The official start time of the celebration ceremony of Q City No. 2 Middle School is on Sunday afternoon after school. Before that, all students in the school have to study in an orderly manner.
When Qin Lou, Song Shu and others walked into the teaching building, it was the break time between two self-study classes.
The corridors and staircases were bustling with people, boys and girls were scattered in twos and threes, chasing and playing with each other. The sound of laughter and talking was endless.
Liu Yusheng had previously made a special trip to confirm the class that Song Shu's head teacher Meng Qingjin was currently teaching, and then he took Qin Lou and Song Shu straight to the third floor of the teaching building.
Students are always curious about strangers who appear in school and are obviously dressed as adults - especially when there are one or two young people who don't look like teachers among them, the students will talk about them almost all the way.
"Wow, look, look—over there, so handsome!"
"Oh my god, seriously, what level of beauty is this? Did our school invite a celebrity to the anniversary celebration this year?"
"It doesn't look like it. Even if they are invited celebrities, they shouldn't come to our building."
"I'm in love woooooo..."
"Look at the sister next to him, she's so pretty too!"
"Are they a couple?"
"Ah no way, am I going to break up just after falling in love? Look at them, they are both so good-looking, maybe they are just brother and sister, wuwuwu..."
"It's possible. Can I go up and ask that girl for her WeChat? She seems pretty easy to talk to."
"Then why don't you try it?"
"… "
Qin Lou was just listening nonchalantly. In terms of looks, he had always been the best-looking one among the group that was close to causing trouble, so he had long been numb to such comments. At his age, he would not react to the comments of a group of girls who were a dozen years younger than him.
—Until he keenly caught the sentence "Ask that girl for her WeChat."
It was like a large cat dozing on the ground suddenly hearing a rustling sound coming from its own territory. The direction of the sound was indeed its exclusive "prey" that it had to sharpen its claws to guard even when it slept. Qin Lou turned around alertly almost the first second he heard it, glaring fiercely at the few little girls who had just passed by and were talking together.
The little girls were urging each other to come up and ask for WeChat, but suddenly they felt such a vicious look and were really scared. They were stunned one after another.
Especially the little girl at the front, who looked very unscared, and didn't have the "immunity" that the people around Qin Lou had been forced to train. When she was stared at by the madman, her eyes turned red in a few seconds.
Song Shu felt something was wrong when she noticed the footsteps beside her stopped. When she turned around, she saw Qin Lou stopped in front of the bottom step on this floor and looked back into the corridor.
Song Shu walked down curiously, and then looked out in the direction Qin Lou was looking, and saw those innocent and pitiful little girls.
"What are you looking at them doing?" Song Shu didn't hear the previous discussions and asked curiously.
Qin Lou said coldly, "Someone just said he was going to ask you for your WeChat."
"… so?"
"I'll see if I can find it."
“… … ”
Song Shu was angry and amused at the same time.
The side staircase of the school teaching building was quite narrow, so Song Shu did not block Qin Lou's side. Instead, she stopped directly behind him, stepped on the upper step, and stood on tiptoe - she raised her hand from behind and waved it in front of Qin Lou's eyes twice.
So when she lowered her hand again, Qin Lou's gaze was "drawn" back by her hand.
Song Shu asked helplessly: "Are you getting younger as you get older, Qin Lou?"
Qin Lou didn't say anything.
"Are you ashamed to have to argue with a bunch of teenage girls?"
This time Qin Lou answered, and he was quite serious. "When it comes to you, my creed is to never despise or ignore the existence of any love rival because of age or gender."
"… "
Song Shu was speechless in rebuttal.
She could only walk past Qin Lou's figure, smile apologetically at the frightened girls, then reach out and drag the madman away.
A faint sound drifted from the corridor behind them:
"Wow, that guy is too fierce! It's a waste of his handsome appearance!"
"Although that young lady doesn't seem to have much expression, she is really gentle."
"Yeah, I think so too."
"I think you should forget about it. They must be a couple, that's why that guy is jealous. And he looks so fierce, but he walked away as soon as the young lady led him."
