Turning around, she sighed, took out a blank check, handed it to Gu Feibai, and said calmly, "Fill it in as you see fit. Grandpa Wen said that whatever his granddaughter used for food, clothing, and shelter for the past two years, he would repay her. Although the Wen family is small, we never accept favors from others."
When the young woman surnamed Zhang saw the check, she felt a little guilty, but she still maintained her confidence—which Wen family?
Yan hope smiled faintly—"At least you'll never be able to enter the Wen family in your lifetime. Gu Feibai, I wonder what your uncle said when you and Aheng got engaged back then."
Gu Feibai clenched his fist, his face icy cold, and gritted his teeth—he had no intention of climbing the social ladder, but his friend's hospitality had forced him to do so!
The girl surnamed Zhang, and even Du Qing, turned pale upon hearing Gu Feibai's words.
The Gu family's prestige in Jiangnan is largely due to the power of Gu's eldest uncle in the military. Now that Gu's eldest uncle has dared to utter the words "climbing the social ladder," what kind of situation must Wen Heng's family be in...?
Yan hope stared at Du Qing and the girl surnamed Zhang, and said calmly, "Aheng has always been the apple of our eye at home. I kindly advise you all not to do anything that could harm your parents' and brothers' future."
Then, her expression softened slightly, she nodded politely to Gu Feibai, turned around, and opened the car door.
He stepped on the gas, turned the steering wheel, and sped away, leaving everyone else in the dust.
Ah Heng bit into the buttered bread and said, "You're really good at breaking things. When did I become the apple of everyone's eye at home?"
Yan hope glanced at her and said, "How can you say I'm not your precious daughter? I practically pamper you at home, and you're still not your precious daughter? How are girls from other families who have nothing to eat or wear and have to live at the mercy of their parents and brothers?"
Ah Heng bit into her bread, nodded, and thought that although she was not well received in the Wen family, she at least held the financial power in the Yan family. Things may change, but there is always somewhere to live.
Once on the highway, Aheng felt a little sleepy, but worried that Yanxi would be even more sleepy driving alone, so she forced herself to stay awake and talk to him.
But after a day of exams, she was exhausted and finally couldn't hold on any longer, collapsing in her seat.
Yan hope smiled, closed the car roof, took out his coat from behind him, covered her with it, and then turned on the radio.
A sweet-voiced female DJ is taking song requests. Outside the car window, night is deepening, and the streetlights embedded in the highway pass by like flowing water.
The female DJ said that a friend whose phone number ends in 6238 wanted to dedicate a song to Cinderella and her stepmother. She said that Auntie and Rose both hoped that Cinderella's stepmother would be braver, become a prince, and then elope with Cinderella.
Yan looked towards the distance, her eyes filled with mist.
The girl, as she had done years before, slipped gently down and lay on his lap, sleeping peacefully.
He reached out and gently stroked her hair, tenderly, tremblingly.
All around was quiet.
Chapter 82
Chapter 82
In the summer of 2003, Aheng and Yanxi returned to City B for summer vacation.
That summer was unusually hot. In the evening, adults and children would sit under the green trees early in the morning with their small stools, gently waving large palm-leaf fans, telling a few unknown tales of gods and monsters, gazing at the starry sky, and the days seemed to slip by easily.
Many people no longer dared to eat at restaurants and food stalls. That year, SARS was rampant from the beginning of the year until the height of summer. The news broadcast always reported how many people had died around the world. Then, many people seemed to inexplicably discover that death was not just a problem in poor countries.
Yan hope quit his radio job and had a lot more free time, so he often spent time with A Heng. When she went grocery shopping, he followed behind her, picking and choosing the ribs. The old man selling ribs got annoyed and started chopping the ribs heavily on the cutting board with a gleaming knife. Yan hope pulled his eyelids and made a face behind A Heng.
Ah Heng said, "You're not the one most afraid of the dirt in the market."
Yan hope counted the change the old man had given him, one coin at a time, without looking up. He spoke calmly, which was much more interesting than what he did on the radio.
Ah Heng smiled gently and said, "It's fine if you don't go. It's too tiring anyway. You should focus on your studies and find a proper job after graduation. I'll come back then."
She roughly calculated the time. She was studying medicine, and even if she applied to graduate early, it would still take her four years. Yan hope, on the other hand, was studying law. If she didn't pursue a master's degree and passed the bar exam, she could start working in two years.
There will probably be a two-year gap between them.
Yan hope didn't reply, but took the vegetable basket from her hand and made a willful demand: "Today I want to eat braised pork ribs, roasted pork ribs, fried pork ribs, boiled pork ribs, and stewed pork ribs."
Ah Heng, humph, I'm serious, Yan hope, you might as well marry Ribs and live your whole life together.
Then, she thought, "Yan hope, if you say that I still prefer to marry Aheng, who makes ribs, then I'll forgive you ^_^."
The man spoke seriously, "Ah Heng, you can buy ribs with money for a lifetime, but a wife is different; you can't buy her with money."
Ah Heng's face turned green, thinking to herself, "Who else do you think you can buy with money?" On the surface, however, she forced a smile. "Back in Wushui," she said, "many families' sons were getting old, and they would pay money and, under the cover of darkness, carry other families' girls home. If the money was a large sum, and the family had many girls, around sixteen or seventeen years old, you could even choose the prettiest one."
Yan hope chuckled to himself, "So you only had the chance to come to City B because no one else wanted to marry you?"
Ah Heng gritted his teeth. "There are plenty of people who want to marry me," he thought. "But I just slipped some money to my father, and Zai Zai threw it away with a medicine jar. If it were you, Zai Zai would definitely have smashed the medicine vat at home."
