Just as Lin Weixia finished speaking, she stood in front of Ban Sheng, and suddenly heavy rain began to fall from the sky. In the distance, a sound of a light sign being blown down by strong winds came from the roadside.
The cell phone in Lin Weixia's pocket vibrated. She took it out, looked down, turned around and walked out without even looking at them.
The text message displayed on the phone screen showed the owner's anxiety: [I waited in the park near his home for more than two hours, but no one showed up, and my wallet was lost.]
[The sky is so dark, it seems like a typhoon is coming. ]
The wind blew a leaf off, swaying and fluttering on Lin Weixia's head. Ban Sheng glanced at the dark green leaf embedded in the girl's long black hair, retracted his gaze, patted the back of Yuantou's head, and said briefly:
"I'm leaving."
Lin Weixia was walking while typing a text message, and her tone was soothing: [Don't worry, send me your address and I'll come pick you up.]
After sending the message, Lin Weixia returned to the Internet cafe to get her schoolbag, walked out and hailed a taxi. Not long after getting in the taxi, heavy rain came pouring down, and the raindrops hit the car windows, making a clanging sound.
The whole city was shrouded in a hazy humid atmosphere. The road was a bit congested, and the taxi drove for a while before braking suddenly. Lin Weixia glanced at the red light not far away and couldn't help but say:
"Master, could you please hurry up?"
The driver was an older man. He laughed heartily and said in Mandarin mixed with local dialect: "Girl, there is no rush now because of the typhoon. Are you going to meet your son? Why is it so urgent?"
"No, my friend is waiting for me." Lin Weixia replied.
The ride was twenty minutes long, but because it was a typhoon, the taxi had to stop and go along the way, snaking in the rain. It finally took them nearly forty minutes to arrive at the park that Liu Sijia mentioned.
Lin Weixia pushed the car door open and the rain poured in obliquely, the raindrops sticking to her clothes. She hurriedly got out of the car and stepped into a puddle. The yellow dirty water immediately soaked her white socks, and the water poured into her leather shoes, bringing a damp and cold feeling.
Lin Weixia took a breath, but she didn't care about it anymore. She bent down, opened her umbrella, and walked towards the park. Lin Weixia walked into the park, looked around, and finally caught a glimpse of Liu Sijia in the pavilion.
Liu Sijia had obviously dressed up carefully today, but she looked a little disheveled now, her back was wet from the rain, and her black eyeliner was smudged to her lower eyelids, obviously she had been crying. When Liu Sijia was shaking with her hands on her shoulders, a warm apricot knitted sweater fell from the sky, and she turned around.
Meet a pair of quiet amber eyes.
Liu Sijia immediately threw herself into her arms, hugged her, and choked with sobs: "Thank you."
Lin Weixia froze for a moment, but eventually relaxed, raised her hand, and patted Liu Sijia on the back.
The white light of the Vidrey convenience store made the room look deserted. Liu Sijia stood in front of the bar next to the glass door.
On the counter was a half-eaten bowl of oden and a nearly empty cup of Hong Kong-style Ovaltine. Liu Sijia skillfully took a menthol cigarette from the cigarette box and lit the orange-red flame.
"Next time, if I don't wait for anyone, I'll just go back directly." Lin Weixia said.
Liu Sijia exhaled a puff of cigarette: "I'm just bored."
"Weixia, what happened today—" Liu Sijia hesitated.
Lin Weixia spoke at the right time, her voice gentle: "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
Liu Sijia breathed a sigh of relief and flicked the ash into the coffee cup. In fact, she didn't have many real friends. When she called, she thought about the girls in school, but she still hesitated.
Then, at the critical moment, she thought of Lin Weixia. Although she felt that Lin Weixia had a distant and cold temperament when she first saw her, after getting to know her, she found that she was actually a girl with no temper and very tolerant.
"We can go now, the rain has stopped." Lin Weixia said.
"Okay," Liu Sijia picked up the things on the table and suddenly stopped when she was walking out, "I'll buy something."
