Chapter 98. Meddlesome Shi An
Arc 4 : Realistc World Movie Nightmare.
Being interrupted by Du Yan, Zhang Jing completely forgot about the topic of puppy love, and the two of them started bantering at the school gate.
Not long after, Du Yan spotted Shi An and his mother. Sure enough, his mother gave Shi An a few instructions and left in a hurry, probably going to work.
Shi An stood at the school gate, looking around with a confused look on his face, as if he was looking for someone.
“Shi An! Over here!”
Du Yan called out loudly.
Shi An’s eyes lit up slightly, and he quickened his pace and walked over. He smiled and said: “You guys are waiting for me.”
Du Yan nodded: “I guessed that after Tan Ayi took you to report, she would rush back to work.”
Shi An remembered something again and said with regret: “Du Yan, why weren’t you assigned to the same class as Zhang Jing and me? What a pity.”
Du Yan didn’t really care, he spread his hands and said: “This is random. I say, why are you following your little old man Zhang the same? Isn’t it just going up and down the stairs? Don’t make it sound like there’s a world of difference between us.”
Seeing that Shi An also looked unhappy, Du Yan’s eyes flickered, and he had roughly guessed what the other party was thinking: “Are you afraid of being bullied by that gang of blockheads?”
Shi An was stunned and did not answer.
Du Yan thought he had guessed correctly, and patted his chest and said: “What are you afraid of? Even if we are not in the same class, if someone bullies you, just tell me, I will still protect you. I could handle it across schools before, so it’s no big deal to be in a different class!”
Shi An smiled and said: “But the protection fee still can not be excused, right?”
Du Yan raised his eyebrows and said confidently: “That’s a must. This is the rule indeed.”
This has been Du Yan’s rule of conduct over the past few years. He would never help Shi An without any compensation.
After helping, he always takes some reward from Shi An. In Du Yan’s eyes, this is a fair deal. It can prevent Shi An from asking Zhang Jing for help, and Shi An will not owe Du Yan a favor. Then, there will be no unnecessary trouble.
The junior high school journey of the three friends began from then on. Although the situation was somewhat different from what Zhang Jing had initially predicted, it could be considered to be running smoothly on the right track.
However, this smoothly running junior high school train deviated slightly one year later.
In the first year, everything was just as Zhang Jing had guessed.
Shi An, who looks good but seems cowardly and easily bullied, becomes the first target of the campus gangs. The mean Shi An cooperates with Du Yan to make those arrogant campus gangs suffer a big loss, and Zhang Jing was naturally the one who cleans up the aftermath.
It didn’t take long for the group of people to be completely subdued by Du Yan and no longer dare to cause trouble, and they disappeared from the campus.
Right now, it was the start of the second year, and Du Yan, the little tyrant, had dominated all corners of junior high school.
Du Yan was very different from the previous campus tumors. He never took the initiative to cause trouble. He even never showed the qualities that a school bully must have, such as skipping classes, failing exams, etc.
Du Yan’s life was quite regular. He went to school with Zhang Jing and Shi An every day. After school, he either played basketball or went home with Zhang Jing.
After school, Shi An would be missing because he had to go to help his mother at her part-time job.
For example, today, it’s the same cycle.
Zhang Jing stayed in the classroom to organize his notes. Du Yan had no plans to play basketball today, so he should come down soon. He quickened his pace and wrote the next few lines a little sloppily, just to get everything done before Du Yan came.
When Zhang Jing finished writing the last stroke, the person he was waiting for appeared at the classroom door.
Du Yan was carrying a schoolbag in his hand, swinging it dishonestly as he walked towards Zhang Jing. After he stopped, he took out a letter folded into a heart shape from his pocket and threw it on Zhang Jing’s desk.
“This is from Wang Luni from our class.”
Zhang Jing didn’t even look at the letter, just collected the books on the table and said: “I said I won’t accept these letters. You can just decline them directly.”
Du Yan shrugged and said: “I said you wouldn’t take it, but she just threw it at me and ran away.”
He frowned and said: “Wang Luni is pretty cute. Many boys in our class have a crush on her. Would you consider it?”
Zhang Jing glanced at him: “And you?”
“Hmm?” Du Yan didn’t understand what Zhang Jing meant.
“You also have a crush on her?”
Du Yan said: “What are you thinking, I want to help her deliver the letter because I have a crush on her? Okay, I’ll just say it straight, I only say a few nice words when she gives me something to eat.”
“Look at you profiteer.” Zhang Jing’s brows relaxed slightly.
“Okay, do you want to read it or not?”
Zhang Jing glanced at the letter on the table: “Throw it in the trash can, I won’t read it.”
Du Yan ignored him: “If you want to be such a bad person, you can do it yourself. I won’t do such a thing that would insult other people’s feelings. Anyway, you are very experienced.”
Zhang Jing frowned again when he heard Du Yan’s words and said: “So if a girl confesses her love to you, are you prepared to accept her in order not to insult her feelings?”
