Chapter 64: A Taste of Sweet and Sour
Chapter 64: A Taste of Sweet and Sour
At the start of the new week, Class 1 passed the rotating task baton to Class 2, and all members breathed a sigh of relief.
During Monday's flag-raising ceremony, the class monitor gave a summary of the week's duties. After his speech, the grade leader added a few more words, praising all the teachers and students of Class 1 for handling so many things on their first day of duty and completing them all so well, which greatly inspired everyone.
Li Peixiang, who was sitting next to Fang Yuenian, finally noticed that something was wrong with Fang Yuenian.
Specifically, this person repeatedly refused his invitation to go to the small supermarket together throughout the day, and even when it came to something as urgent as lunch, he was listless and lacked his usual fighting spirit to grab food.
During the break between classes near dinnertime today, Fang Yuenian said again that she didn't want to go to the cafeteria to eat. Li Peixiang couldn't help but ask, "Why are you acting like you're going to die? What's wrong? You didn't listen to the English listening exercise today either."
Fang Yuenian didn't want to speak at first, but after hearing this, she had to retort: "I got 80 points in the English listening test last time, okay? This is no longer my nightmare."
Li Peixiang said, "Then why did you become so weak after going home, looking like this?"
Fang Yuenian rolled her eyes speechlessly, "You're the one who's limp."
Li Peixiang leaned closer: "Tell me about it. It's rare to see you looking like this. I'm so curious."
His face screamed, "If you're unhappy about something, just say it and make me laugh." Fang Yuenian didn't want to answer him, so she pulled out her geography book for the next class and changed the subject, saying, "Did you play badminton with Meng Xiaoyang this weekend?"
“Ah, yes,” Li Peixiang suddenly became excited. “You don’t know, halfway through our match, someone came over and asked to compete with Meng Xiaoyang. It’s such a pity you weren’t there. You must go next time.”
"No wonder he said his legs hurt yesterday. Tsk, he's been out of exercise."
"Exactly, we can't let him live like that anymore, where life is about stillness."
The two chatted idly for a while, and soon class started.
Li Peixiang couldn't find out why Fang Yuenian was unhappy, so he handed the task over to Meng Xiaoyang.
Meng Xiaoyang said, "He was all smiles before he went home on Saturday, but he was gloomy when he came back. Something must have happened at home. If he doesn't want to talk about it, then don't keep asking. It's annoying."
Li Peixiang was stunned, thinking to himself: Holy crap! You're starting to find me annoying now? How utterly speechless. I really miss the polite and gentle Meng Xiaoyang from before.
Actually, this isn't something that can be solved by just chatting with your friends, and Fang Yuenian knows that too.
From an outsider's perspective, even Li Peixiang and Meng Xiaoyang might not be able to understand what he was thinking.
Having survived Wednesday and climbed over the mountain, Wednesday for Class 1 was even more of a calamity because of the dreaded music class.
But every cloud has a silver lining. Going to the art classroom for music class, aside from the course itself, is actually a rare opportunity to get out and get some fresh air.
No. 1 Middle School is a century-old school with many old buildings on campus. Some of them have been sealed off, so people can only see their simple and culturally rich exteriors, but not their interiors.
The teaching building housing the art classroom is one of the few old teaching buildings still in use. In front of the building stand statues of two heroic predecessors from the war years, and a stone tablet next to it is inscribed with their deeds of overcoming all difficulties and establishing the school before the war. The building is surrounded by lush osmanthus trees on both sides, and students have to bow their heads to walk through the flower path, which feels very special.
Since coming to No. 1 High School for more than half a semester, apart from the Plum Blossom Square in front of the Grade 1 teaching building, this art teaching building is the place that impressed Fang Yuenian the most.
One evening, he invited Cheng Bing for a walk. At that time, the osmanthus flowers were in full bloom, and their fragrance was intoxicating. After graduating from junior high school, he thought that the word "romance" that his teacher had mentioned had gone far away because he could no longer see the golden rapeseed field outside the school wall. He never expected that there would be even more world here.
