Chapter 10 What Can Be Served with Wine (5)

  Du Cui was putting on makeup in the dormitory. Since she became friends with Shi Wei, she also learned to dress herself up. After all, a woman should make herself look good for her loved one. Huang Qiuya sat at the desk opposite her, opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but then closed it again.

  Du Ci thought to herself: Who knows if Huang Qiuya is thinking of asking me, whether I'm going to Shi Wei's place again. I'll tease her first.

  Du Cui deliberately said loudly: "Really didn't think, originally Long Bao's brush calligraphy is so good, no wonder in the past he could make money by selling words in the countryside! I see, if he participates in this year's May 1st school-sponsored calligraphy competition, he will definitely win first place!"

  Huang Qiuya retorted: "You've never practiced calligraphy and can't even read, how can you be so sure his handwriting is that good to take first place?"

  "It goes without saying, I carefully appreciated it yesterday, Shi Wei even asked him to write a 'Drunken Old Man's Pavilion' in small script as a model for calligraphy! Shi Wei has made up his mind to start practicing hard from now on and become a calligrapher or something! Du Ci had a mischievous idea in her heart, wanting to tease Huang Qiuya, she continued, "Qiuya, are you free? Why don't we go together to appreciate it? Go see Long Bao write?"

  Huang Qiuya became very emotional, and upon hearing this, she seemed to realize something. She immediately made a face and said: "If you want to go, go by yourself! What does it have to do with me?" After saying that, she stood up and walked out.

  Du Cizhen did so because she bore the heavy responsibility of the arduous reconnaissance mission entrusted to her by Shi Wei.

  Du Cui is very ghostly, and Shi Wei is almost the same. In everyone's eyes, they are simply a perfect match. Du Cui is a bit short and fat, while Shi Wei is relatively tall and thin; Du Cui has a round face, while Shi Wei has a long face; Du Cui has big eyes, while Shi Wei has small eyes. Shi Wei dares to make fun of anyone, but he's a bit afraid of Du Cui. When Shi Wei secretly gave Du Cui the nickname "belly", she immediately retaliated by calling him "flat ten", "stone flat three" and even worse names, making Shi Wei not dare to fart. Shi Wei really likes Du Cui, and Du Cui thinks Shi Wei is pretty good too. Shi Wei claims that they are complementary in their external systems, blending in their inner personalities, appreciating each other's language styles, and loving each other's emotions - a perfect example of a 21st-century couple.

  Du Cui had long seen that Huang Qiuya must have some thoughts about Long Bao, but also felt that Qiuya was very contradictory. Since Huang Qiuya was caught by Long Bao in the corridor and touched her chest, she never went to their dormitory again. However, whenever Chang Cheng came to find her, she became cold towards him, as if she regarded Chang Cheng as a person who had nothing to do with her.

  Shi Wei observed that since Christmas, Longbiao had been left alone to spend the holiday, he seemed to have returned to his old self, once again being taciturn and no longer having that bright smile, often lost in thought. Logically speaking, Longbiao should have long gotten rid of his living pressures, his family's reputation was already well-known outside, there shouldn't be any more worries about life, so why now that he has money and the coming-of-age ceremony had been held, did Longbiao become unhappy again? Several brothers pondered that Longbiao must have contracted lovesickness, because the symptoms of this condition had appeared on them before.

  Who is thinking of whom?

  According to the current situation, it is already impossible for Wenli, because Longbiao has long known that Wenli and Zheng Xue are good again. It is said that Wenli and Zheng Xue have rented a house outside. Longbiao and Shi Wei also saw Wenli several times on the road, and Longbiao even greeted Wenli and Zheng Xue in a friendly manner. At that time, Shi Wei cleverly held Longbiao's hand to check his pulse, but there was no sign of increased heart rate. The number of women Longbiao has been with is extremely limited, and from many events, the only possibility is Huang Qiuya.

  This is a difficult problem, although Du Cui reflected in the situation report that Huang Qiuya may really like Long Bao, but the two are not very realistic. The Huang family's dependence on the Chang Sheng family is too much, and without the support and demand of the Chang Sheng enterprise, the Huang family's factory will immediately fall into trouble. Chang Sheng and her history as a couple is not short, and Long Bao is four years younger than Huang Qiuya, which is also a big problem. It seems that Huang Qiuya also understands this point herself, so she has been afraid to break off her relationship with Chang Sheng.

  It's no wonder, who let this little one fall in love at such a young age, and it had to be Huang Qiuya that he likes, which really puts his brothers in a difficult position.

  They didn't want to see Long Bao become his old self again, but they didn't know how to intervene. In their predicament, they could only have Du Cai make a detour. As the saying goes: When a man chases a woman, he must cross mountains; when a woman chases a man, she must lift her veil. If Du Cai could lift Huang Qiuya's veil, everything would be easy to handle.

