Wang Lianhua fell asleep on the sofa when she returned home in the middle of summer. She woke up when she heard the door open. "I'm back. I made sea cucumber and millet porridge for you. Let me see if you're cool..."
As he brought it up, he said, "It's still warm. What did you eat tonight?"
Shengxia avoided the latter question and said, "Mom, you should go to bed early. You don't have to make midnight snacks for me in the future."
"I'm fine at home."
Shengxia put down her schoolbag and said, "I've been driving a long distance, I should go to bed early."
"Oh, if only Xuan could think like this," Wang Lianhua sighed, "eat it while it's hot."
Shengxia asked while eating, "How is Xuan?"
"My face was dark all the way, but it was okay. I didn't lose my temper."
Shengxia nodded, "That's good."
Wang Lianhua sat on the other side of the table. "Did you come back with classmate Lu today?"
"Um."
Wang Lianhua hesitated to speak.
Shengxia raised her eyes: "Mom, what's wrong?"
"I know you're a good kid," Wang Lianhua said after some hesitation, "but I've been through this before, too. No matter what, you must put your studies first. Do you understand?"
Shengxia knew that her mother was still worried about her falling in love too early, and she paid special attention to any signs of it. Similar things had happened before in No. 2 Middle School, and Shengxia now even suspected that this was also a factor in her transfer.
"I understand, Mom."
"Don't complain about your mother's nagging. Women are different from men. Women don't have the capital to make mistakes in their lives. If they make a mistake in one step, they will make mistakes at all steps. You can't be careless about what to do and when, understand?"
In the middle of summer, he buried his head in eating and nodded gloomily.
"Got it, Mom. I'll clean up the dishes in a bit. You should go to bed early."
"That's fine. As I get older, I get tired of driving such a short distance."
"Good night, Mom."
"You should go to bed early too."
"good."
The restaurant returned to silence. After eating, Shengxia washed the dishes and went back to the room to take a shower.
In the end, the matter of the school sports meet and the dress was not brought up. Shengxia leaned against the head of the bed, hesitated for a long time, and finally left a message for Sheng Mingfeng.
She knew that if she told Sheng Mingfeng about this, Zou Weiping would most likely handle it, and if her mother found out, she didn't know what would happen. But she didn't even have the chance to speak to her mother.
An unconscious sigh in the midsummer.
Forget it, let’s not think about it for now. Senior high school students don’t participate much in the school sports meet, and my mother probably won’t know about it.
The next day, Shengxia brought her cell phone with her. As expected, she received a call from Sheng Mingfeng during the break. She ran to the stairs in the corridor outside the classroom to answer the call.
Sheng Mingfeng carefully asked her what her requirements were for the dress.
"It can be simpler and longer," Shengxia said. "By the way, the budget should be limited to 500 yuan."
"Don't worry about that. Do you have any other requirements? Color or style? No?"
“Probably not.”
"Okay, that's great! Participate in more activities, communicate and get along with teachers and classmates, and make more friends. That's great!" Sheng Mingfeng sounded very happy. "Do you want to try it yourself?"
"No need," Shengxia thought that she could just choose according to height and weight, "I don't have time recently."
"Okay, then order it as soon as possible and have your brother Li deliver it to you."
Shengxia returned to the classroom and saw an uninvited guest sitting in her seat.
Zhang Shu was sitting on a summer chair, talking to Hou Junqi in front of him.
Shengxia walked to the seat, thinking that he would stand up and give her the seat back. But he looked at her desk leisurely, raised his eyes and asked, "No more candies?"
Since everything had been made clear yesterday, Shengxia thought there was no need to send it, and indeed she did not bring it today.
Why did he come over to ask?
Shengxia replied: "No more."
Zhang Shu smiled, "But what if I become addicted?"
Of course you bought it yourself? Shengxia's first reaction was this sentence. Of course, she didn't say it out loud.
"Didn't they say that if we have dinner, then..." Midsummer paused. She wanted to say, didn't they say that if we invited him to dinner, then it would be all over? But then she thought about it, he was the one who paid for the dinner, so not only was it not all over, but it actually caused more trouble.
Zhang Shu asked: "Just what?"
Midsummer is silent.
Zhang Shu looked at her brows that were tightly furrowed in embarrassment and sighed inaudibly, "Forget it, it will be settled after some discussion."
It's even if it's even. What does it mean to be even if it's even?
He stood up and made a gesture to give her his seat.
A breath of relief in midsummer.
And just as they passed by, she felt a warm touch on her face, and then her skin bounced...
