Chapter 266 Alumnus Zheng Yuan

Since this was the only bus this afternoon, there were quite a few people. In addition to the young people going to school in L City, there were also some middle-aged and elderly people with big and small bags. When she got on the bus, there were no seats left, so she could only hold onto the armrests and stand next to a woman holding a child.

Once everyone was on board, the bus was full. People in those days didn't have a concept of overloading; they just thought that the more people they carried, the more money they could make.

So when someone waves her off on the roadside, the car will stop; the constant stopping and starting is the main reason she gets carsick.

Because of motion sickness, her face looked rather pale. The whole car smelled of gasoline mixed with the stench of men smoking and their body odor, making it an extremely unbearable experience.

To make matters worse, there was a child making a ruckus nearby. That child was clearly raised in a rough manner; not only was he snotty, but his sleeves were covered in dried yellow boogers, and his chest was full of rice crumbs.

The child was in such a state, and the woman wasn't exactly clean either. She was standing right next to them, and they could smell an unpleasant odor of menstrual blood. When their gaze fell on her hair, they were startled by the dense lice on it and instinctively stepped back, accidentally stepping on her in the process.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, turning around to see a tall man a head taller than her. He was very neat-looking, with a spiky shaved head, but you could tell from the backpack he was carrying that he was also a student.

"It's okay." The boy replied and made room for her. Xiao Jiu instinctively squeezed in and stood next to him. Before she could grab him, she was thrown out by the sudden braking. She instinctively cried out, "Ah!" The next second—

The boy also took a big step forward due to inertia, but he grabbed the handrail above, so he quickly regained his balance. Seeing Xiao Jiu being thrown out, he reacted quickly, grabbed the back of her collar, and pulled her to his front.

The passengers were thrown about awkwardly by the driver's sudden braking, and once they were seated again, they all started to question him.

"What happened? Do you even know how to drive? You scared the hell out of me!"

"Yeah, yeah, look at us, we're all sprawled out like this! Hey, ticket seller up ahead, what's going on?"

The ticket seller was also dazed and confused by the impact, her face pale. After the car came to a stop, she opened the door and started cursing.

"You old lady, is this how you stop a car?"

If you waved your hand, we would have stopped. But you, the fuck, rushed in front of the car. Do you even want to live?

If you don't want to live, just say so. Why not just run into the curb instead of our car?

You don't mind the bad luck, but we do! Hey, why are you pushing? Did I let you on the bus? Why are you pushing in here?

Back off, back off some more!

After the old woman, who was full of anger and uttering foul language, took a few steps back.

The ticket seller slammed the door shut, and the driver stepped on the gas.

The old woman stood by the roadside shouting and jumping, hurling insults at him.

The ticket seller snorted, "I can tell this old hag is up to no good. I'm not going to pull you. Heh, I'll make you angry!"

"Go ahead and curse, go ahead and use foul language, do you think everyone puts you through all that!"

Xiao Jiu chuckled. This ticket seller is really something else!

However, she could also tell that the old woman under the car was not a good person. She looked mean-spirited. Although she had bound feet, she was still nimble and chased after the car after it drove away, cursing loudly. It was clear that she was very healthy, otherwise she would not have dared to stop the car directly.

Are you alright?

When the boy's voice rang out behind her, Xiao Jiu remembered to thank him for saving her life.

"Thank you for pulling me up earlier, otherwise I might have ended up in a pile with the people in front of me. Here, have some candy."

Xiao Jiu took two candies out of her pocket and placed them into the pocket of the boy's Zhongshan suit without giving him a chance to refuse.

"No, no need, it's just a small favor."

Xiao Jiu grinned, showing her white teeth: "Of course, which school do you go to, brother?"

"A tall one."

"Graduating class of the second year of high school?"

"Um."

"Oh, we go to the same school. I'm in the first year of high school."

The boy looked at her with a surprised expression, as if he had been through a lot of shock.

"You're already a high school freshman? How is that possible? At your size, you should be more like an elementary school student!"

Actually, Xiao Jiu is not only a profile picture, but also looks like him, so it's no wonder that the boy blurted it out without any attempt to hide it.

Xiao Jiu was already used to this way of greeting, and chuckled, "I'm just a late bloomer!"

They never mentioned the fact that they were already in elementary school at that age.

"What's your name? My name is Tao Tao, Tao as in clay, Tao as in peach, Tao Tao, doesn't that sound nice?"

