Every school has such a place. It is hated by good students, feared by ordinary students, and a paradise for the "evil forces" in the school. This place may be called a rooftop, a stairwell, or a small playground... But it is undeniable that every school has such a place. And I, Zhang Yuanyuan, the top student in the grade, am sitting in the corner of the rooftop, feeling the warm sun.
The rooftop is Gu Yue's territory. It sounds ironic. When did Zhang Yuanyuan fall to the point of associating with bad students? I am not seeking Gu Yue's protection. In fact, in the process of fighting wits and courage with Tian Tian, ​​Qiuqiu and a group of girls, force can't solve anything. No boy will really hit a girl. But they are like bees circling around me. A few stings won't kill me, but it will annoy me to death!
I closed my eyes and thought about the possibility of coming to the rooftop to read books in the future, when suddenly the iron gate was opened with a bang. I squinted my eyes and looked at the iron gate. A tall figure was holding the iron gate with one hand and the other hand in his pocket, facing me.
I was suddenly awakened from my doze, and I sat up straight and looked over. It turned out to be Gu Yue, a false alarm. I bent my back and dozed off against the wall again.
"Can you still sleep peacefully after seeing me?" Gu Yue walked towards me, his voice gradually getting louder.
I turned sideways nonchalantly and continued to rest with my eyes closed: "What are you afraid of? Just a paper tiger." The more times I came to the rooftop, the more times I met Gu Yue. In addition, I had previously avoided Director Guo's "hunt" with him, so I always felt that Gu Yue was not as scary as the rumors said.
"Bang!" The sound of a can being opened and bubbles coming out of a carbonated drink was heard not far away.
I opened my eyes and glanced at Gu Yue, who was drinking beer with his back to the light: "Can't you hide something else? If you hide this on the rooftop and Director Guo finds out, your mother won't be able to protect you!"
Gu Yue smiled and said, "Just one bottle, the rest are all Coke, hiss!"
Hearing the sound of gasping, I opened my eyes completely and looked over. Gu Yue was covering half of his face and yelling. I stood up and found that the corner of Gu Yue's mouth was swollen. I laughed: "Is there anyone who dares to hit you?"
“Humph!” Gu Yue had to cover his mouth to regain his aura immediately, “I crushed that guy!”
"Did you hit someone?" I asked hesitantly, and the image that came to my mind was Liu Sulan holding my hand and crying.
"No!" Gu Yue said unhappily, "That guy started the fight first! But Director Guo insisted that I was the one who beat him!"
"Were you caught by Director Guo?" I exclaimed.
"Well, the guy from Class 4 was quite sensible and didn't say anything nonsense. Director Guo just nagged a few words."
I was stunned by Gu Yue's carefree tone. He had no idea what kind of danger he had been through. I was thinking about Gu Yue when he took out a bottle of Coke from the drawer of some rotten table and threw it to me.
Drinking carbonated drinks in such a cold weather, even if they are not iced, gives me a chill. My teeth chattered, and then I heard Gu Yue say, "Are they looking for trouble again?"
The Coke slid down my throat, stinging me, and I stared at the little blue tin and said, "Yeah, it's the same few sets over and over again."
"If it really doesn't work, then ..."
I am waiting to hear Gu Yue's insights.
"Just tell the teacher!"
"Puff...Crack..." I covered my mouth. Some of the drink went into my trachea. I coughed for a long time. Gu Yue was already angry and embarrassed.
"What did I say? Is it worth such a big reaction?"
I looked at Gu Yue's face, which was red from slight anger, and silently calmed down. After a while, I said, "The school boss taught me to complain to the teacher. Good job."
"Hey, what do you mean? A few women can't just..."
Gu Yue was furious. I nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, the boss is right. You can't really do anything to them. It's not a big deal." I stared into Gu Yue's eyes and said calmly, "It's not a big deal. I've seen the tricks they played in elementary school. Besides, the guy in Class 4 knows that he can't tell Director Guo. How can I tell him?"
