bayedsolid Chapter 330 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (41)
Chapter 330 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (41)
The train station on the way back was just as crowded as it had been on the way there.
Looking at the long queue ahead of her to enter the station, Lu Liruan felt... much more silent than when she arrived.
It seems that when we came back, everyone was excited and full of happiness and anticipation for returning home, but now there is a faint sadness in the air.
A reunion is followed by a parting; there is always a back and forth, as if every reunion is only for the sake of parting.
Since starting university, Lu Liruan has often had this feeling. Every time she left for the holidays or the start of the semester, she was always accompanied by her parents' deep reluctance to let her go.
On the way back, they managed to buy seats next to each other. Lu Liruan shifted her legs to one side so that the girl next to her with luggage could stand more comfortably.
"Thank you, thank you!" the girl apologized repeatedly, "My family insisted on bringing so much stuff for me, I already told them it would be difficult to carry it on the bus..."
She whispered to Lu Liruan to explain.
“They’re all the same…” Lu Liruan pointed to the bag that Jin Shuhe had placed on his lap: “Luckily, I have a strong laborer here.”
The strong laborer nodded silently.
Having gotten up early in the morning, Lu Liruan's eyelids began to droop during the smooth drive.
"Sister Li Ruan, are you sleepy?"
"Um……"
"You, you can lean on me and sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when we get there."
Lu Liruan didn't stand on ceremony with him. She put the earphones in her ears, played some light music, tilted her head, and leaned on Jin Shuhe's shoulder.
Too thin... If it weren't for the thick clothes, her bones would be uncomfortable, Lu Liruan mumbled in her sleep, adjusting her position to make herself more comfortable.
Lu Liruan, still half asleep, had no idea how long she had slept.
The carriage was crowded and warm, and the boy next to me felt warm too. Someone was eating pastries nearby, and there was a sweet aroma about them.
Lu Liruan seemed to know everything during this sleep, yet she was still groggy, until Jin Shuhe's voice rang in her ears: "Sister Liruan, we're almost there, wake up."
Everything around me suddenly became clear!
Lu Liruan opened her eyes and realized that she was still leaning against the child next to her.
Perhaps because her shoulder was uncomfortable, she unconsciously slid down and was now almost nestled in Jin Shuhe's arm, with the boy tensing up to support himself.
"Why can't I sleep sitting up straight..." Lu Liruan cleared her throat and quickly sat up: "Why didn't you wake me up? Your arm must be numb from being pressed down on it."
"No, you just changed your position." Jin Shuhe pursed her lips and said softly, enduring the soreness and itching in her arm as the numbness subsided.
The girl standing next to them didn't hear what they were saying, but she had seen it clearly: they had changed positions countless times after sleeping for a while.
The other workers were busy taking care of her luggage and protecting her, so they were quite flustered.
But you could tell from his cautious manner that he was doing it willingly.
"We're logging off, bye-bye!"
When they arrived at their stop, Lu Liruan stood up and said goodbye to the girl next to her.
"Bye-Bye!"
"hiss--"
The moment Lu Liruan stepped out of the car, she felt a jolt, and the last bit of confusion vanished instantly! It was as if the cold air had washed her clean from the inside out.
"It's so cold!" she exclaimed, stamping her feet and quickly pulling up the hood of her coat.
Then he wrapped the scarf around Jin Shuhe's arms, which were already full.
"Let me get one for you!" Lu Liruan reached out, but Jin Shu dodged her hand.
"Sister Li Ruan, hold my hand and be careful not to fall again," he instructed.
These days he noticed that Sister Li Ruan's balance seemed to be not very good. Whenever there was ice or slippery ground, she would suddenly fall over without warning.
At first, Jin Shuhe didn't have time to react because the fall was so sudden.
Later, whenever they went out for a walk, Jin Shuhe would subconsciously walk half a step behind her, focusing all his attention on her. Whenever Lu Liruan showed any signs of tripping or falling, he would quickly pull her back!
Lu's parents, carrying the groceries and fruit they had just bought, turned around and said, "Don't they say that a car with a low chassis has a low center of gravity and is more stable? Why doesn't that apply to you?" Lu's father teased with a grin.
Lu Liruan: ...
She didn't know why, but as a native northerner, she was shorter than Ms. Qin and had no advantage whatsoever in the skill of walking on ice.
