The moment I opened my eyes, worries came like tens of thousands of emails, flooding into my restarted brain again. I woke up from my sleep, shook my head, and threw away the half blood-stained brick in my dream.
Three days have passed since the incident. As we expected, Zhou Sijie did not dare to call the police or tell his parents. Everything was peaceful. Gu Yue's uncle borrowed money to temporarily cover the medical expenses. Gu Yue contacted one of his father's partners and learned that his father did not take the return train but went to a more remote county. We just need to wait patiently until Gu Yue's father returns from the county with poor signal, and everything will be resolved.
I lay on the desk, maintaining the posture of just waking up, and saw Zhou Sijie fall down in front of me in a daze. Gu Yue kept emphasizing that he would not let anything happen to me, I knew, but I just couldn't stop panicking.
"Hey!"
I jumped back in panic, looked up, and found that it was Deng Yi who was amused by my fear.
"Why are you so easily frightened lately? You were so scared just now, what were you thinking about?" Deng Yi squatted in front of my desk, fiddling with my pencil bag with his fingers boredly.
I didn't know how to answer her, but luckily she didn't need my answer. She said excitedly, "I just discovered a big event!" She looked mysterious, "Guess what it is?"
"What is it?" I answered Deng Yi cooperatively, and there was a commotion coming from the back door of the classroom.
Deng Yi came up to me and said mysteriously, "Just now a policeman asked me how to get to Director Guo's office!"
I gasped, horrified, thinking that something must be wrong with her expression. I immediately glanced at Deng Yi, luckily she didn't look at me. I froze my face and pretended to know nothing and be indifferent to the matter. I secretly observed Deng Yi's expression, and she continued to fiddle with my pencil case. I felt a little relieved, and I asked tentatively: "Police? Why did the police come to see Director Guo?"
"Who knows?" Deng Yi said nonchalantly, "I took him to the door of the office and left. Maybe one of the students has done something serious!"
My face turned pale and I looked up at Deng Yi. Did she know something? This thought almost frightened me to death. After two or three days of peace, did Zhou Sijie call the police? But maybe Deng Yi was just talking nonsense? Maybe there really was a policeman, but he was just Director Guo's friend? I comforted myself, but then I thought, how could it be such a coincidence!
The more I thought about it, the more scared I became. Deng Yi asked me to accompany her to the canteen. I nodded and followed her. After Deng Yi entered the canteen, I went to find Gu Yue who was cleaning the canteen. However, Gu Yue was not cleaning the canteen. He was hiding in a corner, anxiously pressing his phone.
"What's wrong?"
When I asked this question, Gu Yue's face was tense and he quickly hid his phone vigilantly. He turned around and found that it was me, then he relaxed.
"You, I thought it was Director Guo."
Gu Yue looked relaxed, but his anxiety just now made me realize that the content on the phone was definitely not as relaxed as he looked.
"What? Zhou Sijie and the others still haven't come to class?" Three days had passed since the incident, and Gu Yue had been trying to get information about the group since that day. Perhaps they had agreed that no one would go back to school. Sometimes I didn't know whether I should feel relieved that they were hiding, or worried that there was no news about them.
No one knows whether Zhou Sijie is still alive.
“What are you thinking about!” Gu Yue slapped me on the head, not hard, but it shattered my negative thoughts. “You have that expression again! That brick you hit him with would at most make him unconscious for a few days, he wouldn’t even need stitches!”
Gu Yue said this to me several times. I believed it at first, but now...
"Deng Yi said that the police just came to see Director Guo." I uttered this.
"Police?" Gu Yue looked a little surprised, but he quickly hid his emotions. "What's wrong with the police? The police have nothing to do with us. Maybe they are Director Guo's friends?"
"Don't play dumb! The police are here! We're done! I'm done!" When I yelled this, I realized belatedly how scared I was.
I was afraid. I lied to myself and covered my eyes and ears to believe in Gu Yue's determination, but as time went by, I gradually began to doubt him. I became suspicious and fearful. Every day when I walked home, I worried that someone would cry and curse and take my life. When I got home, I worried that my uncle would kick open the door with that huge knife. I dreamed every night that I was holding my admission ticket and was about to enter the examination room, but was told that people with a criminal record could not take the exam.
