After a moment of silence, Jiang Ren finally turned his head away and spoke in a soft, faint voice, “I have no money.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t miss her or didn’t want to spend more time with her. The truth was, all four of his pockets combined couldn’t produce a single cent. He was utterly penniless.
Moreover, throughout his journey, people had been giving him strange looks – some staring at his dirty clothes, others at his limping leg. He wasn’t made of wood; how could he not feel anything?
Jiang Ren himself didn’t feel particularly ashamed, but he was worried about Meng Ting losing face.
The culture of comparison existed in all schools, and he didn’t want her university life to be unhappy.
Meng Ting smiled and pulled out a card from her pocket. “I have money. You gave me this.”
She hadn’t touched a single cent on that card, knowing Jiang Ren was short on money. She quickly wanted to return it to him.
Jiang Ren refused to take it. “Are you silly? Once I’ve given it to you, it’s yours. A capable man doesn’t spend a woman’s money.”
She gazed at him longingly.
Are you leaving then?
“Damn it,” he cursed under his breath.
Jiang Ren took her hand. “Alright, let’s go.”
“Where to?”
Meng Ting soon found out where they were going – there was an arcade just outside their university.
On this October evening, a gentle breeze was blowing.
Jiang Ren led her into the arcade. Since it was after school hours, the place was quite crowded. Jiang Ren’s gaze remained calm as he bypassed the second floor and stopped in front of a slot machine.
“Do you have any coins? Lend me one.”
Meng Ting found a one-yuan coin in her pocket and gave it to him.
He patted her hair, not sitting down but slightly bending over to insert the coin into the machine.
With a ding, Meng Ting turned to look at him.
This year, his eyes were calm as he supported himself on the game machine, his expression focused. His long fingers pulled the lever beside him. The light from the game machine illuminated his face, giving his dust-covered features a special radiance.
The light danced and flowed on the game machine before stopping. Three identical chubby ingots appeared on the screen.
The machine spat out three coins.
Jiang Ren took one and returned it to her, then tossed another one in. After the lights finished dancing, he had three more coins in his hand.
Then he bet on “big.”
This time, the machine kept spitting out coins. Several people around couldn’t help but look over – this guy was good!
Meng Ting had never seen anyone play this before, and her big eyes were filled with curiosity and innocence. Jiang Ren couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t get greedy, stopping after winning about ten coins.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Jiang Ren teased her, “Think it’s fun?”
In truth, that machine was quite a scam. He had lost who knows how much money to it in his youth before roughly figuring out some tricks to play it. However, if he continued playing, there was no guarantee he’d win every time.
Meng Ting nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed. “Mm, you’re so amazing!”
The smile in his eyes faded a bit. “Be good, I’ll bring you to play again when we have money.”
They walked through an alley and came to a street full of snack vendors. It was just dinner time. The small restaurants were packed with B University students. Steam rose into the sky, giving off the flavor of a setting sun.
The shop owners enthusiastically called out to the university students in their authentic B City accent.
Nineteen and twenty-year-old boys and girls chatted and laughed, creating a lively atmosphere.
When they walked into a wonton shop, many people turned to look. Meng Ting also saw Jiang Rong sitting inside, chatting and laughing with her new roommate. When Jiang Rong saw Meng Ting and Jiang Ren, her eyes widened in surprise.
Meng Ting didn’t like her, so she only glanced once before looking away.
Only outside tables were available. With the money Jiang Ren had, he could only afford two bowls of wonton.
The shop owner cheerfully served them: “Enjoy your meal, students.”
Meng Ting smiled and thanked him.
She took out a spoon, gave one to Jiang Ren, and then gently blew on the surface of her soup to cool it.
The steam momentarily blurred her delicate face, making her dark eyelashes appear slightly misty.
Jiang Ren said softly, “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” She lifted her small face, her clear pupils filled with a smile and confusion.
He looked at her, feeling heartache: “Just make do with this, okay?”
Meng Ting had been busy taking care of Song Huanhuan for most of the day and was already hungry. She ate her wontons in small bites, quiet and obedient.
Jiang Ren lowered his eyes. He suddenly remembered things he had never paid attention to before. In his second year of high school, when he went with He Junming and others to eat at the food stalls outside the vocational school, Shen Yuqing insisted on coming along. Later, the disgust in that girl’s eyes…
At that time, Jiang Ren didn’t care. But now, sitting across the wooden table was Meng Ting.
He could barely contain the pain and distress in his heart.
That year, he had only twelve coins to his name, only enough to buy his beloved girl a six-yuan bowl of wonton.
Meng Ting glanced at him. The October sunset carried a hint of autumn’s chill.
