Chapter 50: Let the Love-Struck Fool Die p2
Zhou Wanfeng and Yun Jingya turned and came down. There was a row of chairs by the pavilion, and also two stone tables.
Jiang Chen sat down and was the first to take out the heaviest melon. He said viciously, “Let’s eat this first. After we eat it, the weight will be halved.”
“Do you have a knife?” Jiang Chen said, turning to look at Lu Qing.
Lu Qing shook his head. The hair on his forehead was sweaty. When he sweated, his skin looked even fairer and brighter, almost transparent, the kind that would release water if you pinched it.
“How are we going to cut it without a knife?”
Jiang Chen handed the melon to Zhou Wanfeng, telling her to think of a way.
Zhou Wanfeng stood up, put the melon on the stone table, pressed down on it with one hand, and slammed it with the other. With a crack, it split open. She then broke it open with her hands.
Wang Feili pointed at the two boys and said with a look of disgust, “What’s the use of you two?”
“What are you talking about? Did you carry this melon up?”
“Exactly.”
Zhou Wanfeng picked a piece that was easy to bite and handed it to Yun Jingya. Lu Qing glanced at it. “Yun Jingya, do you have something on your mind today? You haven’t said a word all the way.”
Zhou Wanfeng looked at Lu Qing with surprise. She hadn’t expected him to notice.
“No, didn’t the teacher ask us to observe the rocks and plants? I’m looking at this little tree. It’s stuck in a crack in the rock, with a big tree next to it, and a rock next to that. It’s living a very difficult life.”
“Then you might as well pity the steps you just stepped on. It was a perfectly good rock, but it was smashed and chiseled, and now it’s being stepped on by thousands of people.”
“If you have to say that, then I pity Longwang Mountain. It was a perfectly good mountain, but a road was opened on it, and now people are stepping on its head every day.”
Lu Qing stood up and sang a different tune. “Then you have to blame Longwang Mountain for not being up to snuff. It’s a mountain, why can’t it be five or six thousand meters above sea level? In that cold and freezing environment, who could come? It’s its own fault. You can’t blame others for planting trees and opening a road on its head.”
The few of them were talking and had gone off-topic. After they were done, they realized they had strayed from the topic and all laughed as they ate their melon.
After the melon was eaten and they had rested enough,
Lu Qing took the initiative to carry his own bag this time. “Let someone else carry it. It can’t be just one person all the way to the top. After I’m done, it’s Jiang Xiaochen’s turn.”
Jiang Chen pointed at the red plastic bag in his hand. The melon was gone, but there were still other things to carry.
“It’s fine. We’ll just eat as we go,” Lu Qing said, taking the lead this time.
He had seen Zhou Wanfeng carry it so lightly just now, but after walking for less than ten minutes, he sat down again.
By the time the sun was high and it was time for lunch, Jiang Chen was shouting for food.
Anyway, it was certain that their group was at the bottom.
Lu Qing’s older brother had prepared boxed lunches. They were very delicious, with both meat and vegetables. The few of them sat on the steps and ate.
By the time they reached the summit, the teacher and the other students had already gone down. The trash cans were all full of the snack wrappers and water bottles that the students had brought.
Jiang Chen and Lu Qing both said they were not in a hurry.
Yun Jingya and Wang Feili were also not very fit. The group walked and stopped, and Zhou Wanfeng had been with them all along, not in a hurry, and not rushing them.
The homeroom teacher had said to gather at the west gate at 4:30. Lu Qing was wearing a watch. He looked at the time and cried out, “It’s 3:30! We have to speed up!”
Half an hour later,
Jiang Chen was supporting Lu Qing as they walked down. He would let out a cry with every step, and two cries with every step down.
He had twisted his ankle.
“Lu Qing, next time, please just follow your own class. You’re a big burden. You cry tired after two steps, and you even twisted yourself.”
“Jiang Xiaochen, did you not rest when I cried tired?”
