Under incomprehensible foreign melodies and dim lighting, the three finally decided to part ways after the sky darkened. They each shared their recent situations. Saying it was three people was more like Shi Hua and Mo Wenli, Meng Yue felt like she was superfluous. Shi Hua never asked her about anything, either saying “you” to Mo Wenli, or looking at both of them and saying “you guys.” She also wondered what Shi Hua and Mo Wenli were chatting about in private. A semester had passed, and this relationship hadn’t even begun to bud.
Originally, they planned to go to sing karaoke that night, and coincidentally, the place was at Meng Huan’s establishment, but Shi Hua suddenly received a call from home and had to give up the evening’s activities.
After separating from Shi Hua, Meng Yue took Mo Wenli back to the dormitory. Why “took”? Because Mo Wenli’s mind was no longer clear. Because they had been chatting for too long, they opened a second bottle of wine, resulting in a dizzy Mo Wenli. Fortunately, she managed to bring her back with difficulty.
“Yo, you’re back.” The speaker was Meng Yue’s roommate. She glanced at the time, it was already eight o’clock in the evening. “I thought you weren’t coming back. Why is she always like this when you two go out alone?” She said, looking at Mo Wenli’s slightly flushed face.
Mo Wenli shouted, “What do you mean, ‘always like this’? Like what? Explain yourself!” The two women wrestled together, giggling. This was their daily routine. Their dormitory was alright; except for Mo Wenli, the other two were typical homebodies, usually either in the dormitory or the classroom.
“Is it with that guy again?” They also knew about Shi Hua, but hadn’t bothered to learn too much about him.
“Yes,” Meng Yue said.
At this moment, Mo Wenli had already collapsed on the **. She had entered her post-drinking hibernation period. Meng Yue hoped she would fall asleep quickly, because that would make the dormitory much quieter.
“Heard he’s her high school classmate?” Another roommate asked curiously.
Meng Yue’s personality wasn’t particularly outstanding in the dormitory. She was inclined to the passive side.
The two quickly leaned in close. Three women made a drama, let alone four. Usually, they would also talk about various events in the school and class, including but not limited to male and female scandals.
“Why are we looking at you? You don’t know either, you just watch from the side. You feel like there’s no chance, the girl’s too dull, and she’s also pretty… dull?” Meng Yue gave her own judgment on the matter. It wasn’t that she had any opinions on Shi Hua, it was just that Shi Hua gave her that feeling.
“That’s true, Xiao Li is usually very outgoing and has many boys around her. Although Shi Hua looks good, if he doesn’t have some tricks, he probably won’t win her over, or rather, they’ll end up becoming brothers as they hang out, no chance.” The roommate also analyzed.
“That’s right, and they meet so infrequently, only occasionally seeing each other. How can this relationship be stable? Long-distance relationships between couples go uphill, let alone this kind of relationship that hasn’t even started yet. I don’t think it’ll work unless… Mo Wenli also likes him.” Another roommate analyzed.
They had also seen Shi Hua, after all, they were in the same school. Occasionally, Shi Hua would come over to find Meng Yue and Mo Wenli.
“Wait, I said, could it be that the Shi guy likes me!” The roommate looked at Meng Yue in horror.
This caught Meng Yue off guard, she waved her hands repeatedly, saying it was impossible, “Don’t mess around, I don’t even have his phone number. Mo Wenli has been using her phone to chat with him all night, not me. He definitely likes Xiao Li, it has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh my, you scared me.”
“As the two great beauties of our class, this guy dating both of you at once, that’s too awesome…”
Inside the dormitory, several girls joked around again, making Meng Yue feel a little flustered inside. She rarely interacted with boys, not that no girls had pursued her, but she always felt like she wasn’t worthy of them. It seemed like she had someone she liked, but she basically rejected them one by one and didn’t have much interaction. She would rather call her sister. Suddenly, she felt a little sad.
Actually, she was quite envious of girls like Mo Wenli, who were outgoing and spoke generously.
“By the way, did our advisor assign us any tasks?”
“You guys are too awesome, you have handsome teachers in class, and handsome friends after class. Is this the privilege of beauties? I’m so envious.”
“Chen Xuelin, he’s a very good person, always smiling when he talks, and he’s not impatient. Most importantly, he never goes over time. I like him.”
