195 Early Morning

When Luo Dayi returned to the classroom, Li Wei's deskmate, Lin Xiao, couldn't hold back any longer. She secretly glanced around and whispered in Li Wei's ear, "Hey, isn't that Luo Jianhua from the next class? I remember he came to see you. What's your relationship with him? Tell me, we're such good friends, it would be so unfair of you not to tell me the truth."

Li Wei glanced around, noticing everyone was looking at the sports field, and lowered her voice: "It's nothing really, just childhood friends. You know what childhood friends are? They're friends you've known since you were little. Of course, you're still close as you grow up. Don't overthink it."

"Huh? Am I really overthinking this? No way, I could tell at a glance that your relationship is unusual. To be honest, is he your boyfriend? Tell me, I won't tell anyone, really, I swear."

Li Wei: "Shh, the teacher's coming. Stop chatting, watch the game carefully, and keep discipline." Sigh, it seems Lin Xiao won't let me off the hook from now on. What am I going to do?

Seeing that Li Wei refused to speak, Lin Xiao muttered a few words of dissatisfaction, but thinking that there was plenty of time, she would pay more attention to Li Wei's whereabouts in the future, and she refused to believe that she would not be able to find out her tricks.

The sports meet was nearing its end, and the awards and class results were announced. The top performers deserved their awards, while Li Wei's class managed to secure a respectable fourth place. Class 1 of Grade 11 came in first, Class 3 came in third, Li Lianhui's class came in second, and Zhou Xiaoyan's class came in last.

However, regardless of their ranking, especially those who are ranked lower, they usually receive a consolation prize, euphemistically called: Style and Discipline Award, Collective Contribution Award, Best Class Image Award, etc.

Anyway, they all sound like awards, and there are certificates, but everyone knows they're all just consolation prizes.

Then each class went back to their classrooms, some carrying desks, others collecting belongings and flags, each busy with their own tasks. Li Wei saw there was nothing for her to do, and everyone was very considerate of her. No one asked her to carry anything, so she stood there carrying her prize—a blanket—and after thinking for a moment, decided to go home.

After asking her homeroom teacher, Ms. Cao, for leave, Li Wei hurried home. She dared not stay there waiting for Luo Da to pick her up; if she was slow and Luo Da caught her and carried her back, she would be devastated. Such a small injury was incredibly embarrassing.

Although it was just a minor cut, it was still a bit painful on my knee, but I could bear it.

A classmate who knew Li Wei well saw her leaving and joked, "Hey, Li Wei, aren't you going to wait for Luo Jianhua from next door to pick you up? Kindergarten hasn't let out yet. What if your parents come and can't find you if you leave like this?"

Li Wei waved the bag of towels and blankets in her hand at her classmate and quickly left. It was a dangerous place to linger. She'd come to school next Monday. Maybe everyone would forget about it in a couple of days.

When I got home, Li Lin was already back. It was the weekend. Li Lin got home relatively early and was leisurely watching TV in the living room. Aunt Gao was cooking in the kitchen.

Li Lin, with her sharp eyes, immediately noticed the injury on her sister's leg. She exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, sister, what happened? How did you get hurt? Did someone bully you?"

Li Wei felt speechless: "Do I look like someone who's easy to bully? Why are you saying I'm being bullied right off the bat? Stop making wild guesses. I fell down myself."

Li Wei quickly took off her shoes and socks, changed into loose pajamas, and checked her knee. She saw it was okay, and the bleeding had stopped. She breathed a sigh of relief, lay down on the bed to rest, and somehow drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't until dinner time, when Li Lin came in to wake her sister, that Li Wei groggily woke up. She glanced at the sky; it was getting late. She wasn't hungry, and still very sleepy—she didn't have school the next day—so she figured she might as well sleep it off. She mumbled, "You guys eat first, I'll eat after I wake up..."

He turned over and went back to dreaming.

She hadn't slept for long before Luo Da shook her awake again. Li Wei opened her eyes and looked around: "I want to sleep for a while, you guys eat first, eat first..."

"No way, you'll feel even more uncomfortable if you eat when you're hungry in the middle of the night and then go to sleep. Get up and eat, or I'll carry you out. I haven't even mentioned how you stood me up after school this afternoon, which made me search for you for ages and I got laughed at by a bunch of guys!"

Li Wei huddled in the covers, then thought she should get up. It was really unpleasant to be hungry in the middle of the night. Besides, judging from Luo Da's voice, he seemed quite unhappy. Discretion is the better part of valor; if Luo Da was unhappy, it would be her who lost face.

She crawled out of bed, her feet held by Luo Da, who rolled up the cuffs of her pajama pants and carefully examined Li Wei's knees. He asked her how she felt, and Luo Da was relieved. She seemed to be alright; the bleeding had stopped and the pain had lessened. He figured she would recover quickly.

In Luo Da's opinion, if he had fallen and hurt his own leg, it would have been a minor injury that wouldn't have bothered him. But if the injury had been on Li Wei's slender, delicate legs, it would have looked particularly jarring and painful. He would have preferred to have the injury on his own leg, as it would have been less of a hassle.

The two went to a restaurant for dinner, and Luo Da asked, "Why didn't you wait for me when we parted ways this afternoon? It must have hurt a lot to walk by yourself, right?"

