Chapter 130

Chapter 130

◎Liar, right...◎

At six-thirty in the evening, Elder Gu had dinner ready on time and stood at the kitchen doorway calling for Meng Qi and the others to come eat.

Although the temperature difference between morning and evening was quite large now, it wasn't too cold at dusk. Meng Qi and the others were used to setting up a big table in the yard, where they would sit around chatting and laughing over the most relaxing meal of the day.

It had rained in the afternoon, and the air was so fresh it felt like the heavens had specially dropped a giant oxygen tank into the school. Taking a deep breath, drawing that crisp, cool air into your lungs, was incredibly satisfying and enjoyable—it almost cleansed your soul. So everyone except Meng Qi strongly insisted on eating in the yard again; none of them wanted to stay in the stuffy kitchen, even though there were still puddles on the concrete floor of the yard and a light drizzle kept falling from the sky.

The minority deferred to the majority. Since eating in the yard was settled, Meng Qi didn't get upset over his failed objection. He quickly joined the team happily carrying dishes from the kitchen to the yard, and at Li Qingjiang's request, he put on a windbreaker over his sweater.

But when it came to choosing a seat, he beat Teacher Yang to sit down, taking Teacher Yang's usual spot right before Teacher Yang could sit. Teacher Yang looked at him in confusion, and he explained apologetically, "I want to look at those trees outside the wall after the heavy rain. Can we swap seats today?" without giving up the seat.

This spot was indeed Teacher Yang's usual seat.

In fact, after eating together for so long, everyone had their own fixed spots. Meng Qi usually sat facing the kitchen with his back to the playground, because the southeast corner of the playground had the bathroom.

After getting pregnant, Meng Qi's stomach had become very sensitive—you could even say picky. Seeing something unpleasant or smelling something off could make him lose his appetite. Facing the bathroom while eating, even though it was far away and shouldn't affect him, still made him uncomfortable. His mind would wander to irrelevant things, seriously affecting his appetite. So he was used to sitting with his back to the playground, facing the kitchen.

This time he neither sat in his previous spot nor swapped with someone closer like Zhao Zheyuan or Elder Gu, but instead swapped with Teacher Yang. Everyone was quite surprised, but Teacher Yang only hesitated for a moment before readily agreeing. He picked up his bowl and moved to Meng Qi's old spot, chuckling to Meng Qi, "That's fine. I can't paint, so I wouldn't think to observe the trees and flowers after the rain anyway. It would be wasted on me. Teacher Ran likes it, so just take it."

Li Qingjiang and Qu Liang thought Meng Qi's reason for swapping seats was exactly what Teacher Yang had said—to better observe those few trees with only a handful of leaves left on their branches. They couldn't see any beauty in those trees and started teasing Meng Qi.

"When you paint, put a few of us in it too. Name it 'Sunflower Campus Dinner,'" Li Qingjiang suggested first.

Qu Liang chimed in, "Great idea. Hang it at the school gate so the villagers passing by can see how united we are. They'll feel confident sending their kids here, and enrollment next year will hit a new high."

Meng Qi had no intention of painting at all, nor did he find those trees particularly beautiful. The only reason he sat here was that this was the only seat with his back to the big glass window.

But since everyone had already placed him on the pedestal of art, he couldn't tell them the real reason. He just smiled and said, "Okay, when inspiration strikes, I'll paint all of you in it."

Qu Liang was thrilled. "Also paint a few students in it! When I go home, I'll show my parents so they know their son is spreading love at school—how positive! That'll stop them from nagging me about not having a proper job."

Meng Qi nodded reluctantly. "Fine."

Liang Wenkai looked around and also voiced his own idea to Meng Qi. "When you paint, can you cover up my tattoos? They don't match the campus vibe. I'm afraid if it's hung up, it'll scare away parents who want to enroll their kids."

Meng Qi paused, momentarily unsure whether to nod or shake his head.

He personally didn't mind.

The tattoos on Liang Wenkai's body were no different to him from ear studs, hair clips, funky glasses, or colorful scarves—all just accessories, either to please others or themselves.

He hadn't expected the seemingly carefree Liang Wenkai to be so sensitive as to make such a request.

Liang Wenkai continued, "I'll find a place to get my tattoos removed in a few days. For now, when you paint, just cover them up for me."

Since that was the case, Meng Qi respected Liang Wenkai's choice. He slowly nodded and said, "That's fine, no problem... but I think your tattoos are really cool."

