"Parallel Lines" Chapter 2 - The coolness behind the scenery

This is a long campus love story set against the background of a traditional famous school in Hong Kong from 2003 to 2007. This story is purely fictional and has nothing to do with real people, places, groups, or events. (However, when writing about what happened nearly 20 years ago, archaeology is required from time to time. If you find any mistakes, please let me know)

After becoming He Huiwen's neighbor, Xuan Lan discovered that this out-of-the-ordinary-looking girl turned out to be a "WTO member" -- in addition to her top grades, she also had to deal with many tedious duties in her spare time: member of the Chinese debate team, actress of Drama Club, There is also IMC's score work - IMC's rehearsal books are already very frequent, and she has to spend extra time preparing music scores, and she also has to discuss rehearsal time and performance repertoire with the boys in the neighboring school. In short, she is always busy at school every day.

The closest friend in middle school was the "separation seat" (meaning "next seat"). Unfortunately, the seat next to Xuan Lan is not vacant, and there is very little time for chatting.

The turning point in the relationship between the two came on the day that Drama Club previewed the entries for the Inter-School Drama Festival at the morning meeting shortly after school started.

He Huiwen, who played the second leading role, crossed her legs and slipped in the middle of the play, slipping out of a neat "one-word code", which won the audience's extremely warm applause.

"I used to learn ballet." When Xuan Lan asked, He Huiwen laughed.

No wonder her body is so beautiful, Xuan Lan thought to herself, He Huiwen's parents must have trained her very carefully.

An indifferent mother, she always has an attitude of indifference to herself and indifference to everything about herself...

"But after my parents passed away, I didn't learn any more."

Xuan Lan was still thinking about her life, when Hui Wen suddenly said a thunderbolt: "Ah?!"

"Yeah, they passed away in a car accident three years ago."

He Huiwen's image of a little princess in Xuan Lan's heart collapsed instantly.

"However, fortunately there is a brother." Jin Yang, her elder brother ten years older than her, has been her guardian for the past three years. Relying on the large inheritance of her parents, the two brothers and sisters depend on each other for life.

Happiness is indeed relative.

Xuan Lan, who spends less time with her father and is estranged from her mother, never felt that she was a happy child until this day.

It turns out that she is not separated from her parents, she is already happier than her neighbor...?

"You don't have to feel sorry for me, I'm doing fine now."

He Huiwen said so easily and calmly, probably she has met too many people who were shocked by this, and had to get used to lowering her grief to comfort the other party.

"...He Huiwen."

"Um?"

"If you have anything on your mind, or want to chat with someone... you can find me."

He Huiwen listened, her eyes widened, and she looked inconceivable, making Xuan Lan embarrassed - yes, why did she say such a thing to He Huiwen? How could she, who is not good at words, share her worries for He Huiwen?

Who knows, the next moment, He Huiwen will have a happy smile on her face.

"Okay, you said it! Don't think I'm annoying in the future!"

In fact, it was the first time Xuan Lan said such a thing in his life.

She also didn't think anyone would appreciate her care. Just listening to He Huiwen's words, I suddenly felt an urge in my heart, thinking that He Huiwen knew that she cared about her.

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When Xuanlan was in elementary school, she still had a few regular playmates, but after she was admitted to this traditional famous school, she was almost alone and did not belong to any circle.

Classmates who have never met Xuan Lan will always misunderstand that her taciturnity is due to her self-appreciation because of her good grades. But the classmates who talked to her knew that she never took her good grades seriously and was very patient. Not only would her classmates ask her for homework, but occasionally they would take the initiative to ask her to go out to play.

However, in the face of Jieling girls from wealthy families and full of self-confidence, Xuan Lan always felt out of place and couldn't be with them for a long time.

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The only one with whom she is considered a close friend is Tina, who has been in the same class for three years.

Xuan Lan is tall and tall, while Tina is petite and delicate, and the two have never been seated next to each other.

How did they get acquainted? In the first year of secondary school, Xuan Lan often stayed in the school library, and Tina was an intern library manager. Once, after counting the books in the library, Tina had to put all the books on the loaded cart back into the bookcase. Seeing classmates struggling with books and climbing up and down on ladders, Xuan Lan offered to help.

The two got the job done together, and the school was almost closed. After leaving school with Tina, Xuan Lan was startled to realize that Tina and she went home the same way.

Most of Jieling's classmates are middle- and high-yield living in private housing estates. In Junmin Court where Xuan Lan lives, even though it is the nearest HOS housing estate to Jieling, she has only seen a few girls from Jieling in and out of the house.

Tina originally lived in Aimin Village [1] opposite her house, which was unexpected to Xuan Lan. Jie Ling girls living in public housing estates are unique.

In the future, whenever the school has outing activities, such as the land games, autumn trips, etc., Xuan Lan will always go back to He Wentian with Tina. After saying goodbye downstairs at Tina's house, he will go home by himself.

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Xuan Lan never revealed anything on her mind, and no one would talk to her, because everyone could see that she lacked interest in mundane things.

But of course, she also has things on her mind, and those things would seem extravagant in the eyes of her peers.

Since childhood, Xuan Lan has excelled in academics and is the darling of teachers and the envy of classmates.

However, no matter how hard she worked and won the envy of the whole world, her mother would always turn a blind eye.

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She has not only one child in the family, she also has a sister named Xie Youlan (Cantonese: ze6 yau5 laam4) two years younger than her, and a younger brother named Xie Junlin (Cantonese: ze6 jeun3 lam4) eight years younger.

Her father called her "Xuan Xuan" and her sister "Yoyo", while her mother always called them by their full names.

Only his younger brother, his father and mother fondly call him "Junjun".

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What does the name Xie Xuanlan mean? It was only after her younger brother was born that she found that there was no "Lan" in his name, and she began to think about this issue.

The name of the younger brother "Jun Lin" has obvious meanings: handsome and handsome, which are the expectations of parents for their children; the word "Lin" means grace.

What about "Xuan Lan"?

She knew the meaning of what He Huiwen said, but she couldn't put together a positive meaning like her brother's name.

Occasionally, she recalled the grandmother (grandmother) who passed away when she was young. When calling her and her sister before her death, she always pronounced the word "Lan" (Cantonese: laam4) as "male" (Cantonese: naam4) — — Even among people born and raised in Hong Kong, it is very common to confuse Cantonese "n" and "l" initials.

Could it be that the names of her and her sister actually mean: "Han Nan" (Cantonese: hin1 naam4), "You Nan" (Cantonese: yau5 naam4), do they expect them to bring their gracious younger brother to the world ?

Just because I was born a girl, you don't care about me?

Xuan Lan never dared to ask his parents this question.

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After realizing this possibility, Xuan Lan once gave up on herself for a while, feeling that all her efforts and efforts were in vain under the bondage of fate.

It took a while before she gradually figured out a way to live in peace with a sense of emptiness: not jealous, not complaining about others, not comparing herself with others, and only devote herself to pursuing the knowledge she was interested in.

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However, on this day, He Huiwen suddenly revealed the coolness behind the scenery, as if disturbing a pond of spring water, disturbing her in the silence.

[1] Oi Man Village: A public housing estate located at Chung Hau Street and Hau Man Street, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon. It was built successively from 1973 to 1975.