The dean again took up the time between class exercises to announce the punishment. When he announced Xu Lichen’s punishment on the radio, and then said, “Let’s start broadcasting”, the students in Class 2 all looked at Zhang Zhiyuan at the back with surprise, winking at him and gesturing.
Zhang Zhiyuan couldn’t help but look at Zhang Yansheng.
Zhang Yansheng didn’t look back, just touched the hair near her ear.
When the students in Class 8 heard the announcement, they turned their heads and wanted to wink at Xu Lichen, “Congratulations”. He achieved another disciplinary achievement. They also knew that Xu Lichen didn’t care about punishment or what not.
But today Xu Lichen was out of his usual character, not having that proud and arrogant smile. He cast his eyes on the ground in front of him, as if he hadn’t focused at all, and they didn’t know what he was thinking.
The students squeezed their eyes for a long time, and called him with ‘hiss’ and ‘hush’, but he did not respond to them at all. It made their boss turn his head back again in a boring manner.
After lunch, Zhang Yansheng wandered around the school for a while. She doesn’t like to go back to the classroom and sit down as soon as she is full, especially in winter, when the windows are tightly closed, the classroom is stuffier.
But the other girls were too cold, so they all went back to the classroom first.
Zhang Zhiyuan took advantage of this empty gap to catch up with her and apologized to her.
Zhang Yansheng raised his eyebrows: “What are you apologizing for?”
“Just for the night before yesterday,” Zhang Zhiyuan said, “My mother’s attitude was not very good…”
Zhang Yansheng didn’t care: “Aren’t all parents like that?”
She had seen a much worse attitude in her previous life. It was just a stranger walking on the road. After walking over, she heard her said to her child behind her: If you dare to dress up like that, I will kill you.
“Don’t mind it then.” Zhang Zhiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s not a big deal.” Zhang Yansheng said silently.
Zhang Zhiyuan pursed his lips and said, “Actually… I am from a single-parent family.”
Zhang Yansheng slowed down and looked up at him.
“My dad passed away when I was in the 5th grade. My mother took care of me alone, and she never got married again. She just… attached a lot of importance to me.”
“That’s for sure. She is your mother.” Zhang Yansheng said.
She hadn’t taken this matter to heart. Now that she knew about his family situation, her heart softened, and her voice was a bit softer than usual: “You are her most important person. She must have very high expectations of you.”
So, if you are more disciplined and stricter, you can be regarded as an eye-catching person.
“Yes!” Zhang Zhiyuan admitted, “Her dream is for me to go to Q University.”
You definitely can, Zhang Yansheng said silently in her heart.
There is an indescribable envy. She remembers that when she actually didn’t understand what was going on in college entrance examinations, she also uttered bold words to her mother, “When I grow up, I will pass the exam and go to Q University or B University.”
This is an ambition that almost every child would have when they were young. Her mother certainly didn’t take it seriously at the time, but she still smiled happily.
Unfortunately, she can’t be like Zhang Zhiyuan, who can really make her mother’s wish come true and make her proud of her child.
Zhang Zhiyuan is an enviable ‘other people’s child’.
She smiled: “You will definitely be admitted there.”
Zhang Zhiyuan smiled: “I found that you always have so much confidence in me.”
He scratched his forehead and said, “Actually, I am very stupid. When I was in the first year of middle school, I wanted to go to a vocational high school, technical secondary school, or something.”
Zhang Yansheng said inexplicably: “Huh?”
Zhang Zhiyuan was a little embarrassed and told her: “Because my mother raised me by herself, so my family had a mortgage for many years. I felt that my mother was very hardworking, so I just wanted to go to work early to earn money.”
Zhang Yansheng can accept this idea from others, but Zhang Zhiyuan? Come on, he is the champion!
Her thoughts were obviously revealed through her expression. Zhang Zhiyuan was a little embarrassed and said, “Later, the head teacher found out about it and called my mother, and my mother knew what I thought at that time. She was so sad that she cried. Then, she told me that I can’t be so short-sighted. Hard work for a few years is completely different from hard work for a lifetime.”
Zhang Yansheng was greatly relieved: “Auntie is right.” Her mind was very clear.
