Chapter 3 Stardust 1
The morning star in late autumn,
You stand at the intersection and look back step by step.
It turns out that such a long time has passed.
The next time I saw Chen Qiaolu was under the bridge in the city. A few days ago, Gigi Lai told me sadly that she lost a beloved bracelet here. Today, I happened to pass by here and thought of looking for it for her.
During this period of time, my relationship with Gigi Lai has made a qualitative leap. Without Chen Qiaoluo, my life has gradually been filled with Gigi Lai. We would go shopping together, and she would show me her collection of celebrity posters like treasures.
Just as I was helping Gigi Lai find her bracelet, the sound of a cat brought me back to my senses. Following the sound, I found a few newborn kittens living under a bridge not far away. Their mother didn't seem to be around, and the kittens seemed to be hungry and kept crying.
Seeing this, I quickly took the schoolbag on my shoulder and put it in front of me. If I remember correctly, my father put some bread and milk in my bag in the morning. Sure enough, when I opened the schoolbag, I saw these things inside.
I tore the bread into pieces and placed them in front of them, then took out my cup, unscrewed the lid, poured some milk in it and handed it to them. Soon, they came over and started eating.
I looked at them with interest until I heard the sound of someone walking behind me. When I turned around, I saw Chen Qiaoluo standing behind me.
It seemed like he hadn't expected to meet me here, and he just stood there in a daze like me.
If I count carefully, I haven't contacted Chen Qiaoluo for almost a month. When I see him again, he seems to have lost a lot of weight, his originally delicate face is a little sunken, and he looks a little decadent.
Time seemed to stop for a moment.
I don't know how long it was before I heard him whisper to me, "Hello Zhu Yun, long time no see."
Yeah, long time no see.
I suddenly felt sad, and my nose felt sore that I almost cried. I quickly lowered my head to prevent Chen Qiaoluo from seeing me like this. I didn't raise my head until I was no longer so sad, and replied with a sarcasm: "It's hard for you to still remember me, Master Chen. I thought you had forgotten who I was after not seeing me for such a long time."
My slightly sarcastic words made Chen Qiaoluo frown. He looked at me and said, "Hello Zhu Yun, there's no need for you to be so sarcastic when you speak."
"If you don't like it, just don't listen to it." I looked at him defiantly.
I once thought that this young man in front of me would be my best friend, but I never imagined that our friendship would not stand the test of time.
Seeing me like this, Chen Qiaoluo was too lazy to argue with me anymore. He just said "It's up to you" and walked over to me.
It was only then that I noticed that he was holding a bag of food in his hand, which seemed to be bought specially for these kittens.
I watched him squatting down and stroking the kittens, and suddenly a warm feeling welled up in my heart.
I don’t know how long it was before the cry of a kitten woke me up from my thoughts, and Chen Qiaoluo next to me also stood up.
"Let's go." He said in a low voice.
I stood up. My calves were completely numb from squatting for so long. I staggered, and just when I thought I was going to fall to the ground, a pair of hands held me tightly.
"Be careful," he said.
Seeing his indifferent expression, I immediately lost my temper, and shook off his hand, with a sneer on my face, saying: "Thank you for your concern, Master Chen. I'm afraid whether I live or die has nothing to do with you."
Chen Qiaoluo glanced at me for a while before replying casually, "Whatever you want."
What a good one, it’s up to me.
Seeing that he no longer paid attention to me and walked forward, all my previous anger exploded at this moment. I rushed over to block his way and shouted: "Chen Qiaoluo, how long do you want to degenerate like this? Do you think you are a hero for doing this? I tell you, you are just a coward. I know that what happened in your family makes you very upset, but what about me? I am the same. Many times I told myself that there is no need to treat you as a friend anymore, but I can't do it. Chen Qiaoluo, I can't do it!"
By the end, even I couldn't help feeling sad.
Chen Qiaoluo and I were close friends just a month ago, but why did everything change in such a short period of time? I have heard people say that time is terrible and that it can easily overturn everything we believe in.
Facing my accusations, Chen Qiaoluo's face gradually became ugly. He lowered his head without looking at me, standing in front of me without saying a word. The sun shone on him, and for some reason, I could see a bit of loneliness in him.
My heart felt like it was being pricked by a needle and it hurt every time.
I don't know how long it took, but when he stopped talking, my heart felt like a desert. I looked at him, said nothing, turned around and left.
I think Chen Qiaoluo and I are two straight lines with different trajectories. Although we have intersected before, we will only get farther and farther away from each other in the rest of our long lives. And neither of us will look back.
