Chapter 47: Your Dream Is Gone p2
Jiang Yi watched as Lu Qing walked out of the classroom. He tilted his head, unable to see enough, and directly stood up and called out from the back door, “Lu dog, where are you going?”
“My brother is still hungry. I have to send him some,” Lu Qing said, his shirt pockets bulging. He couldn’t fit any more, and some were falling out. He was a formidable one. He had almost emptied the whole class’s snacks.
When he arrived at First Year, Class Three, he snuck in from the back. As soon as he came in, he saw Jiang Chen not sitting at his own seat, but had pulled a chair to Zhou Wanfeng’s desk. The two of them were clearly studying.
“Hey,” he said, poking his head out and grinning mischievously.
The moment Zhou Wanfeng looked up at him, he first saw her distinct eyelashes. They were not very curly, but they were long and thick. No wonder they said that a girl’s eyelashes were beautiful and described them as small fans.
“Lu Qing, what are you doing?” Jiang Chen said, and then he saw him anxiously taking things out of his pockets.
A whole bunch of snacks, big and small, biscuits, and some that were half-eaten.
After emptying both his pockets, Lu Qing casually picked up a pack. “You guys didn’t eat at noon. Aren’t you hungry? Can doing math problems fill your stomach?” he said, tearing it open and squeezing it into his mouth. He then took out a bottle of water from his clothes and put it on the table, his eyes fixed on Jiang Chen. “Your brother didn’t even think of you. Remember to be nicer to me in the future.”
With that, he was about to leave, but then he thought that he didn’t have to be so awkward. He reached out and patted Zhou Wanfeng’s shoulder, pretending to be normal. “Zhou Wanfeng, you too. Be nicer to me in the future.”
The moment Zhou Wanfeng saw the snacks, she was indeed hungry. Seeing that Lu Qing had brought snacks, she rarely smiled and nodded. “Alright.”
Lu Qing slipped out through the back door again. As he was leaving, he ran into the returning Yun Jingya. She had clearly just come back from the tuck shop, and she was holding a loaf of bread. Lu Qing casually grabbed one from the plastic bag and then waved and went back upstairs.
Yun Jingya entered the classroom and went straight to Zhou Wanfeng. Only then did she see the snacks on the table and knew what Lu Qing had been doing.
She smiled and put what she had bought on the table. “Wanfeng, eat this. This is delicious.”
Wang Feili turned and picked a pack, glanced at Yun Jingya, and asked in a small voice, “What did the teacher say?” She then looked at Zhou Wanfeng, mainly about the matter of hitting someone.
“The homeroom teacher said he would handle it. He told us not to worry and to just focus on our classes,” Yun Jingya said. The homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, was thin and had a slight hunch. He rarely smiled, but he was very reliable and protective of his students.
Zhou Wanfeng nodded.
When Yun Jingya returned to her seat, the people around her all came over to show their concern, asking if she was okay, and at the same time, cursing that bastard from Class Six a few more times.
Lu Qing returned to Class Six, munching on his bread. As soon as he entered the classroom, he saw the eye-sore person had returned. “Yo, yo, yo, what’s that smell in the classroom after just being out for a while? You all stink of unwashed feet. Who took off their shoes and is airing them out under their desk? You didn’t manage to kill me, so you’re trying to stink me to death, are you?”
The whole class could understand Lu Qing’s sarcasm, so most of them didn’t want to get on his bad side. This person was really not big-hearted. He would remember it every time and would say something to you, just to piss you off.
Jiang Yi looked at him eating his bread, reached out and twisted off a piece, and put it in his mouth. “Did you include me when you were praising yourself?” Jiang Yi looked at Jiang Yi sideways. After being deskmates for so long, he had figured out Lu Qing’s personality.
Lu Qing had a “are you stupid or am I stupid” look in his eyes. “When I’m praising myself, why would I include you? You’re a burden.”
“Just tell me, did you badmouth me in front of Jiang Chen and Zhou Wanfeng just now?”
Lu Qing frowned, an innocent look on his face. “I don’t remember. My mouth says things, but it doesn’t remember them itself.”
Jiang Yi fiercely tore off a large piece, leaving only a mouthful for Lu Qing. “Lu dog, did you know that if you didn’t include me, you wouldn’t be able to highlight your thoughtfulness and kindness? Could you have forgotten about me?”
Lu Qing stuffed the mouthful in and lay on the desk. “A green leaf sets off a red flower. Have you ever seen a rose being sold as just a bare stem? Even if it is, it’s sold at two different prices. In short, a flower with a green backdrop is more expensive. The difference in price means that the green leaf is very expensive. Jiang Yi, you’re not cheap.”
Jiang Yi continued to do his problems, too lazy to bother with Lu Qing. This person’s logic was sometimes very strange. He could talk you in circles.
