Meng Ting protected her face, almost angry: “Don’t touch me.”
Jiang Ren withdrew his hand: “Fine, tell me, what are you doing here?”
He had a faint hope in his heart that she had come to find him.
Even though Jiang Ren knew the possibility was too small.
Meng Ting’s long eyelashes trembled slightly: “My chest felt tight, so I just came out for a walk.”
He knew she wasn’t telling the truth. She rarely lied, and he could see through it at a glance.
However, he didn’t push her. He said in a low voice: “It’s getting dark. Don’t wander around, okay? Go home early.”
Meng Ting quickly nodded.
Jiang Ren was still worried. He had come by car. He took out his car keys: “I’ll drive you back.”
“No need, there’s a bus.”
“Hurry up, don’t you want to go home?” He was forceful and unreasonable.
When Meng Ting arrived home, she encountered an unexpected person.
Xu Jia came down to throw out the garbage.
There was a garbage collection point just outside the residential area. As he turned the corner, he saw Meng Ting.
The sky was dim, it was November, and the leaves rustled in the evening wind.
She got out of a young man’s car.
She had walked several steps when the young man chased after her. Xu Jia recognized him; it was Jiang Ren. The big shot who had just come to Li Cai Vocational High School this semester, was reportedly kicked out of the Jiang family for a big mistake and had beaten up a teacher in his class on his first day.
Xu Jia wasn’t in the same school as them. But he knew Jiang Ren; the real estate in H City belonged to the Jiang family.
Jiang Ren chased after her, and Xu Jia noticed his arm raised as if he wanted to hug Meng Ting, but when she turned back, he withdrew his hand and smiled casually: “See you tomorrow.”
Xu Jia was too familiar with this expression.
In middle school, many people who liked Meng Ting secretly followed her to watch her dance and play the piano. Everyone wanted to talk to Meng Ting, but she was so obedient and sensible then, at most giving a shy smile, never saying much.
The same desire to touch but not daring to touch appeared on Jiang Ren’s face, and Xu Jia understood a lot in an instant.
He threw away the garbage in his hand.
After Jiang Ren’s car drove away, he walked over: “Meng Ting.”
Meng Ting thought for a moment, remembering who he was, Uncle Xu’s son, what was his name again?
“Xu Jia?”
Xu Jia nodded with a smile.
He didn’t mention Jiang Ren’s matter, but instead asked her: “Are you participating in the piano competition in December? My mom is recruiting people.”
Everyone in the neighborhood knew about Du Dongliang coming to collect debt today. Xu Jia knew Meng Ting was in a difficult situation now. When she was fourteen, she was a happy little girl who didn’t worry about food or clothes, but as she grew up, she experienced too much. Du Dongliang’s debt collection was ugly, and Meng Ting must be feeling bad.
Xu Jia knew what she wanted.
Meng Ting remembered that Xu Jia’s mother was a music teacher at the vocational high school. Her eyes brightened, and she didn’t decline: “Mm!”
Xu Jia smiled gently: “Come to my house to fill out a form.”
Meng Ting was afraid of disturbing him, and Uncle Xu’s family was enthusiastic, so if she went, she would probably be asked to stay for dinner. So Meng Ting ate at home before going over.
Xu Jia’s mother was called Song Lijuan, teaching music to four classes of second-year students at Li Cai Vocational High School.
Song Lijuan was intellectual and beautiful. When Meng Ting arrived, Xu Jia opened the door. Song Lijuan’s eyes brightened: “It’s Ting Ting, sit down, Auntie will get you some fruit.”
Xu Jia smiled: “My mom is a bit overfamiliar, don’t mind her.”
Meng Ting shook her head saying she wouldn’t. When Song Lijuan came back, she smiled lightly, her eyes curving into crescents. She sweetly said thank you, Auntie. That smile was so beautiful and sweet that even Song Lijuan, a middle-aged woman, was stunned.
Xu Jia called his mother: “Where’s the form?”
Song Lijuan suddenly remembered and gave the registration form to Meng Ting. Meng Ting looked at the competition prize money, it was a high amount, 15,000 yuan for first place. In that year, this was considered an astronomical figure.
Song Lijuan said: “Although this competition has rich prizes, it’s quite difficult. How many years have you learned piano?”
“6 years.”
Song Lijuan frowned: “That’s a bit short.” She glanced at her son, but then smiled, “Have you been practicing piano recently?”
Meng Ting shook her head, honestly saying: “I haven’t played for a long time.”
“That won’t do. You should practice more while there’s still a month left, Ting Ting.” Song Lijuan also thought of the Shu family’s current predicament, presumably Meng Ting’s home didn’t have a piano. She suggested: “I have the key to the school’s music room. Ting Ting, can you come to Li Cai to practice piano after school?”
Meng Ting was very happy, her eyes shining: “Thank you, Teacher Song.”
“What Teacher Song?” Song Lijuan scolded playfully, “Didn’t you just call me Auntie?”
Meng Ting smiled and agreed.
Throughout their conversation, Xu Jia sat reading a book on a sofa not far away.
When they finished talking, he got up to see Meng Ting out.
Xu Jia closed the door and faced his mother’s teasing gaze: “Little Jia, didn’t you used to follow her home in middle school? If I didn’t come to find you, you wouldn’t even want to come back. How come now that she’s here, you don’t say a word more?”
Xu Jia looked at his mother calmly, smiling peacefully: “I was young and didn’t know better then.” He reminded her again, “Mom, don’t mention this in front of Meng Ting, she’ll be embarrassed.”
“Tsk, the older you get, the less cute you are.”
Xu Jia didn’t respond, just collected the fruit that Meng Ting had eaten a bit of and took it to his room.