  According to Du Ci's reflection, the effect is not obvious. Although Huang Qiuya would listen to Du Ci intentionally talking about Long Bao and Shi Wei after the downstairs incident, she didn't have much reaction after listening. However, as soon as Du Ci mentioned going to Long Bao's dormitory to play, she firmly refused to come and sometimes even turned her face away in anger.

  Shi Wei and Du Ci were enjoying their beautiful love while also eagerly and righteously paying attention to Long Bao's emotional issues.

  Actually, they all misunderstood me. Although I did have some thoughts about finding a girlfriend due to hormonal reasons, it wasn't that serious.

  For Wenli, I am now silently blessing her to find a haven for love. Although Zheng Xuezeng has wronged her before, "past mistakes can be corrected, and there is no greater virtue than that." This was what my grandfather taught me when I was young; As for Huang Qiuya, I also feel that I didn't have any feelings for her, although her body is very soft, making me want to try again, but I don't have any thoughts of falling in love with her.

  Since Christmas, my entire thinking space has been placed on how to understand that strange dream and the mysterious actions of De Lao. I always feel that it must have a very deep meaning and some kind of revelation.

  I'm approaching my 16th birthday, and I won't be far from death in less than 14 years. I do have a fear of that dream, I think it's reminding me that my life is only half left. But at the same time, I always feel that this dream must also be like De Lao's mysterious gesture, another hint that I haven't grasped yet.

  I've been thinking about these issues all day long. I always feel that although life was a bit tough when I was young, I was very happy, with my grandfather and leopard, and there were no such things to bother me. At this moment, I deeply feel that what makes life miserable is not the hardship of living, but rather the contemplation of life itself.

  But I always can't grasp the essence of such thoughts, and I feel like I haven't even touched the edge of the answer. It seems that I am simply very stupid.

  I really envy Sun Wukong, the old ancestor Bodhi just knocked three times on his head and he immediately understood the old ancestor's intention. But what about me? Several months have passed and I still don't have a clue.

  Long Bao couldn't resolve his own doubts, so to dispel his troubles, he started practicing calligraphy. He practiced calligraphy by imitating the methods of the ancients, dipping his brush in water and writing on the ground.

  Long Bao often holds a dictionary, staring at a word and thinking about its structure and meaning. He imagines how he can use his pen to bring the word to life. Long Bao believes that if he can infuse the word's meaning into his writing, it will give the word a kind of vitality. Chinese characters have a unique quality that surpasses all other human languages, and Long Bao is trying to express this uniqueness through his writing.

  Shi Wei followed Long Biao for a few days, and after a few days, he didn't have any leaks. He explained to everyone that he was definitely not talented in calligraphy, and since he wasn't talented, it couldn't be forced.

  De Lao and Long Bao met a few more times, one evening they chatted for an hour. De Lao found out that Long Bao was actually the silly kid who caused trouble at the writers' association meeting. He also learned that Long Bao was an orphan. Long Bao didn't expect that De Lao would have the same surname as his mother, Wen. De Lao had no children by his side, his wife had passed away over a decade ago, and except for a nanny, his son had gone to America, and his days were very lonely.

  In mid-April, the school's Youth League Committee and Student Union jointly issued a call for donations to all students to help a third-year student with leukemia receive medical treatment.

  This student is from a rural area, and his family has been emptying their pockets to support his education. His parents are seriously ill, and the whole family relies on an older brother working in Guangdong for support. Although this student also works part-time jobs to make ends meet, he has been too frugal and has overworked himself, lacking exercise and having poor physical health, which led to him contracting leukemia. The Student Union is calling on everyone to show their love and help this student get through this difficult time as soon as possible.

  Shi Wei finished lunch and began to lament in the dormitory: "Lao Liu, I always thought you were the most miserable person in our school. Unexpectedly, there are still classmates who have a harder time than you! Alas, it seems that there are too many tragic and painful things in this world!"

  Hai Lao Da patted his thigh heavily, saying: "Brothers, I propose that we donate more money today. At the very least, let's show some sympathy and do our part!"

  "Alright then, let's just dig into our own pockets. I think Longbiao doesn't need it, he's already suffering enough on his own."

  "Long Bao, your money is all hard-earned, it's not easier than ours. Besides, if I'm out of money, just one word and my family will give me some. You don't need to worry, we brothers will chip in for you."

  Long Bao sank into silence, but in his mind, the miserable state of this classmate floated up, and he was strongly shocked by these tragic scenes! In his heart, he cried out: What kind of suffering is this! Leukemia is blood cancer! If a suitable bone marrow match can't be found for transplantation, then this classmate will definitely die without a doubt! I have no family or parents to worry about, but this classmate still has two seriously ill parents in bed! Their lifeblood is this child studying at a prestigious university! Think about it, if the two old people knew their child had this kind of cancer, what if something happened and they lost their child? Would they still want to live?! What am I talking about! They are already living on borrowed time! The pain of separation from life and death is so real!