"Yes, it's a bit good."
"Are you addicted to CP? You're also addicted to this..."
The following words could no longer be heard, but Qin Lou's expression clearly showed signs of changing from gloomy to bright.
Liu Yusheng stopped at the stairs on the third floor. After a long time, no one showed up. She was looking down curiously when she saw Qin Lou, who seemed to be in a good mood, being led up by a girl with a wooden face and no expression.
Liu Yusheng asked curiously: "What happened?"
Song Shu began to think about how to describe the incident so that Qin Lou would not seem so childish. Before she could come up with an answer, she heard Qin Lou's voice with a smile, saying to Liu Yusheng: "The students of No. 2 Middle School nowadays are much more sensible than before."
Liu Yusheng: “… ?”
Song Shu: “.”
Liu Yusheng thought hard but couldn't figure out what Qin Lou meant, so he had to give up.
He laughed and changed the subject, then gestured to the door of an office diagonally opposite the stairs behind him.
"This is the office of Teacher Meng and two other teachers. They are all class teachers and are on duty at school today. I asked a colleague to call Teacher Meng in advance, and he is in the office now. There is no one else in there. Shall I take you two in?"
Qin Lou's eyes sparkled. "No need. We can just go in by ourselves. This place is quite familiar—there is still no change in the teaching building. Even the location of the tool room is the same as before."
"Tool room?" Liu Yusheng was stunned and subconsciously turned around to look to his side.
There is indeed a small door to the tool room diagonally opposite him. The door is usually not locked, making it convenient for students on duty from each class on the same floor to come here to get cleaning tools.
Coming back to his senses, Liu Yusheng couldn't help but smile: "I've heard that Mr. Qin's grades were exceptional when he was in school. Today I see that it's true. After so many years, you can even remember such a small thing as the location of the tool room so clearly?"
"A small matter? Not a small matter." Qin Lou lowered his eyes and smiled, "Some memorable things can also happen in the tool room."
"?"
Liu Yusheng was stunned again.
I don’t know if it’s his illusion, but no matter how I listen to or think about it, it feels a bit strange…
Song Shu, who had been holding back, finally couldn't hold back anymore after hearing this. While Liu Yusheng was subconsciously thinking with her eyes down, she raised her eyes and glanced at Qin Lou.
Qin Lou laughed dumbly. Knowing that it would be no good for him to provoke the little clam, he spoke before Liu Yusheng noticed anything:
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Liu. We will go in first. We will go directly to the school anniversary ceremony later, so there is no need to trouble Mr. Liu."
"Hey, Mr. Qin, you are too polite." Liu Yusheng waved his hand. "It seems that I am not very convenient to stay here. So please make yourselves at home. I will go to the school auditorium that I introduced to you before and wait for you?"
"good."
"… "
The two parties said goodbye, and Liu Yusheng turned and went downstairs. Song Shu and Qin Lou walked to the door of the office.
Qin Lou was about to knock on the door, but Song Shu grabbed his hand and asked, "Are you sure you want to come in?"
"Since you're here now." Qin Lou chuckled. "How about letting your 'mentor' wait in there for an entire afternoon? I can accept this outcome."
Song Shu was helpless, "Your desire for revenge is too strong, Qin Lou."
Qin Lou smiled, his eyes cold, "I've always been like this. Besides, when it comes to everything related to you, my tolerance is not much bigger than a needle."
Song Shu was still worried, "Then let's make a deal, you can go in, but don't make too much noise."
"What's too awesome?"
"… "
Qin Lou laughed heartily, "You know, a madman's definition of 'too powerful' might be different from that of a normal person."
Song Shu looked at him with a dull face, "Then let's follow the normal definition."
"I'm not a normal person, I'm just a lunatic." Qin Lou looked innocent, "How would I know what the definition of a normal person is?"
Song Shu: “…”
When Song Shu was about to give up "reasoning" with this madman, Qin Lou had probably finally had enough fun. He lowered his eyes and chuckled softly.
"Okay, I get it. Although I don't know which one is the red line for normal people, don't you still have me?"
