Princess Dress and Iron Shirt (5)
Zhao Shihua was later carried to the school clinic by Zhuo Siqi and Ms. Mei, the physical education teacher. The school doctors carefully pressed her front, back, left and right. The initial diagnosis was that her bones were not seriously injured, so they temporarily let her lie on the hospital bed. Her right foot was raised high and covered with an ice pack wrapped in a towel.
Seeing that Zhao Shihua was alright, Teacher Mei stayed for a while and then left. Before leaving, she asked Zhuo Siqi to help look after Zhao Shihua. It was almost noon, and she had to rush back to deal with matters such as the end of class and the collection of equipment.
Soon after, the bell rang, and a group of people ran past the window, giggling. They were probably students rushing to the cafeteria line. The sharp pain in his ankle was gradually dulled by the ice pack, and Zhao Shihua slowly regained consciousness. His attention shifted from the battlefield to the situation before him, and he began to worry about eating. Besides, he probably wouldn't be able to go back to the dormitory during lunch break, and he had to explain to the dormitory supervisor.
Zhuo Siqi saw through her thoughts immediately and asked bluntly, "I'll go buy you a rice roll and tell the teacher while I'm at it. Do you want seaweed or tofu skin? Or like last time, with grilled eel in it, right?"
"Last time?" Zhao Shihua couldn't quite remember eating gimbap in her presence. She even wondered if the eel's reflection was in her pupils. Otherwise, Zhuo Siqi's mind-reading skills were truly extraordinary: not only could he understand the person who asked the question, but he could even guess what they wanted to eat. She subconsciously searched her pockets, then remembered she'd put her meal card in her bag before gym class. "But my..."
"It's okay, we'll talk about the money later." After saying that, he stood up and left.
Nearly twenty minutes passed before Zhuo Siqi returned, carrying not only the bag of food but also their school bags. As she pushed the door open, Zhao Shihua felt like a bedridden elderly person, overwhelmed with gratitude for the kindhearted volunteer's visit.
Zhao Shihua accepted the still-warm rice roll and felt a surge of warmth from Zhuo Siqi's heart. She remembered how she'd felt a bit of aversion to her when she'd declined their invitation to dinner on the first day of school. But she was just slow to warm up, not cold. It seemed Zhao Shihua had lost her ability to judge people; she always mistook honesty for heartlessness, and falsehood for sincerity.
"I'm sorry...thank you." The first half of the sentence is said to the past, and the second half is said to the present.
"fine."
"What kind of rice roll did you buy?"
"Salted egg yolk and pork floss." Zhuo Siqi had already taken a bite and turned the cross-section of the tofu skin rice wrap to show Zhao Shihua.
“It looks delicious, I’ll try it next time!”
"Well, I'll try your eel flavor next time."
As soon as the words fell, they both laughed out loud at the same time for no apparent reason.
After swallowing a few mouthfuls of the rice roll, Zhao Shihua, enveloped by a sense of security—she had food to eat when she was hungry and someone to heal her when she was hurt—drowsily dozed off. Despite the pungent smell of disinfectant in the school infirmary and the cheerful pop music still blaring from the campus radio outside, she apologized to Zhuo Siqi and fell asleep without even keeping her eyes open.
When I opened my eyes again, everything was quiet. A small patch of sunlight filtered through the window, landing squarely on me, warming my back. It seemed the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared. The world, too, seemed to have fallen into a deep dream, with only the ticking of a clock and the occasional rustling of a book behind me. The wall clock showed it was half past one.
She turned around and found Zhuo Siqi still sitting there, one hand resting on the table with his face in his hand, absorbed in his reading. The book was quite thick and didn't look like a large-format textbook or exercise book, but rather some other extracurricular reference book.
Zhao Shihua stared at Zhuo Siqi for a long time. Seeing that she was reading silently, hesitant about whether to disturb her. Finally, he couldn't help asking, "What are you reading?"
"Nothing," Zhuo Siqi was startled by the sudden voice and quickly turned the cover over to show her. "It's just a documentary report written by a reporter interviewing left-behind children."
