Old Master Song rubbed his hands together, looking at Song Bai with disbelief for the eighteenth time, asking, "Your brother is really going to play basketball?"
Old Master Song is already incredibly grateful that Song Lan can go to school normally.
Now, he's actually going to participate in tomorrow's basketball game?
what does that mean!
It means he wants to join group activities, it means he wants to integrate into the crowd, it means he might really not want to die anymore.
Old Master Song's eyes filled with tears as he gripped Song Bai's arm.
Song Bai said excitedly, "That's what he just said, he told Feng Moshan himself."
Old Master Song slapped his Big Head, "Hey~ I'm going to have a smoke!"
The school basketball tournament lasted for two whole weeks.
In the final championship match, Song Lan's class lost to Class 2 by three points.
But they beat Class 8.
"Hey! Those bastards in Class 8, from now on, every time I pass by their classroom, I'll have to shout 'Fifth place!' Hahahaha!"
"Awesome! I'm satisfied as long as we beat Class 8!"
"I never expected Song Lan to actually know how to play ball."
"I won't call him 'King of Pretentiousness' anymore. He's actually quite nice. I stepped on his foot a few times while we were playing basketball, and I thought he was going to get angry, but nothing happened."
"A few days ago, I saw him crying in the alley next to the school after school. I don't know why, he was crying so hard."
"Really?"
"Really, he was crying and seemed to be saying something about looking for his mother? I didn't hear clearly, since it's not good to overhear people doing that behind their backs. As soon as I realized it was him, I left quickly."
The group of people playing ball were talking excitedly, all chattering away.
The sports committee member shouted, " Old Zhao said he's treating us to hot pot tonight!"
"Yeah!"
A group of teenagers immediately erupted in celebration.
Feng Moshan nudged Song Lan with his elbow, "We'll definitely be drinking at the hot pot dinner tonight, we'll get Old Zhao drunk then."
Old Zhao is their homeroom teacher.
Song Lan glanced at him, "I'm not going, I don't like hot pot," she paused, "And don't try to get Old Zhao to eat it either, he was taking his medicine a few days ago."
Feng Moshan was speechless. "Why are you such a spoilsport? We've already played the game, what's wrong with having a meal together? If you don't like it, eat less."
As he was saying this, as he walked out of the school gate, Feng Moshan spotted the child standing at the entrance of the alley.
The child clearly saw them too, and his face immediately lit up with excitement as he waved at them.
Song Lan said to Feng Moshan, "I made plans with him, you guys go have dinner."
After saying that, without waiting for Feng Moshan's reaction, he strode towards the child opposite him.
Enraged, Feng Moshan roared from behind, "Is she your wife? Why are you in such a hurry!"
"You lost the game?"
As soon as Song Lan arrived, Jiang Mingxi immediately asked.
Song Lan had never seen anyone ask someone about losing a competition with such excitement.
But upon catching a glimpse of the lollipop Jiang Mingxi had hidden behind her back, Song Lan's previously expressionless face showed a hint of sadness. "Yes."
Jiang Mingxi immediately held up the lollipop in her hand and shoved it in front of Song Lan, "Eat some candy, it'll make you feel better. Oh well, it's a competition, there are winners and losers. If you lose this time, you can win next time."
"I took a test. The last time I got 48 points, this time I got 65. I passed."
Life is full of ups and downs.
Song Lan:...
His usually expressionless face nearly broke into a laugh.
He took the lollipop and pinched Jiang Mingxi's cheek. "Mmm."
Jiang Mingxi tilted her head back, her dark eyes looking at him. "Are you feeling better now?"
Song Lan:...
Holding the lollipop, she said, "Feeling better."
Jiang Mingxi immediately smiled broadly and breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Lan thought to herself: So cute.
As dinner time approached, Song Lan asked him, "Let's have dinner together tonight. After dinner, I'll take you back to the orphanage, okay?"
Jiang Mingxi said, "Then I need to talk to the headmistress first."
"What do you want to eat?" Song Lan asked as she took out her phone to call him.
Jiang Mingxi immediately said, "Hot pot, hot pot, hot pot! I love hot pot the most! Do you like hot pot?"
Song Lan answered without hesitation, "I love it! I love hot pot the most."
"We went out for hot pot that day and also bought books at the bookstore," Jiang Mingxi, lying on the bed and turning her head to look at Song Lan. "If I had known you were so rich, I should have ordered two more plates of meat. I wasn't even full!"
All my past memories came flooding back.
Jiang Mingxi remembered everything, little by little.
Song Lan kissed him on the back. "You ate six plates of meat by yourself that day, weren't you full? Should I feed you some now?"
Jiang Mingxi:...
Jiang Mingxi:!!!
She immediately jerked her lower back and struggled to the side, shouting, "How can you be so stingy? I ate six plates of your meat, and you still remember that after all these years? Your memory is so good, how come you don't remember me!"
Song Lan gently massaged his lower back with her warm hands, her eyes filled with tenderness. "Because after that day, you disappeared. I went to the orphanage to look for you, and the director said you had been adopted."
After that, Song Lan never saw that little boy again.
That meal was the last one he remembered.
In the countless days and nights that followed, whenever he thought about these things, he would wonder: why didn't I order more delicious food for him back then?
Jiang Mingxi's appearance and disappearance greatly affected Song Lan, causing him to relapse several times and experience several brushes with death...
By the time things got better, I wouldn't remember the days when I first met Jiang Mingxi in high school.
I do remember her from when I was a child, but unfortunately, I don't recognize her as the Jiang Mingxi I met as an adult.
He took the blame, saying, "It's all my fault."
Jiang Mingxi grunted.
Song Lan never saw him again after that, because he was adopted the next day.
It was a couple from out of town who took him there.
After raising him for several months, the couple became pregnant, had their own child, and then abandoned him.
They abandoned him without informing the orphanage, and instead gave him directly to an elderly person living alone downstairs.
Although the old man was old, he was incredibly energetic. Jiang Mingxi's tormented life began with that old man...
I was tormented for a whole year.
It wasn't until A-Wang returned and came looking for him that he discovered he had long been abandoned by the couple who had previously adopted him and was being kept as a dog in the basement by the old man.
Jiang Mingxi rubbed her head against the bed.
Suddenly, she leaned close to Song Lan and bit his arm. "I told you, I'd remember you even if you turned to ashes."
(There's a slight connection in the later side story)