Unbridled 16

Ding Ji didn’t really care whether others knew about his grades, and when Lin Wuyu misunderstood him, he didn't insist on explaining.

In a way, he actually enjoyed this feeling of not being looked up to or having high expectations set on him.

"I'm an unemployed wanderer, I idle around every day. I'm a fortune teller, and I deceive and swindle people."

Not bad.

No one nags at your ears every day, making you constantly feel guilty; not knowing whether your self-worth is real or fake.

When Lin Wuyu realized he might actually be a student, Ding Ji was quite proud, feeling like he was a badass suddenly appearing from behind the scenes, with background music and special effects.

Childish but enjoyable.

But soon, this mood deflated again.

The timing was awkward.

In any other moment, when Lin Wuyu discovered the mastermind, Ding Ji would have been proud, just like before.

Because what Lin Wuyu discovered was just an ordinary senior high school student, without any additional context.

But now it's different.

First place in the third mock exam. Sounds pretty cool.

But ahead, there's Fuzhong, second and first place. Lin Wuyu's total score in the third mock exam was 732, surpassing him by over ten points. Although they say the third mock exam is easy, mainly to boost everyone's confidence for the college entrance examination, only so many people managed to score this high…

In that instant, his father's voice surrounded him like a tide.

It's not good enough.

You should be better.

You didn't try your hardest, you didn't do your best.

…

Just like he said, what does it matter if he's first in his grade? They would say there's the first in the whole city, and what does that matter? There's still the first in the whole province.

Ding Ji sighed, and his uplifted mood slowly dropped back down, returning to the angry and depressed state he was in when he left the hospital.

Lin Wuyu watched as Ding Ji's proud smile gradually disappeared from his lips, and he suddenly felt that his timing for this brilliant idea might not have been appropriate.

The phone vibrated.

Chen Mang sent a few names, arranged in order of scores.

Lin Wuyu only looked at the first name and put his phone back in his pocket.

Ding Ji.

"Didn't expect that," Lin Wuyu remained silent for a moment and picked up his cup.

"Come on, you thought of it from the beginning. Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked your classmates first, and if you're out of the top five, it's basically impossible to find out. So you guessed that I was at least in the top five." Ding Ji also picked up his cup and clinked it with Lin Wuyu's.

"Then why couldn't I just ask about Ding Ji directly?" Lin Wuyu smiled. "With your type of looks, I could easily ask anyone at school."

"You don't know anyone from our school. If you did, you wouldn't have reacted that way when I mentioned my school earlier," Ding Ji looked at him. "And asking about someone can easily lead to misunderstandings. Who knows if you wanted to beat me up, tell them to confess to me on your behalf, or if you had taken an interest in me?"

"I really didn't…" Lin Wuyu sighed.

"Whether you did or not, someone with your personality definitely wouldn't do something like that. When you asked your classmates, you wouldn't have mentioned my name, right? You must have asked who was in the top five at Fuzhong, right?"

Lin Wuyu smiled and didn't say anything. Ding Ji wasn't a fortune-teller, and it wouldn't be a loss if he didn't tell people's fortunes anymore.

"So you guessed it from the beginning," Ding Ji took a sip of beer. "But you, you're quite… how should I put it, actually very kind. You know, I really hate it when people call me a genius or a child prodigy and stuff like that, so you had to confirm it was true first yourself."

"But in the end, you confirmed it for me," Lin Wuyu said.

"Yeah, mainly because I was afraid your classmates wouldn't be able to find out," Ding Ji tapped his fingertips on the cup. "I couldn't resist it either. I just wanted to see how the school genius would react when he found out I wasn't a fortune-teller."

Lin Wuyu took a sip of beer, stared at Ding Ji for a while with the cup in his hand, and finally slammed the cup heavily on the table. "I can't believe you're so bad at reading people… Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I didn't tell you?" Ding Ji stared at him. "Come on, be honest, bro. Didn't I say I'm from Fuzhong? I even told you which class I'm in! You didn't believe me! Last week, you were heartbroken that I went to sell watermelons."

Lin Wuyu couldn't help but burst into laughter. He turned his head aside and laughed for a while before turning back and saying in a low voice, "Sorry, it's just… you really look like a swindler."

"I'm saying, your misunderstanding of me," Ding Ji added, "I quite liked it. It felt pretty comfortable."

"Mhm," Lin Wuyu nodded, carefully looking at Ding Ji, who sat across from him as a top student, still feeling somewhat surprised. "So… your parents aren't satisfied with this grade of yours?"

