Chapter 3 Bitterness Two

  Two

  "What a nuisance!!!” Xiao Yi has already said this sentence for the twenty-fourth time today. She wore a fluffy rabbit ear hat today, and it really looked cute. However, in this small southern city where even winter feels a bit stuffy, it seemed a bit out of place, even exaggerated. But don't models on magazines dress like that? Wearing thick down jackets in the middle of winter, with only a short skirt and stockings underneath. I'm getting more and more confused about these fashion-forward beauties.

  "Hey, Lan? Ah, stop writing, come and chat with me." Xiao Yi's pale hand blocked the space between her eyes and the exercise book, her face pleading.

  Blue looked around and saw that the evening self-study atmosphere of the top class was still good. He intentionally lowered his voice and said, "You say."

  "He said Du Hongyi is annoying or not, every day after school he blocks me at the stairs, I'm being tortured by him until I'm mentally split."

  "Do you like him?"

  "I don't know either, I just think he looks okay." Xiao Yi smiled shyly, "Lan, have you ever been chased by someone?"

  "There is, of course there is, I just don't like him, that's all."

  "You're so cool! If someone like Du Hongyi were to pursue you, how would you get him to stop bothering you?"

  "It's easy, just eat your way to being like me." Lan Yu helplessly gestured to his own figure.

  "Haha ~ blue? c You speak so funny, haha......" Xiao Yi laughed and buried her face in the crook of her arm, her body shaking with laughter.

  Zhang Chongyu looked back at Xiao Yi with a suspicious expression, who was already laughing uncontrollably, and also burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

  "Is that Blue C? Blue C is so silly." Xiao Yi pointed at Blue C with her finger, then continued to bury her face in her arm and laugh.

  "I didn't expect you could tell jokes, I'm looking at you in a new light." Zhang Chongyu thoughtfully glanced at Lan.

  "Whatever." Lan Yu smiled self-deprecatingly and opened his exercise book, continuing to scribble with his pen.

  The bell rang on time after the evening self-study class was dismissed. The classmates in the classroom let out a sigh of relief and started talking loudly, each packing up their books and heading downstairs. Lan just put away the open exercise books in her drawer, took out her keys to leave, when Xiao Yi tightly grasped her sleeve, "Lan, it's Du Hongyi, walk with me."

  Following Xiao Yi's indication, Du Hongyi kept poking his head into the classroom from the corridor, and after seeing Xiao Yi, he smiled and waved at her. Lan was startled and immediately bent down to pretend to pick up things.

  Zhang Chongyu stood outside the classroom door waiting, looking at the two people still standing motionless, then walked in, "What are you two waiting for? It's finally the weekend, don't you want to go home?"

  "It's Du Hongyi, he's blocking me again." Xiao Yi gestured to Zhang Chongyu to look out the window at Du Hongyi leaning against the corridor railing.

  Zhang Chongyu took over Xiao Yi's school bag and put it on his own shoulder, pulling Xiao Yi's small arm to go out. "I'm here, don't be afraid." Seeing Lan still standing there, Zhang Chongyu turned back and shouted, "Don't stand there stupidly, follow me closely!"

  She took a few deep breaths of fresh air, secretly encouraging herself in her heart. When facing Du Hong later, she must be calmer and not as timid as before, afraid to even lift her head.

  But when facing Du Hongyi, Lan ?c found that he was thinking too much, he didn't even glance over, and directly stood in front of Xiao Yi, blocking her way. "You're so slow, but I'm willing to wait."

  "I didn't ask you to wait for me, I'm going home now. If I go back late, my family will worry." Xiao Yiying looked up at him and said softly.

  "I'll send you."

  "No need, I'll send them home." Zhang Chongyu stepped forward and stood between Xiao Yi and Du Hongyi, his eyes fearlessly staring into Du Hongyi's.

  Du Hong sneered and suddenly grabbed Zhang Chongyu's collar with his right hand, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at him. "What the hell are you? Trying to steal my woman?"

  A tense atmosphere suddenly enveloped the surroundings, and the entire corridor was left with only these few people. The lights in the corridor flickered on and off, Xiao Yi turned back to look at Lan C, her face filled with fear.

  Zhang Chongyu pulled down Du Hongyi's hand and said in a low voice, "If you really like her, let's compete openly and fairly, don't pressure her too much to make things difficult for her."

