Chapter Eighteen
The next day, everyone just played in the city and returned after lunch. Qi Shu Fan first sent Yu Cai to the clinic for an IV drip before taking everyone to the city, instructing Yu Cai that if she finished her infusion early, she should wait a while, and he would come pick her up at noon.
When Qiboshen came to pick her up at noon, Yucai had already waited for almost an hour. Everyone ate something casually and started rushing back.
They should have gone shopping in the morning, Xia Yunyun and He Qi were discussing which one was better, Xia Mu and He Mu also helped Yu Cai buy two boxes of supplements, Yu Cai had to thank them repeatedly.
Back in xx county town, it was already 9 o'clock at night. Qi Shu Fan refused to let Yu Cai return to the dormitory, saying she was still sick and needed someone to take care of her. Yu Cai compromised again.
The next morning, after breakfast, Qi Shu Fan didn't know what was on his mind and asked Qi Shi to accompany Yu Cai to get a drop of dew. When he came back, if time permitted, he would report his name.
Yu Cai was afraid that Qi Shi would get impatient, so she suggested he go out for a walk and come back when the time was almost up. Qi Shi shook his head in refusal. Yu Cai repeated herself several times but he still didn't agree, so she had no choice but to hand him a magazine she had bought at a newsstand on her way there.
Yu Chai deliberately let the doctor hang a large bottle and a small bottle, instead of the usual two large bottles, and poured out one-fifth of the saline solution in the large bottle, so the speed was still relatively fast. By the time they finished hanging it, it was only 10 o'clock. The two went to school to register and pick up their books. After Yu Chai sent the books back to the dormitory, she followed Qi Shi back to the Qi's house for lunch.
Because it was the Lantern Festival, lunch was very sumptuous. After Yu Cai finished eating, she bid farewell and wanted to leave. Qi Shu Fan didn't persuade her to stay any longer, and instead asked Qi Shi to send Yu Cai back to her dormitory. Then, he took out a bulging package and said it was to celebrate the publication of Yu Cai's article, telling her to open it when she got back. Yu Cai declined repeatedly but had no choice but to accept it.
Yu Cai returned to the dormitory and opened it, but it was a box of cake, a box of popsicles, and a box of chocolates. She couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. It wasn't until later that day that she forgot to tell him that her taste had changed!
The cake was dismantled, and inside were individually packaged small bags. Yucai gave one each to Li Xue and Wu Xiaoran, leaving two behind, one of which was given to Zhao Ye, and the other to Ding Sihao. As for the sugar and chocolate, they would be brought back home next time, as both Yucai and her dad loved them.
Yu Cai tidied up the things and slept until more than 6 o'clock in the evening, then took the cake to Zhao Ye's class for self-study.
As soon as she entered the third-year classroom, a tense atmosphere hit her in the face. Yu Zai couldn't help but hold her breath and slow down her pace. She put the cake on Zhao Ye's desk, gestured to him with her hands and feet for a while, then found a seat and quietly started reading a book.
The next day was the first day of school, Yu Cai got up early and went to a store she had found earlier to buy some breakfast that Zhi Shu liked to eat, then headed to Class 12. After playing together for these few days, at least one good thing was that she roughly knew what he ate and didn't eat.
As soon as she entered Class 12, several boys who were relatively familiar with Yu Cai enthusiastically called out, "Sister-in-law, you're here!"
Last semester, Yu Cai was more familiar with the students in Class 12 than her own class, while her so-called cousin had never called her name before. However, several lively boys from their class were calling out to her with great enthusiasm.
Yucai smiled and greeted, then put the breakfast on Qizhi's table, with a serious face said, "This is what I bought for my classmate, she doesn't eat this, if you don't either, just give it to someone else, so as not to waste".
It seemed like Ji Shi was about to speak, but his taciturn nature prevailed in the end, and he merely nodded slightly.
A very active boy named Zhou Chuan shouted out, "Sister, I haven't had breakfast yet, is there still some left?"
Several other boys also echoed in unison, saying they were starving to death and no one pitied them.
Yu Cai saw that it didn't take much effort to get Ji Shi to accept, whether he ate or not was another matter, but his intention had been conveyed, so he felt quite pleased and laughed, saying "Who made you lazy, starving is what you deserve".
Several boys sighed in unison, and Zhou Chuan even laughed and said, "I should have chosen a school with my cousin."
