They are in their final year of high school and are heavily dependent on me.

Xu Lingxi clutched her stomach, her watery eyes looking behind her, but there was no one as she expected.

Lin Mo also left without coming to find her.

Her deliberate distancing probably hurt him; he probably won't care about her as much in the future.

He wouldn't take the blame for her when she forgot her test paper, he wouldn't speak up for her when she was embarrassed, he wouldn't rush to bring her breakfast every morning, he wouldn't fix her broken pen, he wouldn't turn off the air conditioning for her when she caught a cold, he wouldn't often come to cheer her up, and he wouldn't massage her hands to help her relax.

"Hoo-hoo."

Xu Lingxi sighed. She didn't know if she was relieved or regretful.

I won't regret it.

Well, I do have a little bit of regret.

He could be a great deskmate and a great friend.

However, she didn't want to meet Lin Mo when she was at her lowest point.

It's all her fault, isn't it? Why wasn't she nicer to him before? Maybe when he said he was confessing his feelings, it was just a bet or a game with someone else? After all, who confesses so rashly?

She was just being delusional. Lin Mo probably noticed her predicament a long time ago and deliberately made excuses to get close to her and help her. What era are we living in? There are still such philanthropists.

She couldn't accept all of this with a clear conscience.

The more she felt his kindness, the more embarrassed she felt, and the harder it was for her to accept that he was taking such meticulous care of her.

She is just like...

The delicate, helpless little rabbit, pricked by needles and scratched by burrs.

The little rabbit wanted to cross the thorns because beyond them lay an endless meadow with abundant food and a blue sky. The freedom and independence she longed for symbolized her strength and ability.

She must rely on herself to complete the transformation from a baby rabbit to an adult rabbit.

But the thorns left her covered in wounds, forcing her to stop and lie there, barely breathing. Every step she took added another wound, and every cry she let out tore at the flesh exposed to the air.

At this time, perhaps humans will pass by.

She could certainly place her hopes on human help.

But when she lay on her back, showing her wounds to humans...

This also means that she has revealed her most vulnerable weakness to humanity.

She was a proud little rabbit, preferring to die among thorns rather than expose her incompetence and weakness.

Humans will never know whether his touch on her wounds brought her humiliation or help.

At this point you might ask,

Who knows if there will be a blue sky and grassland after we get through this thicket?

She just didn't want to be a dirty rabbit in the dirt. Her fur was the prettiest, her ears were the cutest, and she shouldn't spend her whole life covered in dirt, so she had to keep moving forward.

must,

for sure.

Just so I can eat whatever I like, wear whatever skirts I like, stop comparing prices when shopping, live in a bright and spacious house, have a phone with internet access, not have to be disappointed by having to cancel expensive activities when going out with friends, and not have to stand in front of a late-night food stall, pretending I'm not hungry but staring at the aroma for ages.

My mother always says that she is like Cinderella and that she will marry into a good family and enjoy a happy life.

But what she hated most was the Cinderella story.

She is clearly prettier, more hardworking, and more outstanding than Cinderella.

She wouldn't be like Cinderella, pinning her hopes for the future on a pair of glass slippers or a prince who is nowhere to be found.

She wanted to be queen.

But why? She's just a little rabbit.

If the grasslands are so hard to reach, it's better to be a frog in a well, looking at that little patch of sky, growing up, growing old, and leaving.

"Gurgle, gurgle"

Her stomach rumbled repeatedly, urging her to eat as soon as possible.

"So hungry."

Xu Lingxi's chaotic thoughts were interrupted by a physical urge; she pursed her lips and reached for the drawer.

Half a bag of shumai and two cartons of milk.

"I can't drink milk, it's too expensive."

The girl pushed the milk back; what she could sell to Li Zhihan was certainly not something cheap.

As for that bag of shumai, I couldn't resist eating most of it in the morning and at noon.

The remaining half bag can be considered the last favor I owe.

When Xu Lingxi took out the shumai, she found that two small insects were already crawling on the rice grains and eating them.

She screamed in terror, her arm giving way from hunger, and the only food she had slipped from her grasp in fright.

The shumai rolled twice on the ground, and the insects flew away, but sand and dust replaced them, leading the girl to condemn the food to death.

"On Saturdays, there will be leftover food in the cafeteria. It's all free."

Xu Lingxi spoke to herself, as if trying to comfort herself.

A dizzy head and limp limbs made it difficult for her to control her clumsy body as she stood up and moved her aching legs.

Put on your schoolbag.

No matter how pathetic or dejected she felt in the empty classroom,

But when she leaves the classroom, she must stand up straight and keep a serious expression on her face.

It's as if she's using her actions to tell this cruel world:

The little rabbit had a great day too, and was still not defeated by you guys!

Now, she has to rely on herself to find food to fill her stomach.

Failing the exam was painful, but she was also freed from Lin Mo's concern and could be herself again. She should keep trying, even though the future was terrifying to even think about, and she was already drowning in debt.

