125. Character issues
Li Wei and Ding Anni arrived at school more than ten minutes early in the afternoon, intending to visit Luo Da on the way. However, the desk was empty; her deskmate had said she had asked to go home because of something.
Li Wei was puzzled. This kid was quite busy. Could it be that he went back to practice martial arts? It was possible. After all, there was a senior brother watching over him. He was probably bored every day and just waiting to teach Luo Da a lesson.
Good, being busy is good. It means that society needs you a lot, so you have less time to do bad things.
Li Wei barely studied all afternoon. She and Geng Xinyang helped the teacher copy grade sheets, compile statistics, and do all sorts of other miscellaneous things. She finally breathed a sigh of relief and stretched comfortably after school in the evening.
Phew, finally finished. Her neck was stiff from sitting so long. Watching Geng Xinyang doing the final review, she realized that Geng Xinyang had actually done much more than she had. She was about to leave first, but then hesitated: "Um... Geng Xinyang, should I take it to the teacher?" They were currently organizing that pile of papers in the large classroom on this floor, and they needed to take it to their homeroom teacher, Ms. Cao, once they were done.
Geng Xinyang looked up at Li Wei from the report and said, "If you're tired, you can go ahead. I'll take it to the teacher... Oh, I'll finish reading it in a few minutes. Anyway, school's over, let's go together. I'll take it on my way."
Li Wei had nothing to do while sitting, so she decided to go and put on her backpack. She asked Geng Xinyang if he wanted her to take his backpack too, and Geng Xinyang nodded and thanked her. Li Wei then went back to her work. It was dinnertime after the fourth period in the afternoon, and the boarding students were leaving their classrooms in groups to go to the cafeteria for dinner. Li Wei was walking against the flow of people. When she got to her classroom door, she saw everyone rushing out of the classroom, so she stood aside and waited.
Li Wei stood there waiting for everyone to leave, thinking about the scores she had just seen. Basically, everyone in the class and every subject's score had been tallied. Previously, the teacher only compiled statistics on the top students in each subject and a rough estimate of the class average when grading papers; this time, the scores were tallied in detail for each subject. Following her was Hong Wei, whose total score was only a dozen points lower than hers, showing how impressive he was. Several others were also close, but Li Wei paid particular attention to Qin Ling. Her total score was 436, less than Ding Anni's. Li Wei remembered that Qin Ling used to be in the top five in the class; the difference was quite significant…
Li Wei was standing there lost in thought. Suddenly, she was bumped hard, lost her balance, and stumbled back a few steps, swinging her arms as if about to fall to the ground, when someone caught her from behind.
Geng Xinyang, carrying a stack of test papers in one hand and with his other arm around Li Wei's shoulder, helped her up, saying, "What happened? You took forever to get your bag... Qin Ling, what are you doing? You bumped into someone and didn't even apologize!" This girl is really disgusting. She was in the same class as him in junior high. She always loves to cause trouble for people who are better than her, and now in high school, she's still the same.
Qin Ling, who had intended to walk away as if nothing had happened, heard Geng Xinyang reprimanding her. She turned her head unhappily and said, "What's it to you? Who told her to stand in the doorway blocking the way? She should be the one apologizing. I'm being lenient by not saying anything. Why are you meddling in my business!" After saying that, she snorted and turned to leave, very arrogantly.
Li Wei straightened up and moved a little distance away from Geng Xinyang before saying, "Thank you so much. It's lucky you were behind me. Otherwise, I would have been in real trouble."
Geng Xinyang glanced at her. Seeing that Li Wei was alright, he said unhappily, "Can't you be a little more assertive? Qin Ling always picks on the weak. If you were a bit tougher, she wouldn't dare to keep nagging you for no reason."
Li Wei found it somewhat amusing. This young master Geng was actually lecturing her. She couldn't help but ask, "So, how exactly do you mean 'be tough'? I don't know how to argue (I only know how to scare kids). As for fighting, you can see my size. I'm not in the same weight class as anyone else. So, what do you suggest?"
Geng Xinyang adjusted his glasses. He really thought he was a teacher. He said, "It doesn't matter if you can't win an argument or a fight. The key is your attitude. If you're firm, she'll have to think twice. If you're so submissive, she'll become even more reckless."
Li Wei was truly impressed with this young man. She hadn't expected him to have some talent. He was thinking the same thing as her. She immediately laughed and said, "Alright, let's not discuss this here anymore. Let's hurry inside, pack our bags, and go home. I'm starving and tired. I think I was just frightened. Let's go quickly." It must be said that Geng Xinyang, as a notorious playboy, actually knew to help Li Wei with her bag!
Li Wei wanted to laugh but held it in. She quickly refused, "Thank you. I can manage. You've already taken enough. Hurry up and take the test papers and grade sheets to the teacher. Otherwise, you won't be able to find her when the teacher goes to lunch." What a joke! If Geng Xinyang carried her schoolbag, not even tomorrow, but tonight, in the mouths of her classmates during evening self-study, she would be associated with some unfounded relationship with Geng Xinyang. She'd better save her breath.
