Chapter 033

Seeing Meng Li like this, Ji Chen couldn’t help but laugh.

It was as if he had teased a little kitten, enjoying the moment.

Meng Li knew she had been played by him, and at that moment, she felt like her feet were stepping on hot coals, unable to stand still.

She didn’t know what else to say, so she turned and walked away.

After taking a few steps, she regained a bit of composure. Hesitating, she stopped, turned around, and walked back.

Standing in front of Ji Chen again, she asked with a calm gaze, “Let’s settle this here today. What exactly do you want from me? Are you looking for a fight?”

Ji Chen wiped the playful expression from his face, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a soft ticket, slightly longer than a postage stamp.

He held the ticket out to Meng Li and said seriously, “No fighting. I just want to be brothers with you.”

Meng Li’s gaze fell on the ticket—a one-pound lamb ticket.

She studied it for a moment before looking up at Ji Chen. “How did you know I needed a lamb ticket?”

Ji Chen chuckled lightly. “Third Master Meng asked someone for a favor. Who in Beijing doesn’t know about it?”

Meng Li hesitated for a moment, then asked another question, “Why do you want to be brothers with me?”

Ji Chen’s gaze wandered off, then circled back to Meng Li, his expression casual. “This school is pretty boring. Everyone else acts like fools, scared to speak their minds. Only you make me feel like there’s some fun to be had.”

Meng Li understood. He found Cuihua High School boring and wanted to be a half-brother with her.

At least with two of them, the remaining two months wouldn’t feel so dull.

She looked at Ji Chen and then down at the lamb ticket in his hand.

After thinking for a while, she reached out and grabbed the ticket from his hand. “I’ll return it to you. As for the brother thing, I’ll think about it.”

After speaking, Meng Li ignored Ji Chen and turned to walk out of the small grove.

Ji Chen followed and walked beside her. “If you agree to be brothers with me, you can keep the lamb ticket. From now on, everything I have is yours.”

Meng Li turned to glance at him. “You’re that generous?”

Without hesitation, Ji Chen replied, “Of course.”

Meng Li didn’t respond to his words but still said, “I still need to think about it.”

The last time she had tried to make peace with him, he had snatched her fruit candy and deliberately teased her.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.

In this world, everything has a price.

It seemed that Ji Chen saw through Meng Li’s thoughts. He smiled and said, “Alright, let me know once you’ve made up your mind.”

Meng Li didn’t look back as she walked forward, giving Ji Chen an “OK” gesture with her hand.

…

Meng Li returned home with the lamb ticket but didn’t go out to buy the meat herself.

She had no job, no income, and no spare money to spend on meat.

When she arrived home, Grandma Cheng was in the kitchen cooking as usual. Recently, she had been overwhelmed with taking care of Gu Huijuan during her confinement and looking after the whole family. She was exhausted, unable to eat or sleep properly, and her complexion had not been looking good these days.

Speaking of which, Gu Huijuan was quite lucky. Her second marriage was much easier and more comfortable than her first, mainly because she had a good mother-in-law.

Her first mother-in-law wasn’t bad, just in poor health.

In this second marriage, everything seemed perfect, except for the daughter from her first marriage, who became a burden.

And so, she disliked this daughter the most.

Meng Li wasn’t interested in getting involved in these matters. After all, she was really just an outsider.

She went straight to the kitchen with her schoolbag and handed the lamb ticket to Grandma Cheng. “Grandma, I brought this for you.”

When Grandma Cheng saw the lamb ticket, her eyes lit up. She wiped her hands on her apron, reaching out to take it while saying, “Meng Li, you’re something else. Your dad asked a lot of people about this, and no one could even get a single meat coupon. You’re better than all those adults.”

Meng Li smiled but didn’t comment on that. She simply said, “You can go to the grocery store tomorrow and buy it yourself. One pound of lamb should be enough to satisfy her cravings.”

Grandma Cheng tucked the coupon into her pocket. “One pound of lamb for each person is enough, we won’t finish it all anyway.”

Then, as if remembering something, Grandma Cheng turned to Meng Li and asked, “I heard you had an exam at school a couple of days ago. Did you get a perfect score, Meng Li? You’re amazing—whatever you do, you’re always the best.”

Meng Li had never mentioned anything about school when she was home, and naturally, she hadn’t talked about the exam either. She knew no one really cared.

Grandma Cheng must have heard about it from Shao Jun and Luo Yongmei.

Meng Li lowered her gaze for a moment, then looked up again. “Did Shao Jun and Luo Yongmei say something about it? What else did they say? Let me think… Did they question the authenticity of my score? And then say… it doesn’t matter how well I do?”

Grandma Cheng’s face turned awkward for a moment, and her gaze flickered nervously. However, she quickly said, “No, everyone praised you.”

Meng Li could tell immediately that Grandma Cheng was lying. If people were really praising her, they would have done so the moment they met.

The results had been released the day before, but up until now, no one had mentioned it to her.

It was clear that they looked down on her. No matter how well she did outside, within this courtyard, she was practically invisible, like transparent air.

She didn’t need to hear it directly—Meng Li could easily guess what Shao Jun and Luo Yongmei would say.

They would probably claim that her score was fake, and even if it were real, it wouldn’t change anything. It was just an opportunity for her to show off, with no real impact on her future.

Meng Li couldn’t be bothered to argue or ask further questions. Changing the subject, she said to Grandma Cheng, “Grandma, I applied to stay at school a couple of days ago. I should get approval in a day or two. If everything goes well, I’ll move into the school dorm.”