Lin Weixia stood behind her, waiting patiently for Liu Sijia, and inadvertently saw that she was looking for a brand of cigarettes called Yellow Crane Tower.
The cashier shook her head, and Liu Sijia's shoulders slumped.
If she remembered correctly, Lin Weixia recalled that when Ban Sheng beat someone up in the alley, he was smoking Huanghelou cigarettes.
She frowned slightly. Is this kind of person worth it
At nine o'clock in the evening, the two parted ways in front of the convenience store. After Lin Weixia returned home, she took off her wet shoes and socks and went to take a shower.
After taking a shower, Lin Weixia was wearing a white cotton suspender skirt. She tilted her head to shake the water out of her ears, and with the large movement, she felt a tinnitus in her right ear.
Lin Weixia sat down, slowly wiped her half-wet hair with a towel, turned on the old computer in the room, and the computer started up slowly, taking a long time to boot up.
The phone displayed a message from Fang Mo, in which she kindly and enthusiastically told Lin Weixia about the school's forums, exchange areas, and campus networks.
Not long after, Fang Mo sent another message: By the way, some time ago, I don’t know who set up a new website in the communication area of Shenzhen High School, called YCH, but no one goes there to play anymore.
Lin Weixia browsed through the school's intranet forum and other websites, and then logged into a website called YCH. The website page was very simple, all dark, with a depressing and cold color scheme.
It is divided into two areas, one is the breaking news area, the other is the message area.
The number of posts in these two sections is 0, and the number of website views is only 13.
Lin Weixia held the mouse and was about to drag the arrow to close the website when she found an unread text message on her phone. She clicked it and saw that it was from Liu Sijia:
[Let's have lunch together tomorrow. Auntie at home will cook it. I'll ask her to make your portion as well. ]
Lin Weixia replied: [Okay, [raising glass expression]. ]
Liu Sijia replied: [[Love you][]Love you] expression. ]
The next day, which happened to be Monday, Liu Sijia walked into the classroom with her schoolbag on her back. When she took out her English book, she glanced at the seat next to her inadvertently and found it was still empty.
Although it is September, Nanjiang is still sultry and the sunlight outside is so bright that people can't open their eyes. The poinciana trees in the school are still bright red.
Lin Weixia had only been at school for a few days when she observed many things in the class. The students in the class were divided into small groups, but from a macro perspective, the A students and the F students seemed to be separated by an invisible dividing line, forming two large groups.
In order to avoid being eaten by crocodiles in the river during their great migration, African wildebeests will gather together in large groups to cross the river safely.
The same is true for people.
Humans are social animals and need to gather together and move forward in a group on the road. Lin Weixia understood this, but she didn't expect it to be so serious in Shenzhen High School.
When the last school bell rang in the morning, the students in the class began to pack up their things. They immediately formed teams to look for their companions. The one who was left behind and isolated sat in his seat, feeling helpless and could only run out in a hurry.
Lin Weixia sat in her seat, looking at Liu Sijia's seat in the front row. A group of girls surrounded her. The girls were smiling sweetly and discussing what to eat.
Lin Weixia slowly packed up her pencil case. A deliberately loud voice rang out, "Sijia, how about we go to the rooftop for lunch today?"
Liu Sijia refused with a smile and said, "I have an appointment today, let's do it another day."
Then Liu Sijia turned her beautiful eyes and looked over, her tone more familiar than when school started. After the typhoon, the distance and condescending gaze they had had were gone, leaving only intimacy:
"Weixia, are you okay?"
For a moment, the atmosphere became a little awkward, and everyone had different expressions. After a while, the girls returned to the relaxed and playful atmosphere. They smiled and said things like "Then we'll go first."
After everyone left, the classroom returned to silence. When Lin Weixia stood up and walked through the aisle, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a very thin girl sitting in the corner. Her skin was sallow, and she huddled in the corner. She had overly long and thick bangs, and her whole body exuded a gloomy aura.
