Responsibility
Chen Yiyang found it hard to explain his family situation. He only knew that sometimes someone had to bear the burden.
In the past, it had been Wen Liangyu.
So at fourteen, he stole the household registry and Chen Jici's ID to get them divorced.
Now it was him.
A long silence.
Yun Mi quietly held her drink straw in her mouth, choosing not to disturb his bad mood. Only after finishing the cola did she call his name: "Chen Yiyang."
"Mm."
"It's been a while since I've seen rain this heavy," she said casually. "I didn't know Shancheng had a rainy season, too. Back in Shanghai, when the weather was like this, my training shoes wouldn't dry for a month."
He didn't respond.
Yun Mi rested her chin on her hand. "I used to train really hard—always the first to arrive. Not having dry shoes was a real headache for me."
She glanced at Chen Yiyang from the corner of her eye. No reaction.
Still ignoring her?
He was still in a bad mood, eyes downcast.
Hopeless.
Yun Mi's spirits sank too. She finally understood why Chen Yiyang's father never came home—he seemed to have bad relations with both Chen Yiyang and his grandfather.
Looking outside, she changed the subject: "So... how do we get back?"
Her bag was still in the classroom, and 7-Eleven had run out of umbrellas.
-
When Zhou Shihui said he would bring umbrellas, Xie Yue was furious.
He nagged Zhou Shihui: "Can't you just let him order takeout and buy an umbrella? Twenty-six yuan. Does he not have money? He could buy a hundred if he wanted. You're spoiling him by insisting on delivering."
Zhou Shihui glanced at him. Since Chen Yiyang said Yun Mi was there, Zhou Shihui had to go.
He patted his friend's shoulder solemnly and criticized: "You need to drop that extravagant lifestyle."
"?"
Zhou Shihui: "Wasting money."
What?
Xie Yue looked at the sky and pointed. The dark sky poured rain like a waterfall.
He found it ridiculous.
He said, "This is what you call making your buddy suffer for no reason."
Splashing through the flooded streets, Xie Yue finally spotted Chen Yiyang.
In the 7-Eleven rest area, the boy had taken off his cap and was chatting with the girl next to him.
Yun Mi had asked Chen Yiyang how to solve that problem.
Chen Yiyang hadn't wanted to teach her, but Yun Mi kept talking to him, even if the topics were shallow.
Chen Yiyang spoke flatly: "Three cases: greater than zero, equal to zero, less than zero. For zero, use substitution."
He had been caught in the rain, so his body radiated a slight warmth.
His damp sleeves were rolled up three times, revealing prominent wrist bones and pale skin. He dipped a finger in water and wrote formulas on the white tabletop.
Yun Mi was still thinking—the problem didn't seem that hard.
Suddenly, two umbrellas slammed onto the table, breaking the close distance between her and Chen Yiyang.
The clamor of voices burst into their space.
Xie Yue couldn't stand it. He squeezed between them, looked left and right, and demanded fiercely: "Can you two not spread the stench of studying in 7-Eleven?"
"..."
Xie Yue plopped down, shamelessly ordering Chen Yiyang around: "Here's your umbrella!"
"Go buy me some oden as thanks for braving the rain. I want the deluxe 108-yuan set."
He was loud and ruffian-like.
Chen Yiyang cursed lightly: "You're pathetic."
"..."
Xie Yue's act crumbled in a second. He cursed Chen Yiyang's back repeatedly.
Yun Mi felt a soft ache in her heart.
This was the first time she had been so close to Chen Yiyang. At home, they always kept a person's distance.
But just now, she could feel the heat radiating from him.