Chapter 108 I don’t dare to beat you, I don’t dare
Xu Sirui had heard Zhu Yingning's footsteps fading away, but a few seconds later, her footsteps came back again, and the edge of the bed sank, and she climbed back into his bed.
“…”
He felt his hair stand on end for some reason. He carefully pulled the quilt over himself and asked, "Anything else?"
She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Are you really not going to participate in the competition with me?"
He wanted to say, "Don't even think about it," but he was wary of her behavior, afraid that if he refused too firmly, she would do something horrible. As he hesitated, a pair of hands suddenly slipped under the covers and furtively groped their way to his waist.
Xu Sirui was extremely ticklish, especially around his waist. Before her hand even touched the shirt around his waist, he guessed her intention and twisted to the side with a yelp. "Zhu Yingning! Can you please be reasonable?!"
"But you don't listen to me when I speak reason."
She stretched out her claws again.
"Shit!" He scooted aside again. "No! Wait a minute, listen to me, um..." He racked his brains, desperately coming up with a stalling tactic. "Aren't teams of three required for this competition? Who are you going to call for the other one?"
"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, I plan to name the third person Wu Bo."
After hearing her answer, Xu Sirui was overjoyed. Based on his superficial understanding of Wu Bo, she definitely wasn't the type to be enthusiastic about participating in Model United Nations competitions. So he blurted out, "I can agree to it, but only if Wu Bo agrees first. If you can convince her, then I'll have no problem."
Zhu Yingning was stunned: "Really?"
He relented, and this seemed like a good solution. She didn't really want to tickle him and make him suffer, so she pondered, "That's fine. But since you've already promised me, you can't go back on your word. If you dare to go back on your word..."
He swore a solemn oath: "Let me be struck by lightning."
After saying this, he observed three seconds of silence for Wu Bo in his heart.
**
Xu Sirui's guess was correct. Wu Bo hated all competitions and didn't want to force herself into unnecessary limelight. She just wanted to quietly remain an unknown figure throughout her three years of high school. After hearing Zhu Yingning's proposal, she refused without hesitation: "Find someone else."
I even laughed a few times because the proposal was too ridiculous. "What's wrong with you? Why did you think of asking me to participate? You know my English level."
Wu Bo's performance in all subjects was mediocre, and English was the worst. He might get lucky and do well in other subjects occasionally, but he had been failing in English for decades.
"It's because my English is so-so that I need to practice," Zhu Yingning said confidently. "How much water a bucket can hold depends on its weakest link. As long as you address that weak link, you'll definitely make great progress. Wu Bo, I'm optimistic about you."
"?"
Wu Bo scratched his head. "Don't tell me that. I won't buy it. I'm not very ambitious. I'm a mediocre person, so I'm just a mediocre person. I can get by with a little water."
Facts have proved that although few people fall for Zhu Yingning's nonsense, few people can avoid being nauseated by her nagging.
Wu Bo had thought her refusal was the end of the matter, but she hadn't realized it was just the beginning. She had been friends with Zhu Yingning for over six months, but she had never truly grasped the power of her stubbornness. On the contrary, she had always thought Zhu Yingning was kind and gentle, easy to talk to. It wasn't until she persisted all day asking, "Are you really not going?" that she realized she could be as stubborn as a bull.
By the time school was over, Wu Bo felt that he had lost two kilograms due to Zhu Yingning's torture, and he even had auditory hallucinations.
I originally thought it was just an exaggerated feeling, but when I got home and stepped on the scale, wow, I actually lost two kilograms.
When she lay in bed at night, in her dreams, Zhu Yingning would ask her: "Wu Bo, are you really not going to participate? People's shortcomings..." It frightened her and made her break out in a cold sweat.
When she arrived at school on Friday, she was suspicious and like a frightened bird. She broke out in a cold sweat when she saw Zhu Yingning coming towards her seat during class.
"Sister, sister! Please, I really don't want to participate." She begged for mercy first and almost knelt down to her.
Zhu Yingning patted her shoulder and suddenly said, "I was wrong to force you like that yesterday."
Wu Bo was stunned, thinking that Zhu Yingning still had some humanity left in her. He was so moved that he almost cried. Then he heard her say, "I should appeal to your emotions and reason with you. Yesterday's approach was too blunt. Today I've come up with a new reason. You..."
Wu Bo covered his ears and screamed as he rushed out of the classroom.
Of course, she couldn't outrun him. Zhu Yingning caught up and started blabbering about her new excuse: "I looked it up online, and some people lose weight rapidly when they're under a lot of stress."
Wu Bo was almost stunned, thinking, "Didn't you insist on trying to lose weight in a healthy way just a few days ago? How come you've suddenly started practicing evil?" She retorted, "High stress can also turn into stress-induced obesity, just like overwork obesity."
"No, you have to believe me," she said. "I will use you hard and squeeze you. I will never let you sit idle and I will never give you the chance to gain weight from stress."
