Lin Qingle was a little afraid of Zhang Yikun because he had a bad reputation among Jiang Shuyi and her friends. If she got entangled with him, given his style in school, he would definitely trip her up in many ways, both overtly and covertly.
So when she saw him, her first thought was to ignore him and leave quickly.
“Hey hey—running so fast?!” Zhang Yikun obviously would not let her go so easily, and he grabbed her clothes after a few steps.
Lin Qingle panicked: "What are you doing!"
Zhang Yikun stared at her: "I didn't do anything. We are so lucky to meet, so let's chat for a while."
Lin Qingle tried to pull his hand, but couldn't pull it away after a long time: "Do you think we know each other well? There's nothing to talk about. You, you let me go!"
Zhang Yikun grabbed her tightly like a chicken: "No, classmate, I just want to ask you what your name is and what class you are in. Why are you so scared?"
"I don't want to tell you!"
Zhang Yikun raised his eyebrows slightly, and his tone became colder: "What if you insist on saying it?"
"I-"
"Zhang Yikun." The two were in a stalemate when suddenly another person's voice interrupted.
The two looked in the direction of the sound at the same time, and saw a tall and long-legged handsome boy wearing sportswear standing not far away. He looked at the two people's postures and frowned, "What are you doing? Why don't you let go?"
Zhang Yikun actually listened to the visitor's words. He actually let go of his hand after he said that. "I thought who it was, it turned out to be you, Jiayou."
The person who came was Yu Jiayou, the handsome boy from No. 4 Middle School whom Jiang Shuyi always mentioned every day.
"Isn't it class time now? Why are you here?" Yu Jiayou walked forward.
Zhang Yikun: "It's time for self-study class. Come down and buy some food."
"Why are you holding on to my classmates while they're buying food?"
"From your class?" Zhang Yikun smiled, "Oh, so he's your classmate."
Yu Jiayou frowned and said, "Zhang Yikun, stop bullying people in school, or I won't cover for you in front of your father."
"Tsk? What nonsense are you talking about? How did I bully anyone?" Zhang Yikun glanced at Lin Qingle and said sarcastically, "I just saw that she and Xu Tingbai are quite familiar with each other, so I wanted to get to know her."
Yu Jiayou paused slightly when he heard Xu Tingbai's name, but didn't ask any more questions. He just said to Lin Qingle, "Are you okay?"
Lin Qingle neither nodded nor shook his head, staring at Zhang Yikun.
"Oh, I really didn't bully her." Zhang Yikun said, "Okay, okay, classmate, stop looking at me. I'm leaving now."
Zhang Yikun waved his hand and went into the store.
Yu Jiayou was worried and asked again: "Lin Qingle, did he embarrass you just now?"
Lin Qingle has been transferred here for a few days. Although he is in the same class as Yu Jiayou, this is the first time he has spoken to him.
"… No."
"That's good." Yu Jiayou said, "Zhang Yikun is a man with bad intentions. He always wants to do something. If he makes things difficult for you in the future, you can tell me."
Lin Qingle loosened his grip on the mineral water bottle and whispered, "Thank you."
Yu Jiayou: "It's okay, we are all classmates."
"Thank you anyway..."
"Um... so you want to go back to the playground now?"
Lin Qingle nodded and said, "Shuyi is still running, so we need to give this water to her."
"Okay, let's go back together. I also bought some water for a few boys in the class."
"Oh, okay."
As Jiang Shuyi said, Yu Jiayou is indeed a very gentle and easy to talk to person. He doesn't make people feel embarrassed or sharp when he speaks. He always speaks with a little smile, making people feel like spring breeze.
"You got first place in math in the last weekly test. The last big question was very difficult, but you managed to answer it. That's amazing."
Along the way, the two chatted, but mostly talked about studying. Lin Qingle had good grades, and as a classmate, Yu Jiayou naturally noticed it early on.
