CH 83

“I’ll talk to her. You sit back and relax,” Miaomiao suggested to Deng Feng. His head drooped low, and he looked like a sad little puppy. Hua Miaomiao patted him on the shoulder, “Calm down. Her desires are ever-changing and fickle; they’re like unpredictable caprices. During middle school, she constantly changed her mind about the boys that she liked. From celebrities to the school grass, she just admired them all. But you have and always will be her best friend.”

Miaomiao surmised that Jingjing had confounded veneration and admiration with liking.

Deng Feng remained silent.

After seeing him like this, Miaomiao was unable to leave him, so she perched down with him on top of the stairs. After a while, Deng Feng suddenly typed a sentence on his phone, and then he showed it to her. “I think she doesn’t like me because I stutter.”

Miaomiao’s nose turned sour, and she shook her head, “Do you think Jingjing cares about that?”

The two had argued since childhood, and Jingjing never minded Deng Feng’s stuttering.

Jingjing treated Deng Feng as if he was an ordinary person…and she always pestered him.

Deng Feng took back his phone, typed another line, and showed it to her again.

He typed just two words, “I care.”

As she stared at those two words, Miaomiao suddenly felt a pang of heartache. She understood Deng Feng’s feelings, and she began to feel great discomfort within her heart.

After Miaomiao returned to the classroom, she searched on her phone for the cause of stuttering. 

Miaomiao thought that a cure for it could help alleviate the gravity of this matter.

After some time, she was also concerned that she might have to bid goodbye to her budding romance at this age, mainly due to Jingjing and Deng Feng’s problems.

Then Miaomiao began reading her textbook, and soon it was lunchtime. The girls in Miaomiao’s class wanted to eat outside of their school today since there were no classes. There were no classes on Sundays, and everyone usually ate stir-fried vegetables or went to a buffet. Finally, they agreed to visit a buffet.

Crowds of people thronged the buffet, but they inferred that it would be cheaper if they decided to split the bill evenly, plus everyone would have a good time.

Miaomiao also took Zhou Yuan with her.

The boys waited for them at the school’s gate.

Although playing games was an important pastime for the boys, they were also very happy to have dinner with the girls at this dinner.

When they came out, Miaomiao counted the number of people and went to the restaurant in grand style.   

At the restaurant, they occupied three tables. Everyone sat next to whomever they liked.

Since Zhou Yuan spoke very little, he was assigned to the boys’ table right away.

At one of the tables, Miaomiao sat down with some girls, whereas the other table had both boys and girls.

“Class president. I feel…” A girl next to Miaomiao whispered to her, “Is Zhou Yuan interested in you? He’s always staring at you.”

Teenagers found it impossible not to gossip about such topics when they gathered together.

Miaomiao looked at Zhou Yuan who was eating and talking with a male classmate next to him.

Fortunately, he was still able to converse with other people.

Miaomiao was relieved when she saw that he was still capable of entering into conversations with other people. Miaomiao recalled that Zhou Yuan would only speak with her every day, but he refused to speak with anyone else.

Based on the current situation, she concluded that he only communicated with those who sat closer to him.

If that was the case, then it was wise to include him in more group activities. After all, humans were social animals; therefore, they would be more gleeful when they partook in group activities.

Miaomiao decided to proceed with this plan in her heart.

After they finished eating, a group of boys, who represented the literary and artistic committee, clamored to the KTV to sing. They said that they would invite the girls and didn’t need to spend any money.

Miaomiao didn’t object to such activities so long as everyone had assented to it.

They had reserved a large room with many tables where they could play board games such as Mahjong…

Some of the classmates had already snatched up some seats at the gaming table and said, “You guys sing. We’ll just play some board games and mahjong here.”

Miaomiao wasn’t quick enough to grab a seat at the table; therefore, she could only sing.

Miaomiao could only sing a few songs, mainly because she sang out of tune, so she doesn’t sing very often.

Zhou Yuan sat next to her, and he didn’t enjoy singing either.

Miaomiao asked him, “Would you like to sing? I could buy some songs for you.”

Miaomiao noticed that had little to no interest in today’s activities. Miaomiao and Zhou Yuan didn’t want to sing, but they still participated in the other activities.

“Class president. Zhou Yuan. What are you two muttering about? Do you wish to sing a song together?”

“Curb your enthusiasm. Our class president sings terribly. We can’t endure listening to her singing a song from beginning to end.”

“Then, Zhou Yuan will sing!”

“Zhou Yuan! Zhou Yuan! Come on! Come on!”

They egged him on, which forced Zhou Yuan to stand up. He went and selected a song.

Miaomiao immediately noticed that he had selected “Chasing Dreams and Red Hearts”.

Miaomiao knew about this song, but she had never heard it before.

Zhou Yuan had a nice, deep voice, and when combined with the emotional lyrics, Miaomiao’s nose turned sour, as she listened to him.

“I never gave up on my ideals, even during the days when I was disheartened…”

As Miaomiao listened, she realized a problem. Zhou Yuan’s parents felt that he had experienced failure, which led to an emotional breakdown. In fact, Zhou Yuan was just like the song, as he continued to go on due to his innocent pride…

She wasn’t able to explain it, but a feeling of reverence began to surge in Miaomiao’s heart.

When will I become this good?

After returning home, Miaomiao downloaded and listened to the song several times in a loop.

She believed that Zhou Yuan would return to the world of business before she took her college entrance exam. 

The next day, Miaomiao saw Zhou Yuan chatting with a few men in suits and leather shoes at the school gate. His face radiated an expression of extreme seriousness and solemnity. Miaomiao had never seen him like this before, and the men also appeared to be angry. The situation looked like it could escalate into something worse.  

Miaomiao remembered Father Zhou telling her that Zhou Yuan was betrayed. Based on Zhou Yuan’s demeanor, she deduced that these were his betrayers.

As class president, Miaomiao naturally would intervene, so she went over after noticing that her classmate and some other people were getting into a tussle.

“Hello. Why are you looking for Zhou Yuan from our class?” Miaomiao politely asked after walking over.  

“Who are you?” The man, who appeared to be the leader, asked Miaomiao. 

Miaomiao didn’t fear the leader’s intimidating gaze, “I’m Zhou Yuan’s class president, and we should be heading to class now. Your discussion might be important, but it’s not as important as learning and obtaining knowledge. Uncle looks intelligent. Surely, you would understand, right?”

As soon as Miaomiao finished speaking, she pulled Zhou Yuan into the classroom.

Zhou Yuan asked, “You’re not going to ask me who they are?”

Miaomiao replied, “Are you going to tell me?”

Zhou Yuan was silent for a while and said nothing. Miaomiao thought for a moment and said, “I remember that you sent me a message, which asked if we could be good friends.”

Taking Zhou Yuan’s hand, Miaomiao began running towards the playground.

“Since we’re friends, why don’t we discuss things that we have trouble resolving together? Jingjing, Deng Feng, and the other students in our class are way too exuberant. It isn’t a good idea to discuss my current concern with them. I think you’re much more qualified to solve this problem. In exchange, I’ll assist you with your problem. Although I’m not as smart as you, I can present a different perspective, a new approach. I think that it would be helpful if you decided to approach the problem from a different angle.” Miaomiao suggested.