In front of the podium, Vice President Zhang spread out yesterday's test papers and reported the results, entering the normal daily process.
Under the podium, Lin Zhaoxi lowered her head and opened Lu Zhihao's examination paper, her fingers trembling slightly.
What came into view was the huge red 49 behind the grade column, and red x's all over the test paper.
Looking carefully, Lu Zhihao scored 9 points for the knowledge point sorting questions, and the remaining 40 points belonged to four multiple-choice questions, and all the fill-in-the-blank questions were eliminated.
For any child, this result is a huge blow, let alone Lu Zhihao who has always been excellent in mathematics
Zhang Shuping: "Lin Zhaoxi, 79."
There was another burst of exclamation in the classroom.
Lin Zhaoxi lowered her head, glanced at Lu Zhihao's test paper on the table, and sat still.
Zhang Shuping said: "Come up and get your test papers."
Hanamaki poked her in the back.
She stood up slowly, dragged her heavy steps, and walked to the front of the classroom.
Standing still and looking up, the face of the middle-aged man is close at hand, with a calm, cold, and incomprehensible deep meaning in his eyes.
Lin Zhaoxi would like to ask, why do you want to hit the child's self-confidence
Exams, elimination, more and more people leave, is this the only way to select the elite you need in the end
But what about other children except the elite? What should they do
These words were stuck in my chest, and I couldn't say them.
"Do you have anything to say, student Lin Zhaoxi?" Zhang Shuping asked.
In the mist of the great lake in the distance, Lin Zhaoxi stood at the front of the classroom. She really wanted to do something, but she felt that she was extremely small. Facing a powerful authority, what could she do
In the end, she still took the four test papers and returned to her original position without speaking.
—
Lin Zhaoxi didn't have the heart to listen to the three classes in the morning. She felt that she was sorry for Lu Zhihao. She always thought that among this group of children, she was a warrior with a sword in hand and fighting dragons, but in fact, she was still the cowardly little girl. girl.
Lu Zhihao never spoke a word to them again.
After class, the children went to the reading room to grab seats as usual, and Lu Zhihao also packed his things numbly and left the classroom.
Teaching area, boulevard.
Lu Zhihao walked in the front with his schoolbag on his back. He walked hurriedly. Fortunately, his direction was still in the reading room.
Lin Zhaoxi, Pei Zhi, and Hanamaki followed behind, slightly relieved.
"What happened to Lao Lu?" Hanamaki asked.
Lin Zhaoxi kept silent, Pei Zhi pressed the brim of his hat, and did not speak.
"You don't talk, but I'm so anxious that you don't have to go to school." Hanamaki yelled.
"You don't need to use it!" The boy's mocking voice came from behind.
Zhang Liang's little followers chased each other and ran fast. In the blink of an eye, they rushed behind Lu Zhihao and gave him a hard push.
Lu Zhihao staggered heavily.
"49 points." Wang Feng approached Lu Zhihao and smiled, "Failed."
"Fat piggy~" Lu Ming stretched out his hand to pinch Lu Zhihao's cheek.
"I didn't pass the reading in the middle of the night."
They ran away after yelling, their movements were too fast, and when Lin Zhaoxi realized it, she couldn't catch up.
The wind passed by, and the malice in the air could not be blown away, even the water and wind had a fishy smell.
Back and forth, many children were looking at Lu Zhihao, smiling or showing sympathy.
At this time, Zhang Liang put his hands in his pockets and walked past her slowly.
Lin Zhaoxi turned her head, the boy raised the corner of his mouth, and whistled provocatively,
She turned around abruptly, and directly grabbed Zhang Liang's collar: "What do you want to do?"
"What's wrong with me?" Zhang Liang raised his head, his sharp little chin was about to poke her nose.
"Why did you find someone to bully Lu Zhihao? How did he offend you?"
"I didn't, do you have proof?"
"Aren't Lu Ming and Wang Feng your good friends?"
"They are them and I am me. Besides, is it called bullying to be honest?"
Lin Zhaoxi clenched her fists.
"Besides, I was with Chen Chengcheng just now, how could I tell them to bully Lu Zhihao?" Zhang Liang said, and shouted, "Chen Chengcheng, come here."
Chen Chengcheng was at the end, and only after hearing Zhang Liang's greeting, he dragged his pace and came to them.
"You testify to me that I didn't ask anyone to bully Lu Zhihao."
"It's not... Zhang Liang." Chen Chengcheng hesitated, his soft hair covered his face, he was cautious, like a small group of wet seaweed.
Lin Zhaoxi's heart was full of fire, which was completely ignited by Chen Chengcheng's cowardly appearance.
"Zhang Liang, you're really not afraid of me beating you up!"
"Yeah, you only dare to hit your classmates, why don't you dare to hit your teacher?"
