Chapter Twenty (2)

  At the moment when Jiang Tian covered her mouth, everyone stopped their movements and stared at me with piercing eyes, each with a different expression, but every pair of eyes was filled with a desire to know, this kind of gaze is usually only seen when the teacher announces the exam scope in the last class before the final exam.

  I wonder how Jiang Tian knew that I was pretending to be gay, Yan Lang has already spoken out in refutation: "If my mother is a lesbian then where did I come from?"

  This finally succeeded in diverting most people's attention, and everyone was shocked that such a young boy actually understood what homosexuality was, and they all praised him.

  Qin Mo looked at me with a profound gaze, then shifted his line of sight to Yan Lang, saying with a hint of a smile: "You seem to understand quite a lot."

  Yan Lang thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's not that much, just a little understanding, but it has nothing to do with Mom, it was all taught by Zhou Yueyue." I nodded in agreement: "Right, it was all taught by Zhou Yueyue." In fact, Yan Lang's knowledge in this area came partly from me and partly from the all-knowing Baidu. The ancient people's view of life is to know what you know and admit what you don't know. Yan Lang's view of life is to know what you know and go to Baidu if you don't know.

  Jiang Tian's building was distorted by Yan Lang and Qin Mo, making it unrecognizable. Not only that, but they also completely ignored the owner of the building, which is truly heartless.

  Although everyone wanted to know the answer, since Qin Mo was blocking the way, no one dared to rush forward, and even Chen Ying, who had always been close to Jiang Tian, just focused on wrapping dumplings with her head down.

  But Jiang Tian didn't give up, and after a moment, she opened her hand covering her mouth in a puzzled expression, muttering to herself: "Could it be that I misheard yesterday? In the small woods by the basketball court, Yan Xuejia, you clearly said to Zhou Xuejia that you two had been through so much together, and no matter what she became - whether it was a grass on the side of the road, a chair in the classroom, or a croissant in a bakery - you would never abandon her..."

  I choked. Although it was almost my original words, I had to admit that no matter when and where I heard it, it was still so soul-stirring, especially when said in Jiang Tian's unique Taiwanese accent. The surrounding air was filled with gasps, and I looked at Qin Mo's fingers, which were still moving slowly without any pause. I said: "You must have misheard, I've never said anything like that before, and I'm not gay."

  Jiang Tian was taken aback, probably not expecting that someone who looked so honest would also have a time of being unreliable, and muttered: "You clearly said it before, you even said she was the only scenery on your life's road, losing her would leave you with nothing..."

  I feigned surprise, making sure everyone saw my astonishment before relaxing my expression and speaking kindly to her: "I really didn't say that, you must have mistaken me for someone else."

  Jiang Tian's face turned red and white, probably regretting not using a recording device to record my conversation with Zhou Yueyue. I expected her to nod in agreement: "Ah, it's possible that we really made a mistake." The matter would have ended peacefully then. But Jiang Tian insisted on pursuing the dramatic climax, stubbornly saying: "I couldn't have mistaken the person, I'm not nearsighted after all."

  I kindly advised: "It's possible that you didn't take a nap and had an illusion? Or maybe you dreamed something during your nap, and then you thought it was real?"

  She stared at me blankly, with a bewildered expression. I was so impervious that it obviously caused her great pain.

  Everyone held their breath and perked up their ears, with their eyes fixed on the dumpling wrappers in their hands, yet no one made a move, which showed that everyone was eavesdropping.

  Jiang Tian was stunned for thirty seconds, then suddenly said: "You're lying, why are you lying? Are you afraid that Teacher Qin will find out that you're gay? You..." She wanted to continue saying something, but was cut off by the head who couldn't listen anymore and shouted loudly: "Jiang Tian, that's enough."

  Throughout the process, Qin Mo was calmly wrapping dumplings. The slightly louder-than-normal command became the last straw that crushed the camel's back. Jiang Tian not only didn't calm down but instead had a twisted expression, suddenly standing up from her seat and pointing at me as she burst out: "Teacher Qin, take a good look at her, she deceived you! She had a child at 16 years old, and when she first entered our school, she even wrote a love letter to Lin Qiao from the medical college on the school's BBS, hooking him up only to dump him immediately. Her character is highly problematic, she doesn't deserve you..."

  My hand trembled: "What did you say? What love letter?"