“I was taking care of you. My stamina is much better than yours,” Jiang Chen said, the one who was supporting him was more tired than Lu Qing. His forehead was covered in sweat.
Lu Qing glared at him. “You’ve eaten all my things. And now you’re saying this. You’re so shameless. Spit it out.”
“You want the things I’ve spat out?”
“If you dare to spit it out, I dare to take it back.”
“You dare to take it back, but I don’t dare to spit it out.”
“Can you even spit it out?”
The two of them were bickering childishly. Zhou Wanfeng was walking behind with her backpack.
“It’s 4:05. How much further is there?” Lu Qing said, looking at his watch and wailing. He and Jiang Chen were the slowest. Yun Jingya and Wang Feili were more than ten meters ahead of them.
Jiang Chen stopped to rest, panting heavily. “I can’t go on. I have to rest. Lu dog, your other leg is fine. You’re putting all your weight on me.”
“But this leg hurts,” Lu Qing said, sitting on a stone step, finding an excuse for himself. He even deliberately took off his shoe and stretched out his injured foot. “Look, look! It’s so swollen! And you’re still picking on me!”
“Alright, alright, I won’t say any more. You old man, hurry up and put on your shoe. You’re polluting the good air.”
As soon as Jiang Chen finished speaking, Zhou Wanfeng put her backpack in front of him and walked straight up to Lu Qing. “I’ll help you walk.”
Lu Qing subconsciously shook his head. Before he could even say a word, he was shaking his head violently, his rejection obvious.
Seeing Zhou Wanfeng take the initiative, Jiang Chen picked up his bag and suddenly ran off. The one who had been crying tired just now was now as fast as lightning.
Lu Qing’s eyes widened. “Jiang Xiaochen, you bastard! Come back!”
“I really can’t go on. Someone is willing to help you. What are you talking about? Isn’t Zhou Wanfeng’s stamina better than mine?” Jiang Chen said, catching up with Wang Feili and Yun Jingya in a flash.
Lu Qing tilted his head and put his hand on Zhou Wanfeng’s shoulder, not daring to use any force. He hadn’t been so reserved when he was leaning on Jiang Chen.
Now he was being cautious, and it was even more tiring than before.
He was tired, and Zhou Wanfeng was also uncomfortable. “Stop.”
Lu Qing also wanted to say that it was a good time to rest, but Zhou Wanfeng directly pulled his hand and put it on her shoulder…
His mind went blank.
His two legs were in the air. Lu Qing looked straight at Zhou Wanfeng’s neck, her very clear earlobes. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He finally found his mouth, swallowed a few times, and said, “Um, Zhou Wanfeng, I weigh more than 110 pounds.”
“No, you’re around 120 pounds,” Zhou Wanfeng suddenly said.
Lu Qing suddenly leaned forward, his brow furrowed. “Impossible! I’m not 120! I just weighed myself at home before. I was a little over 110,” he said. Between 115 and 116. How could he have gained a few pounds in such a short time?
Zhou Wanfeng sneered, which was the strongest rebuttal.
Lu Qing was anxious. “I’m really not 120!”
“With your height, 120 is not heavy.”
Lu Qing shut up and was angry with himself. But he looked down and saw the sneakers on his feet. He remembered that he had taken off his shoes when he had weighed himself at home.
He let out a muffled grunt. “Zhou Wanfeng, thank you.”
The few of them arrived just in time. The teacher had medicine, and Lu Qing got on the teacher’s car to get his twisted ankle treated.
It was getting dark. The bus was not as noisy as when they had come. Everyone was tired from climbing the mountain. They held onto the handrails and couldn’t help but close their eyes to take a nap.
Zhou Wanfeng had been paying attention to Yun Jingya. Her brow had furrowed again.
Yun Jingya’s absent-mindedness had lasted for several days.
Saturday and Sunday had passed. By the end of the morning class on Monday, when they came out of the third cafeteria, Yun Jingya pointed at the public phone. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to make a call,” she said, smiling at Zhou Wanfeng. She was still worried about her family.
