Princess Dress and Iron Shirt (1)
"Let the storm come harder!"
On Monday morning, after returning from the picnic, Zhao Shihua opened her eyes and saw slanting raindrops on the window. This sentence popped into her mind for no apparent reason. She had neither a fever nor diarrhea. Besides, even if she could avoid the first day, she couldn't avoid the fifteenth. That monster, Shao Yifu, would still be sitting behind her, regardless of the first or fifteenth day.
Zhao Shihua imagined herself standing on the rocky shore, with raging waves, thunder and lightning on the sea. She opened her arms and shouted to the sky, "I'm not afraid of you!" Then she cheered up, quickly got dressed and washed up. When she was about to go out, she realized that it was raining outside. She didn't have to do morning exercises this morning, and her spirits suddenly dimmed.
Then she should devote herself to studying. Even though her current poor grades offered no solace, studying was still her only anchor, preventing her from being easily swept away by the wind and waves. As a student, she should focus on studying and making up for the regrets of the midterm exam, and forget about other trivial matters, which she couldn't control even if she wanted to.
Only by thinking this way could Zhao Shihua force herself to block out the various disturbances from behind in the next few days. She had thought that leaving her hometown and hiding her identity was like locking Pandora's box, but she had not expected that the most important key would fall into the hands of others. Being caught by someone's pigtails was not a pleasant feeling at all.
During the morning break, Zhao Shihua heard the annoying voice coming from behind her again: "Shihua—Zhao Shihua! Why are you ignoring me again? Hey, Zhao Taishan!!!"
"what?!"
Zhao Shihua turned around abruptly, unable to think of any other words to curse herself except "You deserve it." She had ignored others when they called her name politely, and now she was refusing to accept their toast. This only made Shao Yifu even more arrogant. He put on an expression of sudden enlightenment and asked her, "Oh, so your name is Zhao Taishan?"
Zhao Shihua thought Shao Yifu was just making small talk and turned back immediately. Shao Yifu quickly grabbed the tip of her ponytail, pointed at the fan above her head and explained, "Can you put away all the books on your desk before you go to eat? And Zhuo Siqi, you too. The teacher asked us to clean the fan during lunch break. It's cold out, so we won't need it much anyway. You might need your desks later, so if I accidentally mess up your things, you might smack me to death with an iron sand palm."
Shao Yifu had become increasingly familiar with her in recent days, and at first glance, it seemed like they were old friends who had known each other for over a decade. She didn't know if she had something to hide, or if it was actually true, but she felt like the bond of "old friends" was tinged with the sting of revenge, and it was making her uncomfortable.
"...Oh." Zhao Shihua glanced at the desk. It was neither tidy nor messy. On the contrary, there were several thick dictionaries piled on Zhuo Siqi's desk, and the drawer probably couldn't hold them all.
Shao Yifu pulled out a chair and sat down. Zhao Shihua heard him yawn first, then seemed to stretch his body. He kicked out with his toes and hit the upper of Zhao Shihua's shoe that was hooked on the crossbar of the chair. The effect was like being hit by an iron sand foot.
"Oh, sorry..." Shao Yifu hurriedly put his foot away and asked casually, "Why don't you go directly to the cafeteria after class at noon? Why do you have to wait for a while?"
"Isn't it all thanks to you?" Zhao Shihua squeezed out an answer from between his teeth that no one could hear, and then he held the pen tightly and continued writing.
Although she couldn't compare to the group of boys who rushed to the cafeteria like hungry wolves as soon as the bell rang at 12 o'clock, she also used to run to the cafeteria as soon as school was over at noon, and return to the dormitory after eating at around 12:30. The lunch break didn't start until 1 o'clock, so she could still read books and chat.
As for Zhuo Siqi, she usually went to the cafeteria after 12:30 PM, sometimes getting food and eating it in the dormitory. This was said to be because there were fewer people lining up after 12:30 PM, saving her time. The only time she was absent from class was Friday, as she was on duty at the radio station that day.
