CH 11

At the end of the evening study session, Chen Linjia, who was lying on her desk, woke up.

As Ruan Mengmeng gathered her homework, she worried, “Jiajia, why are you lacking energy all day long? Did you not sleep well in the dormitory?”

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Chen Linjia covered her mouth and let out a long yawn, “No, the dormitory environment is quite good, so don’t worry about it. I’ve enrolled in a dance class to learn a different kind of dance, and I’ll be training on weekends from now on. Sigh, my miserable life has started again.”

Ruan Mengmeng gave her a careful look, “Is it the training institute run by the teacher from the Imperial University of Nationalities that Auntie found for you?”

Ubld Nkdfky piwllgle bla pbswzelap qsa y xsxldv clqsal dseekdt bla blye. Gqvla blyakdt Swyd Yldtxldt’p zywtbvla, pbl kdpvydvzu lmrzsele.

“R’x dsv zssjkdt yv bla qynl. R’x zssjkdt yv vbl xsdlu. Mbyv vlynbla kp hlau tsse, yde sdzu qkhl pvweldvp yal vyjld kd. Fs obslhla prldep vbyv xwnb xsdlu, kv nyd’v cl oypvle dso.”

“Ebknb obs kp obs, yb?” Swyd Yldtxldt ralvldele dsv vs jdso.

“Usxl sd!” Ubld Nkdfky aszzle bla lulp.

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The way her best friend squirmed made Ruan Mengmeng breathe a sigh of relief.

As she had thought, Huang Lili truly cared for Chen Linjia. Even though she was married for the second time, she treated her like her own daughter. It was Chen Linjia who was stuck in a dead end.

“You’re just tough-talking,” Ruan Mengmeng said as she stood up and put on her schoolbag, “See how good Auntie is to you? You shouldn’t be so petty….. hmmm!”

Halfway through Ruan Mengmeng’s sentence, Chen Linjia stretched out a finger and put it against her mouth.

She blinked and looked at her friend.

“I’m not being petty; it doesn’t matter if I only think of Huang Lili as my aunt, but ……”

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Chen Linjia’s tone trailed off, her dark, luminous eyes suddenly clouding over.

She paused and pinched Ruan Mengmeng’s cheek, “Humph, I still don’t know you! When you were a kid, you liked to stick to her to tie her hair, and now even if you don’t support me. You’re still her lobbyist! Ruan Mengmeng, I’m warning you not to say another word about Huang Lili, or I’ll…

Chen Linjia pinched and rubbed her face.

It hurt like hell, and Ruan Mengmeng hurriedly called out to stop, “Ouch, okay, okay.”

A girl’s shout came from the classroom door, “Chen Linjia, I’m going back to the dorm. Are you going?”

“Let’s go together.”

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Chen Linjia subconsciously took Ruan Mengmeng’s hand, and only after she did so did she realise that they were now one resident and one student.

They smiled at each other, and Ruan Mengmeng said, “You can join your roommate.”

“No,” Chen Linjia poked Ruan Mengmeng’s arm as if she was being petulant, “we can go to the school gate together.”

Chen Linjia’s heart felt a little blocked. It was as if the older she grew, the further away people close to her became.

In the past, she and Ruan Mengmeng had always gone to and from school together. Today, after she had been living on her own for over a month, somehow, she suddenly forgot that they were separated.

“Chen Linjia!” The roommate was urging.

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Ruan Mengmeng smiled, “You go first. I have to go upstairs to find my brother.”

“He Yiyang?” Chen Linjia asked.

Ruan Mengmeng nodded. Chen Linjia narrowed her eyes and then pouted, “I’m leaving, bye.”

One second ago, she was reluctant. Now, with this sneering look, Ruan Mengmeng was a little confused. She waved her hand, “Bye.”

She and He Yiyang knew each other first as neighbours in the countryside. Every summer, He Yiyang went back to his hometown. The adults would let the kids come over to play with him because of Grandpa He’s reputation. Not to mention, he was handsome and had good grades, which attracted many friends.

