Chapter 7 (5)

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  Yu Xiang heard this voice, paused for a moment, and after realizing what was happening, his heart almost jumped out of his mouth. He said in a soft voice: "I am..." Overjoyed to the point of forgetting everything.

  "Can you tell who I am?" The words were like a provocation to Yu Xiang, and he pretended to say: "You are... Susan, right?" He smiled and asked while looking at Qian Rong, trying to show off his romantic skills, whether it was subtle or overt, in order to make Qian Rong feel inferior.

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  "How have you been lately?"

  Yǔ Xiáng now has put aside his worries about being punished and said in a low voice: "It's okay."

  Qian Rong shouted from the side, "Great, great, escaped for the night, hurry up and deal with it!" Lin Yuxiang's face changed greatly, he was so anxious that he didn't know what to do, he quickly picked up the receiver and rushed over, asking on the other end of the line, "Who is this? Is it true? Escaped for the night?"

  "No... nothing..."

  "You're telling the truth!"

  Susan. A loud call. And Lin Yuxiang's true words all poured out: "I didn't run away from school, I just accidentally slept outside for a night, the school has no reason to punish me...". The other end was silent for a long time. Lin Yuxiang thought Susan was angry and urged: "Hey, hey, it's nothing, even wise men make mistakes, I'm always an optimistic person!" After speaking, he thought he was humorous and eagerly waited for the other end to speak.

  Finally, there was a voice on the phone, faint and very low. Yuxiang leaned in to listen carefully, but was greatly disappointed. It sounded like sobbing. Could it be...? Yuxiang also became sorrowful and said: "Don't... you... I..."

  He let out a sigh, that sigh seemed to have drained Lin Yuxiang's last bit of hope, he closed his eyes and waited for the verdict.

  Susan spoke in an extremely low and slow voice, unable to conceal the sorrow that seeped into her words, with unshed tears: "Lin Yuxiang, you don't treasure yourself enough. I hate your slyness. Do you know why I unexpectedly passed the district exam? It wasn't because of luck, but because I thought you had talent. But...I really wish you could see my math test paper - all five multiple-choice questions were left blank...and I didn't even want the 10 points, because you said you would definitely pass the district exam..."

  Lin Yuxiang was so shocked that he forgot to breathe. After listening to her words, he felt a sense of detachment from his body and mind. Lin Yuxiang by the phone seemed like an empty cicada shell. The shell continued to listen to Susan's words - "Later you actually entered the municipal key school, which is good, the education in the municipal key school is much better than that in the district middle school. With such a good opportunity, what are you doing in the municipal key school?" Her voice was somewhat agitated, "Have you had enough fun? I don't want to hear your voice again!"

  "Wait---" Lin Yuxiang had done his duty to persuade, but unfortunately, his hand couldn't reach tens of miles away, and the right to hang up the phone was still in Susan's hands.

  "Goodbye——"

  "Goodbye..." was all he could say, his voice barely above a whisper.

  Qian Rongtan said: "How, after Susan, you blew away another one, you really are too much of a failure."

  "Failure... failure." Lin Yuxiang muttered to himself.

  Xie Jingzhou just came back and asked his deskmate: "Why didn't you come to class? Today's content is very important."

  "Hmph, important---" Lin Yuxiang's tone was so down that he could only quote others' words.

  Qian Rongxing said: "I'll let you in on a secret, that senior high school student is looking for someone everywhere and plans to beat you up when you go fetch water tonight!"

  "Pick me up——" Lin Yuxiang's hand finally moved away from the phone, and he heavily kicked the stool, using his foot's pain to exchange for a sense of transcendence in his heart.

  Lin Yuxiang decided not to go to the classroom in the afternoon and quietly waited for news. Outside the window, a gloomy sky, this rain seemed to never end. His thoughts were so disordered that he was tired, and he fell asleep with his clothes on. This sleep was so stable that there were no dreams at all.

  Waking up to find that the weather had changed early, the western sky was already filled with red clouds. It can be seen that Lin Yuxiang was still sleeping when it rained and cleared up - he was still asleep.

  The phone ringtone was no longer piercing due to the afterglow of the setting sun. Yuexiang's body felt weak, he picked up the receiver, but heard his father's voice: "What's going on with you, that night you——" Yuexiang was so scared that he didn't dare listen, and hung up the phone as a precaution. He thought to himself that his father would call again within a minute, so he took some money from the cabinet and went out to clear his mind.

  The door had just closed when the phone suddenly rang, and Lin Yuxiang felt a little regretful. He thought it might be Susan's call, but then he thought it was impossible, wasn't she avoiding his voice? Susan was also regretting what she said at noon, thinking that Lin Yuxiang must have been hurt enough already, and with this additional stimulation, she feared he would become depressed. She wanted to call to apologize, but no one answered, so she anxiously hung up.

  Lin Yuxiang walked all the way to the school gate, thinking that his parents should be on their way. Maybe Zhao Zhiliang and Jin Bohuan would help out - no, this matter would humiliate them, there was no reason for them to intervene. So what about going back home? His family only cared about grades, not people, they had a critic's style, but this time it wasn't about grades, who knows how things would turn out; Qian Rongtai was hateful, he wouldn't die a good death. After cursing him, Lin Yuxiang worried about how Luo Tiancheng and the others would look at him when he got back - they would definitely look down on him. Don't even mention Susan, she had become heartless and deaf, she must be hating him now... Thinking this way, he found that the money in his hand was wet, it was 17 yuan, last time's physical education training fee, running too much was not worth it. His eyes couldn't help but get moist.

  Hearing the distant train whistle, I suddenly had an urge to leave, but worried about starving on the road. Although I have a small stomach and a big life, where would I go? The school's disciplinary notice should be coming out soon, should I leave or not? Maybe letting go of all this fuss would make me feel more at ease, but I couldn't let go - like grasping onto a protruding rock with my hand, with an abyss below my feet. Knowing I couldn't climb up, my hand was bleeding in pain, unsure whether to hold on or let go. A desolate face dissolved into the sunset.