Meeting Chen Qiaoluo again was just a hurried moment in time. The next day when I returned to school, I was still the arrogant Zhu Yunhao.
I don't know if it's because Chen Qiaoluo disappointed me, but I've been feeling a bit down these past two days. Gigi Lai asked me if something happened several times, but I could only shake my head.
The incident with Chen Qiaoluo is a scar in my heart that has not yet healed, and I cannot expose it to others.
I received a call from Brother Xiaohei at night one week after I met Chen Qiaoluo. His tone was a little anxious. He said, "Hello, Yun, can you contact A Luo? Sister He Pei suddenly fainted just now and has been sent to the city center hospital. But A Luo's phone is unreachable. If you can contact him, ask him to come to the hospital immediately."
Aunt He Pei was hospitalized! This news came unexpectedly. Without thinking too much, I hurriedly changed my clothes and ran out of the house.
Where could Chen Qiaoluo be? City A is so big, where should I go to find him? I stood at the gate of the community, at a loss.
Just when I was so anxious that I didn't know what to do, something I heard from someone a few days ago suddenly flashed through my mind. It was just a few girls chatting, and I would have forgotten it after listening to it, but now I remember that they mentioned Chen Qiaoluo at that time, and one of the girls seemed to have said that she saw him on the way home, and the location seemed to be at the entrance of an underground billiard court.
Thinking of this, I immediately called the monitor and asked for the girl's mobile phone number. After hastily explaining my identity and intentions on the phone, I got the specific location of the billiard court in the girl's confusion.
I hurriedly took a taxi and rushed there. Before I entered, I heard the noisy noise inside. I quickly ran down the stairs. Almost all of the people inside were bad boys. It seemed that they had never thought that a strange girl would come here alone. For a moment, everyone's eyes were all on me.
Ignoring the unhappiness in my heart, I began to look for Chen Qiaoluo at each table. Occasionally, some bad boys would come over to tease me, but I ignored them.
Finally, when I walked to the west wall, Chen Qiaoluo appeared. He was leaning over with a golf club, ready to tee off, surrounded by a few gangster-like teenagers.
My heart felt like it was stabbed hard. I gritted my teeth, walked over and pulled Chen Qiaoluo up.
It seemed that he had not expected me to suddenly appear here. He was stunned for a long time before asking: "Hello Zhu Yun, why are you here?"
"Chen Qiaoluo, Brother Xiaohei asked me to come and see you. He said that your mother suddenly fainted just now and has been sent to the City Center Hospital." I looked at him and spoke without any emotion.
I know Aunt He Pei is his weak spot.
As expected, as soon as I finished speaking, the pool cue in his hand fell to the ground, making a crisp sound on the floor tiles. He grabbed my shoulders and asked anxiously, "What happened to my mother? Why did she suddenly faint?"
My shoulder hurt from his pinch, but I didn't care. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "I don't know."
Seeing me say this, he let go of me and tried to run away.
But just as I was about to follow, we were suddenly stopped by someone nearby. The young man looked to be only about 20 years old, with a malicious smile on his face. He looked at Chen Qiaoluo and said, "Chen Qiaoluo, you are not nice enough. You didn't even bring such a beautiful girl out for us to see."
When he mentioned me, my brows knitted together unconsciously. This young man looked wretched no matter how you looked at him.
Chen Qiaoluo glanced at him, his face showing the displeasure of being blocked. He said, "I have something urgent to do now. Let's talk about it later."
"Okay, if you have something to do, you can go first." The young man put down his hand that was blocking us, pulled me over and said, "But this girl wants to stay."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around him burst into laughter.
I tried to shake his hand off in disgust, kicked him hard with my foot, and shouted, "Let me go!"
As if he had not expected that I would resist, the young man let go of my hand in pain and squatted down in agony.
When the people behind him saw this, they immediately rushed up and shouted, "How dare you hit our people? Are you tired of living?"
I looked at them with disgust and said, "They are just a bunch of hooligans, but they really think they are big shots."
"What did you say? Say it again if you dare." one of the men shouted.
I looked at them contemptuously and said nothing.
Seeing me like this, they quickly became angry and rushed up to me and wanted to beat me.
Just when I thought I was doomed, Chen Qiaoluo suddenly rushed in front of me and blocked those people. In an instant, the two sides started fighting.
Chen Qiaoluo often played with others, so for a while, the guys on the other side didn't have the upper hand. But even so, my worries grew. Just when I was worried about him, the young man who I kicked ran to my side and grabbed me.