He, he pinched her face!
In just a moment, the movement was so fast that Shengxia couldn't see which hand he pinched with, when he raised his hand, and when he took it back.
Then he curled his lips, gave a short laugh, and left from behind her.
What on earth did he do! It's even, is it like this?
Shengxia held the cheek he pinched in disbelief and looked around nervously.
Perhaps it was because of the bodies passing by that blocked his view, or perhaps his movements were too fast and no one noticed him, so no one was paying attention to this place at that moment.
Apart from--
Hou Junqi is nearby.
Hou Junqi was dumbfounded, then put on a sly smile, whispered "Fuck", turned around, and shook his head while muttering something like "Awesome", "Too coquettish", "Who can stand up to this"...
Shengxia sat down and drank water guzzlingly, not daring to put down his hands that were holding his face, for fear that his face had turned red and would be noticed by others.
Across the entire classroom, she stared at Zhang Shu's back.
He had already walked to his seat, and when he sat down, he looked over here intentionally or unintentionally. Shengxia quickly turned her head to look out the window before their eyes met.
She opened the window to get some fresh air.
There was no air in the stuffy corridor, and the girl took deep breaths in vain.
Li Xu delivered the dress to Shengxia on Friday afternoon.
As soon as school was over in midsummer, I went to the north gate and saw Brother Li parked his car under a tree. He was standing next to the car holding a huge box. Maybe he had just attended a meeting. He was wearing a striped shirt and a small-collared black shirt in the hot weather. He was in his early thirties and had a very lively manner.
Shengxia felt a little embarrassed. When it came to service, Brother Li had probably never embarrassed Sheng Mingfeng.
He looked like he was receiving a leader, so Shengxia was a little afraid to approach him.
“Xia Xia!”
It was Li Xu who called her first.
"Brother Li, have you been waiting for a long time?"
"No, it just arrived." Li Xu looked at the big box and said, "Shall I take it to your class?"
Shengxia shook her head quickly, "I can hold it."
Li Xu said: "There's something in the trunk."
Sheng Xia thought it was some fruits and snacks prepared by Sheng Mingfeng for her, "No, I have evening study."
"They are all small things that go with the dress, packed in separate boxes."
Li Xu asked Shengxia to take the big box first, opened the trunk, and took out a shoe box and two exquisite velvet boxes, all as big as file boxes.
This……
"No need to be so grand."
Li Xu was just a worker, and he had no answer to what Sheng Xia said, so he just said, "Shall I take it in for you?"
The box was not heavy, but it was too big for Shengxia to carry by herself.
She looked at the time. Everyone had gone to eat, so there shouldn't be many people in the classroom, so she nodded.
Brother Li held a big box for her, and Shengxia followed behind with a few small boxes. They met Zhang Shu and Hou Junqi after taking only a few steps.
They are getting ready to have dinner.
"Xiao Shengxia?" Hou Junqi greeted first.
Shengxia was startled. Alas, Schrödinger's encounter...
Zhang Shu glanced at the person standing behind her, then looked at the big and small boxes, and asked, "Do you need help?"
Brother Li looked at her and asked for her opinion.
Shengxia hesitated for a while, and still felt that it was not appropriate for Brother Li to go to school in this outfit. It felt like a leader from the Education Bureau came to inspect.
Shengxia said to Brother Li, "Let my classmate help me get it in."
Brother Li understood and nodded, his eyes moving between Zhang Shu and Hou Junqi, and finally handed the box to Hou Junqi.
Zhang Shu naturally took the three small boxes from Shengxia's arms.
Shengxia waved goodbye to Brother Li, and the three of them entered the north gate.
Hou Junqi looked back at the car disappearing around the corner and thought to himself: The A6 has a red flag, the car is simple but the person is not.
He was a simple-minded person, so he just started to gossip: "Xiao Shengxia, who was that just now?"
Shengxia had experience answering this kind of question, so she answered without much thought: "My father's colleague."
Hou Junqi didn't expect this answer. He was stunned for a moment and then said with a smile: "Ahaha, is that so?"
Then he stopped talking.
Shengxia hadn't expected that these things would take up so much space. She thought it was just a paper bag that could be placed on the desk, but now there are so many big and small boxes that they can't be placed in the classroom.
Hou Junqi suggested, "Why not release Ah Shu?"
Zhang Shu raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement.
His house is nearby, but it's not good to go back and forth to his house like this.
Shengxia thought for a moment and said, "Just leave it there for now. I'll ask Teacher Fu this afternoon if I can put it in her office."
