The rumors did not stop because of my silence, but became more rampant. Finally, an anonymous letter appeared in the principal's mailbox. Regarding this matter, the principal, vice principal, director, deputy director, class teacher... were held accountable one after another, and I went through the motions again and again just like I did in my senior year of high school.
The difference is that this time, the teacher and Yan Wenbo were standing next to me.
After the investigation, the school held a class meeting for each class to teach students not to ruin their own future or that of a classmate because of jealousy.
When our class held a meeting, everyone was unprecedentedly silent.
The teacher gave a very long speech, and many years later I still remember the content of the class meeting and every word he said.
He said: "Everyone has a secret that they bury deep in their heart and don't want to tell others. Once it is revealed, it is like using a knife to cut open a wound that has healed on the surface. But it still doesn't feel good enough, so they use the tip of the knife to stir it a few more times. You have such secrets, and so do I. Since everyone has it, everyone should know the pain when the wound is cut open, so why do you still want to be that knife? The knife that is not satisfied and stirs it a few more times.
"During this period, many students came to me about Cun Zhiwei's affairs, either by calling, texting, or coming directly to my office. They said righteously that they would do something to put an end to this unfair behavior. When I asked them, do you really think that everything you know is true? Some of them backed off, while others still swore to it. Most people are like this. When encountering something, they like to put the blame on others first, telling themselves that they are right and they are not wrong. What about now? Do you still feel that you are not wrong?
"The school just asked us to hold a class meeting to explain that this matter is not what you think. I shouldn't have said so much. But as a teacher, I feel that I have the responsibility to make you understand and see your mistakes. When you enter the society in the future, I don't ask you to be a superhero to save the world, nor do I ask you to be a righteous policeman to eliminate all injustices. I just hope that you don't become the invisible knife that hurts people. I hope you remember that if you hurt others today, one day you will also be the one who is hurt. I don't want one day, when everything is irreversible, you will cry and regret all the mistakes you have made."
After saying this, the teacher packed up and left.
Many classmates came to me and apologized to me, and they seemed very sincere.
In fact, I know that among this large group of people, only a few can be moved by the teacher's heartfelt words. They may sigh today, reflect tomorrow, ponder the day after tomorrow, and then go out happily for a meal the day after tomorrow, and almost forget everything.
Changing human nature is not such an easy thing.
This is not the first time I have been misunderstood, but it is the most relaxing time. During this period, no matter what happens, Yan Wenbo is always by my side.
Whenever I’m in a bad mood, he always tries his best to make me laugh. His cheerfulness and smile always infect me, allowing me to put everything aside and laugh with him, make fun of him, and go crazy with him.
In the end, I didn't know whether he made me laugh or I accompanied him.
The relationship gradually warmed up, and my feelings towards him had slowly changed. Before I had the chance to tell him about this change, his extravagant way of courting put me in the spotlight again.
“Wow, is that a drone?”
"It really is a drone. It seems like someone is controlling it downstairs. It's flying higher and higher."
"Is there something red on the drone? I can't see it clearly."
Not long after the class meeting ended, a classmate saw two drones hovering in the air from the window, and a group of people gathered around him, attracted by his words.
"Let's go and take a look." Shi Shuxia pulled me to the window and we got to the window easily. This was also thanks to the class meeting that had just ended. I was still a poor victim.
"Has there been any banners put down?"
"Cun Zhiwei! I like you!"
"Cun Zhiwei! Are you willing to be my girlfriend?"
Two banners dropped from a drone, and the campus was in an uproar.
Yan Wenbo appeared at the classroom door holding a bouquet of red roses. The classmates clapped their hands and shouted, " Cun Zhiwei! Cun Zhiwei!" Then they stood in two rows consciously, like young pioneers welcoming the leader.
He walked towards me step by step. I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest. My face was burning. My brain went blank and I didn't know how to respond.
When I came to my senses, Yan Wenbo had already come to me. He knelt on one knee, raised the rose above his head, and shouted loudly: "Cun Zhiwei, will you be my girlfriend?"
I panicked.
I squatted down to support him and whispered, "Don't kneel, stand up and talk if you have anything to say. This is not a proposal."
