Chapter 24

◎ Boiling Summer Night ◎

After the simple meals in the Xicun B&B, the delicate princes and princesses from Huaicheng were already in mourning. After a short rest, the team leader took them to the riverside under the sun to sketch.

How happy they were in the air-conditioned bus in the morning, how much they regretted now.

The boys were quite gentlemanly, giving the precious shade of the trees to the girls. It was the first time that the girls from Huaili and No. 3 Middle School sat so close to each other, one next to the other, with drawing boards against drawing boards.

"Move in a little bit!" "Okay!" Then there was the sound of drawing boards and benches knocking against the stone pavement and sliding.

It was so hot that sweat was condensed little by little. When the arms touched each other, there was a layer of hot sweat, and they wished they could stick together. Fortunately, there was a countermeasure - they took out colorful small plastic electric fans and started blowing air at them.

"Do you have to do such a high intensity on the first day?" The classmates complained, "At least follow the laws of scientific development and proceed step by step."

Without Xu Zhaolin, the two of them still struggled. Zhu Yao took advantage of the chaos and fanned the flames, "Yeah, who is responsible for this heat stroke?"

Lu Xuezhong went to the city to attend an exchange meeting, and it would take two days for him to arrive. The team leader Xiaoquan was a recent college graduate with almost zero work experience. He also accompanied them in the sun, using the simple method of placing his palm on his forehead to protect himself from the sun. When he heard this, his legs became weak with fear.

Du Ningyang immediately cooperated with Zhu Yao, "Yeah, Brother Xiaoquan, why do I feel a little dizzy. Ouch, ouch, I'm going to fall down."

Then there were sounds of "ouch, ouch" one after another, and everyone seemed to have "heat stroke".

Xiaoquan had no choice but to say: "If you feel uncomfortable, follow me to the infirmary to get heatstroke medicine. The rest of you should go around the village first. If you don't have a hat, go buy a straw hat and pay attention to sun protection. You are not allowed to leave the village, run around, go to the river, or go swimming. Dinner will be served on time at 5:30. If

you miss it, you won't be able to eat." Before he finished speaking, everyone stood up in high spirits. No one followed Xiaoquan to get heatstroke medicine. Xiaoquan was about to teach them a lesson, but they ignored him and dispersed in a swarm.

They were all shameless children. There was nothing he could do.

Everyone was noisy and went to different shops and houses. Zhu Yao pulled Du Ningyang back to the B&B. The luxurious double room had the air conditioner turned to a luxurious 22 degrees. He drank a few sips of warm soda, calmed down the fatigue from the sun, and started to call Xu Zhaolin.

Xu Zhaolin didn't answer.

"What's going on?" Zhu Yao began to worry, "Why didn't he answer the phone?"

Du Ningyang analyzed in a serious manner: "Appendicitis requires surgery, he must be anesthetized for the surgery, he will call us back when he wakes up."

Zhu Yao collapsed on the bed, lying on his back playing with his phone, "Never mind, let's talk about it when he wakes up, the air-conditioned room is so comfortable."

Or let's not go out.

"Are we going out in the afternoon?" Du Ningyang asked.

"I don't mind, it's up to you," which means not going out.

Then the two changed various lying positions and spent a pleasant first afternoon of sketching in Xi Village. Du Ningyang sighed: "Good times should be wasted like this."

Zhu Yao ruthlessly exposed her, "You recited the wrong lyrics, it's 'Good times should be treasured and should be limited'."

"Tsk, almost," Du Ningyang suddenly exploded from the bed, "Damn, the meal is served at 5:30, and it's 6:20 now! Such a terrible dish at noon, those hungry ghosts are fighting like zombies, can we still catch up now?"

Zhu Yao had her own arrangements, and took out two buckets of braised beef noodles from the suitcase, "Just be happy to follow me," and took out a few king of kings ham sausages and braised eggs.

"Why didn't I see you so smart before?"

In such a special environment, it can be called a state banquet.

