Chapter 88
◎Pea and Pork Stir-fry◎
It was dinnertime, and the canteen was crowded with people.
The food in the window was colorful and fragrant. Tangtang ordered a portion of stir-fried lotus root slices, two portions of pea and pork stir-fry, and two steamed buns for her staple food.
Sheng Ruiru was a little surprised. “Tangtang, you like to eat pea and pork stir-fry too?”
Tangtang looked at Sheng Ruiru’s tray. The peas on it were bright green, and it was clearly a double portion. “What a coincidence. Teacher Sheng, do you like to eat peas too? The pea and pork stir-fry at the school canteen has a lot of meat and few peas. I can’t help but order two portions every time. Otherwise, the bottom of the plate will be visible after just three mouthfuls.”
“Yes, it seems we are really fated.”
Hearing this, Lu Youxin, whose hands were on her knees, couldn’t help but pinch her own thigh. Her heart trembled. As expected of a biological mother and daughter, even their tastes are similar. But soon, she replayed the plot of the book in her mind and quickly comforted herself: The reason why the original owner’s identity as a fake daughter was exposed in the novel was entirely because the original owner kept courting death.
As long as she didn’t act as foolishly as the original owner and avoided the plots that would expose her, no one would suspect that she was not the Lu family’s biological daughter, and Sheng Ruiru and Su Xintang would never be able to acknowledge each other in this life.
“Teacher Sheng.” An old professor saw Sheng Ruiru, holding a rice bowl in his hand, and walked over with a cheerful smile.
“Teacher Ouyang.”
“Having a meal? Is this your daughter who is studying at Capital University?” The old professor naturally mistook Tangtang for Sheng Ruiru’s daughter. After all, Sheng Ruiru was a rare beauty with a good temperament. The daughter she gave birth to would definitely be a rare beauty as well.
“Teacher Ouyang, you’ve misunderstood. This is my daughter.”
“Oh…” When the old professor saw Lu Youxin’s appearance, a trace of disappointment clearly appeared on his face, but he quickly said, “My fault, my fault. I’m getting old and confused.”
The trace of disappointment on Professor Ouyang’s face stung Lu Youxin fiercely. She still maintained a decent smile on her face, but her nails had already dug deep into her palm.
Sheng Ruiru said with a smile, “Not at all. Professor Ouyang, would you like to sit down and eat with us?”
Professor Ouyang waved his hand. “No, my wife is still waiting for me to bring back her food.”
…
In April, the weather was already showing clear signs of warming up.
It had just rained, and water droplets were sliding from the leaves, dripping and gathering into small puddles. Chen Xiaohui slapped a mosquito on her arm with a slap.
An indescribable stuffy and irritable feeling was suppressed in her heart. She suddenly grabbed a handful of her hair with force. When she withdrew her hand, a few broken strands were already mixed in her fingers.
“Shuqing said you would probably be here. It seems she knows you quite well.” Tangtang was holding two bottles of Arctic Ocean soda. She stuffed one of them into her hand. “Here you go.”
Tangtang pried open the cap and took a large gulp of the soda. “Are you unhappy?”
Chen Xiaohui was silent.
“When I was unhappy before, I also liked to be alone.”
“When you got into Capital University, what was your family’s reaction? Did they beat gongs and drums and hang red silk everywhere?”
“Getting into Capital University, you’re basically the pride of the nation in the eyes of others. But who knows that under this enviable title, there are countless nights of studying by lamplight, and the wax on the table has condensed in thick layers, and the ink has been used up bottle after bottle.” Tangtang knew that her talent was higher than that of ordinary people. Many difficult-to-understand formulas, she could master after reciting them two or three times and doing a few problems. But even so, to get into Capital University, she still had to put in one hundred percent effort.
“In this life, we will constantly meet people who are more outstanding than us. These people may be more talented than us, more experienced than us, have a better family background than us, or have more opportunities than us. If we have to compete with every person who is more outstanding than us, it will definitely be a very tiring thing.”
“You are already more outstanding than most people. You can’t always hold your neck high and look forward. You also have to look back occasionally.”
“Being outstanding is not about comparing yourself to others. It’s about knowing how many early mornings and late nights you’ve endured, how many scorching summers and cold winters, how many hard and difficult knowledge points you’ve gnawed through, and how many times you’ve refilled your fountain pen with ink… What is outstanding? You have already surpassed your past self. That is outstanding.”
Everyone could see Chen Xiaohui’s inner conflict.
But Liang Cuixia, Pan Yanmei, and the others wouldn’t care. They were older than the three of them. Especially Liang Cuixia, whose two children could already buy soy sauce. Besides studying, what she missed the most was her husband and children who were still working as educated youth in Heilongjiang. They would not understand Chen Xiaohui’s inner thoughts.
Just as Pan Yanmei had said, “What’s there for a little girl to worry about? When I first entered the cotton mill, the workshop was flooded by a heavy rain. I had to work three shifts with just a piece of raincoat on. Leeches even crawled up to my thighs. But I’ve gotten through it now, haven’t I?”
