Chapter Thirteen Christmas

  That night, when Ou Yang returned home, he saw a plastic bag next to Ma Si's backpack. It looked quite full, but since it was black, Ou Yang had no idea what was inside. Just then, Ma Si came out of the bathroom, and Ou Yang asked, "Brother, what's in that plastic bag?" Ma Si replied expressionlessly, "What else could it be? Valentine's Day cards. I received a bunch today." Ou Yang suddenly remembered his mother saying that Ma Si's teacher had said many girls would sneak peeks at Ma Si through the classroom door. Now Ou Yang was starting to believe it.

  Ou Yang put down his backpack and walked into the kitchen, where Feng Hongyan was preparing dinner for him. Ma Si also entered the kitchen, looking for something to eat. "I want to return Valentine's Day cards to my classmates, but I don't know what kind they like," Ou Yang said, thinking Ma Si would definitely know a solution.

  Feng Hongyan didn't say anything and put the food on the table before going back into her room. Ma Si took out a can of Coke from the fridge, drank some, and slowly said, "It's simple. Just look at what kind of card they sent you, and return the same kind. For example, if they sent you a music-themed card, you should also send them a music-themed card. If you send something cheaper, they'll think you're not sincere enough. If you send something more expensive, they'll feel embarrassed."

  This conversation suddenly enlightened Ou Yang. He quickly finished his dinner and returned to his room. Ma Si said he had already finished his homework and was going to sleep, but Ou Yang knew that Ma Si never did his homework because their class never checked.

  As Ou Yang worked on his homework, he asked Ma Si, who was lying in bed, "Aren't you going to return any Valentine's Day cards?" Ma Si lazily replied, "I didn't ask them to send me any, so why should I return them? Just treat a few close friends to dinner, and that's it." After saying this, he turned over and went to sleep.

  Ou Yang sighed. Today's homework wasn't much, and he finished it in about an hour. Then, he took out the Valentine's Day cards he had bought from various stores and thought about each person's preferences and who should receive which card. He wrote them one by one.

  "Wow, it's so late." After Ou Yang finished writing all the greeting cards, he looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 12 o'clock. Ou Yang stretched his waist, tidied up his school bag, went to the bathroom to wash up, and thought to himself: I should be able to get back at least half of the greeting cards...

  Here is the translation:

  The next day was Friday, and Ou Yang put a greeting card on each person's desk. Since their commute bus left very early, they arrived at school relatively early.

  "Hey, you even got Zhao Junyi a card? I didn't think of getting him one," Wang Lin said with a surprised expression as he saw Ou Yang putting a card on Zhao Junyi's desk.

  "I just happened to write one for him. There are some people in our class that I haven't even talked to, but at least he treated us to drinks before," Ou Yang continued to put out the cards.

  "You're someone who remembers kindness but not grievances," Wang Lin sighed.

  As their classmates arrived one by one, Ou Yang pulled Wang Lin out of the classroom and looked back through the window to see everyone's reaction when they received the cards. Some people were happy, some didn't care, and some were surprised. But what Ou Yang cared about most was the reaction of the few people who had given him cards.

  Their deskmate Chen Juan saw the card but didn't even open it, directly putting it into her bag. Mu Yuhan opened the card and looked at it, and Ou Yang saw her adjust her glasses because he couldn't see her face clearly from behind.

  Miao Rongxian, on the other hand, was very happy, reading the card many times. Just as Ou Yang and Wang Lin were looking through the window to see their classmates' reactions, someone called out to Ou Yang, "What are you two doing?"

  Ou Yang turned around to see that it was Xu Yuejie, who was wearing a new white down jacket today. Although it didn't match well with her school uniform pants, Ou Yang still thought she looked great.

  For a moment, Ou Yang didn't know what to say, so he pushed Wang Lin, and Wang Lin immediately said, "Nothing, we're just observing whether anyone can see who's secretly reading extracurricular books or playing with their phones through this window."

  Ou Yang nodded in agreement. In his heart, he wondered if Xu Yuejie would like the card he had chosen for her.

  Not long after, class started. As Ou Yang was taking English notes, Chen Juan poked him and whispered, "Thanks, I've only received one card so far this year, and it's from you."

  Ou Yang smiled and said, "No need to thank me, we're classmates." Chen Juan also smiled and said, "Compared to the card, when are you going to give me that book you promised?"

  Ou Yang was at a loss for words.

  During recess, Ou Yang received another card from their class's art committee member, who was a girl named Xiao Yangchen. She was good at singing but often got teased by the boys because of her weight. But thinking about it now, Xu Yuejie seemed even heavier than Xiao Yangchen.

  Ou Yang looked at the card and thought that compared to Xu Yuejie's card, this one was much simpler. Actually, cards were just a formality; what mattered most was the heart behind giving them.

  During the last self-study class of the day, their teacher Liu said, "Classmates, I have some bad news to tell you all. After this semester, I might not be able to continue teaching you all because I'm going on maternity leave. But don't worry, the school has already hired a retired teacher named Luan to take over our class, and there's also a math teacher named Cheng who will teach you well."

  The classmates all had expressions of reluctance.