Yu Cai handed over the cake originally prepared for Ding Si to a nearby boy, "Okay, I'll give it to you, I have to go to class now".
Yu Cai arrived at class just as the bell rang, but her classmates were all chatting and the teacher was nowhere to be seen, probably exchanging stories of their winter break with colleagues. Yu Cai habitually glanced over in Fei Yuanfan's direction before greeting a few people including Gu Yueyue and then returned to her seat.
Qiao Jiazheng and Li Miao were delighted to see Yu Cai, beaming with joy as they greeted her.
Yucai hadn't seen her for a whole winter break, and she had more genuine smiles. She greeted everyone one by one and joined their conversation, mostly just listening though.
It was halfway through the morning reading class that Old Mei, with a smile all over his face, led several class cadres and representatives to the office to move some scrolls. Yu Cai, as the labor committee member at the end of the list, naturally followed along in the spirit of serving the people.
When the test papers were handed out, the class was in an uproar, with discussions, screams and wails everywhere. Yucai's performance was similar to that of the mid-term exam, still terrible in physics and chemistry, but relatively stable in other subjects.
Ten minutes after the start of class, Old Mei sauntered in and seemed to give her students time to discuss before dropping another bombshell, saying that she would rearrange their seats based on their grades, with the principle of mutual help and complementary advantages among classmates.
Yu Cai doesn't remember who sat at the desks in front of and behind her, but throughout her first year of high school, her deskmate was always Qiao Jia. She wouldn't misremember that, so she didn't have any expectations.
As expected, although the position changed from third row to fifth row, Qiao Jia was still her honorable partner.
But just as she turned around, Yu Cai was shocked. Behind her sat Lu Quan, the most powerful student in mathematics and physics. Had Old Mei given her special treatment because of Qi Shu Fan?
Yu Cai was stunned by Lu Quan's halo and only discovered after half a day that another boy sitting behind her was actually Yang Junze, another male friend from her high school days. Although not as close as Mo Fei, the two had always been on good terms and remained so even ten years later.
Yang Junze is bilingual and, like Yu Cai, enjoys playing with words and has a petty bourgeoisie style. He is the most talkative male classmate of Yu Cai's, and he has a more elegant and refined demeanor than Mo Fei's lazy and uninhibited personality, which makes Yu Cai very fond of him.
As for Yang Junze's memory, it was also after he sat behind him in the second year of high school that Yu Cai had a memory. I don't know why Lao Mei suddenly mentioned it this time and let him sit over earlier, but anyway, Yu Cai is still very happy. Last semester, she saw Yang Junze's immature appearance and secretly laughed to herself for a while. Now, she can finally start their long-lasting friendship again in a proper manner.
Da Ke ran out of school quickly and found a store, weighed a catty of popsicles. At this time, high school students were popular with eating this, and then quickly ran to the next class to send popsicles to Ding Si.
Ding Si was taken aback by Yu Cai's words, and Yu Cai smiled, "Ding Si, I've thought about it later, although you made me very unhappy during that time, but if I moved out, you wouldn't be happy either. We're even now. This is something I brought from home, try some, we're still sisters, aren't we?"
Ding hesitated for a moment before accepting it, and smiled awkwardly at Yu Cai, "Thanks!"
Yu Cai asked a few questions about her winter break, and then talked about her own, feeling satisfied and returned to class. As soon as she walked back to her seat, she was startled by the scene in front of her.
Yu Zai was so absorbed in the shock and joy of Lu Quan and Yang Jun switching to her back that she didn't even notice who was sitting on Qiao Jia's left.
They were sitting in the middle, Yu Cai sat on the outer edge of the table to the far right, and there were two more tables connected to Yu Cai's table on the left. Qiao Jia, who was sitting inside, couldn't help but have an extra tablemate, and this tablemate happened to be the little white face He Qi, whom Yu Cai had been avoiding like the plague.
He Qizhen thought that after playing with Yu Cai for so many days, he should be Yu Cai's best male classmate. Therefore, after not finding him in two whole classes, he was very angry and unfortunately, Qiao Jia who sat on his right became his punching bag.
Of course Qiao Jia didn't provoke him and was a girl, so it wasn't easy to find trouble with her, but Mo Fei as Qiao Jia's boyfriend was different.
He Qi found Mo Fei and told him that it was already hard enough to cover for them normally, now he had to pretend to be Qiao Jia's guardian when Mo Fei wasn't around. Firstly, he was afraid of Mo Fei getting jealous, secondly, he didn't have such a high awareness, being able to stab his brother in the back but not his brother's girlfriend...
