Chapter 43: Classmates
Chapter 43: Classmates
After the first two weeks, Fang Yuenian and Cheng Bing went home for the first time.
Being a high school student in the city, especially a student at No. 1 High School, really makes a difference. The two of them, carrying the dormitory luggage bags issued by the school with the logo printed on them, stopped in the town for a short while and were spotted by two or three sharp-eyed shop owners who praised them.
Back in Shuibi Bay, things were completely different. Cheng Bing was alright, but Fang Yuenian turned his life around completely. Whether at home or outside, he seemed to be bathed in the glow of a reformed and hardworking student. Not only did Wang Jing take care of him, but even the retired teacher Fang patted his shoulder affectionately several times.
On Sunday, the day they were supposed to return to school, the two of them took a bus to town as usual. On the minibus, Cheng Bing said, "I talked to my mom about the phone, and she agreed."
Fang Yuenian: "Really?" She quickly asked again, "Did you tell me what kind you want?"
"No, but I plan to buy it next month, after our first monthly exam."
Fang Yuenian's expression suddenly changed, "It's only the first month, and you're already pushing yourself like this, bro?"
"It's not about urging you on; I think we should first find our place."
Fang Yuenian was slightly startled by the word "positioning" and felt a little inexplicably nervous.
Cheng Bing smiled at him again, "And you? What kind do you want?"
Getting into the top high school is such a big deal, and Wang Jing had asked him several times what reward he wanted. If he asked now, Wang Jing would definitely agree immediately.
He had previously seen his roommate using a small Nokia phone with a black body and dark green trim, which looked quite nice. He had heard that the same model also came in other colors, but since Cheng Bing wasn't in a hurry to buy one, he said, "I haven't decided yet, I'll see when the time comes."
After returning to school this time, my first year of high school is finally back on track.
The initial novelty gradually faded with the demands of schoolwork. High school life was more intense and fulfilling than junior high, and it also tested one's ability to live independently. Fang Yuenian stopped obsessing over how to see Cheng Bing every day; after all, she was downstairs, and there was no way she could escape. No matter how hard she tried to see her, she could always spot Cheng Bing's upright figure in Class 18 through the small flower bed to the right of the main entrance of the teaching building when she went downstairs for lunch.
On weekends, the two would sometimes go to the supermarket together to buy daily necessities. Their high school living expenses were a little more generous, and they could occasionally eat out or stroll around the city.
The first monthly exam arrived as scheduled.
The second week after National Day, on Friday after the exams, Li Peixiang invited Fang Yue to play badminton at the gymnasium on Saturday during the break between evening self-study sessions.
"As I told you last time, Shen Xiaoxiao and Liu Miao are the only two girls. We can form two mixed doubles teams."
Li Peixiang has a great interest in sports. He was elected as the sports committee member at the beginning and signed up for several events in the subsequent sports meet.
Fang Yuenian, still preoccupied with her anxiety about Cheng Bing's monthly exam results, said listlessly, "Don't we need to book the court in advance to play ball at the gym?"
Li Peixiang said, "I've already made plans. It's less crowded on the weekend, so it's easy to make a plan. I'll bring the rackets from home. Oh, by the way, ask Meng Xiaoyang if he's going. If he wants to go, we can find another girl to team up with."
Meng Xiaoyang was Fang Yuenian's bunkmate. He was a very quiet and shy boy, very thin, and looked like a bamboo pole when he walked out.
Fang Yuenian glanced in the direction of his seat and suggested, "Why don't I not go? Let him go. The four of you can take a ride."
Li Peixiang rolled his eyes: "Didn't you just finish your exams? What else do you have to do? Besides, if you don't go, how can Meng Xiaoyang be persuaded? I'm too embarrassed to speak loudly in front of him. I've never met such a quiet man."
Fang Yuenian: "Then why did you call him?"
Li Peixiang scratched his head. "Actually, I'm not very familiar with him, but the sports meet is in a week. The homeroom teacher told me to encourage everyone to participate in sports. Everyone else has signed up for events, but he only signed up for logistics. Looking at how weak he is now, shouldn't he get some exercise?"
Fang Yuenian hadn't expected this to happen, and when she got back, she didn't hear Meng Xiaoyang mention it in the dormitory. He rarely spoke in the dormitory.
He sighed, "Forget it," and flipped through the monthly exam papers spread out in front of him. "I feel like I need to cram for English this weekend."
