novelraw Chapter 51 Bullying People
Chapter 51 Bullying People
The barbecue stall was packed with people, voices roaring all around.
The small wooden table was covered in skewers, with several empty beer bottles on the ground. Wang Hao gnawed on a skewer as he complained:
“Just tell me—no matter how busy you are, you could at least reply to Xiuxiu’s messages!”
“Seriously, I’ll help you lie to anyone, but don’t make me lie to Xiuxiu… She’s been so good to you. If you don’t eat a few more grilled kidneys, my conscience won’t be able to take it!”
……
Jiang Ran didn’t hear a word of his complaints. His mind was entirely occupied with thoughts of Cheng Mengxue.
Fundamentally.
He didn’t have much of a direct sense of Cheng Mengxue’s death.
After all, from his perspective, Cheng Mengxue had been alive and well just a few days ago. This so-called “already dead” that others spoke of didn’t carry much real weight for him.
What’s more, the Positron Cannon was already in hand now. As long as he fixed it, he could bring Cheng Mengxue back.But Wang Hao’s single sentence—“go sweep Cheng Mengxue’s grave”—had yanked his thoughts brutally back to reality…
Sweeping a grave.
That meant there was a grave mound. A tombstone.
It was proof of a person’s true death—the final trace they left behind in the world.
A pit. A mound of earth.
Enough to bury an entire life.
For reasons he couldn’t quite explain.
The moment he fully realized this, Jiang Ran’s mood sank sharply, heavy and even stifling.
“I’ll go back with you.”
He spoke softly.
“What?”
Wang Hao, who had been stuffing his face, looked up.
“You mean back to Hang City?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Ran raised his beer glass.
“I’ll go sweep Xiaoxue’s grave too. Go see her.”
“That’s right! That’s how it should be!”
Wang Hao also lifted his beer glass and clinked it.
“Seriously—when you said you weren’t going back earlier, I was stunned. What could possibly be more important than this!”
He downed it in one go and wiped the foam from his mouth.
“Hey… don’t you notice? Every time it’s just the two of us drinking, we always end up talking about Xiaoxue…”
“If you say you’ve let go—honestly, I haven’t either. The three of us hung out together all through high school. Such a good girl, just gone like that. Anyone would feel awful.”
“And it’s not just us. Xiaoxue had great relationships—our whole class definitely misses her.”
“Oh, right—about that class reunion notice I sent earlier. A lot of classmates responded. You’d better not drop the ball when the time comes. You have to show up!”
Jiang Ran sighed.
“You’ve said this like eight hundred times already. Can you stop bringing it up over and over?”
Wang Hao froze, a lamb skewer suspended midair.
“Have I told you?”
Jiang Ran froze too.
He hadn’t?
He immediately realized—that was something from the […]Worldline Zero[…] past. On the current […]Worldline One[…], this should be the first time Wang Hao had mentioned the reunion to him.
“I’ll go.”
He replied perfunctorily.
The high school class reunion Wang Hao was organizing was scheduled for summer vacation—still a long way off.
With that much time, he would definitely have used spacetime information to revive Cheng Mengxue.
Even if he still couldn’t find Qin Feng by then, Cheng Mengxue would at least be there to accompany him to the reunion. It wouldn’t be as lonely as things were now.
“By the way, how many people were in our high school class again?”
Thinking of Qin Feng’s student number—42—and that mysterious phrase meaning “don’t believe 42,” Jiang Ran suddenly grew curious.
“Forty-two people.”
Wang Hao snorted.
“I swear, your memory’s been terrible lately. You forget everything.”
Still forty-two people.
Jiang Ran lowered his head in thought.
It seemed just as he had suspected that day—history could change, but no seat would ever be left empty.
Cheng Mengxue didn’t come to Donghai University, so Chi Xiaoguo “replaced” her;
Qin Feng didn’t go to First High School in Shanghang City, so someone else would likewise “replace” him in the classroom;
One radish per hole. One person per seat. History was like a flowing banquet—it never cared who was just a passerby.
“Hehe.”
Wang Hao suddenly let out a strange laugh.
“At the class reunion, are you going to bring Nan Xiuxiu with you?”
“With such a beautiful girlfriend, you’ve got to bring her along and show her off. All the guys in our class will be jealous to death!”
Jiang Ran chuckled twice.
“Or laugh me to death?”
“What kind of talk is that?!”
Wang Hao suddenly turned serious and slammed the table.
“You’ve got no ability but plenty of attitude. What exactly about Nan Xiuxiu makes her unpresentable?!”
“I’m telling you—don’t act all high and mighty here! If you really disliked her, then dislike her outright. Why did you agree when she confessed to you the other day?!”