Lin Qingle said embarrassedly: "It's actually a coincidence. I have done a similar question in the exercise book I bought before."
"Really? What did you buy? Can you show me? I'll buy one next time." Yu Jiayou said, "Math is my weakest subject among all the subjects. I can never finish the big questions."
Yu Jiayou's overall score was among the best in his grade, and the weaknesses he mentioned were unattainable in the eyes of others. However, a top student always wants to go to the next level. Lin Qingle was not stingy and said, "Okay, I'll show you the cover when we get back to the classroom."
"Okay, thank you."
"No need... You helped me just now."
The distance from the canteen to the playground was not far. When the two of them were approaching the playground, Yu Jiayou suddenly asked, "Zhang Yikun just said that you are quite familiar with Xu Tingbai?"
Lin Qingle glanced at him: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just heard Dai Rong talk about this person. Oh, Dai Rong is my cousin, she also goes to our school."
Dai Rong... This was probably the second time she heard her name.
Lin Qingle looked at the people on the runway in the distance and asked, "Is she close to Xu Tingbai?"
Yu Jiayou paused: "I don't know about this."
"so."
"And you?"
"Um?"
"I mean, how do you know Xu Tingbai?"
"I've known him for a long time." Lin Qingle glanced at him sideways, not hiding anything, "He is my best friend."
When Lin Qingle returned to the playground with water, Jiang Shuyi was already near the finish line.
"Shuyi, here." Lin Qingle waved.
Jiang Shuyi saw her early on, took a few steps towards her, and sat down on the ground exhausted.
Lin Qingle reached out to pull her: "Don't sit down, stand up and walk around."
Jiang Shuyi couldn't stand up, and asked with a pale face: "You came here with Yu Jiayou."
"How do you know?"
"I saw you guys coming from a distance."
Lin Qingle: "We just met at the canteen. He asked me about some studies, and then we walked over together."
Lin Qingle avoided the little episode involving Zhang Yikun.
Jiang Shuyi: "Is that so? Hey, I was right, isn't Yu Jiayou a very friendly person? He speaks very gently."
Lin Qingle: "It seems to be..."
"What do you mean by 'as if'? How come you don't feel anything at all, little brat?"
"Yes, I do." Lin Qingle thought for a moment and said seriously, "But I've seen more gentle ones."
Jiang Shuyi smiled and patted her: "Bullshit."
"Really..." Lin Qingle twisted the bottle of mineral water and handed it to her: "Okay, drink some water, take a rest for a while and then we'll go back to the classroom."
—
Lin Qingle would wait for Xu Tingbai at the intersection every Saturday, but this Saturday, she didn't wait for him.
The rice noodle vendor said that he sometimes didn't go to class, so it was normal that he didn't show up.
Lin Qingle couldn't wait for him, so she had to give up, thinking that she would come again later and tell him then that what he said last time, "He is not the person she remembered," was meaningless.
They will all grow up and it is normal for them to change, but the relationship between friends should not change so easily.
However, she didn't see him for a week.
Although Lin Qingle told himself on the surface that he just didn't want to go to class, he was still worried in his heart. After all, if a person can't see, there will be countless dangers in life.
After much hesitation, she went directly to his house that day. But after knocking at the door for a while, no one answered.
"Xu Tingbai?"
"Xu Tingbai, are you home?"
"Xu Tingbai!"
…
The quieter it was inside, the more uneasy she felt, but no matter how she knocked on the door or called him, it was like a drop in the ocean.
"May-"
"Who are you?"
Suddenly, an old man came up from the stairs, probably attracted by her voice. Lin Qingle pointed to the door and said, "I'm his friend..."
"Xiao Bai's friend?"
"Yeah." Lin Qingle asked anxiously, "Grandma, do you live here?"
Mrs. Jiang nodded: "I live downstairs."
"Then do you know if Xu Tingbai is at home? It seems that he hasn't been to class recently. I'm a little worried."
"It's his father who has returned."