Song Lijuan didn’t notice.
The next day, Meng Ting said to Shu Zhitong with a serious face: “Father Shu, you absolutely must not do radiation experiments, okay? You promised me, don’t go back on your word. Shu Yang and I have all grown up, things will get better for our family in the future. Father Shu, please wait a bit longer.”
Shu Zhitong smiled bitterly: “Alright.”
Only then did she smile, riding her bicycle to school.
The weather was getting colder, and Meng Ting wore a pair of rabbit gloves while cycling.
There was a cute pink carrot on them.
Zhao Nuancheng’s grades weren’t very good in the last monthly test, and she had been scolded these past few days. She said dejectedly: “It’s just that I’m not good at chemistry, what can I do?”
Meng Ting thought for a moment, sorted out her test papers, and patted Zhao Nuancheng’s shoulder: “Nuancheng, look.”
Zhao Nuancheng turned around.
That year, except for the capital, all regions took local exams.
Meng Ting said: “In the college entrance exam mock tests, there are seven multiple-choice questions in chemistry. Each question type is fixed. For example, the first question is always about element selection.” Her voice was soft and gentle, and Hong Hui also secretly glanced over with a red face.
Meng Ting’s pen tip slid down, “The second question is always about chemical equations…”
Seeing Zhao Nuancheng’s wide eyes, Meng Ting continued: “And I’ve noticed a pattern, in the first four multiple-choice questions, options A, B, C, and D are always all covered.”
Zhao Nuancheng flipped through seven or eight test papers, her face showing disbelief.
“Then for the last three questions, there’s a high probability of one each for B, C, and D.”
Zhao Nuancheng swallowed.
In other words, if you could do three out of the first four questions, you could guess the one you didn’t know correctly.
Seeing that she understood, Meng Ting smiled and said: “The later big questions are the same. For example, chemistry will have an element deduction question, and each type of question has a fixed pattern. If you summarize six or seven college entrance exam papers, you’ll find that all the answers are similar. For example, the most commonly tested elements are Cu, Fe, and their compounds. If you don’t know, just summarize the papers and look for patterns.”
Zhao Nuancheng was almost shocked.
She never thought that a “diligent” study god-like Meng Ting would also summarize these “tricks”.
“Ting Ting, you’re so amazing!”
Meng Ting laughed, feeling a bit embarrassed. In the year she was burned and disfigured in the hospital, Zhao Nuancheng had cried her eyes out. Later, Meng Ting couldn’t take the college entrance exam, but Zhao Nuancheng failed due to her poor performance in chemistry. Since her rebirth, Meng Ting had been thinking about how to help this childhood friend.
Hong Hui was also immersed in these “tricks”, and as he looked, he found it was true!
Meng Ting reminded them: “This might not be a definite pattern, so you still need to build a good foundation and work hard.”
Zhao Nuancheng was so happy she almost wanted to kiss her, repeatedly agreeing. Then she went to find her test papers.
After school, Meng Ting didn’t go home. From today, she had to go to the music room of the neighboring vocational high school to practice piano.
The vocational high school had the most complete set of instruments, and both the music room and dance room were very new. The exterior, however, had quite a retro charm.
That year, Li Cai’s music and dance rooms were in a brick-red small building.
In summer, it would be covered with Boston ivy, and in winter, hanging plants would dangle from the third floor, giving it an elegant feel.
Although Li Cai had arts and sports classes, very few people practiced piano at school. Meng Ting used the key to open the door, and in the empty classroom, a piano sat quietly.
Meng Ting took off her gloves, took a deep breath, and sat down on the chair next to the piano.
She hadn’t touched a piano for a long time. There was sheet music in the classroom, and Meng Ting opened it. The first page was “The Blue Danube”.
She recalled the score in her mind, thought for a moment, and without referring to the sheet music, her fingertips danced on the keys, light and smooth.
At this time, the vocational high school had also let out.
He Junming and his friends had skipped class in the afternoon to play basketball. Playing basketball in winter was very invigorating, often cold at first then hot, later taking off clothes and getting cold again.
The playground was right next to the brick-red building.
When the piano sound started, several boys couldn’t help but look up.
The piano sound was crisp, yet gentle and emotional.
The hanging plants dangled down, adding a touch of bright vitality to the cold winter.
He Han said: “It’s rare to hear someone practicing piano.”
He Junming nodded. Although he didn’t understand what was being played, it sounded really good. He suggested: “Shall we go take a look?”
Fang Tan’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Jiang Ren. Jiang Ren threw his jacket over his shoulder, not even raising an eyelid, showing no interest at all: “What’s there to see? I’m going back.”
When he said he was going back, he went back.
Passing by that small building, he didn’t even pause his steps.
He Junming clicked his tongue: “Brother Ren still can’t let go, huh?”
Jiang Ren’s mother was famously elegant and aloof, and Jiang Ren despised his mother. From childhood to adulthood, he never liked women who could dance and play piano.
Perhaps in his heart, his first understanding of this world was the cold piano sound at home and his mother’s indifferent gaze.
However, He Junming wanted to see.
The girls in their vocational school were either excessively coquettish or too rough. He thought that someone who played the piano must be a gentle and beautiful girl.
He Han patted his shoulder: “Let’s go, haven’t you been beaten enough by Brother Ren before?”
He Junming immediately shut up, looked regretfully at that building and followed everyone out of the school gate.
Meng Ting practiced piano for a week, and the specific time for the competition also came out.
It wasn’t easy for her to put aside her misgivings and participate in the competition, but this timing still made her pause.
It was on Christmas Eve, the day before Christmas.
It was also her seventeenth birthday.