"They're not satisfied," Ding Ji frowned. "My parents' expectations of me are like a black hole, like a cucumber dangling in front of a donkey's head…"

"Usually, people think that the thing dangling is a carrot," Lin Wuyu said.

Ding Ji was interrupted by Lin Wuyu halfway through his sentence, and he was stunned for a while. "You're very meticulous, using 'usually' and 'people think'…"

"Well, otherwise, I wouldn't know that donkeys eat cucumbers," Lin Wuyu laughed.

"Do they eat them?" Ding Ji chuckled after thinking for a moment.

Ding Ji and Liu Jinpeng often came to eat at this restaurant and were quite familiar with the owners. When the boss's wife brought their grilled skewers over, Ding Ji was curious. "Sis, do donkeys eat cucumbers?"

The boss's wife threw the plate directly onto their table. "I haven't seen you in a few days, and now you're learning to be a hoodlum?"

"What… Why am I a hoodlum?" Ding Ji was perplexed.

"Is it because of this person?" The boss's wife glanced at Lin Wuyu's face, disdainfully saying, "Talking about cucumbers and such nonsense, spare me the trouble, learn something useful!"

"Me?" Lin Wuyu was shocked.

The boss's wife ignored both of them and turned around to leave.

Ding Ji burst into laughter and didn't drink a sip of beer for a long time.

"Why does it seem like I learned bad things from you?" Lin Wuyu couldn't understand the boss's wife's judgment.

"She knows me," Ding Ji said with a smile. "She knows I never make this kind of joke."

"Do I really look like the kind of person who makes this kind of joke?" Lin Wuyu sighed. "She figured it out before I did."

"For the serious study god." Ding Ji raised his cup to him, "Cheers."

"For… the adorable little prodigy," Lin Wuyu said after a moment. "Cheers."

Ding Ji didn't say anything, nor did he move.

"If you want to turn against me, wait until I finish speaking," Lin Wuyu pointed his finger and lightly tapped Ding Ji's hand holding the cup. "Whether you are or not, it's none of anyone else's business. You don't need to prove anything, nor do you need to avoid it."

Ding Ji's eyes widened, looking at him for about five seconds, and then he shook the cup in his hand, tapped it against Lin Wuyu's, and tilted his head back, downing the entire glass of beer.

"Let's make it clear," Lin Wuyu said. "If you get drunk, I definitely won't send you home."

"We'll see," Ding Ji raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Who knows who’ll get drunk first."

Lin Wuyu had never eaten grilled skewers like this before, eating as if he were fighting a guerrilla war.

They started eating inside the restaurant, but because it was a bit hot and crowded, the two of them moved to a small table near the entrance. Later, finding it too noisy, they simply went outside the shop. They didn't even have chairs, just a table next to a flowerbed, and they sat on the stone railing of the flowerbed.

They swatted mosquitoes and chatted while drinking.

If their parents saw this scene, they would probably feel that their judgment of their youngest son had always been correct.

Indeed, a chunk of rotten mud that couldn't climb over a wall.

"Jinpeng, the one who sells watermelons," Ding Ji took a half glass of beer and picked up a skewer of beef, nibbling on it, "he's like me, a left-behind child, and his situation is even worse. He was left behind for several years, and his parents actually divorced in the end. Neither side wanted him. Can you imagine how frustrating that is?"

"So who does he live with?" Lin Wuyu asked. "He looks about the same age as you."

"His uncle," Ding Ji replied. "The watermelons belong to his uncle. Jinpeng helps him sell… I just remembered something. When he was young, he called his uncle 'dad.'"

Lin Wuyu smiled.

"I've never called someone that before," Ding Ji confessed. "I never felt like I needed anyone else in my life besides my grandparents and younger aunt."

"Do you feel like your parents are strangers?" Lin Wuyu asked.

"Calling them strangers doesn't quite capture it," Ding Ji frowned. "It's more than that, it's awkward. It's like dealing with strangers but it’s also completely different… They are strangers who are forcibly involved in my life."

Lin Wuyu didn't say anything. He looked at the plate, trying to find some beef skewers, but his hand hovered for a while without finding any.

Then he glanced at Ding Ji.

Ding Ji was biting the second-to-last piece of beef. As soon as their eyes met, he quickly put both pieces of beef in his mouth and then shook his head, swallowing them whole.

"You cheapskate," Lin Wuyu said.

"Twenty beef skewers!" Ding Ji turned his head and shouted to the restaurant.