Tangtang also decided to have an open and honest talk with her because she saw that her condition was getting worse and worse.
Tangtang pried open the cap of her soda bottle and stuffed it back into her hand. “I’m going back. You should go back early too. It’s spring, and there are a lot of mosquitoes by the lake.”
After Tangtang left, Chen Xiaohui sat by the lake for a long time. The image of the winter when the college entrance examination was restored suddenly appeared in her mind. It was freezing cold. She had a high fever of thirty-nine degrees and was still reviewing under a kerosene lamp at two in the morning.
She was now trapped in a state of self-pity and self-loathing. Was she worthy of the hardworking self from the past?
At that time, she had thought that as long as she could get into university, even a junior college would be fine. After graduation, she would be assigned a job. When she received the admission letter from Capital University, she was almost crazy with joy. She hadn’t expected to be able to get into such a good university. Her parents had bought more than ten meters of red silk and wanted to hang it on the street. Why was it that after starting school, she was blinded by “other people’s excellence” and felt that she was inferior to others in every way?
Chen Xiaohui took a sip of the soda. The cool and refreshing soda flowed down her throat into her stomach, dispelling some of the irritability in her body. Tangtang’s first-place good grades, Lu Youxin’s family background and experience, piano and ballet, and the teachers’ favor… these things that had made her toss and turn at night finally became blurry, like a white cloud of smoke drifting out of her mind.
“I’m sorry,” Chen Xiaohui said softly to the lake, as if apologizing to the self who had reviewed with a high fever.
She finished the soda in her hand and walked towards the dormitory with the empty bottle.
Just as she reached the school road, she saw Tangtang and Dong Shuqing standing under a streetlight, clearly waiting for her.
Before she could say anything, Dong Shuqing ran over and held her arm, smiling. “Actually, I’m still used to the three of us walking together. Let’s go to the library together tomorrow to preview our lessons.”
Chen Xiaohui looked at the arm she was holding, and a relieved smile appeared on her face. “Alright.”
“Mmm, I’ve also realized some of my own mistakes. From now on, I won’t call you and Tangtang country people anymore.”
Dong Shuqing pouted, her round face with black-framed glasses. “I know you didn’t mean any harm. Since you’ve apologized to us, I’ll reluctantly forgive you.”
“So when are you willing to try some houttuynia?”
“Huh? Never in this life.”
“Just try it. It’s really delicious…”
…
After being busy for more than half a month, she finally had half a day to rest. Tangtang thought for a moment and still decided to use this time to visit Grandpa Lu.
Old Mr. Lu was very fond of Tangtang. He felt that this girl was not only perceptive and intelligent, but more importantly, she had a kind and gentle quality.
Tangtang cut the orange into four pieces. Seeing Old Mr. Lu, who was wearing reading glasses, holding his book further and further away, the sunlight shining on his eyes, she said, “Grandpa, it’s too tiring for your eyes to read like this. Why don’t I read it for you?”
Old Mr. Lu cheerfully handed her the book in his hand. “Alright, then I’ll have to trouble Comrade Little Su.”
Old Mr. Lu was reading Das Kapital. Tangtang was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected the old man to still be reading such a rigorous book after he had retired. She washed her hands, opened the book, and then began to read seriously. “A chaotic world where demons run rampant is not terrible. What is terrible is when the human heart is in charge, and profit is the top priority…”
Tangtang’s voice was clear and pleasant, her pronunciation was clear, and her rhythm was unhurried, with a natural cadence.
She would never drag on when she should pause. When she encountered a long sentence, she would break it down into short sentences. Occasionally, when she encountered an unfamiliar name or place name, she would slow down her pace slightly, her tongue rolling in her mouth a little more, leaving enough time for the listener to ponder.
Every word was like a raindrop falling on a stone slab, crisply tapping out its weight.
Listening to her read was also a rare enjoyment.
When Lu Mingbai returned home, he saw Tangtang’s back as she was reading, and the sound of her reading aloud.
Old Mr. Lu was originally listening with his eyes closed, but as Tangtang was reading, she saw that Old Mr. Lu had fallen asleep at some point.
She put down the book in her hand, took a wool blanket from the side, and gently covered the old man.
Tangtang was about to go back to school. Just as she opened the door, she ran into a young man in a military uniform. Seeing his sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, and his righteous and awe-inspiring air, Tangtang quickly guessed the identity of the man in front of her, Lu Junshan and Sheng Ruiru’s eldest son, Lu Mingbai—a photo of their family of four was on display in the living room.
“You must be Big Brother Lu, right? I’m Teacher Sheng’s student. My name is Su Xintang.”
A gentle smile appeared on Lu Mingbai’s face. This little girl had a sense of closeness about her. “I’ve already heard from the auntie at home. Classmate Su, thank you for reading to Grandpa.”
“You’re welcome. Grandpa Lu also taught me how to play chess.”
“Grandpa has been unwilling to talk to people much since he retired. Perhaps it’s because you’ve been reading and playing chess with him. His mood has improved a lot recently. Thank you, Classmate Su.” Lu Mingbai looked at her and sincerely repeated, “Thank you.”