Chapter 9 Yang Kang

  Mu Nianci couldn't remember how many years she had known Yang Kang, sometimes she had a kind of illusion that she knew Yang Kang since she was born, but she indeed remembered the scene when she first saw Yang Kang.

  She first saw Yang Kang when he was wearing a snow-white school uniform, standing on the top floor of the teaching building. At that time, Mu Nianci was standing in the playground, in the misty rain, and had to raise her head very high to see the boy in white walking by with a folder in his hand, his eyes lazily scanning the entire playground.

  Yang Kang in the fine rain was just a snow-white shadow, standing high up in the sky and looking at her from a very distant place.

  Mu Nianci's heart skipped a beat, and her chest felt empty.

  Yang Kang did not see Mu Nianci at that time. At that time, he had just been admitted to the first year of high school in Bian Da and was appointed by the principal as a student cadre to inspect the morning exercise situation and score each class. When Mu Nianci looked up at him walking alone on the top floor, he was looking down at the sea of people below, everyone on the playground stretching their arms and kicking their legs doing morning exercises.

  Yang Kang simply chewed the gum in his mouth, blew a bubble that stuck to his lips, and then deliberately numbed his head for a while, randomly giving each class three to five points. The only thing that made him happy was that he didn't have to do morning exercises anymore, and he wouldn't get his clothes soaked in the drizzle.

  To be honest, Yang Kang didn't want to wear that white school uniform either. Since he was young, Yang Kang had always envied his classmates who lived a carefree life, and the happiest time for him was when he wore sportswear and ate rice noodles at the beef noodle stall in front of the school gate. Although Yang Kang was a snobbish person, it didn't mean that he would despise working-class people because of this; eating the same beef noodles as migrant workers made Yang Kang feel very comfortable. Yang Kang's attitude towards life was always laid-back, and at that time, he was still young and didn't think about his future at all. He was indeed smart, and his father was Wanyan Honglie, which was enough to make him carefree and decadent.

  However, Wanyan Honglie apparently didn't think so. In his concept, his son had to be different from others and absolutely could not blend in with the crowd. Wanyan Honglie referenced his own classic school attire when he was a student and made Yang Kang a set of snow-white school uniform. Although it was worn by Yang Kang, Wanyan Honglie seemed to see himself walking elegantly on campus back then. Wanyan Honglie was so delighted that he had three sets made for Yang Kang to alternate wearing. Yang Kang couldn't bear to disappoint his father's kindness and could only occasionally take off his own favorite sportswear and wear the school uniform to school to show off a bit.

  But that white school uniform had always stayed in Mu Nianci's memory. Until many years later, when Yang Kang grew a beard and changed his appearance, in Mu Nianci's heart, "Yang Kang" still meant a certain drizzly morning, the white shadow of a youth passing by in the distance.

  In high school, Mu Nianci was indeed an ugly duckling. She was considered "delicate" only after entering university. Even in the age of first love, Mu Nianci never thought that anything would happen between her and Yang Kang. At that time, there were hundreds of Mu Niancis in Bin Da High School, but only one Yang Kang stood on the high rooftop recording the results of morning exercises.

  And at the beginning of their story, Yang Kang went to find Mu Nianci himself.

  From the first year of high school, Qiu Chuzhi, who was enthusiastic about coaching biochemistry competitions, frequently visited Bian Dazhong. Qiu Chuzhi is also a well-known professor in the chemistry circle, and Bian Dazhong felt very honored, so he called on his classmates to participate in Professor Qiu's competition tutoring class. Unfortunately, despite the call, the classroom became more and more empty. One of the reasons was that Qiu Chuzhi was a heavy smoker and could hardly finish a lesson without smoking.

  Qiu Chuji would always find various excuses to smoke during class, such as taking out a cigarette and drawing the molecular structure of nicotine on the blackboard. He would say very seriously: "Classmates, do you know that the amount of nicotine in one cigarette can kill seven camels?"

  Everyone was shocked and looked at each other in astonishment.

  "But there is an enzyme in the human body that can break down nicotine, so it's not fatal."

  Classmates suddenly enlightened, nodded and took notes diligently.

  At this time, Qiu Chuji naturally lit a cigarette and said: "So I smoke one is not fatal to everyone... Everyone is young, the resistance is stronger than me, before I fall down, everyone is safe."

  Among those who can withstand the torture of Teacher Qiu's lectures for several months, Yang Kang is one, and Mu Nianci is another. Mu Nianci persists because she knows that after winning the competition, she can be directly admitted to a good university, her family is not well-off, and she really doesn't dare to imagine the predicament of failing the college entrance examination and having to pay tuition fees to attend school. And Yang Kang persists purely because of his father's relationship with Qiu Chuji, if Yang Kang skips class, Qiu Chuji will definitely call Wanyan Honglie. So Yang Kang would rather be in a daze in class than give up.

  It was also from that time on, Yang Kang sat behind Mu Nianci in every class. Poor Mu Nianci was almost always distracted during class, and her notes were always scribbled carelessly, as she felt like Yang Kang was staring at her back, making her own back feel slightly warm. The only reason Yang Kang sat there was that Mu Nianci took the most diligent notes in class, with her back straightest, and Yang Kang could easily doze off behind her without being noticed. He was still grateful to Mu Nianci for providing him a shield to snooze.

