Marriage at Thirty - Chapter 47

After visiting the teacher, Lin Ran and Lian Fang were both in the mood to go back and see the school.

After lunch, the three of them, plus Lian Fang’s husband, went to No. 6 Middle School.

The group told the guard they were former students coming to visit their alma mater. The guard let them through after they signed in.

They weren’t the only ones on campus; a couple walked toward them, clearly also alumni returning to visit.

“The school doesn’t seem to have changed much, just a bit older,” Lin Ran said, looking at the academic building ahead.

This building was still the Yifu Building, which was the newest academic building in the school at the time. Only third-year high school students were allowed to move into it.

“It’s been over ten years; it’s normal for it to look a bit old,” Lian Fang said, running over to a few osmanthus trees below the academic building. “It smells so good.”

It was the season for the flowers to bloom, and the rich fragrance drifted out, stirring up some memories.

During evening study hall, with the windows open, the scent would occasionally drift into the classroom. Lin Ran used to lean half her body out the window to smell the fragrance.

Unfortunately, it was too far away, and the scent only passed by occasionally.

As soon as class was over, she and Lian Fang would run downstairs to pick some osmanthus and press them into their books.

The two stood beneath the trees, discussing the small details from back then—these were their shared memories.

Fu Linling listened quietly on the side, her gaze passing over the osmanthus trees and resting on the flower bed not far away.

“What are you looking at?” Lin Ran noticed her staring blankly elsewhere and couldn’t help but ask.

“You often sat by that flower bed to draw,” Fu Linling said.

Lin Ran followed her gaze and smiled. “That’s right. Because there were flowers and plants, as well as pedestrians—lots of reference objects—so I loved sitting there to draw. I’d sit for a very long time.”

“Mmm. Many people were watching you from the upper floors, too.”

Lin Ran chuckled. “I know, but it didn’t bother me. I’m very serious when I’m focused!”

Fu Linling smiled. “Mmm.”

The group entered the academic building and arrived outside the door of Class Six. Lian Fang pointed through the window to her husband. “Lin Ran and I sat at that desk, the one in the middle.”

Lin Ran stared at her old seat for a few moments, then looked up at the innermost group of desks. The last row was Fu Linling’s spot, with no deskmate.

That spot was originally meant for struggling students who were sitting alone, but because Fu Linling was tall and plump, she was already complained about by the students behind her in the first two years, who said she blocked the blackboard. So, she personally asked the teacher to move to the very back.

The teacher was afraid that a deskmate would affect her studies. Since Lin Ran had transferred in, which freed up an extra seat, the teacher allowed Fu Linling to sit alone.

“Did you ever feel lonely not having a deskmate?” Lin Ran suddenly asked curiously.

Fu Linling shook her head. “I preferred being alone.”

Lian Fang’s husband asked, “Did you all sit here for a whole year? Didn’t you change seats?”

Lian Fang said, “Of course we did. We even sat in the front row, right under the teacher’s nose. Lin Ran drew a sketch of the math teacher during class and drew his nose hairs on it. It made him so angry his nose practically crooked. In the next class, the homeroom teacher moved us back.”

The group laughed. Lin Ran vividly recounted the story: “The math teacher even took me to the office to complain to the homeroom teacher in person. It was right after some exam, and several top students from different classes were having some meeting inside. They all watched the show, and I was so embarrassed.”

Lin Ran paused, then turned to ask Fu Linling, “What meeting were you guys having back then?”

“Discussing who would participate in the competition.”

“Ah, so it was then.”

Lian Fang asked, “Was Fu Linling there at the time?”

Lin Ran nodded. “She was the only one from our class who went to that meeting. Everyone else didn’t count. I’m glad she didn’t laugh at me then; otherwise, it would have been truly humiliating.”

Lian Fang laughed heartily. “Fu Linling, why didn’t you laugh at her? It was such a great opportunity.”

Fu Linling glanced at Lin Ran. “She’s a lovable person, not a laughable one.”

“Tsk tsk tsk.” Lian Fang covered her cheek, feeling the bitterness. She took her husband’s hand. “Come on, I’ll take you to look around somewhere else. Let them go play by themselves.”

They didn’t linger for long and walked out of the academic building toward the dormitories. The path led past the track field, so they went down the steps and strolled leisurely, holding hands.

There was one person running on the track, who looked like a teacher from the school, but none of them recognized him.

Lin Ran suddenly got excited and started running on the track. “Guess how many laps I can run?”

“Two laps.”

“Who are you looking down on? Just you wait. I’ll run three laps for you to see!” Lin Ran turned her head to face forward, focusing on running, with Fu Linling running alongside her.

After one lap, Lin Ran was panting.

At two laps, Lin Ran was barely hanging on.