"?"
Later, Zou Hao even found out that Zhu Yingning wanted to invite Wu Bo to participate in the competition.
After Zhu Yingning refused to compete with him, he diligently worked to find a new candidate. However, upon hearing she was having trouble choosing someone, he leaned over and offered advice: "Why did you choose Wu Bo? Her English isn't good, her vocabulary is limited, her oral English is terrible, and she has no stage presence or courage. Choosing her as your teammate will only drag you down. You should go find the English class representative; her English is much better than Wu Bo's."
These words were said behind Wu Bo's back when he went out to the toilet. Unfortunately, Wu Bo forgot to bring tissues and happened to return to the classroom to find paper, so he heard every word of these words.
She stood behind the classroom door, shaking all over.
Although she had long known that Zou Hao was a person who put profit above all else, after spending the first semester together, she had once thought that she, Zhu Yingning, and Zou Hao—the three of them—were already friends.
A trio is a heartwarming feature of many anime.
It turns out that’s not the case.
It turned out that she was just wishful thinking.
She suddenly realized that she had always been just an accessory. In Zou Hao's eyes, she was probably always Zhu Yingning's vassal, like the cheap draft copy given as a gift when buying a book, which no one would cherish. She was someone he had to deal with, not a friend he actively wanted to make.
That's why he could criticize her without restraint.
Tears filled her eyes. Although she was well aware of her mediocrity, she was still sad enough to cry when she heard someone she considered a friend belittle her like that.
In the classroom, Zou Hao asked about another candidate. After hearing Zhu Yingning say it was Xu Sirui, he was silent for a long time before saying, "Are you sure? I'm not trying to criticize you, but I think your selection is flawed. One is clueless, and the other is naive and unreliable. The teamwork model of 1+1+1>3 is reserved for geniuses. For ordinary people like us, achieving 1+1+1=2 is rare. Three talented people working together can only produce the performance of two at best. This shows how important selection is, and the person you found is probably 0+0+1=0."
When Wu Bo heard that Zou Hao also belittled Xu Sirui, he instantly felt much better.
Well, at least there are people who are as miserable as her.
She smiled bitterly, thinking that perhaps there was some benefit to Zou Hao's words. At least after hearing them, Zhu Yingning would definitely give up on her. Who would want someone who had no knowledge? Who would be so foolish as to choose a burden?
But she heard Zhu Yingning say——
"I don't think so."
Her tone was so firm that it felt like she was stating an established truth: "There's nothing wrong with my judgment, Zou Hao. The three of us together will defeat you and your team."
She was so calm that it didn't seem like she was issuing a challenge, but upon closer inspection her words were undoubtedly a provocation.
Zou Hao was silent for a moment, then uttered a "ha" and said with a hint of displeasure, "Then I wish you can gather these people soon."
**
"...Are you kidding?" Xu Sirui frowned. "I don't believe it unless you ask Wu Bo to come and tell me in person."
A few minutes later, Zhu Yingning took the timid Wu Bo back to the floor where Xu Sirui's class was.
Wu Bo hung his head for a long moment, then carefully raised it and said with an awkward laugh, "Haha...haha...well, uh, yes...I did agree to participate."
It was an earth-shattering, earth-shattering scene. Xu Sirui steadied himself by holding onto the railing of the corridor beside him. He called Wu Bo aside and asked, his voice low and gloomy, "What's wrong with you? Why did you agree to participate in this kind of competition?"
Wu Bo shrank back, his face almost frozen with laughter. "Actually, I'm puzzled too, haha... Maybe I was impulsive at first. To be honest, I already have some regrets..."
Xu Sirui was overjoyed: "Then go over and tell her you regret it now."
Wu Bo said with a bitter face: "I dare not."
“…”
She actively encouraged him, "Why don't you go and tell her you regret it?"
Xu Sirui said with a wooden face: "I wouldn't dare either."
In this way, a team was assembled with extremely unstable morale, no fighting spirit or faith.
The registration deadline happened to be today. Zhu Yingning filled out the registration form and gave it to Hong Qingyang before school was over. He then asked about the competition time and found out that there were less than ten days left to prepare.
Time was running out. On the way home, she had a serious look on her face, which made Xu Sirui feel uneasy, fearing that she would suddenly come up with some new way to torment him.
Fortunately, after walking for a while, she said goodbye to him and said that she had something else to deal with.
He was very happy and told her to take her time and not to rush.
"I'll be done with it soon. I'll discuss the competition with you when we get home. Don't go to bed too early."
Xu Sirui nodded, "Oh," but in his heart he was thinking that he must go to bed early tonight. Early to bed and early to rise is indeed the wisdom of the ancients.
After leaving him, Zhu Yingning turned around and took the subway straight to her destination according to the address of Zhu Zhiwei's home that she had inquired from Yi Yi yesterday.
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