After sending Si Yajing to an old residential building, Ji Su held her hand and wanted to say something. Si Yajing shook her head, forcing a smile on her face, and whispered, "You are all good children. Teacher, it's okay. Don't talk. I just want to be alone."
Si Yajing pushed the door and got out of the car, walking along the muddy path towards the mottled tube building. It was already dark, and her figure looked so desolate under the gray night. Wen Liang looked through the dark glass, his eyes disappeared into the unknown distance, and gradually became colder with the day and season.
The atmosphere in the Bluebird car was a bit depressing. Liu Tianlai smiled and said, "How about this, I'll tell you a joke to relieve your boredom."
Wen Liang said angrily: "Come on, is there any place like yours where you can find such a joke? There's a lesbian here, don't scare her!"
Liu Tianlai complained, "You definitely have a misunderstanding of our public security system. We have always been number one in Qingzhou in every party building and administrative evaluation. This time I'm going to say something fun."
Wen Liang was skeptical, turned his head and asked, "Let our classmate Ji Su decide this. If you believe that Director Liu can tell a joke, then allow him to tell one."
Ji Su hadn't recovered from what had just happened, but he knew that Wen Liang was doing this to amuse him, so he forced himself to be interested and asked, "What is a vegetarian joke? Are there vegetarian and non-vegetarian jokes?"
Before Wen Liang could answer, Liu Tianlai laughed and said, "Just because of what little Ji Su said, I want to show some strength and tell a joke that is suitable for all ages."
Wen Liang joked, "I haven't seen Uncle Liu for a few days. You seem to be speaking more and more cultured. It's suitable for both young and old. You are an old man and we are two young ones. It's just right for you."
Liu Tianlai pretended not to hear his teasing, cleared his throat, and said, "There is a village head in Beili Township, Tongyuan County, who is a female cadre at the grassroots level. Once she had to come to the city to give a gift to a certain leader. She considered two plans at home. If the leader was not very enthusiastic, she would give some local specialties to avoid embarrassment when being rejected; if the leader was very enthusiastic, she would give a shopping card to get the job done directly. The next day, she went to the leader's house in the city. The leader poured tea and was very enthusiastic. The female village head saw that she would give the card. She felt nervous while drinking tea. She took out the card and put it on the coffee table before leaving. When she returned to the hotel, she couldn't open the door no matter what. It turned out that the gift was the door card of the hotel room! That night, she didn't sleep well, and the leader didn't sleep well either..."
Wen Liang burst out laughing. Ji Su thought about it and finally understood. He blushed and said, "Uncle Liu, you are not a good person!"
Liu Tianlai laughed and said, "This is really unfair! This is the most stupid joke I have ever heard in my life! In fact, although Young Master Wen is quiet, he is not a good person!" With his status, he was willing to put down his airs to make Ji Su happy, simply for Wen Liang's sake. It was harmless to tease Wen Liang at this time.
Wen Liang sighed and said, "You just realized that he is not a good person? How about this, I tell you a true story..." He told the joke that is well-known to later generations about the three countries of China, the United States and Russia going into the forest to compete in catching rabbits. Wen Liang has excellent eloquence and his jokes are rich in emotion and vivid in image. At the end, when he told the story about the Chinese police escorting a bear out, and the bear begged them to stop hitting him, saying, "Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, I am the rabbit," Ji Su laughed so hard that he fell on the back seat, and Liu Tianlai almost lost control of the steering wheel and staggered in the river of speeding cars.
"Master Wen, how can this be considered a true story? This is simply slander!"
"It's true, it's true!" Ji Su's girlish nature quickly diverted her attention, and her awe of Liu Tianlai disappeared with his dirty jokes, replaced by a familiar intimacy. After all, telling jokes is popular in the officialdom, and it is the best way to bring people closer.
After going around a few more streets, they sent Ji Su to the family compound of the Qinghua Factory. Wen Liang followed her out of the car and walked a few steps forward, whispering, "Don't worry, your father is somewhere else, he's safe, and the charges against him can basically be cleared. He'll be back in a few days."
"Um!"
As the night deepened, Ji Su nodded, standing gracefully under the starry sky, her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque, her skin was as white as snow. It seemed that for a moment, in the dark, between heaven and earth, there was no room for anything else except the eyes and smile of the girl in front of him.
Wen Liang suddenly turned his head away, no longer looking into her eyes, and said calmly: "Ji Su, I appreciate your kindness, but please don't bring me breakfast every morning."
