Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Two Other Important Players in Our Lives
Li Meiqing was furious at Li Li's intentional absence on her birthday, and beat her daughter cruelly.Li Li refused to apologize, and Li Meiqing became more and more ruthless when she got angry, even refusing to listen to her mother's stop.In the end, Li Guoqiang, who came back from get off work, snatched the ruler from his sister and saved Li Li.
"Does it hurt?" Li Guoqiang looked at the silent niece and asked with lingering fear.
"Except for the face." Wearing a sweater, no matter how hard you hit him, it won't hurt much, but the ruler's face is scorchingly painful.
Li Guoqiang shook his head and sighed, "Xiao Li, being too stubborn is not a good thing. If you cry a few times, my sister will soften her heart?" However, this little girl has a stubborn temper, and she has a personality that will not die until the Yellow River. She has learned the shortcomings of her parents. Ten percent.
"Mom, she hates me." She said the fact blankly, touched the broken skin on her face, feeling disheartened.
She entered the room in the dark, got into the cold bed, and lay there motionless, crying.The scene of Pei Shangxuan yelling "Happy Birthday" to the Huangpu River in the cold wind on the first day of fourteen was deeply engraved in his soul and warmed Li Li's heart.
Pei Shangxuan took her by the hand and ran to the bakery, took out the money he had planned to play billiards, and bought a horseshoe cake for her as a birthday present.He bought a box of matches and stuck four of them on the cake as fourteenth birthday candles.
He asked Li Li to make a wish, and the river wind blew the faint flames on the little cake, and he protected her with his hand to let her express her wish quickly.
Li Li closed her eyes and muttered to herself, then blew out the match in one breath before it was blown out by the wind.Pei Shangxuan breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back on the flood control wall with both hands, listening to the evening bell ringing at six o'clock in the customs building. "What wish did you make?" He only saw her mouth moving, but couldn't hear her voice.
Li Li lowered her head and pulled out the matches one by one, "If you say it, it won't work." She took a bite of the cake and handed it to Pei Shangxuan.Seeing him shaking his head and refusing to eat it, she stubbornly raised her hand and said, "This is a birthday cake. If you don't share it with anyone, you will be very lonely."
His eyes were bright, brighter than the morning star above his head.Those eyes looked at her, then he brought his head closer, opened his mouth and took a big bite. "I'm just hungry."
She made a wish - to be friends with Pei Shangxuan for a lifetime, and never leave her.
Li Li buried her head in the quilt and wept silently. She thought that if her life ended at this moment, then this beautiful boy named Pei Shangxuan would be the only warm color in her life.
On her birthday many years later, Li Li had received beautiful roses, expensive gifts, and chocolate mousse cake, but she never forgot the horseshoe cake she ate at the Bund when she was fourteen.She couldn't remember the taste, but she couldn't forget the very happy feeling at that time.
She accompanied the company's clients to browse the night view of the Bund. The Oriental Pearl Tower and Jinmao Tower, as Shanghai's landmark buildings, dotted the Pujiang River, shining brightly.She smiled and said that one year in front of the flood control wall, a boy celebrated her birthday for herself. “I think the cake was more delicious than anything else.”
"You must love him very much." The blond beauty from Germany smiled softly and spoke in an extremely affirmative tone.
She froze for a moment, remembering the warmth from him when she was fourteen years old, and replied "Yeah."
Pei Shangxuan's first birthday celebration for a girl is Li Li.He often joked that his "first time" was given to her, and Li Li must be responsible to him.
She smiled, not taking it seriously.Pei Shangxuan has celebrated the birthdays of several girls in the following fifteen years, and he has long forgotten the blessing he gave when he cowered in the cold wind for the first time.
He said: "Li Li, I want you to be happy all your life and be a brave girl." The last sentence is Pei Shangxuan's translation of the lyrics of the Little Tigers.He did not use the word "hope" domineeringly, but directly used imperative sentences.
Li Li told herself to be a brave girl, but when she became an adult, she found that a strong and courageous woman could not attract the love and affection of men.Pei Shangxuan misled her with one sentence. The twenty-nine-year-old man can't remember that when he was fourteen, he hated the girl who screamed and cried when she saw a cockroach, enjoying the warmth and fragrance of a little bird.
He grew up slowly and lost his youth; her love began on the day of her fourteenth birthday, and spent fifteen years waiting for him to turn around and pick up the long-term love that had been scattered all the way.
