Chapter 4 Dorothy, do you want to...
"I've set the date for Saturday night. I'll send you the address then. After dinner, we can go to a bar, sing karaoke, or dance. We can decide later. Anyway, I might not be able to..."
The phone was placed on the sink, and the interface showed that the call was in progress.
"Some of the people who go there are people you know, and some you don't, but they all definitely know you."
Tao Siyun had just finished taking a shower and was carefully applying a facial mask in front of the bathroom mirror. When he heard this, his hand paused.
"The reason it's scheduled for Saturday night is because I have to finish the work assigned by my supervisor on Friday. I don't know how late I'll be working overtime, so I urgently need a good night's sleep to replenish my energy."
"...Okay, but if that happens, you won't be able to sleep at night again, right?"
Li Huan yawned loudly: "Who said that? The only time I feel sleepy is when I don't get enough sleep. I never can't sleep at all."
After spending a whole day in the lab, she was already exhausted. The voice on the other end of the phone sounded particularly tired and weak.
"Do you think being a class monitor is easy? I've already graduated from high school several years ago, and yet I still have to work hard to foster relationships with my former classmates, sacrificing my limited personal rest time to satisfy the selfish desires of some of them..."
Tao Siyun: "..."
"By the way, after you joined the liberal arts class in your second year of high school, Cao Wenzheng was assigned to our class. You still remember him, right? He's Xu Ji and Jiang Zhen's best friend. He opened a KTV," Li Huan drawled out. "It's called Yin-Dou KTV. I almost died of laughter. Why didn't he call it Douyin KTV?"
A tone-deaf microphone master whose biggest dream is to open a KTV of his own is quite inspiring.
"He just told me on WeChat that karaoke and drinks are free, but I seriously suspect his ultimate goal is to increase sales, like getting us to post advertising for him on WeChat Moments or something..."
"Yes, I remember."
Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, Tao Siyun poured out the remaining essence in the package, tilted his head slightly, and carefully applied the essence on his neck.
I thought to myself, how could I not remember this person? I remember him so well.
***
This is a bit of a long story.
It all started during an English class in his first year of high school, when Tao Siyun was called upon by the teacher to read aloud the text.
As soon as she opened her mouth, she spoke fluent, standard American English, which immediately shocked the other students who had only been able to recite grammar, memorize words, and learn dumb English since childhood.
After reading the text, Teacher Li deliberately wanted to test her and asked her various questions in English. The two of them asked and answered each other, and began a ten-minute long conversation in pure English.
It's like a listening test.
At first everyone could understand them, but later on I couldn't make out what they were mumbling...
The whole class was shocked and filled with envy and admiration.
Of course, there is jealousy.
The English teacher was surprised that Tao Siyun not only had an authentic accent, but also knew some slang. Satisfied, she smiled and asked her English name.
Tao Siyun said, "Dorothy."
"Dorothy, this name is very similar to your Chinese name!"
When I was in kindergarten as a child, the teacher was worried that the children would not be able to remember their friends’ names, so from the beginning, they asked each child to call each other by their nicknames so that they could get to know each other as quickly as possible.
Her nickname was An An, and there happened to be a boy in her class also named An An, so Tao Daiming gave her the name "Dorothy".
It sounds similar to her real name.
Later, her close friends all called her that, and "Dorothy" became her English name.
"Dorothy?"
A low voice came to my ear, the voice was very soft, and there was obviously a hint of smile in the pronunciation.
Their eyes met, and Tao Siyun subconsciously glanced at the podium.
The English teacher finished explaining the composition requirements and was writing on the blackboard.
Tao Siyun asked in a low voice: "What are you...doing?"
"Nothing," Xu Ji stared at the name she wrote in the notebook, his eyelashes drooping like a thick little fan, and suddenly said, "I just think your name is quite nice."
"..." Tao Siyun was stunned and unconsciously tightened the pen in his hand.
I wonder if the nice name he meant was "Taosiyun" or "Dorothy"?
"Um, have you read 'The Legend of the Demon Warriors'? It's a manga second only to 'Detective Conan'."
"No, what's wrong?"
"There's a witch with long red hair inside. Her name is also Dorothy."
Tao Siyun withdrew his gaze and continued to copy the grammar notes on the blackboard, saying casually, "...Oh."
