Chapter 28: Good Intentions

The Christmas party was a slight relief from the stress of the final exams of the semester, and by the time the party was over at 10pm, everyone was carrying their chairs back to class and talking about the students who had made such a splash with their performances tonight.

Qiao Lan felt uneasily in the pocket of his shirt and carefully avoided the crowd.

She gave Tan Mo an apple, and Tan Mo gave her an apple, one that Qiao Lan felt hot in her hand.

As Qiao Lan carried his chair back, he wondered what he owed Tan Mo, which was becoming increasingly difficult to repay.

When she returned home in the evening, Qiao Lan saw the door to her room wide open and Qiao's grandmother scolded her, "The door is locked all day long, as if she was hiding something untoward."

Qiao Lan had wanted to hide the jade pendant in her room, but now she looked at the messed up room and put the idea away for a moment.

Carefully placing the small box in the bottom, most hidden part of the school bag, with the zip closed, the bag was placed on the bedside table.

The next day at school, it was only officially Christmas Day and the students didn't seem to have come out of the festive mood, which would probably only be tempered by the end of the day break on New Year's Day.

Especially the senior year.

The class teacher stood on the lecture table and taught the students to collect their hearts, the last final exam of the semester was just ten days away, the students replied with their mouths that they knew, and when the class teacher left the ones who were talking were still talking, and some were secretly playing with their mobile phones.

The secondary school does not allow students to use mobile phones during school hours, but there are rules and regulations in place, so more than half of the students in a class still carry their mobile phones with them and hide from the class teacher and head of year every day.

It snowed all night yesterday after Christmas Eve and in the morning it was white when I walked around the campus.

When morning study was over, students who could not hold their breath long ago rushed outside the classroom in a rush to have a snowball fight, especially as Class 13 was on the ground floor and was in a unique position.

Qiao Lan also took out her exercise book as usual and started her study for the day, only lifting her eyes to greet Tan Mo when she arrived.

It was already winter in the north and it was very cold outside the classroom, Qiao Lan himself was wearing thick clothes, but Tan Mo, still looking thin, had just come in from outside the classroom and when he sat down, Qiao Lan could feel the coldness on his body.

Qiao Lan looked down at his hands on the wheelchair, ungloved, excessively pale hands that seemed even more excessively white than usual.

Tan Mo looked up to see Qiao Lan staring at his hand and subconsciously tried to pull it back when he heard Qiao Lan ask him, "Isn't it cold to wear this little?"

Tan Mo shook his head honestly, "It's not cold."

He is not really cold, he is sensitive to the sun, the wind, but insensitive to heat and cold. Uncle Chan keeps trying to get him to wear thicker clothes, but the sensation of thick clothes wrapped around his body, the fabric pressing densely against his skin, is more difficult for him to accept.

But the fingers did freeze stiff.

He always used to stare at the other person when he was talking, which many people had thought was weird, but Qiao Lan never thought it was. Tan Mo just looked at her while talking to Qiao Lan, and his eyes fell on Qiao Lan's neck.

It was empty and there was nothing on it.

Tan Mo suddenly stopped talking.

Qiao Lan was stunned by his direct gaze and followed Tan Mo's line of sight before she realised Tan Mo was looking at her neck, and only after two seconds did she hastily explain, "I was afraid of breaking it, so I didn't wear it."

After saying this, he opened his school bag and carefully took the small box out from the bottom.

The box opens to reveal a moist, delicate jade pendant nestled nicely in a small velvet box.

Tan Mo watched as Qiao Lan took the box out of his school bag and stared at the jade pendant for a long time before suddenly reaching out and taking the box over.

He took the jade pendant out of the box and used the bottom of the box to take out the red string on which it was strung, strung it up and handed it to Qiao Lan.

Qiao Lan froze and hastily explained, "I have to work every day, so I could really break it if I'm not careful."

"It's okay," Tan Mo said, still keeping the motion in her hand and handing it forward slightly again, "put it on."

Qiao Lan stared at the jade pendant in the teenager's hand for a long time, and then stared at the teenager's face in front of him for a long time before reaching out to take the pendant and tying the red cord around his neck.

The teenager's mood, which had been tense and obstinate, finally slowly regained its equanimity, mostly because he wanted to laugh, but didn't know how, and his lips curved into a slightly odd curve.

When Qiao Lan never wore it, Tan Mo couldn't help but worry if Qiao Lan didn't like it.

Qiao Lan was having trouble tying the red string with her hands behind her back, and was worried that it might fall off if she didn't get it right. Looking up and around, there were only five or six people in the classroom, and the closest was Pei Ning, who was an introvert and didn't play, and after a moment's hesitation, she said, "Why don't I put it on when I get home?

