24. She doesn’t play with us
Xu Wenqiang is not slow.
At the farmers' market, she had to be smart to make money. At Qingshi Junior High, she had to be alert to deal with Chen Yang. Back home, she had to live under Xu Yanmei's control.
Life doesn't allow her to be slow.
So, when the malice came, Xu Wenqiang noticed it.
For example, when they handed the test papers to Xu Wenqiang, they stood far away from her, stretched out their arms to hand them to her. Then, after she took the test papers, they left in a secretive manner.
For example, every time she entered or left the classroom, there would always be a few people trying to cover up something.
...and so on.
These malicious intentions are displayed in a subtle and sophisticated way.
The so-called sophistication lies in the fact that everyone does this with courtesy and politeness, some even smiling. And the subtlety lies in the fact that everyone's concealment seems subtle, yet the force is just right. They need to appear as if they don't want you to see them, yet they also have to make sure you do... This balance is truly difficult to strike, but they all manage it perfectly.
Xu Wenqiang couldn't help but sigh, she is indeed a student of Qingshi No. 1 Middle School, not only is her academic performance good, but she is also very good at bullying others.
If this were Qingshi Junior High, if someone disliked her and wanted to mess with her, they would have come to her door and scolded or even beaten her, not dragged their feet. But such a direct approach was too reckless for the students of No. 1 Middle School, and it didn't suit their status. So, to make things easier for them, Xu Wenqiang would go to the restroom whenever she had nothing to do, sometimes even stopping by the men's room. In her experience, the school restroom was the best place to resolve problems, and it allowed even the normally reserved to let loose.
But still, no one did anything to her. The most they did was hold their noses and say, "Oh, that stinks."
Xu Wenqiang guessed that the one they said smelled bad was her.
Lin Tong, her deskmate, was hesitant to speak about all this. Xu Wenqiang felt sympathetic towards her and simply said, "I know everything. Don't worry about it. Just study hard."
"You know everything?" Lin Tong looked confused.
"Yes, I know." Xu Wenqiang said.
Xu Wenqiang decided to let them do what they wanted. Since they were planning to do it covertly, they wouldn't touch her openly. She could still go to school and come home normally, and that was enough. She wasn't here to make friends anyway. As long as they could maintain a good appearance and everyone got along peacefully, she could ignore their insults behind her back. Besides, these three years of high school were something she had begged and pleaded for from Xu Yanmei. It might be her last period of school, so she didn't have the time to use it to fight with others.
But she didn't expect that Su Xiaoshan lost his patience first.
During the physical education class, after the teacher announced the time for free time, everyone dispersed.
Xu Wenqiang wanted to find a place to stay by herself, but Su Xiaoshan came over with a pair of table tennis rackets and said, "Want a couple of shots?"
Just as Xu Wenqiang was about to agree, Gao Zhe came over with a basketball and said, "Xu Wenqiang, want to spar with me?"
"Gao Zhe, maybe next time." Xu Wenqiang rejected Gao Zhe without hesitation. Between Su Xiaoshan and Gao Zhe, she naturally chose Su Xiaoshan. Besides, Su Xiaoshan never paid much attention to her at school. If he approached her, he must have something to say.
Gao Zhe was slightly disappointed. When he saw the table tennis racket in Su Xiaoshan's hand, he casually asked, "Xu Wenqiang, can you play table tennis?"
"He plays basketball better than me," said Xu Wenqiang.
"I didn't expect you to be such an all-round athlete!" Gao Zhe perked up and said excitedly, "Come on, let me admire your table tennis skills."
"Gao Zhe, maybe next time." But Xu Wenqiang still said the same thing and rejected him again.
Gao Zhe was rejected twice in a row, and he felt a little embarrassed. He said in a low voice, "Okay, you guys have fun." Then he walked away.
"Su Xiaoshan, give me the racket." Xu Wenqiang said excitedly.
She hadn't touched the table tennis racket since school started, and now she couldn't wait to pick it up to satisfy her craving.
Su Xiaoshan handed the ball bag to Xu Wenqiang. Xu Wenqiang juggled two balls and said, "Now, whenever I hear the sound of table tennis balls, my heart starts to itch."
"See if your juggling skills have declined." Su Xiaoshan said.
"Don't doubt anything. Don't doubt my juggling skills!" Xu Wenqiang juggled the ball and walked towards the ping-pong table.
Compared to the basketball and football fields, there weren't many people around the table tennis table. Su Xiaoshan wanted to take the opportunity to speak, but Xu Wenqiang was already standing in front of the table and said, "Let's talk later. First, two balls."
Su Xiaoshan knew Xu Wenqiang had guessed he had something to say. But she remained excited, her eyes fixed, and her face covered from head to toe with four large characters: "I want to play ball."
Looking at Xu Wenqiang like this, Su Xiaoshan remembered Mitsui Hisashi's most classic line in "Slam Dunk": Coach, I want to play basketball...
"Let's start a game." Su Xiaoshan also became interested and walked to the other side of the table with his racket.
"Come on!" Xu Wenqiang bent down and waited intently for Su Xiaoshan's serve.