The calm sea we see is like a small iceberg floating on the sea. It seems that it will not be damaged even if it is hit. But who knows if the huge face of the iceberg is hidden under the sea?
"What are you doing?" Deng Yi shouted at me at the entrance of the canteen, holding a drink and snacks. She came over at a trot, looked around, and saw no one else. Then she said mysteriously, "I heard someone who came downstairs later than us say that Director Guo and the policeman just walked around our floor!" Deng Yi said excitedly, "Do you think someone has committed a serious crime?"
Gu Yue and I stood there in a stalemate, neither of us dared to answer, not even to look at each other. Director Guo led the police around our floor, and I felt a chill on my back, glad that I followed Deng downstairs. If I hadn't left, would I have been caught by the police?
"Deng Yi, the sausages are cooked. Do you still want to buy some?"
At the entrance of a small shop in the distance, a girl called out to Deng Yi. Deng Yi turned around and said, "I'm coming." Then she grabbed my hand and stuffed the things in her hand into my arms: "Help me hold it! I'll be there in a moment!"
Deng Yi disappeared into the crowd. His arms full of snacks fell to the ground, and the can of soda rolled a few times on the ground.
I suddenly reached out and grabbed Gu Yue's clothes, and shouted, "What kind of friend would need to go around the entire floor? They must be looking for someone, they are catching us!" It seemed like I hadn't spoken for a long time, and my throat was inexplicably painful, "Because we were not in the classroom, so we didn't catch anyone!"
"What are you crazy about?" Gu Yue grabbed my hands and said in surprise, "It's okay. I told you it's okay."
I struggled to push Gu Yue away. Nothing will happen? Are you kidding me? I knew Gu Yue would say that. I knew the police would come to my house! Like the Yellow River rushing to the estuary, I roared in my heart. I roared at Gu Yue without restraint, just like the despair before the disaster.
"I know what you mean! Wait for them to come to my house! If they say I intentionally hurt someone, I will turn the tables and say they committed robbery!" I roared anxiously, tears streaming down my face. I was not sad, but desperate. "What's the point! Both sides will suffer. I still can't even go to school in the future, and I can't even take the graduation exam! Do you know that I have nightmares every night, dreaming that Zhou Sijie is dead! I dreamed that I got the admission ticket, but the teacher didn't let me enter the examination room! Everyone went in to take the exam, and everyone said to me, 'Zhang Yuanyuan, you're done'!"
Fear, worry, regret, boredom, these emotions are irrepressible. If you ask me if I regret helping Gu Yue steal the money from home, I will say no, but if you ask me if I regret taking the picture of the brick, I will say...
"Don't be like this, Yuanyuan, calm down. We can't lose our composure!"
Gu Yue was right, he was very calm, but I couldn't calm down at all.
"How can you stay calm? What's the matter with you losing your composure? It's none of your business. Of course you can stay calm, and of course you won't lose your composure!" I roared at Gu Yue and waved his hand away forcefully.
This time, I finally broke free from his grip. I raised my head in annoyance and said to him viciously, "It was me who hit Zhou Sijie with a brick. It has nothing to do with you. Of course you can be calm! You are standing on the shore, how can you not be calm! If you are standing on the shore watching the show, don't yell at me. You know nothing!"
When all the negative emotions burst out, the undercurrent suppressed beneath the surface calmness will surge and turn into the sharpest weapon, hurting the people who love you and scolding you without any kind words.
My voice echoed back and forth in the empty cafeteria. When it quieted down, there was no sound at all. It was terrifyingly quiet.
I looked at Gu Yue, he still kept the posture of letting go of my hand, he stood there blankly, his eyes full of sadness. Those narrow eyes with starlight were now filled with sadness.
"Is that how you see me?" Gu Yue's voice was very soft, but it shocked me. I hurt him.
Before I could react, Gu Yue moved like a rotten corpse.
I hurriedly tried to grab Gu Yue, tears kept falling, guilt filled my heart. My mind was like a mess, that policeman was like a switch that made me lose my mind, made me lose control of my emotions, and hurt the person I loved with my words. But the fact is that the people we are most likely to hurt are often the ones we love the most or who love us the most.