"I'll treat you this time," Lin Wuyu said.

Ding Ji slammed the table and took out his phone. "Boss, come and settle the bill!"

"Why are you like this?" Lin Wuyu took his phone, smiled, and put it in his own pocket.

"You have a good temper," Ding Ji said. "If I were teasing Pengpeng like this, he would definitely slam the table with me and then fight over the bill."

"It wouldn't come to that," Lin Wuyu said. "If you really wanted to settle the bill, I wouldn't fight you over it."

"Then, bring it on!" Ding Ji slammed the table and stood up. "Boss!"

"Hey," Lin Wuyu flicked his hand, "your phone is with me."

"Damn it," Ding Ji looked at him. "Give it to me!"

Lin Wuyu grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to sit on the flower bed. "Are you drunk?"

"No," Ding Ji said. "I'm like this after just one sip of alcohol. My grandfather said that a single sip reveals one's true nature. If I drink with you here all night, I'll still be the same."

Ding Ji was quite straightforward. They continued drinking until almost ten o'clock, and Ding Ji remained in this "true nature" state the entire time.

Lin Wuyu initially didn't quite understand what "true nature" meant. Now, thinking about it, it was probably about venting. Ding Ji didn't talk much on a regular basis, staying within normal limits. He mainly focused on attacking his friends on social media, posting dozens of posts a day. But after taking a sip of alcohol, it was as if a floodgate had been opened.

It was clear that he wasn't drunk; his eyes were still bright, his thoughts clear, and he walked the same as usual, except he spoke more.

Ding Ji's grandmother fell and was hospitalized. Now he had to go back to the hospital, which wasn't on the way, but Ding Ji seemed to have forgotten that it wasn't convenient for both of them. He just kept walking in the direction of the hospital, and Lin Wuyu had no choice but to follow without interrupting his words.

People need to vent.

Whether you're a fortune-teller, a watermelon seller boy, or a top student.

But these opportunities are rare.

"My grandparents actually don't want me to come back home," Ding Ji lowered his head as he walked, "but they can't say it. After all, I'm their son's son. However…"

Ding Ji suddenly laughed.

"What's wrong?" Lin Wuyu asked, confused.

"My grandmother is amazing too. Most of the money my dad sent back, she didn't use it and saved it separately." Ding Ji wrapped his arm on Lin Wuyu's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Do you know why?"

"Let me think." Lin Wuyu looked at him and said, "Is it because she's afraid that one day your parents will say, 'I spent so much money on you, and you still turned out like this?'"

"What the hell?" Ding Ji stepped back in surprise and looked at him. "You're amazing! How did you guess that?"

"Yeah," Lin Wuyu smiled.

Ding Ji paused for two seconds and then sighed, "I see, only you could figure it out."

"How?" Lin Wuyu turned his head.

"Have you been earning money on your own for a long time?" Ding Ji asked. "Is that the reason?"

Lin Wuyu didn't say anything.

"Poor thing," Ding Ji rubbed his arm. "Poor little thing."

"That's enough," Lin Wuyu said.

"Don't you care about your grandparents, your uncles, and aunts?" Ding Ji asked. "My grandparents and my little aunt are really good to me, even though I didn't have my maternal grandparents early on."

"They're not in the same place, and I haven't seen them for years. I'm not close to my relatives."

"Oh," Ding Ji couldn't help but say again, "Poor little thing."

"…I’m gonna beat you up." Lin Wuyu muttered.

"Come on, hit me and let’s find out," Ding Ji immediately got excited, waving his hand at him. "Among the nerds I know, I haven't met anyone who can beat me."

"After the exams, let's do it," Lin Wuyu said. "I'm afraid if we fight now, one of us won't be able to take the college entrance exams."

"I don't mind," Ding Ji said.

"You better mind," Lin Wuyu glanced at him and stopped smiling.

Ding Ji looked at him, "Why so serious all of a sudden?"

"I told you." Lin Wuyu suddenly leaned closer to him, enunciating word by word, "You don't need to prove yourself to anyone. You don't need to prove that you're a prodigy, and you don't need to prove that you're not. Do you understand?"

Ding Ji had known Lin Wuyu for some time now, and in his impression, Lin Wuyu, apart from being occasionally ‘cold-blooded’, had always been gentle. Most of the time, he would just smile and let things pass.

It was the first time Ding Ji saw Lin Wuyu being so serious.

Ding Ji quickly understood the source of this reaction.

