Jiang Yumo finally chose the vanilla-flavored ice cream.
Both of them had to take the bus, but not the same route.
Standing at the bus stop, the two girls chatted while enjoying their ice cream, creating a beautiful sight for passersby.
“Did you do well in the monthly exam this time?” Jiang Yumo asked with a smile, then shook her head. “I feel like asking is pointless, you must have done very well. The monthly exams are easy for you, right?”
“Not bad, the questions were straightforward this time,” Ning Zhiyu replied. “How about you?”
Jiang Yumo sighed. “Same as usual. Exams are so annoying. Even after high school, we still have monthly exams. Why do so many people say that third year of high school is the most memorable time? Were they not roasted like we were?”
“I don’t know,” Ning Zhiyu said, taking a bite of her ice cream with a wooden spoon. “I might be different. I hope I can graduate early, at least finish high school. That way, I can find a job and earn my own money.”
“Earn money? And then what?” Jiang Yumo laughed as she looked at her. “Are you planning to buy something?”
“…Does a house count?”
Jiang Yumo’s eyes widened in surprise.
Ning Zhiyu was charmed by Jiang Yumo’s adorable appearance, “Do you think I’m thinking too far ahead?”
But she really wanted to have a place of her own.
“No,” Jiang Yumo shook her head and looked at her earnestly, “I believe you can do it, you can achieve it.”
Ning Zhiyu curved her lips, “I think so too.”
Jiang Yumo sighed with distress, “Is this the difference between people, the difference between underachievers and top achievers? I don’t bother to think about things that will happen a year from now, I don’t even want to think about anythign further.”
Ning Zhiyu spoke softly, “That’s because you are happy, and that’s a good thing. Sometimes, thinking too much made one more unhappy.”
Jiang Yumo knew about the wounds in Ning Zhiyu’s heart.
She wanted to comfort Ning Ziyu, but she also felt that she wasn’t as smart as Ning Zhiyu, and her words weren’t as eloquent, so could she really comfort Ning Zhiyu?
It was difficult.
If one could easily talk to someone else about it, would it still be called a wound of the heart? Jiang Yumo thought to herself. In her memories, she also had moments of great sadness. At that time, her parents were busy with work, and she stayed at her grandparents’ house. Once, she played hide-and-seek with other kids and hid under her grandmother’s bed.
Her Grandma came in, and her cousin1 came in too.
Her Grandma whispered to her cousin, “Here’s one yuan for you to buy peanut candy. Don’t tell your Sister, she doesn’t have any. If you tell her, she’ll try to take your candy.”
It was strange, at that time she was only six or seven years old, and in the eyes of adults, she didn’t understand anything.
But after hearing those words, she felt incredibly upset, lying under the bed, covering her mouth and crying silently.
Actually, her Grandma had been very good to her now2, but she would still feel sad every time she thought about that day. And she hadn’t told anyone about this deeply upsetting experience, not even her parents.
She didn’t know why she didn’t speak up.
Jiang Yumo thought that Ning Zhiyu wouldn’t casually talk to anyone about the things that made her so sad.
Jiang Yumo decisively changed the topic, looking at Ning Zhiyu with her clear eyes. “I’m going to the provincial capital with Yan Qing and the others tomorrow. Do you want me to bring you anything? The provincial capital is much bigger and livelier than our town.”
Ning Zhiyu didn’t like to trouble anyone.
She naively thought that many people’s words were just polite, and she didn’t dare to take them seriously.
But when it came to Jiang Yumo, Ning Zhiyu really felt that Jiang Yumo was sincere and genuine.
Ning Zhiyu thought for a moment and replied, “Maybe a few books, if it’s convenient for you.”
Jiang Yumo happily said, “Of course it’s convenient. There are many bookstores in the provincial capital, even a random Xinhua Bookstore3 there is bigger than ours here.”
Ning Zhiyu nodded, “I’ll go back and check, then let you know.”