At two and a half laps, Lin Ran stood on the track, hands on her hips, her back bent with exhaustion, panting heavily, while Fu Linling was still full of energy.

“There’s half a lap left… Does it count if I walk it?” Lin Ran asked.

“It counts.”

Lin Ran took off her light jacket, tied it around her waist, and dragged her exhausted body toward the finish line.

Thinking of something, she said, “I remember you came here to run before the physical education exam, too. Back then, you were so tired after one lap, you were in worse shape than I am now.”

Fu Linling turned to look at her, her expression moved. “You still remember that?”

“Yes, you ran here every night during that period. If it weren’t for the PE exam, I would have advised you not to push yourself so hard,” Lin Ran said.

Fu Linling was even more embarrassed to reveal the truth. She wasn’t pushing herself for the PE exam; it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to lose weight.

She couldn’t stick with it for long before the impending college entrance exam interrupted her plans, forcing her to return to the sea of practice questions.

When she reached the finish line, Lin Ran turned and lay down on the lawn, sighing contentedly.

Fu Linling sat down beside her, then also lay down, looking up at the clouds in the sky.

The sun slowly retracted its light, slid past the clouds, and sank toward the west.

The two lay in silence for a while. Lin Ran unexpectedly fell asleep until she heard Lian Fang calling her name in the distance. She opened her eyes and sat up, seeing Lian Fang standing on the steps opposite, waving at her. “Lin Ran, let’s go eat!”

The sky had already darkened. For a moment, Lin Ran thought she was back in her third year of high school, with Lian Fang urging her to get dinner. She turned around and saw the transformed Fu Linling.

Memories of the past overlapped with the present. The person who once ran with heavy steps finally became the person she was today.

—Don’t underestimate anyone, especially Fu Linling.

She vaguely recalled saying that sentence.

That spring, a tall, plump figure appeared on the track field every evening, quietly running along the track. She sweated easily and was drenched after just one lap.

Her friends naturally noticed this person’s existence and gathered to discuss whether Fu Linling would pass the PE exam. Most were pessimistic; given her figure and running condition, it seemed impossible to pass unless a miracle occurred.

These words were only said after Fu Linling had run far away; they knew it wasn’t good for her to hear them in person.

They asked for Lin Ran’s opinion.

Lin Ran looked at Fu Linling, who was running on the opposite side. Although she was slow and exhausted, her feet never stopped moving.

“Don’t underestimate anyone, especially Fu Linling,” she said.

“What was your score for the college entrance PE exam?” Lin Ran turned and asked.

Fu Linling didn’t know why she suddenly asked this and slowly sat up, thinking for a long time. “I can’t remember the exact score.”

“Did you pass?” Lin Ran asked.

“Yes, I passed.”

“You’re amazing!” Lin Ran opened her arms and hugged her, smiling. “My judgment was right!”

Fu Linling was confused. “What’s wrong?”

Lin Ran cupped her face and gave her a very passionate kiss. “You’re wonderful, Classmate Fu Linling!”

The two walked toward the exit. Lian Fang and her husband had been waiting for a long time. Lian Fang tsk-tsked. “You have no shame, Lin Ran. I can’t even look.”

Fu Linling turned her head away, secretly curling her lips.

Lin Ran raised her eyebrows triumphantly. “Then don’t look. I wasn’t kissing her for you.”

The four walked out of the school gate, discussing where to eat. Lin Ran suggested, “Didn’t that restaurant across the street have great stir-fried dishes?”

Lian Fang nodded excitedly. “Yes! We used to sneak out to eat there all the time. I wonder if it’s still open.”

Fu Linling said, “Let’s go check.”

Following their memory, they found the restaurant was still open and much better renovated. They were happy, but the owner had changed.

They found out the original owners were elderly and now home looking after their grandchild. The new owners were their son and daughter-in-law.

The group went in and found a seat. Lin Ran ordered a few of her favorite old dishes, looking around excitedly and chatting with Lian Fang about the days when they used to sneak out to eat.

Students in their class loved to come to this restaurant for meals and gatherings. Lian Fang said, “Everyone in our class must have eaten here before.”

“Not me,” Fu Linling picked up a cup and poured hot water. “My mom didn’t let me eat food from outside.”

“You didn’t even come for the graduation dinner?” Lian Fang asked.

“No.”

“Your mom wouldn’t let you come to the graduation dinner?!”

“No, I didn’t come myself,” Fu Linling said.

“Why?”

Fu Linling looked at the steam rising from the cup and said, “It wasn’t necessary.”

Lian Fang thought for a moment and, risking being murdered by Lin Ran, cautiously asked, “Did you really not have a single friend in high school?”