“Yes.” Zhang Zhiyuan said, “In fact, it’s ridiculous in retrospect, but at that age, it’s really easy to get stuck or get confused. Fortunately, an adult woke me up, so I didn’t go the wrong way.”
These words touched Zhang Yansheng and made her silent.
After a while, she raised her head: “Then, have you figured it out clearly now? What are your thoughts in your future?”
“Actually, my mother really wants me to go abroad. When my father was still alive, he wanted me to study abroad when I grew up.” Zhang Zhiyuan said, “But my mother and I have discussed it before. The cost is too high and we basically can’t apply for scholarships for undergraduate degrees. Based on the current situation of our family, we can’t afford it. My mother wants to sell our house, and she wants to borrow some from relatives and friends…”
“I stopped her. I don’t think it’s necessary. There are also good universities in China, 211 and 985¹ Project 211 and Project 985 – these are projects to improve the development and reputation of the education system in China. so it is definitely no problem to get an undergraduate degree.”
“If you are studying for graduate school, it is easier to apply for scholarships abroad. Of course, the premise is that you have good grades. I have studied a lot of information, and I think it should be possible to do it by the time I am an undergraduate.”
“Of course, the premise is that I first have to go to a good enough university here in China.”
“In that case, the premise is that the three years of high school are very critical and cannot be relaxed.”
“So, you know exactly what you want and what you should do, and…” Zhang Yansheng said, “You are always on the right path and doing the right thing.”
Zhang Zhiyuan didn’t understand why there was so much emotion in Zhang Yansheng’s eyes. He smiled and said, “Isn’t everyone like this?”
Not really.
Even in an excellent class like the Class 2, there are students in the class who only know how to do the exercises in front of them, but don’t know where the future is. Therefore, even if the academic performance is the same, there are still differences in the maturity of these students.
So, last Saturday night, his eyebrows were full of teenager’s affection, but what he said was that he had to study hard.
Under Zhang Zhiyuan’s youth and gentleness, there is rationality and maturity which is beyond Zhang Yansheng’s expectation.
The loss of a young man’s father is one of the three sorrows in life.
He lost his father at the same age as she lost her mother. His family may not have the blood of the illegitimate children of his stepmother or stepfather, but he has the financial pressure that he must bear.
But he chose a completely different path from her in her previous life. He chose to work hard for himself and his mother.
Yes, this is the right way.
Ah… she really wants to let a certain bastard come and listen to this and have a look, compare it with others and accept this kind of flogging with her.
The teacher often drags the class, so that the hours after school vary from class to class.
However, the teachers have a tacit understanding that they generally don’t need to drag the class in Class 8. So, when Zhang Yansheng arrived at the back of the subway station, Xu Lichen was already there.
He was chatting with his driver and Zhang Yansheng’s driver, Xiao Zhou — after a long time, Xiao Zhou and the two of them actually became familiar with each other.
Seeing her coming, Xu Lichen opened the car door and said, “It’s cold outside, let’s talk in the car.”
Zhang Yansheng greeted Xiao Zhou: “Wait for me for a while.” Then, she got into the car.
Xu Lichen closed the car door for her, went around to the other side and got into the car. After sitting down, he also closed the car door, turned his head and asked Zhang Yansheng, “What about the evidence you mentioned?”
Zhang Yansheng took something out of her coat pocket and gave it to him.
The lights in the car were on and illuminated clearly. A square-folded piece of paper with horizontal partitions, neat on one side, and a little burr on one side. One can tell that it was a piece of paper torn from the homework book at first glance.
“This is it?” Xu Lichen murmured with dissatisfaction and opened the origami.
Zhang Yansheng asked, “You didn’t go to question your parents on Sunday, did you?”
“Ask those farts?!” Xu Lichen said, “I can’t even see the two of them at all!”
One man’s love is another man’s poison.
Zhang Zhiyuan’s words showed helplessness and pressure on his mother to take herself too seriously.
Zhang Yansheng was envious.
Moreover, Zhang Yansheng felt that if Xu Lichen knew about it, he would be envious too.
“Ye Qingwen? Xu Mulin? Yinghua Experimental High School?” There were just three lines on the paper, two names and one school name. After Xu Lichen finished reading it, he looked up at Zhang Yansheng and waited for her to explain.
