Cloud Girl Chapter Six
After the busy winter training for freshmen, the cafeteria became busier with people eating regular meals, creating a noisy and chaotic atmosphere.
That day, Xu Xiaomeng still didn't sleep well and got up late. Afraid of being late, she rushed to the classroom for the first large class of her elective economics course without even having time to eat the breakfast she had bought.
I sat down in the front row again and quickly ate my breakfast.
With some time before class, several male students from the class eagerly came over, wanting to ask if the newly established elective class would be holding a social event.
"Hey Xu, how about we go hiking this year? I heard the newly developed wetland park on the west side of Tulo has great scenery, with dense forests, it's a perfect date spot... haha," Guanghao, my roommate who took the same elective, just laughed heartily, his words full of anticipation.
Of all the students in the dormitory, Guanghao and Xu Xiaomeng got along the best. This was mainly due to Guanghao's high emotional intelligence and his sincerity. Even the awkward self-introduction that had troubled Xu Xiaomeng for years was easily resolved by his casual remark, "Then I'll call you A-Xu from now on!"
Guanghao is an outgoing person and has always been particularly enthusiastic about these group outings.
Similar activities used to be difficult to apply for – because at least one teacher had to be willing to accompany the participant.
However, things are always a matter of "one thing subdues another".
Generally speaking, due to various factors, teachers are unlikely to refuse requests made by Xu Xiaomeng, their capable assistant.
Xu Xiaomeng, for various reasons, generally wouldn't refuse something that Guanghao agreed to, even though it was a bit troublesome for him.
So the other students would try their best to "entice" Guanghao to start, and then discuss it with him. As Xu Xiaomeng listened, she also started to do it.
Guanghao speaks with great charm and is concise. With just a few more words, Xu Xiaomeng would probably say, "Then I'll go take a look first"—once that's said, half the battle is won.
Before he could finish speaking, a chubby boy who had just joined in the conversation frowned and looked disgusted.
"My God! Don't even mention that place, wasn't it sealed off a while ago? You guys still went?"
“How could that be? I saw people handing out flyers last month…” someone jumped out to refute.
"That was so long ago," the chubby boy chuckled, teasingly adding, "Tsk tsk, your information network is amazing, just like a young lady from a noble family in ancient times..."
However, Xu Xiaomeng didn't want to listen to such meaningless talk—so he simply continued eating his breakfast, took out his books, and prepared to start class.
"No way! You guys really don't know?" The boy toned down his smugness, frowning in serious disbelief. "Um, it's that 'Cloud Girl,' you really didn't hear her?"
"A girl from the clouds?" Everyone was puzzled.
That successfully piqued Xu Xiaomeng's interest—had anyone else had a dream like his? He stared intently at the boy.
"Stop keeping me in suspense, what is it?!" Guang Hao just smiled and slapped the boy on the shoulder, making people grimace.
"That area is all cordoned off with police tape, and there are still police all over the mountain! But I don't know the details. At first, I heard that one night, a couple was doing 'that' under a tree, and then maybe the shaking was too strong, something fell from the tree and landed right on the girl's chest—she thought it was just dry bark and was about to pick it up, but the guy had sharp eyes, and when he saw what it was, he was so scared he immediately went limp..."
"What is that thing?" the fat boy asked in a clever way, and all the boys were excited.
At first, the fat man didn't say anything, but Guang Hao kept pestering him, so he had to whisper, "It's something dried up by ancient eunuchs! That guy happened to be studying urology, so he recognized it at a glance..."
"Wait a minute?" someone exclaimed, realizing something. "Didn't you say it was 'Cloud Girl'? How come it's a guy?"
"Yes," everyone chimed in.
"Who told you that if that thing fell down, the person sitting on top must be a man!" the chubby boy exclaimed anxiously. "I heard from my uncle... that after the couple called the police, when the police arrived, they couldn't see anything when they first looked up—just leaves—because the trees there are really tall, at least twenty or thirty meters high. It was only after they climbed up that they discovered a female skeleton fixed to the thickest branch in the middle: her hands were nailed to her sides, her head was suspended by a special rope, and her entire body was just white bones—it looked like a girl swinging on a swing... The trees there are really tall, you can't see the top of them, that's why they're called 'Girl in the Clouds'!"