Xiao Jiu felt incredibly beautiful, and the boy looked at her with a smile in his eyes.

"Zheng Yuan, Class 1, Grade 11. Since you're a junior, feel free to come to me if you need anything in the future."

When she said she was in Class 1 of the first year of high school, Zheng Yuan knew that this girl, who looked a little short and small, was also a good student.

How could the best classes in a top school be bad?

"Mom, I want candy too! Mom, I want candy too!"

Just as Xiao Jiu and Zheng Yuan were chatting, a discordant voice came from the side.

"Eat, eat, all you ever think about is eating! Do I look like candy? No!"

After saying that, she glared at Xiao Jiu, but because of her loud voice, the child burst into tears.

Xiao Jiu frowned and immediately pulled Zheng Yuan towards the door.

Zheng Yuan looked at her with amusement. Xiao Jiu was about to explain when he saw the woman say something to the child, who then got off his mother and squeezed towards Xiao Jiu.

"Give me candy, I want to eat candy."

Xiao Jiu's face darkened instantly when he saw the dirty little hand grabbing his trouser leg.

"You can't eat on the bus, especially not hard things like candy, otherwise you'll choke if the bus brakes suddenly, and I can't take responsibility for that."

As soon as Xiao Jiu said that, Zheng Yuan immediately stopped fumbling for candy to get out of the predicament. But children don't understand these things. They just know that Xiao Jiu has candy. If he doesn't get it, he will cry and wail. Xiao Jiu doesn't indulge him.

"I'm out of candy; we ate the other two."

The child wouldn't listen, and the people around him were getting really annoyed.

"Why are you so stingy? Just give him one piece, that's enough."

"Yeah, yeah, it's so noisy!"

Xiao Jiu was amused by these words. "Why would I give him candy? Do I even know him? Besides, didn't you understand what I just said? If something happens while eating candy in the car, who's responsible?"

Then, ignoring the stares of those around him, he picked up the child and looked in the direction of the woman.

"Do you still want this child? If not, I'll just throw him out!"

What kind of person would encourage their child to ask strangers for food?

You've failed miserably as a mother.

If you don't have any candy for him, why should he act like a beggar, throwing a tantrum and acting like a scoundrel in front of people?

She's already learned this terrible trick at such a young age; what will she be like when she grows up? Is this how you teach your child?

Give him as much as you are capable of and can earn as much food and drink as you can. Don't let him resort to robbery or thievery when he can't get what he wants at such a young age!

Your trick won't work on me, and I have no reason to tolerate it!

As she spoke, she threw the child into the woman's arms. Seeing that the woman was about to start cursing, Xiao Jiu also chimed in with a sharp retort.

"You'd better stay put. It's almost winter, and you still have so many lice on your head. You may not be disgusted by yourself, but we are!"

The woman blushed and was about to speak when the people around her, upon hearing this, immediately looked up at her head and were terrified. Those sitting around her immediately stood up, and those standing quickly moved to the side.

"Hey, this woman is such a wimp! No wonder she looks so filthy, and look how dirty her child is."

"I don't know how her man can stand her!"

...

Seeing the woman being pointed at by those around her, Xiao Jiu showed no sympathy whatsoever. If she hadn't provoked her, she wouldn't have been so venomous as to stab people in the sore spot.

Because of this incident, she was definitely affected and remained silent the whole time, holding onto the handrail near the door, and didn't talk to Zheng Yuan.

After finally getting off the bus at the station, Xiao Jiu was the first to rush off. She covered her mouth and ran towards the nearest sewer, then started vomiting. After vomiting, she didn't forget to politely rinse her mouth with the water in her water bottle and then thoroughly clean the sewer opening.

When she stood up straight and leaned against the wall, her face was frighteningly pale, until she heard Zheng Yuan's concerned voice behind her.

"Are you alright? No wonder you didn't say anything after that. I thought you were angry, but it turns out you were just carsick!"

Xiao Jiu raised her pale face and nodded weakly.

"It's an old problem. It happens every time I ride in a car, and medication doesn't help."

"I'll have to take the bus later,"

"It's okay, I threw it all up. It's only been about half an hour, I can handle it. Let's go, or we'll be late."

Xiao Jiu lagged behind, took out two oranges from her spatial storage, concealed them in her schoolbag, and quickly shoved one into Zheng Yuan's hand.

