EAY Chapter 17

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve

17

I never dared to hope that the days of studying with the person I like every day would pass so smoothly.

At first, the classmates in the class were quite surprised by the combination of the popular king and the invisible man, but after a long time, they got used to it.

Wei Lin, the classmate in front of Qi Ye, suddenly said to him, “Shi Ran’s grades are maintained very well, and Grandpa Shi is also very happy. Thank you.”

Qi Ye just hummed lightly and continued to do the questions without raising his head.

He didn’t like Wei Lin’s statement, as if he was just invited by others to help Shi Ran, and in the end, he was just an outsider.

“Have you talked about your ideal universities?” Wei Lin knocked on Qi Ye’s desk again, “Your grades have improved, don’t you still want to apply to the same school?”

Qi Ye looked at her: “Why do you care about this?”

Wei Lin curled her lips: “Shi Ran and I are friends, he has been doing so well in the exams recently, can’t I care about it?”

“Then you can just ask him directly.” Qi Ye didn’t want to talk to her anymore, and suddenly felt that Wei Lin was a little strange today. He hadn’t seen Shi Ran and Wei Lin talking together for a long time. The third year of high school was stressful, and the friendship faded. It’s normal, but Wei Lin suddenly cares about them and repeatedly mentions the issue of grades.

Qi Ye flipped out the grade level ranking list from the last exam from the textbook. He only cared about Shi Ran and didn’t pay attention to others.

To his surprise, Shi Ran’s score last time was actually ahead of Wei Lin’s. It wasn’t that Shi Ran had made rapid progress and had entered the ranks of top students, but that Wei Lin had regressed.

Qi Ye could imagine Wei Lin’s mood. It was already uncomfortable to fail the exam, and a friend who was usually carefree actually jumped in front of her with a little effort, so her mentality became even more unbalanced.

What she said to Qi Ye was just a prelude, and the really harsh words she wanted to vent hadn’t been said yet.

Qi Ye was worried that she would go to Shi Ran again to say something nonsense, so he reached out and poked her back, “Your last score was dragged down by mathematics and liberal arts.”

“It’s none of your business!” Wei Lin glared at him fiercely.

“Those are the subjects you are good at. You were just too confident and careless for a while. You should feel fortunate to make such a mistake before the college entrance examination.” Qi Ye continued calmly, “Shi Ran will not be your opponent either. He is just lucky.”

Wei Lin looked at him, wanted to say something, but pursed her lips and turned back to continue studying.

During this period, everyone’s mentality is generally tense. The same thing may not be felt in the first or second year of high school, but now it is very serious, as if the scores of each exam have a definitive meaning.

Shi Ran’s mentality is okay, but he lacks sleep, and he can fall asleep while eating in the cafeteria.

The situation was even worse this day. He wanted to sleep halfway through laughing, his head drooped limply, and seeing that his entire face was about to hit the plate, Qi Ye hurriedly stretched out his hand to hold his face.

Shi Ran hummed, like a kitten, his face rolled half a circle in Qi Ye’s palm, and then rubbed against it. Feeling something was wrong, he raised his head in a daze, and he was already smiling before his eyes were opened, “I actually fell asleep?”

The food gets cold quickly in winter, Qi Ye didn’t say anything, just urged him to eat quickly.

On the way back to the classroom, Qi Ye asked him, “Did you stay up late again last night?”

Shi Ran touched the back of his neck and swayed from side to side: “Am I getting old? Why does everything hurt?”

Qi Ye stared at him without speaking.

Soon Shi Ran gave in, and said flatteringly: “A little bit, I stayed up a little bit.”

Qi Ye sighed helplessly. Under the circumstances of everyone staying up late, not staying up late seems to have become abnormal. Qi Ye didn’t believe what Shi Ran said, I’m afraid he stayed up a lot.

“Tonight’s tutoring is suspended. You should try to sleep around ten o’clock when you go back tonight.” Qi Ye said, “You can get up early, but you are not allowed to stay up late. I will ask Grandpa to supervise you.”

“Teacher Qi is angry?” Shi Ran deliberately teased him, “Wow, so this is what Teacher Qi looks like when he is angry. It’s really rare to see, but it’s not good to be so gentle even when you are angry. Louder, vent all your anger, so that you will feel better.”

“I’m not angry.” Qi Ye paused, “But if you stay up late again tonight, then it’s not certain.”

Shi Ran: “Suddenly I want to try what’s going on?”

Qi Ye was helpless and couldn’t really say harsh words to him, so he immediately quickened his pace and walked forward.

Shi Ran quickly caught up, “Okay, okay, I already know, when you get angry, it’s even more powerful than scolding me.”

“I’m really not angry.” How could Qi Ye be angry with Shi Ran, he was just worried.

Shi Ran looks good and easy to talk to, but he will still follow his own nature in a blink of an eye. Qi Ye was worried that if this continued, not only would his grades not improve, but his body would also collapse. It would be completely outweighed the losses. It’s better not to study with him.

“Okay, okay.” Shi Ran put his arm around his shoulder, nodded perfunctorily, and touched his chin, “But I have already guessed what you will look like when you are really angry.”

“What kind of look?” Qi Ye asked.

Shi Ran smiled and didn’t speak.

He didn’t dare to say it, worried that it would come true. Qi Ye would ignore everything and leave.

–

Immersed in one’s own goals, one becomes insensitive to everything around. Even Qi Ye’s favorite Spring Festival, when it came, he didn’t feel anything.

“Xiao Ye, come and talk to Grandpa and Grandma.” Dad shouted at Qi Ye’s room.

