He Junming asked with surprise, “A blind girl? And she’s wearing the No. 7 Middle School uniform.”
Jiang Ren chewed his gum as he watched the girl stumble along, trying to find her way. She looked quite pitiful and disheveled. It seemed this young lady from No. 7 Middle School wasn’t familiar with the layout of their vocational high school. She slowly disappeared from their sight.
After a while, He Junming forgot about it and remembered something else, smiling suggestively, “You remember that girl who was playing the piano earlier? She came over confidently and said she wanted to be friends.”
“You like her? Then go for it,” Jiang Ren replied.
He Junming shrugged, “Brother Ren, she was looking for you. Is it right for you to say that?”
Jiang Ren recalled the fleeting glimpse he had on stage, “Fine, let her come over.”
Shu Lan approached with bright eyes, blushing the moment she saw Jiang Ren, “Classmate Jiang Ren.”
She held her white ceremonial hat in her hands.
Her face was exquisitely made up, and she was quite pretty. Jiang Ren glanced at Shu Lan and lazily said, “You like me?”
Shu Lan hadn’t expected him to be so direct. Her face instantly turned red, her heart racing with excitement. She tried to control her reaction, maintaining her elegant persona, “Jiang Ren, I just think you’re very outstanding.”
Jiang Ren laughed, “Tell me, where the hell am I outstanding?”
Before Shu Lan could answer, Jiang Ren lit a cigarette, “Outstanding at smoking and fighting? Or at murder and arson? Or maybe outstanding for sending a teacher to the hospital the other day?”
Shu Lan’s face paled, “I believe there must be a misunderstanding. You’re not that kind of person.”
Jiang Ren crossed his legs, “Have you seen my medical report? Do you know what Intermittent Explosive Disorder is?”
Shu Lan knew nothing about these things. She only knew Jiang Ren had a bad temper, but she hadn’t realized he had a medical condition. Her expression changed several times before she finally said firmly, “I don’t care!”
Jiang Ren flicked his cigarette ash, his tone mocking, “Are you that desperate for money? But I care. You’re too ugly. At the very least, you should look like Shen Yuqing from No. 7 Middle School next door. Didn’t you realize I was just messing with you earlier? Get lost.”
Shen Yuqing was the beauty queen of the neighboring No. 7 Middle School, currently in her second year of high school.
Rumors said she was Jiang Ren’s current girlfriend, though many didn’t believe it. Besides, even if it were true, how rare was it for new loves to replace old ones in this world?
Shu Lan, humiliated and dismissed, knew better than to provoke the volatile Jiang Ren and didn’t dare to make a sound.
Unable to contain her anger, she blamed Meng Ting in her heart. If only she hadn’t played the piano wrong…
But then, remembering the comment about being prettier than Shen Yuqing, Shu Lan paused.
She knew who was more beautiful than Shen Yuqing – it was Meng Ting. That kind of pure, shocking beauty that had been quietly dimmed for several years due to her eye injury.
Meng Ting had always been the center of attention since childhood. Shu Lan still remembered the first time she saw ten-year-old Meng Ting, that unforgettable sense of stunning refinement. Beautiful and pure, born to make others feel inferior.
It was like the feeling of a crystal gift that everyone wanted to touch and admire.
She gritted her teeth, thinking on one hand that compared to Meng Ting, what was Shen Yuqing? On the other hand, she thought, it’s a good thing Jiang Ren doesn’t know the Meng Ting from before.
Meng Ting walked out of Licai Vocational High School as the neighboring No. 7 Middle School was letting out.
The two high schools were adjacent, with the public No. 7 Middle School on the left, full of high-achieving students, and the private Licai Vocational High School on the right, poorly managed but filled with wealthy students. It was a paradise for spoiled rich kids.
Ever since the schools were established, No. 7 students looked down on Licai’s academically poor students, while Licai students despised No. 7’s poor but arrogant students.
Meng Ting couldn’t help but look up at her school’s electronic screen.
Back then, the screen was always used to broadcast various promotional events, with red text scrolling across the black screen—
“Renowned Professor Zhang Hong from B University lecture, all students welcome to attend, location…”
Her eyes hurt, but she refused to blink.