Zhang Shu frowned when he saw her evasive expression.
Hou Junqi asked: "There is still a long time before the school sports meet, why did you bring the dress here now instead of leaving it at home?"
Of course, it’s because I can’t keep it at home.
Shengxia sighed in her heart, when will Hou Junqi's curiosity be a little less?
She was thinking about how to answer when a cool voice came from behind her: "Don't mind your own business."
Amount...
Shengxia glanced out of the corner of her eye and only saw Zhang Shu's indifferent profile.
She often heard Xin Xiaohe say this and thought it was cute, but why did it sound so awkward when it came out of Zhang Shu's mouth? His tone seemed unhappy.
There were not many people in the classroom, so after putting away her things, Shengxia naturally went to eat with the two of them. After finishing the meal, Zhang Shu looked straight ahead and ate his meal attentively. Although he usually didn't talk much while eating, Shengxia was sure that Zhang Shu was unhappy.
But why is he suddenly unhappy?
He was apparently fine at the school gate just now, and he was the one who offered to help.
So strange.
下午盛夏到教室，就看到幾個女生圍在她桌邊，看見她，其中一個女生叫住她，“哇盛夏，這是你舉牌穿的禮服嗎，可以打開看看嗎？”
盛夏自己也還沒看過，但她看看挂鐘，說：“快上課了。”
“那我們一會兒下課再看吧。”
“好。”盛夏說。
“夏夏，看盒子上的LOGO，是個新銳設計師牌子，之前我女神穿過這個牌子給代言站臺，特別出圈，我看到微博後援會和資訊站上一直在發，印象深刻！”
這同學說的每個字盛夏都聽得懂，連起來就不太明白，但大約，這個品牌挺不錯的?
那女生又說：“超好看的，花了多少錢啊，買的還是租的？”
盛夏想了想，回答：“六百多。”
整整五百顯得有點刻意了，而她自己貼了一百，說多不多，說少也算用心了，應該不會惹人非議。
女生臉上表情有些微妙，聲音放低了些說：“啊？那估計就不是正版了，正版租都要幾千的。”
盛夏被這價格吓住了，盛明豐是不可能租仿貨的，鄒衛平更不可能了。
另一個女生安慰道：“沒關系的啦，小活動而已，穿個款式就好了。”
“是呀是呀。”其他女生附和。
盛夏能明顯感覺到，有女生既失望又松了一口氣。
她也松了一口氣。
前桌的侯駿岐默默聽着，搖頭嘆息：有的人費盡心思要出風頭，有的人卻使勁把自己埋起來，好戲，好戲。
下午第一節 是付婕的課，周五的語文課，有點催眠。
下了課大夥都昏昏沉沉，大概對仿版沒有興趣，沒人再提看禮服的事，盛夏等付婕出了教室才追上她，提了讓她代為保管的事，付婕欣然同意，盛夏便叫上辛筱禾，兩人抱着禮盒跟在付婕身後上了樓。
語文組女老師個頂個的年輕，盛夏發現，附中很敢任用青年教師，像付婕和賴意琳都是碩士畢業，從高一帶上來，任教不過兩年，這樣的新老師在二中是帶不了高三的。
其實年輕老師不僅教學手段新，成效顯著，還能和學生打成一片。
“盛夏，你還不會化妝吧？”付婕在座位坐定，忽然問。
盛夏把禮盒放好，搖搖頭。
付婕笑盈盈說：“那開幕式那天老師給你化？”
盛夏懵：“還要化妝麽？”
辛筱禾說：“當然啦！”
付婕說：“你可代表你們六班的臉面吶！”
辛筱禾猛點頭：“是呀，舉牌女神都要化的！”
盛夏抿抿嘴，點頭。
付婕說：“你的禮服是什麽風格，我看看，好準備準備妝容的風格。”
盛夏自己也不知道，便打開盒子。
裙子層層疊放，拎起來才看到全貌。
上身是黑色絲絨抹胸，以黃銅片點綴蕾絲做腰封，裙身是灰藍色，層層疊疊，點綴金色立體刺繡。淡靜的灰藍色與濃郁富貴的金相得益彰，抹去了金的土氣，黑色絲絨一壓，優雅大氣。
鞋盒裏躺着一雙黑色複古高跟鞋，絲絨盒裏，一個是黑色的皇冠，另一個裏邊有一條黑色絲絨CHOCK，還有一雙絲絨手套，長度到手肘。
“這是……赫本啊？”付婕眼睛一亮，撚起禮服在盛夏身上比了比，“嗯，反差感，很驚豔。”
盛夏看着那抹胸，這，在學校裏穿，真的好嗎？
她當時只說了裙擺長度，倒沒想着上身，可是，盛明豐看過裙子嗎，他和鄒衛平都覺得可行嗎？
辦公室裏其他老師也伸脖子看過來。
“付老師，你們班學生長得可真俊啊？”