After a while, Xu Ji said again: "I quite like her."
“…”
Tao Siyun paused as she wrote, a strange feeling rising in her heart. She blinked, hesitated for a few seconds, and said, "I rarely read comics, but I've seen Conan, and I like him. He has a strong sense of justice, and he's also very smart."
Xu Ji: “…”
After class, Teacher Li asked her to go to the office during self-study to help him correct the class's quizzes.
She didn't finish correcting the papers in one class period and took the rest home at noon.
Tao Siyun didn't take a nap that day.
Qin Ru was afraid that she would not be in the mood for class in the afternoon, so she did not let her take the bus by herself. Instead, she drove her to school, a twenty-minute journey. During this time, she took a nap in the car.
Tao Siyun arrived at school on time, and the bell rang just as he entered the school gate.
Afraid of being late, she ran all the way to the teaching building with the test paper.
Just as I stepped onto the stairs, I suddenly heard several terrified voices around me at the same time -
"careful!!!"
"Cao Wenzheng, who the hell told you to kick a basketball like it was a football?! I'm going to die if you hit someone!!!"
"Oh fuck! I'm done!!!"
"Fatty, are you blind? You're really done for this time!!"
“…”
The basketball had no cushioning at all and hit her straight from the side with great force.
Tao Siyun reached out to block it, but it was too late.
Dozens of test papers were scattered all over the floor in an instant, and she fell on the stairs and couldn't get up for a long time.
"Are you okay?"
"People have fallen down, how can they be okay?"
Four or five boys gathered around.
Cao Wenzheng, the instigator, turned pale with fear and was dragged in front of her: "I'm sorry, classmate, I didn't mean to..." He apologized incoherently: "Really, I really didn't mean to hit you. Hey, that, we, we were wrong."
"Hey! What do you mean by 'we'? Fatty Cao, it was clearly you who kicked the ball, and now you dare to put the blame on us who are innocent!"
Jiang Zhen twisted his arm and pushed his back down hard: "If you want to apologize, you have to look like you're apologizing. Be sincere and bow at least ninety degrees."
Cao Wenzheng was sweating profusely, and his voice sounded like he was about to cry: "I was really wrong, you, you must forgive me!"
Just now, when Tao Siyun fell, her knee hit the sharp corner of the stairs. She endured the piercing pain, gritted her teeth and said, "It's okay."
Seeing her gasping for breath, Xu Ji realized the seriousness of the problem. He half-knelt in front of her, staring at his school uniform pants that were soaked with blood with a frown.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're bleeding." He grabbed her arm and said, "Get up and go to the infirmary to bandage it."
"It hurts, it hurts!" Tao Siyun's voice was filled with tears: "Slow down!"
"Can you still walk?"
"……Can."
Cao Wenzhen had cold sweat on his forehead, but he didn't bother to wipe it off. He quickly picked up the papers scattered on the ground, stacked them neatly, and followed them.
Tao Siyun was escorted to the school infirmary by several boys.
When the school doctor learned the whole story, his face changed instantly and he scolded and scolded them.
Cao Wenzhen stood aside cautiously, feeling extremely guilty.
"Who told you guys to play football outside the teaching building? You've got too much energy, right? Oh? Or are you dissatisfied with the lack of homework?"
"How old are you? High school students still have no sense of safety. Which class are you in?" The school doctor glared at them while disinfecting the wounds. "You've forgotten the safety training we gave you at the beginning of the school, haven't you?!"
Tao Siyun's bruised knee was red and swollen, and still bleeding.
Her skin was pale, and the wound looked particularly severe.
The cotton ball had been soaked in alcohol and it was extremely painful when it touched the wound. Tao Siyun couldn't help but hiss and shrank back while hugging his legs.
"Bear with it for a while. You can bandage it after the poison is eliminated."
"Yeah." Tao Siyun bit his lower lip with tears in his eyes and didn't say another word.
Seeing her like this, the school doctor couldn't help but vent his anger on several boys.
"She hasn't been able to walk properly for half a month. I don't know if she'll have scars in the future. You guys are such a fool. Luckily, no bones were broken. What if it was a fracture? What if it hit her head and she got a concussion?"
“…”
"Go, go, go, go stand outside the door. Don't crowd in here. It will cut off the air."
