Many people's first profound experience of the word "impermanence" was when they were students. People they knew or even were familiar with suddenly had family changes, which led to drastic changes in their personalities and behaviors, or simply turned their lives upside down and disappeared from everyone's world. Many years later, when everyone gathered together to inquire about their current situation, they either sighed or felt melancholy, and compared themselves to them, they felt helpless.
Qin Qian is usually very popular in school. Whenever she performs on stage, she is definitely the beautiful figure that many people look forward to seeing on the stage. Not to mention that she has never been arrogant and is generous with her friends. She comes from a wealthy family, so she is often the focus of people's attention and is even considered perfect in the eyes of many people.
But perfection is actually just a person's wishful thinking at a specific time.
No matter how indifferent to worldly matters one is, one still has to go through the daily necessities of life.
Qin Qian's wealthy family encountered a crisis. Her father's factory ran into problems and he had no choice but to sell off his property as he was being forced to pay off his debts.
The news spread like wildfire for a while. Some people may have genuinely sympathized with her and felt the same way about her situation. Of course, there was also the regret that it was like a delicate and perfect thing being shattered, and there were also rumors from some jealous people.
The only one who was stunned was probably Cheng Ran. If it was true as Zhang Ping said, then it was very likely that the accident in Qin Qian's family was caused by the battle between his Fu Long and Bei Tuo. Was this also part of the butterfly effect caused by himself
The news about Qin Qian's family was spread by parents of students who had relevant connections with her father at school, but on her side, there was nothing unusual.
Because of some considerations, although the students were spreading rumors privately, no one asked Qin Qian about it. However, her friend Yuan Huiqun was also worried recently.
Although Qin Qian was reluctant to speak at first, as her best friend and the one who knew her best, there was no way Yuan Huiqun could force her to speak and find out the truth.
Yuan Huiqun gradually learned the whole picture from Qin Qian. It turned out that Qin Qian's father made equipment. In order to upgrade the market demand, he once planned to introduce better machine tools and expand the factory area, so he borrowed several sums of money at the beginning. These sums came from the original partner Beituo. Her father actually mainly produced Beituo's orders. However, in the past year, a company called Fulong has risen strongly. The other party's policies are also very good. There is no situation of coercing the factory with orders, and their orders are more benign. Her father secretly accepted some orders from Fulong, but unexpectedly, it was secretly controlled by Beituo. Beituo, a large company, on the one hand, used the problem of high-level business as an excuse to reduce the repayment to his father, and on the other hand, let the loan shark company that borrowed the money to collect the debt.
It was also because her father was eager to upgrade and develop, so he borrowed a large amount of money from the financial company under Betuo. If there was no recovery from Betuo's orders, the interest charged by the loan shark would be like a noose, enough to strangle the factory step by step.
It seems that the Beituo Group also wants to make an example of one case and wants its partners to see the consequences of working for Fulun secretly, so it seems that it has made up its mind to start with her father's factory.
It is said that the underworld of Chengdu is involved in this. Although Qin Qian's father is in charge of dozens of people and is a businessman with certain wealth and ability, how can he deal with them if he is involved with that gang
Not only did the underworld come to her house to collect debts and threaten her, but even her mother frequently quarreled with her father at home, blaming her father for taking orders for Fulong, which now caused trouble for her by getting in trouble with Wang Ligang of Beituo.
When Yuan Huiqun knew all this, she realized how much pressure Qin Qian was under now. She even didn't want to go back to the day when she entered the house and heard her parents quarreling. From time to time, some people of unknown origin came to visit her and occasionally glanced at her with a fake smile when talking to her parents about debts.
For Yuan Huiqun, who heard these things from Qin Qian, it was like a huge and gloomy rule, as if the air was poured with concrete. The dense and invisible pressure enveloped her originally perfect and enviable good friend.
That is the iron curtain that even their parents could not break. It is dominated by a higher power and is the bloody rule of this society.
As students, they are powerless against this force that can destroy and torment their families and can only wait for fate to take its course.
"Everything will pass."
Yuan Huiqun said these words to Qin Qian, as if saying these words was the greatest thing she could do.
