64. Someone helped me with my studies.
After the sports meet, the excitement died down, and all the teachers kept repeating, "It's time to focus." But many students seemed distracted, their minds seemingly focused on the day's sports field. However, even if they weren't in the mood to study, they still had to concentrate on the daily exams and exercises they were handed.
Before the college entrance examination, as a high school student, as long as you still have breath, you have to do exercises until you die.
After the sports meet, Fu Dongqing and Wang Rui both met with Xu Wenqiang individually, with one theme: "We must attach importance to Chinese and English."
So, Xu Wenqiang began to learn from people around her how to learn Chinese and English.
"The most important things in Chinese are reading and accumulation." Lin Tong put down the novel in his hand and said to Xu Wenqiang.
"The most important things in English are reading and accumulation." Ning Yi said to Xu Wenqiang after careful consideration.
"How to read? How to accumulate knowledge?" Xu Wenqiang asked.
"Reading means reading more books." Lin Tong took out Guo Jingming's "Summer Solstice" and Rao Xueman's "Left Ear" from the hole in the table. "These are my dearest treasures. Take a look at them first, and come back to me after you finish them."
"Accumulation means that in addition to memorizing the words in the English textbook, we must also thoroughly understand the words that appear in the English reading comprehension we usually do." Ning Yi handed his English vocabulary book, which was about five centimeters thick, to Xu Wenqiang. "This is mine, you can refer to it."
Xu Wenqiang hesitated for a few days, holding Lin Tong's precious treasure and Ning Yi's hard work, but still felt that it was not suitable for her. Whether it was reading or accumulating knowledge, it took a long time to complete. If she were in elementary school or junior high school, she could still try to read and accumulate knowledge, but she was already in the first year of high school, and a long time was too luxurious for her.
Just when Xu Wenqiang felt she was at a loss, unexpectedly one day after evening self-study, she saw Su Xiaoshan waiting for her at the school gate.
Since entering high school, Su Xiaoshan and Xu Wenqiang had almost no contact. Only occasionally would they exchange a few words, but such opportunities were few and far between, and they no longer had the close intimacy they once had. Seriously speaking, Chen Yang was closer to Su Xiaoshan than she was.
But Xu Wenqiang accepted Su Xiaoshan's distance and indifference calmly, because she understood Su Xiaoshan's determination better than anyone. He was determined to get into university and leave the farmers' market behind. He had long ago "sold" himself to the college entrance examination in exchange for a bright future, so he naturally threw himself into this gamble without distraction.
So, when Xu Wenqiang heard Su Xiaoshan say that he wanted to help her with her studies on the weekend, Xu Wenqiang immediately said, "Su Xiaoshan, forget it. I don't want to waste your time."
Su Xiaoshan thought of what Xu Wenqiang would say, and said with a wry smile: "I don't mind this little bit of time."
"No, this isn't just a little bit of time." Xu Wenqiang said seriously, "Time accumulates over time. If you help me with tutoring, it will take about an hour at a time. You can do a few more sets of exercises."
Xu Wenqiang's rejection made Su Xiaoshan a little annoyed.
He had been estranged and indifferent to Xu Wenqiang for a long time. Xu Wenqiang was always in trouble, and if he got too close to her, he'd inevitably be implicated. He just wanted to study quietly, so out of sight, out of mind, he simply stayed away from her.
He knew that he was being extremely selfish and cold-hearted, and had wasted their past friendship, but he didn't think he was wrong. Because he had already made up his mind that after the college entrance examination, he could still find Xu Wenqiang and restore their friendship. After all, Xu Wenqiang would always be there.
He felt that there was still time for everything.
It wasn't until the sports meet a few days ago that he and Chen Yang played a table tennis match after a long time.
By the end of the table tennis match, neither he nor Chen Yang cared much about winning. Those past, youthful days were too fierce, crushing him with a single white ball. Especially when he looked at Xu Wenqiang, her radiant smile shot an arrow through him, pinning him firmly to the beauty of the past.
Just as he was lost in the past, he saw Xiao Cheng, Gao Zhe, Lin Tong, and Ning Yi beside Xu Wenqiang. He realized then that Xu Wenqiang wouldn't stay where she was; she was moving on, and new companions would appear around her. If he waited until the college entrance exam to find her, it might be too late.