The text continued to scroll: Today’s date — October 11, 20xx, 19:03, Thursday.
It wasn’t a dream; she had returned five years ago. The year that marked a turning point in her short life. Meng Ting almost felt the urge to burst into tears, but finally, looking at the empty school grounds after dismissal, she gripped her bag strap tightly and walked towards the bus stop.
There weren’t many buses on her route home, only one every half hour. Meng Ting dug out her student transit card from her bag and waited at the platform.
She waited for ten minutes, taking in every stop. This was the way home, a path she had longed to take countless times in her previous life, and now she finally had the chance in this life.
However, before the bus arrived, the harsh sound of mountain motorcycles racing pierced the air from afar. She gripped her cane tightly, her eyelashes trembling slightly. A sense of foreboding filled her heart.
The motorcycles sped by, cutting through the wind.
He Junming whistled and called out, “Brother Ren, it’s that blind girl we saw at school.”
Jiang Ren’s eyes swept over from under his helmet.
Then he swerved, stopping in front of Meng Ting. She couldn’t help but take a step back.
The wind blew her hair, which was tucked behind her ears, with her bangs slightly disheveled.
Jiang Ren steadied his bike and took off his helmet.
He Junming and Fang Tan stopped right behind him.
Meng Ting remembered this year’s Jiang Ren.
This year, he had pierced one ear, wearing a black diamond stud. His silver short hair was wild and unruly, a style that would look like a scene kid on anyone else, but he was good-looking. Jiang Ren’s features were quite heroic, not the kind of milky pretty boy look that would become popular a few years later, but with a wild and rugged charm. He was a genuine bad boy.
He Junming couldn’t help but taunt her, “Miss high-achiever from No. 7, are you blind?”
Meng Ting didn’t know why they had stopped there. Hearing this, she paused, then nodded slightly.
Jiang Ren looked down at her for a while, his gaze passing over her long hair, “No. 7 student, what are you doing at our vocational school?”
Meng Ting’s heart tightened, not knowing how she had encountered him here as well. She simply remained stiff and silent.
Fang Tan raised an eyebrow, “Is she mute too?”
Meng Ting pressed her lips together, staying quiet and still, and nodded again.
She had nodded twice without answering Jiang Ren’s question. He hung his helmet on the handlebars and curved his lips, “Little scholar, want a ride home? It’s free, caring for the disabled.”
He Junming almost burst out laughing. Damn, haha, caring for the disabled! What next, helping her cross the street?
Fang Tan also held back his laughter.
Meng Ting slowly shook her head, not bothering to argue with him.
She stood very straight. Being autumn, she wore a thin knit sweater inside and the loose No. 7 school uniform with its badge outside. Although her figure wasn’t visible, her exposed neck was slender and fair-skinned. She had a delicate air about her.
Jiang Ren took out a lighter from his pocket and played with it.
The flame danced before his eyes as he looked at her, sunglasses covering half of her face. She gripped her white cane tightly, showing some helpless frailty. She was nervous.
“What’s in your bag? Take it out,” Jiang Ren’s gaze fell on her jade-like hand, so white that the black cane seemed like a piece of ink jade in contrast.
Meng Ting didn’t want to provoke him, only hoping he would leave quickly. So she obediently opened her bag for him to see. She had forgotten what was inside.
As the zipper opened, there was a physics book, an English book.
A pencil case, along with an eyeglass case and a coin purse.
Finally, there was a small box of strawberries.
Strawberries were hard to come by this season. These were nutrient solution greenhouse strawberries that Mr. Shu had gone to great lengths to get from the laboratory. Just a small box, he had told Meng Ting to take them to school in case she got hungry.
However, the Meng Ting of that year couldn’t bear to eat them and had given them to her younger sister, Shu Lan.
“Give me the strawberries.”
Meng Ting’s fingers trembled slightly, not moving at first.
Never mind, it doesn’t matter, don’t make him angry. Her fair hand held out the strawberry box.
He Junming and the others were puzzled. Despite being insulted and having her things taken, she remained calm without any anger, her temperament unlike theirs. There was a completely different air about her.
