He said he didn’t like studying or doing homework. But he wrote it anyway, so he could see her next time.
Meng Ting lowered her eyes. After a long while, she said softly, “Then don’t write it anymore in the future.”
He raised an eyebrow: “I’ll write it. Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like I have anything else to do.” He spoke with such ease that it carried a certain grandeur. “I’ll try my best, but I might never make it into your class.”
As Meng Ting was about to say something, he pulled her towards the bus stop. Although they were already soaked, it was still better to get less wet.
At the bus stop, he finally took back his drenched clothes.
Jiang Ren spoke seriously, yet seemingly casually: “I didn’t smoke this time, and I won’t in the future. I’m trying hard in exams, and my name hasn’t appeared in public criticism for a long time. Meng Ting, I also haven’t had an episode for a long time.”
Her heart suddenly softened: “Mm-hmm.”
Jiang Ren couldn’t help but curve his lips. He felt he was getting better, becoming like a normal person, able to control his emotions.
He was getting closer and closer to her.
As June quietly arrived, the weather became increasingly hot.
At No. 7 Middle School, rumors about the school beauty Meng Ting not wearing skirts due to leg deformities or burns grew more intense.
Meng Ting didn’t care, and although Zhao Nuancheng was angry, there was nothing she could do.
The boys joined in the commotion, with a large part wanting to provoke Meng Ting into wearing a skirt.
She already looked pure and beautiful in her school uniform. How gorgeous would she be if she dressed up nicely?
However, Meng Ting truly didn’t care about the rumors. Although she had a gentle personality, she was very resilient and principled at her core. When she said she didn’t care, she didn’t care what others said. Meng Ting was thinking about summer vacation.
She wanted to do some part-time work. Father Shu had been working overtime day and night, and his body wouldn’t be able to take it.
Zhao Nuancheng, after being angry for a while, sighed.
Suddenly, she became happy again.
She had been hanging around the vocational high school entrance these past two days, just wanting to wait for He Junming. That day, they waited for a long time for the bus in the middle of nowhere. Just when Zhao Nuancheng was about to give up, the bus slowly drove up.
Zhao Nuancheng was so excited she jumped up, almost wanting to grab He Junming by the neck and shout, “See that? The bus! The bus is here!”
He Junming looked like he had seen a ghost: “Holy shit.”
Zhao Nuancheng laughed loudly: “You’re done for, you have to eat shit.”
He Junming: “Damn crazy woman.”
“You said it yourself that you would eat it.”
“Are you serious? Are you stupid!”
Zhao Nuancheng got angry: “You’re a man, yet you go back on your word. Did I say anything when you just insulted me? Now when it’s your turn, you back out. Why didn’t you say you were just joking when you were enjoying the show?”
She rattled on like spilling beans, forgetting that she used to be afraid of He Junming and his group.
He Junming sheepishly said: “Alright, alright. I’m just not a man of my word.”
The matter was left unresolved.
Zhao Nuancheng knew he wouldn’t eat it – how disgusting would that be? But she laughed whenever she saw him. Haha, even heaven was helping to deal with the bad guy.
He Junming had been running away before school ended these past few days. Damn, what bad luck. It made even a thick-skinned person like him feel embarrassed.
Wasn’t that godforsaken place usually without buses?
However, he thought that statement was still okay. Even if it came true, it wouldn’t be a big deal. What could a little girl do to him?
The scariest thing would be if Ren scored 538 – he’d lose his manhood!
Fortunately, Ren’s grades were still terrible. Except for his expression while doing problems, which looked like that of an expert, his scores were only slightly better than theirs.
As peonies bloomed all over the campus in June, both No. 7 Middle School and the vocational high school released their monthly exam results.
He Junming was the most nervous: “Ren, how much did you score?”
Jiang Ren’s face looked unpleasant.
He Xuan glanced at the exam paper in front of him, turning his head to look at it upside down. He immediately saw an 8.
They had all seen Jiang Ren’s efforts during this period, plus he had been tutored by the top student from No. 7 Middle School. They thought Ren must have improved a lot. So when He Xuan saw the 8, he thought, wow, that’s impressive, eighty-something?
