Childhood Friends and Mistaken Choices
A childhood friend becomes obsessed with 'saving' a poor classmate, leading to misunderstandings, violence, and ultimately, the destruction of multiple relationships.
Childhood Friends and Mistaken Choices
Lin Chuan dreamed of becoming the savior of the impoverished student Zhou Xiaohui.
He mobilized classmates to eat at her family's fast-food restaurant, and for every meal purchased, he would privately subsidize ten yuan.
Others asked me what I thought.
I shook my head: "He's stupid enough, and has enough money!"
Later, his mother found out about this and came directly to the school.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiaohui pinned the blame of informing on me.
"He's just spending a little money to help me out. Can't you even tolerate that?"
"Just because my family is poor, you look down on me and trample on my self-esteem!"
Facing these unfounded accusations, I only felt annoyed.
Especially since I was about to go abroad.
I didn't want to tolerate this ridiculous couple for even another minute!
Chapter 1
Zhou Xiaohui cried like pear blossoms in the rain as she shouted these words at me.
The classroom fell silent in an instant.
Classmates, directly or covertly, focused their attention on us both.
I found this somewhat speechless and laid out my response:
"One, Lin Chuan is spending his own money. I never thought it had anything to do with me."
"Two, I have never done anything to trample on your self-esteem. Please provide examples to prove I look down on you."
As soon as I finished speaking, someone nearby spoke up.
"With how aggressive you look now, it wouldn't be surprising if you could do such things."
Without looking, I knew it was Lin Chuan, who had now transformed into Zhou Xiaohui's sycophant.
Sure enough, he stared at me with resentment.
I calmly responded to him.
"With you looking as stupid as a wooden chicken now, it wouldn't be surprising if you could say such things."
Hearing my words, the atmosphere in the classroom suddenly began to churn.
In all the students' eyes:
Zhou Xiaohui was—the hardworking poor student from a disadvantaged family.
Lin Chuan was—the well-born and kind-hearted male lead.
And I was—the wealthy, snobbish, malicious, and heartless woman.
Fortunately, I no longer cared about their opinions now.
Ignoring Zhou Xiaohui's performance, I sat down and began reading.
But not long after, someone fiercely pushed my desk, and the edge hit me directly in the stomach.
Lin Chuan stood opposite, speaking through gritted teeth.
"Ji Lingyun, I never thought you could be so shameless!"
"The facts are right in front of you, yet you're still so stubborn. Is this fun?"
"If you hadn't snitched, how would my mother have found Zhou Xiaohui so precisely? Are you really this intolerant of me helping others?"
After speaking, he pulled Zhou Xiaohui behind him and looked seriously into her eyes.
"Don't be afraid. I will protect you."
The surrounding discussions gradually increased.
"No wonder Lin Chuan's mother came directly to the school last time. Someone was stirring up trouble."
"Does Ji Lingyun think that just because she grew up with Lin Chuan, he belongs to her?"
"He's sincerely helping a classmate, and she stabs him in the back. How interesting!"
"Besides being a bit rich and having good grades, there's nothing much about her to be proud of."
...
I laughed angrily.
Seeing this, Lin Chuan became even angrier.
He walked up to me and said word by word.
"And you can still laugh?"
"People like you will never show kindness or sincerity to others!"
Chapter 2
I suddenly discovered that Lin Chuan possessed a kind of—brain-dead momentum.
It made my temples throb.
I sighed inwardly and casually packed my things away.
"Think what you want."
Seeing I was about to leave, he wouldn't let it go.
Blocking me, he insisted I apologize to Zhou Xiaohui.
I looked at him for a while and asked:
"What apology should I give?"
Hearing this, Zhou Xiaohui's tears immediately flowed.
"You threw my family's fast food, untouched, into the trash. Now everyone says there's something wrong with my family's food."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Chuan picked up a plastic bag from the desk behind him and threw it on my desk.
"See for yourself. Wasn't it you who threw it away?"
The plastic bag was covered in garbage, but you could still recognize that inside was an unopened fast-food meal.
It was indeed what I threw away at noon today.
Following Lin Chuan's action, Zhou Xiaohui began to cry.
"Ji Lingyun, I washed the vegetables myself. They're not dirty."
I couldn't help but laugh out loud again.
What a clever girl.
In just a few words, she made me the one who looked down on her for having "dirty hands."
But at this moment, if I continued to entangle with them, I would inevitably be unable to extricate myself.
I explained helplessly:
"I have a bad stomach and can't eat it."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiaohui grew bolder.
"You could choose not to buy it, but you shouldn't buy it and then throw it away."
"By doing this, what will other classmates think of my family's restaurant?"
"My family is different from yours. My parents rely on this restaurant to support our family."
