Chapter 34

  At midnight, four people ran into the courtyard together to set off fireworks. He Shouci held a small sparkler and said, "Stand back, I'm going to light it."

  In the cold wind, a flash of firelight, little bee's buttocks shone brightly as it flew out, leaving behind a small pit.

  The fireworks from other homes in the sky also started to shout and rise, and the deep night suddenly turned into a colorful day.

  Yuan Zhi took a bunch of sparklers and lit them all up, distributing them to the two girls. He Shuang waved her hands excitedly, laughing so hard that her eyes were shining with tears. He Shou sat not far away on the ground, still fiddling with those little bees, while Chen Jiaoyan stood beside him, waving her hand to provide light for him. At this moment, it seemed like the two of them had already let go of their past grievances.

  Yuan Zhi touched He Sheng's icy yet radiant face and asked with a smile: "Are you happy?"

  He Sheng nodded vigorously, the fireworks in the sky shattered again in her bright eyes, and she grinned at Ruan Zhiyuan loudly: "Happy New Year!"

  Happy New Year!

  That night, He Shou and Chen Jia-yin each made a phone call to their families and stayed there. When Chen Jia-yin hung up the phone, her expression was a bit strange. He Sheng leaned over and asked in a low voice: "Didn't your aunt agree?"

  "No." She shook her head and hung up the phone, smiling, "My family isn't that strict."

  They each returned to their rooms. The next day when they woke up, the marks on their faces had miraculously disappeared, leaving only He Song's cheeks still red, probably due to a problem with his skin tone.

  Yuan Zhi comforted him, saying, "It's nothing, it will definitely be gone after one more night, and it looks pretty good this way."

  He Sheng did not put down the affirmative voice of whether or not.

  The New Year passed with the fading of firecrackers, and in a few more days, school would start again. Yuan Zhi took He Sheng to a bookstore to buy some materials and stationery on purpose.

  Yuan Zhi is quite carefree, but his grades are not bad. In the second half of the year, he will face the high school entrance examination, and since he plans to advance directly to the high school department of his current school, the passing score has been lowered a bit, so there is no pressure at all.

  Two people went out for a walk and came back home. Wu Sheng's aunt, who had returned on the second day of the new year, wiped her hands and walked out of the kitchen, smiling at He Song: "Mr. Yan came by earlier and brought you something." She pointed to a white shopping bag in the corner, "Put it there."

  He Sheng was slightly surprised, and picked up the shopping bag to take a look. Inside was a light-colored down jacket with exquisite workmanship and soft texture. It had been some time since she last saw Yan Bai, and their previous conversation hadn't been pleasant. Although she didn't say it out loud, in her heart, she still feared Yan Bai's anger.

  She had always hoped to show her best side to Yan Bai, this mentality is not hard to understand, just like a child trying to behave in front of their parents, getting acknowledged and praised would make them feel satisfied.

  Yuan Zhi looked on from the side, pursed his lips and said, "How ugly! Don't wear it again in the future." He poked He Song's shoulder with his finger, "Did you hear? Hmm?"

  He Sheng reluctantly responded, she and Yuan Zhi were different, facing Yan Bai, no matter how hypocritical or insincere the other was, He Sheng would never forget the handkerchief Yan Bai had handed her when she was helpless at the airport, a single inquiry of concern, so she could never truly be indifferent to Yan Bai.

  That night she called Yan Bai, and the other party seemed very busy. Through the receiver, you could still hear the sound of papers being constantly turned over.

  "Happy New Year, Brother Yan." Paused for a moment, "I received the clothes, they're very beautiful."

  Yan Bai smiled and said, "Happy New Year, it's a bit late this year, does it still fit?"

  "It's fine, I like it." She pursed her lips, looking a bit tense, and said in a low voice: "I thought you were still mad at me."

  Yan Bai chuckled lightly, he wasn't going to get worked up over a kid, "It's not that I won't, it's just that people have different perspectives and handle things differently." He didn't care if the kid understood or not, he continued, "My starting point is always based on my own interests, right and wrong are determined by the size of my own benefits. The rules of social survival have established this framework, it's not easy for anyone to live, it's just a matter of whether you're living comfortably or not. If you want to live a little better, then you need to play by the rules."

  After a moment of silence, he said, "He Shuang, these words are still too profound for you now. Just remember one thing: living is for yourself, not for others."

  Hung up the phone, He Song sat stupidly for a while, got up and went to the kitchen to make chocolate milk, Yuan Zhi had recently become obsessed with drinking this.

  It's been a few days and school is about to start again. The day before school starts, Chen Jia Yin called He Sheng on the phone and said she had raised a little chick, surprisingly it was only as big as her thumb, and asked him to bring it to school to show her.

  Chen Jiayin is a very trustworthy person, but the next day she didn't show up. Until all the new textbooks were distributed and she still hadn't appeared, He Sheng went to ask the class teacher about the situation, who also said he wasn't clear, even Chen Jiayin's family phone couldn't be reached.