"Then why do you always hang out on the rooftop?"
I looked at the bewildered Gu Yue and suddenly understood what he meant. He thought I came to the rooftop to avoid those girls. Although that was true, I was just avoiding their entanglement, not being afraid of them.
"Don't you think they are just like clowns?" I stared at the direction of the classroom. Several girls were leaning against the railings in the corridor to bask in the sun. "They can't stand me but can't get rid of me. They can't crush me in terms of grades, so they form cliques and try to embarrass me all day long. Oh, childish!"
Gu Yue's face showed disapproval, and when he was about to say something, his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed the huge word "Dad". Gu Yue didn't answer it, nor did he turn off the ringtone, just letting it ring.
The phone kept singing those two lines of lyrics, the sound flowing across the rooftop, hitting the wall and bouncing back. I looked at Gu Yue, who was drinking beer by himself.
"You're not going to answer it?"
"Oh." Gu Yue sneered, "What's there to answer? The text message reminds me that he has transferred money to me again. The money has been transferred, so there is only one thing for him to call me, right?"
Gu Yue had a blank expression on his face, with sarcasm in his eyes. He watched the phone screen go dark indifferently, as if he had no illusions about such a father and had clearly and directly understood the other party's intentions.
The cell phone started singing again. The light from the screen was not obvious under the sunlight, but it made me feel that Gu Yue's expression was a little relaxed.
"Answer it, maybe you really have something to say?" I tried to persuade him.
Gu Yue moved his fingers, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, and answered the call with the phone in his hand.
"Hey, Gu Yue..."
The other party did not ask "Why didn't you answer the phone just now?" or "Why did you take so long to answer the phone?" It was obvious that the other party did not care at all that Gu Yue did not answer the phone.
"Dad will be visiting a place of origin for the material in the next two weeks. It's a remote place. If you have any questions, just call me or contact your aunt. I've sent you some money, so don't spend it all at once. Also, you should stay in the dormitory recently. Don't go back unless you have something to do. You know your aunt is pregnant..."
This "return" should refer to going home. Combined with the phone call from Gu Yue's father, his father meant - I give you the money, so you don't have to go home.
I stared at Gu Yue in disbelief. I regretted persuading Gu Yue to answer the phone. But Gu Yue, with a smile on his face and bloodshot eyes, just stared at me, as if to say, "See what I said?"
"Are you...are you okay..."
"I'm fine." Gu Yue quickly interrupted me, "I knew this would happen. If there's a stepmother, there's a stepfather, right?"
Gu Yue waved the can in his hand towards me with a nonchalant look on his face, as if the relaxation and expectation on his face that I just saw was just an illusion.
"I saw through them before they divorced. They didn't come home, stuffed some money in my pocket, asked me to order takeout, and said they were busy..." Gu Yue said lightly, suddenly letting go of the can and kicking it against the wall. The can collided with a sound, and the little bit of liquid left inside splashed on the wall, and then the water droplets slowly slid down the wall.
I don't think Gu Yue is as indifferent as he says.
"They divided the property and never mentioned custody again. It seemed like I was just like the property, and I could just get a share of it."
I felt so upset that I wanted to say something to comfort him, but I couldn't say anything. He didn't need comfort. Too many cheap comforts were based on the gossipy mentality of "watching the fun and not minding the trouble". Just like I don't need to hear people sigh "the market is so noisy, it must take twice as much effort to study", Gu Yue doesn't need to listen to people's consolation.
I looked at Gu Yue stupidly, but I could only see his profile. The lines of his profile were like a cold blade, stiff and telling the world that there was no possibility of him softening.
Gu Yue turned his head and met my eyes. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes. I don't know what he saw, and then he smiled. The wind lifted the strands of hair on his forehead, and for a moment I heard the sound of wind chimes, and then I turned my head away in panic.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I have something for you."
