r18novel Chapter 58 Next Time
Chapter 58 Next Time
When the school bell rang, the classroom was like a hornet's nest that had been poked.
The sounds of chairs scraping the floor, textbooks slamming on tables, and people calling to leave all mingled together, creating a buzzing noise.
Lin Yue remained seated, not moving.
She closed her English textbook, then opened it again, then closed it again.
I ran my finger across the cover a couple of times; there were two words written there, in ballpoint pen, the color so faint you could barely see them unless you looked closely.
It is the Chinese character "宋" (Song), with a small star drawn next to it.
Most of the people have left.
The last group of people also walked out with their backpacks on their backs. When they passed by her, no one spoke to her or looked at her.
The footsteps faded into the distance, and the corridor fell silent.
The setting sun shone through the window, casting long shadows of the desks, like a staircase.
Lin Yue took out a glass bottle from the drawer. It was filled with stars—pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple—crowded together, sparkling in the sunset, like a half-filled bottle of rainbow.
She counted them; there were 123.
She held the bottle in her hands and then looked at the table in front of her.
Song Huan's seat was very clean.
She arranged it for him, every day after school, and she would arrive five minutes early each day to wipe the table for him.
She lowered her head and put the bottle in the drawer.
Tomorrow.
They should all be here tomorrow.
I'll put the bottle on his desk and then run away so he can't see my face.
She slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom.
The corridor was long, and footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell.
As she reached the stairwell, she glanced back. The classroom door was open, and Song Huan's desk was still there, empty.
……
When I got home, the door wasn't closed properly.
Zhao He's voice came from inside, "One hundred, two hundred, three hundred..."
Lin Yue pushed open the door and went in. Zhao He was sitting on the sofa with a pile of money spread out in front of him. Red and green bills, all crumpled, were straightened out and stacked together.
She counted very carefully, dipped her finger in saliva, twisted off a sheet, placed it on the table, dipped her finger again, and twisted off another sheet.
Lin Yue lowered her head and walked towards her room.
As she walked past the sofa, she saw Zhao He's face.
There are three red marks on my left cheekbone, each one longer than the last, as if I had been scratched by something sharp.
The blood had dried, forming a dark red scab, and the area around it was swollen, with the skin taut and shiny.
Lin Yue stopped in her tracks. "Mom, what happened to your face?"
Zhao He's hand stiffened for a moment.
Then she suddenly looked up, her eyes blazing, "What's wrong? What do you mean, what's wrong?"
She slammed the stack of money on the coffee table, the banknotes scattering and floating to the floor.
"If it weren't for raising money for your transfer tuition, if it weren't for your deadbeat father, would I have gone to see that guy surnamed Wang? Would I have been blocked at the door by his wife, who grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall like she was catching a thief?"
She pointed to the injury on her face, her fingers trembling.
"Look! Look! Your mother was beaten like this, and why? It's all because of you!"
Lin Yue's eyes reddened. "Mom, I don't want to transfer schools."
"Smack."
Zhao He slapped her across the face without warning; it wasn't hard, but it was loud.
Lin Yue turned her face to the side, but didn't cry.
Zhao He stared at her, his chest heaving. "Why?"
Lin Yue didn't say anything.
Zhao He slapped him again, harder than before.
Lin Yue's lip was cracked, a salty, fishy taste spreading on her tongue, and tears fell down her cheeks.
"Why don't you want to transfer schools?" Zhao He's voice was shrill and piercing.
"I..." Lin Yue's voice was very soft, as if it were being squeezed out of her throat, "I have someone I like."
Zhao He paused for a second, then she laughed, a laugh tinged with madness.
"Someone you like? How old are you? You're only in the first year of junior high!" She suddenly reached out and grabbed Lin Yue's backpack strap.
"I'm sending you to school so you can fall for other people? If you don't want to study, then don't!"
Lin Yue gripped her schoolbag tightly, her nails digging into her palms. "Mom! No..."
Zhao He strained, and the strap of his schoolbag broke.
Zhao He snatched the backpack, unzipped it, and emptied its contents.
"I'll teach you to neglect your studies, I'll teach you to date too early!"
Textbooks, notebooks, pencil cases, and a glass bottle.
The glass bottle crashed heavily to the ground and then shattered with a "crack".
Lin Yue stood there, stunned.
The fragments were scattered all over the ground, sparkling and shimmering under the light.
Stars poured out of the broken bottle, rolling everywhere—pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple—mixed among the shards of glass.
She crouched down like a madwoman and picked up the stars one by one.
Her finger touched the broken glass and got pricked; her finger trembled involuntarily, but she ignored it.
One, two, three. A little dust clung to the edge of the paper. She blew it off and clutched it in her hand.
Zhao He stood beside her, watching her squat on the ground picking up stars, without saying a word.
After standing there for a while, I turned around, walked to the door, and changed my shoes.
