The afternoon sun made people feel hot, Chen Nian walked quickly into the bamboo forest path and fell into the shade.
The rockery and the pavilion lead to the back door of the teaching building. Chen Nian walked halfway and met Zeng Hao, a friend of Hu Xiaodie who passed notes to her in class.
Chen Nian knew that she was here to find him and stopped.
Zeng Hao's eyes were swollen like apricot kernels and looked at Chen Nian: "Why don't you answer my note?"
Chen Nian shook his head silently, saying that he had nothing to say.
Zeng Hao clenched his fists: "they also asked me several times, because I'm Xiaodie's best friend. But I really don't know anything, and I can't help you at all."
As soon as she said that, tears flowed up, "Xiaodie is weird in those days, everyone can see that, she doesn't like to talk anymore, and she has a lot of thoughts. I don't know if it's because the relationship with her classmates has deteriorated, but I don't think so. I asked her, and she denied it, saying it was something else. Later... "
Chen Nian was expressionless and turned his head to look at the classroom. Bamboo leaves are swaying in the wind, and the sun is jumping on the thin leaves, like white water.
"I don't believe that Xiaodie would... , but they said that when Xiaodie died, the campus was empty and there were no outsiders. The suspicion of security was also ruled out. If it really was suicide,"
Zeng Hao raised his head, "Chen Nian, you were the last person to see Xiaodie alive. Did she say anything to you?"
Chen Nian shook his head.
"Chen Nian, talk to me." Zeng Hao almost collapsed.
Chen Nian was silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "No. I don't… don't know her well. Even you don't… don't know, I… how would I know?"
Zeng Hao insisted: "if she commits suicide, it is impossible for her not to say anything to others."
Chen Nian looked into her eyes and asked, "Say... what?"
Zeng Hao was taken aback, yes, what to say.
"Chen Nian, is what you said true? She really didn't tell you anything?"
Chen Nian: "Really."
The older you get, the better your ability to lie. It's like a natural acquisition.
Zeng Hao looked at Chen Nian, her face was as pale as ever, like someone who was always in winter; her eyes were pitch-black, very calm, like a snowy night.
Zeng Hao's shoulders slumped, not knowing whether he was frustrated or at a loss, and said, "Okay."
Chen Nian looked at her in a daze, and for a moment wanted to remind her that the college entrance examination would be taken in less than two months, and the key was to study hard. He also wanted to tell her to stay away from Li Xiang. But in the end, she said nothing,
Walking into the stairwell, Zeng Hao caught up behind him and grabbed her arm, speaking quickly: "Could it be because of Wei Lai? I always thought it wouldn't happen, but I can't find another reason, is it her?"
Chen Nian quickly pulled his hand back.
…
Chen Nian put 300 yuan in his schoolbag, 100 yuan in his pocket, and walked out of the ATM.
She looked around and walked away quickly.
After passing the intersection, Chen Nian smelled the fragrance of steamed buns. She lined up in front of the shop to buy two steamed buns for dinner, and handed the boss a hundred yuan for change.
"No change?" The boss frowned.
Chen Nian pursed his lips and shook his head.
The boss turned over the drawer, there were no fifty. He turned around impatiently to look for money in his bag, and turned back and stuffed a large amount of Chen Nian.
Chen Nian counted carefully, ninety-eight yuan and eighty cents. She looked at the ten and twenty bills, checked the fifty bills, watermarks, blind spots...
The coin was too old, Chen Nian spent a while, and the customer behind him sneered: "It's been so long, next time, bring a money detector with you."
The boss also urged: "Don't block here, everyone is waiting in line behind you."
Chen Nian was a little embarrassed, stuffed the buns into his schoolbag, and bowed his head to leave.
After walking calmly for a while on the surface, but still uneasy in his heart, he took out the fifty yuan and looked at it.
I haven't seen the fame yet, but I saw a familiar person. It was a group of bad boys who surrounded the white T-shirt asking for money that day. They gathered together while walking, laughing and puffing.
Chen Nian's heart skipped a beat, he quietly clenched the money into his fist, and moved it back to his school uniform pocket.
She grabbed the strap of her schoolbag and wanted to turn around and take a detour, but the other party saw her and recognized her: "Hey, stop!"
Chen Nian bit his head and stopped.
"I heard that you are a stutterer." The boy in the lead laughed, "Say, say, say a few words, one sentence, I, let's listen, listen."
The crowd laughed.
Chen Nian stood between them with his head bowed, like a kitten surrounded by a group of squirrels. Move clumsily, with nowhere to run.
They laughed for a while and got to the point,
"Are you rich?"
Chen Nian shook his head.
"Really not?"
"Um."