But then Jiang Ren irritably threw the paper.
That 8 was in the one’s place.
The tens place was 3.
His math score was 38.
He Xuan struggled to hold back his laughter and consoled him: “Ren, take it slow. We all only got twenty-something. You’re already much higher.”
Jiang Ren was speechless.
He Junming breathed a sigh of relief. He could still be a man.
He Junming was very happy: “Ren, let’s go play after school, relax a bit. What’s that saying? Work and rest in proper measure.”
Jiang Ren said: “Not going. Need to do English homework.”
He Junming had known him for seven or eight years and it was the first time he heard him say such a thing.
What was it like before? Homework? Do you dare ask me to hand in homework?
He Junming felt that liking someone was truly scary. How much did one have to give to gain her affection?
He Xuan opened his phone and showed Jiang Ren: “Ren, this way isn’t very useful. You love studying, but studying doesn’t love you. Why don’t you give her these? Don’t all girls like these things? It’ll work.”
The image showed a pair of crystal shoes.
He Xuan was just browsing the forum and gave a random example, but Jiang Ren took a look and became serious: “Send me the post link.”
He Xuan: “No… they’re not for sale. You have to participate in some shooting and rock climbing…”
Jiang Ren wanted exactly that.
Those were real crystal shoes.
He looked at them once and wanted to put them on her feet.
He still remembered her light tiptoes, her legs so soft and slender, her feet small and lovely in those ballet shoes.
They were designed by a French designer.
The name was “My Princess.”
But the designer was eccentric. These shoes weren’t sold through normal channels. People had to pay an entry fee and then compete. First was shooting, then rock climbing.
In short, it was designed to torment people. And you might end up with nothing to show for it.
He Xuan: “…” He was also distressed. He had just clicked on a random post, not expecting Ren to be interested. He thought for a moment, “Ren, why don’t we buy something similar?”
“It has to be there.”
He looked at the date.
The day after tomorrow, in the neighboring city.
Jiang Ren skipped class and went for these shoes. He Junming originally wanted to go along, but only registered participants could enter. He Junming reluctantly gave up.
He actually couldn’t understand.
Those conditions were too harsh.
Ten bullseyes in ten shots.
Seventy meters of rock climbing. Seventy meters, good heavens, it was life-threatening. Yet Jiang Ren said he’d go and just went.
Fang Tan scrolled to the bottom of the post to show them: “He probably saw this.”
The post was full of mystical talk.
It even explained the original meaning of high heels. There was a man whose wife was very beautiful. To prevent her from going out and flirting with other men, he designed high heels that were difficult to walk in.
Initially, it was to imprison a person’s heart.
So came this “My Princess” – make her fall in love with you, and she’ll never be able to leave in this lifetime.
He Junming’s eyes widened: “No way, does Ren believe in this superstition?”
Fang Tan leaned back against the chair: “Probably not.” But he had no other choice. People only turn to superstition when they have no other options when they can’t get what they want no matter what.
Meng Ting received the notice for the semi-finals of the dance competition in early June.
On a sunny weekend in the neighborhood, Meng Ting was organizing her dresses at home. One set of ballet costumes wasn’t enough; she heard that the final round format was varied. She believed she could make it to the finals.
Then she saw the white feathered dress left by her mother.
Zeng Yujie had smiled and said she wouldn’t make clothes anymore, this was her last work, originally meant to be Meng Ting’s coming-of-age gift. Meng Ting was now seventeen, just the right age to wear it.
Meng Ting carefully folded it, and her phone rang.
Jiang Ren said: “Come down for a bit, I have something for you.”
Because she had been tutoring him, Meng Ting wasn’t as afraid of him now. When she ran down, he was waiting for her at the spot where he had crashed his car into a tree last time.
There was a wound on his face, a red scratch from his eyebrow to his cheek.
But his eyes were bright.
In the scorching heat, he was covered in sweat.
His black hair was damp, and he held a box in his hand.