Zhang Liang turned his head and glanced at the top floor of the teaching building, where there seemed to be strict eyes watching their every move
So what
Lin Zhaoxi punched Zhang Liang without hesitation.
Suddenly, the hand was grabbed.
Lin Zhaoxi struggled twice, and found that the hands holding her were still motionless, turned her head, it was Pei Zhi.
Lu Zhihao walked back at some point, the little boy's chubby face was covered with wet tears, and he also stretched out his chubby fingers to grab her wrist.
"Don't...don't fight." Lu Zhihao was cautious, his lips trembling, "He will be fired."
—
By the lake, turquoise reeds sway in the wind. Today's weather is gloomy, stagnant and humid and hot, making people breathless.
The four of them lined up and sat side by side on the water's edge.
Pei Zhi opened the biscuits, Hanamaki handed over a bag of bread, Lin Zhaoxi gave Lu Zhihao crispy noodles, and each of them held a box of milk in their hands.
"I was too impulsive just now." Lin Zhaoxi said.
"It's... It's me... I didn't pass the exam, so you guys are worried."
Lu Zhihao forced himself to grin, but kept silent about what Vice President Zhang had said to him in the office.
Hanamaki: "Wow, Lao Lu, what are you talking about, believe it or not, I will push you down and dance with you?"
Lin Zhaoxi: "Calm down, don't try to elope with Lao Lu."
Huajuan held her head in both hands, laying on the concrete floor like this, looking up at the sky: "Honestly, brother Xi, I really want to leave. Lao Lu is more serious and can learn a little bit, but I really don't seem to be able to learn. Not born for mathematics."
"There is no... there is no such thing as inherently unsuitable."
Pei Zhi: "If you quit, I will go too."
The former Pei Zhi did not persist in this summer camp to the end, and Lin Zhaoxi finally understood the reason.
Said softly: "We are leaving, Zhang Liang must be very happy."
"You can't go."
The little boys looked at her in unison.
Lu Zhihao: "Even if we leave, you can't leave."
Hanamaki: "Besides, I'm just talking."
Pei Zhi: "Don't worry."
Only then did Lin Zhaoxi realize that perhaps they stayed here just to accompany her. Because she said that she will rely on this exam to fight for a free life.
But the more this happened, the more she didn't know what to do.
The waves brought gray-white foam and kept rushing towards the embankment.
She remembered what she had said to them—to hold on to the opportunity, no matter how ugly or difficult it was.
Even if you don’t understand why you want to do it, or if you do it, it’s doomed to fail, don’t give up, because if people always live with the mentality that I still have another way, then one day when they grow up, they will definitely regret it.
Disgusting classmates, teachers who can't adapt, why persist here
—
Oasis base, reading room.
There is still a dense rustling sound around, and everyone is still doing questions, writing, and flipping through books softly.
Lin Zhaoxi moved her fingers back and forth on the textbook, and the once-familiar nouns suddenly became unfamiliar again, and she couldn't concentrate all the time.
Lu Zhihao was sitting next to her, working on the questions very seriously.
It was going to be five o'clock soon, and Lu Zhihao didn't ask her or Pei Zhi any questions. He was immersed in the world of self-struggle and refused any foreign aid.
It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon, and there was still half an hour before the exam on the third day would begin.
Lin Zhaoxi's subordinates pressed down on the knowledge points she had sorted out yesterday. From yesterday to today, Lu Zhihao has not even glanced at the answers she wrote.
Lin Zhaoxi pursed her lips, but pushed the exercise book over.
"Squad leader..." she said in a low voice, "It's a pity if you don't get points."
Lu Zhihao's pen stopped and he didn't look up.
"Just this once... don't talk to me, let me go through this alone, okay?"
—
The snow-white test papers were passed down one by one.
When receiving the test paper, it was turned backwards, and for a moment, Lin Zhaoxi didn't dare to open it.
But what should happen does not depend on personal will.
Lin Zhaoxi picked up the pen and opened the test paper.
When answering the question, Lu Zhihao's body was trembling slightly.
He shrank very tightly, every muscle was very stiff, like a little knight who was helpless in the face of a huge monster, but still wanted to swing his sword desperately, desperately.
Lin Zhaoxi looked down at the test questions in front of her, the tip of her pen froze, unable to tell what kind of mood she was in. That was Lu Zhihao, and it seemed to be her once.
A full hour passed like this.
The moment the bell rang, Lu Zhihao finally cried.
He threw away the pen, stuffed everything into the backpack, pushed away the chair, picked up the schoolbag, and rushed out desperately.
The quiet reading room was pierced by a stabbing sound.
Behind him was the merciless laughter of Zhang Liang and others.
Lin Zhaoxi didn't know where she got the courage to throw away the pen and rushed out.