“I’d like to know that too.”
Jiang Ran looked helpless.
“I want to know even more than you why I agreed to her.”
“Give me a break.”
Wang Hao waved his hand, drained his beer, and couldn’t be bothered with him anymore.
“You’re the textbook case of getting the benefits and still acting coy. Hurry up—drink, drink…”
This meal cost quite a bit.
Jiang Ran’s wallet took serious damage.
He wasn’t like the […]Worldline Zero[…] version of himself—no lottery winnings, no millions in his pocket. His living expenses were extremely limited.
“Let’s take the bus back,” he suggested.
They said it was hard to go from luxury to frugality—but what choice did he have?
……
The next day, the school cafeteria.
Jiang Ran, Wang Hao, and Nan Xiuxiu were eating together.
“Huh?”
Nan Xiuxiu put down her chopsticks and looked at Jiang Ran.
“You’re going back to your hometown for the May Day holiday?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you suddenly decide to go back again?!”
She was clearly unhappy.
“Didn’t we already agree we were going to Disneyland together?”
Nan Xiuxiu grew angrier the more she spoke.
“Jiang Ran, aren’t you going too far?! We just started dating and you disappear on me—cold violence and all. Is this how you’re supposed to be in a relationship?”
“You don’t answer calls, don’t reply on WeChat, and you even deleted the dating app. What exactly have you been doing these past few days?”
Jiang Ran shook his head and shifted his gaze to Wang Hao.
Yeah.
What exactly had I been doing these past few days? What story did you come up with?
Wang Hao quickly swallowed the rice in his mouth and smoothed things over:
“Ahem—Xiuxiu, didn’t I already tell you? Jiang Ran’s been preparing a competition project with friends from Donghai University.”
“If this project wins a prize, it’ll be huge! It can even add points for upgrading from junior college to undergrad!”
“So—he’s just busy for this stretch. Once this stretch is over, he’ll have time to keep you company, right Jiang Ran!”
Jiang Ran silently nodded and continued eating.
Nan Xiuxiu let out a breath.
“Alright.”
Her tone softened.
“Then why are you going back home for the May Day holiday? Is it also because of preparing for the competition?”
“Of course!”
Wang Hao and Jiang Ran answered at the same time.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Nan Xiuxiu narrowed her eyes at Wang Hao. Wang Hao stared wordlessly at Jiang Ran.
Wang Hao was completely done.
He couldn’t understand it.
He had repeatedly warned Jiang Ran not to bring up Cheng Mengxue in front of Nan Xiuxiu—so why did he insist on bringing up exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned?
Even if Nan Xiuxiu really was very magnanimous, constantly mentioning another girl in front of your girlfriend… was that really okay?
He didn’t know if it was just his imagination.
But Wang Hao felt Jiang Ran was doing it on purpose—deliberately creating distance between himself and Nan Xiuxiu, not caring about her feelings at all.
Nan Xiuxiu turned to look at Jiang Ran instead, took a deep breath through her nose.
“Going to sweep […]Cheng Mengxue[…]’s grave?”
She stressed that name heavily.
“Yes.”
Jiang Ran didn’t deny it.
Bang!
Nan Xiuxiu stood up directly and grabbed her handbag.
“Go, then.”
After leaving those words behind, she turned and strode away without looking back.
“Hey! Xiuxiu!”
Wang Hao hurriedly stood up to stop her, but in the blink of an eye, Nan Xiuxiu was already far away.
“Jiang Ran!”
Seeing Jiang Ran still eating unhurriedly, Wang Hao’s anger exploded. He waved his hand and snatched the chopsticks from Jiang Ran’s grasp.
“You’re still eating?!”
“What?” Jiang Ran looked up.
“What do you mean ‘what’?!”
Wang Hao slammed the chopsticks onto the table.
“You pissed Xiuxiu off and chased her away! And you’re not even going after her?!”
“If she wants to leave, let her leave.”
Jiang Ran picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth, completely unconcerned.
“I was just telling the truth.”
“You—!”
Wang Hao’s face flushed red with anger. He stomped the floor once, took several deep breaths, and looked at Jiang Ran.
“You’ve changed.”
His voice sounded unfamiliar.
“Ever since that night when you suddenly lost it, you’ve been like a completely different person. Nothing like how you used to be.”
Jiang Ran raised his head.
“What was I like before?”
Wang Hao bit his lip, hesitating.
In the end.
He let out a long sigh and looked toward the cafeteria entrance where Nan Xiuxiu had disappeared.
“At the very least…”
“You wouldn’t bully people like this.”