Chapter 97: Empty Cave Does Not Invite Wind
No wonder Dai Junyi didn't let me take it to the school laundry shop at first, turns out it's so particular. Fortunately, he didn't agree, otherwise I would have been in trouble after it got ruined. Looks like another rich kid, huh? Mom said by Monday at the latest, and indeed it was by Monday. On Monday morning, I carefully folded Dai Junyi's jacket, put it in a nice bag, and even included a note: "Clothes presented with apologies." O(∩_∩)O~. I planned to hand it over to Cao Qiang during lunchtime, after all, he did say just give it to Cao Qiang, right?
After the fifth lesson, music sounded and I rushed out of the door immediately. I ran to Class 6 of Grade 2 at the fastest speed. Before that, I had told Wang Xiaoxiao to go to the cafeteria to order food first, and I would follow later.
In order to prevent Cao Qiang and others from going to eat, I have already acted quickly. As a result, after running to the second grade six classes, there were still only a few people in the class, leaving only a few girls and boys. I looked around and asked a girl sitting by the window: "Classmate, excuse me, may I ask where Cao Qiang is sitting? I have something to give him." As I said this, I shook the bag in my hand.
She looked at me with some incredulity and said, "You should be a schoolmate, right? Cao Qiang doesn't usually take other people's things. You'd better wait until he's here and hand it over to him in person. If he accepts it, then that's that; if not, there's nothing you can do. Anyway, I couldn't possibly tell you, or else when he gets back and asks who said anything, I'll be the one to blame. Besides, our class is about to disperse soon, everyone will go eat at the cafeteria, it's not safe to leave your things here either."
Good heavens, senior sister, you've got it all wrong. I'm not a lovesick junior sister coming to deliver something, I'm here to return something. Just as I was about to say something else, several other girls called her to go eat in the cafeteria, so I had no choice but to leave empty-handed and send the bag back to the classroom before heading to the cafeteria to eat.
When I arrived at the cafeteria and found Xiaoxiao's figure, she was just ordering food. I patted her shoulder, and when she turned around and saw it was me, she said: "Coming early is not as good as coming at the right time, just in time! Auntie is ordering the dishes I want, you can also order some, and we'll go find a seat together." After ordering food, Xiaoxiao and I started looking for an empty seat. Just when we saw one, we walked over there. Before we even sat down, someone had already taken the seat. When I looked, it was none other than my current deskmate, Gan Lingling.
Wang Xiaoxiao felt a bit resentful and said, "This classmate, this seat was seen by us first and we arrived first. Please find another place to sit." Gan Lingling smiled complacently and said, "You say you came first just because you say so, who can prove it? I also say I came first. Moreover, I'm already seated now, have you sat down? You've only put down your tray, I think we should go by whoever sits down first."
At this time, two girls behind called out the name of Gan Lingling. Gan Lingling waved at them and indicated for them to come over and sit down, making it clear that she didn't want to give up her seat. "Nan Xiuxiu, I've already said that I'm going to sit here, why don't you hurry up and take your good friend away? Don't bother me."
I was feeling a bit depressed after wasting my time earlier, and then Gan Lingling had to go and provoke me. If I didn't say something, I would be letting the people and the party down. Seeing Xiao Xiao getting angry, I stopped her and said: "Xiao Xiao, let's just sit down. There are three of them and two of us, and the other two will come over with food soon. It's not like we're the ones who can't find a seat. You know how they say that a dog's mouth can't produce ivory, right? And if you get bitten by a mad dog on the street, you can't bite back. The best thing to do is just ignore them."
Gan Lingling's face turned red with anger, and she said: "Nan Xiuxiu, you...you...who are you calling a dog? You're really vulgar. I'll ask you again, are you leaving or not? If you don't leave, I'll make sure you regret it..."
I sat down calmly and motioned to Xiao to sit down, saying: "Whoever answers me will be the dog. I'm not leaving now, let's see how you make me look good."
Wang Xiaoxiao felt a bit disgusted and sat with Gan Lingling, but she had an attitude of watching the show. She knew that Nan Xiuxiu was not as gentle and kind as she looked, and if someone treated her with one inch, she would return it with ten inches. If someone bullied her, she would rather sacrifice eight hundred to defeat the enemy by a thousand. It was said that Gan Lingling was her deskmate, and after this incident, Gan Lingling should know that Nan Xiuxiu was not easy to mess with.
The other two girls had already finished their meal and saw that Gan Lingling's side was already occupied, so they didn't plan to come over. I saw the two of them find another place to sit. The two girls were Wu Xinting and Li Ruyue, both of whom were relatively easy-going, which is why Gan Lingling, who always looked down on others with an air of superiority, was not liked by many girls, but these two girls could still get along with her.
