Her Little Dimples - Chapter 9: You're So Annoying!
When the last English class was over and the bell rang, the classroom seemed to be completely lifeless. Students happily cleaned up their books and went outside to eat.
One of the sports committee members smashed a book on the podium and shouted, “Tomorrow’s the monthly exam, no gym class today!! In the afternoon, come directly back to the classroom, don’t go to the sports field!!”
There was a loud wave of complaints and moans.
As soon as Xu You left the classroom, the air-conditioning was gone and she was surrounded by the raging heat.
She felt a little dizzy from the heat as she turned to walk down the stairs with her books in her hand.
The crowd was filled with loud noises.
Two girls in front were holding hands and chatting together; their voices happened to be heard by Xu You.
“Hey, have you heard that Chen Jingyi went to fight the girl in Senior Liberal Arts class again? A lot of people went to watch.”
“Senior Liberal Arts Class? Who?”
“I think it’s He Danlu. I heard that a book was directly thrown at her in the face when the fight started.”
“Really? What happened?”
She seemed to be very curious about this gossip.
“I also just heard it from my friends. It seems that He Danlu met Chen Jingyi in the restroom the other day, and then she called her a vixen and said she was smelly. Then she immediately got slapped by Chen Jingyi.”
“What? Wow, she dares to hit a senior?”
Then she asked confusedly, “Why did she say those things anyway?”
Another girl whispered back, “I think it’s because of Chen Jingyi’s ex-boyfriend. Danlu is also pursuing him. She didn’t succeed.”
“Ex-boyfriend? Who? Do I know him… Oh oh, such dog blood…”
“Yeah, it’s Xie Ci, of course, you know him.”
“…”
One of them paused for a few seconds before replying, “Who doesn’t know him in the school?”
After speaking, she started to think about something, then asked again, “Didn’t he just break up with Qiu Qingqing? He has also been with Chen Jingyi before?”
“Of course, he’s just playing with them for him. He’s in no shortage of girls around him,” The girl who started the gossip said casually, “In fact, all those people in Class 9 are quite assholes, but their families are so rich…”
After another turn, the sound gradually faded away.
Xu You stepped down the stairs slowly, not paying attention to other people’s gossip.
She just came to the school for a few days and didn’t even remember all the names in her class yet. However, everywhere she went, that familiar name could almost always be heard.
He’s such a ghost that won’t go away…
As she was thinking to herself, she was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. Xu You turned her head and saw her roommate standing next to her.
“Youyou, are you going to the cafeteria now?”
“Yes,” Xu You nodded.
Chen Xiao pulled her arm and shook it, “Can you please come with me to buy food outside the school? I don’t want to wait in line alone.”
“Please…”
Xu You wasn’t very good at saying no to others. After a second, she agreed, “I still have my books with me, is it very far away?”
“No, not at all. It’s right outside the gates of the school,” immediately after speaking, she started to pull Xu You away.
Lunch break was one of the time periods where the places in front of the school were the busiest. The few shops were crowded with students, and there were also many students leaning or squatting by the trees. They were smoking and chatting while waiting for others.
The shop they lined up for was a fried noodle shop. It seemed pretty old already and had a really good reputation. There were already a lot of people in front of them, and the line was already to the outside of the door. Most of the customers were students.
Cheng Xiao happily pulled Xu You to the end of the line and stood on tiptoes while looking forward, “There are so many people, A Chai, are you hungry right now?”
She turned to ask Xu You.
A Chai was Xu You’s nickname.
When Chen Lizhi came last week to the school dormitory to see her, she was calling her and Chen Xiao heard it. She felt like it sounded better and also started to call her that ever since.
The two stood on the road under the red hot sun. Xu You was wearing long sleeves and a jacket. She shook her head as she wiped her sweat, “It’s okay, I’m not hungry.”
The pain from her period made her face even more pale and weak. Even her lips didn’t seem to have any color.
While they were waiting, there would always be a few people who would cut the line, therefore, they still seemed to be remaining at the same place after a long time.
Xu You supported her waist with one hand and patted Chen Xiao, who was playing on her phone. She said weakly, “I’ll go there and squat for a while, you stay in line for me.”
The pain from her lower abdomen made her want to curl up, perhaps that will make her feel better.
Chen Xiao was taken aback by her weak appearance. She quickly placed her phone away and helped to support her, “Are you okay?”
Xu You paused and said slowly, “Menstruation pain, it’s okay.”
“You should go back first, I can be in line by myself.”
“No it’s okay, I’ll just rest for a bit. Call me when you’re done.”
She squatted not far away under a tree with few people. Behind her was a coffee shop, with a clear piano sound coming from it.
Xu You took out an apple-flavored lollipop from her jacket pocket and put it in her mouth.
The pain even made her feel difficult to breathe.
—
In the coffee shop…
Tu Youyou and Li Jieyi were holding hands. She held his arms and got closer as she whispered playfully, “Where should we go play in the afternoon?”
There was a person beside him smoking, and he replied, “Why not go on the bed to play.”
“I Hate you,” Tu Youyou smiled as she said that, but her voice remained sweet and quiet.
The person beside them didn’t lookup. He just chuckled and then coughed.
