It was a downpour. Since 28 Middle didn’t have an indoor court, the match had to be delayed.
Xiong YaoYue rejoiced over the outcome.
She sat in the classroom watching the storm from out the window with a big smile.
“Hahaha, I was just worrying about what to do if the class leader can’t play at her best, but then the match was delayed by the rain. It was the right decision for me to do good deeds.”
The rumbling sounds of thunder came along with the storm. Eunuch Cao and Gong CaiCai were both pale with fright.
Eunuch Cao must have made some vow involving being struck by lightning. As for Gong CaiCai, it was simply because she was timid and I can’t think of anything that she’s not afraid of.
Xiong YaoYue might have held back from teasing Gong CaiCai for a period of time, but old habits die hard. She crept up next to Gong CaiCai and suddenly shouted in imitation of lightning, “zzz…BANG, BOOM.”
Gong CaiCai almost jumped up with her chair. It took almost half a minute to calm her down and she said unhappily to Xiong YaoYue:
“Why are you scaring me when you already know I’m afraid of thunder? My lifespan must have been shortened again…”
“Noo, no.” Xiong YaoYue hugged Gong CaiCai and apologized, “Someone as cute and kindhearted as you will definitely live to a hundred, and your dreams might even come true.”
I reckon since Xiong YaoYue thought rain came to delay the match because she did good deeds, then Gong CaiCai, who’s always willing to help others (letting other people copy her homework), will have her dreams come true.
Gong CaiCai lowered her head in thought after she heard Xiong YaoYue talk about her dreams, then she said sullenly: “I have no idea what I’m going to do in the future, but if would be great if I could turn into a conch…”
Eh, what a strange dream? Why would you want to be a conch? Or is it some strange magical girl setting where your original body is a conch?
“Why?” Xiong YaoYue had the same question as me.
Gong CaiCai said softly, “If I was a conch, I could hide in my shell if I was in a scary situation.”
So it’s the mindset of an ostrich to run away when you run into something scary? Shells aren’t as safe as you think. I once saw a video where a fish hit a clam against a rock until it cracked and it was able to eat delicious meat.
That’s why I’m a firm believe of ‘a good offense is a good defense’. If Gong CaiCai met something who wanted to smash the shell, then she would definitely be eaten.
When Xiong YaoYue heard Gong CaiCai wanted to be a conch, she asked:
“Huh, if you shut yourself inside the shell wouldn’t that affect your claustrophobia?”
“It’s all because of you that my only dream is shattered.”
Xiong YaoYue laughed without evading as if she enjoyed Gong CaiCai’s soft strikes.
The class leader’s plan was disrupted due to the rain.
Loud Mouth suggested that our whole class should celebrate at a buffet if we won both the basketball and volleyball matches. Loud Mouth was a senior member in a certain food review website, so she could use her points to buy coupons. If everybody if our class bought one, we would be able to save a lot of money.
But since the volleyball match was delayed, that plan was also put to the side for the time being.
A lot of students didn’t bring an umbrella because the weather forecast said it wasn’t going to rain today. Luckily, the rain began to slowly die out before school ended and it eventually stopped.
It might be due to the sudden rainstorm that prevented them from filming, so Auntie Ren drove over to pick up Xiao Qin. Xiao Qin asked her mom: “Can we take Ye Lin classmate home too?”
Auntie Ren took out her anger of my dad at me and didn’t agree, then she forcefully dragged Xiao Qin on to the car.
I started to head home by myself. To be honest, I wanted to find the class leader to get my free food, but she disappeared right after school ended, so she might have been tied up with school duties.
As I was thinking about where to eat tonight, I suddenly heard the crisp ring of a bicycle bell from behind.
I turned around and saw the class leader had caught up to me on her bike. She stopped the bike and supported herself on one leg and smiled.
“You can come to my house for dinner if you don’t have any other plans.”
I perked up right away when I heard I could get free food tonight and asked:
“What’s for dinner?”
“I can make whatever you want as long as I can buy the ingredients from the food market. But it can’t too much time, those dishes needs to be reserved a day ahead of the time.”
Huh, so based on what she said, she already acknowledges I can eat meals at her house for a while! Based on our agreement, I can eat until before the start of summer break! That means I don’t have to worry about my dinner for over twenty days, it was worth it drinking the Fu Yan Jie!
I said I wanted to eat red braised pork. The class leader nodded and said: “It’s not hard to make, but I need to soak the meat in cooking wine for an hour. Are you willing to wait that long?”
“I am.” I agreed, “I can definitely wait an hour for a good meal.”
The class leader smiled and said to me, “Then I’ll head to the market first on my bike. You can head to my home first. Xiao Zhe is at home, so he’ll open the door for you.”
So in the end, I was still walking by myself, but my mood was completely different than earlier.
