Taking Bian to Skip Class

Grandma muttered reproachfully, "What are you back for? Don't go making the child run off in anger again."

Guan Xiaolin replied as if it were only natural, "She's my own daughter. Something as major as transferring schools, of course I had to come ask about it."

"You didn't ask earlier or later, so what good does it do to ask now?" Grandma's tone was deeply dissatisfied.

Guan Xiaolin silently set down the gift box.

Grandpa carried out the dishes, stood there for a moment as though he wanted to say something, then turned and went back to the kitchen.

"Ah, what a sin!"

Grandma sighed and knocked on the bedroom door. "Guanguan, come out and eat first. They're all dishes you like. Your grandpa spent the whole morning cooking."

Bian Guanyue's voice came from the bedroom. "You all eat. I'm not hungry yet."

Grandpa brought all the dishes to the table, then went to the bedroom door as well. "It's fine if you don't come out, but you should still eat something. Don't starve your stomach into trouble. Want me to bring some food to your room?"

Bian Guanyue did not reply again.

A little over ten seconds later, the bedroom door suddenly opened, and Bian Guanyue went to the kitchen to serve herself some rice.

Guan Xiaolin wanted to follow her, but Grandma hurriedly grabbed her.

Grandpa said, "Xiaolin, you haven't eaten either, right? I'll get you some."

Three generations sat around the same dining table.

Bian Guanyue only kept her head down and ate, unwilling to say a single word.

Guan Xiaolin had no appetite and did not touch her chopsticks. After remaining silent for a while, she finally could not help saying, "Even strangers should greet each other politely when they meet. No matter what, we're biological mother and daughter. Can't you say a few words to me?"

Bian Guanyue ate even faster.

Guan Xiaolin became emotional too, and her voice unconsciously rose. "Back then, your dad was the one who wanted to latch onto a rich woman. Your dad cheated first. He was Chen Shimei, and I was Qin Xianglian. He caused everything!"

Bian Guanyue sneered.

"Would Qin Xianglian abandon her daughter to Chen Shimei? When other people divorce, they fight to get custody of their children. What about you? The judge awarded the daughter to her mother, and you made every excuse not to take me."

"When I was in first grade, I was so young that I secretly got on a train by myself and went back to Dragon Capital to see you. I got lost and could only bawl my eyes out. Luckily, a police officer came to help me. But what did you do? Without a word, you sent me back to Hibiscus City, to live with that stepmother!"

"You hated me so much, so why did you give birth to me?"

By the end, Bian Guanyue was already screaming herself hoarse.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Guan Xiaolin forced herself to say, "You don't understand. I had my reasons."

"What reasons could you possibly have?"

Bian Guanyue mocked, "You pushed me over there because you wanted me to disgust that woman, use me to create conflict and stir them into divorcing, then find a chance to get back together with my dad!"

Guan Xiaolin did not deny it, because that had indeed been her plan back then.

"You only ever thought about yourself. Did you ever consider me?"

Bian Guanyue demanded, "I was only six when you two got divorced, and I had to live with my stepmother. Did you ever think she might abuse me? Did you ever think how awful it was for me to be caught between them? You're just like my dad. You're both selfish people!"

Guan Xiaolin retorted, "I'm selfish? Could I possibly be more selfish than your dad? To save himself twenty years of struggle, he abandoned his wife and daughter to marry a widow! He didn't even care when your stepmother bullied you. He only cared about living off a woman in a luxury house, while throwing you into an old house with your grandparents!"

"Don't mention my grandparents. You have no right!" Bian Guanyue stopped eating, threw down her chopsticks, and went back to the bedroom.

Guan Xiaolin chased after her and held the door, refusing to let her daughter close it. "I have no right? Your grandmother was the one who had someone arrange the match between me and your dad. If not for them, would any of this have happened? They gave birth to a Chen Shimei, so they should take responsibility to the end!"

"Get out! This is my room!" Bian Guanyue roared.

Grandpa and Grandma followed them in.

Grandma tugged at Guan Xiaolin's sleeve. "Enough. You and Bian each started new families. Why drag up old matters and argue over them? You finally came back for a visit. Why make things this ugly? If you have something to say, say it properly."

Guan Xiaolin said aggrievedly, "I flew from Pengcheng to Hibiscus City, then took a car for several more hours to get back here. Do you think I wanted to argue with her? If I didn't care about my daughter, why would I go through all this trouble?"

"Don't put on that fake act of a cat crying over a mouse," Bian Guanyue said.

The more Guan Xiaolin heard, the angrier she became. "I'm a cat crying over a mouse? I'm your mother! I already found connections in Pengcheng and contacted a good school for you. Who have I been begging and swallowing my pride for?"

