Chapter 4 It turns out that I like you 02
During the elective class on Wednesday afternoon, Grandpa suddenly called Lin Mobai. Even though the phone had been set to vibrate mode, the sound of the phone vibrating on the wooden desk still seemed very abrupt in the quiet classroom.
The next second, Lin Mobai hurriedly cut it off, and at the same time cut off the curious gazes that were focused on her within a meter.
Feeling a little embarrassed, the screen of Lin Mobai's phone lit up again, and it still showed his grandfather's phone number. This time, Lin Mobai picked up the phone immediately, and before the other party could speak, he said in a deliberately low voice: "Grandpa, I'm in class, I'll call you back later..."
Afterwards, although his grandfather hung up the phone readily, Lin Mobai no longer had the heart to concentrate on the class.
Grandpa rarely calls her on his own initiative, and every time he does, he always has something important to tell her. Thinking of this, Lin Mobai couldn't help but speculate what the "important matter" of this call was.
As soon as the get out of class was over, Lin Mobai took out his cell phone and called his grandfather back.
"Grandpa, do you have something to ask me?"
"Girl, have you finished your class?"
"Yeah, get out of class just ended."
"Oh, is it convenient to talk now?"
"That's convenient, Grandpa. Tell me, is there anything important you want to talk to me about?"
" It 's not a big deal, but it's also important. Just now, I was at Grandpa Ding's house and talked to him about his 81st birthday in a few days. Girl, you know that your Grandpa Ding's birthday is this Sunday, so you will go with me to celebrate his birthday, okay?"
"Ah ?" Upon hearing this, Lin Mobai was stunned for a moment. His tongue could hardly move and he could only utter simple syllables.
Grandpa Ding's birthday party was very grand this time. Not only relatives, but also all the neighbors were invited. Because his grandfather and Grandpa Ding had a good relationship, he was also on the invitation list. Lin Mobai originally planned to entrust the gift he had prepared to his grandfather as in previous years, and let him deliver it to his grandfather when he attended the birthday party to show his appreciation.
But now, grandpa asked her to attend the birthday party.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but frowned.
The grandfather on the other end of the phone had already heard the surprise in her tone, and then said: "This was told to me by your grandfather Ding himself. He said he hadn't seen you for a long time and hoped that you could come with us."
"Grandpa, I..." Lin Mobai made a bitter face and pressed his temples in great distress, considering what appropriate words to use to politely refuse his grandfather. However, after his brain turned over several times quickly, he still chose to give up helplessly.
"Girl, Grandpa Ding is your elder. He has asked you to go. Are you still putting on airs?"
"No, grandpa, that's not what I meant." Hearing this, Lin Mobai was stunned for half a second, then shook his head and immediately denied it in panic.
"What does that mean? Do you want your Grandpa Ding to come and invite you personally?"
"Grandpa, I didn't mean that. I just... just... just afraid..."
"Girl, grandpa knows what you are worried about. I have told your mother about this. She was not in favor of letting you go at first, for fear that you would hear some gossip and feel uncomfortable. But think about it, your Grandpa Ding has watched you grow up and loves you very much. He personally invited you this time, so how can you not give him this face?" Thinking of the conversation with Grandpa Ding just now, Grandpa Lin sighed. Some things are destined, but only they, the "old guys" who have lived for most of their lives, can see them clearly and thoroughly.
"But if I go, it will make... them unhappy." Lin Mobai frowned, fiddling with his fingers nervously, implicitly expressing what he was most worried about.
"What's going on? My granddaughter is a monkey who goes out to play and amuse others? And she has to care whether others are happy or not?"
"Grandpa..." Lin Mobai was not expecting this reply from his grandpa. He was a little overwhelmed and felt a little amused.
"Girl, you remember your Grandpa Ding's birthday every year and send him gifts and blessings thoughtfully. Why don't you dare to wish him a happy birthday in person like you did before? He is looking forward to meeting you!"
"I...I have to at least consider Uncle Ding and Aunt Ding ..." Although there was a moment of joking, Lin Mobai still couldn't hide his worry afterwards.
"Then you don't care about your Grandpa Ding's feelings?" As if he was a little impatient with the persuasion, Grandpa threw a question and gave her an order without waiting for Lin Mobai to respond, "It's settled. Your Grandpa Ding's birthday banquet will be held at Pengyuan Restaurant near home. Remember, you used to like to play near there. The banquet will start at 5 pm. Then you can either go home and go with me, or go directly to the restaurant. Do you understand?"
"Ah? Okay, I understand." As if he had accepted his fate, Lin Mobai obviously couldn't overcome Grandpa Lin's stubborn temper, so he agreed reluctantly.
But after agreeing helplessly, dark clouds gathered in Lin Mobai's heart.
And the gloomy mood continued until Sunday.
Perhaps she was afraid to face it, so the closer the time got, the more uneasy she became.