I was surprised. What could he have for me? But I didn't continue looking at him. There was a sound of "ping-pong-pong". I turned my head and saw Gu Yue opening a few abandoned tables and pulling out a thick exercise book from the belly of a table.
Gu Yue handed the test book to me with an expression that said "take it quickly".
I looked at the question book. The first page said "The first small test of a certain middle school." It was probably got from the key middle school by Gu Yue's mother.
"Take it, I don't need it." Gu Yue looked indifferent.
I looked at the question book and he really didn't need it. I took it, said "thank you" to him, and couldn't wait to open it and read it.
This school is better than No. 1 Middle School. With something like this in front of me, how could I not want it?
"My mother gave it to me. There are also a few books on other subjects. I'll give them to you another day!"
I nodded randomly. With this math workbook, why would I care about Gu Yue? But this workbook is not as "unnecessary" as Gu Yue said. I flipped through a few pages and found that some simple questions had answers written on them. Not many, just a few here and there, but two-thirds of the whole workbook had such traces.
I looked at Gu Yue with gossipy eyes and snickered, "You don't need it, you've done a lot of questions, haven't you?"
Gu Yue opened a can of Coke and sat on the cement platform with his legs bent. When he saw me, an unnatural blush flashed across his face: "What are you laughing at!"
"Did I laugh? I didn't laugh!" I said seriously.
"Humph, do you think I'm a pig? I've only done this exercise book once, so what? Can't I just do the exercises?" Gu Yue was a little embarrassed and tried to cover it up in his own way, "What's so funny? Don't laugh, don't laugh!"
Actually, I didn't laugh. In order to prevent his juniors from discovering his "degenerate" hobby - studying, the boss of No. 6 Middle School hid the test book in the belly of an abandoned desk. Every time he went over mountains and hills to search the belly of the desk to do the test? I wouldn't find it funny if he took this test book out of the classroom, because Gu Yue spent more time on the rooftop than in the classroom. In other words, the legendary "ferocious and brutal" boss of No. 6 Middle School actually skipped classes to study? If Director Guo, who was catching truants all over the world, knew about this, would he cry?
"Ka-ka." Looking at Gu Yue's red face, I finally laughed unkindly, "It's not shameful for you to do the exercises. It's not a big deal to do them in the classroom. Why are you hiding here?"
Gu Yue didn't say anything. He stared at me with a red face. After a while, he said, "You already know about this, let alone Gao Yuelin, Yue Hui and the others!"
I touched my head and thought it was right: "How about I teach you?"
"Don't you teach people how to do exercises?"
I touched my nose and said, "It's OK as long as you don't say you don't know after teaching me six times." I once taught people to do math problems. A girl came to me with a math problem. Every time I asked her, "Do you understand?" the girl said "I understand", but not long after, she asked the same problem again. She asked six times, and finally left with tears in her eyes. After that, no one came to me to ask questions anymore.
"I'm not that stupid!" Gu Yue obviously also remembered that incident and said with a look of disgust.
I didn't look at Gu Yue's expression anymore, and continued to flip through the test book in my hand. This test book even contained the weekly test for the key class. It was like picking up a treasure for me. I couldn't help but say to Gu Yue excitedly, "Your mother is so good to you. This test paper is not available to ordinary people, right? You can't get it even if you have money!"
With this, plus the "other subjects" mentioned by Gu Yue, I don't care even if another group of Tian Tian and the others come! In my excitement, I ignored Gu Yue beside me, and didn't notice Gu Yue's faint words: "Are you good to me? If you are really good, you won't just take the money without fighting for custody..."
"Okay, let's look at question eight..."
"D! D!"
The female teacher on the podium was still wearing her gaudy flowery dress. She was leisurely holding a glass of water and preparing to drink it. She was talking as she put the water to her mouth, but before she could finish her words she was interrupted by an impatient voice from below the podium.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Let me take a look at this question." The female teacher was not angered by the girl's behavior at all. She read the question calmly and said, "How can it be in the past tense? The thing described in this question means that the action happened in the past and has ended so far, and has an impact on the present, so you should choose..."
