Du Lanshan was awakened by a nightmare at four in the morning. In the dream, those people she hated so much came over one after another, pinched her neck, and tried to suffocate her. She struggled, but it was in vain. Those faces changed one by one, and finally turned into Lu Hanting's handsome and cold face.
She sat up, hugging the quilt, still feeling a lingering fear. She pulled out a few tissues from the bedside tissue box and wiped away the cold and sticky sweat on her forehead.
It was midsummer, but she felt bone-chillingly cold.
She and Lu Hanting had been classmates for a year. He was the class monitor and she was the vice-class monitor. They had a lot of interactions. He was very good, had strong communication skills, and had many friends. But she was just an inconspicuous member of the group. She was quiet and well-behaved, pale, short, and pitifully small.
Once, she and Lu Hanting were moving textbooks together. He took three-quarters of them by himself, and then asked her half-jokingly: "Du Lanshan, why do I feel like you're never full?"
She paused and shook her head seriously.
Although her uncle and aunt were not very kind to her, they did give her enough food. However, in order to avoid that person, she always ate very quickly and never had time to eat her fill.
Lu Hanting was amused by her seriousness and pulled her dry yellow ponytail.
At that moment, she was sure that she liked the boy in front of her, the one who was shining all the time.
At the end of the second half of the second year of high school, the school was dividing students into arts and science. Her science grades were average, but Lu Hanting was very well-rounded.
She thought he would choose science, so to make sure, she called him out during evening study one day and asked him this question seriously.
At the dim corner of the stairs, Lu Hanting was unusually silent after she said this.
She noticed that his eyes suddenly turned cold, and said in a deep voice: "Du Lanshan, you like me."
He hit the nail on the head for her, and before she could even feel shy, her heart was shattered by his next words.
His voice was inhumanly cruel, and it directly sentenced her to death.
"Du Lanshan, there's no chance for you and me. Don't waste your time."
She couldn't believe that the usually gentle Lu Hanting would treat her like this. Her gaze met his eyes and she saw the coldness and impatience in them.
It turns out that he is such a person, seemingly sincere to others, but his heart never approaches. He turns pale when talking about love, and quickly distances himself, not leaving any room for others.
Later, she was afraid of people like Lu Hanting and fell in love with Su Yan, but it was in vain. This time, the other party still didn't like her.
But she didn't expect that she would lose both of her unrequited loves to the same person.
How could she continue to be friends with Cheng Kou
Just after five o'clock, her uncle knocked roughly on her door several times. She didn't want to continue sleeping, so she got up directly and went to the small bathroom to wash up.
When her aunt saw her, she moved half a step forward, said nothing, and continued brushing her teeth.
Du Lanshan's uncle runs a snack bar, and she has lived with his family in a narrow space behind the snack bar for more than 20 years. Since she was old enough to understand, she got up on time at 5 o'clock every morning, helped to open the shop, and then carried her schoolbag to school. Now she goes back to her small room to change into commuter clothes, puts on light makeup, and then goes out to squeeze into the bus.
After applying some blush, she pulled the corners of her mouth in front of the old dressing mirror. Who would have thought that she, who looked so glamorous, actually lived such a life? Even this mirror was bought by her from the second-hand market after she started working. After she took a lot of effort to move it home, her uncle rolled his eyes and thought it took up too much space.
But how much space in this house belongs to her
Maybe this can't be called home, at least not for her.
Du Lanshan picked up her bag and ran into her aunt when she went out. Her aunt looked at her and whispered, "Wenhao's school is on vacation, he will be back tomorrow."
Du Lanshan responded. Her aunt’s meaning was very clear. She didn’t want her to be here while her cousin Wenhao was at home.
She said hello to her aunt and walked out of the snack bar.
Where will I live for the next two months? Do I have to ask Mr. Liu for help again
The long, rounded nails dug into the palm of her hand. It was clearly six o'clock in the morning, but the sun was so dazzling.
No matter what she looks like in private, Du Lanshan always looks smart and capable at work. She finished recording her show and heard people talking about the gossip about the Nanshan anniversary banquet a few days ago in the bathroom cubicle.
Du Lanshan sneered silently. Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news spreads quickly.
"Luna's ankle is injured, so the new program will definitely not be hers. The station director feels that Du Lanshan has lost face for the provincial station, and she is now in trouble. Who knows who will benefit in the end."
"You are not well-informed. Luna seemed to have lost her chance, but she actually found a treasure. That night, Young Master Lu called the station director directly. He will give her something better in the future. I don't know what means this girl used to get close to the Lu family."
"Anyway, Du Lanshan is unlucky this time. I think there will be a major reshuffle in the station."
"She deserves it. She always looks so noble and never looks at people in the right eye."
After they left, Du Lanshan walked out of the cubicle and stood in front of the sink to wash her hands.
She lost power, Luna took over, and someone else would benefit from it. Who knows what role Lu Hanting played in this? She didn't think that Lu Hanting's harsh words to her that night were meant to scare her. She knew very well that the man was cruel and would keep his word. This time she really angered him, so he wanted to teach her a lesson.
She ran into the assistant assigned to her by the station. The young girl, who had just graduated, was bumping into her. When she saw her, she smiled brightly and said crisply, "Sister Lanshan, there is a handsome guy looking for you!"
When she met people in the reception room, Lu Lanshan really wanted to laugh out loud. She hadn't done anything yet, but these people came to her one after another.
Xia Linchen was too lazy to be polite with her and just curled his lips as a greeting.
Du Lanshan looked at him coldly, sneered, and sat on the sofa opposite.
It's strange to say, as Cheng Kou's good friends, the two of them had quite a bit of contact during their three years in high school. But perhaps it was because of their incompatible temperaments that they still disliked each other. She thought he was annoying, and he also disliked her.
Du Lanshan didn't even bother to put on a show, and didn't even pour him a cup of tea. She looked straight at him, with a cold attitude: "Tell me, what do you want from me?" In fact, they both knew who Xia Linchen came for, and she wanted to see if he could come up with any new tricks.
Xia Linchen seemed to be smiling. At Yi Jin's wedding banquet, he heard Du Lanshan and Cheng Kou mention the incident of the Nanshan anniversary celebration. He asked a friend to find out the whole story of Cheng Kou being wrongly accused. When he heard that Du Lanshan was present, he immediately realized that the incident was related to her.
"I just want you to stay away from Cheng Kou." His tone was very light, as if he was just casually saying that the weather was nice today.
"If you do this, Cheng Kou won't appreciate it, nor will he be with you. It won't do you any good to destroy our friendship."
"Friendship? You and Cheng Kou?" Xia Linchen chuckled and said slowly, "What a joke. I don't think what you did is called friendship."
"She feels the same way about you as she does about me."
"No matter how you act, Su Yan will only like Cheng Kou. We all know that."
Sometimes exposing each other's scars can be fun, just like this time, Du Lanshan did not get angry. She had the upper hand in the confrontation between the two. Su Yan was just her target and would not affect her in any way, while Cheng Kou was Xia Linchen's weakness.
How stupid it is to expose one's weaknesses to the enemy.
"We are classmates after all, Du Lanshan. I advise you to keep your mind positive."
After Xia Linchen left, Du Lanshan took out her phone and played with it for a while. She always looked well-behaved and quiet, but she had a rebellious side. These men came to warn her one by one, a scene that she was tired of watching.
She knew she was playing with fire, but extremism and stubbornness eventually overcame reason, and she still sent a text message.
"Cheng Kou, let's meet."