Yan hope touched his chin and said, "Hey, your cheap little brother, does he have a sister complex?"
Ah Heng, get lost! You're the one with a sister complex! Your whole family has a sister complex! We're perfectly fine. We've always been gentle, sensible, and obedient—yes, obedient! I'm telling you, we're way more obedient than you!!!
Yan hope glanced at her and said, "You really think you've raised an angel? Let me tell you, those who look pure on the outside usually have hearts blacker than coal dust. When the time comes, you'll be the one who gets corrupted, and you won't even know how you fell into the trap."
Ah Heng looks up at the sky, you're jealous of him.
Yan hope looked at himself in the mirror of a shop outside the market. Was he as good-looking as me?
Ah Heng thought to herself, "That's the child I raised." She nodded firmly, "Much prettier than you."
Yan Xiqie, you really love him.
Ah Heng smiled and said, "I love it, so what?"
Yan hope scoffed, "You really have a lot of things you love. What did you say when you were seducing the gorilla Hei Hei at the zoo the other day, pounding its chest in front of you?"
Ah Heng = =, I love you the most, Hei Hei. *cough*, but that doesn't mean I don't love you, ZZZZ.
Yan hope smiled, "Your love is like a handful of candy, it can be shared."
Ah Heng said, "I can't understand what you're saying lately."
Yan hope pushed open the shop's revolving door; who asked you to understand?
Hey Ah Heng, what are you doing here? You should go home.
Yan hope said that the furniture in the house was a bit old and it was time to replace it.
This was Ah Heng's first time shopping with him, and she felt a sense of novelty. They spent most of their time together at home, in the same room, breathing the same air. They weren't together all the time, but she felt a sense of peace.
If two people can eventually come together, then this is the rhythm of their lives.
A gentle stream flows on, while the days grow shorter.
Ah Heng was looking at furniture when he came across a set of mahogany furniture with bamboo, snow, and plum blossoms carved in exquisite detail. He stopped to examine it closely and liked it very much.
Yan hope leaned closer. "What, you like this outfit?"
Ah Heng looked at the price tag, gasped, and shook his head.
Yan hope smiled and said, "I'll give it to you when you get married."
Ah Heng = =, what a wishful thinking. She'll marry him and still owe him a favor.
But he nodded, looking very serious, "Okay, okay, you must send one, otherwise I won't send you an invitation."
Yan hope touched the delicate texture of the furniture, smelling the pleasant fragrance of the wood. "It's settled then."
Um.
Ah Heng's gaze was drawn to the European-style furniture not far away, and he gave a perfunctory reply.
McDonald's is handing out coupons everywhere, and Yan hope says, "Wait here, I'll buy you an ice cream cone."
Wearing a baseball cap, he was recognized by a group of high school girls when he returned and was surrounded. Helpless, he wrote autographs until his hand was sore. Ah Heng came looking for him and smiled at him from outside the crowd.
Yan hope took off his hat and waved his hand at her.
A group of girls asked, "Brother Yanxi, who is that person?"
Yan hope lowered her head and smiled faintly. She was the person her brother least wanted to know.
The little girl covered her mouth, startled; it was an enemy.
Yan hope touched his left chest; it hurt a little. No, it hurt from his dearest, closest person.
A young girl, a staunch supporter of Yan Xi and Chu Yun (referred to as the Yan Yun faction), was very disappointed. "Brother, she is your closest person. What about Sister Chu Yun?" she cried.
Yan Xi laughed and said, "Chu Yun and I will take care of our own happiness. You just need to grow up slowly."
He turned around and walked towards her.
Uh, the ice cream has melted a bit.
He was like a little kid, head down, munching on an ice cream cone, while Ah Heng laughed, looking at him with curiosity, as if he were looking at someone she had never seen before.
He's munching away, what's wrong with you?
Ah Heng ╮(╯_╰)╭, it turns out that so many people actually like a childish, boring, crazy, and domineering kid like you in real life. I always thought DJ YAN was popular just because you have a nice voice.
Yan hope raised her big eyes, rolled them, and said, "Thanks." Her words are getting increasingly sarcastic; I really don't know...
Ah Heng cough, it's all because of what you taught me.
Yan hope shut his mouth, pulled his hat down, hunched his back, and slowly walked forward.
Looking at his back, she felt a sense of fulfillment and couldn't help but feel happy, her lips curving into a large, gentle smile.
Then, feeling uneasy and restless, I ran over quickly and hugged the person from behind.
A gentle, proper embrace; her fingers brushed against the fibers squeezed from his coat, tight yet carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible possessiveness.
Yan hope looked surprised and turned her head. "What's wrong?"
Ah Heng remained silent for a while, then spoke softly with a smile, "Yan hope, I was simply giving you a hug."
This hug is meaningful because of you.
***************************Divider***************************
On the school forum, Ah Heng often sees people grieving over death, and they chat about old rumors from back in the day.
The Earth will be destroyed in 2000.
Aheng turned around. Yan hope had just finished showering and was sitting beside her, drying his hair. She frowned. "Yan hope, what were we doing on the last day of 1999?"
Yan hope's fingers froze for a moment, then he continued drying his hair. He said, "You forgot, we weren't together back then."
At the time, he was in Vienna, and she was in China.
Two countries.
Ah Heng struggled to avoid the painful part about his illness, and sighed softly, "If the earth had really been destroyed back then, we wouldn't have been able to see each other one last time."
Yan hope said half-jokingly, "Hey, were we that close back then? We were so close that we had to die together."