Courir partout et jouer des rôles mineurs

Chapitre 41

Yes, them… Shang Lin silently counted in his mind: one, two, five… ten…

There were classmates from my own class, classmates from Class Two, and even older students came?

Seeing her depressed expression, Pan Ling felt embarrassed and touched her braided pigtails: "Don't blame me, there were some people I didn't even invite, I don't know how they knew and came on their own."

After saying that, he snorted dismissively.

She was referring to Li Wenwen, the peacock girl from Class Two.

Today she wore a bright red top embroidered with green flowers, paired with blue polyester pants, and a large, fluffy red flower on her head—it was practically a living color patchwork.

Many girls surrounded her with envy, asking her all sorts of questions.

She was very proud: "My dad bought it for me when he went to Guangzhou on a business trip. He said that fluffy fake flower headdresses are very popular in Guangzhou now."

"Where's your jacket? The flowers on your jacket are so pretty," a little girl said enviously, touching it.

Li Wenwen raised her head even higher: "Of course, I bought it from the provincial capital's department store, it's so expensive. Hey, touch it gently, don't break it!" She pretended to be impatient and pushed the other person's hand away, but she was actually very happy inside.

Hmph, she finally managed to get her mother to let her play with her classmates, so of course she had to dress up nicely and outshine Qiu Shanglin!

Just then, Pan Ling and Shang Lin also came over.

The girls who had been surrounding her suddenly swarmed around Shang Lin. The little girl who had been there earlier looked at Shang Lin enviously: "Shang Lin, the little cat on your clothes is so cute, is it Mocha?"

Shang Lin smiled warmly: "It's not Mocha, it's Mocha's distant cousin, who came back from Antarctica to visit relatives. Her name is Caramel Macchiato."

Several people exclaimed in surprise.

Pan Ling only then noticed that Shang Lin was dressed differently than usual.

"Oh, you're wearing a gym uniform. I've never seen you wear one to PE class."

Wearing a dark brown tracksuit, with a baseball cap on the lapel, Caramel Macchiato looks straight ahead and strides forward, his serious expression accentuated by the silver accents, making him appear even more noble.

Shang Lin pouted: "It looks bad, doesn't it? I washed all my tracksuits, and this is the only one left."

These are their newly designed autumn products. Shanglin thought the colors were too old-fashioned and not suitable for students. However, they're selling very well in the south.

Pan Ling shook her head, sincerely praising, "Very beautiful, looks very—" She tilted her head, unable to think of a suitable adjective.

Someone pointed out: "Noble."

Her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands: "Yes, that's it! So elegant! Just like a rich young lady on TV." Turning around, she saw that the person who had spoken was an older student she didn't recognize.

Shanglin chuckled. Noble? I'm even more noble!

He waved his hand, intentionally or unintentionally ignoring Li Wenwen's resentful stare, and set off up the mountain.

Their destination was on the edge of town, and the mountain wasn't high. There was a TV signal transmission tower on the top of the mountain, and some farmers nearby had cleared land on the hillside to grow fruit trees. It wasn't remote, so the adults weren't worried about any danger.

Changsheng counted, and there were nineteen people going up the mountain together, ten girls and nine boys. He whispered to the nine boys and they split into two groups. Several senior students led the way, while Changsheng and Xia Lin accompanied the younger and weaker students behind.

Two women equal a thousand ducks. Enduring the noise, screams, and laughter around her, Shanglin silently counted: a thousand ducks, two thousand ducks...

She reaped what she sowed. She should have listened to Lin and disagreed with bringing Pan Ling along.

This isn't a trip for three people, it's more like a group outing!

They took the cloth bag that Xia Lin was carrying and started throwing in blooming wild chrysanthemums along the way. At first, Xia Lin obediently accompanied them, but later, unable to resist the temptation of the lively scene, he ran off and disappeared without a trace.

After she finished picking a large clump of wild chrysanthemums and straightened up contentedly, she realized that no one was around her anymore, and the large group of people had disappeared. Looking ahead and behind, there was no one; the empty mountains filled her with a sense of panic.

He called softly, "Qiu Xia Lin? Qiu Xia Lin?"

No one answered.

"Immortality? Immortality?"

The only response she received was the cawing of crows overhead.

"Pan Ling? Pan Ling?"

A rustling sound came from the dense woods behind him, startling Shanglin, who shouted, "Who's there?"

There was no answer. The commotion in the woods paused for a moment, then resumed, with the sound of rustling bushes being moved.