  These past few months, I've saved over 10,000 yuan. Originally, I wanted to continue doing private tutoring for a few more months, save up enough for the tuition and living expenses of third and fourth grade, pay back the money that Wenli's family lent me, and then devote myself fully to studying. It seems like I'll have to keep going. But I definitely can't let my brothers know how much money I'm donating, or they'll have opinions about it.

  Longbiao made up his mind.

  Hai Lao Da saw Long Bao not saying a word, and thought he had tacitly agreed. He happily said: "How about this? I think we don't need to collect money separately from each person. Just one sentence, everyone takes out the money they can use, no matter how much, puts it together, and donates it. It's like our whole dormitory's intention. What do you say, brothers? Those who agree raise their hands!"

  "Boss! Boss! You're so brilliant and great! You're the sun in our hearts! How can you be so clever, it's not like you at all? I'm not only giving you a thumbs up, I'm also lifting my feet!" Shi Wei sat on the stool with his hands and feet all raised.

  The boss took out all the money from his pocket and threw it on the table, saying: "I'm in a special situation, you guys do whatever you want! I'll go get another thousand later, come on brothers, take out all your money!"

  Shi Wei opened his wallet, threw it on the table, and then rummaged through his pockets to pull out some small change, dumping it all on the table. He had just sat back down when he immediately got up again, pulled out a 50 yuan bill from his wallet, and held it in his hand with a sly grin: "Hehe, I'll take this 50 back, I still need to pay for my ride back home on Saturday!"

  "Hey, what's going on? Did your family move or something? You're taking a taxi and it's already 50 bucks?"

  Hehe! I'll take the rest and go online, play some games! Hehe!

  "Hey! Someone's holding a lifeline for you, and you're still playing games?! You want to keep playing?! No way! Here's three bucks, take the bus!"

  "Big Brother! No way? Three bucks? Taking a bus? How can that be?"

  "What's wrong with that! You tell me! I'm telling you, I won't hit anymore in the future! If you still nag, I'll make you ride a bike back!" Hai Lao Da glared at Shi Wei with wide eyes.

  Shi Wei muttered a few words and then didn't dare make another sound.

  Wen Xuan walked over and said in a low voice: "I only have this much left, and I haven't received any money from home this month."

  Qiu Qin pulled out 200 yuan from his wallet and tossed it onto the table, saying: "No choice, Yunping isn't feeling well, I have to take her to see a doctor, so just consider this my contribution."

  Liao Ye patted his own pocket, yesterday a classmate had just returned the 500 yuan he borrowed from him last year. He had asked for it back several times and Liao Ye had sworn not to lend money to others again. Was he supposed to donate the 500 yuan himself? That was unrealistic! There were still over 300 yuan in his pocket, but there was no reason to give it away! It was Hai Tao's bad luck that he got leukemia, what did it have to do with him? Hai Tao was really being nosy, why did he have to organize everyone to donate money? Did he think he was the boss? What a show-off, trying to flaunt his wealth! But in front of so many brothers, not giving anything was not an option. Fine, he would just give a few tens of yuan as alms to a beggar. Forget it, he would just consider it as not buying Liu Siyun a gift.

  Liao Ye searched his pockets for a while and said, "I just happened to put the money with Si Yun. I only have this much in my pocket. Otherwise, I'll go get it from Si Yun tomorrow." After finishing speaking, he put several 10-yuan bills and several 1-yuan bills on the table, then returned to his own desk to read a book.

  Shi Wei stared at Liao Ye in surprise. Yesterday, when their classmate was paying back the money, Long Bao and he were standing right next to Liao Ye. And Liao Ye hadn't gone to Si Yun's place yesterday or this morning! Shi Wei thought to himself: "What a cheapskate! Still a Beijing native at heart! Can't even compare to Old Big Square! The old man only had three bucks left and didn't complain! Damn it! What kind of person is this!"

  Longbiao stood up, walked steadily to the table, Longbiao didn't have a wallet, he only had last night's tuition fee from a parent and dozens of yuan in spare change. He silently took it all out and said, "Sorry, I don't have any more."

  Haitao saw it and quickly grabbed the money that Longbiao had just put on the table, wanting to stuff it into Longbiao's pocket. He anxiously said: "Old Six! Are you trying to lose me? Can't this donation be less for you? Take it back! Take it back! You still need to live and pay tuition!"

  Long Bao dodged and weaved, pushing away the tide with his hands, saying: "Boss, I really don't need it, just put it on the table! I'm a veteran, I can imagine the miserable situation of this classmate's family. If I don't donate, I'll be uneasy at heart!"

