isolated incident
Xia Tong's family and relatives have asked her many times, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
“My lord,” Xia Tong would always answer with utmost solemnity and firmness.
At this point, the adults would always burst into laughter, thinking how adorably naive the child was!
But this was truly Xia Tong's biggest dream, because only by becoming an "adult" could she avoid being bullied. Young Xia Tong herself had no idea how much bullying she had suffered from childhood. Many years later, her mother jokingly recounted how she had pointed to patterns in a book and asked Xia Tong to choose: "Which pattern do you like? Mom will knit you a pretty sweater." Little Xia Tong replied, "Mom, can you knit a devil on the sweater?" Her mother was startled: "Why?" Xia Tong said, somewhat aggrieved, "Only this way can I scare away the bad guys who bully me." Only then did Xia Tong realize how timid she had been, so timid that she felt sorry for her younger self.
When we were young, we always longed to grow up. Maybe when we grew up, we wouldn't have to do homework at night and could watch TV with our parents. Maybe when we grew up, there wouldn't be all kinds of exams. Maybe when we grew up, we wouldn't be controlled. Maybe most importantly, when we grew up, we wouldn't be bullied by classmates who were two or three years older than us. But it seems like we still have a long way to go before we grow up. But time never tells us that it's just a thought.
Junior high school life isn't as mechanically repetitive as elementary school; there are many more courses. Diligent students can bury themselves in books all day, while those who don't like studying can be idle all the time except for classes. Xia Tong doesn't belong to either category. Most of the time, she's in a state of idleness, only experiencing brief bursts of intense study when her conscience kicks in, usually after the monthly exam results come out.
In the sweltering summer heat, the cicadas outside the window chirped incessantly, and even the blooming flowers seemed to wilt in the high temperatures. Fu Jia sat listlessly behind Xia Tong, staring blankly at her back. Beneath her smooth ponytail was Xia Tong's slender, fair neck, and a white short-sleeved cotton T-shirt encased her delicate, youthful body. Huh? What's that? Fu Jia noticed something: why was there something protruding from her back? What was that? She pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out. After observing for several days, Fu Jia, lacking any physiological knowledge, finally understood from others' explanations that it was the clasp of a woman's bra.
This sparked a lot of thoughts in his mind... Xia Xiaotong was wearing underwear too? When did this happen? How come I didn't notice?
This always fueled his fantasies, making him wonder what kind of body lay beneath that lingerie. So he reached for a pen and deliberately drew a long line across her back, past the clasp. The rounded end of the pen glided through her thin fabric, gliding across her delicate skin. The moment the pen was caught on the clasp, Fu Jia felt a strange flutter in her heart.
Xia Tong was startled by this sudden action, followed by anger: "What are you doing? Drawing on someone else's clothes with a pen?" Then she nervously checked the back of her clothes and found that her clothes were still clean and there were no pen marks. She looked at him suspiciously and muttered, "Crazy."
Fu Jia scratched his head, showing no remorse whatsoever, and spread his hands, saying, "There was a bug crawling on your back just now."
Hearing the insects, Xia Tong immediately shrank her shoulders. This action amused Fu Jia, who laughed smugly. His mischievous look was very appealing to young girls, except for Xia Tong, who was just a child and afraid of being bullied.
At this moment, Xia Tong's deskmate, Wu Mengmeng, snorted coldly, threw the pencil case that Xia Tong had accidentally brushed against into the desk, and whispered, "Slut."
Xia Tong glanced at her, not daring to argue with Fu Jia again, and simply pursed her lips, drooping her head on the table. She was already used to that unpleasant word, but she still wasn't used to the feeling of being isolated and rejected by all the girls. Most pretty girls have probably experienced being called a "slut" by other girls. Perhaps some are indeed because of their indecent behavior, but some are simply because they are too close to the boys they like—a case of "the common man is innocent, but the one who possesses a treasure is guilty."
Xia Tong was isolated for a simple reason. When she first entered junior high school, there was a very lively girl in her class named Li Jiaqi, who was very influential among the girls. Xia Tong always thought of her as a popular figure in the class. One day, Li Jiaqi took the initiative to chat with Xia Tong and said that Xia Tong had a great personality and wanted to be friends with her. As someone who didn't have any close friends, Xia Tong was even a little flattered and naturally agreed with great joy.
Compared to Xia Tong, Li Jiaqi was definitely more talkative and witty. She could talk about anything from classic literature to celebrities, from the teacher who looked like a bitter gourd but smiled like a chrysanthemum to the handsome boy from the next class and his rumored girlfriends—she could go on for three days and three nights without stopping. They walked home from school together, read the same comic book, used the same eraser, wore the same bracelet, and even held hands when going to the bathroom during breaks. During that time, Xia Tong deeply experienced the taste of friendship, passing notes in class and whispering secrets after class. She realized that female friendships could be so close and sweet.
A few days before Christmas, Li Jiaqi asked casually, "What's your relationship with Fu Jia from our class?"
Xia Tong froze, unsure how to respond.
Seeing her hesitation, Li Jiaqi frowned: "What kind of relationship do we have? You won't even tell me such a small thing. I've always thought of you as a friend."