Zhang Yansheng didn’t disappoint him, and said clearly: “Ye Qingwen is your father’s white moonlight.”²白月光 – White Moonlight – usually refers to the person or thing in the heart that is beyond reach, always loved, but cannot be touched. It refers to the intention of the sweetheart and the unforgettable first love.
Xu Lichen stared at her: “How can these words ‘white moonlight’ placed besides my father’s name be so horrible?”
Zhang Yansheng was speechless: “Well, I can’t find another more suitable words. She is your dad’s first love, probably his goddess. She married a man who was much older than herself. At that time, that man’s economic conditions were much better than your father’s.”
“My dad has told me countless times that he started from scratch.” Xu Lichen said.
“Well anyway, her husband was richer than your dad at the time. She was doing well, a full-time wife, and has a child, who seems to be a son too, I guess?” Zhang Yansheng didn’t remember the last point very clearly.
“Didn’t you say that the one she gave birth to claimed to be my brother?”
“He was born later. She also had a child with her ex-husband. Anyway, I can’t remember whether it was a son or a daughter.” Zhang Yansheng said, “In short, her husband went bankrupt and wanted to take her to die together. As a result, her husband, her parents who helped her with their child, and the child all died, and she survived alone. Her parents-in-law also said that she was a bearer of bad luck and chased her from the house, so she went out. It didn’t make sense for her to fight for the house, because all their properties were later sealed off for liquidation and auction to pay off their debt.”
“She had a miserable life. When your dad heard about it, he went to be a hero to save the beauty.”
Xu Lichen looked up at the roof of the car for a long time before gritting his teeth and nodded: “My dad is so good ah, picking up a second-hand product as a pick-up man, huh?”
“That’s why I said that she is his white moonlight, maybe even his true love.” Zhang Yansheng didn’t understand it either.
Zhang Huan has no real love in his vocabulary. He just likes the young meat or body of youth.
If you ask him about his true love, maybe he will take Zhang Yansheng’s mother’s name out which is disgusting for Zhang Yansheng. With her understanding of him, the probability is quite high.
She can’t even think about it, she will vomit whenever she thinks about it.
“Later on, she followed your dad. When she was pregnant, your mother was pregnant with you first, and your brother was just a few months younger than you.” Zhang Yansheng said, “But this woman has excessive mental stimulation and is very neurotic. Her own son disliked her attitude, and I heard that your father disliked that too.”
If it weren’t for true love, what else could it be?
“What do you mean?” Xu Lichen was irritable, “My dad personally took her over and raised as a baby, and she is a f*cking psychotic?
Zhang Yansheng tried to think about it: “It’s not a mental illness, it’s just very neurotic. She wants to be with your dad all day long, she has to see your dad and wants to stick with your dad. If your dad gets busy for several days and doesn’t visit her, she will bevery upset or something. I don’t know the specific details.”
In fact, Zhang Yansheng knew many details, because Xu Lichen told her about it later on. Moreover, Ye Qingwen, that woman, also influenced Zhang Yansheng at the time.
Her son failed the college entrance examination, and Xu Lichen’s father wanted to send him abroad. Ye Qingwen refused it no matter what.
Because she couldn’t do without her son, she would be hysterical if he went abroad. But she couldn’t leave Xu Lichen’s father as well and follow her son abroad to study. She would also be hysterical when she left Xu Lichen’s father.
Finally, because of her, Xu Lichen’s father forced his illegitimate son to go to a local university not only in China, but also in K City.
In his heart, he loves this illegitimate son more than Xu Lichen, but he loves the illegitimate son’s mother more than the illegitimate son. It is better to let the illegitimate son resent the two of them, but also to satisfy his white moonlight’s thoughts first.
Zhang Huan should really be asked to come and have a look at this real great love saint, right?
At that time, Zhang Huan also wanted to send Zhang Yansheng abroad.
Zhang Yansheng was unwilling to leave her entire family to Liang Yingying, so that she could be domineering and be happy. Ye Qingwen’s attitude inspired her.
She was also determined not to go abroad, and resolutely stayed in K City, disgusting Zhang Huan and Liang Yingying.
On the contrary, Xu Lichen was forcibly sent abroad by his mother.