38. Do you have aesthetic sense?
Gao Zhe felt that Xiao Cheng had been elusive these past few days. As soon as the last class in the afternoon ended, he disappeared.
When he came back and I asked him where he had been hanging out, he didn't hide anything and had a different story every day.
Yesterday it was, “My dad is back from a business trip, so I’m going home for dinner.”
The day before yesterday was, "My mom forgot to bring her keys, so I went home and gave her a key."
The day before yesterday, "My grandma cooked delicious food and asked me to come over for dinner."
…
These statements all sounded plausible, so Gao Zhe didn't ask any further questions. After spending time with Xiao Cheng, he'd gotten to know his personality. If he didn't want to tell you something, it wasn't because he didn't consider you a friend, but because it truly had nothing to do with you.
"Xiao Cheng, you can fool around all you want, but next Friday, when the class committee elections are held, you should at least pay attention." Gao Zhe couldn't help but add, "I heard Su Xiaoshan is also running for class monitor, and he's much more serious about it than you are."
"I'm really into it, too. I even got myself a vote today," Xiao Cheng said. Thinking of Xu Wenqiang's vote, his heart still skipped a beat.
"That's more like it." Gao Zhe felt relieved, then he remembered something else. "Xing Jiaqi's birthday is next Saturday. Are you going?"
"I didn't want to go at first, but Xing Jiaqi helped me with a small favor, so I agreed to go," said Xiao Cheng.
"That's great! If you go, I'll have company." Gao Zhe put his arm around Xiao Cheng and whispered, "Remember to call me when you go."
"No problem." Xiao Cheng said with a smile.
After two morning classes, it's break time for calisthenics. This period is the busiest time of the day on the No. 1 Middle School campus. The open spaces in front of each teaching building are filled with students. They line up and then perform calisthenics on the acre or so of land allocated to each class.
Even with the short time they had to stand in line, people were busy doing all sorts of things. Some were chasing and playing with each other, some were eating bread and biscuits to fill their stomachs, and some were memorizing English vocabulary books...
Xu Wenqiang noticed that many people were memorizing words and thought, "Is it really that serious?" Then she took out the chemical equations she had compiled.
But Xu Wenqiang hadn't memorized the reaction conditions of the chemical equation yet, and for some reason their class, which was not very orderly to begin with, suddenly became a mess.
"What's going on?" Xu Wenqiang was confused.
"Xing Jiaqi came to see Xiao Cheng again." Lin Tong said.
Xu Wenqiang remembered that it was this girl who came to see Xiao Cheng and Gao Zhe on the first day of school.
Xing Jiaqi had her hair in twin ponytails today, topped with two bright yellow daisy hair accessories, which made her already bright eyes and white teeth look even more charming. And she happened to be looking for Xiao Cheng, so the two of them together made Class 4's team become particularly lively.
Xu Wenqiang couldn't recite the chemical formula anymore. She looked at Xing Jiaqi and praised her, "She's really pretty."
"It's really beautiful, but it's just—"
Before Lin Tong could finish his words, Wu Ruixue, who was standing beside him, raised her voice and said, "Xu Wenqiang, do you have any aesthetic sense? She just knows how to dress up, how can she be pretty?"
Xu Wenqiang felt that she still had no idea about "aesthetics", so she said: "What is beautiful or not is just in the eye of the beholder."
Wu Ruixue frowned and glanced at Xu Wenqiang with disdain: "It's because there are so many people like you who have no aesthetic taste that Xing Jiaqi mistakenly believes that everyone thinks she is good-looking."
Wu Ruixue's words were like a wet worm, crawling through Xu Wenqiang's heart, making her feel nauseous.
But Lin Tong pulled her.
"Okay, I have no aesthetic sense, you have the final say." Xu Wenqiang was too lazy to argue with Wu Ruixue and decided to accept it.
But Wu Ruixue still felt unsatisfied: "Xing Jiaqi chooses the most crowded times and comes to see Xiao Cheng dressed up in all her finery. She just thinks she's incredibly beautiful and wants to be the center of attention in front of everyone. And yet, there are people like you who have no aesthetic sense and think she's beautiful."
Lin Tong was pulling her again, but Xu Wenqiang still wanted to get rid of the disgusting bug.
"Maybe he has something to ask Xiao Cheng," she said.
"What could she have to say that she has to say it now?" Wu Ruixue looked indignant.
"Maybe it's an urgent matter!" Xu Wenqiang continued.
"What kind of urgent matter could there be between two students!" Wu Ruixue sneered.
"How about you go ask them?" Xu Wenqiang said with a forced smile, "Come back and continue discussing aesthetics with me."
"Xu Wenqiang, you're trying to pick a fight with me, right?"
Wu Ruixue was annoyed.