Weighing the richness of the menu against the intensity of her academic workload, Zhao Shihua would undoubtedly choose the former. However, she hadn't stayed behind recently to keep her classmates company: Zhuo Siqi was accustomed to being independent, always following her own biological clock. She'd stayed an extra half hour before lunch to avoid sharing a table with the majority of her classmates.
Just two days ago, she went to the cafeteria as usual with her roommates Xu Jiamei and Qiao Xiaoling, and happened to meet Zhu Miaoyan and others. The latter took the initiative to sit down opposite the long table, and then she glanced at Shao Yifu and Li Xuping who arrived later, and warmly invited them to sit together. There were a total of eight seats at the long table, and in the end it was all filled with classmates.
At the time, Shao Yifu was sitting diagonally across from Zhao Shihua. He glanced at her meal and asked in a polite manner, "Did you order spinach?"
“…This is water spinach.”
"I thought strong men all liked spinach."
Zhao Shihua glared at the other person and answered dryly, "I don't like it anyway." In fact, she didn't hate spinach, but if she said she liked it now, she didn't know how Shao Yifu would trick her next.
"Who is the strongman?" Zhu Miaoyan, who was standing opposite, turned her head and looked at Shao Yifu with a questioning look.
"Zhao Shihua!" Shao Yifu stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth and chewed for a long time before continuing, "Hey, wasn't arm wrestling popular in our elementary school for a while? Were you unbeatable?"
Zhao Shihua didn't want to pay any attention to him, but she was met with curious glances from her classmates. Zhu Miaoyan, seemingly sensing the buzz of gossip, asked on behalf of everyone, "Shihua, are you good at arm wrestling?"
"Ah? No, no..." Zhao Shihua picked up a pork meatball with her chopsticks, but when she exerted force, the meatball bounced out of the chopsticks, flew upward along a parabola, and then rolled to the other side - a magnificent meatball performance, as if to prove its supernatural power. She picked it up awkwardly, and when she realized Zhu Miaoyan was still waiting for her answer, she whispered, "I was just naughty when I was a kid."
"You were also naughty when you were a kid? I can't tell at all!"
"Girls change a lot when they grow up." Zhang He from the other side interrupted.
"She's not even 18 years old yet!" Zhu Miaoyan argued on Zhao Shihua's behalf.
"The 'eighteen' here doesn't mean eighteen years old." Xu Jiamei corrected indifferently.
Zhao Shihua lowered her head, wanting nothing more than to pretend she didn't exist. She sincerely hoped that Zhu Miaoyan and Zhang He would just chat about anything else, and she would just listen. Besides, she was usually a quiet person. Except at home, she was usually just a listener at other gatherings.
Yet, someone insisted, insisting on the topic, putting on a serious expression and saying, "How can it be just a matter of being naughty? Zhao Shihua was the absolute queen of our class back then! Don't you agree?"
If eyes could be a weapon, Zhao Shihua would have wanted to rip a piece of flesh from him. But surrounded by classmates, she could only suppress her flaming temper and silently mouth a warning: "Are you done yet?!"
"What what what?" Zhu Miaoyan came over and asked. She was probably the performer's favorite type of audience member, always giving the most enthusiastic feedback in a timely manner.
"Aren't you going to tell me about your glorious history?" Shao Yifu raised his eyebrows, waiting for the show to begin.
Zhao Shihua stared at her fingernails, which had turned slightly white from exertion, and didn't know how to respond. She closed her eyes, as if she could feel a huge wave crashing down on her head, knocking her to the beach.
At the pancake shop on weekends, Zhao Shihua had hinted to Shao Yifu that he should not tell anyone about his martial arts; he even offered to treat him to a meal as hush money. His excuse at the time was probably some kind of humble ploy like "a good man never brags about his past achievements," but it was probably too subtle, and someone as thick-skinned as Shao Yifu would not understand his difficult feelings.
As expected, the other party expressed her incomprehension. It wasn't murder or arson; on the contrary, it was something commendable. Why couldn't she speak up? Shao Yifu hurriedly stopped her from paying, saying, "Don't be polite, old classmate," and then added self-righteously, "After all, good news travels a thousand miles." But he had the opposite idea; it was clearly bad news that traveled a thousand miles.