He smiled slyly: "If you are willing to marry me, I will immediately conjure up a one-carat diamond ring to propose to you."
"Stop messing around and get up." He was so strong that I couldn't help him up. He kept looking at me like a poor puppy. His innocent look made it hard to say "no". "Okay, okay. I promise you."
As soon as I finished speaking, Yan Wenbo jumped up and stuffed a large bouquet of flowers into my arms. After stuffing it into my arms, he thought for a moment and took it back, smiling at me flatteringly and said, "Chen, you are so thin, let me hold it for you first."
There was laughter all around me and I wanted to find a place to hide.
Unexpectedly, he took me into his arms and whispered in my ear: "If you want to hide, hide in my arms. I don't mind at all."
I mind, okay?
Before, I only knew that he was thick-skinned, but I didn't expect him to be so thick-skinned.
"Let's go, I'll take you to eat." Yan Wenbo took my hand and walked out. I couldn't refuse in front of so many people, so I could only let him hold my hand.
I turned around to look for Shi Shuxia, but she was no longer in the classroom. Someone said that she had just left through the back door alone, as if she was chasing someone.
"Let's go, this is our first meal after we started dating, don't bring anyone else!" Yan Wenbo pulled me out of the classroom, with whistles behind us.
That night, an anonymous voting post was posted on the campus forum with the title - Yan Wenbo VS Cun Zhiwei, big guesses about the timing of their relationship!
57 people in a week, 378 people in a month, 78 people in six months, 12 people in a year, and no one over a year.
At this time, I was eating skewers with Yan Wenbo at a food stall. He laughed at the vote, put his arm around my shoulders, leaned his head on my shoulders and whispered softly, "Weiwei, we will do this for a month, a year, three years, ten years let all these voters die of shame."
The moonlight is hazy, and such a night is particularly easy to make people emotional.
Yan Wenbo said: "Cun Zhiwei, if I don't tell you, you may never know that I fell in love with you at first sight.
“On a summer afternoon, a girl in a white dress was walking back and forth in confusion, dragging a black suitcase. At that moment, I told myself that I liked her and wanted to be with her forever.
"Maybe you don't believe it, but fate is sometimes such an incredible thing. I fell in love with you inexplicably. When you looked up, there was only Ji Suting in your eyes.
"After being sad, I cheered myself up again. At first I thought, if you and Ji Suting are together, I will be generous and bless you two. After all, one is the girl I like, and the other is my buddy since childhood.
"After you broke up completely, I was sad for you, but secretly happy that I finally had a chance. I thought, as long as I stayed with you, you would fall in love with me one day, no matter if it took one year or two years, I would wait, as long as you were still single, I would keep waiting.
"Fortunately, I waited very quickly until you actually nodded and agreed to be with me. At that moment, I felt that I was the happiest person in the world. I wanted to pick you up and spin you around in circles, but I knew you were shy and didn't want to show off in front of your classmates, so I had to hold back."
He asked me: "Cun Zhiwei, can I hug you?"
I nodded.
He picked me up like a princess, spun around excitedly, and shouted, "Cun Zhiwei is my girl now. Cun Zhiwei is my girlfriend."
He looked as excited as a kid who got the biggest chocolate.
I put my arms around his neck, pressed a kiss to his forehead, and whispered, "Thank you for loving me."
Thank you for loving me and saving me from prison.
Thank you for loving me and bringing me back to the sunshine.
Thank you for loving me, I will love you the same for the rest of my life.
I thought the rumors that plagued me would come to an end after that class meeting, but another latent rumor quietly appeared around me before I was aware of it. Although it was not as violent as the last time, it also had undercurrents.
It was Shi Shuxia who revealed the matter of the Cun Zhiwei Scholarship, and she was also the one who told her that her father drove a luxury car .
At first I didn't believe it. How could Shi Shuxia, who protected me so well and was so gentle, be the instigator of this whole thing?
More and more discussions in the class about Shi Shuxia's double-dealing reached my ears. They told the whole story in vivid detail, just as they had fabricated my sadness in the first place.
I really want to believe her, but when I think about it carefully, there are many details that can only be completed by her.
