9 Chapter 9
When Chen Ying was four or five years old, she always stayed at her uncle's house during the holidays.
Mom is in poor health and needs to recuperate at home. In addition to taking care of her every day, Chen Ying's father has to go out to do odd jobs to supplement the family income. He really has no energy to take care of Chen Ying. Her uncle said that she likes lively atmosphere and wants to take Chen Ying to live with him.
The uncle probably picked up the wrong person, or he had some misunderstanding about Chen Ying's personality. He liked to be lively, but he picked up the quiet Chen Ying, so the house didn't become lively in the end.
There was a lively moment later. Wu Qianqiu made a big fuss at home without caring about anything and insisted on kicking Chen Ying out. Chen Ying was so scared that she squatted in the corridor and dared not speak.
"Don't be afraid, Xingxing. Uncle will take you to the gym, okay?"
Chen Ying didn't know whether to nod or not. She had never been to her uncle's dojo and didn't know what it was for.
Her uncle still took her there, let her change into a small Taoist uniform, and play by herself in the dojo.
It was during this holiday that Zhou Baixi strode to the dojo. He was extremely confident and wanted to find someone to compete with after just a few days of learning. Of course, Uncle Chen Ying would not allow it. Zhou Baixi became anxious and looked around. In the corner, he found a quiet little boy who looked easy to bully, so he ran over to talk to him.
"What's your name? My name is Zhou Baixi. Do you want to compete with me?"
Chen Ying shook her head.
It's no wonder that Zhou Baixi mistook her for a boy at that time. Chen Ying's mother was too lazy to take care of her hair, so she simply cut her hair short, leaving her with a boy's hairstyle. In addition, she didn't talk, and although she had a pretty face, it didn't prevent others from mistook her for a little boy.
"You have to compete with me." Zhou Baixi didn't allow her to refuse and gave the order, "How about this, you study for a few more days, and I'll challenge you to a competition in a few days."
Uncle came over at this time. He came to take Chen Ying to dinner. "Xingxing, let's go, it's time to eat."
Seeing Zhou Baixi here, he said, "That's great. Let's go together. Your dad called and said he won't be picking you up today. Just come home with me today."
There were many other children in Uncle Chen Ying’s gym, but he just wanted to play with the one named Xingxing. He thought that it would be great if he could follow Uncle Wu and have dinner with Xingxing.
But the star didn't speak at all, and Zhou Baixi suspected that he was mute.
"Do you want to eat chicken legs?" Zhou Baixi asked, looking at the untouched chicken legs in her bowl.
Xingxing shook her head.
"Can you give it to me?"
Xingxing nodded.
"Then I'll trade you some shrimp." Zhou Baixi was considerate enough to peel the shrimp and put them into Xingxing's bowl. Then he took his chicken leg and started to eat it happily.
Zhou Baixi fell in love with the food here with every meal thereafter, and exchanging shrimp for chicken legs became their secret.
Zhou Baixi found that Xingxing was not focused at all when learning Taekwondo. While everyone else was learning, he was sitting alone in the corner, staring blankly.
Zhou Baixi looked at him several times, motioning him to come over and study together, but Xingxing remained indifferent. Instead, Zhou Baixi kept looking back in class and was criticized for not paying attention.
Zhou Baixi was annoyed, and after class he insisted on dragging Xingxing to compete with him. Xingxing was also scared, and stood there not daring to move. He could only look down at his fingers and count his knuckles over and over again.
Fortunately, my uncle hadn't left yet. He came over, carried Zhou Baixi on his shoulders, and left holding Xingxing's hand with his other hand.
Xingxing looked up at Zhou Baixi. He was no longer angry and was leaning on his uncle's shoulder and making faces.
None of the kids in his class wanted to play with Zhou Baixi. He said his kicks were too strong and hurt. No one wanted to play with him anymore, and he was very disappointed.
Uncle asked Xingxing if he was willing to study in the same group with him, otherwise no one would want him.
Xingxing hesitated for a moment, then walked over and said, "Okay."
