Chapter 27 Chapter 27
A new week.
In the morning, Ren Li and Wen Shuo rode the school bus together. Perhaps due to their recent frequent interactions, Ren Li finally lost her previous nervousness and discomfort when she was with Wen Shuo, and even began to treat him like an ordinary friend.
Zhang Xintong arrived very early today. While putting her schoolbag away, Ren Li said "good morning" to her sweetly. Zhang Xintong raised her head and had obvious dark circles under her eyes, which scared Ren Li.
"Didn't you sleep well last night?" she asked.
"Yeah, I was busy revising the manuscript for tonight's interview." Zhang Xintong handed the crumpled page of printed paper to Ren Li. "Li Li, how about you give me another look?"
Ren Li had helped her revise it several times on Saturday and felt that there shouldn't be any big problems. She also knew that Zhang Xintong was just nervous, so she kept looking over that thin page of paper over and over again.
Ren Li shook her hand and said, "Don't worry, Xintong, you'll be fine. I'll be with you tonight and cheer you up."
Zhang Xintong finally smiled. "Okay, thank you, Lili."
She read the speech several times over, not putting it away until class was almost over. She looked up and saw Zhou Qi humming a song as he walked by. He looked like he was in a very good mood, unlike his usual Monday slump.
"Good morning." Zhang Xintong greeted him.
Zhou Qi just lowered his head and focused on his phone, and ignored him. Zhang Xintong wanted to say something more to him, but seeing his expression, he had to give up.
The bell rang, and she put her thoughts aside and focused on the class. Later, Zhang Xintong couldn't hold back any longer, and finally, after the first period ended, she took the initiative to find Zhou Qi: "Are you free tonight?"
Zhou Qi thought for a moment: "Tonight? What's wrong with you?"
Zhang Xintong: "It's an interview at the school radio station. Do you want to go and cheer me on?"
Zhou Qi: "I'm sorry, Lao He is not here today. I have an appointment for evening study."
Zhang Xintong rolled his eyes after hearing this: "You're skipping evening study again."
Zhou Qi quickly made a silent gesture: "Shh, keep your voice down. I won't lie to you this time. There really is something going on."
Zhang Xintong was obviously disappointed: "Ah, it's just a little while, not very long. Besides, you've never been on time when you make an appointment with someone, so it's okay to be a little late."
Zhou Qi: "It really can't be done this time. It's very important. Let's do it next time."
Zhang Xintong: "Huh, what's so important? Do you still consider me a friend?"
Zhou Qi: "It really won't work..."
Ren Li listened to the two people talking back and forth and couldn't help but take a look.
Wen Shuo also interrupted and asked Zhou Qi: "What important things do you have tonight? How come I don't know about it?"
Zhou Qi: "Boss, you know, I told you before."
Wen Shuo uttered an "oh" and seemed to recall something. The two of them spoke like they were guessing riddles, leaving Ren Li completely bewildered.
Zhou Qi continued mysteriously: "I'm not sure if it will work tonight, let's see after it succeeds."
Zhang Xintong obviously didn't understand, but she understood Zhou Qi's intention of not going to the radio station today: "Forget it, you're not reliable at all anyway, so whatever."
She sat back in her seat angrily, apparently angry with Zhou Qi. Ren Li had no choice but to turn back and comfort her.
The long day finally came to an end, but no matter how nervous she was, she still had to face it. Zhang Xintong had made every possible preparation for this interview, which lasted less than ten minutes, even skipping dinner before heading to the complex to wait.
Ren Li went to the convenience store to buy her food.
After leaving the classroom, she met Wen Shuo. Yuan En thought they were just going downstairs together, but she didn't expect that they were "going the same way" until they arrived at the convenience store.
During the break before evening self-study, the convenience store was always packed. The long, narrow aisles were crammed with students in No. 4 Middle School uniforms. As Ren Li squeezed in, the cashier was talking to a classmate. It turned out the student wanted to pay with cash, but the store didn't have enough change, so they kept the bill and would pay it back the next time they came.
Ren Li stood in front of the shelves, listening intently, thinking to herself, "It's amazing that people still use cash these days." The clerk probably knew the students who frequented the store; after all, after spending time together, you'd always get to know them.
Thinking of this, she started to lose focus again and stood in front of the shelf, unable to pick out anything.
Wen Shuo stood aside, tilting his head to look at Ren Li who was in a daze again. He waited patiently for her for a while, and finally couldn't help it and asked, "Are you slacking off again?"
Ren Li quickly picked up two sandwiches and some others and put them in her arms, trying to argue: "No, I was just thinking about what to eat tonight."
Wen Shuo snorted, not commenting. Ren Li, holding the pile of things, turned around and saw Wen Shuo's empty hands: "Where's your dinner?"
Wen Shuo didn't really want to buy anything. He just ran into Ren Li when he was going downstairs, so he used it as an excuse to go to the convenience store with her. So he picked up a hamburger from the shelf and a drink from the refrigerator nearby, and said, "We've chosen, let's go."
Ren Li was stunned. Someone actually chose dinner without hesitation. The two of them went to the cashier to pay. While waiting in line, Ren Li recalled the confusing conversation between Zhou Qi and Wen Shuo that morning.
She hadn't wanted to meddle in other people's affairs, but today was a very important day for Zhang Xintong. Her enthusiasm for her good friend ultimately overrode her principle of neutrality, so she asked curiously, "Zhou Qi told you this morning that he had something to do tonight. Is that true?"