  Her eyes turned red: "You're still pretending, dare you say that when you were a freshman in the school, you didn't write love letters to Lin on the campus BBS? Lin responded to you on the BBS, but you never showed up again. Lin waited for you under your dorm building, rain or shine, for more than a week. You didn't see him once. Later, he got soaked in the rain all night and indulged in smoking and drinking, fell seriously ill, and was hospitalized for over a month. Your way of pursuing someone is despicable, your way of handling emotions is despicable, and you're even more despicable as a person. There's no one worse than you. How can you be worthy of Teacher Qin?"

  My head is spinning, and recalling my freshman year, I only remember that not long after entering school, my grandmother fell ill. I asked my instructor for leave, took Yan Lang home to take care of my grandmother for nearly a month. Searching through memories, I couldn't find any trace of the so-called campus BBS or love letters. There's also no romantic impression of Lin Jiao waiting for me under my building for over a week. In my youth, I had knelt under someone else's building for two days, and I deeply understand how difficult it is to do such a thing. If anyone waited under my building for a week, as long as they didn't come with a knife to hack at me, I basically wouldn't be able to avoid seeing them.

  I looked up at Qin Mo, who was wiping his hands with a tissue, still calm and composed. Even under my intense gaze, he didn't show any signs of looking up. According to the rules of creation, Jiang Tian's words must have had some impact on him, and within just one minute, I had prepared for the worst-case scenario - that he would finally come to his senses, think I wasn't worth his effort, and decide to ask me and Yan Lang to leave this house. Fortunately, both Yan Lang and I were people who had been through a lot, with exceptional adaptability, so even if we had to move back into our 20-square-meter small apartment, it wouldn't be too much of a psychological blow. A house is just a shell; people who get along well may have multiple shells, but constantly moving between them makes their lives seem aimless. Yan Lang and I only need a small shell that can provide us with shelter from the wind and rain. Of course, this is mainly because we don't have money right now - if we did, we wouldn't mind having multiple shells either.

  Yan Lang's icy voice came: "Why do you want to hurt my mother, please leave, our family doesn't welcome you." It had been a long time since I saw him with such an expression. The last time was during the summer vacation of senior year when he ran into him and Xiao Pangzi, who lived on the same street, fighting. The reason was that Xiao Pangzi scolded Yan Lang for being unfilial, and Yan Lang used his fists to teach Xiao Pangzi a lesson, warning him that if he heard such words again, he would make him know what it means to be toothless. At that time, Yan Lang already knew many idioms. In the end, I pulled Yan Lang to Xiao Pangzi's house to apologize, mainly because my grandmother needed to rely on the neighbors for care, and Xiao Pangzi's mother happened to be the director of the residents' committee.

  Jiang Tian gazed at Qin Mo with an intense stare, her eyes burning with a fierce passion that seemed to shoot out flames. Everyone was shocked by her gaze, while Qin Mo continued to lower his head and wipe his hands. As for whether I was worthy of him or not, he still hadn't expressed his opinion. I thought he was probably hesitant, and rather than being let go by him first, it's better if we take the initiative ourselves. I looked up at the ceiling and said, "I didn't expect a celebration dinner to turn out like this... Whatever, Yan Lang, return the thing on your neck to Teacher Qin, I think we should just go back to our own lives..."

  The gaze that was fixed on Jiang Tian's body suddenly shifted to me, Qin Mo finally put down the tissue paper and placed his hand on the armrest of the sofa, after a long while, he said something that was completely off-topic. He said: "Song Song, I'm often afraid, I've already grown old, but you're still so young."

  He wore a silver-gray shirt with a black sweater, and simply sitting there was full of charm, as if he had walked out of a poster. Mature, steady, and dignified, his charisma was palpable. The young whippersnappers looked on, their faces twisted in envy, ready to die from frustration. Then he said, "I'm old." He glanced sideways at the young men present, all of whom were struggling to restrain themselves from pouncing on him and giving him a good thrashing.

  Everyone was waiting for his next words, Jiang Tian's eyes were shining brightly, but he completely ignored them, as if no one was there. He just smiled in his eyes and looked at me slowly: "You're a person who is confused and careless about life, but when it comes to studying and working, you're very serious. Once you start doing your own things, you forget to eat, and often forget to take medicine. Oh, by the way, did you take the medicine I sent over today?"

  I patted my pocket and said with a cold sweat: "Uh, forgot." Yan Lang immediately ran to fetch boiling water.

  He didn't speak for five seconds, and when he opened his mouth again, he changed the subject: "As a girl, you are too strong-willed, it seems like you don't need anyone by your side to live well. Honestly, most men find it hard to feel accomplished in front of you because you've already done everything that men should do."

