This is a surprise.
Sang Zhi took back the words that came to her lips. She looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, it was just past four-thirty. There's still an hour until half past five.
There are uncontrollable small expectations fermenting in my heart, mixed with a few inexplicable tensions. But soon, thinking of what she had just promised Yin Zhenru, her heart seemed to be missing again, and all her emotions were lost one by one.
Sang Zhi was at a loss for words, but felt that it was not good to go back and forth, so she glanced in Yin Zhenru's direction, looking extremely hesitant.
After waiting for her response, Sang Yan asked again, "Did you hear me?"
Sang Zhi snorted slowly, as if he didn't hear clearly.
Sang Yan reluctantly repeated it patiently, "I said, Duan Jiaxu will pick you up later, around 5:30. He should call you at that time, and you should do your homework for a while."
Sang Zhi: "It's half past five?"
Sang Yan: "Well. Also, be honest with me today and don't cause trouble for others."
"..." Sang Zhi was about to retort.
Sang Yan said, "Okay, I'm busy", and then hung up the phone without any hesitation.
Hearing the mechanical beep coming from the receiver, Sang Zhi put down the phone and stared at the screen wordlessly. She put down the phone, started to pack up her schoolbag, and limped to the door after putting it on her back.
Yin Zhenru came over and took her arm.
Go some way.
Thinking of what happened before, Sang Zhi asked suspiciously, "Aren't you taking me to find Fu Zhengchu again?"
"Ah?" Yin Zhenru was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand quickly, "No, I haven't played with him for a long time. He seems to be a different person recently, studying all day long."
"It's alright." Yin Zhenru didn't lie to her, and Sang Zhi didn't doubt it, she just added, "Then I'll accompany you to eat something. But at half past five, I have to come back to my brother."
The neighborhood Yin Zhenru said was in the backstreet of the school, in an alley out of Nanwu University. There are many small stalls and shops inside, and the two of them have visited several times before.
This is done over and over again for about an hour.
Yin Zhenru was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Okay."
The two went downstairs.
Sang Zhi walked a little slowly because of the relationship between his legs and feet. He stepped on the steps with one foot and stepped on the other again before continuing to the next step. She didn't let Yin Zhenru help her, and she moved slowly with the handrail.
Yin Zhenru, who used to talk a lot, doesn't know why, but today he talks very little.
Sang Zhi took the initiative to bring up a topic: "Why did you suddenly come to me today?"
"Huh?" Yin Zhenru seemed to be thinking about something, and her reaction was a little slow, "Have I not been looking for you for a long time? Eh, because I was divided into classes, and then I met a few new friends, so I didn't have time to look for you. I'll find you another day. Let me introduce you to me."
Her popularity has always been good, Sang Zhi didn't care too much: "It's okay, I'll ask."
Yin Zhenru: "I just missed you a bit, so I came to play with you."
Sang Zhi nodded, the corners of her lips curved up, and a pear vortex sunk into her lips. Although she couldn't say anything nasty, she was very happy to hear her friend say that.
After leaving the campus, the two turned left and walked straight, then turned left.
Along the way, we chatted with each other, mostly talking about things in the recent class. Seeing that Yin Zhenru was always absent-minded, Sang Zhi also felt a little boring when he spoke, and couldn't help but ask, "I think you seem a little strange today."
Yin Zhenru immediately raised his head: "What's wrong?"
Sang Zhi: "Are you unhappy?"
Yin Zhenru: "No, no."
"Then I feel that you speak very little."
"Really?" Yin Zhenru rubbed her nose, "Maybe a little sleepy."
"You stayed up late last night?"
"… Um."
The two walked to the back street, and Sang Zhi looked at the nearby shops and asked casually, "What do you want to eat? Let's order some wontons?"
Yin Zhenru didn't respond and asked, "Sang Zhi, did you bring any money today?"
Hearing this, Sang Zhina lowered her head and pulled out a note from her pocket: "I have brought twenty, enough."
Yin Zhenru suddenly lowered his head, his tone seemed to contain a little shame and guilt, and pointed to another alley: "I don't want to eat wontons, let's go there."
Sang Zhi followed along. The alley is a little dark, and there is not much traffic on the other side. There are a few teenagers smoking at the entrance of the alley. Seeing this, she stopped in her footsteps and asked, "Why are you going there? I haven't been there, and it doesn't look like there is anything to eat there."
"That's right—" Yin Zhenru's expression became a little anxious, "I don't want to eat anymore, I want to go to an Internet cafe."
Sang Zhi was stunned, obviously not expecting to hear these two words: "Internet cafe?"
Yin Zhenru responded somewhat embarrassedly, "Yes."
Sang Zhi reminded her: "Yin Zhenru, you can't enter the Internet cafe if you are not an adult. You need an ID card."
Yin Zhenru: "That house can enter."
"Isn't that the dark Internet cafe?"
"… right."