  The old shrimp muttered to himself and shook his head, suddenly shouting: "Damn it! I'll take out another thousand!"

  On the table, Shi Wei counted the money and said: "Now it's Old Big 630, I'm 494, Qiu Qin is 200, Wen Xuan is 107, Liao Ye is 43, and Old Six is 267. If we add the 2,000 that Shanghai Old Big promised, it would be 3,804 yuan. Why don't I just add another 196 to make it 4,000? How about that?"

  "Hey, stinky! Didn't you say you were out of money?"

  Shi Wei chuckled and said: "We'll go find Du Ci later to borrow it, hehe, I'm sure she'll be so moved that she'll cry her nose off!"

  Long Bao arrived at the bank, withdrew the money, and after deducting only 300 yuan was left. Long Bao had already planned that there were still two months before the summer vacation, so he could earn another 2,000 to 3,000 yuan, go home for a trip, offer incense to his parents, and then come back. During the summer vacation, there would be more tutoring jobs, so he could completely earn enough tuition fees.

  Long Bao rushed to the post office, used a pseudonym, wrote a few words of blessing, and sent it to the school league committee with an alias.

  The teachers of the Student Union and the student council gathered together, staring at this huge remittance bill, discussing it in an uproar.

  "Which philanthropist is so kind? Donating over ten thousand yuan all at once!"

  "Yes! Rich people nowadays are still kind-hearted!"

  "But you say this rich man is weird, look, he even donated money with loose change!"

  "Look! Why didn't he just donate 11,300? He had to donate exactly 11,314?"

  ……

  Teacher Zhang took a look at the remittance slip and wondered, "Hmm? Doesn't this handwriting resemble that of Long Bao from our class?"

  He immediately denied the idea, how could he have the ability to donate money? In his eyes, Long Peng was a poor and deadbeat student who was disrespectful to teachers and had no manners, it was impossible for him to donate such a large sum of money. The school's League Committee made a copy of this remittance slip and other social donation slips for archiving and safekeeping.

  Shi Wei stealthily took out a few sheets of high-quality rice paper, a pen, and placed them in front of Long Bao, while Du Cui stood beside him.

  Long Wan looked at them, wondering what kind of trick they were going to play again.

  Shi Wei dryly laughed and Du Cui kicked him while scolding: "Are you a pig? Can't you speak?"

  Shi Wei had no choice but to bow his head and say, "Old Six! I know you're blaming me for not being diligent in practicing calligraphy, but today you must write a few characters for me according to my request and paint an ink wash painting!"

  Several people gathered around to watch Longbiao write. As Longbiao raised his brush, he suddenly remembered two words he had filled out before and casually wrote them on the rice paper.

  The first is:

  The Shang Dynasty's imperial court is desolate and still,

  Autumn geese fly in formation, their cries echoing chill.

  A lone traveler, I stand on the riverbank so gray,

  Watching as they disappear into the distant sky's pale ray.

  Looking up at the sky and gazing into the distance, where is the immortal's footprint? In those days, it was a long journey of ten thousand miles. Who brought the clear wind to wash away my old face, who understood the sorrow of the southbound geese in autumn?

  Tears fall like residual clouds, frost withers the green trees, pitiful yellow butterflies flutter and dance. Shallow cups and deep bowls converse with each other, in drunkenness I hear another night of rain.

  The second is:

  Jiang Cheng, don't ask.

  Where has a floating duckweed gone? Lightly comes, leisurely waves, drifting dreams are tied up, and deeply lost in thought.

  Look at it with clear streams on its silk roots, cold and quiet, silent and flowing.

  A bluebird perches beside a wine cup, its wings fluttering weakly as it slowly forgets. Slender fingers, pure and white, lost in thought, unaware of what they ponder.

  Don't ask where the fallen flowers will go; falling hurts, staying also chills.

  Long Bao writes brush words, likes to write traditional characters. Perhaps it is Long Bao's heart that is more desolate, these words written on Xuan paper always give people a very dull, heavy and sinking feeling, which also intensifies the melancholy and sorrowful atmosphere that reverberates throughout the paper.

  Long Bao spread out another sheet of rice paper, and scenes of himself and Xiao Gou Bao playing together on Bear Mountain flashed through his mind. He picked up his rice bowl, filled it with water, dipped his brush in, and then dabbed it in ink. With a few quick strokes, the majestic figure of Bao leapt onto the page, vivid and lifelike.

  Shi Wei again asked Long Bao to write on a piece of rice paper the famous words of Qu Yuan: "The road is long and distant, I will search up and down", then he also insisted that Long Bao sign his name, saying that he must keep it well and pass it on to the children he would have with Rourou.