They took the instant noodles to the first floor of the homestay to find the boss to boil water. This small building is built along the river, and the scenery is good in the evening. The setting sun shines on the water, sparkling, and it's romantic, so they just don't take it back to eat.

The two put the fork on the lid, watching the scenery while waiting for the noodles to soak, the aroma overflowed from the gap, and they felt full of happiness.

A few young ladies from Huaili happened to come back and saw the two people sitting by the window. They had never talked to each other before, but they became familiar with each other in this environment. They came closer and said madly: "Oh my God, you are so lucky and good at eating!"

"They eat instant noodles! Or braised beef noodles - the best -"

Is this something that students who pay tens of thousands of yuan a semester in private schools should lament? A bowl of instant noodles only costs a few yuan.

"And ham sausage and braised eggs!"

"Where did you buy them? Dinner is really bad, let's go buy some too?"

Zhu Yao was already drooling over the delicious smell. While opening the lid, he patiently answered: "We brought it ourselves. Ask the boss if there is a small store nearby."

The boss poked his head out from behind the counter and took over the conversation, "You can't buy it now. The small store closes at six o'clock."

The girls from Huaili said "ah" in frustration.

Du Ningyang was afraid of getting fat, so he didn't dare to eat it all, so he opened the lid and asked, "Why don't you take something to continue? I can't finish it, so I'll share some with you."

So the delicate young ladies surrounded Du Ningyang and Zhu Yao, eating instant noodles with thermos lids, and drinking the instant noodle soup one mouthful at a time without disdain.

Halfway through the meal, Zhu Yao went upstairs and generously took a few bags of spicy strips and stinky dried to share.

Chatting while eating, strange friendships start from talking about common points. So, starting with boring and monotonous unfamiliar topics, they talked about study and life.

It turns out that high school life can be completely different!

Du Ningyang then realized that Huaili students do not study the content of the college entrance examination, nor do they need to be divided into arts and sciences. They usually go abroad, and they mainly study English in school to prepare for IELTS and TOEFL, and also study the content of foreign university entrance examinations, the majors they plan to choose in college, or some elective courses of interest.

"Then why did you come to Teacher Lu's studio to suffer?" Zhu Yao accidentally asked the question of curiosity that Du Ningyang had suppressed in his heart.

Why did that person come to Teacher Lu's studio to suffer? She could see him bending down almost every day, using a large, brand new eraser to wipe his sneakers, and then throwing it away without ever taking it back for another use.

"If the academic score is not enough, you can make up for it with a portfolio. We can also rule out that some people want to study design in the future, or are simply interested in it?"

"Who would suffer so much for interest?" Zhu Yao seemed to have become Du Ningyang's mouthpiece. "If you are interested, go to the interest class.

You'd be crazy to suffer Mr. Lu's torture in this precious youth time..." "Really," the girl said mysteriously, "as far as I know, Wen Xu is just doing it for his hobby. You know who Wen Xu is, right? The tall, thin, white and rich guy."

"How did you know?"

"I'm in the same class with him! His grades are very good, so there's no need for him to use a portfolio to get extra points. Besides, his family is in the health care business. All the medical equipment for physical examinations in Huaicheng are imported from abroad by his family. He has nothing to do with painting anyway. If this isn't love, then what is it?"

Zhu Yao looked at Du Ningyang, trying to get affirmation from her, an authoritative insider, but unexpectedly, more explosive gossip suddenly came.

The girl's phone QQ beeped several times. When she looked up, the excitement in her eyes was about to burst out. "Shu Lixiang from your school is confessing to Pei Pei from our school. Do you want to go and watch?"

There was no time to put away the instant noodles. Du Ningyang and Zhu Yao mixed in the group of girls from Huaili and rushed out like a rocket launcher.

