Chapter 53
During the morning break, Shen Chang, the art and literature committee member, passionately gave a ten-minute speech on the benefits of participating in a poetry recitation competition. She talked about how it helped build confidence, improve poetry literacy, and even how she could do good deeds to get more participants. Her lips were cracked from talking so much that she had to drink a large glass of water to recover after she stepped off the stage.
Logically speaking, since both students recited poems and lyrics, they should be considered half-relatives of the Chinese language class. However, one of the two Chinese language class representatives asked for leave and the other explicitly refused, so the task fell to Shen Chang alone.
Shen Chang looked at the empty registration form and sighed.
Drinking ten more cups of water is pointless; nobody will report it anyway.
She rolled up the nearly blank registration form and fanned herself with it a couple of times. After a moment of stunned silence, she caught a glimpse of You Congxi writing a test paper in the corner of the classroom. She gritted her teeth and decided to give it one last try.
"Hey Congxi," Shen Chang said, taking a randomly drawn test paper and sitting down at the table in front of You Congxi, pretending to ask a question, "Can you teach me how to answer this ancient poem question? I didn't understand the question at all."
You Congxi put down his pen after writing the last number, took the test paper, and glanced at the questions.
While she was looking at the questions, Shen Chang mentally organized her thoughts, determined to persuade one of the class representatives for Chinese to participate in the recitation competition.
...Yes, that's what I'll say! Shen Chang clenched his fist secretly.
Are you listening?
The sudden sound startled Shen Chang. She quickly nodded and, at You Congxi's prompting, leaned over to listen to her explain the problem.
Although it was just a pretext to persuade her to participate in the competition, Shen Chang unknowingly listened to the entire question and had to admit that You Congxi's explanation was indeed good, simple and easy to understand, and the basic knowledge points were also covered comprehensively. After listening to it, she found that she really understood it.
Just as Shen Chang was savoring the moment, he heard You Congxi say, "Is there anything you didn't understand?"
"No, no, no," Shen Chang shook her head vigorously, finally remembering the real purpose of her trip. She glanced at You Congxi's face, finding nothing unusual, then cleared her throat and began to probe, "Um, Congxi, you can even teach me, your poetry skills are simply amazing—"
She gave a thumbs-up and continued, "Look at this poetry recitation competition I just mentioned. It falls under the category of language arts. Does Representative You have even the slightest idea about it...?"
You Congxi looked at her without saying anything.
Shen Chang felt a little flustered by her gaze. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then heard You Congxi say in an inscrutable tone, "I barely passed my Chinese test last week."
"Huh?" Shen Chang seemed to have just remembered her poor Chinese language skills, staring wide-eyed without saying a word.
"He scored 6 points on the ancient poetry appreciation test," You Congxi added.
Shen Chang quickly realized: "What's the big deal? The two questions on appreciating classical poetry are only worth 10 points in total, and you've already gotten more than half of them."
You Congxi chuckled briefly, picked up his pen again, drew a new test paper and began writing. Without even looking up, he said, "I guessed the multiple-choice questions and got 5 points, and the appreciation question got 1 point. It's probably a hard-earned point because I filled it all out."
Shen Chang was stunned: "Then what you just told me..."
“Didn’t the teacher explain it once yesterday?” You Congxi said.
"Oh, right." Shen Chang blinked, feeling convinced. Sure enough, a top student is a top student; even if they don't know a question, they can learn it so thoroughly after listening to the teacher explain it once.
She wanted to say something more, but the competition hadn't convinced her yet: "Congxi..."
"Chen Chang, someone's looking for you!" A classmate called out to her from the side.
Feeling the person in front of her leave in the wind, You Congxi stopped writing, paused, and glanced at the Chinese test paper that Chen Chang hadn't had time to take away. The question about appreciating ancient poems was still lying there openly.
She twirled the pen in her hand a few times, then looked away and lowered her head to continue working on the test paper.
But if someone glanced over, they would see that five minutes had passed and the test paper in her hand was completely unharmed, still stuck on the questions from five minutes ago.
You Congxi sighed.
On the night she finished the exam, Shen Yue came to her door with his schoolbag and explained it to her from beginning to end. He then watched her write a set of questions he had put together himself. The next day, Xun Songyue explained it again in class. If she still hadn't learned it after all that, then there would be no reason for her to fail.
Qu Qi strolled back to her seat with her water cup in her hand, and You Congxi stood up to let her pass.
"Why is An Jingwen here?" Qu Qi muttered as he pulled out a chair and sat down.
Snap.
You Congxi dropped the pen from his hand onto the table.
She remained expressionless and asked in a normal tone, "An Jingwen? Is she the one we went hiking with last time?"
"Hmm," Qu Qi unscrewed the cap, took a sip of water, and nodded. "The class 4 next door, the science class. I heard that he was in the same class as Shen Yue in the first year of high school."
As the two were talking, a girl who looked familiar but whose name they couldn't recall walked over. Noticing You Congxi's gaze, Qu Qi also looked over and explained to her in unison, "This is the girlfriend of the girl who stood with you on the last autumn outing. The three of them seem to know each other quite well, maybe they were junior high school classmates or something, I forgot, what was her name again..."