Liang Wenkai smiled. "Thanks." And said nothing more.

Elder Gu moved the fish soup he had specially made for Meng Qi closer to Meng Qi's new seat, reminding him to drink it while it was hot, because it would get fishy when cold and he might not be able to stomach it.

Meng Qi glanced at the milky white fish soup in the clay pot, recalling the long list of benefits Li Qingjiang had recited about drinking fish soup. Instead of serving himself first, he looked at Li Qingjiang and asked, "Brother Sui... I mean Mr. Ren, what about his dinner arrangements?"

"He hasn't fully broken his fever yet, so he still needs a light diet. I made him some millet porridge with mung beans, winter melon, and perilla leaves, and a small plate of pickled cucumber that Uncle Gu made. I brought it to his room before we started eating."

"Oh—" Meng Qi replied, then first glanced at Wang Boyuan from the corner of his eye before hesitantly asking Li Qingjiang, "Can he have fish soup then?"

"Of course," Li Qingjiang said. "Fish soup is rich in protein and vitamins. When someone has a cold, their resistance weakens. Drinking fish soup helps strengthen their constitution and boost immunity."

"I see Uncle Gu made a lot of fish soup this time. Want to send a bowl over to him?" Meng Qi asked Li Qingjiang, and when he saw Wang Boyuan's gaze shift toward him, he added an explanation, "This fish soup is quite thin; it's mostly water."

Wang Boyuan: ...

"It's thin? Let me see." Hearing Meng Qi say the fish soup was thin, Elder Gu quickly stood up, scooped a spoonful from the clay pot, and examined it closely. Then he muttered, "Looks about the same as before to me, not much thinner, right? Maybe it just needs a bit more cooking time. I'll add another five minutes next time. For now, just make do with it."

Meng Qi felt guilty and didn't know what to say.

Wang Boyuan spoke up for him, "Uncle Gu, don't listen to him. The fish soup is perfectly made. He's just been drinking it too often and got tired of it. He doesn't really want to drink it, so he's making excuses to share it out."

Elder Gu laughed heartily. "I thought so... Just drink it today. We won't make fish soup tomorrow. A villager gave me a nice piece of beef shank. Tomorrow, Uncle Gu will make you tomato beef soup."

Meng Qi nodded vigorously. "Thanks, Uncle Gu!"

Since Wang Boyuan had already made up an excuse for Meng Qi, and Meng Qi had asked whether a sick person could have fish soup, and Li Qingjiang said yes, and that fish soup could help with a speedy recovery, Wang Boyuan ultimately split the pot of fish soup in half. One portion was kept for Meng Qi, and the other was put in a bowl for him to deliver to Ren Suiyi. He would also ask Ren Suiyi if he had finished drinking the two kettles of hot water.

It was only a few steps away, so Wang Boyuan returned quickly. He sat down with a flourish and continued eating, picking up his bowl.

Meng Qi glanced at Wang Boyuan's expression. Seeing no signs of anger, he picked up his portion of fish soup and sipped it slowly, clearly not looking eager to drink it.

But before Meng Qi had finished, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening behind him. Without thinking, he knew it was Ren Suiyi coming out of his room. Meng Qi stiffened and slowly turned his head back.

Probably afraid of passing his cold to Meng Qi, or to others, Ren Suiyi didn't come any closer after leaving his room. He stopped under the eaves and called out a thank-you to Meng Qi from a distance, saying the fish soup was delicious.

"Oh," Meng Qi replied.

"I, cough, I wrote you a letter, cough, come get it later, I'll, cough, put it on the windowsill outside," Ren Suiyi said, coughing in between.

Talking about letters in front of such a big crowd felt as childish as playing house. Meng Qi was mortified enough to want to crawl into a hole, but he still pretended to be casual, waving his hand at Ren Suiyi. "Got it. It's cold outside; go inside."

"I, cough, cough, cough, I'm not cold. I'll wait until you finish eating, then, cough, cough, cough, go in," Ren Suiyi said, his sentence broken up by coughing fits.

Meng Qi tilted his soup bowl back and downed it in one gulp. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, turned around, and said to Ren Suiyi, "I'm done. Go inside."

Ren Suiyi hadn't expected Meng Qi to chase him back inside like that. He stood there for a long time without speaking, looking hurt. Meng Qi turned back to gather his own dishes and didn't look at him. Finally, Ren Suiyi sighed softly and said, "Okay, I'm going in. Make sure you read the letter."

