CH 4

At the community hospital in Hua Ya Garden District, Dr. Yang wore his glasses and used tweezers to clamp down on the last small stone, “Alright, alright, Mengmeng, don’t cry anymore.”

Ruan Mengmeng wiped her eyes haphazardly and looked at the small pit in her knee.

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As he applied iodine, Dr. Yang asked, “Did new residents move into our neighborhood? Where did you knock these little stones for mosaics? “

Ruan Mengmeng huffed in pain and bit her lower lip to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.

“Kwpv oayr kv kd tywgl yde usw’zz cl qkdl. El byhl vs cl pvasdt qsa Yldtxldt. “Pa. Zydt nswzed’v clya vs ralpp vbl kppwl yde yexsdkpble, “Rv’p bsv yde kv’p kxrsppkczl dsv vs vyjl y cyvb. Mau vs xshl yp zkvvzl yp rsppkczl. Psd’v kdqzyxl kv yde zlyhl y pnya. Usxl shla lhlau svbla eyu vs nbydtl vbl xleknkdl. Ps usw blya xl? “

“Ldd.”G psqv, naukdt pswde.

Fbl pdkqqzle yde dseele, vlyap qyzzkdt sdl cu sdl sdvs bla ealpp, psyjkdt y zyatl nbwdj sq kv.

Tl Zkuydt nswzed’v blzr cwv osaau yde bwaakle shla, sdzu vs pll Swyd Yldtxldt pkvvkdt sd vbl pvssz pscckdt. Tla obkvl, aswde qynl bye lulp yp ale yp y aycckv, yde bla pxyzz dspl yde zkrp olal rkdj. Mbl rkvkqwz zssj xyel bkp blyav nzldnb.

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“Mengmeng…”

He walked over, not knowing that his voice was lowered, leaking an incredibly tender care.

Ruan Mengmeng looked up, teary-eyed for a moment. Her agitation and pain were magnified all at once.

Her mouth deflated as she cried, “Oooooooooh, Brother Yiyang, I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Mengmeng, don’t cry,” He Yiyang half squatted down and gently stroked away her tears. “I know you didn’t mean to do it.”

Looking at her injured knee, he would rather get hit by the razor again than want Ruan Mengmeng to get a little bruised.

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He Yiyang was distressed and chagrined, his two good-looking eyebrows furrowed. His eyes darted back and forth between her weeping round face and her knee, a little at a loss for what to do.

“You’re Mengmeng’s brother?” Dr. Yang said, surprised.

“…I…”

He Yiyang did not have time to explain. Dr. Yang continued, “You and Ruan Hai don’t look like each other! A distant relative, right? This is Yunnan Baiyao, gauze, and cotton swabs. Apply it to Mengmeng’s knee after she takes a bath, and come back to my place the morning after tomorrow. “

“…… Good.”

He Yiyang carried the medical bag in his left hand and took Ruan Mengmeng’s shoulder with his right. He shortened his pace to match hers, neither of them speaking. The atmosphere was stifling and awkward.

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When they reached the corridor, Ruan Mengmeng stretched out her hand to take the medical bag but found that she could not hold it. She looked up at He Yiyang, who had no intention of letting go of her hand.

After a brief stalemate, Ruan Mengmeng looked down and said, “Thank you. I’m home.”

He Yiyang furrowed his brow in discontent and tried to explain that he didn’t mean to scold her for leaving. But the words turned twice on the tip of his tongue, and he couldn’t get them out.

Ruan Mengmeng gave him a push, and the medical bag was in her hand.

She opened the front door of her house and stood at the entrance. She turned back to He Yiyang and smiled, “Believe it or not, I don’t have any other intention than to treat you as a brother. If you don’t want to, then even if you don’t want to….”

Before the words were finished, Ruan Mengmeng wanted to cry again.

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She and He Yiyang had known each other for ten years. She had no other relatives except her father. When she was a child, she followed behind him constantly and played. She had truly admired and liked this brother. Now that she knew that she was unilaterally sentimental, it was really hard to accept for a moment.

Ruan Mengmeng sat on her sofa and choked. She took He Yiyang as her family, but he was telling her to get lost. It was so aggravating.

She couldn’t figure the situation out, her feet still hurt, and it was hot. She could only take a Cornetto to calm her nerves. 

At the door, He Yiyang had his hands in his pockets, his handsome face cold. On closer inspection, his tightly gathered frown and distracted eyes reveal his inner unrest.

