136 seeded players
Upon encountering Zhou Xiaoyan, Li Wei decided to give up running; after all, she might not be able to escape anyway. She turned around and looked at her: "When did you get back? I think you said you'd be back Monday morning?"
Zhou Xiaoyan pursed her lips, looking rather unhappy: "Don't say anything more. I had something to do, so I came back early. I'll tell you when I have time. Oh, by the way, these two are my classmates. This is Yang Lei, and this one is Song Xuejiao. Oh, and she's my junior high classmate, Li Wei, the one I've often told you about."
Li Wei then noticed that two female classmates had followed Zhou Xiaoyan. The slender one was named Yang Lei, and the overly voluptuous one was named Song Xuejiao. Her figure was more devilish than a devil's.
Li Wei greeted the two with a smile. Song Xuejiao, who had a stunning figure, seemed quite talkative and said enthusiastically, "We all know you! Who in our school doesn't know you? Oh my, you're even prettier up close than from afar!"
Li Wei loved hearing that, and immediately smiled even more sweetly, saying in a fake fairy-like tone, "It's just so-so, your figure is truly amazing."
Song Xuejiao wasn't as sweet as Li Wei: "What's so great about it? I've gained weight again this semester, and my friends are all telling me to lose weight!"
Li Wei exclaimed in surprise, "Why? Your figure isn't fat, it's more like plump. Most of your flesh is in the right places. You have flesh where you should, and not much flesh where you shouldn't. It's so enviable!"
Song Xuejiao's eyes lit up: "Really? My mom said so too, and so did my grandma, my aunts... I don't think they would lie to me. Looks like you have good taste, just like them, hehe..."
Li Wei —
This was the second time in one day that she had been recognized by middle-aged and even elderly women. She didn't know whether she should be happy or not...
Li Wei chatted with the three of them for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, she was just about to go home when Song Xuejiao suddenly exclaimed, "Hey! Look, look! Isn't that Gao Jin from Class One in the blue tracksuit?"
Li Wei followed her finger and looked. Sure enough, there were two boys standing and talking at nine o'clock. One of them was wearing a blue tracksuit, tall and slender, somewhat similar in build to Luo Da, though not as muscular. He was also wearing glasses, and bore a resemblance to that refined scoundrel, Geng Xinyang. While not bad-looking, he was probably on par with Geng Xinyang. The other boy also looked somewhat familiar. But why was Song Xuejiao so dazed?
Li Wei couldn't help but ask, "Who is Gao Jin? Is he famous?" The name sounds a lot like the God of Gamblers character played by Chow Yun-fat.
This time, all three of them stared at Li Wei with wide eyes: "You don't even recognize Gao Jin? Are you even a member of our Grade 1 class?!"
Li Wei —
Zhou Xiaoyan suddenly remembered: "I bet you're the only freshman girl who doesn't know Gao Jingdi. No wonder you beat him in the last monthly exam. He was our school's number one seed when we entered school. Hmm. Of course, you were barely the number two seed back then."
Song Xuejiao and Yang Lei glanced at Li Wei simultaneously. To be honest, they really didn't want their idol to be kicked off his princely throne like that. Especially not by such a fair-skinned, delicate young girl. Someone tall and strong must have stumbled. He didn't perform well this time. Yes, that must be it!
Li Wei could tell from their expressions that they were fans of that fake gambling god. Knowing how powerful fans could be, she quickly clarified, "It has nothing to do with me. Really, I don't even know him. I didn't mean to get ahead of him; it was an accident."
Three people—
Yang Lei chuckled: "Look at you, as if we've done something to you." She suddenly realized that the girl who was rumored to be the best student and the prettiest in the first year of high school (who knows who started that rumor—) was actually quite easy to get along with.
Zhou Xiaoyan also said, "Oh, look how scared you are! They were just joking. You've really brought honor to us girls. Look at you, so pathetic!"
Song Xuejiao was already laughing so hard she was doubled over, her chest heaving up and down. Li Wei stared at her intently. Goodness, this one must weigh at least a pound or two. Wouldn't she easily lose her balance and trip over if she kept doing this all day?
The commotion finally caught the attention of the little gambling god over there. He said something to the boy opposite him, and then they walked over together. He greeted everyone with a smile before saying to Li Wei, "You must be Li Wei from Class Two. I've been wanting to get to know you for a while now."
Li Wei felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this. It seems that when two martial arts masters refuse to admit defeat to each other, they usually say something like, "There's no time like the present, let's have a match today!"
Thinking of this, Li Wei quickly put on what she thought was a very humble expression: "Not at all, I've heard so much about you, haha..." I just scored a few points higher than you in the last exam, why are you so concerned about me?
Song Xuejiao and the other two looked down on Li Wei. They had only just learned her name, and their initial admiration for Li Wei vanished instantly. She was too shameless. No wonder Xiao Yan had always told them not to admire her too much.
Gao Jin smiled and said, "Are you a day student or a boarder? I've never seen you before."