Soon Li Wei returned home, where Li Lianhui and Li Lin were already waiting for her to eat. This was a rule they had been taught since childhood: when eating at the same table, the younger children cannot start eating before the elders or older family members have eaten. Generally speaking, the family education of Li Wei and her siblings was more particular than that of the average family.
When they were little, Li Wei was the one who disciplined them. Later, as they grew up, their father, Li Zhaoxing, became more well-off and made more connections, gaining a certain level of worldly experience. He also had higher expectations for his children, especially regarding etiquette and interpersonal skills. This was highly praised by Li Wei's maternal grandmother, but Old Master Cheng was somewhat dismissive, finding it pretentious.
Li Wei washed her hands and invited the two younger children to eat dinner together. Aunt Gao usually prepared dinner and waited for them to come back, so Li Wei told her to go home first. As for cleaning up the dishes, she would do it herself, since it wouldn't take more than a few minutes, and it would save Aunt Gao the trouble of going home in the dark.
Li Wei was washing the dishes, while Li Lin had already gone to her room to study.
After tidying up quickly, Li Wei took a shower, changed into her pajamas, and checked on each room. Not bad, Li Lianhui was doing his homework, and Li Lin was working on her workbook. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Back in her room, Li Wei began studying, even though she had already self-studied all the textbooks for this semester and done a lot of exercises. However, the syllabi for some courses were quite flexible, such as Chinese, English, and Mathematics. She had a relatively good foundation in English, was quite interested in Chinese, but always found Mathematics very difficult. Moreover, Li Wei had decided to study humanities in the future, so she had to work hard on these three subjects.
Li Wei's bookshelf was filled with all her high school textbooks. The accompanying workbooks were all from this semester, and she had already completed two sets. There was another set she'd bought a few days ago, and she'd only just finished a small portion of it. Li Wei tidied her bag and bookshelf, making plans as she went. Once she finished this set, she'd review the parts she'd struggled with in the previous three sets, and with the supplementary materials required by the school, she should be done. She couldn't keep dawdling over this.
While browsing bookstores, I should buy some study materials for next semester. I need to get ahead of the school's schedule. Otherwise, I'll feel really uncertain. It's better to compete with myself than with others. If I master the material, I won't be afraid of exams, and I'll have confidence when I face the tough competition later.
So Li Wei quickly finished the tasks assigned by the teacher. She applied some sleeping mask, glanced at Li Lin and Li Lianhui, told them to go to bed early, and went to sleep. The fourth period the next morning was physical education, and the teacher was Mr. Pan, the outdoor enthusiast she had traveled with before.
Mr. Pan was quite the cool, aloof guy in class, never smiling and always cold and unyielding. He scolded both the girls and boys equally if their movements weren't perfect, showing absolutely no mercy. Li Wei, naturally, didn't want to be rude, so she took his assignments very seriously, regardless of whether her form was perfect or not, her attitude was impeccable.
So even though Li Wei often subconsciously dodged volleyballs flying towards her during practice, Coach Pan didn't say anything, but others weren't so lucky.
Even though Teacher Pan didn't say anything, some people were still annoyed. Especially after Qin Ling blindfolded herself and reached out to receive a high serve, only to miss, Teacher Pan scolded her loudly: "Are you carrying a water basin? It's not like a bomb is flying at you, why are you so scared! I've never heard of anyone being killed by a volleyball, be careful next time!"
Qin Ling was a little embarrassed by Teacher Pan's scolding, and her temper flared up. She glared at him and said, "Why are you only talking about me? Li Wei didn't dare to catch the ball either, so why aren't you talking about her!"
Teacher Pan has never encountered a student who dares to challenge him, especially the boys. Even those who thought they were unambiguous didn't dare to talk back to him to his face, not to mention the girls.
So after looking at Qin Ling for a while, he suddenly laughed: "Are you the teacher or am I? I can see your behavior clearly. Do you have to ask the teacher to tell you what you're doing? You're a girl, so be mindful of your image. If you don't care about your reputation, no one else will. If you don't want to attend my class, you don't have to. But if you do attend, you'd better behave yourself. Do you understand?"
Teacher Pan's smile was fleeting; his tone was icy cold and devoid of warmth, clearly lacking patience. Combined with his somewhat cold-blooded demeanor, it was quite intimidating.
Qin Ling's skills were only good enough to mess with girls like Li Wei. Now, after being intimidated by Teacher Pan, she reluctantly returned to the team to continue practicing.
Qin Ling's commotion made Li Wei feel a little embarrassed and timid, but her thumb and wrist were already red and sore from being hit by the volleyball. Just as she was afraid that the ball would come for her again, Teacher Pan called out, "You, Li Wei, right? Go and pack up the equipment. Take it to the sports group when we gather later."
Li Wei felt like she had been granted a pardon and hurriedly ran out of the volleyball court to gather the equipment. The so-called equipment was nothing more than a few scattered volleyballs, which she picked up and put into a small, cage-like cart for storing the balls.
This freed Li Wei up, and she was happy. It seemed that Teacher Pan wasn't so heartless after all; he was quite humane after all. Hehe.
She was so smug that it made Qin Ling, who was playing volleyball, grit her teeth in anger.
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