Jiang Yumo and Duan Ye leisurely strolled along the riverbank, but they did not expect to run into acquaintances, their former junior high school classmate.
This junior high school classmate was obviously on a date as well, holding the hand of a girl. Upon seeing Jiang Yumo and especially Duan Ye, he was so startled that he actually let go of his girlfriend’s hand, as if Duan Ye was a fearsome Yama1, even scarier than the school principal.
“What a coincidence,” Jiang Yumo greeted him with a smile.
This classmate’s name was Xu Wenbo, nicknamed ‘Flirty Radish.’ Objectively speaking, he was quite good-looking. Although not very tall, he was around 175 centimeters, of average build, well-defined features, and meticulous in his fashion. His academic performance was decent, not outstanding, and he missed the cutoff for entering First High School by just a few points. His parents had paid a hefty sponsorship for him to attend First High School.
Xu Wenbo was charming and smooth-talking, and was from a relatively well-off family. He could also play the harmonica. At the time, many girls had a crush on him. He didn’t reject any advances and pretty much liked anyone who showed interest. Back then, many were watching the TV series <The Deer and The Cauldron>, and Xu Wenbo particularly idolized the character Wei Xiaobao. Arrogantly, he had ‘appointed’ seven girls from their class as his ‘wives’… Unfortunately, Jiang Yumo was one of those he took an interest in.
The boys’ secret rumors were largely unknown to the girls. They only noticed when the teacher asked someone to answer a question, a few troublemaking boys would chuckle and cheer.
One day, for reasons unknown, Xu Wenbo and those boys managed to provoke Duan Ye. Astonishingly, Duan Ye confronted them and gave them a beating, taking on several weaklings singlehandedly. Duan Ye had gained quite a reputation by then.
Xu Wenbo was utterly afraid of Duan Ye, always addressing him respectfully as ‘Brother Duan.’ He couldn’t wrap his head around it : what had he done to offend this ‘Yama’?
It wasn’t until after the high school entrance exams that rumors began circulating in the class group chat. They said Duan Ye had a crush on Jiang Yumo and had even confessed to her… Only then did Xu Wenbo realize, and he was utterly terrified. He immediately got Duan Ye’s number and sent a lengthy text message, earnestly explaining his situation. The main point was clear: he was daydreaming and had no idea the boss liked Jiang Yumo. He promised not to look at Jiang Yumo anymore from now on!
When receiving the text, Duan Ye lazily glanced over, then impatiently deleted the text message without reading it all.
…
“What a coincidence,” Xu Wenbo awkwardly laughed, not even bothering to look at Jiang Yumo.
Duan Ye gave Xu Wenbo a sidelong glance and hummed.
“We’re leaving.”
“Take care, Brother Duan.”
Xu Wenbo watched Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo walk hand in hand in another direction and let out a deep sigh of relief.
He didn’t even know what was wrong with himself. He was an adult, yet why did his legs feel weak when he saw Duan Ye?
On closer inspection, it was probably because of that time when Duan Ye had beaten him badly, leaving a psychological shadow.
But… are these two people still together?
Xu Wenbo was fickle in love, so he naturally couldn’t understand how Duan Ye could be so devoted to Jiang Yumo.
His current girlfriend, with a displeased expression, approached and asked, “Your ex-girlfriend?”
Xu Wenbo was startled by her question, “Don’t you dare talk such nonsense. Are you trying to kill me? Haven’t you noticed they are a couple? Let me tell you, they’re like a legendary pair from our middle school class. They’ve been together from middle school until now, and looking at them, they might even get married in the future.”
It’s quite strange.
Xu Wenbo is quite fickle, he can’t control himself. He likes this one and that one. Each girl has qualities he genuinely likes… He knows it’s not good to be this way, but he can’t change. So, he has a special admiration for Duan Ye. He had heard about Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo’s story back in middle school, and about how Duan Ye had truly been devoted to Jiang Yumo for a full three years in high school.
Adding up the years in middle school and high school, Xu Wenbo counted on his fingers and let out a sigh.