"Gu, Gu Yue." I reached out to grab him with trembling hands, "That's not what I meant. I was just anxious. I, I didn't think so. I was just scared. I..."
Tension and guilt filled my heart, tears blurred my eyes, but I still trembled and grabbed Gu Yue's clothes, not daring to let go. I was afraid that if I let go, I would be left alone.
"Gu Yue, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't think so. I, I don't know why I said such a thing. Gu Yue... Gu Yue, I'm sorry."
"Ah." Gu Yue pushed my head down and pressed it against his chest. "Okay, I know."
"Gu Yue, I'm sorry." I cried so hard, but I still wanted to look up at his face, look into his eyes, to see if he had really forgiven me.
"I'm fine." Gu Yue's cold voice echoed in the cafeteria, "I forgot. You've never encountered such a thing before, so it's inevitable that you'll be scared. It's okay, it's okay."
If apologies are useful, what is the point of the police? What has already happened, even "I'm sorry" and "It's okay" can't fill the gap caused by the damage.
Maybe Gu Yue really didn't mind. After I calmed down, he kept analyzing the situation for me. He leaned against the dining table, facing the other side. I looked at half of his face, and my mind turned several corners. Although I was convinced by him to a large extent, I was tired of such fear.
"Just say whatever you want to say!" Gu Yue saw that I was hesitant to talk, so he uttered these words and then turned his face away.
I hesitated for a moment. I thought that instead of hiding it and feeling uneasy, I might as well tell the adults the truth. Even if I stole the money, my aunt's behavior that day showed that she didn't care. Maybe if I tell her, everything will be fine. So I said, "Why don't I turn myself in? I'm so nervous, I might as well tell my aunt..."
"You are mentally ill! What's the point of telling them? Will it make sense if I tell them?" Before I could finish my words, Gu Yue stood up and glared at me condescendingly, as if I had burned out the last bit of his patience. "Turn yourself in? What do you mean by turn yourself in? It's not a big deal. Can you show some promise?"
My face was burning, I pursed my lips and said, "I, am not..."
"What's not? What's not? I've told you so many times that nothing will happen! It's not a big deal! You killed someone and set fire to something? Didn't you still have the courage to yell at me in the classroom? With that little courage, you dare to be arrogant to me alone, right?" Gu Yue didn't allow me to refute at all. He was like a firecracker that I lit, and it kept exploding with crackling sounds.
"You've already done it, show me the courage to confront Tian Tian and yell at me!" Gu Yue paused, probably understanding why I wanted to "surrender". He added, "I'm telling you, Zhang Yuanyuan, put away those thoughts of yours. We are now on the same boat. If you die, I die. If you live, I live! If you 'surrender', I'm done for!"
I understand what Gu Yue means. If we cover up the matter and resolve it privately, everyone will be calm and at peace. But if I tell any adult, things will get bigger and bigger in an unpredictable direction and become unimaginable.
"What do you mean by surrender? What do you mean by life and death? Zhang Yuanyuan, what on earth are you hiding?"
I was startled by the familiar voice and slowly looked towards the cafeteria door. My aunt was standing at the door, staring at me angrily. Her face was frozen, as if she totally denied everything I had done in school. She said, "I went to Liu Sulan's hospital to ask, and no one paid the medical bills! Tell me, what did you do?"
If I tell any adult, things will take an unpredictable turn and become increasingly outrageous, just like it is now.
Behind my aunt stood Deng Yi, holding a sausage. She looked at us with a frightened expression, and it seemed that she had brought my aunt here. I didn't know when they came, nor how much they heard. But I knew that this matter could not be solved easily.
"I'm asking you a question, Zhang Yuanyuan! What did you do with him?" My aunt had completely lost her usual enthusiasm and elegance. She pointed her weapon at me with a tense look on her face, as if she were facing a vicious criminal.
My aunt gathered her hair, put her white bag in her pocket, and walked inside. As she walked, she said in a chilling tone, "There was only 15,000 yuan in that bag. I said 30,000 yuan, and you actually believed me. I went to the hospital you mentioned, and even if you paid 5,000 yuan, I would have thought you were doing a good deed. But the hospital said you had been in arrears for a week!"
