Chapter 14. ☆. Salt and Pepper Pork Ribs

When he got back from the infirmary, He Yiyang had just settled into his chair, a minute or two before class, when Qin Tim, who was next to him, came over.

“Eh, what’s the matter with sister Ruan, you want to show…… princess hugs in public?” he smirked, raising his eyebrows lewdly, “Brother and sister are deeply in love.”

He Yiyang picked up a book and slapped it over, “What the hell is that look on your face? She has a high fever. Can I not rush!”

Advertisements

“Oh-” Qin Tim trailed off, “No wonder you’re sweating from running. Don’t you have a cleanliness fetish and hate sweating?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Fzuzu, bl yeele, “Ebyv’p oasdt okvb xu lmralppksd? Rv’p dsaxyz! Zsw’al vbl sdl obs’p clkdt ryaydske.”

Tl Zkuydt’p byde rywple yp bl srldle bkp cssj yde pdyazle, “Qs yoyu!”

Tl eked’v lmrlnv Tl Zkuydt, obs oyp ps nsze yde yaastydv, vs pbso y rydknjle lmralppksd ycswv bkp zkvvzl nbwccu pkpvla.

Jasvbla yde pkpvla? Xb, nzlyazu vblal oyp ds czsse alzyvksd.

There were still two classes left in the morning, and they passed in a flash. When He Yiyang arrived at the infirmary, Ruan Mengmeng was still sleeping soundly, so he took off the cooling patch and poked her face, but it was still a bit hot. He pasted a new one and went back to the student council office first.

Advertisements

It was almost one o’clock when the delivery boy’s takeaway arrived. He Yiyang picked it up and met Chen Linjia and Lu Zhengyuan at the entrance of the infirmary.

He Yiyang glanced at the fast food in Lu Zhengyuan’s hand and said, “Patients with high fever can’t eat greasy food.”

Lu Zhengyuan was holding salt and pepper pork ribs and eggplant long beans. He was embarrassed and did not say anything.

Chen Linjia blasted straight away, “Zhengyuan bought all the food that Mengmeng loves.”

It was she who told Lu Zhengyuan that Mengmeng was sick, and she definitely wanted to eat something with heavy flavours in her mouth. She was slapped in the face by He Yiyang. How could she live without face?

“Have you never eaten or what? You crave a bite of meat and then it delays your cold for a few days?” He Yiyang accused nonchalantly, “Don’t force it if you can’t handle it.”

Advertisements

“You!!!” Chen Linjia was so angry that her face turned red, “You’re the one who can’t handle it. There are so many people in the playground, and you dare to hug her casually? In the future, Mengmeng will be haunted by girls who like you!”

He Yiyang snorted coldly, “With me around, Mengmeng doesn’t have to be afraid at all.”

“You fart, it’s because of you!” Chen Linjia said.

“I’ve already solemnly stated in the school forum post that Ruan Mengmeng is my sister. What kind of brainy nymphomaniac girl would mess with the sister of the guy she likes? Only a sinister villain like you would stir up trouble behind your back!” He Yiyang said.

“…… you you you, who are you saying is stirring up right and wrong?”

Chen Linjia was so angry that her head was smoking. She insisted on guarding the door and exchanging disapproving words with He Yiyang.

Advertisements

Seeing that he had nothing to do, Lu Zhengyuan slipped into the ward a step earlier, just as Ruan Mengmeng was awake, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

“Zhengyuan?” Ruan Mengmeng’s voice was a little muffled, “I think I heard brother and Jiajia arguing?”

Lu Zhengyuan put down his fast food and saw Ruan Mengmeng leaning over to hook the glass of water on the table, so he stepped over, “I’ll do it.”

Ruan Mengmeng smiled, “Thank you.”

“Feeling better?” Lu Zhengyuan said gently.

“Yes, much better,” Ruan Mengmeng said, taking a few sips of water. Her head tilted sideways and she looked towards the door in confusion, “It really sounds like them.”

Advertisements

Lu Zhengyuan moved his feet, blocking Ruan Mengmeng’s line of sight. He took the cup in her hand and placed it back on the table, speaking softly to divert her attention.

“How did Mengmeng catch a cold? I didn’t have time to check on you last time you had a heatstroke. You haven’t been unwell, have you?”

“No,” Ruan Mengmeng saw Lu Zhengyuan’s worried face and smiled shyly, “I was chilled by the air conditioner too much. It’s nothing.”

Lu Zhengyuan looked at her disapprovingly, “Is it because you can’t finish too much homework and have less rest that your physique is poor? Mengmeng, you can ask me if you don’t know how. Although we are not in the same class, the feelings have not changed. We… Are we not the table with the deepest revolutionary friendship?”

Lu Zhengyuan’s shy look flickered away.

