He ripped open her shirt, buttons popping off to the floor, revealing the girl's budding breasts. He then reached down and tore at her small white panties. She kicked him fiercely, but he always dodged, pinning her down with just one leg.
At that time, he was eighteen years old and she was only fourteen. Although she had always been like a boy, she was still no match for him in terms of physical strength.
Just as they were in a mess, the third and fourth brothers downstairs heard the commotion and rushed upstairs, only to see the chaotic scene.
He had long lost his mind. With one hand he pinned her down, and with the other he began tearing at his own clothes, yelling at the door, "Get out!"
"Let me go! You bastard!" she cried.
The third and fourth brothers were stunned by the sudden scene. When he shouted, they actually took two steps back and stood there, forgetting to stop the fifth brother's impulsiveness.
Someone rushed in, shoved aside the mentally challenged third and fourth brothers, grabbed his head, and slapped him hard across the face. He was stunned, and it took him a while to come to his senses. He called out in a daze, "Mom."
Looking down at her, almost naked in his arms, he suddenly realized what he had done to her...
He never saw her again after that day. After being locked up by his mother for more than a week, he was sent abroad. It wasn't until he got abroad that he learned that his third and fourth children had also been sent abroad by their parents, one to Australia and the other to the United States.
At first, he didn't know why his third and fourth children were implicated. As he grew older, he gradually realized that his mother and the others had misunderstood. No matter how they explained, the parents wouldn't believe them. His mother said that she only believed Chu Yang's words. So, after loving her, feeling guilty, and being lonely in a foreign land, he began to learn to hate her.
I once thought that this memory would be buried and disappear, but I never expected that I would see her by Fang Yi's side as soon as I returned to China. And she had already become the woman of the older brother he once admired the most.
He then realized that he still loved her, no matter how angry he had been with her before, he still loved her now.
It turns out that she had never let him go.
Chu Yang
He turned to look at Chu Yang, suppressing all his dignity and arrogance, and pleaded, "Forget the past, okay? Leave him, and we'll start over."
A fresh start? But did they even have a beginning? Chu Yang's gaze shifted from the crabapple blossoms outside the car window to He Yiqian's face. He stared at him for a long time, then raised the corners of his mouth in a disdainful smile and shook his head. "Impossible. Fang Yi is very good to me. He's considerate and gentle."
He Yiqian gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning blue, his thin lips pressed into a pale line, and he stared at Chu Yang with eyes that seemed to be filled with despair.
"Why should I leave him?" Chu Yang asked. "He's rich, handsome, powerful, and good to me. Why should I leave him? Yes, I was forced at first, but not anymore. Tell me, why should I leave him? Give me a reason."
He Yiqian remained silent, his face grim. He forced himself to suppress his anger, and finally managed to force out a nearly bleak smile, saying, "Fine, I don't care what you decide, just don't avoid me, okay? After all, we have some wonderful memories together."
Chu Yang thought for a moment and nodded, "As long as you don't force me, I won't avoid you."
He Yiqian let out a soft breath, smiled wearily, and said, "Okay, I live here alone now. This house is so big, and sometimes I feel lonely. Come and keep me company when you have time, okay?"
The He family moved away four or five years ago, and the house has been empty for a long time. Chu Yang never imagined that He Yiqian would be living here alone after returning to China. She looked at the crabapple trees in the yard and nodded gently.
He Yiqian's expression softened, and he said softly, "I'll take you back to school. Have you eaten yet?"
Chu Yang shook his head, "I have dinner plans with my classmates, you can just take me back to school."
Chu Yang originally wanted He Yiqian to just drop her off at the school gate, but He Yiqian insisted on taking her inside. The car stopped in front of Fan Xiaojuan's dormitory building. He Yiqian glanced at the bustling dormitory building and realized it was a girls' dormitory. He looked pleased and asked Chu Yang, "Does your classmate live here?" He then looked at his watch and said, "It's past the cafeteria's mealtime. Why don't you call your classmate out, and I'll take you out to eat?"
