Chapter 142: Times Have Changed ②
Nie Qiu’s face flushed, and she continued to toss the dirt with her hands, “I just wanted to pack it in tighter.” She simply hadn’t thought of it for a moment.
“Hahaha, okay, okay, tighter, tighter,” Da continued to laugh and roll around.
After burying the money and looking at the overturned soil, Nie Qiu found it amusing. She had seen people bury all sorts of things, gold, silver, and jewels, but she had never seen anyone bury money. At least in today’s society, besides stolen money that could be traced, who would bury money underground?
Li Kai lay on his bed, holding a pink ribbon in his hand. He had bought it at an accessory shop outside the school when he left that noon. He had originally planned to give it to Nie Qiu when he picked her up, but she wouldn’t be coming now.
Her mom told her to avoid him.
The thought of this made Li Kai feel uncomfortable, a dull ache in his chest. He frowned, unable to sleep! He couldn’t sleep, no matter how he tried!
“Knock, knock, knock!” A knock sounded at the door, followed by Li Mingxue’s voice, “Xiao Kai, are you asleep? Can I come in?”
Li Kai pulled the quilt over himself and said, “Come in!”
Li Mingxue, standing at the doorway with a cup of milk, looked surprised. She was surprised because last night, no matter how much she knocked, Xiao Kai had kept his door locked and hadn’t responded. Today, he had actually invited her in. Although she was puzzled, she turned the doorknob and entered the room.
Li Mingxue sat by the bedside and handed the milk to Li Kai, “Here. What’s wrong? You seemed distracted and downcast when you came back today, like someone owed you a fortune. Did something happen when you went to see Nie Qiu?”
Li Kai sat up, took the milk Li Mingxue handed him, and took a sip. He looked at Li Mingxue, “Sis, I remember you dated in junior high school, right? How did that boy pursue you back then?”
“What? You want to pursue a girl now?” Li Mingxue asked knowingly.
Li Kai was a little shy but still nodded, “…Yes… it’s Nie Qiu.”
Li Mingxue reached out and touched Li Kai’s head. The prickly sensation was just like her first love. “Xiao Kai, it’s not that I don’t want you to date, but… in my opinion, first loves never last. If you truly like her, you should mature first, instead of just thinking about being with her now and getting her.”
“You want to know how my first love pursued me?” Li Mingxue smiled. “What we called dating back then might not even be called dating. Holding hands, kissing, eating together, going home together, studying together, being good friends – that was called dating? That wasn’t dating.”
Li Kai looked at Li Mingxue with some confusion, blinking his eyes, a look of inquiry on his face.
“Let me put it this way!” Li Mingxue sat on Li Kai’s bed, crossed her legs, and looked up, smiling. “After entering adolescence, we saw everyone around us dating, so we developed fantasies and yearnings for dating and romantic feelings, wanting to experience dating. Then, subconsciously, we developed a good impression of someone very nice. This is what we call dating.”
“Many times, we don’t know if we date in junior high because we like someone, or because we want to date,” Li Mingxue looked at Li Kai. “Xiao Kai, do you understand? The reason I ended up with my first love, in my opinion, was because… I wanted to date at that time, so I dated. Perhaps I also liked him a little, otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to be together.”
“But Xiao Kai, this kind of relationship won’t last. This is why people say first loves never have a happy ending.”
“Sis, I don’t like Nie Qiu because I want to date. Do you know that? At school, many girls have given me love letters, and many girls have subtly expressed their affection. If I wanted to date, I should have started dating in the first grade of junior high. I should have had many girlfriends by now,” Li Kai said. “So, sis, I’m not dating because I want to date; I want to date because I like her.”
“Then what about Nie Qiu? Why do you think she would date you?” Li Mingxue asked. “Is it because she likes you? Or because she wants to date?”
“She won’t like me,” Li Kai lowered his head and mumbled aggrievedly, “She won’t fall for me.”
“Why are you so sure?” Li Mingxue’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Li Kai.
“I… I used to…” His throat felt sore. Li Kai looked at Li Mingxue and said, “I used to gang up with others to bully Nie Qiu. I smashed her head with cake, poured glue on her stool, and nailed a compass between her desks… many, many times, many, many times…”
“You!” Li Mingxue was astonished. She knew some boys played pranks. When she was in junior high, she liked to wear pigtails, and the boy behind her would pull them. Some male classmates would also write fake love letters, writing another boy’s name on a love letter. These pranks were actually harmless and wouldn’t cause any problems, but she hadn’t expected Li Kai to play such pranks!
This could no longer be called a prank, but… bullying, harm!
Just thinking about it, if she had experienced something like this, she probably wouldn’t have spoken to that person ever again. Embarrassment and grievance, indignation… all sorts of feelings. Face can’t be eaten, but for people, face is the most important thing!
No wonder Nie Qiu stopped coming to teach their younger brother after just one day at their house. It turned out to be because… because she had been bullied like this by their younger brother before! The fact that she could stay at their house yesterday was probably only out of respect for her uncle. If she wasn’t her uncle’s girlfriend, Nie Qiu probably wouldn’t have wanted to stay for even a second.
Thinking this, Li Mingxue felt as if she had become an accomplice in abusing Nie Qiu. She glared at Li Kai and stood up, about to leave.
Li Kai placed the milk in his hand on the bedside table and grabbed Li Mingxue’s hand. “Sis! Sis, sister, you’re my sister, you have to help me.”
“Then how do you want me to help you?” Li Mingxue turned around and stared at Li Kai. “After you did something like that, how do you expect me to help you?”
“Sis…” Li Kai looked at Li Mingxue. “I’m your real brother…”
“I really wish I didn’t have a brother like you!” Li Mingxue sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Li Kai, confirming again, “Do you really like Nie Qiu? Not because you want to date?”
“Yes!” Li Kai nodded, his eyes firm. Nie Qiu… yes, he liked her, not because she appeared in his dreams many times, but because whenever he saw her smile, the world became beautiful.
Author’s Note: I want comments, I want comments! Do I tell you that every time I publish a chapter, I go and refresh to check for comments? Comments from bookstores, from web pages… comments from all sorts of places. They’re growing so slowly, I’ve cried myself to sleep in the toilet.
