Chapter 83, "Acquaintances"
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The university cafeteria has a much wider variety of dishes than the high school cafeteria. During their time at the training camp, they were provided with food and accommodation. She Ning and the others lined up to get their meals with their own lunchboxes.
"Ah Ning, over here." Having arrived earlier than them to get their food, Jing Xinxin stood near the window in the dining hall and gestured to She Ning.
She was accompanied by a classmate, the one who had called her to have dinner together at the dormitory entrance earlier.
The cafeteria was quite crowded at this time, and it soon filled up with people. She Ning, holding her lunchbox, lifted her foot and headed towards Jing Xinxin's seat.
Lin Qian and Wang Weiwei followed immediately.
Most of the participants in this training camp were high school students. She Ning and a few others with youthful faces stood out, especially She Ning and Wang Weiwei, who still had some baby fat on their faces.
"You guys look so young! Which city are you from?" The girl sitting next to Jing Xinxin leaned out from behind the crowd and asked curiously, "What grade are you in?"
Jing Xinxin was struggling with the lion's head meatball in her lunchbox when she heard this. She reached out and pressed the head of the classmate next to her back, her little face stern, directly preventing her from asking any more questions. "Don't talk while eating or sleeping. Talk after you finish eating."
Having been deskmates for two years, the female classmate knew Jing Xinxin's personality well. She knew that Jing Xinxin was serious about what she had just said. Suppressing her curiosity, she ate her rice in big mouthfuls.
She Ning and Lin Qian exchanged a glance and then lowered their heads to eat.
The food in the canteen is quite good. The shredded green peppers and potatoes are crisp and delicious, with a tangy and spicy flavor that whets the appetite. The braised lion's head meatballs are crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. The addition of water chestnuts to the ingredients adds a crunchy texture, and paired with a sweet but not greasy sauce, it's delicious and not too sweet.
After finishing their meal, they all went to the wash area outside to wash their lunchboxes.
"Xin Xin, can you answer now?" After holding it in for the entire meal, the female classmate couldn't wait to speak.
Just as she understood herself, Jing Xinxin also understood her deskmate, knowing that it was her limit for her to wait until now to ask.
"She Ning, Lin Qian, Wang Weiwei." Without any hesitation, she raised her hand and introduced them one by one, "They are from Xiahe Middle School in Xiahe Town, Kapok City. They just graduated from junior high school and will be starting high school this fall."
"Wow, so you are the kind of people the teacher was talking about, people who are more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding!" After hearing Jing Xinxin's introduction, she was overjoyed, her eyes shining like freshly wiped glass.
She reached out and grabbed Wang Weiwei, who seemed the most outgoing of the three, and shook her hand firmly several times. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Shen Mingsha. I'm from the second year of high school at the provincial No. 1 High School. I'm Xin Xin's deskmate."
Hello, hello.
"Hello, please take care of me in the future."
She Ning and the others shook hands with Shen Mingsha one by one.
"You guys are amazing!" Upon learning that She Ning and Wang Weiwei were only 13 years old, and that the oldest, Lin Qian, was only 14, 17-year-old Shen Mingsha couldn't help but pull them up and down to look them over. "What did you eat to grow up so smart?"
Those who can come here to participate in the math Olympiad training camp are all top students in their schools, and Shen Mingsha is no exception. She has never fallen out of the top three in her grade since she was a student, and she has won numerous awards in competitions.
She didn't quite believe her teacher when she said this year's training camp was full of experts, but now, seeing She Ning and Lin Qian, who are three or four years younger than her, she has to believe that her teacher was right.
There are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding.
Jing Xinxin looked at the people walking in front of her, and met She Ning's eyes to the side. She smiled with a little pride, her eyebrows curving. No wonder she was her deskmate.
On their first meeting, within just a few minutes, Shen Mingsha had already become very familiar with them, linking arms with Wang Weiwei on one arm and Lin Qian on the other, and turning her head to chat with them affectionately.
Shen Mingsha is just like that. Back then, she was slow to warm up, but she was warmed up by her outgoing deskmate.
If Jing Xinxin lived in the future, she would know that someone like Shen Mingsha was simply the most outstanding among the elite.
She Ning and Jing Xinxin walked side by side behind, watching the group of people chatting away ahead of them, their pace slow and leisurely.
"You're already in the training camp before you're even in your first year of high school?" The boy in the polyester shirt, who was walking ahead of them, suddenly turned around. He was wearing a silver watch, and the watch face reflected light as he turned.
Wearing glasses, Jing Xinxin squinted reflexively when the light dazzled her. She Ning noticed this and took a small step forward to shield her.
"Which school in Kapok City are you from? This isn't a game where just anyone can come and participate," he continued, stopping Wang Weiwei and the others.
The boy's last words lingered in the air for two seconds.
That's really rude of you, and it feels strangely familiar.
She Ning couldn't help but frown.
As he stopped her, Lin Qian instinctively clenched the empty lunchbox in her hand, the metal edge leaving a half-circle red mark on her palm. When she looked up, she caught the last moment of the cold light from his watch, like a sharp declaration.
"Gu Jiahao?" Shen Mingsha stared at him for a while, then suddenly snapped her fingers. "You're Gu Jiahao from No. 1 High School? The one who won the school's first gold medal in ten years at last year's provincial competition?"
The boy's white shirt collar suddenly looked too stiff. He subconsciously straightened his bow tie, then looked up at Shen Mingsha who had spoken: "What, do you know me?"