I was trembling and didn't know what to do. I clenched my hands, but I felt too panicky, so I hid them behind my back. I was stunned by my aunt's words. I didn't know whether I should be surprised that my aunt didn't believe us from the beginning and set a trap for us to jump into; or I should be surprised that Gu Yue said that his uncle borrowed money to help him out, but in fact he didn't pay a penny.
If the loan was a lie by Gu Yue to appease me, then what he said about his father going to a remote small county town was also a lie? I looked at Gu Yue in shock, but he turned his face away and didn't communicate with me.
"Auntie, things are not what you think!" Gu Yue stepped forward and said anxiously.
"Stay away from me!" Auntie shouted, "Zhang Yuanyuan, come here!"
I was still hesitating when I heard my aunt say, "I heard and saw clearly what happened! Turn yourself in! We are on the same boat! You die and I die! Didn't I hear it clearly enough?"
My aunt misunderstood. Did she think that these words were a threat from Gu Yue? I hurriedly explained, "No!"
"Shut up!" My aunt pulled me over. "He beat you up, didn't he? You were at home that day, hesitating and acting according to his instructions. How could I not know what happened?" My aunt looked me up and down. "What did he do to you? Did he beat you? Threaten you, make you his accomplice, and let you help him steal money from home?"
"No, no!" I shook my head, anxiously about to cry.
But my aunt thought I was not doing well: "Go ahead and say it, go ahead and say it! I'm here, what are you afraid of?"
"No, Gu Yue didn't blackmail me. He didn't. I took the initiative to ask for it..." I pulled my aunt's hand, trying to make her believe me, "We really wanted to raise medical expenses for Liu Sulan, but halfway..."
"Shut up!" Gu Yue reached out to pull me, but was slapped down by my aunt. A crisp sound echoed in the cafeteria.
"It's not blackmail, it's an initiative? That means Zhang Yuanyuan took the initiative to steal your money and give it to Gu Yue? This is a joint crime!"
Who said this? The voice was sharp, and it sounded like Wang Zhenzhen. But what did this have to do with Wang Zhenzhen? Who was she talking to?
I looked back and saw that the stunned Deng Yi had been pushed aside. The main entrance was blocked by my uncle, who was wearing a green military coat and a gold necklace around his neck. The main entrance that could allow two people to walk side by side was blocked by my uncle to a gap. Through the gap, I saw Wang Zhenzhen.
"I knew you were a burden, and every one of you is a worry to me!" Uncle-in-law held a cigarette between his fingers, pointed at my nose and cursed, "I work so hard to support my family and raise you two, old and young, and you, a rude person, actually teamed up with others to steal my money?"
The insults were like a bucket of red paint thrown in my face. I was the top student in my grade, I had good conduct and almost no blemishes, but now even the last layer of my shame had been stripped away. The humiliation overflowed from my eyes in the form of tears.
"Shut up!" My aunt got anxious and picked up a jar of vinegar from the dining table and threw it at me. The jar fell to the ground, and my uncle dodged and kicked it away. Wang Zhenzhen screamed and jumped away.
"I told you I would take care of it, so why did you come to school? You won't be satisfied until everyone knows about it, right?" My aunt was so angry that her lips were trembling.
My uncle's face flashed with embarrassment, but he suddenly regained his confidence. He pointed at me and said to my aunt, "If I hadn't come, your good niece would have stolen all my money and given it to a petty thief! Didn't you hear me? She took the initiative to offer it!"
My aunt glared at me in reproach. It was obvious that although she didn't know what happened, she couldn't just ignore it and protect me. But she still spoke up for me. She scolded my uncle: "What are you talking about? You are over 40 years old. Don't you know what to say and what not to say? Don't you talk nonsense here? This is school. If you are unhappy about something, go back and tell me!"
What else can I say when I go back? You've said such a bad thing about me! Although we are not blood relatives, uncle, you have watched me grow up. When did you start to impose such malicious and sloppy views on me with disdain?
The uncle was embarrassed by the rebuttal and shut up, but Wang Zhenzhen couldn't shut up. Wang Zhenzhen stood aside and watched the show. When the uncle stopped fighting, she was ready to go: "You've already done it, why are you afraid of what others will say?"
