Obviously, Chen Lian has become closer to Tao You and others in recent times. Even in the short few minutes between classes, she would go across most of the class to chat with them.
"I'm so hungry. Why don't we eat until we have another class?" Hong Xiqi pressed her stomach tightly with both hands, trying to make it scream less loudly.
Tao You looked through his schoolbag, but there were no snacks: "I forgot to put snacks yesterday, and there is nothing to eat now. If you bear with it, forty-five minutes will be quite fast."
Hong Xiqi drank half a bottle of water and tried to hypnotize herself: "It's okay. You can do it. You can just endure it. Water can also satisfy hunger."
As soon as he finished speaking, his stomach rumbled again, and this time Tao You and others heard it.
"Oh my God." Hong Xiqi stopped hiding and half-slumped on the chair, "I'm really hungry."
Chen Lian remembered something, walked back to her seat, took out a pack of dried mangoes from her schoolbag, opened it and handed it to Hong Xiqi: "I brought dried mangoes, do you want some?"
Hong Xiqi was not polite, reached out and took a few slices and stuffed them into her mouth: "Thank you." There was something in her stomach, and she finally felt better.
Chen Lian handed it to the remaining three people, and only Gu Yi took a small piece.
"I'm not hungry, thank you." Tao You had a good appetite this morning and ate a lot. She is not hungry now, and she is not interested in fruits like mango.
When she was a child, she always had food all over her face and hands. She thought it was dirty and troublesome unless her parents peeled it for her. Later, because Song Yimian was allergic to mangoes, she was afraid that Song Yimian would be greedy after seeing it, so she simply refused to go with him. I rarely eat mangoes, even dried mangoes, and I haven’t deliberately changed this habit over the years.
Chen Lian turned and handed it to Song Yimian.
"He's allergic and can't eat it," Tao You kindly reminded.
Song Yimian glanced at Tao You in surprise. Unexpectedly, she still remembered that she was allergic to mangoes.
Chen Lian recalled Tao You's two words. She didn't know if what she said was true. She felt unwilling and a little inferior. The brand she bought was obviously a familiar brand. Tao You and Hong Xiqi often ate this brand in the dormitory. Snacks, why are there so many things here? Does Tao You look down on his own things?
Tao You frowned slightly, seeing that she was still lost in thought: "Chen Lian?" She called out tentatively.
Chen Lian suppressed her thoughts and changed her tone slightly: "If you are allergic, don't eat it. I'm going back to my seat. Xiqi, you can keep this and eat it." She put the dried mango on Hong Xiqi's table and left with her head down.
"Thank you." Hong Xiqi was focused on eating and didn't notice her changes.
Chen Lian lowered her head. Tao You couldn't see her expression, but he could tell from her words that something was wrong with her mood. His intuition was that it was because of what he just said, but he probably didn't say anything too extreme.
In the evening, the tennis team trained as usual. Coach Tan unexpectedly did not supervise the game. He sat under the lamp and looked at the documents in his hands, sometimes frowning in thought, sometimes nodding with relief.
"Old Tan, what are your plans for today?" Gu Yi asked Coach Tan who was sitting on the sidelines after arriving at the tennis court.
"Tsk, don't disturb me, just practice by yourself." Coach Tan looked at the registration list in his hand, "There is still one last spot, I have to choose it quickly, it will be handed in soon."
"No, there are so many people who have signed up for our club, and you haven't chosen yet?" Gu Yi was a little surprised. There must be 200 people in such a thick stack of registration lists, which is nearly a quarter of the people in the whole year. They are all here, choosing dozens from so many people, but they haven’t made a selection yet. This efficiency needs to be improved.
Coach Tan looked up at Gu Yi and tapped the registration list with his fingers: "What do you know?"
"Among so many people, the ratio between those with basic skills and those without basic skills is one to two. Those with good basic skills will be selected first, and those without basic skills will be selected last. Then I have to consider the tennis team. There is no need to worry about this men's team. The women's team only has a few players this year, including the sophomores, and the number is not enough. The autumn league in October is on hold. I have to make plans for the future. There are also girls with good basics in these lists. I plan to do it when the time comes. Focus on training. There is no foundation. After you come here, you have to learn from scratch. It takes a lot of energy. Didn't you see how busy our coaches are during this period? It's not like you are blind and just making sarcastic remarks. .”
Gu Yi touched his nose: "Then I didn't know it was so complicated."
"Song Yimian, that one you told me about last time, Tao or something." Coach Tan nodded his forehead and tried to remember.
Song Yimian said for him: "Tao You."