"Wait a minute, when a person rots, isn't it just a pile of bones? How could they possibly be sitting up? Are you kidding me?" someone scoffed.
Before the chubby boy could retaliate, Guanghao said fairly, "This is entirely feasible. For large animals, as long as you drill holes in the middle of the bones and fix them with copper wire, and use glue for small joints, as long as they are properly maintained, they can last a long time—that corpse has turned into bones, and the thing stuck in its mouth has only just dried, which proves that the person who made it must have been up there recently... Wait, how do you know it was stuck in its mouth? Did you make it?" After speaking, Guanghao's eyes swept over the chubby boy from head to toe.
"No, you can't just say things like that," Little Fatty was genuinely anxious this time. "It was the officer in charge of the case who found it. He saw that the forest was so big, so he wondered if there might be some on other trees, so he sent a few people to check—and sure enough, they found one on a tree not far away—with a clump of that stuff in its mouth, it looked pretty fresh..."
As Little Fatty was talking, he seemed about to vomit, but he covered his mouth.
Those nearby who saw this immediately retreated a mile away, keeping a great distance.
That topic doesn't spark much discussion for those still in the ivory tower, so it remains only on the surface.
To be honest, even if they knew something, there was nothing they could do but sigh.
"No wonder! I was wondering why I kept seeing police cars driving that way lately! Tsk, they just finished developing the project and this happens. The boss must be going to lose a fortune..." an economics student sighed. But before he could finish speaking, the bell rang, and people scattered in all directions, creating a chaotic scene.
"Ah, well then, we can't go anyway, right?" Xue Muyuan finally remembered his original intention and couldn't help but groan. He leaned on his seat, blew his bangs upward, and turned his head to look at Xu Xiaomeng, whose gaze was still downcast. His probing look was self-evident.
After all, college life is just too boring!
Xue Muyuan's seat was right next to Xu Xiaomeng's—he was Xu Xiaomeng's classmate in the dorm across the hall, and they usually got along well.
He and Xu Xiaomeng have similar personalities, both being rather mild-mannered and reserved, so they get along quite comfortably. However, because neither of them is particularly enthusiastic, their interactions seem rather distant.
Xu Xiaomeng changed her community service location by asking him for help.
Based on Xu Xiaomeng's consistent principles, she would do her best to help a friend like Xue Muyuan, given the friendship of exchanging seats, if it wasn't too difficult. Not to mention that Guang Hao had also brought it up, which was like having a double buff.
However, it's no wonder Xu Xiaomeng was in a terrible mood.
Anyone who thinks of those skeletal white bones sharing the same title as the girl they admire—"Cloud Girl"—would want to avoid it.
He declined somewhat perfunctorily for the first time, saying, "Okay, I'll suggest the teacher consider it. If it's possible, I'll let you know! But there have been some rumors lately, so for safety reasons, it might not be possible."
Xu Xiaomeng had no intention of mentioning it to the teacher at all—just thinking about his unrequited love that was about to end and that strange, distorted form of address made him feel somewhat dissatisfied and he wanted to "pay lip service while secretly disobeying."
However, when he thought about how his behavior of cutting off other people's thoughts with emotions was not gentlemanly, he felt uneasy and hesitated whether he should still mention it to the teacher on their behalf.
Therefore, in the first class of the Economics and Trade elective course in the first semester of the third year of the School of Economics and Management, most students had not yet recovered from the decadent life of the New Year. Even Xu Xiaomeng, who was always a model student, seemed listless. The whole classroom was so lifeless and depressing.
Professor Liu Yuge, who teaches economics and marketing, banged on the table really hard, clearly showing her anger.
His eagle eyes swept across the room, and he immediately pointed to a girl in the corner, fast asleep, slumped over a table. He said sternly, "You in the corner, slumped over the table, get up and answer the question."
Chen Nanyi, who was sleeping soundly in the back row, was suddenly woken up while still half asleep, and was naturally unhappy.
Just as she was frowning, wondering what was going on, she suddenly realized that the teacher and everyone else were looking at her, and the girl next to her kept whispering to her, "Look at the PPT, look at the PPT"—she knew perfectly well that she had been called on.