"No." Sang Zhi frowned and rejected what she said, "Why are you going to the Internet cafe?"
"I want to play games..." Yin Zhenru said with a bitter face, "My grades have deteriorated recently, and my parents won't let me touch the computer anymore."
"Then you can't go to a black Internet cafe."
Yin Zhenru took her hand: "you just accompany me, I dare not go in alone."
"No, my parents won't let me go to those places." Although Sang Zhi was a bit willful, he still listened to what he should listen to, and didn't give in at all, "You can come to my house if you want to play."
Yin Zhenru shook his head: "That game takes a long time to download."
Sang Zhi: "Then I'll go back and download it for you today, and you'll come to my house to play tomorrow. Then you study hard and improve your grades, your parents will let you play."
"It's all here anyway." Yin Zhenru's eyes flickered, "Why don't you go with me once today. I'll go this time, and I won't go again, okay?"
Sang Zhi stared at her without saying a word.
The two were deadlocked for a while.
After saying that she didn't agree for a long time, Yin Zhenru got angry, walked towards the alley on her own, raised her voice and said, "Forget it, I'll go by myself. You go home."
The teenagers standing at the entrance of the alley just glanced at her and did nothing else.
Sang Zhi was a little uneasy, but she was afraid that something would happen to her, so she squeezed the strap of her schoolbag, and followed suit: "Yin Zhenru, don't you go?"
The light in the alley is dim, there are no lights, the road is slightly narrow, and there are garbage piles on one side, which looks dirty and messy.
Sang Zhi was not walking as fast as Yin Zhenru, and after shouting several times, Yin Zhenru stopped and looked back at her. She looked around and didn't want to stay here at all: "Don't make trouble, let's go back."
Before Yin Zhenru could speak, Sang Zhi saw several people walking out of a nearby house.
There are three girls, wearing school uniforms.
The girl in the lead stared at the wine-red hair, with heavy makeup on her face, so she couldn't see her original appearance. Her school uniform was also painted with all kinds of weird patterns. With a cigarette in her hand, she said to Yin Zhenru, "Why is it so late? I've been waiting for you for a long time, little sister."
Yin Zhenru slowly turned her head and said timidly, "Old, teacher is detained today..."
Red-haired girl: "Well, I thought you ran away, and I plan to go to your school tomorrow to play with you."
"… "
"Do you want money from your parents?"
"Sister, I really don't have any money, my parents won't give it to me... But, but, my friend brought money..." Speaking of which, Yin Zhenru looked back at Sang Zhi and begged, "Sang Zhi, didn't you bring it? money?"
Sang Zhi realized something instantly, looked at Yin Zhenru, her eyes were pitch black, and she couldn't see her emotions.
Yin Zhenru didn't dare to look at her, so she immediately turned her eyes away.
Hearing Yin Zhenru's words, the red-haired girl noticed Sang Zhi who was standing behind Yin Zhenru, and walked over in a relaxed manner: "How much did you bring?"
Sang Zhi pursed her lips and took out the twenty from her pocket.
The red-haired girl took it: "That's it?"
Sanji nodded.
The red-haired girl tutted twice: "Little sister, are you so poor?"
The two girls standing behind her burst into laughter: "It seems to be a lame man."
"Little lame." She changed her mouth instantly, patted Sang Zhi's face with the hand holding the cigarette, and said with a smile, "You don't have money, your parents should have it? Lend some to my sister Huahua?"
Afraid of being burnt by the cigarette butts, Sang Zhi didn't dare to move, and hummed slowly.
The red-haired girl then retracted her hand and said softly, "Then come here to find me after school tomorrow. By the way, if you dare to tell the teachers and parents, my sister will go to your school to play with you every day."
Sang Zhi paused for two seconds, then hummed again.
The red-haired girl then walked back with satisfaction. When she passed Yin Zhenru, she pulled her hair forcefully and sneered, "Bring me money tomorrow too, don't deal with me if your parents don't give it, steal it. Gotta steal it for me too."
Yin Zhenru's body leaned back following her strength, trembling, and there was a cry in her words: "Sister, don't hit me... I will give it to you tomorrow... "
After the intimidation, the three girls talked and laughed in front of them and said a lot of words, and it took a long time before they left the alley.
Staying Yin Zhenru and Sang Zhi stood there.
Sang Zhi looked at Yin Zhenru and said blankly, "You know them?"
"I met him at an internet cafe yesterday." Yin Zhenru began to cry, "Sang Zhi, I'm sorry, I'm really scared... I've run out of pocket money, and my parents don't give me more, I don't know what to do …”
She didn't respond, and turned her head to the direction of the alley.
Yin Zhenru was in a hurry, so she quickly followed: "don't be angry with me, just give them money anyway, they shouldn't hurt anyone... wait for the holiday, it'll be fine after the holiday... "
"… "
"Sang Zhi..."
Sang Zhi suddenly turned her head and asked, "Have you been blackmailed by them?"