In the corridor, several people looked at each other.
Jiang Zhen held the basketball, stretched out his index finger and made a spinning motion, then added insult to injury: "Are you stupid?"
Cao Wenzheng made a bitter face: "...It's already this late, can you please say something nice?"
Xu Ji leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, glanced at him, and said lightly: "Serves you right!"
"Lao Xu, why are you so cold? I really need a warm hug right now..."
"If my homeroom teacher finds out about this, I'll definitely die a miserable death. I might even have to write a self-criticism and have my parents called in. I don't care. You have to save me this time!"
"How can we save him? The person you just hit was his deskmate—" Jiang Zhen stroked his chin in thought, and suddenly he said "eh" and came up with a bad idea, "Why don't you just say it was Xu Ji who kicked the ball."
Xu Ji, who was called, asked: "?"
"I think Tao Siyun is a nice person and doesn't hold grudges. Didn't Lao Cao apologize? She didn't say anything. She was just trying to please the teacher. Sacrifice you for your buddy. After all, it's okay for classmates to have some conflicts. Our head teacher has a good temper."
Cao Wenzheng seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw at this moment, nodding frantically beside him: "Lao Jiang is right, please save me, Lao Xu?"
Xu Ji looked at the two people in front of him as if they were lunatics. After a while, he said expressionlessly, "Are you two sick? Am I a scapegoat?"
"Please." Cao Wenzheng pinched the corner of Xu Ji's clothes with two fingers and gently pulled, "Please~"
"Get lost." Xu Ji slapped his hand away in disgust. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly figured it out and said, "I can save you, but you can make nice noises."
Cao Wenzheng swept away his previous decadence, half coquettish and half moved, tears welling in his eyes as he said, "Brother Xu~"
Xu Ji pushed him away: "Go away, who are you trying to disgust?"
"..." Cao Wenzheng sniffed and called out, swallowing his anger: "Dad Xu?"
Xu Ji reluctantly responded, "Okay, just this once."
A few minutes later, Tao Siyun came out with a piece of thick gauze wrapped around her knee. If it weren't for the hole in her pants, which was covered by her long school uniform pants, almost nothing could be seen on the surface.
Teacher Li had received a complaint call from the school doctor in advance. After learning the whole story, he called both of them to his office.
"Xu Ji, Tao Siyun is having trouble moving around these days, so you're responsible for picking her up and dropping her off at school."
When these words were spoken, the two people whose names were called were both stunned and looked at each other with wide eyes.
Tao Siyun thought he had misheard, but when he realized what was going on, he immediately shook his head and refused: "No, no, I can walk on my own, really."
Teacher Li is not very old. He usually turns a blind eye to students who make mistakes. He is very Buddhist.
But in this matter, she was acting out of character, showing her conscientiousness and responsibility as a class teacher to the fullest. She completely ignored Tao Siyun's objections and put the solution directly in front of Xu Ji, continuing -
"Anyway, I don't care where your home is or whether it's convenient for her. As long as you can pick her up until Tao Siyun can walk properly, I think it shouldn't be a problem if I sleep half an hour less every day, right?"
"..." Xu Ji was silent for a long time, neither saying yes nor no. Then, he suddenly thought of something and said with an unnatural expression, "This...is not very good."
Teacher Li pushed up his rimless glasses, grabbed the lesson plan, and slapped him lightly, saying, "Would you mindset better? This isn't an opportunity for you to be alone and fall in love early. You're still so young, you're still thinking too much."
When the other teachers in the office heard this, they all stopped what they were doing and looked at them with interest.
Both of them blushed at the same time.
In fact, Teacher Li said this in the Shanghai dialect. Tao Siyun didn't understand it all, but the pronunciation of the two words "puppy love" was very clear, and it was hard for her not to understand.
Teacher Li slapped the lesson plan book and cleared his throat. "Alright, Mr. Zhuangyuan, since you know you're wrong, you have to take responsibility for what you've done. You don't have to write it during the inspection. Don't try to fool me with things you copied from the internet. There's no point in cheating. That's it, you can go back."
Xu Ji: “…”
During the last class meeting, Teacher Li changed the topic to campus safety. Two people in the fourth row were whispering under the teacher's nose.
"Dorothy, do you want me to send you?"
"don't want."
"Really?"
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