Zhou Baixi was happy again, jumping around on the mat and chasing away the children who almost hit the stars.
"Can you slide?"
Xingxing looked at it so many times, and her eyes could see it, but her feet wouldn't move. She stared at her feet blankly, and no matter how she moved, it didn't feel right.
"It's okay, I'll teach you."
“…”
"Can you kick forward?"
Xingxing shook her head.
"It's okay, I'll teach you."
"Can you kick the board?"
Xingxing shook her head again.
"I'll teach you."
Zhou Baixi was very happy to be in his group. Even though Xingxing was quiet and didn't cooperate with his movements, he was very happy. Xingxing was soft, quiet, and incredibly well-behaved. Zhou Baixi was the youngest in the family and had always wanted a younger brother. Xingxing completely aroused his protective desire.
"I like Taekwondo, do you like it?"
Xingxing wanted to say that she didn't like it, and she came to the gym just because she had nowhere else to go.
But when Zhou Baixi talked about Taekwondo, his eyes lit up. Xingxing was afraid that if she said she didn't like it, the light in Zhou Baixi's eyes would dim. Zhou Baixi was her first friend, and she didn't want him to be unhappy.
Xingxing said, “I like it.”
Zhou Baixi laughed even more happily.
He thought he would keep laughing like this, tease Xingxing when he had nothing to do, watch his silly smile, peel shrimp for him every day and then exchange them for his chicken legs, or be pulled out for training every day because he couldn't keep up with the progress, he would follow behind silently, hold the small water cup for Zhou Baixi, wait for him to finish training, and then listen to him brag.
He said, "Once upon a time there was an old witch who looked extremely scary. She ate children, especially boys! She only ate the well-behaved and good-looking ones!"
Xingxing blinked her eyes: "..."
Zhou Baixi asked, "Why aren't you afraid?"
The old witch only eats boys. Xingxing doesn't understand why she is afraid of her. If anyone should be afraid, it should be Zhou Baixi.
Zhou Baixi thought his description wasn't good enough, so he added a bit of his own imagination: "The old witch's eyes glow, so at night she can see the road clearly without a flashlight. Her hair stands on end, her nose is high and pointed, and her nails are extremely long, sharper than scissors, and can pinch into flesh in an instant!"
Star:"……"
Zhou Baixi: "The old witch doesn't need to spit out bones when she eats. She loves to chew bones. They're crunchy and she uses them to grind her teeth. She also has a cane. Don't underestimate it. It's just an ordinary cane. It's actually magical. Whoever she points at becomes unable to move or speak! Aren't you afraid?!"
Xingxing: “Don’t be afraid!”
Zhou Baixi blinked, feeling timid. "I'm scared..."
The next day, Zhou Baixi didn't go to the gym. It was said that he was so frightened by his own ghost stories that he couldn't sleep and didn't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. During free time, the coach went out for something, and Chen Ying walked around the mat alone. When a child asked her to partner with him, she shook her head and refused, fearing that Zhou Baixi would suddenly come and not be able to find her.
Seeing that she didn't say anything and Zhou Baixi was not around, the little boy wanted to bully her and pulled her over, insisting on being her partner.
Zhou Baixi happened to arrive at this moment and without a word, he pushed the little boy. As a result, the two started fighting, and it was unclear who started it. Chen Ying was shocked, but she knew that she couldn't let them fight, so she joined in, trying to stop the little boy from hitting Zhou Baixi.
But Zhou Baixi didn't see her, and in the chaos he kicked Chen Ying in the stomach. She lost her balance and fell to the side. When she got up again, there was a trace of blood on the corner of her mouth.
The children immediately scattered, some went to call the coach, some were crying, and Zhou Baixi panicked. The horror in his eyes was even greater than yesterday's ghost story.
She couldn't remember what happened after that. Chen Ying always chose to forget painful and troublesome things. If Zhou Baixi hadn't appeared this time, she would have forgotten that her uncle used to call her Xingxing.
My uncle also said, "Fireflies should illuminate the moon and shine as brightly as stars, instead of just twinkling in the dark."
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