Ninety-Seven Nights of Roses

When we were young, there would always be a few boys who were quite charming. We followed their footsteps and moved forward. The feeling of liking was just a fleeting moment. At such a young age, we didn't know exactly how long we would like the person we thought we liked. "Ding Yan, come here." Ding Jian was sitting on the sofa in the living room, shouting at Ding Yan who had just returned. His tone was extremely tense. Ding Yan casually glanced at him and saw that his expression clearly showed that he was angry. Not wanting to be left out in the lurch, Ding Yan walked towards the elevator on his left. "I told you to come over. Are you deaf?" With a furious shout, Zhou Qian, who was sitting next to Ding Jian, almost got scared by him. Xiaoyan, how did you talk to your father? You... Before Zhou Qian could finish her words, Ding Yan's gaze stopped her, and what Ding Yan said was extremely offensive. "Did you have any say in this? I had a fight with him. It's none of your business. Don't you know how to avoid it?" Zhou Qian, somewhat at a loss, stood up and said, "I... I should go and check Wen Li's homework. You guys can keep chatting." Zhou Qian's figure was still not in sight as the sound of the teacup crashing onto the floor was particularly loud. Immediately after that, Ding Jian said, "She is your stepmother. What attitude do you have towards her? Since she came to this family, have you ever given her a single kind word? She always tells me that you are young and being naive is normal. The things you did to her, she doesn't hold you accountable. You keep pushing your luck and causing trouble for her. I used to think you were just a child having a tantrum and just turned a blind eye. How could you really think I didn't know what you did?" Ding Yan, where have your upbringing gone? "Yes, I'm not well-mannered. Didn't you always know that? So what?" Ding Yan's words carried a kind of extreme hostility. Her expression also became fierce. Ding Jian was so angry that he walked towards her, reached out his hand... "Want to hit me? Are you brave enough to do it? And can you do it?" Ding Yan looked at his outstretched hand in the air. The smile on his lips became even colder. Ding Jian, looking at Ding Yan's expression, felt a mixture of emotions in his heart for an instant. He hesitated to speak, as if the words on the tip of his tongue were too hot to swallow. His expression showed a hint of regret. Suddenly, he hugged Ding Yan tightly and gently stroked her head, saying softly to her, "Little Yan, Dad was wrong. He shouldn't have lost his temper at you. Can you forgive Dad? Dad promises that he will never do this again, but you can't touch alcohol..." The sudden embrace left Ding Yan stunned for a moment. What was on her left shoulder? Were they his tears? Ding Yan shuddered all over and hurriedly pushed him away, saying: "I'm going back to my room." When the alarm clock rang, the entire room was still dark and not yet resembling the early morning. The figure on the bed turned over involuntarily and accidentally pressed a button, and the annoying sound finally ceased. The world returned to calm. A few minutes later, the knocking sound woke Ding Yan up again. The intermittent noises came from outside the door. She covered her ears with a pillow, hoping to block out all the sounds, but failed to do so. The knocking on the door grew louder and the voices from outside became clearer and clearer. They shouted: "Xiaoyan, get up. Today is the first day of school. You should make a good impression on the teacher. Hurry up, I've already prepared breakfast. Xiaoyan, Xiaoyan..." Ding Yan jolted awake and said, "Yes, on the first day of school, how could I have forgotten about it?" "Here, here. Stop yelling." Seeing that Zhou Qian was still shouting, he responded in an annoyed tone to her, pulling out the remote control from the bedside table and opening the curtains of the floor-to-ceiling window. The warm morning sunlight spread throughout the room. Ding Yan quickly finished her morning routine and casually combed her hair. Just as she was about to go downstairs, she heard the voices of Chen Chen and Xia An downstairs. She walked to the balcony and casually lay down on the railing. Smiling, she watched Chen Chen and Xia An riding their bikes and waving at her. Ding Yan said to them, "Usually on the first day of school, you don't come so early. Is it because you haven't seen each other for a few days and are missing me?" "Did you propose the idea of cycling for the sake of it? " Chen Chen looked at her blankly and said, "Why don't you think about where we are? And where is the school located?" "It sounds as if you're not even interested in this bike?" Ding Yan rolled her eyes and feigned sadness, saying, "Didn't you even think about how much these three cost? Aren't you aware that all of this is on my account? My allowance is almost gone. Chen Chen, how could you even talk about me like that?" "Go ahead and do it. You previously cheated me out of a limited edition sports car and also defrauded the money from the little kids. Won't your conscience be troubled by this?" "Of course not. After all, you lost." Seeing the two of them about to quarrel, Xia An hurriedly said, "Alright, if you keep arguing like this, you'll definitely miss the next scene. Yan Yan, have you figured it out yet?" "All right, let's go downstairs." Zhou Qian was standing at the entrance when she saw Ding Yan coming down. She hurriedly handed her the milk and the packed breakfast. But Ding Yan didn't even glance at her and simply ignored her. She picked up the backpack on the shelf and put it on her shoulder before leaving. Do I not know how I treat her? Why do you have to come and gossip about it? You're just doing it for some money and have no boundaries at all. I really can't stand this kind of vain woman. The bicycle swept through, picking up a trail of fallen ginkgo leaves. This suburb is famous for its ginkgo trees and is called "Ginkgo Shimmer". It is said that a wealthy businessman, in an attempt to please his wife, specially chose this piece of land and planned to complete the construction in three years within one year. The ginkgo trees planted along this road took decades to grow. The ginkgo trees extended along the road, while the individual villas nearby were somewhat distant, and from their own homes, one could only vaguely see the outline of the houses. Each family had a large plot of land, some decorated as gardens, some as sports fields, and some even as vegetable gardens, etc. Ding Yan and the other two were riding bicycles through the Silver* Garden, chatting and laughing while enjoying the morning breeze. Chen Chen asked, "This year, the school postponed the start of the semester due to abnormal weather. Do you think the winter vacation will make up for the missed time?" Upon hearing this, Ding Yan's smile on his face somewhat faded. However, Xia An's expression remained unchanged. He calmly presented the facts: "During holidays, the missed classes will be made up. There's no reason that the school reopening would result in the inability to make up the classes." "Why do you care about these unimportant things? With all this time at your disposal, why don't you think more about why you fell asleep during the exam?" Chen Chen fell asleep during the Chinese exam in the middle school entrance examination. The invigilator thought he had fallen asleep after finishing the exam. The invigilator praised him highly. However, when it was time to hand in the papers, he saw that he had only answered two questions. He almost fainted with shock. He awkwardly scratched his head and smiled at the invigilator. It was quite a risky move to get into Lan Yi Middle School, but he actually managed to do it. It was a miracle. However, unlike Chen Chen and Xia An who got admitted through their genuine abilities and merits, Ding Yan was able to enter Lan Yizhong Middle School solely because her father donated two teaching buildings. When he heard Ding Yan's words, Chen Chen stopped what he was about to say. He wasn't embarrassed at all; instead, he smiled and turned his head to say, "Sleeping is not scary. What's terrifying is that someone who got a total score of less than 60 actually has the leisure time to mock me." "I'm willing, I have the money, I like it, what can you do?"