Chapter 24 Liu Zhiyi Ah Sheng’s guess was correct, she was indeed Liu Zhiyi; Xu Cailing's analysis was correct. She did take the bus and vomited... Today is the first day of school and Liu Zhiyi woke up early in the morning. In fact, since moving into the village, she wakes up very early every day, and sometimes even wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. Sometimes she woke up before daybreak and could not fall asleep again. She would sit blankly in the dim room. The croaking of frogs and chirping of insects in the silent night and the sunrise at five o'clock told her that this was not Shanghai, but a small village on a distant and unfamiliar island. Even though this land was where her father was born and raised, she did not have much sense of belonging to it. She missed her parents and her home in Shanghai, thousands of miles away, even more. If possible, she really didn't want to come here. It’s not because this place is too backward, or the scenery is bad, or it’s dirty and messy. When her parents were around, she would come back to the small island with her father every Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year. At that time, she was very excited when she mentioned going back to her hometown. Everything on the small island made her feel new and interesting. Her father would also take her to the beach to catch seafood and teach her to identify all kinds of marine creatures she had never seen before... But the feeling of coming back for reunion is completely different from the feeling she has now.
Perhaps it is difficult for others to understand the feeling of the split between these two emotions. Even if she talks about it with her grandfather, he will only comfort her and tell her that she will get used to it slowly. Liu Zhiyi didn't know if she would be fine if she got used to it, so she tried hard to get used to it, but her emotions would become difficult to control at night, and she would often wake up in dreams of falling apart in frustration... Grandpa is very kind to her and cares about her. She can see that Grandpa is trying hard to make her get used to it in all aspects. Grandpa never showed his emotions in front of her easily. Except for the day they moved back home, when the two of them cried together, Grandpa never mentioned her parents in front of her again, and she did the same. Sometimes, when she saw her grandfather sitting alone in the empty living room in a daze, she would take the initiative to chat with him. In fact, she knew that her grandfather must be feeling as sad as she was, but they both tacitly didn't want to make the other worry. There aren't many relics left by my parents, and she is one of them. No matter what her future life will be like, Liu Zhiyi feels that she must move forward. She has never been so eager to grow up and mature. On the day of registration, her grandfather rode his bicycle to bring her here. It was her first time in the town and also her first time to see the overall picture of the school where she would attend for the next three years. Facing the upcoming junior high school life, she surprisingly did not have any emotional waves, as if she was separated from the group of peers around her. She did not care that the school was shabby, and did not care about what kind of teachers and classmates she would meet. She only thought about one thing in her mind, to study hard, leave this place and return to Shanghai. My grandfather told me that this was the middle school where my father used to study, and that my father was the first person in the county to be admitted to university. As her father's daughter, Liu Zhiyi felt that she could and must do what her father could do. With this state of mind, she could temporarily forget the fact that her parents had left and numb herself. But the adaptation process is not always smooth. On the first day of school, she politely declined her grandfather's offer to take her to school. She walked to the village entrance alone, waited for a long time, and got on the late bus. This was her first time taking a bus on the island. It was completely different from what she had imagined. It looked like a van. When the bus stopped in front of her, she was still a little unsure whether it was a bus or not. It was not until the uncles and aunts who were waiting for the bus got on the bus and the driver asked her if she was going to Baitan Island that she got into the bus in a daze... As soon as she got in the car and smelled the stuffy air, which was filled with rotten leather, mixed with the smell of salted fish, chicken shit, and sweat, she almost vomited on the spot. Seeing that everyone in the car looked accustomed to it, she tried her best to pretend to be calm, but her stomach was already churning... Fortunately, the windows of the car could be opened, and a kind aunt saw that she looked unhappy and gave her a window seat.