My uncle is my elder and my aunt's husband. I can be impatient and disgusted with what he says, but I cannot blame him. But what is Wang Zhenzhen's relationship with me? Why does she keep getting involved? She wanted to intervene when Gu Yue and I had a conflict. She wanted to intervene when Gu Yue climbed over the fence. Now my uncle and aunt are talking about my affairs. Why does she interfere? Why does she have the right to say anything?
"What's it got to do with you?" I no longer had any respect for Wang Zhenzhen. "Don't get involved in everything!"
"I am a teacher!" Wang Zhenzhen said confidently.
"Shut up! Are you our teacher? What subject do you teach me? Do you need to meddle in other people's business?" I squinted my eyes and said harsh words one by one. I felt humiliated and slandered, and it seemed that I could only calm down by venting my anger on someone. "If anyone needs to take care of it, it should be my head teacher, Director Guo, or the grade group leader. Do you need to do anything about it?"
After I finished the call, Wang Zhenzhen's face was twisted with anger.
My uncle suddenly raised his hand, pointed at me, and yelled, "Are you still a student? You are so sharp-tongued! Who will take care of you if the teacher doesn't care? You stole money from home and you still have the nerve to yell here and be mean to the teacher?"
"I didn't steal! That's not stealing!" I stiffened my neck and yelled at my uncle. This was the first time I spoke to him loudly, but my palms were sweaty after I finished speaking.
I don't know when Gu Yue stood beside me. He pulled me and told me not to say anything. I knew what he meant, but I couldn't stand having so many basins of dirty water poured on me!
My uncle took a step forward, looking fierce: "You said you didn't steal, but where's the money?"
Wang Zhenzhen stopped the furious uncle hypocritically and said, "Don't be angry, Zhang Yuanyuan's parents, let's go to the office and call the class teacher and Director Guo together, and we will figure this out together."
Someone built an excuse for him to leave, but instead of coming down the stairs, my uncle became even more aggressive: "Don't talk nonsense! I'm not her parent. I don't have a daughter who doesn't respect herself or love herself!"
"Cheng Jianwei, shut up!"
"Shut your mouth, old man!"
Auntie and Gu Yue started cursing at the same time.
Even if someone defends me, so what? Self-respect and self-love, these four words hit me on the forehead, almost making my eyes black, and every stroke of these words is poking my spine! Who am I? Who have I become? I have never felt the malice from the world so clearly, the malice from the adult world. How heavy are these words? This is a verdict made by an adult on me, and he almost denies everything about me!
I treat the world with innocence, and the world responds to me with cruelty.
I have become numb, like a piece of rotten wood. Is there anything else in this world that is relevant to me?
"Yuanyuan?" Calling her "Zhang Yuanyuan" with her full name represented her aunt's anger, while calling her "Yuanyuan" in a soft and cautious voice represented her aunt's guilt and remorse.
"Did I say something wrong?" My uncle was still roaring, but this had nothing to do with me, a rotten piece of wood. "Isn't she..."
Gu Yue looked at me, his expression became tangled and confused, reluctance and heartache filled his eyes. He didn't want to involve me, but at this moment it became a pool of muddy water: "Old thing, I told you to shut up!" He kicked the dining table, and the iron table leg made a harsh sound.
My uncle's temper also flared up. He kicked the table without caring about anything. "You told me to shut up? You stole my money and you told me to shut up? You two thieves!"
"We are not thieves. I didn't steal your money. I wrote you an IOU!" Gu Yue couldn't stand such slander. He almost shouted at the top of his voice.
"You said it was a loan, so it is a loan? I would say you stole or cheated! I don't care how you got the money, it was taken away by you after all! I don't ask for anything else now, just return the money! If you return it, I will believe that it is not stealing!" said my uncle in a firm tone.
But where can we get the money? Zhou Sijie took the money away, how can I get it back? I went to his house, and then he held me responsible for hitting him? I was awakened by my uncle's words, and all kinds of thoughts flooded in. Every idea seemed feasible, but it seemed that every one of them could drag me into the abyss. I was very confused.
Not only was I confused, Gu Yue was also confused.
What could he say? He couldn't possibly reveal the fact that the money was stolen. If they investigated, I would be the first one to suffer! His hesitation was taken by his uncle as a sign of guilt.
