bookbashuk Chapter 70 Unexpected Gain
Chapter 70 Unexpected Gain
As the last rays of the setting sun gradually faded, Hong Liguo was on his way home from school and almost entered the village when he saw Fa Zi standing under a large elm tree by the roadside, waiting for him.
His figure appeared somewhat lonely and forlorn in the darkening sky. His eyes were fixed on the direction Hong Liguo was heading home. As soon as he saw Hong Liguo, his previously dim eyes lit up instantly. He looked at Hong Liguo with expectation, mixed with a little worry and a hint of fear. The complex look in his eyes made Hong Liguo chuckle inwardly.
Hong Liguo naturally understood that he was waiting for him here because he wanted to know Guo Xianmei's every move in class today, and how the classmates reacted to his situation. Looking at his anxious expression, Hong Liguo couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
When Fa Zi saw Hong Liguo laughing at him, his face immediately turned red, and he said somewhat embarrassedly, "What exactly happened today? Tell me quickly, what are you laughing at?"
Hong Liguo suppressed a laugh, calmed herself down a bit, and then told him everything that had happened at school that day.
When Fa Zi heard that all his classmates knew about the scratching incident, his face turned bright red with embarrassment, all the way to the roots of his neck. He muttered, "This is it, how am I ever going to go to school again! I've really embarrassed myself this time."
Hong Liguo patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Who cares about them! As long as you don't feel embarrassed, then it's others who are embarrassed. Everyone has their moments of weakness, so who's going to laugh at whom?"
Fa Zi rolled his eyes at Hong Liguo helplessly and said, "Come on! This is so embarrassing. How ridiculous! If I had known it would end like this... Sigh! It's too late to say anything now."
Hong Liguo found his helpless expression particularly amusing and continued to persuade him, "It's alright, just go to school and do your job. Who cares what they say! In a few days, other news will come out and everyone will forget about this."
Fa Zi was still very frustrated and said, "You're kidding me! I definitely can't go back to school. What am I going to say if people ask me? It'll be so embarrassing."
Seeing Fa Zi's anxious and helpless expression, Hong Liguo suddenly remembered how he had slipped a love letter to Qiao Shuang. Compared to Fa Zi, Hong Liguo felt lucky. Although his confession hadn't been successful, at least it hadn't caused such a scandal. If Hong Liguo had been like that, he probably would have felt too ashamed to show his face.
Fa Zi hesitated for a moment and said, "Please ask for leave for me again tomorrow! I can't go."
Hong Liguo said somewhat helplessly, "I can get you leave, but you can't keep taking leave! Besides, your family won't allow you to skip school!"
Fa Zi thought for a moment and said, "The old way will do. I'll just come out on time and go back on time."
Hong Liguo curled his lip: "You spend all your time in billiard halls and video arcades (back then, video arcades were the kind that played cassette tapes). Do you have that much money? Billiard halls are okay, sometimes they'll let you in even if you don't have money. But video arcades won't let you in if you don't pay. This isn't a long-term solution."
Upon hearing this, Fa Zi fell silent. His family's circumstances were indeed not good, and he had almost no pocket money. He was lucky if he could get three or five yuan a semester. It was definitely not feasible for him to spend all his time in those places.
Hong Liguo comforted him, saying, "Anyway, Guo Xianmei didn't say anything. As long as she doesn't say anything, whatever others say is just wild guessing. After all, everyone only knows that you were beaten, but no one knows why you were beaten."
Fa Zi looked at Hong Liguo with suspicion and said, "Guo Xianmei really doesn't know about this?"
Hong Liguo nodded and said, "From what she said, she probably doesn't know. I guess her sister must have found the love letter you wrote first and didn't tell Guo Xianmei. Guo Xianmei doesn't know what you wrote to her."
Fa Zi said somewhat anxiously, "Didn't you tell her that the letter was written by me?"
Hong Liguo quickly explained, "I only said you wrote her a letter, I didn't say it was a love letter."
Fa Zi frowned and said, "She's not stupid. She can guess what you're saying. Why would she write to her for no reason?"