After a while, Li Ruyue called out: "Gan Lingling, Gan Lingling, come over here quickly, we've already prepared your meal and there's a seat available, come sit down."
Gan Lingling turned around and glanced at Wu Xinting and Li Ruyue, then looked at me and Xiao Xiao, who were eating happily, completely ignoring her. She also felt it was meaningless, so she just hummed a few times and left.
After finishing dinner, I returned to the classroom and checked my watch, it was only 12:45. I assumed Cao Qiang and Dai Junyi should have also returned to class, so I picked up my bag and headed towards Class 2-6. Indeed, there were already many people in class, I glanced around the back door and finally saw Cao Qiang's figure, he was sitting in the second last row of the fourth group, head down looking at some book, with no one beside him, and I had no idea where that guy Dai Junyi had gone.
I thought about it and decided whether to ask someone to call Cao Qiang or shout his name myself, or just walk in calmly. After all, Cao Qiang was sitting at the back and shouldn't cause any commotion. In the end, I decided to just go in directly, anyway the classroom was very lively and no one would notice me, on the contrary if I shouted, everyone would stare at me.
I walked normally to the second last row of the fourth group, put down the bag with clothes on Cao Qiang's desk, he immediately turned around, saw me and smiled: "Xiao Xiao, you're here, Ai Yi was just mentioning you a few days ago."
I curiously said: "What can he scold me for? Can't be anything more than saying how slow I am and that I haven't delivered his clothes yet."
Cao Qiang smiled brightly, and rubbed my hair with his hand, saying: "Nothing, Ah Yi is a good person, it's just... we're all alumni, so it's not bad for everyone to communicate more."
I tidied up my hair and said, "Don't mess with someone's hair, you can cut off your head, blood can flow, but hairstyles cannot be messed up. Haven't you heard?" "Hehe, I haven't heard of it. I've only heard that heads can be cut off, blood can flow, and spirits should remain long."
I puckered my lips and said, "Cao Qiang, you're still as unlovable as when we were kids. I've handed the clothes over to you, so when Dai Junyi gets back, just hand them over to him, okay? That way, he and I will be even. I'm going back to class now, you keep reading."
As I was about to leave, Cao Qiang followed me out of the classroom. After we went out the back door, Cao Qiang said to me: "Xiao Xiao, in the future if there's anything that happens don't forget that I'm here too, I also have some ways to handle things. After all, I'm one grade higher than you."
I waved at him and said, "That's for sure, I won't be polite, I know you're more than just a little capable, you should be very capable. Later on, I'm afraid you'll think I'm too much trouble. I'm leaving."
Cao Qiang gazed at Nan Xiao's distant back, using a voice that only he could hear, silently saying: "It won't happen, I will never find you troublesome, it's just that I don't know if you'll need my help when the time comes." Cao Qiang stared fixedly into the distance until Nan Xiao's figure completely disappeared from view, and he didn't show any inclination to return to the classroom, lost in thought.
Dai Junyi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, patted Cao Qiang's shoulder and said: "Brother, Nan Xixi has gone far away, I guess she should be in their classroom by now. Let's go back to our classroom." "You weren't here, how did you know she came?"
Dai Junyi pointed to the bag on their table and said, "My clothes are back. The people in our class just said that a beautiful girl came by earlier. Your words are so gentle, and now you're staring blankly over there. Need I say more? She must have come by. Let me give you a piece of advice: the future is long. Come on, let's go back to the classroom."
The students in the classroom saw Cao Qiang laughing so brightly, his voice so pleasant to hear, and they were discussing what this girl was all about. The girl who sat by the window earlier looked at Nan Xixi and said to another girl, "I'm telling you, that girl came to find Cao Qiang before, she's a first-year junior high school student. I thought she was just another infatuated fan coming to give Cao Qiang gifts, but it turns out not. Look at Cao Qiang's expression earlier, so rich and happy! This first-year junior high school student is really something else. She came to our school and hooked one of the two big shots in our class, Cao Qiang, right from the start. Luckily I'm just a pure admirer, or I'd be heartbroken to death!"
Another girl said, "No way! I just heard that other girl say something about Cao Qiang being the same as when he was a kid. That means they must have known each other since childhood, isn't that like 'childhood sweethearts'? What's that song 'Chang Gan Xing' say? 'The gentleman rides a bamboo horse, circling around the bed to tease the green plum blossoms, living together in Changgan, two young people without any suspicions.' We can only envy them from afar..."