When she said this, more voices accused me.
It seemed as if my throwing away one fast-food meal today would cause her family's restaurant to go bankrupt tomorrow.
I too became impatient.
Just as I was about to speak, Zhou Xiaohui spoke first again.
"Ji Lingyun, you can't frame me just because you're jealous."
My expression darkened.
"Which eye saw me being jealous?"
She quickly glanced at me, then said timidly but firmly:
"You snitched to his parents, wasn't it because you were jealous?"
"You yourself wrote on the card..."
Blood rushed to my head as I approached her step by step.
"Oh? What card?"
Chapter 3
Actually, I knew what Zhou Xiaohui was referring to.
Lin Chuan and I had known each other since childhood.
In elementary school, our two families bought villas next to each other, and we were arranged to be in the same class.
All the way to our current private high school, we had always been together.
He and I, just as others said, were childhood friends in the truest sense.
We ate together, played together.
We went to school together, took vacations together.
According to our parents' arrangements, we would go to Europe together after high school graduation to experience a different kind of life.
I... had indeed once been attracted to him.
I had also secretly imagined that this long-standing relationship continuing into old age would be extremely romantic.
But I put a stop to such thoughts two months ago.
Last semester, Lin Chuan suddenly noticed Zhou Xiaohui.
He said she came from a poor family but was resilient, which he greatly admired.
Actually, I wanted to say, if she could get into our school and her family also owned a fast-food restaurant off-campus, how poor could she be?
But after weighing it, I only suggested that we could provide her with financial assistance.
He said that would hurt her self-esteem.
I said we could do it anonymously, but he said the harm might be invisible.
Finally, after pondering it over and over, the method he came up with was—to mobilize the entire class to eat at Zhou Xiaohui's family's fast-food restaurant.
From that day on, he even brought me Zhou Xiaohui's family's fast-food to eat every day.
Even though he knew I had a sensitive stomach and was very picky about food.
Faced with my dissatisfaction, Lin Chuan said:
"You need to adapt to the world, not the other way around."
I had no choice but to reluctantly accept it, take a few bites, and then dispose of it.
However, the more I yielded, the more excessive he became.
Until two months ago, I could no longer tolerate it.
I placed a card in his birthday gift.
["We've always been together, and I hope we can continue to progress hand in hand in the future!"]
However, after receiving it, Lin Chuan gave me no response.
Now, I finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that my sincerity had been treated as a sacrifice by him!
Lin Chuan took a deep breath and blocked me again.
"Don't say any more."
"Zhou Xiaohui and I are just classmates with a good relationship."
"There's absolutely no need for you to target her like this..."
Before he could finish, I slapped him across the face.
Chapter 4
The loud sound echoed through the classroom.
Zhou Xiaohui screamed.
"What are you doing?"
I shook my wrist.
"What am I doing? I'm hitting someone! Can't you understand?"
Half of Lin Chuan's face was beaten red by me, and he stubbornly said:
"If it weren't for you, how would my mother know I was helping Zhou Xiaohui? How would she find the fast-food restaurant run by Xiaohui's parents?"
Once I started, I didn't stop.
"Do you have a brain? Where do you keep your money? On the card your mother got for you."
"You spend hundreds or thousands a day. Do you think your mother wouldn't notice?"
"I snitched on you?"
"Who do you think you are? What do you have to do with me?"
I threw sentence after sentence at him.
Lin Chuan stood as if nailed in place, his face ugly as he said in a low voice:
"Ji Lingyun, shut up!"
"You tell me to shut up and I shut up?"
I picked up the garbage-covered plastic bag from the desk and threw it directly at both of them.
Then I turned to Zhou Xiaohui and said:
"Do you really not know why people buy your family's food?"
"If it weren't for Lin Chuan chasing after everyone every day with gifts and subsidies, and everyone couldn't refuse, do you think anyone in our class would actually like to eat this kind of thing your family makes..."
Lin Chuan roared, interrupting me: "Are you done yet!"
I sneered and said calmly:
"Did I expose you? Now you want to save face?"
"Too late!"
"Coming to play these dirty tricks with me? Don't you see if I even recognize it?"
"I don't eat your boxed lunches. Is that against the law?"
"Your restaurant is greasy and dark. The food you make smells like hogwash oil. I feel like vomiting just looking at it. I can't eat it!"
Zhou Xiaohui panicked.
"Don't talk nonsense! It's not like that. My restaurant is very clean."
I turned to her.
"What nonsense am I talking about? Last time you two said you were treating everyone to fried noodles for lunch, and by the afternoon, half the classroom was empty. Everyone had diarrhea. Have you forgotten?"