So, after a sleepless night, Lin Mobai got up early. Perhaps she was a little dazed, and when she climbed down the bed ladder, she accidentally fell down.
After the "bang" sound, Zhou Shiqing, who was awakened by the fright, quickly stuck her head out. She wanted to show concern, but when she saw Lin Mobai's embarrassed look, she couldn't help laughing.
"Mo Bai, you didn't dream about diving, and then...hahaha..."
Lin Mobai was speechless, and after rolling her eyes, she stood up and rubbed the slightly painful part and walked towards the bathroom. However, she fell again after taking only two steps, because she was tripped by Zhou Shiqing's slippers.
Hearing the sound again, Zhou Shiqing stuck her head out again, and immediately saw Lin Mobai, who was holding onto her bed ladder, rubbing his knee with a look of pain on his face.
She couldn't help but burst into laughter again: "Mobai, are you going to hurt yourself so early in the morning? Hahaha!"
Lin Mobai gritted his teeth and said depressedly: "It's all your fault. You didn't even put your slippers away properly."
"That's also the fault of the slippers, not mine." Zhou Shiqing laughed and pushed the blame to the innocent slippers who couldn't defend themselves. However, the arrogant smile on her face was restrained a lot. "Are you okay? You are so distraught so early in the morning. Are you heartbroken?"
"How can there be heartbreak if you have never been in love?" Lin Mobai sighed and walked towards the bathroom.
But, the next second, Zhou Shiqing exclaimed: "Never been in love? What does that mean? You and He Qingkong have been ambiguous for so long, but you are not together yet? Hasn't he confessed to you? Or did you reject him?"
A series of questions came like a surge, Lin Mobai was speechless, he just closed the door and refused to answer.
For some questions, even if she gave the answers, Zhou Shiqing might not believe them. Besides, this was not an exam, there were no correct standard answers, so it was reasonable for her to doubt and not believe them.
What's more, when she mentioned He Qingkong, she thought of Grandpa Ding's birthday party.
By then, he will definitely know about the past from those discussions.
Thinking of this, she became even more uneasy, and her desire to escape became stronger. She even wanted to back out and disappear.
But when she finally finished washing up, her grandfather called and specifically told her not to be late. Her grandfather's order forced Lin Mobai to give up the idea of running away. She knew that if she really missed it, her grandfather would be very angry.
Therefore, the only thing she could do as she didn't want to face all this was to delay, as if facing it one minute later could help her escape one minute of criticism.
After the tragedy four years ago, although she had long been accustomed to those sharp discussions, she still couldn't face the blame from Ding Zhiyou's parents and the resentment from Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun. Now, although she was invited by Grandpa Ding to attend the banquet, she was still uneasy, afraid of touching the sadness of Ding Zhiyou's parents, afraid of causing disgust and disgust from Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun, and even more afraid that He Qingkong would abandon her mercilessly after knowing that past.
Lin Mobai was lost in thought until four in the afternoon, when he reluctantly left the school.
Along the way, her heart was always hanging in the air, and her mind was filled with all kinds of embarrassing images. It was not until she arrived at the entrance of the restaurant that those images were suddenly swallowed up by large areas of blankness.
Lin Mobai took a deep breath, but his heart still couldn't calm down.
Panicked and at a loss, she just wanted to escape, but her feet seemed to be out of control and she only moved forward because of her head full of memories.
In those memories, every frame has Ding Zhiyou's smile, and the clearest picture is the scene where they celebrated Grandpa Ding's birthday together. Since Lin Mobai learned to walk, she would definitely celebrate Grandpa Ding's birthday with Ding Zhiyou every time there was a birthday party for Grandpa Ding. Every time, they would wear the same clothes, hold hands, hold gifts together, and say words of blessing together. Lin Mobai still remembers that at that time everyone said that she and Ding Zhiyou were just like a pair of inseparable twins. After looking at them for a long time, they even felt that their facial features became similar, with big eyes and dimples at the corners of their mouths when they smiled.
But, they were once inseparable, but in the end she was the only one left.
Tears suddenly blurred his vision, and Lin Mobai took a deep breath and forced back the tears that were about to burst out.
After the trance, when his consciousness returned to reality, Lin Mobai had already entered the restaurant.
At this time, she was standing at the entrance of the second floor hall, feeling helpless. The surroundings were noisy and bustling, but she didn't fit in. Especially, Ding Zhiyou's parents, who were standing at the door to entertain guests, seemed not to see her. Their attitude of turning a blind eye made the other relatives of the Ding family look contemptuous. In the awkward moment, Lin Mobai thought of her grandfather, but she looked around several times and still couldn't see her grandfather. She could only stand there at a loss.
"Xiaobai, you are finally here?"
