Chapter 31
In the afternoon, there weren't many competitions for the class, and the main camp was almost empty. Jiang Jiawei and the students from the next class were playing Gomoku out of boredom, and the rest of the class was nowhere to be seen.
Someone came to call her.
"Jiawei, your homeroom teacher is looking for you. She's over at the security room."
"good."
As the class's academic representative, Jiang Jiawei also had the task of collecting cheering speeches for this school sports meet, which is why she had been staying at the headquarters. However, the number of people writing speeches was pitifully small, causing her to completely forget about it. Today, Fang Caijuan reminded her to pass on the message that everyone should submit at least three speeches, as their class's number of cheering speeches was currently near the bottom among the humanities classes, which would affect the class's moral conduct award evaluation.
The school is so big, where is she supposed to find people right now? Besides, she doesn't even know if anyone is even on campus. Who would want to write this? Even as the class representative, she doesn't want to write it.
On her way back from the security room, Jiang Jiawei was startled by the large number of onlookers at the basketball court.
A few senior girls she knew from her third year of high school saw her and said, "Jiawei."
"Eh."
"Your cousin is quite handsome."
"Why haven't I seen you here before?"
Jiang Jiawei chuckled awkwardly, "He... he's quite busy with his studies."
Where does he go to school?
"Yes, in Qingsong."
"I'm going now."
"OK."
Jiang Jiawei tiptoed and peered inside, when a low gasp came from inside.
"Jiang Jiawei".
Someone called her name again, startling the person who was lost in thought. Jiang Jiawei turned around; it was Liu Xinze.
"I heard that's your cousin?"
Liu Xinze gestured towards the basketball court that was surrounded.
"Ah...yes."
"You came to watch him play basketball?"
"I... Hey Liu Xinze, can you do me a favor?"
"What kind of help?"
"Could you call Zhang Chao for me? Do you know Zhang Chao from our class?"
"know."
"Then ask him to come out for a moment."
Liu Xinze frowned. "What do you want with Zhang Chao?"
"Something that happened in our class."
Why don't you go by yourself?
There are too many people.
"All right."
Jiang Jiawei waited outside for a while, then Zhang Chao came out. "What do you want?"
Jiang Jiawei moved a little closer to the people.
Zhang Chao, who had returned to the field, called out, "Zhengxi."
"ah?"
"Your sister wants you to go back to headquarters and help her collect some cheering messages!"
Almost everyone watching on the basketball court could hear what he said.
"My sister???"
Mu Zhengxi was completely bewildered. He remembered what the boy had said when he called Zhang Chao: Jiang Jiawei was looking for him. He had been wondering why Jiang Jiawei was looking for Zhang Chao.
"Yeah, let's go, or your sister will throw a tantrum."
"...What is a 'cheerleading speech'?"
"Don't ask, you'll find out when we get back."
"Zhang Chao, if you say Jiang Jiawei is my sister again, I'll beat you up."
"She told me to say that."
"..."
Jiang Jiawei tidied up the table in the headquarters, took out a notebook and pen, and thoughtfully placed a bottle of mineral water for each person.
Upon seeing the two return, they were greeted warmly.
"Come, come, sit down."
Zhang Chao immediately sensed something was wrong, having the unsettling feeling that he had been recruited into a brothel to become a pimp.
"Go ahead and do it, anyway, she only called you, not me."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Jiang Jiawei called out to him, "Zhang Chao! Where are you going?"
"I, I..."
"You're hopeless," Mu Zhengxi glanced at him, then grabbed the man by the back of his collar and pulled him back as Jiang Jiawei had instructed.
"What do you want me to do, Jiang Jiawei?"
Mu Zhengxi, who had bent down to enter the tent, leaned on the table, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his chin, and his eyes shone brightly.
Jiang Jiawei took out a tissue from her pocket, pulled one out and gave it to him, "Could you collect these cheering messages for me? When someone comes to hand them in, please register their name and how many copies they handed in. Each person must have at least three copies. I'll go to the radio station to announce that people should gather and come back."
"Is it OK?"
"What's so difficult about that?" Mu Zhengxi pursed his lips. "Got it." So it's just about collecting this stuff.
"Zhang Chao, please review my manuscript. Pick out the ones with too high a similarity rate or those that are too carelessly copied."
"Huh? Are you serious about me reviewing this, class monitor?"
"Well then, you two decide who gets the work," Jiang Jiawei instructed. "Make sure to provide smiling service."
"Hey, where's your coat?"
Mu Zhengxi recalled, "On the basketball court."
"Then I'll come help you in a bit—"
"Hey, classmate, here's your jacket."
Someone brought it back.
"Thank you."
You're welcome!
Jiang Jiawei: "Remember, before all the projects are finished this afternoon, each person needs to submit at least two papers. I'm going to the broadcasting station to find the people in our class now."
Mu Zhengxi said "oh" and sat down, meeting Zhang Chao's gaze as he suppressed a laugh. He felt that something was not quite right.