Yin Zhenru nodded pitifully.
"Then why did you ask me to come here?" Sang Zhi was obviously angry, and her voice was faintly angry, "You should tell your parents, or tell the teacher, why did you ask me to come here?"
"Didn't you hear what they said just now..." Yin Zhenru was taken aback by her fiercely and whimpered, "If I tell my parents, they have to come to me every day, I dare not..."
"… "
"And, and..." Yin Zhenru's voice became vague, "Isn't your family quite rich?"
A strong sense of betrayal came to mind.
Sang Zhi stared at her, unable to say a word for a while. She didn't speak any more, and walked out of the alley in silence.
Yin Zhenru wiped her tears and followed her nervously.
After a while, Sang Zhi said, "Don't come to me in the future."
Yin Zhenru began to cry again: "Sang Zhi..."
"You don't need to listen to them to scare you." Sang Zhi said calmly, "Tell your parents when you get home, they can't ignore you, and those few people don't look much older than us. There's nothing to be afraid of. "
"… "
Yin Zhenru lowered her head, wondering if she heard her words.
After speaking, Sang Zhi was also silent for a while, and then said, "Then I'm leaving, goodbye."
Yin Zhenru didn't follow.
Sang Zhi didn't dare to stay in that area any longer, so he walked faster, and didn't stop until he came to the nearby cow store that he was familiar with. She was stunned for a while, a little dazed, and suddenly thought of Duan Jiaxu.
Sang Zhi's spirit tightened, and she suddenly pulled out her phone from her schoolbag.
It was only then that it was six o'clock.
Duan Jiaxu called her more than a dozen times.
After making him wait for a long time, Sang Zhi began to feel nervous, afraid of being scolded and afraid that he would get angry. Just as I was about to call back, the other end just made another call.
She picked it up quickly.
She didn't seem to have thought that she would pick up this time. The phone line was obviously paused for a few seconds before she asked aloud, "Sang Zhi?"
Sang Zhi hummed obediently.
Duan Jia Xu breathed a sigh of relief, "Where did you go? Your brother didn't ask you to wait for me at school?"
Sang Zhi: "Beside Chen Ji Wanton, my brother said it."
Quiet for a few seconds.
Duan Jia Xu: "You wait for me over there."
A few minutes later, Duan Jia Xu appeared at the door of the Wanton Noodle Restaurant. He seemed to be running over, with thin perspiration on his forehead and a little red on his face. The expression was rarely half a smile.
Seeing that Sang Zhi was okay, his brows loosened a little, then twisted again.
Sang Zhi took the initiative to call out, "Brother."
Duan Jiaxu said in a light tone, "Where did you just run off to?"
Sang Zhi hesitated, then pointed to the alley just now.
"Over there?" Duan Jia Xu looked over and stopped for a moment. He looked at her again, as if he was incredulous, and laughed angrily: "Internet cafe?"
"… "
"Who told you to go?"
Sang Zhi looked at him and did not dare to say a word.
Duan Jia Xu's chest heaved slightly, as if he was holding back his temper, "Don't answer the phone?"
"… "
"You don't want me to pick you up, tell your brother." Duan Jia Xu paused and stared straight at her, his peach blossom eyes narrowed suddenly, and the corners of his lips curved. His voice was lowered, and his tone changed back to his usual condescending tone, but inexplicably seemed to have a sharp thorn, "You know my brother is poor and doesn't have that much time."
Only then did Sang Zhi speak: "I didn't..."
She grabbed the strap of her schoolbag uneasily, hesitating how to tell him what had just happened. I don't really want to trouble him, and I'm also afraid that he will feel stupid and be deceived there so easily.
Seeing Sang Zhi seemed to be ashamed. Duan Jiaxu's anger dissipated a little, but he still put away his smile and said expressionlessly, "Do you know what's wrong?"
"… "
"Um?"
"… "
His tone was deliberately harsh: "Speak."
Sang Zhi had never seen Duan Jia Xu angry. At this moment, I am inexplicably reminded that Sang Yan had gotten into trouble before, and Sang Rong had taught him a lesson before he was about to beat him.
It seems to be exactly the same as Duan Jiaxu's tone.
Another word popped up in her mind.
- "If the child is disobedient, just beat him."
Sang Zhi suddenly put his hands behind his back and took a step back timidly.
Her movements were big and abrupt, looking a bit inexplicable and weird. Duan Jiaxu was stunned for a moment, unable to understand what she meant by this, and there were cracks in his tense expression.
The next second, Sang Zhi swallowed and said cautiously, "Brother, I'm sorry."
The little girl's tone was timid and nervous, as if she was really frightened. Duan Jiaxu's anger subsided, and when he was about to say something, he heard her startlingly say: "—You don't hit me. "
"… "
"We... we'll just be reasonable." Sang Zhi took a few steps back, not daring to get too close to him, "I'll listen this time, I know how to reason..."
"… "