Hong Liguo said helplessly, "Then what do you suggest we do? Just give up on your studies? Quitting is fine, but I'm afraid your family won't allow it!"
Fa Zi sighed: "Of course I can't let them. All my older brothers have dropped out of school, so I'm the only one left. If I say I don't want to continue, they'll break my legs."
Hong Liguo laughed and said, "I told you, if you're going to go, then go. Do whatever you want. Don't be afraid of blowing your lungs out. Let whoever wants to laugh laugh."
Fa Zi was silent for a while, then suddenly looked at Hong Liguo and said, "Do you think your love letter to Qiao Shuang might have been discovered and taken away halfway? Otherwise, it's impossible that Qiao Shuang hasn't responded at all in so many days."
Hong Liguo looked at Fa Zi and found it amusing: "You're really something, you don't even have enough to worry about your own affairs! You still have the mood to think about mine." As he spoke, they both laughed, a laugh that contained both joy and helplessness.
The next morning, Fa Zi still asked Hong Liguo to ask for leave for him, and also told Hong Liguo to keep a close eye on Guo Xianmei and see if she had changed at all.
Hong Liguo observed for a whole day, but Guo Xianmei showed no change, and didn't even ask Hong Liguo about Fa Zi anymore.
Hong Liguo secretly guessed that either she didn't have any feelings for Fa Zi at all, or she didn't dare to ask her sister about the love letter. It was also possible that she knew everything, but her family wouldn't let her date, so she had to pretend that nothing was wrong.
Hong Liguo was too embarrassed to ask her directly, so he could only tell Fa Zi the truth after school.
Fa Zi has been on leave for a week, and he has long since run out of money. These past few days, he has been squatting in the woods or in the frame of a dilapidated house waiting for school to end. Every day when school ends, he is freezing cold and shivering all over, looking like a pitiful little beggar.
To make Fa Zi more comfortable, Hong Liguo and the others pooled their money so he could continue spending time at the billiards hall or video arcade, but Fa Zi was stubborn and refused to accept it no matter what.
That day, the teacher suddenly called Hong Liguo and asked why his son was still sick. He told Hong Liguo to go back and check on him, and that if it was nothing serious, he should come back to class as soon as possible, otherwise he would fall too far behind.
After hearing Hong Liguo's words, Fa Zi was stunned and stood there, unsure of what to do. Hong Liguo advised him, "You should go to school! It's not good for you to stay outside like this! It's getting colder and colder; you can't stand it like this!"
Fa Zi stubbornly replied, "I really don't want to miss it anymore."
Hong Liguo threatened him, "Go back and try saying it, or I'll beat you up and you won't read it."
When Fa Zi went back, he really said he didn't want to study anymore. As you can imagine, not only his parents, but also his older brothers were furious. This scared Fa Zi so much that he never dared to mention not wanting to study again.
The next morning, Fa Zi looked at Hong Liguo and the others helplessly, his face full of confusion and helplessness, not knowing what to do.
Hong Liguo and the others managed to get him to the school gate with a combination of pulling and persuasion, but he was like a timid rabbit and just wouldn't dare to go in.
Later, Hong Liguo and Jun Ge had no choice but to force him into the school gate. Only then did Fa Zi grit his teeth and slowly walk into the classroom.
Upon entering the classroom, Fa Zi didn't dare to look up at all. Like a child who had done something wrong, he quickly walked to his seat and sat down, looking down at his desk, not daring to look around, much less at Guo Xianmei.
At this moment, Cui Zhiguo, gloating, asked him with a mocking look, "What have you been doing these past few days? Why haven't you come to school?"
Upon hearing this, Fa Zi's face flushed with anger. Seeing that Fa Zi's fists were clenched, Hong Liguo knew that Fa Zi was about to hit him. Hong Liguo quickly blocked his path, thinking to himself, "Damn, you're asking for it!"
Cui Zhiguo was also quick-witted. He saw through Hong Liguo and his companion's intentions and knew what kind of people they were. He thought it best not to suffer a loss, so he quickly lowered his head and pretended to be engrossed in reading.
Just at this critical moment, the school bell rang, the teacher walked into the classroom, and the crisis was finally averted.