After the scabs on Li Li's face healed, he finally met his future stepfather Liu Zhixian, and at the same time met Liu Zhixian's son - Liu Qianren who was two years older than her.
It was a beautiful and feminine boy with a tall and thin figure.Standing in front of Li Li made her feel ashamed.When standing face to face and greeting each other, she sneaked a glance at him, lamenting that God is just partial, and it is really a waste for a boy to grow so good-looking!
Liu Zhixian, who is a teacher, is a gentle and gentle man, and his smile makes people feel inexplicably at ease.Apart from her little uncle, it was Li Li's first contact with an adult man, and his generous demeanor unknowingly melted her resistance.Li Li even secretly thought: No matter how you look at it, Li Meiqing is not worthy of this handsome man.
Liu Qianren, a freshman in high school, was the complete opposite of his father, with dark eyes and a rebellious attitude, and he didn't say more than five sentences throughout the night.At the dinner table, Li Li was sitting opposite him, occasionally looking up at him, always feeling a little bit of chill coming out from the soles of his feet, wrapping around his whole body like a snake.
Pei Shangxuan took her to the vegetable market to see other people playing with snakes. She thought it was as interesting as fighting monkeys, so she happily followed.In the end, what I saw was a slippery snake climbing up the human body, wrapping layers around the neck.
Li Li vomited on the spot, and Pei Shangxuan wiped her mouth with a handkerchief while mocking her for being timid.
Liu Qianren feels like a snake spewing out letters, it will pounce on you at some point and bite you.She was a little apprehensive, and tried to avoid looking into his eyes, and lowered her head to gorge on the food.
The boy's gloomy eyes stopped on the top of her head, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth pulled, his expression was strange.
When saying goodbye, Liu Qianren stopped in front of Li Li, lowered his head and said, "I will get along with you well in the future, sister." The parents on both sides were very satisfied with his friendly behavior, but only Li Li saw the maliciousness on his face smile.
She froze, speechless.On the way home, Li Meiqing and Xuxu blamed her for not having a tutor, so she should answer Liu Qianren anyway.Li Li lowered her head and listened silently, Liu Qianren's smile replayed in her mind as if in slow motion.
She was afraid of this boy and didn't want to have anything to do with him again.But Li Meiqing and Liu Zhixian's marriage is inevitable, and it's useless for her to object.
The next day at school, Pei Shangxuan was waiting for her at the entrance of the alley, and first asked her if Li Meiqing's marriage partner was easy to get along with.Li Li suddenly felt relieved, the entangled nightmare was far away from life.No matter what bad things happened, at least Pei Shangxuan still cared about him.
"Uncle Liu looks like a very kind person." Her right hand was in Pei Shangxuan's coat pocket, and the young man held her warmly.The round and round Li Li looks healthy, but in reality she lacks energy and blood, and her hands are cold in winter.He accidentally found out that he volunteered to be a stove to keep her warm.
Pei Shangxuan had a relieved expression on his face, and then his knotted brows relaxed.She swallowed her evaluation of Liu Qianren and smiled easily.
"Are you concerned about me?" She asked with a playful smile, raising her head with a smug expression.Pei Shangxuan turned sideways and raised his right hand to rub Li Li's hair, "Silly girl, we are good friends, I don't care who else cares about you?"
The boy inadvertently told the truth that Li Li seems to have a good relationship with everyone in the class, but she has almost no real friends.It took a long time for Pei Shangxuan to realize that Li Li is actually a contradictory person, both longing for the truth and instinctively resisting to believe, because of the insecurity deep in his heart.But when he was young, he only thought that she was a picky person, and she had to be picky when choosing friends.
It's not like he boldly thinks that everyone in the world is brothers, as long as they hit it off, they are friends.She criticized his friend for being too promiscuous, and he unconvincedly accused her of being arrogant, no one could convince the other.
Li Li met Pei Shangxuan's new friends every year when the autumn wind blows, and every year at his birthday party there will be new faces, both men and women.She laughed at him for having a wide range of friendships, but there are very few friendships left after the long river of time has washed away.
He naturally wanted to refute, but he was shocked to find that only Li Li had been by his side all these years.
When 1990 and 1991 intersected, Pei Shangxuan came home from school on December 31. Pei Shangxuan pulled Lili's slender ponytail, smiled and wished her a happy new year, and next year she could transform from an ugly duckling to a White Swan.
