“Ying Huan didn’t expect him to be so cooperative. She glanced at him for a while, thinking to herself, they weren’t even close, so what was there to admire about Brace-Face Girl? Her gaze passed over his handsome face and landed on his red T-shirt. She pursed her lips, feeling a bit sour, and walked towards the bus stop.
Xu Jingyu casually turned his head, glancing at the girl’s seemingly powerless figure.
“Just wearing braces, what’s there to be so upset about? It’s not like he made her wear them,” Xu Jingyu shook his head. He saw Du Yaxin coming out and straightened up, waving her hand, “Mom, over here.”
Du Yaxin walked over, and Xu Jingyu went to unlock the car. As the car slowly passed by the bus stop, he caught a glimpse of the girl who had just put on braces still standing there, with a boy in school uniform beside her.
The boy was bouncing around, saying who knows what, while Ying Huan opened her mouth expressionlessly, showing him the braces she had just put on.
Du Yaxin looked out the window, “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” Xu Jingyu withdrew his gaze, tapping lightly on the steering wheel with his fingers. He had heard from Wu Qi that he went to Yi Zhong yesterday to find Ying Chi, asking him if he wanted to be specially admitted to A University in his senior year, then join the school team and the Tianbo Boxing Club.
Xu Jingyu became a professional boxer at the age of 17, and after he entered A University, Zhou Baohao absorbed several promising boxers from A University, such as Shi Lei and Yang Jingcheng. However, these few had to represent the school team in competitions while also attending Tianbo’s events, and time was a bit tight. Zhou Baohao simply had A University’s boxing team set up a team at the club, where resources could be shared, creating a win-win situation, which of course the university readily agreed to.
The annual special admission quota was limited, and Wu Qi had also understood Ying Chi’s grades before going to find him. He was about to enter his senior year, and judging from his current grades, it was no problem to get into an ordinary second-tier college, but it was almost impossible to get into A University.
Such a tempting opportunity, coupled with Ying Chi’s love for boxing, he would definitely not refuse.
But Ying Chi hesitated for a moment and refused Wu Qi.
Xu Jingyu was also quite surprised by this.
Ying Chi didn’t tell Ying Huan about this. After Ying Huan’s college entrance examination ended, he happily ran to the boxing gym to fight and earn prize money and appearance fees.
A summer passed, apart from the money he gave Ying Huan for braces, their savings increased from 120,000 to 150,000, still not enough for the surgery, because their family had hardly any savings over the past few years, just enough to eat. During the summer vacation, Ying Huan treated boxers at the boxing gym, as she went there almost every night, Ying Chi talked to the person in charge: “You can’t let my sister work for nothing.”
So, the boxing gym paid Ying Huan according to the number of sessions. After more than two months, she earned over six thousand. She bought a laptop and had one month’s living expenses left.
No matter how well they hid it, there was still an unexpected revelation—
Someone familiar saw them at the underground boxing gym.
That night, when Ying Huan and Ying Chi returned downstairs, Ying Huan helped him put on a baseball cap. He had been injured tonight and didn’t get the prize money either, so wearing a hat home could help cover it up. She lowered her head, feeling a bit guilty, “You’re about to be a senior, don’t go boxing in the future, I’ll find a part-time job after going to college.”
Ying Chi hurriedly said, “No need, you’ll be busy with your studies, and if you take on a part-time job, you’ll be exhausted! Besides, I like boxing, I even like getting beaten up.”
Ying Huan looked up at him, seeing a glimmer of light in his eyes, she knew he really liked boxing.
“Even so, you can’t go anymore. Focus on your studies, and after you go to college, you can participate in formal competitions. Whether it’s professional or amateur, I won’t agree to you going to that boxing gym again.”
Ying Huan’s attitude was unusually firm. Just as she finished speaking, she heard Ying Haisheng’s angry shout, “What are you two doing there?! Get back home!”
Both of them felt a twinge in their hearts. Ying Haisheng had almost never scolded Ying Huan before; just now, he yelled “you two.”
Ying Huan leaned over and whispered, “Don’t say anything later, let me handle it, okay?”
Surprisingly, Ying Chi nodded obediently. “Okay.”
Midnight, twelve o’clock.
The lights were on in the Ying household. Ying Huan and Ying Chi were punished to stand in the corner of the living room. The siblings stood upright, their attitudes very solemn. Ying Chi took a step forward, ready to block his sister if their father tried to hit her.
Ying Haisheng was searching around for something to hit them with. He picked up a rolling pin, but seeing that it was too thick and hard, he put it down. He picked up an English dictionary, weighed it, and put it down again. He grabbed a pillow, but it was too light, so he quickly threw it away…
Ying Chi watched him rummage through the room, waiting for this beating to come to an end. He grabbed the broom by the door and handed it over quietly, saying, “Dad, this should be handy, come on.”
Ying Huan: “…”
She quickly snatched the broom back and hid it behind her.
Ying Haisheng: “…”
He turned around and gave his son a glare, then walked over quickly, snatching the broom from behind Ying Huan. Ying Huan called out “Dad” a few times, but Ying Haisheng was so angry he was confused, angry at himself, angry that his two children had hidden this from him and done such a thing. He grabbed the broom and swung it over.
Ying Haisheng’s blows weren’t actually heavy. Ying Chi was hit a few times and didn’t find it very painful, but Ying Huan was anxious. She stood in front of him, “Dad, don’t hit him, hit me instead, I let him go.”
