The instructor was left with an indelible impression during the last year of his teaching career, which he estimated would haunt him for a lifetime.
After they finished marching, Zhi Ying curiously asked the boy next to her, "Why did you also shun guai? Were you nervous?"
"..."
The boy next to her was speechless, believing himself to be a sinner.
The people in the last two rows fell into contemplation; the images were too beautiful to forget.
Standing in the last row, Jiang Wei suddenly regretted his decision to come to Quan City for high school, a choice he had fought his parents over. Something seemed to be out of his control.
Despite the mess, those in the front rows didn't even realize what had happened.
After the military parade had ended, Han Jiaojiao and Li Ge came to look for Zhao Qian and Zhi Ying.
"Do you guys want to go out to have fun together?" Li Ge gushed with excitement, "I will be on break starting this afternoon and won't have any classes until Monday!"
"Isn't there another opening ceremony on Monday?" Zhi Ying remembered clearly as she was going to speak on behalf of the freshmen.
"Yeah, I almost forgot. But it will end at nine o'clock at most, and then our high school life will officially start," Li Ge beamed eagerly, anticipating what was to come.
Together, the four of them strolled outside the school and discussed what to eat.
"Hot pot!" Han Jiaojiao exclaimed excitedly while playing with her two long braids.
Zhi Ying was fine with anything, and Zhao Qian also didn't mind.
However, Li Ge looked like he was having a hard time deciding. "I heard that the barbecue on the Xili backstreet is very delicious."
"Then we can go there after we eat hot pot. Isn't barbecue only crowded at night anyways?" Han Jiaojiao suggested.
Zhi Ying felt her pocket quietly, contemplating whether she had enough money to buy the book.
"Okay." Zhi Ying readily agreed, calculating in her mind, 'I have enough money to eat out,' she thought to herself.
Among the four, there was one know-it-all, so the conversation naturally gravitated towards gossip. Also, Han Jiaojiao was particularly engrossed in these topics and enthusiastically exclaimed along the way.
"I heard that Jiang Wei of Class One was recognized as the school hunk." Han Jiaojiao had a complicated expression.
Zhao Qian shrugged: "Isn't it obvious? Jiang Wei looks so attractive, of course, you girls would like it."
"Actually, that's not what I care about." Han Jiaojiao twisted her braid, "I don't know what he will choose for next semester. If he majors in art and human sciences, I… alas!"
As the other three listened inexplicably to Han Jiaojiao's long sigh, they were confused about what she was rambling on about.
Han Jiaojiao noticed the blank eyes the three of them had. Then she said helplessly, "Why can't you guys understand me? I have already decided to study art and human sciences. If Jiang Wei also chooses that major, wouldn't we be in the same class? How would I be able to focus on my studies then!? I would be distracted by him every day!"
Zhao Qian raised his eyebrows: "You still have self-knowledge."
Zhi Ying suddenly interrupted their conversation: "Why do you two have to be in the same class? Isn't there a saying about how the good-looking ones are hollow straw buns?"
"..." The three of them simultaneously looked at Zhi Ying, who was not ugly even when she was super tan and had a crew cut.
They thought in unison, 'Is she useless? No, right! Will he be? No!'
Li Ge coughed, "Although Jiang Wei was transferred, his grades are not bad since he is in Class One."
Zhi Ying followed with a conjecture: "Couldn't he just have found someone to put him in that class?"
Li Ge shook his head: "A few years ago, it may have been possible to put a student with average grades into the best class. But now, no. Even if they managed to put a student in, then their ability would have to be consistently strong. It's just that they happen to not perform well on their middle school exam."
"Oh." Zhi Ying was unclear about these twists and turns.
"I believe that since Jiang Wei is so good-looking, his grades will definitely not be inadequate," Han Jiaojiao said with conviction.
Zhao Qian also agreed: "He doesn't seem like someone with poor grades."
Zhi Ying expressed that it didn't matter; no matter how good his grades were, first place could only belong to her.
While they were eating hot pot, Han Jiaojiao answered a phone call. While placing the fat beef roll in the boiling soup, she vaguely replied: "I'm eating outside with Zhi Ying and the others. Go back tonight, I know."
"Your family?" Zhao Qian turned over a few pieces of green vegetables and asked.
"My dad." Han Jiaojiao nodded and continued to eat, "He's inspecting my curfew."
Zhi Ying glanced up and looked at Han Jiaojiao but said nothing.
After eating hot pot, their stomachs were basically bloated. However Zhao Qian barely moved his chopsticks, he had only eaten a few pieces of vegetables.
"Why did you eat so little?" Li Ge doubted, "You don't like hot pot?"
Zhao Qian waved his hand: "When it's time for a meal, I usually don't have an appetite."
'So that's why he likes to carry all kinds of snacks with him,' the others thought in understanding, as if they had just solved a major mystery.
The four of them stopped by to watch a movie after eating, which made it easy for digestion.
The dim environment of the cinema made Zhi Ying drowsy; she finally leaned back in her chair and shut her eyes.
…
"Goodbye." The three of them waved to Zhi Ying who was standing at the school gate.
The two boys sent Han Jiaojiao home, and that was how the day finally came to an end.
Eating a meal and watching a movie—that's how friendships were built, after all.