Chapter 7: The Unforgettable Story of Green Pepper 1
I was already physically exhausted, and after the involuntary high-speed and high-altitude flight, I felt even weaker. Although I took a short break, it was not enough for me to catch up with the angry Hongze.
Seeing Hongze disappear from my sight, my heart skipped a beat. I rushed forward two steps and rushed into the classroom. I saw Hongze sitting in his seat, looking at the osmanthus tree outside the window. Li Weiwei, Ai Jia and several other girls occupied Xu Zhishang's seat, gathered around Hongze, and chattered.
"Wow! Hongze, I realized I was wrong about you. I always thought you were the best-looking guy in uniform, but I didn't expect you to be so handsome in sportswear!"
"Yes, yes! Why didn't you wear sportswear before? I think you look much more approachable in sportswear!"
"I think that although sportswear is refreshing, uniforms are the best! I still prefer you in uniform."
"What do you know? You are so superficial! I think that as long as it's Hongze, he will look good in anything and look handsome in anything."
Hongze, who usually ignored them, seemed to come to his senses suddenly. He grabbed Aijia's hand and asked seriously, "Don't I look like a brother or a younger brother? Do you know that indescribable feeling?"
Ai Jia was caught off guard and was startled. She screamed out loud, her face instantly turned red, and she asked in a low voice: "You, what did you say?"
A nameless anger rose in my heart, and my brain was hot. When I reacted, I had squeezed into the circle of Li Weiwei and Ai Jia, and my hand was covering Hong Ze's hand holding Ai Jia. Not only Hong Ze and the girls gathered here, but most of the students in the classroom looked at me curiously, and it seemed that everyone was asking me what I was going to do.
I woke up from my dream and pulled my hand back as if I had been electrocuted. I saw Zhou Mian coming in from the corner of my eye and said without thinking, "Li Weiwei, Ai Jia, Zhou Mian has been looking for you for a long time! Zhou Mian! They are here."
"Me?" Zhou Mian, who was called by me, opened his mouth wide enough to fit two eggs. He nodded perfunctorily in response, "Yes, yes, I have something to talk to you about. You, you all come here. Lingmiao, Hongze, you all come here too."
Li Weiwei and Ai Jia looked at each other, looked at us with confusion, and walked towards Zhou Mian hesitantly.
Hong Ze glanced at Zhou Mian, then followed him, walking side by side with Zhou Mian at the front.
"Am I crazy?" I knocked my head in annoyance, sighed, and walked alone at the end.
Zhou Mian stopped at the end of the corridor, turned around and looked at the four of us and said, "We are going to do free speech in English class. The theme of my speech is family. I would like to ask you about your views and understanding of family and what kind of existence you think family is."
"Family? Why are you bringing us together to discuss this?" Li Weiwei was the first to express her dissatisfaction. "You even asked Lingmiao to come along. Are you looking for trouble?"
I quickly waved my hands to explain, fearing that Li Weiwei would misunderstand Zhou Mian: "Haha, it's okay. Well, I just followed and listened to join in the fun. You all can talk about it, I'm actually curious too."
"Family is probably the one you trust unconditionally. You know they will always be the best to you and will always give you the best of themselves." Aijia held her chin with one hand, looking a little shy, with a sweet smile as if she remembered something warm.
Zhou Mian took over the conversation and said in agreement: "I think home is your warmest harbor, and where your family is is your home. No matter how much you have been wronged or how big a mistake you have made, the one who will always comfort you and tolerate you is your family."
I looked at Zhou Mian, then at Hong Ze: "Well, if I were to give an example, Zhou Mian is like a family member to me."
"Ah...family?" Zhou Mian hesitated, avoided my gaze, looked at the ground, and for some reason his voice sounded a little depressed.
I was a little stunned. I didn't expect Zhou Mian to react like this. I was so embarrassed that I didn't know where to put my hands and feet.
Li Weiwei saw me and grabbed my slowly falling hand. She said fiercely, "Hey! Zhou Mian, what do you mean? Ling Miao said that she treats you as a family member. Your reaction is too hurtful."