  "What the hell is this!" Du Hong furiously shouted and pushed Zhang Chongyu's chest with force. Zhang Chongyu was caught off guard and stumbled backward, hurriedly using his hand to hold onto the railing for support. The next second, Zhang Chongyu threw his backpack at Lan and got into a scuffle with Du Hong.

  Blue? C suddenly reacted, hurriedly using his hands to try and pry the two people apart, "Stop fighting, both of you stop fighting!"

  Xiao Yi was shocked and stood still on one side, finally coming back to her senses to help Lan pull the two apart. However, Du Hongyi's eyes were already red with anger, determined to teach Zhang Chongyu a lesson, completely disregarding the girl's attempts to intervene. Zhang Chongyu also fought back without showing any weakness, and the two had no intention of separating. "Du Hongyi! Let go! Du Hongyi!" Lan shouted, grabbing onto Du Hongyi's furiously clenched fist.

  "Ah!" Her face suddenly felt a burning sensation all over, and there was a metallic taste of blood in her mouth. The chaotic scene finally came to a stop. Lan'er wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her hand, while Du Hong stared at her in a daze, then his expression changed from shock to anger. "You damn it! Your fist is coming and you won't dodge!"

  Lan C covered her face with her hands, her eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to make a sound. The blood vessels around her right eye were throbbing violently. Zhang Chongyu turned his head and saw Lan C silently covering her face, also frightened, and quickly bent down carefully looking at her, gently removing the girl's hand with his own, "Let me see."

  "It must be very painful! It's all swollen!" Xiao Yi looked at Lan with tears in her eyes, staring at the half of his face that had swelled up.

  Du Hongyi panted heavily, scratching his hair randomly, then regretfully pulled out a band-aid from his pocket and handed it to Lan, "Put it on."

  "It doesn't matter, it doesn't hurt." Lan avoided his outstretched hand and picked up the school bag that had fallen to the ground, dusting off the dirt.

  "Blue?c, if you're going to be so stubborn, I won't be able to talk to you anymore." Du Hongyi's hand holding the band-aid still lingered in mid-air, showing no intention of putting it away, as if he had calculated that the girl would turn back and obediently take the band-aid to stick on.

  A surge of anger rose inexplicably in my heart. Can't talk to me now, is that it? Just a moment ago, you were acting as if we'd never met before, completely ignoring me. Even if we were only classmates for six years in elementary school, you should at least say hello. And what's more, didn't you used to have feelings for me? The words I wanted to say got stuck in my throat. I turned around and looked at him, "Who are you? My business has nothing to do with you, if you don't want to talk to me, then just don't."

  "No," Du Hongyi raised an eyebrow in disbelief, putting the band-aid in his pocket and then taking it out again, clenching and unclenching his fist. "Lan, what do you mean? Is this revenge?"

  Xiao Yi and Zhang Chongyu looked at Lan Caihe with a puzzled expression, then looked at Du Hongyi again. Finally, Xiao Yi broke the silence, "It's really too late, let's go home." After saying that, he stretched out his hand to pull Lan Caihe towards the stairs, while Zhang Chongyu quietly followed behind with his backpack.

  Du Hongyi didn't catch up, and the three of them kept quiet all the way, only saying goodbye to Xiao Yi when they sent her home. Then they walked in the opposite direction, Lan?c and Zhang Chongyu's homes are just across an old street, but Xiao Yi's home is in the opposite direction from theirs. Every weekend evening on their way back home, they would first send Xiao Yi back home together, then the two of them would head back home together.

  "What's going on between you and Du Hongyi?" Zhang Chongyu broke the increasingly awkward silence.

  Lan C's footsteps paused slightly before recovering calmly, "Nothing, just can't stand his arrogant look."

  "Keep writing, I can tell you're concerned about him, and he," Zhang Chongyu stopped and looked at her, "He saw you get hit, his tone of voice changed, he even forgot that he was here to pick up Xiao Yi."

  "He's like that because he feels guilty for hitting me!"

  "Are you kidding me? I don't believe this rascal would care if he hit a woman or not."

  "So you think there's something between us?"

  "Isn't it? Look at you, your face is all red from rushing."

  "Who's in a hurry? Why am I in a hurry?"

  "What's wrong with you, jumping up and talking to me like that? What's the meaning of standing there with your hands on your hips? Are you trying to scold me like a shrew?"

  Blue? C looked at Zhang Chongyu's face under the streetlight, which had turned yellow but was still handsome. Suddenly, she felt speechless and didn't know how to respond to Zhang Chongyu's questioning. The annoyance that lingered after seeing Du Hongyi again was still truly present.