Speaking of Chen Xuelin, although he seemed to be doing well in all aspects, Meng Yue’s first impression wasn’t good, but after a while, she realized that this man seemed familiar. Perhaps it was because there was a man in the past who always smiled when he spoke, and in the end, when he changed his face, he made them lose everything. She would never forgive him in her life. This person was her uncle. Now they couldn’t even go back to their own home.
Chen Xuelin was one of the teachers with the most topics in the school. People of his age were still studying, but he had already become a master’s supervisor and associate professor, which was quite impressive. He was friendly and had published many good academic papers in recent years. It was said that he would soon become a tenured professor. Such an excellent man was hard not to like, especially among male students. His popularity had never gone down, and his admirers were everywhere.
It was said that some female students had confessed to him, but he had rejected them all. She didn’t know if it was true.
“It’s alright, I don’t really like him,” Meng Yue said.
“Ah? Why?”
“Um… for no reason.”
The two roommates couldn’t understand, because in their opinion, Chen Xuelin was a kind and amiable person.
At night, Meng Yue’s phone received a text message. She thought it was a message from Meng Huan, because besides her roommates, only Meng Huan and a few people knew her phone number. She basically didn’t contact those few people, only Meng Huan would occasionally send messages. Meng Huan usually called her directly, because she said she liked to hear the voice communication method.
Meng Yue opened her phone and saw that it was: Is Li asleep?
“Are you Shi Hua?” The other party then added.
At this, Meng Yue was really impressed by this person, it was a bit funny. After some communication, she learned that Shi Hua had asked Mo Wenli for her contact information, and then came to ask her about Mo Wenli’s affairs…
It could be seen that Shi Hua was quite interested in Mo Wenli, but the method was a bit puzzling. Meng Yue directly asked: “Did I confess?”
There was silence on the other side for a while, “No.”
Shi Hua was also tossing and turning at this time. Something happened at home in the afternoon, and he had to go home. Now he was anxious. Mo Wenli didn’t seem to realize what he meant today, so he couldn’t sleep at night, so he quickly sent a message to Meng Yue.
He asked about Mo Wenli’s situation and was relieved to know that everything was fine. Then he cautiously asked: Are there any other guys pursuing her?
Meng Yue said, “Yes, but not many.”
This made Shi Hua’s heart feel half cold. “But there’s no one she likes, don’t worry.” Meng Yue’s message immediately followed, and half of his hanging heart was put down.
The two engaged in a fierce discussion about Mo Wenli late at night. Shi Hua also directly said that he liked Mo Wenli. Meng Yue replied that she knew, it was obvious.
“She just doesn’t feel it? Is it my problem?”
“Um… it’s a personality problem, you’re relatively sensitive, I think it’s best to be direct, maybe she’ll get it then.”
Shi Hua said he would consider it. Actually, Shi Hua’s personality wasn’t very outgoing either, he was just the kind of person who could handle many things calmly, and he spoke slowly and deliberately.
In the end, Shi Hua also planned to find an opportunity to confess directly, whether he could succeed or not was up to fate.
Actually, as for Meng Yue, she was also very beautiful, and even without emotional judgment, he thought Meng Yue was more likable. A beautiful girl with a quiet personality. His roommate had even asked for her contact information, but because Shi Hua didn’t know it at the time, he could only let them try on their own.
At the end of the semester, the three bid a simple farewell in the school cafeteria and went home separately.
Going home was the last thing Mo Wenli wanted to do now. Compared to going home, she would rather stay at school, even alone, it was more comfortable than staying at home, but she had to go home. This year’s blizzard made the school stipulate that people could not stay overnight, and most importantly, her mother also asked her to go back.
Her home was also in Jianghe City, in a relatively central location in the second ring road, living in a building. But to say it was her home, it wasn’t really, because the house was rented. They didn’t have a home, but they had lived there for so many years, and her mother had always been there. Besides that, she had nowhere else to go, so it could be considered her home.
Standing downstairs, seeing thick smoke coming from the chimney on the side wall of the building, she couldn’t move her feet. It must be that woman starting a fire. Perhaps her feet were numb from the cold, Mo Wenli stood there for a long time, until someone patted her shoulder.
“I saw you standing here for a long time, what’s wrong.” A familiar voice, Mo Wenli turned around and found that Shi Hua was actually standing behind her, scaring her to retreat repeatedly.
“What are you doing here!” She exclaimed.
“Because there was an accident on the road back to your house, it’s blocked, so I took a detour. Unexpectedly, seeing your clothes, it looks familiar, so… what am I looking at.” He pointed to the building downstairs, and also glanced at it along Mo Wenli’s line of sight.
