"That's it?" Zhang Boyuan felt utterly disappointed, but then he thought, isn't this the representative from last year?
So does that mean we don't have to listen to Brother Chen rambling on stage this year?
That's great news!
We received more textbooks this semester than last semester. The classrooms were filled with stacks of unopened books, making it hard to look at them all.
Gu Chen signed the book collection form with the teacher, and the teacher distributing the textbooks put the stack of books, weighing dozens of kilograms, into the arms of the boys in Class 2 of Literature.
Gu Chen was strong and carried two stacks of books by himself. He even stopped in front of the grade office, and when he heard the conversation inside, he stopped Wang Zehao and Yang Shuhuan, gave them the books, and said he would have to go to the grade office next year.
Gu Chen gave a report and went inside. Director Tang was sitting on the sofa talking face to face with Xiang Yu. When he saw Gu Chen come in, he quickly waved him over to sit down.
Director Tang rubbed his temples. "Gu Chen, you've come at the right time. Xiang Yu doesn't want to speak as an outstanding student representative. You spoke well last time, so you can continue as the representative this time."
"Huh?" Gu Chen looked at Xiang Yu, who nodded at him, indicating that he should go.
Seeing the exchange of glances between the two, Director Tang felt that the matter was settled. "Alright, it's already Thursday. Gu Chen, what are you going to do for the opening ceremony next Monday... huh?"
A female teacher peeked in from outside the door and repeated what she had just said, "Director Tang, the teaching materials need your signature."
"Okay, sure." Director Tang stood up, but returned quickly after signing the papers, asking Gu Chen and Xiang Yu to wait for him a moment.
"You go ahead with your work, we'll wait for you here." Gu Chen watched as Director Tang left the office, leaving only him and Xiang Yu in the office.
"Hey deskmate, can't you give a speech on stage?" Gu Chen moved next to Xiang Yu. "Didn't you read your self-criticism under the national flag last time too?"
Last time, the system helped, but it's still dormant now. Xiang Yu feels that he probably can't go up alone. If he goes up as a representative and stumbles or has a stress reaction, he'll not only lose face for himself, but also for the entire grade.
However, Xiang Yu couldn't reveal the existence of the system, saying, "I was in good condition last time."
Gu Chen knew that social anxiety needed to be gradually alleviated, but he believed that taking this step would be of great help to Xiang Yu in the future.
"Hey deskmate, aren't you going to get into S University? You'll most likely become a teacher after you graduate, right? If that's your decision, you should start training now, shouldn't you?"
"..."
Gu Chen's words stumped Xiang Yu.
Seeing that he was silent, Gu Chen tried to persuade him step by step, "Shall we give it a try this time? It's just reading from a script. Even if you don't look up at all and just stare at the script, it's still a first step."
Xiang Yu hesitated, and even after Director Tang returned, he still hadn't given Gu Chen a clear answer.
Gu Chen thought to himself, "Let it go this time. I can train him slowly later."
When Director Tang returned, he made the decision and was about to speak when Xiang Yu, who had been hesitating for a long time, spoke first.
"Director Tang, I've decided to do it myself," Xiang Yu continued, "as an outstanding student representative of the grade."
This way, the decision would be the same as the initial one, so Director Tang naturally had no objections.
"Alright, get ready and write a speech so I can take a look later." Director Tang didn't forget to say to Gu Chen, "Gu Chen, you two are good friends. Xiang Yu said this is his first time speaking as a representative, so please help him out."
Gu Chen readily agreed, "No problem."
After leaving the grade-level office, Gu Chen secretly tugged at Xiang Yu's hand when no one was looking. "Great job! Your boyfriend has taken the first step!"
"Hmm..." The system has lost connection, so Xiangyu really has to rely on himself now.
The distribution of textbooks took up most of the class time. The remaining time was used for the dean to have the class do a thorough cleaning, continuing with the duty roster from the previous semester, and having a few students clean the designated cleaning area outside.
The boys had already moved their textbooks, so the cleaning work was naturally left to the girls.
Xiang Yu has already begun preparing his speech, and his efficiency is astonishing.
Gu Chen meant that he would help write it and offer some advice, but Xiang Yu politely declined.
Gu Chen was displeased and leaned over to rub his forehead against Xiang Yu's shoulder. "I'm good at this, why are you refusing? Do you think my handwriting is ugly, deskmate?"
Xiang Yu snorted, only to see Gu Chen's expression as if struck by lightning.
"Hahahaha!" Wang Zehao laughed out loud without giving Yang Shuhuan any face, and they laughed silently together.
Squad Leader Gu was unhappy, so he took out a calligraphy copybook and began to carefully trace the characters on the table.
Seeing him like this, Xiang Yu went over to coax him again.
Wang Zehao's laughter suddenly stopped. His face fell, and he pulled out the half-eaten bread from the table bag and took a vicious bite.
What are you laughing at? She has a boyfriend who's taking care of her, and you still have the nerve to laugh?
After swallowing the bread, the tone shifted abruptly, and he sighed softly, "I sat up in shock while on my deathbed, and realized that the clown was myself."
Yang Shuhuan watched as Wang Zehao's expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book, and secretly sighed that he had been lonely for too long.
People either become twisted in loneliness or perverted in solitude.
The classroom hadn't been cleaned for almost a month, and there was too much dust on the floor. Even after mopping it once, it wasn't clean enough, so I had to rinse the mop and do it again.
The girls' restroom is far from the classroom, at the end of a corridor corner, while the boys' restroom is much closer. It's common for girls to ask boys to help them wash mops.
