She glared at Yu Lele: "I'm not trying to criticize you, but everyone's dating style is different. Some people break up and get back together, bicker and fight, and that's how they strengthen their relationship. But people like you are too serious, too sensitive, and too sentimental. This approach isn't suitable for you."
She suddenly slapped her forehead: "Yu Lele, you're not trying to test Xu Chen with this trick, are you? I'm warning you, don't play with fire and get burned!"
Yu Lele was both amused and exasperated by her words: "I'm not that bored, okay?"
"Then why did you break up?"
"If you feel it's not right, just break up."
"Be serious, I'm not someone you can just fool."
Yu Lele didn't speak, but just turned her head to look out the window.
“There must be a reason, tell me,” Yang Qian sighed. “I swear, I will never tell anyone what you told me.”
“I’m tired,” Yu Lele finally spoke after a long silence. “I’m a very insecure, fragile, and afraid-of-being-alone person. It’s not that I’m not immune to loneliness, but those lonely days in the past were too bitter, and I don’t want to go through them again. I also hope that someone will be there for me when I need warmth, but you know, that person can’t be Xu Chen.”
"Is it that boy?" Yang Qian looked up and stared at Yu Lele.
"Who?"
"The boy in your class, who's very tall and treats you very well, is someone even a fool would know who likes you."
"Lian Haiping?"
"Oh, so his name is Lian Haiping."
How do you know him?
“Hehe,” Yang Qian laughed, “I have a lot of informants at the Teachers’ College, Miss.”
“We are not what everyone thinks,” Yu Lele said softly.
“Not now, but you can be in the future if you want,” Yang Qian sighed deeply. “Lele, I originally felt sorry for Xu Chen and wanted to give you a good scolding before I came, but after seeing you, I know I can’t say anything.”
“Yesterday I was still yelling at Xu Chen on the phone, calling him a coward who wouldn’t make amends for the problems and was only thinking about running away,” Yang Qian said, lowering her head and looking dejected. “Because he said he wouldn’t be coming back for winter break and had already signed up for a tutoring class at New Oriental to prepare for the TOEFL. I was thinking, how could he just give up like that? He’s going abroad, what will you do? But now, looking at you, I realize that you two have really thought of your escape routes. Neither of you plans to take another step forward, neither of you wants to try to salvage the situation. Only we bystanders are anxious but unable to help.”
As she spoke, the corners of her mouth turned down, and her voice trembled with sobs. She said, "Lele, how did you two end up like this? Looking at you, I can't even believe that love exists in this world anymore."
Yu Lele's eyes also stung. She quickly looked up at the sky outside the window and saw that the snow was gradually getting heavier, with white snowflakes dancing in the air. She tried her best to hold back her tears.
12-2
Xu Chen represents the perfect image of a boy you have in your youth, while Lian Haiping is the kind of person we only meet when we grow up; he represents a more realistic and mundane life.
Perhaps in every child's life, there will eventually be two boys: one representing love, and the other warmth.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Lian Haiping and Xu Yin visited Yu Lele's home to offer their New Year's greetings. It was Lian Haiping's first time visiting Yu Lele's house, and he was a little nervous, constantly asking Xu Yin for her opinion on the way: "Isn't it inappropriate for us to go empty-handed? Shouldn't we buy something?"
Xu Yin teased him, "The ugly daughter-in-law is about to meet her in-laws, aren't you nervous?"
“Don’t talk nonsense,” he glared at her, his expression serious. “How can the bond between classmates be tainted?”
"Tch," Xu Yin pouted, "We're all classmates, don't disgust me so early in the morning."
She glanced at the fruit shop by the roadside and directed him, "Buy that dragon fruit, and a pomelo, yes, that one. Yu Lele likes to eat those strange things. And that one, what's that?"
The fruit shop owner was clearly in a good mood because of the good business on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and enthusiastically introduced the fruit: "These are mangosteens, air-freighted from the south, very sweet, would you like to buy some?"
Xu Yin turned to look at Lian Haiping, who still had his hands in his pockets and shrugged at her: "You decide, I'll pay."
“Okay, boss, give me 3 jin,” Xu Yin said happily, “Anyway, I don’t have to pay, so pack more.”