Li Li clenched his fists angrily and chased after Pei Shangxuan, who laughed and ran away quickly.In the past six months, his height has grown rapidly, taking advantage of his tall legs and long legs.Li Li chased after him for a long time, but the distance between the two did not shorten but widened.
"Pei Shangxuan, I hate you the most!" She simply stopped, panting and yelling at his back.He seemed to turn his head around. Li Li, who didn't wear glasses, couldn't see his reaction clearly. She turned around and walked towards her home.
"You seem to be having a good time." Li Li was startled by the half-cold voice, and subconsciously looked towards the source of the sound. There was a tall and thin boy standing against the wall, wearing a beige plaid coat, half-length Beneath the hair is a pretty face.
The cold and slippery feeling hit her heart again, Li Li couldn't help but took a small step back, and then remembered that when she went out in the morning, she heard Li Meiqing say that Liu Zhixian and his son were invited to dinner at home in the evening.
"Didn't you find my house?" Li Li lowered her head and spoke quickly, "I'll take you there."
"It's boring, I just came out." Liu Qianren smiled, put one hand on Li Li's shoulder, and obviously felt her body stiffen. "Are you afraid of me, sister?" The evil face approached her, and the malicious smile suddenly magnified several times in front of her eyes.Li Li instinctively resisted his approach.
"You reject my kindness like this, my brother is very sad." The scorching eyes and the words uttered from the thin lips are completely different, and she saw the disgust in those eyes when she was panicked.
"Let her go!" The familiar voice made Li Li heave a sigh of relief, and quickly looked up at the savior.Pei Shangxuan was half a head shorter than Liu Qianren, but he did not show any weakness in his imposing manner.
Liu Qianren let go of the hand that was holding her shoulder, and put it back into his pocket as if nothing had happened. "I didn't expect you to have a flower protector at a young age. As expected, like a mother, like a daughter." He said disdainfully.
"What did you say?" Seeing Li Li's face turned pale, Pei Shangxuan instinctively felt that the other party's words must be very vicious, so he rushed forward and grabbed Qian Ren by the collar, but the height difference made his threat very unconvincing.
"Don't you understand?" Liu Qianren smiled contemptuously, "It's normal for a guy like you who can only use violence if he doesn't understand."
Pei Shangxuan was in a hurry, he raised his fist and wanted to punch this very displeased little boy, but Li Li held his hand.
"Pei Shangxuan, he is Uncle Liu's son, you can't beat him." She yelled anxiously.Liu Qianren doesn't look like a character to provoke, Pei Shangxuan may not be able to gain the upper hand.
Breaking apart Pei Shangxuan's fingers, Liu Qianren coldly looked at the boy who was two years younger than him before turning his cold eyes to Li Li. "You'd better remember that I hate your mother, including you."
Looking at Liu Qianren's back, Pei Shangxuan turned his head to look at Li Li, and said angrily: "I'm sure, I hate him."
Years later, even though he forgot about the past, he still hated this handsome man named Liu Qianren.
Li Meiqing and Liu Zhixian registered their marriage on New Year's Eve. February 14th coincided with New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day in the West, so they got their marriage certificate before the Civil Affairs Bureau got off work.Li Li heard about Li Meiqing's marriage plan from Li Guoqiang, and she was always worried that she would move to Liu's house with her mother to live with the boy who made her afraid. a title.
Li Fengzhu, the head teacher, called Li Li to the office, and asked her whether her grade decline was related to Pei Shangxuan.There were rumors about the two of them circulating in the school a while ago, and Li Fengzhu almost didn't laugh when he heard it.She joked with other teachers in the office, saying that if Li Li was half as beautiful as Qiu Yuerong, the study committee member, it would be worth noting whether they would have a tendency to fall in love early.
The decline in Li Li's grades made Li Fengzhu have to face up to this problem. More than once, the teacher told her that Pei Shangxuan pestered Li Li to chat in class, and the two had a close attitude.Before taking over the fourth class, Li Fengzhu knew Li Li's name, including the resignation incident.Years of experience in teaching and educating people let her see that this girl is doing her own way in her bones, obedience is only on the surface, and her heart is absolutely egoistic.
Such students, on the contrary, make the teacher even more headache.You can't control her, and she won't let you guess when she decides to resist.
