The two set off late and just halfway through their journey, Feng Yu called again to say that the class had already arrived at the destination. He told them to hurry up and stop thinking about wanting to spend their time with each other only.
When the two arrived at the rural inn, everyone was already barbecuing.
Feng Yu had already selected the position and stove and when he saw the two approaching, he waved and shouted, "Chi ge! Jiang Li! Here!"
Chi Fang walked over and Jiang Li went to report to Zhang Ling.
There was no class on this day. It was rare for Zhang Ling not to wear a white shirt and black trousers like in school before, instead, she wore a lake blue knitted short-sleeved shirt. Her face did not have the usual old-fashioned indifference. With a faint smile on her face, she was chatting with the English teacher.
As soon as Jiang Li approached, Zhang Ling saw him and beckoned him to sit over there. The English teacher saw him and pulled out a stool with a smile.
In the No. 2 middle school, Jiang Li's two favorite teachers were Zhang Ling and the English teacher, so he didn't refuse and sat down beside them.
"What happened to your leg?" Zhang Ling asked with concern when she saw the gauze on his leg.
"I scratched it accidentally this morning." Jiang Li finished his words and saw her slightly wrinkled eyebrows, so he added, "It's been disinfected, it's nothing."
Zhang Ling nodded and told him to be careful.
Jiang Li nodded in response and helped them grill skewers.
On the other side, Feng Yu saw Chi Fang coming over and handed him the cooked skewer in his hand. "Chi ge, you guys finally came, the brothers are all going to open the bidding."
It was not fun to come to the rural inn just to have a barbecue. Feng Yu and others bought cards and some snacks at the supermarket yesterday and plan to gather together to play cards.
"You guys just play, I'm not playing." Chi Fang bit the skewer, sat down in the vacant seat beside him, looked at Jiang Li, and found that he was actually helping Zhang Ling and the others grill skewers.
Feng Yu followed his gaze and said, "What the heck, I was waiting for Jiang Li to come and make skewers. I didn't expect that Abbess and the others would be the first to get his skewers. They are indeed old gingers, spicy enough." 1
Beside him, Liu Jianping, who was flipping the mutton skewers and sprinkled cumin powder, said, "Yu ge, although Jiang Li is not here, I have practiced this technique, so you will definitely be satisfied."
Feng Yu glanced at the skewers on his hands whose meat was not yet cooked but the ends of the bamboo sticks were already scorched and said disgustedly, "Xiongdi, with your skill, you can keep it for yourself."
As soon as he finished speaking, a skewer was stuffed into his hand by Chi Fang. Chi Fang clapped his hands. "Your skills are not very good as well, you can eat it yourself."
Feng Yu held the skewers and looked down at the finished product of his group of brothers. All their techniques were not very good, so he could only eat the things he grilled with tears.
In the end, Jiang Li came back to save everyone.
Although it was an autumn class field trip, everyone could move freely and gather at the designated time in the afternoon.
After eating, Chi Fang took Jiang Li to avoid the crowd so they could spend time with each other. Once Feng Yu reacted, he could no longer find them anymore.
Feng Yu said bitterly, "It's okay to stick together every day, but you guys even created small groups when we came out to play. We can't be brothers anymore."
The boy next to him heard his words and said, "Yu ge, are you jealous that Jiang Li took your place?"
"I know right, it was Yu ge and Chi ge who used to create small groups but now Jiang Li is replacing him."
"That's true, Yu ge and Chi ge were really inseparable like Jiao and Meng!" 2
Feng Yu: "…" Taking my position? That's not what I meant, Chi ge and I are innocent!
The people involved in the conversation of the crowd had already run to the pond in the back mountain. One found a fishing rod and sat fishing. Chi Fang called Chi Guoheng along the way and asked him to help deal with Jiang Li's matter.
Jiang Li listened beside him and after the other party agreed, he signaled Chi Fang to give him the phone and thanked Chi Guoheng in person.
It had been almost a month since the last meeting and Chi Guoheng's voice came from the phone gently, "You're welcome, you usually help Xiao Fang so much, so don't worry about it."
"Yes, thank you, Uncle Chi."
Although the other party said so, Jiang Li still couldn't take it for granted.
After thanking him, Jiang Li planned to give the phone back to Chi Fang but before he could do so, he heard the other person ask again, "Where do you plan to go on National Day?"
It stood to reason that the other party was unfamiliar with him and generally did not talk about such topics, but Jiang Li still replied, "I have no plans for the time being."
"Then why don't you come to City B with Xiao Fang and I'll arrange a car for you guys." Chi Guoheng suggested.
His tone was very normal as if he had mentioned it casually, but judging from his reaction when they first met, Jiang Li felt that there was a secret reason for asking him to go over.
Thinking that this trip might be able to know something about Mother Jiang, Jiang Li agreed and returned the phone to Chi Fang.