Meng Qi waved his hand behind him in annoyance but said nothing.

He heard the click of the door behind him; Ren Suiyi was finally going in.

Meng Qi let out a sigh of relief, relaxing his tensed shoulders. He looked up, about to tell Elder Gu that the fish soup was actually pretty good and maybe he wasn't tired of it yet, when suddenly there was the sound of rapid footsteps at the school gate—hurried and fast, like someone was throwing bricks onto people's hearts.

Everyone, including Ren Suiyi, looked in the direction of the sound.

A person ran into the school gate, so exhausted that as soon as he entered, he bent over, propping his hands on his knees and panting heavily. His sweat-soaked bangs stuck limply to his forehead, and large beads of sweat dripped continuously from the tip of his nose onto the ground.

Ren Suiyi was the first to call out, "Brother! You're here so soon?"

Ren Suiyi's brother?!

Ren Suiwu!

Both Meng Qi and Wang Boyuan stood up from their seats. Wang Boyuan stayed where he was, while Meng Qi quickly ran over to Ren Suiwu, lowered his head, and asked him, "Brother Wu, why are you here?"

Ren Suiwu, still panting heavily, tilted his head up at an angle, smiled, and replied, "Missed you, so I came to see you."

His bright white teeth were quite dazzling; he was clearly in a very good mood.

But miss him? As if.

He—the Meng Qi in this story—wasn't close to Ren Suiwu at all. Would he miss him? Meng Qi mentally added a huge question mark.

Ren Suiyi remembered not to get too close to Meng Qi. He had already moved away from the eaves and taken a few steps toward Ren Suiwu, but when he saw Meng Qi running over, he stopped and spoke to Ren Suiwu from where he was, "I thought you wouldn't arrive until tomorrow morning."

"Underestimating your big bro, huh? After all, I'm an elite trained in the military. If I can do it in half an hour, I won't drag it out to thirty-one minutes." Ren Suiwu had rested enough, straightened up, and answered Ren Suiyi.

Hearing Ren Suiyi's voice, Meng Qi suddenly remembered that Ren Suiyi had promised not to tell anyone the address here. How long had it been since those words were spoken? And with a crack, Ren Suiwu dropped in out of nowhere!

What a liar!

Who'd believe him now!

Meng Qi glared at Ren Suiyi, his eyes accusing him of breaking his word.

Ren Suiyi coughed violently.

Ren Suiwu stepped forward to explain for Ren Suiyi, "Don't blame him. I made him tell me. But I can swear by the two stars on my shoulders that no one else knows about this place but me."

Meng Qi frowned and looked at Ren Suiwu's shoulders. There were no stars there—just the clean line of his black shirt.

Ren Suiwu rubbed his nose and pointed at Wang Boyuan, saying to Meng Qi, "Qi Yun has seen me in military uniform. Ask him if I have two stars on my shoulders."

Meng Qi turned to look at Wang Boyuan.

"Two bars, two stars." Wang Boyuan nodded.

Swearing on his military rank made him believable, at least more than Ren Suiyi. Meng Qi's resentment eased a little, and he continued to press Ren Suiwu, "You still haven't said why you came."

"I told you. I miss you, so I came to see you." Ren Suiwu smiled.

Meng Qi gave a small eye roll, basically saying, 'Yeah, right. Like I'd believe that.'

Ren Suiwu rubbed his chin with two fingers, still smiling, "For one thing, I really missed you. For another, I came to deliver medicine to Qi Yun."

"Deliver what medicine? What happened to him?" Meng Qi became anxious.

Wang Boyuan had been here so long and never mentioned taking medicine. Was he trying not to worry him, or...

Meng Qi didn't dare think about it any more.

Ren Suiwu quickly said, "Don't worry, it's not a big issue. He lost his memory from the head injury, right? The doctor said he has to keep taking medicine to nourish his brain nerves until his memory recovers. But he left in a hurry without picking up the medicine from the hospital, so I brought it to him."

That reassured Meng Qi a bit, but not entirely. He walked back to Wang Boyuan, grabbed his arm and asked, "Brother Wu, is he telling the truth? You're not really sick, are you?"

"Of course not. I'm fine. I don't even want to take this brain-medicine stuff." Wang Boyuan answered Meng Qi, then shot Ren Suiwu a disgusted look, annoyed at him for butting in.

Meng Qi was completely at ease. "That's good, that's good. Never get sick, brother. We've still got to live a long, long time—like those thousand-year-old turtles!"