Chapter 620
Happiness and Unhappiness
"Alright, that's all for today's class. Class representative, remember to write the homework on the blackboard. Also, it's the weekend again. You can do a few practice tests as needed to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. This isn't mandatory. If you have any questions, feel free to come to me anytime. get out of class dismissed."
As the physics teacher slowly walked away with his thermos, a muffled thud suddenly echoed in the classroom of Class 3, Grade 12. The students, as if their spines had been removed, collapsed onto their desks in unison, groaning in despair.
A class is 45 minutes long, but the physics teacher can teach for more than 50 minutes each time. There's not even enough time left to go to the toilet. Fortunately, the next class is physical education, otherwise everyone's bladders would face a severe test.
"This isn't mandatory."
Watching her physics teacher's departing figure, Zhang Meng pouted, shook her head, and mimicked the tone of his voice, drawing out the last syllable. Then, she slammed her head heavily on the desk, looking utterly dejected. "He always says he won't force us to do it, but he goes over those test papers every time he teaches. What's the difference between that and forcing us to do it?"
Although her expression was slightly exaggerated, her tone was so lifelike that it made several classmates around her burst into laughter.
A boy glanced at Zhang Meng from the side, then grinned and leaned closer to his deskmate: "Who does a proper test on the weekend? Are you doing a test?"
The latter shook his head: "I'm not doing it. Are you going to do the test?"
"I won't do it either. Who would be so foolish as to study on the weekend?"
"That must be the King of Rolls."
"Disgusting!"
The two of them simultaneously unscrewed the caps of their mineral water bottles, clinked them together like toasts, and then tilted their heads back and drank heartily. Their cheeky manner immediately amused the surrounding classmates, and Zhang Meng was also extremely happy.
But as much as they wanted to have fun, they still had to do the tests. Don't be fooled by those two boys' boastful talk; they're actually among the most stubborn test-takers in the class. Before every holiday, they'd say they were going to the internet cafe to play games for a whole day and night, but in reality, they'd bring their test papers there to do them. It's really despicable.
Just then, the sports committee member clapped his hands, stood up and said, "Class is about to start, everyone please go to the playground to assemble. You can have free time after we finish the warm-up exercises."
After saying that, he left the classroom first, but quickly returned and shouted into the classroom:
"Mo Yixia, someone is looking for you outside."
The noise in the classroom subsided slightly, and Zhang Meng paused for a moment before looking at Mo Yixia beside her.
By the window, the girl wearing a mask and a baseball cap turned her gaze away from the window and slowly stood up.
Seeing this, Zhang Meng quickly stood up to make way, then craned her neck to look outside, trying to see who was looking for Mo Yixia.
"Let's go to the playground."
Not only her, but many people in the class took the opportunity to go out with her. Mo Yixia always kept to herself at school and had almost no friends. Could it be that her mother came?
In the middle of the corridor, Han Zhou intended to greet Mo Yixia, but the next second he met dozens of curious eyes. He was taken aback and asked in a low voice, "You didn't say anything strange to your classmates again, did you?"
"What did you say?" Mo Yixia asked lazily.
"For example, we are blood relatives within three generations or something..."
Do I look that free?
"What do these people do?"
"Just watching the show."
Mo Yixia spoke calmly, without deliberately lowering her voice, so the surrounding classmates heard her clearly and quickly left.
Zhang Meng, who had just stepped out of the classroom, recognized Han Zhou at a glance. Her eyes lit up, and she mustered up her courage to walk up to him and greet him: "Cousin, you're here again!"
In fact, she had already learned from Mo Yixia that the other party's cousin was not her real cousin, but because she had forgotten Han Zhou's name, she simply continued to call him that.
Han Zhou had a photographic memory, so he naturally remembered that this girl was Mo Yixia's deskmate, or perhaps a half-friend. So he smiled slightly and said, "Hello, you are Zhang Meng, right? Yixia often mentions you to me."
Mo Yixia glanced at him but didn't say anything.
"Really!"
Zhang Meng was flattered and looked at Mo Yixia with a delighted expression. She then turned to Han Zhou and couldn't help but ask, "What does she usually say about me?"
Han Zhou was a little embarrassed. He had only said something polite, but he didn't expect the girl to take it seriously. He couldn't bear to dampen her enthusiasm, so he turned to Mo Yixia and said with a smile, "Yixia, why don't you tell us yourself how you usually talk about your classmate?"
Mo Yixia was very accommodating; instead of exposing him, she gave him a plausible evaluation.
