CH 5

Lu Zhengyuan had bought two bottles of water and ended up blocked at the entrance of the supermarket by a group of school seniors. He was unable to squeeze out. He saw Ruan Mengmeng’s pale, round face swaying and saw that she was about to fall to the ground as her body softened, so he hurriedly broke out of the crowd.

Unexpectedly, a white shadow flashed by, and another boy was quicker than him and grabbed Ruan Mengmeng with both hands.

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He Yiyang had been tired of eating in the cafeteria and wanted to come out for a change. When he saw a pile of camouflage uniforms in front of the supermarket, he decided to head in that direction.

He was in the shadows, and he happened to see Ruan Mengmeng, who had not been in touch with them for the past few days. She was standing in place with her head dumbly lowered.

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Lu Zhengyuan said urgently from the side, “She’s suffering from heatstroke. You give me Ruan Mengmeng…”

“It’s none of your business. Go away.”

He Yiyang’s face was full of anxiety. He picked up Ruan Mengmeng and ran to the infirmary.

Lu Zhengyuan stood in place with a dumbfounded look on his face. Chen Linjia walked over, took a look at his side, and asked, “Where is Mengmeng?”

“She was carried away by a senior.”

“Wait, what?”Chen Linjia was dumbfounded, “Who?”

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Lu Zhengyuan cupped the mineral water in his hand and said, “I don’t know. Mengmeng is suffering from heatstroke. I’ll go to the infirmary.”

“I’ll go too!”

The school nurse untied Ruan Mengmeng’s camouflage uniform and pulled out the T-shirt inside, glancing at He Yiyang as she was about to lift the corner of her shirt.

He Yiyang wisely turned his back and walked to the door, closing the door behind him.

Lu Zhengyuan, who had rushed in, wanted to go in to see what was going on but was stopped by He Yiyang.

“Senior, what are you doing?” Lu Zhengyuan asked.

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He Yiyang said coldly, “Boys are not allowed to go in.”

Chen Linjia, who was following him, looked at this seemingly familiar boy for a long time. Suddenly, she said, “Your name is He Yiyang, right? Mengmeng has been talking about you for a while now, but I didn’t expect that you’d really come back for school.”

He Yiyang: “You are?”

“My name is Chen Linjia. I lived above Mengmeng’s house. We used to play together when we were little. Don’t you remember?”

He Yiyang didn’t remember, but still nodded and pointed to the basin, “Can you help Mengmeng get a basin of warm water?”

“All right.”Chen Linjia took the basin and went to fetch water.

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Lu Zhengyuan had been a bit rushed, and hadn’t expected to run into Ruan Mengmeng’s brother. He introduced himself, “Hello brother, I’m Mengmeng’s classmate, Lu Zhengyuan. How is Mengmeng doing?”

“Isn’t Lu Zhengyuan a fat guy?” He Yiyang narrowed his eyes, unkindly.

Ruan Mengmeng had mentioned this person to him when they’d been speaking on WeChat. He was her junior high school classmate. 

“Mengmeng mentioned me to you? Hey,……”

Lu Zhengyuan laughed in surprise and scratched his head in embarrassment.

Smiling like a fool!

He Yiyang’s face was unsightly as he kicked him out, “You have to gather for a headcount after the stretching. You can go. Mengmeng doesn’t need your concern.”

Lu Zhengyuan’s face froze. He felt that this brother was inexplicably hostile towards him.

He Yiyang lifted his chin and did not speak again, his sharp eyes staring at Lu Zhengyuan.

“I’ll go first then, huh.”

Lu Zhengyuan wiped a handful of sweat from his forehead; her brother’s aura was too strong.

“Huh, why did he leave?” Chen Linjia came over with a basin of water.

He Yiyang reached out to pick up the basin and said indifferently, “You can go gather too. Mengmeng has me to take care of her.”

Chen Linjia dodged his hand and said, “I’ll take a look at Mengmeng first.”

He Yiyang glanced at her, put one hand in his pocket and followed her into the infirmary.

Ruan Mengmeng on the hospital bed was still awake. Her previously pale face was normal, and a bright red mark had been torn out* between her nose and mouth by the doctor.

“My poor Mengmeng,” Chen Linjia pounced on the bedside, “you should have told me earlier if you weren’t feeling well. You’ve fainted.”

Chen Linjia was still wearing her camouflage uniform. She had to be extremely dirty coming back from the stretching outside. He Yiyang said impatiently, “Go and gather. You’re covered in heat; don’t pass to Mengmeng. “

Chen Linjia’s mouth tugged at the corners, thinking to herself that the old man’s saying that “three years old is as old as it gets [1]” was really true.

He Yiyang was still as arrogant as he had been when he was a child.

He was a year older than her and had a better family background. He used to tell her to run around as an older brother while he had the more foolish Mengmeng to himself for his own amusement.

Chen Linjia gave him a sidelong glance. What was the point of being handsome when his personality was awful?

He Yiyang stood for a moment and poked his finger at Ruan Mengmeng’s cheek.

“Your eyelids are moving. I know you’re awake. What, you don’t want to see me?”

Ruan Mengmeng opened her eyes and her dark almond eyes looked timidly at He Yiyang.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. He Yiyang’s indifferent expression was on the verge of failing to hold his own. He wanted to step forward but was restraining himself, suppressing his lips into a tight line.

He felt as if there were hooks in Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes. After she caught his eyes, she looked firmly at him and secretly reeled the line behind him.

Why else would he want to get close to her to touch her face?

Hmph, the little fat girl’s bitter ploy! He Yiyang snorted darkly. He saw through it and would never fall for it!

