After a sultry afternoon, it finally started to rain at night. Jiang Suichu lay on the bed, listening to the patter of rain outside, staring blankly into the darkness.
In fact, she didn't intend to pretend not to know him at first. That day she chased him down the stairs just to ask him if he still remembered her. However, Tang Zi regarded her as a girl who took the opportunity to strike up a conversation, and she suddenly didn't know how to speak.
She was afraid that she was being sentimental. Who would miss a friend who was five or six years old? What's more, the two of them haven't seen each other for almost ten years, and they may have long forgotten that there is a person like her.
The more she learned about him from other people, the less she dared to say she knew him. Because no one would believe that she, who came from a poor family, would know Lu Zhinian. They were like people from two different worlds. It's just that they happened to be in the same school. She was lucky enough to know him, but not enough to know him.
Grandma said, it doesn’t matter if you don’t remember, just get to know her again.
However, she didn't even have the courage to get to know him again!
It rained for two days in a row, and it slowly cleared up during the National Day holiday on Friday.
The National Day holiday is coming, and the rain that has been falling for several days finally stopped. In order to facilitate the students who live far away from home, the school only held classes for half a day and then had a holiday.
Jiang Suchu had lunch with Tang Mi in the school cafeteria and returned to the dormitory to pack her things.
A message came in on the phone. Jiang Suichu opened WeChat and it was Jiang Minghao. She sent him a message in the morning and asked him when he would have a holiday.
Only returning now.
"Two o'clock."
"You go to the station first and hold a seat for me."
Jiang Suichu didn't reply to him, just turned off his phone and continued packing his things. Jiang Minghao was her neighbor. He failed the high school entrance examination and entered a vocational high school to study automobile repair.
After several days of continuous rain, the city has been washed away, the sky is bright and blue, and the temperature has risen.
There is only one bus No. 12 that can go directly from No. 1 Middle School to the East Bus Station. It is now the National Day holiday for universities and colleges, and there are many people on the bus. Jiang Suichu put in his coin, put his schoolbag on his back and struggled to get on the bus. His feet were stepped on several times.
"Stand back in the middle and move back." The driver stood up and shouted to the back.
Everyone complained and moved reluctantly. Jiang Suchu was squeezed into the middle position. The ring was too high and she couldn't pull it up, so she could only hold on to the back of the seat in front of her. My back was pressed against me, which was very uncomfortable.
Just when the bus was struggling to start, Jiang Suchu saw two brothers, Lu Zhinian and Tang Zi, coming out of school. The two Tang Zi brothers were playing in front, while Lu Zhinian was behind, expressionlessly stuffing his pockets. Pei Shuo sat in a bright black car and waved to them, and then several people left in the car together. While the bus driver was still pressing the accelerator hard, the car had already sped away easily, and in the blink of an eye only the beautiful taillights could be seen.
Jiang Suichu looked away, his dark eyelashes pressing down, secretly glad that he didn't see her.
In the car, Tang Zi and Tang Mi Pei Shuo were discussing where to go during the National Day holiday. Lu Zhinian was sitting in the passenger seat, looking down at his phone and saying nothing.
He had never been to the grove since that day, nor had he met her at school. The two of them were obviously just up and down the stairs, but they had never met each other once.
"Let's go to Jiyun Mountain on National Day. I heard that a new resort has been built there." Tang Zi saw the picture on Weibo and felt pretty good about it.
Tang Mi leaned over and drew a picture: "Rafting, bonfire party, and camping to watch the sunrise. Is it far?"
"It's not far, just this city." Tang Zi said
Pei Shuo: "Let me take a look."
Tang Zi handed him the phone and said, "I saw someone checked in and the review was pretty good."
"This mountain cross-country looks cool." Pei Shuo took the phone and looked at the location. After swiping through the pictures a few times, I noticed that there is a rafting mountain cross-country exciting project, which I thought was pretty good.
"A-Nian, look, do you want to go?" Pei Shuo moved forward and handed the phone to Lu Zhinian.
Lu Zhinian glanced at the screen of his phone expressionlessly. It was a Weibo post from a travel blogger that Tang Zi had been following. The nine-square grid pictures include mountains, meadows, streams, starry sky, sea of clouds, and sunrise. The photos are very well taken and very artistic. It is the kind of place you want to go to after seeing it.
But he wasn't interested. He returned the phone to Pei Shuo and said, "You guys decide, I'll go to Beicheng tomorrow."
Tang Zi: "Going to your grandpa's house?"
Lu Zhinian said calmly: "Yeah."
