Chapter Seven: Rare High Tone

  "Old brother, why are you just coming back now? The sour and spicy noodles I bought for you are almost cold." Before he even walked into the dormitory, his old brother came out to greet him with a bowl of sour and spicy noodles.

  "I've been reading for a bit too long." Seeing the steaming hot sour and spicy noodles, I felt an inexplicable sense of emotion, and my slightly aching heart was filled with warmth at that moment.

  "What's the point of being so serious? From young to old, you've always been playing around and still managed to achieve outstanding results!" Lao Biao had a puzzled expression.

  "...the difference between high school and middle school, elementary school is too big, if you don't take it seriously, your grades may plummet! You should also focus on studying, your uncles are not easy to deal with." Maybe because I had too many feelings tonight, or maybe because my subconscious has aged, Cheng A was eating sour and spicy noodles while "preaching" like an old man to his older cousin.

  "Ugh, don't give me that nonsense! You know I have no interest in reading books! I've made up my mind, after finishing high school, I'll join the army! Who knows, maybe I'll even become a platoon leader or company commander, how cool would that be? It's way more useful than reading those useless books!" said with disdain by his elder cousin.

  "...When I see Lao Biao, it's a thorough and utter empty fantasy, he is speechless for a moment"

  "Alas! I'm telling you, Old Table's eggs are not painful? A big guy like you is here talking nonsense!" Just as Cheng A was speechless towards Old Table, a teasing voice came from the upper bunk of Xiao Ji (he was called Xiao Ji because his name "Peng" contains the character for "bird", originally they wanted to call him Xiao Niao, but he refused and they compromised on Xiao Ji).

  "Sister! Are you itching for a fight?" Hearing Little Chicken's teasing, Old Table suddenly jumped up and felt a chill run down his spine.

  "Ah! I'm all itchy, come and scratch me!" Little Chicken said with a wave of her hand, "I won't rest until you're shocked to death!"

  "...the whole dormitory was drenched in sweat..."

  "Alright! I'll come and help you out." Lao Biao took off his shoes, flipped over, and got on top of the bedspread. He looked a bit like he was in a hurry to do that thing, and Cheng A couldn't help but feel another wave of embarrassment...

  Before long, a voice came from upstairs...

  "Monkey stealing peaches", Lao Biao's voice

  "The voice of 'Hai Di Lou Yue' little chicken"

  "The Immortal Plants Trees" Lao Biao's voice

  "Clawing at the chest with dragon claw hands", Little Chick grasped Eldest Sister's chest with both hands, saying viciously, quite like the shameless style of Brother Star back in the day.

  "Old Han pushes the cart" Old Tai's anger was urgent, and he made a killer move, pinning the little chicken to the bed...

  "...the whole dormitory is sweating profusely, even looking at the sour and spicy noodles has no appetite"

  "Get out of here..." The little chicken wanted to struggle, but it was in vain.

  "Hahaha! Master, you can't defeat me, old monk!" The elder brother burst into a loud, hearty laughter.

  The little chicken wants to cry but has no tears.

  At this time, Lao Biao was like a beastly lustful monk, while Xiao Ji was like a helpless "poor nun" with tied hands.

  Watching the two of them having fun, they can't help but smile! The dense and monotonous high school life, except for the endless repetition of practicing exercises every day, looking at different subjects' review materials. Only in this moment before sleep, happiness will make everyone put down their fatigue for the day, relax, and finally fall asleep peacefully.

  The next morning, after having breakfast in the cafeteria, I was about to head to class. Just as I walked out of the cafeteria door, I ran into Pu F and Liu L from my class coming towards me. Given that we were classmates for several months, I had originally planned to greet them, but they directly ignored me like I was air... The only thing I heard when they brushed past me was a faint "hmm". I was left speechless, unable to understand what was going on... Had I somehow offended these two again? Was it really true that my personality had become problematic recently? Shaking my head in frustration, I pushed aside these annoying thoughts. When did my thinking start being controlled by others? This wasn't a good start, he warned himself in his heart!

  As Cheng A walked into the classroom, he saw a figure that he didn't particularly want to see at this moment. She was already there so early today, and surprisingly, she had arrived even before him. At this moment, she was struggling to mop the floor with a mop, and looking at her laborious appearance, Cheng A felt a little dazed. The school flower was having difficulty putting chairs on the desks, and he hesitated for a moment whether to go over and help her. If it weren't for what had happened last night, perhaps he would have gone over without hesitation, but now their relationship...

  Forget it, I'll help! Just consider this as our last encounter with her...

  "I'll help you!" He put a chair on the desk and turned back to say to the school beauty.

  "Who wants you to come and be a good person? We have hands and feet, we don't need your hypocritical help." The school flower hadn't even had time to lift her head when Pu F's voice came from the doorway.

  "...". A was left speechless, had her aunt come, such a strong smell of gunpowder early in the morning, did she provoke her?

  "Xiao Fang!" The school flower saw Cheng A standing there awkwardly and called out to Pu F, who was originally still wanting to continue scolding.

  "Don't stop me, little E, today he must make it clear why he treated you like that last night..."

  "Little F, I've told you before not to bring up past matters again. Let's just pretend it never happened!" The school flower's gaze was resolute, and as she looked at her determined expression, Cheng A felt an inexplicable pang in his heart, suddenly realizing that they might really have no intersection with each other anymore.

  Looking at the school flower's firm gaze, Pu F didn't say anything else and went to move chairs with Liu L.

