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Twenty-Eighth Period (1)
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Around nine o’clock at night, right before going to bed, Jiang Huihui heard an angry shout from next door.
“F#$%!”
Hearing that it was Zhou Yanli’s voice, she ignored the fact that she was already in bed, hurriedly putting on her clothes and going out, yet she saw him squatting in the hallway smoking.
The door behind him was open.
She had her hair down, dressed in her pajamas, with a random jacket on top, as she blankly stared at him in confusion, “You…..”
Seeing her come out, Zhou Yanli quickly extinguished the cigarette, frantically waving away the smoke in front, “Why did you come out? Go in first.”
He had her shoved back inside without giving her a chance to protest and closed the door.
It wasn’t until the smoke completely cleared did Jiang Huihui tentatively ask from behind the door, “Can I come out now?”
“En.” He tugged his collar, lowering his head to sniff. After confirming that it didn’t smell anymore, he finally relaxed.
He only came out to smoke because he was truly too frustrated. He didn’t expect that Jiang Huihui would just happen to come out as well.
She opened the door and stuck her head out first, secretly looking around like a thief, “What’s wrong?”
“There’s no one.” He said, amused by this appearance of hers, “For those who don’t know, might even think that you’d just finished stealing something.”
She softly grumbled, coming out from behind the door and asking him why he hasn’t gone to bed yet.
“I originally was prepared to sleep, but then discovered another nest of rats.” His brows were tightly furrowed, “Is this place meant for people or for rats?”
This was originally a rather pitiful situation, but for some reason, Jiang Huihui found it very funny. She endured with all her might, consoling him, “Why don’t you first make do for one night, then tomorrow, go downstairs and buy some mouse traps.”
“I even have to wait until tomorrow?” His entire face was somewhat distorted. The hardships he had never encountered before in the past seventeen years of his life, he has now all gone through in these last two months.
Jiang Huihui thought for a moment, “Then how about you go rent a single room downstairs? I’ll give you money.”
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Zhou Yanli raised his brow, “You have money?”
“I do.” Jiang Huihui let him wait for a moment, while she quietly sneaked back to her room. Her mom and Jiang Man were both asleep. She was scared of waking them.
Not long after, she just came out with a savings jar.
It was a gold piggy bank, not very big, but looked quiet heavy.
Inside was all her savings, which she has been saving since middle school. Although the denominations were small, it was still quite a lot when all added up.”
She has never touched this money before. Even when she was starving because she’d no money for food, she still never thought of using it.
Zhou Yanli was somewhat surprised, “Then how come you’re willing to take it out at this time?”
She lowered her head, shaking it and listening to the sound inside, “If it’s for you…..then it’s alright.”
Her voice was soft and hesitant. Although she has subconsciously accepted this role, to let her actually admit to it out loud herself, she would still feel extremely embarrassed.
After all, which young girl in her teens would voluntarily admit that she has a son of the same age?
Moreover, according to the month, Zhou Yanli was even two months older than her.
Zhou Yanli was momentarily stunned. Seeing her about to smash the piggy bank, he reached out to stop her, “Stop, it’s not easy for you to save money, so just keep it.”
Zhou Yanli sat casually on the steps, his long legs bent, while his arm rested on them, his entire vibe very casual.
Jiang Huihui squatted by his side, her silky long hair loose behind her. Her straight bangs covered her forehead, just revealing the lower half of her face that still carried baby fat.
Her whole body from top to bottom gave off the fragrance of rose-scented shampoo.
The disparity between their physiques was too striking. The contrast made her appear tiny and petite. Her eyes contained worry, “You can’t just sit outside all night, you’ll catch a cold.”
“I still have that card Zhou Jinwei gave me. I’ll go withdraw a little from the bank tomorrow and fill this up for you. Even if you buy another eight piggy banks, we can also fill them up.”
She looked down and said no need, “I have hands and feet, I can take care of myself.”
As soon as Zhou Yanli heard this, he felt something was off, “Are you indirectly calling me crippled?”
“I’m not!” Jiang Huihui didn’t expect him to make such a sudden mental leap, hurriedly explaining.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Yanli stopped teasing her, the corner of his lips slightly hooked. He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, “Go to sleep, it’s quite late.”
She was completely helpless against him and could only wait for him to finish ruffling, before quietly smoothing it out again, “Then what about you?”
He stood up and dusted his clothes, “I’m going back to sleep too. Having been out for this long, the rats at home are probably worried about me.”
At least he was still in the mood to be slick-tongued at a time like this.
However, seeing him like this, Jiang Huihui felt at ease.
“Then, goodnight.”
Pingjiang City was particularly quiet at night. The sky, bathed in the moonlight, turned into a hazy gray. The air was filled with the bleakness of a winter night.
Inside the ceramics factory’s old employee apartments, people in the different rooms were talking in their sleep.