Hong Liguo inadvertently discovered that Zhang Yulan was stealing glances at Fa Zi from time to time, her eyes seemingly carrying a different meaning, making Fa Zi very embarrassed, after all, the scratches on his face had not completely disappeared, making him look like a cat with scratches.
When Guo Xianmei saw that Fa Zi had returned to class, she didn't say anything and went about her business as usual. Only then did Fa Zi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settle down.
After that day, Fa Zi felt less stressed the next day and relaxed a bit.
Not long after, Hong Liguo noticed that Fa Zi was radiant and full of energy again, a stark contrast to his previous dejected appearance.
Hong Liguo was wondering why he had changed so quickly when Hong Bo, who knew the inside story, mysteriously told Hong Liguo, "Fa Zi has a new girlfriend."
Upon hearing this, Hong Liguo asked in surprise, "Oh? Who is it?"
Hongbo said with a smile, "Zhang Jiu'er from Nantun used to live in our village and also went to school in our primary school."
"Oh! It's her."
When Zhang Jiu'er was very young, she came to Hong Liguo's village with her parents to stay. While staying in Hong Liguo's village, Zhang Jiu'er fell seriously ill. Hong Liguo was too young to remember the specific illness, but he remembered that her family was very poor and had no money to treat her. In desperation, her mother carried her and went from house to house asking for help.
Hong Liguo still clearly remembers that her mother gave her five yuan! Hong Liguo was very unhappy about this. Hong Liguo could buy seven yuan's worth of fruit candy for just one mao (0.1 yuan), but her mother wouldn't buy it for her. When they came to ask for help, she gave them five yuan. It was really infuriating.
Hong Liguo thought carefully for a moment and said, "Oh! I know her. She studied in our village for a year after she recovered from her illness, and then she moved away."
Hongbo nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that's her."
Hong Liguo couldn't help but exclaim, "Fa Zi is really capable."
Hong Bo, however, dismissed it, saying, "What skills does Fa Zi have? I heard that Zhang Jiu'er pursued him and brought him down with just a smile."
Hong Liguo couldn't help but find his words amusing, thinking to himself: It's true what they say, "It's like a mountain for a man to pursue a woman, but a thin veil for a woman to pursue a man!"
Hong Liguo and the others quickly found out that Fa Zi and Zhang Jiu'er had gotten together. Fa Zi didn't hide anything and told them the whole story. It turned out that Zhang Jiu'er had taken the initiative to pursue him.
Zhang Jiu'er is a first-year junior high student, one year behind Hong Liguo and his classmates. However, she missed school because of an illness when she was a child. Although she is one year behind Hong Liguo and his classmates, she is actually a year older than them! She and Fa Zi were already somewhat close, so they were acquaintances.
That happened before Fa Zi wrote the love letter. One day on her way home, Zhang Jiu'er's bicycle chain fell off. She fiddled with it for a while but couldn't put it back on. She was so anxious that her face turned red and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Just then, Hong Liguo and his group passed by her. Fa Zi recognized her at a glance and said to them, "That girl is a relative of mine. It seems like her bike chain came off. You guys go ahead, I'll help her fix it."
Since Fa Zi said he was a relative, Hong Liguo and the others didn't pay much attention and just walked ahead slowly while waiting for him.
Fa Zi helped Zhang Jiu'er install the bike chain and quickly caught up with Hong Liguo and the others. Since he said he was a relative of his, Hong Liguo and the others didn't think much of it and acted as if nothing had happened.
However, from the moment she saw him that day, the womanizing Zhang Jiu'er was captivated by Fa Zi's handsome appearance. Her gaze would always unconsciously follow Fa Zi's figure. After returning home, she was filled with thoughts of Fa Zi, thinking all day about how to get closer to him and have a love story with him.
Zhang Jiu'er was also a beautiful young woman, tall and voluptuous, a leading figure among her peers, not much less so than Zhang Qiaoyun. However, she was much more flamboyant in personality and more casual in her relationships with men and women. Otherwise, Hong Liguo would not have described her as promiscuous.