"Who doesn't know her!" Wang Weiwei suddenly poked her head out from the front, her ponytail drawing a cheerful arc in the air. "Our She Ning solved your final provincial competition problem as soon as school started this year!"
The chirping of the sparrows froze in an instant.
Gu Jiahao's silver watch hands stopped at 5:15, which happened to align with the Xiahe Middle School badge on the left chest of She Ning's school uniform.
The school badge, etched into the very bones of the students of the No. 1 Middle School, was now reflecting the sunlight so brightly it hurt their eyes.
"Oh~~" Shen Mingsha drawled, startling a flock of sparrows that were foraging for food by the roadside, causing them to flutter their wings and scatter in all directions. "So our little geniuses are here to compete for this year's gold medal at No. 1 Middle School?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Jiahao's face stiffened. Relying on that school badge, he remembered something. During the leadership summit held by the No. 1 Middle School of the city, he was unable to return to participate because he was in another city for a competition. His school lost to a school from a township below in the main venue.
At the same time, a major scandal broke out. The contestant from No. 1 Middle School not only maliciously stole and damaged other contestants' speeches, but also insulted the victims. This behavior was even worse than losing the first prize.
To learn from this experience, every student at their school has a deep impression of the victim's school; the school emblem is such a representative symbol that they can recognize it at a glance.
Gu Jiahao was even more aware of Lin Hongwei's affair than the people at the school. Lin Hongwei was his cousin, and his mother was Lin Hongwei's aunt. The two were only a few months apart, and they had been rivals since they were little.
On the surface, they were brothers, but in reality, neither of them liked the other. However, since they were blood relatives, after his accident, Gu Jiahao still asked all the classmates who were present at the time in detail. Some details were unknown even to the school. Under his sincere "inquiry," those who were present at the time told him.
The conclusion that followed was that Lin Hongwei deserved it.
Unbeknownst to him, he made the same mistake as Lin Hongwei, peeking through the crack in the door. When he realized this, he broke out in a cold sweat. He was wearing rather thin clothes for summer, and the back of his polyester shirt was soaked with sweat.
He's not like Lin Hongwei.
Lin Hongwei, who was resting in the hospital, suddenly sneezed several times in a row, tears welling up in his eyes. He rubbed his still sore and itchy nose with his shoulder and thought fiercely.
Damn it, who on earth is insulting him?
Gu Jiahao's gaze toward She Ning and the others became conflicted and complicated, his expression wavering between apologizing and not apologizing.
"Hao-ge, what are you doing here? Aren't you going back to the dorm?"
The canvas shoes crunched on the cement floor, and quick footsteps approached. Suddenly, a shout saved him.
"It's you?" The boy approached and saw the person standing in front of Gu Jiahao. He exclaimed in surprise, but quickly realized what was going on.
As a school representative, she also won first place in the speech contest, which is quite an achievement. It's normal for her to be able to participate in the training camp.
"Classmate, I'm sorry about the speech contest last time." In front of everyone, the man sincerely apologized to She Ning.
As accomplices, the school also gave them a major demerit and required them to write a letter of repentance, but he still felt that he owed the parties involved an apology.
If he hadn't touched the manuscript, Lin Hongwei wouldn't have been able to tear it up. Although he didn't know Lin Hongwei would tear it up when he touched the manuscript, the final result wouldn't have changed because of his ignorance.
Moreover, when the speech was torn up, he backed down because he was wary of Lin Hongwei's background and did not stop him.
Therefore, he is not innocent, and he accepts the punishments imposed by the school.
Some of her classmates said that She Ning's grades were not affected by her manuscript being torn up; she still won first prize in the speech contest. She didn't suffer any loss, so why were they punished so severely?
He felt that what those people said was wrong. She Ning won the first prize because of her outstanding abilities. Just because she did not cause any adverse consequences did not mean that her wrongdoing could be erased and she could go without punishment.
Since that incident, he gradually distanced himself from those people. Perhaps sensing his attitude, those who used to be close to him stopped calling him after he didn't come out after a few times.
By focusing his attention back on his studies, his grades steadily improved, and he narrowly made it into the training camp selection competition, barely securing the last spot.
"If you encounter any problems that you can't solve during your time at the training camp, you can come to me."
"My name is Shen Xiaobin, and I live in dormitory 302, building 9," he introduced himself earnestly.
It's still an old "acquaintance".
She Ning had a photographic memory and naturally recognized him as the person who had bumped into her before the speech contest. After hearing his apology, She Ning looked at him calmly without responding.
Apart from Gu Jiahao, no one else present knew exactly what had happened. They listened to the boy's apology and watched quietly.
The atmosphere was a little awkward, but Shen Xiaobin didn't ask She Ning to forgive him. After all, he was the one who did wrong, and it was her right to choose whether or not to forgive him.
"This year's mock competition starts tonight, so everyone can start preparing." Shen Xiaobin shared the information he knew with everyone, patted Gu Jiahao next to him, and said with a smile, "We won't disturb you any longer, we'll be going now."
Gu Jiahao looked at She Ning with a complicated expression. He hadn't expected that she would be the victim in the speech tearing case.
"I'm sorry." After a moment of hesitation, he opened his mouth slightly and said softly.
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting to see how She Ning and the others would react, he quickly bowed to them and then pulled Shen Xiaobin away from the place.
He was moving so fast it seemed like something was chasing him from behind; his crisp collar seemed to have drooped down, losing all its initial uprightness.
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