“The first place in this competition,” the host paused, “goes to student Meng Ting, with 142 points.”
Meng Ting stood up.
She hadn’t expected to succeed.
Her heart was racing a bit. Eight thousand yuan…
Below, He Junming also looked dumbfounded: “Holy shit… I won?”
Fang Tan and He Han were also stunned.
He Junming: “She’s so amazing, my goodness.”
Jiang Ren laughed ambiguously.
He Han asked, “Ren-ge, where are you going?”
Jiang Ren didn’t answer him and walked out on his own.
The organizers were very efficient, immediately calling the top three to the stage to receive their rewards. Each person received their respective certificate and a bank card.
Lu Yue stood next to Meng Ting, her expression not looking too good.
She had taken first place for several years and thought it was a sure thing this year too, but Meng Ting had taken it instead.
It was also a matter of Lu Yue’s mindset. Her thoughts were all on Jiang Ren, and she had been reading carelessly. In previous years, she could still score 140 points, but this year she only got 136. After all, she was still young, and her distraction was quite obvious.
When going on stage, Lu Yue had already adjusted her expression and smiled at Meng Ting, saying, “Congratulations, junior sister.”
Meng Ting wasn’t good at small talk, but she softly replied, “Thank you, and congratulations to you too, Senior Sister Lu Yue.”
Lu Yue laughed coldly in her heart. It was just a first place, wasn’t it? She had seen many people like Meng Ting from childhood – poor and plain, like dull dust, with nothing going for them except passable grades.
As for Lu Yue, she was beautiful, and from a well-off family, and good grades were just the icing on the cake. What she possessed, Meng Ting could never obtain in her lifetime.
The only thing that embarrassed her was that she had just told Jiang Ren she would get first place for them to see, but now she had come in second.
After the photographer finished taking group photos, the students all went home. Most parents were comforting their unsuccessful children as they walked out of the art gallery together.
Meng Ting walked at the very back.
She was still carrying her light blue backpack. It was already noon, and the sun was blazing.
The sunlight hung high, and she couldn’t help but lower her gaze, her hand lightly shading her forehead. Outside, countless colorful balloons were hung to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving.
A long, strong hand appeared before her eyes.
The young man was still wearing black leather gloves, holding a pink ice cream: “Meng Ting.”
She was startled and looked up at him.
He smiled: “What are you looking at me for? Take it.”
Meng Ting didn’t like him and didn’t want to accept anything from him. She looked at her toes: “Can I not take it?”
“Try saying that again.”
He was fierce.
Meng Ting had no choice but to reach out and take it.
That year, such exquisite ice cream wasn’t popular in the country. After growing up and her mother passed away, she never bought any snacks again. Time was long, and in her memory, ice cream was always something that came in a bag, costing either one yuan or fifty cents.
But the one in her hand wasn’t like that.
It was a small crown.
Luxurious Italian ice cream.
She had seen it a few years later, costing over a hundred yuan each.
The crystal-clear water of the small fountain sparkled. She was forced to hold it, feeling somewhat at a loss.
Meng Ting was afraid that he would still like her as he did in her previous life. So she mustered up the courage to ask him: “Why are you giving this to me?”
Jiang Ren lowered his gaze to look at her, noticing her unease. He smiled mischievously: “Why? I lost a bet, that’s why. Just eat it when I tell you to eat, don’t jabber so much.”
Meng Ting breathed a sigh of relief and said in a soft voice: “Thank you.”
She smelled very fragrant; you could smell it as soon as you got close.
Like gardenias blooming for the first time in summer, light and fresh.
“Meng Ting, are your grades very good?”
Meng Ting felt it was difficult to answer: “They’re okay.”
Jiang Ren couldn’t help but laugh.
She felt somewhat ashamed for some reason: “What are you laughing at?”
“Laughing at how fake you are. If it’s good, just say it’s good. Why the hell say ‘okay’?”
But in her world, this was the education she had received since childhood. One should be modest and gentle, not proud and self-satisfied. Jiang Ren’s existence, however, was like the most rebellious and unrestrained ray of light, tearing apart all pretenses of modesty. Meng Ting’s face turned red, finding that she couldn’t refute.
“I need to go home now.” She took a step back, distancing herself from him.
Jiang Ren curved his lips: “Let me take you home then.”
Meng Ting was almost scared to death and quickly shook her head: “No need, there’s a bus.”
The smile at the corner of Jiang Ren’s lips faded a little.
But Meng Ting had already turned and left. She walked slowly, and Jiang Ren could only see her back. He couldn’t explain why, but he just felt like he was a bit of a jerk.
He Junming had been watching from afar with his eyes wide open. Hadn’t Ren-ge not participated in the bet?
Jiang Ren walked over and tossed the motorcycle keys to him: “Take the bike back for me.”
“Oh, okay.”
Seeing that he was about to leave after giving instructions, Lu Yue suddenly called out: “Jiang Ren!”
Jiang Ren turned back impatiently: “Speak.”
“You didn’t come to cheer for me today, did you?”
Jiang Ren smiled: “What do you think?”
Lu Yue’s eyes were almost red: “You came to see her… But everyone in our school knows that her eyes…”
Jiang Ren looked at her coldly: “Well, go on and finish what you were saying.”
