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“Impossible.” Li Wenwen appeared at the door.

Pan Ling stepped forward, displeased, and said, "Li Wenwen, what are you doing in our class again!"

Most of the girls in Class 1 also surrounded Pan Ling to cheer her on. The annoying Li Wenwen had repeatedly caused trouble for Lin over the past three years. When she couldn't win, she would cause trouble for other girls in the class. She was arrogant because she had a powerful father!

Li Wenwen raised her head: "Qiu Shanglin, the principal is looking for you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and left without stopping. Do you think I care to see her?

After a while, Shanglin returned dejectedly.

"How so?"

Shang Lin made a face as if he was about to cry: "The principal wants me to play the erhu."

The classroom was silent for a while, then burst into laughter. "Playing the erhu! The erhu! Only old men play the erhu, this prodigy is truly extraordinary!"

Shanglin understood the children's teasing and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In the corner, Li Changsheng leaned lazily against the wall, one foot propped up on his classmate's stool, looking like a delinquent: "You have to go sooner or later. Do you think acting coy will work? If it worked, Qiu Xialin would act coy eight hundred times a day to avoid being punished."

The classroom fell silent again. Qiu Shanglin was so angry that he pointed at him and couldn't speak. Then someone couldn't help but chuckle, which triggered a burst of laughter. People slammed their fists on the tables and smashed their chairs, laughing like a swarm of bees.

Seeing Li Changsheng's nonchalant attitude, Shang Lin secretly vowed in her heart: You just wait, when we get home I'll...

A frustrated roar echoed in his heart: Li Changsheng, you're becoming less and less lovable!

Happy Arcade

To prepare for this grand event, the school selected a total of thirty-five students, but only six could perform solo acts. Li Changsheng was one, Qiu Shanglin was another, Li Wenwen performed a solo dance, and Qiu Xialin performed a crosstalk routine. The third grade was particularly talented, taking up four of the spots, and the fifth grade had two more students. Pan Ling and others led the singing in the chorus. All those selected were students with excellent academic performance, conduct, and appearance.

Every afternoon after the second period, while others went home, they stayed behind to rehearse in the small auditorium.

Shanglin really wanted to apply to go home and learn the instrument himself. Qiu, a music teacher from the same clan, clearly didn't understand the erhu and didn't think much of this traditional instrument. Although she respected the gifts the Qiu family gave her every year and treated both Shanglin and Xialin well, the way she looked at the erhu in Shanglin's hands was like she had swallowed a fly, which always made people feel sorry for her.

They regarded the most essential knowledge of their ancestors as dross, while regarding foreign things as treasures.

She wanted to play "Galloping Horses," but the principal thought it was too noisy; then she wanted the classic "Moon Reflected in the Second Spring," but the principal said it was too melancholic. Shanglin really wanted to ask the old man, "Should I play 'On the Golden Hill of Beijing'?"

Faced with the principal's serious expression and earnest contemplation, she dared not ask, fearing that a casual remark might strike a nerve and leave her speechless with regret.

Everyone else had been rehearsing for days when the principal hurriedly announced, "Guest from afar, please stay—you will play this piece!"

She was dumbfounded: "I can't."

The principal said, "I've found a teacher from the Children's Palace for you to provide specialized guidance."

The small auditorium was divided into several sections. Li Changsheng practiced martial arts with a chuckle, Qiu Xialin recited lines with a glib tongue, Li Wenwen danced gracefully to music, Pan Ling sang with a large group of people, and as for Qiu Shanglin? Under the guidance of the teachers at the Children's Palace, he practiced again and again.

"Out of tune, start over!"

"No emotion, start over!"

"Who told you to turn the pitch up? Do it again!"

She gritted her teeth, her expression a mixture of sympathy and schadenfreude.

During the break, Changsheng swung his arms, walked over, and looked down at Shanglin, who was sitting on a small stool massaging his arms: "It sounds awful!" He frowned and picked at his ears.

The horrifying sound is even worse than when she first learned the erhu! She forgot to put cotton earplugs in.

Shang Lin didn't even look up: "Get lost!"

The older the brat gets, the less fun he becomes.

Xia Lin also jumped over, handed over a bottle of water, and said solicitously, "Sister, have some water."

He still didn't raise his head: "If you have something to report, speak now; otherwise, the court is adjourned."

He grinned shamelessly and said, "Can you lend me some money?"

Warning: "What? Where's your allowance?"

My mom gives him pocket money every month, but never gives it to herself. She's so biased!

"It was Daqiang's birthday last week, so I bought him some small gifts." Qiu Xialin reached out for money, saying that he had spent all of his monthly allowance without feeling any guilt or unease.

My mom gives him 100 yuan a month, which is far too much for a child at this stage. He eats and drinks at home, buys his own clothes, and his dad gives him a little something from time to time. He also pays for his snacks. 100 yuan a month, doesn't he have any savings?