"No way, haven't you had enough of being a good student yet?" Li Peixiang was about to drink some water when he heard this and was completely stunned. "Fang Yuenian, you didn't actually get first place in the class, did you?"
The phrase "good student" came crashing down on her head, catching her somewhat off guard. Fang Yuenian had no idea that her current state of actively preparing for the exam, and then reviewing and cramming afterward, actually made her seem like... a good student.
He couldn't help but get goosebumps, and chuckled, "I've never won first place in my life, Cheng Bing has..."
He stopped talking, but Li Peixiang sensed a hint of gossip. "What? What's going on with School Heartthrob Cheng? Tell me more?"
Fang Yuenian had just opened his mouth to say "Stop gossiping" when the school bell rang. He then lowered his voice and said, "Class is starting!"
However, Li Peixiang persisted in persuading and encouraging him, and finally, before school ended, he reluctantly said, "How about this, next time I can treat you to volleyball at the sports center behind the school. It's a paid event, and the conditions are super good, how about that?"
Fang Yuenian was somewhat intrigued. "The Cultural and Sports Center?"
"You've definitely never been before, right?" Li Peixiang saw an opportunity. "I'll make a concession a bit more; you can invite School Heartthrob Cheng along."
"No way," Fang Yuenian refused decisively. He was determined not to call Cheng Bing over for the ultimate gossip interview. He had heard enough gossip in the past month. "Don't even think about it. He's a top student and needs to study."
"Oh, okay, okay, top student, good job. I really want to see how well your top student does this time. If he gets into the top ten in the grade, he'll definitely be the school heartthrob. Let me tell you a secret, He Linjie was admitted outside of the planned enrollment, so his grades are definitely not as good as Cheng Bing's, but according to incomplete statistics, he has already received confessions from more than five girls. Look at how he's putting on a show."
Fang Yuenian: "Huh?"
Li Peixiang was in a hurry to get home, so he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder: "Tell your top student not to back down. Even though no one will confess to Shao Jing after that, he can still crush He Linjie with his grades. After all, academic performance is definitely the most important thing, right? Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock at the gymnasium, don't be late, okay?"
Fang Yuenian stared in disbelief as he rushed out of the classroom with lightning speed, completely stunned.
What exactly confirmed this... competitive relationship between Cheng Bing and He Linjie? Was it a competition across all aspects, including appearance, popularity with girls, and grades?
Cheng Bing herself probably doesn't even know He Linjie, right?
And did I agree to do it tomorrow at nine o'clock?
Just as he was speechless, Liu Miao walked past him with her schoolbag on her back, smiled at him, and said, "Fang Yuenian, remember to be on time tomorrow."
Fang Yuenian: "..."
Liu Miao added, "We've both participated in the high school's badminton competitions before, and we often play together."
Fang Yuenian: "Oh, okay, then... let's fight together."
"Okay, I'm leaving now."
Liu Miao walked away leisurely, and Fang Yuenian helplessly stretched her hand towards the void.
Meng Xiaoyang was much harder to persuade, and Fang Yuenian wanted to give up several times along the way.
"No, Li Peixiang said he wanted you to sign up for a fun competition, like a three-legged race or whack-a-mole, anything is fine, why don't you want to?"
Meng Xiaoyang held a book on her lap, nestled quietly in bed, and whispered, "I don't want to go."
Fang Yuenian lay helplessly on the top bunk, staring at the ceiling so close to her. "What about badminton? You're not busy tomorrow, are you? Why don't you come with me and watch? You don't have to play, it's fine. Anyway, it's hard to find girls to team up with right now. Besides, they've all gone home, wouldn't you be bored alone in the dorm?"
Meng Xiaoyang said, "It's okay, I'm not bored."
"Okay..." Fang Yuenian knew there was little chance of success, and casually asked, "Oh right, why aren't you going home?"
Meng Xiaoyang pursed her lips and said softly, "Oh, there's not much people at my house."
Fang Yuenian was taken aback.
The air suddenly became quiet.
The dormitory is for eight people, but only seven people live there. There are seven boys in their class who live on campus. Tonight, except for the two of them, the other five asked for leave from evening self-study to go home. Generally, it is not allowed to ask for leave on Friday nights, but the homeroom teacher made an exception because they just finished the exam today.
