Chapter 3 The Masochist and the Split Personality Maniac 1
Dreams are beautiful, but reality is always cruel. It has been at least a week since I joined the cheerleading team. Although I dare not say that I have made arduous efforts, it is obvious that I have worked harder than before the exam.
I took the initiative to greet other girls, join in their conversations, and even taught myself to do the cheerleaders' A set of moves just by watching without any guidance. But it was no use. Everything was in vain. Nothing I did helped me integrate into the new group.
No matter what I did, those beautiful girls on the cheerleading team just refused to lower their "proud heads" or open their "precious mouths" to say a word to me, even to say hello.
This in the end is why?
I couldn't help but fall into deep thought in math class.
"Ding Xiaoxiao! Ding Xiaoxiao!" Just when my soul was almost leaving my body, the teacher's voice rang in my ears.
"Ah! Here!" I suddenly came to my senses and realized that I was in the class of the strictest teacher in the school - "Bald Yan". Being distracted and falling asleep in his class is simply courting death.
"What do you mean by going there? Go up there and solve that solid geometry problem!" Bald Yan raised his serious little eyes and shouted loudly.
I was not good at math, and solid geometry was my weakest subject. Under the gaze of Bald Yan's yellow eyes, I reluctantly went to the podium, but my mind was blank. I took the chalk, drew auxiliary lines on the left and right, and couldn't solve it for a long time.
"Enough! Get out of here! I just explained this question. What are you doing? If you don't want to listen to my class, you can skip it in the future. Just stand outside!" Seeing me fiddling in front of the blackboard for 10 minutes, Bald Yan finally realized that I was wasting his precious class time.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." I apologized quietly, not daring to look up at him.
"I should have banned you from my class forever..." Bald Yan paused, "See, you know you are wrong. Just clean the entire playground before dark after school." He turned his back and ignored me, continuing his class.
Is this a pardon? I smiled bitterly, but cleaning the court before dark was an almost impossible task... Oh, I don't know why I am so unlucky.
When the last bell rang, the sun was setting. I was carrying a broom, the wind was whistling and the Yi River was cold. I knew that if I didn't do stupid things, I wouldn't die, but I did do stupid things today, so I had to admit that I was unlucky and go to clean the vast desert-like court alone.
The court of Shengxi College is really huge, after all, there are many clubs playing there, volleyball, basketball, baseball, football, and they don't interfere with each other. I dragged my heavy steps, waving the broom, and suddenly something heavy hit me from behind.
"it hurts!"
My back is about to break! I wonder how far away the kick came from! It was intentional! It must be the stinky feet of the football club, who can’t kick the ball into the goal but can only kick people. I curse you to never make it to the college cup this year! I was already sore from sweeping the floor, and it made me feel even worse. So I turned around while cursing silently in my heart, and what greeted me was Yu Muchen’s brilliant smile.
"Sorry, I kicked you. Are you okay?" Yu Muchen looked apologetic and bent down to pick up the football.
"What do you think? Let me kick you on the back!" I was already in a bad mood, and when I saw that it was him who kicked me, I felt even worse. I don't know why, but I always felt that the irritable mood was entangled in my heart like a vine.
"Senior Yu, it's not nice to tease your girlfriend . She will be angry later!" Probably a junior from the football team followed behind Yu Muchen and said with a smile.
"Teasing me?" I raised my eyes suspiciously and looked at Yu Muchen.
"Haha, Senior Yu saw you just now! She is worthy of being my girlfriend. I can catch her immediately when she appears in my sight!" The junior continued to joke without restraint.
"Mai Xin, don't talk nonsense!" Yu Muchen laughed heartily, acting like a gentle and kind senior.
"I'm not talking nonsense! Just now you said you were going to show us your special volley shot, and then you kicked your girlfriend in the back." The boy named Mai Xin should be in the same grade as me. He doesn't seem to have any scheming at all, just a simple mind and strong limbs. It doesn't matter that he said this, the football club members near and far laughed loudly because of this, as if they were laughing at my stupidity.
"What? Did you do this on purpose?" I bit my lip and questioned Yu Muchen.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, I just saw you wanted to make a joke, I didn't expect that my practice during this period was so effective, and I could shoot so accurately." Yu Muchen didn't seem to feel guilty about me at all, and admitted it generously. I don't know what's so funny about this, the members of the football club laughed again!
"You...you bastard!" In an instant, the cold stares and disregard I received from the cheerleading team, the unwillingness to be punished by the teacher, and the ridicule of Yu Muchen and the members of the football team all flooded into my heart, making me feel so painful and helpless.
How could Yu Muchen treat me like this? Just because of my little vanity at that time, should I be treated like this?
Unconsciously, tears welled up in my eyes and dripped down like pearls.