Perhaps not knowing where He Qi's stubbornness came from, but seeing He Qi's gloomy and angry face, he thought it was not worth making his brother unhappy for such a small thing, so he suggested that Qiao Jia and Yu Cai change seats, which would solve the problem simply and conveniently.
Qiao Jia was naturally unwilling to switch seats, but seeing Mo Fei's persistence and He Qi's displeasure, she had no choice but to compromise. In her opinion, sitting with He Qi was a good thing, and Yu Cai had gotten an incredible bargain, so she definitely wouldn't disagree. Therefore, when Yu Cai left, Qiao Jia simply moved Yu Cai's things inside, which was easy and convenient anyway.
As soon as Yu Zai returned, she saw that her things had been moved around, and next to them sat a pale-faced boy with an even more arrogant expression, although the words that were even more arrogant hadn't left his mouth yet.
Yu Cai suddenly got angry, she had been dissatisfied with Qiao Jia for a long time. Although her current self could ignore the occasional disdain and intentional or unintentional soft violence in Qiao Jia's eyes, her ten-year-ago self was always concerned about it, and still cared about it even after ten years. Originally, because of Qi Shi, Qiao Jia had restrained herself a lot, but now she actually moved Yu Cai's things again without her consent, and even made Yu Cai sit at the same table as that damned little white face!
Old grievances and new hatreds flooded her mind, Yu Cai endured great hardship to control herself and not shout like a shrew, her face sinking as she said, "Qiao Jia, what do you mean by this? You moved my things without my consent?"
Qiao Jia felt embarrassed to say the reason, and smiled, "Let's swap positions, you sat outside for a semester, this semester let me sit outside".
"You also knew I sat outside for a semester, what right do you have to change seats without telling me? Originally changing seats is no big deal, but you changed seats without my consent, moved my things without my consent, that's disrespecting me! Qiao Jia, even bullying someone shouldn't be done like this!"
Qiao Jia is actually very innocent, she thinks she has a good relationship with Yu Cai, and usually treats her well. What's wrong with asking her to move things or switch seats? And besides, the person next to her is a handsome guy, so why did Yu Cai come up with a whole set of words saying that Qiao Jia doesn't respect her?
Qiao Jia was so surprised that she forgot to refute, Yu Cai continued, "Originally, this small matter you consulted with me, I didn't say it wouldn't be agreed to, but you look down on people like this, I'm not your subordinate Qiao Jia's servant, no obligation or need to agree to every request that goes through human consent or not, this time I disagree with the exchange!"
Qiao Jia reacted, "Yu Cai, what's wrong with you? It's just a change of seats. Do you have to make such a big deal out of it? You've been sitting outside for a whole semester, can't I get a turn now?"
"What makes you think it's your turn? We're all seated according to the class teacher's arrangement. I don't agree with switching, and you have no right to force me! Not to mention your disrespect and rudeness!"
"How could I have disrespected you? It's just moving your stuff, if you don't want to switch then forget it. You actually dragged on so much, today I've really seen what you're made of!"
"This is what I call showing you who's boss, and there's still more where that came from. Want to see some more?"
He was originally watching with a look of schadenfreude, but now that the tension between the two is getting thicker, he's also worried that things might get out of hand. He's not an idiot and understands that Yu Cai is so opposed to this matter, it's very likely because of his own reasons. If he goes up again to mediate, it's very likely that he'll just be adding fuel to the fire, so he beckons Mo Fei to come over instead.
It turns out that Mo Fei saw Yu Cai and Qiao Jia fighting, this matter himself also has responsibility, Qiao Jia originally also disagreed with the exchange, so had to go forward to persuade, "Yu Cai, forget it, don't say anymore, class is about to start, classmates are all watching".
Yu Cai let out a cold hum, "Let me not say anything, why don't you let Qiao Jia not say anything? Are you going to speak with your conscience today? Is it that I, Yu Cai, was unreasonable and caused trouble first, or is it that Qiao Jia disrespected people first?"
Yu Cai asked a very technical question, to be honest, Qiao Jia was indeed disrespectful, but she also made unreasonable demands. However, since she added "in the first place", it's still Qiao Jia who started the trouble. Mo Fei couldn't say anything else and could only smile wryly, saying "Let's not talk about it anymore, it's just a small matter..."