"If it weren't for the fact that this idiot's parents are friends with my family, I wouldn't have supported you at all!"
"You're getting excited now?"
Lin Chuan suddenly quieted down.
He showed an expression of disbelief as he stared at me for a long time.
But the other classmates in the class seemed to have had their memories restored and chimed in:
"That time I really had terrible diarrhea. It took me a week of eating just steamed buns to recover."
"Zhou Xiaohui, speaking of which, your family might be using poor quality oil."
Zhou Xiaohui bit her lip and murmured.
"I know, all your families are rich and look down on our small restaurant's food."
She looked at me, very serious.
"But you could choose not to buy it. You shouldn't deliberately throw it away!"
I kicked the desk leg hard.
"Is there something wrong with you?"
Zhou Xiaohui was stunned, tears hesitating at the corners of her eyes, unsure whether to squeeze them out.
I sneered.
"One fast-food meal! I bought it, didn't want to eat it, and threw it away."
"Is that not allowed?"
"And now you're demanding an apology?"
"What apology? Because I didn't voluntarily become part of your play?"
I raised my voice.
"Oh! I'm sorry, it's my fault that I ruined the romance in your lives."
"It's my fault, great hero Lin."
"I hurt your tender heart, little white flower Zhou."
Some of the watching classmates couldn't help but chuckle.
Zhou Xiaohui's face turned from red to white, then from white to black. She cried "ouch" and ran out crying.
Lin Chuan took a deep breath.
"Must you speak so harshly?"
"Do you know that doing this will hurt people's feelings?"
I asked in return.
"Hurt whose feelings?"
"Hurt Zhou Xiaohui's? We had a clean transaction, and you're giving me this? Her grades are so poor, why doesn't she reflect on whether she's hurt her parents' feelings? Or her teachers' feelings?"
"Hurt you?"
I looked him up and down, leaned close to his ear, and whispered.
"Looking like this now, you're just like a dog by Zhou Xiaohui's side!"
Chapter 5
Lin Chuan suddenly raised his arm, pointing at my forehead, too angry to speak.
I brushed his hand away and said steadily.
"Get lost!"
The classroom was so quiet you could almost hear heartbeats.
Lin Chuan didn't chase after Zhou Xiaohui.
He was breathing slightly heavily, standing face to face with me.
I asked: "Do you have any other brilliant insights?"
But regardless, he dragged me by the arm and headed outside.
I couldn't break free and was dragged by him all the way to outside the electrical room leading to the rooftop.
Finally shaking off his hand, I asked angrily.
"What on earth do you want?"
Lin Chuan lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then said.
"You were just joking earlier, right?"
I was confused and tried to recall for a while, really not knowing which sentence he was referring to.
Lin Chuan said again.
"We grew up together. You ask what relationship I have with you?"
"Don't you understand me? I just sympathize with Zhou Xiaohui."
I quietly moved to the side a bit, letting myself stand on a larger step.
For a moment, no one spoke.
If he had said this a month earlier, perhaps I would have believed it.
Even without the melodramatic puppy love and arranged marriages from romance novels, I would have been willing to believe that the boy I grew up with, his most genuine thoughts, were just out of kindness.
But now, he wasn't showing this at all.
Even now, standing together with him, my first reaction was also—is he trying to hurt me for Zhou Xiaohui's sake!
I tried to make my tone sound a bit gentler.
"We're childhood friends. You and Zhou Xiaohui have a good relationship, and I'm happy for you too."
"Just stop forcing me to eat your family's fast food."
"My stomach isn't good. I can't handle outside food."
After speaking, I fled past his side.
A few seconds later, Lin Chuan reacted.
He shouted at me from above.
"She and I are just ordinary classmates. Don't misunderstand."
I rolled my eyes as I ran.
Yes, yes, yes!
As long as you don't bother me, whether you're hugging naked or across the galaxy, it has nothing to do with me.
Chapter 6
I don't know if it was because I burst their little pink bubble.
Lin Chuan suddenly started keeping his distance from Zhou Xiaohui.
Several times, when I looked up, I could feel two gazes.
Lin Chuan staring at me, Zhou Xiaohui staring at Lin Chuan.
I covered my face, looking lifeless.
What the hell is wrong with them.
Can't they just go back to how they were before, making money together as a couple?
Oh, right.
Lin Chuan's parents had cut off his card.
He was out of money.
Naturally, he had no way to subsidize classmates who went to eat at Zhou Xiaohui's restaurant.
Zhou Xiaohui perhaps didn't have as many vegetables to wash, so she spent more and more time in the classroom these past few days.
One noon, a male classmate teased: "Zhou Xiaohui, is your son-in-law not taking care of business anymore?"