Ruan Mengmeng hadn’t seen He Yiyang again since that indescribable experience. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to see him, but because she was afraid.

She had always treated He Yiyang like a brother, and even though she hadn’t seen him for three years, she had contacted him by WeChat from time to time. She had never thought that He Yiyang would get bored.

The day He Yiyang blurted out “get lost” and the cold dislike in his eyes, suddenly made her feel that she had been too presumptuous.

Grandpa He was a private entrepreneur in C. He integrated the bamboo weaving industry chain into his hometown, boosting the local economy and employment. He was quite reputable in the county.

Ruan Mengmeng was a neighbour of Grandpa He’s family when she was a child, and He Yiyang would come over from the big city for a month or two every summer to play.

At that time, Ruan Dahai’s supermarket chain had just opened up and he was busy every day, so Ruan Mengmeng was alone at home.

He Yiyang was distinctly different from her idea of a “big city” brother, all curious and adoring, and eager to play with his little friends.

From the first day she met He Yiyang, Ruan Mengmeng knew he was bad-tempered. He had always disliked her for being fat, stupid, and dirty… but she had never taken it seriously because the next day, He Yiyang would still take her out to play and buy her snacks to eat. Even the AD calcium milk that she loved until now was a habit she developed from being spoiled by He Yiyang at that time.

But now… she didn’t dare behave like she did when she was a child. Back then, after being disliked by him for a while, she would still knock on the neighbour’s door the next day, shouting “Brother Yiyang, take me to play”.

Ruan Mengmeng pulled the blanket to cover half of her face. She was a little sad to see him now. As long as she thought about him really disliking her, she was uncomfortable.

He Yiyang saw Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes staring at him. She was staring, and her eyes suddenly clouded with moisture. Was that the rhythm of crying?

“You’re too fat to be able to hold up in a training session. Can’t you ask the doctor who’s with you that you’re unable to hold on? You’re being stupid and causing trouble.”

He approached the bedside and bent down to probe Ruan Mengmeng’s forehead. The temperature was normal.

Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes wavered. He Yiyang was clearly impatient yet concerned for her.

She plucked up the courage to try, “Yi… brother Yiyang, are you… are you still angry?”

He Yiyang didn’t say anything and kept looking down at her with wrinkled brows.

He had been having a hard time these days. He was either suffering from insomnia or having too many dreams. His mind was cluttered with everything. The first thing that came to mind was the big flowery face of the person crying in front of him.

He Yiyang stood by the bed with an expressionless face, and Ruan Mengmeng lay awkwardly, waiting for an answer.

He Yiyang didn’t answer Ruan Mengmeng’s question and asked instead, “Is your knee okay?”

“It’s fine.”

Taking a bottle of mineral water, He Yiyang added, “Get up and drink some water.”

“Oh.”

Ruan Mengmeng reached for the water and took several gulps, not daring to look up.

The air was quiet as one person stood speechless and the other sat wordlessly.

After a while, He Yiyang’s clear, cold voice coughed, and Ruan Mengmeng’s shoulders involuntarily shrank.

He said, “Let me reiterate: I won’t like you, and I didn’t come back this time for you.”

“I know, H City is a sad place for you, and you don’t want to stay there,” Ruan Mengmeng said as she lowered her head again.

How could you not get the point?

He Yiyang said in a deep voice, “I mean, I have no feelings for you, understand?”

“En?”

Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes widened in shock, then nodded. She didn’t either.

Rejecting Ruan Mengmeng again, He Yiyang felt a tinge of guilt towards her. The little fatty’s sad and sunny face was too obvious, hehe.

But the words still had to be clear. He Yiyang continued, “Don’t call me brother Yiyang again. It’s disgusting.”

Ruan Mengmeng’s heart jerked, “I’m sorry.”

He Yiyang couldn’t bear to say it. He was worried that he might say it too harshly for fear that Ruan Mengmeng might cry, but this little fatty was still very cute and well-behaved as a sister.

He patted Ruan Mengmeng’s head, “It’s not like you’re a seven or eight-year-old child. Don’t even shout superlatives in the future, it’s pretentious enough.”

“Don’t you dislike me?” Ruan Mengmeng’s hand, which was uncomfortably twirling the mineral water paused as she asked.

He Yiyang raised his eyebrows and poked a dent in her fleshy little face. Ruan Mengmeng’s clear eyes looked at him unblinkingly, and He Yiyang snapped back his hand.,　　

“What are you thinking? If I really disliked you, would I have seen you faint and carried you back? You’re covered in dust. I can’t even wear this newly bought T-shirt anymore. “

“I’ll wash it for you. That’s right, it was… brother who sent me to the infirmary, right?”

Ruan Mengmeng smiled with curved eyes. It turned out that He Yiyang did not deny the childhood friendship between them and was willing to be her brother just fine.

He Yiyang squirmed and averted his eyes. “Who else could it be if not me?”

The boy named Lu Zhengyuan appeared in his mind. He Yiyang knitted his brows together. He was thinking that even if the little fatty couldn’t chase after him, she couldn’t be dishonest, but he didn’t expect to see her smiling face.

The first thing she felt she needed to do was to ask: “Are you still willing to be my brother?”

“Didn’t you just shout it? ” He Yiyang gave her a speechless glare and instructed, with his hands in his pockets, “From now on, just call me Brother He, or Brother, and don’t act like a child.”

“En,” Ruan Mengmeng happily lifted the blanket, “Then brother, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat?”

He Yiyang’s chin was slightly raised, his eyebrows were stern, and his hands were in his pockets. He was handsome to a fault.

“Go.”

[1] Means from the character traits revealed by a three-year-old, one can infer that they will have similar traits going forward.