  The two of them stood guard beside the rice paper, not allowing anyone else to touch it again. After the ink dried, the two rolled up the rice paper and left.

  After the May Day holiday, the school's calligraphy competition announced its results. Long Bao and a classmate from Grade 3 both won first prize in brush pen calligraphy, while a special prize was awarded to a doctoral student. Several judges praised Long Bao's calligraphy as having a bold structure and spiritual charm. The school held an exhibition of the award-winning works and presented prizes and certificates.

  Long Bao knew that the characters he wrote were taken by Shi Wei and Du Ci to participate in the competition, but he was puzzled: why didn't the other two pairs of characters and that painting be exhibited? Was it written badly?

  The other two calligraphy works and the painting have been framed and are now hanging on the wall of Du Cui's bedroom, ready to be shown off to Wen Li and Huang Qiuya at any moment.

  This was a wonderful idea that Shi Wei and Du Ci had come up with. Shi Wei looked at Wen Li getting together with Zheng Xue, feeling somewhat resentful, and seeing Huang Qiuya being arrogant again, treating the kind-hearted Duo Mei harshly, so he came up with this wicked plan to make them both unhappy. Unexpectedly, Long Bao coincidentally wrote two sad poems, which made Du Ci and Shi Wei so happy that they almost jumped to the sky.

  The two pairs of words and this painting had an astonishing effect, far beyond Du Cui and Shi Wei's expected reaction.

  Huang Qiuya took advantage of the May Day holiday to return home, and Wenli also went with her. Of course, Changcheng and Zheng Xue accompanied them. After the long holiday, they had to hurry back to continue classes. The aunt who guarded the girls' dormitory would let boys go up as long as you stuffed 50 or 100 yuan into her hands. In this way, the four of them arrived at the dormitory.

  In the dormitory, Du Cai and Shi Wei were eating and making noise. They knew that Wen Li and Huang Qiuya would return to school today after the May Day holiday, so they deliberately waited in the dormitory to see the reaction of these two women.

  "Wow, you two are so cool! Flying out and flying back! Did you bring any delicious food?"

  Huang Qiuya would have endless conversations with Du Cui as long as she didn't mention Long Bao. Seeing the envious look on Du Cui's face, any girl would feel comfortable, and she smiled and said: "Dead girl! You're not missing out! I brought you Nanjing roast duck and dried fish! Shi Wei, you're here too?"

  Shi Wei was thinking about what kind of expression and reaction the four of them would have after seeing the painting, but before he could hear Huang Qiuya greet him, Du Cui naturally knew his evil thoughts and was afraid that Huang Qiuya would notice something, so she quickly kicked Shi Wei's foot.

  Shi Weili quickly regained his composure and said seriously: "Oh, it's you guys, you're back! I just had lunch with Du Ci and was eating."

  Huang Qiuya and they put their luggage away, without noticing the words on the wall of the dormitory, washed their faces and were about to go out to eat at a restaurant.

  No chance! It's too rare for the four of them to gather at this moment! We must think of a way immediately to shift their attention to the trap they carefully designed! The two people are on the same wavelength, Du Cai is also anxious, and she kicks Shi Wei's heel fiercely.

  Shi Wei gazed at the heartless woman with a sorrowful expression, enduring the piercing pain and forcing himself to stand up. He stared at the famous painting on the wall with his small eyes and let out a long sigh: "What a great painting! What a great dog! It's truly a masterpiece for the ages! If I had a little dog like that in my lifetime, I would be content!"

  Shi Wei's scholar-like sigh caught the attention of all four of them, and they looked in Shi Wei's direction at the same time!

  This dog was familiar to Wenli, and even Wenli often missed it. After Longbiao came back from Changhan, he kept it at her home for foster care. Every time she went back home, Wenli always played with it nonstop. According to her parents, the leopard cat would often run back to the mountain to try to find its owner in Dafeng Village, and then return to her home after a few days. Once back home, it seemed very melancholic, taking several days to recover its lively and playful self.

  She stared at the few strokes of the dragon, which had outlined a leopard, and involuntarily trembled. Was this his painting? What did he mean? Was he humiliating me? Was he ridiculing me? I had made it clear to him, what else did he want?

  Shi Wei's thief-like eyes caught a glimpse of Wen Li, and his heart felt like he had won the 50 million grand prize, secretly elevating himself several times.

  Chang Cheng thought this painting was quite good. Zheng Xue had sharp eyes and saw the words of Long Bao, so he began to appreciate it, humming with his mouth.

  Huang Qiuya looked at the small dog in the painting and thought it was really well painted, so she continued to look down and clearly saw that the signature read "Long Biao created in April". Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately turned to look at the other two hanging calligraphy works.

  What a touching poem! What a desolate tone!

