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墨書 Inktalez
Feng Ning sipped through a straw, her arm bent against the table, focused on a small study guide in her hands.
Her legs were stretched out, slightly angled over the aisle. Her toes swayed left and right to the rhythm of the music playing in the shop.
The wind chime at the door jingled as someone pushed it open.
Feeling a gentle kick, she looked up.
Jiang Wen sat down across from her. A bit of sweat glistened on his forehead; despite being out in the sun for so long, his face remained pale.
"Wow, you're back."
"Yeah."
Feng Ning gestured with her eyes, "Your mango coconut sago is ready. Drink it with the straw yourself."
Jiang Wen glanced at it but pretended not to move.
She continued to look down at her materials, humming an off-key tune like a carefree spirit.
"What are you looking at?"
"The small study guide. The explanations for the key points are really thorough."
Feng Ning quickly finished reading two questions and couldn't help but boast, "With my attitude towards studying, being this smart and diligent, who wouldn't admire me? Who wouldn't be amazed? Even the teacher Tie would shed tears upon seeing this! I can only say that being top of the class is well-deserved."
She finished speaking a long passage as if it were a rhyme, and then concluded deeply, "That's right, I deserve it."
Jiang Wen's expression was unusually gentle. He turned his head slightly and smiled lightly.
She casually asked, "How are things with your little girlfriend?"
Jiang Wen was about to speak.
"—Wait!" Feng Ning suddenly lowered her head slightly, spread her fingers in front of him, making a stopping gesture, her eyes squinting. "Don't say anything; let me guess!"
Jiang Wen leaned back in his chair, finding it somewhat amusing. He crossed his arms and tilted his chin, signaling her to continue.
"Based on how she just called you outside, you must be on the verge of breaking up?"
"Yeah."
"But you seem very calm and relaxed right now. So based on your current expression, it seems like you just had a good conversation."
Jiang Wen nodded again, "It was okay."
"Oh... I see."
"What do you understand?"
"You two have reconciled."
Jiang Wen darkened his expression and said, "No."
Feng Ning raised an eyebrow, looking like an unconcerned outsider. "Oh, did you break up?"
Jiang Wen replied with great restraint, "I don't like her." After a pause, he added lightly, "No one likes her."
Feng Ning almost laughed. "What are you saying? Are you planning to sever all emotional ties and live your life with just a quiet lamp and ancient Buddha?"
Jiang Wen remained silent.
After a while, Feng Ning realized how noticeable it was to be sitting in a milk tea shop with the well-known figure from school.
She recalled others' comments about how Jiang Wen resembled the male lead from a shoujo manga. His appearance... sigh, it really was a bit too striking and delicate. Feng Ning put away the small stack of documents and waved her hand. "Let's go."
Amidst the furtive glances from a group of girls, Jiang Wen stood up as well.
She pointed at the untouched milk tea. "Aren't you going to drink it?"
Jiang Wen glanced down, feeling a bit out of sorts. "I don't want to drink it."
"Just take it," Feng Ning instructed. "You're even less mature than Shuang Yao's younger brother by three or four years."
"Huh?"
"He's small, but he knows not to waste food. If he wants something to eat, he can handle it." There was a hint of something else in her words. "Other kids are quite sensible; just look at yourself."
After she finished speaking, Jiang Wen remained expressionless and asked, "How old are you?"
"Fifteen, I'll turn sixteen by the end of the year."
"Is your birthday at the end of the year?"
"Yes, in December."
"I'm older than you," Jiang Wen said seriously. "I'll also reach adulthood before you. I'm not a kid."
His voice was a bit low and hoarse. Feng Ning seemed to understand something, "Do men care about being called small?"
"Yeah."
Jiang Wen quickly responded but caught a glimpse of Feng Ning's ambiguous and lewd expression. He pondered for two seconds, realizing he had fallen into someone else's trap, feeling both angry and embarrassed: "You..."
Feng Ning burst into laughter.
Having grown up in the streets, she was unrestrained with her jokes, mixing crude and innocent humor without hesitation.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I forgot you're still young; I polluted the pure and innocent heart of a young man. It's my fault; I deserve it. I'll slap myself," Feng Ning said, mimicking a sycophantic eunuch from a drama as she slapped her own cheeks.
As they walked outside, Jiang Wen was still upset with her. No matter how much she teased him along the way, he refused to say another word.
"Can you stop being angry?" Feng Ning said somewhat helplessly. "It was just a joke; why are you so petty?"
Jiang Wen said without thinking much, "I don't like you calling me small." After saying that, she paused, "I don't mean that kind of small, I mean..."
Feng Ning responded with a couple of "mm-hmms," blinking her eyes in confusion, "Oh, oh, oh, then what part of you is not small?"
Jiang Wen's mind momentarily short-circuited.
She burst into laughter, hitting the wall with her hand and unable to straighten her waist.
Jiang Wen felt annoyed and quickened her pace, completely ignoring her.
Feng Ning hurried to catch up, still laughing as she said, "Come on, just say it. I'm really not joking anymore, I swear."
It was hard to tell if it was the heat or if he was genuinely upset; even his neck and ears turned red.
"Alright, don't be mad," Feng Ning thought Jiang Wen looked especially cute when she was angry. "Come on, sister will take you to a nice place."
She felt a bit sentimental inside.
Some people appear very serious on the surface but are actually quite innocent and fun when teased.
Jiang Wen was annoyed by her nonsensical words and insisted, "I'm older than you."
"Okay, okay," Feng Ning quickly changed her tone, shamelessly coaxing him. "Then I'll take my brother to a place."
She walked ahead, but he stood still.