If Xu Wenqiang's basketball skills were "played out" by Chen Yang, then table tennis skills were "played out" by Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang together.
In the vacant lot of the bungalow area where they lived, there was a cement ping-pong table. In the summer, it was hidden in a pile of tall and short weeds, and in the winter, the table was covered with dead leaves and bird droppings.
No one knows who paid for it or when it was built, but it has always been there.
I remember that when Su Xiaoshan was in the third or fourth grade of elementary school, he first bought a pair of table tennis rackets, and then the children in the farmers' market followed him to play table tennis on the cement platform.
Xu Wenqiang had originally had little interest in the bouncing ball, but she couldn't resist Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang, who loved it so much that they ran to the table after school. To play with them, Xu Wenqiang had no choice but to chase the racket along with them.
There were three people and two rackets. To ensure fairness, they set a rule: there were ten balls, and whoever lost the full amount first would step down.
At the beginning, Xu Wenqiang's ball was flying everywhere, so she basically left the stage after a few minutes, and then watched Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang play, and picked up the balls for them.
Later, on one occasion, Xu Wenqiang was defeated by Chen Yang with a score of 0-3. Xu Wenqiang rubbed her sore eyes and said with a nasal voice, "I don't want to play anymore."
Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang exchanged a stunned glance. Xu Wenqiang was actually crying? Furthermore, they realized for the first time that no matter how tough and heartless Xu Wenqiang was, she was still softer than them and could cry.
When returning home, Su Xiaoshan gave the ball and racket to Xu Wenqiang and said to her, "If you want to play with us, you have to practice. Practice juggling first."
Chen Yang also said, I will teach you how to serve tomorrow.
Xu Wenqiang hesitated for a moment, but still took the ball and racket.
Later, the "Ten Balls" rule remained, but Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang had both learned to let the ball flow. Xu Wenqiang knew it, but she didn't point it out. She took note of Su Xiaoshan's words and decided that if she wanted to play with them, she had to practice.
So she practiced! She practiced swinging the racket under her desk during class, juggling the ball with the racket after class to practice her feel for the ball, and practicing serving on the table after school...
Perhaps Xu Wenqiang really did have some athletic talent, and with her diligent training, after a while, she would be able to tie with Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang. If her form got her way one day, she could even dominate them both.
Until one day, after Xu Wenqiang defeated Chen Yang with her strength, Xu Wenqiang rubbed her sore eyes and cried again, and asked with a nasal voice, "Am I awesome?"
Chen Yang and Su Xiaoshan exchanged a glance, bewildered. Why was Xu Wenqiang crying again? They also realized that Xu Wenqiang was even softer than they had imagined, crying even after winning.
Later, as they grew older, Chen Yang and Su Xiaoshan started playing basketball and football, and played table tennis less often. But Xu Wenqiang never gave up table tennis, and whenever she had time, she would ask Su Xiaoshan and Chen Yang to play with her.
Later, Chen Yang only "played basketball" with Xu Wenqiang and never played table tennis with her again.
After Gao Zhe returned to the basketball court, Xiao Cheng asked him, "Where's Xu Wenqiang?"
"She doesn't want to play with us, she's playing table tennis." Gao Zhe looked depressed.
"She can also play table tennis?" Xiao Cheng threw the basketball in his hand to Gao Zhe.
Gao Zhe took the basketball, dribbled a few times, and then said, "Yes, I'm playing with Su Xiaoshan."
"Su Xiaoshan?" Xiao Cheng recalled the day when Su Xiaoshan had stopped him at the farmers' market and told him to go to Qingshi Junior High School to find Xu Wenqiang. Although Su Xiaoshan and Xu Wenqiang usually ignored each other in class, no one knew what happened to them after they left school.
"Yeah! Su Xiaoshan also graduated from Qingshi Junior High School. They must have a special relationship. I wanted to watch them play basketball just now, but Xu Wenqiang wouldn't let me." Gao Zhe said as he tossed the basketball, not noticing the change in Xiao Cheng's expression. "Let's ignore them for now. Xu Wenqiang has been getting a bad rap in the class lately, so it's best to stay away from her."
"'Stay away from her', this is the second time you said it." Xiao Cheng said.
"This time is different." Gao Zhe was full of confidence.
"What's the difference?"
"It used to be hearsay, but now it's seen and heard with one's own eyes."
"You used an idiom well. So, tell me, what did you hear Xu Wenqiang say? And what did you see her do?"
"They say she—"
Gao Zhe almost bit off his tongue and went back to "hearsay".
Xiao Cheng looked at him with a half-smile.
Gao Zhe could only laugh dryly.
"Xiao Cheng, Gao Zhe, let's play basketball?" people on the basketball court shouted at them.
"Coming." Gao Zhe agreed and was about to take the opportunity to run away.
"Gao Zhe," Xiao Cheng stopped him and said with a hint of warning, "Don't do it a third time!"
"I know, I know, let's go play ball!" Gao Zhe said with his head lowered.
"Go ahead. I haven't played table tennis for a long time. I plan to try it out today." Xiao Cheng walked towards the table tennis table.
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