  Ou Yang had known about this news for a while, but when the teacher said it out loud, he still felt a bit unacceptable. When they first entered school, they had randomly drawn Liu as their teacher and thought she was okay, but now she was leaving after just one semester. He didn't know if this was good or bad.

  As they were leaving school that evening, Ou Yang was called back by Xu Yuejie, "Hey, I really like the card you gave me."

  Ou Yang smiled and said, "I'm glad you liked it." Xu Yuejie blinked her eyes and mischievously said, "You know, getting a phone is not hard. You can just tell your mom that since your house is far away from school, having a phone would be convenient in case of an emergency."

  Ou Yang thought for a moment and then said, "I've already used that reason before, but my mom said I don't have anything to worry about at school. If something happens, she told me to just ask Wang Lin's mom to call her."

  Xu Yuejie looked a bit disappointed when Ou Yang finished speaking, so he immediately added, "But I'll think of another way. I'll definitely get one before next semester." Xu Yuejie smiled happily after hearing this.

  For some reason, every time Ou Yang saw Xu Yuejie smile and show her dimples, his heart felt especially happy.

  That evening on the commute, Ouyang told Wang Lin and Xu Xue Mei about it. This time, Xu Xue Mei came up with a solution. She said: "This is simple, before when I wanted some plush toys or bags or stationery, I would tell my mom how many points I could get in this exam, and you can buy me what I want. You just set an end-of-term exam goal with your mom." After hearing Xu Xue Mei's words, Wang Lin expressed strong agreement. When he got home, Ouyang told his mother about the idea of getting a phone call. Feng Hongyan knew that Ouyang had wanted a cell phone for a long time, and this way could also make Ouyang focus on reviewing for the end-of-term exam, so she agreed. As long as Ouyang can enter the top 15 in the class at the end of the term, she will buy him a mobile phone. Ouyang was very happy in his heart and planned to tell Xu Yuejie about it next Monday.

  On Saturday, Ouyang went to the record store and checked if JJ had released a new album. He also visited a bookstore, where he still preferred Guo Jingming's books. However, girls like Xu Yueru and Mu Yuhan seemed to enjoy books like "Evil Kiss" more. Recently, he heard that they were all reading "The Sparrow Wants to Revolution", so Ouyang decided to buy a copy too. Unfortunately, the bookstore had sold out of copies, indicating that the book was very popular. The salesperson said that the second volume would be released soon, so Ouyang planned to wait and buy both volumes together.

  That night at dinner, Feng Hongyan said to Ouyang: "You've been out for a day, the final exam is getting closer and closer, can you reach that goal I set for you?" Ouyang patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, I'll do what I say."

  In the following days, Ouyang listened to classes very seriously every day and reviewed at home. He wouldn't sleep until almost 12 o'clock every night, which made Mais suffer from insomnia due to the light.

  It's Christmas, Ou Yang found that the warehouses at the school gate were all decorated with a Christmas theme. Some had colorful lights, some had Christmas trees, and the aunt who signed for him at his usual warehouse was even wearing a Santa hat, dressed like Santa Claus, shouting "Snow spray color spray, 3 yuan a can" at the door of the warehouse.

  That afternoon, Ouyang asked Wang Lin: "Is it Carnival first or Christmas Eve first?" Wang Lin said it was Carnival first and then Christmas Eve, so Ouyang remembered it that way until many years later when he went to high school and found out that it was actually Christmas Eve first and then Carnival.

  During recess, Xu Yu Jie and Xiao Zhu both gave Ou Yang an apple. According to Xiao Zhu, this was called a "Peace Fruit" that could protect people from harm. That evening after school, just as Ou Yang was about to head towards the bus stop, he was stopped by Wang Lin and Li Jun. Ou Yang asked them what they wanted to do, and Li Jun said: "Spray paint snowflakes, three yuan a can! Don't you want to have some fun on Christmas?" Ou Yang replied: "It's not that I don't want to play, but how am I supposed to get home?" "Don't worry, we'll take a taxi back after we're done playing. I'll treat," Wang Lin said. "Don't you want to get revenge on those people who didn't give you a Christmas card?" Ou Yang thought for a moment, and an evil grin appeared on his face. "I already know my first target."

  Every day, Zhao Junyi was one of the last people to leave school. Since he had nothing to do at home, today he went to the warehouse as usual to buy a bottle of Coke. As soon as he entered the warehouse, two black shadows rushed out and started spraying snow spray at him. Zhao Junyi dodged too late and got sprayed all over his body. When he finally understood what was happening, it was Ouyang and Wang Lin standing in front of him. Contrary to Ouyang's expectations, Zhao Junyi didn't get angry but instead took out 10 yuan from his wallet and slapped it on the warehouse counter. Then, he grabbed two bottles of snow spray and sprayed them at Ouyang. Ouyang's nose was also filled with snow spray. After finishing spraying, Zhao Junyi ran out of the warehouse, which made Ouyang furious. Ouyang and Wang Lin left their schoolbags in the warehouse and each took two bottles of snow spray to chase after him.

  Before long, Zhou Feng and other boys in the class also joined the fight. One team was led by Ouyang, and the other was led by Zhao Junyi. When the two teams were fighting fiercely, Wang Lin came up with a better idea...