So, he decided to try to get Xu Wenqiang back now, but he didn't expect Xu Wenqiang to directly reject him.
Is it too late now?
Seeing Su Xiaoshan's loss, Xu Wenqiang couldn't bear it anymore.
"Su Xiaoshan, actually someone is helping me with my studies." Xu Wenqiang said.
Su Xiaoshan's eyes darkened: "Who is it?"
Xu Wenqiang blurted out, "It's Xiao Cheng."
"Xiao Cheng?" Su Xiaoshan frowned, "Are you two already so close?"
"Our relationship isn't that good." Xu Wenqiang didn't know what to say for a moment. Her first reaction just now was to drag Xiao Cheng out to take the blame, but now she could only make up random things. "Actually, he wasn't willing to do that either."
"Was he forced?" Su Xiaoshan asked.
"Yes, he was forced to do it." Xu Wenqiang continued stubbornly, "Xiao Cheng is such a person, how could he take the initiative to tutor me? In fact, he was forced by the homeroom teacher. The homeroom teacher said that my liberal arts were too poor and needed to be improved, so he forced Xiao Cheng to help me with tutoring."
She learned this trick of using a teacher as a cover from Xiao Cheng.
Su Xiaoshan was silent for a while, then said: "Xiao Cheng is the top student in the grade. The head teacher asked him to help you. Naturally, no one can compare to him."
Hearing the dejection in Su Xiaoshan's words, Xu Wenqiang immediately said, "Su Xiaoshan, you are second in the grade, not much behind Xiao Cheng."
Su Xiaoshan laughed at himself, "The midterm exam gave me a gap of nearly fifty points, which is the difference between the first and the second place."
Unable to bear Su Xiaoshan's listless look, Xu Wenqiang patted him hard and said, "Whether it's 50 points or 500 points, if you're not convinced, just catch up."
Su Xiaoshan lowered his head and smiled. This was Xu Wenqiang. Even when she comforted others, she was stubborn.
"Since Xiao Cheng is helping you, I won't get involved." Su Xiaoshan said.
Xu Wenqiang breathed a sigh of relief, "Just focus on your studies."
"Xu Wenqiang, if Xiao Chengshi really doesn't want to, remember to come find me."
"Don't worry, even though he doesn't want to, he still has to see the teacher's mood."
Xu Wenqiang was laughing, but she felt extremely guilty. If Xiao Cheng knew that he had arranged such a "job" for her, she wondered how he would react.
Finally, Su Xiaoshan advised, "Xu Wenqiang, whether it's Chinese or English, the most important thing is reading and accumulation."
Reading and accumulation again. Xu Wenqiang laughed dryly and said, "Okay, I understand."
The day after Xu Wenqiang told Su Xiaoshan that Xiao Cheng wanted to help her with her studies, Xu Wenqiang and Lin Tong finished their dinner and came out of the restaurant only to find that it suddenly started to rain.
The rain wasn't heavy, but it was drizzling. If they ran back to the classroom from the cafeteria without an umbrella, their clothes would definitely get soaked. Lin Tong and Xu Wenqiang decided to wait until the rain subsided before returning to the classroom.
Everyone thought so, so the restaurant entrance gradually became filled with people who were blocked by the rain.
The rain was getting heavier.
Those who lost their patience simply rushed into the rain and ran all the way, which was more refreshing.
Xu Wenqiang was eager to make a move, and said to Lin Tong, "How about I run back to the classroom to get an umbrella, and then come back to pick you up?"
Lin Tong glared at her and said, "Don't even think about it. I'd rather we get wet in the rain together."
Xu Wenqiang had no choice but to give up. Lin Tong was weak and would take a week to recover from a cold. She didn't dare let her get wet in the rain with her.
Just when she didn't know how long she had to wait, someone took a picture of Xu Wenqiang. Xu Wenqiang turned around and saw that it was Fang Zishuo.
"Xu Wenqiang, you can use this umbrella." Fang Zishuo handed Xu Wenqiang an umbrella.
"I feel embarrassed about this." Xu Wenqiang looked at the umbrella in front of her and wanted to take it.
"It's okay, I'll just run back." Fang Zishuo handed the umbrella to Xu Wenqiang and was about to run into the rain. Xu Wenqiang quickly grabbed him and said, "Brother Shuo, take me to the high school building. I'll go back to the classroom to get an umbrella and pick up my classmates."
