Chapter 150 Tragedy caused by the goat jump

"Have you and Zhang Jiacheng been arguing recently?"

When Shao Yanjun asked this question, Zhu Yingning was correcting the wrong answers on her newly handed monthly exam paper. Hearing this, he froze for a moment, the tip of his pen making a dark red dot on the paper. He said guiltily, "No... Why do you say that?"

Shao Yanjun stared at her intently for a moment, until she broke into a cold sweat. Then he averted his gaze and slumped back on his desk as if nothing had happened. "Nothing."

“…”

She swallowed and glanced cautiously at Zhang Jiacheng who was also busy proofreading his answers in the back seat.

Strictly speaking, they weren't arguing.

Their relationship just became awkward and awkward.

After the first tutoring session, Zhu Yingning hesitated for several days, considering Xu Sirui's feelings. Finally, she subtly hinted to Zhang Jiacheng that he shouldn't come again. Of course, she wasn't so callous. She said, "Other students don't perform as well as you do. I explain the questions at a pace they can understand. I'm worried that attending my classes will reduce your own learning efficiency."

This was pure nonsense, disguised as concern. Xu Sirui's grades were also better than the others, yet she hadn't said that to him. Zhang Jiacheng knew this all too well, so he quickly discerned the rejection hidden behind this seemingly thoughtful statement. Sensitive people are always good at knowing what's right. That day, he smiled and said nothing, only a gentle "OK."

From then on, he never went to Xu Sirui's house again, and he no longer asked Zhu Yingning to borrow notes. He would rather go to the stage to copy the notes after class like before than bother her anymore.

After school, their casual conversations dwindled considerably. He remained as gentle as ever, quietly helping her pick up her pen when it accidentally rolled to the back row, and even half-drawing the curtains when the sun glared into her eyes. But whenever she tried to extend an olive branch of reconciliation, like proactively asking how Xiao Ran was doing and if she needed any help, he would quietly distance himself from her, saying, in a polite yet distant tone, "Fine," and then end the conversation.

This was tantamount to a different kind of torture for someone who advocated truth, goodness, beauty and world peace. Moreover, Zhu Yingning knew better than anyone that Zhang Jiacheng had done nothing wrong and was a good person, but her actions had actually hurt him.

Every day going to school was a replay of her guilt.

Perhaps Shao Yanjun had noticed the awkward atmosphere between them, so he asked this question. Zhu Yingning secretly guessed, but she had no way of telling her the real reason.

After proofreading the test paper, the next class was physical education. She simply packed up her things and went downstairs to attend physical education class with Wu Bo who came to call her.

As the end of the semester approaches, the physical education teacher may feel that if he doesn't exercise them now, he will not have the chance to do so next semester - after all, it is well known that physical education classes in the third year of high school are often borrowed by cultural teachers to teach or take exams - so during this period he always finds different ways to let them exercise, such as today's goat jump.

Goat jumping is a polarizing sport. Those who are good at it find it fun, but some people are afraid of bumping into their classmates who are playing the role of goats when they jump, and they hate this sport. Wu Bo belongs to the latter.

"I'm really afraid of bumping into the girls below who are playing goat." She was so worried that her face was wrinkled. "Although I don't want to say this myself, but look at my weight and then look at the girls in our class. They are all very slim. I'm afraid if I press on their waists, I'll break their spines."

The physical education teacher asked them to take turns being the goat, saying that this way everyone would have a chance to jump. Wu Bo asked to be the goat all the time, but he didn't agree.

"It's okay." Zhu Yingning comforted her, "I'll be your goat while you dance."

"Are you sure?" Wu Bo measured her width, then applied it to himself. He found she was only two-thirds his width. He exclaimed in horror, "Your small body..."

"I can do it. My core is pretty stable." She patted her abdomen through her clothes as proof.

Wu Bo poked it with his index finger. "Hey, seriously! Why is your lower abdomen so hard? Are you secretly exerting force? I heard some gym-goers are like this. When they're not exerting force, their muscles are soft. But once someone wants to touch them, they spread their wings like a peacock, secretly exerting force to pretend that their muscles are bulging. Tell me the truth, are you faking it?"

Being ruthlessly exposed, Zhu Yingning couldn't help laughing, causing his abdomen to lose strength and soften from its hard stone state, like a deflated balloon, but it still felt firmer than that of an ordinary person.

As they chatted and laughed, Wu Bo's nervousness dissipated a lot. When it was her turn to jump the goat, Zhu Yingning did as they had just agreed. She bent down in front of her, supported her knees, and said crisply, "Come on."

The word "come" inexplicably made Wu Bo's blood boil. She stood a few meters away, rubbing her hands together, and prepared for a long time, until the physical education teacher couldn't help but urge her: "Are you going to wait until she turns into a fossil before jumping?" Then she roared with all her strength, and ran over with great momentum. When she was close to Zhu Yingning, she suddenly braked, supported her waist with her hands, and jumped lightly, leaping over without any momentum but safely.