“None of your business, go away, I’m going up, goodbye.” Mo Wenli trotted into the stairwell, without turning her head back.
Her face and hands were red from the cold. There were deep footprints where she had been standing just now. She hadn’t just arrived there. Shi Hua looked at the sky, and then looked up at the building downstairs. After thinking for a moment, he turned and left.
Coming back to her senses, Mo Wenli rubbed her hands and breathed out hot air, it was freezing. She quickly ran to the third floor, took out a rusty key from her pocket, and opened the door. As soon as she entered, she saw a familiar woman’s face.
At this time, she was adding wood to the stove. Judging from her slightly messy hair and thick pajamas, she must have slept until noon. This person was Mo Wenli’s mother.
Mo Wenli’s mother was called Zhang Jie. She didn’t have a fixed job. When she was young, she was a masseuse in dark buildings. Sometimes she was even called a “miss.” Later, she fell in love with a man, and then Mo Wenli was born.
“You’re back?”
“Come, start the fire.”
“How is it, at school, are you studying well, have you made friends, what kind of friends, are you hungry…” She began to ask about Mo Wenli’s life in great detail.
“Yeah, no, nothing, alright.” These few words were basically Mo Wenli’s answer.
“What are you saying ‘uh-huh’ and ‘oh-oh’ for?Perfunctory Are you being Perfunctory? I’m asking you questions, can’t you speak? If you can’t, I’ll shut up.” Seeing Mo Wenli’s attitude was so cold, her face also turned cold, and she said angrily.
“Okay, I’ll go back to my room.”
The room was very cold, but the living room was even less warm. The relationship between her and her mother had long since reached freezing point. Life hadn’t become like this because of her. Even, she was already too lazy to manage her relationship with her.
For several days in a row, she spent most of her time in **. She only hoped that school would start early and she could end these boring days.
Suddenly, her door slammed open. She could roughly guess what was going on. She quietly opened the door and looked outside into the living room. There were several bottles of strong white wine on the table. She directly picked them up and poured them into her mouth, one sip after another. The empty bottles were either thrown down or smashed.
Turning her head, the mother and daughter looked at each other. Mo Wenli quickly closed the door, but she shouted for Mo Wenli to come out, or she would set the house on fire. Mo Wenli had no choice but to open the door and sit opposite her.
“What’s wrong, after reading some books, you think you’re great, and you don’t want to talk to me anymore, right? You’ve become capable, right?” After saying that, she grabbed at Mo Wenli’s hair.
Mo Wenli dodged slightly, but that completely angered her. She tugged at her hair, “What, you also dislikeme for being uncultured and having a low education, right?”
“No, I didn’t.” Mo Wenli said, struggling.
“I provide you with food and clothing, raise you, and now what’s your attitude towards me? Do you treat me like your mother?”
Mo Wenli’s silence seemed to stimulate her even more. She pushed Mo Wenli onto the sofa, picked up a wine bottle and wanted to smash it, but her hand was suspended in mid-air and still stopped. “Cheerful, you think I’ll die if I hit you, but if I die, you’ll be doomed. You’ll still need someone to support you in the future, I…” She smashed the bottle on the ground, glass shards scattered everywhere. She picked one up and placed it against Mo Wenli’s cheek.
“It’s so good to be young and beautiful. If you ignore me again, I’ll slash your face, do you believe it?”
“I believe it, you wouldn’t dare, Mom, don’t do this.” Mo Wenli trembled and begged the woman in front of her. She was extremely scared, she wanted someone to save her at this moment, no matter who.
Zhang Jie smiled with satisfaction when she heard this, “That’s good, study hard, and when you graduate, find a good job, and then we’ll find him back. My daughter is highly educated, cultured, and has a good job, so he’ll have face…” She began to paint a beautiful picture of the future in her mind, with a man, and that man was the one who abandoned them, Mo Wenli’s father.
Mo Wenli knew that what she said was impossible, but she still nodded and said okay.
At this moment, as long as she went along with her, she would be beaten less. Mo Wenli’s many years of experience.
This woman wasn’t a good thing either, at least in Mo Wenli’s opinion, a woman who abandoned two people also made her feel resentment, but it was such a woman who was still the madman’s obsession. She was still longing for him, hoping that he could return to her side.
She remembered many years ago, “Let’s get a divorce.” Through the door, Mo Wenli, who was in elementary school, saw such a scene.