(1)
December 4, 2009, Friday.
Anjing had just lifted her head when she saw a rosy little face almost pressed against her own nose, so close that even the white of the eyes, like lychee flesh, was clearly visible.
“Ah, what are you doing?!”
“Look, the heroine in this comic looks just like you! Isn’t it exactly the same?”
“W-Well, I guess…” Anjing replied hesitantly.
“The most important part is she has two beauty marks under her eyes! Look!”
“Wow… don’t get so close… ah!!”
Zhu Ying, overly excited, suddenly lost her balance.
One hand pressed against Anjing’s chest, and the two of them tumbled down the aisle, crashing to the floor in a heap.
“Xiaojing, does it hurt?”
“I’m… okay, but could you please… move your hand? It’s pressing on my chest… it really hurts…”
Anjing gritted her teeth, the sensation like a steel nail piercing into her flesh.
“Wow~”
“Yehee—”
The classroom instantly erupted with teasing and playful heckling, voices rising and falling in rhythm.
Compared to Zhu Ying, who looked fairly natural, Anjing’s face was bright red with embarrassment.
She awkwardly sat back up and lowered her head, pretending nothing had happened.
“Looks like her, right?”
“Yeah.”
Anjing shook her head helplessly.
“Next time, can you not get so rough…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh… it’s kind of embarrassing.”
“Pfft… What’s there to be embarrassed about? You’re my boyfriend, after all.”
“Uh-huh.”
Anjing scratched her head shyly.
“Why haven’t you caught the flu yet?”
“Huh—?”
“I wanted to take care of you again.”
“…I’m sorry I’m so healthy.”
“If you’re healthy, then~ you can play around a little more, right?”
“Hey, hey!”
Zhu Ying chuckled but didn’t continue because the class bell rang.
This was math class, and the next period was P.E.
After P.E., lunch would finally come.
Another week of junior high was about to pass by.
It felt like ninth grade was endlessly long, yet this semester was somehow already nearing its end…
***
(2)
Although there were no class divisions in junior high, Class Five was still mostly filled with students strong in liberal arts, and most of them were dozing off in math class.
“Ding-ling-ling—”
When the annoyingly simple dismissal bell rang, the quiet classroom suddenly came alive, like a new civilization emerging from a destroyed world.
“Alright, weekend homework is two test papers. The class reps will hand them out. Finish them seriously; we’ll check on Monday!”
The math teacher shouted the last sentence with difficulty amid the noisy chatter, then gathered his lesson plans and left the classroom.
The next P.E. class was already nonexistent in everyone’s minds.
Beautiful days felt just within reach: after lunch was the afternoon break, then two minor classes, then dismissal, followed by the weekend…
Life had to have something to look forward to; otherwise, it was hard to go on.
Because of this, Friday was everyone’s favorite day.
Some even liked it more than Sunday—after all, Sunday meant the end of rest, but Friday meant the start of it.
On this day, time always felt abundant, almost as if there was an endless supply of it.
But for Anjing, Friday was not the end of the week since she still had to come to school tomorrow.
“Wang Xinru, do you have any paper?”
“Yes.”
“Can I borrow two sheets?”
“Ok, sure…”
“Thanks~”
“Xiaoru, I want some too.”
“Alright…”
“Wang Xinru, Wang Xinru… I heard you have extra sanitary pads? Can you lend me some…?”
“W-Well! Yes, I do, just a moment…”
“Xinru, do you have band-aids?”
“Y-Yes…”
Recently, Wang Xinru seemed to have more friends.
But it looked like most were superficial, only appearing when they needed to borrow something.
Of course, there were a few who chatted with her—though it was less Wang Xinru’s friends and more Zhang Qiqi’s circle.
Perhaps because Wang Xinru was friendless in class, Zhang Qiqi had pulled her into her group.
Wang Xinru had always been good-natured and rarely refused others’ requests, which led to this situation: every day, a pile of people came asking to borrow things.
Not napkins, then pens, or band-aids.
Though these were all cheap, small items, lending them out so casually didn’t feel quite right.
“Just don’t let others take it for granted… and don’t be upset standing by the door waiting for Fang Qiang to come out if they don’t return stuff,” Anjing muttered quietly.
Today was a sunny day, and for P.E., of course, they had to go to the playground.
“What are you mumbling about?”
Zhou Chao patted her shoulder hard.
“Whoa, you scared me!”
Anjing shivered.
“I thought it was Xiao Ying again.”
“Tsks, where’s your Xiao Ying?”
“She went to the girls’ bathroom. I’ll sneak in during P.E. when no one’s there to avoid trouble.”
Anjing cleared her throat and lowered her voice a bit.
“Hmm, what about A Qiang?”