  I think he's being too scatterbrained today, and on the other hand, I'm clenching my fists so hard they're cracking, but he remains unmoved, continuing to scold me: "You also lack the passion for emotions that girls of your age have. If I push you a little, you'll move a little; if I don't push you, you can stand there forever without moving an inch. Most of the time, you like being a turtle hiding in its shell..."

  Jiang Tian gave me a sidelong glance, her eyes sparkling with an unknown light. I was stimulated by this gaze and felt that I couldn't remain silent any longer, so I immediately interrupted him: "This isn't about being a cowardly turtle, if you were in my position, it would be easy to understand. This is just a way of protecting oneself. Look, our family only has me as the pillar, I can't easily fall down, so I have to take good care of myself. This is taking responsibility for the family. You say that if one day you dump me, I still have to live my life, don't I? Human emotions follow the law of conservation of energy, the more you invest in someone, the more your emotions will be converted into a passion for self-destruction when you break up with them. Of course, I know that even though men say they don't want to see anyone die for their sake, deep down they secretly hope that every woman they've been involved with has died for their sake..."

  "He smiled and said: 'I say one sentence and you have to respond with ten.'"

  I remained silent for half a day before saying, "You've been criticizing me all this time, can't you let me retort just once? If I have so many shortcomings, then we'd better part ways..."

  Everyone present held their breath, the air flowing extremely slowly. Yuelai pulled me and whispered, "It's not something that can be said casually."

  Qin Mo shook his head and sighed with a smile: "Since you insist on saying that's a shortcoming, I'd be delighted if your shortcomings were more numerous and unbearable for anyone. That way, I wouldn't have to worry." He then turned to Yue and said: "Don't mind her, let her say whatever she wants. I'm just worried that she's under too much pressure, and venting like this is a way for her to release it."

  I said: "How can you be like this..."

  He picked up the already wrapped dumplings and freed his hand to rub my hair: "I've always been like this." After rubbing, his eyes intentionally or unintentionally swept over Jiang Tian beside me, saying lightly: "In my opinion, we match well no matter where. The only regret is that I'm eight years older than her... which makes me worry that she'll think I'm too old and run off with a younger guy one day." Okay, you guys watch TV first, I'll go cook the dumplings.

  Everyone was stunned, but I thought carefully about his words and always felt that something was wrong. However, my heart suddenly warmed up, and I could feel the blood flowing in my frozen fingers. There is a line from an English song that translates to: "Even if the whole world is against me, as long as you stand with me." It can be seen that when the whole world opposes you, having one person unexpectedly agree with you is indeed more touching than having the whole world agree with you and just one person also agreeing. This is also why in most literary works, courtesans always play the role of being betrayed, making it easier to elope with a courtesan than with a noble lady. It's not because courtesans are more promiscuous, but because they always want to escape their circumstances.

  Jiang Tian bit her lip for a while, and big tears fell down. Suddenly, she stamped her foot: "You, you all bully me." After finishing speaking, she turned around and ran away crying, knocking over a stool in the process.

  Chen Ying awkwardly said: "I'll go out and take a look at her." Unfortunately, in the process of chasing after her, she knocked over another stool.

  The sound of the stool falling to the ground shocked everyone awake. Everyone stared at me blankly, and I also stared back at them blankly. In short, everyone was stunned, and we all remained in a daze for a while. Suddenly, Yue's eyes sparkled as she broke the silence: "The evil female supporting character has left for distant lands, and the male and female leads have finally become a couple! Oh my god, this is an epic poem! Master Qin was just confessing to you, Song Song, wasn't he? We came to your house today at just the right time. We even caught such a classic scene!"

  But some people have different opinions: "What kind of person can calmly go cook dumplings after doing something as meaningful as confessing, won't the girls misunderstand that they're just like a piece of dumpling?"

  "It's really making the person who got confessed to feel like an idiot."

  Qin Mo held a rice scoop at the kitchen door and said with a smile: "Song Song, come here."

  I walked over inexplicably, and was suddenly pulled into the kitchen by him. Next thing I knew, we were sharing a French kiss. After it ended, I couldn't believe what had just happened and covered my mouth with my hand. He took a spoon to stir the dumplings in the pot: "I heard from someone in the kitchen that I didn't do anything to make you think you're an idiot."

  I've been holding it in for half a day and finally blurted out six words: "Your hearing is too good."

  "He smiled and said: 'Too kind, too kind.'"

  By the time we finished eating dumplings and saw off our colleagues, Jiang Tian and Chen Ying had disappeared from view.