Pei Shuo was really interested and looked at the photos again with his phone. After seeing the location at the bottom, I searched for the address.
"Muyang Town is located in Suyang County. It takes four hours to drive there. It's not too far."
"Muyang Town?" Tang Mi leaned over to take a look, "The Suisui family seems to be from Muyang Town."
Lu Zhinian turned around and looked at Tang Mi: "Her home is in Muyang Town?"
Pei Shuo also looked at her and asked, "Suisui? That friend of yours?"
He knew that Tang Mi had made a friend recently, and in order to accompany that friend, she stopped eating with them at noon every day.
Before, he joked that she should not hide it and bring this good friend out for them to get to know each other. But she pinched her waist and warned them one by one that her friend was introverted and thin-skinned and didn't like playboys like them.
"Yes." Tang Mi nodded hesitantly, her vigilant eyes scanning Lu Zhinian and Pei Shuo back and forth, "Why are you two suddenly interested in my friend?"
Forget it about Pei Shuo, how could Lu Zhinian, who usually didn't hear anything outside the window, take the initiative to ask about someone he didn't know well.
strangeness.
Pei Shuo smiled and returned the phone to Tang Zi: "I'm just curious, what kind of little fairy can make Miss Tang protect her like this? Even the rest of us have to guard against her."
Pei Shuo was purely out of curiosity, and Tang Mi had played with the older boys since she was a child. Although there were many girls around her, Tang Mi was still the first one to protect her like this. Moreover, the name Suisui always reminded him of someone he hadn't seen for a long time.
Tang Zi took his mobile phone to book a ticket. Thinking of the ignored look in the milk tea shop, he slightly twitched the corner of his mouth.
Tang Zi: "She happens to live in Muyang Town. Do you want to ask her to play with her?"
Lu Zhinian glanced at Tang Zi when he heard this. Tang Zi noticed his gaze and raised his eyebrows at him.
How could Lu Zhinian not understand what he meant? He frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes as a warning.
Tang Zi smiled and didn't care.
The undercurrent between the two went unnoticed.
Tang Mi shook her head, "She doesn't have time." She has to do farm work.
Tang Zi: “There’s still no time during the seven-day National Day?”
Tang Mi didn't want to say more, so she hummed and turned to play on her phone.
Yesterday when we had lunch together, she asked her if she wanted to hang out together during the National Day, but she refused. Before Tang Mi asked her why, she took the initiative and said that this time happened to be the time to harvest corn and rice, and she wanted to go home to help with farm work.
She didn't understand this, but was a little curious, thinking that the harvesting of corn and rice she was talking about was the same as what she saw on TV, which was harvested by machines and trailers.
After she asked, Jiang Suchu just smiled lightly, shook his head and said no. The terrain of Muyang Town is so rugged that agricultural machinery cannot operate at all. Moreover, they are very poor there and have no money to buy machines, so they rely on manpower to carry sacks and baskets home.
She couldn't imagine how the thin girl in front of her could carry dozens of kilograms of corn. She just felt a little distressed.
Lu Zhinian did not continue to participate in the topic, picked up his phone and started searching.
Muyang Town, he had lived in Yun City for so long that he didn't even know there was such a place. The phone turned around for a few seconds, and then the introduction popped up.
——Muyang Town belongs to Suyang County and is located in the northeast of Yun City. Because Suyang County mostly has karst landforms, rugged terrain and inconvenient transportation, it is the most economically backward area in Yun City.
He didn't continue reading, closed the phone and looked at the river scenery passing by outside the window.
Why is she in Muyang Town instead of Xuancheng?
Outdoor basketball court.
An old open-air basketball court is hidden under the lush green camphor trees. The leaves are blowing in the wind, and the ground is dancing with light and shadow.
Lu Zhinian was sweating profusely alone on the court. Pei Shuo and Tang Zi were too tired to move and sat on the steps beside the court to rest.
"Tang Xiaomi went somewhere to buy water and she hasn't come back yet. I'm almost dying of thirst." Tang Zi took out his cell phone and called Tang Mi.
I just asked her to buy water, but it's been almost ten minutes since I left and she still hasn't come back.
The phone was connected as soon as it rang. Tang Zizheng was about to tease her about going abroad to buy water when he heard Tang Mi's anxious and frightened voice coming from the other end of the phone.
"Brother, I-"
"Tang Mi! Where are you?!" He stood up in a hurry, but the call was suddenly hung up. In the last tone, he heard a boy's voice, mixed with disgusting words.
