35. Gratitude
"Chen Yang has left, you should leave too!" Grandpa Li waved his hand and went back behind the medicine shelf.
Xu Wenqiang put on her schoolbag and walked out without saying a word.
Xiao Cheng chased after her and grabbed Xu Wenqiang: "We agreed to go home together."
Xu Wenqiang turned around and looked at Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng said, "If you don't want to talk about what Chen Yang said just now, I won't ask."
Xu Wenqiang said, "Just don't ask."
Xiao Cheng let go of Xu Wenqiang, and the two of them pushed the bicycles, walking forward one in front and one behind.
The roads in this area of bungalows next to the farmers' market have been in disrepair for years, and are full of potholes. Every few steps, there's a pothole, and a few more steps, another pothole. Furthermore, the people living here are in the habit of dumping their belongings on the road, turning the already narrow path into a natural garbage dump. Therefore, once it got dark, no one would walk on the road. It wasn't until a few years ago that streetlights were installed, providing some light at night. But the dim streetlights were always on and off: sometimes they would be on during the day, and sometimes they would be off at night.
Xu Wenqiang walked in front, and Xiao Cheng followed behind. The street lights above their heads flickered on and off, like a shaman dance.
When they were almost at the door of their house, Xu Wenqiang suddenly remembered and asked, "Xiao Cheng, how did you find that bus station?"
The statement "sent by God" is definitely nonsense.
"Lin Tong saw you and Chen Yang at the school gate, and then ran back to the classroom to find me." Xiao Cheng didn't talk nonsense this time.
"It turned out to be Lin Tong." Xu Wenqiang remembered the note Lin Tong gave her in her pencil case and decided that it would be her amulet from now on.
"Of course Lin Tong helped you, but you should not forget to be grateful to me." Xiao Cheng continued.
Xu Wenqiang stopped when her home was just ahead, parked her bike, and walked up to Xiao Cheng.
Xu Wenqiang admitted that when Chen Yang mentioned that Yu Yong had taken advantage of her, the anger and shame she had ignored still washed over her. She told herself not to think about it anymore, but the marks Yu Yong had left on her body and his stench still made her feel sick.
"Xiao Cheng, I have organized everything and now I can express my gratitude to you." Xu Wenqiang said.
"Then tell me." Xiao Cheng looked at Xu Wenqiang and became inexplicably nervous.
Xu Wenqiang took two more steps forward until her face was only two centimeters away from Xiao Cheng's chest.
"Xu Wenqiang..." Xiao Cheng's voice became thick in his throat.
Xu Wenqiang opened her arms and hugged Xiao Cheng.
With a "crash", Xiao Cheng's bicycle fell to the ground.
Xu Wenqiang hugged Xiao Cheng, her nose filled with his refreshing scent. She decided to dispel the lingering anger and shame with the embrace and scent of another person. She thought this person could be Xiao Cheng.
In order to drive away the evil more effectively, Xu Wenqiang struggled to get into Xiao Cheng's arms.
"Xiao Cheng, thank you." Of course, she still had to say this. After all, on the surface, she wanted to express her gratitude with this hug.
Xu Wenqiang's voice seemed to come from her heart. Xiao Cheng slowly raised his arm and gently placed his hand on Xu Wenqiang's back.
After returning home, Su Xiaoshan ate the midnight snack his mother had prepared for him and memorized some English words, he received a call from Xu Yanmei. Xu Yanmei said that Xu Wenqiang had not yet returned home and asked Su Xiaoshan if he had seen Xu Wenqiang after school.
Xu Wenqiang looked at the time. It was no wonder that Xu Yanmei asked since he hadn't come back so late.
Su Xiaoshan told Xu Yanmei that Xu Wenqiang was called to the teacher's office after school today, so she would be home late.
Xu Yanmei cursed, "You silly girl, don't cause any trouble," and then hung up the phone.
Su Xiaoshan had naturally lied to Xu Yanmei. Xu Wenqiang had left the classroom after school, and she hadn't returned home yet. She was probably delayed by Chen Yang's trouble again.
Su Xiaoshan looked at the half-memorized words, hesitated for a moment, and then walked out of the house.
If Chen Yang wanted to cause trouble for Xu Wenqiang, the best place would be the farmers' market. Su Xiaoshan thought, he'd just take a stroll. If he ran into her, he'd take care of her. If not, he'd just go back to memorizing words.
Then, he saw Xu Wenqiang holding Xiao Cheng.
Under the flickering street lights, Xu Wenqiang looked like a lost child, while Xiao Cheng watched over her with a devout look on his face.
Su Xiaoshan turned around and decided to memorize one more unit of words tonight.
Xu Wenqiang felt that she had hugged Xiao Cheng enough, so she let go of his hand. Just as she was about to step back, she found that Xiao Cheng was still holding her.
Xu Wenqiang poked Xiao Cheng with her finger: "I'm done, let go."
Xiao Cheng said, "Now that you have expressed your gratitude, I have to return the favor." As he said that, he took Xu Wenqiang into his arms.
"Xu Wenqiang, don't thank me anymore."
Xiao Cheng's voice vibrated from his chest and reached Xu Wenqiang's ears. Xu Wenqiang was stunned and did not move.
"Okay, the ceremony is over." Xiao Cheng let go of Xu Wenqiang. He patted her shoulder and said, "Go home and have a good sleep. See you at school tomorrow." Then he picked up the bicycle that had fallen to the ground.
"See you at school tomorrow." Xu Wenqiang said.
Xiao Cheng got on his bike and suddenly remembered something. He turned to Xu Wenqiang and said, "Xu Wenqiang, don't forget about the top 20."
Xu Wenqiang's face fell.
The next day at school, the first thing Xu Wenqiang did when she saw Lin Tong was to show him the "amulet" note.
Lin Tong looked at the note wrapped in red New Year paper and was shocked: "Xu Wenqiang, is that an exaggeration?"
Xu Wenqiang said: "It's no exaggeration, it deserves this treatment."
Lin Tong shook his head: "I just did a small thing of tipping off the information."
Xu Wenqiang put the big red paper bag back into her pencil case and said, "You're already a good person if you're willing to tip off the person."
Lin Tong was stimulated by the "good guy" and was about to say something when his head teacher Fu Dongqing walked in.
The first class was not physics, so Fu Dongqing came to the classroom at this time to talk about class affairs.
"Classmates, we will have a class meeting next Friday during the last period to re-elect class committee members. We welcome everyone to actively participate in the election of class committee members."
After Fu Dongqing finished speaking, murmurs of discussion were heard from below in the classroom.
"Okay, let's discuss this after class. Now let's get ready for class." Fu Dongqing finished speaking and was about to leave when someone in the classroom stood up and said, "Teacher Fu, the class committee is re-elected, but aren't the class representatives re-elected?"
Xu Wenqiang looked over and saw Dai Ze, a boy whose appearance made her feel hard to describe.
After Dai Ze finished speaking, everyone in the classroom looked at Xu Wenqiang.
Xu Wenqiang chose to ignore it and looked directly at Fu Dongqing.
Fu Dongqing looked around and said expressionlessly, "After the midterm exam, we'll select new class representatives."
Fu Dongqing's last sentence was like an undercurrent, stirring up the already not-so-calm classroom.
Xu Wenqiang lowered her head and told herself that she still had time, but not much.
The following week, the atmosphere in class was strange. Everyone was attending classes and studying as usual, but you could sense that everyone was competing with each other.
Some people want to hide, while others want to expose you in public.
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