He was still ‘the famous big fat guy in junior high school’ six months ago. He stood one metre seven hundred centimetres tall and weighed 170 kilograms. For a while, he had such low self-esteem that his grades plummeted and he didn’t even want to go to school. Since being at the same table as the slightly chubby Ruan Mengmeng, he had been spoon-fed a lot of chicken soup, and her natural optimism had infected his daily gloomy mood.

When mentioning revolutionary friendship, Ruan Mengmeng’s smile obviously became bigger, deliberately complaining: “You went to lose weight and exercise. Now, you are one metre eight and a hundred… How much? Anyway, you’re lean and thin. What revolutionary feelings do we two still have?”

“Mengmeng!”

Lu Zhengyuan’s heart was anxious, and when he bumped into her quirky wink, his heart was relieved to know that Ruan Mengmeng was joking.

He said, “Even if you don’t acknowledge the revolutionary feelings, there is still the friendship of the table,” patting the fast food box, “How about the table. Are you hungry?”

Ruan Mengmeng: “Well, I’m really a bit …… hungry when you say that.”

Bang! The door to the infirmary was kicked open, and He Yiyang walked in calmly. If you ignore the fact that it was him who kicked in the door, he was really calm.

Chen Linjia, who was following behind, was so angry that her face was red. Her big bright eyes were glaring deadly at He Yiyang, as if he owed her millions of dollars that the old man wouldn’t pay.

“Why are you still here?” He Yiyang looked at Lu Zhengyuan, who was sitting on the stool beside the bed, and said with dissatisfaction, “How is the newspaper department doing its job? The efficiency is too low. Next month is the college basketball tournament. There’s no half-hearted movement in the publicity. Are you planning to delay until next year?”

When he was criticised in front of Ruan Mengmeng, Lu Zhengyuan looked resentful and awkwardly tried to explain, but before he could open his mouth to speak, He Yiyang’s gaze moved away, so he had to give up.

Putting his hand on Ruan Mengmeng’s forehead, He Yiyang said, “It’s normal. Get up. I specially ordered the medicinal congee from the shop for you.”

“Oh.”

Every time He Yiyang suppressed his anger and made a cold face, Ruan Mengmeng’s heart would tighten and she would subconsciously obey unconditionally. After sweeping a glance at Chen Linjia, who didn’t say anything, she confirmed that it was these two who had just argued outside, and dared not say anything more.

She obediently put on her shoes and came to the table, swallowing when she saw that the fast food Lu Zhengyuan had brought included the pepper and salt pork ribs she loved.

Chen Linjia said, “Mengmeng, you can eat whatever you want. You don’t have to listen to He Yiyang!”

He Yiyang hooked his mouth and smiled coldly, “You won’t listen to me?”

A chill ran down her spine, and Ruan Mengmeng nodded straight away. Chen Linjia looked at her with a disappointed face and couldn’t care less.

Opening the medicinal congee, the smell of Chinese herbs made Ruan Mengmeng pout. Sensing the urgent sight of He Yiyang next to her, she very obediently scooped a mouthful into her mouth and smiled dryly, “Thank you, brother. It’s delicious.”

Haha! Ruan Mengmeng’s face was smiling, but her heart was spitting madly.

What did I do wrong? I’m a patient! Why are you two quarrelling and dragging me into it? I was wronged…

She secretly glanced at the ribs, and when she tried to glance a second time, it was taken away by He Yiyang.

Lu Zhengyuan knew that Ruan Mengmeng was soft-tempered and would never refuse people. She could not stand up to He Yiyang’s strong and domineering personality.

In fact, it was also Ruan Mengmeng who was kind-hearted and liked to be accommodating when it came to love.

From her clear eyes, to see, indeed, as Chen Linjia said, dependence on obedience more than love to move.

He smiled in relief, propped up on his knees and looked at Ruan Mengmeng, parallel to her face: “It’s better to eat something light. Next time I’ll treat you to something delicious. How about that?”

Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes lit up, and she gave a small nod.

When He Yiyang coughed next to him, Ruan Mengmeng glanced quickly out of the corner of her eye and saw him looking for a stool. She took the opportunity to wink playfully at Lu Zhengyuan and smiled cheerfully. 

The hot porridge soaked lips were pink and glossy, small and cute. Her watery almond eyes were black and white, and the expression in which she was not convinced but not daring to resist, was too cute.

A heart-stopping blow!

Lu Zhengyuan felt his breath choke slightly. His heart beat wildly, and his face burned into a blush.

Snap! He Yiyang broke open the fast food chopsticks and made a sound. Ruan Mengmeng was startled and hurriedly looked down, putting another spoonful of porridge into her mouth.

Lu Zhengyuan straightened his back, “Senior, Mengmeng, you guys take your time. I’ll leave first.”

He Yiyang didn’t even look at him, but in his heart he roared, “Go! Get lost!”

