Chapter Fourteen: Dinner Party

  "Hey, Big Brother, did you know? The clever Ruo Yun classmate was appointed by the teacher as our class propaganda committee member. You won't be the class monitor again, will you?" Fat Fish said mysteriously, "Our Big Brother is really something, from the first year of junior high to now, always been the class monitor. This time definitely won't be an exception, I'm right, aren't I, Big Brother?"

  Xiao Yang cried and laughed: "You're showing off with this little thing, if you have nothing to say then shut up."

  "Look, the class monitor is coming with a big attitude, I'm so scared!" Fat Fish said as he ran away.

  "Alright, Xiao Yang, why don't you come over to our place for lunch? The dishes today are all fresh, let's eat together!" I said with a smile. "It's settled then! Class is about to start, let's go!" Without waiting for his response, I pulled Qiao Hui towards the classroom.

  This morning, I only had two classes. In the second class, the teacher asked us to preview by ourselves and formally started teaching in the afternoon. The teacher was not there, but the classroom was lively. After all, it was the first day of school, and we had just been assigned to a new class. Although some classmates were unfamiliar with each other, everyone quickly became enthusiastic when chatting together. Sitting in my seat, I thought to myself: I need to think of a way to get Xiao Yang to go to the clinic outside the school for an examination and take some medicine. Luckily, Dad had stuffed 10 yuan into my pocket before he left. At that time, 10 yuan could buy many things, which was very useful.

  "Yun'er, have you heard? Our English teacher is going to be replaced again. I heard this time it's a man, and he's even the husband of our first-year English teacher!" Qiao Hui said with a hint of excitement. "Hey, I knew about this already," I thought to myself, how could I not know? They've already taught me once before. "Wow, they're like two peas in a pod! Both teaching English, do they speak English all the time at home?" Qiao Hui asked with an envious expression, "I wonder if he's handsome or not? Since Ming Laoshi is so beautiful, the person she found shouldn't be too bad, right?"

  "Wow, I'm really impressed by your gossiping skills." I don't think so.

  "Yin Ruoyun, do you still remember me?" A red-clothed girl in the same row as us but in the neighboring group was softly calling out to me.

  I took a closer look, isn't this beautiful girl Yang Hongyan? She's sitting quite close to us. This can't be good, I hope she's not here to settle the score with me? Thinking back to that joke I made the other day, it seems like I took advantage of her. With thoughts racing in my mind, I smiled and said: "Of course I remember, beautiful girl Yang Hongyan! Even if I forgot everyone else, I couldn't forget you!"

  Yang Hongyan smiled shyly and continued, "We all want to know where you bought your clothes? Can you tell me?" "You guys?" I was puzzled. She pointed to the girls sitting in the middle who were staring at us with eager eyes. "Oh, this one? Sorry, it's not for sale." I smiled and nodded at them.

  "Can't buy it? Why?" She looked disappointed, "Is it only sold in big cities?" "No, I really didn't buy it, I modified it myself at home." I patiently explained. It seems that beauty is a girl's nature, and everyone notices new clothes immediately.

  "What? You did it yourself? Can you change clothes?" Yang Hongyan exclaimed repeatedly, attracting the attention of some classmates. She immediately lowered her voice and said: "My god, how can you be so capable? This dress, this skirt is so beautiful, we all thought it was bought in a big city! Ruo Yun, I really admire you!"

  I pretended to be surprised and said, "Hey, I'm not a star, don't worship me, or I'll take it seriously." Cui Wei burst out laughing beside me. Yu Xiang, who was in front of us, heard the commotion and came over to ask, "What's going on? Why are you laughing so hard?" Looking at Hua Yu's smiling round face, I suddenly had an idea: "Hey, Hua Yu, there's a very important task that only you can do. Are you willing to go and complete it?"

  "Is this a task that only I can do?" Fat Fish chuckled, "I'm guessing it's related to the boss, right?" I rarely praised him: "You're really clever, no wonder the boss likes you." "The boss likes me?" Fat Fish looked tense, "Forget it, I already have someone I like." I couldn't help but laugh and hit him on the head: "What are you talking about? Be serious, will you help or not?" He glanced at Qiao Hui, who was reading a book with her head down, ignoring him. He scratched his head in frustration: "I'm afraid of you guys. Tell me, what's this important task that requires my important presence?" "Here's the thing," I said seriously, "I'm planning to have a dinner gathering at noon today, can you help invite Xiao Yang over and we'll all have some fun together."

  "Let's have dinner! But I didn't steam rice!" Fat Fish was a bit anxious. I patted my forehead: "Oh, I forgot about that. Your house is so close to school, you don't need to eat at school. You're really lucky, you can eat fresh vegetables every day."

  "What to do? The first dinner party, can't be absent." Fat fish muttered to himself, suddenly excitedly patted his thigh: "Got it, I just happened to bring two yuan here, after school I'll go to the small shop in front to buy something. Good, that's settled then."

  I thought about it and decided to let him be: "Alright, that's what we'll do. But after school, the first thing you have to do is bring over Xiao Yang's lunchbox and then bring him over too." Fat Yu excitedly agreed with a loud "Yes sir!"

  School was over, and I went to the cafeteria with Qiao Wei to get our lunch boxes. Our lunch boxes had marks on them, so we found them quickly. Holding the hot lunch boxes, we came back to the classroom. After a while, they arrived, and Qiao Wei and I took out our dishes. My mom was really generous, and she stir-fried tomatoes with eggs for me. Qiao Wei brought carrots stir-fried with peppers, and several slices of fatty meat. Bao Yu went to the small store to buy two breads, a bag of peanuts, and a bag of orchid beans. These snacks were the most popular fun things back then. Xiao Yang took out four boiled eggs from his pocket, and our table was quite sumptuous after we arranged everything.

  "May I come over and have dinner with you guys?" Yang Hongyan's voice. "Welcome, welcome." I quickly extended my hand to invite her, "Beautiful lady, please!" She also brought the dish she had prepared, oh, it's fried fish! Looks like her family is quite well-off.

  There were only half of the people in the classroom at this time, some lived close and went home, and some probably went to the dormitory. The fat fish's deskmate happened to go home too, so we gathered together to eat. I picked up an egg and made a toast gesture: "Come on, for our first gathering in junior high school, cheers!" They also learned from my gesture, smiling and holding up their eggs to touch each other, coincidentally, there were exactly five people, one egg per person.

  Fat Fish was eating eggs while saying: "I've decided, from now on I won't be going back home for lunch every day, I'll come to school and steam rice to eat. Eating together with everyone is so delicious!" "Okay, as long as your mom agrees, we're fine." I immediately agreed, "Besides, having you here makes our meals quite appetizing, doesn't it?" I chuckled. Qiao Hui and Hong Yan also smiled slightly, Xiao Yang laughed and punched him: "You're always so dramatic."