Li Fengzhu said earnestly: "Li Li, the teacher has high expectations for you, and I don't want you to be affected by poor students."
She raised her chin slightly, then quickly retracted it and bowed her head in deep reflection.Li Fengzhu only saw the light brown hair on top of her head, but couldn't see her expression.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Li, I promise that I will regain the first place in the next exam." She lowered her head and smiled conceitedly. "This time I accidentally missed Jingzhou, and it has nothing to do with anyone else, especially Pei Shangxuan."
Li Fengzhu was not satisfied after hearing this, she obviously interpreted that Li Li was trying to excuse that bad student Pei Shangxuan, and made a decision in her heart to rearrange the seats.
Li Li secretly looked at the dignified expression of the head teacher, and had a premonition that the relationship between her and Pei Shangxuan at the same table was about to end.She was a little disappointed, and at the same time felt unwilling.
"Ms. Li, Pei Shangxuan and I are good friends. I hope he can make progress with me." She expressed her opinion tactfully.
I don't know whether Li Fengzhu checked Pei Shangxuan's grades and found that he has improved, or he made a compromise for Li Li's sake. Anyway, when the winter vacation ends and the school starts again, they are still at the same table.
During the whole winter vacation, apart from going to pay New Year greetings to her stepfather Liu Zhixian on the first day of the new year, she did not move there with Li Meiqing, but stayed at her grandmother's house.The Liu family lived in a public house, and Liu Qianren had her own room, so even if Li Li wanted to move there, there was no room for her.
Liu Zhixian expressed his apology for breaking up their mother and daughter, Li Li thought to himself that this man is really a good person, and said "it's okay" repeatedly, hoping he doesn't mind.The relationship between her and Li Meiqing was not as close as Liu Zhixian saw.What's more, with Liu Qianren around, she only had the idea of keeping a respectful distance.
A pair of dark eyes stared at her from the corner, Li Li turned her face to avoid Liu Qianren's sight.
After the winter vacation, a super-beautiful girl named Han Yichen transferred to class (4). The moment Li Fengzhu took her into the classroom, the whole class let out a collective "wow".
Han Yichen stood gracefully on the podium. The beautiful girl knew her strengths, and she held her head up confidently wherever she went.She introduced herself that she changed schools because of moving, and hoped to integrate into the group soon.
Applauding as a routine to welcome new students to join, Li Li noticed Pei Shangxuan's focused eyes at the same table, and felt a bit sour inexplicably.
In just half a day, that is, after four classes in the morning, Han Yichen's name has spread throughout the school.The people flocking to the gate of class 4 (4) of junior high school to see the beauties are like river crucian carp. Li Li almost thought that all the boys in the school had come to pay their respects to the beauties.She secretly thought that she should set up a booth at the entrance of the class, and charge a visit fee of 50 cents per person.
(4) The group of beauties in the original class felt the unprecedented threat, so a few people who were not in harmony with each other gathered together and whispered to the picturesque Han Yichen.Seeing this scene, Pei Shangxuan sneered at the terrible jealousy of a woman, and while speaking, his eyes lingered on Han Yichen behind him.
Li Li suddenly realized the fact that one day Pei Shangxuan would like a certain girl and alienate him.
Do the so-called forever friends really exist?
The atmosphere in the class is becoming more and more delicate, from the original intrigue to two distinct factions.Under Li Li's careless guidance, monitor Wu Lina formed an alliance with several beautiful girls who were also robbed of the limelight, and they entered and exited together to create a multiplied beauty effect.
Li Li originally watched the good show with the mentality of staying out of it, but Pei Shangxuan's eyes on Han Yichen made her feel uncomfortable, as if there was a thorn poking at it all the time.So at noon, when she heard Wu Lina, Qiu Yuerong and the others discussing Han Yichen's right and wrong in the toilet, Li Li pretended to be unintentional and said, "I can't compare to one person, so I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back her limelight if I double it?"
Sure enough, they succeeded in attracting more heads, and all kinds of exclusion against Han Yichen died down for the time being.But Li Li still couldn't be happy, because Pei Shangxuan looked back at Han Yichen more and more times.
"Do you like her?" On the way home two weeks later, Li Li asked straight to the point.
Pei Shangxuan blushed uncomfortably, pretending to be puzzled: "Who are you talking about?"
"Stop pretending." Li Li snorted, "Sima Zhao's heart is known to everyone. You look back at Han Yichen every class, much more seriously than you look at the teacher."
