Until Duan Ye sat down in front of her, it was only then that Jiang Yumo regained her senses. The roasted potatoes from the cafeteria of Fifth High School were a favorite among students, even before the emergence of roasted meat and knife-cut noodles. The potatoes were cut into strips, fried and mixed with barbecue seasoning, making them incredibly delicious.
Duan Ye handed her a long bamboo skewer.
She took it and reverently inserted the potato into her mouth. Her eyes lit up immediately. “It tastes even better than before! Master must have improved the recipe again.”
Duan Ye hummed, turned his body slightly, and casually looked towards another window.
It seemed like he was looking for when Zhao Zheng and the others would arrive, but his gaze fell on Zhou Ji, who was playing with a lighter.
Not long after, Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao arrived.
Followed by the two girls, Yan Qing and Sun Mengting.
In total, there were six people, and they had switched tables with the ones next to them, now sitting at a table for six, which looked lively.
Yan Qing took out an oil-absorbing tissue from her pocket and carefully pressed it on her nose, complaining with a hint of annoyance, “The queue was so long, and there were people trying to cut in. It’s frustrating.”
After taking a bite of the potato, Jiang Yumo quickly took a bite of the egg while the salty and spicy flavor still lingered in her mouth, and asked muffledly, “Who cut in?”
Zhao Zheng scolded, “I’ve noticed that those few troublemakers in our class are getting out of hand. Liu Ming, he thought he had found some big backing, if it wasn’t for us, he would’ve tried to cut in line.”
Liu Ming?
Jiang Yumo was not unfamiliar with this person.
“No way,” she said, “Liu Ming is very timid.”
Liu Ming’s grandfather was one of the earliest employees of the trucking company and had been assigned a company dormitory building even earlier than her family. Her Mom used to play cards with Aunt Liu frequently before, but later her Mom found Aunt Liu too chatty at the card table, so they stopped hanging out together. However, she remembered that during her elementary and junior high school years, their families had a good relationship. She used to play with Liu Ming in the mud when they were kids, and although they grew apart later on, she still had some understanding of Liu Ming’s personality.
Liu Ming was very timid, not good at studying, liked to play, and had a small build. He was about to turn eighteen soon, not much taller than her, and particularly thin. Even someone like Zhao Zheng could easily pick him up like a little chicken… So, even Liu Ming, such a boy, was unwanted as a follower.
Cutting in line at the school cafeteria? Does that sound like something Liu Ming would do?
Obviously, when Aunt Liu had previously fought with other neighbors for space to hang clothes, he blushed and felt embarrassed, trying to dissuade his mother.
Yan Qing immediately said, “I can testify, it’s really Liu Ming. It’s so irritating.”
Jiang Yumo was surprised.
Guo Shichao explained to her, “He’s now hanging out with that idiot Zhou Ji, the transfer student. He’s simply unbearable to watch. That guy treat him like a lackey, and he’s happy about it. Tsk, this man, why doesn’t he have any self-respect?”
Zhao Zheng chimed in, “So he’s not even a man, just a chicken.”
Sun Mengting pushed her plate of barbecue rice towards Jiang Yumo, gesturing for her to try some, and curiously asked, “Is Zhou Ji really powerful now?”
Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao exchanged glances and smirked, “Powerful my ass! Those who are with him now are people that our Brother Duan doesn’t want. Let alone, he’s not even worthy to carry our Brother Duan’s shoes. Anyone can see that Zhou Ji looks down on those people, but they still follow him around like puppies, hoping to gain favor with him and maybe become some sort of hero by taking down Brother Duan.”
Jiang Yumo thought carefully.
In the original story, Zhou Ji also had his own friends, but it seemed like after graduation, he didn’t keep in touch with people from Ningcheng.
His friends were still those childhood friends from Yanjing.
Yan Qing also pondered for a moment, “Isn’t that just a fantasy?”
No one would believe that Zhou Ji could compete with Duan Ye on equal footing in Ningcheng Fifth High School.
Duan Ye spoke in a deep voice, “Let’s not talk about that.”
Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao nodded in agreement.
They all knew that Brother Duan didn’t like talking about these things in front of Jiang Yumo.
The day after tomorrow would be the start of the monthly exams. The exam rooms were arranged according to the ranking of each grade, and the multimedia classroom was the last exam room. Without a doubt, Duan Ye, Zhao Zheng, and Guo Shichao would all be taking the exams there.
After the monthly exams, there would be the Golden Week holiday for National Day.
This made all the students less apprehensive about the exams, as they would get a break right after!
“With several days off, what are you all planning to do?” Guo Shichao asked them.
