Sandbag throwing and dodgeball (2)
Zhao Shihua, dazed by a massive wave, had lost half her appetite. After leaving the playground, she and Zhuo Siqi drank a bowl of rock sugar and pear water. Zhuo Siqi wanted to moisten his throat, while she wanted to calm her internal heat. But a bowl of pear water couldn't quench the fire. She was still too angry to eat, so she and her deskmate bought an eel and seaweed rice roll from the cafeteria's takeout window to eat later in the dormitory.
Zhuo Siqi didn't say anything along the way, probably because she thought there was no need to discuss something that was made up out of nothing, as if it was just a child's farce. Even though Zhao Shihua was extremely upset and wanted to complain, she didn't know where to start.
But having someone to help her out was enough. Even if it was just a casual chat about the school sports meet, her evening homework, and the gradually darkening sky outside the balcony, she was already very grateful. At least she was not alone in her troubles. Even if she was in the abyss, there was someone to accompany her at the bottom.
But the moment this thought occurred to Zhao Shihua, she felt incredibly shameless. She had teased Zhuo Siqi with sarcastic sarcasm at the beginning of the school year, even intentionally or unintentionally creating a line between "accepted" and "excluded" between them. Yet, now, she clung to him tightly, treating him like her sole companion. It was she who had previously gossiped about Zhuo Siqi behind her back with Zhang He, and now, having been shunned by Zhu Miaoyan, it was she who wished for Zhuo Siqi's companionship. The saying "fence-sitter" perfectly captures her.
While lamenting her friendlessness, wasn't she also treating others poorly? From wanting to fit in, she became someone who flattered others, and then, finally, someone who played along with the wind. Not only would Zhuo Siqi look down on her, but she herself also began to despise herself. In the past, Zhao Shihua, aspiring to be a hero, would have been intolerant of any grain of sand, let alone herself.
However, be it mean or shameless, perhaps the older she gets, the more she will realize that nothing in the world is pure at all, and there is never a 100% pure emotion. She must learn to accept her own imperfections, as well as the imperfections of others, and learn to accept the study maniacs who rush back to the classroom to study before the heat of the school sports meet has dissipated.
"Aren't you going home this weekend?" Zhao Shihua was about to take a shower while holding her clothes.
"No," Zhuo Siqi wrung out the water from his school uniform and hung it up to hang. "I'll go back after I finish my midterm exam."
"Midterm? Isn't it the week after next?"
"So there's only a week and a half left to review."
Zhao Shihua couldn't help but get nervous after hearing her say that. She quickly changed and washed herself, escaping from her worries and returning to the world of study. However, studying was no longer as smooth as she had hoped. Especially when she was upset, the exercises seemed to be getting harder and harder...
After evening study, Zhao Shihua returned to her dorm hungry to find Xu Jiamei and Qiao Xiaoling just back from a party. Before she even entered, she heard hearty laughter through the wooden door. Seeing her push the door open, Xu Jiamei's excitement exploded like a firecracker: "Shihua! What a shame you didn't come today! The desserts at that barbecue buffet we went to were absolutely delicious! There was even a beautiful chocolate fountain! And you know what? We heard all this amazing gossip afterwards!"
"Shh..." Qiao Xiaoling pulled Xu Jiamei's sleeve.
"Oh! No!" Xu Jiamei realized belatedly, "We didn't talk about you and——"
Zhao Shihua smiled bleakly, not knowing what to say. The depression and anger that had accumulated in his heart had finally been suppressed a little, but was rekindled by being fanned by others.
The three people in the dormitory fell silent at the same time, so much so that Zhuo Siqi, who had just returned from a phone call in the corridor, noticed something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong?"
"...Nothing," Zhao Shihua lowered her head, "I went to do the laundry."
The atmosphere suddenly reached a freezing point. All that could be heard was the shuffling of Zhao Shihua's slippers, her footsteps becoming as heavy as her heart. The girls in the next door dormitory, seemingly seizing this moment on purpose, erupted in laughter that was particularly jarring.
"Oh, I don't care!" Just as Zhao Shihua put down her schoolbag, Xu Jiamei suddenly yelled, startling the other three. "Just tell me what's going on! I actually really dislike Zhu Miaoyan's hints, saying it as if it were the truth. If there's nothing going on between you and Shao Yifu, just deny it directly. Why let them make fun of you?"
Zhao Shihua didn't expect Xu Jiamei to be such a straightforward person. Her heroic spirit made her afraid but also admire her. She was so shocked that she was speechless and stood there motionless.