Zhou Xiaohui looked at Lin Chuan embarrassingly.
But Lin Chuan kept his head down and didn't say a word.
I sat in the back row enjoying the show, thoroughly engrossed.
Zhou Xiaohui suddenly turned her gaze to me.
There was a venomous look in her eyes that made me shudder involuntarily.
By the time I came to my senses, she was already sitting up straight.
It seemed as if everything just now had been my hallucination.
I comforted myself.
[She has a brain. She won't come looking for trouble with me for no reason.]
[Study hard. In a few years, I'll wait for the muscular guys to come.]
[Work hard every day, and in the future, I'll laugh watching the handsome guys play.]
After silently reciting my goals, I lowered my head again.
That evening, Lin Chuan came to find me.
"Let's have dinner together today. My treat."
I glanced at him. It wasn't convenient to fall out completely, so I nodded slightly.
Unexpectedly, as soon as we walked out of the school gate, we were stopped by someone.
A middle-aged woman pointed at my nose and cursed.
"You're not old, but you're good at seducing men. You shameless bitch!"
I stepped back several steps, my eyes wide with surprise.
The woman bypassed Lin Chuan and followed me.
"Don't run! After harming my family, you want to run? I'm telling you, it's not that easy."
I had never encountered this kind of tactic before and was caught off guard as she grabbed my arm.
Lin Chuan anxiously kept calling from the side:
"Auntie, what are you doing?"
My heart moved, and I looked carefully.
Sure enough, I could see Zhou Xiaohui's features in the woman's face.
Zhou Xiaohui's mother held my arm with one hand and pointed at Lin Chuan with the other.
"Xiao Lin, did this little vixen say something to you?"
"You haven't come to sit in the store these past few days."
I suddenly used force and shook her hand off.
"What's wrong with you? I don't even know you. What are you shouting about?"
Zhou Xiaohui's mother was unprepared and was actually knocked to the ground by me.
I had never been pulled and tugged on the street, let alone cursed and sworn at, in my entire life.
While I was stunned, Lin Chuan also asked.
"Auntie, is there some misunderstanding?"
Zhou Xiaohui's mother sneered.
"What misunderstanding?"
"She's the one who ruined my restaurant's reputation at school!"
"Xiao Lin, I heard from Xiaohui that you grew up with this little vixen and couldn't bring yourself to do anything. It's fine, I'll handle it."
Hearing this sounded bad, but before I could run away, someone grabbed my hair.
Zhou Xiaohui's mother slapped me twice across the face.
As she cursed, she dragged me toward her restaurant.
"You shameless thing, jealous that Xiao Lin likes my Xiaohui, causing trouble."
"You still want to ruin my restaurant. Let me tell you, no way."
I screamed Lin Chuan's name in fear.
But he just stood helplessly to the side, constantly trying to persuade.
I gritted my teeth and reached to pry open Zhou Xiaohui's mother's hand that was gripping my hair.
But whether in position or strength, I didn't have the upper hand.
Soon, I was dragged to the door of the small, dirty fast-food restaurant.
Zhou Xiaohui's mother picked up eggs from the entrance and cracked them directly on my face.
"You're shameless. Let me wash you clean!"
Chapter 7
When the police took me to the hospital, I was covered in eggs and vegetable leaves.
"It's mostly minor external injuries. There are two obvious injuries on your head. Are you dizzy?"
After treating my wounds, the doctor carefully asked about my condition.
I said with a hoarse throat.
"Dizzy, want to vomit!"
My parents rushed over when they heard the news.
The moment my mother saw me, tears fell.
Ignoring my dirty state, I hugged her and cried.
My father paced back and forth beside me, furious.
"No settlement. We'll sue to the end!"
With my parents' protection, I confidently went through examinations and then stayed in the hospital for observation.
My mother was fearful.
"We were about to leave anyway. I should have just not come to school."
"Now we've suffered such a big loss. Oh, I've never even laid a finger on you."
I rubbed my face gently against her palm and closed my eyes.
When I woke up again, Lin Chuan stood silently at the foot of the bed.
My mother's expression was somewhat unhappy, but she didn't say anything and gave us space.
Lin Chuan, no longer his usual sunny self, had stubble darkening his face and messy hair.
At this moment, I looked at him with some scrutiny.
I didn't know if he was innocent in this matter.
Lin Chuan swallowed and said with difficulty.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
I interrupted his words.
"Who are you apologizing for?"
He was stunned.
That's right. The person who hurt me was Zhou Xiaohui's mother.
And for what, and for whom, was Lin Chuan apologizing to me?
He lowered his head and after a long while, slowly said.
"Zhou Xiaohui is outside. She said she wants to apologize to you personally."
I refused directly.