Just when she was panicking, a familiar call came through the murmur of gossip and reached her world. Lin Mobai looked in the direction of the voice, and in an instant, it seemed as if a beam of white light appeared in her sight, swallowing up everything around her, leaving only He Qingkong with a gentle smile.
Her heart suddenly calmed down, but she blurted out a call without time to sort out her emotions, mixed with a hint of bitterness and crying: "Qingkong..."
"Why are you standing here? Are you looking for Grandpa Lin?" There was a barely perceptible apology in He Qingkong's gentle voice. Seeing her standing here alone and helpless, his heart ached.
In fact, when he asked Grandpa Ding to invite Lin Mobai to the birthday party, he had imagined her being isolated and helpless. Therefore, he seemed a little absent-minded after he sat down. Even when he was chatting with Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun, he always stared at the entrance of the hall, afraid that he would miss Lin Mobai if he was not careful. The moment he saw Lin Mobai, he stood up and wanted to reach her as soon as possible, but he didn't expect that Shi Xujun, who was sitting next to him, pulled him doubtfully, which delayed him for a while.
But these few short minutes must have seemed as long as a century to Lin Mobai.
Thinking of this, there was a bit more pity in the gentle eyes he looked at her.
"Well, do you know where he is?" Having quickly calmed down, Lin Mobai smiled faintly and asked calmly.
"Grandpa Lin is at the front, but I've saved a seat for you here, so why don't you sit with me?"
"Need not……"
"Don't refuse. Look, Grandpa Lin and his friends are all elderly people at the table. You'll feel awkward if you go over to eat with them. It's better for you to follow me. At least I can chat with you."
Lin Mobai wanted to refuse at first, but following the direction He Qingkong pointed, she saw a table in the front row where her grandfather was chatting and laughing with He Qingkong's grandfather, and that table was indeed full of Grandpa Ding's friends.
So, with a helpless sigh, Lin Mobai accepted He Qingkong's kindness: "Then...then I'll go with you."
She raised her head while speaking, and only then did she realize that since He Qingkong came to her side, he had been using his height advantage to block all the cold, disgusted and contemptuous looks for her.
At this moment, she felt like a dandelion floating in the wind, falling beside him, and she just wanted to take root here.
After reuniting with him, I was always moved by him, but the nostalgia and dependence that sprouted in my heart were only extremely clear at this moment.
However, perhaps because He Qingkong's gentleness was too heartwarming, Lin Mobai couldn't remember for a moment that sitting with him was equivalent to sitting at the same table with Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun.
So, when He Qingkong led Lin Mobai to sit next to him, Lu Yanqi's sudden roar rose up in the noisy hall -
"He Qingkong, what do you mean?"
Hearing the sound, Lin Mobai trembled all over and stood up in panic.
However, He Qingkong calmly put his hand on her shoulder, as if to comfort her, and immediately calmed her panic. Although He Qingkong was a little surprised by Lu Yanqi's roar, he quickly remembered the reason for his anger, so he smiled and explained gently: "It is reasonable to arrange Xiaobai to sit here with us."
"How damn reasonable! Let me be frank, it's either her or me!" Lu Yanqi emphasized every word, his voice quickly rising, the anger in his eyes clearly ready to explode.
"Yanqi, calm down and stop being so childish, okay? Do you want to ruin Grandpa Ding's birthday party?" He Qingkong turned his body to block the hatred that Lu Yanqi was aiming at Lin Mobai.
After He Qingkong's kind reminder, Lu Yanqi regained some rationality. However, even though he tried to lower his voice, his anger did not diminish at all: "Humph, childish? He Qingkong, how long have you been back? When did you become so close to her?"
He Qingkong understood what he meant, but he didn't take it seriously. He just smiled and replied, "Yanqi, when did we become so close? Don't you know?"
Lu Yanqi was stunned for a moment, then he realized that the "we" He Qingkong mentioned included himself. Just as he was about to refute and scold, he heard shouts and applause from the main table in front, and the birthday banquet began.
As it was Ding Zhiyou's grandfather's birthday, Lu Yanqi clenched his fists, suppressed his anger, turned his head away and remained silent.
Seeing this, Lin Mobai relaxed a little and took a long breath. Then she saw He Qingkong smiling at her while picking food for her. Because she was a little embarrassed, she didn't notice Shi Xujun sitting on the other side. Since she sat down, Shi Xujun's face was frozen with sadness and confusion, and seeing He Qingkong taking care of her in every way, her heart was even more uncomfortable, so when she looked at her, there was a deeper and stronger hatred in her eyes.
It wasn't just Shi Xujun who saw the two's intimate actions. Lu Yanqi was even more gritting his teeth.
So, halfway through the banquet, Lu Yanqi, who could no longer bear it, finally stood up. He picked up a glass of red wine, walked to the main table, toasted Grandpa Ding, wished him a happy birthday, and then turned around and left resolutely.