Holy crap.
Zhang Chao sat down and patted Mu Zhengxi on the shoulder sympathetically.
When Jiang Jiawei returned, skipping and hopping after finishing her broadcast, the bustling market scene she had imagined was nowhere to be seen. It was desolate, with fallen leaves blowing in the wind, and the two people sitting there doing nothing looked rather forlorn.
"What's going on???"
"Is no one submitting their manuscripts???"
Mu Zhengxi twirled his pen and lazily shrugged his shoulders, indicating his helplessness.
Zhang Chao, who was doodling on the table, took out a stack of a few scattered pieces of work he had received from under the table and handed them to Jiang Jiawei.
"What? It doesn't work after you pay for sex appeal?" Jiang Jiawei sighed, pulling up a chair.
But they quickly changed tactics, and the passionate young woman took over, clenching her fist and declaring, "If nobody else writes, then we'll write! I refuse to believe it!"
Zhang Chao glanced at her, showing he had some self-awareness in this regard, and said, "You two write, I'll cheer you on."
Jiang Jiawei decisively rejected the idea, saying, "No, you have to write it too."
Zhang Chao threw down his pen and yelled, "I'll write! What am I supposed to write?! I'll write!!! I don't even produce ink in my stomach!!"
“You can write anything, as long as you write something,” Jiang Jiawei said. “You can just fill in the blanks, or you can write it with your stomach acid.”
"Stomach acid, hahaha," Mu Zhengxi grinned, laughing heartily.
"Zhengxi!! Help me... I don't even know how to write the character '八'..." Zhang Chao clung to Mu Zhengxi, wailing dramatically, "This is worse than falling in the 100-meter hurdles..."
Jiang Jiawei handed him the composition paper, saying, "You can do the 100-meter hurdles, and you can do this too. Zhang Chao, for the honor of the class, you can do anything."
"You want me, the worst student, to do this?" Zhang Chao slammed his fist on the table, trying to bring her back to her senses. "Class monitor, you're making a mountain out of a molehill!"
"How can you say that about yourself? I believe in you." Jiang Jiawei pulled out a few excerpts that someone had left there. "You can't just copy, can you?"
"copy?"
"Copy from the book."
Zhang Chao quickly wiped away his fake tears, "Okay, copying is permitted."
"Don't write your handwriting too badly."
"I know, I know~"
After finishing with one, Jiang Jiawei looked at Mu Zhengxi and changed her tone, "He copied, but you have to write it carefully."
"Why?"
Jiang Jiawei gave her a smile like a kindergarten teacher looking at a child, "Of course it's because you're smart!"
"Jiang Jiawei, do you think I'm a kindergarten kid?"
Mu Zhengxi made a great effort to show his disdain for such flattery.
Another child, Zhang Chao, was also dissatisfied, saying, "Class monitor, you can't be so mean."
Jiang Jiawei began to demonstrate her diplomatic skills, speaking eloquently, "What I mean is that you each have your strengths, one is good at copying, and the other is good at writing. This is making the best use of everyone's talents and resources."
The four words popped out one by one, leaving Zhang Chao stunned.
"Good boy/girl, everyone will buy chicken legs to eat later."
Mu Zhengxi scoffed, "Jiang Jiawei, you might as well become a kindergarten teacher."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing."
Mu Zhengxi rolled his eyes, slumped onto the table, rested his chin on the back of his hand, and spoke haltingly, "Whose name did I write down?"
Jiang Jiawei found the class attendance sheet, crossed out the names of several class committee members, and handed it to him, saying, "Write down the names one by one, except for the ones that were crossed out."
Mu Zhengxi glanced at it, then deliberately contradicted her, "No, I'll write your name."
Jiang Jiawei took a breath and widened her eyes, "How could I write so many articles by myself!"
"I don't care."
"Okay, okay, then write my name."
Seriously, you can just secretly change it when you hand it in.
Zhang Chao: "..."
There weren't many running events in the afternoon, so the track was much quieter.
Zhang Chao scratched his head and flipped through the book, copying a sentence from the left and a sentence from the right. Mu Zhengxi propped his impatient face up with one hand, but was still writing with the other. Jiang Jiawei sat in the middle opposite them, like an examiner.
As they wrote, the three of them inexplicably started competing to see who could write the fastest.
"I have two articles."
"I've written two as well."
This is my third post.
About ten minutes later, groups of three or five students from their class began to return to the base camp.
"Class monitor, the announcement said we need to assemble, what's wrong?"
Zhang Chao looked up, almost moved to tears, and grasped Mu Zhengxi's hand. The reinforcements had finally arrived. "We've made it through, brother..."
Then he was dismissed with disdain.
Jiang Jiawei said, "Teacher Fang said our class's cheerleading speech was the worst, and she wants each of us to—"
"Bottom of the pack???!!"
"What do you mean by 'bottom'???"