  "Thank you! No need for your help, we'll be fine soon!" The school flower smiled politely and declined his offer, turning back to continue with her work. Cheng A knew that this smile and the politeness at this moment contained an irresistible distance, like a thousand mountains and rivers lying between them, separating them from each other.

  "It's better to be distant than to be a stranger!" Cheng A thought to herself, walking out of the classroom with a carefree attitude, laughing at her own foolishness, feeling relieved!

  Perhaps it was the sense of loss in his heart, or perhaps it was a release from within. The boy who had been wandering aimlessly on the playground suddenly started running, and his speed kept increasing... one lap, two laps, three laps... He seemed to be tireless, as if he had forgotten what fatigue felt like. More and more people began pointing at him, but he appeared to have entered a state of oblivion, ignoring the commotion around him. Sweat began to drip from his forehead, and he took off his jacket, leaving only a woolen sweater on... His breathing grew rapid, and even with his mouth open, he couldn't catch his breath... But it seemed like he had no intention of stopping...

  "Xiao Yi, look! Cheng A is running around the playground like a madman!" Liu L, who had been curiously pointing and gesturing on the balcony before rushing out to join the crowd, hastily ran back into the classroom and loudly shouted at the school flower, who was putting the stools back in their original positions.

  "Little L, why are you making such a big fuss? Didn't Little Y say that they've already drawn a clear line between them? Whether he's dead or alive has nothing to do with Little Y!" Pu F said discontentedly.

  "But he's really running like crazy, I've seen him run seven laps already." Liu insisted.

  "How many laps is it? Just over 1,000 meters, it's not like you'll die or anything..." Pu F continued to say heartlessly.

  The school flower gazed out of the window with a daze, as if hesitating, as if struggling, but in the end still didn't move her feet.

  "Seven laps, eight laps, nine laps... refueling and just one more lap to reach ten laps." Before I knew it, my elder brother and the "gang" from our dormitory had arrived at the playground, loudly cheering themselves on.

  Cheng A looked at everyone with gratitude...

  "Hold on! Just one more lap, I can definitely make it!" He silently told himself in his heart, and his originally exhausted body was once again filled with strength.

  Lying weakly on the grass, the frost that hadn't melted yet made him feel no chill at all. At this moment, he was as if trying to forget something desperately, and also as if commemorating something...

  "Older brother, you're crazy! Hurry up and get up! Can't you see the dew all over the grass?" Older brother rushed over anxiously, not caring whether he wanted to or not, trying to pull Cheng A up...

  He ignored the old man's concern and continued to be a silent dead sheep... The old man was furious and kicked him twice, finally making him feel the pain coming from his feet, he didn't even bother to rub it, got up and prepared to throw the old man to the ground, but the old man saw through his plan and ran away.

  Today, I was kicked again... Watching my senior brother A rushing to the classroom with his feet flying, I felt so helpless... All I could do was stare blankly as he "escaped", who made me use up all my energy just now? I gave a middle finger to his back and limped towards the dormitory.

  "Give you water!" Just as I was crawling up the stairs to the dormitory with my head down, struggling (at that time, the dormitory was built at the foot of the mountain, although it was at the foot of the mountain, but there were still dozens of steps on both sides, and the greening was not very good. The school called it a beautiful name, letting everyone see the green belt around when going to class and getting off class, so that everyone could have a good mood! But the price is that every student has to pay 10 yuan, and the remaining amount is paid by the school, but who knows why the whole school has several thousand people, each paying 10 yuan, yet the green belt is built even worse than the one on the side of the road!?), a clear and pleasant voice came from my ear (maybe I was too thirsty at that time, so I felt that this voice should only be owned by an angel).

  "It's you!" Cheng A raised his head to look at the excellent girl standing on the upper stairs, feeling extremely surprised! At this time, she was no longer haggard as in the previous few days, but her pale face still looked wan.

  "Ah, drink it while it's hot, I just got this hot soup from the cafeteria, the temperature is just right." Seeing Cheng A was so surprised that he forgot to reach out for the cup, she stuffed the cup into his hand and then walked towards the teaching building.

  Cheng A stared at the thermos in his hand, stunned for a moment, wondering when the top student had become so considerate... But as his throat transmitted waves of stinging pain from running and opening his mouth to let in cold air, he didn't hesitate anymore, twisting open the lid and gulping down big mouthfuls, without even wiping away the soup that flowed into his sweater along the corners of his mouth.

  He stepped into the classroom again, and all his classmates were already seated. Eyes Brother was standing on the platform, flipping through a language textbook. Cheng A suddenly realized that class was about to start soon, so he scratched the back of his head apologetically and walked towards his seat while continuously saying "Sorry, sorry".

  Listening to my weird English pronunciation, looking at my awkward posture, Eyes Brother couldn't help but laugh... and humorously said "No swag!"

  Suddenly! The whole class burst out laughing...

  "......"

  Maybe it was his too flashy performance in the morning, or maybe it was because he made Eyes Brother laugh that morning, but for the whole day, everyone looked at him with a hint of curiosity! Curious about whether the original quiet and introverted Cheng A is the real him, or if this **naked sprinting (oh no, I mean crazy sprinting) Cheng A is the real him.

  Of course, he wouldn't deliberately try to understand those bewildering eyes, because after severely exhausting his physical strength in the morning and persisting until now during evening self-study, he was thoroughly exhausted, and ignoring the danger of being discovered by the math teacher, he started sleeping with his head down...

  Watching him sleep so recklessly, ignoring class discipline, everyone was shocked! Only the old table sitting in the last row by the wall had a smile at the corner of his eyes and a relieved expression on his face.