"Fuck!" With a loud roar, Tang Zi threw away the towel in his hand and ran out of the basketball court.
"A Nian!" Pei Shuo called him.
Lu Zhinian heard the sound, looked at him, and immediately dropped the ball in his hand and chased after him.
The bus drove extremely slowly today. The usually half-hour journey took fifty minutes to arrive.
Jiang Suichu was a little motion sick due to the shaking. He got out of the car and squatted on the side of the road to calm down for a while before he could barely suppress the sour water in his stomach.
The East Bus Station is located in the old town of Yun City. Compared with the city center, this area looks a bit rundown and dirty. The bus station is still some distance away from the bus station, and we need to pass through an old residential area. The small alley is blocked by buildings on both sides. It is dark and damp, and the rain that fell some time ago is still puddled on the ground.
Jiang Suichu carried his schoolbag and lowered his head to avoid the puddles on the ground.
Suddenly a brick hit the puddle in front of him, and the muddy water splashed up, all hitting Jiang Suichu. She exclaimed and had no time to retreat. Her clothes were wet all over, and a few drops of stinking muddy water splashed onto her face.
An angry female voice sounded in the narrow alley.
"Get away! Don't touch me."
Jiang Suichu looked up and saw seven or eight idle boys standing in front of him, blocking the way of a girl. The girl was surrounded, and Jiang Suchu couldn't see her face. She could only see through the gap that she was wearing a blue and white school uniform.
No. 1 middle school?
The leading boy had yellow hair and a cigarette in his mouth. He turned around and saw her.
"What are you looking at? Get out of here if you know what's going on."
The girls who were surrounded also looked over, and when they saw Jiang Suichu's beautiful eyes brightening up, they winked at her and told her to leave quickly.
Jiang Suchu also saw her face and was stunned.
Tang Mi.
Didn't she leave with Lu Zhinian? Why is she here?
The phone was in his hand, and Jiang Minghao had just sent him a message asking where she was.
The younger brother next to Huang Mao also glanced at Jiang Suchu and smiled flatteringly: "Brother, this girl is not bad. She looks innocent."
The yellow-haired man looked her up and down. She was very thin and looked small, but her face was really good, fair and small, and her watery eyes looked pitiful.
Huang Mao winked at the person next to him, and the person immediately walked towards Jiang Suichu understandingly.
"Little sister, our elder brother asked you to play together." The gangster walked straight towards Jiang Suichu with a cigarette in his mouth.
"Suisui, run!"
Tang Mi wanted to stop the man but was caught by Huang Mao and pulled into his arms, "Baby, why do you care about others even if you can't run away?"
The smell of cigarette smoke mixed with bad breath hit her face, making Tang Mi feel sick.
Jiang Suichu tightened his grip on his cell phone, took a step back, turned around and ran back. His shoes stepped into the puddle, and the muddy water instantly filled the shoes.
She knew what would happen to her and Tang Mi if she was really taken away by them, and she wanted to find reinforcements.
Huang Mao: "Chase me!"
The alley was very deep, and she, Jiang Suichu, ran out as hard as she could. At this moment, the mobile phone in his hand rang, and it was Jiang Minghao calling.
"Where are you?"
"Jiang Minghao, I'm in the alley behind the station, you...ah!"
Suddenly, his scalp hurt. The gangster who was chasing him grabbed Jiang Suichu's hair and threw her to the ground.
"Are you going to run again?"
"Hiss~ah~" His head hit the wall, making a dull sound.
Seeing that Jiang Suichu was injured, Tang Mi was so anxious that she almost cried, "Sui Sui!"
Before the phone was hung up, Jiang Minghao's urgent voice came, "Jiang Suichu, are you okay? You..."
The phone was snatched away and hung up, blocking the last bit of sound.
The little gangster threw the phone away and threw it into the garbage pile, and said with a smile: "Little sister, you don't know how to show appreciation."
Jiang Suchu shook his head and quickly looked around. She stepped back and looked around.
The alley is very remote. Although there is a street outside, few people walk this way. The buildings on both sides of the alley are very high, and the garbage thrown from them is hung randomly on the walls and branches. The garbage piled haphazardly in the corner gave off a stench, and a broken mop was broken and inserted into the trash can.
The little gangster approached step by step, with a disgusting smile on his face: "Sister, as long as you obey, my brothers will not hurt you. My brother is the most compassionate."
As he spoke, he reached out to pull her.
Jiang Suichu ignored the pain in her forehead and stared at him. When the man reached out to grab her wrist, Jiang Suichu turned sideways slightly. Then he quickly climbed to the trash can, picked up the mop and hit him hard on the head.
