Old Wei looked at Jiang Lin’s calm expression and shook his head. This kid must have something wrong with him.
No matter how much you like someone, you shouldn’t go this far. It was downright throwing away all dignity.
If this were his own son, he would have broken his legs already.
But it wasn’t his place to discipline Jiang Lin. With a helpless sigh, he took the lunchbox from Jiang Lin’s hand.
He filled it to the brim with a meat dish, then stacked eight of the biggest meat buns on top of the lid.
“Total is 5.5 yuan.”
Everyone around sucked in a cold breath.
Most of the students came from nearby villages. Their families weren’t well-off, and even the better-off ones couldn’t spend money like Jiang Lin.
This was 1985. Spending 5.5 yuan on a single meal… it was almost unbelievable.
Jiang Lin took the lunchbox and turned to leave.
Tang Yue, wearing an arrogant expression, stretched out her hand. “Jiang Lin, I won’t eat the buns you bought.”
Every time she said this, Jiang Lin would immediately hand the buns over to her.
But this time, instead of obediently passing her the lunchbox, Jiang Lin directly knocked her hand aside with his shoulder.
“You’re overthinking it. I wasn’t planning to give them to you anyway.”
He took a big bite of a meat bun. The rich aroma of meat filled his mouth. In this era, meat buns were made with real ingredients, no shortcuts.
Especially Old Wei’s buns… they were truly exceptional. After all those years, Jiang Lin had never tasted anything like them again.
Back then, he must have had something wrong with his brain. Every time he bought buns, he gave them all to Tang Yue.
And in return, he never even got a pleasant look from her.
Now, rather than feeding buns to a dog, he might as well fill his own stomach.
Tang Yue froze for a moment, then instantly lost her composure.
“Jiang Lin, what do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean? Exactly what you wanted. You’re noble, you’re proud. Of course I can’t use money to win you over. Pay for your own meals. If you want buns, buy them yourself. From now on, I’m done serving you.”
Jiang Lin brushed past her, carrying his lunchbox, and walked back to the classroom with a faint smile.
He sat down at his desk and began eating in big mouthfuls.
At this age, his body was still growing. Yet every month, he had spent all his meal money on Tang Yue.
As a result, even though his parents gave him enough money, he had starved himself until he was skin and bones.
After all, he had been supporting two people on his own.
This time, Tang Yue could go to hell. He needed to eat well and live well.
In his previous life, because he had gone hungry during his growth years, he had only reached 1.78 meters in height.
This time, if he ate properly, maybe he could at least grow to 1.8 meters.
His best friend dropped his lunchbox onto the desk beside him with a loud thud and sat sideways on the chair, staring at him.
“Jiang Lin, are you running a fever today?”
“Why are you staring at me instead of eating? I’m not food.”
Seeing his good friend, Jiang Lin felt a surge of emotion.
Chen Jiangshan was his brother. Even when Jiang Lin had fallen into ruin, this brother had still tried to pull him back up.
Yet every time, Jiang Lin had listened to Tang Yue and ended up clashing with his own friend.
Only after his oxygen mask had been pulled out, when he drifted as a ghost in the sky, did he learn that it was Chen Jiangshan who had handled his funeral.
It was also Chen Jiangshan who later gathered their old friends and brought down Tang Yue and her adulterous partner’s company, avenging him.
“Of course I’m staring at you. Did you change your brain or something? Or did you become a different person overnight? Since when did you suddenly wake up?”
Jiang Lin’s actions today had stunned everyone around them. For the first time, Tang Yue had lost face in public.
Chen Jiangshan had felt satisfied watching it, but afterward, he grew uneasy. His brother had always obeyed that woman completely.
Could it be that they had just had a fight?
What if Jiang Lin ended up being controlled by her again later?
Then everything just now would have been pointless.
“I woke up just now. Like coming out of a long dream. I, Jiang Lin, am still a man. Why should I take this kind of humiliation? If she doesn’t like me, I’ll just find someone else. I’m not that cheap.”
“She’s just a bit pretty. There are plenty of beautiful women in this world. What, am I supposed to stop living without her?”
“Right now, I just want to study properly and get into a university, so my dad can be proud of me.”
“Seriously? You’ve really given up this time?”
“Of course. Why would I lie to you? I’m done with her completely. From now on, I’m focusing on my studies.”
“You’ve lied to me so many times before.”
“You don’t know this, but after you left just now, those loudmouths were already betting you wouldn’t last two days before apologizing to Tang Yue again. I scolded them, but honestly, I wasn’t confident either. You… when it comes to Tang Yue, no one knows what you might end up doing.”
Hearing this, Jiang Lin felt a bit speechless.
It was true. In his previous life, he had been that spineless.
As if possessed.
But no matter how enchanting a woman was, she wasn’t more important than his own life.
He had already died once. If he repeated the same mistakes, then he deserved it.
“Don’t worry. This time, I won’t make the same mistake again.”
These words were for Chen Jiangshan, but also for himself.
“Good brother, if you’ve really woken up, I’ll go home and set off firecrackers for you.”
Chen Jiangshan had always looked down on Tang Yue. Sure, she was pretty, but her actions were anything but decent.
She spent Jiang Lin’s money while acting aloof, mocking him as if he were some obedient dog groveling at her feet.
“Jiang Lin, you’ve gone too far!”
While the two were eating and chatting, two girls suddenly rushed into the classroom and stood in front of Jiang Lin, accusing him angrily.
Jiang Lin looked up and recognized them as Tang Yue’s two closest friends.
“Jiang Lin, you must apologize to Tang Yue!”
“Why?”
“Why? You made her cry! You just walked away! Do you even know how embarrassing it was for her in the canteen just now? She didn’t even eat.”
“Jiang Lin, you’re not a man at all. You’re petty and narrow-minded. Sure, Tang Yue may have said a few harsh words, but that doesn’t mean you should just walk away like that, without even paying for her meal. Is this your responsibility as a man? You can’t even persist in something like this. Good thing Tang Yue didn’t choose you. If she had, she’d be the unlucky one.”
“I am petty. She’s not dating me, and she’s not planning to marry me, so why should she spend my money? Isn’t she always acting noble, always saying she hates me throwing money at her? Saying I have nothing but money? Fine, I won’t spend money on her anymore. Now you’re unhappy about it? I’m not giving her a single cent. Whoever wants to spend money on her can do it themselves. I’m done being that fool.”