bookrebus Chapter 11 Heartwarming Brotherhood
Chapter 11 Heartwarming Brotherhood
When Lingyun arrived at the dormitory door, there was a noisy discussion inside about Lingyun and Li Wenli's breakup. Lingyun pushed open the door and entered the dormitory, and the conversation stopped abruptly.
Several pairs of eyes turned to him simultaneously, their gazes filled with cautious inquiry and hesitant concern.
Zhao Weiguo was facing the door, still in the position of swinging dumbbells, his mouth open but no sound came out. Sun Peng quickly put away the Sports Weekly magazine spread out on the table, pushed up his glasses, his eyes slightly unfocused. Even Li Mo, who was usually immersed in his own world, looked up from the circuit board and silently watched him.
Ling Yun walked to his bed as if nothing had happened, put down the canvas backpack, and acted as if he had just gone to the study room.
"Um... Brother Donkey," Zhao Weiguo finally couldn't hold back any longer. He gently put down the dumbbells, rubbed his hands, and tried to comfort him but didn't know where to start. "You're back? Have you eaten? How about... we go out for a drink together?" The words of comfort came out of his mouth stiffly, with a corny taste.
Ling Yun almost burst out laughing. He shook his head and said, "I've already eaten, Brother Wei."
Sun Peng cleared his throat, trying to approach the conversation in a different way: "Brother Yun, 'a loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.' Sometimes, separation is for a more... uh, a more suitable encounter in the future." He spoke in a refined manner, but his eyes kept glancing at Ling Yun, observing his reaction.
"Brother Peng, did the Sports Weekly talk about this?" Ling Yun teased him on purpose.
"Huh? Well... it's all about applying the same principles to different situations." Sun Peng adjusted his glasses a little awkwardly.
An eerie silence fell over the dormitory once again. Only from Li Mo's side, the soldering iron made a slight "sizzling" sound and emitted the smell of rosin as it touched the circuit board.
Zhao Weiguo gave Sun Peng a wink, and Sun Peng scratched his head, then tentatively said, "Actually, Li Wenli is indeed very outstanding, but... but her personality might be a bit... opinionated. If we're together in the future, there might be a lot of friction." He tried to phrase "assertive" and "difficult to get along with" in a more subtle way.
"Exactly!" Zhao Weiguo found a breakthrough and raised his voice a bit. "Brother Donkey, I'm not trying to criticize you, but with your looks and qualifications, why are you worried about not finding a partner? There are plenty of fish in the sea!" He tried to comfort Ling Yun with this theory of "vast forests".
Ling Yun picked up his enamel mug, walked to the corner, shook the last thermos, and found that there was still a little less than half a bottle of water left, so he poured himself a cup. He drank the water calmly, even leisurely, not at all like someone who had just experienced heartbreak.
"I'm fine, really fine." He looked at his brothers who were on high alert, feeling both amused and touched. "Li Wenli and I just had different values, and we broke up peacefully."
"Different values? A peaceful breakup?" Zhao Weiguo stared wide-eyed in shock at Ling Yun's new words. "Didn't she want you to go to America to wash dishes? Let me tell you, Brother Donkey, you can't go! She's too scheming and too greedy. She's using you as a pawn. Before long, once she feels you're no longer useful, she'll definitely dump you."
Sun Peng quickly chimed in, "Yes, Lingyun. The country is developing so fast now. We computer science students have plenty of opportunities to make our mark in China. There's no need to go abroad to work illegally. Just think about it, how can working illegally possibly lead to a future? Li Wenli is just fooling you and using you to pay for her university education." His words hit the nail on the head.
Li Mo hadn't said a word until now, when he suddenly put down the soldering iron, silently dragged a cardboard box out from under the bed, rummaged through it for a bit, took out something wrapped in old newspapers, walked over, and stuffed it into Ling Yun's hand.
Ling Yun paused for a moment, then opened the newspaper. Inside were several chocolates carefully wrapped in oil paper and printed with beautiful patterns. They were clearly imported and were considered rare items in this era.
"My aunt...sent it from Shenzhen." Li Mo said succinctly, then returned to his circuit board as if nothing had happened.
Holding the chocolates, Ling Yun's heart was gently touched by this clumsy yet sincere care. He looked at the familiar faces before him—the boisterous Zhao Weiguo, the scholarly Sun Peng, and the quiet and reserved Li Mo. They were carefully protecting his "fragile" self-esteem in the best way they could think of.
"Brothers," Ling Yun's voice softened, filled with sincere gratitude, "thank you. I'm really fine. You can't force matters of the heart. She wants to pursue her dreams, and I have my own path to walk. It's over, it's over, it's not a big deal."
His tone was too calm, his eyes too clear, which made Zhao Weiguo and Sun Peng somewhat uncertain. They exchanged a glance, both thinking to themselves: Is Lao Liu just putting on a brave face because he's too heartbroken?
"Are you...really alright?" Zhao Weiguo asked again, still not entirely reassured.
"It's really nothing." Ling Yun nodded firmly, even smiling slightly. "It's more real than real gold."
He walked to his desk and began to tidy up his things. His demeanor was natural and his movements were fluid. He showed no sign of being distraught.
Zhao Weiguo and Sun Peng exchanged glances, unsure of what to say next. Their words of comfort felt like punches landing on cotton; the other person didn't respond at all. Although the atmosphere in the dormitory was no longer so tense, a faint awkwardness permeated the air—a feeling that "we were ready to comfort you, but you didn't need it."
Finally, Zhao Weiguo patted Ling Yun on the shoulder and said dryly, "Okay! It's good that you're alright! A real man can take things in stride! When we were at the windowsill earlier, I already knew that Brother Donkey didn't need our encouragement!"
"Goodness, you guys are so gossipy! Watching other people break up and argue, each of you pay me two yuan for watching and eating melon seeds." Ling Yun readily agreed.
Seeing that Ling Yun didn't seem to be faking it, Sun Peng breathed a sigh of relief and reopened the "Sports Weekly." The crackling sound from Li Mo's side also became rhythmic again.
The dormitory seemed to have returned to normal. Ling Yun knew that the chapter between him and Li Wenli was completely over. His friendship with these brothers in front of him, however, was forged even stronger amidst this slightly awkward reassurance.
He picked up the chocolate Li Mo had given him, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. A slightly bittersweet aroma filled his mouth.
Hmm, it tastes good.