In the first few days of the second year of high school, Jiang Qiaoxi stayed in the competition class and participated in closed training for the league.
He was standing in the corridor when he received a phone call from a junior high school classmate whom he had long forgotten.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, do you still remember me? I'm Feng Letian!" The man was so excited that his voice kept breaking. "I, I, I... I came to our school in my second year of high school and was assigned to Class 18. It just so happens that we are in the same class again!"
Jiang Qiaoxi didn't remember having such a classmate, nor did he know how the other party got his cell phone number.
"I'm elected monitor again!" Feng Letian said happily, "If you have any problems in the future, you can call me on this number!"
"Okay." Jiang Qiaoxi said.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, even though you didn't come to class, your classmates missed you very much and are cheering for you in the semi-finals!"
"Thank you." Jiang Qiaoxi said.
"Well, there is one more thing..." Feng Letian said.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, do you still remember that when you were in junior high school, there was a guy who came to the gate of our school to look for you, Lin Qile, classmate Lin?"
Jiang Qiaoxi put his hands in his trouser pockets and said nothing.
"It's like this," Feng Letian somehow changed his tone to begging for mercy, "Classmate Lin happened to be my classmate when I was studying at the South Campus. She was a good student, studied hard, was very smart, sensible, and kind. She was really a very good girl."
Jiang Qiaoxi listened silently.
"I think there must be some misunderstanding between you two! Jiang Qiaoxi, you are usually busy with competitions, so you may not be aware of the rumors in school. Classmate Lin told me that, anyway... you were only classmates in elementary school for two years, so you don't know each other anymore, right!" Feng Letian laughed when he said this, as if this was a ridiculous misunderstanding from beginning to end. "You will be classmates in the future, so it's better to explain some things that haven't happened. It's better to talk about them!"
Jiang Qiaoxi was stunned for a moment.
"What didn't happen?" he asked.
During the break on Friday, Lin Qile stood in the queue in the square, waiting to do the morning exercises.
There are always a few minutes of free time before the music starts.
It has been the eighth day since school started, and whenever Lin Qile is in a crowded place, there are always people around her talking about her.
"She, she, did you see it?"
"Which one?"
"The one standing in the row in front of Fehringer!"
"The one with short hair?"
"No, no, oops! The one from Class 18 wearing white sneakers! She has a ponytail, did you see it?"
…
At such times, every detail of Lin Qile from head to toe can always become a label on her.
These labels indicate an image: a girl who once overestimated her own capabilities and shamelessly chased after Jiang Qiaoxi.
Yu Qiao was the sports committee member, so he was supposed to lead the team in front. Cai Fangyuan was short, so he also stood in front of the boys' team.
Lin Qile himself fell behind.
To her left was the class monitor, Feng Letian, and diagonally behind her was the physics representative, Felinger.
At this moment, Felinger was still chatting with Cen Xiaoman, who was standing in the row behind Lin Qile.
"Jiang Qiaoxi has an exam this Sunday," Felinger said, "I called him and he will finish the exam at noon. Then shall we go to KTV to celebrate for him?"
Cen Xiaoman said softly, "Stop making trouble. Jiang Qiaoxi will definitely go back to the competition class. He doesn't like to celebrate."
Feilinger said, "That's right. Jiang Qiaoxi's family is so strict. Aunt Liang will definitely not agree."
Seeing Lin Qile standing in front, motionless, not attracted by their conversation.
Felinger stared at the back of her head and said, "How come these women are so shameless to come and cling to him when his parents are so strict?"
Feng Letian turned around and said, "Feilinger, stop talking during exercise!"
Lin Qile stood there amid the laughter around her, and she heard some absurd retellings.
"What's in the letter?"
"I remember! She said Jiang Qiaoxi and she had a daughter in the countryside!"
The air was filled with whispers. Lin Qile heard others laughing and she herself found the content quite funny.
Finally, the "times" began to "call" and broke everything.
Lin Qile responded to the call and started doing exercises seriously.
Lin Qile, who had just arrived at the main campus of the Provincial Experimental High School, was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil. The harsh hissing sound was enough to evaporate the self-esteem of any girl of the same age. But Lin Qile was in it. She went to class, went home, and was out of school... She was with her friends, laughing and joking, and did not show any obvious sadness or loss.
Some people say that this is because she is thick-skinned. A girl who dares to pursue boys openly in junior high school, what else is there to be afraid of
Some people also said that this was because Lin Qile had a clear goal: she came from the countryside for Jiang Qiaoxi, not only did she pass the test and transfer to the main school, but now she and Jiang Qiaoxi are in the same class. "Jiang Qiaoxi hasn't come these few days. When he comes, I wonder what this woman will do!"
Feng Letian chased after Lin Qile with his schoolbag on his back after school. He said to Lin Qile, "Student Lin, don't be influenced by them!"