"Why... why do you always treat me like this? Wuuuu, what on earth did I... what on earth did I do wrong?" I sobbed and pushed the broom aside and sat down on the spot.
“Hey…hey…don’t cry…” As if frightened by my overreaction, Yu Muchen slowly sat down next to me, “It’s because you were clumsy and didn’t dodge. I didn’t mean to kick you.”
"Go away, go away, I don't want to see you!" I buried my head in my knees, exhausted both physically and mentally.
"Hey, stop crying!" There seemed to be a kind of pleading attitude in Yu Muchen's voice. Perhaps he was a little panicked in his heart.
"Why are you telling me not to cry? Aren't you the one who bullies me? I'm going to cry if I want to!" After being angry for a week, I didn't give in and started to make a scene. If I keep holding it in like this, I'm going to go crazy!
"How could I bully you..." He knew he was in the wrong, and his voice gradually lowered, but he still showed a stubbornness of pretending to be calm. "Anyway, don't cry, people will really think I bullied you. I'm your boyfriend now, you don't want others to think that your boyfriend treats you badly, right?" Yu Muchen came over and whispered in my ear.
What a specious argument! Anyway, when he speaks of something bad, it becomes good! I can't argue with him, so I just buried my head and sobbed, ignoring him.
"Okay, lift your head up. I'll help you wipe your tears. It won't look good if your eyes are swollen from crying..." I felt another pair of slender fingers caressing the hair on my temples, and my heart began to itch.
"Yu Muchen! Let's go! Let's go drink soda together!" In such a good atmosphere, someone shouted out in a suicidal way, "Hurry up, we agreed to go together! You, the star player, can't be absent!" This voice carried a kind of irresistible power.
Yu Muchen's movements were obviously slowed down. After a moment, he shouted over there, "I'm coming. Wait for me!" Then he said to me, "I'm leaving. I'll leave this handkerchief for you to wipe your tears. It's not that I don't want to accompany you. It's just that I just made an appointment with the team members to go drink soda together after playing football. I can't go back on my word. Besides, the director has called me, so I can't not go. Just bear with it. Bye!" After that, he got up from the ground, patted his pants, and the footsteps gradually faded away.
Bastard! Unfaithful man! I cursed in my heart. It’s bad enough that I’m not as good as a domestic dog. Now it seems that I’m not even as good as a bottle of soda!
I stood up, threw the handkerchief Yu Muchen left for me to the ground, and stomped on it a few times, as if I could hit its owner! In the end, I knew it was futile. Looking at the setting sun and the half of the playground that had not been cleaned, I picked up the broom feebly and continued my unfinished punishment...
Although I was very reluctant to see the sun set, I did not have the power to stop time, and the sky gradually darkened. The bright moon slowly climbed up into the sky instead of the sun, shining on me with its faint light.
As time passed, the people on the playground slowly dispersed, returning to their warm homes to eat the side dishes carefully prepared by their parents. Even if my parents were not at home, they could take the money to go to the fast food restaurant to eat a few pieces of delicious chicken nuggets... But I was still standing alone on the playground, as humble as a grain of quicksand in the desert, a meteor in the universe, no one paid attention to me, no one cared about me, and no one helped me.
I just mechanically repeated the movements with my numb hands and legs, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! How long will it take me to finish cleaning such a large playground?
I threw the broom to the ground angrily, and my eyes became red again.
"It's all your fault! You bastard! Yu Muchen, you bastard! Bastard, bastard! I hate you so much!" I kicked the broom twice, but instead of feeling relieved, I also hurt my toes.
After holding my toes and rubbing them for a while, I sighed and stood up again.
If I don't finish sweeping this place today, Bald Yan will definitely punish me more severely tomorrow. I'm thinking about whether I should find someone to help me...
My best friend Huang Ruo?
Well, that's impossible, her family is in another city...
Yu Muchen?
Humph! He used me as a target for ball practice in the afternoon. How come he came back to help me? It’s good enough that he didn’t let me help him!
And what else? And what else... I found out that I have been in Shengxi College for more than a month, but I don't even have a good friend who can help me sweep the playground. How much of a failure am I as a person? It wasn't like this when I was in my previous civilian school!
At that time, I had a lot of friends, and there was always someone to help me no matter what I did. How did I fall to this point now? It's so miserable.
Looking at the playground that seemed to never be swept, I was frowning and didn't know what to do, when I suddenly saw a few shadows floating in the playground from afar... They haven't returned home so late, could they be ghosts?
"Ding Xiaoxiao!" One of the people in the shadow called out. The voice sounded very familiar, making people feel warm in their hearts.
With the help of the dim moonlight and lights, when the person came closer, I found that the person was none other than Wei Tingyi, who rescued me from the empty gymnasium a few days ago and took me to the mysterious room to watch the stars.
"Ah! Student Council President! It's... it's you!" I was a little confused. Why would he come so late?