Zhao Shihua was quite surprised to see Zhuo Siqi reading extracurricular books, but she didn't ask any further questions, thinking the reason might be "accumulating material for writing essays." She pushed herself up and sat upright against the windowsill. "Aren't you going back to the dormitory for lunch?"
"It's okay. I asked the teacher for leave and also told Jiamei and Xiaoling." Seeing her sit up, Zhuo Siqi closed the book. "Does it still hurt?"
"It's a little better." Zhao Shihua moved his ankle slowly. To be honest, it still hurt.
"Teacher Mei just came back and said she wanted to take you to the hospital for an X-ray. Seeing that you fell asleep, she said to come back after lunch."
"Ah? Is it that serious?" Zhao Shihua panicked at the word "hospital." "Didn't the school doctor say there were no fractures?"
"I don't know either, just in case." Perhaps realizing his tone was a bit too serious, Zhuo Siqi comforted him, "But it won't be a big deal. I'll help you take notes in the afternoon class."
Zhao Shihua thanked him and secretly resolved to protect her "golden right foot" no matter what. No matter how eager she was for revenge, she would act within her means, otherwise she would stumble on her "Achilles' heel" again. Then she thought back to the court. She had been furious at the time, but now she felt a sense of fear, worried that she had hit too hard and accidentally given the opponent a concussion.
"Um...Is Shao Yifu okay?" His voice became weaker because of his guilty conscience.
"It should be nothing. He was so scared that he said he would carry you to the school infirmary."
"Huh? How come I don't remember anything at all?"
After a moment of silence, Zhuo Siqi continued, "Actually, I think you could have ignored him at the beginning."
Zhuo Siqi wasn't like the gossipy squad leader, Zhu Miaoyan, or Xu Jiamei, who mistook the deputy squad leader for a neighborhood committee auntie. She rarely took the initiative to care about other people's affairs, let alone intervene. So, when she suddenly said this, not only Zhao Shihua, but perhaps even she was startled. She quickly explained, "What I mean is, they say what they want. You don't need to take it too seriously. Just ignore it."
She wanted to, too. Who wouldn't? But Zhao Shihua couldn't tell for a moment whether her deskmate was talking to her or to himself.
After the midterm exam, the classmates' attitude towards Zhuo Siqi changed slightly. It wasn't because she had fallen from first place to second place in the class. After all, everyone knew that it was not easy to be a victorious general. Just being able to continue to be at the top was already a good thing.
The problem occurred at the last mid-term summary class meeting.
At that time, Teacher Rong asked the top three students in the class to come to the stage one by one to share their exam experiences.
First up was Li Xuping, who took first place. He possessed the kind of natural talent that others envied. When a classmate asked him what his secret to studying science was, he replied that practice wasn't about quantity, but about depth; the more he pondered, the more he'd naturally develop a feel for it. He was also asked how his spoken English was so good, and whether he took weekend classes with a foreign teacher. He replied that he enjoyed reading Marvel comics, and that the more he listened to and read, the more he developed a sense for the language... Feelings, feelings, feelings. Zhao Shihua felt as if she were listening to a sermon from a venerable monk, a sermon that relied entirely on comprehension. Unfortunately, her intellect was limited, and she could only admire the genius, never emulating him.
Pei Nachuan's sharing was more conventional. Zhao Shihua had heard similar learning experiences countless times throughout her childhood, perhaps because most people followed similar methods, making it easy for everyone to find a sense of belonging in him. She touched the boy's handwriting on the photocopy of the midterm summary. It was neat and strong, clearly the result of careful practice. Zhao Shihua carefully folded Pei Nachuan's summary in half and tucked it away at the bottom of the test paper.
Zhuo Siqi's summary, however, has drawn considerable criticism because it primarily focuses on test-taking techniques rather than study methods. Examples include scoring points based on key points, eliminating conflicting options, using formulas to get basic points even when you don't know the answer, and analyzing seemingly two-or-two answers from the test-setter's perspective. In reality, each of her points is incredibly practical, and Zhuo Siqi's willingness to share her secrets is itself an act of philanthropy. However, when all these test-taking tips are brought together, it becomes as if the test isn't about knowledge, but rather about test-taking technique.
So some classmates started talking behind her back, saying she was too opportunistic, that her level was actually average and that she was just studying too hard. Some even brought up the old saying that girls always fall behind in high school, saying that hard work alone isn't enough and that you need to be smart.