  This is also written by Long Bo!

  What's going on? What's going on? What's going on!

  It must be these two guys who are playing tricks!

  Huang Qiuya's first thought was: "Wow! Stinky girl, doesn't want to live anymore! Dares to bully me?!"

  She was about to stare at Du Cui fiercely when the poem "Shallow cup deep wine glass, drunk again listen to a night rain...... Su Su slender fingers, do not know how to think. Don't ask where the fallen flowers will go, falling is sad, staying is cool." suddenly appeared in her mind.

  Is he talking about me? Is he talking about me? Does he miss me so much that he wrote these things to remind me, he's thinking of me, now his heart is aching, aching, drowning his sorrows in drink? Or else, why would he write such melancholy and plaintive words? This wasn't written by someone from ancient times, it must be him who wrote it, yes, he wrote it for me, what does he want to express?

  Zheng Xue seemed to be quite knowledgeable, and said: "This poem is really well-written, I don't know if it's by Liu Yong or Li Qingzhao! Alas, the ancients' realm of thought is indeed profound, where can modern things like ambiguous poetry or stream-of-consciousness compare? The words are just so-so."

  Chang Cheng looked at it, thought for a moment and said: "I'm studying economics, I don't quite understand the poetry of this ancient person, but I feel like it's okay. First, I can't say what it is, it looks like it should be written by some wandering poet who has been demoted and exiled. Second, it should be written by a woman in the boudoir. Longbiao? Longbiao? Isn't Longbiao that person you and Wenli were talking about last time? Is that right, Qiuya?"

  Chang Cheng often looked at Qiu Ya, but was surprised to find that Huang Qiuya was staring at the two characters with a somewhat dazed expression. He hastily and concernedly patted Huang Qiuya's shoulder, saying: "Qiu Ya, Qiu Ya?"

  Huang Qiuya was really a bit silly, her emotions that she had been trying to escape from were turned upside down by these two words, and all she wanted to do was cry bitterly. For so many days, she had been searching for opportunities to ask Wenli about Long Bao's past, even asking about some details multiple times. Just as she was immersed in the emotional poetry, she was suddenly asked a question by Chang Cheng, and she instantly became furious, thinking that Chang Cheng was worse than a dog, a pig-headed fool!

  "Get your stinking hands off me! Get them off! You pig!"

  Chang Cheng and Zheng Xue were at a loss, wondering how this lady had suddenly become so furious. Their relationship was already extraordinary, planning to formally engage after Qiu Ya turned twenty during the summer vacation, but why did she suddenly turn her back on them?

  Zheng Xue's face changed as he said, "Autumn Ya, what's wrong? You're not happy all of a sudden? Alright, alright, let's not look at these lousy characters and poems anymore. Let's go eat, I'm getting a bit hungry too." He turned his head but saw Wen Li with a pale face.

  "Wen Li! What's wrong with you again?!" He didn't have such a good temper towards Wen Li, "What are you up to? You're still looking at this ghost thing and even getting emotional to the point of tears? Are you sick?!"

  Wen Li trembled, and with Zheng Xue's harsh words, two tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

  Huang Qiuya was already furious with Zheng Xue's nonsense explanation, and as soon as she saw him daring to bully Wenli, she burst out in a loud scolding: "Zheng! I'm telling you, don't dare bully Wenli! If you have the guts, come at me! You don't even understand anything, what are you pretending to be knowledgeable about here?!"

  Shi Wei and Du Ci were over the moon, their goal was fully achieved, they were thoroughly satisfied! Right, now Shi Wei and I, Du Ci, must step in as mediators to calm down the situation!

  The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other tacitly.

  Du Cui and Shi Wei each use kind, friendly, and harmonious language to unfold peaceful diplomacy.

  Chang Cheng Zheng often faced the fierce Huang Qiuya with no way out, and had to turn around and leave dejectedly.

  Wen Li wanted to follow Zheng Xue but didn't dare, her heart was in a great dilemma. She also firmly believed that this was Long Bao's special message for her, wanting to confess his undying love for her. But how could this be possible? Overwhelmed with emotion, she threw herself onto the bed and burst into tears.

  Qiu Ya knew in her heart that it must have been Du Ci and Shi Wei who were behind the mischief, but she couldn't find any excuse or reason to accuse them. Moreover, she was still deeply moved by the poem written by Long Bao for her, and didn't know how to scold them, so she could only swallow her bitter feelings and sit heavily on her bed.

  Mission accomplished, withdraw from the battlefield immediately, act swiftly and move quickly.

  Du Cizhi and Wei Xiangru exchanged a glance, and with a subtle smile of triumph, they walked away together.

  Du Cui is completely in love with Shi Wu San.