"You are here after all..." He seemed to have been looking for me for a long time, with some sweat on his forehead. "I heard that you were punished by the school's strictest math teacher to sweep the playground, and you are not allowed to go home until you finish sweeping." Wei Tingyi looked at me, took a look at my equipment, and knew that the rumor was true.
Oh my god! Who on earth was the one who spread this matter to the student union president? It’s not enough that I’ve embarrassed myself in front of Yu Muchen, but do you want me to embarrass myself in front of Wei Tingyi?
"Hmm..." I answered in a low voice, my cheeks flushed, and I wished I could find a hole in the ground to crawl into. How come he didn't know about the good things, but knew about this stupid thing!
"Teacher Yan is a little strict, but don't take it to heart..." Wei Tingyi patted my shoulder and said, "I know it is an impossible task for one person to clean the entire playground, so I brought people from the student union to help you." As he said that, he stepped aside.
It was only then that I realized that there were actually several people behind me, but I just didn't notice them at the time.
"Where did you clean?" one of the girls asked. All the student union members had name tags on their chests. I saw the name Secretary-General - Dong Wan written on it.
"Ah, I've finished sweeping the front." I pointed to the east. I was quite efficient and had already cleaned three-fifths of the area.
"Well... it seems that you cleaned quite quickly. Dong Wan and Zhang Xiaolong, you go over there, Chen Cheng and Jiang Yue go over there, and Ding Xiaoxiao stay here to clean." The student union president Wei Tingyi gave the order, and the members immediately executed it.
No way, I see these people are either the president of the secretarial committee or the director of the sports department. How can I let these top figures of the student union help me clean the playground? Is this going to shorten my life or damage my character?
"No, no, really. How can I trouble you? You are seniors, and members of the Student Union. I can do it alone!" I shook my hands hurriedly.
"Hey, Wei Tingyi said he wants to help, how can we not help?" It was Zhang Xiaolong, the Minister of Physical Education, who spoke. "Besides, our Student Union is all about the students. You've been here alone so late. If anything happens, our Student Union will really be disgraced! So we have to help you. If you want to repay me, please choose me as the Student Union President in the next election!" As he spoke, he showed his white teeth, just like a model in a Black Toothpaste commercial.
"Stop talking too much and let's go!" Dong Wan pulled Zhang Xiaolong's ear and carried him to the other side of the playground. I felt full of guilt and didn't know what to do.
"No need to be restrained. Just like Xiaolong said, I'm helping you because it's the student union's duty, so don't take it to heart." Wei Tingyi saw that I was embarrassed and comforted me, "Of course, I really want to help you in my heart, but it's really only a little bit! After all, I knew you were afraid of the dark last time, and the playground was so dark, I was afraid you would cry again, so I quickly called together members of the student union to help you. However, those who stayed until this late were the backbones, so you saw these big names sweeping the playground." He winked at me to make me happy.
"Thank you..." I felt like tears were about to fall again. Wei Tingyi always stepped forward when I was in the most difficult time and needed help the most. He was my savior.
"Get to work first, it's not too late to thank me when you're done!" As he said that, he had already started cleaning. I stared at his focused back, smiled slightly, and started the work at hand.
About half an hour later, the entire playground had been cleaned up. It really is true that there is strength in numbers!
"Thank you, thank you all so much!" I lowered my head and kept bowing to the members of the Student Union.
"It's okay. Helping classmates is our obligation and responsibility. You don't need to worry about it." Dong Wan smiled at me gently.
"If you really want to thank someone, you should thank the president. He said he would treat us to a meal, so he owes us a favor." Jiang Yue also joked. Several student union members chatted and laughed for a while, then left in twos and threes under the moonlight.
"I, I really don't know how to thank you, President." She looked up at Wei Tingyi. Under the moonlight, he looked particularly handsome, like a banished immortal. She felt that if he wore ancient costume, he must be an immortal.
"Well... if you want to thank me so much, don't be so polite and call me "Sir" in the future. Just call me Wei Tingyi, or Tingyi is also fine." Wei Tingyi put away the cleaning tools, clapped his hands and said to me.
"Well, Wei Tingyi, thank you! If you need me in the future, I will definitely help you!" I said with emotion, "I have been here for a month and I didn't have any friends. Today I found out that I do have friends, you! You are my only friend in Shengxi College!" I even shook his hand excitedly.
"The only... friend..." As if savoring the lingering sound of my words, Wei Tingyi smiled faintly, the gleam in his eyes as if it were the stars under the Milky Way.
"Well... I hope we can be friends forever!" I announced loudly, shouting happily towards the empty playground, "I have a friend! I, Ding Xiaoxiao, have a friend!"
The echo spread far and wide in the empty playground...
I finally completed the punishment that Baldy Yan gave me. I was so happy that I almost hummed a song.