Lu Zhengyuan didn’t care, and as he turned around, he looked at Chen Linjia, who had come along.

Chen Linjia: “You can go first if you have something to do, but the food you paid for can’t be cheap for others.”

She said, snatching the fast food box of pepper and salt pork ribs. She pinched a piece of pork ribs herself and bit into it with a crunching sound as he looked at He Yiyang.

Childish! He Yiyang didn’t bother to pay attention to her, and opened the box of iron plate black pepper beef tenderloin he bought. The rich aroma hooked Ruan Mengmeng to put her little meat face over.

He Yiyang’s eyes and hands were quick to hoist her chin, and he said defensively, “What are you doing?”

“Brother….”

Ruan Mengmeng shouted pitifully, her goldfish mouth sprouting.

He Yiyang’s heart softened, and he said, “Only a little bit is allowed. Beef is hairy.”

He put a small chopstick of shredded beef in Ruan Mengmeng’s bowl. Ruan Mengmeng looked at the two small roots cut finely. Her mouth deflated, and she turned her head to look at He Yiyang again.

He Yiyang held back and said, through clenched teeth, “No.”

Chen Linjia said proudly, “Mengmeng will eat the ribs.”

She took a look at He Yiyang, “Who just said you can’t eat greasy food? Look at the oil in your box, it’s almost soaked through the beef. Ribs are not hairy, so Mengmeng can eat more.”

He Yiyang hit his face very unpleasantly, so he endured it. When he saw Ruan Mengmeng put her chopsticks towards the ribs, he slapped his palm on the table. The loud sound scared Ruan Mengmeng into hurriedly withdrawing her hand.

Chen Linjia: “……”

MMP, it was really the boy she had hated since she was a kid! Never let her down.

　　*

Ruan Mengmeng’s feverish cold finally cleared up after hanging water for three days. She was fed with He Yiyang’s daily medicinal porridge so much that a bird could fade out of her mouth.

The day she was finally released from the ban, she strongly requested to go to the riverside barbecue street for a meal tonight.

Unfortunately, the sun was shining in the morning, but the rain poured down in the afternoon. The bean-sized raindrops hit the windows with a loud thud.

Ruan Mengmeng was in a depressed mood. He Yiyang had just sent a picture of a weather forecast map, and it was 100% raining until tomorrow morning, so she poked her English paper with her head down.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Linjia glanced at Ruan Mengmeng’s paper, “Only the essay is left, ah. It was written quite fast. Did you write the math one? Lend me a copy. Tomorrow is the monthly holiday. It’s hard to have two days off in a row. I don’t want to do my homework.”

“I’ve written half of it,” Ruan Mengmeng took the paper out of the drawer and gave it to Chen Linjia, saying listlessly, “Don’t you want to go to dance practice?”

“Teacher Shen is going back to the capital, so I’m taking a holiday with her.” Chen Linjia quickly copied the questions. She smiled and elbowed Ruan Mengmeng as she remembered something, “Eh, are you going to watch Lu Zhengyuan’s basketball game tomorrow afternoon? Has he sent you a WeChat? “

“Yes, I have promised,” Ruan Mengmeng said, “Thinking of the big fat guy in the past and the handsome and sunny guard of the school basketball team now, he is the model of reversal in our fat world. It’s too inspiring. Of course I have to go and cheer him on.”

“Hahahaha, Mengmeng, do you know that Zheng Yuan is very grateful to you?” Chen Lin Jia squeezed her eyebrows, “he said he lost fifty pounds and you are his motivation.”

Ruan Mengmeng rubbed her double chin, “I know that at that time, people in his class nicknamed him ‘Gloomy Fat Geek’ and taunted him to his face. It caused Zhengyuan’s self-esteem to almost collapse, and he once told me that he wanted to quit school.”

“Then, how could that be possible?” The two eyebrows twitched, seriously and angrily. “So I thought, I would make him feel bored every day and tell the head teacher that I wanted to be at the same table with him. Then Zhengyuan could take it slowly.”

“Aigoo Mengmeng, you are really a little angel.”

It turned out to be like this. No wonder Lu Zhengyuan liked Mengmeng. This kind of boy, who values inner beauty, was pursuing her best friend… she would definitely support him to the end.

Chen Linjia smiled and complimented her, pinching her round arm. The flesh felt so good in her hand.

Chen Linjia: “Then let’s go cheer for Zheng Yuan together tomorrow?”

Ruan Mengmeng: “Sure, you drop by my house for lunch and then we’ll go together.”

In fact, Mengmeng’s features were clean and clear, and she smiled sweetly. If she lost another ten or twenty kgs, she would definitely be a great beauty.

Chen Linjia was tripping over herself while copying her papers and observing her best friend, muttering in her mind about how to help Lu Zhengyuan chase Ruan Mengmeng ……