"Get out, get out! I don't need you pretending to be a good person!" Bian Guanyue reached out and pushed her mother toward the door.

Both mother and daughter were stubborn by nature, and their emotions had already boiled over.

Guan Xiaolin refused to leave and deliberately squeezed farther inside.

Grandpa and Grandma hurriedly tried to persuade them, but to no avail.

The scene became increasingly chaotic. Guan Xiaolin was not as strong as her daughter, so in her panic, she grabbed the coat rack to keep her balance.

With a loud crash, the coat rack was pulled over and fell onto Guan Xiaolin's forehead.

Seeing her mother hurt, Bian Guanyue could not quite bear it, and the force of her shoving weakened considerably.

But Guan Xiaolin took the opportunity to squeeze forward, clutching her forehead as she moved past her daughter toward the bed. Her head was spinning from the blow, and she tripped over the fallen coat rack.

As she pitched forward, Guan Xiaolin grabbed wildly at something.

It was the laptop's power cord.

Smack!

The laptop was yanked off the desk.

Bian Guanyue froze on the spot, then lunged over to check it.

She ignored her fallen mother and anxiously picked up the laptop.

The battery had flown out.

Bian Guanyue picked it up and put it back in, then held down the power button. There was no response at all. The screen remained black.

Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

Wiping her tears, Bian Guanyue picked up the laptop, then grabbed her schoolbag from the living room sofa and ran out of the apartment to the ground floor.

Seeing this, Guan Xiaolin was furious. "Is there a daughter like this? Her own mother fell down and she doesn't care, only cares about her computer. In her heart, her own mother isn't even worth as much as a computer!"

Grandpa, who had barely spoken until now, revealed the truth. "You know Guanguan has lived with her grandparents all these years. But you don't know that her grandmother passed away three years ago, and her grandfather passed away this year. That's why she transferred back here."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Guan Xiaolin complained.

Grandma sighed. "We didn't tell you because we were afraid you'd come back and cause trouble. When have you two ever met without arguing? You're already forty years old, you've been married twice, and you still can't change that nasty temper. That computer just now was Guanguan's birthday present from her grandfather before he died."

Guan Xiaolin fell silent at those words.

Bian Guanyue walked to the roadside, wiping tears as she waited for a ride.

A taxi came by. Bian Guanyue opened the door and got in. "Driver, do you know where I can get a computer repaired?"

"I really don't know," the taxi driver said.

This rundown place, Fushi County, was poor. It did not even have a large shopping mall, much less a store specializing in digital products.

It did not even have a fast-food restaurant!

There should be places that repaired computers, but there were too few of them and they were hard to find. Even taxi drivers might not know where they were.

"To No. 2 Middle School," Bian Guanyue said instinctively.

The taxi driver slammed on the gas. "Hold tight!"

In the blink of an eye, they arrived outside the school gate. Bian Guanyue paid and got out. She wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and walked into the campus as if nothing had happened.

She called her grandparents to let them know she was safe, telling them she had not run off anywhere and had already arrived at school.

After hanging up, the more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt, and tears flowed down again.

She put up her hood and tightened the drawstrings at her collar, leaving only her eyes and nose exposed, as though that could isolate her from the outside world.

With her head lowered, she entered the classroom and went straight to her seat. She pressed her forehead against her folded arms, pretending to be asleep at her desk.

But her shoulders occasionally trembled, giving away her silent sobbing.

After lunch, Zheng Feng had walked one bus stop to wait for his goddess, squatting by the roadside to do homework while he waited.

He waited and waited. Class was nearly about to start, but his goddess still had not appeared.

Another bus arrived, and Zheng Feng could only grit his teeth and get on. Studying was ultimately more important than dating.

He jumped off the bus and sprinted toward the classroom. The moment he entered, he saw that familiar figure.

After walking to his seat and putting down his schoolbag, Zheng Feng assumed his goddess was taking a nap. He wanted to speak, but did not dare disturb her rashly.

Just then, history teacher Wang Wenliang appeared.

There were still a few minutes before class officially started. Wang Wenliang sat behind the podium desk, rapped on it, and called out, "Who's on duty today? Wipe the blackboard!"

Chen Guiliang and Xie Yang entered the classroom side by side.

Hearing the teacher's call, Bian Guanyue, who had already stopped crying, sat up and took out her history textbook.

A large patch of her sleeve was wet with tears.

Chen Guiliang walked over and happened to see her reddened eyes.

Tears still clung to her long eyelashes.

Her eyes were misty with tears, like pear blossoms in the rain.

Even having lived two lives, Chen Guiliang was instantly struck by that pitiable appearance and wanted to hold Bian Guanyue in his arms, comfort her, and cherish her.

She was just a soft, delicate little enchantress!