Song Shu raised his eyes to look at him.
Qin Lou hooked her hand, "As long as you give me a look, I will stop - I always listen to you, you know."
"… "
Song Shu couldn't help but let his emotions flicker slightly.
After a moment, she smiled helplessly: "Crazy." This sound was extremely helpless and gentle.
Song Shu's hand dropped down, and Qin Lou knocked on the office door.
A voice of "Come in" was immediately heard from inside.
Qin Lou opened the door, waited for Song Shu to walk in, and then followed him in.
The middle-aged man sitting in the office had an ordinary face that was no different from that of an ordinary middle school teacher. From his facial features, Song Shu could vaguely find some impressions of him from the past.
Meng Qingjin had received a notice from his colleagues in advance that one of his students would come to visit him at the alumni association. At this time, he looked at Song Shu and was obviously trying hard to recall which class he had taught this student.
But perhaps Song Shu was too quiet during his student days, and Meng Qingjin only felt a sense of déjà vu from the bottom of his heart, but there was a layer of window paper between them, which he could not break through or remember no matter what he did.
He stood up and asked doubtfully: "Your name is..."
"Song Shu."
A voice answered on behalf of Song Shu.
Meng Qingjin looked for the voice, raised his head and looked behind Song Shu, and saw a more familiar handsome face appear in his sight.
Meng Qingjin's figure froze.
If this face loses its edges and corners, and gains a bit of the youth's rebelliousness and sharpness, wouldn't it be...
"I'm Qin Lou—long time no see, Teacher Meng."
Qin Lou curled his lips into a smile and stopped.
"Qin, Qin Lou?"
Meng Qingjin's expression suddenly changed.
There have been many outstanding students in the history of Q City No. 2 Middle School, but Qin Lou is definitely the first one who cannot be summarized in one word.
Even today, teachers occasionally bring up the story in their spare time when they get together, shaking their heads and sighing: Who would have thought that such a troubled but excellent student back then would become a legendary name in the international financial industry in just a few years
Similarly, the stories and stories about Qin Lou when he was in school are still widely circulated among teachers and students.
Both a genius and a madman - probably no one would agree with this evaluation more than the teachers of Q City No. 2 Middle School who had experienced Qin Lou's class of students.
Meng Qingjin often has more feelings at times like this, and the reason is...
Meng Qingjin's gaze fell on the girl who came in and was silent, and he smiled bitterly.
"Then I remember, Song Shu, I should remember you."
Song Shuwei lowered his eyes, "Hello, Teacher Meng."
"… "
This plain "Hello, Teacher Meng" easily brought back some memories of Meng Qingjin over the years. This girl actually left a deep impression on him. After all, among the students of his age, no one had ever seen such a pretty girl, such excellent academic performance, and such a quiet personality.
What's more, this girl was closely connected with the most "famous" devil in the school at that time.
Meng Qingjin himself remembered that he seemed to have called the girl to his office many times, not for any other reason, just to persuade her to "turn over a new leaf" and "turn to the light", and stay as far away from the boy who looked so dangerous at first glance.
Unfortunately, I failed to persuade him in the end.
Meng Qingjin looked at Song Shu, then at Qin Lou, and he laughed, feeling a little ashamed and apologetic.
"I see. You are here today to show me that my attempt to stop it not only failed, but was also extremely wrong, right?"
Song Shu did not argue, but stood there with his eyes downcast, not moving.
She did not agree with Qin Lou's approach, but since it was Qin Lou's choice, she would accompany him and regard it as her own choice.
"No, I'm here to thank Teacher Meng."
A voice struck the quiet chord in the office. Song Shu looked up in surprise and looked towards Qin Lou.
Meng Qingjin was more surprised than Song Shu. "You're thanking me? Thank me for what?" He couldn't help but laugh at himself. "Thank me for looking at people with tinted glasses and categorizing students into different categories and making random judgments?"
Qin Lou didn't smile, and said, "Teacher Xie Meng wanted to protect her."
Meng Qingjin was stunned.