The atmosphere at the scene was awkward for a moment, and after a while, the people around couldn't help but start talking. So, when those harsh innuendos entered his ears, Lin Mobai also felt the contemptuous eyes focused on him.
Some people say she is shameless, some say she is vicious, and some say she came here on purpose to provoke Mr. and Mrs. Ding.
Every word was like a thorn, deeply piercing Lin Mobai's heart, and her heart felt so uncomfortable that it seemed to hurt every time it beat. But she silently endured all the scolding, because she felt that she really deserved it.
However, seeing her sadness and grievance, He Qingkong had no choice but to care.
Therefore, after letting out a sigh of relief, He Qingkong picked up the wine glass in front of Lin Mobai, smiled and called her, "Xiaobai, Yanqi has gone to toast, let's go and toast Grandpa Ding too."
Hearing this, Lin Mobai awkwardly wanted to refuse, but He Qingkong had already pulled her up, holding her hand, and walked towards Grandpa Ding.
Then, the warm current from the left hand forced the body temperature to rise by several degrees without any warning. This heat directly covered up the pain that was just roaring in the heart.
"Qingkong, wait..."
When he came to his senses belatedly, the words of rejection were already stuck in his throat, especially when he looked up and was met with an unfriendly gaze, so Lin Mobai quickly lowered his head and followed He Qingkong obediently.
"Grandpa Ding, we are here to wish you a happy birthday!" He Qingkong quietly let go of his hand only when he arrived in front of Grandpa Ding.
“Haha, it’s Qingkong and Mobai! Come, come over here, let grandpa take a good look at you!” Seeing his granddaughter’s two best friends when she was young, Grandpa Ding smiled, and his joyful smile was full of love.
Looking at Grandpa Ding's kind eyes as before, Lin Mobai felt a little dazed.
At this moment, she felt like she had traveled through time and space, back to the past, back to the past when she and Ding Zhiyou celebrated Grandpa Ding’s birthday together.
Just as Lin Mobai was lost in his memories, He Qingkong had already raised his glass and said to Grandpa Ding: "Grandpa Ding, I can't drink alcohol, so today I will offer you a glass of tea instead of wine. I wish you good fortune and a long life!"
After saying that, He Qingkong drank the tea in the cup, then gently touched Lin Mobai who was in a daze.
The next second, the memory fragments that filled Lin Mobai's head disappeared one after another. When he looked up at Grandpa Ding again, Lin Mobai bowed nervously and said in a stammering voice: "Grandpa Ding... Grandpa Ding, happy birthday, I wish you... I wish you good health!"
"Very good..." Grandpa Ding's eyes were full of mist and the corners of his mouth were smiling. He patted Lin Mobai's head and said with emotion, "Our little girl Mobai has grown into a graceful young lady..."
If the world had not played tricks on people, Lin Mobai would not be the only one standing tall and graceful at this moment.
Grandpa Ding looked at Lin Mobai, who had been jokingly called twins with his granddaughter since childhood, and he felt as if his granddaughter Ding Zhiyou was standing in front of him. Then, his memories also flew back to that morning of that year.
That year, at Lin Mobai's suggestion, Ding Zhiyou, who had never cooked before and even made mistakes with salt and sugar, made him a bowl of longevity noodles. If he knew that the bowl of longevity noodles they made together would be the last bowl of his life, he would definitely taste it carefully and cherish it more. But there is no if in the world, and no one would have expected that Ding Zhiyou's life would be so short.
But fortunately, even though we lost Ding Zhiyou, we still have Lin Mobai.
Although he never saw Lin Mobai again due to the hatred of his son and daughter-in-law, he always received her love, as if she was fulfilling her filial piety on behalf of Ding Zhiyou.
Thinking of this, Grandpa Ding couldn't help but burst into tears while feeling gratified.
"Grandpa Ding, I'm sorry, I..." Seeing Grandpa Ding's tears, Lin Mobai thought he had offended others again and became worried and at a loss.
"Silly girl, don't keep saying sorry, you haven't apologized to anyone." Hearing this, Grandpa Ding smiled and stroked her head gently. "Don't always let your imagination run wild. I just remembered some happy things and felt something. But, girl, you have suffered a lot in the past few years. Grandpa is old, and the rest of his life is just a matter of time. It doesn't matter whether it's happy or sad. But you are still young, you can't be bound by the past forever! If you do this, Youyou won't be happy either. You must live well and happily, understand?"
"Okay, I understand." Lin Mobai never thought that Grandpa Ding would comfort him in this way. His eyes reddened and he nodded desperately.
Looking at her red eyes and the tears she was trying so hard to hold back, He Qingkong couldn't help but feel distressed. He wanted to reach out and hold her in his arms, comforting her with the most gentle words in the world.
However, he didn't dare to, because he suddenly felt in his heart that this inexplicable impulse was not just friendship.