  Yuan Zhi and He Shou Si came over when He Sheng was busy sweeping the floor, today is Tuesday, according to the rotation of last semester, it happened to be her turn.

  "What? Where's that little parrot?"

  "The good news hasn't come."

  "Why didn't you come?"

  He Sheng furrowed his brow and shook his head, "I don't know, even our class teacher isn't clear about it."

  "Have you called?"

  "It can't be reached." After finishing speaking, He Sheng continued to sweep the floor in a depressed manner. Originally, she and Chen Jiayin were a team doing sanitation work. The other party was talkative and would never be cold on stage, but now one person is quite uncomfortable.

  "It might come tomorrow." Yuan Zhi said lightly.

  He and Chen Jia Yin weren't close, even if the other was a good friend of He Shuang's and they met every day, but the words they exchanged could probably be counted on ten fingers, so naturally he wouldn't take it to heart.

  He Shou Si suddenly became unusually quiet, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his eyes seemed absent-minded.

  Yuan Zhi kicked his calf, "What's wrong with you? You look like a jinx."

  "Not really!" He Guanshu reacted abnormally without much of a response, patted his pants leg, "I was thinking if something happened to her?"

  "What's going on?"

  He Sheng stopped his actions and looked at him with confusion, He Shou Si scratched his hair, looking a bit annoyed, turned around in place and patted the window, "Hey, I said you guys just pretend to have heard it, don't go telling others that I told you anything."

  When he said this, his eyes were staring at He Sheng, and He Sheng nodded to indicate that he knew.

  He Shouci stroked his thoughts and said, "During the New Year's Eve, wasn't it that I spent a night at your place, and the next day I sent her back, but she was still some distance away from home. She covered herself up and didn't let me send her off. You guys also know that the more she acts like this, the more likely something is going on. So after eating my fill and having nothing to do, I pretended to leave but actually followed her."

  He stopped talking and furrowed his eyebrows even tighter.

  He Sheng urged a sound, then said: "She walked to the entrance of a courtyard and stopped. Inside, it seemed like they were quarreling and scolding each other, with sounds of fighting and smashing. I estimate that they were physically fighting because I was far away and couldn't hear clearly. The scattered words I heard were already unbearable."

  He shook his head in disgust, "The more vicious, the better."

  He Sheng was stunned, "The ones who quarreled were her parents?"

  "No." He Guanshi shook his head. "The woman should be her mother, and the man is probably her stepfather, because he's always yelling about dragging a burden."

  She has known Chen Jia Yin for so long, and she has always been tight-lipped about her own family. He Shuang hasn't asked either, just like she wouldn't casually tell others that she was abandoned by her parents. Vulnerability is only for herself to see; in front of others, it's just a joke.

  Yuan Zhi looked at He Sheng's silent eyes and said, "Don't think about it anymore, we'll go take a look later."

  "What's wrong with this guy? Doesn't he know I followed her last time?"

  "Just make up an excuse."

  He Shouci looked up at the sky and began to think of all sorts of excuses that could be used, and then picked out the most convincing one.

  Numerous brain cells were killed and wounded, but in the end, none of them were useful.

  A relatively remote and not-so-good neighborhood, the building type is also quite expensive, it can be seen that Chen Jia-yin's stepfather has some family background. They walked slowly inside, He Shou-si was still repeatedly practicing his words. Suddenly, a person rushed out from a corner not far away in front of them. Although the early spring temperature was cold and biting even under the sunshine, the man didn't even wear an overcoat, his thin shirt was messy and hung on his shriveled body, a small section of his arm exposed outside was full of bruises, his hands were propping up his knees and he was panting urgently, as if he had just escaped from death.

  All three recognized that it was Chen Jiayin, He Sheng was stunned and rushed over in a hurry, Yuan Zhi and He Shoushu exchanged a glance and followed up.

  The sound of footsteps getting closer made Chen Jiayin look up, and she was taken aback when she saw them. She immediately looked uncomfortable, awkwardly scratched her somewhat damp hair, and smiled palely: "How did you guys get here?"

  She was only wearing slippers on her feet, and one of them had already fallen off. He Shuang didn't say a word and was about to take off his clothes to put on her. Someone beat him to it, and He Shou handed over the black down jacket he was wearing to Chen Jiaoyan. The wind blowing in their faces made him shiver, and after jumping up and down a few times, he stopped Chen Jiaoyan from returning the jacket to him, "Just wear it, what's the point of being stubborn at this time."

  The frivolous face with a rare seriousness, for an instant, felt as if that heartless and ruthless young man had matured.

  Chen Jiayin bit her lower lip, and with trembling hands, silently put on the clothes. The boy's fitted short-sleeved shirt was instantly several sizes too big for her, covering her buttocks completely.

  He Sheng helped her pull down her hem and then asked, "Who hit you?"

  Chen Jiayin's eyes showed a hint of fear, and she turned her head to look at the direction she had run from, saying anxiously: "Let's hurry up and go!"

  "Where are you going?"