"C!" I followed Liu Sulan and read out the answer, and other students who reacted also read out the answers.
"It's obviously D, how can you teach it? My tutor just explained this question to me yesterday!" Tian Tian kept chattering, insisting that Liu Sulan agree with her point of view. At first she just spoke in a low voice, but later she felt that she was right, so her voice became louder and louder.
I looked at Liu Sulan and then back at Gu Yue. I knew Liu Sulan was right about this question, so I opened my mouth to tell Tian Tian that the correct answer was C. But before I could open my mouth, Liu Sulan smiled and said, "Tian Tian, ​​we won't waste your time, let's continue with the question. If you think what I said is wrong, let's go ask the English teacher in the next class. Teacher Huang is such an experienced teacher, so he can't be wrong, right?"
Tian Tian was too embarrassed to say anything, and then the bell rang. I was waiting for Tian Tian to follow and find Teacher Huang with a righteous speech, but she ran away. It's lunch time, who wouldn't run to the cafeteria?
I smiled and started to clear the things on the table. Most people had left the classroom, so I went to get my car.
"Yueyue, mommy made some food. Would you like to come with me to the office to eat? It will be ready after heating it up."
Compared to Liu Sulan who looked eager, Gu Yue looked around and saw me with a weird smile on my face, and immediately said awkwardly: "I said I won't go."
"Okay, okay, I won't go. I'll heat it up for you, you can take it to the classroom to eat, okay?" Liu Sulan walked to Gu Yue's desk, looked at his thin clothes, and shouted: "Why are you wearing so little? Did your dad abuse you? Wearing only two pieces of clothes in such a cold weather!"
I looked at Gu Yue with a helpless look on my face, winked at him mischievously, and then trotted out of the classroom before he got angry.
What a nice mother! When Gu Yue brought the remaining test papers to me on the rooftop, I sighed for the second time. These test papers were of great importance. They should have been given to Liu Sulan one by one, but she actually separated the answers to each test paper and bound them separately to form an independent test book. She also covered some of the papers that others had done with blank paper and re-photocopied them.
I held these exercise books and sighed, "Gu Yue, your mother is really a good mother. She must have spent a lot of time on these exercise books."
Gu Yue didn't respond to my words, but just smiled softly. Gu Yue squatted beside me and looked at me. I patted the test books, took out a few graduation exam review books issued by the school from my schoolbag, and stuffed them into his hands: "I can't let you suffer too much! This is the secret magic weapon of the top grade in the sixth middle school!"
"What's this?"
"It's only natural to reciprocate!" I answered as a matter of course.
Gu Yue grabbed the review books issued by the school, looking surprised: "Hey, doesn't everyone have these books? Do I need you to borrow the school's books? Besides, we don't need these books to review, right?"
I rolled my eyes at him, he didn't know anything! I spread out a math review book and pointed at the various colored notes on it: "With your IQ, you want to get ahead overnight and practice with questions from prestigious schools? Just do mine!" I pointed to the part marked with a green pen, "The green ones are example questions. Follow the questions and work through them for more than five times, then do the yellow questions circled for you. If you can't do them, do them five more times."
Gu Yue looked at the yellow and green marks on the book and asked in surprise: "Did you make all these in the past few days?"
I looked at him unhappily, "What else? Also, for liberal arts, you should recite according to the parts I drew for you. I remember that your liberal arts scores were pretty good, and your English wasn't that bad with your mom around."
"How do you know my grades?" Gu Yue suddenly got angry. "Who told you?"
"I'm the class monitor!" I continued to point at the review book, "But I didn't teach you English. After all, your mother is an English teacher. There's no reason for me to teach an expert." Thinking of Liu Sulan asking Gu Yue to have dinner in her office, I made a face at Gu Yue, "Your mother treats you so well and gives you extra meals every day. If you tell her that you want to learn English, she will be so happy!"