Fang Zishuo was naturally happy when he thought that he and Xu Wenqiang would share an umbrella. "Okay, I'll hold the umbrella."
"Thank you, Brother Shuo." Xu Wenqiang smiled brightly.
"You're so polite." Fang Zishuo opened the umbrella with a blushing face and a pounding heart. "Let's go."
Just as the two were about to leave, a high-pitched voice came from behind them, "Hey, Brother Shuo, wait for us, we don't have an umbrella either."
"We are really lucky." Xiao Cheng followed closely behind.
"Xu Wenqiang, forget about them, let's go first." Fang Zishuo was about to leave when Gao Zhe jumped in front of him, hugged Fang Zishuo shamelessly and said, "Brother Shuo, don't abandon us!"
"I'll take Xu Wenqiang back to the classroom first, and then I'll give it to you when she comes back with the umbrella," said Fang Zishuo.
"Oh, I'm in a hurry to go to the bathroom. Brother Shuo, please take me back first. I'll bring them an umbrella when I come back." Gao Zhe didn't say anything and hugged Fang Zishuo into the rain.
After Gao Zhe and Fang Zishuo left, Xiao Cheng looked at the rain and said, "This rain came really suddenly."
Xiao Cheng didn't specify who he was talking to, so either Lin Tong or Xu Wenqiang could have taken over the conversation. But Xu Wenqiang, feeling depressed because she was thinking about her Chinese and English again, remained silent. Lin Tong was standing between Xiao Cheng and Xu Wenqiang, so he could only reply, "It's indeed a bit sudden."
Xiao Cheng glanced in the direction of Lin Tong and Xu Wenqiang, and then said, "Every autumn rain brings a chill. After this rain, the weather will probably get colder."
Xu Wenqiang remained silent, so Lin Tong could only continue, "Yes, the weather is getting colder."
"A-choo!" As if to prove Xiao Cheng's words, Lin Tong sneezed.
"Are you okay?" Xiao Cheng asked with concern.
"I'm fine, A-choo!" Lin Tong sneezed again.
Xu Wenqiang didn't care about being depressed anymore. She immediately took off her coat and put it on Lin Tong, "Put it on, don't catch a cold again."
Lin Tong smiled gratefully at Xu Wenqiang, "Thank you."
"It's okay. I was just scared because you kept coughing next to me." Xu Wenqiang said.
As soon as Xu Wenqiang finished speaking, she had an extra piece of clothing on her body.
"You should wear some too, don't catch a cold."
It was Xiao Cheng who took off his coat and gave it to Xu Wenqiang.
After Gao Zhe came back, he found Lin Tong wearing Xu Wenqiang's clothes, and Xu Wenqiang wearing Xiao Cheng's clothes. He couldn't help but laugh, "What, are you playing dress-up?"
"Do you want to join? Take off your clothes and give them to me." Xiao Cheng said.
"I'm not taking off my clothes for you." Gao Zhe rolled his eyes and handed Xiao Cheng an umbrella. "I can only borrow an umbrella."
"That's enough." Xu Wenqiang said, "I'll go with Lin Tong, and you with Xiao Cheng."
"That's not appropriate," Xiao Cheng said. "Two boys sharing one umbrella is too crowded."
"It's really not suitable." Gao Zhe also said, "Just now, Fang Zishuo and I were squeezed terribly under the same umbrella. I don't want to squeeze with Xiao Cheng again." After saying that, he looked at the two Lin Tongs, "Lin Tong, will you share an umbrella with me?"
Lin Tong smiled and said, "Yeah, okay."
"Let's go." Gao Zhe walked to Lin Tong and opened the umbrella.
After walking into the rain, Lin Tong asked Gao Zhe, "You are holding an umbrella with me so that Xiao Cheng and Xu Wenqiang can hold an umbrella together, right?"
Gao Zhe said: "No."
"What's that for?" Lin Tong asked.
"I just want to share an umbrella with you, no reason." Gao Zhe said.
Lin Tong looked up at Gao Zhe beside her, her gaze shifting from his face to his shoulder, which was already wet. She reached out to hold the umbrella handle and tilted it slightly toward Gao Zhe.
"Hold the umbrella properly." Lin Tong whispered.
"I understand." But Gao Zhe still tilted the umbrella over.
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