"ah?"
Granny Jiang said, "His father came back a while ago. Maybe that's why he didn't go to school."
“… Is he home then?”
“It should be.”
Lin Qingle: "But why didn't anyone come to open the door?"
The old man: "His father is a weird man. He doesn't like people visiting him. Little girl, you'd better go."
"… "
Lin Qingle had met Xu Tingbai's father when she was a child, but his father came and went in a hurry and she did not have a deep impression of him.
But if he doesn't like visiting, then he could always open the door to see who it is... Why doesn't he even open the door
Lin Qingle felt a little strange, but there was nothing he could do and he could only go home that day.
But she still felt inexplicably uneasy, perhaps because Xu Tingbai was blind and she couldn't feel at ease unless she saw it with her own eyes.
After much deliberation, she finally took a taxi before the Monday night self-study class. After getting off the taxi at the intersection, she ran all the way to the downstairs of Xu Tingbai's house.
But after going upstairs, the door still couldn't be opened.
Lin Qingle stood outside the door for a long time, then walked downstairs in a frustrated mood. At this moment, he ran into the old man again.
"Mother-in-law."
When Mrs. Jiang saw her, she was stunned for a moment: "Little girl, why are you here again?"
Lin Qingle: "Has Xu Tingbai gone out these two days?"
"This... probably not."
Lin Qingle was puzzled: "Why, what about his father?"
"I didn't see him, so I don't know if his father is still at home."
"How strange... I knocked on the door several times, he shouldn't have refused to open the door." Lin Qingle thought, could it be that Xu Tingbai didn't want to see her, so he didn't open the door for her.
"Mother-in-law, otherwise... Can you knock on the door for me? I just want to take a look, nothing else."
"Oh, that won't do. I don't even know if his father is here yet. His father is so fierce and evil that an old woman like me wouldn't dare to do that."
"But… "
"It's not hard to get in, actually. I feel sorry for him so I go and help clean his house from time to time. There's a box piled up next to his door, and there's a key in the gap between the second and third boxes..."
Lin Qingle was stunned, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned around and went upstairs.
But Grandma Jiang held her back, her eyes clearly showing some regret as she said, "Little girl, why don't you come back in a couple of days? His father doesn't like people barging in, and I usually go to look after the child when he's not around. This way, I'll keep an eye on him, and I'll tell you once I find out his father's gone. You can leave me your number."
"It's okay, mother-in-law. I want to go and see it now."
“Eh—”
The old woman couldn't hold Lin Qingle back at all, and the young man ran upstairs in a flash.
She looked at Lin Qingle's background and shook her head slowly.
—
His father didn't like others intruding, so she could just take a sneak peek. Even if she was discovered, she would apologize immediately and her uncle would not make things difficult for her.
Lin Qingle was worried about Xu Tingbai and couldn't wait any longer. He found the key in the place the old man said and opened the door quietly.
The gap in the door gradually widened. The lights in the living room were off and the curtains were half-drawn, letting only the setting sun from outside in. Lin Qingle glanced around but didn't see any sign of the adults.
His father wasn't at home...
"Xu Tingbai?" She walked in and closed the door quietly.
The living room is not big, and you can tell at a glance that no one is here.
Lin Qingle walked to the door of his room and slowly pushed open the half-open door.
She knew he must be in the room, but she had not expected to see him on the floor.
He sat on the floor against the wall, one leg bent, head lowered, not knowing what he was thinking.
The room was so dark that she couldn't make out anything except the outline.
Lin Qingle frowned and walked over slowly. She squatted down in front of him and asked softly, "What's wrong? Why didn't you open the door when you were home? I... I was worried about you."
The person in front of him moved, as if he had just come to his senses.
He raised his head slowly, the right side of his face was slightly swollen, and the corner of his mouth was bruised. His eyes were cold and creepy in the dim light, with a hint of numbness and indifference.
He looked at her and said in a light voice: "Get out."