Jiang Yumo casually asked, “Then let’s add each other as friends on QQ, so you can just send it to me directly. I can also take pictures and send them to you tomorrow.”
“I registered for it a long time ago, but I forgot the password and haven’t been online for a long time.”
“Oh, I see. Then you can give me your phone number.”
Ning Zhiyu was silent for a few seconds, and finally replied generously, “I don’t have a phone.”
“Wow, it’s true that your class teacher is strict.” Jiang Yumo looked at her with a smiling face, “I heard before that your class has a super strict head teacher. In the second year of high school, he even smashed several students’ phones. He started the trend of smashing phones, and other students cursed him, saying he should not provide ideas to other teachers.”
Ning Zhiyu was infected by her smile, and her lips curved up, “He is indeed quite strict.”
Then Ning Zhiyu said, “You can give me your phone number, and I’ll call you this afternoon to let you know.”
“Okay, okay~”
After getting on the bus, Ning Zhiyu still held the sticky note in her hand.
It was in a very pink color, with little strawberries on the sticky note.
Jiang Yumo and the others were going to the provincial capital for a day trip, and it was an invitation from Duan Ye.
On the girls’ side, Jiang Yumo naturally brought her two best friends as her Left and Right Protectors4.
As for Duan Ye, without a doubt, he was always accompanied by Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao. Every time they went out to play, it was a group of six, lively and fun.
The three girls were very excited. They had already planned to use their saved-up pocket money to go shopping in the provincial capital. Their respective parents knew about it and only reminded them to be safe outside, without objection. Mother Jiang even gave Jiang Yumo 300 yuan, saying, “It’s your Dad’s and my fault for not being able to take a day off from work, so we can’t take you out for a stroll. You finally have a short break, so have fun with your friends. Be safe outside, especially when crossing the road, you know?”
Jiang Yumo nodded eagerly, suppressing her excitement, “No one knows traffic rules better than me!”
After all, her dad had been driving a passenger bus for ten years.
On the TV and in the classroom, before the teacher even teaches about red means stop, green means go, and yellow means wait, she already knows.
Father Jiang drives the bus on the route from Ningcheng to the provincial capital.
There are many buses on this route, and those drivers are acquaintances of Father Jiang. Duan Ye and the others had discussed beforehand. Duan Ye and his friends took the earliest bus at 6 o’clock in the morning, while the girls could leave a bit later, taking the 7:20 bus. During the National Day holiday, the buses are always packed, so the drivers shouldn’t notice them.
It’s rare for Duan Ye to be home.
Wu Meiyun has already gone to the other cities, so he’s the only one at home. Duan family’s house is located in the old town area, an old house left by Duan Ye’s Grandpa. It’s not big, but it has three rooms. Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng are also planning to sleep at his house tonight. They bought a lot of snacks and rented some DVDs from the audio-visual store to watch movies.
They are all seventeen or eighteen years old students, and not only Jiang Yumo and her friends are excited about going to the provincial capital tomorrow, but Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng are also the same.
Zhao Zheng threw a peanut into his mouth and casually asked, “Where are we going to play tomorrow? We should plan ahead so we won’t be lost.”
Guo Shichao, who usually comes up with a lot of ideas, turned his head to look at Duan Ye and enthusiastically suggested, “How about we go to the haunted house tomorrow? I heard it’s very thrilling. There are no lights in the haunted house, so by then…”
Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng exchanged glances and smirked.
Zhao Zheng leaned towards Guo Shichao and intentionally pinched his throat as he shouted, “I’m so scared, so scared~”
Guo Shichao glanced at him with a slanting eye and said, “Don’t be scared, Duan-gege5 will protect you.”
Duan Ye grabbed a beverage bottle from the side and threw it at them, saying “Get lost.”
Though he said “get lost,” there was a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao quickly separated, trying to dodge, but still got hit.
After all, Duan Ye was skilled at basketball and also excelled at playing darts.
“Are we going or not?” Guo Shichao asked again.