Over there, Xing Jiaqi found Xiao Cheng and said two things. One was, "Chen Yang came to school today." The other was, "Xiao Cheng, don't forget what you promised me."
After Xing Jiaqi finished speaking, she was about to go back to her class, but she unexpectedly heard her own name.
She woke up early today and had some extra time after breakfast, so she spontaneously tied her hair into two ponytails, using her favorite daisy scrunchie. A girl had called her name, and she figured someone must have thought her ponytails looked great. Actually, tying them well required a little skill, and if that girl liked it, she could share her tips.
Thinking of this, Xing Jiaqi walked over.
What she heard afterwards were all clichés that she found meaningless. Just as she was about to leave, she heard the words, "Why don't you go over and ask?"
Only then did Xing Jiaqi find it interesting.
"You don't have to go over there, I'm already here." Xing Jiaqi said to Wu Ruixue.
Wu Ruixue looked at Xing Jiaqi, her face flushing and pale, but she still insisted and asked, "Then tell me, what did you come to see Xiao Cheng about?"
"I'm here to see Xiao Cheng for no urgent matter," Xing Jiaqi said. "My birthday is next Saturday, and I'm here to invite Xiao Cheng to my house. Wu Ruixue, are you interested?"
"I have something to do next Saturday, so I won't go." Wu Ruixue said, and walked away with a cold face.
Xu Wenqiang looked at Xing Jiaqi closely and thought that there should be nothing wrong with her aesthetic taste. She just thought Xing Jiaqi was good-looking.
"You're Xu Wenqiang, right?" Xing Jiaqi looked at Xu Wenqiang with a smile. "I've seen you play basketball with Gao Zhe and the others."
"My skills are limited, I'm just playing for fun," said Xu Wenqiang.
"They all call you Akagi Haruko, so don't be modest," said Xing Jiaqi.
When Xu Wenqiang heard the name of those four characters, her head was in a mess: "Can you please stop mentioning Akagi Haruko?"
Xing Jiaqi agreed: "Yes, I also think you are much better than Akagi Haruko! Your hit rate is comparable to Mitsui Hisashi, your agility is comparable to Miyagi Ryouta, your ease is comparable to Sendoh Akira, your-"
"Stop!" Xu Wenqiang resolutely stopped Xing Jiaqi from talking nonstop.
Xing Jiaqi felt sorry that her favorite Fujima Kenji hadn't appeared yet, and then raised her index finger: "Let me say one last thing."
Xu Wenqiang said coldly, "If anyone mentions Slam Dunk again, I'll get angry with them."
"No, no," Xing Jiaqi agreed, putting on a warm smile. "Xu Wenqiang, it's my birthday on Saturday. Can you come?"
"I'm busy, I can't go." Without a second thought, Xu Wenqiang flatly refused. She and Xing Jiaqi weren't classmates, nor were they friends. Even if she had the time, she'd be better off finishing a test at home.
"Are you going to study at home?"
"No, I want to help my mother sell seafood."
Xing Jiaqi remembered that Chen Yang and Chen Mengjiao had mentioned during their chat that there were two students from the farmers' market in No. 1 Middle School, one whose family sold seafood and the other whose family sold vegetables.
When Chen Yang talked about Xu Wenqiang, he wanted to eat her alive.
At that time, she was curious about who this Xu Wenqiang was and what heinous things she had done to deserve such hatred. She never expected that Xu Wenqiang in front of her was not a bitch at all, and she even liked her a little.
Also, lately, many people have been saying that she smells fishy or something. She came closer, wanting to see what it was like. But even though she was so close, she didn't smell anything at all, but instead a faint rose scent.
Xing Jiaqi immediately decided that she would lure Xu Wenqiang to her birthday party no matter what.
"Then you should get busy. Come to my house for lunch at noon. It won't take up much time."
“Noon is the busiest time in the market, and I can’t leave.”
"How about I call my aunt and ask for a few hours' leave for you?"
Faced with Xing Jiaqi's soft and hard nagging, Xu Wenqiang was a little annoyed and spoke with temper: "My mother is very busy, don't bother her. We are not familiar with each other, so don't blame me."
But Xing Jiaqi didn't care. She waved her hand and said, "Xiao Cheng, come here."
She had already noticed that Xiao Cheng had been watching this side.
"What's the matter?" Xiao Cheng said as he walked over.
"Xiao Cheng, I want to invite Xu Wenqiang to my house on Saturday, but she doesn't want to go. Can you help me persuade her?" Xing Jiaqi said.
"If they don't want to go, don't make things difficult for them." Xiao Cheng said with a smile.
Xing Jiaqi said coquettishly, "I'm not trying to embarrass her, I just like her. Xiao Cheng, I asked you to come here to be my lobbyist, you have to help me."
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