"I don't accept. I don't want to see."
A flash of anxiety passed through his eyes.
"None of us expected this to happen."
I said calmly.
"I didn't expect it. When Zhou Xiaohui accused me to her parents, I should have been able to imagine what might happen."
At that moment, the hospital room door was pushed open.
Zhou Xiaohui rushed in and knelt directly before my bed.
"Ji Lingyun, please, I beg you, spare my mother!"
"She didn't get much education and doesn't understand reason. The family business isn't doing well, we lose money every day, she was too anxious and lost her mind."
"Please! Whatever is wrong, it's all my fault. Please be merciful!"
She seemed eager to show filial piety, crawling on her knees toward me.
Lin Chuan reached out to pull her.
"Get up and talk."
Zhou Xiaohui stubbornly looked at me.
"No, if Ji Lingyun doesn't forgive my mother, I won't get up."
Lin Chuan looked at me anxiously.
I curled my lips into a slight smile.
"Oh, then just keep kneeling."
Lin Chuan said disapprovingly.
"Why must you be like this?"
"It's just some minor external injuries. A few days of rest and you'll be fine. If not, I can give you a few gifts as compensation. How about that?"
"Be lenient when you can!"
A voice came from the doorway.
"I never knew this phrase could be used to pressure victims?"
"Lin Chuan, you really have some insight."
Chapter 8
Lin Chuan's face turned pale.
At the doorway, my father walked in.
Then two more people walked in.
Lin Chuan murmured.
"Dad, Mom."
Auntie Lin's eyes were red with anger as she pointed at him, sighing.
"You can't distinguish right from wrong, and now you can't even distinguish between close and distant relations?"
"I'm really disappointed in you!"
She got straight to the point.
"This classmate Zhou. First, you used my son to spend his own money every day to do business for your family."
"Now you've also incited your mother to beat Lingyun like this."
"What? Now you're planning to use moral blackmail to force Lingyun to forgive your mother?"
My father continued.
"That's absolutely impossible!"
"This classmate Zhou, please leave immediately. We will definitely seek justice through legal means."
Zhou Xiaohui sat on the ground, looking helplessly at Lin Chuan.
Uncle Lin reprimanded.
"Get over here."
Lin Chuan pressed his lips together, and when he looked up again, his eyes were full of annoyance and sarcasm.
"What then? You've already cut off my card. Are you preparing to throw me out of the house next?"
He pulled Zhou Xiaohui up from the ground.
"Her mother did something wrong. She came to beg Lingyun. That's her being filial."
"You're all forcing her like this. It's really contemptible."
In that instant, I felt relieved.
I discovered that I could accept him being a bit bad.
But I really couldn't accept him being stupid.
But unfortunately, the stupidity Lin Chuan had shown recently broke through the heavens at this moment!
Sure enough, Auntie Lin cursed.
"You look down on us?"
"You're spending the money I earned, being played by a tea-scented little girl until you're dizzy."
"Let me tell you, Lin Chuan. The situation now is that everyone looks down on you!"
"Your classmates, alumni, the shop owners and street vendors outside the school, and now including us! We all look down on you, this foolish pig who can't recognize people and helps the evildoer!"
Lin Chuan's face turned red and white from the scolding.
Zhou Xiaohui frantically blocked in the middle.
"Auntie, if you want to curse, curse me. Lin Chuan just has good intentions."
Auntie Lin didn't even look at her, continuing to point at Lin Chuan.
"What kind of ghosts and monsters are you bringing to Lingyun's hospital room? Aren't you afraid of losing your soul someday and being used as a stepping stone!"
Chapter 9
I quietly leaned against the headboard, watching the drama unfold before me.
Lin Chuan protected Zhou Xiaohui, and the two formed a whole.
Zhou Xiaohui wasn't begging me now, but nervously stared at the several adults in front of her, seemingly ready to join the fight at any moment.
I suddenly thought, this must be what it means to be lovesick!
With nothing but water in her mind, and only the mist emanating from that person of the opposite sex.
Too much mist, unable to be contained in her mind, it dispersed from her eye sockets, overflowed from her mouth.
I spoke.
"I need to rest. You all should leave."
Zhou Xiaohui's expression panicked. She turned toward me.
"Ji Lingyun, I beg you, spare my mother! I'm willing to pay any amount of money."
Auntie Lin came over unhappily.
"Planning to have Lin Chuan use his own money to compensate you again?"
"You young girl, why can't you love yourself a little?"
Lin Chuan clenched his fists and said in a low voice.
"Mom, that's enough!"
My father imperceptibly shook his head.
Uncle Lin's face was iron-gray as he pointed toward the door.
"Get out!"
Zhou Xiaohui still wouldn't leave.