When confronted by his sister, he replied matter-of-factly, "I always have to go out and have fun with my friends, and of course, going out and having fun costs money!"

Something's not right.

Sensitive to the unusual situation in Xialin.

She hadn't disciplined Qiu Xialin for a long time. Since starting school, Shanglin's sense of urgency had increased day by day. She was too busy with her own things every day, and Qiu Xialin had been behaving very well. As long as he finished his homework on time, Shanglin would let him play, and she wasn't as strict with him as before.

But his friend spent 100 yuan on a single birthday celebration?

With a stern face: "What did you buy?"

Xia Lin said impatiently, "Sister, I'm not a child anymore! Are you going to lend me the money or not? If not, forget it!" After saying that, she turned around impatiently and muttered under her breath, "So long-winded. If Mom hadn't gone on a business trip, I wouldn't have asked you for money!"

After he walked away, Shanglin asked Changsheng, "Do you know what he's been busy with lately?"

It seems that both of them have been very busy lately, each busy with their own things, and haven't been together. Changsheng seems to have found a new master, and after school he runs a long way to the village to practice martial arts, while Xia Lin is with his friends, but no one knows exactly what they're doing.

As expected, Changsheng shook his head, indicating that he did not know.

His partner was calling him, frowning impatiently, and tossed him a band-aid: "Wrap it up, it's all torn, don't get the erhu dirty, it's so expensive!"

She looked down and, sure enough, saw that her finger was scraped and bleeding. She carefully tore off a bandage and wrapped it up, then looked up gratefully, saying, "You're so good..."

Changsheng didn't care about her gratitude at all, turned around and left without looking back.

He then remarked, "I'm just wasting such an expensive erhu!"

Shanglin sniffed. "You brat, none of this is fun!"

How wonderful it used to be! He could scold her however he pleased, without uttering a sound. If he got angry, he would run away, then come back after a while, and everything would be fine again. Now, it's different. Every word is sharp and confrontational, he won't give an inch, and he's a master of sarcasm and ridicule. His quick wit makes her wonder if he's become a completely different person.

Has he entered his rebellious adolescence?

Wait a minute, he's only eleven...

Laughter erupted from the stage; Qiu Xialin was already playfully joking around with her fifth-grade partner.

Shang Lin frowned. No, he had to find out exactly what Qiu Xia Lin was up to!

Third graders get out of school at 4 p.m., and they practice until 5:30 p.m. Now it gets dark around 6 p.m., so Xia Lin hasn't gone out to play for a long time. Every day after practice, he obediently accompanies his sister and Chang Sheng home.

After a few peaceful days, the weekend arrived. The music teacher, feeling they had practiced very hard, announced that the next day would also be a holiday, and they didn't need to come to school. Everyone cheered and was very grateful. Xia Lin was also eager to try, exchanging knowing glances with his friends. Shang Lin saw this but remained silent. After returning home, he gave Shang Lin fifty yuan, telling him that he was going out the next day and wouldn't be home, and that Shang Lin should go out and have fun by himself.

Xia Lin was almost overjoyed. He forgot to say thank you after borrowing the money and jumped three times as he went back to his room.

The next morning, wearing a white top, white pants with red cherry patterns, a light printed scarf, and a neat ponytail, with a small leather bag on her back, she greeted them and left the Red Star Compound under Xia Lin's watchful eyes.

However, she did not go far.

I turned to the small shop across the street, greeted the owner sweetly, bought a bag of sunflower seeds, and sat in a secluded spot in the shop, cracking sunflower seeds and chatting with the owner.

The convenience store faces the main entrance of Hongxing, and people coming and going can see her. She sits in a secluded spot, but they can't see her.

After waiting for about ten minutes, and when half of the bag of sunflower seeds was gone, Qiu Xialin skipped out the door.

Shanglin wasn't in a hurry. He leisurely bought another bottle of Wahaha, chatted with the shop owner for a few minutes, and then got up to leave.

He followed Xia Lin at a leisurely pace, arriving in town. He saw Xia Lin meeting with Da Qiang, Er Qiang, their fifth-grade crosstalk partners, and several other people whom Shang Lin had met but whose names he couldn't recall, all at the movie theater entrance. The group of six or seven chatted and laughed, but instead of going into the movie theater, they waited for everyone to gather before leaving and continuing on their way.

The street in front of the movie theater was a small vegetable market where farmers sold their homegrown produce. She squatted down to ask about the price of rapeseed, bought a pound of newly harvested peanuts, took off her scarf and put it in her bag, then turned her white coat inside out. It was a new women's outfit from Mocha Cat, reversible. The front was white, and the back was pink.

She then let her ponytail down and put the purse into a plastic bag.

He carried a pound of peanuts in one hand and a bottle of water and half-eaten sunflower seeds in the other, slowly trailing behind them.