Today was a special day. Fang Yuenian was carrying a music textbook that was as thick as a brick, along with the recorder he loathed, and walked in the line with his head down.
Meng Xiaoyang originally thought he would be better in a couple of days, but it was already halfway through Wednesday and he was still so listless, so she couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"Fang Yuenian," he asked, "did you and Cheng Bing have a fight?"
Fang Yuenian was stunned. "Holy crap... how did you know? Oh no, we didn't have a fight."
Meng Xiaoyang walked alongside him with a knowing look on her face. "You haven't mentioned 'my Brother Cheng' at all these past two days."
Fang Yuenian blinked, "Really? Ah..."
Li Peixiang suddenly appeared out of nowhere, shoving and pushing, saying, "Hey, hey, hey! Did you see that? That one, that one!"
Not knowing what gossip this guy wanted to share, Fang Yuenian turned her head dismissively and asked, "Who is it? Where?"
“Zhang Qing,” Li Peixiang exclaimed excitedly, “is the top student in the grade for two consecutive exams, the academic star of Class 18!”
Class 18 successfully attracted Fang Yuenian's attention. He looked in the direction Li Peixiang was pointing and saw a girl who was wearing a white cotton coat and dark jeans. She was not very tall but had fair skin.
Meng Xiaoyang asked listlessly, "What's wrong?"
Li Peixiang whispered, "Do you know that just yesterday, during Class 18's class meeting, Zhang Qing and Cheng Bing went up to speak one after the other, and everyone in their class thought they were a perfect match? Don't you guys think so? They both have good grades, are both low-key and reserved, and their height difference is just right... It's a pity that Cheng Bing, the school heartthrob, has a girlfriend, sigh... But Nian-ge, what kind of fairy can win over Cheng Bing? Can you give me a hint?"
Fang Yuenian's face turned fierce as he gripped the recorder in his hand tightly.
If it weren't for the fact that assaulting someone is illegal, he probably would have already lost control and hit the person on the head twice.
Meng Xiaoyang squeezed between the two of them. "Let's go, let's hurry up. If we're late, the music teacher will definitely catch us and make us play the score in front of everyone."
"Holy crap, I've completely forgotten what we taught in the last class!" Li Peixiang said in a panic. "Let's go, let's go, I need to find a corner to hide in later."
There are no corners in the music teacher's class.
He selected people purely based on his mood, and Fang Yuenian unfortunately fell for it. When he stood up, he dared not play nonsense, so he could only whine and try his best to play according to the score, causing everyone's ears to undergo a painful baptism.
After class, he was completely exhausted. He didn't even bother fighting for food anymore, deciding to just join the queue and eat some leftovers... Hmm? Who's that person in front of him?!
There was a distance to the art classroom, and they also had to go back to their classroom to put away their books and instruments. Fang Yuenian and Meng Xiaoyang dawdled and finally went downstairs, only to find a tall figure standing in front of the teaching building, seemingly waiting for someone.
Fang Yuenian thought to herself, "Damn it!" and quickly went down the last few steps and ran over.
"Brother Cheng!" He only dared to call out when he got closer, "Were you waiting for me?"
"Hmm," Cheng Bing nodded, "Going to the cafeteria?"
"Go on!" Fang Yuenian himself didn't realize that he had become visibly enthusiastic. "Why are you up so early today?"
"Starting today, we will no longer keep students after school."
"Really? That's great! Why didn't you tell me sooner? If you had told me sooner, I would have run faster."
Cheng Bing smiled and said, "I just found out too."
Fang Yuenian forgot everything because of his smile. "It's okay! You can come later next time. I'll go get the food first and then wait for you."
Cheng Bing still looked at him and smiled: "My conditions for getting food seem to be better than yours, right?"
Fang Yuenian said sternly, "How could you steal my food! You just wait to eat!"
After listening for a while, Meng Xiaoyang slowly stepped forward and asked, "Hmm? Are you two leaving?"
"Let's go, let's go," Fang Yuenian said happily, "Time to eat!"