"Do you think she will be happy?" Gu Yue looked at me with a strange expression and asked this question hesitantly.
Why not? I wondered in my heart.
"She did so much just to make up for it." Gu Yue said this calmly, then looked away with a stern face, "To make up for the mistakes she made over the years."
I don't know what fault Gu Yue was talking about. I vaguely heard something from Wang Zhenzhen and Teacher Zhang in the office. The scene was chaotic, and I don't know if Gu Yue noticed it. Teacher Zhang said, "You are crazy. If you resign, you will lose your only income, and you are still in debt to your father..." Maybe Liu Sulan had some difficulties, but Gu Yue didn't know it?
I expressed my doubts, but all I got in return was Gu Yue's sarcasm.
"What difficulties could she have? Can't she just speak out what's on her mind? She made the decision without explaining anything, and she also wants others to understand her difficulties?" Gu Yue suddenly became excited, and without paying attention to what I said, he came to his own conclusion, "To put it bluntly, it's all for money!"
I was silent, unable to continue the conversation. What was I talking about? Was Liu Sulan after Gu Yue or Gu Yue's father's money? I don't think so. The way Liu Sulan risked everything to save Gu Yue was the last struggle of a mother without money and power, just like...
"If I don't go out to work, what will Yuanyuan eat? How long have you been laid off? Do you know? How long has it been since you found a job? If I don't go out to work, our family will rely on you and won't even have enough to drink!"
"Okay, I won't go out. If I don't go out, tell me how you're going to support us. Yuanyuan got whooping cough, and you had to scrape together the medical expenses, and it's still not enough. You always ask for a loan, but don't you have to pay it back? People are embarrassed to come to you for one or two hundred yuan, and if they really come, you won't have a dime!"
"Yuanyuan, Mom is going to Shanghai to find a job. When Mom finds a job, I will buy you new clothes and delicious food. When Mom's job is stable, I will come to pick you up and take you to Shanghai to study and go to university."
Just like my mother.
Because I have no money, I can only struggle to make ends meet; because I have no money, I can only choose to go far away to seek a glimmer of hope; because I have no money, I have to be separated from my daughter and look forward to reuniting in the future.
To put it bluntly, it's all about money.
"What's wrong with doing it for money?" I stared at Gu Yue and pulled out the jade pendant from my collar. "My uncle once asked someone to look at this. It's not a valuable piece of jade. It's only worth one or two hundred yuan."
Gu Yue was puzzled by my sudden action.
I ignored him and continued, "This is the money my mother earned while working in Shanghai. She asked someone to bring it back for me. When she left, my family couldn't even afford the several hundred yuan for medicine because I was sick. Others said that she divorced my father because she disliked him and couldn't stand the hard life. No one knew that she was determined to work and earn money for the money, for my medical expenses.
"She said she was scared because she saw me coughing so hard but my family couldn't afford the medical expenses. She was hiding and crying at that time. She said she had never thought money was so important before, because at that time, she saw me in pain and suffering but couldn't help me at all, and couldn't even afford the expensive medicine."
I sniffed, turned to look at Gu Yue, and burst into laughter: "Why do you have that expression? My mom is making a lot of money now. I'll take the graduation exam in a few months. I'll be able to go to Shanghai and see my mom every day."
Gu Yue rubbed his face with his hands, rubbing away the coldness on his face and the expression of pity and heartache just now: "Did your mother come back to look for you?"
"My mom is so busy at work that she doesn't even have time to come back for the New Year." I smiled and drew circles subconsciously with my right hand. "But it's almost time. When I pass the exam and go to Shanghai, I can reunite with my mom." I still drew on the ground subconsciously and called Gu Yue's name. "Gu Yue, in the eyes of others, your mom may be doing it for money, but if you don't try to understand your mom's hardship, then no one will know whether she is doing it for money or for something else."
I don’t know whether Gu Yue listened to what I said at noon. After school in the afternoon, I ate something casually and planned to go back to the classroom to read. As soon as I reached the fifth floor, I saw Gu Yue walking out of the office with a lunch box.
