Chapter 178: Beyond the Dark Mountains, Flowers Bloom and Villages Appear ③
The next day, Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang gave everyone in the class beautifully packaged wedding candies. Inside the colorful fluorescent gauze net were over a dozen Alps candies, tied with a bow tie specifically used for packaging gifts. With over fifty people in the class, packaging so many would take quite some time.
Nie Qiu took the packaging bag handed over by Huang Yan and looked at Zhang Haiyang with extreme surprise. She wasn’t mistaken; it was indeed Zhang Haiyang and Huang Yan’s wedding candy, not Huang Yan and Peng Yu Yang’s. Yesterday, when Nie Qiu saw Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang going for milk tea, she had been guessing, and she hadn’t expected Huang Yan to actually be with Zhang Haiyang! Nie Qiu reflexively looked at Peng Yu Yang, who was sitting at his desk amidst the classroom’s commotion. She couldn’t discern anything, only seeing that the wedding candy bag on his desk was different from the other classmates’.
Yes, the wedding candy bags on their phones were different from the other classmates’, with a few more Dove chocolates. Zhang Haiyang’s buddies were the same. But… Peng Yu Yang’s had many more.
After Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang finished distributing the wedding candies, they sat together to talk. Zhang Haiyang’s deskmate, having eaten the candy, sensibly went to Huang Yan’s seat. Morning self-study was quite relaxed, and the teacher rarely came, so throughout the entire morning self-study, Nie Qiu saw Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang sitting together, whispering secrets that others couldn’t understand.
The final exam was approaching, and Nie Qiu didn’t want Huang Yan to give up halfway. So, just before the first class was about to start, Nie Qiu called out to Huang Yan, who was returning to her seat, “Huang Yan, do you… have any questions you don’t understand?”
“No! I don’t have any questions I don’t understand!” Huang Yan looked at Nie Qiu in confusion and asked, “What’s wrong, Nie Qiu?”
“Nothing…” Nie Qiu shook her head and said with a smile, “I just wanted to tell you that if you have any questions you don’t understand, you can ask me.”
“Mm, I know.” Huang Yan smiled and nodded. The first class was about to start, so after speaking, Huang Yan returned to her seat.
Li Kai looked at Zhang Haiyang, who was sitting in front of him, with great envy. If only he and Nie Qiu could be like Zhang Haiyang and Huang Yan.
The final exam was approaching, and everyone was immersed in intense study. The heat surrounding the pregnancy incident of that Class 7 girl gradually dissipated amidst the intense studies. Only occasionally when classmates mentioned it would there be some sighs.
Because Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang started dating, Huang Yan often didn’t walk home with them, which made Nie Qiu somewhat disappointed.
One day, Nie Qiu and Peng Yu Yang were eating in the canteen. Without Nie Qiu, their conversation seemed less lively than before, mostly discussing academic matters.
Nie Qiu actually missed Huang Yan a little. Although they saw each other every day, she no longer heard Huang Yan’s boisterous chatter. Sometimes, she really felt unaccustomed to it.
Peng Yu Yang opened his mouth, wanting to say something else. He didn’t want to only talk about studies when he was with Nie Qiu, but after opening his mouth, he didn’t know what to say. When Huang Yan was around before, although the three of them talked mostly about studies, Huang Yan would always find other topics to discuss.
For example, she would bring up someone in the class dating, or how handsome a certain star was, or how she got scolded at home. Without Huang Yan, both of them felt a bit dull.
The two ate in silence. After an unknown amount of time, just as Peng Yu Yang was about to say something, he was interrupted.
“Nie Qiu! Nie Qiu!” a young woman shouted, running into the canteen. As soon as she saw Nie Qiu, she yelled Nie Qiu’s name, “Hurry home! Quickly!”
Honestly, Nie Qiu had seen this young woman many times. She lived downstairs from their apartment. The reason she thought of selling pan-fried dumplings was when she heard this young woman tell her husband to buy frozen dumplings at the supermarket.
However, because their family’s routines didn’t align, they didn’t have much interaction. Now, for her to come all the way to her school to find her meant… their family…
As she was thinking this, Nie Qiu felt a moment of panic. The young woman had already run over, “Nie Qiu, hurry back! I had my husband take your mom to the hospital, and your things are almost all gone!” The young woman’s words made the canteen fall silent instantly, with everyone looking at the person she was pointing at.
All gone?! How could that be?
Nie Qiu blinked, then bolted. But Peng Yu Yang called out to her, “Nie Qiu, do you have money on you? I have two hundred yuan here, take it with you. Call me if it’s not enough.”
Nie Qiu stopped, took the money Peng Yu Yang handed her. She really didn’t have money on her. She couldn’t wait for the bus; she needed to take a taxi. She had to go to the hospital first, to see the woman who had been so good to her. “Thank you, Peng Yu Yang. Remember to ask for leave for me.”
Peng Yu Yang nodded and watched Nie Qiu run away.
Li Kai dropped his meal tray, told Zhang Haiyang and the others to ask for leave for him, and chased out without looking back. The canteen immediately erupted into chaos, with people chattering and gossiping about what had happened.
The young woman hadn’t explained clearly, but Nie Qiu knew this was definitely not a joke. Regardless, if nothing had happened, the young woman wouldn’t have specifically come to school to find her; they weren’t familiar with each other.
She ran outside with all her might, feeling like someone was chasing her, but at this point, she couldn’t care less. It wasn’t until someone grabbed her arm from behind that she snapped back to reality.
Her first reaction was to shake the person off, but the grip was tight. She looked up and saw Li Kai, panting, and the neighbor following behind Li Kai.
“You haven’t even found out which hospital, don’t run off alone!” Li Kai shouted.
Saying this, Li Kai turned to the young woman and asked, “Big sister, which hospital is Auntie in?”
“She’s in the Third Hospital.” As soon as the young woman finished speaking, Li Kai extended his hand. City A is a big city. Although honking was prohibited outside the school, many taxis still loitered around. As Li Kai reached out, a car happened to pass by, and Li Kai pulled Nie Qiu into it.
The woman also voluntarily got into the front passenger seat. After stating the location, the car started moving.
“Don’t be scared, it’ll be alright,” Li Kai said, holding Nie Qiu’s hand. Nie Qiu looked at Li Kai for a moment, then lowered her head without speaking.
Li Kai looked at the young woman sitting in the passenger seat and asked, “Auntie, what exactly happened?”
Demolition…
This word and phrase can be seen in every big city, and it’s a common sight. Times are changing. Older buildings, without a thousand or hundred years of cultural heritage, affect the city’s appearance. Better and more beautiful residential areas are built to fill the city’s aesthetic, making the city more urban.
The place Nie Qiu and her family rented had always been a bare shell, meaning it only had bricks and tiles, no decoration. The few buildings in the residential area were all red-tiled bungalows. Some people, having money, decorated their homes with tiles, while those without money continued to live in bare shells. Everyone agreed to the demolition, as they would be allocated houses anyway, and at most, they would have to pay a little more money for a few extra square meters.
But the building Nie Qiu’s family lived in was different. The building Nie Qiu’s family lived in was rented out to migrant workers, meaning people who came from other places to work locally. They were not the owners of the houses. Since the owners agreed to the demolition, they had no choice but to move.
But many people had lived there for ten or eight years. To put it broadly, they had developed feelings. Emotionally, apart from returning to their hometown, no one wanted to just move elsewhere. To put it simply, setting aside emotions, the rent money they paid to the landlord would also be lost!
Nowadays, ordinary working people who rent a house rarely have contracts. It’s not through an agent, nor are they renting in a high-end residential area. They just pay the money and move in.
