CH 77

Zhou Yuan recalled that he had ceased all contact with her at that time. He remembered this very clearly. He already knew that, at that point, even contacting her once would cause him to revert back to being an elementary school student. This would force him to surrender the more adult life that he had finally attained. 

He obviously greatly regretted it, but he finally grasped that he no longer had any semblance of a childhood.

However, Miaomiao didn’t borrow someone else’s phone because she shunned Zhou Yuan or considered him to be an outsider. It was because they were both in the same group and involved in the same projects; she borrowed the mobile phone from the committee member who oversaw arts and literature.

The group was first created when Miaomiao was in her first year of high school, where had to do her military training, so it was a convenient way for everyone to converse about their tiring military training. They never disbanded this group ever since. Additionally, it was convenient since they could simply disseminate important briefings to everyone within this group. Miaomiao also uploaded and promulgated a large number of group photos of her class to this group.

Miaomiao carefully perused the information about the twelve students while she was in class.

There were some copies of low-income guarantee certificates and poor household certificates with established cards. A few student application forms were already stamped and certified by the neighborhood committee.

The first two types of students didn’t have to return to their hometown to acquire their stamps, but the neighborhood committee still had to stamp the applications to certify them.

Since there were many private activities in class, Miaomiao was cognizant of everyone’s family situation.

A few applicants failed to present their certificates that could prove their indigence. These few also didn’t provide their low-income guarantee certificates, but nonetheless their financial situations weren’t promising at all. Miaomiao placed their files on the top of the pile since the school required all students, who applied, to have their low-income guarantee certificates and poor household certificates ready. When these two items, which proved their indigence, were missing; then, they had to review these top application forms over and over again.

After her arrival in the teacher’s office, Miaomiao discovered that the class president from her neighboring class was already present.

Miaomiao trotted in and said, “Teacher. I have sent the applications to your mailbox. Here are some application forms from our class.”

The headteacher asked, “Miaomiao, are there some extra seats in your class?”

As Miaomiao shook her head, she said, “We have twelve students who have applied in our class, but we still lack two seats. After perusing their applications, there’s no way we could drop any of them.”

“It’s the same for our class as well.”

“There are three students with low-income guarantee certificates, four students with poor household cards, and five students whose applications can’t be rejected.”

Li Jiao, the class president from their adjacent classroom, said, “There are only five students from your class who applied last year. Why has the number increased so dramatically this year?”

Miaomiao sighed and expounded, “Our classmates are under the belief that this money is being distributed by the state to assist with the needs of students who cannot afford to eat. They feel that they’re still able to get a mouthful of food and sit comfortably inside their classrooms to study. They are already being assigned to the best classes at our school. They’re very happy about this. Therefore, they wanted to hand over the places to those who deserved these spots more and who really couldn’t afford anything.”

Obviously, she couldn’t say that because students were just starting school at the time, and when it came to applying for aid, they were already very embarrassed about their financial status and destitution. If she had said that, she would definitely be attacked and disparaged, which meant that they weren’t truly impoverished.

The head teacher was shocked for a moment and asked, “Why are you saying this?”

Li Jiao turned her head to peer at Miaomiao; she didn’t know what to say. She felt a little flustered when she realized that Miaomiao was probably cognizant of it.  

Miaomiao nodded, “It’s true. Several students in our class spend about 60 yuan a month on living expenses. I know this because I helped them earn some income through farm work.”

Miaomiao refused to allow Li Jiao access to the forms; instead, she showed the teachers the photos of their class. The photos showed several students who were pulling out weeds with turbans on their heads and mud all over their faces.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at the orchard where the photos were taken.

“They needed to work a few hours a day to receive 30 yuan,” Miaomiao delineated in a serious tone, “After learning about this, I told them that the state would give them money to help them with their studies this semester. If they refused any of this money, then the money would be forwarded to other students, who might not be poor and indigent at all, and these students, who don’t need the money, would just squander it in internet cafes or on video games and not on their studies.”

After Miaomiao finished with her delineation, she looked meaningfully at Li Jiao and asked, “Right?”

Li Jiao was caught off guard by her glance. A feeling of numbness spread over her scalp, and she gulped nervously.

Miaomiao continued, “Our class is still lacking two more spots. I heard that Class 5 has…”

“We can offer two more seats in our class,” Li Jiao immediately declared.

“Your class is amazing,” Miaomiao said exuberantly, shaking hands with Li Jiao.

The headteacher of these two classes was the same person, and the two brother classes often were allowed to borrow seats and spots for students in this manner. The class presidents often adjusted the seats themselves to accomodate for the students; the headteacher never interfered.

Miaomiao noticed that Li Jiao had stowed away the applications and forms of four students. Miaomiao was in an important class. A large number of students in Miaomiao’s class came from rural areas, whereas the students from the class next door were basically city-dwellers. This often caused some form of conflict since the class next door made fun of them due to their rustic background.