"Do you have tissues?" Chen Guiliang asked Wang Siyu.

Wang Siyu handed him a box of tissues.

Chen Guiliang casually stuffed the entire box into Bian Guanyue's desk drawer.

Only then did Wang Siyu notice those eyes red from crying. She walked over and asked Chen Guiliang, "She cried?"

Chen Guiliang nodded lightly.

Zheng Feng sensed something was wrong as well and asked directly, "What happened to you?"

"Nothing."

Bian Guanyue pulled out a tissue and quickly wiped away her tears, then returned the remaining tissues to Wang Siyu. "Do you know where I can get a computer repaired?"

Zheng Feng hurriedly said, "When my cousin's computer broke, she took it to the city to get it fixed."

"Thanks." Bian Guanyue lowered her head.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Is it urgent?"

"It's not too bad," Bian Guanyue replied.

Not too bad meant it was very urgent.

Chen Guiliang stuffed his books back into his desk and stood up. "Let's go."

Bian Guanyue asked in confusion, "Where?"

Chen Guiliang said, "I'll go get your computer repaired with you."

"Right now?" Bian Guanyue was somewhat stunned.

Zheng Feng said anxiously, "No... Chen Guiliang, only the city has places that repair computers, and class is about to start. If you go now, you'll miss the entire afternoon of classes."

Chen Guiliang asked back, "Can't you tell? Bian Guanyue is in a hurry."

Zheng Feng was afraid Chen Guiliang would take advantage of her vulnerability. "Even if it's urgent, you can't leave now. It's only a computer repair. You can go during the weekend."

Chen Guiliang could not be bothered to deal with him anymore and said to Bian Guanyue, "Come with me. I'll take you to get it repaired!"

Bian Guanyue said nothing, but silently picked up her laptop and schoolbag.

Under Zheng Feng and Wang Siyu's shocked gazes, Chen Guiliang led Bian Guanyue toward the podium.

"Mr. Wang, I'd like to take leave," Chen Guiliang said.

Wang Wenliang neither agreed nor disagreed, merely reminding him, "Class starts in two minutes."

Chen Guiliang said, "Bian Guanyue has something very urgent to take care of."

Wang Wenliang looked at Bian Guanyue's tear-reddened eyes and did not ask any more questions. "Go ahead. Remember to submit a leave slip to your homeroom teacher afterward."

"Thank you, teacher!"

Bian Guanyue bowed.

Zheng Feng stared in astonishment. "They're really just leaving like that?"

Wang Siyu even twisted the knife beside him. "You walk Bian Guanyue to and from school every day, but you're still not as good as Chen Guiliang taking her out to skip class once."

Zheng Feng felt as though he had been cuckolded. Depressed beyond measure, he said, "I'm a good student. I never skip class!"

Wang Siyu smiled. "Girls like bad boys."

They were not the only ones talking about it. The entire class watched Chen Guiliang lead Bian Guanyue out of the classroom.

Chen the Hero was awesome. He was skipping class with a beautiful girl!

Xie Yang looked stunned and muttered to himself, "What the fuck is going on?"

Li Jun had just arrived after playing basketball, dragging his sweaty, smelly body into the classroom. After asking what had happened and getting the full story, he slapped his thigh. "I can skip class too!"

Guan Zhiqiang grinned foolishly. "Heh heh."

Chen Guiliang had not made that choice merely to court her favor.

He had long planned to go into the city to discuss a business deal and earn his first pot of gold early. On the return trip, he could also stop by home to see his grandmother and pick up his first- and second-year high school textbooks.

He could accomplish several things at once.

The moment the two of them walked out of the teaching building, the class bell rang.

The school gate had been closed as well. Chen Guiliang offered a cigarette and said, "Could you open the gate for us?"

The gatekeeper accepted the cigarette but refused to do the favor. "Before school lets out, you can come in but not go out. If you want to leave campus, you need a leave slip signed by your homeroom teacher."

Bian Guanyue said, "Forget it."

"Follow me." Chen Guiliang turned and headed in the other direction.

Bian Guanyue was lost and helpless at that moment, as though she had found someone to rely on. Step by step, she followed behind Chen Guiliang.

Before long, they arrived at the faculty housing area.

It connected to the teaching area, and the school's back gate was located there as well.

The back gate stood open, with no one stopping them.

Good students generally did not know this route existed.

Standing by the roadside, Bian Guanyue suggested, "Let's take a taxi. We can get there and back quickly."

"The roads are all terrible. A taxi won't be much faster than the bus," Chen Guiliang said.

Having finally found an opening into a beautiful girl's heart, why would Chen Guiliang choose a taxi?

A slow, bumpy bus ride was much more romantic.

And it would last more than two hours!