Li Jieyi placed his hand on his girlfriend’s shoulders and talked to the person, “A Ci, what do you say? Are we going to play cards in the afternoon?”
“Nah,” his voice was lazy. He rested his arm on the chair and started to smile.
“Why not? What’s so fun about staying in school?”
“What’s so fun about going there?” asked Xie Ci back.
“Uh, you can play whatever you want,” replied Li Jieyi with an ambiguous smirk.
Song Yifan came over with a drink and happened to hear these words. He sat down on a chair and answered for Xie Ci, “The only thing he wants now is to stay with the girl in our class.”
“Really? Which girl? She must be really charming to even attract someone like Brother Ci. Have I seen her before? Is she pretty?” Li JIeyi was full of curiosity as he threw out a series of questions.
Song Yifan replied solemnly, “No, no, they were just studying together. The girl was teaching A Ci English…”
After that, he placed a smirk on his face and continued, “As for how they will play out in the future, I’m not sure.”
However, Xie Ci didn’t reply, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Instead, Wang Xiaoqian, who was sitting on the side, smiled and said to Li Jieyi, “You still want to go out and play today? Tomorrow’s the monthly exam. Didn’t you say your dad froze your bank card last time? Let’s go play after you get a good grade this time.”
Li Jieyi turned a bit impatient, “How good can I get? Fuck, why do you have to mention it?”
Everyone else started to laugh.
Lin City First High School was quite rich, therefore, everything was very well built. Including the anti-cheating system used during the examinations. When it was activated, the school was confident that their system was as well as that of the National College Entrance Examination. The students didn’t believe it at first, but after experiencing it, they had to admit that it indeed worked well.
Even phones turned completely useless.
Song Yifan flipped through the menu on the table and suddenly spoke, “Don’t worry bro, this time we have a master with us.”
“Master? Who?” Li Jieyi’s eyes lit up as he urged, “Fuck, quick tell me, I’m very worried right now.”
Song Yifan took a sip of his drink and picked up his phone to reply to some messages. “I’ve done my research. This time, the new transfer student is going to be taking the exam with us in the same room.”
“And?”
“Dumbass. I told you before, the new student has excellent grades and is a really good person too. She’s best friends with me and we have already agreed. On the test, we’ll directly copy her’s.”
Hearing this, Xie CI slowly raised his eyebrows and his hand holding the cigarette stopped in the air, “Best friends with you?”
Before Song Yifan replied, his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of someone.
A few seconds later.
“Wait, holy shit, bro,” Song Yifan stood up and walked forward while squinting his eyes. He patted Xie Ci on the shoulders, “Look, I think we know that person squatting outside.”
—
Xu You’s soft hair was loosely beside her face. She had a stack of books in her hands and was resting there.
The scorching heat blew along with a gust of wind, and the cicadas were continuously screaming in the dense tree shade.
She had her head lowered and was rubbing her forehead with her index finger.
When she opened her eyes again, a pair of black sneakers appeared before her eyes.
Xu You looked up.
Xie Ci, wearing a black jacket and T-shirt, bent over slightly and tilted his head to look at her. He asked with a smile, “Hello, are you here waiting for me?”
Her face was pale and her expression looked very weak.
Xu You didn’t want to talk to him, so she placed her hand on her knee and was ready to stand up.
Unexpectedly, she has been squatting for too long and her calves were numb. When she stood up, she stumbled a little.
Xie Ci reacted quickly and reached out a hand to support her.
He grabbed Xu You’s arm. The long sleeves of the school uniform covered up to half of her palm, showing her frost-like fingers.
“Can you stand now?” Xie Ci asked looked at her soft black hair and asked quietly.
His chest was leaning really close to her.
Xu You nodded and tried to push him away. She was already getting impatient as she quickly thanked him, “Thank you, you can let go now.”
Xie Ci “oh”ed, but didn’t let go. Instead, he asked back, “Are you doing this on purpose? Falling into my arms twice in one day?”
“Nong lao cuo qi o!1Xu You said this in a southern dialect. In China, different parts of mainland China can have very different dialects (You’re so annoying)!”
Then she pushed him again.
Xie Ci was pushed back this time and staggered a few steps.
Her angry voice surprised Xie Ci, “Nong what?”
Xu You turned and walked away without looking back.
—
When she went to find Chen Xiao, she was already at the front of the line, and the chef was serving noodles for her.
Xu You held her books and waited for her beside the line.
The smell of delicious food was constantly drifting to her.
Chen Xiao took the plastic bag and said to Xu You after paying the money, “Let’s go.”
Xu You nodded and followed her to the side entrance of the school.
But before they got far, Xu You suddenly heard a rush of footsteps from behind along with a shout:
—— “Wait! The little girl in front, wait for a second!”
Xu You and Chen Xiao turned their heads and saw a person running over.
She was a young lady and had work clothes on. She even had an apron on her, with the logo of Wuyin Milk Tea Shop on it.
She panted for a second and then held up something in her hand. She handed it to Xu You, “Little girl, someone just bought you a cup of red date milk tea and asked us to give it to you.”
Translated by: UnderTheMoon
Edited by: Summit
- 1Xu You said this in a southern dialect. In China, different parts of mainland China can have very different dialects