Her muscles tensed as she picked up a stone and held it in her hand. Surely there couldn't be wolves in the mountains?

Pshaw, how could there be wolves? People come and go on this mountain; there aren't even many rabbits, let alone wolves.

There aren't many rabbits, so what could be in the woods?

Fear gripped me. I swallowed hard, thinking nervously, "I can't just sit here and wait to die." I clenched my fists and threw a stone with all my might toward the source of the noise.

"Ouch!" A muffled cry of pain was heard, followed by a rustling sound from the bushes as Li Changsheng emerged.

Clutching a cloth bag in one hand and a large handful of wild chrysanthemums in the other, he laboriously touched his forehead. The stone left a mark of dirt on his forehead.

Shang Lin breathed a sigh of relief and complained, "Why didn't you say anything when I told you to!"

Li Changsheng spat out the chewed grass root in his mouth and muttered, "I'm your brother!"

He persisted.

Shang Lin was taken aback. Recalling all this time, it seemed that if he were called by his name directly, although he wouldn't resist, he would never respond. On the contrary, if he was called "brother," although he didn't seem particularly happy, at least he wasn't a sullen person.

"Fine, fine, Changsheng brother, great brother, at least say something! You almost scared me to death!"

She looked curiously at the wildflowers he was holding: "Wow, you picked so many?"

He grabbed the cloth bag again and peered inside. The bag was already mostly empty. Looking at Li Changsheng, his newly changed clothes from the morning were now filthy, covered in grass roots and mud, with petals scattered everywhere.

She smiled and helped him pat the flowers clean. She took the large handful of wild chrysanthemums from his hand and tried to pick some, but Changsheng stopped her: "Don't pick them!"

Take it over, carefully pick the foxtail grass and bundle it into a bunch, forbidding Shanglin from damaging it.

He searched for a long time and finally chose the most beautiful flower, intending to put it in the living room when he got back... She really liked it!

Shanglin pouted and let him be.

The two walked side by side, leaving behind a patch of wild chrysanthemums, their flowers plucked, swaying in the wind, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"After drying them, I'll make a small pillow for you and Xia Lin each. Chrysanthemums are good for the liver and eyes." He happily fiddled with the cloth bag, showing it off.

Changsheng didn't care what she wanted to do. "Since you want it, it's not a big deal. You've already picked a big bagful. If it's not enough, we can come again tomorrow. Ugh, without this whole group of people, it's so noisy!"

Demon King

The main group wasn't far away. After turning a corner, a group of people formed two circles on the hillside. One circle played a game called "drop the handkerchief," while the other circle chatted with Li Wenwen at the center.

Not far away on a flat area, Qiu Xialin was playing football with several boys. Seeing his older sister and brother approaching from the slope, he abandoned the football, ran to the edge of the slope, and shouted down:

"Sister, sister, over here! Come up from over there!" she waved her arms to direct.

Shang Lin didn't say anything, but Li Changsheng glared at him.

You brat, you didn't even keep a proper eye on your sister. Luckily I was there just now, what if there were wild animals in the mountains!

Qiu Xialin had no idea what his brother was thinking, but if he did, he would have said nonchalantly, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid of wild animals, let my sister eat them!"

Li Wenwen was beaming as she talked about her cousin in the city. Her cousin was only in fourth grade, and after school she couldn't play because she had to have tutoring. On weekends, she went to the children's palace to learn dance and piano—she was so busy! But her cousin was so beautiful; she was the captain of the Young Pioneers at her school, often hosted programs, and was both well-liked and academically gifted…

Finally, he said, "My dad said that after the midterm exams, he'll send me to the Children's Palace to learn piano!"

After speaking, he glanced at Qiu Shanglin, who had just arrived, almost imperceptibly.

Can you play the piano? So what if your family is rich? My dad said people like you have no real background, you're just nouveau riche, you have no talent, hmph!

Shang Lin didn't pay attention to her provocation, but he happened to hear her last sentence and seemed to be deep in thought.

Yeah, why didn't I think of learning some skills? I spend all my time buried in books and struggling with all sorts of knowledge and English. Why didn't I think of cultivating my interests and artistic talents?

It wasn't that she disliked the money-grubbing about him—she actually liked it. She just felt that since she had been given a second chance at life, she wanted to try everything interesting. Before, she always envied other girls who elegantly played the piano, painted, and danced. Now that she had the means and the time, why not learn some skills?

Oh, and Xia Lin and Chang Sheng too, they have to learn too, they have to learn together!