But Qin Qian nodded and smiled at her, "I'm fine. They said it was an adult problem and told me not to worry."
…
Qin Qian couldn't deceive herself and say "I'm not worried". After what happened at home, her father never mentioned the difficulties to her, and he even gave her every day money for school. However, she could hear her parents arguing even when she closed the door, and her mother's complaints about her were enough for her to figure out the whole picture.
As for dance classes, she had already missed several. Every time she went to class, she would just wander aimlessly on the street with her dance costume in her bag. When get out of class was over, she would go home and her father would often say with a complicated look, "You're back."
In fact, she really likes dance class. A sweaty dance can relax her body and mind, and make her feel a little bit of confidence at this time. But the reason why she missed the class was that after a few more classes, she would have to pay the tuition for the next year.
She didn't want to add burden to the family at this time.
In fact, she also knew that the teacher had called her home to tell her about her absence. The reason why her father did not expose it to her face was probably because he knew her thoughts. At the same time, the man who was the pillar of the family also felt a little guilty about himself.
So after that, Qin Qian no longer accepted invitations from others at school or after school. She would eat alone more often, and at most would eat with Yuan Huiqun.
As a result, there were rumors such as "Qin Qian's family got into trouble with the underworld loan sharks and her father was about to go bankrupt due to gambling." Sometimes when she heard them, she would lower her head and walk away, her figure bleak.
On December 19, the author Qian Zhongshu passed away, and some scholars lamented that "Chinese classical culture and the 20th century ended at the same time." This news did not cause enough social response at the time, and many people did not even know when this famous writer died. Instead, they remembered what his wife Yang Jiang wrote in her memoirs five years later: "The three of us were separated. We were separated so easily. 'The good things in the world are not solid, colorful clouds are easily dispersed, and glass is fragile.'"
But some students in No. 10 Middle School still felt sad about this. Some of them took notes, while others wrote memorial messages on new newspapers.
Zhang Ping, who had been paying attention to Qin Qian, said to Cheng Ran during class that day, "Qin Qian and Guo Yi are together again. It is said that in the cafeteria that day, Guo Yi directly got angry with a group of girls who talked about Qin Qian privately. After that, Qin Qian and Guo Yi became very close... But, I always feel that Qin Qian has changed. She used to go home as soon as she got out of school. Guo Yi always complained about Qin Qian for this. Except at school, he would never call her out. They didn't seem like a boyfriend and girlfriend at all... But now she often goes out to play with Guo Yi and his group after school. Go to the skating rink to skate, go to eat and sing KTV, and even follow Guo Yi to the Internet cafe and game hall..."
Zhang Ping said with a worried look on his face, "I think Qin Qian is like a crutch because of the misfortune in her family and the reappearance of Guo Yi... Now people say that Guo Yi has Qin Qian completely under his control. Maybe she is looking for someone to rely on..."
"Really?" Zhang Ping said indignantly. "She knows that Guo Yi's side is a dead end, but now she has no one to rely on. Is she going to repeat the same mistake? Doesn't she understand what Guo Yi has in mind for her? This is just drinking poison to quench thirst. Guo Yi complained a long time ago that he couldn't get on Qin Qian and wouldn't even let her touch his hand. Now he will definitely take advantage of the situation. Qin Qian is in danger now."
Finally, Zhang Ping looked at Cheng Ran, thinking of his shocking speech when he faced Sun Xiao, and added some of the critical thinking he learned from him. After thinking for a while, he said, "But then again, it seems that we can't stand on a high ground and think that we have seen the whole picture and point fingers at the parties involved. After all, we have not experienced what happened to her. No one knows what she is going through now. Even if we men encounter such a thing, we may be hit hard, not to mention she is a girl. Maybe at this time, a shoulder and support is a great comfort, and the rest... is actually not important."
Cheng Ran did not comment on this.
In fact, there is nothing that can be done to help with this kind of thing. Although Qin Qian's family was a victim of the battle between Beituo and Fulong, Cheng Ran did not think that he could compensate them.
This was essentially an unfair method used by Beituo, and Cheng Ran certainly would not punish himself with the mistakes of his enemies.
