Competition Notice
On Monday morning, when Wen Sheng woke up, she found that her face was still a little hot. She was stunned for a moment, then reached out and touched her forehead. After feeling that it was nothing serious, she turned over and stared blankly at the wall.
Last night, she tossed and turned in bed all night, her mind replaying the scenes from Saturday night uncontrollably. She held Xu Jianing's face in her hands, so close she could count his eyelashes and feel the temperature of his cheeks rise and fall.
What made her heart race even faster was that he didn't push her away, and even... he even asked her to blow on his right cheek!
Wen Sheng covered her face with the blanket, her heart pounding. Her mind automatically conjured up a sequel: if she really leaned in, what if...
"Ring—ring—ring—"
The shrill alarm clock interrupted her reverie, startling her awake and shattering the nascent fantasy in her mind.
Soon, rustling sounds filled the dormitory. Everyone complained about being "so sleepy" as they rolled out of bed, grabbed their washbasins and toothbrushes, and headed to the washroom to start their new day.
Wen Sheng was not surprised. She hurriedly washed up, and while brushing her teeth, she told herself: We are all high school students, we should focus on our studies and not let our minds wander.
Halfway through brushing her teeth, she suddenly glared at herself in the mirror, toothbrush still in her mouth, foam smeared on her lips. She raised her free hand, pointed at herself in the mirror, and struck a pose like a stern teacher giving a lecture.
"Wen Sheng! Cheer up!"
Li Qingmiao, who was squeezing toothpaste next to her, almost squeezed it onto the back of her hand. "Wen Sheng, you scared me!"
Wen Sheng still had a toothbrush in his mouth, his mouth full of foam, and he couldn't explain it clearly for a moment. He could only mumble two "mmm" sounds and awkwardly wave his hand at her.
"Why are you so energized so early in the morning?" Li Qingmiao asked, staring at her. "I felt something was off the night before last; you kept suddenly grinning like an idiot."
Wen Sheng paused, her toothbrush nearly poking her gums. She quickly lowered her head, rinsed her mouth with water, and defended herself, "No, I've recently had a breakthrough in my studies."
"Is that so? Okay then." Li Qingmiao didn't investigate further and rinsed her mouth with water, spitting out the foam.
“My parents came to visit us at school yesterday, and my brother said the school is planning a spring outing.”
"A spring outing?" Wen Sheng asked.
After rinsing her mouth, Li Qingmiao wrung out a towel to wipe her face. "Yeah, it happened before. Last year, my brother and his friends went to the mountains in the suburbs. I don't know where they're going this year. They said the teachers are having a meeting to discuss it."
Did they say when?
"It seems to be March 19th."
Wen Sheng was wiping her face with a towel when she heard the date. She looked up and said, "Isn't that the day before the Spring Equinox?"
"Yes, that's why it's called a spring outing," Li Qingmiao said with a smile, shaking her towel. "It's to welcome spring and bring good luck."
After packing their things, the two went downstairs and ran to the cafeteria to buy a few steamed buns. Several older boys were chatting and laughing while waiting in line.
"I heard they're changing the location for our spring outing this year. I hope it's not going to be hiking again; that's so boring!"
"Didn't we go to the mountains in the eastern suburbs last year? Several of them came back complaining of being exhausted."
“Just being exhausted is one thing.” Another lowered his voice and leaned forward, “Have you forgotten? Xie Liming’s incident happened that time too.”
The person in front of them immediately turned around and said, "Keep your voice down, don't mention this."
"Why can't we mention it? Everyone knows. He got into an argument with the teacher that day, and then somehow, it escalated into a physical fight."
Another shook his head: "In short, the rumors are all over the place. Some people say that Xie Liming has a bad temper and talked back to the teacher; others say that there was a conflict between classmates, and in the end, the teacher was dragged into it."
"The version I heard also involved two students who were first in their grade."
"Really?"
"Who knows? I went there that day too. When I came back, some people said that Lin Fei was bullied, and others said that Xu Jianing got involved... In any case, it's true that Xie Liming dropped out of school in the end."
The group chatted amongst themselves, their voices rising and falling. Li Qingmiao and the others strained to hear, and could vaguely make out words like "Lin Fei," "Xu Jianing," and "dropping out of school."
Li Qingmiao sighed softly, "So Xie Liming's matter really did happen after that spring outing..."
"Who is Xie Liming?" Wen Sheng asked.
"You didn't know?" Li Qingmiao's eyes widened as she explained, "He used to be a senior in high school, quite famous. His grades were average, but he was a real troublemaker. Not long after returning from last year's spring outing, he suddenly dropped out of school. I heard he had a lot of trouble with his teachers and classmates."
She pursed her lips and added, "My brother hates him the most. He says he's such a pretentious person, always pretending to be a rich city guy, but he's actually..."
Li Qingmiao glanced around to make sure no one was watching before leaning close to Wen Sheng's ear and saying, "Actually, it's an illegitimate child, and the Xie family doesn't acknowledge him."
"I see." Wen Sheng replied indifferently, clearly uninterested in this person.
Seeing that she wasn't interested, Li Qingmiao wasn't annoyed. She took a bite of the steamed bun she had just bought and squinted her eyes contentedly: "Never mind, I'll find out the gossip. You just need to know."
Wen Sheng felt a warmth in her heart, reached out and took Li Qingmiao's arm, leaned her head against it, and said with a smile, "I like you the most, Miaomiao."
Li Qingmiao was taken aback by her sudden intimacy, then pretended to be disgusted and shook her arm: "Come on, you're so glib."
