After this exam, Qiao Chu became completely famous in Class 5 of Grade 1. As the only survivor of this exam, she received unprecedented attention.
First of all, in class, she became the focus of the teachers' attention. She would be called upon to answer questions in every class. Her answers were always unhurried, correct and precise. She could even answer some long passages that needed to be memorized and recited word for word, which won unanimous praise from the teachers.
Secondly, during breaks, she is no longer as silent as before, but becomes gentle, polite, quiet and generous. She occasionally jokes with her classmates and is very easy to get along with. When some classmates encounter difficult problems that they cannot solve, she will even take the initiative to help solve them. She explains the questions patiently and carefully, and can draw inferences from one example to another. She will patiently continue to explain until the other party fully understands it. She has been liked by more and more classmates, and her popularity is getting better and better.
At noon, as soon as the bell rang, Jia Xianxian hurriedly pulled Qiao Chu to the cafeteria.
"Hurry up, there are spare ribs for lunch today. If you are late you won't be able to get them."
The sweet and sour pork ribs at the second window in the cafeteria every Friday are Jia Xianxian's favorite. She never gets tired of it and always eats a big plate of it. However, there are many students who have the same idea as her. Every Friday at noon, there is always a long queue in front of the second window, so she can't always eat it.
"Okay, okay, slow down. Our teacher didn't keep us late today. We will definitely catch up."
Qiao Chu was panting as he was dragged by her to run, and he spoke quickly.
They were lucky today. When they arrived at the cafeteria, there were only a few people queuing in front of the second window. It seemed that there would be no problem with the ribs today.
Each person ordered a large portion of pork ribs and two taels of rice, and they found a seat to sit down.
"So delicious!" Jia Xianxian took a bite of the ribs, with an expression that looked like she was about to ascend to heaven. "I had a really good time during this holiday. I missed the ribs in our cafeteria so much! The taste hasn't changed at all. The auntie at home can't make it like this."
She asked the aunt in her home kitchen to try making it and described the taste to her, but no matter how she tried, it was still a little off. She guessed that this was the secret recipe of their school cafeteria.
"Yeah, sure, I miss the ribs here too."
Qiao Chu missed the spareribs from the second cafeteria even more than Jia Xianxian. He hadn't eaten them since he graduated from high school. So many years had passed, and now he finally got to taste them again.
I really miss this familiar taste as before!
"By the way, tomorrow is Saturday. Do you have any plans?" Jia Xianxian asked.
"No plans." Qiao Chu didn't want to plan anything except studying. "What about you? What do you want to do?"
"As for me, of course I'm going to eat something delicious and go shopping to buy some clothes." She didn't know if she had eaten too much recently and seemed to have gained weight again. Her old clothes were a little tight. "I wanted to ask you to go with me, but I'd better not disturb you from studying."
Jia Xianxian is really impressed by Qiao Chu now. This good friend has changed so quickly that he is now obsessed with studying. Except for the lunch break when he will lie on the desk to rest like everyone else, he never puts down his book.
In fact, what she didn't know was that Qiao Chu was not sleeping when he lay on the table at noon, but was studying in the system...
"Shopping? I'll go too. I haven't bought clothes in a while."
Unexpectedly, Qiao Chu was very interested.
It was true that Qiao Chu hadn't gone shopping for a long time. The clothes in her closet were all old, and it was time to buy some new ones.
If she could do it all over again, she didn't want to be like last time. She wanted to enjoy life to the fullest, love life, go shopping with friends, eat delicious food, discuss girly topics, and enhance their friendship. What a wonderful thing it is. She really missed a lot in the past...
"Are you serious?" Jia Xianxian didn't expect that Qiao Chu, who usually didn't like to go out, would actually accompany her shopping. She was so happy. "Then you are not allowed to regret it!" She said hurriedly, fearing that Qiao Chu would change his mind.
"Well, don't worry, it's settled!" Qiao Chu said affirmatively.
Early on Saturday morning, Qiao Chu dressed simply, carried a small bag and went out.
When I arrived at the central square where I had made an appointment with Jia Xianxian, I saw her standing under the statue and waving at me from afar.
"Xiao Qiao, this way!"
Today is a rare good day, with no clouds and no wind, the weather is clear, and the central square is bustling with people coming and going.
"Xiao Qiao, you look so beautiful today!"
As soon as Qiao Chu stood in front of Jia Xianxian, he heard her praise.
Jia Xianxian looked at her good friend with surprise. She looked particularly beautiful today. It was obvious that she had dressed up today. Her hair, which was usually loose, was half tied behind her head with a big bow on it. Her hair fluttered gracefully when she walked, which made her small white face look even more beautiful...
"You even put on lip gloss!"
What happened to my best friend who usually is too lazy to even change her clothes today?
Looking at Jia Xianxian's surprised expression, Qiao Chu touched her face unnaturally. Her dress was based on the aesthetic of ten years later, which seemed a bit too advanced now. It might be a habit she developed after working. She unconsciously wanted to put on light makeup when going out. She was in a hurry to go out today, so she just painted her lips casually. She didn't expect Jia Xianxian to see it.
However, she also admitted that she now cares more about beauty and dressing up. After all, when people become beautiful, they will be in more mood to dress themselves up.