The sunlight streamed down, and Feng Ning bent her arm to shield her eyes, turning to the side. "What's wrong?"
Jiang Wen took a few seconds to react and shifted his feet.
She repeated the word "brother" in her mind a couple of times, quietly storing it away.
*
She led him through several twists and turns until they stopped in front of a shop.
Looking up, a small red sign read: China Welfare Lottery.
Inside was cramped and narrow, with no air conditioning, just two old fans whirring away. The shopkeeper's wife, dressed in floral shorts, was lazily watching the latest popular Palace Drama on her computer. When she saw the two high school students enter, she greeted them with indifference. There was barely enough room for four or five people to stand in the narrow aisle.
Jiang Wen glanced around the environment, slightly disdainful. "What do you want to do?"
"Rob it."
Jiang Wen: "......"
The shopkeeper's wife asked, "Do you want to buy scratch cards or the Double Chromosphere? Two yuan per ticket; you can choose your own numbers."
"When is your birthday?" Feng Ning tugged at him.
"November 14."
"Hey, Scorpio, no wonder you hold grudges," she thought for a moment and said with a smile, "You know, we Capricorns are your only nemesis."
Jiang Wen remained noncommittal.
The shop owner pressed some buttons on the computer and entered the number Feng Ning reported.
After leaving the lottery shop, Feng Ning held up the ticket, looked at it in the sunlight, and handed it to Jiang Wen. "This is for you."
Jiang Wen glanced at the string of numbers:
[92459111499959]
"What does this mean?" he asked.
Feng Ning said mysteriously, "It's more fun if you guess it yourself."
"...Do you often buy lottery tickets?"
"Yeah," Feng Ning chuckled, "I occasionally buy a ticket, just waiting. I don't seek thousands or millions, just hoping for five million."
Jiang Wen put away the ticket and scoffed.
"What are you laughing at?" Feng Ning said seriously. "Sometimes when you buy a lottery ticket, you're not just buying a ticket; you're buying hope. Do you understand?"
They entered the classroom together.
The classroom was only half full, and Zhao Binlin was focused on his handheld game console. When he saw the two of them walk in simultaneously, a vague smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
For the entire afternoon, Jiang Wen's mood was quite good. The person sitting next to him felt this the most.
It should be noted that not long ago, for a whole week, Jiang Wen had been angry with someone—he didn't even know who. He was like a ticking time bomb, which made Zhao Binlin feel almost suffocated.
After playing basketball with a few teammates in the evening, they took a break on the sidelines. Xi Gaoyuan looked around and said, "Hey, why isn't Cheng Jiajia here to bring water to Jiang Wen?"
"They broke up."
He was a bit surprised since he was out of the loop. "Oh, you broke up?"
Jiang Wen simply replied with an "Mm."
"Breaking up after just a few days? Love comes and goes like a whirlwind; what a pity."
"What’s so pity about it?"
"It's a pity you didn't get to truly experience the taste of love."
"What’s the point of dating?" Jiang Wen scoffed, taking a big gulp of water. "It's boring."
Zhao Binlin chimed in teasingly, "Tsk, I beg you to stop being so contradictory."
Stepping out of the brightly lit basketball gym, the sky had darkened, and with October approaching, the nights were getting chilly quickly.
Xi Gaoyuan shivered and remarked, "Let’s keep a low profile, Lin Ru, so we don’t make all you single folks jealous."
"Ugh, please spare me," someone replied.
"Xi Gaoyuan is a shooter guy, and I'm an Aries girl. Our compatibility is a hundred percent."
Someone laughed at her, "You actually believe in that?"
Lin Ru pouted, "It’s based on star charts; it’s quite accurate."
Zhao Binlin showed some interest. "Then can you tell me what my true love's zodiac sign is?"
After taking turns to calculate, Xi Gaoyuan pointed at Jiang Wen. "You should help him too; his romantic journey has been the toughest among us."
"What’s his zodiac sign?"
Zhao Binlin answered for him, "Scorpio."
Lin Ru gasped in surprise. "Scorpios have strong possessiveness and desire for conquest. Scorpio guys usually appear low-key but are actually passionate and secretly intense. I used to be super into that." Xi Gaoyuan cleared his throat. "Your boyfriend is right here; choose your words wisely." He suddenly grinned mischievously. "By the way, isn’t Scorpio known for having a particularly strong libido?"
Jiang Wen shot him a glance and replied blandly, "Your mind is filled with trashy thoughts."
"Look who’s pretending to be pure and innocent." Xi Gaoyuan nudged him with an elbow. "Have you never had a wet dream or felt anything?"
He had just finished playing basketball, and his paws were all dirty. Jiang Wen moved aside, his eyes filled with disdain. "Don't touch me."
Xi Gaoyuan's face twisted in anger as he complained, "Damn it, when a girl gets drunk and throws up on you, you don't mind at all. But when a brother just brushes against you, your ridiculous cleanliness obsession flares up selectively?"
Lin Ru was typing away on the keyboard. After a while, she looked up and said, "I've calculated it."
Zhao Binlin eagerly took her phone and read aloud, "The three zodiac signs most compatible with you are... Cancer, Pisces, and Taurus."
While others were still wondering if there were any Cancer girls around, Jiang Wen suddenly asked, "What about Capricorn?"
It was quite an abrupt question, but fortunately, no one paid much attention. Lin Ru replied, "Capricorn seems to only be suitable as friends with Scorpio; the familial compatibility index is relatively high."
Amidst the noisy chatter, Jiang Wen coldly remarked, "Trash website."
Lin Ru watched his retreating figure, momentarily at a loss for words.
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