"Hmph, it was so easy to let you go last time, so don't be dishonest."
Chen Nian bit his lip and shook his head again.
"Then do a search."
Chen Nian wanted to run, but was taken back.
There are passers-by who hurriedly speed up and leave the land of right and wrong, and no one dares to answer. Courage has always been a luxury.
She quickly took out fifty dollars from her left pocket and forty-eight dollars from her right pocket.
"What is this? Ah?!" The boy in the lead grinned and raised his hand to slap Chen Nian, but he didn't get hit, and Chen Nian rushed up to grab the money in his hand and wanted to get it back. That's her living expenses.
The boy didn't think that Chen Nian was very strong, he was holding on to the money, and even ripped his hands. He grabbed Chen Nian's collar and lifted her up: "Anything else? Ah?"
Chen Nian's face was white, and he tried his best to spit out a sentence: "No... no more."
"This bitch is dishonest." The boy slapped her face hard and said to the brothers, "Schoolbag!"
Chen Nian struggled, holding her schoolbag tightly and not turning it over, word by word: "No... no more. Really! No... no more!" She spoke very hard, like a curse, but also like an oath.
She wants them to believe her lies.
But they yanked her bag over, zipped it open, and twitched the rope upside down. Chen Nian saw the chemistry book with the money in it falling out. She saw the dime of the money, and there was a bang in her head, and she felt a wave of despair and pain.
"The fifty is fake!" A shout diverted everyone's attention, and one person held the fifty that he had just snatched away, and said angrily, "This money is fake!"
The money went round in the hands of everyone, and everyone was sure: "It's fake." "It's fake." "It turned out to be fake."
Looking at Chen Nian's eyes became resentful, as if she was deliberately deceiving, this cunning girl.
"Trick us with fake money!" The leader raised his hand to fight. Chen Nian hugged his head.
"Hello." A cold male voice.
The slap didn't fall.
Chen Nian's eyes looked out from under his arms, and it was the boy in the white T-shirt again, standing in the colorful rays of the sun, his hanging left hand was fair and slender, with a cigarette in his hand, and the smoke curled up.
Not long ago, he was their defeat. Along with his mother, he was insulted by their most filthy words.
Chen Nian thought that the situation would worsen, but the group of people actually restrained and threw the schoolbag and the fake coin on the ground, ready to withdraw.
"Give her the money back." He breathed out a breath of smoke, flicked his fingers, and the ashes fell to his feet.
The other party threw a roll of money on the bag and left.
Chen Nian didn't quite understand, but he didn't want to understand either. She saw another piece of broken skin on his brow bone, and a fresh horrific wound on his arm. She thought he was being bullied, but it turned out they were the same.
The white T-shirt stood there and looked at her, not intending to help her clean up. Chen Nian squatted down, picked up the money, patted the dust off the book, put it in the bag, and carried it back.
He walked over to her, and his figure enveloped her.
When Chen Nian looked up, she could only see his chin. She didn't plan to look up at him. She turned her shoulders, and her body language said she wanted to leave.
"Hey."
Chen Nian lowered his head in a daze, thinking that he should be thankful no matter what.
Bai T-shirt frowned, unable to bear her ignorance, and said, "Hey, little stutter."
Chen Nian raised his head and looked straight at him.
He snorted softly and said, "Also."
He lifted his chin and pointed to the fifty notes on the ground.
Chen Nian picked up the money and stroked the blind spots and lines on the corners with her belly. It was flat and flat without any bumps. She felt a chill in her heart, disgusting her indifference and the cheap self-esteem when she was in the bun shop.
"It's fake," she said.
The boy's face changed, and he snorted coldly, "Fake?"
Chen Nian knew that he had misunderstood and wanted to explain something, but opened his mouth and said nothing. She took out two other crumpled but new fifty bills from her trouser pocket, stretched them out in front of him, pointed to him, and made a gesture, indicating that these two fifty bills were from him.
"This of yours..." she said hard without stammering, "really."
The displeased look on the boy's face dissipated, and he asked casually, "Where did the fake money come from?"
Chen Nian didn't answer, took out thirty yuan and handed it to him, whispered softly, and said slowly, "Also... you."
He looked at her for a few seconds, his dark eyes narrowed slightly, and the unpleasant mood came up again. Finally, he took the money and put it in his pocket.
Her face was hot, she lowered her head, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito: "Thank you."
The young man snorted, as if disdainful and mocking.
Someone in the street was shouting a name, and he looked back and walked towards it.
It's a bunch of sassy boys, his buddies.
Chen Nian tied his hair again, took out the bag of buns, and walked in the opposite direction.
The owner of Baozipu was moving the steamer, and when he saw Chen Nian, a trace of unnaturalness flashed on his face.