—
The crackling sound of chasing echoed in the corridor, but everything was extremely quiet, like a torrential rain falling on a huge and empty universe.
Lu Zhihao knew she was chasing him, so he didn't look back, let alone let her roll, he just kept climbing up, layer after layer.
The little boy's explosive power was too strong, Lin Zhaoxi finally couldn't keep up, and watched helplessly as the figure disappeared.
On the highest floor are many closed reading rooms, and the wooden doors are tightly closed.
Lin Zhaoxi walked to the door at the end, glanced at the men's restroom sign on the door, and pushed the door open the next moment without hesitation.
—
In the white space filled with the smell of disinfectant, there was a soft and suppressed sob.
Lin Zhaoxi walked to the room facing the sink, put her hands together, and sat on the sink.
In front of her was a closed toilet cubicle door.
Lin Zhaoxi: "Squad leader, open the door."
silence.
"If you don't open the door, I'll beat Zhang Liang."
There was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground inside the door, like a schoolbag. Lin Zhaoxi jumped off the sink and was about to go out when she tapped her foot on the tiles a few times and the door opened.
Lu Zhihao sat on the toilet, shaking from suppressed violent crying.
He covered his face with his hands, and there were tears and snot on his chubby face, which was the real sadness of a child.
Lin Zhaoxi calmed herself down, walked over, and squatted in front of Lu Zhihao.
She retracted her hands into the sleeves of her school uniform, then raised the sleeves high, and handed them to Lu Zhihao.
"You... what are you doing?"
"Wipe your tears."
"It will get dirty." Lu Zhihao hurriedly pushed her hand away, "You... you... go, okay?"
"No, I'll leave and you will leave."
"I... I... I..."
Lu Zhihao was sobbing so badly, he picked up the schoolbag from the ground, buried his head in it, and never looked at her again.
Lin Zhaoxi didn't come close to Lu Zhihao, but retreated to the sink, propped up her hands, and sat back.
Far away, she said, "I have an Ultraman I really want. It's always been in the window. It's very, very expensive."
Lu Zhihao didn't look up, like a chubby little ostrich.
Lin Zhaoxi shook her leg, ignored him and continued talking.
"Do you know Altman Goss? It's the one with a super good-looking transformation. It costs 199. Every day, Mother Lin in our orphanage will give me one yuan and twenty cents to buy milk. I secretly save the money Get up, save 166 days without drinking milk, and be able to afford it, but suddenly one day…”
"The Ultraman was... bought and bought away? Then... Mom found out that you... you secretly hid money..." Lu Zhihao said while crying.
"how do you know?"
"Read... read... extracurricular reading, there is this article, buy... buy a doll."
Lin Zhaoxi laughed to death, it's over, she really wants to become a liar who specially endorses to deceive her classmates.
"What is the final result of the extracurricular reading?"
"Admit your mistake, mom... Mom takes you to the store, buys something else, and when you grow up, you finally see that Ultraman again, and realize that you don't really... want it that much."
"I still want it very much!" Lin Zhaoxi interrupted Lu Zhihao, "Even if my mother beats me up, I know I still want that Ultraman very much, so I will definitely buy it!"
Lu Zhihao raised his head slowly, looked at her with teary eyes, as if saying, how can you be so willful.
Lin Zhaoxi: "I can't save money like this, so I'll change the way. As long as I don't steal or rob, I can always make money!"
"But... but the book says, when you grow up, you'll find out..."
"Growing up is what happens when I grow up. I only know what I want now." Lin Zhaoxi paused, and then said, "Ghost knows if the person who wrote this story saw things in other people's homes when he grew up. Ultraman, and then said sourly, actually~ I don’t want it~”
Still silent, Lin Zhaoxi turned her head, Pei Zhi and Hanamaki also came at some time.
Lu Zhihao finally plucked up his courage and said, "Mr. Zhang... Mr. Zhang said... Olympiads are only suitable for very, very few children." me… "
"Then do you still want to learn?" Lin Zhaoxi interrupted him.
"I do not know why… "
"I don't know why you still want to learn?" Lin Zhaoxi paused, "You don't care why, just do it!"
She jumped off the sink and turned her head to look at Hanamaki: "What about you? You said you thought the Olympiad was boring, did you really think so, or was it just because you didn't do well in the exam that it wasn't friendly to you, and you don't like it anymore?"
"Of course it was Olympiad who started it first!" Hanamaki suddenly became serious, "I still want that Ultraman, although I don't know why."
There are so many "whys" that can be clearly known.
We often don't know why we want that Ultraman, but when we say I don't want it, we must fill in countless reasons, as if the more reasons, the more we can convince ourselves.
I really really don't want it anymore.
Lin Zhaoxi nodded, then looked at Pei Zhi.
In the end, she just patted him on the shoulder. This little boy doesn't need to be asked for advice.