After hanging up the phone, Chi Fang hit Jiang Li's arm with his elbow and said with a bit of dissatisfaction, "I told you to go back with me before, but you disagreed. How come you agreed when my uncle asked you?"
Mother Jiang's matter had not been confirmed yet, so Jiang Li concealed it from him and said with a smile, "I can't refuse the invitation of the elders."
"Tch." Chi Fang obviously didn't believe it, but he didn't ask anymore. Anyway, it was already good that Jiang Li agreed to go back with him.
The two sat fishing like this, chatting with each other idly, the shadows of the two overlapping in the sun and they looked unusually harmonious from the back. Feng Yu finally found them but after glancing at them from not far away, he quietly walked away.
In the afternoon after the event, Zhang Ling counted the number of people and arranged for everyone to get on the school bus one by one to prepare for the return trip.
Jiang Li and Chi Fang didn't leave with everyone else. They played at the rural inn for one more day and they took a ride back to the city the next afternoon.
Chi Fang's bicycle was still locked in the old town area, so he naturally followed Jiang Li back. In addition to the reason for the previous fight, the house was still in a mess and he just happened to be able to help Jiang Li clean up.
It was almost seven o'clock when they returned to the old town area. The two stopped by the market to buy vegetables and planned to go back to cook.
On the way upstairs, Chi Fang kept discussing where to take Jiang Li to play when they returned to City B, as he described the famous scenic spots in the city and the suburbs. Jiang Li listened to his description and couldn't help but look forward to this trip more.
Once they got upstairs, Jiang Li took out the key to open the door. As soon as he turned the key, he realized something was wrong and stopped.
Chi Fang stood beside him carrying the vegetables: "What's the matter?"
"I locked it before I went out." Jiang Li said in a soft voice.
Chi Fang was very smart and he knew it once he said it. The two looked at each other, and Chi Fang raised his chin, signaling him to move away and he would open the door.
Jiang Li shook his head, indicating a no. Chi Fang remembered his heroic deeds of defeating the three people yesterday, so he didn't insist on it. He raised his vigilance and stood aside.
Jiang Li moved lightly, turned the key to unlock, and then gently pushed the door open.
The living room was dark, but Jiang Li's room was bright from the crack under the door and there was a subtle sound like rummaging through boxes.
"Thief?" Chi Fang asked silently.
Jiang Li shook his head, where did the thief get the key to open the door? He guessed that it was the same as last time. It was Father Jiang who came back to find money secretly, so he silently said the two words "Jiang Hai" to Chi Fang.
Chi Fang put the bag with vegetables in his hand on the ground, picked up the stick on the ground, pointed to the door, and walked over slowly, Jiang Li following behind him.
When they got to the door, Chi Fang twisted the door hard and pushed it in and the two of them came face-to-face with the person who was about to come out!
Jiang Li guessed correctly, as expected, it was Father Jiang who came back to steal money. The cabinet under the bed was dragged out by him and even the box hidden under the tiles was turned over by him and left empty.
Father Jiang was hiding here and there these days and he had no money on him. He was so abjected that he was no different from a homeless person. Today, he sneaked back to get some money and to pay back debt with this house, he didn't expect to bump into Jiang Li.
Seeing Chi Fang, who was tall and holding a wooden stick in his hand, Father Jiang took two steps back vigilantly, quickly stuffed the money into his pocket and looked at the two with gloomy eyes, "Little bastard, Laozi don't have time to deal with you today, get out of the way."
This was the first time Chi Fang saw Father Jiang. The man in front of him looked very thin, his cheeks were sunken on both sides, his complexion looked very unhealthy, his back was slightly arched, and his wide long-sleeved shirt was like a sack. His whole person was shown in a very depressed state.
He was nothing like Jiang Li. If it wasn't for Jiang Li who just said it was Jiang Hai, he would never have thought that this was Jiang Li's father.
Jiang Li took two steps forward and reached out to Jiang Hai, "Return the money."
"Are you kidding?" Father Jiang stared at him, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, "You little bastard who harms your father and helps an outsider, I can't believe that you are secretly hiding this money, why? Do you want to learn from that bitch and run away from home? Both mother and son are the same. If it wasn't for Laozi feeding you, you would have been fucking… ah!!"
These unpleasant words made Chi Fang's face sink, he reached out and pushed Jiang Li away, and without saying a word, he stepped forward and kicked Father Jiang to the ground.
Chi Fang moved his sore neck and pointed at Father Jiang on the ground with a stick, "Why talk nonsense to this trash, it's a waste of expression."
Father Jiang was so thin that only bones remained. He was kicked violently by him and he couldn't get up after falling against the wall. He was completely different from the last time he tried to beat Jiang Li.
Seeing this, Chi Fang sneered, "What the heck, you're really a dog that can bark but doesn't bite."
