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墨書 Inktalez
Not long after the school year began, Hu Ruoyun received a letter from Jiang Qiuying, containing only a few lines: "This Saturday afternoon, we will come to your school to see you. We will stay overnight at your school, so please prepare for our arrival!"
Since it mentioned "we," it was clear that she would not be coming alone. Who would accompany her?
Brother Biao? That seemed unlikely; otherwise, Brother Biao would have written in advance. Forward and Hong Tao had already dropped out, so it definitely couldn't be them.
Since she couldn't think of who it might be, she decided to wait and see.
Saturday arrived again, and the only boys left were Hu Ruoyun and the sports committee member Gao Jiazhuang. Among the girls, only Wang Bingbing and Tong Caiying remained, as Jiang Qiuying and her companions needed a place to stay. Hu Ruoyun had no choice but to ask these two female classmates to arrange for Jiang Qiuying to stay in their dormitory.
When Wang Bingbing heard Hu Ruoyun mention that a female classmate was visiting and needed to stay in their dormitory, her face lit up with curiosity. "Hu Da Caizi, come clean—are they just classmates or your girlfriend?"
Tong Caiying also joined in teasingly. "Bingbing, you don't need to ask him; after all, she's staying in our dorm tonight. Let's ask her ourselves and help Hu Da Caizi screen her!"
…
Seeing that he couldn't explain himself clearly, Hu Ruoyun decided not to elaborate further. They agreed that after dinner, the two girls would take Jiang Qiuying to their dormitory.
It seemed Jiang Qiuying had come over after finishing two study periods; by the time Hu Ruoyun finally saw her, dinner time had already passed. Alongside her was another girl who appeared even more robust than Hu Ruoyun—short hair, a round face, wearing a white down jacket and form-fitting black leggings.
She looked familiar somehow but he couldn't quite place her.
Noticing that Jiang Qiuying wasn't introducing her friend, Hu Ruoyun asked, "Qiuying, is this your classmate?"
Jiang Qiuying burst into laughter, bending over as if she couldn't contain herself. This left Hu Ruoyun feeling puzzled. The girl beside her seemed slightly embarrassed and playfully hit Jiang Qiuying on the arm. "I told you not to laugh!"
To ease the awkwardness, Hu Ruoyun suggested, "Let's go eat dinner outside; you two arrived a bit late and the school cafeteria is closed."
Only then did Jiang Qiuying manage to straighten up. She linked arms with the other girl and followed Hu Ruoyun outside. As they walked, they whispered to each other about something unknown; suddenly, Jiang Qiuying took off running while the other girl chased after her playfully, both of them laughing joyfully.
Instead of eating at the small shed designated for students at the school gate this time, Hu Ruoyun took them to a restaurant called "New Daxin" in the town center. According to Mao Jie, this restaurant had just opened; the food was decent and the environment was nice and clean. Plus, since it was newly opened, they were offering a discount of around 20%.
Having just received over fifty yuan in manuscript fees before the Spring Festival, Hu Ruoyun felt financially secure.
He recalled how in his envisioned future—despite being as frugal as Tong Caiying was now—he still found himself short on cash. He remembered one evening when the lights went out during self-study; while other classmates rushed to buy candles from the convenience store, he couldn't even scrape together twenty cents with all his change and had to huddle with his deskmate for light!
This was high school; he had already learned what embarrassment felt like…
Now he felt like he had plenty of resources—"with food at home, there’s no need for worry"—and it felt reassuring.
The three of them found a spot in a corner. Hu Ruoyun asked for the girls' opinions on what to order and decided on a large plate of cold mixed vegetables and fish-flavored shredded pork. Just as he was about to order more dishes, Jiang Qiuying stopped him: "There are just three of us; if we order more it will go to waste. Let’s skip the extra dishes and just get three bowls of rice."
Indeed, at this time of year, the portion sizes were quite generous. Not wanting to be overly picky anymore, he ordered each girl a can of energy drink.
When the food arrived, Hu Ruoyun encouraged them to dig in: "Alright then, let’s eat!"
Jiang Qiuying stopped him, saying, "Wait a moment." With a cheerful smile, she gestured to the girl beside her, "You really don't know who she is?"
The girl blushed and swatted Jiang Qiuying's hand away. "Stop being silly; I'll introduce myself." She turned to Hu Ruoyun and said, "I'm Zhang Meina, from Pingbei Township, Zhangjiazhai... I'm in the same class as Qiuying and we share a bunk in the dormitory."
Hu Ruoyun suddenly realized that this was the "match" that their elementary school teacher, Shao Jianguo, had introduced to her! Just as Hu Ruoyun was feeling flustered, Zhang Meina added, "You look so different from your photos!"
Fortunately, there was a playful glint in her eyes when she said this; otherwise, it would have been incredibly embarrassing for Hu Ruoyun. Jiang Qiuying quickly came to Hu Ruoyun's rescue, saying, "God is fair. Our talented Hu is brilliant; if he were also as handsome as Pan An or Song Yu, that beauty would be grinning from ear to ear every day..."
This made Zhang Meina unable to resist reaching out again. Luckily, neither girl brought up Hu Ruoyun's "shortcomings" again, and the three of them continued to eat and drink.
They spent nearly two hours at the table, chatting about their respective schools and classmates. By this time, Hu Ruoyun had relaxed and began to share about his studies and family situation...
Zhang Meina didn't comment much on those topics. Eventually, both girls declared they were full. Hu Ruoyun stood up to settle the bill but was startled by the group of people standing before him: Mao Jie was grinning at him with a playful expression on his face. Behind him stood his father, mother, sister, and a handsome guy in a suit who looked to be around Mao Na's age. They all wore smiles.
Mao Jie's mom spoke first: "Xiao Hu, you're eating here too?"
"Auntie, two classmates came from the county town. The school cafeteria was closed, so we came here..." Hu Ruoyun felt inexplicably nervous and awkward. "What are you all doing here?"
Mao Jie chimed in with a smile: "Since you’re eating here, of course we are too."
Hu Ruoyun replied, "We’ve finished eating..."
Mao Jie interrupted him: "We’ve finished too. Come on, let’s go out together."
Hu Ruoyun pushed back: "I need to settle the bill first."
Mao Jie pulled him along: "Come on! My uncle has already taken care of it."
As he spoke, he dragged Hu Ruoyun outside. Turning a corner, they spotted Zhang Maokui in his neat police uniform standing at the bar counter and smiling at them.
The bar owner greeted them warmly as they emerged: "Mayor Mao, Director Zhang, have you finished eating?"
The scene left Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina looking quite surprised.
As they stepped out of the New Daxin building, Mao Jie's uncle smiled and asked Hu Ruoyun, "Xiao Hu, do you need a ride?" With a press of a button on the remote in his hand, a brand new Santana police car flashed its yellow lights and made a few beeping sounds nearby.
Hu Ruoyun quickly waved her hand, "Director Zhang, it's fine. We're heading back to school; it's not far, we can walk."
The two parties waved goodbye, and Mao Jie mischievously winked at Hu Ruoyun, "Make sure to give me a report on Monday about what happened!"
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