Despite being an outsider, Zhao Shihua felt indignant after hearing this. It was just sour grapes. After all, compared to the formula her former classmates had taught her: "Three longs, one short, choose the shortest; three shorts, one long, choose the longest..." She had forgotten how to memorize it afterwards, though it did work if she was lucky. But compared to Zhuo Siqi's test, it pales in comparison.
Those rumors, after going around in circles, eventually reached Zhuo Siqi's ears. But she never seemed to doubt or hesitate. At least in the eyes of outsiders, she continued to go her own way and let others talk freely.
Zhao Shihua admired his deskmate's determination from the bottom of his heart. If he could be like him and not care about Shao Yifu at all, there probably wouldn't be so many twists and turns.
"But how can we do it? No matter what others say." Zhao Shihua brought his thoughts back to the present and asked hesitantly.
"For example, I think, I have more important things to do." Zhuo Siqi folded his hands on the book, and his fingers stroked the edge of the book back and forth.
Zhao Shihua immediately guessed what she meant. He just couldn't understand. Aside from studying, were other relationships unimportant? Was it okay to have no friends?
"But I..." Faced with an existence as hard and cold as steel, Zhao Shihua felt almost ashamed to admit her own weakness. Now, this vulnerability was compounded by her injuries, compounded by self-pity. She lowered her head, not daring to meet Zhuo Siqi's eyes, yet still hoping for understanding.
I don’t know if it’s because the afternoon time seems too long, and I always feel that I should whisper something to kill the endless time; or maybe it’s because the secret deep in my heart gradually expands under the late autumn sunshine, and can no longer be hidden, and finally breaks through the defenses of my heart.
Is Zhuo Siqi someone who can be trusted? Anyway, she has always been alone, so it’s okay to tell her the secret. Zhao Shihua’s rationality was still hesitant, but her mouth had already ignored the command of her brain and said to herself: "I was because -"
Zhuo Siqi on the opposite side showed neither impatience nor an expression that he wanted to inquire about gossip. Instead, his polite attitude was willing to hear more details, which made Zhao Shihua feel relieved. She sorted out her thoughts and continued talking.
At first, she chose her words carefully, not wanting to describe her childhood self as a bully, nor to throw dirty water on Guan Yifu; then, when she recalled what happened in junior high school, grievances and unwillingness surged up like a tide, but she still tried her best to hold back the urge to cry, and choked up as she finished telling the story of how she was laughed at for being a boy; as for the high school part, she naturally omitted some of it, and only gave a rough summary of the twists and turns of her reunion with Shao Yifu.
By the time she came back to herself from her reminiscence, it was nearly two o'clock, with only a few minutes left before lunch break. Zhao Shihua stretched, as if the burden of the past weighed heavily on her shoulders and she needed to relax.
Zhuo Siqi on the side leaned forward and supported his chin with one hand, as if he had changed from being indifferent at first to being a spectator attracted by the plot.
"—That's why I was so angry that I fought back directly." Zhao Shihua finished explaining the ending and asked again after a while, "What do you think?"
Perhaps because she had always grown up with a sister who was like a guiding light, Zhao Shihua habitually sought the opinions of others rather than trusting her own judgment when faced with important matters. However, Zhuo Siqi was not her sister, so of course she would not rashly dictate other people's lives.
"I think...? I just think your story is quite interesting, you've been fighting each other since you were little." Zhuo Siqi concluded with a simple and decisive sentence. "As for your classmates in junior high school, I've also encountered similar situations. How should I put it? In fact, everyone probably has a few people like this around them. We don't live in a fairy tale world, not to mention that even fairy tales have dragons. There will always be people with bad intentions. You can either learn to ignore them or fight back. Of course, you have to be able to be free and easy."
The soft music drifted in from outside the window, gradually becoming dynamic and powerful, as if trying to pull the sleeping child out of his dream.
"But I just told you to leave him alone," Zhuo Siqi suddenly smiled. "After listening to you, I now feel that instead of pretending not to see it, it's not bad to go around and hide and hit back, especially that last smash.
"...Also, thank you for telling me this."
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