After a while, Fang Yuenian turned over in bed. "Well, how about you sleep by yourself tomorrow, come back at noon, and we go out to eat together?"
Meng Xiaoyang smiled and asked, "Then why didn't you go home either?"
Fang Yuenian: "I..."
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Fang Yuenian stopped talking and called out, "Who is it?"
"I'm looking for Fang Yuenian," the man outside said.
Fang Yuenian jumped up in a flash. "Damn it, it's Cheng Bing!"
Cheng Bing looked like she had just taken a shower, and there was still a faint scent of shower gel on her body. Fang Yuenian smelled it and recognized it as the scent of menthol mint that they had bought together at the supermarket last time.
"Brother Cheng, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to ask you, what are your plans for tomorrow?"
Fang Yuenian stammered, "Uh, I..."
Cheng Bingwei tilted her head slightly: "A few of my classmates invited us to their house for lunch, and then we'll go to the sports center to play ball. If we go, I might have to be away for the whole day."
Fang Yuenian immediately grinned: "Go, go, go! Of course you have to go! That's great! Have fun! I won't contact you tomorrow. I just finished my exams and I want to relax."
Cheng Bing smiled and asked, "How did you do on the exam?"
"It's alright, we'll see when the time comes." Fang Yuenian was actually more worried about Cheng Bing's ranking. As for himself, he ranked 21st in the class in the high school entrance exam. There were over fifty students in the class, so being in the middle was the least stressful. "What about you?" he asked cautiously.
"It's alright," Cheng Bing said.
He said it was fine, and Fang Yuenian immediately felt relieved. "That's good. It's nothing. Anyway, this is only the first time. There's plenty of time in the future, hehe. Oh, by the way, have you signed up for the sports meet?"
"I signed up. I signed up for the 1000-meter race and a 4x400 relay. What about you?"
“I also signed up for the 1000 meters,” Fang Yuenian wailed. “I also signed up for the long jump, but now I’m a little regretful. I’ll have to look into it again and change it.”
Why regret it?
"Hmm..." Fang Yuenian hummed, "Nothing, nothing, Li Peixiang, it's just that my deskmate asked me to play badminton tomorrow."
"so what?"
"I agreed without even realizing it, and I even had to team up with the girls in mixed doubles."
Cheng Bing's eyes narrowed slightly, but Fang Yuenian didn't notice—the hallway lights were now off, and in order not to disturb Meng Xiaoyang, Fang Yuenian closed the door behind her when she came out.
“Then go ahead, the sports meet is coming up soon, you should get some exercise,” Cheng Bing said slowly.
“Hmm,” Fang Yuenian nodded, “But to be honest with you, I really think we should have a cell phone. You see, that way I can discuss anything I want to say with you over the phone.”
Cheng Bing said indifferently, "Oh."
"So let's finalize this after the monthly exam results come out, okay? Plus, with a cell phone, I can keep in touch with Sister Jun and Sister Xiaoxiao, isn't that great?"
Cheng Bing nodded, "Okay." Then she said, "I'm going up."
"Huh?" Fang Yuenian was a little surprised that it ended so suddenly. "Sigh!"
"What are you doing?"
Fang Yuenian blinked. "Do you know that there's a boy named He Linjie in Class 7?"
Cheng Bing: "I don't know."
“That’s alright then,” Fang Yuenian said immediately. “Go on upstairs, goodnight.”
"Um."
After everyone left, Fang Yuenian turned and went inside. Meng Xiaoyang had gotten out of bed at some point and was pouring water at the table. Hearing the sound, he looked at him and said with a soft laugh, "You and your classmate have a really good relationship."
Fang Yuenian was taken aback: "Oh, yes, yes, we've been close since we were little."
"From childhood?"
"Yes, our two houses are close by. He can see my house from his front door. We've been classmates since we were little."
Meng Xiaoyang slowly drank a glass of water. "Not all childhood friends can be this close when they grow up."
Fang Yuenian and Li Peixiang felt the same way: it was always difficult to be too casual with the gentle and mild-mannered Meng Xiaoyang, for fear that a single word might blow him over. Moreover, they always felt that this person had a touch of, how should they put it, a faint sadness.
Fang Yuenian felt a little embarrassed by her own cheesy description, and laughed, saying, "Of course, we have to get along."
Meng Xiaoyang smiled slightly, "Yes."
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