  As soon as Long Bao walked into the dormitory, he saw Shi Wei and Du Ci making gestures to each other, as if they were imitating something for Hai Tao, Wen Xuan, and Liao Ye to see. As soon as he came in, Shi Wei and Du Ci immediately shut up and didn't make a sound. Long Bao felt that everyone's laughter was a bit strange, especially Shi Wei, who now had an air of innocence, when he had clearly just heard his loud laughter at the door.

  Long Bao nodded at everyone and habitually sat in front of his desk, starting to read an English book.

  After a while, Du Cui suddenly burst out laughing, followed by Shi Wei, Hai Tao and Wen Xuan, who stared at Long Bao with strange eyes and laughed in different tones, except for Liao Ye.

  Long Bao raised his head and smiled, asking: "What's wrong with you guys? What's so funny?"

  When Long Bao said this, Du Ci laughed loudly.

  After a while, Hai Tao walked up to Long Bao and said: "Old Six, listen to the tricks these two guys are playing."

  After listening to Hai Lao Da's narrative of the event, Long Bao realized that his silence had led Shi Wei and others to misunderstand him. However, it was also his own fault for not writing anything down and instead writing those two inexplicable words, which seemed intentional to Wen Li and Huang Qiuya. If Zheng Xue were to misunderstand as well, wouldn't that bring unnecessary trouble to Wen Li's emotional life?

  Long Bao felt that Shi Wei's prank this time was too much! He wanted to honestly explain to Wen Li and Huang Qiuya, eliminate misunderstandings. Shi Wei and Du Ci thought that what they did was a bit over the top, but they all including Hai Tao and Wen Xuan insisted that Long Bao's method wouldn't work. They generally believed that the more you explain such things, the more complicated and troublesome it becomes, maybe you should just pretend you don't know anything and act like nothing ever happened, perhaps in the future it really will be like nothing ever happened.

  Liao Ye remained silent.

  Long Bao insisted on his own idea, he wanted Du Ci to help him make an appointment with Wen Li and Huang Qiuya, Du Ci and Shi Wei must also be present, the five people face to face to clarify, Long Bao wants to tell Wen Li and Huang Qiuya in person that he absolutely did not do it on purpose, absolutely no intention of interfering with Wen Li's emotional life, no idea of liking Huang Qiuya.

  Du Cui and Shi Wei would go ask them out? Isn't that just slapping oneself in the face and asking for trouble?

  The calligraphy and painting are no longer on the wall. That's because Wenli asked Du Ci to take it down from the wall, and Du Ci rolled up the calligraphy and painting and put them in a box.

  Huang Qiuya repeatedly recalled Long Bao's appearance in her mind, constantly thinking about the time when Long Bao grabbed and pinched her like a pervert, remembering Long Bao's strange body odor, savoring Long Bao's extremely melancholic poem. She had already memorized these two poems a million times in her heart, and now she can only fall asleep every day by reciting the poems. Chang Cheng also sensitively realized that Qiuya didn't treat him as her fiancé, and it was hard for him to kiss her again, even if he did, it felt like kissing a piece of wood. He didn't know where the reason lay, but he loved Qiuya and planned to marry her in the future.

  Wen Li was really too concerned about Zheng Xue, in her eyes, he was the perfect white horse king under Qiong Yao's pen, rich, understanding of romance, elegant and having a personality. Although he occasionally spent some effort on her and was sometimes very fierce to her, when he was gentle, it made her extremely infatuated. The wealth and power of his family were unimaginable to her. How could all this be possessed by Long Bao? She was now worried that Long Bao would come to disturb her, ruining the life she felt infinitely satisfied with. When she saw Long Bao write those poems and paintings on leopard skin, humiliating her for having a change of heart and falling in love with someone else, she really became fearful, fearing that Long Bao would tell Zheng Xue about the fact that they had hugged, kissed and slept together in the same bed.

  Things in life are often not as one wishes, and the world is always demanding of people.

  That night was Long Bao's 16th birthday, the weather was very hot, and his brothers changed their usual habit of having dinner near the school to celebrate his birthday. They came to a quiet restaurant near Xihu West Road, this time everyone chipped in. Unlike last year when Long Bao turned 15, there were one or two more people this time, namely Shi Wei's wife Du Ci and Liao Ye's girlfriend Liu Siyun.

  Hai Lao Da just forced me to drink three cups of 5% white wine with everyone, it's burning my heart and lungs, that kind of feeling is really unbearable.

  I raise my glass to all of you, brothers and sisters. Without your sincere help, I might have lost confidence in life long ago, forgotten that there is still joy and friendship in the world. It's this friendship that brings me happiness and prevents me from being trapped in numb and painful thoughts. My respect is truly heartfelt, my gratitude beyond words. Melted by the thick friendship, I am not just a shallow cup of wine that can express the emotions in my heart towards friendship. How can it express my treasuring of this true and sincere friendship? Although I am still troubled by those bizarre dreams and the mysterious gestures of Deity, I have started to perceive my life from a different angle, a different direction.