“When she was little, her dad and I took her to get an ice sled. While other kids were having a great time, she would fall over to the left and then to the right, crying loudly as she fell!”
"At the time, I even discussed with her father whether we should have her brain checked to see if her balance was underdeveloped," Lu's mother told Jin Shuhe, recounting some amusing stories from Lu Liruan's childhood.
"You've trampled my dignity as your older sister on the ground!" Lu Liruan protested loudly, grabbing Jin Shuhe's sleeve.
"Tch—Xiao He looks much more like an adult than you. You must be the one taking care of you all the time!" Aunt Lu said dismissively.
To be honest, after hearing that Lu Liruan was taking care of a high school senior, Lu's mother thought she had really grown up, but now...
Lu Liruan suddenly felt a little guilty.
“No, Auntie, Sister Li Ruan is very good at taking care of people,” Jin Shuhe said earnestly.
In return, he pinched his arm and said, "Good boy, I haven't spoiled you for nothing!"
Although she kept up a tough front, Lu Liruan realized that she seemed to have gotten quite used to Jin Shuhe's help and care for her.
So she secretly decided: when we get back, I need to act more like an older sister! I need to take better care of this child!
At this moment, Lu Liruan remembered her promise and insisted, "Let me help you, it's so heavy..."
"Hiss!" Before he could finish speaking, he stepped on a piece of broken ice, stumbled, and was pulled so hard that Jin Shuhe shuddered.
……
"Sister Li Ruan, watch where you're going."
"Oh."
Unsuccessful in its first attempt...
He died midway through his life.
When I entered the house, it was the same house I left, but it felt cold and deserted, as if there was no human presence at all, and it was empty.
Lu Liruan barely managed to sweep away the dust in the room before settling into the sofa. She even turned on the TV to make the room feel more lively.
"Sister Li Ruan, what are you having for dinner tonight?"
"I'm not hungry," Lu Liruan said weakly.
"Let me heat up the dumplings Auntie brought, so I can have a little bit," Jin Shuhe said, bustling around in the kitchen.
We pan-fried the dumplings until they were crispy, and then cooked some millet porridge. The two of us shared a warm and comforting meal.
Jin Shuhe noticed that Lu Liruan was in low spirits, her eyelids were drooping, and she looked listless.
In fact, Jin Shuhe felt the same way. He couldn't help but feel empty inside. He hadn't had any expectations, but the warmth and love he received far exceeded what he had ever received before. He already missed it and reminisced about it as soon as he left.
"Let's go back to see my aunt and uncle after I finish my exams," he said, placing a dumpling on Lu Liruan's plate.
"Okay!" Lu Liruan smiled, her eyebrows curving upwards. "Then you'd better study hard and do well on the exam, and then we'll bring back good news!"
"After I finished my college entrance exam and submitted my university application, my parents took me on a trip. Is there anywhere you'd like to go? I'll take you on a trip too!" Lu Liruan suddenly remembered this.
With something to distract me, that faint sense of melancholy gradually dissipated.
The next morning, sunlight streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains, making it bright and shimmering. Lu Liruan walked into the living room and found that Jin Shuhe had gotten up early to buy new flowers and put them in a vase, instantly filling the room with the warmth of life.
Yesterday's sadness and frustration have vanished.
A new year should bring a fresh start! Having had a good year, let's strive to live a good life this year as well!
Lu Liruan began preparing a new video script with great enthusiasm.
Jin Shuhe was in his room finishing up his winter vacation homework. The vacation for senior high school students was not long, but there was such a thick stack of test papers. But this was the last time he would do it!
Wait until the day Jin Shuhe starts school.
Lu Liruan...did not get up.
When she woke up, Jin Shuhe was no longer in the room, but there was a breakfast that Jin Shuhe had left for her on the table.
Originally, Lu Liruan had planned to prepare a special new semester breakfast for her child when he started school, to cheer him on, and to see him off.
Hehe, my wish to be a good older sister in the new year failed on the very first day!
Mingming's routine had already aligned with his parents' when they were at their house, but after only three days back home, it was all messed up again.
It's okay, this is probably just the personality of our generation of young people...
Nonsense.
Lu Liruan sighed and ate her breakfast sheepishly.
Then I added a line to the script: "Excellent people are all working hard. I'm not an excellent person, so what's the point of my efforts? I might as well sleep a little longer..."