Ruan Mengmeng had the best relationship with He Yiyang, taking advantage of the right time and the right people.

For this reason, when she was a child, she was often subjected to the revenge of the little girls when He Yiyang returned to the big city. She experienced all kinds of reprisals, such as the pulling of pigtails, the catching of caterpillars, the ostracism of small groups, and so on.

She was soft and good-tempered and never said anything. After all, He Yiyang liked to play with her, which was already excellent. There was nothing wrong with other people’s unwilling pranks. She could tolerate it.

In Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes, He Yiyang was fittingly the object of affection for all her peers.

He was like the positive pole of a magnet. As soon as he appeared, all the other people of his age, including Ruan Mengmeng, became the negative pole, all wanting to be near He Yiyang.

Later, when Ruan Mengmeng moved to the city, she befriended Chen Linjia, a young friend from upstairs. During the summer holidays, she would take her back to her old house in the country.

When she bumped into He Yiyang, who was returning for summer vacation and planned to play together, something strange happened.

Chen Linjia was not a negative pole. She was a positive pole, and she and He Yiyang were repelling each other!

Sometimes when they disagreed, they could have a cold war for an entire day, and it was especially difficult for Ruan Mengmeng to be caught in the middle.

The real estate in C City had a lot of room for appreciation, and a few years ago, Grandpa He had also planned to buy a house to invest in and wait for its appreciation. After looking around, he bought the house opposite theirs. It was a two-storey house, with just the two of them.

What she didn’t expect was for He Yiyang to come back this year, and Ruan Mengmeng was overjoyed.

She was still neighbours with her brother, who used to take her to play as a child. Was this not fate?

He Yiyang was sitting on a stool, not moving, with one hand on his cheek and the other turning his pen in boredom. The evening study bell had stopped for a while before Ruan Mengmeng appeared at the door of his classroom.

He set up a piece of paper, the tip of his pen pointing at the surface, and after writing a big problem, he looked it over before he saw someone come in.

Ruan Mengmeng, the silly fatty, was standing there, letting a group of people go first. Just as she was lifting her foot to come in, she saw someone in the classroom going out, so she planted her feet, stood in place and waited.

Was she preparing to come in only after the classroom was empty?

He Yiyang held his temper and shouted, “What are you dawdling about? Come over here quickly.”

The few scattered students who hadn’t left yet looked at He Yiyang in surprise.

Wasn’t the transfer student a cold guy? Why was he shouting at a girl?

Ruan Mengmeng probed and met He Yiyang’s impatient eyes, smiling and shouting, “Brother.”

Oh~ it was said that she was the legendary childhood friend/ sister who made the male god angry at the school flower and made him tear Li Yihang apart. That was her!

Ruan Mengmeng came in and felt several gazes of intrigued eyes. She lowered her head uncomfortably and scratched her ears.

Qin Tian looked at He Yiyang and then at Ruan Mengmeng, and joked, “Neighbour’s sister, are you here to see your brother?”

Wasn’t this the former school grass? Ruan Mengmeng replied, “Ah, yes.”

“Pfft.” Qin Tian laughed. He didn’t expect his neighbour’s sister to be so cute.

He Yiyang frowned and kicked Qin Tian’s stool, “You have a lot of things to do. Get lost!”

“Why? You’re not even the president yet, so you’re just putting on a show!” Qin Tian smiled and threw his bag over his shoulder.

He Yiyang frowned, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

Qin Tian shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t want to confront He Yiyang. Look at what happened to Li Yihang? Tsk.

Passing by the almond-eyed Ruan Mengmeng, Qin Tian couldn’t resist teasing her a little. He placed his big hand on her head and rubbed it quickly. It was followed by a paper ball being smashed over.

He was so protective!

Qin Tian avoided the paper ball and looked at He Yiyang angrily.

Their eyes fought silently in the air, and as He Yiyang’s right fist clenched, Qin Tian fled in a huff.