My uncle shouted arrogantly, "You are speechless, right? You must have spent the money! I really don't know how your parents raised a social scum like you!"
Although Gu Yue was confident, he could not tell us what we wanted to hide, so he could only be vague. Gu Yue hesitated but still arrogant: "I will pay you back! Ten thousand or so yuan, I never care about it. When my dad comes back, I will ask him to give it to you immediately!"
"Ha! What a big tone! Wait for your dad to come back? How do I know if I'll wait for you to abscond with the money? Send you to the police station, I must send you to the police station!" The uncle didn't believe Gu Yue's words at all, and even said, "As long as you can take out the money now, don't say that your mother is sick and needs treatment, even if your mother dies, I will give you this money as funeral money!"
"I told you not to talk nonsense!" Gu Yue rushed over and threw himself on his uncle who was like a mountain. The two men started to wrestle with each other. People around them screamed and shouted, and the scene became chaotic.
"Cheng Jianwei, if you don't stop now, I will stop you!" Auntie yelled, finally stopping her uncle. But Gu Yue didn't give up and kicked him twice more.
"Gu Yue, right? I apologize to you for what he said wrong, but if you don't stop, I will really call the police!" My aunt has given up everything.
After hearing this, Gu Yue could only stop unwillingly.
"You little bastard, I'm going to call the police, I'm going to call the police!" My uncle was still muttering.
But the aunt ignored him completely. She said to Wang Zhenzhen, "Teacher, please take us to your office. I think it's better to solve these things in the office."
Wang Zhenzhen was obviously very happy with what her aunt said, and immediately led her uncle out. We have attracted many students to the canteen, and in fact, the family scandal has already spread.
I grabbed my aunt's arm, begging for help. I heard my uncle's words clearly. Fifteen thousand, as long as we can come up with fifteen thousand, this storm can be calmed down! A crazy idea gradually formed in my mind, and it became clearer and clearer. I looked at this chaotic situation and there was no better way to solve the problem than this! All my uncle wanted was money. If I gave him the money, wouldn't that be the end of it?
"Yuanyuan, what's wrong?" Auntie thought I was still sad because of what my uncle said, so she spoke very carefully, "Do you have anything to say to me?"
I nodded slightly, my voice so soft that it was almost inaudible: "Aunt, can I talk to you alone? "
My aunt glanced at my uncle, and I also winked at Gu Yue while Wang Zhenzhen was telling my uncle to go out. Gu Yue saw it and continued to go out, but his pace slowed down.
My aunt hesitated and stopped. When my uncle walked out of the cafeteria door cursing, she turned around, held my hand, and said with concern: "Your uncle is talking nonsense. I'll ask him to apologize to you when we get home. Don't worry about it. I know you are not that kind of person, but your uncle is stupid and wants to make a big deal out of it. Tell me, did this Gu Yue hold some handle on you and threaten you to do these things? Did he ask you to do illegal things outside? Or did he...you..." My aunt's tone became urgent, and she paused but didn't get to the point.
I didn't have the energy to think about what my aunt was going to say. I held her hand with my backhand and looked her straight in the eye, trying to convey my seriousness to her in the most direct way. I said, "Aunt, things are a bit complicated, and I can't explain it clearly for a while. If Gu Yue and I go to the office with you, then it's over for him and me!"
"What's over? Is there anything you can't tell me? Could it be that you..."
I didn't have time to clear up my aunt's misunderstanding, or rather, I didn't have time to understand what my aunt had misunderstood. I said, "Didn't my uncle just want the 15,000 yuan? Let's take the 15,000 yuan back, and then everything will be clear. Aunt, Gu Yue and I are not thieves. I, I will explain it to you later, you have to believe me!"
After saying that, I let go of my aunt's hand, took two steps back, and shouted, "Gu Yue, iron fence, run!"
The canteen alley can lead us through the dormitory iron gate to the iron fence, and we can escape from the school from there! As long as we lock the iron gate leading to the dormitory, they can only go around from the teaching building to catch us. At that time, we will run away!
I had planned it carefully. Deng Yi and I had just come through the iron gate, so it must be unlocked. My brain was racing, as if it was full of blood. I had only one thought in my mind: Don't you want money? I'll give it to you!