"Yes, yes, and that Hong, Hong..." Coach Tan couldn't remember, "Anyway, the name is quite special. They..."
"Hong Xiqi." Gu Yi interrupted Coach Tan, "Old Tan, you are too noble and forget things. You can forget such an easy-to-remember name. I will buy you some walnuts later."
After hearing this, Coach Tan kicked Gu Yi: "Who are you following? No matter how big or small!"
Speaking of walnuts, Coach Tan remembered the walnut cakes that Gu Yi brought before, and suddenly became greedy: "Gu Yi, the walnut cakes you brought last time, bring me more next week, and I will give you money then."
"No problem, Lao Tan, I'll cover it." Gu Yi made a no problem gesture, "No need to pay, I have plenty of them for free."
Coach Tan paused for a moment, looked down at the registration form in his hand, then looked up into the distance, and finally looked at Song Yimian and asked, "Where did I just say?"
"Tao You and Hong Xiqi." Song Yimian patiently helped him recall.
"Oh, yes, they both have the basics. I chose it, but it has nothing to do with you. Don't think about putting money on your face." Coach Tan continued what he had just finished.
Song Yimian smiled and nodded: "We just mentioned it to you, and it's their own reasons."
Coach Tan looked at Song Yimian with relief, very satisfied with his answer.
Song Yimian nodded at the list in Coach Tan's hand: "The rest of these are all baseless, how do you choose?"
Coach Tan also has a headache. This year is different from previous years. The number of girls signing up has increased significantly. Logically speaking, he should be happy. There is hope for the women's team, but most of them have zero basics. They come two or three times a week and learn basic skills. It’s less than that. It’s estimated that in two weeks there will be very few people left who really want to learn it, let alone the women’s team.
In previous years, the school team members would also be selected from among the team members, and most of the girls signed up only if they had basic skills. Even though the women's team has never been full, its strength is not bad.
"Shall I take a look for you?" Song Yimian asked Coach Tan and took the registration form from his hand.
"Chen Lian?" Gu Yi stood aside and saw Chen Lian's registration form.
Coach Tan also came over to take a look: "Do you know them?" He had never been in contact with these students and didn't know them.
Song Yimian took out her list and said, "He is from our class." But he and Chen Lian were not familiar with each other at all and had never spoken to each other.
He returned the list to Coach Tan, thought about it, and said: "Chen Lian, you are very good at studying. There is no foundation for these anyway. If you want to choose, choose someone who studies well and has extra energy. Although these are all voluntary registrations, when the time comes, If your grades drop, the club will inevitably take the blame, so it’s better to choose someone with a lower chance of a grade drop.”
Coach Tan nodded, looked at Chen Lian's registration form again, and decided to choose her. He didn't know the learning situation of these students, and he couldn't bear the responsibility if their grades dropped quickly.
After making the selection, Coach Tan packed up the registration list and walked towards the teaching building.
Gu Yi waited for Coach Tan to walk away and put his arm around Song Yimian's shoulder: "Why are you suddenly speaking for Chen Lian? We are not familiar with her."
Song Yimian lowered his head and patted the tennis ball: "She is Tao You's friend."
The school radio room played music, the sky darkened to light blue, the streets in the distance were busy with traffic, the street lights came on one after another, the teaching buildings were brightly lit, and it was noisy.
There was no late self-study on Friday evening. The bell rang for the last class and everyone began to pack their things.
"Did I say get out of class is over?" The head teacher stood on the podium. Before the textbook was closed, he saw that the people below could not wait any longer. "So why are you so anxious? The list of your clubs is out. You can take a look at it later. The activities will start on Monday." He said, placing a large piece of paper on the podium.
As soon as the class teacher walked out of the classroom, classmates swarmed up and crowded in front of the podium table.
"You don't have to look, Coach Tan has chosen you." Gu Yi grabbed Hong Xiqi who was rushing forward.
"It's true!" Hong Xiqi said with joy, "Song Yimian, is this true or false?" She confirmed again.
Song Yimian nodded: "Coach Tan said it himself that day, you should prepare your rackets during the weekend and start practicing directly on Monday."
Tao Yougang was still very happy, but now he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he thought about stealing the racket under Tao's mother's nose.
Hong Xiqi had no problem and readily agreed, eager to start training today.
"Xiqi, Tao You, we have all chosen." Chen Lian squeezed out from the crowd, her hair was messy due to the crowd. She straightened her hair and was very excited.
"Yes, the three of us are together again!" Hong Xiqi responded. She glanced at the clock at the back of the classroom and urged Tao You, "Xiao Youyou, hurry up, hurry up, the cakes will be sold out later."