"...But if it's true," Xu Jiamei leaned on the ladder between the bunk beds and shook her hand, "then I will be--"
"How is that possible?!" Zhao Shihua retorted eagerly, her voice almost breaking. "Of course it's not true! He and I just, we just sat close!"
"I think so too. Zhu Miaoyan and Zhang He just have nothing to do all day long, so they talk nonsense. And Zhou Xin is also a big mouth. Next time they say that, you should scold them one by one!"
If things could be solved so easily and everyone believed what others said, the world would be even better than a fairy tale. However, everyone is only willing to believe what they think is the fact and never listen to the explanation of the parties involved.
"But if I deny it, they will say that 'explanation is cover-up, and cover-up is the truth'..." Zhao Shihua became less and less confident as he spoke.
"Actually, I encountered something similar in junior high," Qiao Xiaoling interjected quietly. "It wasn't me, it was two classmates. We were just preparing for a competition together, and everything was clear. But every time we argued back, a group of boys would bully us."
Zhao Shihua nodded vigorously. As expected, there is nothing new under the sun. There are poor people with similar experiences to her in every middle school.
"Then those two simply ignored it. Everyone thought it was meaningless, so they gradually stopped talking about it." Qiao Xiaoling glanced at Xu Jiamei and then at Zhuo Siqi, as if trying to gain their approval. "So I guess, maybe it's better to just ignore them."
"Ah? If it were me, I absolutely wouldn't tolerate it," Xu Jiamei clenched her fists anxiously. "How can you just let others talk nonsense? What about you, Siqi? What would you do if it were you?"
Zhao Shihua was afraid that Zhuo Siqi would directly say the word "boring". In her impression, her deskmate always didn't care about gossip. She was the kind of student who would just avoid the crowds on the way home from school and hurry home to do homework.
Zhao Shihua didn't want to bother her and was about to say, "I'll figure it out myself," but she saw Zhuo Siqi lock his phone in the cabinet and said slowly, "Midterms are coming up next. They can't always be so free to meddle in other people's business. They might forget about it after the exam."
"That's possible." Qiao Xiaoling agreed.
"It's okay, don't worry, we will all help you fight it back." Xu Jiamei walked over and patted her arm gently, hoping to give her some strength.
While she couldn't predict the possibilities of the future, Zhao Shihua realized that if she had had such enthusiastic roommates in junior high, the past wouldn't have been so gloomy and heavy. She felt a sense of relief, like cotton wool warmed by the sun, and her tone rose. "Yes! Anyway, I'll see to it. By the way, did you have barbecue tonight?"
"Yes, it's delicious! It's not expensive either. Let's go there together next time with the four of us in the dormitory!" Xu Jiamei said, putting her arm around Zhao Shihua's shoulders.
At the mention of dinner, Zhao Shihua's stomach responded with a rumbling sound. Having only eaten a simple rice roll in the evening, her stomach finally felt better, and she began to clamor for materials to start working.
"Haven't you eaten yet?" Xu Jiamei asked her.
"I've eaten, but now I seem a little hungry again..." Zhao Shuhua took out her cell phone to check. Unfortunately, the convenience store had just passed closing time. She calculated in her mind that there should be some snacks left in the cabinet.
"Gu-gu-gu." She quickly held her stomach with a wry smile.
"I have a pack of instant noodles for you!" Qiao Xiaoling was packing her clothes to take a shower. At this time, she took out a pack of sauerkraut-flavored instant noodles from another compartment and handed it over.
"I just happened to bring up some hot water," Zhuo Siqi pointed to the blue thermos bottle in the corner, "The water temperature is just right, so you don't have to go down again."
"Now that you mention it, I remember I still had a bag of braised eggs!" Xu Jiamei rushed to her cabinet and rummaged through it for a while, "...but it seems I ate it during the school sports meet."
It's said that because our sense of smell is more developed than our taste, instant noodles smell much better than they taste. Despite all the scientific truths, Zhao Shihua still found this bowl of instant noodles particularly delicious. As she slurped her noodles, she saw Zhuo Siqi pick up a book through the mist, Qiao Xiaoling go to the bathroom, and Xu Jiamei collect laundry on the balcony. Everything was normal yet precious.
"Siqi, Jiamei, and Xiaoling!" She shouted towards the bathroom, "Thank you."
"You've said it many times just now." Zhuo Siqi looked at her and smiled.