"You look so beautiful dressed like this!" Jia Xianxian touched the bow on her head, "Your hairstyle looks good too, I want to have a hairstyle like yours too, and you will go buy me a bow later."
"Yeah, okay."
Qiao Chu agreed, and then the two of them walked towards the shopping mall across the square arm in arm.
The "Central Shopping Mall" is the largest comprehensive shopping mall in this area. It has a wide variety of merchandise, from clothes, shoes and hats to books and toys. There is also a large cinema on the top floor. It usually has a large flow of customers, and today is especially crowded as it is the weekend.
“Wow, this dress is so beautiful!”
As soon as the two of them took the escalator to the second floor, Jia Xianxian took a fancy to a woolen dress on a model in the window of a women's clothing store.
She asked the salesperson for her size, went to the changing room to change into it, looked at herself in front of the mirror, and liked it more and more.
According to the salesperson, this woolen skirt is made of pure wool. The material is not thick but very warm, and it is black in color. It is only decorated with a few embroidered bows on the front, which makes it look very slimming.
"Xiao Qiao, do you think I look skinny in this?"
Jia Xianxian is a bit plump. She is 155cm tall but weighs nearly 130 pounds. She often clamors to lose weight but cannot control her diet.
She envied Qiao Chu very much. Even though Qiao Chu looked like a stick and had not grown up yet, she was thin, which could hide all the ugliness. Not to mention that she had a pair of long legs, which were thin and white, so she looked good in anything she wore.
She thought about it and suddenly suggested, "Xiao Qiao, why don't you try this one on? You're so thin, it will definitely look better on you. Let's buy one each, and when we go out together, everyone will know that we're good friends!"
Qiao Chu took a look at the clothes Jia Xianxian was wearing and thought the style and material were good. She liked them very much, but then she looked at the label on the back - it cost more than 2,000 yuan!
It’s too expensive! She quickly shook her head to refuse. This new style of the season had no discount at all, which she really couldn't accept. Her family was just ordinary, unlike Jia Xianxian's family who were rich. Buying such a dress was a big burden for her. Although her father gave her a lot of pocket money every month, she didn't want to increase her father's burden. Her father worked hard to earn money to support the family, so she'd better spend sparingly.
"No, it's too expensive!"
"It's okay, I'll give it to you!"
Jia Xianxian said generously that her family's business was very big and she didn't care about this little money at all.
"No, it's too expensive!"
Qiao Chu still firmly declined. As the saying goes, one should not accept gifts without merit. Even if they were good friends, she could not accept such an expensive gift with peace of mind.
In the end, Jia Xianxian bought the skirt without hesitation. The two of them went back and forth to shop in the women's clothing department on the second floor several times. Their legs were weak and they gained a lot. Jia Xianxian carried more than ten bags, and Qiao Chu also bought two skirts, a pair of trousers and a pair of shoes.
After finishing the shopping, it was already past 1pm. We had missed lunch and were starving. We left the mall and hurried to the pedestrian street on the west side.
There is a food street there, with various snack stalls one after another, and there are many kinds of food, including beef noodles, hot and sour noodles, pot cakes, crispy duck, Mexican chicken rolls, Korean fried rice cakes...
The two of them bought some snacks to share as they walked -
"Hmm - this fried rice cake is really delicious, sweet and spicy..."
Jia Xianxian said with her mouth full of rice cake that eating was her favorite thing - this was also the fundamental reason why she couldn't lose weight.
"Wow, it's stinky tofu, I want to eat it!"
Before she could swallow the food in her mouth, she saw a stall selling stinky tofu in front of her. Her eyes lit up and she quickly ran over.
"Boss, give me some stinky tofu, and make it spicy!"
"Okay, wait a minute."
Behind the stall was a girl who was about the same age as them. After hearing what Jia Xianxian said, she quickly picked up six black tofu cubes from the jar beside her and threw them into the oil pan to fry. The tofu rose and fell in the oil pan for a few times, and soon became golden and crispy, emitting an enticing smell...
“Hey, aren’t you Shen Ling?”
Jia Xianxian stared at the girl carefully for a long time and asked in confusion.
The girl raised her head upon hearing this, revealing a fairly pretty face.
"It's really you! Shen Ling, I'm Jia Xianxian from Class 5 next door, and this is my good friend Qiao Chu."
After seeing the girl's face clearly, Jia Xianxian was surprised and pulled Qiao Chu to introduce herself.
Shen Ling smiled a little awkwardly, nodded and greeted the two of them, then packed the stinky tofu and handed it to Jia Xianxian.
"Xiao Qiao, do you still remember her? Shen Ling, the one from the class next to us, who was very good at studying."
Jia Xianxian was eating stinky tofu while gossiping with Qiao Chu. Seeing her friend's confused face, she was not surprised. Before, Qiao Chu couldn't even recognize all the classmates in his own class, let alone those in other classes.
"She is the only girl I have ever met who is more withdrawn and taciturn than you." Jia Xianxian added, "But now you have changed."
Jia Xianxian looked at Qiao Chu who was smiling beside her——
She has really changed a lot... but she's getting better and better. It seems like there was a dark cloud hanging over her head before, but now the clouds have dispersed and the sun is shining...
--very nice!
After returning home in the evening, Qiao Chu packed up simply and went to study. She had been out playing all day, so she wanted to make up for the time and study hard. She couldn't slack off at any time!
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