"Our class's cheering speech."
"Damn it, this won't do!!"
When will the call-up articles be finished?
Jiang Jiawei: "All matches will end tomorrow morning."
"There's still time."
Do you have any paper?
Zhang Chao stood up and hurriedly pried the staples off the composition book. "Here it is, here it is! Hurry up, you guys, I've already copied several of them."
"Holy crap, are you even capable, Zhang Chao?"
"Tear it apart."
"No, it won't work if you tear it."
"Pen, pen, pen."
Do you have a pen?
"Where would you get extra strokes?"
"Go back to the classroom and write."
"Let's go back to the classroom."
"Class representative, we'll come and hand it in later."
"good."
The group of people who were walking started jogging.
Mu Zhengxi looked at Jiang Jiawei, who was clenching her fists and turning back to look at him with an air of triumph, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Jiang Jiawei, with her hands behind her back and looking down at him like a boss, raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't you dare slack off either."
Mu Zhengxi twirled the pen in his hand, then deliberately contradicted her, saying, "I'm not in your class."
Jiang Jiawei wasn't annoyed and sat down beside him.
"You are an unofficial staff member, number fifty-five."
An unstaff member? Number fifty-five?
What number are you?
"Me? I'm number five."
Waaaaaah... Is that a train whistle?
Mu Zhengxi clenched his fist to hide the smile on his lips.
Is it funny?
"Waaaaaah..."
"Hahaha, what are you doing?"
"The train is passing through the station."
"That's not the right voice, okay?"
"That's right."
"Hurry up and write it."
If you accidentally bump into each other's elbows, it's a bit like being next to someone sitting next to you.
"Understood, Academic Committee."
"Your clothes fell on the floor." Jiang Jiawei bent down to pick up his coat, which he had carelessly tossed onto a chair, and dusted it off. "It's dirty, put it on."
"You made me wear it even though it was dirty."
"You put it on the chair, and you didn't even notice it fell."
"Why didn't you remind me? I was just helping you write the manuscript very carefully."
The words "help you" should be emphasized.
"I'll remind you next time," Jiang Jiawei said, going along with him. "You already have a cold, don't let it get worse!"
The second half of the sentence was mimicking his speech from yesterday, which sounded like he was holding a grudge.
Mu Zhengxi swung his legs, his eyes crinkling with laughter.
Most people returned to the classroom, while a small number remained at the base camp, diligently writing.
How many articles are there?
"It's been over thirty articles."
"Submit a portion first; don't submit too many at once, or the pass rate will be too high."
"The boys should go and pay."
"Run faster."
We've been fighting for most of the day.
Mu Zhengxi and Zhang Chao were allowed to go to the convenience store to buy soda, and Zhang Chao's name came over the loudspeaker.
"Holy crap, my manuscript was selected?" Zhang Chao was surprised, but upon closer listening, he couldn't recall it. He knew he had copied it himself; it was all incoherent and just filler. "Strange, this doesn't seem to be my work."
The broadcast script is usually read twice.
The second check confirmed that it was indeed Zhang Chao from Class 22 of Senior High School.
This was the first time in his life that Zhang Chao heard his name on the radio not as a notification. A strange feeling ran through his body, like a bottle of soda that had been shaken and opened.
Mu Zhengxi raised the soda in his hand and nudged him from a distance, saying, "Don't say that your brother is disloyal."
"You wrote this for me?!?!?!"
"uh-huh."
Mu Zhengxi was nearly knocked to the ground by a bear pounce, and he grabbed the person by the back and pulled them away, full of disgust, "Men shouldn't touch each other!!!"
Zhang Chao chuckled, skipping along as he put his arm around Zhang Chao's shoulder, fawningly saying, "Brother!! You're my real brother!!! I'll treat you to dinner tonight."
Then he asked, "Hey, want to go play ball? A few of my friends have been wanting to play with you, the same ones who played with Chen Pengfei before."
Mu Zhengxi glanced at him. "Aren't you going to do your homework?"
"You can write it tomorrow, there's still time."
"You're not taking the entrance exam for Nanshan University?"
"Take the test, I—"
"A real man keeps his word!"
"I think... I won't pass the exam."
"A man should not say that he is incapable."
He's a man, of course, but, "when it comes to studying..."
Mu Zhengxi frowned, extremely dissatisfied and even annoyed by Zhang Chao's timid and hesitant idea. "You haven't even started yet, what do you think!"
I finally understand what it feels like when Jiang Wenqing is furious and berates her students—that kind of extreme disappointment and frustration.
"Starting today, you'll also be studying in the evenings."
"You really think I can do it?"
"It's not about me thinking you can do it, it's about you believing you can do it."
Don't you sometimes feel like—
"I don't have that 'sometimes' feeling."
Zhang Chao stood there stunned for a while, looking at the back of the figure in front of him. That kind of awesome, self-confidence was just so damn cool.
"Hey, wait for me! Brother Xi!!"
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