Everyone's been reborn, so who would bother finding a wife on their own?

Chapter 127 Help

When the class was divided into groups, Xiao Yunqing stood next to Song Huan with her hand raised the highest.

During free time in PE class, she ran the fastest again, and by the time others realized what was happening, she was already standing to Song Huan's left.

Xiao Yunqing practically monopolized Song Huan.

On his way home from school that day, a girl was walking on Song Huan's right, smiling and talking to him.

Xiao Yunqing came around from the left and forcefully squeezed between the two people, his shoulder touching Song Huan's, pushing the girl to the side.

She didn't say a word when the girl was talking; she just stared at the road ahead with a cold face.

The girl said a couple of things, but no one responded. She gave an awkward smile and turned into a nearby alley.

Song Huan was both amused and exasperated. "Is it really that bad? She just asked me a few questions."

Xiao Yunqing snorted, "What? I didn't say anything."

My inner thoughts drifted over, crackling and popping like popping beans.

[So what if I take this road? It's not like she owns the road.]

[If she wants to talk, she should talk to someone else. Why is she talking to you?]

[It's not like she doesn't have a deskmate.]

[Besides, who knows if she was asking a question or something else.]

[What if we get to know each other better as we ask questions, and then we start chatting, and then...]

[no!]

Absolutely not!

She held her chin high, walked quickly, and swung her ponytail high.

Song Huan walked beside her without saying a word, but found it rather amusing that she seemed to be saying one thing and meaning another.

Today is Friday, and the midterm exams are next Monday.

The atmosphere in the classroom was tense for two days. Some people were flipping through textbooks, some were memorizing vocabulary, and some were catching up on sleep at their desks to conserve their energy.

But the seat next to Zhao Qihang was empty; Chen Xu hadn't come for two days.

When playing basketball, Zhao Qihang was standing alone under the basket. The ball was passed to him but no one caught it, so it rolled to the sideline.

Song Huan went over to pick up the ball and asked him what was going on with Chen Xu.

Zhao Qihang sat on the sidelines of the court, wiping his sweat with a towel. "His mother seems to be sick, quite seriously. His father has to go to work, so he can only take leave to stay home and take care of her."

Song Huan nodded.

Xiao Yunqing stood to the side, holding a water glass in her hand, but without unscrewing it. "I didn't realize he was so filial. He even argued with his mother before. I thought he hated his mother."

Song Huan glanced at her. "Chen Xu isn't that kind of person."

Xiao Yunqing stuck out her little tongue, "I know, I know, I was wrong."

She unscrewed the glass, took a sip, and then screwed it back on.

When I finished evening self-study, the streetlights were on, casting a dim, yellowish glow.

The two walked home side by side. Halfway there, Xiao Yunqing suddenly stopped and pointed ahead.

"Look over there."

There was a tricycle on the street corner with an iron pot on it, and the oil in the pot was smoking.

A person wearing a mask is standing behind the stove, flipping skewers.

A cardboard sign hung next to the car, with crooked handwritten words: fried rice noodle rolls, fried chicken strips, and fish balls.

Xiao Yunqing pulled Song Huan over and said, "I want fried starch sausage, fried chicken strips, and these fish balls."

She pointed at the things in the pot, talking non-stop.

Song Huan looked at the person wearing a mask.

He was very tall with broad shoulders, wearing an apron tied around his waist with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

He had big hands and thick fingers, and his movements when flipping the sausages were not very skilled. Two of the sausages were overcooked, and the edges were blackened.

Only his eyes were visible.

But Song Huan recognized him.

"Chen Xu"

The hands paused for a moment.

Chen Xu raised his head, the eyes above his mask blinked once, and then he lowered his head again.

Remove the two overcooked sausages from the pot and throw them into the trash can.

"What are you doing here?" A muffled voice came from behind the mask.

Xiao Yunqing stood there, mouth agape, still clutching the rice noodle sausage she had just received.

Song Huan walked over and leaned against the car. "What are you doing here? Where's your mother?"

Chen Xu lowered his head and put the chicken strips into the pot.

With a sizzling sound, he took half a step back, then stood back up.

"My mom's sick, she has a bad cold and a fever for two days." He paused for a moment, "My dad has to go to work, he can't get time off from the construction site. I..."

He didn't finish his sentence, and instead flipped the chicken strips over.