I turned around and ran back. Gu Yue heard my voice and jumped onto the dining table without hesitation. We moved quickly and made a lot of noise, but maybe my aunt was frightened. When we ran out of the cafeteria and were about to reach the iron door of the dormitory, she burst into a scream: "What are you doing?"
The footsteps were very close. When I heard my uncle and Wang Zhenzhen asking what happened, the voice shouted, "Go around the teaching building! They have locked the iron gate!"
Gu Yue and I looked at each other, both of us were very surprised, we just grabbed the iron door and didn't have time to lock it. However, when we both looked up, we saw Deng Yi standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, leading everyone away.
The door was locked, and the others ran in the opposite direction, cursing. Deng Yi suddenly rushed to the iron door and shouted in a low voice: "Gu Yue! Give me your phone!"
Gu Yue was still hesitating. Deng Yi became anxious and shouted in a shrill voice: "Give it to me quickly! They are coming soon!"
Without saying anything, Gu Yue passed the phone through the gap in the railing. Deng Yi quickly pressed a series of numbers, and a ringtone came from her trouser pocket. Deng Yi took out a handful of money from her pocket, both red and green, and stuffed it in with the phone: "Here! Here! I don't know where you are going to get 15,000, but here are at least 500! Yuanyuan doesn't have a phone, I will send you a message, keep in touch!"
"Deng Yi..." I stared at her blankly. I didn't know when I had a friend who could still believe in me at a moment like this? I couldn't even think of these two words a few months ago.
"Don't waste time! And don't ask me why!" Deng Yi said decisively, "You've already said thank you to me, let's go!"
I turned around faster than the tears fell, but I didn't have time to sigh. It turns out that opening your heart will be attacked, but it will also bring you beauty and trust. I ran out quickly, rushed to the iron fence, climbed up with Gu Yue's help, then jumped off the iron fence and ran for my life.
I looked at Gu Yue beside me, and then looked back at the gradually shrinking figure in school uniform. It turned out that I had a companion without knowing when. This feeling was like a thousand sails passing by.
Gu Yue and I rushed down the long slope and got on a motorcycle parked on the side of the road. I sat behind Gu Yue and shouted to the driver, "Let's go to the subway station!"
I rushed to the subway with Gu Yue. The comfort brought by running and the joy brought by the accelerated heartbeat made me laugh heartily. When I laughed enough, most of the people in the car had already regarded me as a psychopath.
"What are you laughing at?" I said to Gu Yue. He didn't look anxious or worried at all, and he didn't even doubt what I did. He even had a silly smile on his face.
Gu Yue reached out and flicked my head, saying, "You can laugh but I can't?"
I giggled and jumped up to hit Gu Yue on the head. But he was not honest and dodged. I almost fell down, and he grabbed me. He was very close to me, so close that I could almost see every line of his school uniform.
"Haha." He laughed softly above my head, "I'm laughing because you can finally feel at ease and not take this matter seriously!"
My ears felt itchy and I shrank my neck, but this action made Gu Yue laugh even harder.
It is indeed what Gu Yue said. I have an idea in my mind, and now I am on the subway. I feel that all this will be solved soon, or even that I have gotten rid of it all. Therefore, all the troubles that bothered me before are not troubles at all!
Those things are nothing! I said to Gu Yue with great joy, "Let's go to Shanghai!" I pulled out the jade pendant from my collar, "Let's go to Shanghai to find my mother! We'll get the money and rush back on Sunday. We'll just skip the last two classes this afternoon!" I was so excited. This idea made me inexplicably happy. "As long as we return the money to them, I'll see what they have to say!"
Gu Yue looked at me and smiled. I lowered my head uncomfortably and pretended to search Gu Yue's pocket: "Take out your phone and see what time the next bus is."
The reality is very bleak. There are many trains going to Shanghai that we found on our mobile phone, but all the money we had plus the money Deng Yi gave us was just enough to buy a second-class seat on the high-speed train.
"How about I go alone?" I said hesitantly, but Gu Yue's expression didn't seem like he would agree with me going alone, so I said, "We don't have enough money, why don't you wait here for me, I'll come to see you as soon as I get back tomorrow!"
I made a solemn promise to Gu Yue, but he just stared at me blankly.
