Chapter 23
"abondon,abondon..."
On the other side of the video, Bai Shu rested his arms on the table, holding a textbook in his hands and muttering to himself, looking like he was studying seriously.
"Is this word in the textbook for Unit 3?" He Xi smiled helplessly, closing the [Beihai Province 2025 General College Sports Unified Enrollment Registration and Examination Methods] webpage on the computer screen and looking at the mobile phone screen propped up below.
Bai Shu asked, "What are you looking at so seriously?"
"Nothing." He Xi said.
"Oh." Bai Shu withdrew his gaze and moved his fingers on the textbook.
He Xi raised his chin and moved closer to the phone screen.
Bai Shu cleared his throat, lowered his eyelids, and put away the nonchalant tone in his voice.
Little guy, I can't cure you yet. He Xi raised the corner of his lips and his eyes softened.
There's never enough time in the morning.
He Xi hit the alarm, got up, washed up quickly, and rushed to school. His heart finally settled down as he sat in the classroom, but he still didn't relax.
There was a lot to memorize for morning reading. He Xi glanced at the pink sticky note on the table and pulled out the Chinese and political textbooks from the pile of books in front of him.
Just as she opened the book and was about to read, a note fell on the table. Chen Linlin winked at her, and He Xi opened the note:
Today I want to eat the steamed buns from the first window and the chicken cutlets from the second window. Lu Xiaoyue can just buy her some fried dough sticks. Thank you. P.S. If you don't want to help, just pretend I never said anything!
He Xi pressed the tip of his nose and wrote on the line of words:
...I have to go for morning exercises today too. It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I'm powerless.
Chen Linlin received the note and turned back with wide eyes. He Xi spread his hands and shrugged.
The story began yesterday morning when she walked out of the cafeteria carrying a big bag of breakfast.
There was her lotus leaf pancake with vegetable and fried egg, Bai Shu's three beef patties, five boiled eggs, and two cartons of milk, Chen Linlin's and Lu Xiaoyue's soy milk, osmanthus cake, and golden pancakes, as well as portions for several other classmates...
This wasn't the first time she'd done this. Ever since she'd gotten along well with Chen Linlin and the others, she'd buy breakfast for them and Bai Shu as well. The other students knew about this, so He Xi would occasionally bring them some too.
But if you walk by the river often, you will get your feet wet. When she happily rushed out of the cafeteria with her breakfast and ran towards the classroom, someone stood in front of He Xi.
He Xi's eyelids twitched, and when he looked up and saw the teacher's face, he smiled awkwardly.
The teacher's mouth twitched: "He Xi."
"Why."
"Oh, you're here to buy some in bulk from the cafeteria. You have quite an appetite." The teacher paused. "Aren't you physically unable to do morning exercises? You looked quite energetic when you ran out of the cafeteria just now."
"......This, this, teacher, please let me explain..." He Xi's heart was in turmoil, his brain was working rapidly, and he was organizing his words in his mind.
"That's enough—" the teacher interrupted her impatiently, then sighed, "Starting tomorrow, you have to run exercises with everyone, okay? Don't be lazy anymore!"
"Ah! I heard it, I heard it!" He Xi responded repeatedly.
The old teacher snorted coldly, put his hands behind his back and turned away.
-
Running used to be the thing He Xi feared the most, but now it is the thing He Xi looks forward to the most.
Bai Shu told He Xi: "Running can help you release stress."
He was right. As He Xi ran along the playground in the morning light, besides the exhaustion of feeling powerless and exhausted, she felt a sense of relief, a sense of relief that had left all her worries behind. When you run, all you can think about is running.
He Xi's breathing gradually became heavier as she watched the young man who had left her far behind and was running faster and faster.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch up with him.
The inexplicable panic and unwillingness formed a net and fell down. He Xi could not help but stretch out one arm and put the other on his waist.
My hands tried to grab something.
His throat was so dry that it was smoking. "Wait, wait for me, Bai Shu-----"
Bai Shu stopped in his tracks, his eyes smiling, "Follow me, He Xi."
The boy turned around, his hands raised to his lips in a trumpet-shaped formation. Behind him was lush greenery and a vast expanse of sky. Dressed in his school uniform, he blended into the scene, becoming the star of the scene. He was handsome, but...
He Xi said it lightly, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I've tried my best. Wait for me!"
"I know," Bai Shu said, "but He Xi, do you know the scoring standards for the women's 100-meter sprint in the Beihai Provincial Physical Education Entrance Examination?"
"The highest score was 13 seconds."
He Xi was so exhausted that her waist was almost dead. She didn't want to hear it. She lowered her head and covered her ears, her ponytail dangling in the background. "I can't do it anymore. I really can't do it anymore... I really can't run anymore. Unless," she paused, "unless you run ahead of me with a fried dough stick in your mouth, then maybe I'll have the energy to catch up."
A glint of clever cunning flashed in the girl's eyes. The second half of her sentence was of course intended as a lively joke in this serious moment, to see how Bai Shu would react.
But what she didn't expect was that the next day He Xi came to school early, put her schoolbag at the classroom door, and followed Bai Shu into the playground.
When standing at the starting line, Bai Shu suddenly took out a plastic bag from his bag, "Ahem..." He kept glancing at He Xi out of the corner of his eye.
He Xi looked over and saw him stuffing the fried dough sticks in the bag into his mouth with an expressionless face.
Bai Shu closed his eyes, swung his arms and ran. The flash of "heroic sacrifice" in his eyes made He Xi laugh.
She no longer had any reason not to follow him.
The wind blew around their flying hair, and the purple clouds in the sky spread out dreamily.