Lin Chuan's eyebrows were tightly knitted, and the guilt in his eyes as he looked at me gradually faded.
He took Zhou Xiaohui's hand and walked out with his head down.
Auntie Lin watched their retreating figures, angrily sat in a chair, and kept patting her chest.
My mother met Lin Chuan and them face to face at the door.
Lin Chuan paused for a moment, then quickly left.
Looking at the situation in the room, my mother understood and couldn't help but complain.
"How does this child become more disobedient as he grows older!"
My phone vibrated by the bed. I picked it up.
It was a message from Lin Chuan.
[My parents are here. I'll take Zhou Xiaohui away first.]
[Ji Lingyun, I ask you to have some compassion. Her mother did wrong, she should pay compensation, but there's really no need to drive people to a dead end.]
I smiled.
At this moment, I truly deleted Lin Chuan from my heart as well.
My father saw my expression was off and called my name with a question.
I handed my phone to my father.
After reading it, he wordlessly turned the phone screen toward Uncle Lin.
Not long after, Lin Chuan's parents both left.
My father thought for a moment.
"After you're discharged from the hospital, come straight home."
My mother said disdainfully.
"Lin Chuan is probably going to be ruined. That girl's mother will only be detained for a few days, with some compensation. How did he make it sound like we're trying to drive that family to death?"
I rolled my eyes and said meaningfully.
"Maybe, that's what love is!"
My father and mother exchanged glances and finally couldn't help it.
The two of them laughed without any decorum.
My mother said fearfully.
"I was still thinking that you grew up with him, and you were going to Europe together in a few months. Maybe you could become a couple."
"Fortunately, fortunately, I really can't look at Lin Chuan now."
I pursed my lips.
"You think too much."
Chapter 10
Because my injuries weren't serious, Zhou Xiaohui's mother was only detained for 7 days and had to pay several thousand yuan in compensation.
But classmates told me that Zhou Xiaohui's family's restaurant could no longer continue operating.
There was a rumor in the school—if you bought their food and didn't like it, you would be beaten.
Lin Chuan had defended her several times, but was ridiculed every time.
Zhou Xiaohui cried every day, and her grades, which weren't good to begin with, had now slipped to the bottom.
Classmates couldn't understand.
[What is Lin Chuan thinking? Does he have some kind of illness? To actually develop an atmosphere of love amidst adversity with Zhou Xiaohui!]
But this wasn't the point.
The classmates in my class knew I was preparing to study abroad and suggested we get together on the weekend.
My father was somewhat worried.
"I see that girl isn't reasonable. She won't do anything to you, will she?"
I reassured my parents: "Classmates said they didn't invite Lin Chuan and Zhou Xiaohui at all."
Only after hearing this did my parents let down their guard and allow me to go to the gathering.
Although everyone laughed and talked during the meal.
When it came time for singing, the sadness of parting still came with the music.
The class clown Xie Hui held the microphone and said.
"Ji Lingyun, I actually had a crush on you back in our first year of high school! I just didn't dare to confess."
Everyone screamed and took out their phones to record.
He said: "You're going abroad to study now. I wish you a bright future!"
I generously hugged him.
Just then.
The private room door was pushed open, and everyone heard the sound and looked over.
Lin Chuan stood at the door, and Zhou Xiaohui's figure was visible behind him.
Xie Hui forgot to put down the microphone.
"How did you guys get here? How awkward!"
To be honest, if he hadn't said this, it wouldn't have been too awkward.
I scanned over, and several classmates awkwardly lowered their heads.
Lin Chuan stood at the door, motionlessly staring at me.
I smiled faintly and picked up my phone.
"I need to use the restroom. You guys continue."
To say that seeing them didn't cause any ripple in my heart.
That's truly impossible.
One was my childhood friend, with deep family connections, an old friend.
One was a classmate who had annoyed me, harassed me, and hurt me. Not familiar at all.
If I could choose, I really didn't want to see them again.
But obviously, Zhou Xiaohui didn't think this way.
When I came out of the restroom, I saw her standing outside.
I ignored her, washed my hands, and arranged my hair in front of the mirror.
But she asked gloomily: "Do you think you've won?"
Seeing I didn't answer, she said again.
"Actually, if it weren't for you, Lin Chuan wouldn't have decided to be with me."
I passed by her without a word.
She grabbed my clothes and pulled me behind the fire exit door.
"Ji Lingyun, what airs are you putting on?"
Chapter 11
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Who do you think you are, always being so self-righteous?"
"Aren't you just relying on your parents being rich?"
I curiously shrugged.
"My own parents. If I don't rely on them, should I rely on you?"
Not wanting to entangle with her further, I reached for the fire door.