“那是！不看是誰學生。”
“看把你美的，你可別厚此薄彼，你還有兩個班呢啊。”
“就你多嘴。”
盛夏和辛筱禾面面相觑，原來老師們私底下是這畫風。
正出神，就聽到付婕低聲調侃：“盛夏，你這回可要自己貼不少錢呀？”
辛筱禾搶答：“貼了一百，我看着這禮服好高級，比他們一千的也完全不怵。”
付婕把禮服小心疊好放回去，聞言驚道：“一百？”
随後她看了眼盛夏逐漸低下的腦袋，了然笑了笑，“嗯，那是很劃算。”
這個課間不長，盛夏和辛筱禾先回班了。
辦公室裏，剛才還只是站在各自格子間的老師們湊了過來。
“你改天替我悄悄跟你學生打聽打聽哪裏租的，我嫂子備婚，六百塊也太值了，可以當敬酒服！”
付婕挑眉：“這是真的‘赫本’，六百不可能的。”
“正品？”
“嗯，鞋子DIOR的，也是真的。”
付婕家境富裕，上班着裝樸素，可下了班也是妥妥的時尚咖，她說是真的，就假不了。
“現在學生，為一個活動，這麽拼嗎？”
付婕搖搖頭：“我這傻學生可什麽都不知道。”
“長得确實很漂亮哦！”
“性格也好哦。”
盛夏和辛筱禾下樓，滿耳朵都是辛筱禾的贊嘆，“太好看了”“低調又金貴”“優雅黑天鵝”“亮瞎某班狗眼”……
盛夏已經開始擔憂，是不是太過了。她從來沒有穿過抹胸。
“筱禾，以前，有人穿抹胸舉牌嗎？”
“幾乎都是抹胸啊，不然就是吊帶之類，”辛筱禾道，“往年穿婚紗的都有，這一天不就是要各顯神通？”
盛夏這才稍稍放心。
周一換位，盛夏又要跨越一個教室換到第一組去，這一次不是辛筱禾的特殊日子，她自告奮勇幫盛夏搬，兩個人擡着桌子艱難挪動，幾步一休息。
“哇，夏夏，你桌子怎麽這麽重啊？”辛筱禾一邊喘氣一邊艱澀開口。
盛夏在休息的間隙說：“可能我東西太多了。”
抽屜裏滿滿當當，整齊但擁擠。
辛筱禾嘆氣：“上次張澍怎麽自己拎過去的啊？跟他一比我倆可真菜雞。”
盛夏想起上次是他給她搬桌子，手臂肌肉崩得死緊，想必也并不輕松。
“剛開學的時候東西沒有現在這麽多，”盛夏鼓勵，“我們也很厲害了。”
話音剛落身後傳來冷涔涔的聲音，“是嗎？烏龜爬似的，毅力确實可敬。”
盛夏扭頭，遲到的少年站在教室門口，表情不算友好。
“放下吧，在這擋路。”張澍語氣不耐地開口，說話間已經來到盛夏跟前，把身後書包摘下來遞給她，“拿着。”
盛夏看着他，有點呆。幹嘛？
張澍兀自把書包塞她懷裏，雙手一把提起桌子，抽屜裏的東西哐當響，辛筱禾回神，挪到一旁讓路，少年輕輕松松把桌子搬到了既定位置。
辛筱禾看向盛夏，尴尬一笑：“體力還是有差距的哈。”
盛夏抱着張澍的書包，跟在他身後到了座位，喃喃說：“我……書箱還在那邊。”
既然實力懸殊，那麽，他應該也樂意照拂照拂她，送佛送到西吧？
張澍擡眼，輕笑一聲，“今天倒是使喚我使喚得挺順嘴。”
使喚，這個詞不是什麽人道的詞，他的語氣聽起來不太樂意。盛夏皺着眉，解釋說：“我不是這個意思，不好意思啊。”
說完放下他的書包，轉身打算自己去提過來。
少女留給他一個背影。
張澍目瞪口呆，話都說不出來了，她怎麽連這種程度的調侃都遭不住，那豈不是話說重點就要哭給他看了？
明明是她之前防着他的，現在又開口讓他幫忙，他嘴一句都不行了？
當真是一點說不得。
張澍無聲嘆了口氣，提步跟上去，沒走兩步就看到盧囿澤抱着書箱走了過來，身後還跟着亦步亦趨眼神感激的少女。
“謝謝啊。”盛夏說。
“怎麽還這麽客氣，有需要幫忙的你叫我就行，離那麽近。”盧囿澤稍扭頭回答。
兩人走到座位邊，盧囿澤沒看見張澍一般，問：“夏夏，放哪？”
夏夏？
張澍叉着胯，氣沒喘過來，只剩冷笑。他搬個那麽大那麽重的桌子她甩冷臉，人家搬個小破書箱她殷勤成這樣？要不要這麽雙标？
盛夏犯了難，之前坐這邊的時候，書箱是張澍放中間的，而現在……
他的表情像極了護崽子的母雞——就是鷹來了也休想侵占他的領地。
“放我桌底下吧。”盛夏說。
張澍一句“放中間啊”沒說出口就被掐了回去。
他給盧囿澤讓出地方，叫上侯駿岐離開了教室。
桌底空間本就不寬敞，書箱一擺，盛夏的腿窩在狹小空間裏無法舒展，一天下來腿腳有些僵硬。
她不開口，他也沒說話，就這麽僵持了一整天。
最難受的就是侯駿岐，阿澍今天嘴格外毒，他就是腳指頭猜也能知道後座兩人是冷戰了。
不過，挺新鮮。
晚上11點，盧囿澤過來叫盛夏回家。
盛夏從習題裏回過神，居然又這麽晚了，她今天效率太低了，于是收拾了習題打算回去再補補。
張澍還沒走，而他坐得靠後，完全擋住了她的去路。
她收拾東西動靜這麽大，顯然是要走，也沒見他自覺讓一讓。
盛夏在心裏微微嘆氣，無奈叫他：“張澍……”
Hearing that her tone was different from usual and there was a hint of impatience, Zhang Shu raised his eyebrows, leaned back in his chair, and looked straight at her.
He actually had no purpose. He just didn't speak the whole day. He wanted to hear if she would squeeze out another word, even if it was just like at the beginning, saying "I want to go out". Maybe, if he half-heartedly gave in, he could break the deadlock.
But what he didn't know was that in Shengxia's eyes, the look on his face meant - begging me?