He didn't even turn his head when he opened the door.
"The transfer is settled. You can forget about that person you like from now on."
She paused for a moment, then said, "If you're going to like someone, find the son of a rich family. That way you can get a bigger dowry when you get married. I'd rather die than agree to you finding someone who's poor."
The door closed, and the sound of high heels gradually faded away in the corridor.
Lin Yue squatted down, picked up the last star, and held it in her palm.
One hundred and twenty-three, not one missing.
The shards of glass glittered under the light.
She stood up, went back to her room, and closed the door.
I sat on the floor by the door, putting the stars one by one into the drawer.
Pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple, lined up in a row.
……
The next morning, Song Huan walked alone on her way to school.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground.
He had his hands in his pockets, walking at a moderate pace.
Yesterday, Xiao Yunqing said on the phone, "I'm much better, I can go to school the day after tomorrow." Her voice was much more energetic than before, but she was still a little weak.
He was thinking that he should pick her up early tomorrow, and that he should heat up the milk before bringing it to her so that she wouldn't drink it cold.
He stopped as he passed a stall near the school gate.
Colorful little things were displayed on the plastic sheet.
Hair clips, rubber bands, keychains, and stickers are all things girls like.
His gaze swept across the area and landed on a small rubber band.
It's blue, with a small butterfly on it, and its wings are made of sequins that sparkle in the sunlight.
He picked it up, looked at it, and asked the proprietress how much it cost.
The proprietress said it was two yuan, he paid, and put the rubber band in his pocket.
Xiao Yunqing will come to school tomorrow; I'll give her a surprise.
She'll probably like it.
Song Huan smiled as she recalled how she said "It's so ugly" when she received the hair tie, but then secretly put it on.
When I arrived at the classroom, there weren't many people there yet.
Song Huan walked to her seat. The desk was clean and tidy, the textbooks were neatly stacked, and the pencil case was placed in the upper left corner.
He's used to it.
Every morning when I come here, the desk has been wiped clean, and even the books in the drawers have been arranged by size.
He sat down and glanced behind him.
Lin Yue sat there, head down, pen in hand, textbook open but not turning the page.
She's acting a little strange today.
When he usually sits down, she will look up, sometimes with a smile, sometimes just a glance, and then look down again.
But not today. She kept her head down, her hair hanging down to cover her face, and she didn't even look up when he came.
"Lin Yue," he called out.
She didn't move.
"Lin Yue?" he called out again.
She looked up.
There were two red marks on my face, my left cheek was a little swollen, and the corner of my mouth was cracked and scabbed over.
His eyes were red and swollen, clearly from crying, and for a long time.
Song Huan frowned. "What's wrong?"
Lin Yue shook her head and forced a smile. The smile was more painful than a grimace.
"fine."
His voice was hoarse, as if something was blocking his throat.
Song Huan stared at the injury on her face.
He had seen that mark before; it was a very obvious handprint.
Lin Yue lowered her head, turned her face to the side, and let her hair fall down to cover it, because he was staring at her.
Stop looking at me...
[I must look really ugly right now, right?]
She didn't want him to see her like this.
I don't want to at all.
Song Huan looked away and down at the table.
My hand went into my pocket and touched that little rubber band.
It's blue, and the butterfly wings are a bit rough on the skin.
He touched it a couple of times, took it out, and placed it on her desk.
Lin Yue was stunned.
She looked at the little rubber band, a blue butterfly made of sequins, which shimmered in the sunlight.
She looked up at him, her eyes flashing for a moment, like a match striking phosphorus.
"It's for you," Song Huan said in a very indifferent tone.
Lin Yue lowered her head, clutching the small rubber band tightly in her hand, her nails digging into her palm.
"Thank you." The voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.
Song Huan turned back, opened her textbook, stared at the first page, but couldn't concentrate on a single word.
After a while, a note was handed to me from behind.
They were folded neatly and squarely.
He took it and unfolded it.
The characters are small, but written very carefully, with each stroke neat and tidy.
Do you have QQ?
Song Huan stared at those three words for a long time.
He recalled those things from his past life.
Endless arguments, shattered cups, and the sound of doors slamming late at night in the rented room.
She cried and said, "You don't understand me," to which he replied coldly, "You don't understand me either."
They broke up later.
It's not anyone's fault, it's just that being together is too tiring.
He didn't want to do it again.
I don't want to at all.
He picked up a pen, wrote a few words on the note, folded it, and handed it back.
Lin Yue hurriedly took it and unfolded it.
There were only three words written on it.
Maybe next time.
She stared at those three words, feeling suffocated.
She slowly folded the paper into a small piece, stuffed it into the innermost compartment of her pencil case, and zipped it up.
I looked up and saw the figure in front of me with its back turned.
He sat very upright, with broad shoulders, and was looking down at his textbook.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling brightly on him.
She stared at it for a long time, then lowered her head and continued doing her homework.