If Lin Weixia hadn't happened to see her, she would have seemed to be unnoticed and automatically ignored by others, like a shadow in the corner.
She seemed to want to wait until everyone left and then eat lunch alone in the classroom.
Lin Weixia stopped in the aisle and asked, "Do you want to—"
"Hurry up." Liu Sijia urged her, stretched out an arm to pull the person away, and the rest of "with us" was stuck in her throat.
Liu Sijia took her arm and walked towards the cafeteria. Thinking of the gloomy girl just now, she narrowed her eyes and said in a slightly cold voice: "Ignore her, she is a freak."
In the small restaurant on the second floor of the cafeteria, Liu Sijia took out two lunch boxes and heated them up. The microwave made a "ding" sound, and she placed the lunch boxes on the table and opened them, revealing two completely different meals.
In front of Lin Weixia were thick-cut veal steaks, braised spareribs, and a small portion of okra, all of which were bright in color, delicate and thoughtful.
Seeing that she hadn't picked up her chopsticks yet, Liu Sijia said, "These are all made by my aunt at home. She cooks well. Or tell me if you want to eat anything."
"good."
Lin Weixia looked at Liu Sijia in front of her. Her face was gorgeous and delicate. She was so thin that her sternum was faintly visible at the neckline. Her bare wrists were exposed from her sleeves, and they were so thin that they seemed like they would break if bent.
Liu Sijia put down her chopsticks after eating a few bites, held her chin and turned to look at the long line not far away, and asked: "Do you want some milk tea?"
"If you want to drink it, I'll buy it for you." Lin Weixia.
“I want sugar-free.”
"good."
Ban Sheng’s three-day vacation was finally over. He slept until noon before coming to school and hadn’t eaten. He happened to meet Qiu Minghua and went to the cafeteria to eat together.
As soon as the boy walked into the cafeteria, he automatically attracted the attention of his classmates. In addition to the girls who pretended to lift their hair and glanced at him from time to time as usual, there were also people who talked about him in a low voice, their tone was not too good, but their attitude was cautious.
Qiu Minghua immediately understood where the gossip came from and spat, "That grandson is too shady. How much money did he cheat that lonely old lady out of? Brother, you beat him up a bit, and he still has the nerve to tell everyone that you beat him into the hospital."
"If you don't dare to come to school, then don't dare to come. Why are you talking so much nonsense..."
Ban Sheng stood in front of the beverage vending machine, opened the freezer door with one hand, and the cold air rushed over. He didn't respond but asked, "What do you want to drink?"
Qiu Minghua stopped complaining. Was he being overly sentimental? He said helplessly, "Mineral water, please."
The freezer door closed with a bang, and the cold air touched the boy's bony fingers. Ban Sheng threw the drink to him and said:
"Don't tell anyone about this."
Qiu Minghua looked aggrieved and puzzled, and asked in surprise: "Why? Why do you have to bear all the criticism alone?"
He knew Ben too well. He never cared about other people's opinions. No matter how others saw or evaluated him, this guy only cared about his own comfort.
Don't care about anything else.
But this is too aggrieved, Qiu Minghua thought angrily.
Ban Sheng didn't answer. He pinched the pull ring of the Coke with his index finger. With a "click" sound, bubbles came up. He took a sip and walked towards the second floor of the cafeteria.
They met Zheng Zhaoxing and his gang at the corner. Some of them were laughing and telling vulgar jokes. A boy wearing glasses accidentally bumped into Zheng Zhaoxing because he was walking too fast.
Zheng Zhaoxing's face darkened in an instant, he raised his hand and slapped the boy's head, cursing, "Throwing Lei mother."
The boy with glasses immediately covered his head and kept saying "sorry". The group cursed at him several times before letting him go.
Zheng Zhaoxing's face turned unhappy, but when he looked up and saw Ban Sheng, the ferocious look on his face mostly disappeared, and several people behind him also stopped talking.
Zheng Zhaoxing and his gang are well-known bullies in Shenzhen High School. Relying on the power of their family, they do all kinds of evil things both inside and outside the school.