“Ah, isn’t he… huh, where is he?”
“He’s getting water.”
Sun Wei, short and with a sleazy face even without expression, came closer.
“A few girls said they wanted water, and the water at the back of the classroom was out, so that idiot happily went to get some.”
“Ha… A Qiang is still the same.”
Anjing shrugged with a ‘been there, done that’ expression.
“The helpful nice guy.”
“I thought this guy was just being sweet to girls before, but it turns out he’s serious.”
“Your mind is too dirty, always misinterpreting others’ kindness.”
Anjing drooped her eyelids wearily.
“If you could learn from A Qiang, maybe you’d have a girlfriend by now!”
“Damn, forget it. He looks so tired all the time.”
“Then let’s head downstairs first.”
Zhou Chao waved his hand and continued their conversation as they walked.
“Why tired?”
“Day before yesterday, Wednesday, I hadn’t returned to school yet. He came to my house alone to see me, and halfway through chatting, he got a call from his girlfriend.”
“What important matter?”
“Nothing important, just chatting.”
“The other side called?”
Zhou Chao asked again.
“Yeah.”
“That’s good, she still takes the initiative to call him.”
“Tch, it’s such a hassle, so much to say.”
Sun Wei clicked his tongue.
“A Qiang said a few words out of concern but got rejected.”
“Haha, what did he say?”
“Something like ‘It’s cold,’ stuff like that. I think he was just grasping at straws. Serves him right to be disliked.”
“He’s really bad at chatting,” Anjing deeply agreed.
“Dating him must be a real pain. Today comforting this, tomorrow helping with that, it’s exhausting.”
“Everyone’s relationship is different,” Zhou Chao smiled and shook his head.
“Maybe A Qiang is just used to being the nice guy, so he naturally tries to do more for his girlfriend.”
“Besides being quiet, he’s really good at taking care of people.”
Anjing nodded slightly.
“I think his girlfriend just wants someone to take care of her.”
“Dating is about mutual needs. That’s normal.”
Zhou Chao patted Sun Wei hard on the back.
“You just don’t need to be jealous or resentful!”
“Screw that, I’m not petty!”
“You are.”
Both Anjing and Zhou Chao said in unison.
***
(3)
Warm sunlight shone on the playground, lighting up every student’s face.
Unlike summer, the students all gladly stood under this sunlight, even if the P.E. teacher talked for a while longer.
“This semester, the final exams are coming soon.”
The tall, strong P.E. teacher waved the stopwatch in his hand.
“After the new semester starts, it’ll be time for the P.E. entrance exam. You can’t slack off, especially during winter break! This is your only chance. The college entrance exam doesn’t test P.E., so whether you exercise then is up to you.”
“Teacher, here’s the roster.”
Fang Qiang ran over to the P.E. teacher.
“And the whistle too.”
“Good. Today!”
The P.E. teacher coughed heavily.
“Today is fitness testing. Anyone who fails stays after school to run until they pass!”
“Whoa—”
“No way?”
“Help!!”
“Don’t scream. When it’s the P.E. entrance exam, can you run then? You can’t escape. Get your spirits up!”
The P.E. teacher said with a mischievous smile.
“Do you want to start with running or with sit-ups and pull-ups?”
The students immediately shouted in confusion.
Only those with loud voices could get their opinions across.
“Too noisy, any unified decision?”
“Let’s follow the P.E. entrance exam procedure.”
Fang Qiang suggested.
“Start easy, then run.”
“Alright—girls, Zhang Qiqi, you’re in charge. Take the girls to the basketball court. Fang Qiang, you and a few boys, go to the equipment room and help the girls get the mats.”
The P.E. teacher fanned himself with the roster.
“Other boys come with me over here for pull-ups!”
Not starting with running was a relief.
But when it came to pull-ups, Anjing still felt nervous.
Before, she could manage six or seven in one go—not great, but enough to pass.
Now…
With a girl’s untrained body, how many could she really do? She had no idea.
Compared to that, the girls’ sit-ups were much easier…
“Six is passing! According to the P.E. entrance exam standard, ten is full score!”
“Teacher, if we fail pull-ups, do we have to keep going until we pass?”
“If you hang there for one minute, I’ll count it as passing,” the P.E. teacher said kindly. “But your exam score is on you. If you fail pull-ups, practice more at home. If you don’t have a bar, do push-ups to build muscle.”
“Damn, I’m afraid I can only do two,” Sun Wei scratched his messy hair. “Zhou Chao, Anjing, how about you?”
“I don’t know.” Zhou Chao looked calm.
“Cough… I’ll try, then decide… it’s been a long time…”
I’m so confused. On some chapters it says they’re in middle school but sometimes it’s high school. Is it a translation error or am I trippin?