"Here, have an orange,"

It's orange season right now, so it won't attract anyone's attention.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Yuan turned around and stuffed it into her hand again.

"You're feeling unwell, you should eat more. It's a waste for a grown man like me to eat this."

Before she could react, he grabbed Xiaojiu's hand and ran forward, talking as he ran.

"Quick, I see the bus!"

Forty minutes later, I finally got off the bus and arrived at the school gate.

Unlike Xiao Jiu, who only carried a backpack, she then noticed that Zheng Yuan was also carrying a rather large canvas bag.

"You look a bit scary. Go back to your dorm and rest for a while. Don't forget to grab something to eat at the cafeteria."

Xiao Jiu, head drooping, waved to him listlessly, "Okay, I got it, goodbye Brother Zheng!"

When she returned to her dormitory, she was the only one who hadn't come back. Seeing her adorable appearance, they all gathered around her.

"Oh dear, poor thing, are you carsick? Sit down quickly, we've already gotten you some water, and we even cooled some boiled water in your teacup. Now we'll add some hot water for you to drink, it'll be just right."

Xiao Jiu hung his schoolbag on the iron bed railing and sat down in the chair.

"Have you guys eaten yet? If not, hurry up and eat. I don't want to eat. I brought some steamed buns from home, so I can eat them right away. Don't worry about me, go on, we have to be in class at six!"

"Don't even mention you, we brought some too. It'll be enough for a meal with just some water. But you don't look well, why don't you ask for leave?"

Xiao Jiu shook her head. "It's nothing, I just didn't have much of an appetite, and I threw up almost everything."

As he spoke, he got up, opened his cabinet, and took out a can of malted milk powder.

"Here, since you're not going to eat either, let's make something to drink tonight!"

He tilted his head back and downed the cold boiled water in his teacup, then smacked his lips.

"When you feel hot inside, drinking something cold is so comforting! This journey has been exhausting."

Ignoring the others' attempts to stop him, he took all five people's teacups and poured a spoonful of malted milk powder into each of them.

I picked up the kettle and started brewing. In an instant, the whole room was filled with the aroma of roasted condensed milk. After the coffee-colored brew was dissolved, the milky fragrance filled the air. My roommates all gathered around, each holding a cup and gently sniffing it.

"It smells so good, Peach. I'm taking advantage of you again."

Xiao Jiu added another spoonful to her drink; she preferred a stronger flavor. She waved her hand dismissively at everyone's thanks.

"Oh right, I ran into Zheng Yuan from Class 1, Grade 11 on the bus. Does anyone know him?"

"Zheng Yuan? I've heard of him, I think he's one of the top five in his grade."

After giving a thumbs up, Pang Weiwei suddenly turned to Xiao Jiu and asked, "Where did you two meet?"

"The bus that runs from the county town to the city might actually be from our county town,"

"Then we'll probably run into each other more than once in the future,"

Xiao Jiu shook her head. "He's a high school sophomore, it's not that easy to run into him. Anyway, how's your copying of the test papers going?"

"Oh dear, I didn't go out to play on Sunday because of this, and my mom said she'd never seen me work so hard in ages!"

Pang Weiwei's complaint prompted others to chime in: "Copying questions without thinking is much easier than actually doing them."

"You bet! I can't concentrate on my homework at home. I just think about eating and playing. Oh, by the way, my mom made a soft cushion for each of you so your butts won't get cold in the winter."

As Pang Weiwei spoke, she took out a small, square mat made of various colored pieces. The mat had a rope tied to it so it could be easily attached to a stool, and it felt quite soft to the touch.

"It's crocheted with old yarn inside, it's not very useful,"

"Auntie is so skillful! Weiwei, please thank Auntie for me!"

Zhou Shengnan and the others also placed the food they brought from home on the table.

"Let's share a table for dinner. Peach brought malted milk powder, so don't bring anything else. Here are some flatbreads, cornbreads, pickled vegetables, and chili sauce that we brought. You can make do with these."

Xiao Jiu was stunned when she saw the pancakes. "Sister Mingxia, do you have family members from Shandong Province?"

Gao Mingxia nodded at Xiao Jiu in surprise, "You little girl, you have quite the eye for quality. You can tell that this is a pancake from Shandong Province? My mother is from Heze City. My father met her when he went to K City to build roads, and then my mother came here with him."