She was in a dilemma, as Lu Youze was waiting for her.
Seeing this, Lu Youze couldn't help but ask: "Zhang Shu, are you childish?"
As soon as these words came out, the people around had different expressions. Hou Junqi had already stood up, and Zhang Shu glanced at him, and he sat down again awkwardly.
Shengxia was also stunned.
Zhang Shu turned his head and asked, "What does this have to do with you?"
Although Lu Youze was standing and Zhang Shu was sitting, Zhang Shu's aura was not inferior at all. Instead, his calm and nonchalant tone made Lu Youze speechless for a moment.
"Why don't you go and make a report. Don't just go to Old Wang or the grade director. It would be more in line with your identity as Young Master Lu if you go to the principal." Hou Junqi sneered from the side.
The atmosphere was tense.
Shengxia didn't expect the conversation to develop to this point, and she didn't know where to look.
She didn't know whether she should join forces with Lu Youze who stood up for her, or stay out of the matter.
Zhang Shu caught a glimpse of her nervousness from the corner of his eye, sighed unconsciously, and pulled out a stool to make room for her to leave.
Shengxia felt relieved. Just as she stepped out of the aisle, she suddenly heard Zhang Shu's still cold voice behind her: "Be careful on the road."
Shengxia paused and turned back stiffly. Was he talking to her?
Probably, because there is no one else.
"Ah? Oh, I see." Shengxia responded hesitantly.
Shengxia and Lu Youze left the classroom.
This short but exciting triangle drama has come to an end.
The audience couldn't even tell which of the two male protagonists won.
It was said to be Zhang Shu, but the heroine followed Lu Youze?
It was Lu Youze, but the heroine's confused and dumbfounded response at the end made her seem like a girlfriend who had attempted to cheat on her husband?
Hou Junqi cursed: "This bastard, why is he pretending to be a gentleman in front of girls? It's disgusting to see him."
Zhang Shu made no comment and continued to answer questions.
"Ah Shu, did you know that Lu Youze also bought a small electric donkey?" Hou Junqi's tone was as disdainful as it could be. "It's the same as the one in Shengxia, but it's black and small, and it's ridden by a woman."
Zhang Shu raised his eyes and snorted coldly. What are you doing, a couple car?
childish.