement cannot be fulfilled, shouldn't it be considered your fault?"
Boy: "..."
He poured himself a drink with tears in his eyes, and when the bottle was empty, he didn't realize that the request couldn't be fulfilled, even though it could have been a problem for both of them.
Ying Yunsheng didn't know those bottle-spinning techniques, and it was from him that the bottle finally had the opportunity to be pointed at other people.
One by one, the onlookers who had initially been watching the spectacle were forced to join the fray, tearing each other apart and escalating the ensuing chaos.
At 11:30, Ji Li got up, said goodbye to everyone, and left.
Yu Ze, who had just finished a bottle of wine, said, "So early? Aren't you going to play a little longer?"
Ji Li put away her phone: "No, maybe next time."
The corridor was lit, but both ends were empty and eerily silent.
Ji Li stopped after taking only a couple of steps, turned around, and asked, "Is there something you need?"
Ying Yunsheng stopped and opened his mouth, saying, "Thank you."
“If you’re referring to the dare just now,” Ji Li said, “I just happened to want to make him uncomfortable, you don’t need to thank me.”
"But you helped me."
"So you think my suggestion that you kiss someone else was helping you?"
“Uh…” A draft happened to blow in from the corridor. Ying Yunsheng watched him leave in silence, and after a long while, he slowly lowered his gaze.
It's always like this.
Every time he gives help, he never lets the recipient have the opportunity to owe him anything.
Not only now, but also in the past.
Ying Yunsheng first met Ji Li ten years ago. It was during summer vacation. He stood downstairs in the tenement building, staring blankly at the aroma wafting from the cart at the entrance of the community for a long time.
He hadn't eaten anything since he woke up that morning. His parents had been busy arguing the night before and were still catching up on sleep, so they didn't have time to cook for him. There were no other snacks at home, and a six or seven-year-old child's body couldn't withstand hunger. He mustered up his courage and went to the kitchen to find something to eat, only to find that his parents had woken up first and were disgusted with each other. He was caught in the crossfire of their anger and kicked out, where he was called a burden and a debt collector. They even told him never to come back.
The cart was selling something that smelled delicious, and from just a door behind him came the sound of something being smashed. He had no money, wasn't an outgoing person, had few friends at school, and couldn't find anyone close enough to ask for help. His only redeeming quality was his grades.
Ying Yunsheng pondered for a long time, tore a flyer off the wall, picked up a pen refill that someone had dropped in the corner, wrote a line of words neatly, and placed it on the first-floor steps as a sign: Help with homework, 50 cents a page.
He hadn't learned the character "帮" yet, so he wrote the pinyin.
Ying Yunsheng waited for an hour. During that time, seven or eight parents with children passed by, but their reactions were all the same: they all pulled their children away to avoid them.
As dusk fell and smoke rose from the chimneys of every household, Ying Yunsheng was about to pick up his "signboard" and leave when someone called out to him.
The person who came was about the same age as him. He stopped in front of him against the light of the fiery sunset, standing at the bottom of the steps, and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, would you still help with homework?"
Ying Yunsheng nodded.
The other person put down their backpack, rummaged through it, and pulled out two workbooks.
Ying Yunsheng recognized it as summer homework assigned by the school, covering both Chinese and math: "I can only help with the math."
Upon hearing this, the other party put away the document.
Ying Yunsheng opened it; it was spotless, not a single word had been changed where it should have been written.
Besides the questions, the workbook also contained pages and pages of extended knowledge, some of which were large sections of question stems. Before he could even figure out how much to charge, the other party, probably impatient, pulled out a bright red banknote and stuffed it into the bound workbook.
"My mom is still waiting for me. Keep this for now, and return it to me when you're done writing."
Ying Yunsheng didn't have time to call out to the other party.
When he got home and was all alone, he opened the first page again and saw the name written in ballpoint pen in the blank space—
Ji Li. His name is Ji Li.
That summer, the house was filled with arguments every day. Ying Yunsheng dared not provoke his parents anymore, and even dared not appear in their sight. Every day, he would secretly take a little bit from his homework and go downstairs to buy the cheapest snacks to fill his stomach, and he actually got through it.
It's hard to say whether he was just too good at deceiving everyone, or whether they simply never paid any attention to him from the beginning.
When the holiday ended and Ying Yunsheng returned to school, he sat at the back of the classroom and saw the new classmate being led in by the homeroom teacher. The classmate stood on the podium and introduced himself in a confident manner. Only then did he realize that the new transfer student did not need to do the summer homework from the previous semester.
