Rose

The bulletin board was filled with printed essays, neatly arranged, with black words on white paper, dazzling the eyes.

Zhou Xi leaned over slightly and started looking from the third prize. Suddenly, his eyes fixed on Gao Liyang, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at the boy.

The results were discovered immediately.

Tsk, it seems like it has eyes on its back. I suggest digging them out to avoid any trouble.

Gao Liyang walked towards her: "What's wrong?"

"You have good eyesight."

"That's it." Gao Liyang's eyes stayed on Zhou Xi for a moment, and he followed her gaze. "Mine, how is it?"

The tone was quite arrogant, but Zhou Xi had to admit that his writing was indeed better than hers. The structure was rigorous and the article was grand, but not out of the ordinary. The vocabulary was rich, but not flashy.

"very good."

"No more?"

"What else do you want to hear? A poet descending to earth, a masterpiece from the gods, conquering the world and being invincible?"

"Hey, hey, that's an exaggeration. It's not that great. Just enough, though." Gao Liyang snapped his fingers in satisfaction and said crisply, "How about becoming my disciple? I'll teach you my experience. No charge, no secrets, no strictness. Just one request."

"Call me Master and let me hear it."

"Call me dad first."

"Hey, you're quite proud of yourself." Gao Liyang stroked the ends of his hair with his fingers.

"I call you Master, but that's a generation difference. I'm afraid you'll shorten your lifespan."

"I'm tough. If you dare to call, I will answer."

Zhou Xi's feet felt a little itchy, so he stomped his feet on the cement floor and said, "Get lost."

Gao Liyang said, I can’t afford it, I can’t afford it.

Academic master, you can’t afford to play.

"Okay, I'll get out of here. Get out of here. Go to the midterm exam and let you see my strength."

"What the hell is this midterm exam? Are they testing me or roasting me?"

"Hey, did you watch the drama that aired yesterday? It was so good. The heroine went from white to black at night and did some big things..."

"Same as before, I'm going to die, I'm going to go back and wait for my parents to whip me with their golden whip!"

"I didn't read this. I was following the comics. You finally updated a chapter..."

"Proctor, please don't come so quickly. Go to the restroom, preferably to have diarrhea. Don't worry, I will definitely apologize to you when the time comes..."

Before the exam even started, the corridor was already packed with people. Some were holding books as a lifeline, cramming before the exam, feeling extremely miserable, while others were just there to be seen, chatting away.

The seats for the midterm exam were not arranged according to the admission scores that were almost 800 years old. Instead, they were reshuffled and arranged without any pattern. It was all about the thrill of the heartbeat. You never knew whether the person sitting next to you was a big shot or a rookie.

Zhou Xi was assigned to the last examination room on the fifth floor. Xiao Xiaoyu originally wanted to run over and touch the golden hand of the top student, but the break was too short, so Zhou Xi didn't let her come.

Zhou Xi found his seat and sat down. He didn't know anyone around him.

She has always been sensitive to her surroundings, and it's not that she didn't feel it. The vague gaze fell on her. She lowered her head to check the examination supplies, not caring at all.

What's the point of staring at me? I'm just prettier than you guys and I do better in exams than you guys.

"Please ask the invigilator to open the answer sheet bag in public and distribute the answer sheets and draft paper..."

There was no other sound in the examination room except the sound of the invigilator distributing scratch paper and answer sheets.

"Please ask the invigilator to distribute the test papers..." A mechanical female voice sounded, as cold as a death warrant, sent to everyone.

Zhou Xi got the Chinese test paper, turned the page, and first looked at the bottom corner of the test paper. He quickly scanned the short material and determined that it was a relatively standard argumentative essay.

"Everyone, please check your test papers carefully to see if there are any missing or incomplete marks. Don't rush to answer..."

I glanced at the previous questions again. The overall difficulty is okay, but the reading volume is a bit large, so I need to manage my time well.

"The exam has begun. Candidates, please start answering the questions now..."

"Swish, swish, swish!" The sounds of tiny writings fell one after another.

The temperature has dropped again in the past two days, and it has been raining continuously. During the exam, I left my hands exposed to the elements and wrote for a long time, and I felt a little cold. The more nervous I was, the colder I felt, and my fingers were full of cold sweat.

It was the last exam in the afternoon. It was pouring rain outside, and the rain hit the window, making a dull sound.

The windows in the classroom were tightly closed, blocking out much of the outside noise. The lights were on, making the outside seem even darker.

There was a loud "boom".

Zhou Xi concentrated on the last big question. The pen between his fingers shook, and the ink smudged a word.

There was a lot of chatter all around, some complaining about the weather, some taking advantage of the chaos to secretly look around and check the answers.

"Quiet! Quiet!"

The invigilator stood up, walked down from the podium, and maintained discipline in the examination room.

Through the rain curtain on the window, Zhou Xi stared at the blurry and gray sky, feeling depressed.

There was a small area on the test paper that was left blank. She hadn't written on it yet because she didn't know how to do it.

"well!"