So, at the cafeteria table, when the heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart for so long was carelessly pushed down and landed harshly on her foot, Zhao Shihua was stunned. Facing Zhu Miaoyan's persistent gaze, she stuttered for a long time before finally mumbling, "No, nothing much. I just learned martial arts for a while in elementary school. It was just some punches and kicks, just like our usual morning exercises."
"Wow! Shihua, you've learned martial arts? That's amazing!" Zhu Miaoyan patted the back of her hand across the table. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
The eyes of several of the surrounding students fell upon him, each one speechless with astonishment, as if they had suddenly discovered that their previously unremarkable waiter was actually a master of peerless martial arts. After all, compared to specialties like music, painting, and dance, martial arts are relatively rare. Furthermore, when most people think of martial arts, they immediately picture Wong Fei-hung and Bruce Lee, shirtless figures practicing boxing and swordplay on mountaintops. Zhao Shihua, with his ordinary build, looked completely unlike anyone associated with martial arts, which was even more surprising.
Just then, the chorus of "Huo Yuanjia" blared over the campus radio, like a tailor-made entrance music piece. Shao Yifu nearly spit out his rice with laughter, then raised his chopsticks and sang along like he was brandishing a sword: "Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho, Huo Yuanjia's—la la la la! No no no, martial arts masters are too modest! How about you lead us in Tai Chi during morning exercises from now on?" He then raised his fists, gesturing to show that, as the PE committee member, he could magnanimously step down.
"The song is about 'Huo Family Fist', not 'Tai Chi'." Fortunately, Li Xuping could understand the lyrics.
"Are you afraid that your phone will fall to the ground again when you are leading the exercises? Hahaha!" Zhu Miaoyan covered her mouth and laughed. At the same time, she couldn't help but hit Shao Yifu's shoulder, her eyebrows curved like two crescent moons.
"Haha," Shao Yifu chuckled awkwardly, still teasing Zhao Shihua, "Remember not to bring your phone, and remember to tie your shoelaces!"
Thanks to Zhu Miaoyan bringing up this matter, everyone's focus instantly shifted from Zhao Shihua to Shao Yifu, and everyone burst into laughter again.
Although the school explicitly prohibits bringing mobile phones, most students will bring them secretly, and most teachers turn a blind eye. As long as the phones are not seen openly under their noses, they generally don't ask about it.
Just before the morning exercises that day, Shao Yifu seemed to be scolded by his class teacher, who told him that as a physical education committee member, he should act like a physical education committee member, and not to be slow in leading the exercises and not to look like he had not eaten.
Shao Yifu, of course, refused to accept this. To prove he'd had a full breakfast, he took his radio calisthenics seriously, even to the point of exaggeration: First, he stretched his arms to a 360-degree angle; then, he nearly kicked his shoes off; then, he jumped like a spring-loaded spring. But during his last jump, his phone, as if escaping gravity, flew out of his trouser pocket and landed on the ground with a thud.
The students behind him, already laughing non-stop at his clownish antics, were practically choking at this sight. Shao Yifu was in a dilemma: picking it up would be like telling Teacher Rong and the Dean of Academic Affairs in the nearby stands that he had brought his phone to school, and he would surely be singled out by the entire school as an example to others. Not picking it up would be utterly contrary to human nature; everyone would want to know if the phone was broken. Furthermore, the PE committee member from the next class was about to jump over, seemingly planning to kick the phone even further.
While Shao Yifu was hesitating, the homeroom teacher stepped forward, bent down, picked up his phone, and ordered him to come to the office afterward. It's unclear whether Shao Yifu had to write a letter of apology or have his phone confiscated for a few days, but after his lecture, he appeared deeply dejected, lamenting, "What a shame, what a shame." Fortunately, since the instructors were standing on the plastic track in front of the lawn, his phone wasn't damaged.
However, Zhao Shihua later sincerely hoped that his phone would be smashed to pieces right there and then, preferably falling straight through the gap in the rain grate into the sewer like a high-difficulty acrobatic feat. Otherwise, the series of troubles that followed wouldn't have happened.
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