Yu Cai immediately interrupted him, "Isn't it just a small matter! So your meaning is that I, Yu Cai, am making a fuss over nothing and acting like a shrew?"
"That's not what I meant..."
"What are you talking about? Are you telling me that being infatuated with beauty and disregarding friendship has no bounds, or else there will be a day when you'll regret it?"
Isn't it that he's always sulking and touching his nose, looking at Yu Cai with a stern expression, how can she still have the upper hand? How could he be so infatuated with her and neglect their friendship? Besides, can what he has with Yu Cai even be considered "friendship"?
Qiao Jia saw Mo Fei being blocked and unable to speak, so she immediately shouted in a sharp voice, "Yu Cai, watch your words!"
Yu Cai snorted again, "How dare you do it but not admit it? Moreover, I, an outsider, don't think there's anything shameful about it. What are you ashamed of? Is it that your face or figure aren't up to par?"
Qiao Jia saw Yu Caiyue speak more and more nonsense, her face turned red with anger, "Yu Caiyue what are you talking about!"
The argument between the three of them was getting more and more intense, with the whole class watching. Some students were getting anxious, thinking that they should be having class instead, and wondering if they should go get the teacher to handle the situation. As they thought this, their eyes drifted towards the door, where they unexpectedly saw their Chinese teacher standing with a smile on her face, seemingly enjoying the commotion. It turned out that Yu Cai and Qiao Jia had been arguing for a while before the class bell rang, but no one noticed because it was still early in the semester and everyone was excited. Later, when Yu Cai and the others were arguing too intensely, they didn't notice the teacher arrive. Most of their classmates were also too caught up in watching to notice, and those who did see the teacher didn't say anything, each with their own thoughts but all enjoying the spectacle. A few responsible class officers had originally wanted to notify the teacher, but when they saw the Chinese teacher standing at the door, they thought that since there was already a teacher present, it wasn't their problem anymore, so they also continued watching the commotion. After all, high school life was too dull, and opportunities like this were rare.
But He Qi, as one of the parties involved, naturally didn't have the awareness of his classmates, nor did he have the filial piety to let the language teacher continue to watch the excitement, and immediately shouted loudly, "Teacher!"
Yu Cai and Qiao Jia were both startled, and they forgot that their argument was still unfinished. They looked towards the door together.
The language teacher was quite disappointed that the play had to stop halfway, but after all, she still remembered her responsibility as a teacher. With a smile on her face, she walked up to the stage and said, "I just realized that our classmates' eloquence is not bad at all." After giving Yu Cai a glance with rich meaning, she added, "Especially Yu Cai, who can hold a pen must have a good tongue too."
Yu Cai saw her own saucy appearance being seen by her most liked and respected language teacher, and then regretted it, and was teased by him like this, suddenly hating to find a seam in the ground to drill into.
"Alright, class is starting, everyone take your seats."
Yu Cai stood still in the corridor, Jiao Jia didn't want to argue with her teacher again, so she gave way and went inside.
After everyone sat down and the class monitor had finished calling out "stand up" and "sit down", Yu Cai immediately raised her hand.
The language teacher smiled and nodded, "What's the question?"
Yu Cai stood up, hesitated for a moment, and said firmly, "Teacher, I was extremely angry just now, lost the composure I should have had, and failed to discuss the matter at hand. Instead, I made personal attacks on my classmates who should be united and helping each other. In fact, it was all my own misgivings and making a big deal out of nothing. Here, I apologize to the teacher and classmates, hoping you can forgive me." Yu Cai said this while bowing slightly to the language teacher, then turned around and bowed again, deliberately skipping over Qiao Jia beside her. She didn't want to get Mo Fei into trouble because of herself, nor did she want Mo Fei to have any problems.
Qiao Jia gritted her teeth secretly, fine, Yu Cai, you've had the final say in everything, what else is there to say?
It's clear that at this moment, he doesn't have the self-awareness of being a loser who has messed up private matters to the point of involving his teacher. Yu Cai's last sentence was obviously biased towards him, and now, is she helping Qiao Jia or herself? Mo Fei's lazy smile at the corner of his mouth had a deeper meaning.
The language teacher smiled and said, "Good, it's great that you can recognize your mistakes. Sit down."
"What about the other teachers?"
The language teacher pointed to his own mouth and said, "My mouth is very small, I don't have as great a skill with words as Yucai does."