"A combination of talent and hard work."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Meng pressed.
Dude, that's enough, it's impolite to ask any more questions...
Han Zhou thought to himself, knowing Mo Yixia as he did, that might not be a compliment. It was best not to press the matter. So he coughed and said, "Zhang Meng, Yixia and I have something to discuss privately. Could you excuse us for a moment?"
"No need to avoid it."
However, Mo Yixia interrupted him, "Class is about to start, you're coming with me."
"Where to?" Han Zhou was taken aback.
"On the playground, the next class is PE."
"But I'm not a student at your school, and didn't you ask me to apologize to the homeroom teacher on your behalf?"
"He's not at school right now. Come with me to the playground first."
Mo Yixia spoke calmly, then turned and walked towards the stairwell.
Han Zhou was uneasy. Yi Xia's attitude today was not cold, but it was not enthusiastic either. He couldn't tell how much anger she still had. After hesitating for a moment, he obediently followed her.
What exactly does it mean to have both talent and hard work...?
Zhang Meng stood there, pondering the comment, feeling that something was off. But before she could figure it out, Han Zhou suddenly stopped and turned around to look at her: "Zhang Meng, can I ask you a few questions?"
"of course can!"
Zhang Meng immediately snapped out of her daze. "But cousin, please don't call me classmate. It sounds weird. I heard from Mo Yixia that you're only a year older than us. We're the same age. You can just call me by my name."
"Okay." Han Zhou smiled. "Then don't call me cousin anymore. My name is Han Zhou, so just call me by my name."
Zhang Meng smiled sweetly: "Okay, cousin."
"Okay, Zhang Meng."
Mo Yixia, who was walking ahead, did not turn around, but seemed to let out a soft sigh.
"Cousin, what do you want to ask me?" Zhang Meng asked curiously.
Han Zhou cleared his throat: "I want to know how Yi Xia is doing at school this semester. She rarely talks to me about this."
“I see…” Zhang Meng nodded, but then seemed to suddenly remember something, her face showing suspicion. “But didn’t you just say that Mo Yixia often mentions me to you? If we’re not talking about school, why would she mention me?”
Han Zhou remained expressionless and spoke sincerely: "It's because Yi Xia rarely talks about school, but whenever she does, she always mentions you, that's why I have such a strong impression of you."
"Really!"
Zhang Meng immediately beamed, but she didn't forget Han Zhou's question. After thinking carefully, she replied, "I think... Mo Yixia is probably having a pretty good time at school, right? Actually, I'm not too sure, because she always wears a mask, so I can't even see her expression. I can't tell when she's happy or unhappy."
Han Zhou pondered for a moment: "I can teach you a method."
"What method?" Zhang Meng's eyes lit up.
Han Zhou glanced at Mo Yixia ahead and lowered his voice, saying, "When Yixia is happy, she will subconsciously brush the hair behind her ear. You can use this to judge whether she is happy or not. Of course, you have to analyze the specific situation and judge based on the context. I don't need to teach you this, right?"
Zhang Meng thought about it carefully and found that it seemed to be true. Although she was not sure when Mo Yixia was happy, at least every time Mo Yixia smiled, she seemed to tuck her hair behind her ears.
Thinking of this, her eyes grew brighter and brighter, finally turning into excitement: "Thank you, cousin!"
She had always aspired to become friends with Mo Yixia, and mastering this trick meant she was one step closer to that goal.
"You're welcome."
Han Zhou smiled slightly. If he didn't teach Zhang Meng how to judge whether Mo Yixia was happy, he would find it difficult to answer the next question. Seeing that she had already digested the knowledge, he calmly cut to the point: "So, Zhang Meng, in your opinion, has Yixia been happy lately?"
Zhang Meng thought carefully for a moment: "I think..."
"If you want to whisper, you can stay further away from me."
Just then, Mo Yixia suddenly stopped and turned around. Her gaze swept over Zhang Meng before landing on Han Zhou. "If you want to know if I'm happy or not, just ask me directly. What, are you afraid to ask?"
How could she not see that the reason this guy kept chatting with Zhang Meng in a voice she could hear was because he was trying to find out if she was still angry?
Han Zhou chuckled awkwardly, not embarrassed at all, and went along with it: "So, have you been happy lately?"
Mo Yixia gave him a deep look but did not answer. She simply raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, turned around, and continued walking forward.
Zhang Meng, standing behind him, was completely bewildered: "Cousin, is he happy or unhappy?"