The two of them departed the office together, and Li Jiao said in a low voice, “You are so ruthless!”

Miaomiao responded cheerfully, “No. It’s just that you’re kind.” You’ll definitely continue to be kind-hearted next year, too. 

Miaomiao was about to return Wu Lang’s phone when she returned to the classroom. But then, she remembered something else. She peered at Zhou Yuan who engrossed himself with a book. Miaomiao approached him and asked, “Do you have a QQ* account?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. 

Miaomiao replied, “Then, I’ll add you to our class group.”

Miaomiao then proceeded to use Wu Lang’s phone to log into her QQ account.

Afterward, she directly added Zhou Yuan’s QQ account to their class group.

Then, Miaomiao logged out of her QQ account, headed to the last row, and returned Wu Lang’s phone.

Several girls saw her going to the teacher’s office with the applications. They inquired, “Class president, are there any problems with our class’ applications this time?”

“Don’t worry about it. There were no problems this time,” Miaomiao said with a smile.

When she returned to her seat, Miaomiao saw the person next to her scrolling through his phone. It was time for class to begin.

After musing for a while, Miaomiao said, “Our next class is biology. My biology book is missing. Could you share your book with me?”

Zhou Yuan took the biology textbook that was on his table and handed it to Miaomiao. “You could use it.”

Miaomiao flashed him an effulgent smile, “That’s very kind of you. Let’s read it together.” The purpose of doing this wasn’t to borrow his book but to allow him to study with me.

Miaomiao placed the textbook between them as she spoke.  

Zhou Yuan stowed away his phone and read the textbook with her.

The biology teacher was an elderly man who had a short, thin figure. When their class began, the teacher requested that everyone self-study on their own for ten minutes. 

Both of them read the same book; therefore, they were sitting closely together. Zhou Yuan could smell a light fragrance exuding from her.

Her slender, white hand held a pen as she scribbled some notes to herself on a sheet of paper about the chances of developing double eyelids.

Zhou Yuan remembered the photos he saw in their group album. She carried a how with both hands, picked fruit, and carried a basket of apples with her other classmates. During their springtime excursion, she cleaned some rice, cooked and fished…

No wonder why she had such a good relationship with her classmates. As class president, she had organized so many activities and events for the students to partake in. In addition, they had a common enemy, the class next door.

Zhou Yuan remembered the first time he had met Hua Miaomiao. During their first meeting, he thought that she would make a great business partner. She would eventually become very talented. 

Zhou Yuan now found out that Miaomiao was actually a very suitable partner.

Their afternoon class concluded, and Miaomiao packed her stuff and readied herself to go to lunch. Along the way, she also decided to purchase a new cell phone. It inconvenienced her not to have one.

“Class president. Are you coming to the cafeteria to have lunch? Do you want us to save you a seat?”

“There’s something outside our school that I have to take care of today. I won’t be able to go to the cafeteria today. You guys go ahead and eat.”

When Miaomiao finished speaking, she departed their classroom. She then noticed Zhou Yuan walking by himself. She was about to accelerate her pace to catch up with him.

She then saw Li Jiao, the class president from the class next door, approaching Zhou Yuan.

Miaomiao didn’t approach them and stood a little bit away from them. She could hear Li Jiao saying, “Are you the new student from Class 4? I’m Li Jiao from Class 5. Let’s be friends.”

Miaomiao recalled that her classmates said something about someone from their adjoining class confessing to Zhou Yuan.

Now it seems as if it isn’t just a rumor; it’s true. 

Miaomiao deliberately slowed down her pace. Since she could listen to their colloquy at such a distance, she would definitely be accused of eavesdropping if someone had discovered her.

Jingjing recently went to practice her dancing in the afternoon. Miaomiao went to purchase a phone by herself, and when she returned to school, she also decided to buy some food for Jingjing.

They sat on the playground and indulged in their lunch. Jingjing said to Miaomiao while enjoying her lunch, “I only remember that there was such a person. I do not remember the particulars. We were young back then.”

“I feel a little sorry for him,” Miaomiao uttered.

“What’s the big deal then? It isn’t like you two were married, and then you two forgot about each other. You were only friends. He didn’t even contact you. Why would you want to remember someone who didn’t even attempt to contact you? Wait, are you attracted to him?” Jingjing burbled as she recalled the time they went to Zhou Yuan’s house, but his mother had expounded to them that he had moved away.

When they were young, they had a very close relationship, but it wasn’t guaranteed to last for a lifetime. This memory resonated with Jingjing as she continued musing on this.  

Miaomiao was happy and said with an exuberant smile, “I’m sorry for what I had done to him. He was really good to me at that time, but I did not recognize when I saw him again, and I had affronted him. Do you have someone you like? You always keep bringing up this topic.”