"Ding-ling-ling!"

"The exam is over. Please stop answering questions immediately and stand up..."

"Alright, stop writing. Put your answer sheet facing up and take the test paper away..."

The invigilator quickly collected the papers.

"No more writing! If you write again, you'll get zero points! Do you hear me?"

"Get your stuff, get out now, don't stay!"

The invigilator's voice was drowned out by the sound of stools being dragged.

“Boom!”

It was over, and the dead silent teaching building began to come back to life, with people chattering and looking for their own organizations.

"How did you do on the exam? Let me tell you..."

“Ahhh, I didn’t write this question…”

"Definitely choose B, haha, you chose the wrong one..."

"Fuck, I guessed this question right..."

“Sizzle…”

I went back to my classroom to move the desks, chatted with my friends, complained about the weird people in my exam room, and discussed what to eat later...

Thunder and rain retreated from the home field in disgrace and became the background music that they didn't care about at all.

Yao Yao's eyes were unfocused as she stared blankly at the heavy rain outside the window.

"Yaoyao, your lipstick color is so beautiful, where did you buy it..."

“Oh, my dad bought this.”

"Uncle is so good to you..."

Yao Yao half leaned against the wall of the inner corridor, listening to the praises of her friends around her, slightly pursing her plump and rosy lips, with no ripples in her heart.

She took it out from her coat. It was a lipstick that felt heavy in her hand. The outer packaging was hot-stamped gold. The smooth surface was like a mirror, allowing her to see her numb self.

"I like it. This is for you." She pulled the corner of her mouth and threw it away.

Suddenly, the loosened knuckles clenched tightly, and the smile on the corners of his mouth became stiff.

Yu Guangzhong

A profile and figure flashed by at the corner of the corridor, looking very much like someone, someone I hadn't seen for a long time.

"Yaoyao, what's wrong with you?"

"Why has your complexion changed so badly?"

Yao Yao remembered many things that she had deliberately forgotten.

"Hello, my name is Yao Yao. Can you tell me your name?"

"Hello, Zhou Xi."

She remembered that it was her polite yet arrogant voice that broke into the life of 10-year-old Zhou Xi.

They met in this hot summer.

Her family's business ran into problems and they owed a lot of debts. Yao's parents were afraid that their daughter would be used as a bargaining chip by debt collectors, so they secretly sent her to a small town to study.

"Yaoyao, be good and don't be afraid. The nanny will take good care of you."

"Okay, if you guys come quickly, I'll be a good boy. Bye!"

"Be good, baby!"

Yao Yao knew that there was a problem with her family's business, but she believed that her parents would solve it, so they just sent her here temporarily.

She is the eldest daughter, a pampered rose, beautiful and confident, used to the life of a princess. Everyone in her new school class looks down on her and thinks they are vulgar, except for Zhou Xi, who is independent, eccentric, cool and beautiful.

When she saw Zhou Xi, she felt as if she saw herself.

"Let's be friends from now on!"

"No."

"Zhou Xi, please pay attention to me!"

"Zhou Xi, look!"

"Zhou Xi!"

“…”

Yao Yao felt that Zhou Xi always ignored her, and only said a few words to her out of ten. But she persisted, thinking it was very interesting. Everyone else rushed to show their affection to her who dressed up beautifully every day, but Zhou Xi didn't.

She loves to act coquettishly, and everyone will agree to her requests, including Zhou Xi.

But she found that Zhou Xi was trying to drive her away, fortunately she saw it at a glance.

There was an Internet cafe in the town, and Zhou Xi deliberately asked her to go there to play. Later, Zhou Xi told her that he had learned to play games since he was very young, and that he and the Internet cafe owner got to know each other through fighting in the game and lost the bet.

She can enter any Internet cafe she wants.

The surrounding environment is very poor. Mahjong parlors and card shops are all in that area. It is the haunt of street urchins and gangsters.

Although Zhou Xi was small at the time, he was not short and blended in with the crowd wearing a mask and a hat.

Fingers tapped loudly on the greasy keyboard, a pair of eyes were cold and ruthless, and the little man on the screen was beaten and lying on the ground.

She herself was wearing a beautiful dress and stood out from the crowd. Some people even tried to draw attention to her.

After she saw it, her brain was spinning, and she became even more excited and determined to make friends with this cool guy.

"Wow, Zhou Xi, you're so cool. You're so good at playing games. Can you teach me how to play games? I learn very quickly."

She remembered that she was so angry that Zhou Xi threw his headphones and left on the spot, but he still pulled her along when he left.

Another time, Zhou Xi deliberately provoked a fight with a group of boys and asked her to watch. She was almost injured, but this couldn't drive her away.

She was precocious, had a good sense of fashion, and was pretty. I don't know if it was because Zhou Xi planned those two things that she became a target of street urchins. There were always people trying to stop her, and she was almost hurt twice.

"Little sister, would you like to go play with your brother?"

"I don't want it, go away, go away!!!"

"Zhou Xi, help!"

"Help!!!"