He was the ‘unnecessary extra’, the ‘invisible son’.

"I understand," Ding Ji suddenly felt his eyes becoming a little sore. "I just said it casually."

Ding Ji had never felt this kind of sharpness that pierced his heart, not even from his beloved grandparents.

Lin Wuyu stared at him for a few more seconds before speaking again, "I'm a bit hungry…"

"What?" Ding Ji could hardly hold back his surprise.

"Can you treat me to yogurt?" Lin Wuyu pointed to a small shop nearby. "There's a yogurt shop over there."

Ding Ji felt a bit bewildered but still turned and walked towards the shop. After paying for a mango-flavored yogurt for Lin Wuyu, he said, "Are you really okay? Have you considered that you might have a binge eating disorder?"

"My body’s fine," Lin Wuyu said as he ate.

"Do you exercise regularly?" Ding Ji asked.

"Yeah, I do exercise," Lin Wuyu nodded. "I run around in the playground, used to play ball too, but I stopped in my senior year. If I want to play now, it's only with kids, and it’s not fun."

"You’re not much older than the second-year students," Ding Ji chuckled. "You talk like an old man."

"Well, I can't compete with you when it comes to being an old person," Lin Wuyu laughed. "I haven't even started drinking honeysuckle tea with a glass bottle."

"You may not bring it around with you, but you've definitely been drinking from it a lot," Ding Ji said.

Lin Wuyu glanced at him. "Stingy, you remember every sip of tea I’ve had."

"I do remember, I have a good memory," Ding Ji said.

"Well, well," Lin Wuyu threw the empty yogurt cup into the trash. "So do I."

When they were near the hospital, Ding Ji led him into a small street. "If we go through here, we'll reach the hospital. Let me tell you, there's no road in this area that I don't know…"

He stopped in the middle of his sentence, turned his head and said, "Damn, are you going back to school?"

"In theory, yes," Lin Wuyu said. "I didn't find an opportunity to leave along the way."

Ding Ji was momentarily stunned and then laughed, "Ah! I simply didn't think about it. Well, you better hurry back then."

"I'm supposed to walk back?" Lin Wuyu said.

"Or else, you can call a car…" Ding Ji thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll call a car for you. I'm the one delaying things, right? Let's go to the entrance of the hospital. It's a good location, and we can chat a bit more."

"Okay," Lin Wuyu nodded. "How about I go up and see your grandmother again?"

"Forget it," Ding Ji said. "My mom is probably there. I told her I'll go back to the hospital after dinner. She might not believe me and wait at the hospital."

"It's not the time right after dinner now," Lin Wuyu reminded him. "You also didn't tell me you were planning to leave early."

"Who cares," Ding Ji said somewhat annoyed. "I did it on purpose. I'm rebellious, I’m not an obedient child."

Lin Wuyu smiled.

They had only walked a few steps in the small street when suddenly five or six people came walking towards them.

Although it was called a small street, it was not much wider than an alley, and when these people approached, they almost blocked the way.

Moreover, their walking posture was quite peculiar, and Lin Wuyu had a hard time understanding it.

They wore black pants with floral shirts, had greased hair, and swung their arms; swinging their left leg and right leg back and forth, exuding the vibe of 80s movies with looting and rioting.

"What is this?" Ding Ji stopped in the middle of the road. "Street sweeping?"

Lin Wuyu was about to pull him away, afraid that he had drunk some alcohol and might cause trouble. But when he looked up, he saw that the person in front of these guys was stepping back while holding a camera stabilizer with a smartphone mounted on it.

"…They're filming a video, right?" he said.

"Damn," Ding Ji also saw that person and turned around to walk back. "Let's move aside, let them pass. We’re screwed if we get caught in the camera…"

Lin Wuyu smiled and followed him, turning around.

Before they could take a step, they heard shouting and chaotic footsteps coming from the building's corridor.

There’s a plot twist?

Before he could figure out what kind of badass video this was, a sound similar to a belt hitting someone came from the corridor, followed by a man's howl.

Ding Ji suddenly stopped, "That sound…"

A young man in only his underwear flew out of the corridor.

"Fuck me, Old Liu?" Ding Ji suppressed his surprise and asked.

"You know him?" Lin Wuyu asked. "They’ve got some skill in shooting videos…"

Very realistic.

Flying Liu landed on his face, but quickly jumped up again. When he turned his face and saw them, he was momentarily stunned, then rushed towards Ding Ji, shouting, "Quick, save me!"