Between belief and disbelief, my heart was covered with dust, because of doubt and because I didn't trust my friend.
Yan Wenbo comforted me for a long time when he knew about this matter. I was always immersed in my own state and couldn't get out of it, which also hurt him badly.
I didn't want to, but I couldn't control myself.
In front of him, I always seem to show my truest and most hateful self.
I am like a wounded little lion, quietly hiding in a corner licking my wounds. The people closest to me are always accidentally injured because of their habitual self-defense.
Yan Wenbo felt frustrated and lost. That day, he lowered his eyes, like an innocent child, and asked softly, "Weiwei, if Ji Suting was here, would you do the same?" After saying that, he knew he was wrong, and blamed himself again, "No, no, I shouldn't have mentioned him, I'm just stupid, my brain is screwed!"
Seeing him like that made me feel both distressed and guilty.
I put my hand on his head and stroked it and said, "Okay, okay, I'm fine."
He put his hands on his chest and looked at me pitifully. If he had ears and a tail, he would really be like a husky. If I write a novel one day, my first book will definitely be "My Husky Boyfriend".
I tried hard not to care about Shi Shuxia's affairs, and tried to get along with her peacefully as before, maintaining the superficial peace with great difficulty.
I was afraid that once I asked, and one day I found out the truth was not what she was thinking, it would be like burying a thorn in her heart that would be irreversible.
One month after I submitted my application for the poverty scholarship, the teacher called me into his office again. This time the atmosphere was not as heavy as last time. He simply said that the preliminary review had passed and it was basically a matter of time before the application was approved.
However, the school has a system that students who apply for poverty scholarships need to serve as volunteers in various places on campus for a period of time, which may be the restaurant, stadium, or library.
Fortunately, I was assigned to the library.
I smiled and said to Yan Wenbo: "Being with books every day is very consistent with my artistic temperament."
"Of course, my Weiwei is so pretty, lovely, beautiful, and generous. Only a place with an artistic atmosphere like a library can barely match her." He complimented me, "But... I always feel that the word library sounds familiar. I seem to have heard it somewhere recently."
"You are not a student of A University yet. If the library doesn't sound familiar to you, then the coffee shop sounds familiar to you." I pushed his head and said jokingly.
"Of course it's the coffee shop that sounds familiar. That's where my Weiwei works. Weiwei..." He pointed to his mouth, "Do you want to kiss me here like you did on my forehead that day?"
"Get out!" I cursed.
"I love it when my Weiwei scolds me the most. If you scold me again, please do it." He said in a mean way.
As a prominent figure in the school, Yan Wenbo followed me around like a masochist every day, and the fact that he asked me to beat and scold him was naturally discussed on the school forum. Some people began to change sides, and they thought that maybe we could be together for a longer time , for example, for more than a year.
However, not long after, I understood why Yan Wenbo felt familiar with the word "library".
Some people have the natural ability to attract people's attention. Ji Suting stood there and without moving, people's attention was naturally drawn to him.
It was early spring, and the weather was still a little cold. He was standing between the bookshelves, wearing a white thin cotton jacket, sorting books. Occasionally, he would hold a book and ponder for a while before putting it down. A small movement, an inadvertent contemplation, was enough to make the girls discuss for a long time.
We haven't seen each other for a long time since that time we met in the office. I don't know if we were avoiding each other on purpose or if it was just fate that we didn't meet.
The management teacher said that Ji Suting would come to the library to help for a period of time every year, and we would be "colleagues" in the future. This is a good opportunity that many girls would fight for.
I smiled and said, I have a boyfriend, Ji Suting can’t seduce me.
The teacher arranged what I had to do and then left, telling me to make sure to keep the library quiet.
Time seemed to have gone back to the days when I just fell in love with him. I always stood in the corner, looking at his radiant appearance, and longing for the day when I could stand beside him and be worthy of him.
Times have changed, and my mood now is completely different from that time. I have someone who cherishes me, and he also has someone who is worth cherishing. In the end, we can only go further and further on two different paths.
"You're here." It's not a question, it's an affirmation.
"You knew I was coming?" I asked.
He nodded: "I heard about it."
"I'm busy," I said.