Ji Su thought that he had such an idea because of what Meng Ke said, so he turned around and came to where he could see his eyes, and said gently: "Don't listen to Meng Ke's nonsense, I always bring you breakfast after I eat it myself... Really, I, I didn't lie to you!"
Wen Liang turned around and looked at her quietly without saying a word. Under his gentle eyes, Ji Su's voice became smaller and smaller until it was inaudible.
"Ji Su, you are very beautiful. You are the dream of many boys. I don't deny that I had secretly peeked at your back before that incident happened. It's nothing. At the age of sixteen or seventeen, everyone would fantasize about a day when, under the attention of everyone, there is a girl in a white dress, with long hair fluttering, swaying her figure, with a smile that blooms only for herself, calmly facing countless jealous or crazy eyes, and making an appointment to walk through this period of youth together."
Wen Liang's voice was low, yet soaring, as if to cut off the nostalgia, sadness and vague feelings of the past. "But that was just a fantasy after all, Ji Su. I just broke into your life at an inappropriate time, and maybe gave you a little hope and courage by some coincidence. But I think you understand that this is not a reason to get close to and please someone. If it's just because of these, what you are doing now makes me feel uneasy."
"My help to you is not as great as you think! You can see that I still have a lot of things to do and a lot of unspeakable things to plan. Liu Tianlai is right. I am really not a good person."
"So whether it's for gratitude or to repay a favor, you don't have to do that anymore. I help you, and a big reason is to help myself. You can go back to being the Ji Su you used to be, do whatever you like, and don't force yourself. Otherwise, what's the difference between me and Gu Wenyuan?"
Wen Liang didn't say something. You have to know that this was 1995. What does it mean for a girl to bring breakfast to a boy every day? Even a kid like Ren Yi could give the correct and only answer: She likes you!
Yes, she likes you!
But this is the problem. Unlike Xu Yao and Zuo Yuxi, Wen Liang and Ji Su's relationship is both subtle and complicated. He doesn't want Ji Su to lose sight of his own feelings because of gratitude, and then go further and further on the wrong path. After all, they were not so happy before. Ji Su first brought breakfast, and then helped him with his lessons today. Wen Liang knew that he had to have a good talk with her today. If Ji Su lost herself like this because of her father's affairs, Wen Liang neither wanted to see nor wanted to have such an ending.
Ji Su lowered her head when Wen Liang started talking. Her soft body looked very frail in the night wind, which made people feel pity for her. She raised her head, and there was no emotion in her black eyes. She said coldly: "That time on the playground..."
"I want to apologize to you for what happened on the playground. I shouldn't have forced you to do that in front of everyone. But at that time I just wanted to hit Gu Wenyuan, I didn't have any other intentions..."
Ji Su looked at the awkward expression on his face, and suddenly smiled, like the ice breaking in spring and the flowers blooming, indescribably beautiful and charming.
"Okay, silly, I understand!" Ji Su mustered up his courage and gently held Wen Liang's hands. "I know what I am doing and what I need. After what happened last time, would I still be so stupid as to easily hand myself over to others? My father's matter only made me see a person clearly and get to know him again. I am grateful to him and even a little bit worshipful of him. I do a little thing for him. There is no other meaning, but I just want to express my feelings a little bit."
She let go of Wen Liang's hand, took a step back, put her hands behind her back, bent over playfully, and said with a smile: "In that case, let's get to know each other again. My name is Ji Su, Ji for jiannian, Su for tassel!" She still remembered Wen Liang's self-introduction at the podium on the first day of school, but she didn't know that the original creator of this introduction process was Xu Yao in her previous life!
Wen Liang looked at the smiling girl and seemed to have an idea in his mind. He smiled and said, "Hello! My name is Wen Liang."
Ji Su laughed and said, "I know, Wen means gentle, Liang means forgiving. Oh, see you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow!"
Sitting back in the car, Liu Tianlai asked, "What's wrong?"
Wen Liang shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Why are girls nowadays so smart?"
"I'm just a stupid son, I don't know much about this."
After getting to know him more, I found that Liu Tianlai was actually very interesting in his words. How could he be as cold-hearted and ruthless as the rumors said
"Well, your son Zhihe is as smart as a girl, Director Liu, you don't have to be sad..."
The two entered the Imperial Garden one after the other. This time, Liu Tianlai remembered to change his shoes first, but his rough voice remained unchanged: "Director Zuo, I have brought the person here."
Zuo Yuxi had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Wen Liang, he suddenly frowned and asked, "Why do you smell like a woman?"