Long break between classes.
"Wen Sheng, come on! The weather's so nice today, let's go to the playground to jump rope. I learned a new trick from the girls in the next class yesterday, I'll teach you later." Li Qingmiao excitedly pulled Wen Sheng's hand.
Just as Wen Sheng was being pulled to her feet, she heard someone call out from the classroom door: "Wen Sheng, are you there? The English teacher wants to see you and asks you to come to her office."
The surrounding classmates all looked up, their curious gazes falling on her. Li Qingmiao was taken aback for a moment, then muttered, "Why are you looking for me at this time!"
Wen Sheng was also a little surprised. She smiled at Li Qingmiao and said, "You go first, and I'll wait for you to come back."
The English office is upstairs; if she takes the shortcut, she has to pass by the second-year high school classrooms.
When she reached the second-floor stairwell, Wen Sheng peeked out and quietly glanced at the corridor.
In the long corridor, many students came out to play. Some were carrying water cups to get water, some were chatting by the railing, and some were taking out steamed buns and fried dough sticks to make up for the breakfast they didn't have time to eat in the morning.
Great, there are a lot of people, which is a good way to hide yourself.
Wen Sheng breathed a slight sigh of relief and mingled into the crowd of second-year high school students, following behind several second-year girls.
"Hey, did you guys hear? There's a spring outing next month." The girls in front of me were chatting.
"Please don't go hiking. My legs were sore all day after I came back last year."
"That's right, last time my shoes blistered my feet, and I almost gave up halfway through."
"It would be great to go to the suburbs for a day, bring some snacks, find an open space to play ball, that would be much more fun than hiking."
When are you going? After the monthly exam?
"Yes, it seems we have to wait until the results come out."
"Oh dear, does that mean we have to get through the monthly exams before we can go out and play?"
Several girls were chatting enthusiastically, complaining about last year's spring outing, and none of them noticed that someone was secretly following them.
As they passed by Class 1 of Grade 11, Wen Sheng couldn't help but raise her eyes and steal a glance inside.
In the classroom, several boys were discussing a math problem in front of the blackboard when a familiar figure made her heart skip a beat.
Xu Jianing was standing in front of the blackboard, holding chalk in his hand, writing down the derivation process on the blackboard, and patiently explaining his thinking to the person next to him.
Wen Sheng was secretly relieved that several second-year high school girls were "blocking" her way when, as she walked, they suddenly turned and went straight into Class 1 of the second year of high school.
What's worse, she followed them, and by the time she realized something was wrong, she was already standing at the classroom door.
Xu Jianing had just turned around to get the compass when she looked up and saw the person standing at the door.
Their eyes met in mid-air. Xu Jianing was the first to react. The surprise that flashed in his eyes was quickly replaced by a smile. His eyes curved up, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly, giving her a silent greeting.
Wen Sheng stood there stunned, forced a smile as a barely acceptable response, and then immediately turned and left this place of trouble.
In the classroom, Xu Jianing was still standing in front of the blackboard, holding the chalk in her hand, but her gaze followed the figure outside the window and lingered there for a long time.
"Ah Ning?" The boy next to him nudged him with his arm, pulling him back to reality. "Weren't you just going to talk about this step?"
Xu Jianing then came to his senses and continued writing on the blackboard, "This formula will be faster for this problem."
"Ah Ning, you wrote it wrong," the boy pointed to the blackboard and reminded her, "This should be a plus sign, not a minus sign."
He glanced at it and, sure enough, it was written incorrectly. He immediately erased it and rewrote it.
Someone nearby couldn't help but chuckle softly, "It's rare to see Aning make such a mistake."
Xu Jianing gave a faint "hmm" and continued writing on the blackboard, but her mind was clearly not fully back on the question.
Meanwhile, Wen Sheng was standing at the office door, telling herself to forget the embarrassment from just now and focus on her upcoming conversation with the teacher.
She knocked on the door, then obediently walked to the English teacher's desk.
"Teacher Wang, you were looking for me?"
The English teacher, surnamed Wang, was a woman in her early thirties. She wore thin-rimmed glasses and was always meticulous in class. When she had a stern face, she exuded a powerful aura, and a single glance from her could silence the students. But once class was over, she was a very kind person, speaking with a smile and often chatting with the students about everyday things.
Teacher Wang closed the test paper in her hand, pushed up her glasses, and said with a smile, "Wen Sheng, I want you to represent the school in the city's English speech contest in May."
As she spoke, she took out a thick stack of photocopied materials from the drawer on the table and stuffed it into Wen Sheng's arms: "These are the theme of the competition and outstanding submissions from previous years. Take them back and take a look to familiarize yourself with the format and requirements. The preparation time is not long, so you need to hurry."
"Okay, teacher."
Wen Sheng emerged from the office, carrying a thick stack of documents in her arms. The corridor was still bustling. The weight of the documents made her arms ache. She glanced at the corridor leading to the second year of high school.
That was the shortest route, but she turned around and decided to take the longer way down the stairs on the other side. She secretly comforted herself: it's okay to take the longer route; at least it will avoid some unnecessary awkwardness.
But she forgot that this "safe" route would pass by the math office. Just as she was passing by, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a familiar figure walked out.
Caught off guard, the documents in Wen Sheng's arms were knocked askew, and the thick stack almost slipped out of her hands. She hurriedly reached for them, stumbling slightly in the process.
A strong hand reached out just in time and firmly supported her arm.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