While I was stunned, a slap hit me in the face. His face was distorted with anger.
"If you don't accept my toast, I'll drink the wine for you!"
My face was slightly tilted, but I couldn't get my hands free.
Chen Qiaoluo over there also noticed the movement on my side and turned around to look. Seeing that I was trapped, he was distracted and was immediately punched in the stomach by someone.
The young man next to me saw Chen Qiaoluo looking over, so he held me hostage and said to him, "If you continue to be so fierce, I will teach your girlfriend a lesson."
As soon as he finished speaking, I saw Chen Qiaoluo was stunned and stopped moving. He stared at the young man and asked, "What do you want?"
"How is it?" The young man suddenly laughed and said, "You hit my brothers so many times just now, how can I let you go if you don't hit me back. Chen Qiaoluo, I tell you, just stand there and let them hit you. I will let you go if I am happy. If you dare to fight back, I can't guarantee that your girlfriend's pretty face will not have something ugly."
Hearing him say this, Chen Qiaoluo completely gave up resistance and let those people punch and kick him.
Seeing this, I panicked and shouted loudly: "Chen Qiaoluo!"
But as soon as my words came out, they were drowned out by the noise. I saw Chen Qiaoluo being pushed to the ground, and fists raining down on him.
Despair and sadness instantly filled my heart. I kept calling his name, but all I heard in response was noise.
It's all my fault. If I had been more humble, Chen Qiaoluo wouldn't have to suffer so much now.
Self-blame was like a surging tide that instantly drowned me.
Time seemed to stretch out in an instant, and all I could see was Chen Qiaoluo curled up on the ground. Tears kept flowing from my eyes, and my vision had already become blurry.
I don't know how long this torment lasted until someone's stern voice sounded. When I came to my senses, I was already in someone's arms, followed by a familiar and gentle voice.
"Hello Zhu Jun, are you okay?"
I looked up and saw Xu Xuan looking at me with a worried look on his face. I don't know when he appeared.
I shook my head at him, quickly broke free from his embrace, ran to Chen Qiaoluo and knelt down. My voice had long been hoarse, and I kept shouting, "Chen Qiaoluo, Chen Qiaoluo..."
I don't know how long it took before he opened his eyes. After a while, he seemed to remember something, and quickly got up from the ground and ran out.
I followed in a hurry.
It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, Chen Qiaoluo wouldn't have been so badly injured. I followed him all the way to the hospital, and the guilt was about to overwhelm me. Seeing Chen Qiaoluo with a face full of injuries asking where Aunt He Pei was at the nurse's station, I quickly walked over and said, "She's on the third floor. Brother Xiaohei told me before."
As soon as I finished speaking, Chen Qiaoluo hurried upstairs. I couldn't keep up with him, and when I reached the third floor, I saw him standing at the door without going in.
I walked slowly to his side. I knew he was afraid that Aunt He Pei would be sad to see him like this.
Looking through the glass window on the door, Aunt He Pei seemed to have fallen asleep, and Brother Xiao Hei was sitting on a chair beside her bed.
As if sensing someone coming, Xiao Hei looked over here, and when he saw us, he carefully moved the chair away and walked out. When he saw Chen Qiaoluo, he couldn't help but be surprised and asked, "What's going on? How did it become like this?"
Before Chen Qiaoluo could speak, I blamed myself and said, "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me..."
Before I could finish my words, Chen Qiaoluo interrupted me. He asked Xiaohei hurriedly, "What happened to my mom? Why did she suddenly faint?"
Hearing his question, Brother Hei quickly said, "The doctor has just examined Sister He Pei. It's nothing serious. She's just been overworked recently. She'll be fine after some rest."
Xiao Hei's words made us all feel relieved.
Chen Qiaoluo shifted his gaze to the ward again. After a while, he pleaded with Brother Xiaohei, "Don't tell my mother about my injury. I don't want her to worry."
"But if you do this, Sister He Pei will find out sooner or later." Brother Xiaohei said worriedly.
"No, I won't let her know." Chen Qiaoluo looked at Aunt He Pei in the ward and said firmly.
Brother Xiaohei sighed and said nothing more.
Look, we all know that Chen Qiaoluo is such a person. Even if he was seriously injured outside, he would not reveal a single thing to Aunt He Pei, just because she is the person he loves the most, the only person in the world who depends on him.
Xiaohei went back in, Chen Qiaoluo stood outside and watched, and I stayed beside him. Nurses passing by wanted to pull him to get bandaged several times, but he refused.
