"Let me... hug you?" Mei Fang hesitated for a moment and confirmed Xia Yuan's needs again.
"Is it not possible?"
"Not really... um... I don't know how to put it."
Suddenly I feel like something is odd.
He and Xia Yuanlin and Youxi had hugged and clung to each other before, but they were just kids at that time, and it basically happened before the fourth grade.
Later, as they grew up, they had less physical contact, and whether in public or in private, they rarely held hands. If they did, it was Xia Yuan who took the initiative to hold hands or arms.
But when he thought of this situation, Mei Fang suddenly understood Xia Yuan's feelings.
It was because Xia Yuan always took the lead in the friendship between the three that she emphasized this point this time.
I can take the initiative to hug her.
Because unrequited feelings are painful.
Especially when we realize that the distance between each other is getting farther and farther, and we may eventually become strangers.
This is the moment when a person feels most insecure.
Whether it is friendship or love, the principle is the same.
So Mei Fang looked up at Xia Yuan, then slowly moved closer.
"Then... give me a hug, okay? But, this is just a hug of friendship between childhood friends."
"Um!"
Xia Yuan was very happy that Mei Fang agreed to her wish. She sat obediently in the chair, waiting quietly for Mei Fang to lean towards her.
He leaned down, and after touching Xia Yuan, he opened his arms awkwardly and hugged Xia Yuan's clothes on the back.
Xia Yuan did not go over herself, but just smiled softly in Mei Fang's ear and said:
"Afang, is this the first time you take the initiative to hug someone?"
"Well... wasn't it common when we were kids?"
"Nonsense. We just held hands more when we were kids."
Xia Yuan hummed and said, "And I mean initiative. In the past, I was the one who held your hand, and you didn't take the initiative to hold mine. And in this state, I can't feel you touching me at all. Hold me tighter."
"… "
Mei Fang crossed his arms and gently hugged Xia Yuan, allowing Xia Yuan to lean on Mei Fang's shoulders.
Xia Yuan closed her eyes, smiling with a very satisfied expression.
She also opened her arms and hugged Mei Fang tightly.
"Is this better?"
"Hmm... much better."
…
After a while, Mei Fang asked Xia Yuan softly, "How long are we going to hold each other like this?"
"Well... just hold her until my dad comes and knocks on the door!" Xia Yuan said as if he was mumbling in a dream.
"ah?"
"Haha, I was kidding."
Xia Yuan opened his eyes, released Mei Fang's embrace, and said to Mei Fang with a smile: "Were you scared just now? Your heart is beating so fast!"
"Yuanyuan, you have really changed."
Mei Fang was full of dissatisfaction, "You used to be a little angel, how could you have so many bad intentions now and scare people."
"So you don't like me now?" Xia Yuan tilted his head.
"How could that be possible? Of course it is—"
Mei Fang was about to answer when he was stunned. After Xia Yuan realized what was happening, he also looked embarrassed and muttered with his head down:
"Today... that's it. Thank you for giving me Super Alfang Energy. I feel much better now."
Xia Yuan rubbed his eyes, then smiled at Mei Fang: "I will cheer up and try my best to catch up with you!"
"Um... OK."
Mei Fang would never tell Xia Yuan not to work hard.
Because he knew that Xia Yuan was a strong and ambitious girl, he was willing to support Xia Yuan in continuing to achieve her goals.
…
After thinking about so many things from past and present lives, Mei Fang couldn't sleep all night. He lay quietly on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
Then it twisted wildly like a maggot.
Then he looked up at the ceiling.
Then it began to writhe wildly like a maggot.
It feels like a similar scene happened many years ago.
Speaking of which, Yuanyuan is really...
It's different from children.
Mei Fang once again twisted wildly, holding the quilt like a maggot.
Early the next morning, Xia Yuan came to Mei Fang's house to go to school with him as usual. She looked no different from usual.
"Fang, you didn't sleep well last night! You look listless. Is it because you studied too late?"
"It's okay. I drank too much water last night, so I didn't sleep well..."
Ever since they started to regard themselves as childhood sweethearts, they always went to school together, except when their parents picked them up.
However, the Experimental Middle School is quite far from home, so they would take the bus in the morning, and if they are lucky, they would be able to run into Lin Youxi.