Zhou Xiaohui blocked the doorway.
"It's all because of you that my family's restaurant can't continue. My parents blame me..."
I interrupted her performance.
"Your family's restaurant can't continue because the cooking is bad and unhygienic, so no one goes to eat."
"Your parents blame you because they're incompetent and don't love you."
I looked at her seriously.
We had been classmates for three years, but actually, the number of times I had spoken to her was pitifully small.
We should have been ordinary classmates who, years later when mentioning names, would need to recall carefully before suddenly realizing.
But I never expected that Zhou Xiaohui actually had such deep entanglements with me in her heart.
I kindly reminded her.
"You and I are really not from the same world."
"You really don't need to waste effort scheming against me. Between us, there was never any competition."
Pulling the door open and walking out, Zhou Xiaohui followed persistently behind.
"Do you dare say you never liked Lin Chuan?"
I stopped, feeling deep helplessness.
"He and I are just ordinary classmates and friends."
"Zhou Xiaohui, can you stop treating me as your imaginary enemy?"
"I really hope you and Lin Chuan can lock yourselves together, preferably for life!"
After saying this, I turned to return to the private room.
But I saw four or five classmates standing behind me.
The one at the front was Lin Chuan.
I smiled without changing expression.
"You're here for the restroom too? Then I'll go back to the private room first."
Everyone looked up at the ceiling or down at the ground, scattering to both sides.
Just not looking at me.
Lin Chuan seemed frozen, standing motionless in the middle of the hallway.
I tried to pass by his side.
He suddenly said with a questioning tone.
"Ordinary classmates and friends?"
I stopped, thought for a moment, and added.
"Of course, not just that. Our parents are already friends, so we're considered..."
"Family friends?"
Chapter 12
The mood for the gathering was already ruined.
I returned to the private room, said hello to my classmates, and left first.
My parents waited until I returned safely before breathing a sigh of relief.
I thought for a moment and suggested.
"I want to leave earlier, to travel for a few months first."
My mother immediately asked.
"Did someone make you unhappy?"
I shook my head, just saying I wanted a change of environment.
My father didn't say anything, telling me not to worry.
Not long after, the procedures were completed.
My mother was worried and said she would accompany me for a few months.
We traveled from Finland to Italy, leaving countless photos together.
The next time I heard about Lin Chuan was when my mother told me.
One day, she answered a phone call, then said with a twisted expression.
"Lin Chuan's father broke his leg!"
I widened my eyes in surprise.
My mother seemed somewhat accustomed to this.
"This child has completely changed now. I don't know what made his father use such heavy hands."
I quickly opened the class group chat, but found it quiet.
I privately messaged Xie Hui, who told me that Lin Chuan hadn't come to school for half a month.
He said: "Everyone said his parents are also preparing to send him abroad. We thought it was with you!"
This matter had no follow-up and was soon forgotten by me.
My mother returned to China after I adapted to the environment.
Alone in a foreign environment, I made new friends and familiarized myself with everything anew.
But thankfully.
I did well.
Strangely enough.
After going abroad, I returned twice a year.
But not once did I see Lin Chuan.
It seemed there were always various things keeping us far apart.
Occasionally when meeting with classmates, someone would mention him.
I vaguely knew that he later really got together with Zhou Xiaohui.
Xie Hui gossiped to me.
"Zhou Xiaohui got pregnant unexpectedly! Lin Chuan's school leave last time was because his father beat him. But after that beating, their relationship actually got better."
I was speechless.
Trying to recall Lin Chuan, those faces in my memory had already become blurred.
Later, I heard that Lin Chuan and Zhou Xiaohui went to another city, claiming they wanted to start from scratch with their own two hands.
...
Seven years later, I finally decided to return to China to settle down.
At this time, I was already more than five months pregnant, and my husband, like me, was a returnee.
Our parents had prepared all the wedding arrangements. We just needed to show up in person.
And that would complete this major life event.
My mother had me chat with classmates in the lounge, leaving the door to my husband.
Xie Hui came with his girlfriend and winked at me as soon as we met.
I was looking at him curiously when I heard someone call my name.
The familiar voice made me pause.
After so many years, I finally saw Lin Chuan again.
Chapter 13
He was alone, smiling as he looked at me.
Xie Hui looked behind him.
"Where's Zhou Xiaohui? Why didn't she come?"
Another classmate patted Xie Hui, and he belatedly closed his mouth.
Lin Chuan stared at me without blinking.
"You're beautiful!"
I said politely: "Thank you."
So much time had passed that the youthful infatuation had long become something that couldn't be recalled without careful searching.
I glanced at the time.
"It's almost time. I'll bring people over to meet you all in a moment. Show some mercy with the drinks!"