After school that afternoon, Cheng Ran realized that the ink at home was running out. There was a stationery store across the street from No. 10 Middle School. Thinking of this, Cheng Ran walked a little further from the bus stop and bought a bottle of ink, a beautiful-looking pen that wrote smoothly, and a few notebooks from the stationery store. When he left the store with a plastic bag and was about to go to the platform to go home, he suddenly saw two familiar figures in the park next to him.
Cheng Ran stopped and saw Guo Yi, who was wearing a thin black down jacket, and Qin Qian, who was wearing a white and black sweatshirt, shorts, black socks and sneakers, walking on the park trail.
Guo Yi first asked Qin Qian if she was not going home. Qin Qian just shook her head and didn't say much. In fact, if she went home at this time, she would probably face her parents' quarrels again. Secondly, she didn't know if she would encounter debt collectors. The home that she used to think of as a warm place now seemed to have become a place she couldn't wait to escape from, not to mention that her mother was in tears every day and was in a trance. No one cared whether she went home early or late every day.
Guo Yi immediately reached out to hold Qin Qian's hand. Qin Qian struggled a little, but Guo Yi's hand was very strong at this time. Qin Qian tried several times to pull her hand free but failed, so she had no choice but to let him hold it by force.
Guo Yi was ecstatic. After Qin Qian's family incident, he had been getting closer steadily. He could feel Qin Qian's wariness towards him and her own confusion, but Guo Yi was not impatient. Later, step by step, he took her to play games and ice skating together. During the way, he pretended to hold her hand unintentionally. She did not resist when they were skating. Later, they ate hot pot until seven or eight o'clock, and took her to KTV to sing and play with his friends. Only then did Qin Qian's trust in him deepen a lot.
They walked hand in hand for a while, and Guo Yi suddenly turned around and hugged her across the waist. Qin Qian was probably frightened, but she did not obey him as he expected. Instead, she struggled, "Guo Yi, don't do this..."
Hearing the weakness in Qin Qian's words, Guo Yi used his hands to pry her shoulders apart and leaned forward, wanting to kiss her. Qin Qian didn't know where she got so much strength from her hands, and suddenly pushed him away, "Stop!"
Qin Qian stared at Guo Yi, whose face was pale and blue, with red eyes like a frightened little animal. He didn't expect that he had failed. Seeing Guo Yi's appearance, Qin Qian felt as if he had never been treated like this before. He was a little at a loss for a moment and just said, "Please don't do this, please don't do this... Give me some time..."
Guo Yi looked unhappy, but after hearing Qin Qian's last words, he nodded and said generously, "It's okay, I just like you too much and I can't control myself for a moment. We can take it slowly..." Guo Yi looked at the road outside and said, "My car is here. I have to go back early today. I'm leaving first, so you can follow me home."
Guo Yi signaled Qin Qian that he didn't need to see him off, walked out of the small park, and got in the car. When he saw Qin Qian's figure getting farther and farther away, his expression immediately darkened, "Damn it, why are you pretending..."
Guo Yi left. Qin Qian sat blankly on a bench in the small park. Suddenly, she felt something and hugged her shoulders with her hands, not because of the cold, but because she felt short of breath.
She was no different at school. At home, she listened to her parents arguing and their helplessness about life, but she did not show weakness. Even when she heard rumors about her at school, she did not go to dance classes, and she never bowed her head when her classmates talked about her in private.
But at this time, she finally couldn't help it, she held her face with her hands and burst into tears.
A sanitation worker in the park looked at Qin Qian from afar and shook her head, thinking that the couple was having an argument. Of course, she couldn't go forward at this time.
Cheng Ran, who had witnessed the whole process at the door of the stationery store nearby, turned around and walked towards the bus stop. He waited at the bus stop for a few more minutes. When the No. 37 bus arrived, the door opened and Cheng Ran raised his foot, but ultimately did not get on the bus with the crowd.
As the sky darkened, Qin Qian still sat with his head buried on the bench in the park.
Cheng Ran, carrying a plastic bag containing school supplies, sat down on an empty seat on the other side of the bench.
It's a little late, sorry, although you can't hit me, you can hit me with your tickets.