Chapter 55: Cell Phone
Chapter 55: Cell Phone
Fun competitions are a traditional feature of No. 1 Middle School, such as five-person six-legged race, whack-a-mole, and mixed teacher-student tug-of-war. In some ways, these are the most anticipated parts of the sports meet.
Especially in tug-of-war, each class, in addition to the homeroom teacher, has to pull along other teachers by their own ability. Watching the teachers being dragged and forced into this situation is one of the students' greatest pleasures. At this time, the distance between teachers and students is reduced to the shortest in history, to the point where there is no hierarchy or distinction between superiors and inferiors.
Fang Yuenian had been listening to Li Peixiang's worried words about the poor training situation in the class, and she was really worried. Unexpectedly, this guy was really an annoyingly modest person. Class 1's five-person six-legged race and whack-a-mole game showed unprecedented competitiveness, almost leaving everyone else in the dust.
The athletes returned triumphantly, covered in sweat and laughing. Fang Yuenian mingled in the cheerleading squad, sweating profusely from shouting encouragement.
The tug-of-war started with the crowd going wild. The teachers, who were dragged onto the field, were determined to make the most of it. They all gave it their all from the very beginning, abandoning their image and straining with ferocious expressions. The students watching were amazed.
Taking advantage of the crowd, Fang Yuenian mingled into the crowd in the next venue and found Cheng Bing. She excitedly said, "My God, I've seen the world! The teachers are so lovely."
Amidst the cacophony of voices, Cheng Bing leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Your class is going to win."
Fang Yuenian looked around a few times: "Yes, yes, but it looks like your class is going to lose."
"That...Cheng Bing?"
The two had barely exchanged a few words when someone behind them called Cheng Bing's name.
Fang Yuenian was puzzled. She turned around and recognized Fang Ying.
Cheng Bing seemed not to recognize the man at all. He politely asked, "You called me? Classmate, is there something you need?"
Fang Ying's face turned red, whether from shouting encouragement or from seeing Cheng Bing, it was hard to tell.
"No, I'm fine," she stammered, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible in the background. "Um, I'm Fang Ying from Class 2. Could I... could I have your QQ number?"
"If you can't get my phone number, ask for my QQ number instead." Fang Yuenian blinked at her, then looked at Cheng Bing, feeling extremely embarrassed.
Just when things were incredibly awkward, someone suddenly came up to her and shouted, "Fang Yuenian, come quick! It's the decisive game! Come here, stop chatting!"
"Hey! Coming!" Fang Yuenian replied, somewhat confused. "Um... I'm off!"
Cheng Bing: "You..."
Fang Yuenian didn't hear it, turned around and disappeared into the crowd, returning to her own class's field.
Fang Ying was still waiting for an answer when Cheng Bing was nudged and involuntarily leaned forward.
The two suddenly drew closer, and Fang Ying's face flushed even more, her voice lower: "I...I want to get to know you..."
"I'm sorry, classmate," Cheng Bing said, his voice low because of the close proximity, "I have someone I like."
Fang Ying: "...?"
"Wh-what?"
"The competition has started, I'm leaving now." Cheng Bing said, then turned and left.
Fang Ying stood frozen in place, feeling as if she had been struck by lightning on a bright sunny day.
Has he found someone he likes? I've been secretly observing him for the past few months, and I've never seen him whispering to any girl outside of class, never! Could it be a girl from his own class? But, but I've asked so many people in his class, and they all say no! Is he using this as an excuse to reject me? Definitely.
She covered her face; her heart was broken.
Fang Yuenian left in a daze, thinking that it was better to let Cheng Bing handle this kind of situation himself. But then she wondered what Cheng Bing would say, like he did with Shao Jing from their class last time? But he didn't tell me what he said last time.
Never mind, I'll ask again later. Oh, maybe I can find out by asking Li Peixiang.
However, he seemed to have completely forgotten about it.
After the lively and fun competitions, the closing ceremony and summary meeting will be held.
Unfortunately, even with the 3,000-meter championship, Class 1's total points still didn't place them in the top three, missing out on the final podium.
But the homeroom teacher was already very satisfied, beaming as he told everyone, "Not bad, not bad." After all, they had attracted a lot of attention during the fun competition, and their popularity was no less than that of the final top three.
At the closing ceremony, the school leaders said that this was a sports meet that would go down in history, setting many school sports meet records, producing many outstanding athletes, and that many students demonstrated sportsmanship. Therefore, they expressed their gratitude to everyone, especially the senior students, and hoped that this last sports meet of their high school career would leave them with a good impression and inspire them to strive for the future... In any case, the school leaders were full of enthusiasm and successfully created a great atmosphere, and the sports meet came to a perfect end.
The merriment has come to an end; everything must return to calm and get back on track.
Tomorrow marks the start of a new week.
Life still consisted of going to class and leaving get out of class, but the pace of the experimental class was indeed different from that of the regular class. Even if Cheng Bing didn't admit it, he and Fang Yuenian hadn't been able to have lunch together for a long time.
If the exams hadn't come so soon, Fang Yuenian would have preferred high school.
After class that afternoon, Li Peixiang said he wanted to eat at the cafeteria with Fang Yuenian. "Can I borrow your meal card? My mom just left this afternoon on a business trip."
Fang Yuenian was so annoyed by the listening test in English class that she lost her appetite. Hearing him say that, she took out her meal card and gave it to him: "Here, you go eat by yourself, I'm not going."
"So what are you going to eat tonight? Buy it at the convenience store? Or should I bring it up for you?" Li Peixiang said, "You can pay with your card anyway."
