Chapter 8Chapter 8 Come on.
Xu Ji was dressed in black and white sportswear, with his long legs casually crossed and his body lazily leaning on the door of a black Mercedes-Benz, looking very awkward.
Tao Siyun remembered that Jiang Zhen always called him "classmate" when he asked for help, trying to get close to the deputy monitor, so he walked up to him and blurted out "classmate".
The strong nasal tone made the two words very sticky.
Xu Ji looked up when he heard the voice, as if he hadn't expected to see Tao Siyun here. His first reaction wasn't: "Why are you here?" but: "It's only what month, how can you, who grew up in Beijing, be so afraid of the cold that you're even wearing a down jacket?"
The two stood face to face, Xu Ji folded his arms and leaned against the car door, his eyes slightly narrowed, his casual gaze sweeping her up and down, from head to toe——
Tao Siyun was wearing a white medical mask, and the teardrop mole under her eye was faintly visible at the edge of the mask. Her height of 1.65 meters looked particularly petite against the backdrop of the black violin case that was a bit higher than her head.
Xu Ji suppressed his laughter and said jokingly, "What season are you in? Why are you wearing such random clothes?"
Tao Siyun coughed into his mask and said in a muffled voice, "It's already winter in November! Beijing has started heating now. Won't you feel cold wearing autumn clothes?"
Xu Ji shrugged, curling his lips slightly: "It's not cold, I'm used to it, it's all thanks to my righteousness that I can hold on."
"..." Tao Siyun shuddered unconsciously at his outfit, which prioritized style over warmth. Clutching her wool scarf with her fingers, she said pitifully, "Hey, classmate, my phone's broken. Can I borrow yours to make a call?"
Xu Ji's eyes fell on the cello on her back, he raised an eyebrow and said "Okay", then he took out his phone from his trouser pocket, unlocked it and handed it to her: "You have a cold, why don't you rest at home, but go to class? Aren't you afraid of infecting the teacher?"
Tao Siyun took the phone, pinched the mask with his fingers and gently pulled it up, saying, "I just have a cough, no fever. I wanted to ask for leave, but the teacher said it's okay, just wear a mask in class."
Tao Siyun went aside to make a phone call. Xu Ji took a bottle of mineral water from the tennis bag on the ground, unscrewed it and took two sips. While drinking the water, he heard Tao Siyun asking for directions and couldn't help but glance over.
This is an urban village, and the residents are basically migrant workers. There is a huge flow of people every day, and it is very noisy. It is also facing demolition, and the sanitary conditions are very worrying. The streets and alleys are filled with the smell of rotting food all year round.
Tao Siyun stood here neatly with his cello on his back, looking extremely out of tune with the messy environment around him, as if he had accidentally lost his way and stumbled here.
"Well, I'm already at the store across from Hudong Lane. Can I go directly in from the alley entrance?"
"Ah? Then I'll just go around the outside. Okay, got it. Thank you, teacher. Goodbye."
"Thank you." After Tao Siyun finished the call, he walked to Xu Ji and returned the phone to him.
Xu Ji didn't take the phone she handed over, but asked, "Are you lost?"
Tao Siyun uttered an "Ah" in bewilderment, and after a brief pause, he said, "That's not the case..."
"What time does class start?"
"Half past one."
Xu Ji looked at his watch. There was still half an hour left. He picked up the tennis bag on the ground and stuffed it into her hand. "Wait for me, I'll be back soon."
"Hey, where are you going?"
Without waiting for Tao Siyun to refuse, Xu Ji turned around and ran across the street.
Not far away stood a man in a suit and tie who was on the phone. Xu Ji said something to him. The man turned his head to look over here, then threw something to him.
Xu Ji came back jogging, a triumphant smile on his face. He tossed the car keys in his hand and said briskly, "Come on, classmate. I'll take you there."
"Well, that..."
Xu Ji opened the trunk and put the tennis bag in it, then locked the car and followed her gaze. "Oh, it's okay. My uncle is on the phone with someone and will be gone for a while. Hey, where are you taking classes?"
Tao Siyun gave the address, and the two of them walked along the road they had just taken to the teacher's home in Hudong Lane. Tao Siyun glanced at the person next to him and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why are you here?"
"I just finished playing tennis with my uncle, who was nearby. Halfway there, he got a call and went off to talk business." Xu Ji pretended to look at the road, but his peripheral vision was always watching her. "Why didn't you ask the teacher to pick you up when you couldn't find the place?"
"She's not very convenient. She can only use a wheelchair. It's very troublesome for her to come out." "Oh."
When they were almost at the teacher's door, Tao Siyun remembered that Xu Ji's phone was still with her. She took it out of her coat pocket and returned it to him, "Thank you for what you did just now."
"Your phone is broken, so take it for now. It'll be evening by the time get out of class is over, right?" Xu Ji put his hands in his pockets and looked at her with a smile on his face. "You're welcome. Just treat me to lunch in the school cafeteria tomorrow at noon."
Tao Siyun held the phone hesitantly: "What about you?" She really felt extremely insecure when she was outside without a cell phone, but she didn't know how Xu Ji found out.
