At that time, No. 10 Middle School had not yet undergone the continuous repairs and renovations of later generations. In fact, except for the iconic buildings, many other old buildings showed signs of time.
The small street outside the gate is also busy all day long. There are countless low-rise shops and small restaurants in the old building area, all of which are places where students are tirelessly looking for delicious food. Every day after school, students in school uniforms gather in restaurants to feast. In fact, even Jiang Hongshao, many people have seen her eating spicy dumplings or hot and sour noodles with oil all over her mouth.
Sometimes when she couldn't stand the spiciness, she would drink a mouthful of mineral water from the bottle, slurp it in her mouth for a while, and then swallow it. But even if she showed her foodie side, some people would glance at her, then turn their heads away guiltily, and then look in that direction pretending to be indifferent.
No matter whether the teaching buildings were renovated or commercial buildings were rising from the ground, in this time and space when the city had not yet undergone drastic changes and turned into a large construction site, many people passed through the alleys of the old courtyards, their footsteps shattering the tranquility of the staircases and corridors of the old buildings, facing the refreshing or cold wind of those seasons, and going to school like this every day in their youth. Perhaps it was those few seconds when their hearts beat so fast that are still fresh in their memory like yesterday's yellowed paper roll.
In the past few months since Cheng Ran came to No. 10 Middle School, although Jiang Hongshao seemed to be very active in school, participating in various social activities and even participating in competitions in Gangcheng, in fact, in her daily life she still behaved like a serious high school girl. She didn't have time to go home for lunch, and sometimes she had lunch with Cheng Ran and his classmates outside the school. In the afternoon, if no one came to pick her up after school, she would take the bus home on time.
The preparation and opening of Tianxing Dojo, as well as Li Mingshi's advice on CQ, occupied Cheng Ran's weekends quite a lot. Except for the last trip to Mount Emei, it seems that she has never made an appointment with Jiang Hongshao to go out alone on weekends. She vaguely knew that sometimes people like Marco and Su Hongdou would ask her out shopping, and she usually would not refuse, but it is estimated that others would not agree so easily.
After school, Cheng Ran packed his schoolbag, went downstairs and walked towards the back door. He saw Jiang Hongshao standing at the back door and smiled at him.
Cheng Ran felt relieved, and the two of them walked out of the school gate together, crossed the intersection and came to the bus stop.
Jiang Hongshao looked at the station sign and said, "Take bus No. 37 and go two stops. It's just on the way. Get off there and you can walk one more stop to get home, okay?"
Cheng Ran was really caught off guard. When they arrived at No. 10 Middle School, they didn't seem to talk much about their lives. Cheng Ran didn't talk about his family, and Jiang Hongshao never asked, as if she wasn't interested... It turned out that it wasn't what it seemed. She even knew where he lived.
Cheng Ran stared at Jiang Hongshao's eyes under her long eyelashes, which showed no guilt at all, and said, "How do you know that I can get home in three stops by taking bus No. 37? Are you spying on me?"
This is what Jiang Hongshao said when Cheng Ran ran into her while chasing Liu Zhiguo's gang in Shanhai. Now that Cheng Ran mentioned it, Jiang Hongshao blushed slightly.
She said, "You are allowed to guess about me privately, but I am not allowed to investigate you? I know your father. As long as I check the Fulong Company, I will know where you live now."
Cheng Ran stared at Jiang Hongshao and smiled, "You didn't ask me directly, but secretly investigated. You are very persistent in the things you are interested in."
The embarrassment in Jiang Hongshao's eyes flashed away, and she said nonchalantly, "I'm not interested... I just happened to see a piece of news in the newspaper that Fulong acquired Lao Huatong. I know where that place is."
Very stubborn... Cheng Ran smiled
"It's not fair..." Cheng Ran complained, "You know my family, but I don't know yours. When I asked you, you were very defensive!"
Jiang Hongshao smiled and said, "Then we will know today, right?"
The No. 37 bus arrived, and the two got on together. There were many students from No. 10 Middle School and other schools in the bus. Some of them stared at the two, and some of the No. 10 Middle School students were excited. Most of them observed the expressions of the two, hoping to find some clues. Jiang Hongshao didn't talk much with Cheng Ran after getting on the bus. She looked out the window. There were no seats in the bus, and most of them were squeezed together. Although Jiang Hongshao and Cheng Ran stood relatively close to each other throughout the whole journey, they kept a certain distance. It was just inevitable that the two sides had some slight frictions during the bumpy braking of the bus, and when their elbows touched, I don't know if it was because the air in the car was bad, Jiang Hongshao's cheeks were slightly red, which was very beautiful.
Finally, the car door opened and the two got off at the entrance of Caotang Park.
"Is your home here?" Cheng Ran looked around.
Jiang Hongshao pointed to the park entrance and said, "Go in from here and go around to the back door of the park."
