The next day.
After having breakfast, Zhou Siyu and Shen Mianmian set off for school together.
The school was in the town, and it took about twenty minutes by bike but over forty minutes on foot. Shen Jianhua had bought a 28-inch bicycle specifically for their school commutes.
When they reached the village entrance, Zhou Siyu said, "Sis, the bike tire is low on air. I'll ride ahead and pump it, and you can follow slowly. I'll come back to pick you up after I'm done."
Without giving Shen Mianmian a chance to respond, she rode off on the bicycle.
With her short legs, Shen Mianmian couldn't possibly catch up.
In the past, Zhou Siyu, having finished her meal, would hurriedly go to school first, and by the time Shen Mianmian, having tidied everything up, walked to school, it was nearly time for class to start. If she walked too slowly, she would also be late.
On the rare occasions they went together, Zhou Siyu would find some excuse to leave her behind, just like now, and what was laughable was that she naively believed her.
Luckily, she had left home early today and walking a bit faster meant she wouldn't be late.
The Yang family village was adjacent to Mashutun Village. When passing the entrance to that village, there was a boy with a backpack fixing his bicycle chain. As the back kickstand was broken, it was somewhat difficult for him to get on the bike.
Shen Mianmian hastened her pace and reached out to help steady the bicycle.
The boy looked up at Shen Mianmian, didn't say anything, kept fixing his bike chain, and then stood up to say, "Thanks."
Upon seeing the boy's face more clearly, Shen Mianmian was startled.
This face, which had become blurry in her memory, slowly matched up with a name.
Lu Siyuan.
Her classmate. They were the type who knew of each other but had never spoken. This guy was like a little overlord at school; no one dared to provoke him. He'd beat up anyone he didn't like, often made the girls cry by insulting them, and, like her, didn't hand in his homework. The difference was, his studies were annoyingly good.
He had a tight grip on the top three rankings.
The teachers had a love-hate relationship with him.
When Lu Siyuan was about to leave with his bike, Shen Mianmian looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "You're just going to leave like this?"
"Didn't I already say thanks?" a flicker of annoyance flashed in Lu Siyuan's eyes, "Do you expect me to kowtow and beg too?"
Sarcastic brat, quite a sharp tongue.
She straightforwardly expressed her request, "I'm almost late for school; let me hop on and give me a lift!"
"What about your sister?"
Lu Siyuan was obviously reluctant; her family had a bicycle.
"When have you ever seen her give me a ride?"
Lu Siyuan said in an impatient tone, "Such a hassle", but he didn't refuse.
Seeing the look on his face that said 'if you don't get on now, I'm leaving', Shen Mianmian quickly said, "You get on first, then I'll hop on!"
It was a bit more difficult to start riding with another person on the bike.
He glanced disapprovingly at her short legs wrapped in a military coat, "You think you can catch up if I start riding?"
Shen Mianmian: "..."
Lu Siyuan was only fifteen, but he had already grown to a height of 175 cm, making him quite tall in the class, and he had strong legs for cycling.
Looking at his broad shoulders, she couldn't help but remember his fate in his previous life. In high school, he and Zhou Siyu were in the same class. Later, he fell for Zhou Siyu's roommate and ended up fighting with some thugs over her, accidentally causing them serious injury, which resulted in him being sentenced to several years. After that, there was no news of him.
Back then, many classmates had said that they knew he would come to such an end. The girl he liked also started dating another guy a month after the incident and dropped out of school early to get married.
Such a waste of a promising young man.
When they were close to the school gate, Lu Siyuan suddenly braked, and Shen Mianmian almost fell off, only to hear him say, "Get off, you can walk in from here."
"Thanks."
Shen Mianmian hopped off the bike efficiently.