This morning, there was a flag-raising ceremony hosted by Zhu Shuang. Afterward, the freshmen and sophomores left, while the seniors stayed behind for an oath-taking ceremony, with a top student from the adjacent class serving as their representative.
The sun today wasn't scorchingly hot, probably due to the abundance of clouds.
This weather drew many to the playground to engage in sports, take walks, or simply sit under the willow trees, hugging their knees while chatting with friends.
After lunch, Zhou Li returned to the classroom and looked out the window, distracted by the chirping cicadas.
Including him, there were only three people in the classroom.
And one Demon.
Soon, Brother Nan entered. She strode in with large steps, headphones on, the wire brazenly connected to the pocket of her school trousers. She was holding half a watermelon. Zhou Li couldn't quite figure out where she had gotten it from.
Upon entering through the back door of the classroom, Brother Nan glanced at Zhou Li and habitually asked, "Want some watermelon?"
Zhou Li shook his head.
Brother Nan wasn't surprised by his response. She walked over and dragged her own chair further back, its legs screeching against the floor.
She sat down next to the trash bin and, while scooping out watermelon, watched Zhou Li from behind. "Why do you stay in the classroom every day instead of going out?"
Zhou Li did not answer. The classroom was very quiet, except for the sound of Li Nan spitting out watermelon seeds.
PTOO!
"Aren't you going to feel cooped up like this?" Li Nan asked.
"I won't," Zhou Li said.
PTOO! PTOO!
"You're not even reading in here. Look, those two are doing their homework." Li Nan was puzzled. "It's such nice weather today, everyone's out for a walk. Even the prodigies from the advanced class aiming for Tsinghua and Peking University are out for some fresh air. Why are you cooped up in here?"
"There's nothing to do outside."
PTOO! PTOO! PTOO! PTOO! PTOO! Li Nan made a sound like a machine gun, the imaginary bullets hitting the bamboo trash bin in a staccato rhythm. Taking a moment as if to cool the barrel, she continued, "But you're clearly not a reserved person. Mother Zhao told me you were introverted. Ha, I don't believe a word of it!"
Zhou Li remained silent.
"I see some people playing badminton outside. Aren't you good at that? Come on, let's go play!" Li Nan's watermelon was almost down to the rind, but she continued scooping at the flesh.
"I'm not," Zhou Li said.
"Liar! You said just yesterday you went to play badminton! You..." Brother Nan was unhappy. "You always claim you're not good at any sport. Cut it out! I'm almost done eating. Hurry up and come join in!"
"I'm not familiar with them."
"What does familiarity have to do with it? Let's go, let's go!"
Li Nan tossed the watermelon rind away and put her stool back in its original spot. She wiped the spoon with a piece of paper—as if that cleaned it—casually tossed it on the desk, and then started urging him to leave his seat.
Huai Xu, sitting in the only empty seat in the class, also turned his head and said to him, "Go on, go have fun. I've taken care of that idiot over there for you!"
So Zhou Li stood up.
「On the playground.」
San Zheng hid in a corner by the pond. He seemed to have spotted Zhou Li coming out from the teaching building. Given the crowd, he hesitated about whether to go join Zhou Li.
Just then, a loud shout came from the direction of the school gate, "That Demon! Come over here and face your death!"
San Zheng turned around, only to see Huai Xu staring straight at him.
His eyes lit up instantly!
However, to reach Huai Xu, he would need to cross half the playground. The alternative was to pass under the willow trees, but even more people were sitting there. This made San Zheng rather conflicted.
At this moment, Huai Xu yelled again, "Didn't you hear me calling you?"
San Zheng's resolve then solidified.
Huai Xu is already so eager; can I afford to mess this up?
Suddenly, San Zheng's figure flickered. He then walked beneath the willow trees, miraculously touching neither the branches nor the people. Maintaining this state seemed quite difficult. The short distance of just over a hundred meters left him quite exhausted, and he arrived next to Huai Xu panting heavily.
Huai Xu was pleased; this saved him some effort!
Playing badminton were some sophomore boys, and both basketball courts alongside were fully occupied by four groups of people.
As they walked forward, Brother Nan boasted about her past as the unmatched badminton champion of her elementary school class. She was quite tall, noticeably so in the south. She wore only her school trousers and a tight, plain black t-shirt, which made her stand out among the many school uniforms.
Wu Yuanliang saw her from a distance. He stopped dribbling, held the ball in front of him, and called out, "Brother Nan, coming to play ball?"
Li Nan waved her hands repeatedly. "Forget it, forget it. I'm practically a national team coach. Bullying you high school students all day wouldn't look good!"
After saying that, she walked with Zhou Li to the badminton court.
Taking advantage of Wu Yuanliang's distraction, one of the boys slapped the ball from his hand, executed a cool spin, and shot toward the basket, but missed.