As they left the fruit shop, Lian Haiping carried a bag in each hand, while Xu Yin walked beside him with her hands free, beaming with pride: "Yu Lele will be very grateful to me; I bought all the things she likes to eat."
“I bought it,” Lian Haiping added in a deep voice.
Xu Yin glanced at him, smiled knowingly, and said, "Don't worry, I will convey your deepest feelings—it's just classmate friendship—"
Lian Haiping sighed, resignedly following behind Xu Yin step by step, not daring to object.
Yu Lele was clearly pleasantly surprised by the arrival of Xu Yin and Lian Haiping.
As soon as the door opened, Yu Lele saw Xu Yin and screamed, startling Lian Haiping. He saw the two girls embracing enthusiastically in front of him, while he stood there dumbfounded, carrying two large bags of fruit. He could only cough and groan to get Yu Lele's attention to him.
"Lian Haiping?" Yu Lele was taken aback, then looked at Xu Yin: "Did you come together?"
Xu Yin smiled and said, "I was the one who led the way; he mainly wanted to come see you."
Lian Haiping was embarrassed by what he said. He suddenly remembered the fruit in his hand and handed it to Yu Lele: "This is fruit I bought for you. We came to visit the patient on behalf of the whole class."
Before she could finish speaking, Xu Yin interrupted, "Don't give me that. All our classmates have gone home for the New Year. Who asked you to do this? You're a grown man, why are you pretending to be shy?"
Lian Haiping was nearly choked to death by her, and could only look on with a frustrated expression.
"Lele, who's here? Why don't you invite them in and sit down? What are you doing standing at the door?" Uncle Yu heard a noise at the door and walked out of the living room while speaking. He was stunned when he saw the three people.
Even Lian Haiping was stunned. He looked at Uncle Yu, then at Yu Lele.
"Hai Ping? What brings you here?" Uncle Yu asked Lian Hai Ping, puzzled.
"You two know each other?" Yu Lele asked, even more puzzled.
“Uncle Yu,” Lian Haiping said, somewhat startled, “Yu Lele…you…are you family?”
Uncle Yu smiled: "Of course we're family. You're classmates?"
“Yes,” Lian Haiping answered honestly, “Yu Lele and I are in the same class.”
Uncle Yu was very surprised: "I really didn't expect that. I always thought Lian Shouting's son was studying finance or international trade, so I never asked you—you really studied Chinese?"
Lian Haiping nodded again: "Chinese language and literature. It has nothing to do with my dad's and my grandpa's ideals."
Uncle Yu smiled. Yu Lele, standing to the side, looked around, feeling completely lost.
Lian Haiping didn't linger; he left quickly after offering his New Year's greetings, and Xu Yin also said goodbye. After seeing them off, Yu Lele curiously asked Uncle Yu, "Uncle, do you know Lian Haiping's father?"
"In the local business circle, who doesn't know Lian Shouting?" Uncle Yu laughed. "We attended a dinner party together last week and were talking about finding time for our two families to get together and get to know each other. Who knew you two already knew each other?"
"What does his father do?"
"You've never heard of the name 'Lian Shouting'?" Uncle Yu asked incredulously. "Last summer, his father donated 1 million yuan to flood victims, and it was widely publicized in newspapers big and small. Don't you read the newspapers?"
Yu Lele was a little embarrassed: "Even if I read news about this, I wouldn't remember it. It's not like it's cultural news or entertainment gossip."
Uncle Yu smiled and shook his head: "It's alright. Even if you haven't heard of this name, you've probably heard of his father's business—'Haitian Xianting,' haven't you? It's the most upscale residential complex on Binhai Road, costing 9,999 yuan per square meter."
Yu Lele gasped, "That belongs to their family?"
She vaguely remembered Lian Haiping's serious expression: "Girl, you can only marry a rich man. Otherwise, you'll probably never be able to afford a house like that in your entire life."
A slight annoyance lingered in my heart: It's not like it's something shameful, why not just say it directly? Making me feel like an alien, knowing nothing when questioned. And what kind of good friend are they? A true friend wouldn't know or tell me these things.
He couldn't help but retort, "No wonder, people who can use limited edition Adidas and Nike products must have connections."
She then pursed her lips and said, "I never expected that I would have a living, breathing spoiled brat by my side."