What did that mean? Hadn’t Ruan Mengmeng been fond of himself since he was a child?

When she was little, she followed his ass and begged him to take her to play.

When she grew up a bit, she begged him to add her phone number. She asked him for monthly videos, and later, when she got WeChat, she also begged him for the number.

Now, with a single “get lost” from him in a fit of anger, she was denying those actual advances?

He Yiyang stared at the door of Ruan Mengmeng’s house for a long time and came to a conclusion: women, their mouths were not their hearts.

She said she had no ulterior motives, but she was already thinking about him day and night.

What big brother? It’s all a ruse! She just wanted to use the name to get close to him. He saw through it.

But… today was also because of his over-reaction. Next time, he would buy some food to coax her. At the very least, the little fatty had liked him for so many years, but she also felt hurt.

He Yiyang nodded deeply at the door.

“Ruan Mengmeng, you’re going to get hit in the face pretty hard.”

He shrugged and went home with a haughty ‘I know your inner thoughts but I won’t say anything’ expression.

*

Neither He Yiyang nor Ruan Mengmeng saw each other over the next few days. Although they lived on the same block, their need for silence seemed to coincide.

Soon, He Yiyang went to First Middle School to complete the transfer procedures, and the sophomore students started classes a week early. Ruan Mengmeng, on the other hand, was a freshman in senior high school and sadly had to go through military training.

The first-year students had to train for three days on the yellow clay football field on the old campus. When the wind blew after the sun exposure, it was like being on a high slope of a mountain.

In just two days, Ruan Mengmeng’s white face peeled and cracked. It looked like there were pieces of red and black all over her face. It was simply too tragic to look at.

Today was the last day. The school leaders would come over to see the training results. According to the usual practice, the afternoon was supposed to be a holiday, but suddenly, it was said that they would have to go on a 15-kilometer walk.

The playground was filled with wails; it was inhumane and dehumanising. The weather forecast was 39°C for the day, okay?

Ruan Mengmeng’s bruised knee had been about to heal. But, after several days of military posture and pace training, and her knee being wrapped in airtight camouflage uniforms, the wound not only became septic, but Dr. Yang also told her with regret that it would leave a scar even after it healed.

During a half-hour break, Ruan Mengmeng sat in the shade, rolled up her trousers, and checked the condition of her wound.

“Mengmeng, does it still hurt?” Chen Linjia ran over and squatted beside her.

Ruan Mengmeng replaced a new band-aid and smiled, “It doesn’t hurt anymore. There’s anti-inflammatory medicine on the band-aid to prevent infection.”

“From now on, don’t always take risks. “You should be more careful from now on,” Chen Linjia said as she drew Ruan Mengmeng up. “Drink the water I bought for you quickly; we’ll meet later.”

She smiled and nodded her head in thanks. Ruan Mengmeng didn’t tell Chen Linjia the truth, saying perfunctorily that she had tripped and fallen. She was too embarrassed to say anything to anyone.

Chen Linjia had been her upstairs neighbour and classmate in junior high school, and the two of them were generally close.

“It’s too hot in this damn weather.”

Chen Linjia complained as she took off her hat, her dark red hair falling. It set off her bright and pretty features even more delicately. Together with her slender figure and generous and cheerful personality, she was already recognised as a high-class flower before school even started.

“Jiajia, won’t you dye your hair back? The teacher will tell you to do so. ” Ruan Mengmeng asked.

“I was going to go this afternoon, who knew?” Chen Linjia combed her hands through her hair.

“That’s enough, Chen Linjia,” interjected a girl in the rest area next to her pinching acid, “you’ve finished showing off your flirtation? Still haven’t had enough?” 

“Li Manle, a loss is a loss; don’t embarrass yourself.”

Chen Linjia put her hat back on, with a look of undisguised sarcasm.

“Don’t be shameless,” Lai Manle was furious, “a good military song competition while you’re just singing and dancing while showing off. Is it not disgusting?” 

Ruan Mengmeng whispered, “It’s harder to sing and dance at the same time, right? Some singers sing military songs in the Spring Festival Gala and also have accompanying dancers. Why can’t Jiajia sing military songs and dance? “

“Hahahaha,” Chen Linjia was so happy that she put her hand on Ruan Mengmeng’s shoulder and said, “It’s our Mengmeng who has the insight. Don’t fool around with stupid people. Let’s go.”