Inexplicably, my face felt like it was on fire, and I felt guilty: "What can we do if we don't have enough money?"
Suddenly, the station announcement began: "We have arrived at the train station. Passengers getting off the train, please take your belongings with you..."
"You don't want to sit..." I said stupidly, pointing at the speaker.
Gu Yue reached out his hand and grabbed me. As soon as the door opened, he pulled me out and said, "Then take the regular train!"
Finally we bought two hard seat tickets for the fastest trip to Shanghai and arrived in Shanghai 14 hours later.
I leaned against the window and looked out, but I couldn't see anything. There were two or three lights just now, but now it was just endless darkness. This carriage was empty. Although there were a few people, they were all asleep.
We traveled through the darkness, heading for a city that was still a blank page for us, just like exploring a new map! I was more excited than ever before and didn't want to fall asleep.
Gu Yue's face was reflected by the black car window. I suddenly looked directly into his eyes and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
He leaned back, squinting lazily, playing with his phone, looking so relaxed that it seemed like he was going to fall asleep in the next second. I was surprised by his stare, so he said, "You are looking at me."
"It's you who's looking at me!"
Gu Yue smiled, his narrow eyes flashing with a gentle light: "If you don't look at me, how do you know I'm looking at you?"
I was annoyed by his rogue behavior and was about to argue with him when the screen of my phone lit up again. The caller ID showed that it was Director Guo. The harmonious and peaceful atmosphere was swept away, and I suddenly felt the cold of the cold night. The phone had been set to silent mode for a long time, and none of us paid attention to the call. There have been many calls since the afternoon, even Yue Hui and Gao Yuelin called.
I shrank my shoulders and felt a chill. There was a rustling sound outside, and something kept falling. A ball of white cotton-like stuff hit the car window in front of me. It was snowing.
As soon as the signs of excitement appeared, they were ruthlessly pushed back to the shore.
Gu Yue looked at me, smiling, with an unprecedentedly relaxed expression on his face: "If they ask, just say that I instigated you to run away. Anyway, you were like a puppy, and you would run away if you teased me."
"Get lost!" I said unhappily, and my mood improved a lot.
"I'm serious. After we give them the money, they will definitely ask questions. Just say that you went to see my dad overnight! Then let my dad give false testimony and the matter will be over." Gu Yue said seriously.
I was surprised. Gu Yue's father didn't look like someone who would indulge his child like this. "Your dad is really good. He even helps you with lying."
Gu Yue grinned. He looked out the window, into the distance, and seemed to be looking at distant memories: "My dad..." He seemed to be talking in his sleep, "He's fine." But it was only for a moment. Gu Yue, who was immersed in beautiful memories, woke up immediately. He said straightforwardly: "Anyway, I'll take the blame for this. Gu Changxing won't let me get into any trouble. At most, I'll transfer to another school and take the graduation exam a year later."
He said it with great confidence, as if helping me take the blame would turn out to be a blessing in disguise for him. He changed his sitting position and added, "Anyway, with a top student like you here, maybe if I take the graduation exam a year later, I can do even better!"
I also laughed: "That's hard to say, but my tutoring is valuable!" As soon as I finished speaking, the phone screen lit up again.
The two of us were silent again. After a while, he impatiently threw the phone into my arms and said, "I'm so annoyed. You take it!"
The cell phone was flashing in the darkness, snowflakes were hitting the windows, and the bone-chilling wind attacked the train as it moved forward in the night. Gu Yue and I huddled together and fell asleep.
The phone screen seemed to have waited anxiously for a long time, but before the call was connected, it was silent as death. At the moment before it went out, the screen read - Deng Yi.
"I'm sorry, if you can only provide your name and age without any identification information or phone number, it will be difficult for me to find you." The receptionist at the lobby said apologetically, "Besides, the time you mentioned has been several years."
I lied to Gu Yue. The address was Lanton Hotel, No. 179, Zhongshan Road. This was the address on the mail when my mother sent me a package seven years ago. I didn't even have a phone number. But now I can't lie anymore. I don't even dare to look back at Gu Yue's face.
I was embarrassed and wondered whether I should just give up or call my aunt. Suddenly, another receptionist interrupted: "The name you said sounds familiar. Can you say it again? I think I remember it a little bit."