Jiang Yumo replied, “I plan to sleep to my heart’s content.”
Duan Ye smiled knowingly.
“I haven’t slept well these days,” Jiang Yumo complained softly, resting her chin on her hand. “I go to bed after 11 pm, and wake up before 6 am. When I leave in the morning, my parents are still asleep.”
Yan Qing and Sun Mengting also nodded solemnly in agreement.
The joys and sorrows of humans are not shared equally.
The three boys in front of them don’t seem to understand their feelings.
The three boys hardly ever attend morning self-study. In their third year of high school, the teachers don’t have the extra energy to manage students like them who have been “given up on”.
Yan Qing suddenly became happy as she thought of something. “But Mengting and I are staying overnight at Yumo’s house! My parents agreed, and so did hers. We three can have a pajama party~”
Clearly, the three boys couldn’t comprehend what excited them.
Zhao Zheng teased with a smirk, “Well, we’re not envious. Brother Duan is more envious of you two.”
Guo Shichao chuckled in agreement, “Absolutely.”
Duan Ye laughed and scolded, “Cut it out.”
The atmosphere was just right, so Yan Qing joked a few more times. She hugged Jiang Yumo’s arm and leaned sweetly against her shoulder. “You can only envy it. Only Mengting and I can sleep on Yumo’s bed now.”
The three of them had an extremely close relationship.
The parents of the three girls also knew each other, and with their parents’ permission, they would often visit each other’s homes during holidays.
Jiang Yumo calmly touched Yan Qing’s hair, causing Yan Qing to hold onto her arm even tighter.
Duan Ye’s smile deepened as he looked on.
Zhao Zheng also teasingly leaned against Guo Shichao, imitating Yan Qing’s “coquettish” tone and said, “We’re not envious or jealous. Don’t spread rumors or slander us, we’re doing just fine.”
Guo Shichao ruthlessly pushed him away, with a disgusted expression, “You’re making me disgusted. Go away, go away, I can’t even eat my barbecue rice now.”
Zhao Zheng replied, “That’s perfect, I can eat two portions by myself.”
The atmosphere was lively and pleasant.
Zhou Ji walked by with his hand in his pocket, expressionless. He glanced at the table briefly, then withdrew his gaze.
Jiang Yumo couldn’t help but hold her breath and focus.
Duan Ye casually lowered his head, his expression unreadable.
Upon returning to the classroom, Duan Ye looked towards Zhou Ji with a contemplative expression.
Guo Shichao walked behind him and noticed Duan Ye’s gaze. He lowered his voice and said, “What’s wrong, Brother Duan? Did Zhou Ji offend you?”
In fact, the few boys from Duan Ye’s circle had been unhappy with Zhou Ji for a while now.
During the rebellious phase of youth, sometimes boys just wanted to fight someone, to express their displeasure, without any specific reason or provocation.
Just like Zhou Ji and Duan Ye, their auras clashed, and the people around them also tended to take sides.
The people around Zhou Ji were relatively cautious because they had been intimidated by Duan Ye for a long time, so they didn’t dare to provoke the people around Duan Ye.
But it was different for the people around Duan Ye. Having such an arrogant person in the classroom, even if he didn’t say anything, it felt like a provocation to them.
They had been itching for a fight, waiting for Duan Ye’s command to start a brawl!
Duan Ye remembered the scene in the cafeteria.
His brows furrowed, he pursed his lips, and even the hand in his pocket clenched into a fist involuntarily, the lean muscles of his arm tensing up in an instant.
Guo Shichao couldn’t help but feel nervous as well.
There was a moment when he thought Duan Ye seemed to be suppressing something. It was rare to see Brother Duan in such a state.
But in the next second, Duan Ye withdrew his gaze and said in a calm tone, “Nothing’s wrong, it’s time for class.”
Before evening self-study started, Jiang Yumo secretly took out her phone and checked: the Sister she had sent a friend request to hadn’t accepted yet.
Her cousin said that this year’s college students had a combined break for both the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.
That Sister should have just returned to Ningcheng? Today was Mid-Autumn Festival, so maybe she wasn’t online at the moment?
Jiang Yumo thought for a moment. Maybe that Sister was busy, so she would try to ask a teacher herself to find out the situation.
Today was Mid-Autumn Festival, and the school leaders obviously took that into consideration. They let the third year students go home before 8:30 PM.
In the past, Jiang Yumo’s Dad would come to pick her up, but today the weather was nice, so her Mom took over the task and decided to walk home with her daughter.
Jiang Yumo was pleasantly surprised.