“Stop!”

Li Manle was furious at being despised, but Ruan Mengmeng and Chen Linjia didn’t even look back, leaving her alone with a knot in her chest.

The whistle sounded, and the eight freshman classes left the old campus in a long line.

Halfway through the walk, it was already eleven in the morning, and the sun was at its hottest point of the day.

Many people fainted one after another, and the procession became slower and slower. Although the school had prepared for this and two medical vans were following behind, people kept fainting from heat stroke.

The instructor and the teacher in charge of the group discussed the change of route midway and took a detour to the new campus.

Ruan Mengmeng felt that both her legs were going to be ruined. Her throat was so dry that it was smoking. She pinched the money in her trouser pocket. If she could hold on a little longer, she would be able to buy water back at school.

A tall boy approached her and asked, “Ruan Mengmeng, can you still hold on?”

When Ruan Mengmeng saw who was coming, she was in a trance for a moment. “Lu Zhengyuan? Still, not bad. “

In fact, it would soon be too late. Ruan Mengmeng was so dizzy that she didn’t want to talk anymore.

Lu Zhengyuan took out a packet of milk from his trouser pocket, looked warily at the side twice, and said embarrassingly, “Mengmeng, you’re thirsty, right? Here. It’s just warmed up. Don’t mind.”

Now the people who still persisted in walking in the line had long run out of water. This packet of milk must be Lu Zhengyuan’s private stash. How could she be so thick-skinned as to ask for it?

“You can drink it yourself.”

“I’m not thirsty.” Lu Zhengyuan said, looking at Ruan Mengmeng’s dry lips and reaching out again, “Mengmeng, you should drink it quickly. Don’t get heatstroke.”

“How can you be so modest at this point? You’re not thirsty, are you? Give it to me then.”

A boy stepped in, grabbed the milk, and held it in his mouth. Within two seconds, it was sucked into nothing but a dried-up plastic bag.

“Wang Wei, how can you steal from a girl? See if I don’t clean you up!”

Lu Zhengyuan smashed his fist over, but Wang Wei dodged with a grin.

Ruan Mengmeng glanced at them and lamented that boys were really physical.

Lu Zhengyuan had been her tablemate for three years and used to be an even fatter fatty than she was. She had never thought that after only one summer’s absence, he would have left the fatty world.

He had become thin and tall. He wore a blue-grey T-shirt, slim camouflage trousers, and a face that was full of energy when he played with his classmates. His features were much more open and handsome than before.

When she saw him on the first day of military training, Ruan Mengmeng almost didn’t recognise him. Lu Zhengyuan himself told her who he was, and also suggested she go to the “Change Your Body, Change Your Life” weight loss club.

Ruan Mengmeng had thanked him for his kindness and said very sincerely that “meat was a blessing”. Lu Zhengyuan had felt like he was despised and almost suffocated from internal injuries.

Her weight was controlled at about ten pounds more than the standard weight for women. At 110 pounds, she wasn’t considered fat. At most, she was the mainstay of the micro fat world. Ruan Mengmeng’s figure was more cute and fat than obese.

Ruan Dahai was also forgiving of her. He said that Mengmeng’s mother was also a little fatty when she was a child, but she grew out of her baby fat at the age of 18 or 19. Therefore, Ruan Mengmeng was not really anxious about her weight.

It was just that fat people sweat a lot. Ruan Mengmeng wiped her forehead and felt a bit distressed.

“Ah, here we are! I can see the school gate. Instructor, can we be dismissed? “

The excited cheers of her classmates gave Ruan Mengmeng a shot in the arm.

Water, ah! She wanted iced water.

The bell rang, coinciding with the noon dismissal bell. The door opened wide, and Ruan Mengmeng’s heart stuttered.

The two little fleshy hands lifted the hem of her trousers to run. She was trying to lighten up and reach the mini-mart in front of the school in one step.

But her legs were soft, like stepping on warm cotton. She was unable to find the strength to stand on her own two feet.

The sophomores and seniors had been hungry all morning and came out with green eyes.

Ruan Mengmeng was only three meters away from the supermarket entrance, dazed and confused, standing in place, saying, “Water, water,…”

The sun shone. Her eyelids felt heavier than a thousand pounds. Before her consciousness faded, it was as if she saw a figure she had not seen for days running towards her.

“Mengmeng!”