Even though he wasn’t close to Duan Ye and despite his own fickle nature, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that these two might actually get married.
“Will we get married then?” his girlfriend asked with a pair of big eyes shimmering, looking at him earnestly and hopefully.
Xu Wenbo smiled, and sweet words came effortlessly, “I’m afraid you won’t like me in the future.”
Jiang Yumo held onto Duan Ye’s arm, even though their interlocked arms felt hot on this scorching day. However, Jiang Yumo didn’t let go, and Duan Ye didn’t want her to either.
The two of them were also discussing Xu Wenbo.
“He hasn’t even stumbled yet, which is quite surprising,” Jiang Yumo sighed, “Those girls who found out about his secret appointments back then were so angry. We girls united and reported it to the teacher.”
At that time, their middle school class teacher was her uncle.
Her uncle was a straightforward person. Some teachers might have brushed it off as a joke and downplayed the situation, but her uncle didn’t. He criticized Xu Wenbo seriously in class and even invited Xu Wenbo’s parents.
Xu Wenbo’s parents seemed to listen on the surface, and they scolded him, but deep down, they seemed somewhat indifferent.
During a family gathering later on, her uncle mentioned this incident with a sigh of helplessness, “When parents don’t teach their children well, those children will grow up to harm other people’s children. It’s a cycle of wrongdoing!”
Duan Ye also remembered this incident.
He still recalled how angry she was at the time, marching with a group of girls into the teacher’s office with great determination.
Later, a group of girls loudly criticized the group of boys led by Xu Wenbo in the classroom—
“Yuan Bin is so short! Unacceptable. He’s even shorter than me. He’s not even 1.6 meters tall!”
“Jiang Xinghua is no good either. His grades are too poor, and he doesn’t even care about hygiene. He wore the same short-sleeved shirt for so many days without changing.”
The boys turned red and were angry too. Unable to bear it, one of them shouted, “Is this necessary? Haven’t we already apologized? Why are you being so petty, holding onto this incident?”
Jiang Yumo spoke very seriously, “Are you unhappy? Are you upset? If you are, then we will be too. Moreover, you set the example, you were the ones who started it. If you don’t respect us, we won’t respect you either, even if you’ve already apologized!”
By Duan Ye’s side, there were no elders who could teach him much. The lesson of ‘respect’ was actually taught to him by Jiang Yumo.
In his early stages of confusion about romantic feelings between men and women, she was the one guiding him all along.
Throughout his three years of high school, he also explored and discovered her preferences, slowly understanding what’s right and what’s wrong. She was his teacher, not just in the subject of love. Over these three years of learning, Duan Ye became who he is today.
It was her who taught him.
She left such deep, deep traces in his world, so there’s no need to question why he is so certain that this love will last a lifetime. She taught him how to like a girl, she’s too important.
The two of them chatted and arrived at a quieter spot.
Many strollers wouldn’t walk this far, and the evening breeze was gradually cooling down.
Duan Ye had already prepared a gift.
It was a necklace.
When preparing this gift, Zhao Zheng, Guo Shichao, and Zhou Ji were all there. Zhao Zheng suggested buying gold, insisting that gold retains its value and it looks very shiny.
Guo Shichao hesitated a bit too.
But Zhou Ji chuckled and said, “Are you kidding? Do you believe that if Lao Duan gift her a gold necklace, your Sister Mo will be so impressed that she’ll leave Lao Duan overnight?”
Naturally, Zhao Zheng and Zhou Jistarted wrestling again, not allowing anyone to question his taste.
“Brother Duan, trust me, gold really looks good!”
In the end, Duan Ye didn’t buy gold. He chose a necklace with an interesting pendant, shaped as a small and delicate key.
He believed she would understand his meaning.
The key to his heart was in her hand, and only in her hand.
“It looks so good!” Jiang Yumo exclaimed with delight as she looked at the necklace in the box. “I really like it!”
As Duan Ye looked at the radiance in her eyes, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It’s a good thing he didn’t listen to Zhao Zheng.
