Witches, please stop thinking about me!

It's not necessarily true that people who suddenly become rich will engage in retaliatory spending; at least Lin Jiu didn't.

Seeing the text message notification that a million had just been deposited into his account, Lin Jiu took out his phone and sent a message to Liu Mei.

"Wait, why did they give me an extra 150,000?"

-tip.

Your tip is really valuable, please give me more!

Thank you, boss!

In the conference room, Liu Mei glanced at the executives in front of her, turned on the camera, adjusted the angle, and took a photo.

It wasn't that she liked recording her life; she just planned to send it to Lin Jiu later.

Looking at the photo, a group of middle-aged men in front of him were giving him a serious report.

What occupies most of the lower part of the photo is a pair of long, slender legs wrapped in coffee syrup and stacked in a staggered manner under the table.

Click to save; Lin Jiu will need it later.

At Tongxin Home, Lin Jiu's class was in the afternoon, and with nothing to do, he wanted to just wander around.

But looking at Zhao Yingying's family, he actually still had things to do.

After collecting the recyclables from the neighborhood and placing them in the stairwell at the entrance of her apartment building, Lin Jiu hurriedly went to the bank.

Give me fifty for fifty, and twenty for one hundred.

Lin Jiu folded them all into origami cranes, took two green ones to Zhao Yingying's house, and placed them in cardboard as usual.

Lin Jiu was certain that no one in the neighborhood would take the recyclables from in front of her house.

An old lady once took away the waste paper that Zhao Yingying had painstakingly collected and placed at her doorstep not long after she started scavenging.

The residents of the community looked at the little girl who was squatting at the door, wiping away tears with a pitiful expression, and the old lady's spine was completely broken.

She was stubborn, but the neighbors were even more gossipy.

Her son was so ashamed that he moved away from the neighborhood in less than six months.

After placing the origami cranes, Lin Jiu got up and walked out of the residential area.

That's one of the good things about being a college student; you have relatively free time.

After attending only two classes this afternoon, Lin Jiu found herself with nothing to do again.

As my gaze passed over two elementary school students, the image of Zhao Yingying's small figure inexplicably reappeared in my mind.

On a whim, Lin Jiu decided to visit Zhao Yingying's school.

That girl is now trying to stretch every penny to the limit; I wonder what her situation is like at school.

Moreover, she has become much more timid and insecure; I hope she won't be bullied at school.

I took the bus all the way to Zhao Yingying's school, just in time to catch the high school students leaving school.

Standing at the door, Lin Jiu held two bottles of drinks in her hands.

As childhood friends, Lin Jiu and Zhao Yingying used to often walk home from school together.

At that time, Lin Jiu was in the first year of high school in Rongcheng, while she was in the first year of junior high school.

However, with the dramatic changes in both families and Lin Jiu going to university, he never came here again.

After Lin Jiu was admitted to university, he was busy with part-time jobs, and Zhao Yingying was busy collecting recyclables. Both of them had their own things to do.

He kept his eyes on the crowd and finally spotted Zhao Yingying after almost everyone had left.

Zhao Yingying didn't see her; instead, she kept her head down, gripped the shoulder strap of her backpack, and walked forward on her own.

On a road lined with maple trees that is rarely visited, there are two plastic bottles in front of a trash can.

He skillfully pulled plastic bags from his pocket, twisted them open, emptied them, and then crushed them before putting them into the bag.

Zhao Yingying walked along, picking up scraps as she made her way home.

Lin Jiu followed at a distance behind her, noticing the occasional glances cast her way by the students on the road.

In the past, when I picked her up, she would pester me to buy her snacks, and if I didn't buy them, she would give me a long face and a hard time.

Now, she seems to have gotten used to it, and the proud look she had in junior high school is nowhere to be seen.

She walked and stopped frequently, and the empty plastic bag was about to be filled. Finally, she turned around to admire the sunset behind her.