"Wang Fu," Shen Chang called out as he entered, "then let's meet up during PE class tomorrow."
Wang Fu snapped his fingers without turning around, looking a bit pretentious, but also kind of cool.
Qu Qi admired the view for a moment and then looked away. Just as she was about to speak to You Congxi, she was startled by Shen Chang's sudden appearance.
"Hey Congxi, An Jingwen from Class 4 next door just came to see me. She said Shen Yue told her he wants to participate in this recitation competition as a host. Plus, with the few we just persuaded from Wang Fu and others, our class has enough spots. You're safe, haha!"
Qu Qi asked, "Why is An Jingwen from Class 4 coming to our class? Is she transferring?"
“No,” Shen Chang borrowed a pen from You Congxi and scribbled on the registration form. Hearing this, she lowered her head and wrote as she spoke, “She is also the host of this competition, and she is Shen Yue’s partner.”
“…Oh, I see.” Qu Qi nodded and glanced at You Congxi, who was writing on her test paper with her head down.
After Shen Chang left, the English teacher came in with her books tucked under her arm, just as the school bell rang.
As usual, she stood up and greeted the teacher. Then, the room was filled with the sounds of tables being dragged and pulled. Taking advantage of the chaos, Qu Qi asked You Congxi, "You Xiaoyu, what do you think?"
"What do you mean, how do I look?" You Congxi sat up, rummaged through her desk drawer for her English book and notebook, and glanced at her deskmate who was making strange remarks with a puzzled look. "I look with my eyes."
Qu Qi glanced at the teacher adjusting the PowerPoint presentation on the whiteboard, then turned back to You Congxi with relief and whispered, "No, I meant what do you think about Shen Yue partnering with An Jingwen? Didn't you ask me last time if I knew her?"
“You misheard me,” You Congxi said, flipping through her notebook.
"Tsk," Qu Qi looked at her, "You're so stubborn. I heard that An Jingwen confessed to Shen Yue when she was in her first year of high school. I wonder if there was anything between them..."
You Congxi flipped through his notebook without saying a word.
"Fine, keep pretending," Qu Qi was amused by her annoyance and pointed at her, saying, "The host will definitely have to rehearse. When the two of them are in the same room, whether it's a case of developing feelings over time or rekindling old flames, it has nothing to do with you, an outsider."
The English teacher prepared the PowerPoint presentation and began the lesson.
You Congxi finally looked up from his notebook and glanced at her.
Qu Qi listened attentively.
"Mm." You Congxi nodded.
"..." Qu Qi gritted his teeth. "Fine, you're amazing."
-
You Congxi rattled off his stack of test papers like a news anchor, then stuffed them into his schoolbag after tidying them up.
Today was her turn to be on duty, and Qu Qi noticed that she had been acting strangely all day, so he offered to wait for her and leave together.
“No need, you can go back first,” You Congxi zipped up her backpack and pushed the stool onto the table. “I have to go to You Yuanming’s house tonight.”
"That idiot is fucking disgusting," Qu Qi said.
The last time she went to Congxi, she came out of the You family's house in a cold weather with dishes and cups scattered everywhere. When she found out, she only regretted not being there and not being able to slap that hypocritical man across the face.
"What trouble are you trying to cause this time?" Qu Qi asked.
You Congxi opened the window next to him, put his schoolbag on the windowsill in the corridor, straightened up, clapped his hands, and mumbled, "What could be wrong? I just wanted to find something to do when I was free. I'll just have a meal and that'll be it."
Qu Qi was exasperated: "Why are you wasting your time with him? He doesn't care about you anyway. Just give him a piece of your mind and we'll go our separate ways. You go your way, I'll go mine, and we'll never see each other again."
She said this largely out of anger. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and blood ties are a complicated thing. It's hard to say goodbye to friends who have known each other for a long time, let alone a father who shares half of your blood.
No matter what, in the two or three years that You Congxi could remember, there was still a deep affection for his father, You Yuanming.
This is why You Congxi still goes to that house for a meal no matter what over the years.
No one wants their father to not love them.
Qu Qi wanted to say something more, but You Congxi picked up the mop and walked out, leaving her stunned by what she said.
She said she would consider it.
What should we consider?
Qu Qi stared at the girl's slender back, unable to come to his senses.
......
You Congxi, carrying a mop, had been forced to overhear gossip from the washroom for who knows how many times.
This place is really something.
She stared at the mop in the sink, while the conversation next door, separated by a wall, was completely unblocked.
What are you thinking?
"I didn't have any idea. My homeroom teacher asked me to be the host, so I'll just do it."
"Don't play dumb, I'm talking about Shen Yue."
The woman's voice paused for a moment, then laughed again: "I didn't know you, little Fufu, could be so gossipy."
"Don't call me that," Wang Fu said impatiently. "I'm doing this on someone's behalf."
“Oh,” An Jingwen answered readily, “I still like him. When I’m sleepy, someone hands me a pillow. Why shouldn’t I use it?”
I didn't hear what they said about You Congxi. The two of them left the water room and walked a distance away, unaware that there was a student on duty washing mops just next door.
The student on duty turned the tap back on and continued rinsing the mop with a blank expression.
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