"I'm not looking at her." The young man quibbled, denying it to the death.Facing Li Li's understanding expression, he tried to defend Ai Ai: "Even if he just glanced at it twice, it was time for her to answer the question."
"Oh, really?" Li Li tilted her head and grinned unpredictablely, "Pei Shangxuan, why didn't you look at me when I was answering the question?"
After being told by her, his good-looking face immediately flushed red, and the young man frankly admitted: "Yes, yes, I just like Han Yichen, can I? I want you to meddle in my own business!"
Her chest felt tight all of a sudden, as if someone had punched her in the chest.Hearing Pei Shangxuan personally say that he likes Han Yichen, even if Li Li was mentally prepared, it was still quite difficult to accept. She thought of the scene where her little uncle gave Yan Liming the chicken wings, and she felt sympathetic.
Those cares that belong to you temporarily, once you find the real owner, you will not hesitate to turn to another direction, right?
Li Li tried her best to smile, never letting Pei Shangxuan see how sad she was.
For Pei Shangxuan, Han Yichen is the one who makes the young love come true.Many years passed, and he believed in Li Li's assertion: Boys will not truly mature until they have longing for the opposite sex.
He always remembered Han Yichen's shallow smile when he stood in front of the podium and introduced himself. The soft and delicate facial features were inlaid on his palm-sized face, and the thin bangs on his forehead made her face look like a heart.
She smiled subtly, her eyebrows and eyes curved into a fascinating arc, and Pei Shangxuan's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
There are not many beautiful girls in the class, and he thinks they are nothing more than that after watching for a long time, but Han Yichen is very attractive.At least she had been here for a few weeks, and he hadn't gotten tired of the little heart-shaped face.
Han Yichen is a shrewd girl, even though most girls don't like her, she still comes to school with a sweet and friendly smile every day.The proud habit of the beautiful girl who is defiant and arrogant can't be found in her, which gradually makes people feel close.Li Li watched her calmly buy people's hearts, and worried about Pei Shangxuan's future for no reason.It will be very difficult for this stupid guy to like girls who are scheming.
Li Li doesn't want Han Yichen to intervene in her life, no matter how the girls in the class fight openly and secretly, it has nothing to do with her.Li Guoqiang is right in saying that not being good-looking is a congenital deficiency, and trying to make oneself a useful person is an acquired result. God will not always treat the same person badly. The statement in a more poetic way is "God closed the door, but A window will be opened for you."Beautiful girls have their loyal supporters, but Li Li, who is not beautiful but has one of the best grades, is supported by teachers, and no one dares to deliberately embarrass her.
She is a delicate person who understands that middle school is just a small post in life.She just laughed off the innocuous pranks, and even if she was called "ugly" by a boy, she shed two tears and felt sorry for her appearance for a while, unless it really made her feel the need to fight back, she would take action.
Pei Shangxuan doesn't really know Li Li, but he knows that this good friend's status in the class is actually very important. After all, every exam, everyone has to rely on Li Li's detailed notes to help review, and sometimes rely on her to guess the questions.
In April, when the cherry blossoms on the campus are in full bloom, clusters of pink and white are crowded on the branches.Pei Shangxuan went to Li Li's house early in the morning and dragged her to school.
"What's so mysterious?" She asked while eating fried dough sticks in her hand.
Pei Shangxuan pulled her braid and said solemnly: "Can I ask you a favor?"
It was rare to see him look so serious, Li Li became interested, quickly swallowed the fried dough sticks and swallowed his saliva: "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"
"Being friends with Han Yichen, okay?" Pei Shangxuan looked at Li Li expectantly.
She tilted her head with a strange expression, and looked him up and down several times before she spoke: "Today isn't April Fool's Day, is it?"
"You think I'm joking!" Pei Shangxuan was dissatisfied with her reaction and yelled.
It was only then that she believed that he was seriously begging, the heavy depression piling up on her chest made her eyes hurt, Li Li forced a smile. "Pei Shangxuan, you want me to side with Han Yichen?" The conflict between the two factions of girls has become an open secret, and even Li Fengzhu warned some people not to form small groups to split the class at the class meeting.
He nodded, hooked her shoulder and patted her hard a few times. "You are my good friend, the person I like, of course you should like it too."
He was later told that the request was not only unreasonable but extremely cruel.