Then I saw the figure carrying a drink, following behind me for who knows how long.

Zhao Yingying was stunned. She stared at him for a long time before finally recognizing him as he approached her.

My nose was a little itchy, and as I subconsciously looked down, a bottle of drink was twisted open and handed to me.

They still didn't exchange words, and walked side by side slowly towards the Tongxin Home.

It wasn't that Lin Jiu didn't want to talk, but rather that she didn't know what to say.

Proud people are often sensitive after their fall from grace.

This can be confirmed by the fact that Zhao Yingying would hide whenever she saw him in the early years.

Because she had always been proud in his presence, she couldn't accept herself being dirty, couldn't accept standing beside him like this...

But this pride ultimately succumbed to the power of reality, its edges completely worn away.

As the sun set, Lin Jiu's thoughts drifted away.

Lin Jiu repeatedly checked her phone balance, wanting to say something.

Tell her to stop collecting recyclables? I can earn money now and support her completely.

The question is, how would she feel if a neighbor said this?

She wouldn't accept it. Even when it came to sending money, she managed to exchange it for origami cranes so that she wouldn't return it.

She probably retained a sliver of pride in herself, or rather, it wasn't pride.

Rather, it is a yearning to have an equal dialogue with oneself.

Their steps gradually synchronized under Zhao Yingying's deliberately exaggerated strides, though it was a bit tiring to keep up.

But seeing the two walking in unison, Zhao Yingying secretly felt a surge of joy.

I can't explain why I'm so happy even though we're just walking together.

But I was happy, very happy.

Lin Jiu slowed down, picked up her drink, and took a sip.

Zhao Yingying also stopped, twisted open her drink, and took a sip.

After repeating it twice, Lin Jiu noticed her little movements.

A smile appeared in his eyes, and he deliberately slowed his pace so that she could keep up more easily.

This scene was somewhat familiar, except that in the past, if she couldn't keep up, she would get annoyed and yell at herself to slow down.

If you don't agree, I'll immediately raise my hand to hit you.

But now she doesn't; she just follows silently.

Even though he didn't notice she was having some difficulty keeping up, he continued to try his best to follow, without expressing his own thoughts...

At the entrance of the residential compound, Lin Jiu stood downstairs at the apartment building.

Zhao Yingying looked up at him, then quickly lowered her head and walked home.

Watching Zhao Yingying return home, Lin Jiu ultimately couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted to say.

In the dimly lit stairwell, the tungsten filament lights flickered on with each footstep.

After collecting the recyclables at home, I habitually shook them, and the two origami cranes fell out again.

She carefully put them in her pocket, then smiled and went home.

"You're back?"

"Um."

Zhao Yuru looked at the drink in her daughter's hand, a smile appearing in her eyes.

"Did Lin Jiu go to pick you up?"

"Um..."

A slightly shy, nasal voice came from behind her, and Zhao Yuru smiled as she pushed her wheelchair to the table.

"Put your things away and come eat."

"it is good."

After a simple dinner, Zhao Yingying began washing up in the bathroom.

With her hair pulled back, a lovely and delicate face was revealed in the mirror that her mother had smashed.

Although he looks somewhat young, he appears to be a student who has just entered junior high school.

But Zhao Yingying knew very well that she was beautiful.

When her family was going through a major upheaval, many boys approached her with ill intentions.

She knew what they wanted to do, but they didn't know that there was someone who didn't want to do anything to her.

So Zhao Yingying started deliberately messing up her hair, making it as fluffy as possible, like a lion's mane.

But as the college entrance exam drew closer, she became somewhat anxious.

I'm not worried about my studies, but about myself.

Looking down at the hand she was holding, a hint of worry appeared in Zhao Yingying's eyes.

It seems like none of the comics in Lin Jiu's brother's house are like his...

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Yingying finished washing up and went to her desk to start reviewing.

Now is not the time to think about those things. The most important thing now is to get into the same university as Brother Lin Jiu!