Li Wei rolled her eyes: "It doesn't hurt, it feels great and comfortable. Who told you to come out so late? I couldn't wait any longer, so I had to wander around by myself. I ended up accidentally wandering back, and I haven't even settled the score with you yet." Li Wei lied through her teeth.

To her surprise, she guessed right. Luo Da said somewhat awkwardly, "I was planning to come down as soon as I finished delivering the things, but my teacher called me over and said a few words to me, which delayed me. I'm sorry."

Li Wei waved her hand, seemingly very magnanimous: "Alright, I'm not that petty. I forgive you, but don't do it again, hehe..." She finally understood what it meant to get a good deal and then act innocent.

After dinner, Luo Da didn't stay long. Li Wei looked through all the prizes he had won, and took away the ones she didn't like, leaving only a beautiful notebook and a decent-looking fountain pen.

Originally, they didn't want to take all those things because they were in the way, but Li Wei also disliked them and insisted on putting them all in a bag for Luo Da to take away.

Luo Da was also tired after a long day and didn't stay long.

After seeing Luo Da off, Li Wei, whose knee was sore from taking a shower, quickly washed herself and went to bed. However, she couldn't fall asleep, lying there thinking about Smiling Tiger going home. She figured she had to organize some kind of event to send him off, and ideally, buy him something meaningful as a keepsake.

I've pretty much figured out the event, but what should I buy?

Li Wei pondered for half the night and finally figured out a clue. Thinking about the time, she suddenly realized that tomorrow was the weekend, and she had to go back to school the day after. Then her third senior brother would be leaving, and time was a bit tight.

Li Wei quickly calculated. Time was not just tight, it was urgent.

He hurriedly picked up the phone to call Luo Da, who seemed to have returned to the martial arts school. He decided to call and check on him first.

It was the middle of the night. Luo Da answered the phone with a nasal tone, feeling annoyed at being disturbed from his sleep: "Who is it? If you have something to say, say it; otherwise, I'm hanging up."

Li Wei: "It's me. I just remembered that Third Senior Brother is leaving next week, right? How about we organize an event tomorrow to get together? And then buy something for him?"

Luo Da muttered, "He's not leaving until next Thursday, what's the rush? It's the middle of the night, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Li Wei was actually a little sleepy after lying down for a while. But while Luo Da could treat Monday to Saturday like Sunday, she couldn't. So she said, "Don't we have classes on weekdays? I was thinking of making it happen tomorrow. We can bring Xiao Lin and Xiao Er along, it'll be more lively."

"Oh? It sounds like you've thought everything through. So, what kind of event are you planning? How about going out for a meal?"

Li Wei: "All you ever think about is food! How about we do what we did on our last trip, go hiking and camping, have a picnic, and invite that chef Yang Shouchun along? What do you think?"

After a brief consideration, Luo immediately agreed: "That's a good idea, we can eat, drink, and have fun all at once. Hmm, not bad, but isn't tomorrow a bit rushed? How about we get ready tomorrow morning, go out in the afternoon, and if all else fails, we can stay out overnight and come back on Monday afternoon. As for Monday, we can ask for a day off, how about that?"

Li Wei immediately objected: "No, we can't let the classes be delayed. Call and make arrangements now, especially Yang Shouchun. We're counting on him to ensure the food is good. Also, we must invite Teacher Pan. We're hoping to eat the local fish he caught. The rest is up to you. What do you think?"

Luo Da wiped his face, still feeling sleepy. Hearing Li Wei's question, he smiled wryly and said, "Okay, why not? My wife has spoken, how can I not go through fire and water? Sleep well, don't overthink it. I'll arrange it, it won't interfere with your school."

Li Wei was quite happy. She had a lot of confidence in Luo Da. He was very capable when he was serious about his work. So she smiled and said, "Very good, very good. I trust you to handle things. Come on, give me a kiss."

Luo Da held the microphone and looked at the part that was pressed against his ear to receive the sound. He could hear it, but wasn't this just fooling him? It wasn't realistic at all.

So Li Wei was lucky enough to go to sleep. With things settled, she could finally sleep soundly without any worries. She was really sleepy.

Luo Da, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. Helpless, he got up, went to the bathroom to wash his face and refresh himself, then came back and made himself a cup of coffee, which he gulped down in one go. Then he picked up the phone, sat on the bed, and started bothering a group of friends of different ages.

After making phone calls and dawdling for ages, I finally got everything sorted out. I put down the phone, stretched, yawned, and looked out the window at the sky, which was already starting to lighten. I decided not to sleep anymore, got up, changed my clothes, and went to the practice room to stretch.

To Luo Da's surprise, he actually saw his third senior brother in the training room early in the morning. This was quite a miracle. Although this guy liked to do some shady things, he never liked to get up early. What was wrong with him today?

The third senior brother didn't expect Luo Da to get up so early. He was sitting on a chair in the training room smoking, looking melancholy. The scene was beautiful, but his behavior was a bit out of line.

Luo Da has always disliked people smoking in the practice room. He actually tried smoking a couple of cigarettes when he was in junior high school, but he never developed an interest in it, so he simply stopped smoking.

Luo Da stepped forward: "What kind of pose are you striking? What's on your mind so early in the morning?"

The third senior brother glanced at Luo Da with melancholy and said in a very poetic way, "Alas, the daytime doesn't understand the darkness of the night."

Luo Da—