"This person is better, he's been resurrected," Meng Xiaoyang thought, "but this is too easy."
Sure enough, for the next two or three weeks, Cheng Bing ate lunch with Fang Yuenian every day. Sometimes it was just the two of them, and sometimes his roommates, or Meng Xiaoyang and Chen Yu, joined them. Li Peixiang even insisted on eating at the cafeteria with them twice after hearing the news, and quickly exchanged phone numbers with Cheng Bing's roommates. In short, lunch became a joyful occasion and a source of good mood for Fang Yuenian every day.
However, the good days didn't last long. The homeroom teacher of Class 18 came up with another idea and kept students after school again.
The reason is that my overall grades dropped a little in the monthly exams after the midterm, so I need to work harder.
It seemed like they were deliberately trying to prevent their students from eating on time. They even placed three potted cycads in the corridor in front of the door, clearly indicating that no one was allowed to approach, as if they were afraid that students from other classes would corrupt their class. Even Li Peixiang said that this was too abnormal. Their homeroom teacher wouldn't even let day students borrow the meal cards of boarding students, clearly not allowing them to waste even the short time they had to go to the small supermarket to buy snacks during breaks.
Cheng Bing was no longer able to eat with everyone.
He also speaks less than before.
Always busy, always having a lot to do, Fang Yuenian heard more news about him from Li Peixiang than he told himself.
Fang Yuenian convinced herself to accept this reality—high school studies were intense, and Cheng Bing also had other friends.
Time flies, and before we knew it, it was deep winter.
After the first snowfall, they saw the legendary, picturesque Ink Plum Square for the first time.
Momei Square is not large, facing the teaching building for this year's first-year high school students, and diagonally opposite the main gate. Between the teaching building and Momei Square is the flagpole, with a fountain pool at the bottom of the steps. Next to the flagpole is a hackberry tree that is about the same age as the school.
The name comes from the green and red plum trees planted two weeks ago. In winter, the red plums are covered with snow and the green plums are still in bud, which has always been the most famous sight in the school. In addition, the gray branches of the hackberry trees are covered with snow in winter, which makes the view very picturesque.
And when the square is covered with a thick layer of snow, there will be other interesting things to do.
Boarding students can go directly from the dormitory to the teaching building, so Fang Yuenian and Meng Xiaoyang arrived at the classroom early and stood in front of the corridor window to look at the situation downstairs.
At first, it was a vast expanse of snow. The first person to arrive would slowly and laboriously leave a trail of footprints. People would follow these footprints and continue walking, without exploring any other paths. As more and more people walked, a path was eventually created. However, once the snow in the south was compacted, it would mostly turn into icy roads. As a result, one person after another slipped and fell, and laughter and helpless sighs rose and fell, creating a lively scene.
High school life seems really interesting, Fang Yuenian sometimes thinks.
Of course, I'll say it again, if the exam doesn't come so soon.
The day the final exams ended was also snowing heavily. After handing in the last paper, Fang Yuenian couldn't wait to run out.
As soon as I stepped out of the teaching building, I saw Meng Xiaoyang chasing Li Peixiang and throwing snow at him. There were also many students from other classes playing, both boys and girls, laughing and joking. It's definitely different after finishing the exams.
Li Peixiang and the others were waiting for Fang Yuenian. When they saw him come out, they quickly called out to several Xueqiu.
"You finally decided to come out!" Chen Yu shouted. "Cheng, the school heartthrob, has already handed in his paper. You dawdled until so late. Several girls from our class were having a snowball fight here. See, you missed it."
"Huh?" Fang Yuenian didn't understand. "Brother Cheng is here..."
With a "bang," a snowball hit his shoulder.
Cheng Bing was standing to the side, so he didn't see it at all. This person could still stand there with a slight smile after smashing someone.
Fang Yuenian laughed when she was hit, clutching her shoulder: "Brother Cheng, how could you learn from them... Ah! Meng Xiaoyang! You traitor!"
Meng Xiaoyang ran away after his sneak attack, but Fang Yuenian retaliated decisively, having a good, unrestrained madness.
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