The confession place was in a small pavilion by the river. The two had already shown signs of being good friends. The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful. They went to the water room to help fetch water, used each other's sharpened pencils in class, and took the bus together after school... People were actually used to it, but they couldn't bear the restlessness of this summer night. They had to go and peek at happiness, otherwise they would lose a lot!

The content of the confession was actually quite ordinary. A fool can't spit out ivory. But it was still very beautiful and immature.

They stood face to face, with a restrained distance of about an arm between them. Shu Lixiang mustered up the courage to say, "Pei Pei, I have liked you for a long time, I think you know it."

"Well..." Pei Pei was very shy and covered her face embarrassedly.

"What I want to say is, I want to say," Shu Lixiang coughed twice nervously. Pei Pei stepped forward to pat his back to help him breathe.

"Don't be in a hurry, just take your time."

The girls squatting behind a big tree not far away stamped their feet excitedly - but they dared to do so only gently, for fear of disturbing the scene.

After Shu Lixiang finished coughing, he took a breath to calm down, and then continued: "I saw a sentence on the Internet, I think it's really good, and I've always wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Pei Pei asked.

It's time to use a big move!

The girls dared not breathe, they all stared with their eyes wide open and put their heads closer to look, as if they could hear more clearly with their eyes wide open.

"That's it, cough cough," Shu Lixiang said word by word: "No matter how strange your appearance is, it will be the same in fifty years. What I want is someone like you, and your heart will not change."

Damn.

That's great.

The summer night is boiling at this moment, driving the blood and heartbeat to boil together.

"Will you be with me?"

"I do!"

Shu Lixiang took a step forward, and the distance between them became 0.1. He bent down and hugged her politely and gentlemanly. This action seemed to be a signal. Suddenly, several boys rushed out from the corner in front of them and started cheering. Then the girls from Huaili pulled Du Ningyang and Zhu Yao and rushed forward.

Left and right, one group after another, almost all the people in the studio were there, and they were all watching!

Shu Lixiang and Pei Pei's faces flushed immediately, and they kept saying, "You, you, you..."

Someone in the darkness took the lead and said, "We have approved your marriage!"

"Yes, we have approved it!" "Approved!" "Then we must support it!"

Someone else joked, "Don't worry! We won't let you be the Romeo and Juliet of the studio!"

Everyone laughed together. The dividing line between Huaili No. 3 Middle School, which had lasted for nine months and six days, was suddenly broken at this magical moment. When walking to the B&B, someone said, "There will be a meteor shower next Wednesday night. Let's go and watch it together. It's great that it's the night before the end of sketching."

When the love was strong, they agreed to meet on the rooftop and must meet there.

Back to the room, sweaty. Zhu Yao went to take a shower first. In the sound of the shower coming from the bathroom, Du Ningyang lay on the bed and

emptied his mind, recalling what Shu Lixiang said to Pei Pei. No matter how strange the appearance is, it will be the same in fifty years. What I want is someone like you, and my heart will not change.

When will she meet someone who can say such sincere words to her? Maybe after going to college, maybe after working, or maybe not. Thinking about it, she couldn't help but sigh.

I still have to study hard. If I want to date, I should date a top student from Huaimei University. An inexplicable thought popped up in my mind.

The cell phone rang, and the caller ID showed Fang Fang. Oh, I forgot to assure her that I was safe. Du Ningyang picked up the phone lazily, "Hello, Mom, I'm safe."

It was Du Minda who spoke, "Ningning, how were you today?"

"Very well, where's Mom?"

"She's listening beside me. I'm sending Young Master Wen to Xi Village tomorrow. I wanted to ask if you have anything you want to bring. I'll bring it to you on the way."

Du Ningyang sat up from the bed and confirmed, "What? Wen Xu is coming?"

"Yes," Du Minda didn't understand the girl's thoughts, "Xi Village is out of town, and the phone bill is expensive. I'll hang up first. Send me a text message with what you want. If you don't have it, just say no. Don't forget to send it."

"Got it!"

There was a beeping sound from the microphone, which made Du Ningyang's heart confused.