Qin Lou: "I was a really incompetent student. I didn't like the teachers, and the teachers didn't like me either - it's fair. But Teacher Meng liked her and wanted to protect her, which is enough to make up for everything. I should thank her no matter what."
"… "
Meng Qingjin came back to his senses after a long while. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Are you trying to make me feel ashamed? In fact, the news spread all over the school. I knew it at that time. You just listened to Song Shu and must have liked her very much - but how old were you at that time? Children are not stable and will break up after a little while. Love will not last long. So I always feel that in the long run, Song Shu should stay away from you, a little devil."
After Meng Qingjin finished speaking, he paused and laughed again.
The meaning this time is different from before, with an added sense of relief and comfort.
"I was indeed wrong. But I was right in giving advice, but I was wrong in not seeing clearly - you two children are different from other children after all, and your personalities have been determined early. I shouldn't have said that about you in front of her - fortunately, she didn't listen to me."
After saying the last sentence, Song Shu couldn't help but smile.
The awkwardness of the unfamiliarity and estrangement in the office finally dissipated. The teacher and the student put aside their suspicions, and Song Shu and Qin Lou sat down one after the other and chatted with their mentor for quite some time.
When the sun set, the bell for the last self-study class in the afternoon rang, and the two of them stood up and said goodbye.
Without asking Meng Qingjin to see them off, Song Shu and Qin Lou said goodbye to the teacher and walked out of the office together.
Keep the door closed.
Qin Lou and Song Shu were the only two people left in the corridor after class. The setting sun cast its afterglow through the west window, and their shadows were long and overlapping on the ground.
I don’t know if it was tacit understanding or something else, but the two of them just stood there and no one moved.
After a long silence, Qin Lou spoke first.
"I heard it."
"..." Song Shu raised his eyes.
She didn't seem to be surprised at all why Qin Lou suddenly said this. There was only a little helplessness and endless indulgence in her eyes as she looked at Qin Lou.
Qin Lou looked at her and smiled, then slowly repeated the terrifying words he had said in his memory after hearing those words:
"So that's why you asked me to make friends because everyone told you that you should stay as far away from me as possible? You finally realized that, but don't you think it's too late to agree to them now?"
No matter how helpless she was, since she was the one who brought this lunatic here, Song Shu had no choice but to cooperate.
"I'm not agreeing."
"But you know what? They're absolutely right."
Qin Lou repeated it, hesitated, and obviously lowered his voice—
"You should have left long ago."
Song Shu frowned.
It wasn't because of Qin Lou's words, but because of the scenes in her memories that suddenly came into her mind with great clarity. She thought that everything that had been long buried in the long river of memory was actually hidden deep in her mind, waiting to be discovered again by her.
Those memories were so clear, as if they were yesterday, that the moment Qin Lou opened his mouth, she almost subconsciously looked down at her empty wrist.
She remembered how tightly the boy had grabbed her wrist that day. After saying the only harsh words he had ever said to her, he froze in place for several seconds before lowering his eyes in mockery.
Those eyes seemed to be very close, and the corners of the boy's eyes were so red that they seemed to be bleeding.
…Who cares
He was so reluctant, but forced himself to let go and turn around to leave.
Song Shu looked at the boy's back and couldn't help but open his mouth.
Qin Tower.
… The young man paused, then quickly moved forward again.
Qin Tower.
… He turned a deaf ear.
Qin Tower.
…
Qin Tower.
—
At the last sound, the boy's figure suddenly stopped.
Then he turned back with a stiff back.
Song Shu's eyes trembled slightly.
She raised her eyes to look at Qin Lou, and in the young man looking at her, she seemed to see the boy who had a fierce and hurtful appearance but always showed her his softest and most vulnerable side.
Song Shu's eyes were slightly wet. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, then slowly drooped, hiding a smile.
"I've always been here. I haven't left."
Qin Lou's eyes were filled with emotion.
After a few seconds, he lowered his eyes and smiled, walked a few steps to Song Shu, and then hugged her in his arms.
He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
"You have to call me four times at most... I will come to you even if the sky falls."