Chu Yang's expression remained indifferent. He got out of the car, turned around, and said, "No need. My classmate has never seen a handsome guy before. I'm afraid she won't be able to handle it. You should leave. Your car is too flashy and will cause me trouble."
He Yiqian was delighted to hear Chu Yang start speaking to him in a joking tone. His smile became even more relaxed as he said, "Then I'll be going now."
Chu Yang nodded and turned to walk into the dormitory building. He hadn't taken two steps when He Yiqian called out to him from behind. He had a rare childlike look on his face and grinned slightly as he asked, "Give me your phone number, okay? I don't have your number yet!"
Chu Yang turned around, the dim light of the streetlamp casting a heavy shadow on her eyes, making it impossible to read her thoughts. She looked at He Yiqian for a few seconds, then walked around to the car door on He Yiqian's side, took a pen out of her pocket, and said, "Hold out your hand."
He Yiqian was somewhat surprised and excited. He hurriedly stretched out his right hand, which was trembling slightly.
Chu Yang grabbed his hand and wrote his phone number on his palm stroke by stroke with a pen.
He Yiqian stared blankly at Chu Yang's lowered profile, her half-length hair falling down to cover her eyebrows and eyes. He felt his eyes become a little moist, as if time had turned back to a long time ago, to the gym in the afternoon, to that girl with messy long hair, holding the phone between her shoulder and shoulder, calling out, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm looking for something to write down!" Then she grabbed the boy next to her and, ignoring his protests, scribbled on his bare arm with a pen. Sometimes it was a string of numbers, sometimes it was homework assigned by the teacher, and sometimes it was her test scores.
Back then, she always seemed unable to find her notebook, so she would grab whatever was next to her and write it down. He, though he complained, secretly enjoyed the sensation of the pen tip gliding across her skin.
"Alright!" Chu Yang straightened up and put the pen back in his pocket. "Be careful not to erase it!"
Chu Yang turned and went inside. Before he even reached Fan Xiaojuan's dormitory, He Yiqian called.
"What's up?"
"...I just want to ask, can we still go back to the past?"
"..."
Fan Xiaojuan came out carrying a box of instant noodles and bumped into Chu Yang, who was standing outside the door. The soup spilled all over her. Fan Xiaojuan jumped back to avoid him, angrily saying, "Chu Yang, what are you standing there for? We agreed to eat together, where did you go? Now I have to eat this junk food! Chu Yang?"
Fan Xiaojuan noticed that Chu Yang looked a little dazed. "Chu Yang, what's wrong?"
"I can't go back, I can never go back!" Chu Yang murmured to himself.
Fan Xiaojuan was even more puzzled and reached out to push her shoulder, "Are you possessed? Chu Yang, what are you saying?"
Chu Yang stared blankly at Fan Xiaojuan for a moment, then turned and walked away without saying a word. If you can't go back, you can't go back. Only someone who has never been hurt can so easily say that they can go back to the past. Hurt is hurt, and the scars will always remain there. You can never go back to the past!
"Hey! Chu Yang, He Yiyang is looking for you, you know? It seems like he wants to ask you for something." Fan Xiaojuan shouted from behind Chu Yang...
Zhang Jingzhi stayed in the hospital for a few more days. During this time, Wang Yuhan brought Bai Gu Jing, representing her workplace, to visit her once. Seeing Wang Yuhan's warm smile, Zhang Jingzhi avoided looking at Bai Gu Jing's face and dared not look into Wang Yuhan's eyes, because there she clearly saw estrangement.
Actually, she would rather he didn't come to see her. If he didn't come, it meant he was still sulking, and if he was sulking, it meant he still cared. But now, he had completely placed himself in a leader's position, without any personal feelings involved.
Although she always thought she didn't care about him, or even hated him, when she truly saw politeness and distance in his eyes, she felt empty inside, a sense of loss she had never felt before.
