She lived her life cautiously, a life that was mundane yet full of excitement. Occasionally, she would find a toad staring at her in the locker; occasionally, she would find a torn textbook with footprints in it; sometimes, the blackboard eraser would accidentally hit her while others were playing; and even more occasionally, when it was her turn to clean, there would be several times more trash on the floor than usual…
However, nothing could be more exciting than Yan hope's sudden appearance.
That day, she was doing her homework when someone suddenly walked into the classroom. Before she even looked up, the female students were already screaming with excitement. She looked up, wearing a blue school uniform and a white shirt, with long, slender legs, black hair backlit, and bright, calm eyes.
Yan Xi was one year older than Xin Dayi, the same age as Si Wan, and one grade higher than Xin Dayi Aheng.
Ah Heng had overheard Si Wan muttering that Yan hope had skipped too many classes last year and hadn't learned anything all year, so Grandpa Yan wanted to send him back to his first year of high school for a makeover.
But this came too suddenly, didn't it?
Xin Dayi, seemingly aware of the situation, rushed towards Yan Xile and proudly told the boy next to her, "See that? Our school's beauty queen, my brother Yan hope!"
Yan Xi's reputation as the school beauty has been long-standing. Right from the start of high school, the former student council president, who only pursued the school beauty of each year, mistook him for a girl. He sent her a love letter every three days, a bouquet of roses every five, and constantly professed his love for her. Yan Xi yelled at him, "I'm a guy!", but the man just laughed heartily—"Beautiful lady, let's go, let's come out of the closet right now!"
Thus, her title as the school beauty was firmly established and unshakeable.
When Ah Heng first heard about this, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.
Why is it that nothing that happens to Yan hope is normal...?
The moment the homeroom teacher, Ms. Lin, announced that Yan hope had transferred to her class, her voice was quickly drowned out. This woman, you see, is a formidable figure whose voices echo between the two school buildings when she lectures; yet, her voice was now drowned out by a group of normally quiet and gentle girls.
Indeed, a beautiful woman is the most powerful ultimate weapon in this world.
Yan hope smiled slightly, his eyes expressionless. He picked up the chalk and wrote the two characters "Yan hope" on the blackboard, neat and orderly. This was nothing like the talented person Aheng had seen that day.
She guessed that he was afraid of trouble and wanted to keep a low profile.
However, in Xilin, even just the name Yan Xi is nothing special.
Then, the screaming continued.
"Yanxi, come here and sit here!" Xin Dayi pointed to the empty seat behind her and scurried around like a monkey.
The boy glanced at Xin Dayi, intending to walk over, but upon noticing that there were too many girls sitting next to him, he immediately turned his head away in disgust and walked in the opposite direction.
Looking down, he saw Ah Heng with two braids staring blankly at him.
Her surroundings were so quiet that they contrasted sharply with the silence around Xin Dayi.
Yan hope didn't bother to think about it and plopped down in the seat behind A Heng.
The air in the classroom felt somewhat stagnant.
Then came the rustling of pages turning and the scratching of writing, restoring the quiet atmosphere for studying.
Ah Heng had been drawing circuit diagrams, feeling like his brain was turning into a jumble of wires. He put down his pen, gently leaned on the table, and looked out the window at the birds flying by.
Spring has arrived. Have the birds flown back from Wushui? Flying back and forth, year after year, don't they get used to it?
She had only been indulging in a romantic, poetic mood for less than three minutes when she was instantly silenced by the soft, gentle snoring behind her.
Ah Heng turned her head and saw Yan hope lying on the table, asleep.
She had never seen Yan hope like this before, completely unguarded, stripped of all his armor, leaving only the innocence of a young boy.
She stared blankly at the boy's bent elbow.
This school uniform, it's blue, it's quite nice.
hehe.
She knew she was being hypocritical. What she really wanted to say was that Yan hope looked good in her school uniform, but she just thought the uniform looked good. However, everyone in City B knew that the aesthetic appeal of Xilin School uniforms was inversely proportional to its college entrance rate. Every single one was a bluish-green with white stripes, looking exactly like a dish of scallions mixed with tofu.
When the bell rang, Ah Heng had already perked up and continued to connect series and parallel circuits.
Yan hope, however, was still asleep.
After writing for a while, a female classmate walked up to her seat, patted her on the shoulder, and smiled—"Wen Heng, someone's looking for you at the school gate!"
Ah Heng was stunned. Who could be here right now?
But the girl's expression was sincere, so she didn't suspect anything and left her seat.
When her classmates saw her, they started pointing and whispering; Xin Dayi glanced at her, then quickly lowered her head.
Puzzled, Ah Heng hurriedly left the classroom and headed towards the school gate.
There was still a long way to go from the teaching building to the school gate. As she walked, Aheng noticed that everyone's expressions were strange, as if they were looking at her as if she were crazy.
When I arrived at the school gate, there was no one there.
Ah Heng realized she had been tricked again.
Feeling a little annoyed, I went back.
The people who had just seen her started mocking her without any politeness, pointing and gossiping about her.
"Hey, how can this person be so shameless?"
"Yeah, that's disgusting, is he crazy?"
Ah Heng looked at her clothes and saw nothing wrong with them, but the words she heard were increasingly offensive. She quickened her pace and ran back to the classroom.
When she returned to the classroom, a group of girls stared at her, laughing exaggeratedly and smugly.
"Wen Heng, everyone's watching you, right? Did they praise you?" The girl who had a grudge against Aheng because of volleyball asked her with a smile.
