Courir partout et jouer des rôles mineurs

Chapitre 78

And so, the second semester of junior high school passed peacefully. After the summer vacation, the second year of junior high school started. As usual, Qiu Shanglin topped the list. To everyone's surprise, Qiu Xialin jumped into the top ten of the grade.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Wang Wei and his cronies were all eager to try their luck.

The small group has been quiet for a semester, and if it doesn't cause any more trouble, it will soon be lost in the vast ocean of newcomers.

Qiu Shanglin only reminded me during group meals not to get too cocky and fall off the honor roll again. I don't expect you to be in the top ten every time, but at least I hope your name and Li Changsheng's name can be on the list among the top fifty in the grade.

Those who don't know Qiu Shanglin are indignant on behalf of her brother. She's your sister, not your mother. Are you afraid of her? Does she always say the truth?

Qiu Xialin was neither angry nor resentful; he remained calm in contrast to his friend's indignation.

She's not my mom, but when my mom was too busy with her business to take care of me, she was the one who raised me. Although the process of raising me was very painful, I can't forget it.

The truth... she beat me up, she's right, I'm wrong, that's the truth.

It doesn't matter if I can't figure it out, she first beats me up, cuts off my allowance, forces me to earn money to pay tuition in my spare time, and loudly repeats the truth a hundred times, and the truth becomes the truth.

Drop out of school?

Ha, wishful thinking. Not providing tuition doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Do you think Li Changsheng's fists are just for show?

Qiu Xialin turned around and went back to the classroom. He lay on the table and finished his homework, ignoring Wang Wei's sarcastic remarks. He insisted on finishing his homework before going to play basketball.

The responsibilities, obligations, and rights of being alive.

Having enough to eat and drink, sitting comfortably on campus studying, is my right.

It is my responsibility to study hard and make progress every day.

It is my duty to complete my assignments on time.

See, my sister is very fair. Rights, responsibilities, and obligations are clearly defined, and she never drags things out.

Why is it "because, therefore, although, but?"? Because you have the right, you have the obligation; although the responsibility is difficult, it must be fulfilled—it's that simple.

Wang Wei exclaimed, "This brother really understands life."

My life in the second year of junior high was uneventful. I changed classrooms and dormitories, but I continued to study and work on mountains of problems.

After the previous graduating class of junior high students graduated, the Fifth Middle School did not enroll any new students, which greatly alleviated the dormitory shortage. The second-year junior high students finally moved out of the large dormitory with more than twenty people and were assigned to smaller dormitories by class. Although they were single-story, cylindrical buildings, ten people were better than more than twenty.

The boys' dormitories are separated by a road, facing each other from afar.

Zhang Ran and Ye Ruru both felt it was bad luck.

I had no choice but to live in a big dormitory before, but now that I've moved to a small dormitory, I'm sharing a room with Chen Zhaodi and Qiu Shanglin!

Looking at Qiu Shanglin alone, it's alright. There were conflicts when she entered school, but afterwards she remained indifferent. She was good at studying and had Li Changsheng protecting her, but she didn't act arrogantly or domineeringly. Overall, she was acceptable.

Chen Zhaodi, however, was different.

You're a kid from a poor mountain village; being humble and studying hard is the only way out. I used to think she was well-behaved and obedient, but since starting junior high, she's become increasingly eccentric and arrogant.

So what if you have a good relationship with Qiu Shanglin? Just because you're associated with Li Changsheng, you think you're the best in the world and nobody dares to mess with you.

They truly misunderstood Zhao Di.

As the girls grew a year older, they all developed their own little thoughts. Chen Zhaodi knew that studying was the only way out and never dared to slack off. But she was, after all, a girl, with self-respect and a bit of a temper. She used to think that students from the city were superior, but after spending more time with Qiu Shanglin, she realized they weren't so great after all. Why should rural students have to give way to city students? Why are you always picking and choosing and making us suffer?

If you have thoughts in your mind, they will inevitably show on your face.

She used to live a very cautious life. Even a girl like Ye Ruru, who was domineering in the class, would feel flattered and obedient if she spoke to her.

Ye Ruru used to use up all of her hot water, and she never complained.

Moving to a smaller dormitory reduced the number of people, but it also highlighted the conflicts.

Unlike boys, girls are very clean. Each girl has two thermos flasks and goes to fetch water every afternoon to wash her feet and face in the evening and the next morning. Qiu Shanglin never has to worry about hot water, as Li Changsheng takes care of that. Chen Zhaodi and Liang Meihua, however, have to queue up to fetch water themselves.

Some people are frugal with water, while others are wasteful. Those who are close often borrow hot water from each other and will help each other bring a bottle next time they go to get water. Ye Ruru and Zhang Ran are particularly wasteful with water and too lazy to get it themselves; they often borrow hot water from others but never return it. The girl is too shy to say anything, and also doesn't want to argue with her, so she tolerates it as much as possible.

The two of them used every hot water in the entire dormitory, except for Qiu Shanglin's.

People privately say they bully the weak and fear the strong, but ultimately no one wants to mess with these two 'tigresses'.

Chen Zhaodi lived in the lower bunk right inside the door. The thermos was placed by the bedside near the door, and Ye Ruru and Zhang Ran often took it without asking. When Zhaodi returned to the dormitory at night, there was no hot water, and Liang Meihua and Shang Lin had to lend her some.