When they really get into trouble and the school wants to punish them, Zheng Zhaoxing's parents will show up in time to smooth things over. Plus, they are not afraid of punishment and are well aware that minors are protected by the law, so the school can do nothing about it.
Over time, people in the school started to avoid them when they saw them.
Ban Sheng is another kind of representative in the school. Everyone is afraid of him, but it is the kind of fear that comes from submission.
Logically speaking, they should be mixed together. According to Zheng Zhaoxing's donkey brain with a limited vocabulary, the word he came up with was a strong combination.
But Ban Sheng never associated with them.
Zheng Zhaoxing always felt that Ban Sheng was arrogant and looked down on them from the bottom of his heart.
After a moment, Zheng Zhaoxing, still with the intention of showing goodwill, relaxed his expression and asked, "Want to eat together?"
In front of so many people, Ban Sheng walked right past him, raised his head to drink Coke, swallowed slowly, and said two words:
“Not familiar.”
The atmosphere suddenly became stagnant. Zheng Zhaoxing changed his expression, and Qiu Minghua immediately followed suit. He turned around and raised his middle finger with both hands: "Yes, are you guys going to have a feast?"
Someone nearby whispered, "Brother Zhao, forget it. He is not someone you can afford to offend."
…
Liu Sijia didn't specify what she wanted to drink, so Lin Weixia bought two cups of salty lemongrass according to her habit. She had half sugar in her cup, and Liu Sijia specifically asked for sugar-free. As soon as she sat down, she saw Liu Sijia's lips, which were redder.
"Ban Sheng is sitting two seats behind you." Liu Sijia said, and took out a mirror to fix her hair.
Lin Weixia paused for a moment and looked at the food in front of her. Liu Sijia had only eaten one third of it.
She then handed over the straw, but unexpectedly Liu Sijia directly held her hand and asked, "Xia Xia, can I exchange my sugar-free Salted Lemon Seven for your half-sugar one? I can't give him the bitter one."
Lin Weixia nodded good-naturedly.
"I just went to ask him about the missed appointment."
Liu Sijia picked up the cup of salty lemongrass, the white plastic bag made a rustling sound, she straightened her back and walked towards Ban Sheng.
It was a typhoon day and the light in the room was dim, but it became a little brighter because of Liu Sijia's back as she walked over.
Lin Weixia happened to be sitting opposite them. She looked over and saw that Ban Sheng had ordered a pork chop rice with an unfinished can of Coke next to it.
While waiting for his companions, he sat casually with his coat open, as if he was playing a game. His tall, cold white neck was slightly lowered, and his fingertips were jumping rapidly on the screen.
Liu Sijia boldly sat down opposite him, bent her fingers and tapped on the table three times, handed him the half-sugared salty lemon juice, and no one knew what she was saying.
Ban Sheng finally raised his eyes as if giving alms, turned off the screen of his mobile phone, and raised his hand to take it.
Lin Weixia withdrew her gaze from them and lowered her head to eat.
About seven or eight minutes later, Liu Sijia turned back. After returning from Ban Sheng, her aura softened a little:
"He clearly had Coke on his table, but he took my Salty Lemon Seven."
"What did he say when I broke the promise that weekend night?" Lin Weixia asked.
Liu Sijia held her chin up, picked up a cherry tomato from the plate and stuffed it into her mouth, saying, "He said he was sorry, and also said - it was quite unexpected."
"Since he already took my water, I'll reluctantly forgive him."
Lin Weixia paused in picking up the food and looked over. Ban Sheng's gaze just happened to meet hers. When their eyes met, his face was clearly visible this time, with short hair and distinct facial features.
He had a bad face, he looked bad, but he was the type that girls liked. There was a shallow scar on his brow bone, and his eyes looked at him, dark and bottomless.
And it is extremely aggressive.
Like a cheetah lurking in the rainforest, ready to hunt at any time.
Lin Weixia watched him slowly remove the straw and drink the cup of Salty Lemon Tea that originally belonged to her.