She suddenly remembered that morning when they first got together, when Jiang Ren ate the leftover bun she had been eating. He had said that whatever Tingting didn’t want, he would eat, and taught her that it wouldn’t be dirty that way.
He was both rebellious and proud. Bringing her to eat small wontons probably made him feel terrible inside.
Seeing this, her heart softened. She scooped up a wonton with her spoon, gently blew on it to cool it down, and raised it to his lips.
He looked down to see a pair of smiling eyes.
Jiang Ren’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “You want to feed me?”
“Mm-hmm.”
He cursed inwardly but still opened his mouth to eat it. Unlike her, who took three bites to finish one wonton, he ate it in one go.
Jiang Ren’s expression remained fairly natural. After she withdrew her hand, he reached for a new spoon for her.
When he got the new spoon, he saw her lowering her head to continue eating.
The new spoon in Jiang Ren’s hand fell into his bowl with a crisp sound, splattering wonton soup.
The shop owner looked over worriedly, fearing the customer might have broken the porcelain bowl.
Jiang Ren ate quickly with his head down, not minding the two porcelain spoons in his bowl.
Meng Ting was trying hard not to laugh.
But fearing he might see, she could only bury her small face. She was also a bit red-faced. In all her life, this was the first time she had fed someone. Surprisingly, she didn’t find the spoon he had used disgusting.
Meng Ting seemed to understand a bit of what Jiang Ren had tried to teach her before. Love is intertwining and interdependent, never disgusted.
By the time they finished eating, it was already dark.
“Shall I show you around the school?” she asked.
“No evening classes?”
“No, first-year students have fewer classes.”
Jiang Ren agreed. After all, the night was darker than the day, and if he had to leave, he wouldn’t want to go.
So Meng Ting held his hand as they toured the campus.
Every prestigious university often carries a profound heritage. Jiang Ren had never had the dream of attending university before.
“It’s nice to be able to go to university,” he said.
She blinked. “Why do you say that suddenly?”
“The environment is good. Being around a group of cultured people is much better than facing a bunch of rough people with wrinkled faces,” he smiled. “Why are you looking at me like that? I’m serious. People who can get into good universities are very capable. Even if I studied for ten more years in high school, I couldn’t get in.”
He spoke honestly. With his social experience, he had matured quite a bit. It was as if the rebellious and arrogant boy she first met wasn’t the same as the man standing before her now.
Not many of the buildings could be seen at night, but the air on the sports field was good. Some students were jogging to exercise.
Meng Ting had only been at the school for a few weeks and rarely came to the sports field alone. It wasn’t until she arrived that she realized something was off.
By the time she heard the strange sounds, Jiang Ren had already turned her face away.
In the dim light of the sports field, he saw her big eyes shimmering with moisture. He smiled mischievously, “Alright, don’t look back. Are you curious about couples kissing? If you’re curious, I can teach you.”
Meng Ting said angrily, “I’m not curious. Let go of me, Jiang Ren.”
She regretted it deeply. Was it always this lively here at night?
Next to them were trees and parallel bars. Compared to the bustling sports field, this spot was indeed more secluded, no wonder it was a dating hotspot.
To be honest, Jiang Ren was a bit excited.
His body was quite honest, and he genuinely felt that university was a good place. The best place possible.
“What are you embarrassed about? No one can see us out here.”
Meng Ting’s face was red as blood.
Yet he continued, “You fed me food today. Not disgusted by my saliva anymore?”
He couldn’t help but laugh when he brought this up. He still vividly remembered her serious and adorable declaration last year about how dirty saliva was when she saw him eating the other half of a bun.
Meng Ting bit her lip, not wanting to answer his rhetorical question that made her want to find a crack to crawl into.
“You’re not disgusted that I’m covered in cement either, right?” He changed the subject quickly. “I’m pretty good to you, aren’t I, Meng Ting?”
Meng Ting nodded.
“No,” he smiled. “I’m damn too good to you.”
She looked up at him, wondering what he meant.
“How long have you been with me, and you’re still curious about hearing people kiss? If word got out, I’d lose face, you know?”
“I wasn’t curious!” She was almost crying from embarrassment. She shouldn’t have instinctively turned her head when she heard such a close sound. She instinctively tried to step back, but Jiang Ren pulled her back.
“Be good, let’s try it, hmm?”
The more he coaxed, the more uneasy she felt. Meng Ting wanted to run away without saying a word.
Jiang Ren was almost out of patience, but he was a normal, red-blooded man. In the past, even when he kissed her, it was always light and brief. After all, this girl even found his saliva disgusting, so no matter how shameless he was, he didn’t dare force her.
But today she had taken the initiative to feed him, so he couldn’t be blamed for having ideas.
Meng Ting’s face was bright red. “No, let go. I don’t want to try this…”
The next second, her voice was swallowed by him.