Xiao Yunqing stood to the side, forgetting to eat the sausage in her hand.

Chen Xu scooped the chicken strips out, put them in a bag, and handed them over, saying, "Please eat."

Song Huan took it but didn't eat it.

"I bought the medicine, it cost almost two thousand." Chen Xu's voice was very low, as if he was talking to himself, "There's not much money left at home. If my mother doesn't come out to run this stall, no one else will. If we don't sell, we won't have any money."

He leaned against the car and placed the tongs on the stove.

He looked down at the oil in the pan.

Xiao Yunqing took a bite of the starchy sausage, chewed it twice, but couldn't swallow it.

"Then why don't you go back to selling near the school gate?" she asked. "There are more people there, and business is better. You can't sell much here in a day."

Chen Xu remained silent.

My fingers nervously rubbed against the stove, only to get a puddle of oil on them.

Song Huan patted him on the shoulder.

"Chen Xu!"

Suddenly someone shouted from afar.

Chen Xu then raised his head.

Someone was running towards us from a distance; it was a middle-aged woman wearing slippers, panting heavily.

"Chen Xu, your mother has a fever again, 39 degrees Celsius. You need to go back right away."

Chen Xu's face turned pale.

He threw the tongs onto the stove and ran away.

He ran a couple of steps and then stopped, looking back at the car.

"Go ahead," Song Huan said. "We'll take care of things here."

Xiao Yunqing immediately said, "Go back and take care of your mother first. We'll look after the stall for you."

Chen Xu looked at them for two seconds, nodded, and then turned and ran away.

The footsteps echoed a few times on the empty street before fading into the distance.

Xiao Yunqing stood beside the car, the sausage in her hand already cold.

"He's so strange. He argued with his mother before, and now he's..."

"He didn't want anyone to know that his mother was selling this," Song Huan said, "but he didn't want his mother to bear the burden alone either."

Xiao Yunqing didn't say anything, but put the cold sausage into her mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it.

Song Huan looked around the street.

Two streetlights were broken, making the place dim and deserted.

The shop across the street was closed, with a "For Sale" sign pasted on the roller shutter door, the corners rolled up.

Occasionally one or two people would pass by, but they wouldn't even glance in our direction.

"Let's sell them at the school gate," he said.

Xiao Yunqing was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

"Yes! There are a lot of people over there!"

The two men pushed the tricycle up.

The car was a bit heavy, and the iron pot wobbled on the stove, almost splashing oil out.

Song Huan held the handlebars in front, while Xiao Yunqing pushed from behind.

When the cart was pushed to the school gate, evening self-study had just ended, and students poured out of it.

Someone saw the stall and came over. "Fry two sausages."

Xiao Yunqing paused for a moment, then turned to look at Song Huan.

Song Huan was already standing behind the stove, picking up the tongs, heating the oil, and putting the sausage in. Her movements were swift and efficient, much more skilled than Chen Xu's.

Xiao Yunqing stood beside her, helping to hand her the bag.

More and more students gathered, forming a semi-circle. Someone recognized them.

"Aren't you Song Huan from Class 4?"

"Is this your stall?"

Song Huan didn't look up, but turned the intestines in the pot over. "I'm watching over it for a friend."

Xiao Yunqing stood beside him, handing out bags, collecting money, and giving change.

He was so busy he barely had time to breathe, but he still had a smile on his face.

After the first wave of people passed, most of the food in the pot was sold.

Xiao Yunqing leaned against the car and counted the change in her hand.

"Thirty-eight yuan." She looked up, her eyes shining.

Song Huan wiped the pot clean and arranged the remaining sausages neatly.

"I earn more than I did over there."

Xiao Yunqing folded the money neatly, stuffed it into her apron pocket, and patted it.

The streetlights shone on the tricycle, and the oil on the stove was still hot, emitting a wisp of smoke.

The number of people at the school gate gradually decreased, and the milk tea shop across the street turned off its lights and pulled down its roller shutter with a whoosh.

Xiao Yunqing stood beside the car, put the last sausage into a bag, and handed it to Song Huan.

"for you."

Song Huan took it and took a bite. The sausage was cold, and the skin wasn't crispy anymore, but the taste was still okay.

The two packed up their stall and pushed it back to the street they had been on, waiting for Chen Xu to arrive.