But as long as I can fill my stomach, I can just grit my teeth and get through it, just like before.

The girl took deep breaths of the outdoor air, her pale face regaining a slight blush.

Sometimes, the cafeteria has leftover fruit. Could there be pineapple among them?

She hadn't eaten pineapple in a long, long time.

Thus, with a last glimmer of hope, the girl arrived at the cafeteria entrance.

But as soon as she arrived, she stopped in her tracks.

Because she could only smell the disinfectant.

Because the cafeteria is disinfected and cleaned every weekend, leftover food is distributed free of charge on Saturdays.

When the smell of disinfectant begins to permeate the air, it means that the leftover food has already been disposed of.

Her breathing became erratic for a moment, her steps quickened, and she stopped in front of the food window.

"Auntie," Xu Lingxi asked hesitantly.

"Um, do you have any leftovers?"

The woman at the window was holding a broom; her voice, hidden behind her mask, was deep and hoarse.

"No, no, a few kids filled a huge bucket and took it out."

It was as if a death sentence had been handed down to her.

"It's closing time, little girl, you should go home early."

"Oh, thank you." Xu Lingxi still managed to maintain a semblance of civility, forcing out a weak smile with difficulty and helplessness.

Going out,

An unexpected gust of wind made her stagger, strands of hair flying wildly in front of her eyes, scratching and itching them, almost bringing tears to her eyes.

She gathered her hair, stopped crying, steadied herself, and didn't fall.

But a thought, a tiny thought, somehow, suddenly appeared in her mind after all her previous hopes had been extinguished.

Tomorrow is her birthday.

Since it's her birthday, she really, really wanted to eat a bite of pineapple, a crisp, sweet pineapple.

Since she's already hungry, that's okay. Just a little pineapple will cheer her up, improve her mood, and allow her to continue studying. She'll also have the courage to review today's mistakes. In any case, she'll have motivation for everything she does.

Xu Lingxi opened her schoolbag and rummaged through it. She remembered that she had exchanged her meal card for five yuan in cash at the cafeteria yesterday, intending to repay Lin Mo some of the money first.

Let's buy a little bit of pineapple first. It's a luxury, but it will definitely make her very, very happy, I'm sure of it.

Xu Lingxi sniffed and gripped the slightly crumpled five-yuan bill tightly.

Looking out of the school gate, there should be many snack stalls on that street.

But it seems too deserted right now because the students are going home from school. However, there are still fruit stalls to be found, and they will definitely have pineapples!

A moment later, the girl walked out of the school gate.

She searched and searched on the street, for who knows how long.

All I felt was that my legs were getting more and more sore, my head was getting more and more dizzy, and the sky was getting darker and darker.

Finally, she found a fruit stall that was about to close up shop, and there were pineapples with those bamboo skewers stuck in them!

Without much thought, the girl's mouth started watering as she imagined the sweet and astringent taste of pineapple. Her eyes were red, and she ran to the shop.

"Boss! How much is this pineapple?"

"This is the last bit, I'll weigh it and sell it. Do you want it?" The shopkeeper pointed to the last pineapple slice.

"Uh, I'll just buy five yuan's worth, is that okay?" Xu Lingxi asked, blinking her big eyes.

"can."

Xu Lingxi's eyes brightened slightly. She wiped her eyes again and asked:

"Is this pineapple packaged dry?"

The shopkeeper glanced at her, noticed the school uniform the girl was wearing, and hesitated for a moment.

"Of course it has to be dry-packaged. Wet-packaged ones will spoil after a while, so I won't sell them."

"really?"

"Do you think I'd lie to a kid like you? If you're not buying, then leave."

"No, no, no," Xu Lingxi waved her hand, "Then could you cut it into smaller pieces for me? I only have five yuan."

The shop owner didn't say anything. With his back to her, he picked up a pineapple from the salt water, cut it diagonally, put it on the scale, and pressed it down.

"Four yuan and sixty cents, then just give me five yuan directly." The shopkeeper snatched the five yuan from the girl's hand.

"Isn't it four yuan and fifty cents on the scale?"

"The packaging bag costs one cent."

"Oh"

Xu Lingxi felt a little awkward. She didn't understand the ways of the marketplace, and simply accepted the pineapple with a silly grin.

then,

Clinging to that last bit of hope, she thought, "I'll eat back in my dorm. There's no one there now except me. I can eat while relaxing and reading my Chinese language notes. The dried pineapple won't spoil, and I can savor its sweetness all night long."

After receiving the pineapple, she seemed much more energetic and ran straight to her dormitory.

Like a nimble little rabbit, the girl didn't rush to open the dormitory door even after arriving at it.

"Take a bite first."

Just a small bite.

Even though she's usually quite hungry, she ate a lot. She peeled open the packaging and looked at the pineapple inside. It seemed a bit small, but it was okay. She could only find this place to sell pineapples, so she could just take a few more bites.

As she took a bite, she pulled out her keys and turned the doorknob of her dorm room, already imagining how sweet the dried pineapple would be.

"Click, click-clack"