This time they did run into Lin Youxi. As the weather was getting colder, she kept rubbing her hands and breathing out air to keep warm. When she saw Mei Fang and the others coming over, she took the initiative to greet them. They noticed that Lin Youxi was wearing a mask today.
"Yes, yes!"
As soon as Xia Yuan saw Lin Youxi, he hugged her warmly.
Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi hugged each other every day. Youxi usually never resisted, but this time she just hugged Xia Yuan briefly and then let go.
"Yuanyuan... don't get too close to me."
Lin Youxi coughed a few times and said, "Ahem... I have a slight cold."
"Ah, did you catch a cold last night? Do you want to take a day off today? You don't look very well." Xia Yuan patted Lin Youxi's shoulder.
Lin Youxi waved her hand, then found a notebook from her schoolbag and handed it to Xia Yuan.
"This is the key points and classic question types of the first four units of mathematics. If you understand all of this, the test should be easier..."
Xia Yuan took the notebook from Lin Youxi and was troubled by the contents of dozens of pages of reading notes. Suddenly, he couldn't help sobbing.
"Youxi... Did you stay up very late last night, so that's why you caught a cold?"
"It's all my fault for being so stupid. I made you worry so much about me..."
Xia Yuan grabbed Lin Youxi's clothes, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes and she sobbed loudly.
"I, I also took notes. I didn't write them down specially last night. I just added some content last night. Ahem... Oh, you are such a fool."
Xia Yuan ignored Lin Youxi's explanation and just kept holding her and crying.
"Don't be like this, Yuanyuan. I really have a cold and it will be contagious to you... cough cough."
Lin Youxi really had no way to pull Xia Yuan away, so she could only gently stroke Xia Yuan's head to comfort her.
She is now half a head taller than Xia Yuan, and she really does feel like an older sister taking care of her younger sister.
"If you don't understand something in your notes, feel free to come to our classroom after class and ask me. I'll explain it to you. Or... I'll study with you at night, just like Ah Fang."
"Youxi... you and Ah Fang are so kind to me. If I don't do well in the exam, it will be hard to explain..."
Xia Yuan rubbed her red eyes, "I want to win back all the losses I've suffered in the midterm exam! Ahem, ahem..."
"I told you that you would be infected by me!"
In order to catch up with Lin Youxi and Mei Fang, Xia Yuan made a great determination this time.
She studies hard every day, and the other two have been supporting Xia Yuan, answering her questions and helping her find better learning methods and problem-solving ideas.
The time has come for the first and most important midterm exam in junior high school. The first-year exam will test Chinese, mathematics, English, politics, history and geography.
Although these liberal arts scores will be tested in the first year of junior high school, they will not be included in the overall ranking of the midterm exam. This is relatively disadvantageous for Xia Yuan, who is good at liberal arts. However, in the end, her main subject scores did not disappoint the results of her hard work in recent days.
Chinese 114, English 117, Mathematics, the most difficult subject for Xia Yuan, also got 109 in this exam. Xia Yuan ranked 7th in Class 8 and 23rd in the grade. It turns out that the overall level of Class 8 is too high.
For reference, Lin Youxi is ranked first in the grade, and Mei Fang is tied for fourth.
Although there is still some gap between her and Lin Youxi and Mei Fang, Xia Yuan is satisfied with her current status.
Now, whether Xia Yuan is with Mei Fang and Lin Youxi, or alone in her own class, her face begins to have her usual sweet smile.
In this way, Yuanyuan's study pressure crisis was temporarily overcome.
It’s just that it’s obvious that Yuanyuan is not good at science-related knowledge. I don’t know if she can keep up with physics and chemistry in the future...
Mei Fang is worried about Yuanyuan's future.
In fact, in addition to learning, differences in the path of growth are the reasons why the best childhood playmates gradually drift apart, and this kind of thing is often unavoidable.
Then starting from tomorrow will be Youxi’s big chapter. I have many foreshadowings that I haven’t tied up yet, so I can’t write any further ahead.
Today I have an illustration of Yuanyuan Hug, I will add it later.
11/25 23:17 The illustrations for this chapter have been provided. There are two chapters in total, which have been marked in the article.
(End of this chapter)