Yun Jingya called home and secretly asked Auntie Zhang how things were. She had asked Auntie Zhang to keep her call a secret from her grandmother. Her grandmother definitely didn’t want her to know about these things.
“Auntie Zhang, how have things been at home these past two days? Is Grandma better? Has she eaten? Has Mom come back to see Grandma? And what about Dad? Does he know that Grandma is sick?”
Auntie Zhang covered the phone and whispered about what had happened at home these past two days. “Your mother came back, but the atmosphere was not good. The two of them had a big fight in the bedroom. The noise could be heard from the living room. Then Miss Yun Lan cried loudly, and the old mistress also cried. The old master came home and took Miss Yun Lan to the study. He probably scolded her. I saw that Miss Yun Lan’s eyes were swollen from crying.
“Miss Jingya, the old mistress is a person who is strong and cares about her face. In all my years at home, this is the first time I’ve seen her run out barefoot and crying. She said that if Miss Yun Lan walks out of this house, she doesn’t have to come back ever again…”
Yun Jingya’s brow was tightly furrowed. “How could this happen? What was it about? And what about Grandpa and Dad?”
“The master was outside. He didn’t come in. Miss Yun Lan went back crying, and the two of them just left.”
“After that, the old mistress didn’t eat or drink. She locked herself in her bedroom and cried all the time. The day before yesterday, she fainted from low blood sugar and even had to go to the hospital for an IV…”
Yun Jingya returned to the classroom with red-rimmed eyes. Wang Feili saw her and quietly went over to ask what was wrong.
She shook her head and said it was nothing.
But after that, she was in a gloomy mood, her face filled with worry.
She would go to the public phone to make a call every other day, and each time she returned to the classroom, her eyes would be red.
She finally made it to Friday. Yun Jingya told Zhou Wanfeng that she was going home for a trip, but she didn’t ask her to go with her.
Zhou Wanfeng didn’t point it out.
When Yun Jingya came back from her vacation, she found that the house was strangely desolate. The courtyard was still the same. Old Dong would sweep the fallen leaves every day, and he would even use a fishing net to scoop out the ones that had fallen into the pond. There were also evergreen plants in the courtyard, but Yun Jingya just felt that the house had changed.
When she saw Yang Yijun again, Yun Jingya’s tears were very disobedient and fell one by one.
Yang Yijun was haggard and had aged. The dark circles under her eyes made her look even more desolate. She had lost weight, and her cheeks were sunken. Her usual spirit seemed to have disappeared.
Yun Jingya had always thought that her grandmother was the most elegant and beautiful grandmother in the world. Now, seeing her like this, her tears just couldn’t be stopped.
“What are you crying for? Grandma just had a small illness. She was on an IV at the hospital for two days. She’ll be fine after some rest. It’s nothing,” Yang Yijun was still trying to hide it.
She couldn’t let Jingya know about these things at home.
“You’re lying to me! I know everything! Mom and Dad have moved out!” Yun Jingya didn’t know what was going on between them, but seeing her grandmother lying alone in her bedroom, she was particularly sad and heartbroken.
She hugged Yang Yijun’s waist, her face stained with tears. “I was raised by Grandma. You can’t lie to me. Grandma, you’re very sad right now. You’re heartbroken. Mom has made you sad… I’m sorry.”
Yun Jingya’s heart was broken into eight pieces by her crying. Her eyes immediately turned red, and her voice was almost choked. “Silly child, it has nothing to do with you. Don’t cry,” she said. Hearing the child’s “I’m sorry,” Yang Yijun really felt sad.
Yun Lan was raised by her, and Jingya was raised by her. Jingya didn’t know anything. Just because she saw her sad, her heart would ache and she would cry and say sorry.
Compared to the other one, Yang Yijun’s heart was like it had been fiercely stabbed by a knife.
Yun Jingya called Ziyuan Court. She kept calling and calling until someone answered. Hearing Yun Lan’s voice, she immediately cried out, “Mom, can you come back and see Grandma?”