Grandma Cheng was momentarily stunned upon hearing this. “You finally agreed to stay at home, so why are you going back to school again?”

Wasn’t this just like before, when she wouldn’t come home?

Meng Li was patient with Grandma Cheng and willing to explain in more detail. “It’s just that the noise at night is unbearable, and it’s affecting my sleep. I can hardly keep my eyes open during class. If I stay at school, you can sleep on my bed, and it’ll be more convenient for you at night.”

Though Grandma Cheng still hoped that Meng Li would grow closer to the Cheng family and eventually see them as her real family, she understood her reasons.

But in the current situation, Grandma Cheng felt that this was indeed the best option.

If Meng Li moved out, she could sleep in the central room’s bed, while Cheng Chunliang could take Tang Yuan’er to the west room to sleep. This arrangement would make it easier for Grandma Cheng to care for Gu Huijuan and the little grandson, while also ensuring that Cheng Chunliang wouldn’t be disturbed by noise at night and could sleep well for work.

After a moment of hesitation, Grandma Cheng spoke up. “Grandma still hopes you’ll stay at home.”

Meng Li smiled. “Don’t be upset, Grandma. I’ll come back to see you on Sunday when I have some free time.”

Grandma Cheng finally nodded. “Come back to visit Grandma more often.”

After saying this, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue-and-white striped handkerchief. The corner of the handkerchief was spread out, revealing quite a bit of money inside. She took out about half of it and stuffed it into Meng Li’s hand. “Child, take this.”

Meng Li refused the money, no matter what.

Grandma Cheng, upset by her insistence, deliberately darkened her face and said, “If you really accept me as your grandmother, then take it. I wouldn’t treat you as an outsider, or else I wouldn’t have asked you for a lamb ticket.”

Meng Li wanted to refuse again, but seeing that Grandma Cheng was genuinely unhappy, she sighed lightly and finally accepted the money.

In life, the word “emotion” likely boils down to a simple exchange—perhaps you owe me once, and I owe you once.

Seeing that Meng Li obediently accepted the money, Grandma Cheng finally brightened up again.

She rolled the remaining money back into the handkerchief and tucked it into her pocket, then went back to preparing the meal.

…

Meng Li only had to wait two more days before she received a response from Wang Chaohai.

Her dormitory request had been approved. No one was willing to share a room with her, so she was assigned a room to herself.

Using the weekend, Meng Li packed her things. She rolled up the blankets and quilts she used at home, went to the store to buy some essentials like toothpaste, toothbrush, and towels, and then moved all of these items to the school dorm.

Since the weather was warm, she didn’t have much to bring.

The blanket didn’t need to be thick, and the rest of the items were small, with only the porcelain basin for washing her face being slightly larger.

With Grandma Cheng’s careful help, all the items were packed up. However, Meng Li didn’t move everything to the school by herself. Instead, Zhuo Xi and a few others rode their bikes and helped her transport everything.

The items were packed up and tied to the bike with little trouble.

Once they arrived at the school and entered the dormitory to set up the bed, Wei Dong turned around to look at the rows of double-decker beds. After taking in the dormitory conditions, he asked excitedly, “This place is better than Shuiyue Temple. Do you think we can come here for late-night study sessions?”

Zhuo Xi kicked him in the backside, “What are you thinking? You think they’ll let you hang around the Cuihua High School dorms for late-night study sessions?”

Wei Dong thought for a moment, feeling regretful. He covered his backside and said, “If I had known it would be like this, we should’ve all transferred here. Eating, attending class, and sleeping all in one place—thinking about it, it wouldn’t be that bad.”

Zhuo Xi sat down on one of the double beds, laughing. “You should stay at home for a couple of days first and see if you can handle it. Let’s see if you can stand it.”

Wei Dong stood up straight, “With my bros around, I’m sure I can handle it.”

While Meng Li was busy setting up her bed and arranging her things, Zhuo Xi and the others joked around nearby.

Once Meng Li finished organizing, they quieted down and rushed out to grab a meal.

No matter how their lives changed, the bond between the brothers remained fresh and growing stronger each day.

But with age, there weren’t many days left like this.

The remaining days should be cherished, as it wouldn’t be long before they all went their separate ways. Afterward, it would be hard to gather like this again.

Even if they did reunite, it would never be the same as the carefree youth of today.

…

After moving into the school dormitory, Meng Li adjusted to the new environment after a few days.

Compared to adjusting to this era and the Cheng family’s lifestyle, this was actually much easier.

Living alone in a dormitory, there were occasional moments when she felt a bit scared, but other than that, everything was fine.

The entire space was hers, and she could sleep soundly at night.

However, Meng Li didn’t get to enjoy this solitude for long. Just a week later, someone came to disrupt everything.

That evening, after dinner, Meng Li returned to the dormitory to rest. As soon as she opened the door, she noticed that one of the empty beds was now occupied. Along with it, there were personal items and bedding, all placed on the lower bunk of her bed.

With a confused expression, Meng Li entered the room and stared at the extra bedding.

She had no idea what was going on, and her mind was a complete mess.

Before she could sort through the situation, the dormitory door was pushed open from the outside.

Instinctively, she turned to look, and through the crack in the door, a person appeared.

When she saw the person’s face clearly, Meng Li was completely stunned.

It was him—Ji Chen!

When Ji Chen saw Meng Li staring at him with wide eyes, too stunned to say anything, he couldn’t help but smile. He waved at her and greeted, “Hey, the brother on the upper bunk, how’s it going?”