Later, he went to ask the other person why.
The other person was even more surprised than him: "So I don't have to do summer homework? But my mom gave it to me, and she said she would check it after I finished it, and she would deduct my allowance if there were any blanks."
He was about to say something more, but the other person laughed and said, "So strictly speaking, you've helped me too."
The assignment is like this.
The recording is like that.
Desserts are an example.
The same applies to games today.
Even though he knew perfectly well that it was all just out of goodwill, the other party always had a reason to portray it as a coincidence.
Even saying thank you feels like being presumptuous.
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
high walls
That night, it rained heavily, and the curtains in the dormitory room were tightly closed, making it pitch black.
When Ji Li woke up, all he saw was complete darkness.
His blood surged through his veins, his forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and his fingers gripped the sheets tightly. After a full half minute, he finally threw off the covers and got out of bed. His hand on the railing trembled slightly as he suddenly pulled back the curtains.
A clap of thunder ripped through the sky, and raindrops that drifted in soaked most of the balcony, the spray carrying the summer night's heat.
He was lost in thought for a few seconds when he suddenly heard the sound of the balcony door being pushed open, followed by a sudden burst of light: "Ji Li?"
Ying Yunsheng stood on the balcony of the next room, holding a folding lamp in his hand. The rain curtain between them was less than two meters away.
Ji Li paused for a moment: "You live in 422?"
Ying Yunsheng nodded.
Ji Li recalled the incident of moving his luggage last week. At the time, he wondered how the other party could deliver the items and disappear so quickly, when he had only been in and out for half a minute.
However, if the other party already lives next door, you can simply walk a couple of steps to the side after dropping them off and that's your territory. Even if you're seen, you'll have a reason to explain.
"You're still awake?"
Ji Li shook his head: "Just woke up, came down for some fresh air." He then asked, "And you?"
Ying Yunsheng: "The exam paper isn't finished yet."
Ji Li chuckled upon hearing this: "Do you really need to work so hard?"
The table in the room lit up, and he turned around: "I'll go in first."
My phone automatically updated at some point, and my message box is now full of junk messages. The time displayed at the top is already close to 2 a.m.
Ji Li clicked on each of the icons with little red dots, marked all the messages as read, and was about to go back to sleep when there was a knock on the door.
In the dead of night, in the school dormitory, he was still all alone.
This kind of environment is actually quite creepy.
Ji Li stared at the door for a while, and inexplicably recalled the figure he had just seen through the rain.
As if in response to his guess, the person outside stopped what they were doing and asked, "Ji Li? Are you asleep?"
He opened the door: "Why did you come here?"
Ying Yunsheng asked him, "Are you crying?"
"Huh?" Ji Li was bewildered for a long time, unable to figure out what he had said that gave the other person the wrong impression that he was crying.
Ying Yunsheng's gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds before he lowered his eyes and said, "If you have nothing else, I'll go back."
They came out of nowhere and left just as quickly.
Just as Ji Li was about to close the door, she saw the other person stop after taking a few steps: "Do you mind if there's light next to you when you sleep?"
He shook his head.
"Can I stay here for a while?" Ying Yunsheng said. "The air conditioner next door was just reported for repair."
Ji Li blinked.
Ying Yunsheng said, "It's too hot at night."
Ji Li turned to look at the heavy rain behind him, then at the other person: "Okay."
Ying Yunsheng showed no remorse for lying. He calmly carried his small desk lamp and competition papers over, sat down at the other student's desk, and continued working on the problems.
The desk lamp was blindingly bright, yet the light it cast was soft, like a thin veil draped over him. The white noise of the pen nib scratching across the paper and the sound of another person breathing wove together something called "life" that lingered in the dim room.
Ji Li stared blankly for a while, then climbed back into bed and closed his eyes again.
This time, I had no dreams all night.
When I woke up again, the other person was no longer in the room.
.
The league match will last for an entire morning.
The second exam had fewer questions. After finishing, Ji Li checked his work twice, handed in his paper early, and walked downstairs with his bag. But he saw someone sitting on the steps on the first floor.
Because the school was chosen as the examination venue, the teaching building was extremely quiet at this time, making footsteps sound clearer.
Ying Yunsheng subconsciously turned around, then quickly stood up: "You handed in your paper?"
Ji Li looked at him: "Waiting for me?"
"Hmm." Ying Yunsheng lowered his head and folded the test paper in his hand. "Are you free at noon?"