She put her head against the window and breathed in the fresh air outside as if she was drowning. Only then did she feel much better. The bus slowly circled the island. The bumpy road made everyone in the bus sway like a tumbler. The girl's tender stomach began to churn again... For fear of causing trouble to others, she was too embarrassed to ask the driver to stop the bus so that she could get off and vomit first, so she endured it all the way until the bus finally arrived in town. When the bus was on the road in front of the school, the driver kindly reminded her: Little girl, are you going to get off at Baitan Middle School? "……right!" "Remember to shout in advance if you want to get off, otherwise we won't know whether you want to get off or not." "……Excuse me." It turns out that the buses on the island don’t have the habit of stopping at stops… Liu Zhiyi learned this, but now she didn’t have time to experience it. She stumbled and got off the bus, and finally ran to a big tree on the side of the road. She held onto the trunk, bent over, and vomited all over the floor… My eyes are red and filled with tears... She didn't know whether it was caused by the stimulation of vomiting or the grievance in her heart. She could hold it back at first, but as more and more tears accumulated in the corners of her eyes, she could no longer hold it back. She squatted down, buried her head in her knees, and cried silently... A kind passerby noticed her, came over, patted her on the shoulder and asked her what was wrong. She just shook her head, wiped her tears carelessly, and ran to school with her schoolbag on her back... When I arrived at the classroom, the class was almost full. She didn't know everyone in the group, and no one knew her. After taking a quick look around, he sat down quietly in an empty seat in the corner of the front row. She quickly adjusted her mood and slowly sat up straight, not wanting anyone to see her embarrassment, cowardice, pity, and unbearableness... She was really afraid that a few words of concern from others would cause her forced strength and calmness to crumble. Fortunately, no one talked to her. Liu Zhiyi felt that he had saved his life. …… "She looks so cold... so cool!!" The three-member team from Donghua Village secretly observed the late girl for a while, and Xu Cailing was the first to give her evaluation. The "cold" here does not refer to temperature. After all, the word "cold" is not popular nowadays. When describing a person's aura as difficult to approach, people are used to using the word "cold". From the perspective of Xu Cailing, who is a typical middle school student, this kind of "coldness" is somewhat "cool". Of course, deliberately pretending to be cold or cool is a very low-class behavior, but the "coldness" and "coolness" of the girl in front of him seemed to emanate from her bones. There was a kind of broken coldness, as if she was hiding a lot of things in her heart. In the eyes of Xu Cailing, who never hid anything in her heart, this kind of "coldness" and "coolness" had an extra "handsomeness" flavor. Fang Wei glanced at Xu Cailing with a strange expression. Just like the girl often couldn't understand his train of thought, he also often couldn't understand what the world in the girl's eyes was like... It is obvious that this is a lonely, introverted, embarrassed girl who pretends to be calm. How can she be associated with "cold", "cool" and "handsome"? Of course, seeing through things but not speaking them out loud is the respect and gentleness that an adult should have towards others, so that’s why I didn’t make any comments. Ah Sheng agreed with Xu Cailing's opinion and nodded, saying, "It's true that beautiful girls don't look easy to approach." "It has nothing to do with being beautiful or not."
"Of course I have. If a girl is too pretty, I will stutter when I talk to her!" "Then why don't you do that when you talk to me?" Damn, a life-threatening question! Ah Sheng hesitated for a while, and finally came up with an answer that satisfied Xu Cailing: "What's the relationship between the three of us? We grew up together, who cares about this? Don't you think so, Ah Wei?" You kid...don't bring the war here! Seeing Xu Cailing's teasing look, Fang Wei nodded and said, "That's true, but Cailing is also very pretty." "Humph……" Not sure if it was an illusion, but Fang Wei felt like Xu Cailing blushed. Fortunately, her skin wasn't white enough, so it wasn't noticeable... At this moment, all the classmates have arrived. The girl named 'Liu Zhiyi' must be in the classroom as well. Xu Cailing investigated carefully and finally her eyes fell on the girl in the corner of the front row. "I think she might really be Liu Zhiyi..." "How to say?" "Because she is very fair. Only girls from big cities can be that fair. Besides, her clothes look very nice and her shoes are super white, too." Edogawa Cailing analyzed rigorously. "She is indeed Liu Zhiyi." Fang Wei finally spoke, confirming Xu Cailing's guess. "That's what I told you... No, how did you know?" Xu Cailing discovered another bright spot. "I saw her when I was running these two days." "That's it..." It was visibly that after Xu Cailing confirmed that the girl sitting in the corner was Liu Zhiyi, her eyes became much gentler. She did not forget that her father had told her to take good care of Uncle Liu's granddaughter. Xu Cailing's view on things is so subjective and simple. Before Fang Wei and his brother could say anything, she took out her schoolbag from the drawer. "Hey... where are you going?" "She's so lonely sitting alone, I'm going to sit with her!" "??" So, in the wide eyes of the two brothers here and the puzzled look of the girl who was alone over there, Xu Cailing, holding her schoolbag and shaking her short and cute ponytail behind her head, walked directly from the podium and appeared next to Liu Zhiyi. "Classmate, can I sit here with you?" The girl's smile was so bright and sunny that Liu Zhiyi, who was filled with gloom in his heart, was stunned. "……what?"
"Can I sit here?" "……Can." The sound of a chair being pulled. Xu Cailing put down her schoolbag with a thud and sat down next to Liu Zhiyi. "Hey, hello." "..." Liu Zhiyi continued to pretend to be calm, but the delicate fingers holding the pen were so white from being pinched. She had just saved her life, but now she felt like she was dying again... (End of this chapter)