"No need," Fang Yuenian buried her head in her listening workbook. "I don't want to eat. You should tell Meng Xiaoyang that I'm not going."
Meng Xiaoyang happened to walk by and asked, "Aren't you leaving?"
“He said he wouldn’t eat,” Li Peixiang replied.
"You're not going to eat anything?"
"I'm not eating anything now. If I get hungry tonight, I'll go to the supermarket during break. You two, get out of here and don't talk to me. I've gone crazy."
"Alright, alright, calm down," Li Peixiang tugged at Meng Xiaoyang, "Let's go."
Many students in the class weren't in a hurry to eat. Some were brought by their parents to avoid the peak dining hours in the cafeteria, while others planned to go out and buy food later. Fang Yuenian lay listlessly on the table. Just then, the boy in front of her returned with rice balls and came over to ask, "Yuenian, what's wrong?"
Fang Yuenian looked up: "Why can I only get three out of ten listening comprehension questions right?"
English listening comprehension is his weak point. He already did terribly in the last monthly exam, and now he feels terrified no matter how he listens.
The boy sat in Li Peixiang's seat, munching on a rice ball, and said, "I can't answer this. I can't even get three right. This listening comprehension book is too difficult. I feel like the English teacher is making things difficult for us."
Fang Yuenian buried himself in his work again.
The boy said, "Why don't you ask Meng Xiaoyang for help? His English is so good. By the way, speaking of Meng Xiaoyang, I just saw some juicy gossip."
Fang Yuenian was exasperated and said, questioning the meaning of life, "How come the person in this position is always gossiping?"
“Really,” the boy said in a low voice, “I saw an auntie looking for Meng Xiaoyang at the cafeteria entrance just now. Do you think she’s a relative of his? She looked quite kind.”
"What kind of gossip is this?" Fang Yuenian was exasperated. "Isn't it normal for parents to come looking for me, as a boarding student?"
"No, Meng Xiaoyang is staying at a relative's house."
Fang Yuenian didn't want to discuss this, nor did he want to listen. He looked up wearily, resignedly opened his English textbook, and continued memorizing vocabulary.
Not long after, Li Peixiang returned.
He entered the classroom alone. Fang Yuenian saw him and asked, "Did Meng Xiaoyang go back to the dormitory?"
“I didn’t eat with him,” said Li Peixiang.
Fang Yuenian asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
The student in front of him turned his head, and Li Peixiang, who had just opened his mouth, closed it again.
"He's busy. Oh, by the way, I paid eight yuan. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow. Don't eat at the cafeteria."
"Eight yuan for breakfast is too extravagant. Can you bring me four days' worth of two-yuan breakfasts instead?" Fang said stingily, putting away his meal card.
However, as soon as evening self-study began, Li Peixiang couldn't help himself and wrote furiously on a piece of paper before showing it to Fang Yuenian.
Fang Yuenian managed to decipher the illegible handwriting: it turned out that the person looking for Meng Xiaoyang was He Linjie's mother.
—Why does this person seem to be haunting me? Fang Yuenian was speechless.
"He Linjie's mother also brought Meng Xiaoyang a meal she had cooked herself. She asked Meng Xiaoyang in a very kind tone why he hadn't been to her house recently, whether his studies were too demanding. She said a lot of things, which made Meng Xiaoyang feel really uncomfortable."
Fang Yuenian picked up her pen and wrote back: "Let's talk after class."
Afraid of being overheard, they went downstairs together under the pretext of buying bread at the supermarket. Li Peixiang talked the whole way down, and finally asked, "Do you think He Linjie is crazy? They've already broken up and they haven't told their parents. What's going on?"
Fang Yuenian didn't quite understand why he was so angry. After he finished venting, she advised, "Don't be angry. It's understandable that the adults didn't know. Besides, she didn't mean any harm. Didn't she always treat Meng Xiaoyang very well?"
"You didn't see Meng Xiaoyang's appearance. He was so ashamed that he was about to cry."
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll go back to my dorm and talk to Meng Xiaoyang tonight. He'll probably forget about it soon."
"I don't think so. Okay, you should hurry up and buy some food. Oh right, I forgot to tell you, it seems that Cheng Bing's family also came to see him. They were asking around at the entrance of Class 18. It was a rather young uncle."
"Huh?" Fang Yuenian was surprised and thought she would have to ask Cheng Bing about the situation that night.
However, after evening self-study, before he could go to find Cheng Bing, Cheng Bing came to find him first.
After calling him out, Cheng Bing handed him a box. At first, he didn't understand what it was, but when he looked at it in the light from the hallway, he found it was a cell phone box.
Fang Yuenian was stunned just looking at the phone icon on the top of the box: "This, this is a phone?"
“This is your phone. My sister asked my dad to bring it to you,” Cheng Bing said, his tone slightly light, even implying, “Are you happy or not?”
Fang Yuenian suddenly opened her mouth wide.
"Huh?" He was dumbfounded and speechless. "Sister? You mean, Sister Xiaoxiao? She bought me a cell phone?"
"Yes, my dad said that my sister bought this especially for the two of us. Mine and yours are the same style, but different colors."
Fang Yuenian held his phone, his heart suddenly heavy beyond words. He stared blankly at Cheng Bing: "But, but..."
"Try turning your phone on. You still remember my number, right? Call her yourself in a bit," Cheng Bing said, smiling slightly as she saw him standing there dumbfounded. "Don't worry, my family knows about this. I'm leaving."
"Hey, don't go," Fang Yuenian grabbed his sleeve, "Don't leave yet..."
Cheng Bing's expression was unusually gentle at this moment. "Roll call is about to start. If you need anything, send me a text message later."
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