The two shadows on the ground were getting closer and closer.
He Xi decided that no matter how difficult it was this time, she would follow him.
In the following training, she ran faster and faster, more and more determined. Not only because she wanted to get into college and catch up with Bai Shu, but also because she was touched by his taking her casual words to heart and foolishly carrying them out. He took her words so seriously, and treated her so seriously, she didn't want to disappoint him.
He Xi is a person who will do his best once he makes a decision.
It's not just about studying, but also about the training and exam preparation plan she set for herself.
-
He Xi's life fast-forwarded in the second year of high school.
Endless papers to do, endless words to memorize, sometimes she felt like she was going to give up, sometimes she felt like she was going to be able to do it again. But even in these times of immense pressure, she always made sure to eat three meals a day and snack at regular times. To keep up with her physical fitness, she first had to keep up with her weight. With a packed daily study and training schedule, how could she survive without enough food to maintain her energy?
The TV news was reporting on this year's marathon. He Xi felt that her life was now also a long marathon.
Bai Shu is the same, and so is every high school senior who enters summer vacation.
The end of the previous college entrance examination means that this class must also prepare and start taking the exam.
This wasn't an easy task, nor was it something that could be achieved simply through effort. But He Xi didn't want to give up before she even started. She would do well, beautifully, and keep moving forward, one step at a time, keeping her feet firmly on the ground.
Zhang Chaomei's wedding was held at the end of July.
It was a warm and glorious summer day, with beautiful weather and sunshine. But there was no bride in a lavish wedding gown, holding a bouquet of flowers, or a lawn or hot air balloons. Zhang Chaomei's wedding was plain and simple.
She wore a fitted long dress in her favorite shade of red. Her hair was tied up with a red flower pinned to her head. Her eyes were painted in earthy tones, and her lips were also full and red. Zhang Chaomei's true expression was hidden behind the mask, and He Xi couldn't see it clearly.
She stood beside Chen Wutao, who was wearing a dark suit and a red striped tie, her teeth bared in a grin. It was always that way, even on her marriage certificate. She was probably happy at that moment.
Chen Linlin beside her suddenly had a red nose. She covered the lower half of her face with her palm. She was always proud, but now she was crying miserably.
"He Xi..." Her head leaned weakly on my shoulder, tears dripping from her chubby fingers.
Her deliberately lowered voice was filled with obvious fragility and sadness. "Today is the day my father will be happy, but I don't know why I feel so sad."
"My mom seems to be really far away at this moment." Chen Linlin sniffed, crying uncontrollably. "It seems...she will never come back."
He Xi patted Chen Linlin's shoulder but didn't tell her that she had cried and thought the same thing last night.
But time will only move forward, and we can only look forward.
From that moment on, He Xi had a sister. A most unexpected sister. Chen Linlin was only a month older than her, and they hadn't even met for several years in high school.
But from now on, with Zhang Chaomei's marriage to Chen Wutao, her fate and Chen Linlin's were also tied together.
"How do I solve this problem? Use the cosine theorem..."
"This question examines the foehn effect. Let's review it together..."
"There are three methods for answering reading comprehension questions: precise positioning, synonym conversion, and elimination. So what is the precise positioning method? Hmm? Does anyone know?"
"White Tree------"
Bai Shu rested his chin on the heel of his palm, his upper body swaying, when suddenly someone gently bumped his arm. He jerked awake, a notepad sheet moved in front of him by He Xi. She rolled her eyes, and Bai Shu quickly stood up.
"Bai Shu, could you please answer this?" The English teacher smiled softly and kindly. "What is the precise positioning method?"
Bai Shu recalled the cheat sheet he had glanced at earlier. "The precise location method...uses keywords, article structure, and logical reasoning to help us quickly identify the answer when doing reading comprehension."
"Well, you passed." The English teacher asked Bai Shu to sit down. "Pay attention and don't fall asleep."
"Let's continue..."
Bai Shu wrote a thank you on the note, each stroke of his writing endearingly clumsy.
He Xi glanced at it and snorted in his heart, but he couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips. He drew a fake smile with two or three strokes and passed it to Bai Shu.
He added a few strokes on it and returned it to He Xi.
The eyes that were about to bend turned into two big inverted Vs, and a big mouth with bared teeth appeared under the flat lip line, which had a kind of silly and flattering look, so silly and cute.
He Xi really couldn't help laughing this time.
The busy days passed quickly with such harmless changes.
-
I met her again on the way back by bus.
Wei Mo followed the girl, the setting sun stretching the shadows of the two young men longer and longer. One in front, the other behind, they were getting closer and closer.
He was only one step away from walking up to her and saying hello, or being bolder, confessing his feelings to her directly.
Wei Mo sighed longingly. Countless pedestrians passed between them, and they were always just one step away from each other, that one step that was so close yet so far away.
Wei Mo's heart was filled with fruity sweetness, a sour, swollen feeling. She took a step forward, and he followed. She walked into the crowd, but in his sight, she, under the setting sun, was the protagonist of the picture.
Suddenly she paused. Wei Mo's heart fell silent. She thought she was going to stop, she would turn back, she was waiting for her.
However, the girl's lovely knees gave way, and she collapsed to the ground in dismay, like the fairy who had fallen into the mortal world by mistake in the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. But he could only be her knight.
Wei Mo was as quick as an arrow, and the princess picked up the girl in front of her. The moment the warm and soft jade was in his arms, he felt that he had committed a crime.
The boy rolled his Adam's apple hard, almost in a panic, and covered the girl's face that made his heart palpitate.
Wei Mo pursed his lips, stretched his arms with a strong look, and took her to the nearest clinic.
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