Wen Shuo didn't know why Ren Li suddenly cared so much about Zhou Qi, so he asked, "Do you want to know?"
Ren Li nodded.
Wen Shuo tossed the burger in his hand and kept the secret: "It's better if you don't get involved in this matter. How about you treat me to dinner and I'll tell you."
Ren Li: ...
The more Wen Shuo said this, the more curious she became, so when she paid the bill, she took the initiative to pay for Wen Shuo's portion.
The cashier, armed with a barcode scanner, glanced up curiously at the two of them when she heard the girl was about to pay for the boy. The boy and girl stood side by side, their hands in their pockets. He looked quite handsome, though not in his school uniform, looking anything but a student. The girl, on the other hand, was sweet and quiet, dressed neatly, speaking softly and politely. She even took out her phone and, after hearing the price, silently scanned the barcode to pay.
The cashier suddenly felt complicated. She had seen this kind of combination many times. Those little girls were simple-minded and at this age were always easily attracted to the good-looking boys on campus and were willing to do something for them. But she couldn't say much after all. When she looked at Wen Shuo, her eyes were obviously not so friendly.
After paying, Wen Shuo naturally picked up the bag of food. At this time, a girl squeezed through the crowd and came over. After seeing Wen Shuo in front of her, her voice was obviously a little surprised: "Wen Shuo!"
Ren Li turned around and saw a tall and thin girl with long wavy hair and makeup on her face. Although she was also wearing the No. 4 Middle School uniform, her style was obviously different from hers when she stood with her.
Wen Shuo searched his brain for two seconds and finally came to the conclusion: he had no impression of the person in front of him at all.
Ren Li obviously didn't know this girl and looked confused.
"Let's go." Wen Shuo ignored her and said to Ren Li.
The girl didn't get angry, she just followed him and said, "Brother Shuo, don't go, I haven't finished talking to you yet."
With people coming and going here, it's obviously not the best place to chat and reminisce. When Ren Li walked out the door, she caught a glimpse of the shop assistant next to her. It seemed as if she was at the first scene of eating melons, and her eyes when she looked at Wen Shuo became more complicated.
Many students were standing in the open space outside the convenience store, chatting. The girl chased out, "Hey, wait a minute—" Her voice was a little loud, and Ren Li unconsciously stopped. She walked in two or three steps to Wen Shuo, with her hands on her hips, panting, "Master Wen, it's really hard to talk to you."
Seeing that girl chasing after Wen Shuo, Ren Li thought it was someone she knew, but Wen Shuo ignored her, which was quite embarrassing. So she took the initiative to ask Wen Shuo, "Is she your friend?"
Wen Shuo: “I don’t know him.”
The girl finally caught her breath and said, "It's me, Ji Nian. We used to meet up often on weekends, don't you remember? Brother Shuo, you're really not nice. I still like every one of your posts on WeChat Moments."
commemorate.
Hearing this name, Wen Shuo seemed to remember who she was.
In his second year of high school, he often ran into a guy named Lei Zi at the basketball gym in his neighborhood. They became familiar with each other. His name was Lei Ling, and he was a decent basketball player. They'd played together a few times on weekends. This girl, called Jin Ji, seemed to be his girlfriend, whom they'd met a few times.
Later, there was a friendly basketball match between high schools in the nearby area. Wen Shuo, as a member of the No. 4 Middle School, played against the No. 8 Middle School. Lei Zi was also from the No. 8 Middle School and happened to come to the game that day.
The two happened to run into each other and chatted for a while off the court. That day, Ji Nian, a member of the No. 4 Middle School cheerleading team, had secretly gone to cheer for No. 8 Middle School and was criticized by the team leader, so Wen Shuo had some impression of her.
Later, the city's key No. 4 Middle School lost the basketball game to the worst-performing Foreign Language School in the area. Wen Shuo hadn't been to the community basketball court for a while, and he hadn't seen Lei Zi for a long time, so he thought it was normal to forget the relationships with some unimportant people.
Wen Shuo: "Where's Lei Ling?"
Ji Nian was a little unhappy: "Why did you remember it now? Boring. I thought you were impressed by me. Lei Zi and I broke up a long time ago. He went to study in the United States in his senior year of high school. It was a long time ago. I am single now."
She emphasized the word "single" in her tone. But Wen Shuo didn't seem to notice. He was afraid that Ren Li would wait too long, so he replied casually, "Okay, let's talk later."
Ji Nian also noticed Ren Li at this time. He couldn't help but look her over and clicked his tongue twice, "Who is this? Your girlfriend? She doesn't look like her."
Being called out unexpectedly, Ren Li quickly explained: "No, we are just in the same class."
She was so anxious to clarify that Wen Shuo couldn't help but frown slightly.
Hearing the satisfactory answer, Ji Nian curled his lips: "That's right, I said Wen Shuo wouldn't be so tasteless."
Ren Li: ...
She originally thought that she was just an unknown person standing aside and watching the show silently, but she was still accidentally hurt by Jian Ji's words "You are not so tasteless".
Someone called out Jinian's name, and Ren Li came back to her senses from her unreasonable thoughts. She looked up and saw several boys walking out of the convenience store with cold drinks in their hands.
"Forget it, I have something to do today. I'll ask you out some other day." Jinian said, tilting his head towards Wen Shuo with a smile, walking back a few steps, waved to him, and then turned around to look for his friends.
Ren Li looked at Jinian's back and felt a little jealous in her heart, thinking, she is so beautiful.
Perhaps, in the eyes of others, I am not worthy of Wen Shuo at all.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