Xia Tong waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no... I have nothing to do with Fu Jia."
"You still say no? Wasn't Fu Jia originally assigned to the best experimental class in our school? I heard she was transferred to our regular class just for you." Li Jiaqi looked at her with a questioning gaze, somewhat unhappy. "Fine, if you don't want to say, then so be it. I'll tell you everything. So this is the kind of person you are."
"Fu Jia—Fu Jia is a relative of mine, umm, my uncle's kid." Xia Tong panicked and started lying through her teeth. She really had no relation to Fu Jia whatsoever. Was she really going to fall out with her friend over someone she had no connection with? How could she?!
"A relative? Really? Doesn't he like you?" Li Jiaqi was very surprised and doubtful.
“How could that be? He’s my brother!” Xia Tong nodded with unwavering conviction.
"Really? I'm so happy!!!" Li Jiaqi suddenly clapped her hands and hugged Xia Tong.
"What's wrong? What do you mean?" Xia Tong was completely baffled.
Li Jiaqi, while holding her close, whispered in her ear, "I'll tell you a secret, but you absolutely can't tell anyone else!"
That Christmas happened to fall on a Saturday. Xia Tong was squatting on the steps, clutching a heart-shaped tin of chocolates. Sigh, it seems one lie requires a hundred more to cover it up. She had a bad feeling when Li Jiaqi gave her a comic book that morning. Sure enough, she was then sent to deliver chocolates to her "brother," Fu Jia.
As she squatted there drawing the eleventh circle, Fu Jia walked over, playfully teasing a group of boys. Despite her reluctance, she immediately stood up, having been asked to do so. Fu Jia spotted her right away, approaching with her group, somewhat surprised and pleased: "You were waiting for me?"
The boys following behind were some classmates and some strangers. Xia Tong was a little nervous being surrounded by so many people, and she clutched the box of chocolates tightly in her hand. As soon as the boys saw the chocolates, they immediately teased, "Hey bro, you're really lucky with the ladies! We're leaving now, don't scare our future sister-in-law."
Xia Tong instinctively wanted to argue upon hearing this, but Fu Jia immediately laughed and slapped one of them: "If you're going to leave, then leave quickly, what are you still wasting your breath on here!"
"Hey, the girl hasn't even said anything and you're already blushing. Don't embarrass us men!"
Fu Jia was somewhat embarrassed and angry: "Get out of here!" The group of people left laughing.
When Fu Jia turned around, Xia Tong was still holding the chocolate and remaining silent. She was surprised to find that Fu Jia's face was really red. Seeing that she was staring at him and her face seemed to be burning even more, Fu Jia reached out and pinched Xia Tong's little ear: "What are you daydreaming about? Is this chocolate for me?" He reached out to take the chocolate from her hand.
Xia Tong nodded and then shook her head, first clutching the chocolate tightly and then letting go. Fu Jia found it amusing: "What does this mean? Have you gone mad?"
"Li Jiaqi asked me to give this to you."
Fu Jia's face instantly changed from a rosy glow to a dark, oppressive expression: "Who?"
"Li Jiaqi".
"Is it the woman you're with all the time?"
"Um."
"You come just because she tells you to? Why aren't you this obedient when I ask you to do something?" Fu Jia shoved the chocolate in her hand into her arms and left.
Xia Tong was a little dumbfounded. Wasn't he just happily coming to get the chocolate? How could he suddenly turn on her like that? She quickly followed up, "Why don't you want it anymore?"
"Do you want to eat?" Fu Jia asked, walking briskly forward without stopping.
"What?" Xia Tong asked, puzzled. By this time, Fu Jia was already much taller than her, and her short legs were having some trouble keeping up.
"chocolate."
Xia Tong thought for a moment about how she would eat the things Li Jiaqi gave to Fu Jia, and then replied, "I don't want to."
Fu Jia's tone was even worse: "Do you think I would eat something you wouldn't even want to eat?" She walked even faster.
"But--um--how can I accept it?" Xia Tong asked helplessly: Why is it so difficult to give a gift?
Fu Jia suddenly stopped and turned to face her: "Do you want to eat?"
Xia Tong was taken aback, but this time she learned her lesson and readily agreed, "I want to eat it."
"Then you can open it and eat it." Fu Jia was like the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, flicking its bright red tongue and its body gleaming with a cold light.
"This wasn't for me, I can't..."
"I'll eat if you eat."
"This...it's not poisonous." Xia Tong was quite surprised to hear this and stammered.
Fu Jia's face darkened, and she said impatiently, "Are you going to take it apart or not? If not, I'm leaving."
Xia Tong deftly opened the box, took out one, and naturally handed it to Fu Jia. Only then did Fu Jia smile, peel off the gold foil, and eat it with a grin.
Then, led by Fu Jia, the two finished off the entire box of chocolates. They ate as they walked, and when they arrived at a KFC, Fu Jia said with a smile, "To thank you for treating me to chocolates, I'll treat you to something."
Xia Tong asked in confusion, "But this really wasn't a gift from me..." Before she could finish speaking, Fu Jia pulled her into the store.
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