Qi Ye rubbed his eyes and came out of the room. Dad, Mom, and Qi Xue were all in the kitchen making dumplings. The tablet was on the stand, and they were having a video call with Grandpa and Grandma.

Qi Ye walked over and said Happy New Year to Grandpa and Grandma. The old people lovingly cared about their grandson’s diet and daily life.

After chatting for a while, Grandpa and Grandma were going to prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner, the video was hung up, and Qi Ye went to wash his hands to help make dumplings.

“When did Grandpa and Grandma learn to make video calls? That’s amazing.” Qi Xue said.

“The last time you went back, your dad bit the bullet and taught your grandpa how to do it, otherwise he would only use his mobile phone to watch videos every day. It’s a waste to install a network cable at home.” Mom said with a smile, “I also want to learn online shopping, but unfortunately, the village can’t receive express deliveries, so I have to run a long way to the post office to pick them up.”

“The key is that I’m afraid he will be cheated. Your grandpa is the most soft-hearted.” Dad finished rolling out the remaining dumpling wrappers, and supported the table with both hands, “I remember once when I was a child, our whole family was waiting for him to buy pork back for the New Year. He only got paid at the end of the year. As a result, his old man carried back a large bag of sweet potatoes, saying that he saw an old man and a little kid selling this on the side of the road, and they were too pitiful in the cold weather. He asked him to clear the remaining sweet potatoes for fifty yuan. Your grandpa paid the money, and as a result, when he carried the sweet potatoes to buy pork, good fellow, the fifty yuan given to him was fake, and the remaining 1,900 yuan were all gone!”

“Grandpa’s salary at that time was 2,000 yuan, that’s amazing!” Qi Xue Tsk tsk sighed.

“Two thousand yuan was worth a lot at that time. It was earned by working hard on the construction site for almost a year, and it was all in vain at once.” Dad shook his head and sighed, “Our brothers’ tuition fees, the family’s expenses, and the debts owed before the New Year all depended on this money. On New Year’s Eve, my mother cried all night in the room without coming out. The next day, my parents begged Grandpa to borrow money everywhere.”

“It must be uncomfortable to lose such a large sum of money. Wouldn’t our dad have to keep his tail between his legs at home that year and watch the family’s face?” Mom took a new plate to put the dumplings on and pointed out that Qi Ye should pinch the skin tighter.

Dad gently Say aloud: “If he had that awareness, my mother wouldn’t be so angry. There was more than one such thing, that was the most serious and largest amount. Anyway, I learned a lesson when I was a child, and all the money I gave to the family in the future was given to my mother. Dad was so angry that he scolded me several times, and then he obediently asked my mother for money.”

Qi Ye learned another side of Grandpa from Dad’s mouth. It was really strange. He had never thought that Grandpa would make mistakes before. Grandpa is Grandpa, the old man who cares about him and tolerates him in every possible way.

But in Dad’s eyes, Grandpa is another image. In Grandma’s eyes, it must be completely different.

It’s not easy to completely understand a person.

Even if the other person is your beloved relative.

Qi Ye thought of Shi Ran again. His understanding of him is just a little bit of fragments…

“How was the money lost?” The dumplings were all in the pot, and Qi Xue was still asking, “Did the person selling sweet potatoes steal it? Is Grandpa that slow?”

“It must have been that kid. He said that the money was all ready after he bought it, and the kid rushed up to him and said thank you.” Dad couldn’t help rolling his eyes, “Your grandpa foolishly praised the child for being sensible.”

“It’s really scary, maybe they are still a gang behind them, maybe that child was abducted, and maybe they have been targeting Grandpa for a long time. If they can’t cheat now, they will start robbing directly when they walk to a slightly remote place. They have been squatting there for a long time, until this day is the day when the construction site pays wages…” The cell phone rang interrupted Qi Xue’s constant speculation. She answered the phone impatiently, and after hearing the voice on the other end, she said even more impatiently, “I’m busy!” and hung up.

Mom said gently: “Don’t be so rude when talking to friends.”

“Not a friend, just someone who is bored.” Qi Xue waved her hand, “Hey, what was I talking about just now?”

Qi Xue went to ask Qi Ye, Qi Ye shook his head and said, “I didn’t listen.”

“You just don’t like to listen to people, your soul has flown somewhere.” Qi Xue didn’t want to think about it anymore, and continued to make dumplings, “Hey, didn’t your friend ask you to go out to play tonight?”

“No.” Qi Ye thought that tonight is New Year’s Eve, and there are only Shi Ran and his grandfather, feeling a little lonely.

In the past, Qi Ye’s family would go back to Grandpa and Grandma’s house in the countryside for the New Year. Qi Xue didn’t go back in her third year of high school, and Qi Ye will naturally not go back this year. The family values candidates the most.

Qi Xue was really curious about her brother’s friend. She already knew that the other person was a boy, but she still hadn’t seen what he looked like.

“Why don’t you invite him to our house to play? I bought fireworks, let’s go to the roof to set off fireworks.” Qi Xue encouraged.

“He’s not coming, he still has to study tonight.” Qi Ye said.

“So hardworking? That’s terrible.” Qi Xue shook her head repeatedly. The dumplings were almost finished. Qi Xue patted the flour on her hands and stretched. “By the way, have you talked about your aspirations? Do you want to take the same school?”

Never talked about it, not sure.

Shi Ran is focused on improving his grades and has no time to think so much, and Qi Ye doesn’t have any particularly desirable schools.

Two people who are not enthusiastic about this are naturally unlikely to talk about this topic.

Qi Xue understood when she saw her brother like this, and shook her head Tsk tsk: “It’s a pity, after you separate in the future, your relationship will become weaker and weaker, and you won’t be able to see each other regularly a few times.”