Jiang Suichu used all his strength to strike this stick. The gangster covered his head, blood gushing out from between his fingers.
"I'm so stupid!"
Huang Mao didn't expect that Jiang Suichu, who looked weak and indifferent, would suddenly act cruelly and decisively. He threw Tang Mi to another younger brother, chewed a cigarette and walked towards Jiang Suichu with a fierce look in his eyes.
Tang Mi was also a little shocked. She had always thought that Jiang Suichu was the kind of quiet little white rabbit who didn't even dare to speak loudly. Unexpectedly, the little white rabbit’s red eyes were also full of blood.
"Haha, that's interesting, little sister." Huang Mao sneered, chewing a cigarette in his mouth.
Jiang Suichu's head was dizzy, and everyone seemed to have double images, but he still held the stick tightly in his hand and stared at Huang Mao.
No one knows what she is thinking.
She thought that if she couldn't escape today, she would blind his eyes with the sharp point of the broken part of the stick.
Jiang Minghao had taught her that when there was a huge disparity in strength, she had to pick the opponent's weakest spot to attack.
For example, eyes.
But after all, she was not Jiang Minghao, and her strength was nothing compared to a strong man. Huang Mao walked directly to Jiang Suichu, and when Jiang Suichu raised the stick again, he grabbed it effortlessly. Then he strode forward, roughly grabbed Jiang Suichu by the collar, picked her up and pushed her against the wall.
"hiss--"
Jiang Suichu's shoulder blades hit the uneven concrete wall hard, which was more painful than when her head hit the wall just now. The pain was so painful that she almost burst into tears.
"Don't think I don't hit women." After saying that, Huang Mao raised the wooden stick he snatched from Jiang Suichu's hand.
The wooden stick rose and brought with it a fierce wind. Jiang Suchu trembled and subconsciously closed his eyes.
There was a dull and painful sound when the wooden stick hit his body, but the pain he imagined did not follow. What followed was a refreshing and pleasant smell, as well as a hot breath close to his ears.
Jiang Suichu opened her eyes and met a pair of deep peach blossom eyes. The distance was so close that she could clearly see his long curly eyelashes and the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Lu Zhinian was wearing a red football uniform and standing in front of her, his back so strong that he blocked the stick that was supposed to hit her. The two of them were very close. Jiang Suichu frowned when he saw him, and he almost let out a muffled groan.
Jiang Suchu: "You..."
"Stand behind." Lu Zhinian straightened up and raised his chin to signal her to stand back.
Jiang Suchu was about to ask him if he was okay, but he interrupted him and took a step back obediently.
"Who the hell are you, meddling in other people's own business." Huang Mao behind him looked at the people who suddenly appeared and started swearing. But before he finished speaking, Pei Shuo and Tang Zi were already fighting with several other people. Woke up.
Lu Zhinian cast his eyes back coldly, moved his shoulder that had just been knocked down, turned around and kicked Huang Mao in the stomach while Huang Mao was still cursing.
Huang Mao was kicked back repeatedly, and finally fell into a puddle. Before he could get up, Lu Zhinian stepped forward and punched him in the face.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Zhinian grabbed Jiang Suichu's collar just like he had just grabbed his collar. The veins in his arms popped out, full of hostility. He gritted his back molars and said, "If you dare to hit her, I will kill you."
His pupils were filled with a violent aura, and after speaking, he punched Huang Mao harder in the face.
The other people didn't react for a moment, and stared blankly at Huang Mao being beaten.
Huang Mao was beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen. He glanced at the younger brother next to him and cursed: "What the hell are you doing standing around? Come on!"
Only then did the younger brothers react and swarmed up.
At both ends of the alley, one end connects to the street, which is where Jiang Suichu came. Tang Zi and the others were entangled by several other gangsters and couldn't get through. The other end was connected to the bus station. When Jiang Minghao arrived, the alley was already in chaos.
The sounds of fighting and wailing filled the air.
He saw Jiang Suichu at a glance and felt a little relieved when he saw someone helping her.
Tang Mi's younger brother, who was in charge of guarding, saw that his elder brother had been beaten so hard that he could not stand up. He hesitated to go over and help, but was a little scared when he saw Lu Zhinian's fierceness.
"Let me go, bastard." Tang Mi grabbed and kicked her, but she didn't have the strength to do so. Just when Tang Mi gave up and waited for Tang Zi and the others to finish dealing with those people and come to rescue her, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, which was as cold as bones. Before she could react, a strong force pulled her behind a wide back.