Not all girls in the class can get along well with the boys; quite a few liberal arts girls are introverted and easily shy.
When faced with a situation where a guy's help is needed, everyone knows without hesitation who to ask.
"Class monitor, could you please help me wash the mop...?"
A girl with a ponytail walked up to Gu Chen's desk with a mop, keeping her head down and not daring to look at Gu Chen's face.
Xiang Yu was quite friendly to the students in Class 2 of Literature, unlike when he was studying in City B, where he didn't recognize all the students in his class.
I vaguely remember that the shy girl's name was Zhou Yongting.
There was another girl standing next to Zhou Yongting, also holding a mop.
Xiang Yu remembers her name as Liu Meng.
Both girls were quite shy and rarely spoke to other boys. They hadn't even interacted much with Zhang Boyuan, who usually mingled with the girls.
Gu Chen truly lives up to his reputation as a role model for class monitors; helping his classmates is his mission.
Gu Chen stood up, took the two mops, smiled at the two girls, and said, "No problem, leave them to me."
Zhou Yongting and Liu Meng blushed, nodded, and made way for him.
Xiang Yu also stood up and took one of the mops from Gu Chen's hand. "Let's go, I'll go with you."
Gu Chen was overjoyed to have her boyfriend with her, and even her tone became much more cheerful.
The men's restroom is divided into inner and outer sections. The inner section is where people take care of their business. The door to the inner section is the same as the outer section, with a curtain hanging on it to block the view. Outside, there is a row of faucets. Opposite the faucets, in the corner of the wall, there is a small pool made of marble bricks specifically for rinsing mops. It is not big, and it can only rinse one mop at a time. If you rinse more than one, the water will easily splash out.
When the two went in, there was only one boy in the outer room. Xiang Yu glanced at him and saw that he seemed to have ink splashed on the hem of his hoodie and was rinsing it with water.
A large black stain, the water carrying the black stain flowed into the pool.
Xiang Yu didn't look at it much and went with Gu Chen to the mop sink in the corner to wash the mop.
The mop was dusty at first, and after mopping the floor, the water it rinsed out wasn't much better. Xiangyu stirred it in the sink for a long time, but the water was still murky.
"Squeeze some of this." Gu Chen simply picked up the dish soap that the cleaning lady used to wash the sink next to him and squeezed some into it.
After using it, she didn't put it down immediately. Instead, she took it to the sink and handed it to the boy.
"Should we use some of this?" Gu Chen shook the dish soap. "It should clean it better."
The boy kept his head down and didn't say anything. When he saw Gu Chen still holding the dish soap, he reached out and took it from him.
"Thank you." Her voice was barely audible; Gu Chen almost thought he was hallucinating.
"You're too kind." Gu Chen smiled, walked over to Xiang Yu, and took the mop from her.
"I'll take care of the rest."
Xiang Yu handed him the mop, staring at the foamy sewage in the pool, occasionally glancing at the boy over there.
As luck would have it, when he looked over there, the boys over there were also looking at them.
Realizing she had been discovered, she quickly looked away, rubbing the stains on her clothes with her hands. When she realized she couldn't get them clean, she squeezed some dish soap onto them.
"Let's clean up, deskmate. Let's go." Gu Chen drained the water from the mop, picked up two mops, and walked out of the bathroom.
Before leaving, Xiang Yu took one last look at the boy and saw him hurriedly lower his head.
The two had just come out of the restroom when three other people went in.
Going in is fine, but it becomes suspicious once the door is closed.
The door slammed against the door frame with a 'bang'.
Xiang Yu and Gu Chen stopped at the same time and looked at each other.
"Tsk, it's not clean yet? Sorry." The boy with slicked-back hair walked straight to the boy doing laundry, put his elbow on his shoulder, and looked down at him scrubbing the stain.
"Why is it so hard to wash? Can I help you?" Seeing that he had been rubbing it for a long time and there was still a stain of a not-so-light color attached to it, she simply picked up the dish soap from the edge of the sink and squeezed it on for him without waiting for the boy's consent.
This squeezed out more than half a bottle, and even got some on other clean parts of the boy's clothes.
"Oops, sorry, I squeezed out too much." The man with the slicked-back hair held the dish soap and pressed the dusty bottom of the bottle against it. "Let me help you spread it evenly."
The boy had been biting his lip and remaining silent since the laundry started, but now he's flinching.
The slick-back-haired man's hand fell empty. He narrowed his eyes dangerously and gestured to the two gatekeeper boys to come and help him hold down the boy doing laundry.
"I'm just trying to help you, don't be ungrateful..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
A voice came from outside the door, "Why is the men's restroom door closed?"
He then opened the door and pushed it open without giving the person inside any time to react.
Gu Chen opened the door, and the two met Xu Youluo, who was using the restroom, on the way. They both gave each other their mops so that Xu Youluo could take them back.
They both had a feeling that something was happening in the restroom, and sure enough, it was.
Once the bullying was seen, the slick-haired man no longer bothered to hide it.
All four of them were from the first year of high school. If this poor guy hadn't come to the second year boys' restroom to wash his clothes, he wouldn't have been seen by the second year students.
"Excuse me, senior, we're just settling some personal scores." He said, taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handing two to Gu Chen and Xiang Yu respectively.
The guy with the slicked-back hair thought this trick worked well and it was effective time and time again in the first-year high school class.
Who knew they wouldn't take care of things in the second year of high school.
Gu Chen and Xiang Yu naturally refused the cigarette.
Gu Chen pointed at the boy doing laundry and asked, "Does personal grudges give you the right to bully your classmates?"