After asking several times without receiving a response, someone who couldn't stand it secretly told her the truth: Ye Ruru and Zhang Ran never hesitated to use her water.

Zhao Di was angry.

I'm not angry about using water, but at least tell me, right? I asked you guys so many times in the dorm and you didn't say a word. Do you think I'm a pushover?

She is introverted but stubborn; she keeps things to herself and can remember them for a lifetime.

From then on, he couldn't stand the sight of those two people, and his words and actions reflected it all.

There's something else. She lives near the entrance, and during lunch breaks or between classes, people habitually sit on her bed when they come back. Chen Zhaodi, having lived with Qiu Shanglin, has developed a bit of a germaphobia and hates it when people sit on her bed without permission. She's told them off several times, and everyone else is very considerate, except for Ye Ruru and Zhang Ran, who act like nothing's wrong and sit there right in front of her. She's been so angry that she's secretly shed tears several times.

However, these are not the main reasons that exacerbated the conflict.

The trivial matters mentioned above were big issues in her eyes, but Ye Ruru considered them insignificant. What she couldn't tolerate the most was that Chen Zhaodi actually liked Ouyang Linhao!

Who is Ouyang Linhao?

Most of the girls in the class had a crush on him.

Tall, handsome, generous, righteous, good at basketball, and from a wealthy family... In the eyes of junior high school girls, he was the embodiment of a prince charming.

Half of them liked Ji Yunwen. Although Li Changsheng wasn't bad either, almost no girls in Class One liked him.

Who would like a guy who always has a cold face and doesn't care about other girls except when he's sleeping, studying, or playing sports?

Ye Ruru, taking advantage of her proximity to Ouyang Linhao and their shared hometown of Huaiqiao City, had long been flirting and engaging in ambiguous relationships. They officially became a couple during the summer vacation after their first year of junior high, and since then, she felt she had risen above everyone else, looking down on everyone else. Even her senior in high school had to treat her politely because of Ouyang Linhao.

She knew many girls had feelings for Ouyang Linhao, but it didn't matter; she was his official girlfriend. There was nothing wrong with liking someone, especially someone as outstanding as Ouyang Linhao… If Chen Zhaodi simply liked Ouyang Linhao, she wouldn't say anything.

But alas!

Chen Zhaodi had a primary school classmate in Class 5 named Lü Ping. They would occasionally have meals together, chat, and catch up on each other's lives. The problem arose because of Lü Ping.

During a conversation, Chen Zhaodi unabashedly expressed her admiration for Ouyang Linhao, as well as Ji Yunwen. She thought they were both outstanding. Lü Ping, ever the gossip, asked who she would choose as her boyfriend if she had to pick one.

Chen Zhaodi thought shyly for a long time before giving her answer: Ouyang Linhao.

It was just a casual chat between friends, but unexpectedly, Lü Ping became a big mouth and told everyone she met about her conversation with Chen Zhaodi.

Chen Zhaodi was also quite well-known among her classmates.

They were outstanding students and, along with Qiu Shanglin and Liang Meihua, were known as the "Three Musketeers." The news eventually reached Ouyang Linhao's ears.

Ouyang Linhao was also being a jerk; he looked down on Chen Zhaodi's looks and family background, and despised her poverty. But it was always a pleasant surprise that a girl who excelled academically liked him.

During a casual conversation, Ye Ruru mentioned Chen Zhaodi, jokingly saying that if Ye Ruru pursued Chen Zhaodi, he might accept her.

This really angered Ye Ruru.

So you're saying I'm on the same level as her? I'm your girlfriend, yet you say you can accept Chen Zhaodi? Aren't you deliberately trying to insult me?

He didn't dare to cause trouble with Ouyang Linhao, but he held a grudge against Chen Zhaodi from then on, and tried to trip her up and make trouble for her at every turn.

Poor Chen Zhaodi was completely unaware and remained immersed in her peaceful life.

Although it's September, the lingering heat of late summer is still intense, and the weather remains hot and dry. After lunch break, I hung up the mosquito net, washed my face, and went to the classroom with my friends.

They got up early, and there were only a dozen or so students in the classroom, some buried in their studies, others sleeping. Ye Ruru and Zhang Ran, contrary to their usual behavior, didn't sleep until the bell rang.

Ye Ruru sat on the table, legs crossed, looking every bit the rebellious teenager. Zhang Ran sat opposite her, looking up at her, and the two chatted.

Zhao Di and Liang Meihua sat at the table and began reviewing the lessons they would be learning that afternoon.

Ye Ruru deliberately raised her voice, speaking in a strange tone: "Did you hear Qiu Shanglin sharing his learning experience in the class meeting?"

Upon hearing the words "Autumn in the Forest," Mei Hua and Chen Zhaodi exchanged a knowing glance. They continued reading, their attention shifting to the conversation behind them.

Zhang Ran cooperated with her, also loudly saying, "Mmm-hmm-hmm."

"She's so down-to-earth. She just says her experience is to read more, write more, and practice more. She's not pretentious at all. She doesn't go running around aimlessly. When people ask her for her learning experience, she doesn't hide anything. Unlike some people who study until midnight every day, but pretend they don't like studying in front of others during the day to show off how smart they are!" She rolled her eyes at Chen Zhaodi as she spoke.