Speaking of his family, his two older brothers fought over the inheritance every day. The eldest hired someone to stab the second, and the second hired someone to run the eldest over. Their parents each did their own thing. Old Ma generally stayed away from home-out of sight, out of mind. As for Dada, he was a little devil. No need to elaborate.
In Gu Wang's eyes, he could see something none of them had: a youthful spirit, and goodwill toward the entire world.
That was why Yue Feng hoped He Qinghuan could keep himself in check and not entertain thoughts he shouldn't. Gu Wang was different from them. Shutting him away for a few years, locking him up at home, wouldn't solve the problem.
While his mind churned with a jumble of feelings, Old Ma had focused on entirely the wrong thing. He nodded. "I think Gu Wang's ex-girlfriend is pretty good-looking."
Yue Feng said, "????"
Sure, you're the only one with eyes. The only one with a mouth, too.
While he and Old Ma bickered off to the side, He Qinghuan lowered his eyes. There was a visible chill in them, along with a trace of dejection. "I know where to draw the line."
Yue Feng was worrying too much.
Given He Qinghuan's temperament, even without Dada's reminder last night, Gu Wang might not have lived to see another day.
He Qinghuan was giving himself a chance, and giving Gu Wang one too.
Meanwhile, in another car, Mei Li was driving the three boys up the wall. When Gu Wang ignored her, she pestered Shen Zhao and Song Zhiyan instead, demanding to know whether Gu Wang had fallen for someone else. When Shen Zhao said no, she didn't believe him. When he said yes, she didn't believe that either.
Song Zhiyan had initially wanted to mention He Qinghuan's name, but held back. Who knew whether Mei Li would charge up to He Qinghuan and make a scene, staking her claim or something? That would drag Gu Wang back into the mire. He stubbornly insisted there was no one, and that he didn't know anyone.
Seeing the three of them refuse to say anything as though they had planned it together, with Gu Wang ignoring her too, Mei Li started crying. She had come all the way back to the country alone, only to find herself in this situation.
The three boys immediately became flustered. Gu Wang had never dated anyone or comforted anyone before. He handed Mei Li a tissue. "Don't cry."
Through tear-filled eyes, Mei Li asked him, "Then do you still like me?"
Gu Wang pressed his lips together. "Stop asking."
Mei Li instantly cried even louder. She had known Gu Wang was heartless, but hadn't expected him to be this heartless, unwilling to offer even a single gentle word.
Watching the back seat through the rearview mirror, Song Zhiyan silently switched on the music. Electronic music mingled with the rain drumming against the roof, drowning out Mei Li's sobs.
Mei Li shot the back of Song Zhiyan's head a startled look, then raised her voice to compete with the other sounds, almost blowing the roof off the car.
Gu Wang said, "..."
When they dropped Gu Wang off at home, Mei Li tried to get out with him. Shen Zhao caught her. "Girl, I'm begging you. Stop making a fuss."
As Gu Wang disappeared into the distance, Mei Li shook off Shen Zhao's hand and sat back down. "I'm not making a fuss."
Song Zhiyan started the engine again. With Gu Wang gone, Mei Li stopped crying, though she still sniffled. "Has Gu Wang really fallen for someone else?"
Shen Zhao was about to say yes when Song Zhiyan beat him to it. "He did before. Wangwang doesn't like anyone now."
They couldn't let Mei Li find out about He Qinghuan. With her temperament, if she rashly went looking for trouble with him, she wouldn't even know what had killed her.
Mei Li's eyes brightened slightly. "Then do I still have a chance? I want to win Gu Wang back."
Song Zhiyan said, "No. Wangwang needs to get into university."
Mei Li was a poor student too, and she knew Gu Wang was one as well, so she was rather surprised to hear that he wanted to get into university. He used to tell her he would inherit the family business and live a carefree, extravagant life, scattering gold with his right hand and silver with his left.
"You should work hard too. Maybe if your grades improve, Wangwang will change his mind." Shen Zhao was merely comforting her. He could sense Gu Wang's change. In all this time, Gu Wang hadn't shown any interest in anyone. All he did every day was study. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was aiming for A University.
Mei Li pouted. "I'm not on the academic track."
Shen Zhao said, "Oh, I forgot. You're a dancer."
At the mention of dancing, Mei Li immediately became downcast. She had gone abroad for dance, only to be eliminated in the second round of the competition and have no choice but to return.