A strong smell of tobacco hit my face.
Jiang Minghao pulled Tang Mi behind him and knocked down the gangster with one punch. The little gangster felt like his teeth had been knocked out. He was about to fight back when he saw that it was Jiang Minghao and he immediately gave up.
"Hao...Brother Hao."
Jiang Minghao narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at him without much impression.
The little gangster didn't know whether he was frightened or something. His voice was trembling, and he pointed to Huang Mao, "Brother Hao, Brother Yong is over there, go and help."
He thought Jiang Minghao was the helper brought in by Brother Yong.
Tang Mi was startled, thinking that she might have just escaped from the dragon pond and entered the tiger's den again. When she calmly took a step back and wanted to run towards Tang Zi, the person in front of her instead of helping Brother Yong gave the little gangster a kick.
Jiang Minghao glanced at Wang Yong who was beaten and unable to fight back, and snorted coldly, "Is he worthy?"
We just drank together once or twice, so we weren't that familiar.
The younger brother was stunned. He glanced at the situation in the alley and ran away without caring about Brother Yong's life or death.
Tang Mi: "Thank you."
Jiang Minghao turned around, glanced at Tang Mi, and nodded lightly.
Tang Mi's eyes froze at the moment he turned around. He was very tall, wearing black clothes and black trousers and a black peaked cap. His short, spiky hair was exposed from the brim of the cap. She guessed that he had a short hair. His skin is not white, but a healthy wheat color, his facial features are strong and sharp, and his pair of narrow red phoenix eyes give people a chilling feeling when looking at people.
"From No. 1 Middle School?"
His voice was low and slightly hoarse.
"Yeah." Tang Mi nodded gently.
No wonder.
Before he called Jiang Suichu, he received a text message from her asking him to come to the alley to help. She has never been a brave person, and she knows how to protect herself wisely. If she wasn't someone she knew, she wouldn't mind her own business.
Seeing that Tang Zi and Pei Shuo were still in a stalemate, Jiang Minghao clicked his tongue impatiently, twisted his neck and walked over to join the melee.
Tang Zi and Pei Shuo were both children from Gaozhi families. Although they had fought before, they were still a little difficult to deal with the insidious methods of gangsters.
After a melee for a while, Huang Mao's side was obviously overwhelmed and at a disadvantage.
In the chaos, Tang Mi ran to Jiang Suichu.
"Suisui, are you okay?"
Jiang Suchu shook his head. Just when he was about to say that it was okay, Tang Mi reached out and pushed the hair away from her forehead and said, "Ah! Your forehead is swollen."
When Lu Zhinian heard this, he looked back and saw that her forehead was red and swollen with blood oozing from it. His face instantly sank, and his eyes were dark.
Huang Mao's nose was already bruised and his face was swollen. When he saw Lu Zhinian's dark pupils, he shrank unconsciously.
He quickly raised his hands and begged for mercy: "Please forgive me, I'm sorry, I...I...don't dare to do it anymore..."
Lu Zhinian didn't listen at all and snorted coldly. The next second, a heavier fist fell on his face than before, and he fainted within a few seconds.
Tang Zi and Pei Shuo, with the help of Jiang Minghao, finished cleaning up several other people and found that Lu Zhinian was beating Huang Mao who had passed out like crazy. The two looked at each other and quickly stepped forward to pull him away.
"Anian, stop fighting, he has fainted."
It's okay to maim or injure someone, but I'm afraid of beating them to death.
Lu Zhinian shook off Huang Mao, who had fainted, and stood up and walked towards Jiang Suchu.
He looked at her quietly, the anger still not completely dissipated in his eyes.
"Does it hurt?"
Jiang Suchu had never seen Lu Zhinian like this before. When he was a child, Lu Zhinian had always been an obedient and polite child, and he would never fight with the children in the compound.
Only when Jiang Suchu was fighting with others would he step forward to help.
Jiang Suchu blinked, scratched his hair, and said, "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
When she said it didn't hurt, Lu Zhinian frowned slightly and raised his hand to see if the injury was serious. Jiang Suchu looked at his stretched out hand and held his breath. Just when his hand was about to push her hair away, Jiang Minghao pulled her over.
The hair brushed Lu Zhinian's palm. He looked at Jiang Suchu's wrapped wrist, his mouth tightened, and a long and shallow dent appeared on his right cheek. Then he lightly closed his palms and quietly retracted his hand, putting it into his trouser pocket.