"Gu Yue! Are you going to eat?" I teased Gu Yue in a long voice that he said one thing and meant another, saying that he didn't want to eat the food his mother cooked, but in the end he still obediently brought it into the classroom.
But Gu Yue rushed into the classroom as if he didn't hear what I said.
Gu Yue entered the classroom from the back door, and a few seconds later a figure walked out quickly from the front door. I didn't think much and followed Gu Yue into the classroom, wanting to continue teasing him, but I didn't expect Gu Yue to stop two meters away from the back door of the classroom.
Gu Yue stopped where he was, holding the lunch box, with a serious expression.
I looked at his face, then looked at the direction Gu Yue was looking at, which was the direction of my seat. I was puzzled: "What's wrong?"
"Deng Yi. " Gu Yue pointed at my seat and said, "When I came in, she was looking around your desk. Go and see if there's anything missing or extra."
Gu Yue spoke with disdain, he had always looked down upon girls' behavior of leaving garbage and throwing away their schoolbags.
Deng Yi? She has nothing to do with me! Speaking of which, she took the initiative to ask me if I was okay in the stairwell last time. But she seemed to be having a good time with Tian Tian, ​​and for a moment I couldn't tell whether her behavior just now was good or bad.
I walked to my seat. There was nothing missing or extra on the desk. I squatted down and took a look. I took out a glued notebook from the desk. It was the handwritten notebook of past exam questions that I had the misfortune of tearing up with Tian Tian on the day. The notebook was almost as thick as a dictionary. It was wrapped back and forth with double-sided transparent tape several times. The torn parts were properly glued together. Although it was a bit horrible, it was still readable.
"What is it?" Gu Yue asked while biting his chopsticks.
Although I didn't understand Deng Yi's intention, she wasn't trying to make fun of me, so I didn't care too much: "She glued the notebook that Tian Tian had torn up for me."
"Oh? Are you close to Deng Yi?" Gu Yue quickly finished a few mouthfuls of rice and then casually put the chopsticks on the table.
Isn't that nonsense? I didn't answer Gu Yue's words. Everyone knows that I have no friends in this class. I flipped through the scarred notebook, feeling confused but too lazy to think too much. It doesn't matter if this notebook is gone, but if it can be used, I will continue to use it.
I turned around with my notes in hand and saw Gu Yue with his feet on the desk! I took out a piece of chalk and threw it at him: "You are too leisurely!"
It was also because my technique was too good that I hit Gu Yue’s forehead in one shot.
I smiled insincerely: "Why are you trying to be cool? You are so fake!"
Gu Yue was not willing to be outdone and said, "That Deng Yi secretly prepared your notes and put them in your drawer. Don't you want to say thank you to her?"
"Ah?" To be honest, I hadn't really thought of this. Deng Yi and I had no interactions except for the last time we exchanged a few words in the corridor. The time before that, she scored two points higher in English than me and I took away her test paper. I couldn't figure out Deng Yi's intention, so I didn't want to pay attention to her.
"Then just thank her!" Thanking her won't cost me anything anyway.
Gu Yue showed an angry expression: "You are really stupid!"
What does this have to do with stupidity?
"I spent so much effort to help you make this book 'Sour Cabbage', is it just for your thanks?"
What's the difference between this tone and "Zhang Yuanyuan, you are a pig?" I rolled my eyes and said reluctantly: "What she wants from me is none of my business, I just need to make sure she doesn't get what she wants!"
"Ancestor, she is trying to make peace with you, saying that she wants to establish diplomatic relations with you peacefully!" Gu Yue called him "ancestor" but his eyes showed contempt. "You have a little brain except for studying. Do you have any brain at other times?"
"That's better than you. You don't even know what three-strand four-string five is." I mocked Gu Yue, trying to change the subject.