Ying Chi hurriedly said, “It’s not my sister’s fault! It’s my own choice to go there. Boxing is really fun.”
Ying Haisheng swung the broom at him, “Still talking back! Still talking back!” This time, he even scolded Ying Huan, “You’re also fooling around with your brother, going to such a chaotic place? What kind of student comes home battered every day? Don’t you know people might think you’re mixing with the wrong crowd, turning bad?”
“From now on, every time you go there, I’ll give you a beating!”
“Before, you were always beaten when you came back…”
Ying Chi dodged and shouted, “Shut up!”
And to think, they complained it wasn’t chaotic enough.
When Lu Mei returned home from her night shift, she was greeted with such a chaotic scene. She stood at the doorway, feeling a headache coming on. The door of the neighboring apartment was also open, and the neighbor, an elderly lady, was curiously observing their family.
“Sorry for disturbing you,” Ying Huan gave her a forced smile and closed the door.
Family matters should not be aired in public.
Lu Mei already knew what had happened. Two hours ago, Ying Haisheng had called her, expressing both concern and anger. She looked at the siblings. Ying Huan promised never to let Ying Chi go boxing again, and Ying Chi was forced to nod and promise not to cause trouble and not to go to the club again. Finally, the matter was resolved.
In the middle of the night, Ying Haisheng lay on the bed sighing, “It’s all my fault, making it hard for the children…”
Lu Mei sighed along with him, but then she felt a sense of pride. She smiled and said, “I can’t even save twenty thousand yuan in a year of work. Oh well, this time… they did it for you. You should focus on getting better and not waste their efforts.”
Ying Haisheng had a worried look on his face, thinking about the future surgery, and if they couldn’t find a matching kidney… Thinking about it, he couldn’t sleep well all night.
…
In mid-September, both Ying Huan and Zhong Weiwei were admitted to the medical school of A University. They went to register together, and they were ecstatic to find out that they were in the same class and assigned to the same dormitory.
Ying Chi accompanied Ying Huan, acting as her laborer.
Their dormmate Lin Siyu boldly asked Ying Huan, “Is he your boyfriend?”
Ying Huan and Ying Chi didn’t look much alike to begin with, and with braces, their looks had decreased a bit, making them look even less alike. There were always people who mistook them for a couple. Before Ying Huan could explain, Zhong Weiwei laughed out loud, “No, he’s my boyfriend.”
Ying Chi blushed and scratched his head.
Ying Huan explained, “No, he’s my younger brother.”
Lin Siyu stared at Ying Chi for a while, then leaned over to Ying Huan and said, “Your brother is very handsome.”
Ying Huan smiled, “Of course.”
Another roommate, Jiang Meng, was from another class and department, transferred over. They all got to know each other and exchanged WeChat contacts. Ying Huan stared at the faces of her two roommates, trying hard to remember them, afraid that she wouldn’t recognize them if she met them on the street…
Apart from dealing with coursework, Ying Huan also found a part-time job teaching children how to draw.
She had studied painting for several years before being forced to give it up. However, she had studied for seven or eight years in total, and she would still draw a few sketches in her spare time. During the summer vacation, she practiced intensively and regained her touch, so teaching children was no problem.
At the end of October, two days before the campus sports meeting, Ying Huan accompanied Zhong Weiwei to the stadium for a run and ran into Xu Jingyu outside the field.
She could recognize him at a glance because he was wearing a red baseball jersey, with the zipper pulled up to his neck, and the pattern on his chest was the same as the one she had seen at the hospital last time.
He looked particularly striking and handsome in red, with his hair still cut very short. Standing outside the stadium, there was an indescribable sense of confidence and vigor about him.
As soon as Xu Jingyu and Wu Qi entered the stadium, they saw Ying Huan standing by the parallel bars doing leg presses. She was dressed in a blue tracksuit, her right leg straight on the parallel bars, her ponytail tied up, with a small face, fair skin, and bright black eyes, turning her head to look at him.
Xu Jingyu was somewhat surprised, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.
Ying Huan unconsciously licked her braces, her tongue against her small pointed teeth, then turned back expressionlessly.
Wu Qi glanced at Ying Huan, then at Xu Jingyu, “Do you know her?”
Xu Jingyu thought for a moment, smiling, “I guess you could say I do. You’ve seen her too, the night of the underground match last time.”
Wu Qi suddenly remembered, “Oh, that girl.”
Ying Chi’s girlfriend.
Wait, she’s a student at A University, right? A relationship between siblings?
“Yeah,” Xu Jingyu replied, hands in his pockets, taking a few steps forward. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to look at Wu Qi, “Coach, do you still want Ying Chi to join the team?”
At this, Wu Qi became a little annoyed and sighed, “Ying Chi hasn’t been going to the underground boxing matches lately. I’ve visited him at school twice, and he doesn’t seem unwilling to join, but he just hasn’t agreed.”
Xu Jingyu glanced at Ying Huan casually and said, “Why not ask her? Maybe she can convince Ying Chi to join the team.”
Wu Qi chuckled, “I’ve discussed everything with him, but he hasn’t agreed. She’s just a little girl, even if she’s Ying Chi’s girlfriend, can she really persuade him?”
“She can. She knows how to coax people.”
