Chapter 18: Two Paths

On the streets of the capital in the middle of the night, the people from the Green Bud Literature Society staggered along together, occasionally someone loudly reciting an inexplicable poem, drawing sidelong glances from passersby.

Poets after drinking are unrestrained and free; they don't care what others think!

Lu Jingyao also drank today; her head was dizzy, and her legs were unsteady, but she didn't feel any unrestrained joy in her heart.

Today's meal didn't end up being paid for by her, but it was even more uncomfortable than if she had paid for it herself.

Originally, she had intended to borrow from He Xue and a few other classmates she was on good terms with, and grit her teeth to scrape together the money to pay the bill, but He Xue "accidentally" let the news slip.

Qian Shun from the literature society immediately paid the bill generously and even held Lu Jingyao's hand, saying many comforting words.

"We are all family; if you have any difficulties in the future, just speak up. Money is an external thing; only friendship and affection can last long......."

Qian Shun's words were very sincere and emotional, but at that time, Lu Jingyao only felt the rubbing on her palm, only saw the heat in Qian Shun's eyes, and only smelled the unpleasant alcohol on his breath.

Disgusted, Lu Jingyao stated on the spot that this money was a loan from Qian Shun and that she would definitely return it in the future.

But He Xue and the others took the opportunity to stir up trouble, laughing and asking Lu Jingyao "what will you use to pay it back?", suggesting she just give herself to him.

Later, Lu Jingyao almost left on the spot, and everyone calmed down, claiming it was just a "joke."

But Lu Jingyao had secretly decided to pay back Qian Shun's money as soon as possible and not get involved with him any further.

But what she feared most happened. When everyone returned to the Foreign Languages Institute and was about to go back to their dorms, Qian Shun stopped Lu Jingyao.

"Jingyao, walk with me for a bit!"

".........."

In the middle of the night in the eighties, a man and a woman walking outside was basically equivalent to dating.

You have to know that there was a term back then called "pressing the road," which specifically referred to intimate behavior between couples.

Lu Jingyao naturally wouldn't fall for it. She could be certain that if she "walked for a bit" with Qian Shun tonight, rumors that the two were a couple would spread throughout the school tomorrow.

In this era where public opinion is feared, fake things can quickly become real.

"Better not, Senior Qian. It's already very late, it's not very convenient."

Lu Jingyao refused Qian Shun neither humbly nor arrogantly and turned to walk toward the girls' dormitory building.

But Qian Shun chased after her and said, "Jingyao, don't overthink it. I just have a lot of inspiration right now and hope to find someone to discuss it with,

and you are the most talented among us; only you are qualified to have a spiritual resonance with me........"

Lu Jingyao walked very fast, and Qian Shun chased very urgently. The two of them reached the bottom of the girls' dormitory building one after the other, and Qian Shun still hadn't given up.

Just kidding, it was nearly thirty yuan!

Spending a worker's monthly salary and not even being able to hold a little hand, just bubbling up and that's it? Is Qian Shun a fool?

Qian Shun wasn't a fool, but Lu Jingyao was even less of a fool.

Every girl who has been beautiful since childhood will inevitably encounter harassment a few times during her growth. For someone as direct and urgent as Qian Shun, Lu Jingyao could see through his lustful intentions at a glance.

She said sternly, "I'm really sorry, Senior Qian, I have no interest in being alone with you. As for the money I owe you, I will definitely pay it back next month."

"........."

Qian Shun froze in place. He never imagined that Lu Jingyao, who usually looked soft and easy to bully, would be so disregardful of his face.

Just looking at her current attitude, she was one step away from shouting, "You hooligan, get away!"

Qian Shun's face turned from red to black, gradually becoming ferocious.

"Pay it back next month? How will you pay it back? By starving for a month?"

"Do you really think you're something valuable? Do you know that it was I who cleared the relationship with the school journal that allowed your work to be published?"

"You girl from the countryside, do you know how precious the kindness of a capital person is? Do you know how inviolable the self-esteem of a capital person is......."

Stimulated by alcohol, Qian Shun finally couldn't help but vent the irritability in his heart, and it was out of control.

Lu Jingyao was first startled and took a few steps back, then hurriedly turned and fled in a panic to the girls' dormitory building.

She was terrified that if she escaped a step too slowly, the drunkard would pounce on her like a hungry wolf.

Lu Jingyao ran all the way into the dormitory, and the fear in her heart gradually disappeared, replaced by an increasingly intense resentment and grievance.

"Money, money, money, money, why is it always money? Is my whole life destined to be bound by money and lose freedom?"

Lu Jingyao shed tears of grievance.

Ever since she could remember, her family had always been troubled by "money."

Her father was just a community-run teacher with a high school diploma, and that little salary every month was really stretched thin to maintain a family of five.

If it weren't for her father's tenacious persistence in education, Lu Jingyao, this "money-losing goods," would have been forced to drop out after finishing middle school.

No matter how much a high school student saved in a year, it would still cost dozens of yuan, which was a very large burden for the impoverished Lu family.

But last winter, her family's house was crushed by heavy snow, and her mother's lung disease recurred. She felt that the hurdle really couldn't be passed, if it weren't for Li Ye........

Thinking of this, Lu Jingyao suddenly swayed and almost fell.

The Li Ye of the past was very similar to Qian Shun.

He also had a well-off family, never lacked pocket money, and had also expressed his admiration for Lu Jingyao.

But Li Ye was not the Prince Charming in Lu Jingyao's ideals.

He didn't understand poetry, didn't understand literature, his grades weren't good, and he always smiled foolishly at her. That kind of greenness of a young boy always made Lu Jingyao feel embarrassed.

It could be said that apart from being tall and handsome, Li Ye was useless in every other way.

But when the Li family came to propose marriage with one hundred and twenty yuan and half a cart of betrothal gifts, Lu Jingyao had no choice but to accept reality.

The roof of her house was replaced, her mother's lung disease was cured, and the pocket money in Li Ye's pocket swept away the gloom of the impoverished Lu family for many years, filling it with laughter.

During that time, Lu Jingyao felt both happy and suppressed. She didn't know what kind of family status she would fall into after "owing a huge debt."

Was she just a vine in a poem, only able to grow by attaching herself to a big tree, destined to be a vassal of the big tree for the rest of her life?

But a turning point appeared.

During that year or so, Lu Jingyao didn't need to frequently skip class to go home and help her mother work, and she even hired an English teacher for extra tutoring. Her grades improved by leaps and bounds, and she finally got into university.

And Li Ye was still that handsome young man who smiled foolishly and had average grades.

On the night she received the university admission letter, Lu Jingyao's father pointed out two paths for her.

No one knows a daughter like a father; he didn't want to limit his daughter's soaring thoughts and handed the choice to Lu Jingyao.

One path was to return to her hometown to work after graduating from university and live a stable life with Li Ye.

The other was to strike the sky like an eagle, break out of the cage, soar freely in the sky, and never come back.

Lu Jingyao, who was already somewhat inferior and suppressed because of their mismatched backgrounds, chose the latter.

Her father agreed silently, went to break off the engagement, and shouldered everything.

When Lu Jingyao left Qingshui County, she felt she had finally escaped the sea of bitterness.

But why was it another cycle when she got to university?

And compared to Li Ye, this Qian Shun was so disgusting? ===== CHAPTER 19 =====