No, 035 Where is your destination?
The Huang Qinghao incident caused a huge stir in the City.
As with the previous kidnapping case, editors of major newspapers, eager to stir up trouble, used words like “mayor’s daughter” and “young girl” and exaggerated how I rescued Xiaodie from the clutches of the vicious gangsters and calmly walked back to the neighborhood from the hotel.
Coincidentally, the hotel’s surveillance cameras clearly captured me carrying Xiaodie as we walked through the lobby. Pictures of us were highlighted on the front pages of various news websites. Because both Xiaodie and I are considered attractive, the news article reached 300,000 views that day.
“They look so good together!”
“What should I do? I also want a best friend like that…”
“Why bother with men? If you meet such a good girl, just marry her.”
“See, I, a man, am no match for a woman. I can’t even beat her in a fight. Should I just go home and farm?”
Attracted by the gimmick of “mayor’s daughter,” the public was quickly moved by my “heroic deeds” in the news. Countless words of praise flooded the comment section, leaving Huang Yingdie, the initial victim of the incident, neglected.
Our house was harassed countless times by neighbors and enthusiastic people in the short eight hours after the news broadcast. Our home, already filled with unsold fruits from our fruit shop, was directly flooded with fruits and flowers from well-wishers.
On Sunday, instead of fading away as expected, the matter continued to ferment. Some enthusiastic netizens even dug up records of my absence from the exam that day and linked it to the recent kidnapping incident. They began to call for the school to exempt me from punishment for missing the exam and cheating.
…
“Is there something?”
In the evening, Huang Yingdie came downstairs to my neighborhood and called me down.
“Can’t I call you if there’s nothing?”
Today, Huang Yingdie wore a simple suspender dress and a short-sleeved T-shirt. Her temperament was completely different from the gorgeous short skirt and high heels she wore when we first met. Under the bright streetlights of the neighborhood, she looked like a fairy.
“Here, this is a reward for you.”
Stuffing a cup of herbal jelly into my hand, the girl smiled and said, “Are your injuries better?”
I cut open the film on the cup with the barb on the back of the spoon and nodded: “Almost.”
It wasn’t a serious injury. Huang Qinghao didn’t have much strength left in that state, and there was a layer of clothing blocking it. An ordinary knife couldn’t really hurt me. It should be fine after three or four days of rest.
“That’s good.”
“…”
We walked to the gate of the neighborhood in silence, eating the herbal jelly in our hands.
Finally, when we reached the side of the road, Huang Yingdie couldn’t help but say, “Yi Yao, aren’t you going to say something?”
“Say what?”
“Just…” The girl scratched her white cheek in distress. “For example… for example, your monthly exam, does it matter if you missed one subject?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I said indifferently: “Anyway, if there are no accidents, the goal has been achieved. It doesn’t matter if I don’t take that subject.”
I remember that the monthly exam was the most difficult one in my junior high school career, and the average score of the grade was also the lowest. At that time, I scored 631 out of 9 subjects with a perfect score of 750, and this score was still more than 30 points ahead of the second place. Among them, the history score was only 40 points. Even if I was deducted about 10 points for each of the remaining subjects, and then subtracted 40 points for history, my total score would still be 630 points, still the first in the grade.
But this has to be based on the premise that history does not change.
Who knows if Tan Lijiang will be stimulated by Lan Zhuoyue’s departure and get a few dozen more points?
“No way? I’ve never heard of you having such good grades, Yi Yao?”
After opening the conversation box, Huang Yingdie seemed to be a different person. “Didn’t you often skip class and surf the Internet with those people from the Black Dragon Society?”
“Skipping class and surfing the Internet doesn’t conflict with grades, right?”
Throwing the finished herbal jelly cup into the trash can, I took a deep breath: “Okay, what’s the matter with you looking for me? If it’s just to treat me to a drink, then I’ve already received your kindness.”
I don’t believe this arrogant young lady would come to my neighborhood for no reason.
If nothing else, it’s probably because of Huang Qinghao.
“Uh… actually…” Under the mottled tree shadows, Huang Yingdie hesitated for a moment. “Yi Yao, can you pretend to be my girlfriend?”
“Pretend?”
“Well… I want Huang Qinghao to give up. This should be the best way.”
“He still has the face to come to you?”