The matter that Liu Jinchen from Class Six had caused, the final result was that he was suspended from school for a week to be disciplined by his parents. He could only come back to school after he had recognized his mistake. But during this period, the school’s punishment also came down. All the classes of the first year were publicly criticized. And this time, the homeroom teachers of each class once again carefully explained the dangers of puppy love to the class.
“Studying. Now is the time to study. If you want to be in a relationship, you can do it after the college entrance exam. You can be in a relationship freely in university, and your parents will also support it. At this time, what’s the point of being in a relationship? To have your parents and teachers see how deep your love is? How strong your love is? I’m telling you, all of you who are in a relationship in high school will regret it in ten or twenty years. I’m putting it out there. All of you, put your minds on your studies.”
Zhou Wanfeng wrote a self-criticism and handed it in. Thanks to her junior high school Chinese teacher, Li Jianbang, she was a master at writing this kind of small essay. As for why, it was because Li Jianbang liked to read them out loud in his slow tone during composition class.
Whether it was perfunctory or sincere, Zhou Wanfeng knew how to control her words.
The homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, had never given a positive evaluation of Zhou Wanfeng’s hitting someone, from the beginning to the end of the handling.
He didn’t say whether it was right or wrong. It was as if, if you hit someone, you hit someone. If you violated the rules, then you write a self-criticism and recognize your mistake.
In fact, the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, felt a little uncomfortable, as if he knew the student’s family’s privacy. Yun Jingya and Zhou Wanfeng were actually children of a blended family.
And what made him a little concerned was that the person Yun Jingya called “Dad” was clearly Zhou Wanfeng’s biological father. But after he came in, the two of them didn’t even make eye contact. And when her family came, she just left.
Zhou Wanfeng had hit someone, and the people who came had only asked if Yun Jingya was okay. They were concerned about handling the matter with the boy from Class Six. It seemed that no one cared about the other child.
But he had no way of asking about such things. Yun Jingya was clearly a girl who had grown up being doted on by her family. As for Zhou Wanfeng hitting someone, he subconsciously felt a trace of sympathy. It wasn’t for herself that she had hit someone, but to help her classmate and family. The self-criticism was just to deal with the higher-ups.
It was another week of vacation. The weather was a little cool. The school uniform of No. 1 High School was sky blue, fresh and clean. As soon as school was out, a sea of blue and white poured out of the school gate.
Yun Jingya and Zhou Wanfeng deliberately left a little later to avoid the crowd at the main gate.
Many of the classmates were going back with their backpacks, but they were not carrying books. Some were carrying shoes, clothes, and bedsheets that needed to be washed.
It wasn’t that they were lazy, but that they had no time to wash.
It was already very late after evening self-study. After washing up, they still wanted to take some time to memorize some words. How could they have time to wash? Their own socks were worn for two days, and on the third day, they would smell them. If they didn’t stink, they would wear them for another day.
After the main group had left, the campus suddenly became quiet. Only then did Zhou Wanfeng and Yun Jingya get up to pack their things. One of them would bring English, and the other would bring Chinese. The main thing was to travel light.
It was about a ten-minute walk from the rented house. The two of them were not walking fast, mainly because the leaves of the ginkgo trees on both sides of the road had turned yellow. They were a beautiful golden yellow. When the wind blew, the ginkgo leaves would flutter down like butterfly wings.
The only thing that ruined the beauty was that the wrinkled ginkgo fruits would also fall. There were some on the road that had been crushed and were sticky and unsightly.
Zhou Wanfeng slowed down her pace, not caring about the rotten ginkgo fruits on the ground. Yun Jingya, on the other hand, was like a child, deliberately choosing a good path, but she couldn’t bear to miss the beautiful scenery, taking one step and looking three.
After walking for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived at their residence. From a distance, they saw a black sedan parked there.
It was not the familiar black Crown.
Yun Jingya pointed at the car and exclaimed, “It’s Dad’s car!”
With that, she ran past Zhou Wanfeng towards the car.
“Dad.” Zhou Zhiru saw the two of them come back in the rearview mirror and got out of the driver’s seat.
Yun Jingya went up and pulled on Zhou Zhiru’s arm. “Dad, why are you alone? Didn’t Mom come with you?”
“No, she’s waiting at home,” Zhou Zhiru said, then looked at the approaching Zhou Wanfeng and opened the back door. “Jingya, you get in first.”
Yun Jingya obediently got in and looked outside with wide eyes.
Zhou Wanfeng stopped, looked at Zhou Zhiru with a cold gaze, and said, “You guys go back. I’m staying here this week,” she said, and then went upstairs.