"sorry."

Zhou Xi felt very guilty.

Zhou Xi finally softened his heart.

After the age of 6, Zhou Xi learned to control his temper and no longer fought because of the ridicule of his peers.

At the age of 10, Zhou Xi often fought for Yao Yao.

"Get lost! Don't let me see you again, or I'll beat you up every time I see you!"

"Wait, little bastard!"

Zhou Xi is like a wolf cub whose head has not grown up yet but whose edge has been revealed. He guards the delicate rose in his arms tightly and does not allow anyone to hurt or touch it.

The 10-year-old Zhou Xi compromised with her.

Later, Zhou Xi got used to her being around him, acting coquettishly and being naughty, and he agreed to all her requests as long as they did not cross the bottom line.

She knew she was Zhou Xi's first friend.

Until the second year of junior high school...

The teacher came, Yao Yao put her thoughts aside and walked slowly into the classroom.

"hiss!"

Zhou Xi was distracted for a moment, and a classmate who was moving books touched his shoulder, and the books in his arms fell onto the wet floor.

I don’t know if it’s because of the gloomy weather or something else, but Zhou Xi always feels uneasy.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, classmate. I'm really sorry..."

"fine."

Zhou Xi bent down and picked up the book. The pages on the ground were wet, and the dirty water shamelessly flowed down the spine of the book and tried to climb onto her hand.

I just walked into the classroom and sat down, pulling out a tissue from my bag.

"Zhou Xi, come out quickly!"

Everyone in the class looked at her curiously.

Zhou Xi put down what he was doing and walked across to the podium. It suddenly became much quieter. The sounds inside seemed to be covered by a lid, with only a buzzing noise.

"Teacher Zhang."

"You, your grandmother has had a heart attack and is now in the hospital for emergency treatment. Go quickly." Zhang Tu handed the signed leave note to Zhou Xi.

Zhou Xi was stunned, his scalp tingling. With a "boom", he seemed to hear something collapsing.

The taboos in her ears were broken, and a roar began, one wave higher than the other, knocking her over.

"Go to the dormitory and pack your things. Go to the school gate. Principal Yang said he's going with you. Be careful on the way. Call the teacher if you need anything..."

Zhou Xi's vision was blurry, and he could only see Zhang Tu's mouth moving.

"well……"

She didn't have time to deal with the mess on the table in the classroom. She found the umbrella that was crushed among the pile of umbrellas hanging in the corridor, stumbled, and ran out in a hurry.

Go back to the dormitory to get your phone and contact Grandpa Zhong. He must be in the hospital now...

Send a message to Xiao Xiaoyu asking her to help me collect my things...

The raindrops hit the curved umbrella surface, slid down the ribs like a slide, and fell to the ground, while the sound was swallowed by the surrounding rain.

The splashing water hit my shoes and trouser legs, spreading out, and the coldness climbed up my trouser legs.

In the heavy rain, Zhou Xi tightly grasped the umbrella handle and the note for her leave. Reason and emotion kept tugging at each other, and she no longer cared about the bad weather. She just wanted to go faster and faster.

Xiao Xiaoyu had just been secretly playing with her phone in the bathroom when she saw the message from Zhou Xi, and she couldn't help feeling anxious.

"Old Zhang, Sister Zhou, bah, Zhou Xi, what's going on?" Xiao Xiaoyu ran all the way to the classroom and saw Zhang Tu staring at the heavy rain in a daze from a distance.

"Something happened to her grandmother and she's rushing to the hospital. You go in first." Zhang Tu put his hands on his hips, a little dazed.

When Xiao Xiaoyu heard this, she was shocked. She knew that Zhou Xi only had a grandmother at home, and she was in poor health. Now that something had happened, Zhou Xi would be worried to death.

"Lao Zhang, I'll take a leave and go find her!" Xiao Xiaoyu pretended to turn her head and was about to run.

"Go back to your seat!" Zhang Tu said sternly, then sighed and frowned, "What can you do if you go now? If you go, you'll only make things worse. Stay in school."

"I……"

Xiao Xiaoyu was so anxious that she didn't care about anything else. She glared at Zhang Tu and wanted to say something, but what Old Zhang said was right. Why should she run over now? To cause trouble?

It's so frustrating!

Xiao Xiaoyu pouted and moved in reluctantly.

Zhang Tu looked at Xiao Xiaoyu's grunting figure and felt a little envious for some reason.

That year, he was in his third year of high school. When something happened at home, there was no friend like Xiao Xiaoyu who worried about him and helped him.

He was really disappointed. They were so good to each other in normal times, and they even wanted to be brothers. But when they were in trouble, they ran away faster than each other.

"boom--"

There was another loud thunder, and the rain became heavier. The branches of the trees were almost bent by the rain. The rain poured down from the eaves and landed on the railings, splashing onto the corridor. Even Zhang Tu was covered with raindrops.

"well……"

Zhang Tu adjusted his glasses frame which had slipped down and stepped into the classroom.

Good luck comes to those who are lucky.