As he said that, he was about to go over and take back the money he took from Jiang Li. Just after taking two steps, he was pulled by Jiang Li, "Wait."
"Hmm?" Chi Fang turned his head and found that Jiang Li was frowning at Father Jiang by the wall. Following his gaze, he found that the other party was curled up by the wall as if he was twitching, he started shaking insanely.
"What happened?" Chi Fang asked, his kick wasn't so powerful right?
Jiang Li didn't answer, walked over and squatted beside Father Jiang. He then grabbed his hand and rolled up his sleeve. Sure enough, he found many tiny needle holes on it.
– Needle holes for injecting drugs.
In his previous life, Jiang Li especially learned a lot of information about anti-drug and drug-related information for the filming of "Mountain Tea Garden 2". From Father Jiang's appearance on the news of anti-drug before to his completely changed appearance today, Jiang Li guessed at first sight that he was probably taking drugs.
Father Jiang stretched out a hand and grabbed the hem of Jiang Li's clothes. The blue veins on the back of his skinny hand protruded and he said with difficulty, "Give me…give me…"
Jiang Li pushed his hand away, took the money back from his pocket, put it back in the box, found a rope to tie Father Jiang directly, and then said to Chi Fang, "Call the police."
Chi Fang nodded, fished out his mobile phone, and called the police.
The police quickly came to take him away. Chi Fang and Jiang Li, as witnesses and his family members, went to the police station to make a record.
By the time the matter was settled and when the two came out of the police station, it was already night.
It would take a lot of time to go back and clean up the house. The two of them had class the next day, so they went back to Chi Fang's house together first.
At night, when Chi Fang thought about the sympathetic and pitiful eyes that the police officers who handled the case gave Jiang Li earlier, he felt so distressed that he reached out and hugged Jiang Li in his arms, and said in a soft voice, "I will accompany you in the future."
For Jiang Li, Father Jiang didn't have a close relationship with him, so he didn't feel sad when sending him to prison, but Chi Fang's promise still warmed his heart. He put his hand on the back of his hand, tilted his head, and dropped a shallow kiss on the tip of his nose, "Okay."
The two had a good night's sleep.
The next day, the results of the monthly test were announced on the bulletin board of Senior 2 and Jiang Li was still firmly in first place.
Everyone had become accustomed to him ranking first, but what was more surprising was that Chi Fang had passed all subjects.
Since transferring to another school, Chi Fang, the school bully, who had often been late and left early, had never passed the exam, had passed all of them in this monthly exam, which was simply unbelievable.
After the results were announced, Feng Yu took the lead in crowdfunding among all the weak students in Senior Two Class One and put a banner with yellow characters on a red background for Chi Fang.
[Warmly congratulate Chi ge for passing all the papers in the monthly exam! Counterattack of A Weak Student! ——Congratulations from Senior Two Class One]
The banner was hung on the board at the back of the classroom. It was as long as the wall. The content was simple and crude and it was clear at a glance.
When Chi Fang saw it, he grabbed the book in his hand and smashed it towards him. Feng Yu bent over to dodge it and shouted at Chi Fang with a giggle, "Chi ge, fighting!!"
"…Stupid."
Chi Fang was too lazy to care about this idiot and knocked on Jiang Li's desk, reminding him, "Where's my reward?"
"It's been ready since long ago." Jiang Li took out the cardboard box that had been prepared for a long time from his school bag and put it on the table, "I specially prepared it for you, open it and take a look."
The box was all black with a metal lock on the side and a golden feather was bronzed on the lower right corner, which looked very high-end and exquisite.
Chi Fang saw that Jiang Li really prepared a reward for him, and he was in a very happy mood. As he was about to reach out to open it, a big group of audience members crowded from the back and front.
"Fuck, this reward looks so high-end, it looks like it's been consecrated!"
"Chi ge is too blessed, I want a reward too…"
"You only get 30 marks and you still want rewards, get lost!"
"Jiang Li not only helped Chi ge to make up lessons but also gave gifts to Chi ge after passing the test. Isn't he too good?"
"That's right, Chi ge, quickly open and see what it is."
Chi Fang was a little overwhelmed by what they said, thinking that it was useless for them to envy him; the person was his, and the reward was also his.
He reached out and put his hand on the lock, flicked his finger, and after unlocking it, he opened the lid of the box and exposed the contents in front of everyone.
Lying inside was a set of unopened books with the words on the cover – The Ultimate Version of the Five-Year College Entrance Examination and Three-Year Mock Test.
Everyone suddenly fell silent and the scene was very awkward for a while. Someone let out a laugh first, and then everyone burst out laughing.
Jiang Li put the Five-Three in the box on Chi Fang's hand solemnly and said earnestly, "Passing is not the end, but the beginning. Please continue to work hard, Chi Fang tongxue."
Chi Fang: "…"
There's no love between us, there's hatred, right?