Jingjing’s face flushed all of a sudden, “What’s wrong? He grew up from being a little kid to a tall 180 centimeter boy. It was impossible for you to recognize him. OK, don’t worry about it. If you think about it, I actually do think that you were, to a certain extent, attracted to him.”

“What does that mean?” Miaomiao exclaimed as she pulled Jingjing’s cheek, “Do you think a first-grader would think of such things at that age? Are you saying that I was already deeply in love with him after just meeting him for two days? I wonder why you even mention these sorts of things nowadays. What’s the reason behind all this?”

A rubescent red tinged Jingjing’s cheeks as she blushed even more.

“My surmise was actually correct. Come on, tell me, who is it!” Miaomiao pressed her for an answer since she was curious. At this age, an ineffable curiosity about these sorts of things filled her heart. 

“I haven’t confessed to him yet. I’ll tell you if I succeed or not later,” Jingjing chirped. 

“I could take a guess if you won’t answer me. It’s Zhao Mu from your class, isn’t it?” Miaomiao remembered him because he was a handsome lad who liked playing basketball. Some time ago, Jingjing really liked to bring him up during their conversations.

Jingjing blushed crimson as she said, “Is it that obvious?”

Miaomiao noticed her shy look and answered, “I surmised it naturally since we’re close friends.”

They chatted in the playground for a while before returning to their classrooms. When Miaomiao returned to her classroom, she caught a glimpse of Zhou Yuan sitting in his seat.

Miaomiao returned to her seat and remembered something. “We’re going to watch a movie together this week. You should join us.”

They were now in their second year of high school, and they had a break that lasted from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The students, who took day classes, often didn’t head home, so their class had a fun activity every week that was free for all attendees.

As a result, their class had seen a lot of blockbuster movies from America and Europe.

Zhou Yuan did not reply; Miaomiao continued, “Remember to come to school!”

When their evening self-study session concluded, Miaomiao was getting ready to depart the classroom when she noticed that Zhou Yuan was acting oddly. 

Their evening self-study session began, and Zhou Yuan engrossed himself in his book, but he later fell asleep on his table. Miaomiao thought that he was overcome with fatigue, and therefore, she shouldn’t disturb him. 

They continued to study as shafts of aurulent light from the evening sun lanced through the windows and illumed the room with a glaze of gold. Eventually, time flew by, and it was late in their evening study session. The aurulent beams of evening sunshine were already beginning to succumb to the dark violescent indigos of the night.        

She was about to get up and leave, but he still didn’t get up.   

“What’s the matter? Do you feel uncomfortable?” she asked unexpectedly. Since she was the class president, she had the responsibility of closing the classroom door, so she was the last to leave. 

As she pushed him, Miaomiao noticed that a layer of perspiration blanketed his forehead. 

Miaomiao was taken aback. 

She touched his forehead quickly; it was burning.

“Zhou Yuan, Zhou Yuan!”

Zhou Yuan woke up in a daze and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“You’re sick,” Miaomiao exclaimed as she dialed 120. She then told the operators their school’s address.

There was no one who was available to help at this point, so Miaomiao kneeled down and tried to carry him on her back.

Miaomiao said to him, “Zhouzhou. You are so heavy!”

“I’ll walk by myself.”

“I’ll carry you. You’re in so much pain that you can barely even open your eyes,” Miaomiao sighed.

Miaomiao tried to carry him like a child on her back, but he kept sliding down due to his long arms and legs. He was too heavy and burdensome to carry!

A feeling of trepidation began to engulf Miaomiao, so she simply let go of his legs. She held both of his arms and hung him on her back to drag him.

“Student Zhou Yuan. Don’t get into an accident!”

“Hold on tight! There are stairs in front!”

“I remember that one of the managers patrolled this building. How come he isn’t here?”

“Please leave me some room on the stretcher when you get there in a little while…” As she dragged him downstairs, she said, “I never carried something that was this heavy ever in my life…”

“Sorry…”

“You don’t need to apologize. Your health is the most important thing. Don’t fret about it.”

Miaomiao sweated profusely as she carried the person outside the building. The ambulance had arrived.

She felt as if she could lie down with him on the stretcher. She was so tired!

What on earth did he eat as a child?

Miaomiao also got into the ambulance and called the headteacher and her parents.

My deskmate…needs urgent care.

Her first impression of him was that he was big and strong. He looked quite smart, but he didn’t like learning or talking. Now, it seemed as if she just couldn’t just focus on his appearance.

Miaomiao entered Zhou Yuan’s hospital room after his checkup and discovered that he had not woken up yet.

Miaomiao saw him lying on the hospital bed and unexpectedly remembered something else. During his childhood, he seemed to get sick quite easily.

*QQ is an instant messaging software service and web portal in China.