Du Yan seemed to be stumped by the question. He scratched his head and thought for a long time but could not come up with an answer.
When he couldn’t win an argument with Zhang Jing, Du Yan’s general strategy was to play dirty: “Aiya, don’t keep making up stories. Look at the past year since I entered school, which girl has the courage to come to me and confess her love? For someone like me with a bad reputation, people would turn around and run away when they see me. The situation you are assuming does not exist.”
Over the past year, the things Zhang Jing worried about never happened.
On the contrary, he often received confession or love letters, and Zhang Jing was also very clear about the reason why no one was interested in Du Yan. After all, Du Yan, the school bully that everyone was afraid of, gave someone a bruised nose and swollen face, and then he managed to successfully avoid punishment and turned the blame around and made those people bear the punishment. This was quite an ability.
From then on, Du Yan became famous throughout junior high school. Even though he had a good-looking face, the girls were always a little insensitive to boys like Du Yan, who liked to fight.
Zhang Jing packed his schoolbag and stuffed the love letter on the table into his pocket. He didn’t go so far as to throw it away at school. Instead, he threw it into the trash can at the doorstep after returning home.
Du Yan watched Zhang Jing throw the letter in his hand into the trash can and suddenly said: “There is something I almost forgot to tell you. Starting tomorrow, I will not go home with you.”
Zhang Jing turned around and asked: “What are you going to do?”
Du Yan just smiled and answered perfunctorily: “There’s some matter.”
Zhang Jing, however, wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, pressing on: “What matter?”
Du Yan was somewhat speechless after being asked by Zhang Jing, and finally could only say impatiently: “Okay, Zhang Xiao Jing, do you really think of yourself as my father? Even if you are my father, I have the right to maintain my privacy.”
Zhang Jing then realized that his attitude seemed a bit aggressive, and he fell silent, finally saying: “Sorry.”
Du Yan was not someone who cared about such trivial matters. He patted Zhang Jing on the shoulder and turned around to walk into his own courtyard.
As the sun sets, the golden sunlight stretches Zhang Jing’s shadow long. He looks down at his lonely shadow. It was the quiet and solitude that he used to enjoy the most, but now he feels resistance and discomfort from the bottom of his heart.
Du Yan was indeed a man of his words, even in this respect. Since that day, Du Yan still went to school with Zhang Jing and Shi An, but at the time of coming home after school, Zhang Jing was the only one left.
Several times, Zhang Jing went upstairs to look for Du Yan after the last class in the afternoon, only to find that he had already disappeared.
After another failed attempt, Zhang Jing finally stopped a familiar-looking person and asked: “Hello, has Du Yan been leaving right after class these days?”
Zhang Jing was a celebrity on campus, and almost everyone knew his face. The classmate said directly: “Ah, Zhang Jing, doesn’t Du Yan go to see you every day after class?”
Today, Zhang Jing returned home alone again. Surprisingly, after he walked into the yard, he saw Shi An.
“Why are you here so early today?” Although he was in a bad mood, Zhang Jing still greeted him.
Shi An usually goes to help his mother and usually comes back around eight o’clock.
Shi An saw that Zhang Jing didn’t care about his answer after he finished speaking and wanted to go back to his house, so he quickly said: “I saw Du Yan yesterday, after school.”
Zhang Jing stopped walking instantly. He turned around, walked to Shi An and sat down, and asked directly: “Where did you see him?”
Shi An replied: “Isn’t there a famous dessert shop next to the shop where my mama works? I saw Du Yan and a girl eating in that shop yesterday.”
Zhang Jing frowned and asked again: “Girl, from our school?”
Shi An nodded and said: “Yes, it seems to be a senior in the third year of junior high school, the school beauty named Zhao Yuqi…”
Zhang Jing put his hands under the table and clenched them into fists silently. He thought for a moment and asked: “Didn’t you see it wrong? Are you sure it’s Du Yan?”
Although Zhang Jing hoped that Shi An had mistaken Du Yan for someone else, he felt worse than ever when he recalled Du Yan’s mysterious behavior and his disappearance after school.
Shi An saw Zhang Jing’s expression and suddenly asked: “How about we secretly follow Du Yan to confirm it after school tomorrow?”
Zhang Jing glanced at Shi An with a serious expression: “That is Du Yan’s privacy. I advise you not to do such a thing.”
“But, but now he hangs out with that girl all day and night and ignores us.”
Zhang Jing didn’t show his thoughts on his face: “We are just Du Yan’s friends, we have no right to interfere with his interpersonal status. Shi An, don’t be too meddlesome.”
One day later.
The current situation may be the most embarrassing moment for Zhang Jing in the past ten years. He looked at Shi An in front of him and didn’t know what to say.
The two looked at each other and looked away at the same time. Zhang Jing did it out of embarrassment, and Shi An did it out of guilt.
In the end, the two of them tacitly did not mention the previous conversation but continued to pay close attention to Du Yan, who was not far away.
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