Tao You said hello and quickened the movements of his hands.
"What cake? Are you eating cake again?" Gu Yi asked, a little surprised. This person couldn't live without cake. Why would he eat it every week? Wouldn't he get tired of it?
Hong Xiqi was in a good mood and rarely quarreled back: "The store where I bought a pastry for Grandma Tang last time is called Miracle Bannuo. They have a new blueberry mousse cake, which is delicious! Enter Tennis It’s such a happy event for the club, so of course I have to buy a cake to celebrate.”
When Gu Yi heard the name of his cake shop, the corner of his mouth twitched: "That cake is so expensive, and it only takes a small piece. Is it worth it?"
Hong Xiqi lowered her head and helped Tao You organize the books: "Of course it's worth it! Eating sweets can make people feel happy and increase their happiness."
"Stop talking, see you next Monday, let's go first." Hong Xiqi pulled Tao You and waved goodbye to them.
Chen Lian packed her schoolbag and caught up with Hong Xiqi and Tao You at the school gate: "Xiqi, I'll go with you."
Tao You hasn't had a good conversation with Chen Lian for a long time since the mango drying that day, and he doesn't take the initiative to talk to her now.
"Okay, okay, let's go together." Hong Xiqi also noticed that something was wrong with Tao You and Chen Lian these days, and wanted them to clear up their misunderstanding.
At the entrance of the store, Tao You and the others were at the end of the queue, looking at the endless queue and sighing.
"I wonder if it's our turn to have any more cakes." Hong Xiqi said worriedly as she poked her head around, trying to see clearly what was going on in the store.
Neither Tao You nor Chen Lian have been to this store, so they can't make much judgment.
While lining up, Tao You was thinking about how to bring the tennis racket to school without Tao's mother knowing.
"We're here." Not long after, the three of them entered the store.
With the last piece of blueberry mousse cake left, Hong Xiqi quickly asked the waiter to pack it for her.
The cake shop is filled with a strong aroma of baking, with some dried flowers hanging on the wall, several pots of succulents placed in the window, the light is warm yellow, and soothing music is playing, making people feel inexplicably comfortable.
Tao You looked at the tempting cakes in the transparent cabinet, looked at the price, and chose one.
Chen Lian had never eaten these since she was a child. Except for her birthday, her father would buy a whole cheap cake home for her birthday. She was very happy every time she heard her classmates say how delicious the cakes in these cake shops were. I'm curious and want to try it, but it's too expensive.
This time, Chen Lian weighed the pocket money in her wallet and decided to buy one to try. As Hong Xiqi said, joining the tennis club is something worth celebrating. She seemed to foresee that her life would be more colorful in the future. You will make more friends.
"Hello, the total is twenty-eight yuan." The cashier said with a smile.
Chen Lian took out the banknotes and handed them to her.
The cashier lady paused while loading the cake, took it without changing her expression, counted it, and continued to say with a smile: "Twenty-eight from you, this is your cake, thank you for your patronage."
"Thank you for coming, please go slowly." The waiter at the door helped open the door.
Chen Lian put the cake into her schoolbag at the door of her house, then opened the door and went in.
"You came back so late, what did you do?" Mother Chen placed dishes and chopsticks on the dining table.
Chen Lian put her schoolbag back in the room and came out to help. She didn't tell the truth: "It's nothing. I did some homework in the classroom for a while."
Mother Chen said sincerely: "Our family is not like your classmates. We don't have extra money for you to go out and play. When you get into a good university, find a good job, and have money, you can spend it however you want. When the time comes, Don’t forget your dad, me, and your brother.”
Chen Lian knew that Mother Chen was trying to get her to stop thinking about going out to play, so she remained silent and did not answer.
After the meal was finished, Chen Lian finished washing the dishes, her parents went to work the night shift, and her younger brother went to play games at a classmate's house. She went back to the house, locked the door, and took out the cake she bought in the evening.
There wasn't enough space in the school bag, so the box was a little squeezed and deformed. The cream on the surface of the cake rubbed onto the box, and it didn't look as good as when I first bought it. Chen Lian didn't care about this. She carefully dug out a piece with a small spoon and put it into her mouth.
The cake was as delicious as the classmates described. It melted in the mouth, the cream was sweet and not greasy, the cake texture was delicate and very soft, and the fruit on top was also very fresh. It was the best cake she had ever tasted in her life.
Chen Lian stuttered, trying to prolong the time indefinitely. Tears burst out of her eyes and dripped on her glasses. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears, wiped her glasses clean, sobbed after finishing the last few bites, and went out when no one was at home. Throw away the packaging without leaving any trace.