Cheng Ranshun looked where Jiang Hongshao pointed... It was the provincial party committee's staff quarters, but he should have guessed it earlier.
"Come on, I'll take you home first, and then I'll go back."
Seeing that Cheng Ran had the same expression as before, Jiang Hongshao smiled slightly and led the way forward.
This park path is very secluded, with ginkgo trees on both sides. The trees canopy reveals some small buildings hidden in this secluded place. Shuttled between the ginkgo trees and the swirling fallen leaves, Jiang Hongshao, wearing a thin sweater and jeans, with a figure like a person in a painting, said, "What you said in the lecture hall of Yifu Building that day... was good."
Cheng Ran said "Oh" and smiled, "How good is it?"
Jiang Hongshao said, "Very good, full of insights, and not lacking in real evidence. Every word is a gem, fully demonstrating the attitude..."
Cheng Ran put his left index finger on his right palm, "Stop... do the reading comprehension. Are you sincere?!"
Jiang Hongshao smiled, her big eyes innocently open, "But... how do you know that? I've read the clarification in the China Youth Daily in 1994, but how did you know about many other things, such as the candy experiment?"
Cheng Ran thought it was not a good idea to tell you that this guy’s remarks had actually been exposed and debunked in the future. And then the word “expert” became a thing of the past after many incidents of experts seeking fame and reputation in later generations.
Of course, at this time, he just said, "It was a newspaper in 1994. Although it did not attract much attention at the time, Sun Xiao's remarks were still popular. But I later read some of the speeches of this so-called expert and found his fallacies. Of course, who knew that he would come to No. 10 Middle School to give a speech... and you are so courageous."
Jiang Hongshao seemed to recall the lecture hall that afternoon. She was standing there alone. Just when she thought she was isolated and helpless in the storm, the boy's voice suddenly rang out. It was so quiet that the blood in her body rushed backwards.
Jiang Hongshao said softly, "Thank you."
Early winter is here, and everything looks bleak. However, when the cold wind blows past our faces, the two people do not feel cold, but rather seem to be warm.
When Cheng Ran saw her head tilted to the other side after she said this, he felt a little moved.
In fact, Lao Jiang asked me to go home with him, even at the cost of revealing that she had already investigated where he lived, just to thank me for what happened that day.
Lao Jiang... Actually, he is a bit silly and traditional.
In a matter, distinguish clearly between gratitude and resentment and seek justice.
Not only was she chivalrous and brave when she accompanied me to track down Liu Zhiguo's gang. She also dared to question Sun Xiao's fallacies in public, even in the face of the pressure of his reputation and the face of the No. 10 Middle School, without any more considerations. No matter how much authority you have or how high your energy is, there is only one thing, that is, if what you say or do is wrong, then I will point it out.
It would be like this, thanking Cheng Ran in person.
Just when Cheng Ran was smiling with a hint of pride, Jiang Hongshao said, "Then we don't owe each other anything, we're even."
Cheng Ran was stunned. "How can things be evened out now? What happened that I don't know about?"
Jiang Hongshao put her hands behind her back, held her head high and walked ahead of him, saying, "I have been working hard to tutor you recently, don't you appreciate it?... No wonder I said that your mind is not on studying, but on these trivial things..."
Fortunately, I still thought that Lao Jiang's momentary softening and thanking him was quite cute. But that was not the case. It was gone in the blink of an eye!
Cheng Ran grinned, "You even scolded me at the same time. Is it so difficult to thank me properly?"
Jiang Hongshao laughed, "Then... I'll give you a small reward."
Cheng Ran stared at her suspiciously.
Lao Jiang took out a lollipop from his trouser pocket, which he had been pressing gently, and handed it over. "Here."
"I'm a kid!" Cheng Ran took it without any good words and took a look. It was a Zhenzhi Stick, a lollipop launched by Jiakou Group in China in 1997. It had a round sugar ball and a small plastic stick, and its shape has basically not changed in later generations.
Jiang Hongshao smiled and took out another lollipop from her pocket, tore open the wrapper, put the candy ball to her lips and smiled, "It's very sweet."
Two people were eating the same type of lollipop from the same company, even the flavor was the same.
Cheng Ran suddenly stared at her lollipop and frowned, "Wait a minute."
Jiang Hongshao was slightly stunned, her hand frozen, and then she saw Cheng Ran take the lollipop, which was half in her lips, from her hand and put it into his own mouth.
But the instigator remained calm and said, "I like this flavor."
"You...!" Jiang Hongshao's face turned red all the way to her ears. After a moment, she walked straight forward, "... I won't pay attention to you anymore."
Then the two of them walked one after the other until they reached the gate of her neighborhood where armed police were standing guard. She turned around, her face still burning, and said, "I'm going home, and you should go home soon too."
It is the early winter of 1998, and the year is about to pass.
Many people don’t know the taste of this Zhenzhi stick, and it is unforgettable.