After greeting Yan Qing, Jiang Yumo intimately held her Mom’s hand and walked home.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Students were in small groups, some taking the bus, some walking, and some riding bicycles.
Mother Jiang looked at a boy and a girl pushing their bicycles ahead and remembered something. She turned her head and teased her daughter, “That boy surnamed Duan, it’s been a while since I last saw him.”
“Did you guys have a fight or disagreement?” Mother Jiang asked again with a smile.
Jiang Yumo’s face turned red in an instant, and she playfully shook her mother’s arm.
“Well, it seems not.” Mother Jiang sighed, “Youth is truly wonderful, with so many possibilities, unlike us, who can see the end at a glance.”
“Why!” Jiang Yumo said. “We actually envy you guys. You don’t have to wake up early, you don’t have monthly exams, and you don’t have to worry about the college entrance exams. It’s so good! You even have a monthly salary and can buy whatever you want and do whatever you want.”
Mother Jiang chuckled. “Silly girl, there’s no one in this world who can do whatever they want. When you grow up and start working in society, you’ll definitely miss this time.”
“Really?” Jiang Yumo frowned.
But right now, it’s so hard.
Having exams every month, morning and evening self-study every day, and endless papers to do and key points to memorize!
“You’ll see,” Mother Jiang smiled. “By the way, about that classmate Duan, did you guys plan to go to the same university?”
“Mom! You already knew the answer, why ask!” Jiang Yumo exclaimed.
She and Duan Ye went to the same middle school and could go to the same high school, but going to the same university was impossible.
“So you didn’t plan it?” Jiang Yumo’s mother asked again. “Are you going to the same city, the provincial capital?”
Jiang Yumo remained silent.
Jiang Yumo’s mother pretended to be surprised and said, “I thought you two had already discussed your future plans.”
Future… how could children of this age think that far ahead?
Jiang Yumo was still silent.
After a few minutes, Mother Jiang sighed and said, “Do you know why your father and I didn’t oppose your relationship like other parents, even to the point of causing a scene at school? Besides believing in you, there’s another reason. Both your father and I are experienced.”
Jiang Yumo didn’t say anything.
She could tell that her parents were actually not optimistic about her relationship with Duan Ye.
In fact, this was normal. Her parents were already very open-minded. If it were other parents, they would have taken other measures to make her break up long ago.
But she still felt a little rebellious.
“Before Mom met your Dad, she also had other boyfriends,” Mother Jiang said in a nostalgic tone. “He was my high school classmate, but we eventually went our separate ways.”
Changing the topic, Mother Jiang continued, “You’re only seventeen or eighteen years old, you don’t even know what job you’ll do in the future.”
Jiang Yumo immediately said, “Why wouldn’t I know? In the future…” she thought of the original plot, “I might become a flight attendant, flying around every day, and he might open a car repair shop, which would be nice too!”
Mother Jiang laughed at her words, with a very mature smile.
It made Jiang Yumo feel a little uncomfortable. “Mom, why are you laughing?”
Mother Jiang shook her head. “I’m laughing at you,” she pointed her finger and tapped Jiang Yumo’s forehead. “You’re still such a child! There’s a car repair shop just outside our neighborhood. Why don’t you go ask the owner how much money he makes in a year? And your Cousin Aunt1 and Cousin Uncle2 closed their car wash last year and went to work in another city. Do you think running a shop is that easy, and business is always so good? If something happens one day, the shop won’t be able to stay open.”
Jiang Yumo’s head started to ache.
It was even more painful than attending four consecutive chemistry classes.
It’s even more painful than doing four or five exam papers in a row.
She acted spoiled, “Oh, Mom, please don’t talk about it. My head hurts so much, I don’t want to think about these things!”
“Okay, okay, Mom won’t say anymore,” Mother Jiang smiled. “So you think the adult world is so great, but you’re already getting a headache before I even say anything. You’ll know when you grow up and start working!”
Jiang Yumo made a strange face as if someone was choking her neck, and stuck out her tongue.
The moon tonight wasn’t beautiful at all!
The fact that Duan Yu open a CAR REPAIR SHOP in the middle of a rural city foretell something. He CHOOSE to stay there for Jiang Yumo even if she became a flight attendant who travel all year round. He only need a glimpse of her presence to be contented.
“Though I may not love you every single day,
Rest assured, every day, I’ll choose you in every way”
Loved it.
This is what I think
This article post captures the essence of teenage life and relationships very well. It is heartwarming to see the close bond between the three girls and their conversations with each other and their parents. The subtle tension between Duan Ye and Zhou Ji adds an interesting layer to the story.
Thanks, Ely