"...I can't tell either."
Han Zhou watched the departing figure, sighed softly, and then quickened his pace to catch up.
The pale, thin sunlight of a winter afternoon falls on the bare branches of the sycamore trees, casting messy, long shadows on the ground.
The grass along the edge of the playground had long since turned yellow, as if covered with a thin layer of white frost, and made a soft, crisp "crunch" sound when stepped on.
The three of them had just arrived at the playground when the school bell rang almost at the same time. Zhang Meng quickly pulled Mo Yixia to the playground to assemble, while Han Zhou retreated to the side of the field and casually found a step to sit down.
Listening to the whistles that kept ringing out on the playground, for a moment, he felt as if he had returned to his high school days.
The sky was a uniform leaden gray, like light ink diffused on rice paper. The clouds were thick but not heavy, and the light that leaked through was as thin as gauze, gently covering the red brick walls of the teaching building, giving them a soft and warm matte finish.
In my field of vision, a group of high school students in school uniforms were doing chest-expanding exercises to the shouts of their sports representative.
Wearing a mask and a baseball cap, Mo Yixia stood out in the crowd. Although her movements were quite standard, she gave off a listless feeling, making Han Zhou wonder if she was even slacking off during her warm-up.
After completing the warm-up activities, the team did not immediately disband. Instead, at the request of the physical education teacher, they began running laps around the playground.
The sports committee member led the group in a jog, with the rest of the students following behind him. The chant of "one, two, three, four" condensed into wisps of white mist in the cold air. Mo Yixia was mixed in with the group, and because she was wearing a mask, she couldn't even see the white mist, let alone whether she was chanting the slogan.
Han Zhou doubted it.
After running three full laps around the track, the team finally disbanded.
Unlike most of her classmates who rushed to the sports field, or like a few who went to find a place to do their homework, Mo Yixia walked straight into the distance.
Seeing this, Han Zhou disregarded the strange looks from the group of high school students and quickly got up and followed.
"Follow me for what?"
Mo Yixia did not turn around, but seemed certain that the person behind her was him. Her already cold voice sounded even colder in the cold air, and her breath blurred the edge of her mask.
Han Zhou did not immediately admit his mistake, nor did he try to say anything nice. He simply followed his heart and honestly replied, "I just want to follow you."
Mo Yixia did not respond.
The two walked one after the other, the plastic track beneath their feet providing a dull, solid feel. The sparse sunlight lengthened and shortened their shadows, intersecting and separating on the track.
On the basketball court not far away, the boys were already playing basketball, wearing only thin hoodies. They dribbled back and forth on the court, the "thump thump" of the ball echoing in the empty playground, each impact seeming to carry an echo.
In addition, ping-pong tables, badminton courts, and even volleyball courts were all occupied.
Han Zhou thought to himself, "No wonder it's a school for rich people; they have such a wide variety of sports activities in their physical education classes."
Of course, there were also girls who didn't like sports, who were sitting in twos and threes around the court, talking about the boys on the court, their scores on the monthly exam, the weather for the coming week, and of course, the unsociable Mo Yixia and her overly handsome cousin.
Han Zhou has basically maintained a state of heightened hearing, where he "leaves it to fate." Even when they are far apart, he can vaguely hear some of the conversations, but when he finds that they are just some boring gossip, he doesn't pay any attention to them.
Just then, Mo Yixia, who was walking in front, suddenly spoke up, her tone revealing little emotion: "Following behind a girl all the time is called tailing."
Han Zhou was taken aback, but immediately understood her meaning. He quickly stepped forward and walked alongside the girl.
The wind rustled through the bare branches of the sycamore trees, and a few withered leaves swirled and fell, landing right on the boundary between the two people, only to be gently blown away by the wind.
Han Zhou carefully observed Mo Yixia's expression and tentatively began, "Yixia, I..."
"Shut up," the girl interrupted him.
"it is good."
Han Zhou readily agreed and obediently kept quiet.
A few minutes later, perhaps tired from walking, Mo Yixia stopped and sat down on the steps of the rostrum facing the sun, gently rubbing her hands, which were red from the cold.
The next second, a pair of brand-new gloves were handed to her.
Mo Yixia didn't even look up. Her gaze lingered on the gloves for a moment before she naturally took them, but she didn't put them on. Instead, she placed them on her knees and then raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'll give you one more chance. Guess again whether I'm happy or unhappy right now?" (End of Chapter)