"It's okay, I have a good memory and I know the way." Xu Ji gave her a cheeky smile, "The password is six sevens, don't forget."
***
In fact, at the beginning, Tao Siyun was not very happy at school.
The class of Grade 1 (2) is more male than female. Of the 40 or so students in the class, 30 are male.
However, the few girls in the class seemed to be distancing themselves from Tao Siyun intentionally or unintentionally.
This has nothing to do with her personality.
The reason is very realistic. A student from outside the city who comes to study here has no school record and cannot take the college entrance examination in Huxi. In their eyes, Tao Siyun is just an extra staff member in the class. To put it bluntly, people from Huxi have a natural sense of superiority and are more repulsive to outsiders.
Tao Siyun herself could understand it. She could neither understand the Shanghainese dialect very well nor was she used to sweet cuisine. In every sense, she seemed not to belong to this city.
If the above reasons can be said openly as their reasons for ignoring her, then there is another reason that everyone knows but almost no one is willing to admit -
Because of jealousy.
Tao Siyun is beautiful and can play the cello. As an art student, she receives attention and respect from many teachers because of her excellent grades. These conditions may not be significant when taken individually, but once they are added together, she is something that everyone envy.
So much so that for a long time after school started, the girls in the class almost never took the initiative to talk to Tao Siyun unless it was necessary. They were particularly cold to her, with the attitude of "try to avoid contact if possible."
Only Li Huan would often walk over to Tao Siyun's seat after class and ask her, "Do you want to go to the bathroom together?" or "Do you want to eat in the cafeteria or at the snack bar for lunch today?"
During the two years at No. 1 Middle School, Tao Siyun didn’t have many friends, but Li Huan was one of them who made her feel warm.
For a period of time, Tao Siyun was particularly resistant to taking physical education classes.
At that time, Li Huan sprained her ankle and there was no one to accompany her during class. After Tao Siyun took two consecutive days off, he felt embarrassed to continue pretending to be sick.
Sure enough, when doing sit-ups during physical education class, she was left out even though there was an even number of girls in the class.
Even the physical education teacher, who is known for being straight, noticed the blatant exclusion. However, it was just a small conflict between the girls, and the physical education teacher, a straight man, couldn't say anything to them, so he could only let Tao Siyun wait on the side.
Tao Siyun waited for half the class, feeling mixed emotions.
She has been popular since she was a child and has many friends. Although she is shy and slow to warm up, the people around her are easy to get along with. During her growth, she has never encountered isolation or cold violence, and she has never even quarreled with her classmates.
After the others dispersed, they found cool places to move around freely in groups of three or five. The physical education teacher walked around the basketball court and called Xu Ji, who had just finished playing basketball with Jiang Zhen and others and was taking a halftime break.
For a moment, only Xu Ji, the physical education teacher and Tao Siyun were left on the huge playground.
The moment he saw Xu Ji, Tao Siyun felt very complicated and he didn't even know where to look.
This feeling is as embarrassing as someone accidentally discovering your long-standing secret.
She was so nervous that she was at a loss. She kept her head down and didn't dare to look at him.
What if Xu Ji asked her, "Why are you alone?" or "How did you offend the girls in our class? They all ignored you." How should she answer?
Would Xu Ji think that she had done something unpleasant to be targeted like this? Thinking of this, Tao Siyun suddenly thought of a sentence he had heard from somewhere before -
Being isolated by one person may not be your problem, but being isolated by a group of people is definitely your problem!
It seemed that at this moment, grievance, helplessness, frustration, embarrassment, awkwardness... all the bad emotions came one after another. Tao Siyun's nose felt sore and an extremely strong sense of inferiority arose in his heart.
However, what Tao Siyun was worried about did not happen. Xu Ji walked up to her and half-knelt down. He raised his hand and patted the dark green mat in front of him. He raised his eyebrows slightly and said lazily, "Come on, classmate, I'll count for you."
Tao Siyun suppressed his emotions and lay on the mat nervously, with his knees bent to 90 degrees, and his arms pressed against his sides and clasped together.
Due to her lack of exercise, sit-ups were particularly difficult for her. Such close contact also made her deliberately hold her breath every time she stood up, trying to avoid Xu Ji's breath.
Therefore, a short minute becomes very long and full of torment.
Tao Siyun's physical strength was almost exhausted, and he felt dizzy from being baked by the sun. His eyes gradually became blurred. Not only did his speed become slower and slower, but in the end, every time he stood up, it was extremely difficult.
In a trance, she didn't know if it was an illusion, but she clearly felt that the hand pressing on her instep seemed to have increased its strength.
Tao Siyun gritted his teeth and finished the last sit-up in the last few seconds of the countdown.
The moment the physical education teacher clicked on the stopwatch, her body felt relieved and she collapsed to the ground in an instant.
The intense exercise in a short period of time made her heart beat faster and her face turned slightly red.
Tao Siyun supported himself on the ground with his hands, breathing heavily. When he looked up, he met Xu Ji's eyes that were so close to him.
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