It is often said that childhood sweethearts who grew up together either become a couple or fall out badly with each other. But for Jiang Wei and Yi Ming, there seemed to be a new definition - mutual respect and distance.
Yes, that's the term.
Yi Ming didn't understand. They had been stuck to each other since kindergarten, and even in middle school they were so close that they looked like a young couple in "puppy love", having been called to meet with parents several times:
In the office, Yi Ming's Father held Teacher Zhou's hand with a calm smile: "Teacher Zhou, don't worry. Jiang Wei is out of my son's league."
Although over 40, Jiang Wei's Mother still had a cute doll-like face. She pinched Yi Ming's fair cheeks, giggling nonstop: "My Jiang Wei is a block of wood when it comes to feelings. She doesn't even like such a cute boy. Tsk tsk, she's truly dumb."
Any child would have blushed hearing this.
But Yi Ming was different. Thick-skinned as he was, he smiled gleefully: "Teacher Zhou, you see, I've passed my mother-in-law's bar, but not Jiang Wei's yet. The revolution has not succeeded, comrades still need to keep trying."
What Yi Ming said was true to his heart.
Since young, he had always seen Jiang Wei as his destined wife. It was just that after so many years in university, Jiang Wei still guarded that boundary of "childhood friends don't cross the line", and if Yi Ming tried to make any advances, a knock on his forehead from Jiang Wei would be his reward.
Recently Jiang Wei had been exceptionally odd.
As usual he would buy milk tea for her every morning, but now the girl had started saying "thank you".
When he boiled hot water for her at noon, Jiang Wei took it with a "thanks for the trouble".
Even his daily morning calls to wake her up were declined: "I've set my own alarm, don't need to bother you anymore."
Listen, just listen, what kind of words were these from the ungrateful girl?
They had been like this for over ten years, and now that they were finally at the age of free love, she suddenly wanted to keep her distance from Yi Ming. If not ungrateful, then what?
Yi Ming decided he had to clear this up with Jiang Wei.
There were 5 minutes left before class ended. Jiang Wei was seriously taking notes in her textbook, the specks of light outside the window falling on her ear tips, flushing them slightly red before turning translucent.
Just then her phone buzzed with a message that popped up.
"Come out after class, I need to talk to you."
Sender: Devil Yi
Yi Ming sat on the flower bed ledge, crossing his legs waiting for a bit before realizing Jiang Wei hadn't replied.
No reply was fine, he could send another: "What, after stealing my first kiss in kindergarten, now you don't recognize me?"
Those kindergarten years they were truly inseparable.
During moral education class, the teacher let the children hug their little partners to practice expressing "goodwill and love". Jiang Wei was beautiful even then, with bright round eyes and small, thin lips - the typical beauty look.
The boys unanimously chose Jiang Wei, but she ignored them and rushed to the toilet, dragging Yi Ming out.
Luckily Yi Ming had just relieved himself and was being led out by the caregiver. Suddenly a little dumpling with twin pigtails threw herself at him. Before Yi Ming could react, she had wrapped him in a tight hug.
Seemingly deciding that wasn't enough, the little dumpling blinked then planted a loud kiss on Yi Ming's mouth.
This left Yi Ming and the caregiver stunned. Only the culprit looked back at him indifferently.
“Don’t misunderstand, I’m just picking the tallest among the dwarfs.”
With that said, Jiang Wei let go of Yi Ming and walked away without looking back, leaving the weak and helpless little Yi Ming in turmoil.
This incident was Yi Ming's trump card that never failed with Jiang Wei.
After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Wei finally replied: "Usual place, my class just ended."