"Good!" Zhu Yingning stood up and applauded her.

The physical education teacher laughed at the side: "What a promising prospect."

The girls were having fun when suddenly there was a scream from the boys. Zhu Yingning looked towards the source of the commotion and saw Zheng Zekai, who was acting as the goat, fell to the ground with his head covered. Zhang Jiacheng was standing beside him, looking very helpless.

"What's going on?" The physical education teacher walked over to check the situation.

The boys who were watching explained that Zhang Jiacheng accidentally kicked Zheng Zekai on the side of the head while doing the goat jump.

"He did it on purpose!" Zheng Zekai covered his face and roared at Zhang Jiacheng ferociously.

"We're classmates, we have no grudges against each other. Who would do this to you on purpose?" The PE teacher pulled him up from the ground. "Put your hand down so I can see it. Hmm...it's okay, just a little skin breakage, no bleeding. Are you dizzy? Do you have a headache?"

He first said no, then he was a little slow to catch the word "broken skin" and immediately hissed: "Fuck, my face is broken!"

The PE teacher wanted to slap him on the head to stop him from calling him "I" all the time, but when he raised his hand, he remembered that he had just been kicked. He cleared his throat, lowered his hand, and said earnestly, "Come on, a little skin breakage is nothing compared to a grown man. Why are you so hesitant? Just get some sleep tonight, and it will be healed by tomorrow morning. If it's not, come and hit me."

"Who dares to hit you, teacher?" The other boys laughed as they jostled nearby. "If I accidentally triggered your conditioned reflex, wouldn't you punch Dakai into outer space?"

"Go to hell!" Zheng Zekai kicked his talkative younger brother.

The physical education teacher asked Zhang Jiacheng to come over and apologize to Zheng Zekai. Zhu Yingning saw Zhang Jiacheng say sorry to Zheng Zekai, but Zheng Zekai's face was still very ugly. He mumbled something, and it was unclear whether he cursed.

After returning to the classroom, everyone went about their own business, and the chemistry representative came over to collect the chemistry workbooks assigned last night.

Zhu Yingning sat in her seat and heard Zheng Zekai in the last row say to the Chemistry representative, "Hey, just be flexible! Tell the teacher you've collected all the books. She can't possibly count them one by one, so she won't notice if my book is missing."

"No," the chemistry representative said in a stern voice.

He tried to persuade them with little effort, but after a while, he suddenly came over with a chemistry workbook, threw his own workbook on Zhang Jiacheng's desk, and said with a tone of amnesty, "Here, I'll give you a chance to atone for your sins. If you help me finish this workbook, I'll forgive you for kicking me just now."

Zhu Yingning frowned and was about to turn around to intervene when she heard Zhang Jiacheng calmly say, "Write it yourself."

Zheng Zekai's face immediately turned red. Zhang Jiacheng didn't socialize much with his classmates. He had always thought he was weak and vulnerable, the kind who wouldn't dare fight back even when being beaten or scolded. He hadn't expected him to actually refuse, and to do so bluntly and mercilessly.

"What do you mean? Is it going to kill you to finish an exercise book? Why are you showing off in front of me?!" In anger and humiliation, he unconsciously raised his voice, stiffened his neck, raised his leg and kicked hard at his desk, even kicking Dai Yize's desk crooked.

The table legs scraped against the floor, making an audible sound. Shao Yanjun hissed from the front seat, impatiently raising his head from his arms, revealing a sleep-stained and grouchy face. Dai Yize hunched his shoulders, acting coy, and silently moved the tilted table back. Zhang Jiacheng, for the first time ever, frowned, and sat motionless in his chair.

The class suddenly became quiet, and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in their direction.

Seeing that a world war was about to break out, Zhu Yingning quickly stood up and said to Zheng Zekai, "Alright, let's deal with each other. I'm the one who got kicked, and homework is homework. The two are unrelated. You should do your own homework yourself. What's the point of asking others to do it for you?"

"Damn it!" Zheng Zekai was already feeling cowardly, and being scolded by Zhu Yingning in public made him feel even more humiliated. He instantly turned his anger on her, swinging his arm and saying, "I've been putting up with you for so long. Aren't you tired of your whining every day?! You really think you're the city party secretary!"

She was standing close to him and was caught off guard, so his arm suddenly hit her shoulder. She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

The students around were all shocked by the accident, and several students who were nearby rushed over to help her.

Zhang Jiacheng gave him a disgusted look and said, "You even bully girls. Are you still a man?"

"Fuck your mother, whether I am a man or not is not your turn to say, you sissy!"

After Zheng Zekai finished his scolding, everything that happened next was like a fast-paced movie. Before anyone could react, he had already pounced on Zhang Jiacheng with a ferocious look on his face. Dai Yize dodged with lightning speed, and Zhang Jiacheng was pushed to the ground by Zheng Zekai, along with the chair. With a loud bang, the two of them fought on the ground.