Liu Yuge pointed to the PPT with a blank expression, indicating that she should look at it.
The moment the question was revealed, a chorus of whispers and snickers filled the air.
Chen Nanyi felt a little embarrassed, so she awkwardly stood up, composed herself, and looked at the question.
If you were a male hotel waiter and accidentally went into the wrong room and saw a female guest taking a shower, what would you do?
Admittedly, she was somewhat bewildered.
Since returning home on the tenth day of the lunar month, Chen Nanyi has been taking care of Chen Yijing, who has developed a high fever, without resting—not because she was afraid that her third sister would damage her already poor brain, but because she was afraid that her weak body would not be able to withstand it.
After all, Chen Yijing's health was not good to begin with. Her physical and mental development was still at the level of a child. She was also noisy and fussy. Whenever she was in pain, she didn't know how to express herself. She would just cry and scream, and even hurt herself...
Chen Nanyi was both heartbroken and anxious, and she stayed by her side just like her mother had always done. Finally, her fever broke this morning, and she was not late for class, but she fell asleep without even taking out her books.
But a mistake is a mistake, and Chen Nanyi doesn't think that remaining silent is the right thing to do.
After a moment's thought, she hesitated and said, "Hmm... I'll say—'Excuse me, sir, I've come to the wrong room!' and then leave the room immediately."
A wave of mocking laughter erupted in the large lecture hall, as if everything she said was laughable.
Actually, this was not an easy question to answer, especially since Liu Yuge had used this famous question to stump countless students over the years of teaching, and no answer since then has been satisfactory.
But after everyone had laughed for a while, a few people who understood suddenly froze, and then the whole classroom fell silent. Liu Yuge on the stage stared at Chen Nanyi with wide eyes after hearing the answer.
Chen Nanyi, who was usually calm, was somewhat frightened, but still stood there with a calm expression.
After Liu Yuge recovered, she excitedly asked while flipping through the student list, "What's your name?"
Chen Nanyi said her name, and Liu Yuge quickly scanned the room but didn't find her. Chen Nanyi immediately replied, "Number 40, Chinese Literature Department Preparatory Class, Number 40, Chen Nanyi."
To everyone's surprise, the situation became even more awkward as soon as he finished speaking, with almost everyone looking at him with resentment.
Chen Nanyi also asked, puzzled, "W-what's wrong?"
Sitting next to her, the busty student who had just pushed her said speechlessly, "This is the School of Economics and Management, and we're having a public relations class right now."
Almost the instant the girl finished speaking, Chen Nanyi, looking shocked, bowed repeatedly, saying, "I'm sorry, I went to the wrong place." Then she quickly grabbed her schoolbag and rushed out of the classroom through the side door, leaving the laughter behind.
Chen Nanyi ran out of the classroom on her own, unaware that the gaze of the person in the front row suddenly turned around and followed her, leaving behind Liu Yuge's shouts as she chased after her. Her face was burning hot.
After all, I've never been this humiliated in my life, so how could I care about anything else?
Chen Nanyi usually appears to be a very impatient person.
It's not because she has a bad heart, it's just that her personality isn't suited to making such gentle expressions.
One day, Liu Yuge, who is said to speak very fast, assigned homework to be handed in the next day and then left without a word.
Chen Nanyi has exceptional memory and intelligence.
After finishing her own work, she couldn't bear to see a girl who had helped her before not understanding, so she guided her through making the document. But the girl was really bad at it, so Chen Nanyi even showed her her own work before she was satisfied.
A few days later, Liu Yuge returned to China and received 39 identical assignments, along with Xu Xiaomeng's document, which was more sincere than professional.
Liu Yuge was furious and immediately gave zero marks to all the assignments except those of Chen Nanyi and Xu Xiaomeng.
The public is indignant: why wasn't it Chen Nanyi who copied us?
Liu Yuge: "Hehe, little brat, someone as serious as Xu Xiaomeng would ask anyone for help and then hand in her homework... But if it's someone you like, no one would have the courage to 'ask for help' and expose their own shortcomings, right?"
All living beings, Chen Nanyi? ? Xu Xiaomeng (....)
Liu Yuge: "How could I have taught this bunch of idiots and one shy one?!"
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