Ji Suting was a little stunned. After seeing me leave, he added blankly: "Okay."
The once secret crush is like a flower bud after a long drought, which withers before it blooms.
When Hua Siyu and a few girls entered the library, I was sorting out the misplaced history of European and American literature. She stood beside me, looking at me with cold eyes, like icicles hanging from the roof in winter, which would cause a tragedy if they fell.
I looked back quietly, not avoiding or being cowardly.
Maybe I have been humble in front of this girl before, but now I want to stand up straight with my head held high. I am Yan Wenbo’s girlfriend, and only Yan Wenbo’s girlfriend.
"When did you come?" Hua Siyu asked me coldly.
She is like me, not good at hiding herself.
"Today." I answered quietly, and added, "The school arranged a volunteer task for half a month."
"Are you trying to tell me that you will be with Su Ting day and night for the next half month so that I should be on guard?" A trace of resentment flashed across her face. When someone passed by, she would put on a sweet and well-behaved look, making me think that I was having an illusion.
"I want to tell you that I didn't appear in front of him on purpose, and I don't want to have too much interaction with him. Besides, I think you know that I'm already with Yan Wenbo, and it's impossible for me to have more involvement with Ji Suting. I don't want to make my boyfriend unhappy." Girls who are deeply in love are always pathetic. They are cautiously guarding against every outsider, for fear of losing the person next to them by accident.
Hua Siyu left half-believing and half-doubting. She walked to Ji Suting, put her arm around his and smiled at him intimately.
When I looked up, my eyes met Ji Suting's in the air. I quickly looked back and continued to clean up the mess in front of me.
The library's working hours are one and a half hours a day. When I walked out, Yan Wenbo was already pacing back and forth at the door waiting for me, looking up from time to time, afraid of missing me.
I jumped to his side and patted his right shoulder, thinking he would turn his head to the right, but he immediately grabbed me on the left.
I curled my lips, feeling a little unhappy.
"Okay, okay, don't be unhappy. Can I be a little more stupid next time?" He coaxed me like he was coaxing a child, and I really enjoyed it.
"Showing affection in public is dog abuse!" Hua Siyu came out surrounded by a group of girls. The girl next to her saw Yan Wenbo and I and said with a forced smile.
"At least we can show off . It's better than some people who can only watch others being affectionate with jealousy." Yan Wenbo responded bluntly.
"You think it's love, but it's hard to say whether your girlfriend loves you or not!" the girl said again.
"What do you mean?" Yan Wenbo's face turned cold.
The girl wanted to say something else but was grabbed by Hua Siyu and dragged away.
When passing by Yan Wenbo, Hua Siyu nodded as a greeting.
Yan Wenbo looked at me hesitantly. Before he could ask anything, he saw Ji Suting walking out of the library building. He also saw us and seemed to want to come forward and say hello. However, Yan Wenbo pulled me away with a cold face, not even giving him a chance to say hello.
He pulled me out for a long distance. I shook off his arm breathlessly, a little angry: "What are you angry about? Because of Ji Suting? I didn't know he was there until I got there!"
"Then why didn't you tell me?" he asked angrily.
"I thought it wouldn't be too late to tell you after it was over, but you didn't even give me a chance to explain and just dragged me away. I was so tired." Xu Meng'er said that girls need to learn how to act coquettishly in order to get candy. I imitated her way of acting coquettishly to a boyfriend on the phone, and kept my eyes on Yan Wenbo, and his expression softened.
"Weiwei, I'm sorry, you know, you and Ji Suting..." He walked up to me and hugged me tightly, as if he was afraid that I would slip away at any time.
I patted his back and consoled him, "He and I are both in the past. You are the only one in my future."
The sun gradually sets and the street lights light up one by one.
I buried my face in his shoulder and sighed silently. I didn't want him to see my current state, and I didn't want him to know the worries in my heart. I just hugged him quietly, and when he was about to leave, I whispered, "Let me hold you for a while longer."
Yan Wenbo is so real beside me, in front of me. I know that there is always Ji Suting between us, and I don’t know when he will disappear.
At least we will never be truly happy until it disappears!
Like a fishbone stuck in the throat.