As I passed by the pet hospital, I saw Dr. Zhao and Xiao Ding moving medical equipment through the window. Dr. Zhao has a bad back while Xiao Ding was a Dota player who didn’t get a lot of exercise.
I thought about the time it would take the class leader to buy groceries and cook. If I went early, I could only chat with Shu Zhe, so it would be better to help out at the hospital. I was the one who persuaded the class leader to not volunteer here anymore, so I feel a bit bad for Dr. Zhao and Xiao Ding.
“Out of the way, the main force is here.” I said half-jokingly as I walked in.
Dr. Zhao and Xiao Ding both had happy expressions. At this moment, I played a bigger role than the class leader.
Five boxes of medical supplies that had to be moved to the surgery room was moved by me and Xiao Ding in less than ten minutes.
After I helped, I apologized about the fact the class leader might not be able to volunteer anymore and hoped they would understand.
Dr. Zhao was puzzled: “Shu Sha just came over.”
I paused: “Why did she come here?”
Dr. Zhao scratched his stubble, “Shu Sha asked what we did with the little black dog’s body and said she was already fine. She said she would keep volunteering here and take care of the dogs like before even when she knows there’s a high chance stray dogs would die of illness.”
After experiencing death, she still chose to get closer to those close to death and take care of them while being prepared to lose them at any time.
The class leader was braver than me.
Just like how she wanted to be a police officer. She always chose the more difficult path, the path filled with thorns.
Why couldn’t she choose the simple path?
I felt a bit unwell after chatting with Xiao Ding.
I already had a slight cold and headache when I woke up today morning, but I held it back because of the basketball match.
Since we already won the match, I had no more pressure and the sickness began to spread.
It was also really cold inside the hospital because of the AC. It was just raining earlier, so they should learn to save energy.
I felt chills all over my body, but I didn’t tell Dr. Zhao (plus he’s a veterinarian), and left the pet hospital.
I was muddleheaded after arriving at the class leader’s house. I couldn’t even hold a proper conversation with the class leader and Shu Zhe. The food the class leader made smelled delicious, but I didn’t eat a lot and I felt sorry.
The class leader asked numerous times if I was sick. I kept saying I was fine until I began to tremble. The class leader put her hand on my forehead to test my temperature and I didn’t even have the strength to avoid it.
“So hot.” I heard the class leader say as I was in a daze.
“39 C, you should go to the hospital for a drip. Ye Lin, can you walk with me and Shu Zhe supporting you?”
I replied in a daze: “It’s fine, I never eat medicine or get shots. I’ll get better after I sleep.”
I’m not sure if they believed me or if I wasn’t being cooperative and it was difficult to bring me to the hospital. All I knew was when I awoke, I was lying in an unfamiliar room on top of a soft double bed,
The class leader helped me change wet towels many times. I couldn’t see clearly, but I was sure this was the class leader’s parents’ room. Since it was usually empty, it would also be used as the guest room.
I felt my body and it seems all my wet clothes were removed. I was wearing nothing but my underwear while under the cover.
Did the class leader tell Shu Zhe to help me take it off? But he’s pretty weak, so it would be hard for him to remove my clothes while I was unconscious.
Or was it a cooperative effort from the two of them?
It was shameful just thinking about it.
I was still in a bad state and switching between states of being dizzy and being clear-headed. I felt the class leader feed me water and something bitter.
The class leader took care of me until late into the night and it was completely dark outside. I didn’t want to let them see me in a weak state, but it looked like I couldn’t avoid staying over night.
The class leader fed me water many times, but my throat was still parched.
But I understood my own body. It was my great immune system battling with the sickness. My cells entered an all out war, so that’s why my body burned up. As long as I keep the covers over me and sleep to the next morning, I would be completely healed. That method has never failed me.
But I was faced with a problem I never encountered before.
I couldn’t fall asleep.
It’s not like I was like the Princess and the Pea where I can’t fall asleep if I change beds. I could even sleep on the floor as long as I had a pillow and a body pillow.
That’s right, as I’ve said before, I had a habit of hugging a pillow when I sleep. If I don’t have a body pillow, it would take me an extra two hours to fall asleep.
The desk lamp was still on and I could see the class leader’s shadow walk back and forth. I felt bad since I could fall asleep if I had a body pillow and the class leader didn’t need to stay here anymore.
As for Shu Zhe, of course he already went to sleep. The class leader wouldn’t let her brother stay up overnight.
I couldn’t really say anything with my hoarse throat, but even if I could, it would be too embarrassing to ask for a body pillow.
I flipped around the bed and tried hugging the pillow under my head, but it didn’t work.
My breathing was heavy and my chest was on fire. In my drowsiness, I finally found something that I could hug.
Ah, what a soft pillow. I think I hallucinated a scene where the pillow struggles and tried to escape, but I never let go.
I still had quite a bit of strength even when I was sick.
I held the pillow in my embrace and slept soundly through the night.