Ah Heng looked at her and thought her eyes were ugly, as if they were about to devour her.
She didn't speak, but she understood. She gently reached out to her shoulder and, sure enough, touched a piece of paper.
It must have been pasted on by that girl when she took the picture earlier.
"I am □".
Ah Heng looked at the note and read it aloud softly.
She looked at the girl, handed her the note, suppressed the trembling in her hands, and said gently, "Here's your thing back."
The girl's face instantly turned red.
"Wen Heng, you bastard, what are you pretending to be so high and mighty for! You're always pestering Wen Siwan, you're asking for it!"
Ah Heng and Si Wan often walked home together after school, but unfortunately, their temperaments were very different. Ah Heng was too rustic, and even though they shared the same surname, Wen, no one thought they were siblings.
Aheng lowered her head, and when she raised it again, she spoke seriously, "You like Wen Siwan, but why do you have to slander her? Since she's a girl, how can you... say such nasty... foul words?"
The girl tore up the note, her face flushed red—"Who do you think you are? To lecture me? Look at yourself, you country bumpkin who seems to have wandered out from who-knows-where!"
A country bumpkin, huh? He's probably a country bumpkin who'll never learn to speak Beijing dialect, even after a hundred years.
Ah Heng smiled.
Enraged, the other party grabbed Ah Heng's clothes.
"If you dare to touch Wen Heng today, I'll cripple your hand." Behind him came a flat, emotionless voice, speaking in a casual tone as if discussing the weather.
The girl was stunned, staring at the boy who had suddenly appeared.
Ah Heng turned her head slightly, her nose brushing against the boy's collar, smelling a faint scent of milk.
"Yan hope." She smiled, but then, suddenly, she looked aggrieved again.
Ah Heng sighed inwardly. This was truly a terrible feeling; it was the beginning of something, and it was also its end.
The boy, thin and frail, shielded her behind him.
He raised his eyebrows, his big eyes flashing with a cold light, and looked at the girl opposite him with a forced smile—"Wen Siwan knows that you are bullying his sister like this, and out of some so-called gentlemanly manners, he probably won't hit you, but I don't mind hitting women."
The girl's face turned pale instantly. She looked at Aheng in disbelief—"She's Wen Siwan's sister?"
Yan hope sneered – “If she isn’t, then who is?”
Then, he turned around, walked up to Xin Dayi, and kicked her hard. With a loud bang, the desk overturned to the ground.
The books were scattered all over the floor.
Xin Dayi stood up, feeling somewhat guilty.
The boy gazed at him, his dark, beautiful eyes holding a fiery glint, his voice icy, almost chilling.
"Xin Dayi, you fucking find it amusing to see Wen Heng being bullied like this every day, don't you?"
Chapter 19
Chapter 19
It is unknown what Yan hope and Xin Dayi said, but since that day, Xin Dayi has treated Aheng much better, at least she is willing to talk to her.
However, the two truly became close after a meal together.
The food at Xilin High School's cafeteria is notoriously bad in the high school community. It's said that students from other schools are not only academically brilliant, but they also talk in a very arrogant way. They never talk about eating; instead, they say, "Did you go on a date with Xiaoqiang today?" They don't say "potato stir-fried with pork slices," but "pork slices stir-fried with potatoes." They don't say "tomato stir-fried with eggs," but "tomato stir-fried with tomatoes."
However, these talented people are still very cultured. If they get rice stuck in their teeth, they usually won't curse or make a fuss. They'll just smile, walk up to the chef, and say, "You guys have gone a bit too far with how you cook today. There's even rice in the sand. It's really worn my teeth down."
Well, actually, these are nothing. What's really annoying is that the food is ridiculously expensive. And even though it's expensive, the portions are often not enough. It's not a big deal for the girls, but the boys, those half-grown kids, usually don't get enough to eat.
So the boys made it a habit to bring their own lunch to school, heat it up in the cafeteria microwave, and eat it quickly.
Ah Heng often cooks meals the day before and brings them to school to eat the next day.
Yanxi usually doesn't bring his own lunchbox; he always sees a group of friends grabbing whoever's food is the best. Recently, he's settled on a specific person, and he only steals Siwan's food.
“Zhang Ma’s cooking skills have improved a lot recently, and the flavors aren’t as strong as before.” Yan hope held Si Wan’s lunchbox, his mouth covered in oil from eating, and spoke to Xin Dayi with satisfaction.
"Zhang Ma's taste will become lighter? Every time I eat Siwan's family's food, I have to drink a whole vat of water!" Xin Dayi buried her face in the lunchbox and spoke indistinctly.
Ah Heng sat in front, pursing her lips and secretly smiling.
"Auntie, is there braised pork ribs in your lunchbox?" Yan hope sniffed and looked at Xin Dayi with bright eyes.
"No!" Xin Dayi held the lunchbox, looking at Yan hope with a wary expression.
"Dayi, what's our relationship? It's just a few pieces of pork ribs, young master. Would I steal it from you? Hey, let me see..." Yan hope chuckled, a dimple appearing on his oily lips.
"That's what you said yesterday, and now my ribs are gone in the blink of an eye!" Xin Dayi said righteously and firmly.
Yan hope pounced, hanging on Xin Dayi, his claws reaching for the lunchbox.
Xin Dayi remained defiant to the death, holding his lunchbox as if Dong Cunrui were holding a bomb.
"Teacher Lin!" Yan hope suddenly changed his expression and greeted Xin Dayi from behind in a serious manner.