A man, without the consent of his girlfriend, attempted to drug and rape her, and afterwards, he could still contact the victim as if nothing had happened. What derogatory term should I use to describe such a person?
Besides, didn’t the newspaper say that Huang Qinghao was criminally detained?
“His father spent money to find some connections, and now he is at home.”
Huang Yingdie sighed: “I have blocked him on QQ and my phone, but his brothers keep coming to me to say good things about him. I don’t know what to do…”
“So you’re going to lie and say you’re gay?”
“Don’t say it so harshly. Well… we girls have a beautiful word…”
“Lily?”
“Pretend! Just pretend!”
Huang Yingdie’s face flushed red and white: “I may… need some time.”
Need some time to accept being a lesbian, or need some time to heal the wound cut by a boy?
“Yi Yao, I remember you had a boyfriend before, right?”
“Oh, we broke up.”
“Why can you be so calm about everything…”
Huang Yingdie lowered her head: “When I was kidnapped, and now, is there nothing in your heart that you really care about?”
“No reason.”
I lowered the brim of my hat a little: “If you don’t want to bear so much pain, don’t give so much love in the first place.”
Yi Yao’s wish has been fulfilled. What I need to do is to inherit her belief, that’s all.
As for pursuing happiness and the like, let nature take its course.
After all, both Yi Yao and I are lost.
“But you like this…”
Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit wrong, I took the initiative to take Huang Yingdie’s hand. This action directly made the girl jump back a few steps after a jolt: “What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted me to be your girlfriend?” I said inexplicably: “If not, I’ll go back first.”
“Ah… no.” Huang Yingdie reacted instantly: “I thought you…”
“Thought what?”
“Nothing!”
Blushing, she ran to my side and took my hand, resting her small head on my shoulder, Huang Yingdie said to me in the tone of a little girl acting coquettishly to her boyfriend: “Hey, Yi Yao, what do couples usually do?”
“Aren’t you more experienced in this?”
“What do you mean I’m more experienced? I was just deceived before.”
“So you’re awake now?”
“Hmm.”
“Actually… I’ve been thinking about a question since just now.”
“What question?”
“I remember when we first met, you didn’t say a word and just kicked me. It was the same when you were drunk. I thought you were a silent girl, then I thought you were tsundere, but now… I can’t figure out your personality anymore.”
Knowing that she has some understanding of anime, I directly used some two-dimensional vocabulary.
“I’m just not good at talking to strangers.”
“What about now?”
“You’re not a stranger, Yi Yao.”
“I remember someone said that they would be incompatible with me.”
“Well, it’s rare for me to be kind enough to see you!”
Huang Yingdie ran in front of me, holding her forehead in distress: “Ah… forget it, forget it. Being with you doesn’t feel like a couple at all. Forget it, I don’t want you as my girlfriend anymore.”
I smiled and said, “We are both girls anyway.”
And you won’t really fall in love with a girl now.
I didn’t say the last sentence.
—Actually, I understand that we are both slowly starting to be afraid of losing.
When one hope after another is gradually dashed, people tend to go back and look for those paths they haven’t taken.
As far as I am concerned, I will never choose to fall in love or even marry a man. From this point alone, my future has been shrouded in haze.
Dark and lonely.
But Huang Yingdie is different. She has a beautiful appearance and a good family that others envy. I have no right to disturb her happiness.
I can see the future of most people in this city, but I can’t see my own, so I can only try my best to help my friends stay away from the worst outcome.
“My father’s matter has been exposed.”
After the two of us walked for a while on the tree-lined road, Huang Yingdie in front suddenly said such a sentence.
I asked strangely: “What’s the matter?”
“Well… It’s about officialdom. I don’t know the details, but my dad has been helping me with the real estate certificate these days, and he has also transferred a lot of money to my personal account. I’m so scared… Yi Yao, do you think my dad will be arrested?”
Several cars returning late at night whizzed past the road beside me and Xiaodie, and the airflow lifted the girl’s skirt and hair.
Under the stars, there is a faint fragrance of wildflowers.
Under Huang Yingdie’s expectant gaze, I remembered the ending of the mayor in another parallel world. Instead of answering Xiaodie’s question, I walked to the girl’s side, gently stretched out my hand and scratched her face: “Do you like your current life?”
Xiaodie was about to answer, but I stopped her with a silent gesture.
“Don’t tell me, just tell yourself.”
