Lin Yingtao was brushing her hair in front of the sink mirror, quickly styling it into a presentable look. Du Shang watched from the side and said, “Yingtao, you’ve gotten so good at doing your hair!”
They sat side by side on a bench in the school’s small grove. Lin Yingtao took two beef jerky pieces from her pocket and shared them with Du Shang. She said, “I’ve been doing my hair for several years now.”
She then took out her MP3 player, untangled the earphones, and gave one to Du Shang.
Just last night, Lin Qile had spent time transferring all the H.O.T. cassette tapes at home into the MP3 player using her father’s method.
She had just finished running, and the wind in the grove cooled the sweat on her forehead and behind her ears.
Du Shang turned to look at Lin Yingtao’s slightly flushed cheeks after her run. Lin Yingtao had her eyes closed, breathing slowly.
“Even H.O.T. has disbanded,” Du Shang suddenly said.
Lin Yingtao opened her eyes and nodded at him.
“I feel like you’ve become happier these past couple of days, Yingtao,” Du Shang said.
“Oh?” Lin Yingtao was surprised.
Seeing her reaction, Du Shang smiled.
“When you first came from the south campus, you seemed so tense. I even told Cai Fangyuan that I thought you might not be happy at the main campus either!”
Lin Yingtao couldn’t quite understand his meaning at first.
But with a good friend by her side, it didn’t matter if she didn’t understand a sentence or two for the moment.
“Maybe it’s because we’re going to school together again!” Lin Yingtao said.
Du Shang nodded vigorously.
Lin Yingtao lowered her head and continued fiddling with her MP3 player.
Apart from English recordings, her MP3 was full of songs transferred from old cassettes – Andy Lau, Black Panther, Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai –
Du Shang saw the name “Leonard Cohen” and exclaimed, “Wow, a foreigner!”
Lin Qile continued scrolling and stopped at a Stefanie Sun song. She skipped past “03_Tian Hei Hei” (Dark Sky). Du Shang said, “I want to listen to that one!”
Lin Qile ignored him and continued searching for the song she wanted to hear.
The large physical education class ended. Lin Qile returned to the classroom and happened to see several boys gathered around her deskmate, Huang Zhanjie, up to something.
Lin Qile approached them: “Excuse me, let me through.”
Hearing her voice, the boys reflexively looked up and dispersed, laughing. Only Huang Zhanjie remained seated, his face flushed red. He held a closed comic book in his left hand and a pencil in his right. He stood up slowly to let Lin Qile take her seat.
During self-study, Huang Zhanjie suddenly whispered, “Cai Fangyuan!”
Cai Fangyuan, sitting in front, quickly turned around at the sound.
Afraid that others might see, Huang Zhanjie slipped the comic book into his physics textbook and passed it to Cai Fangyuan’s desk from afar.
Cai Fangyuan mouthed, “Finished?”
Huang Zhanjie nodded eagerly.
Cai Fangyuan hid the book in his backpack and secretly gave him a thumbs up.
Lin Qile, sitting nearby, witnessed their entire covert operation.
Lin Qile told Yu Qiao that Cai Fangyuan and Huang Zhanjie were up to something suspicious.
Yu Qiao had just returned from outside, holding several forms. While checking the forms, he said, “Really?”
He walked towards the podium, passing by and playfully slapping the back of Cai Fangyuan’s head. “Let me take a look later,” Yu Qiao said to Cai Fangyuan.
“For next week’s school sports meet,” Yu Qiao stood at the podium, holding a pen, and addressed the seated students, “the boys’ events are almost full. Are there any girls who want to sign up for events?”
The girls in the class laughed, but none volunteered.
Just then, the classroom door opened, and a group of students who had been studying in the small white building returned. Jiang Qiaoxi entered and made eye contact with Yu Qiao.
Yu Qiao looked down at the class: “How about the women’s 1500 meters? Anyone want to sign up?”
A male student heckled from below: “Yu Qiao, come down here and ask. How sincere are you asking from up there?”
Huang Zhanjie gleefully whispered to Lin Qile: “Yu Qiao’s going to have to beg the girls one by one to sign up for events again.”
“No one, huh,” Yu Qiao said lazily from the podium, picking up his pen. “Then, let’s put down Lin Qile!”
Lin Qile, sitting below, suddenly widened her eyes.
Jiang Qiaoxi, who hadn’t yet returned to his seat, abruptly turned to look at Yu Qiao.
“Oh, wait,” Yu Qiao had only written half the name, “Lin Qile, you wanted to sign up for the 800 meters, right?”
“I’m not signing up.” This was the first time Lin Qile tried to raise her voice in front of the whole class, and it trembled slightly.
Yu Qiao laughed and said, “What? Do you want to sign up for both? Alright, no problem.”
In the past, at Qunshan Power Plant Elementary School, Lin Qile would have already left her seat to kick Yu Qiao fiercely and then cross out her name completely. But now, at Experimental High School in the provincial capital, during self-study, surrounded by new classmates she’d only known for a month, Lin Qile felt uncomfortable and restless.
The remaining short-distance events were filled one by one. Yu Qiao asked again, “There’s one more, the basketball cheerleaders. Anyone want to sign up?”