Xie Hui shouted: "You're really something, protecting him already."
A female classmate said: "That's her actual husband, the father of her child. Of course she needs to protect him."
Lin Chuan stood to the side. I took two steps back, indicating he could leave too.
But he showed a deeply moved and affectionate expression.
"Ji Lingyun, after you went abroad, why did you change your phone number? I couldn't reach you."
I took out my phone: "Oh, did I forget to give you the number? Then you should remember it."
I waited for his action.
Lin Chuan stood motionless for a long time before suddenly saying.
"I've always liked you."
My head felt like it wanted to explode on its own.
I immediately raised both hands in a stopping gesture and said bluntly.
"Lin Chuan, stop! Today is my wedding, a joyous occasion. Don't say inappropriate things."
"We've never had any relationship beyond friendship since childhood. If you say this now, and my husband hears, there will be misunderstandings."
He stared at the ground without focus: "These years, I haven't lived well."
I took a deep breath and dialed my mother's number.
He said with some bitter smile: "You used to advise me that if something could be solved with money, there was no need to invest too much energy."
"I thought you were cold-hearted then. But looking back now, I regret not listening to you."
Fine sweat broke out on my back as I laughed dryly.
"Not really. You and Zhou Xiaohui were mainly fated to be together..."
Lin Chuan looked at me affectionately: "No. From the beginning, I never thought of being with her. But because of her mother beating you, for some reason, I felt she was having a hard time."
"When everyone was blaming me, she made me feel like a lone warrior. I lost myself."
He gave a bleak smile, wanting to continue being sentimental.
My mother arrived.
She forced a smile and pushed Lin Chuan: "Your father was just looking for you! Let Lingyun and I make some preparations. Let's go out!"
After closing the door, my mother asked regretfully: "How did he get here?"
I breathed a sigh of relief, not surprised.
"We're originally acquaintances, and we're still classmates. It's normal for him to come."
"It's just that looking at him... why does it seem like he's not doing well?"
My mother carefully examined the wedding dress I was wearing.
"He's divorcing that wife of his!"
I carefully put on my gloves.
Suddenly I felt I couldn't remember what Lin Chuan looked like when he was a teenager.
My mother patted my shoulder: "I'll have all the bridesmaids come over. You can relax."
"Uncle Lin definitely won't let him cause any trouble."
Chapter 13
The wedding went very smoothly.
I hadn't experienced this kind of lively event in years, and surprisingly, I adapted well to it, even feeling somewhat intoxicated.
When my husband put the ring on me, he cried so hard a small snot bubble formed.
I frowned, quickly wiped it for him, snatched the ring and put it on myself, then picked up the microphone.
"Today is a good day. Everyone eat and drink well!"
Amidst the roar of laughter, blessings came one after another.
My belly became my shield.
When toasting each table, I deliberately stuck out my stomach.
"Oh, just a symbolic sip will do!"
When we got to the classmates' table, Xie Hui toasted us, tilting his head back and downing it in one go.
His girlfriend's eyes had just glanced over when he saw him drop to one knee.
"Wife, they're getting married five months pregnant. We can't be later than this time. Marry me!"
His girlfriend screamed: "How dare you steal the spotlight at someone else's wedding!"
I took a bouquet of flowers from my mother and handed it to him: "Quickly agree! I'm happy to have the spotlight stolen."
Some classmates stood up and offered me their chairs, still muttering.
"What a loss! It should have been a banquet for Ji Lingyun's wedding, and another banquet for Xie Hui's proposal. We definitely lost one banquet!"
Xie Hui's girlfriend accepted the bouquet and nodded shyly.
Xie Hui stood up and raised his head: "This whole table of people, you're going to mix through banquets one by one. Who would dare not treat us?"
Amidst everyone's laughter, Lin Chuan, with a polite faint smile on his face, went unnoticed.
He and Zhou Xiaohui's marriage had never held a banquet.
Several classmates realized this, exchanged glances, and unanimously chose to skip the topic.
My parents looked triumphant, and in front of old friends and colleagues, they tirelessly praised the son-in-law they had found for me for how outstanding he was.
An aunt said: "Lingyun will give birth by the end of the year, right? You've become the first among our group to hold grandchildren."
Uncle Lin's expression became slightly awkward.
Lin Chuan and Zhou Xiaohui had a daughter last year.
But now they were divorcing, with Zhou Xiaohui living separately with their daughter.
My mother quickly changed the subject.
My husband and I held hands.
This crybaby, because he kept wiping his tears, now had red eyes.
He choked up and said: "I'm really, so happy that... I don't know how to say it."
I smiled and continued.
"So fucking happy!"
He looked at me.
"Yes!"
(End)