She had transferred schools partly for Gu Wang, and partly because she was afraid of facing her former classmates. It was too embarrassing.
When Gu Wang arrived home, quite a few people were sitting around the living room. The Gu family had plenty of relatives, but the current Gu Wang didn't recognize a single one of them. The novel hadn't come with a character chart or anything.
Gu Dazhi spotted him and waved him over. "Wangwang, come on. Say hello to everyone."
Gu Wang said, "..."
That morning, Gu Wang had asked Gu Dazhi who was coming. Relying on his memory, he obediently greeted the group without addressing anyone in particular. "Younger Aunt, Elder Aunt, Uncle, Eldest Uncle, Auntie, Eldest Cousin, Second Cousin, Eldest Cousin."
He probably hadn't missed anyone. Those were the only relatives Gu Dazhi had told him were coming for dinner.
His younger aunt, Gu Meiping, gave a delighted exclamation and took a red envelope from her bag. "Here, Wangwang. This is from your aunt. Your dad told me your grades are very good now."
Was three hundred points very good too?
He accepted it and thanked her. With Gu Meiping taking the lead, the others began pressing red envelopes on him too. His little cousin, only five years old, clutched five yuan and hugged him. "Big Brother, this is my reward for you."
Everyone around them burst out laughing.
Gu Wang patted her head. "Keep it and buy yourself some candy."
Gu Meiping lifted her away, laughing helplessly. "She dug that out of my wallet on the way here. She said she hadn't seen you in so long. The moment we got here and she couldn't find you, she searched upstairs and downstairs. She cried for half an hour. We only just calmed her down."
Gu Wang looked at her. Her eyelashes were still wet.
A jumble of feelings filled his heart, along with a warm glow.
The Original Host had had a wonderful family. Even going by age, he should have ranked somewhere in the middle among his siblings and cousins, and it was usually the youngest who were doted on.
Yet in the Gu family, Gu Wang was the most beloved. Even the little ones "doted on" him.
But in the end, the Original Host had brought ruin upon the entire Gu family. Every last one of them.
At that thought, Gu Wang's nose stung for some reason. Pretending his eyes were bothering him, he rubbed them and said he would go upstairs to put his things away and come right back down.
The moment he stepped onto the stairs, his little cousin Zhang Jiajia followed him. Gu Meiping couldn't catch her in time.
Gu Dazhi laughed. "Your girl is so clingy. What are you going to do when she grows up?"
Gu Meiping said, "Only with Wangwang. When have you ever seen her cling to you?"
Gu Dazhi said, "..."
Five-year-old Zhang Jiajia quietly followed Gu Wang into his room without him noticing. She lay on the floor, wriggled under the bed, and dragged out a cardboard box.
Only the sound of it scraping across the floor alerted Gu Wang that someone else was in the room.
The little girl crouched beside the box, beaming.
Gu Wang didn't know what was inside. He crouched down to take a look, only to hear Zhang Jiajia ask, "Big Brother, have you won He Qinghuan over yet?"
Gu Wang said, "!!!!!!!"
Gu Wang truly couldn't believe it. Even Gu Dazhi and the others didn't know about this. Why did Zhang Jiajia know?
Fortunately, Zhang Jiajia was too young to fully read his emotions. She blinked, waiting for his answer.
Once the shock passed, Gu Wang could more or less guess. The Original Host hadn't told his family, but when you truly liked someone, you thought they were the best, and wanted to show them off from time to time.
Gu Wang must have been unable to resist showing off to Zhang Jiajia.
He opened the cardboard box. It wasn't large, but its contents filled it to the brim, arranged from large items at the bottom to small ones at the top. There was a varied assortment of things. Right on top was He Qinghuan's ID photo.
Gu Wang paused. If he wasn't mistaken, this box-the entire box-probably contained things related to He Qinghuan.
Beneath the photo was a workbook. He opened it to the first page, and the character "He" immediately caught his eye. This was He Qinghuan's too.
There were plenty of other things: a pen that had run out of ink, used sheets of scrap paper, and green mint wrappers. Gu Wang didn't dig all the way to the bottom. With mixed feelings, he simply closed the box and pushed it back under the bed.
"Big Brother, are you crying?" the little girl's childish voice suddenly rang out.
Gu Wang came back to himself and brushed a fingertip beneath his eye. He didn't know when the moisture had spilled out. It was probably the Original Host's emotions, unrelated to Gu Wang himself.