Li Wei pretended to glance at her watch: "Oh, I live nearby. Um... it's getting late, my family will be worried, I have to go now. Xiao Yan can take you to my house to play sometime, bye-bye."
After smiling and greeting everyone, Li Wei jogged away from the playground. She really wasn't used to dealing with these privileged individuals. Although Gao Jin seemed to smile gently, he couldn't hide his inherent arrogance. That condescending, scrutinizing air made her very uncomfortable. What did she have to do with him? It was truly inexplicable.
As they watched Li Wei's pale gray figure disappear onto the playground, Zhou Xiaoyan and the others felt awkward. Standing next to such an idol was quite stressful, so they said goodbye to Gao Jin and left as well.
Watching them leave, Gao Jin chuckled to the quiet boy beside him, "That Li Wei was quite interesting, haha... Don't you think she seemed a bit panicked and running away, hehe..."
Another boy smirked: "Don't get cocky. It's questionable whether they even knew who you were before. Even I, their classmate, didn't recognize you. You think someone who got beaten in the monthly exam would remember you?"
If it weren't so dark, Li Wei would have recognized him immediately—it was none other than Gong Jianzheng, the unassuming sports committee member who usually sat in the last seat!
Gao Jin still smiled and said, "Hey. I'll come to your class to see you often from now on, so don't play dumb with me."
Gong Jianzheng glanced at his junior high school classmate and said, "Don't say I didn't tell you, Li Wei is a very innocent girl. I heard her family is well-off. There are so many boys in my class eyeing her. If you come to my class to find me, aren't you just causing me trouble? I'm sorry, I can't entertain you."
Gao Jin smiled and said, "You know what I'm going to do? It's just a trip to take a look. Why are you so nervous? Really."
Gong Jianzheng shrugged: "Whether you listen or not is up to you."
Li Wei had no idea about these people's intricate schemes. She ran home, took a shower, and was sitting on the living room sofa, drying her hair and watching TV, when Luo Da brought Li Lin and Li Lianhui back. He also brought Li Wei some pineapple leaf cakes that Grandma Luo had made.
Li Wei was quite happy. But she had eaten quite a bit that evening. She decided to avoid gaining weight, so she tied the bag tightly, put it in the refrigerator, and planned to reheat it and have some porridge for breakfast the next morning.
Luo Da didn't stay long; he drank a glass of water and left.
The next morning, Li Wei got up early. It was Monday, and there was a flag-raising ceremony, though she wasn't scheduled to participate. However, after the flag-raising, the student representative would give a speech, and that week it was her turn.
The draft was prepared long ago. It's titled "Studying for the Rise of China," a thousand-word essay brimming with youthful passion and determination. This is the theme required by the school.
I read it aloud twice more in the morning light on the balcony, word for word, before I was done. There was no need to memorize it; just reading it aloud with feeling into the microphone in the school's broadcasting room was enough.
After waking up Li Lin and Li Lianhui, and having breakfast prepared by Aunt Gao together, Li Wei changed into her baggy school uniform. The wide-legged pants made her feel like they were lantern pants, making her white sneakers look even smaller. After getting ready, she put on her schoolbag and went to school.
After finishing her morning self-study, Li Wei happily went to the school's teachers' office building's broadcasting station. She found the small sign for the broadcasting station on the top floor, knocked on the door, and went in. She was stunned for a moment. In the small room of about 20 square meters, apart from the equipment and amplifier on the table in the middle by the window, there were two people in the room. One of them was someone Li Wei didn't recognize, and the other was actually Gao Jin, whom she had just met the night before.
Li Wei did know that each grade level seemed to have a deputy station chief for its broadcasting station, and the station chief was usually a second-year high school student. This was something her deskmate Lin Xiao told her last week after she was notified to give a speech.
Before Gao Jin could speak, the boy who was fiddling with the equipment stood up: "You must be the student from Class 2 of Grade 1 who will be giving a speech this time. Go sit in front of that microphone and wait a bit. We'll let you know when it's your turn." After saying that, he continued working.
Li Wei walked over to the chair in front of the microphone, sat down, nodded and smiled at Gao Jin as a greeting, and then began to look around at her surroundings.
Seeing that Li Wei seemed quite relaxed, Gao Jin couldn't help but ask, "You don't seem nervous at all. That's good. Many people give speeches for the first time and keep looking at their scripts, afraid of making a mistake."
Li Wei glanced at him and said, "I'm talking into this microphone, so nobody can see me anyway. What's there to be nervous about? Besides, don't you know that the sound from this loudspeaker on the playground is really loud and hard to hear? Even if I misread something, nobody would notice. Everyone's ears are so shaky from the loudspeaker that it's like they've got mosquitoes in them. It's hard to say whether anyone is even listening carefully."
Gao Jin—
The boy who had been adjusting the machine froze for a moment, then continued working. That was all the school had to offer; the machine was probably ages old, what could he do? Soon it was time for the flag-raising ceremony. After the national anthem, the second item was the student representative's speech. Li Wei, who had been quite relaxed, calmly took out her speech and opened it, then froze!
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