Tan Mo is still looking at her, not saying anything.

Qiao Lan had no choice but to turn to Tan Mo and say, "Give me a hand, I can't tie it myself."

Tan Mo's heart, which had just calmed down, was suddenly raised again, and he did not react for a while.

Help...help what...help Qiao Lan tie the red string...

The fingers did not resist shaking a little, and they darted forward and then hesitantly retracted.

He was a little afraid.

Everyone was playing outside, and the five or six people in the classroom were doing their own thing, except for Pei Ning, who was sitting very close to the classroom, who seemed to sense something and subconsciously glanced over at Qiao Lan and Tan Mo, asking after a long time, "Do you want me to help?"

Tan Mo leapt out, fingers clenching the red rope.

"No need."

Qiao Lan hurriedly pressed down on her body so that Tan Mo could push harder.

Pei Ning turned back with a dumbfounded look on her face, but couldn't resist taking a second look.

The look on Tan Mo's face when he helped to tie the pendant was so serious that one could not help but feel nervous that he might accidentally drop the pendant.

Tan Mo is indeed very nervous.

During the time they sat at the same table as Qiao Lan, they were close enough to talk and Qiao Lan let Tan Mo wake her up when she was sleepy, which Tan Mo always thought was close enough, but now they could be even closer.

Tan Mo's cold fingers are a little unsteady in holding the red rope, and when they accidentally touch Qiao Lan's warm skin, they shiver slightly.

Qiao Lan could feel the boy's cold fingers touching her neck from time to time, and she wanted to ask Tan Mo if you were really not cold, but she seemed to sense the boy's nervousness, so she quietly lay there without saying a word and did not disturb Tan Mo.

After a long moment, Tan Mo said with relief, "There you go."

He quickly sat upright again, but after a moment he couldn't help but glance over at Qiao Lan, seeing her smiling and looking at the jade pendant gently swaying around her neck, and only then did a layer of warmth light up in his cold eyes.

It's a subtle feeling, like the indescribable satisfaction and joy of seeing your name listed alongside Qiao Lan's.

After the second period, the sun finally came out of the overcast sky, the snow finally started to melt slowly, bit by bit, and the students slowly lost interest after playing with the snow all morning, and when they returned to the classroom, they talked about everything and redirected the conversation to yesterday's party.

There were nearly 20 or so performances, including handsome girls such as Song Yao from Class 13, Chu Jing from Class 1, all kinds of pretty girls, and Hao Ying, the star student of Class 5, who was caught by the class teacher to do a skit.

Hao Ying played the role of a rich kid with a lot of class, drawing on the current events of the time, with the classic line "My father is Li Gang", which left a lasting impression on the students that night.

Boys and girls at the age of 15 and 16 are always interested in pretty girls and handsome boys, and the party is over, but there is still a lot of discussion about who looked best yesterday, which gradually leads to an inventory of the handsome boys and girls in the school.

Song Yao topped the list for her dreamy outfit yesterday, which piqued the hearts of many teenage boys.

Qiao Lan wasn't interested in this, but everyone commented on Song Yao's beauty, and Qiao Lan agreed that she was really pretty and good.

Tan Mo also heard it.

He had no interest in that either, but always had an interest in Qiao Lan.

Hearing the other students' comments, he glanced at Qiao Lan's face and suddenly remembered the way Qiao Lan had walked out of the auditorium on Christmas Eve wearing shiny antlers.

The violet-blue light shone on her face and for the first time, Tan Mo, who had never had any idea of what it was like to be beautiful, thought Qiao Lan looked great.

Doesn't it look good.

He looks steadily at the side of Qiao Lan's face, which is nicely contoured, with a high and well-defined nose and a nice upward curve to the eyes.

Qiao Lan turned her head uncomfortably as Tan Mo stared at her. Tan Mo met Qiao Lan's dark, shiny eyes and looked away again, thinking to herself that these eyes were the best.

He really thought Qiao Lan was beautiful, but none of his classmates mentioned Qiao Lan's name.

The one they mentioned most was a girl called Song Yao.

It took Tan Mo two class periods to finally find out who Song Yao was.

He looks over at Song Yao for a few moments before returning his gaze to Qiao Lan's face.

A girl sitting behind Song Yao nudged Song Yao and whispered to her, "Song Yao, I've noticed that Tan Mo has been looking at you for the past two days."

Song Yao froze and gave Chen Yaoyang a sharp look, "You must have misread it."

"There must be no mistake, he really has been looking at you."

Tan Mo, who had been "looking at Song Yao", didn't know anything. The more she compared Qiao Lan with Song Yao, the more she realised how superior Qiao Lan was.