Gu Wang smiled, not letting any of this affect him too much, and ruffled Zhang Jiajia's hair. "I got dust in my eyes."
Zhang Jiajia stood up and walked over to him. "The things in that box must be too dusty. We won't look at them anymore. Big Brother, let me blow it out for you."
Without any hesitation, Gu Wang agreed and let the little girl touch his eyes.
The rain continued to patter into the next day. Water pooled in the streets, where fallen leaves and scattered petals mingled with it, swirling down the drains.
As soon as Gu Wang entered the school building, he saw that the old writing on the noticeboard had been erased and replaced with a new notice from the academic affairs office.
Every year, Jinyang High School selected students for the Special Academic Excellence Award, the Outstanding Class Cadre Award, and the Outstanding Progress Award. Though these didn't earn extra points on the college entrance exam, the school issued certificates and cash prizes, and entered them in students' records. As a result, after National Day every year, the academically strong students in each class fought tooth and nail over them.
Only two types of people didn't compete: catastrophically bad students like the former Gu Wang, and academic stars who stood above mere mortals like He Qinghuan.
He Qinghuan was indeed first in his year, but the other nine students in the top ten, or even the other nineteen in the top twenty, were no pushovers either. They kept everyone below them firmly suppressed year after year.
Those students weren't worried either. They would get one or two awards regardless.
The Special Academic Excellence Award generally went only to students above a certain year ranking, so ordinary students didn't dare dream of it. The main competition was for Outstanding Class Cadre Award and Outstanding Progress. The Outstanding Progress Award in particular didn't require outstanding grades. As long as you improved, whether in your studies or your everyday conduct, you could receive it.
But it had to be substantial progress, not something you could achieve through sporadic effort.
As the idea of nominating outstanding students suggested, the class had to vote.
The votes were anonymous. One person read them aloud while another recorded the tally on the blackboard.
Gu Wang didn't think his classmates would consider him. He voted objectively: He Qinghuan for Special Academic Excellence, Wen Ting for Outstanding Class Cadre Award, and for Outstanding Progress... Song Zhiyan.
After writing down Song Zhiyan's name, he looked up at him, just as Song Zhiyan looked his way. Song Zhiyan winked smugly at Gu Wang, meaning, I voted for you.
Gu Wang said, "..."
Gu Wang looked away. Wen Ting came around to collect the ballots, and he reached past He Qinghuan to hand his directly to her. Lowering her voice, Wen Ting said, "Wangwang, I voted for you for the progress award."
Gu Wang said, "...Thanks." He was good-looking, so even a casual word of thanks from him made people feel good.
He Qinghuan witnessed their interaction. The corners of his mouth dipped slightly, his eyes as dark as the sky outside, heavy with black clouds.
Up on the platform, they began reading out the votes, starting with the Special Academic Excellence Award. Wen Ting had no curiosity whatsoever about the eventual winner. It was the same person every year.
"He Qinghuan, one vote."
"He Qinghuan, two votes."
"He Qinghuan, fifty-five votes."
"He Qinghuan wins the Special Academic Excellence Award unanimously."
There were fifty-six people in the class, and voting for yourself was forbidden. Everyone except He Qinghuan had voted for He Qinghuan, including Gu Wang.
Personal grievances should be settled in private. This was official business.
But that was Gu Wang's thinking. He Qinghuan didn't see it that way. The dark clouds cleared from his eyes, and he turned to speak to Gu Wang alone. "Wangwang, thank you."
"..." Gu Wang paused briefly, then said stiffly, "You deserve it. You don't need to thank me."
Gu Wang's strong principles gave He Qinghuan plenty of openings to exploit. Gu Wang was a good boy who clearly distinguished what he should and shouldn't do. Even when he used to pursue He Qinghuan, although he had been a little annoying, he had never truly disturbed him. Sending gifts and breakfast was as far as he went.
He Qinghuan was different. He and Gu Wang were polar opposites. He would use any means necessary to achieve his goal.
When they reached the progress award, Gu Wang received more than half the votes, with Song Zhiyan trailing him by two.
Each class had two places for the progress award. It was now clear they would go to Gu Wang and Song Zhiyan.
"Gu Wang and Song Zhiyan win the Academic Progress Award."
Song Zhiyan jumped to his feet. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Even I can get fucking picked,"