CH 80

Chapter 80: A Toast to our Childhood

Zhao Qiang stared at him in disbelief and blurted out, “You would really go with me?” He really didn’t expect him to agree.

Lin Xinyu picked up the bag on his back and said: “En, where should we go? Tell me.”

Zhao Qiang said, “The little store in front of us is fine.”

The two of them walked again for a while and arrived at a roadside stall. Zhao Qiang ordered two dishes and two beers just like yesterday. This time, he poured a glass for himself and asked Lin Xinyu, “Can I get you a bottle of juice?”

Lin Xinyu replied, “Yes.” After sitting down, he remembered what Lin Xin told him to do and he felt uneasy, he shouldn’t do this. He should listen to Lin Xin. What if she wasn’t happy and ends up ignoring him?

Zhao Qiang ordered another bottle of fruit juice and poured him a cup. He picked up his own beer, clinked it against Lin Xinyu’s, and said, “Let’s do it.”

Lin Xinyu picked up the juice, took a sip, put it down, and stopped drinking.

After drinking a cup of beer, Zhao Qiang’s carefree personality showed up. He sighed and said, “Lin Xinyu, you have to eat. Here, have some vegetables and drink some juice.”

However, Lin Xinyu sat there quietly without moving his chopsticks.

When Zhao Qiang saw Lin Xinyu watch him eat and drink without touching his own food, Zhao Qiang thought that Lin Xinyu was looking down on him. “Do you think I’m a gangster? Do you see yourself as a future university student who would not lower himself to associate with my kind?”

Lin Xinyu paused and said, “No.”

Zhao Qiang didn’t believe his words and drank two more cups. After a few cups of wine, he blushed and said, “I knew you guys would look down on me, but do you really think I want to do this? I escaped from the orphanage with nothing. I also wanted to study as much as you did, but I couldn’t. Look how good you have it now.”

Lin Xinyu quietly and indifferently stared at him, as if Zhao Qiang was unrelated to him. At that year, Lin Xin had helped him get over the thorns that cause him so much pain and humiliation. From then on, he understood one thing; the lives of others had nothing to do with him. He would not live like a beggar, begging others to love him, like when he was small. He only needed Lin Xin.

Thinking of Lin Xin, Lin Xinyu lost his resolve to stay. She might be at home now, waiting for him to come back. The thought of her on the windowsill waiting for him warmed his heart. He had to go back and find her.

As he got up to leave, Zhao Qiang started to reminisce about their past and said, “Back then, I bullied you every day because I knew the dean favored you, and I was jealous. I didn’t expect the dean to be that kind of person. What you didn’t know was that the dean beat Lin Xin half to death. I was scared to death, I thought she was dead. When she woke up, I told her to come with me but she wouldn’t go without you. I panicked and ran out by myself. How were you adopted? The dean? Where did he go?”

Lin Xin never mentioned she had been beaten up before rescuing him. He had seen the dean beat her in the courtyard back then, so when she showed him her wounds, he always thought it was from that time in the yard.

Knowing this now, Lin Xinyu couldn’t wait to go back and find her. He picked up his school bag and got up to leave. However, Zhao Qiang grabbed him and said, “Don’t go! Let’s have a drink first…”

Zhao Qiang had drunk too much. He grabbed Lin Xinyu as he poured the wine into his mouth. Lin Xinyu pried Zhao Qiang’s fingers off from his arm and pushed him back to his seat. Suddenly, shouts came from afar.

“Boss, that tramp over there was the one who hit us yesterday.”

Lin Xinyu looked up and saw seven or eight people walking towards them aggressively with sticks in hand. Soon, the two of them were surrounded.

Zhao Qiang hugged Lin Xinyu’s leg like a pug and licked his lips as he mumbled, “En, delicious, so good…”

Lin Xinyu picked up the water from the table and splashed it on Zhao Qiang’s face. Zhao Qiang, half awake, stomped his feet, “Lin Xinyu, why did you splash water on me?!”

When Lin Xinyu grabbed his shoulders, he screamed and jumped up in pain. Finally, Zhao Qiang noticed the people around, all looking ready to devour them.  He took a closer look and realized it was the two or three men he beat yesterday.

The search for revenge came too quickly! He even called for backup. But how could he fight all of them alone?

He shouted at Lin Xinyu, “Run, you idiot!” He wanted to run but was blocked by the people around him.

“How do we get away?” Lin Xinyu asked calmly.