Since the language teacher had already promised not to talk nonsense, the language teacher sarcastically said that she was talking nonsense on one hand and trying to be a good person on the other, so she could only acknowledge it.
The language teacher started the lesson as if nothing had happened, but Yucai's thoughts drifted away. Her usual low-key image was thoroughly shattered. She didn't know what her classmates would think of her now or how they would look at her from then on. And there was Fei Yuanfan... even though she currently had no feelings for him, she still didn't want to leave a bad impression in his mind...
After class, Yucai was at a loss for what to do when Gu Yueyue beckoned her over with a hand gesture in the corridor. Yucai suddenly felt very grateful, and indeed, friends are considerate!
The last class was politics, and after school, Yu Cai Chao nodded to Gu Yueyue and rushed to the office to catch up with Lao Mei before he went home. Wearing a mask and speaking in a low voice, she said that she was ill and wanted to take a week's leave.
Lao Mei was very dissatisfied with her request for too much time off, saying she only gave three days off and asked Yu Cai how she got a cold again.
Yu Cailian said she was dragged by Ji Shu Fan to climb Huangshan, got blown by the wind and froze. She struggled to attend half a day of classes today, but her condition worsened, so she had to go home and rest.
Lao Mei felt guilty and stopped bothering her, instructing Yu Cai to rest well before hurrying away.
Since the whole school was in class, there were no empty classrooms, so Yucai had to stay in her dormitory for an afternoon and went out at 5:30 to give Qi Shi a supplementary lesson in Class 12.
Didn't want to see He Qi just after entering the classroom, Yu Cai didn't want to see him at this time except for Qiao Jia. She pretended not to see him and sat down beside Xi Zhe, opening her book.
It was originally a trivial matter that made such a big deal, and He Qi also found it uninteresting. Seeing Yu Cai ignore him, he put on a flattering face and said, "You haven't recovered from your cold yet, Teacher Mei said you took a sick leave and scolded us for a while, saying that the physical quality of today's students is too poor."
Yucai had asked for leave, and Old Mei received another call from Qiao Jia, saying she had a cold and wanted to take a few days off. Old Mei was very dissatisfied that two students were taking sick leave, but couldn't refuse. Qiao Jia was usually well-behaved, and besides, her family was in the county town, so it shouldn't be possible for her to lie and skip class, so she had no choice but to approve it.
But he was really unhappy, so in the afternoon during class meeting, he severely scolded all his classmates, saying they didn't pay attention to exercise, were picky eaters, slept late and skipped breakfast, making their bodies worse than one another. This wasn't even a week into school yet and already two students had taken sick leave, so naturally no one in the class dared to correct him and could only obediently accept his lecture.
As the saying goes, "Don't hit a smiling face," and he didn't get directly involved either. Besides, Ji Shi was still by his side, so Yu Cai could only nod and say, "It's fine now, but I'm feeling tired, so I'll just go back and sleep for a few days."
Alright, Miss Yu, you're being quite extravagant, just because you're tired, you want to sleep for several days!
"Wait until you're feeling better before going back to class."
Yu Cai hastily shook her head, "No need, I'm fine. This time my exam results were bad, I don't have the face to listen to the teacher talk about the papers and all that. Let's hide out for a few days, really, do I look like I'm sick?"
He glanced at her and found that Yu Cai's eyes were shining brightly due to her eagerness, and her cheeks also had a healthy flush from just getting out of bed. She really didn't look like she was sick. As for the specific reason, ask He Qi with a guilty face behind him.
Yu Cai gave a lecture after class, and in high spirits, she picked up her math book, which she hadn't touched for a long time. She had missed several classes, but it wasn't a big deal except for math - she didn't know if she could catch up with the pace. Hmm, Yang Jun's math skills weren't great either, but he was much better than her. She might as well ask him about what she didn't understand. If all else failed, there was still Zhao Ye; asking him a couple of questions wouldn't be too bothersome for him, right?
Yu Cai went for a slow run around the playground after self-study, then walked at a moderate pace. She thought to herself that she had made things awkward with Qiao Jia, and couldn't help but feel that she was making things difficult for herself by being unable to get along with someone she saw every day.
It's not that He Qi is good, but because of the reasons for his release and his book, he is still okay with himself. There is no need to always reject him because of the past. It's right to learn from past experiences, but it can't be that one lives in memories all the time, being overly cautious and suspicious...