Duan Ye vetoed the proposal, “No. She’s afraid of the dark and ghosts.”
He still remembered when she borrowed his MP4 to watch a movie in junior high school.
There was a horror movie in the MP4 at that time.
She was scared but also curious. Taking advantage of a PE class without a teacher, she dragged Sun Mengting to watch the movie. Sun Mengting was not doing well, she was scared to the extreme and even said to him when returning the MP4, “Duan Ye, you have a heavy taste, my soul was scared away.”
Later, when he was napping during break time, he heard her vividly describing the movie to her friends. After finishing, she shivered and said, “I heard that some people were scared to death after watching this movie. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’m so scared. I’ve been sleeping with my mom for a week now. Even when I go to the bathroom at night, I need at least 20 minutes of mental preparation.”
Guo Shichao suggested, “Then how about going on a roller coaster! It’s fun, but the queue can be challenging.”
Duan Ye still shook his head, “She’s afraid of heights.”
Zhao Zheng exclaimed, “Then she wouldn’t want to go on a pedal boat at the park, right?”
“Tomorrow will be very sunny,” Duan Ye said.
Jiang Yumo would not want to go on a pedal boat under the scorching sun.
Guo Shichao looked puzzled, “Then what should we do in the provincial capital tomorrow?”
Zhao Zheng agreed, “Yeah, if this is not possible and that is not possible, what are we going to do in the provincial capital? We can’t just play games, they don’t like that.”
Duan Ye calmly replied, “They want to go shopping.”
Guo Shichao: “?”
Zhao Zheng: “??”
How come they couldn’t understand when these five words were put together?
“Then what about us?” Guo Shichao asked.
Duan Ye responded in a matter-of-fact tone, concise and to the point: “Carry the bags.”
Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao said in unison, “Ah?!”
The two of them were deeply shocked.
Although they knew that Duan Ye had no limits when it came to pleasing Sister Mo, they were still astonished.
For the things they had to do tomorrow, it was too late to object, and they had no choice but to face it. But for the sake of their future, they couldn’t just let it go.
Guo Shichao said with a serious tone, “Brother Duan, this is not acceptable.”
Zhao Zheng chimed in, “Exactly, Duan Ye, I have to say, you’re being too… what they call ‘henpecked’ on TV.”
“With the way things are now, what about after you get married to Sister Mo?” Guo Shichao gestured with his fingers, earnestly advising, “After you marry Sister Mo, you might end up washing and hanging clothes, sweeping and mopping the floor, cooking the meals, washing the dishes, and she’ll stuff all the food she doesn’t like into your mouth, like the rice from a mixed rice dish, the crust from a pizza, the filling from an egg tart, and the bun from a steamed bun. And finally, she’ll set a monthly allowance of only 200 yuan for you. Think about it, is this the kind of life a human being should live?”
Duan Ye just smiled when he heard their words.
He rarely laughed out loud, usually just a slight curling of his lips.
But this time, he chuckled softly.
Zhao Zheng asked, “Brother Duan, what are you laughing at?”
Duan Ye glanced at them, a faint smile still lingering on his face. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his lips, clearing his throat softly, “Your mouth should be cleaned6.”
“??”
“…”
- 堂弟 (táng dì) = younger male cousin from paternal side ↩︎
- previously, her Grandma was patriarchal and biased towards her cousin who’s a boy ↩︎
- the largest and only country-wide bookstore chain brand in China ↩︎
- “Left Protector” and “Right Protector” typically refer to two attendants or disciples who assist and protect a spiritual or religious leader, such as a Buddhist master or Taoist deity. ↩︎
- 哥哥 is (gēgē) literally means elder brother, but also usually used by girls to call their boyfriends, or for boys to call themselves as a way to flirt with girls. ↩︎
- In Chinese, this can be interpreted as a humorous remark implying that one should watch what they say or be careful with their words. ↩︎
I think he didn’t hear anything after “after you get married to Sister Mo” ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
I think he would like it even if it were like that but he knows she would never treat him badly