  After cleaning up the kitchen, Qin Mo and I sat on the balcony looking at the stars. In City C, it's actually quite difficult to see the stars, so we just created an atmosphere similar to stargazing. There was a desk lamp on the balcony, he sat under it flipping through a detective novel, while my gaze passed over him and lingered in the vast night sky. I thought for a long time before finally speaking up: "Are you being sincere?" He didn't even lift his head: "Yeah, I'm sincere."

  I looked at him silently: "Do you know what I truly mean?"

  He closed the book, held my hand and said: "I've always been true to you." After a pause, he continued: "Why do you feel so insecure? Do I make you feel unreliable? Song Song, if you want to get married tomorrow, I'll book a ticket right away and take you back to America tomorrow.

  I leaned back and dryly said, "No need, no need. It's mainly because I'm used to not having a sense of security, and it's hard to change suddenly. Besides, things are progressing too quickly between us. You weren't telling me to slow down and adapt just the other day? Can't we talk about marriage so soon?"

  He played with my fingers and smiled slightly: "If only marriage can give you a sense of security, I think we can adjust our dating steps accordingly."

  I said: "The key is..."

  "What's the key?"

  I thought for half a day and felt that I had a mental block, forgetting words. I said: "Let's wait until I fall in love with you before talking about it, maybe by the time I fall in love with you, you won't like me anymore."

  He frowned and said, "This won't happen."

  "What?"

  He pulled me up from the ground, presumably intending for me to sit on his lap. However, he accidentally stepped on a banana peel that was on the floor and fell into his arms with great difficulty. He let out a muffled groan, then wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear: "If one day I betray you and hurt you, give all my property to you."

  "Huh?"

  "He said: 'So, fall in love with me at ease, Song Song.'"

  I was speechless for half a day, filled with emotions. The biggest emotion is that reality is indeed not a fantasy. The most touching words in the world are those related to money, let alone all of Qin Mo's money. I feel deeply moved.

  The atmosphere was just right, and we were finally having the romance that stargazing should have. I think both of us were a bit excited. At this moment, Yan Lang's long call echoed in the room: "Uncle, come over and help me with this math problem." Qin Mo stiffened for a moment, and I pushed him. He looked up at me: "Do you think we should send him to some evening training class or something?"

  I said: "......"

  After Qin Mo left, I gave Zhou Yue a call and told her that I was ready to put down my heart knot and start dating again.

  "Have you really fallen in love with Qin Mo?"

  "After some thought, I think I quite like him so far."

  She paused for a moment and said, "Don't rush to tell him about this matter."

  I said: "Huh? Why."

  She said with a sigh, "Even if he's my idol, I have to say that the more successful a man is in other areas of his life, the more he hopes to encounter setbacks in romance. If you don't give him any setbacks and let him get what he wants easily, he'll go find trouble with another woman. That way, your fate will become very bumpy. Now, making him encounter setbacks is mainly for the sake of a smoother future for you."

  I said: "Isn't this not quite right? You obviously have a good impression of her, but you don't tell her, isn't that playing with someone?"

  "You don't play with him in the palm of your hand, then other women will play with him in the palm of their hands."

  I was silent for a while, and couldn't help but exclaim: "You're really too high-level!"

  She sighed again: "People are played by people first, then they can play with people, and finally play with people to death. I'm also being played along the way."

  We heaved a sigh together with a tinge of sadness in our hearts.

  I asked her: "Do you know that when I was a freshman, there was a love letter on the school BBS written in my name to Lin Qiao?"

  She said: "Huh? You've written love letters to Lin Qiao, how come I didn't know? Quickly tell me, quickly tell me."

  I said: "Forget it, never mind, I'll go take a look at how Yan Lang's homework is going."

  The author has something to say: Xiaotiantian, your existence is just for them to end up together, good job, you can go get your reward now.

  Besides, I don't want to say anything more. This is just a small white text, an urban fairy tale. If some classmates can't understand the female lead Yan Song, then they can think of her as an idiot, or a mentally ill person who has escaped from a mental hospital and hasn't been caught yet. For this article, I don't pursue depth or breadth, but only entertainment and laughter, amen...

  PS: As for the part about immediately doing other things after confessing, it's actually based on myself. I often say sweet nothings to people and then run off to do chores like washing dishes or sweeping the floor while they're still feeling touched. It wasn't until someone pointed this out that I realized my flaw, but at first, I thought it was kind of funny, so I wrote it in.