Meatworms in the shadows
In the first semester of my second grade, an unprecedentedly fierce "war" broke out between Lu Xingye and me.
The reason was that he used the new eraser I just bought to erase his messy sketchbook, and stained the pink eraser with strawberry scent into a black mess.
I was so angry that I not only pushed him hard, but also poked his arm that crossed the "38th Parallel" with a newly sharpened pencil.
He jumped up with a roar, his eyes wide open, "Lin Nian! You!"
"Who told you to touch my things!" I glared back without showing any weakness.
He was so angry that his face turned red. He grabbed my Chinese homework book and started swishing.
He tore a big hole in the cover.
I was stunned, and tears instantly filled my eyes.
It was not just a homework book, but also a book that the teacher praised for its improved handwriting.
Lu Xingye didn't seem to expect the fight to be this serious, but he stiffened his neck and refused to apologize, "Serves you right!"
That day, the teacher called us to the office and criticized us, and our parents were also called in.
Lu Xingye and I were forced to apologize to each other, but our eyes looked as if we wanted to poke holes in each other.
In the following days, we entered a "cold war" state.
They don't talk to each other and ignore each other.
This situation lasted for almost a week, until the 50-meter shuttle run test in physical education class on Friday. I ran too fast and slipped at the turn, and fell to the ground on the concrete track.
There was a lot of blood mixed with sand and gravel, and it looked extremely messy.
The physical education teacher asked me to go and rest nearby and go to the infirmary later.
I sat alone on the edge of the playground, feeling wronged and lonely.
Suddenly, a bottle of mineral water was handed to me.
I looked up and saw Lu Xingye standing there sweating profusely.
He had just finished running and his chest was still heaving violently.
I got angry when I saw him and turned my head away stubbornly.
When he saw that I didn't answer, he hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.
"That notebook..." He scratched his head, "I told my mom, and she'll take me to buy you a new one this weekend as compensation."
He still looked awkward, but I suddenly wasn't as angry anymore.
"Forget it." I finally took the water from his hand out of mercy.
He grinned, revealing the gap where his front teeth had just been replaced.
"Lin Nian, Lin Nian" and then chased me and took me to the infirmary.
————
On a summer evening, the air was filled with a damp heat. Lulu and Xiaxia were not at home. As I passed the sandpit, kicking stones, I saw Lu Xingye and his friends digging crisscrossing trenches with branches.
"What are you playing?" I poked my head in curiously.
Lu Xingye looked up, sand on the tip of his nose. He glanced at me and gave me an unfriendly smile. "Go away, this is a military stronghold. Girls are not allowed in."
Jiang Yuanzhou cooperated by raising the water gun and deliberately splashing water onto the cement floor in front of my sandals.
"Hmph! Who wants to play with you!" I turned around and ran away angrily.
The old locust tree in the backyard is my secret base and my favorite hiding place. In the shade of the old locust tree, ants are carrying the biscuit crumbs that I dropped.
Just as I was counting the seventh group of ants, there was a rustling sound from the direction of the waste pile, as if someone were crushing dried corn husks.
There is usually no one there, just a pile of discarded junk and old toys that children don't play with.
I thought someone might be playing hide-and-seek, but when I got closer I saw a blurry figure standing in the shadow of the pile of junk. He was bending over, rummaging through something, and the back of his faded blue vest was wrinkled.
I subconsciously stepped on a branch and broke it as I stepped back. When he turned around, the sunlight suddenly became very bright, so bright that I could clearly see the shadow dangling between his legs, like an ugly fleshy worm.
The moment the scream burst out of my throat, I turned and ran. One of my sandals flew off and the gravel hurt my soles, but I didn't dare stop until I hit the clothesline. Then I collapsed and sat down, crying softly.
"Lin Nian? What's wrong?" The voices of Lu Xingye and Jiang Yuanzhou came closer and closer.
They seemed to have heard my screams and came running over, smelling of sweat and sand.
I wanted to speak, but my teeth chattered together, making a clicking sound. I couldn't utter a word and just pointed at the corner and cried.
"Who bullied you? We will protect you!" Lu Xingye patted his chest, looking like a little adult.
Jiang Yuanzhou silently handed me a tissue and said, "We are boys, and it is our duty to protect girls."
Until I spoke intermittently about the "weirdo" I had just seen.
Later that day, the police arrived, and my mother held me tightly in her arms. She stroked my back over and over again, "It's okay, Nian Nian, it's okay."
Lu Xingye and Jiang Yuanzhou stood beside me, one on each side.
Even when I stopped crying, they didn't immediately run back to digging their trenches.
Lu Xingye even stuffed his most precious Ultraman model into my hands and said, "I'll lend this to you to play with. Don't cry."
The mother thanked Aunt Chen and Aunt Su and praised the two boys for being "responsible".
I saw both boys scratching their heads a little embarrassedly, but subconsciously straightened their chests.
————
The wind of "My Fair Princess" finally blew over to us. We huddled on the sofa where we once watched "Teletubbies" together, listening to Ziwei and Erkang's "The mountains have no edges, the sky and the earth have merged", watching the Fifth Prince riding his horse to catch up with Xiaoyanzi, and then...
I widened my eyes. The lips of the Fifth Prince and Xiaoyanzi touched each other. What were they doing?
My heart skipped a beat, and my ears inexplicably burned. I glanced at the friend sitting next to me. Jiang Yuanzhou's knee was right next to mine, and the warmth of his trousers shone through. The moment our eyes met, we quickly looked away, and the atmosphere in the air felt a little awkward.
"What are the kids watching?" The delicate atmosphere was interrupted by my mother. She took the remote control and changed the channel. The children's channel was broadcasting "Tom and Jerry". The funny look of Tom cat being pressed into slices by the iron used to make me laugh, but now it seems a bit boring and I am a little distracted unconsciously.
From that day on, our pretend house games no longer only included mom and dad, but also princes and princesses.
I played the princess, and Jiang Yuanzhou always cooperated well in playing the prince.
I wore my mother's scarf, pretending it was a gorgeous dress, while Jiang Yuanzhou held a wooden stick, pretending it was a sword. We imitated a scene from a TV drama, he knelt on one knee, and he took my hand and said, "Princess."
Although it was just a childish imitation, at that moment, I felt a secret sense of pride and sweetness.
We even secretly tried on our mom's high heels and dad's suits, imitating the adults' behavior with our uncoordinated steps, trying to glimpse the secrets of growing up. We struck all kinds of poses in front of the mirror, looking clumsy and funny.
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