Fa Zi was not her first or only target; rather, it was one of her targets.
After Zhang Jiu'er had this idea, she took the initiative to chat with Fa Zi on her way home from school. At first, none of Hong Liguo and the others thought about it in this way, because she was a distant relative of Fa Zi's family, so it was normal for her to talk to him.
After the news of Fa Zi being scratched spread throughout the school, Zhang Jiu'er also learned the general reason and even asked Hong Liguo why her brother Fa hadn't come to school these past few days.
Hong Liguo immediately made up a lie to fool her, saying that Fa Zi was sick. But she laughed and said, "I know everything. She wrote love letters to someone, but he didn't want to be with her, so he got her two older sisters to scratch him."
Hong Liguo quickly said, "Don't listen to other people's nonsense. It's all untrue, just rumors."
Later, when Fa Zi returned to school, Zhang Jiu'er became even more proactive in showing concern for him and deliberately getting closer to him.
When asked why he hadn't been to school for several days, Fa Zi blushed and stammered, trying to cover up his misunderstanding without making things clear. He even went off on a different story from Hong Liguo's fabricated tale.
Hong Liguo didn't expect her to ask Fa Zi about this. Hong Liguo just made up a lie to appease her at the time, and didn't mention it to Fa Zi afterwards. Fa Zi naturally didn't know what lie Hong Liguo and Zhang Jiu'er were telling.
Seeing that Fa Zi and Hong Liguo had gone off on a tangent, Zhang Jiu'er couldn't help but giggle. Her laughter was clear and melodious, like silver bells, echoing in the corner of the campus.
Her laughter was exceptionally beautiful, as if it possessed an alluring magic. The boys around her would unconsciously turn their heads when they heard her laughter; few could resist being captivated by it.
Fa Zi felt a little uneasy from her laughter, and stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
After Zhang Jiu'er finished laughing, she told Fa Zi what Hong Liguo had said. When Fa Zi saw that his lie didn't match the lie Hong Liguo had made up, he became even more embarrassed. His face turned bright red, and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Zhang Jiu'er, however, said dismissively, "What's there to be embarrassed about? So what if I wanted to date someone but they didn't reciprocate? What's the big deal? There are millions of Chinese men and women. If one doesn't work out, we can find another. If you're willing, I'll date you."
Zhang Jiu'er spoke very directly and naturally, without any shyness or awkwardness, as if she were talking about a trivial matter.
Zhang Jiu'er's boldness startled Fa Zi. He had never had any thoughts about Zhang Jiu'er because their families were related.
Fa Zi said in a somewhat panicked manner, "Sister, what are you saying? How can this be allowed! We're relatives."
Zhang Jiu'er looked at Fa Zi with a determined glint in her eyes and said, "We are relatives, but not close relatives. Who says that being relatives means we can't be in a relationship? We live in different villages, and if you really think about it, every family is related to someone else."
Fa Zi was still a little timid and said, "Sister, this is not something to joke about."
Zhang Jiu'er said in a serious tone, "Who's joking with you? I'm serious. If you're willing, I'll date you, really date you, no jokes. Tomorrow you'll hold my hand and walk into school to make that self-righteous girl angry. What's so great about her? Wanting to date you is doing you a favor. If you don't want to date me, then don't. Why are you hitting me?"
This remark ignited Fa Zi's desire for revenge. He thought to himself: Regardless of whether we're actually dating or not, I'll just pretend we are to spite Guo Xianmei, as if I have no one to date without you.
So, driven by a desire for revenge against Guo Xianmei, Fa Zi accepted Zhang Jiu'er's advances. Unexpectedly, after a while, the two actually started dating.
After Hong Liguo and the others found out, they all said that Fa Zi was really awesome; one person failed and another immediately took his place. Fa Zi just smiled shyly and didn't say anything.
Zhang Jiu'er was a womanizer. She had more than one boyfriend, Fa Zi. Everyone found out about this later, including Fa Zi. Naturally, their relationship couldn't last. But that's another story.
As the final exams of the first semester of the second year of junior high school approached, the story between Hong Liguo and Wang Yuxin quietly began.