“Why are you standing so far? Bring it here. Don’t tell me you want me to help you.”
Meng Ting raised her eyes, blinking uncomfortably. Seeing his direction, she held out the box.
Jiang Ren looked down at her.
The October breeze was cool, and most of her fair face was hidden behind the sunglasses, making it hard to see clearly. As she came closer, he thought he caught a faint floral scent.
She placed the box on his handlebars, then stepped back, distancing herself.
The next moment, the bus arrived.
Meng Ting adjusted her backpack, silently gripped her white cane, and boarded the bus. She walked unhurriedly, as if she had never encountered them, and didn’t report their “robbery” to anyone on the bus.
Fang Tan and the others watched in astonishment. He Junming couldn’t help but whisper, “Brother Ren, why bully her?”
Was there any sense of achievement in bullying a blind person? And a little mute at that.
Both deaf and blind, how pitiful.
After the bus had driven far away.
Jiang Ren flicked open the transparent strawberry box with his thumb, not caring if they were washed, and popped one into his mouth.
Unexpectedly sweet.
He Junming looked on enviously and couldn’t help saying, “Brother Ren, can I have one too?”
Without even turning his head, Jiang Ren tossed both the box and the remaining strawberries into a nearby trash can, scoring a perfect shot.
“Not ripe,” he said.
“…”
“…”
Well, if we’re not eating, we’re not eating.
Jiang Ren swung his long leg over the bike, not bothering with his helmet. Could she accurately place the strawberries on his bike if she was blind? Or was she pretending?
Meng Ting returned home. She fumbled for her keys in her coin purse and, with trembling fingers, opened the door. She really could come home again.
The young man on the living room sofa turned his head at the sound, saw Meng Ting, then coldly turned away to watch the game.
However, Mr. Shu, wearing an apron in the kitchen, quickly wiped his hands and came out, smiling warmly, “Ting Ting, you’re back. Wash your hands quickly, dinner’s almost ready. Didn’t Xiao Lan come back with you? Didn’t you say you were going to watch her performance today?”
Seeing her late stepfather again, Meng Ting couldn’t help but tear up.
Mr. Shu was Meng Ting’s stepfather, named Shu Zhitong. After Meng Ting and her mother were in a car accident, her mother passed away, and Meng Ting’s eyes were injured. Mr. Shu raised three children alone, never thinking of abandoning Meng Ting, but instead treating her as his own.
Shu Lan and Shu Yang were Mr. Shu’s biological fraternal twins.
In the past, Meng Ting felt awkward in this family, so she tried hard to be sensible and obedient, taking care of her brother and sister who were two months younger than her. But now she was incredibly grateful that heaven had given her a chance to start over, an opportunity to repay Mr. Shu.
She would not let anything happen to him this time, ensuring he could enjoy his twilight years peacefully.
She put down her backpack, remembering Shu Lan’s situation, and said softly, “Shu Lan said she’s eating out. She has a celebration dinner tonight.”
However, Meng Ting knew in her heart that having just encountered Jiang Ren meant that Shu Lan had failed again.
Whether in her past life or this one, Jiang Ren didn’t particularly like Shu Lan. It was one of life’s curious twists of fate.
Before going to bed that night, she felt in her backpack and found her comical student ID photo.
To protect her eyes, Mr. Shu had made Meng Ting’s bedroom very dim. This photo was taken when she entered high school. At that time, Meng Ting’s eyes were repeatedly infected and couldn’t tolerate any strong light, so the teacher had her pose with a white cloth over her face and then had someone Photoshop a pair of eyes onto it.
Anyone who’s been to school knows how terrible school photography can be.
That year, Photoshop was far from as sophisticated as it would become years later. These eyes looked lifeless, with mismatched colors, starkly out of place. It even startled Meng Ting herself.
So, after looking at it for a long time, from the first to the second year of high school, classmates all thought that even if Meng Ting’s eyes got better, she would still look like she did in her student ID.
Meng Ting carefully put it back in her backpack, not feeling any disgust. She just missed her teachers and classmates a little.