When Li Weiwei held my hand, I seemed to get some energy from her. I looked at Zhou Mian with some anticipation, feeling mixed emotions.
Zhou Mian quickly pulled himself together and waved his hands to explain, "No, that's not what I meant. Lingmiao, I'm very happy that you trust me so much. I have always regarded you as my important...important family member. My father and I will always be your family."
I nodded heavily and responded loudly, "Yes!"
"I remember a very good saying: People will always lose their temper with their family members without restraint because you know they will never leave you because of this. Family members are not just people with blood ties, but people who trust, tolerate and depend on each other." Li Weiwei seemed to be ignited by our passion and made a generous closing statement.
"Are humans sick? Why do we lose our temper with our family members but not with ordinary people?" Hong Ze asked with some disdain, leaning against the guardrail with his arms folded across his chest.
Li Weiwei pushed Ai Jia, signaling her to answer Hong Ze's question. I watched Ai Jia's mouth open and close, but I couldn't hear what she was saying, as if I was isolated in a vacuum. I never seemed to have lost my temper with Zhou Mian, and all my little willfulness was always carefully controlled to the extent that Zhou Mian would not get angry. Didn't I really regard Zhou Mian as my family?
"Family? I am the one who will become family with Zhou Mian in the future!" Ling Jiao jumped out from somewhere and threw herself on Zhou Mian, hooking her hands around his neck, as if domineeringly declaring her sovereignty.
Zhou Mian subconsciously used both hands to protect Ling Jiao, preventing her from falling. After seeing Ling Jiao stand firm, he loosened his hands, stepped back half a step, and whispered, "Stand firm and talk properly."
Ling Jiao was not pretentious, she stood there carelessly and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Just as Li Weiwei was about to speak, Hongze rushed to Ling Jiao in front of her and said excitedly: "How do you become a family member when you make bakeries?"
As soon as Hongze said this, I felt like my scalp was about to explode. I covered my face with my head in pain, hiding the smile that I was about to hold back. The first time Hongze "met" Ling Jiao was when Ling Jiao gave me bread. It was probably because I praised Ling Jiao's bread so much that it left a deep and indelible impression on him. Therefore, after a few months of being classmates, he only remembered that Ling Jiao had made a delicious bread.
Ling Jiao was startled and exclaimed: "What did you say?"
Not only Ling Jiao, but Li Weiwei and Ai Jia were also frightened. They covered their hearts and stared at Hong Ze and Ling Jiao with wide eyes.
The slightly chilly autumn wind blew by, and Ling Jiao was the first to move. She broke off a vine from the forsythia grafted from the guardrail, held it in her hand like a teaching stick, and said with a proud expression: "Are you asking me for advice? Who did you ask to make the bread?"
“You.”
"You! Who told you I was a baker?"
I stole a glance and saw that Ling Jiao's small face was distorted, and even her hair exuded her anger. Hong Ze didn't seem to feel Ling Jiao's anger and honestly raised his finger to point at me.
My left eyelid twitched, and I grabbed Hongze's hand and turned to Zhou Mian, showing a harmless smile and saying in a trembling voice: "Ling Jiao, class is about to start, right? Let's go back to the classroom first?"
As soon as I finished speaking, the class bell rang. For the first time, I felt that the class bell was so pleasant. I winked at Zhou Mian, and Zhou Mian nodded in understanding.
"Let's go to class first." Zhou Mian took the forsythia vine from Ling Jiao's hand with one hand, put his arm around Ling Jiao's shoulder with the other hand and walked two steps with her.
Ling Jiao grumbled without resistance and walked into the classroom with Zhou Mian. I breathed a sigh of relief. Li Weiwei looked at Hong Ze and me thoughtfully, dragging Ai Jia, who looked gloomy, into the classroom. Only Hong Ze and I were left staring at each other.
"What are you still doing standing outside?" I heard the Chinese teacher's voice, and then I dragged Hongze into the classroom.