But Zhou Zhiru smiled at Jingya. “Wait a moment,” he said, and then went up to block Zhou Wanfeng. Ignoring the coldness in her eyes, he said with a faint smile, “Let’s go back. It just so happens that we’re on vacation. We’ll go back to our hometown in Dongshan tomorrow morning. You should remember that every year at this time, our hometown in Dongshan will burn paper money to worship our ancestors.”
Zhou Wanfeng stared at Zhou Zhiru’s face for a full three seconds, then turned to look at the curious Yun Jingya, who was craning her neck to look. She lowered her voice, but her words were sharp. “What exactly are you trying to do?”
“I’m taking you and Chengbin back to our hometown to worship our ancestors. Your uncle called and specifically told me to. He said he also wants to see you,” Zhou Zhiru said, pointing at the sedan and repeating, “Get in the car.”
Zhou Wanfeng didn’t move, her expression cold. “Will Yang Yijun let you take Yun Chengbin back to Dongshan?”
“You can go back and ask her in person,” Zhou Zhiru said with a smile, his expression very natural.
But Zhou Wanfeng’s heart sank. She wondered if something had happened while she was at school.
When they returned to the house at South Lake Mansion, Zhou Wanfeng went up to change and then came down. The kitchen auntie had made a rich meal. Yun Haisheng was away on business this time and was absent.
At the dinner table, Yang Yijun took the initiative to move a plate of chicken in front of Zhou Wanfeng. This time, she served her first, and then Yun Jingya.
Zhou Wanfeng looked at the chicken in her bowl and sized up Yang Yijun. Before she could see anything, another piece of fish was added to her bowl.
Yun Lan explained sheepishly, “The fish is very tender, and it has no bones.”
Zhou Wanfeng glanced at the generously eating Zhou Zhiru and suddenly said to Yang Yijun, “He said we’re going back to our hometown in Dongshan to worship our ancestors tomorrow. Do you know about this?”
Yang Yijun picked up a fish ball, stood up, and put it in Yun Chengbin’s bowl, telling him to eat slowly. “Yes, I know. Chengbin is not young anymore. It’s fine for him to go back and see.”
Yun Lan shrank her shoulders and ate with her head down, not looking up.
Yang Yijun said so, but her face and her eyes were not as light as she had said.
Jingya’s eyes, on the other hand, were flickering. She looked back and forth at their faces. She also felt that the atmosphere at the dinner table was a little strange.
Zhou Wanfeng’s brow sank. Just as she was about to speak to Zhou Zhiru, Yun Chengbin suddenly interrupted her. “Sister Wanfeng, is there anything fun in our hometown in Dongshan?”
Zhou Wanfeng met Yun Chengbin’s frank and bright eyes and thought for a moment. “At this time, you can go to the mountains to pick ripe persimmons.”
“There are mountains in our hometown?” In a flash, Yun Chengbin’s eyes became even brighter. He had climbed many mountains, and he had seen many beautiful ones, but he had never picked fruit on a mountain before.
“Are they wild persimmons? Can I just pick them? Will anyone scold me?”
Zhou Wanfeng looked at Zhou Zhiru. He was peeling shrimp for Yun Lan, as if he hadn’t heard what was being said here at all.
“I don’t know if they’re wild. Anyway, when the persimmons are ripe, no one picks them. They’re either blown off the trees and rot on the ground, or they’re eaten by birds. No one in the countryside cares about them.”
“That’s great! Grandma, do you like to eat persimmons? I’ll pick a basket for you. No, I’ll pick two baskets. Then Uncle Dong, Auntie Fang, and the others can all have some,” Yun Chengbin said, immersed in the joy of being able to go to the mountains to pick persimmons.
Yang Yijun ate a couple of bites with a cold face, then pushed her bowl away and said she had a headache and wanted to go back to her room to rest. She just left.
Yun Lan ate a few bites and said that the TV series she wanted to watch was on, and she hurried upstairs.
Zhou Zhiru went back to the study.
After all the adults had left, the three children sat at the table. Yun Chengbin seemed to be very interested in the mountains of their hometown in Dongshan and kept asking what else could be picked on the mountains besides persimmons.
Zhou Wanfeng had something on her mind. The delicious food on the table was like wax in her mouth. She couldn’t taste anything. Yun Jingya, on the other hand, was poking at her rice bowl with her chopsticks. “Listening to you guys, it sounds like our hometown in Dongshan is very interesting. I really want to go too.”
“Sister, you can come and play with us,” Yun Chengbin invited enthusiastically.
Zhou Wanfeng put down her bowl and chopsticks. “Dongshan is not close. The trip might be cancelled if it’s too far,” she said. She had no intention of going back.
As for what Zhou Zhiru was trying to do, she couldn’t see it. She could only go and ask him in person.