–
Zhou Jinwei had returned to the capital. There hasn’t been any news from him these past few days. It was as if he’d completely vanished into thin air.
Zhou Yanli could understand. Those messy matters in his home added together were enough to give him a headache, so where did he still have the time and energy to think about other things.
Ever since running into Ye Shuting at the library last time, Zhou Yanli was practically glued to Jiang Huihui’s side, vigilantly guarding her.
Taking a step back, if Jiang Huihui really were to meet someone who was genuinely good to her, then even if that person wasn’t Zhou Jinwei, he would still accept it.
But this Ye Shuting, that look in his eyes obviously wasn’t right.
Jiang Huihui couldn’t tell, but it didn’t mean that he, who was similarly a guy, couldn’t tell.
Recalling how he’d even tried so hard to persuade her to become friends with him previously, Zhou Yanli really wanted to slap himself.
F@#$ing water in the brains!
At noon, someone came to the classroom to help pass on a message, saying that Ye Shuting, had specially bought her milk tea to thank her for tutoring him the other day.
Without waiting for Jiang Huihui to turn down, Zhou Yanli who was sleeping to the side sat up without a word and took the milk tea. He put in the straw and finished it in two sips.
He gave the empty cup back, smiling arrogantly, in blatant provocation, “Help me thank him, it tasted pretty good.”
That person froze in place for quite a while before finally nodding.
After he went out, Zhou Yanli leaned back in his chair as he stared out the window, until that punchable figure appeared behind it. Zhou Yanli smiled even more arrogantly than earlier, not forgetting to flip him a ‘friendly’ middle finger.
Ye Shuting silently clenched his teeth, his jaw even tensing from him holding back his anger.
“You’re being rude, Xiao Li.” That soft female voice beside him reminded him.
As soon as Zhou Yanli turned around, he just saw Jiang Huihui looking at him with a serious face holding a test paper in hand.
Zhou Yanli explained to her, “The middle finger, internationally, means ‘hello, I want to become friends with you’.”
Jiang Huihui was skeptical, “Really?”
She didn’t seem to believe that he would be this friendly to others.
“Really.” Zhou Yanli was just taking advantage of her not knowing anything, making things up on the spot, “One middle finger represents friendship, two represents double the friendship.”
Is that so?
She thoughtfully nodded, still somewhat skeptical.
–
The sports festival sign-ups were about to end. Zhan Tong did one last round of tallying in the class.
When talking to others, her attitude was tough and forceful, her voice loud and resounding, but when coming to Zhou Yanli’s side, she just turned into a gentle little bird with a cutesy voice.
“Zhou Yanli, want to sign-up for one?”
Zhou Yanli didn’t even look up, leaning against the back of the chair, stretching out his long legs, and stepping on the horizontal bar of the chair in front. He currently had his head down playing a game, “Whatever.”
“Then what to sign-up for? Both the high jump and 5,000 meters are still open.”
He perfunctorily said, “Both is fine.”
“Then high jump. You’re tall, so have an advantage.”
“En.”
“The 5,000 meters can work too. You’re legs are that long after all, so definitely can run faster than others.”
“Fine.” He frowned, “F#$%, can’t you see someone behind you? I even signaled for you!”
Seeing him say even more to his phone than to her, Zhan Tong slanted her mouth, snorted, and went to ask Jiang Huihui, “Aren’t you going to the competition next week?”
Jiang Huihui was currently correcting the wrong answers from last time, “En, should be staying over there for a week.”
This time, Zhou Yanli was no longer perfunctory, voluntarily asking her, “What competition?”
However, Zhan Tong was still holding a grudge because of his half-hearted attitude just now, so sarcastically said, “Keep playing your game.”
“Not playing anymore, a bunch of idiots.” He locked his phone and randomly threw it on his desk, asking Jiang Huihui, “What competition?”
“Math competition. Each school has five spots. The homeroom teacher told me to go.”
Competition?
He’d heard before that his parents got together because of a competition, but that was suppose to be next year’s matter, so it probably wasn’t this one.
“Need to go for a week?”
Jiang Huihui nodded, “Before the exam, the school will hold special classes, so will need to stay a few extra days.”
Zhou Yanli asked her, “Where will you stay?”
Jiang Huihui was stumped, “Should be…..the dormitory arranged by the school?”
He frowned, with worry showing between his brows, “Will it be comfy?”
“It shouldn’t be too bad.”
Zhan Tong stared at the two of them. She completely didn’t have any leeway to join in. She pursed her lips and dejectedly left.
Zhou Yanli was still worried, “Call me if you don’t like the place. I’ll get you a room at a nearby hotel.”
Jiang Huihui turned him down, “No need to go to such trouble. Moreover, it’s in another province, not in Pingjiang. I’ll be back in a week.”
Zhou Yanli didn’t speak, his expression heavy, unknown as to what he was thinking about.
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