Zhang Jingzhi suddenly realized that the pot of millet porridge with brown sugar was his last bit of patience for her; he gave it to her, and then, it was gone forever.
As soon as Wang Yuhan and Bai Jie stepped out of the hospital, Bai Jie leaned over to take a closer look at Wang Yuhan's face.
Wang Yuhan was naturally annoyed, stepped back slightly, and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Keep pretending, keep pretending, senior brother. I want to see how long you can keep up this act!"
Wang Yuhan ignored her and walked straight out. Bai Jie hurried to catch up, chattering, "Senior, look, her boyfriend isn't here. This is a great opportunity, aren't you going to seize it?"
Wang Yuhan stopped, turned around and frowned at Bai Jie, saying, "It seems that no matter how strong you are at work, you can't escape the realm of women!"
"What do you mean?"
"Think for yourself!" Wang Yuhan said coldly.
On the fifth day of Zhang Jingzhi's hospitalization, Yang Lei finally noticed her disappearance and took the initiative to call her, asking if she had time to have dinner together that evening. Zhang Jingzhi held the phone and calmly told him that she was very sorry and could not, because she was in the hospital.
Yang Lei paused for a moment, then asked her what was wrong, how serious it was, which hospital she was in, and that he would come to see her.
Zhang Jingzhi didn't hold a grudge and gently answered all his questions.
When Yang Lei arrived at the hospital, he was very apologetic when he saw Zhang Jingzhi. He kept saying sorry and explained that he had been busy these past few days and hadn't had time to call her. He then scolded Zhang Jingzhi with a tone of concern, saying that she was a grown woman and didn't know how to take care of herself. Why didn't she tell him she was sick?
Zhang Jingzhi smiled faintly and said it was nothing serious. Besides, it wasn't serious to begin with, so why bother calling him specifically?
Yang Lei took over Chu Yang's shift and stayed at the hospital to look after Zhang Jingzhi. This made the nurses more and more frequent to Zhang Jingzhi's ward. Yang Lei smiled helplessly, while Zhang Jingzhi shook her head with a smile. Once upon a time, she had also drooled over Yang Lei, but now, she could finally look at Yang Lei's handsome features with a normal heart, no longer flustered, no longer with a racing heart.
People say that only those who have experienced life and death can understand how to view everything with a calm mind. Zhang Jingzhi only had an illness, but she has already come to see so much more clearly. It's quite worth it!
Xiao Xiao is right. She is shedding her skin. Although it hurts, she has been reborn.
It has nothing to do with Yang Lei or Wang Yuhan; it's just about herself.
At this moment, she finally understood that her infatuation with Yang Lei had disappeared, but it wasn't that she had fallen in love with Wang Yuhan. She had simply gained a new understanding of love and learned how to love and how to accept love.
The day Zhang Jingzhi was discharged from the hospital happened to be the day her parents returned from their trip. As soon as she entered the house, her parents followed her in. Her mother hugged Zhang Jingzhi tightly and cried out, "My child, you've suffered so much! How come you got sick as soon as your parents left? How come you've lost so much weight?"
She was practically in tears. Zhang Jingzhi's mother only knew that Zhang Jingzhi had a cold and fever, but she didn't know that she had been hospitalized for several days.
Zhang Jingzhi rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, "Didn't Wang Yuhan call you guys? What did you say again? 'There are still a few tourist attractions we haven't visited, so we can't go back yet. Anyway, a cold and fever aren't serious illnesses. Just drink more water, cover yourself with a blanket, and sleep it off!' In your heart, how could I be more important than those tourist attractions!"
Chu Yang couldn't stand it anymore, so he went over and pulled on his aunt who was hanging around Zhang Jingzhi's neck. "Aunt, let go. My sister has just been discharged from the hospital. Let her go and rest for a while."