  This gratitude directly led to Yang Kang's first time taking the lead for Mu Nianci.

  When Liang Ziweng and Peng Lianhu blocked Mu Nianci, Yang Kang was holding an ice stick in the distance. The tutorial class always ended very late in the afternoon, at that time, except for Yang Kang, Mu Nianci and others who had just escaped from Qiu Chuji's smoke gun, there were only people like Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng who were ready to find some money to spend.

  To be honest, Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng are not considered campus bullies. During their time at Bian Da Fuzhong, they had collaborated several times, but first, they never carried knives, and second, they only dared to threaten students who looked particularly obedient. As a result, they never managed to extort more than 200 yuan. Later, Liang Ziweng failed to get into college and ended up selling fake medicine, with each deal earning him tens of thousands of yuan in commissions. He couldn't help but deeply regret his past actions of intercepting female classmates on the road. It wasn't that he had a change of heart, but rather, he thought that mugging was a low-return business.

  However, at that time Liang Ziweng and Peng Lianhu still made an effort to put on a fierce face and said: "Classmate, lend some money to spend."

  Mu Nianci's face was filled with shock and she continuously backed away, while Yang Kang simply raised his head to look at the sky. He was thinking whether he should go up and be a hero for once. Yang Kang wasn't some kind of heroic figure, and this kind of business of buying small favors in school happened every day without end. However, Mu Nianci had glanced at him just now, so Yang Kang recognized that she was the girl who provided him with a place to sleep.

  Yang Kang was wearing his somewhat exaggerated white school uniform that day, and even in her terror, Mu Nianci recognized the person in the distance at a glance. Although the young man in white was just standing stupidly with an ice cream cone in the empty playground, looking up at the sky, Mu Nianci couldn't help but stare at him, only a strange thought that made her not dare to shout for help.

  Yang Kang withdrew his gaze from the sky, still undecided whether to take the initiative for Mu Nianci, after all, they hadn't exchanged a single word. At this moment, Yang Kang saw Mu Nianci in the distance still looking at him, and suddenly felt bewildered, wondering if Mu Nianci had been staring at him all along. It was just a fleeting thought, and Yang Kang turned back to the ice cream vendor and said, "Auntie, give me another one!"

  "Damn it, hurry up! If you have money, lend it to us to spend!" Peng Lianhu also felt depressed, thinking that it's just a small amount of money, is it worth everyone holding out for so long? If you gave it to us, wouldn't that be the end of it?

  A popsicle was thrust into Mu Nianci's hand, and Yang Kang suddenly blocked her path, standing between her and the two apprentice thieves.

  "Are you looking for death? Mind your own business!" Liang Ziweng plucked up the courage.

  Yang Kang pointed at Mu Nianci's popsicle and said: "Look, you should know."

  "What are you looking at?"

  "I'm her classmate, I just went to help her buy an ice cream stick, what's it got to do with me?"

  Liang Zi Weng and Peng Lian Hu exchanged a glance, then went to look at the popsicle stick together, thinking that this kid really knew the girl. Comparing hearts, although Peng Lian Hu and Liang Zi Weng occasionally robbed passersby of small change, they never targeted female classmates. If there were outside thugs who came to harm their female classmates, these two brothers would only help out if they recognized the girl. Although their profession was not respectable, they were still men and couldn't lose face.

  So Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng both estimated that Yang Kang would not easily retreat, it's obvious, seeing his own classmates being robbed, Yang Kang must feel that he can't show his face if he doesn't stand up for them.

  "Damn it!" Peng Lianhu prepared to make a final, fierce move, his eyes wide with anger as he took another step forward. "Mind your own business, I'm counting to three, you get the hell out of here."

  Yang Kang immediately rolled to one side and left. This sudden change left the two brothers, Peng Lianhu and Peng Lianyong, stunned on the spot, their faces filled with a foolish expression, completely bewildered by Yang Kang's actions. All they saw was Yang Kang running quickly into the school construction site. Perplexed, Peng Lianhu continued to carry out his plan to rob, but just as he had restored his fierce expression, he felt Liang Ziweng tugging at his arm: "Damn it, that kid is back."

  Peng Lianhu was shocked and looked up, far away Yang Kang had picked up a brick, walking towards him in big strides while unbuttoning his clothes.

  "I'll count to three, you two sons of bitches come over here." Yang Kang pointed at Peng Lianhu with a brick, "Don't be cowardly."

  Peng Lianhu and the others only then realized that Yang Kang had gone to fetch bricks - if they still didn't know how to run away when faced with such a reckless character, then they could only be idiots.

  When Yang Kang walked to Mu Nianci's side, the brick had lost its purpose. Yang Kang weighed the brick and watched as Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng disappeared into the distance like rabbits under the sunset. Yang Kang lowered the brick and put the popsicle to his mouth, smiling at Mu Nianci: "You're Mu Nianci, right? Here's a popsicle for you."

  Yang Kang miraculously reported Mu Nianci's name with his first sentence to Ping Sheng and Mu Nianci.