Behind her was the rough tree trunk. He was using force! He used force!
Meng Ting was about to cry, and the way he…
Do other people kiss so forcefully? She felt that her thin summer clothes against the tree trunk would probably leave red marks on her back.
She was forced to tilt her slender neck back as he almost pressed against her.
His body temperature was so hot it made her want to hide.
The young girl’s shapely body ached from his rough kiss. But she knew his feelings were different from hers. He seemed to be enjoying it immensely; his fingers gripping her waist were trembling.
It wasn’t just a try.
She could almost feel all of a man’s desire and malice.
After the kiss, her legs felt weak, and her mind went blank for a moment. He was breathing heavily, his heartbeat so loud she couldn’t ignore it even if she wanted to.
Jiang Ren supported her waist, moving his body a bit further away to prevent her from feeling his arousal. He couldn’t help but laugh, his chest shaking.
Meng Ting was embarrassed and angry. “You’re still laughing…”
“Mm, I won’t laugh, I won’t laugh.”
This pervert even forcefully fed her his saliva. She felt utterly wronged. She used the back of her hand to wipe her lips.
Jiang Ren held her hand. “Weren’t you not disgusted anymore?”
How could that be the same?
She looked both pitiful and shocked as if struck by lightning.
Jiang Ren loved this look of hers.
Meng Ting said, “Weren’t you going to leave? You should go now.”
Now she was chasing him away?
Jiang Ren’s eyes were full of amusement as he joked, “I’m not leaving. I don’t want to leave.” He wanted to die in this gentle paradise.
Meng Ting’s ear tips were red. She wanted to reach back and touch her back. “Don’t come closer. You’re all sweaty, it stinks.”
Even her scolding was sweet and delicate.
Jiang Ren couldn’t stop laughing. “Don’t you understand a man’s scent?”
The summer carried a faint smell of sweat. After all, he had been busy all day and rushed to B City without even changing his clothes. He didn’t have any other body odor, and even if she found him disgusting now, he wouldn’t leave.
Jiang Ren wanted to kiss her again, but she obviously couldn’t handle such a wild kiss. Her little face was completely red.
Jiang Ren held her hand as they walked two laps around the sports field, mainly to calm himself down.
Sometimes he didn’t understand why his sensations were so different from hers. He felt ecstatic, every cell in his body trembling. But she looked so pitiful as if she had been bullied to the point of tears.
When Meng Ting took a leaf off her head, she remembered that tree from earlier and wanted to throw it in his face.
She suppressed her embarrassment, wanting to see what her back looked like. She also wanted to rub her chest. But she could only keep a straight face, pretending nothing had happened as she walked round after round with him.
The night concealed the imperfection of his leg. He stood straight, tall, and slender, his handsome face sharp under the night sky.
Eventually, he had to send her back to the dormitory.
Jiang Ren watched her walk away, smiling as he ruffled her hair. Only after Meng Ting waved goodbye did the smile fade from his face.
He hadn’t thought about giving up on the real estate project. Tonight, only being able to afford a six-yuan bowl of wonton for her made the man’s heart dark and heavy.
Jiang Ren stepped onto the streets of B City. He had grown up in this prosperous metropolis since he was a child. Now he felt so frustrated that he wanted to smoke a cigarette, but he had quit smoking long ago.
At the very least, it would be another year and a half before the project was completed – over 400 days and nights.
He wasn’t stupid. During the day, he had already seen the surprised and disdainful look that girl in the wonton shop had given Meng Ting.
That look was full of mockery and contempt, anyone could read it – Is this the man the department beauty fell for?
He couldn’t help but kick a streetlight.
When Meng Ting returned to the dormitory, both girls looked at her strangely.
Song Huanhuan was the most incredulous. Even her food poisoning hadn’t shocked her this much, but seeing Jiang Ren run to the school infirmary and embrace Meng Ting truly frightened her.
“Tingting, that guy this afternoon, is he your boyfriend?”
Meng Ting emerged after washing up and nodded in response. She had just checked; her back was a bit red, but fortunately not scratched.
Song Huanhuan didn’t want to believe it, but Meng Ting’s lips were very red and slightly swollen. It couldn’t possibly be self-inflicted. She fell back onto the bed, feeling utterly hopeless.
Mi Lei hadn’t seen Jiang Ren, but her situation seemed a bit better. She asked with a smile, “Which university is he from? How come we haven’t seen him visit you before?”
“He’s in H City. His work keeps him very busy,” Meng Ting replied.
“How old is he?” Mi Lei inquired.
Meng Ting answered, “Nineteen.”
The dormitory fell silent for a moment. Nineteen years old and working in H City – that meant he wasn’t in school. Song Huanhuan covered herself with the blanket, recalling the young man’s appearance she had seen earlier that day.