"Hospitalized? Why are you hospitalized? How did that brat Wang take care of you?" Zhang Jingzhi's father was about to adopt the demeanor of a patriarch, glaring at him and about to scold him when he noticed his wife tugging at his sleeve from behind. Without even looking, he knew his wife had something to say, so he immediately swallowed the rest of his words.
Yang Lei stood awkwardly beside the sofa. When he saw Zhang Jingzhi's parents looking at him, he smiled unnaturally, bowed slightly, and greeted them, "Uncle, Aunt."
...
Zhang Jingzhi
An illness that was neither too serious nor too minor kept Zhang Jingzhi out of work for a full week. When she returned to work, she found herself feeling somewhat out of sorts.
Although most of her colleagues had visited Zhang Jingzhi in the hospital, they still came over to offer their condolences when she came to work. However, a few of the older women seemed to have done little to comfort her, and didn't know how to say anything. One of them patted Zhang Jingzhi on the shoulder and said in an envious tone, "Beautiful lady, you're doing great! You've lost even more weight. It's worth it!"
Immediately, a pretty girl with a small bust and big brain chimed in: "Oh my, that's right! I'm so envious of her! She's gained weight again, it's so annoying, but there's nothing I can do about it!"
Women's topics change so quickly; in no time, they veered off to how to lose weight.
Zhang Jingzhi sat there, suppressing the urge to go up and slap each of them twice. A gentle smile played on her lips as she tidied the things on her desk.
It was Xiao Wang on the other side who had some conscience; he said something that made sense. He said, "Ladies, you'd better get back to your seats soon. If Director Bai sees you like this when he gets here, he'll definitely turn on you!"
Someone chuckled dismissively and said sourly, "Don't worry, she's really in a great mood lately, dating Boss Wang. She's all smiles and beaming at everyone. She won't hold a grudge against us!"
Everyone laughed and agreed, but despite saying that, they all returned to their seats. Zhang Jingzhi looked up and glanced at Wang Yuhan's office, which was still empty and deserted. Suddenly, she felt a sense of loss.
Xiao Wang leaned over and whispered, "Miss, don't try to tough it out when you're sick in the future. You've scared everyone half to death."
Zhang Jingzhi smiled at him, then lowered her head to continue tidying up the work she had fallen behind on.
Xiao Wang hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "I went to see you a couple of days ago, but I didn't see your handsome guy."
Zhang Jingzhi put down the documents in her hand, looked up and squinted at Xiao Wang. Xiao Wang felt a little guilty under her gaze and stammered, just as he was trying to find an excuse to be a gossip. Just then, Zhang Jingzhi glanced around and then whispered to him, "Go out to the tea room. I have something to say!"
After saying that, she picked up the cup and pretended to leave.
Xiao Wang was stunned for a moment, glanced guiltily at his colleagues, waited for two more minutes, and then got up and followed them out.
When Zhang Jingzhi saw Xiao Wang go into the tea room, she looked around and saw that no one was behind him. Suddenly she asked, "Brother, I have a question for you. You have to tell your sister the truth."
"Huh?" Xiao Wang's face turned a little red, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at Zhang Jingzhi's face. "Go ahead and ask."
Zhang Jingzhi, however, was not in a hurry. After organizing her thoughts for a while, she finally said, "You are a man, aren't you?"
Xiao Wang was a little embarrassed. "There doesn't seem to be any doubt about this."
Zhang Jingzhi nodded, paced back and forth a few times, and then continued, "So, from a man's perspective, if—"
"It's not that I'm standing here, it's that I'm a man!" Xiao Wang argued.
“Okay, you are, don’t interrupt!” Zhang Jingzhi said. “Let me finish. If, I mean if, a girl pursued you first, you might like her, or you might not like her that much, but you didn’t really reject her, so you could be considered to have established a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, but you didn’t really care about her.”
"If you don't like her, why don't you reject her?" Xiao Wang asked.
Zhang Jingzhi was a little annoyed, "I told you not to interrupt!"