Gu Yue was unmoved. He looked at me helplessly and sighed, "Why do you think it's so easy for you to argue with Tian Tian and the others? You just suffer from having no friends. Just like me and Yue Hui, do you know why every time I want to hit someone, he rushes up and pulls me?"
I rolled my eyes and turned away from Gu Yue. What good could I learn from his friends? Just because Deng Yi showed me her affection, did I have to establish a relationship with her? Why should I bother with these girls who said one thing and meant another and have a friendship that was insincere?
"I told you and you're still not happy to listen!" Gu Yue's earnest tone was just like his mother's. "More friends means more paths. As long as there's someone standing on your side, those who are against you will be more wary, and you won't have to confront them every other day."
"Zhang Yuanyuan!"
Calling out my full name made me feel that Gu Yue seemed a little angry, and I turned to look at him reluctantly.
"You can't be hostile to everyone around you, understand? People always have to have friends."
Not an old woman, nor a cruel boss. When I saw the seriousness in Gu Yue's eyes, my heart trembled inexplicably. I actually thought that there would not be much loss if I did what Gu Yue said. I hesitated for a moment and nodded and said, "Yes."
Later, Gu Yue did not mention this matter again. The rhythm jumped back to the previous few days. I read books, he did exercises , and he asked me if he didn't understand. The school was holding an art festival audition these days. Although the graduating class could not participate, they could still watch the audition. Therefore, recently no one would return to the classroom until the evening self-study class was about to start, which saved the face of Gu Lao Da who was studying secretly.
I was helping Gu Yue with his homework when I heard footsteps. I tilted my head to look at Gu Yue, asking him if he wanted to pretend he wasn't studying. Gu Yue smiled but didn't answer, and then a voice rang out.
"Hey, Gu Yue, hiding in the classroom to date the top student in the grade?" The man's school uniform was covered with words of various colors, his hair turned yellow in the sun, and behind him were two equally sloppy teenagers.
This person came over and suddenly jumped onto the stool of the person in front of me, then sat down on the table in front.
Gu Yue's seat was at the end. He leaned back, with the stool tilted at an incredible angle, yet maintaining perfect balance.
Gu Yue knocked on the table: "Zhou Sijie, what do you want from me?"
I looked at Gu Yue and laughed secretly. He started to pretend again. But Zhou Sijie, isn’t this the “guy from Class 4” who he mentioned was causing trouble last time?
"Brother Yue." Zhou Sijie's tone suddenly became better, and he said with his back bent, "Take us out all night? Yue Hui and his friends are so bad at playing games, we'll lose if we play with them!"
Huangmao is also a boarding student. No. 6 Middle School is not a boarding school. It just provides some simple dormitories for students whose homes are far away and charges a symbolic fee every semester.
"Boss Yue has to study now, who has time to play games with you guys!" A boy sitting on my right said sarcastically, "Our Boss Yue, you have to study hard now and make progress every day!"
The other boy didn't say anything, but his expression was unfriendly. From then on, I understood that these three boys were not so convinced to call Gu Yue "Brother Yue".
Gu Yue smiled: "Why do you want me to lead you in playing games? What's the point of Yue Hui being so bad? You've spent all your living expenses and have no money to go online, right?" Gu Yue looked at the boy in front of me with a smile, but there was sarcasm in his words.
The boy's face changed: "Boss Yue, just decide whether you want to go or not! Anyway, we have quite a few people now, and we can afford to start a group."
Start a group? What does that mean? Is it the second way of saying start a fight? I was wondering in my heart, and the boy standing on my right began to clench his fists and pinch his fingers. I roughly realized what was going on: "Are you guys blackmailing me? You have no money, so you want to find a scapegoat to ask you to go online. If you are not happy, you are ready to fight three to one?"
"Can you speak, top student in the grade?" the man on the right was eager to speak, "We are friends with Boss Yue!"
"Yeah, we're friends, right?" Zhou Sijie, who was sitting at the desk in front, said to Gu Yue arrogantly.