The bridge of her nose is not as straight as Qiao Lan's, and the contours of her eyes are not as distinctive as Qiao Lan's. Song Yao's face is too rounded, and she is nowhere near Qiao Lan's height when standing up.

He really thinks Qiao Lan has more to offer than Song Yao, but when everyone talks about the good-looking girls, Qiao Lan's name is never mentioned.

Tan Mo was sitting in the car after school in the afternoon and Uncle Chan in front of him was listening to the news on the radio again.

"Is Qiao Lan good?"

Uncle Chan, who was listening to the radio, was stunned for a long time, "What?"

Tan Mo, still expressionless, said something that startled Uncle Chan, repeating, "Do you think Qiao Lan looks good."

Uncle Chan was so shocked that he didn't even notice what was said on the radio.

Why do you ask such questions out of the blue without a clue? Why did he suddenly ask how Qiao Lan looked like? What would he say that would make Tan Mo happier?

Uncle Chan had a lot of thoughts going through his head, but finally decided to answer Tan Mo's question from an objective point of view.

"In fact, Qiao's second sister has very good features", as an old man with normal aesthetics, he could still answer accurately, "but Qiao's second sister looks like she has been malnourished for a long time. You can see that she works every day, her family must not be well off, so she can't keep up with her nutrition, so she doesn't look well.

Uncle Chan is still talking and Tan Mo is looking out of the car window at the street lights, wondering what he is thinking.

Christmas coupled with New Year's Day allowed the students to relax for many days and finally when the three day New Year's Day holiday was over, they slowly started to wind down and focus on this last final exam.

But as the New Year approached, Qiao Lan's work schedule became busier than ever, and sometimes she returned home at night, even after 1am.

Tan Mo looked at Qiao Lan with a grim look on his face, and Qiao Lan looked even worse than before.

Qiao Lan has been sitting with Tan Mo for a long time and has gradually noticed the different emotions on Tan Mo's expressionless face, not to mention that Tan Mo seems more silent than usual today.

Qiao Lan turned her head to look at him and asked him in a whisper what was wrong, and then Tan Mo asked her in an unintelligent voice, "How long are you going to work for?"

Not knowing why she suddenly asked about working part-time, Qiao Lan couldn't figure it out and answered honestly, "I think I'll stick with it until the end of my senior year."

Tan Mo's eyes grew darker and darker.

What the hell is going on here?

When Qiao Lan asked her again, Tan Mo kept her mouth shut and said nothing.

Tan Mo doesn't lie and no one wants to pry a word out of him if he doesn't want to answer a question.

The next day, Qiao Lan came to the study hall and waited until the morning study session, and looked at Tan Mo who had just come in and said good morning.

Qiao Lan looked at it and asked in passing, "What is this."

Tan Mo pushed the box in front of Qiao Lan, "Here you go."

For me?

Qiao Lan's heart trembled again.

She was really afraid of Tan Mo giving her something, she owed Tan Mo so much now that every time she heard Tan Mo say "here you go", she felt her conscience was condemned and after accepting the apple pendant last time, Qiao Lan vowed never to accept anything from Tan Mo again.

When Tan Mo saw that Qiao Lan was not moving or opening the box, he added, "Aunt Chan made it for you."

Tan Mo reached out and opened the box, a perfectly packed and still warm nutritious porridge, the shrimp inside visible through the clear glass.

After a long time, Qiao Lan took a deep breath: "I've had breakfast."

Tan Mo looked at Qiao Lan with a fixed gaze, thoughtfully saying, "It's okay," and held the box out in front of Qiao Lan, "It's not much."

The portions are small and you can have a little more even after breakfast.

Qiao Lan: ......

"I really had breakfast, I'm not hungry", Qiao Lan repeats.

Even though she knew it was Tan Mo's kindness, Qiao Lan couldn't accept it any more.

Tan Mo stiffened and the good mood that had come up early in the morning vanished cleanly in a flash.

Uncle Chan said Qiao Lan was malnourished, so Tan Mo asked the dietician to make a special recipe, and because it was not easy to bring large portions of nutritious meals to school, he asked Aunt Chan to make nutritious congee.

He had previously seen many students in his class who would drink porridge in the classroom.

No one knew that he had come out with this nutritious porridge in the morning with hidden joy and anticipation, but now Qiao Lan didn't want it at all.

Tan Mo can't describe how she feels at the moment, not understanding the complexities of irritability and anger, mixed with loss, aggravation and sadness.

He looked at the nutritious porridge with an expressionless face and turned his head coldly after a long time.

"If you don't like it, then throw it away."