Lin Qile walked beside Yu Qiao, Cai Fangyuan and Du Shang. She ate the ice cream in her hand and turned to look at Feng Letian.
Feng Letian wanted to avoid Yu Qiao and the other boys. He hesitated and said, "Student Lin, you didn't do anything... You can tell Feilinger and the others that it was just rumors! Tell them to stop talking nonsense!"
Cai Fangyuan turned his head and looked at Du Shang and Yu Qiao in surprise.
Lin Qile pursed her lips around the small milk cake. She still had time to talk to him before the bus arrived.
"Feng Letian," she said softly, "I..."
Feng Letian said: "You and Jiang Qiaoxi were only elementary school classmates for two years, and you didn't even know each other after that. Why did they make up so many stories?"
Lin Qile was stunned, and she smiled at Feng Letian.
"It's true that he and I were only classmates in elementary school for two years," Lin Qile said, "but I did write a letter to Jiang Qiaoxi..."
Duchamp stood nearby with a sour look on his face.
"Ah...ah?" Feng Letian didn't react.
Lin Qile said to him, "But that was a long time ago. I didn't come to the provincial capital because of Jiang Qiaoxi. My parents' jobs were transferred here. Anyway, no one would believe me if I told them."
"Then..." Feng Letian stuttered.
"It doesn't matter." Lin Qile looked at him with big eyes and smiled. "Let them talk if they want to."
"Alright, alright," Yu Qiao said impatiently, "The car is here, let's go."
September 11th was a Monday. In the morning, after morning reading, the first class was English. Jiang Qiaoxi went to the principal's office to get a certificate of honor from the school. The principal stopped him and showed him concern, asking him how he performed in the semi-finals. The school had high hopes that he could be included in the provincial team. He was a rare talent in many years, so there would be no problem.
Jiang Qiaoxi, carrying his schoolbag and holding the thin commendation, walked up the stairs of the teaching building. Many people around him greeted him, some were former classmates, and some had taken classes with him in the competition class. Nearly half of the students in the experimental high school were directly promoted from the junior high school. To put it bluntly, it was impossible for someone in the same grade not to know Jiang Qiaoxi.
Jiang Qiaoxi went up to the third floor and passed the door of Class 15, then Class 16 and Class 17.
At the end of the corridor, there is a water dispenser with a lot of people crowded next to it.
A girl, wearing the loose blue and white striped school uniform of Experimental High School, had two buns on her hair tied with a hairband. In her right hand, she held a water cup with a cherry pattern, and in her left hand, she held a pure blue NBA commemorative sports water bottle. She took the hot water and added boiled water. She didn't see Jiang Qiaoxi, and she went into Class 18 holding the two water bottles.
Jiang Qiaoxi walked into the back door of the classroom. His seat was always in the last row. Many classmates saw him and gathered around him.
He saw Lin Yingtao walk around many desks and put the sports bottle on Yu Qiao's desk. Yu Qiao was reading the sports newspaper as usual. Yu Qiao reached into the drawer and took out two tea bags. He didn't even need to look at them and threw one of them into Lin Yingtao's cup.
Felinger asked excitedly: "Jiang Qiaoxi, how did you do in the test yesterday? Did you get full marks?"
Jiang Qiaoxi sat down, opened his schoolbag, and took out the book. He raised his eyes again. Lin Yingtao sat down by the window. She no longer had two childish ponytails. She had two buns, with a few strands of hair falling behind her ears, exposing a part of her neck and her side face, which were exposed to the sunlight from the window, making them look delicate and white.
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head. He didn't even know what the class schedule was. It was only after his classmates reminded him that he took out his English textbook.
When he raised his head for the third time, Cai Fangyuan turned around from the front and his eyes met Jiang Qiaoxi's.
The English teacher walked in and Cai Fangyuan turned around.
Jiang Qiaoxi was called upon by the English teacher in the first class.
He hadn't been to school for over a week, and all the teachers knew where he had been.
Jiang Qiaoxi read a passage of text. He didn't need to preview or look up words in advance. He could read all the content he had not learned.
The teacher was very satisfied and praised: "With Jiang Qiaoxi's English level and oral proficiency, it would be a waste for him to be admitted to Tsinghua University in the future! He should go to Harvard, Stanford, or MIT!"
Lin Qile was in the front, looking down at the text. She carefully typed the words on Wenquxing, and then wrote down the results in the book, without any distractions.
The author has something to say: －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
Notes to this chapter:
＊The “Times” are “Calling”: “The Times Are Calling” is one of the second series of national primary and secondary school students (children). It was organized and created by the Ministry of Education and was promoted nationwide on September 1, 2002.
*Wenquxing: The brand name of an electronic dictionary.