Hiraeth ; Meteor Garden 2018

Chapter 4

"Hey Shui!" Ximen greeted me as I sat down between him and Meizuo. Lei gave me a small smile and Ah Si gave me one but he looked away. He seemed a bit distracted but I shook it off. We were talking about Lei's recital. Ah Si then snapped his head to look at the entrance of the cafeteria. I followed his eyes and saw a girl with short black hair and bangs who was with a tall boy who looked kind of awkward. I nudged Meizuo and gestured to the girl.

"Ah... That's her. The one Ah Si's been telling you about. Her name is Dong Shancai." he whispered to me as I continued to stare at the girl. She seemed nice and she looked like she was uncomfortable given the way Ah Si was staring at her. Speaking of Ah Si, he suddenly stood up and walked towards Shancai. I could see Shancai panicking and in her panic, she bumped into another student, fell, and the tray of food she was holding got all over her. I winced and wanted to stand up and help the poor girl but Meizuo held me back and shook his head. I furrowed my eyebrows as if to ask him why. He gestured to Ah Si.

"Are you blind? Watch where you're going." The said student said, annoyed. Shancai's friend immediately helped her up.

"So sorry." he apologized for her.

"I'll let you go this time. You'd better watch it." The student said as he turned to leave. Shancai's friend turned to help her up but Ah Si beat him to it and pulled him out of the way.

"Shancai. Being with Qinghe makes you 100, 1,000,10,000 times happier, right? So you must be really happy now." Ah Si mocked Shancai who was still on the floor.

"Daoming Si. Why are you picking on us? Do you really enjoy doing that?" Shancai asked in anger while Ah Si just laughed.

"I do. It makes me so happy to see you fall on your face." Ah Si answered as he bent down to her level.

"Shancai. You look like you love to eat all kinds of vegetables. No wonder you're called "Shancai." Ah, Si taunted as he pinched her cheek which she swatted away.

"Let go!" Shancai exclaimed.

"What's wrong? Go ahead and hit me." Ah Si prodded.

"Daoming Si, you're crossing the line." Her friend Qinghe said in defense to Shancai. I was really fuming now, Ah Si was being too much but before I could say anything, Lei suddenly stood up and walked towards Ah Si and Shancai. I looked at Jing who seemed as shocked as I was. Lei was never one to involve himself in other's businesses and now he was helping someone he barely knew. He pulled her up and dusted her off.

"Have you had enough?" Ah Si asked as he stood from his position on the floor as Lei continued dusting off some leftover food from Shancai's clothes. Ah Si turned to Lei and Lei looked at him as well before grabbing Shancai's hand and walking away. Suddenly, Ah Si grabbed Shancai's other hand and pulled her back along with Lei.

"Lei, do you know what you're doing?" Ah Si asked him, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Ah Si, enough is enough." Lei answered calmly. And by that time we had all stood up and walked closer to the scene. I stood next to my sister with Meizuo and Ximen on my right. I really didn't like where this was going.

"Don't tell me you like this crazy girl." Ah Si asked him in annoyance as he tried to pull Shancai towards him.

"Stop it." Lei answered back as he pulled Shancai back.

"Ah Si, that's enough." I said as I glared at him. I was furious. No girl deserves this no matter the reason. Ah Si stared at me and I saw fear in his eyes but he shook it off and turned to look at Lei.

"If you're my friend, let go." Ah Si demanded as he pulled Shancai again. Ah Si repeated what he said and pulled her tighter but Lei wouldn't budge.