"Thank you so much." Zhao Shihua tried his best to suppress the emotion in his tone.
"Stop talking, I'm getting goosebumps! And don't thank me, I didn't give you anything to eat." Xu Jiamei shook the clothes she had collected to prevent mosquitoes from getting in.
From this moment on, Zhao Shihua secretly decided that no matter whether they just regarded her as roommates or classmates, she would pull them into the territory defined as "friends".
Perhaps it's true, as the ancients said, that the friendship of gentlemen is as pure as water, while the friendship of villains is as sweet as honey. She'd never understood why good friends should be inseparable. But when she found herself in this situation, she suddenly realized that the warmth of a bowl of instant noodles was enough; there really wasn't a need for more.
Although he said he'd "see what happens," Zhao Shihua knew he'd most likely have to hide in hiding for the time being. After all, rumors never die down so quickly. Either something bigger happens to distract attention, or time, the greatest magician of all, fades the public's memory. Regardless of which option, Zhao Shihua, at the center of the vortex, simply needs to calm down and wait. But that only requires Shao Yifu himself to avoid causing any trouble.
She knew without a doubt that during this period, at the first opportunity, a few mischievous classmates would pounce on her like a cheetah on a sheep and hold on to her. Sure enough, in music class after the sports meet, a group of boys took advantage of the opportunity to make jokes again.
At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Mu, the music teacher, instituted a rule that any student who was late must perform a piece of music in front of everyone. It didn't matter if it was piano or singing, anything musical at all. This so-called punishment actually livened up the class atmosphere, and everyone liked this young and energetic teacher.
It happened to be Zhao Shihua's turn to wipe the blackboard that day, but the math teacher had stayed in class for a few minutes longer than the previous period. By the time she finished wiping the blackboard and picked up her textbook to rush to the music classroom, the bell for preparation had already rung.
She kept muttering "Oh no!" and quickened her pace. When she got closer, she found Shao Yifu standing at the door, pushing it hard with both hands and shouting inside, "Hey, stop playing!"
"Is the door broken?"
Shao Yifu turned around and was startled by the sudden appearance of Zhao Shihua. "No, they locked the door. Hey!" He shouted the last sentence to the inside. He was a little impatient and knocked on the door a few more times.
Just as Zhao Shihua was about to ask who "they" were, the teacher flung the door open. Shao Yifu nearly slapped the teacher, causing Zhao Shihua to gasp in shock. Fortunately, he pulled back quickly, otherwise the next day there would have been a headline reading "Student Openly Assaults Teacher."
Teacher Mu seemed to think the other party was going to hit him, and instinctively shrank his head back. After a few seconds, he calmed down, pushed up his glasses that had slipped to the tip of his nose, cleared his throat and said, "You two are late!"
"Teacher, they locked the door on purpose!" Shao Yifu was not convinced.
"Teacher, we locked the door after the bell rang!" Zhou Xin, the leader, retorted.
Teacher Mu, who was caught in the middle, sighed, frowned, and scolded, "Don't lock the door anymore, okay? If the door breaks, you'll have to climb in through the window! Stay after class and clean up for me, close the windows and lock the door!"
The students laughed at the teacher's playful tone, and Zhao Shihua breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had escaped a disaster. But just as she was about to step onto the chorus steps, she heard the teacher's voice behind her, a hint of amusement: "But these two students are indeed late. What are you going to perform?"
Zhao Shihua stood stiffly beside Shao Yifu in front of the class, feeling as if they were on the execution ground. However, to the classmates, it looked like a large-scale wedding, with Teacher Mu next to them as the witness.
"Have you thought it through? Don't delay the class on purpose." Teacher Mu crossed his arms in front of his chest, his elbows resting on the piano, but he had an expression as if he was waiting to see a show.
"Teacher, they're going to sing a love song! 'The Boatman's Love'!" Zhou Xin shouted again. Zhao Shihua wanted to rush over and tape his mouth shut, but rumors are like springs: the more you resist, the more they rebound.
"Love songs? Unfortunately, there are no duet folk songs in our textbook this semester. You can perform separately, you don't have to perform together."
"Teacher, they are together——"
"Zhou Xin, stop making trouble!" Shao Yifu stopped him impatiently. Seeing his reaction, the boys sitting on the first row of steps burst into laughter. Although Zhao Shihua knew he was being unreasonable, his anger still spread to the people around him. He should have just ignored this group of people.
"Do you have any ideas?" Amidst the laughter, Shao Yifu turned around and asked her.