The salesperson back then also subtly told him that a girl might not appreciate and like gold jewelries until thet’re a few years older.
“Help me put it on~”
Jiang Yumo lifted her hair, revealing her fair neck, slightly tilting her head.
Duan Ye solemnly placed the necklace around her neck, his fingertips inevitably touching her skin. Perhaps not being accustomed to it yet, recently, every direct touch would make his hand tremble. His rough skin contrasted distinctly with her delicate skin.
“Happy birthday,” he whispered.
His warm breath sprayed on the back of her neck, tickling and slightly numbing.
Jiang Yumo suddenly felt uneasy, sensing the temperature around her rising again. As they continued walking together, she realized she hadn’t tied her hair today. Sweat was forming at the back of her neck, so she reached up to gather her hair, hoping to cool her neck down a bit, and unexpectedly touched a few broken strands.
A thought flashed through her mind.
At the same time, she recalled Yan Qing’s evaluation of her and couldn’t help but smile.
It wasn’t intentional.
“Wait a moment…”
Jiang Yumo halted her steps and called out to Duan Ye. He turned around to look at her, noticing sweat forming on her nose. “Hot?”
“Not really,” Jiang Yumo teased, “I was thinking… of giving back to you. Hold out your hand, your left hand.”
Although Duan Ye was puzzled, he extended his left hand towards her.
Jiang Yumo smiled, feeling nervous herself. While she occasionally teased him, such sentimental moments were rare and few. She lowered her gaze, took his hand, and wrapped her hair around his left ring finger, circling it coil by coil.
Duan Ye stared in a trance.
Jiang Yu’s hair was also long, and she creatively tied a knot at the end. “Alright. Does this count as… giving back?”
He gave her a necklace, and she gave him a ring.
Of course, this ring had no monetary value.
Well, well, she would buy a real ring for him when she earned money in the future!
Duan Ye gazed at his ring finger, his heart beating rapidly. Now that the moment had truly arrived, the wind was calm, the sky serene; all he wanted was to kiss her.
Not far away, beneath the embankment, three young men had wreaths of grass intertwined on their heads.
“Damn, why are there so many mosquitoes??”
“Wish I had sprayed more mosquito repellent earlier.”
“Zhao Zheng, did you really use mosquito repellent? You’ll suffocate us.”
Guo Shichao gestured, “Wait, look, isn’t the atmosphere right? Can we set off the fireworks now?”
Zhou Ji narrowed his eyes, “Yes, it’s good now.”
He actually regretted the lack of a romantic gesture during his confession to end his single status.
But there was no way around it. He couldn’t say to Ning Zhiyu, “Let’s temporarily retract the ‘not single’ status and start again later, shall we?“, right?
What he didn’t have, his buddy Lao Duan must have it.
On the other side, the atmosphere was already warm. Duan Ye wanted to kiss Jiang Yumo, and Jiang Yumo felt the same. Both their hearts raced. Just as Duan Ye’s hand rested on her shoulder, just as Jiang Yumo was about to close her eyes, a sudden loud noise erupted from the sky, startling Jiang Yumo!
Duan Ye: “…”
He did feel that his right eyelid has been twitching2 all day.
Both of them looked up at the sky, and the fireworks, which spoiled the atmosphere, burst in the air.
This… truly feels like a romantic drama. Following the clichés of a romantic drama, this would be the moment when the male and female leads passionately kiss each other.
However…
Without showing any signs, Duan Ye surveyed the surroundings. He had no idea where those few scoundrels were hiding, but he absolutely couldn’t let them see such scene, no way.
Duan Ye slightly tightened his grip on Jiang Yumo’s shoulder unconsciously.
Jiang Yumo eagerly gazed at the sky, her heart also pounding. If she had kissed him boldly a moment ago, it would have been fine, but the fireworks disrupted them. Now, looking at him again, she would… feel anxious. She could only force herself to remain calm and composed as she asked him, “What’s wrong?”
Duan Ye gave a faint smile, “Nothing.”
It’s just that his hands were itching, really wanting to grab three sandbags to practice his punches.
hahahaha