Chapter 6 Memories
Zhou Jing thought about it. Although she had always heard people around her say how good Rong Yuan was, this seemed to be the first time that she realized so clearly that the boy in front of her was indeed... beautiful.
The old grudge between Zhou Jing and Rong Yuan began when they first entered high school. On that day, Rong Yuan was ranked first on the red list posted by the school, and Zhou Jing was right behind him with a gap of 30 points.
There is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. No matter where you are, there is an inexplicable bond between the first and second place. And the gap of thirty points clearly draws a deep chasm between the two, making the difference of just one place seem so insurmountable.
No. 1 High School in City A is the best high school in the city; the first place student in No. 1 High School in City A is naturally the top scorer in the city’s high school entrance examination that year.
In fact, Rong Yuan was not only the top scorer in the senior high school entrance examination in City A, but also the top scorer in the entire province that year.
Therefore, from that day on, Rong Yuan's name was not only known throughout City A, but also became well-known in all middle schools. And the second place winner, Zhou Jing? Except for her parents and relatives, most people's reactions were "Oh? Who is that? The second place winner... seems to be a girl."
Zhou Jing's parents are both highly educated people. She has been taught with high standards and strict requirements since she was a child. She is very good in both academic performance and character. The upright and somewhat naive girl did not "hate" him because of jealousy, but from then on, she inevitably regarded Rong Yuan as a goal that she must surpass, and paid more attention to him than anyone else in the school. At first, she might have been confused by that extremely dazzling face and equally unbearable academic performance, but it didn't take long for Rong Yuan to successfully become the person Zhou Jing hated the most, no one else.
The reason is very simple. As a monitor with a strong sense of responsibility and honor, facing a person who is often late and leaves early, sleeps in class, does not hand in homework, does his duty to get by, causes the class score to be deducted many times, asks for leave at will, refuses to participate in any competition or collective activities between classes, is obviously capable but does not work hard to win honor for the class, always has a mocking face and contemptuous eyes as if what you are desperately fighting for is so ridiculous, and challenges the authority of the class cadres several times, causing the whole class to be uneasy for a long time, making it difficult to carry out various tasks and even more difficult to convince the public... Facing such a person, Zhou Jing has always felt that she has been able to endure until now without destroying him humanely, and she is almost like a "Ninja Turtle". Rong Yuan definitely has an unshirkable responsibility for her transformation from a well-behaved girl who could not even speak loudly to a female Tyrannosaurus recognized by the whole class today.
In fact, Zhou Jing also understood that Rong Yuan's problems would not be a big problem if they were placed in an ordinary high school... or even in a class with poor grades in No. 1 Middle School. But in the first class of No. 1 Middle School where Zhou Jing was, Rong Yuan's undisciplined and rebellious behavior was like a spotlight in the dark. The addition of grades made people expect more, and the disappointment was greater. Such a guy actually surpassed her in every exam, as if no matter how hard she tried, she was like a joke in his eyes, not worth mentioning, which made Zhou Jing unbearable.
After a while, the two of them quarreled frequently, and they hated each other so much that they could hardly breathe in the same house.
But Rong Yuan, who refused all the responsibilities of a class leader because he was worried that it would affect his studies, could be willful, but Zhou Jing, as the class monitor, could not. For example, when they clearly disliked each other, Zhou Jing still had to take on the task of visiting Rong Yuan after school.
Seeing this guy looking so confused because of his illness, Zhou Jing couldn't help but think of what her head teacher had said to her before: "Zhou Jing, I know there are a lot of conflicts between you and Rong Yuan, and you are not so willing to take on this mission. But I hope that as the monitor of our class, you can set an example and be more considerate and tolerant of Rong Yuan... The teacher said this not because he has good grades, but because of many reasons... Rong Yuan... is a very difficult child. When you can help, help more."
Zhou Jing always felt that she was bullied by Rong Yuan most of the time, and she never thought that such a bad guy would need her help. But now...
She looked around. This house was cold and desolate, without a trace of human presence. When no one was talking, she could only hear Rong Yuan's short breathing. Everything around her seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness.
——There is no sign that there is another person living in this house.
——What about his parents? Does he have no family? When he was sick, was there no one to take care of him? Not even someone to help him get a cup of hot water, wring a towel, or call the school to ask for leave? Does that mean that if he died quietly in this house one day, no one would notice?
——This guy... who has always been lawless, never abided by the rules, and always put himself second to others, lives in such an environment?
Thinking about the hot meals she would eat every day at home, thinking about her parents always coming home to have dinner together no matter how busy they were, thinking about the details in her home that told of how harmonious and warm this family was, and then comparing them to the darkness, silence and loneliness in this house, Zhou Jing was about to cry.
The door opened with a creaky sound. Zhou Jing was startled and quickly reached out to wipe her eyes. Jin Yang came in with porridge and ginger soup . Seeing the two of them, he asked in surprise, "Squad leader, it's been so long, why haven't you taken out the thermometer yet?"
…
After a deep sleep, Rong Yuan felt a little reluctant when he woke up. But under the force of his will, he struggled for a few seconds, and finally opened his eyes slowly, lay down for a while, and finally sat up from the bed.