On the first day of school, the classroom was very lively, mostly with students copying homework.
"Shuhe! English! English! Quick! Save my life!"
As soon as Wen Bei entered the classroom, he pounced on the toilet paper on Jin Shuhe's desk like a hungry tiger.
His hair was cut even shorter, almost touching his scalp, and he looked incredibly energetic, clearly having a great time on vacation.
Zhao Jingyi entered the classroom around the same time as him, her face radiating the composure of having finished her homework: "If it's copied homework, how can the knowledge points be considered my own?"
She disdained Wen Bei's behavior. Ever since Lu Liruan tutored them, the two of them seemed to have formed a study group and were no longer at odds.
"There are so many to write, how am I ever going to finish them all! Oh, by the way, Shuhe, my mom bought me a new phone because my grades have improved!"
Wen Bei had been pestering his parents for a long time last semester without success, but his grades improved, and his mother bought him a gift for the New Year.
Wen Bei had tasted the sweetness of improved grades and vowed, "I must study hard. My mom promised me that as long as I can get into a school she's satisfied with, she'll give me a credit line of 20,000 yuan. I can buy whatever I want!"
"Stop daydreaming and get back to copying your homework!" Zhao Jingyi scoffed.
Wen Bei copied without even looking up.
Zhao Jingyi turned to Jin Shuhe and smiled, "Jin Shuhe, did you have a good New Year?"
"pretty good."
They greeted each other when they turned thirty, and then they only started talking again now that school has started.
“In the first year of junior high…” she whispered, “Lin Zhuoran called me and asked if I had your contact information.”
“I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to apologize to you in person. She said she was so scared at the time that she felt her whole life would be ruined if she didn't do what they said, so she had no choice but to…”
Zhao Jingyi's expression was somewhat complicated. She knew Lin Zhuoran was timid and could somewhat understand her thoughts, but she still couldn't accept what she had done.
“I didn’t tell her. I figured you probably wouldn’t want to hear her explanation during the Chinese New Year.”
Jin Shuhe nodded.
"How is she now?" Jin Shuhe asked after thinking for a moment.
"She has already transferred schools, but her student registration cannot be transferred. It's like she's temporarily enrolled. Her mother spent a lot of money to get her into a good provincial key school."
"But because of these things, she has no interest in studying and will not take the college entrance examination this year. She will repeat a year and take the exam next year."
"Did she..." Jin Shuhe wanted to ask how the matter was handled in the end, but the school wouldn't tell him the follow-up.
“Those families all lost money, and her current tuition fees come from that money.” Zhao Jingyi frowned. “Lin Zhuoran’s parents think it’s better not to make a big deal out of it, otherwise it won’t do her any good.”
Jin Shuhe had expected this outcome, but he still felt somewhat disappointed.
It seems... some people who make mistakes never get punished in the end.
Big mistakes are fine, small mistakes are fine too...
Wen Bei, who was listening to their conversation from behind, looked up from his English test paper and said angrily, "Those little bastards really got off easy!"
The tense atmosphere of the second semester of senior year was felt from the very first class.
Each teacher emphasized this very seriously and announced the start of the new semester, stating that students would choose their seats based on their initial grades.
"If you want to learn, I'll give you a hand. If you don't want to learn, please be quiet and don't cause trouble. You have to walk your own path. I hope that everyone in our class will keep up!"
"Let's work together to bring our more than ten years of learning to a perfect close, giving ourselves and our parents and families who have supported us a satisfactory conclusion!"
Next semester will have three major unified mock exams and four internal school mock exams, so we'll practically be spending our time taking exams.
"Damn! You were really studying every day during your vacation! How did your grades improve again?!" After the first quiz, Wen Bei took the report card and kicked Jin Shuhe's chair hard.
His own performance was also good, and he moved up a few places.
The next semester went by in a flash.
100-day countdown rally, first mock exam...
The weather is getting warmer day by day, and the air is becoming more humid. After the spring rain, it feels even more refreshing and full of life.
Like every student striving for their future.
"What are you going to do?" Wen Bei asked Jin Shuhe, twirling his pen.
"Let's go for a run."
"Hey? Why are you so active lately? It's nothing, we'll definitely be fine with the physical education portion of the college entrance exam!"
Jin Shuhe didn't reply to him, but instead followed her own plan, gradually increasing the amount of physical training.