“Brother, are you going home?” Ruan Mengmeng walked over to He Yiyang’s table.

She fished a lollipop out of her pocket, tore open the wrapper and put it in her mouth, but it was snatched away just as  her mouth touched it.

He Yiyang cupped the lollipop and said disgustedly, “What kind of candy are you eating so late? You’re not allowed to eat it!”

He raised his hand and threw it at a basketball-sized waste paper basket three metres away. It was accurate! Ruan Mengmeng swore, but glanced at He Yiyang, who was frowning, not daring to say anything.

When he turned around, Ruan Mengmeng silently took out a beef stick from her school bag.

He Yiyang snatched it up and raised his hand again without even looking at it.

“Eh, don’t ……” Ruan Mengmeng exclaimed, her eyes widening a bit, “This beef stick is delicious, and a little expensive.”

He Yiyang glanced at it and stuffed it into the drawer, still frowning with a handsome face.

Ruan Mengmeng puffed up her cheeks, and her right hand quietly touched the side pocket of her school bag.

With an afterimage of hands, she pulled out a series of beef sticks, chocolate, fried chicken legs, and dried pork.

The corners of He Yiyang’s mouth twitched as he watched the cleared desk pile up with snacks for a while.

Her school bag was not used for books, but for snacks and supermarket shopping bags? Heh.

“Brother, are you hungry in class during the day?” Ruan Mengmeng felt she had discovered the truth. “You should have told me earlier. I know you don’t like sugar. You can have all this meat or whatever. I’ll ask dad to get it back from the supermarket tomorrow if it’s not enough.”

“These beef sticks,” Ruan Mengmeng was all smiles and shining with earnestness, “are especially delicious. They come in original, spicy, and satay flavours. This little packet of fried chicken legs is also delicious, there… “

Ruan Mengmeng talked endlessly about snacks. She owned a supermarket at home, and she had a lot of knowledge about which snacks were delicious and how they tasted.

He Yiyang could not stand her rambling. He did not want to eat these. He grabbed Ruan Mengmeng’s chubby face and pulled it with both hands. He gritted teeth, “Shut up, who will eat……”

Goo, goo goo.

He Yiyang’s face collapsed. Ruan Mengmeng looked down at his lower abdomen. When she wanted to look again, she was forced to raise her head and stare at He Yiyang with a calm gaze.

“Brother….”

“Shut up!”

“Pfft!”

Qin Tian stood in the doorway watching for a while. The interaction between these two was too funny.

He Yiyang let go of her face and looked at Qin Tim with a look of displeasure, “Why are you still here?”

“I’m closing today, boss,” Qin Tim said as his hand loosened and a piece of the key fell from his grasp. He walked over and picked up a piece of beef jerky from the table and looked at Ruan Mengmeng. “Sister Ruan, is it that good? I just saw your eyes light up like a light bulb.”

Ruan Mengmeng nodded her head furiously and sincerely enthused, “It’s super delicious!”

“Hahaha.”

Qin Tim ripped open the wrapper to try it. When he saw Ruan Mengmeng staring at his hand, his mouth pursed. He stumbled with laughter and didn’t tear it open for a long time.

He Yiyang took the opportunity to take the beef jerky back from Qin Tian’s hand, “Go away. Who told you to call my sister ‘sister Ruan’? Did you get my consent!”

“Cut it out, stingy.” Qin Tian’s eyes flickered meaningfully around Ruan Mengmeng’s face. “Let’s go, I’m closing up.”

As Ruan Mengmeng walked towards the door, she swept a sideways glance at He Yiyang’s desk and rubbed her stomach in aggravation.

She always chewed a piece of beef jerky every day after her evening studies, and today she felt hungry without it.

He Yiyang took in her little expression and debated whether or not to give it to her, but then the sight of the little fatty holding a milkshake at lunchtime came back to him, and his heart hardened like iron.

Eat my ass. Lose weight!