When Zhou Wanfeng pushed the door open, Zhou Zhiru was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses and reading a book. Seeing Zhou Wanfeng come in, he didn’t seem surprised at all.
He took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and suddenly laughed. “I’m getting old. I’m a little farsighted. It’s a little hard to see without my glasses. Speaking of which, you and Jingya both have very good eyesight. Many children have to wear glasses as soon as they get to junior high. Jingya’s grandmother has set rules for her since she was a child. Her posture when reading can’t have any problems. And you still don’t have glasses in high school. Maybe it’s because of my good genes.”
Zhou Wanfeng didn’t want to talk about eyesight with Zhou Zhiru. She stared at him and said, “Are you planning to divorce Yun Lan?”
Zhou Zhiru was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Zhou Wanfeng to say such a thing. “Why do you think I would get a divorce?”
“If you don’t want a divorce, why are you breaking the status quo? What were you doing all those years when Yun Chengbin was growing up? Why didn’t you take him back to see her before Grandma died? And now you’re going back to your hometown to burn paper money and worship your ancestors? Who do you think will believe you?”
Zhou Wanfeng couldn’t guess what Zhou Zhiru was trying to do. “The Yun family has been kind to you. They helped you with connections and funds. Now you’re a someone in Yunhai City. You’ve been bowing and scraping for so many years. And now you’re breaking the balance? Aren’t you afraid?”
“Afraid of what?”
“Losing your wife and children won’t scare you. A damaged reputation won’t hurt your foundation. Does the Yun family no longer have anything that can restrain you or control you, something that can destroy you? Or do you have enough to exchange to make Yang Yijun shut up?” Zhou Wanfeng guessed casually, but she felt it was the latter. To still be able to eat at the same table meant that they had not yet reached a point of no return.
Zhou Wanfeng recalled the details of the dinner just now, and her eyes suddenly widened. “You’re using Yun Lan to threaten Yang Yijun?” Only that could make her swallow her anger and suffer in silence.
Zhou Zhiru narrowed his eyes and sized up Zhou Wanfeng, a faint smile on his lips. “I’m really starting to regret it. I should have gone back to see you back then. I really want to know how my mom raised you. How could a person like her raise such a smart child like you? From the moment you came to Yunhai City, I’ve always felt that your thoughts are not consistent with your age. You’re not like a child at all. Your thoughts are sometimes so mature that it scares me.”
Zhou Wanfeng frowned and fell silent.
“I have no intention of divorcing Yun Lan. But it’s really not a good feeling to be held by the handle. Wanfeng, I think you’ve made a lot of progress since you came to Yunhai City. You should also understand that if you want to live in a city, you can’t do without the support of money. No one in this family really cares about you. It’s not good for you if I’m not doing well. And if something happens to me, you won’t have a single chance to get into the university you’ve been dreaming of,” Zhou Zhiru said, taking out an already opened mail bag from the drawer. He stood up and handed it to Zhou Wanfeng.
“There are some materials mailed in here. The mailman gave it to Old Dong, and I happened to see it. It was a little damaged, so I opened it to take a look. I really… never thought your ambitions were so great. I’ve never heard you mention a single word about it. It’s really good. If your grandmother were alive, she would probably have talked about it from the east end of the village to the west. You know what she’s like. She’s very vain and cares a lot about her face. If you help her get face, she’ll remember your good deeds. She wouldn’t get tired of saying the same thing over and over again for a whole year.”
Zhou Wanfeng suppressed her impulse and took the mail bag. The sender’s name on it was Sun Mulan.
She had mailed her study materials before. Each time, the mailman would give it to Old Dong, and Old Dong would put it on her desk in the attic after he received it.
Only Sun Mulan knew which university she wanted to apply for. She would help her collect these materials.
Her fists clenched secretly. Zhou Wanfeng unconsciously gritted her back teeth, her gaze dark. Her words seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth. “So, in the end, what exactly are you trying to do?”
“Wanfeng, haven’t you seen it clearly yet? In this family, we are on the same side. There is no closer relationship than our natural blood ties. We are father and daughter. If I’m doing well, you’ll be doing well. If I’m not doing well, you’ll also be affected. Aren’t you studying so hard because you want to get into your dream university?”
Zhou Wanfeng’s brow furrowed. “Then you should just honestly maintain the status quo. If you insist on breaking the balance and seeking death, you can’t blame anyone.”
“No one wants to be subservient and controlled by others forever. Just like the day I went to the school. I clearly had a very important client to meet, but I had to go to the school. I had no choice. I’m grateful for their kindness and support back then, but what has it become now? Wanfeng, you’ll be on my side and help me, right? The university you want to apply for requires a review of your family members. If something happens to me and I fall, it will have a great impact on you. Your dream will be completely gone.”