Back in the classroom, Xu Xinduo stared at Tong Yan.
It was already time for the last class. Most students were participating in their optional classes or waiting for school to be over as soon as the bell rang.
Tong Yan had started arranging his schoolbag and seemed to be ready to leave school. Xu Xinduo sighed as she turned around and said to Tong Yan, “I was talking about becoming a model with Shao Qinghe.”
“A model?” Tong Yan asked in shock.
“Yeah.”
“The kind that walks back and forth in underwear?”
“No, the one who appears in print media.”
Tong Yan suddenly felt anxious.
He was willing to give Xu Xinduo money to make sure that Xu Xinduo and her Grandma would have nothing to worry about for the rest of their lives. Not only that, even his mother was willing to look after her.
However, Xu Xinduo was not willing to accept it.
He watched as Xu Xinduo worked hard every day to grind through the lessons and participate in competitions for the prize money of several thousand RMB. Now she was even thinking about working at a young age. He was not feeling at ease at all.
Tong Yan suddenly asked her, “How about you win money from playing sports like how you did it with Yin Shaoshu?”
“Well…”
Tong Yan suddenly pulled Xu Xinduo out of the classroom and walked towards the school’s Go club. He swiped his card at the door and found that there were still students in the class.
Tong Yan went in and said to the teacher, “I want to borrow a board.”
After talking, he picked up a board and walked out. He put it in the corridor and gave Xu Xinduo the Go pieces.
Xu Xinduo asked him, “You want to play Go?”
“I’ve been playing Go for a long time. If you are able to place five-in-a-row, I will give you 10,000 RMB a game.” After Tong Yan finished speaking, he made his first move.
Xu Xinduo followed him and saw that Tong Yan was making moves blindly. For example, she had already placed three pieces in a row, but Tong Yan didn’t do anything to stop her. Just as she placed her fifth piece in a row (she won), he began knocking off all the pieces: “10,000 RMB are yours, let’s play again.”
With that, they started another round.
Xu Xinduo didn’t make any moves, but looked at him helplessly.
Tong Yan looked at her and asked confidently: “I am not helping you, am I?”
“Tong Yan… why can’t you understand me?”
“How don’t I understand you? I don’t want you to be so tired, does that mean I don’t understand you?”
“Have you ever thought about it from my perspective? I want to have a little bit of dignity in front of you, can’t I?”
Tong Yan watched her stand up, close up her down jacket and walk out.
Her down jacket reached to her calves, but it was still possible to see she was wearing his school uniform trousers underneath. He could clearly see how fragile her legs were.
After Xu Xinduo walked away, Tong Yan looked at the board for a while.
The people around him were weird, always saying that he couldn’t understand them.
Xu Xinduo had the same attitude.
What’s the matter?
What’s wrong about me?
He just wanted to be nice to her and he wanted to support her, hold her, and protect her.
Wasn’t that okay?
Why am I so anxious?
So annoying!