He took out his cell phone to check the time, but found that the power had been turned off at some point. The curtains were carefully drawn, not letting in a single ray of light. Rong Yuan reached out and grabbed the curtains and pulled hard, and a large swath of golden sunlight poured down, hitting his unguarded eyes head-on.
It turned out that the sun was already high in the sky.
"Morning, Xiaoyuan. How are you feeling?"
Hearing the noise, Jin Yang walked into the bedroom, put his hand on Rong Yuan's forehead, checked the temperature and smiled with relief, "Great, the fever has gone away. Your fever was 38.7 degrees yesterday, and I almost sent you to the hospital."
"Yangyang, when did you..." Rong Yuan asked, vaguely remembering Jinyang and Zhou Jing coming together last night, and the scene of the person in front of him feeding him porridge and medicine, "You took care of me last night, right? You didn't go home all night?"
"The monitor was here yesterday, too. She helped a lot... and then she left when it got dark." Jin Yang recalled Zhou Jing's red eyes and her hasty escape when she nearly knocked over the thermometer, and a hint of smile flashed across his eyes. "You had a high fever last night, and I was worried about going back, so I called my mom and asked her to let you stay overnight. I also asked for leave from school. The teacher told you to rest at home for one more day, get well, and go to class tomorrow."
"Oh." Rong Yuan pretended not to hear what he said to cover up for Zhou Jing, and did not thank him. What he owed Jin Yang, and what Jin Yang owed him, could no longer be expressed with a single word of thanks. Therefore, there was no need for thanks between them. Rong Yuan sniffed and smelled an indescribable food aroma coming from Jin Yang: "What a nice smell! What delicious food did you make?"
Jin Yang laughed: "This is not my cooking! It's just the preserved egg and lean meat porridge I bought from the breakfast shop outside the community. You must be really hungry to think it smells so good. Go wash up quickly!"
"It would be fine if you didn't say that, but now that you say that... I feel like I'm starving to death!"
Rong Yuan rolled off the bed and went to the bathroom, and Jin Yang stayed behind to help him make his bed.
As soon as he left the bedroom, Rong Yuan noticed something different - the whole room was clean and tidy. The table was already set with food, bowls and chopsticks, two bottles of medicine for colds and fevers, and a glass of boiled water.
With just a quick glance, many scenes were imprinted in his mind. He could almost see how serious and careful Jin Yang was when cleaning the room and preparing breakfast. He was obviously a young master born in a good family, but he knew how to take care of people better than an orphan like him, and was more willing to give his tenderness and care.
“Huahuahua——”
The clear water hit the snow-white inner wall of the sink. Rong Yuan, whose face was splashed with water, had empty eyes and was still thinking about Jin Yang.
Everyone knew that they were best friends. But no one except Rong Yuan knew that their acquaintance and friendship were the result of a deliberate plan.
…
When he was in elementary school—seven or eight years old?—Rong Yuan once overheard a conversation between several teachers, and one of them said, "Do you know? Jin Yang in our class—the pretty one with natural curly hair—came from a very powerful family. Can't you tell?"
"I can't tell. He's usually a well-behaved kid, not like the son of an official."
"What kind of power?"
"Their family is a legendary police family... I took a look at his resume yesterday, and I was shocked! His father is the deputy director of our city's Public Security Bureau. The current Director Gao will definitely be promoted after retirement. It's basically an internal appointment... As for his grandfather, you dare not imagine what his identity is... "
The teacher who was speaking lowered her voice so that he could not hear what followed, but he heard the suppressed exclamations of several other teachers.
"How could a child from such a family come to our school?" someone asked.
"Who knows? It's a quirk of rich people, right?" someone said sourly.
The conversation that followed was just meaningless complaints and daydreaming. Rong Yuan's heart was beating fast, and a simple idea was forming in his mind - if... I could get to know that guy, then if something happened in the future... I would be able to find someone to talk to, right?
——When he thought about it again, Rong Yuan realized that when he was so young, he was thinking about the problem from the perspective of a "reserve criminal". He even began to prepare a way out for himself!
In short, Rong Yuan later found the "beautiful boy with natural curly hair" in the same grade but in a different class. The boy had curly black hair, three-dimensional facial features, long eyelashes, beautiful eyebrows and eyes like a mixed-race child, and the baby fat on his face made him look very cute. When he smiled, he was innocent and innocent. At first glance, you could tell that his life was perfect and without any haze.
At the beginning, Rong Yuan didn't like Jin Yang, so he was not very good at getting close to him, and he was very arrogant. The boy was very cold and smart at a young age, and he showed a little difference to one person intentionally or unintentionally... So Jin Yang gradually began to like to follow him. Later, by chance, Rong Yuan saved Jin Yang once, and since then he quickly became his closest friend, and even the names they addressed each other became the shameless "Xiao Yuan" and "Yang Yang". Even after entering high school, every time they addressed each other like this, a group of girls would scream with their eyes shining, but the two never thought of changing it. Gradually, everyone got used to it.
And now, Rong Yuan had to admit that when he was at his weakest, there was such a person - without begging, he was willing to put down everything in his hands to take care of you and help you, just because he thought you needed it. And all his actions were sincere and he didn't ask for anything in return - such a person would certainly make you want to give everything for him.