  I raised my glass to everyone around me on Monday, and we drank heartily. The wine was a bit intoxicating, and I was made to drink so much that I felt dizzy. Wen Li and Huang Qiuya also came to the table by the window, and they even brought me small birthday gifts. Wen Li's face was a bit pale, while Huang Qiuya had a slight flush.

  Their arrival made the scene a bit awkward, Long Bao thought to liven up the atmosphere and stood up smiling at Wen Li and Huang Qiuya: "Thank you two beautiful ladies for coming to drink my birthday wine, come on, let me toast Wen Li and Qiuya a glass?"

  Qiu Ya didn't expect Long Bao to call her "Qiu Ya", and a huge joy suddenly filled her chest. Almost everyone was surprised to see that Huang Qiu Ya's hand holding the Sprite can trembled slightly when clinking glasses with Long Bao.

  Wen Li came today with the intention of taking this opportunity to thoroughly clarify things with Long Bao, she didn't have Autumn Ya's thoughts and excitement, she seemed a bit cold.

  The atmosphere at the wine table became more relaxed, with a constant stream of cheers and toasts. Shi Wei smiled and played the famous children's game "Two Little Bees Flying into a Flower Cluster" with his girlfriend Du Ci.

  The wind blew gently in the night, and the lake surface faintly reflected the dark shadow of the flowing clouds in the sky. Long Bao and Wen Li stood under a tree not far from the wine table, and they could clearly see the nearly round moon in the sky. Under the moonlight, Long Bao's features were distinct, his bright eyes shining brightly, and Wen Li seemed more beautiful than before, with an added touch of fashion and modern charm.

  "Long Bao, I'm begging you, don't bother me again, okay?" Wen Li showed a pleading expression.

  Long Bao didn't expect that Wen Li would call him out from the wine table to say this, he stared blankly at the faint cloud shadows on the lake surface, momentarily speechless.

  After a while, Long Bao's eyes were still staring at the lake, but his mouth said: "I want to explain that book and painting. The book and painting were drawn by Shi Wei and Du Ci for me, I didn't know Du Ci would hang it in the dormitory, and I also unintentionally wrote out what I had written before, if I knew this would make you misunderstand, I definitely wouldn't have written it."

  Wen Li obviously didn't believe Long Bao's words, she was eager to express her inner thoughts: "Long Bao, I know you've always been stubborn and never give up, but I really don't want you to cling to this anymore. Really, you and I have long become a thing of the past, I'm very happy now with Zheng Xue, I love him and he loves me too, so please don't come disturb us again, I beg of you, okay?"

  Wen Li once again explained to Long Bao the past between them, and Long Bao listened quietly as Wen Li spoke, his figure under the moonlight seeming to have become a statue, unmoving. Wen Li's words were somewhat choked with emotion, and she must have been moved by her own grievances: "Classmates joked that we two are a couple, and even teased me for finding a boyfriend so much younger than myself, which made me very embarrassed. You're just a kid, and our roommates were right - we're not suited for each other, the gap between us is too big... Qi Yunhai is a relative of Qi Grandfather's, and he told my dad and mom that your Long family has been marrying outside for hundreds of years, and after getting married, you can't have any more contact with your natal family, or else they'll all suffer misfortune. Marrying into the Long family not only brings bad luck to women but also affects their natal families. My parents won't let me continue seeing you... What's important is that after I got in touch with Zheng Xue, he made me truly experience the bittersweet taste of love, and I know what love is now. I love him very much, this feeling is not like when we're together."

  "Long Bao, I know you're blaming me. You think I've fallen in love with someone else and that I'm frivolous, but we never really interacted before, nothing ever happened between us. Now I'm happy on my own, just waiting to graduate and walk into the sacred marriage hall with him. Long Bao, you're so excellent, why don't you wait until you grow up and seriously find your true other half? Please, stop bothering me, let me go?"

  Long Wan listened quietly from start to finish, without interrupting or arguing, as if he felt it was completely unnecessary.

  Long Bao waited until Wen Li's sobbing completely stopped, then said in a low voice: "Wen Li, thank you for telling me these things. I understand now. Don't worry, I definitely won't come to disturb you again. Also, the books and paintings I wrote were really unintentional."

  Huang Qiuya listened with a shocked heart, she heard some secrets that Wen Li had not told her yet. She wanted to tell Long Bao about her feelings for him, but hesitated. Were those mysterious and strange things true? After a while, she walked up and took Wen Li's arm, heading towards the wine table.

  Looking at this night, Long Bao sank into thought, after a long time he turned around and walked back, with a smile on his face.