He stood in the sunlight.
His sharp features that usually made him look fierce, now with the added wound, made him look even more unruly.
But he didn’t care. This kind of scratch would heal eventually.
Meng Ting walked over, and he said: “Last time on Christmas Eve, your birthday, I didn’t give you a gift. This time I’m making up for it.” His eyes were full of intense light and openness. He didn’t tell her that he had made a snow globe for her by hand before.
Later, the ice melted, and his heart ached with cold.
Now he stood before her, warm and beating again.
He opened the box, and for a moment Meng Ting thought she was seeing things. In the sunlight, the pair of shoes were crystal clear, reflecting beautiful light.
Cr-crystal shoes?
“For you.”
Meng Ting took a step back: “I don’t want them.”
Where did such a thing come from? Her gaze shifted from the crystal shoes to his hands holding the box.
She finally understood why he was covered in sweat.
In the midday of June. He wore a pair of black gloves on his hands. The gloves wrapped his long fingers tightly.
Meng Ting asked him: “What happened to your hands?”
He stiffened for a moment, then said casually: “Just take them if I’m giving them to you. They’re not worth much, someone gave them to me. What use would I have for such things?”
Meng Ting pursed her lips. Standing in the shade of the tree, she said softly to him: “Come a bit closer.”
Jiang Ren moved closer.
His tall figure stood before her, still holding the box in his hands.
She reached out with her fair hands and took the shoes. Then she said: “Take off your gloves.”
Jiang Ren spoke irritably, fiercely: “You woman, why are you so fussy?”
She just looked at him persistently.
He suddenly felt a bit defeated. Damn, not afraid of him anymore, huh?
But her tea-colored eyes looked at him moistly, and his heart softened again. Fine, fine, look if you want to look.
He took off his gloves, his palms were all sweaty. From being covered.
The knuckles of his long, strong fingers were swollen and red, his hands covered in wounds.
“How did you get these wounds?”
She was innocent yet clever. Jiang Ren said quietly: “Rock climbing.” 70 meters high, even normal people couldn’t handle it. He had slipped twice, and now he couldn’t even straighten his fingers.
Maybe it was because the sun was too strong. She felt like she was about to melt.
Meng Ting heard her soft voice: “Were they the prize?”
“Mm.”
Her eyes felt sour.
If she hadn’t asked, was he not planning to tell her?
He was so silly, silly in studying. Even silly in giving gifts, the shoes in the box were too big. She couldn’t wear them at all. However, for the first time, she didn’t say she didn’t want them, but instead closed the lid: “Thank you, they’re very beautiful.”
He thought he had misheard.
Did she like them?
He remembered the meaning behind these shoes, maybe superstition worked.
Jiang Ren narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked her: “Will you still dance in the future?”
Meng Ting didn’t lie to him: “Yes.”
“Can I come watch sometime?”
She opened her mouth, and finally said: “You can.”
He had already prepared to be rejected, and when she unexpectedly said he could, Jiang Ren thought he had misheard. His expression was strange, almost smiling: “Really?”
Meng Ting felt a bit embarrassed, she said: “How many times are you going to ask? Forget it if you’re not coming.”
His eyes were full of laughter: “I’m coming, definitely coming!”
Meng Ting looked at his swollen knuckles, feeling indescribable emotions.
Because he couldn’t drive, he had taken a taxi here. His arms were sore he couldn’t even lift them. Even the shoebox containing the crystal shoes was carried under his arm. But he didn’t feel it was hard at all.
Meng Ting, in her two lifetimes combined, hadn’t lived to twenty years yet. When she was little, she had heard many praises calling her a little princess, but the only one who truly treated her like a princess was Jiang Ren.
However, Jiang Ren didn’t see himself as a prince. He casually wiped the sweat from his forehead, completely like the roughest commoner, and asked her: “Tell me the time and place, I’ll remember it.”
When he asked this, Meng Ting looked up, only then remembering that the finals were held in B City, and the Jiang family was also in B City.
And Jiang Ren had been kicked out of his home.
When he came to H City last year.