Chen Nian went over and handed him the money: "You found it, fake... fake."
"You can't even straighten your tongue, and you're cheating people? It's a lie at first sight. Who can prove that this money is the one I found for you?"
Chen Nian blushed: "Just... yes."
The boss's voice was even louder: "Isn't it like you. Be a good student, look good and handsome, take me as a foe?"
Chen Nian stared into his eyes calmly: "Your heart... is empty."
"You..." The boss was hit by her, his voice was even louder, and he simply used imitation as a humiliation. "Heart, guilty... I don't think you can change your words, so you are... guilty."
A few customers smiled without malicious intent, but it was all malicious in Chen Nian's ears.
The proprietress came over to ask about the situation, and glared at the boss, she could speak: "Little girl, did you make a mistake? I have been in business for so many years, and I have never paid any money. Did you collect fake money elsewhere? Yes, confused?"
Chen Nian was sure: "No."
"No, you." Chen Nian raised his finger to the boss, "It's him."
The facial features on the man's face were exaggeratedly twisted into a ball, like the folds on the dough of a bun: "There's no end to it, I can't do anything to you just because it's a woman, can I?"
The proprietress gave him a drink, and said with Yan: "It's all written at the bank counter, the money is counted in person, and I'm not responsible for leaving. Everyone is like you, not to mention my little bun shop, the bank has to go bankrupt."
They greeted customers and left Chen Nian aside.
The people who bought the steamed buns watched curiously, but the matter had nothing to do with them, so they bought the steamed buns and left.
Chen Nian was silent for a moment and said, "Call the police."
The proprietress sighed unjustly: "Why don't you believe it? We are small businesses and don't want to cause trouble."
Chen Nian stared at her, and the boss was excited: "Report, you report."
Chen Nianzhen called the police.
After a while, two policemen came and questioned the two sides separately; the one who asked Chen Nian believed her, but there was no other way.
The proprietress said to the police: "The little girl made a mistake, don't blame her."
Seeing that the police were leaving, Chen Nian felt aggrieved and said, "I didn't make a mistake... I made a mistake. This is... really... they were looking for."
The proprietress glanced at her and went to sell the buns.
The policeman took Chen Nian aside, patted her on the shoulder, and sighed helplessly: "We have to provide evidence. Little girl, check it out in person next time."
Chen Nian's eyes were slightly red. It's okay if they don't come, they come and go, she is more helpless than before.
Small villains are everywhere.
Evidence is not everywhere.
When this happens, there is no other way. Chen Nian was not reconciled, and the pestle stayed where he was.
There are many people watching the excitement around, and the boss uses twelve points of enthusiasm to attract customers, which makes him more confident.
Chen Nian looked at his deliberately piled smiling faces, and at that moment, she wanted to set fire to the store.
The thought froze her heart.
It is so easy to have evil thoughts in a peaceful heart.
At this moment, the hem of the white T-shirt flashed in Chen Nian's field of vision, with one hand clearly articulated, with a cigarette in between, two fingers took away the sweaty fifty yuan from her hand, and a mocking voice fell from above her head: "Go to the side of the road and wait. I."
She looked up and saw his thick eyebrows and black eyes, his expression was calm, and a few strands of hair on his forehead were about to dig into his eyes.
Chen Nian didn't move, the boy moved his chin coldly to the left, motioning her to go away.
Chen Nian walked to the side of the road, his shoulders slumped, and the cigarette in his hand was slowly and forcefully extinguished on the fat buns in the steamer.
The cigarette butt is inserted vertically. On the bun.
He slapped the banknote in the drawer and said something, the boss and the boss's wife turned pale.
Chen Nian only saw the thin and slender back of the young man.
Soon, the boss took a piece of money and gave it back to him. He turned around and went down the steps, went to Chen Nian and handed her a new fifty: "Real money."
Chen Nian: "What did you talk to him about... what?"
He raised a corner of his lips, not intending to tell.
Chen Nian glanced at Baozipu, and the proprietress was crying while covering her face.
The young man also looked back and said coldly, "Those two are husband and wife, the man gives fake money, do you think the woman doesn't know?"
"I know." Chen Nian said.
The young man raised his eyebrows.
His body blocked the sunset. Chen Nian lowered his head and walked forward silently. Walking on, biting her lip hard: "Fifty... RMB, as for what?"
"People are like this, live one more day and get worse, don't you know?"
Chen Nian shook his head slowly: "I think..." She took out her mobile phone and called Zeng Hao's number.
He asked, "What do you think?"
"On the way of growing up, getting old... on the way, I don't want to be bad," she stuttered again, struggling hard, and spit out, "Don't be the kind of person I... hated... when I was young."