The girls were all reserved, smiling and shaking their heads.
Yu Qiao wrote on the paper: “No one’s signing up, so let’s put down Lin Qile again!” Another burst of laughter followed as he completed the form, easily finishing his task for the first time, and left for the office.
Lin Qile was angry the entire way home. She walked with her head down, feeling wronged and not saying a word.
Du Shang sat beside her, anxiously asking, “Yu Qiao, what did you do?”
Yu Qiao turned around from the front seat to look at Lin Yingtao, also puzzled: “I didn’t do anything…”
Cai Fangyuan gloated, “Yu Qiao, your act of being hard of hearing was too fake. You should learn more from your grandmother.”
At around 7 PM, Jiang Qiaoxi was still attending evening classes in the competition class. The teacher was explaining problems on the blackboard, but Jiang Qiaoxi’s gaze was unfocused, clearly lost in thought.
Cen Xiaoman said from beside him, “Jiang Qiaoxi.”
Jiang Qiaoxi turned to look at her.
“The winter camp is coming soon,” she asked quietly, “are you nervous?”
But Jiang Qiaoxi asked, “What are basketball cheerleaders?”
Cen Xiaoman was taken aback.
Fei Linge, sitting in front, heard Jiang Qiaoxi’s question and turned around.
“I don’t know,” Cen Xiaoman said honestly, her face pale.
Fei Linge stuttered, “It’s… it’s like the cheerleading squad for our school’s basketball games, right?”
Fei Linge noticed Jiang Qiaoxi’s expression: “Why are you asking about this?”
The next day, during morning reading, Lin Qile was notified that she needed to go to the tennis court in the afternoon activity time to rehearse some formation for the basketball cheerleaders. Lin Qile was extremely reluctant, but the teacher in charge said she could find a girl from her class to replace her if she wanted.
Lin Qile was confused; she wasn’t familiar with the girls in her class, so who would replace her?
The “era” began to “call” again.
During the long break, Lin Qile stood in line doing exercises. Gradually, the surrounding discussions and laughter decreased, although Lin Qile herself didn’t understand why.
Fei Linge and Cen Xiaoman were still standing behind her, also quiet. Lin Qile turned around following the exercise movements and saw Fei Linge staring at her with a strange look. When their eyes met, Fei Linge immediately looked away, leaving Lin Qile perplexed.
During class, Yu Qiao kept poking Lin Qile’s back with the end of his ballpoint pen. Annoyed, Lin Qile covered her ears and ignored him.
In the afternoon activity time, Lin Qile left her seat with a heavy heart and went downstairs. She thought she was doomed, extremely unlucky, and about to embarrass herself again. She had no idea what basketball cheerleaders were supposed to do, and she was sure she would make a fool of herself in front of these provincial Experimental High School students once more.
Since coming to the provincial capital and Experimental High School, Lin Qile has been trying hard to be a “normal” good student. In the past, she loved to show off, stand out, and be different from others. Now she loved studying and doing homework, only letting loose a little when she was with her friends.
Lin Qile stood on the bottom step of the first floor of the teaching building.
She suddenly realized that Yu Qiao hadn’t done anything wrong.
It was just that she had gone through some things, and she had unknowingly “shed” a layer of her shell.
Coming out of the tennis court, the first and second-year high school girls who participated in the basketball cheerleader rehearsal followed the teacher in charge, crossing several roads on campus towards the grand auditorium.
Usually, all students, regardless of gender, wore loose, baggy sportswear, covering themselves from head to toe. Now, the girls selected as basketball cheerleaders wore light pink crop tops, paired with mini skirts and ankle boots. They jogged to keep up with the group heading to the auditorium.
Cai Fangyuan was the first to spot her at the door of the school supermarket. He exclaimed in surprise, “Whoa! Lin Yingtao!!”
Yu Qiao was on the basketball court. He threw away the ball in his hand and walked to the edge of the court. Holding onto the net, he suddenly let out a loud whistle in the distance.
Lin Yingtao turned her head from the group, looking towards her friends. Lin Yingtao lifted her face and smiled.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood on the second-floor corridor of the small white building, his elbow propped on the railing as he looked down. He saw Lin Yingtao’s well-styled hair swaying back and forth, a glimpse of her narrow waist beneath the crop top, and her straight legs under the mini skirt.
Lin Yingtao was walking while trying to fasten the belt of her skirt; it seemed the button was broken.
A first-year student who had just started competitive studies asked nearby, “Senior Jiang, is that big-eyed senior the one who wrote you a love letter before, called Lin Qile?”
Jiang Qiaoxi continued to look down at her.
A teammate behind Lin Yingtao reached out to help her fasten the belt. Lin Yingtao stopped, and the girls her age immediately surrounded her.
Suddenly, Lin Yingtao looked up and saw Jiang Qiaoxi.
Jiang Qiaoxi gazed at her. There was confusion and bewilderment in Lin Yingtao’s eyes. Just as Lin Yingtao’s belt was fastened, the girls followed her gaze upward and suddenly all saw Jiang Qiaoxi.
The young teacher in charge called from the front, “Let’s go, let’s go! Stop ogling the handsome boys!”
The girls burst into laughter as they pulled Lin Yingtao along, running into the auditorium.