Zhao Shihua didn't even dare to look at him. She just felt that the two of them were standing too close to each other based on the sound. She quickly shook her head and her body involuntarily leaned to the other side.
"You can pick a song from the textbook to sing." Teacher Mu kindly paved the way for them.
Zhao Shihua opened the book as if she had been pardoned, but she felt Shao Yifu move closer to her and asked softly, "Can you sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Or Two Tigers? I only know these few..."
She hadn't intended to talk to him in public, lest anyone catch her talking. But Shao Yifu actually whispered to her in front of everyone. It was so audacious, outrageous, and her body leaned almost as far as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, after hearing such an outrageous question, Zhao Shihua couldn't help but glance at him sideways. Only then did she notice that Shao Yifu was empty-handed and had forgotten even his textbook.
"What?" Her eyes fell back on the book in her hands, wanting to end this farce as soon as possible. "Whatever you say."
Shao Yifu sat down in front of the piano, paused, then turned halfway around and announced in a serious tone, "Now I'm going to perform a Canon for everyone."
"What?" Wasn't it agreed to be "Two Tigers"?
However, before she could react, Shao Yifu clumsily played the first few notes of "Two Tigers" with his index finger.
All the audience, including Zhao Shihua, were confused, but Shao Yifu didn't care and stubbornly played the first bar again.
"...Tiger/Two tigers——"
The moment she sang, Zhao Shihua suddenly felt like a complete puppet, pushed into this situation by Zhou Xin and the others, and being led around by that loudmouthed Shao Yifu, singing such a childish nursery rhyme in front of everyone. She felt both absurd and amusing, so she steeled herself and simply opened her voice. After all, the worst-case scenario was a repeat of her struggles alone in junior high, something she had endured and even gotten into a key provincial high school. Perhaps if she could endure the ordeal once more, she could even rocket into Peking University or Tsinghua University.
"—Run fast/Run fast?"
“Frère Jacques, frère Jacques, dormez-vous Dormez-vous”
Just when Zhao Shihua was singing the second measure in a tragic and heroic manner, Shao Yifu, who was tapping the piano keys with his one-finger Zen technique, suddenly joined in. However, he was singing the tune of the first measure, and even the lyrics were completely incomprehensible.
Zhao Shihua looked over in confusion, wondering if the other party was also deliberately trying to sabotage the performance. Shao Yifu continued singing, nodding at her, motioning her to continue.
“One has no eyes/One has no tail/How strange/How strange…”
"Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!"
Zhao Shihua hesitated and stopped, only to see Shao Yifu imitating a bold musician. He pressed down hard with his right index finger, suddenly raised his left hand, and at the same time raised his head to look at a certain point in the void, and shouted loudly: "Ding dang dong! Ding dang dong!"
She lowered her eyes, waiting for the end like being tortured, but she was surprised to hear laughter and applause.
"This student's idea is brilliant! Haha! Even I was fooled!" Teacher Mu clapped his hands and laughed. Then, to some of the still confused students, he explained that "Canon" is both a piano piece and a form of polyphonic music. After everyone suddenly understood, they joined the teacher in enthusiastic applause, completely forgetting the idea of playing matchmaker to bring the two together.
Seeing his performance receive widespread acclaim, Shao Yifu stood up triumphantly, his tail lifted high in the air. At the end, he even made a pretentious circle with his right hand and bowed deeply to the audience, fully demonstrating his performer's demeanor. Zhao Shihua, taking advantage of everyone's attention, quickly slipped away, returned to his seat on the chorus steps, and sat quietly, curling himself up like a hibernating hedgehog, trying not to attract attention.
But before turning his back and sitting down, Zhao Shihua still pretended to glance at Pei Nachuan casually. He was looking at Shao Yifu, smiling brightly, and his two front teeth, which were a bit like rabbit teeth, showed his happiness without a doubt.
She couldn't help but feel a little angry. Why could he laugh so carelessly? Ever since the groundless rumors at the school sports meet, Zhao Shihua had been extremely troubled. It wasn't just because of the crowd who were trying to match people up; the deeper reason was - she clutched her beating heart tightly, unwilling to face it - she was worried that even Pei Nachuan would misunderstand her.
Indeed, in high school, where classes and exams are the norm, scandals are a popular topic of conversation. Who doesn't want to be a part of the fun? After all, the fire won't burn you. But for those at the center of the discussion, a joke can lead to more than just awkward interactions; it can also inadvertently trample on someone's most precious secrets.
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