"A spoiled brat?" Uncle Yu, who was drinking tea, almost spat it out. "Lele, you're really creative. You're saying Haiping is a spoiled brat?"
He laughed heartily: "Have you ever seen such an honest and well-behaved 'second-generation rich kid'?"
Seeing Yu Lele's sullen expression, Uncle Yu's eyes flashed with knowing intent. He deliberately introduced, "His grandfather was a soldier, and his family had very strict rules. Because his father was in real estate and refused to join the army to defend the country, he was almost kicked out by his grandfather. It's unexpected that he'd taken another turn and ended up learning Chinese. Their family business always seems to lack a successor!"
Yu Lele listened in disbelief: "Really? With such a good foundation, why didn't he study economics?"
“You’ll have to ask him that,” Uncle Yu laughed. “If he won’t even tell you that, what kind of girl is he chasing?”
"Who said he was pursuing me?" Yu Lele said dismissively, taking a big gulp of water from her cup.
Uncle Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was in a much better mood.
Since Yu Lele went home on sick leave, the whole family had been living in constant fear. They had so much to say, but didn't know how; so many questions to ask, but didn't know how to ask them. They only knew from Yu Tian that Yu Lele and Xu Chen had broken up. Heartbreak is always a huge blow, and everyone tacitly avoided the topic, trying to stay out of it. But now, seeing Lian Haiping and suddenly noticing the subtle emotions in Lian Haiping's eyes, he finally couldn't help but laugh.
Who hasn't been young?
He recalled his tumultuous love life in his youth, how he had separated from Yu Lele's mother for the sake of his career, never to meet again until 20 years later. It was a pity that the best years of his life had been wasted. He didn't want Haiping and Lele, whom he admired, to suffer the same fate—they were also at the prime of their lives. He hoped Lele could be happy, and he even believed that if Lian Haiping were by Lele's side, she would definitely be happy.
Actually, he only gave a rough overview of Lian Haiping's family background. He didn't know how Lele would react if he went into more detail.
She had always been an independent and self-reliant girl; she wasn't used to depending on others, nor did she like taking advantage of anyone. Although he always felt that Lele's personality would be softer and more gentle if she found happiness more easily, he couldn't say that.
He thought he had to help Lian Haiping—if he couldn't soften Lele's stance further, at least he could make Haiping more determined to persevere.
12-3
That evening, Uncle Yu got Lian Haiping's phone number from Lian Haiping's father. The two of them had a serious conversation on the phone for an hour, talking about everything from life ideals to attitudes towards life and plans for graduation. The more they talked, the more Uncle Yu felt that Lian Haiping had many admirable qualities, and his appreciation for him grew even more.
Hearing that Lian Haiping had been helping Yu Lele learn English, Uncle Yu asked curiously, "Haiping, your English is so good, why don't you go abroad?"
“Uncle, I don’t want to follow the path my dad and grandpa have laid out for me anymore. Studying economics abroad, inheriting my dad’s company after graduation, or going to military academy and joining the army after graduation—these all seem like logical paths, but I really resent the feeling that they’ve planned everything for me. I’m not studying Chinese because I like it, but just so I can be free from their control.”
"Haiping, you're still young. When you become a father, you'll understand that they're only doing this because they care about you."
"Now I understand, but understanding is one thing, accepting is another. I haven't thought about my future path yet. Maybe I'll take the postgraduate entrance exam, then the doctoral entrance exam, and see how things go."
Uncle Yu pondered for a moment: "Taking the doctoral entrance exam is also a good idea. If you can take care of Lele in the future, we will be at ease."
"Uncle Yu, what did you say?" Lian Haiping could hardly believe his ears.
“Young man, your Uncle Yu has a sharp eye; after all, we’ve all been this age,” Uncle Yu chuckled. “But I have to tell you, Lele has been through so much, so he’s naturally very wary…”
He patiently told Lian Haiping Yu Lele's story, from her father's sudden death to the many twists and turns that followed... Lian Haiping listened attentively, his heart aching as he listened.
He hadn't expected Yu Lele to have such an unhappy past. And how could he truly make her happy?
In the second week after the start of the semester, the results of the College English Test Band 4 were released, and Yu Lele was once again dealt a heavy blow—59 points!