I also turned to look at Gu Yue, who smiled and said, "Who said it wasn't?"
"He's obviously asking for money from you, Gu Yue, can you stop being so tolerant? Didn't you tell me last time that you beat up the 'guy from Class 4'?" I was anxious. Isn't Gu Yue the boss of No. 6 Middle School? The boss whose money was robbed by other problem students, is he kidding me?
"What are you talking about!" The boy on the right stood up straight and roared at me fiercely, but Zhou Sijie signaled him to be patient.
"Enough." Gu Yue suddenly sat up straight, the legs of the stool hitting the ground with a sound, and Gu Yue slapped Zhou Sijie on the head and ruffled his hair. Zhou Sijie was about to lose his temper, and Gu Yue took the hand that was pressing on his head away: "Don't tease her. A few acquaintances, it's just an all-nighter, I can afford it."
"You!" I looked at Gu Yue in astonishment.
Gu Yue smiled and took out 50 yuan and stuffed it into Zhou Sijie's pocket. "I won't go. I still need to study hard. I'll fight you next time. But don't let Director Guo catch you. If you do, there won't be a next time."
Zhou Sijie didn't care what Gu Yue said. He took the money with a smile and said, "Thanks, Brother Yue!"
The other two minions rushed forward and walked out smiling.
As soon as they left, I kept staring at Gu Yue. Gu Yue ignored me, poured out two Yida pills and put them in his mouth, and asked me if I wanted some.
"I'll teach you two things: one is to avoid the enemy's sharp edge and preserve your strength; the other is to have fewer enemies and fewer walls. Anything that can be dealt with with money is not a problem."
Yes, I forgot, the thing that Young Master Gu has the most is money, so he doesn’t care about 50 yuan.
Less than a minute later, Director Guo's roar came from the corridor: "Zhou Sijie! You are actually discussing playing games all night here? You three, get to the office!"
He got arrested so soon after taking the money? Is it such a coincidence? I wanted to grab Gu Yue by the collar and ask him to explain everything clearly .
Gu Yue shrugged and smiled, saying, "Oh, I forgot, there is a third thing, it is most satisfying to hurt someone with someone else's knife!"
I looked at Gu Yue as if I had seen a ghost.
Gu Yue held his chin with his hand and tapped the review book on the table, motioning me to continue with the question. Seeing that I didn't respond, he smiled and said, "Hook three legs, four strings, and five strings, Teacher Zhang."
I looked at the corners of Gu Yue's eyes, which were stained with crimson. The more I looked, the more I felt that my worries, anxiety, and anger at him for being a coward were all fooled by him! I grabbed the review book on the table and threw it at Gu Yue, who caught it with one hand and started laughing.
"Do you think I want to fight three people at once or just give you the money? Look at the look on your face. Are you anxious?"
I was so angry that I was exposed. To be honest, I did think about what I would do if a fight really broke out and Gu Yue was one against three. It was because I was sure that Gu Yue would not compromise that I was so surprised when I saw Gu Yue take out 50 yuan.
"What are you laughing at! Don't laugh!" Well, after spending so much time with Gu Yue, I've also developed this irritating problem.
"Did you really not notice? Every evening at 6:40, Director Guo would walk around the 5th floor and then leave."
I tried to find any sign of lying or joking in Gu Yue's eyes, but I didn't seem to have the impression that this was the case.
"That's right, you don't care about what's happening outside!" Gu Yue put the book back on the table. "So, you never have to treat everyone around you with hostility. Whether it's to preserve your strength or to hurt someone with someone else's knife, you can handle something that doesn't need to cause a conflict."
When I heard this, my eyes quickly swept across Gu Yue's face. There was no joking or teasing. He was as sincere as if I was teaching him the Pythagorean theorem.
I didn't answer him. My eyes extended to the window. The sycamore tree was already taller than the 5th floor. Its bare branches stood in the cold wind. In a blink of an eye, it seemed as if a hint of green was sprouting.