A group of people scrambled for the ball under the backboard.
Wu Yuanliang shook his head and continued to play.
Following Brother Nan, Zhou Li smoothly joined the group of underclassmen playing badminton. Seeing Brother Nan arrive with a guy, they even voluntarily let him take a turn.
Zhou Li got his hands on a racket as soon as he joined.
Truthfully, these students didn't play very well. They were nowhere near the level of Zhu Shuang, who had practiced since he was young, and not even as good as the teachers at Third Elementary School.
Brother Nan was especially bad.
Zhou Li was very patient, slowly playing along with them while also having the leisure to observe the playground.
Huai Xu and San Zheng were sitting on the edge of the playground near the school gate. There were several steps there. Huai Xu sat on one, while San Zheng occupied an entire step. It wasn't as Zhou Li had imagined—Huai Xu pinning San Zheng to the ground and pummeling him. Instead, they looked unusually peaceful and harmonious.
Wu Yuanliang, who was playing basketball, glanced in their direction from time to time.
Zhu Shuang appeared nearby. What interested Zhou Li was that Zhu Shuang was accompanied by a cute-looking little girl, and the two of them were chatting in low voices.
The little girl said, "That's your brother, right? He plays badminton pretty well too."
Zhu Shuang smiled and nodded. "Yeah, my brother and I have been playing together since we were little. His skills are similar to mine, but he has a lot more stamina."
"Similar to you?" The little girl was surprised.
"Yes, we just played yesterday. I know his strength all too well," Zhu Shuang said. "He's just deliberately going easy on them right now. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to return a single shuttlecock. What fun would there be in playing like that!"
"That makes sense."
The playground was noisy, and they didn't think Zhou Li could hear their conversation.
They played badminton for about half an hour. During that time, Zhou Li also "acted" and intentionally lost some points. Eventually, Brother Nan, who kept losing, didn't want to play anymore; continuing like this was too embarrassing for her.
"I'm going to sit in the shade. Want to come?" Li Nan asked, and then, as if preempting Zhou Li's answer, continued, "Let's go. We can rest a bit before going up for a nap. This afternoon, I'll probably have more papers to do. I wonder if that old lecher will check my essay..."
"Okay."
Zhou Li followed behind her, walking all the way to a row of willow trees by the pond. Zhou Li casually picked a spot to sit, while Brother Nan stood next to a tree, kicking it and idly pulling at the willow leaves.
Zhou Li noticed she was wearing a pair of khaki-colored utility boots. It was a type of footwear rarely worn by students and completely clashed with the style of the school pants.
They seemed to call for a much cooler outfit.
Suddenly, Li Nan's voice came from above his head: "Zhou Li, what are you planning to do after the college entrance exam?"
"There's still a month left," he replied.
"Have you thought about it?"
"Find a summer job, I guess. Save some money."
"I want to find a summer job too, but my parents and I don't see eye to eye on it," Brother Nan said, sounding somewhat distressed. Without waiting for Zhou Li to respond, she continued, "My mom wants me to use the time after the college entrance exams to get my driver's license. I want to go work on a construction site."
"On a construction site?"
"Yeah, my second uncle has a construction project starting. I can work as a laborer there. The pay is good, and it's simple—just manual labor," Li Nan explained. "I want to save up a lot of money. Also, it's daily pay; my uncle will pay me for each day I work. I need to go back to my hometown in between to help my grandparents with threshing grain and hauling corn. They're getting old, and if a thunderstorm hits, having a strong laborer around would make things easier."
"Sounds good."
"Yeah, but my dad wants me to help with the family business, like serving noodles or delivering takeout. I think working on the construction site is better. The problem is, he's only offering me a little over two thousand, you know!" Li Nan said, getting worked up. "He told my mom he'd pay me two thousand five hundred, but then he pulled me aside and told me to give two hundred back to him! Only a fool would agree to that!"
Zhou Li hesitated. "Well..." He didn't know how to respond, so he just leaned his head against the tree and looked up at the sky.
The sky, half obscured by the willow leaves, was quite beautiful.
Besides, Brother Nan was a good conversationalist and could keep talking by herself. He hadn't had many chances to just sit on the playground, relax, and daydream like this since his first year of high school, so he might as well enjoy it a bit more.
Brother Nan kept talking until it was almost time for class.
Zhou Li occasionally nodded.
Hearing the bell, he said to Brother Nan, "Class is starting. Those guys playing basketball have left."
Brother Nan, who had been crouching by the tree poking at its roots, stood up and nodded. "Then let's head back to the classroom too."
Zhou Li saw Wu Yuanliang carrying his ball, constantly looking back as he walked toward the classroom. Only when he saw the two of them get up did Wu Yuanliang stop looking back.