Lu Yue inexplicably felt a chill. She had originally felt wronged in her heart. After all, everyone knew Jiang Ren’s status, and she had thought that since he had broken up with Shen Yuqing, she might have a chance. But now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
He had come to find Meng Ting.
But Meng Ting had problems with her eyes. However, under Jiang Ren’s gaze, Lu Yue couldn’t say anything.
She could only watch as Jiang Ren left.
He Han was stunned for a long time: “I feel like, could it be that Ren-ge has some interest in Meng Ting?”
He Junming looked at the car keys in his hand, feeling like the sky was about to fall: “What kind of taste does he have, damn.” He still remembered the face on the student ID card with “Meng Ting” written on it.
Fang Tan wasn’t sure either, and after a while, he said: “Don’t overthink it, Jiang Ren won’t be serious.”
The bus Meng Ting took home was the 382 route. It came every ten minutes, which was quite frequent.
When she got on the bus, it was right at the peak of rush hour, and the bus was extremely crowded.
The driver spoke in dialect, telling everyone to move to the back.
Meng Ting swiped her transit card and reached up to hold onto the hanging strap above her head.
In the last second before the doors closed, Jiang Ren got on the bus.
It was his first time riding a public bus in his life and seeing it full of people, he couldn’t help but click his tongue.
The driver reminded him in broken Mandarin: “Young man, either pay cash or swipe a card.”
“How much?”
“One yuan.”
Jiang Ren felt his pockets, and after a while, he raised his eyes to look at Meng Ting, smiling somewhat mischievously: “Driver, I don’t have a card or cash.”
The bus went quiet for a moment.
The driver was also stunned for a bit. So what, did he want to ride for free?
“Then get off.”
Meng Ting also looked over at the crowd. Everyone was looking at him with strange gazes, but he didn’t care at all.
Meng Ting’s heart was pounding, also hoping he would get off.
“Good student, come over and swipe your card for me, will you?”
Meng Ting met his black eyes and mustered up courage: “You should ride your bike home.”
Jiang Ren couldn’t help but laugh: “You’re so heartless.”
Seeing that Meng Ting wouldn’t help, he casually took out a hundred-yuan red bill from his wallet and tossed it in.
The driver was stunned: “You…” But then he didn’t say anything and started the bus.
Meng Ting frowned slightly. The bus didn’t give change, so Jiang Ren spent a hundred yuan just to ride the bus. She couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful. If she had helped him swipe her card, he wouldn’t have been so unfortunate.
That year, the transportation hub wasn’t as convenient as it would be later, and the bus was packed with people.
Jiang Ren was tall, making the space even more cramped for him.
The bus swayed back and forth, and Meng Ting almost bumped into the middle-aged man in front of her several times. A hand wearing a black leather glove grasped her wrist and pulled her over.
“Jiang Ren.”
“Mm.”
Meng Ting said: “Let go of me.”
“If I let go, can you stand steady?”
She blushed: “I can.”
He chuckled lightly, inherently domineering: “No talking.”
Then he turned to the man behind him and said: “What the F*ck are you pushing for? Try touching me one more time.”
His way of speaking was utterly unrestrained, not caring if it was vulgar or not.
That man was about to curse back, but after one look at Jiang Ren, he cowered.
The young man was tall, with silver hair and black diamond earrings, always giving off a gangster vibe. He didn’t dare to speak, only moving outward.
Jiang Ren’s fierce tone also made Meng Ting a bit scared, and she could only try to stay as far away from him as possible.
Jiang Ren turned back to see her like this and curved his lips: “What are you afraid of? I’m not scolding you.”
Meng Ting’s cheeks were slightly red, but he was so fierce.
She gripped the metal railing beside her tightly, not saying a word.
However, the surrounding area was noticeably more spacious.
The bus swayed all the way, and the final stop wasn’t far from Meng Ting’s home. When she got off the bus, she noticed that Jiang Ren didn’t look well.
He was tightly pursing his lips, his brows furrowed.
He was car sick.
Meng Ting lowered her long lashes and started walking towards home.
Jiang Ren, due to the surging nausea, was in a particularly irritable mood.
“Meng Ting.”
She turned back.
“Why didn’t you eat what I gave you?”
The ice cream in her hand had already melted, and she hadn’t taken a single bite. Seeing Meng Ting’s silence, his eyes turned slightly cold, and he walked over in a few steps: “Fine if you look down on it, forget it.”
He snatched it back and threw it directly into the nearby trash can.
There was a thud.
She raised her eyes to look at him.
They were very close, and behind the pink-colored lenses, her clear eyes looked somewhat aggrieved.
Why was he so domineering?
Giving when he wanted to give, throwing away when he said so.
Forget it… She wouldn’t be dealing with him for a lifetime anyway, so she wouldn’t argue with him.
She thought for a long time and said softly: “Hold out your hand.”
Her hair was soft and tinged with a warm color in the sunlight. Jiang Ren’s brows and eyes were cold, and Meng Ting said gently: “I’m sorry, it was my fault.”
His fingertips trembled slightly, and he involuntarily held out his hand.
It was early winter, November.
The air was fresh.
He lowered his gaze. In the black glove, a small lemon-flavored soft candy was placed.