Sure enough, Lin Ran glared at her, her eyes looking dangerous!

Fu Linling smiled lightly. “No.”

“With so many people in our class, wasn’t there anyone you wanted to be friends with?” Lian Fang couldn’t help but ask again.

Fu Linling froze, looked up at them, and her sight was suddenly blocked by two plates of food.

“Four more dishes, and it will be ready soon,” the owner said.

“Owner, can we get a few bottles of soda?” Lian Fang turned to ask. “What do you guys want?”

The topic was diverted just like that. While eating, they were all immersed in the food’s flavor. Lian Fang’s husband asked them more questions about high school, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

The next day was the last day of the holiday. They spent the morning packing. The entire family was busy loading their luggage with local specialties, snacks, and some medicine. The luggage piled up bag after bag.

Xu Yanyan still felt it wasn’t enough. Since the wild ginseng stock in the shop was low, she asked Fu Shanqing to take Fu Linling to buy more, and to pick some out for Lin Ran and Zhang Wu as well.

“This is really enough, Mom. Please stop fussing,” Lin Ran said, touched by all the things Xu Yanyan was bustling to bring out. She laughed, “You’re practically moving the whole house.”

“This is nothing,” Xu Yanyan said, going off to search the house for anything else they could take.

Grandma also brought out her favorite little bread rolls for Lin Ran to eat on the road.

Seeing that she couldn’t be persuaded, Lin Ran could only help them look for things. Xu Yanyan walked into the study, and Lin Ran followed her. The books inside were varied—all types—presumably containing the books of everyone in the family.

There were also a few supplementary study materials. Lin Ran pulled them out and flipped through them. The pages were filled with dense notes, showing how seriously they were studied.

Xu Yanyan saw this and said, “Most of Yuan-Yuan’s books were thrown into the guest room, the room your mother is staying in.”

“I’ll go take a look.” Lin Ran ran to Zhang Wu’s room, enthusiastically flipping through the textbooks. Unlike her own textbooks, which were full of doodles, these books were full of notes. Tucked inside were even some scratch papers with solutions to classic problems, all perfectly preserved.

Just then, someone outside called Fu Linling’s name. Lin Ran poked her head out and looked at the stranger downstairs. “What do you want with Fu Linling?”

“To ask her to go out to eat.”

Xu Yanyan rushed over when she heard the voice. She told the person downstairs, “She went out to buy something and is leaving soon. She doesn’t have time to eat.”

The person left somewhat disappointed. Lin Ran whispered, “Who was that?”

“A neighbor. Don’t mind her.”

“Is that the neighbor who took the lead in mocking Yuan-Yuan?”

“Yes. I even went to ask her once why she laughed at Yuan-Yuan. She said the entire school was laughing at her, not just her alone, implying I shouldn’t single her out for blame,” Xu Yanyan said with displeasure. “Even though she was young at the time, she was a neighbor. She shouldn’t have treated Yuan-Yuan like that.”

Lin Ran nodded in deep agreement and added, “Mom, not everyone in the school was laughing at Yuan-Yuan. I wasn’t.”

Xu Yanyan looked at her and suddenly smiled. “I know. You’re a good kid. When I first heard the news of her sudden marriage, I was furious, but then I found out she married you, and I understood. Seeing how happy you two are now, I feel relieved.”

“Why are you relieved because it’s me?”

Lin Ran blinked blankly, remembering the first time she met Xu Yanyan. One moment, Xu Yanyan was yelling at Fu Linling for her flash marriage, and the next, she accepted Lin Ran. At the time, Lin Ran just thought it was funny, but hearing this now, she sensed a deeper meaning.

“Even though I had never met you before, I already knew you were a good kid.”

Lin Ran was even more confused.

“Wait here.”

Xu Yanyan turned and went back to the study, rummaging through a stack of old folders. Finally, she found a brightly colored piece of paper and handed it to Lin Ran. “The Lin Ran written on this must be you. There shouldn’t have been another student named Lin Ran in your class.”

Lin Ran took it and immediately recognized the paper as a page from a classmate album, with torn edges on the side.

So, Fu Linling had filled out a classmate album page, but she tore it up after writing it.

“She usually put her school bag away properly when she came home, but one day, she came back dejected, didn’t eat, and went straight to sleep. When I helped her tidy her bag, I found this crumpled-up paper,” Xu Yanyan said.

“She never seemed to take the initiative to make friends, so I was quite surprised to see this. I thought that this little friend named Lin Ran must be a good kid, so I kept it for her.”

Lin Ran looked at the somewhat childish handwriting on the paper, surprised and shocked, her eyes slowly welling up with tears.

On that large piece of paper, there was only one line—the most simple and sincere message:

Lin Ran, can I be your friend?