country bumpkin

May 7th is the first day of school. Yunya got up early, got dressed, washed her face, and ran to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

She brought out the leftover shredded potatoes from last night, poured half a bowl of boiling water into it, added two more chopsticks of shredded potatoes, soaked a steamed bun in it, and ate it for breakfast.

Sun Limei ate the same way. After they finished eating, they packed their schoolbags and got ready to go to school.

Yunya went to the opposite door and called Sun Fei. After a minute, Sun Fei ran out of the yard with her schoolbag on her back.

The three girls started walking to school. They had barely taken their first step when Gu Yu's voice rang out.

"Feifei, Yunya, Limei, wait for me."

The three of them turned around at the same time and saw that it was Gu Yu. They all stood there without moving. Gu Yu quickly ran over and walked alongside them.

Several little girls chattered away, gossiping all the way. Gu Yu, who also loved gossip, recounted everything she had heard.

"You guys don't know, my brother's classmate Huang Lisha's little leather shoes are so cute, and that denim overalls are super pretty too."

Sun Fei looked at her and asked, "Is the Huang Lisha you mentioned the family that lives in the alley west of my house?"

Gu Yu nodded. "Yes, that's the one. She even came specifically to play with my brother and show off her dress."

Yun Ya asked doubtfully, "If a girl comes to play with a boy, will they be able to play together? What games are there that both girls and boys like?"

Sun Fei chimed in, "Of course there are! There are plenty of games we can play together. But I think Huang Lisha isn't here to play with Gu Feng; she's here to show off how pretty she is."

Sun Limei agreed, saying, "That should be the case."

Yun Ya and Gu Yu understood a little; that was probably the case.

As they walked and talked, they arrived at the school gate. After saying goodbye to Sun Limei and Gu Yu, Yun Ya and Sun Fei went to their respective classes.

Once at her seat, Yunya put her schoolbag in the desk drawer. Her deskmate hadn't arrived yet, but she glanced at Zhang Ruisong's seat; he was already there.

Yun Ya found it strange. Didn't he and his deskmate Meng Fanxing always come and go together? He's already here, so why isn't his deskmate here?

After waiting another five minutes, almost all the classmates had arrived, but Meng Fanxing still hadn't come. Yun Ya started to worry.

Yunya felt that her deskmate must be sick and had taken leave. Suddenly, she felt empty and insecure.

The teacher arrived, but her deskmate didn't show up. Yunya gave up and stopped hoping.

As morning reading began, homeroom teacher Ji Yunhan stood on the podium and paced back and forth in the classroom.

In the classroom, the students were reading the text aloud, and Yunya was also shouting to read the textbook aloud.

As soon as the bell rang, the teacher said, "There will be a flag-raising ceremony today. Everyone, line up and go to the playground to assemble."

Yunya got up with her classmates, tidied her books and schoolbag, and slowly walked towards the playground with the group.

Students from other classes were already lined up on the playground, whispering amongst themselves.

As Yunya walked, she looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Meng Fanxing, but she couldn't find him.

After their class lined up in their designated positions, the flag-raising ceremony officially began. As the national anthem played, Yun Ya subconsciously glanced at Meng Fanxing's usual spot, feeling a pang of disappointment.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure rushing towards her—it was Meng Fanxing.

Yun Ya was secretly delighted and waved to him. Meng Fanxing also saw Yun Ya, smiled at her, and then quickly ran to his position.

After the flag-raising ceremony, Yun Ya couldn't wait to run to Meng Fanxing's side and asked, "Why are you so late today? I thought you were sick."

Meng Fanxing scratched his head and said, "I ran into some trouble on the way, but I'm fine now."

Yunya smiled and said, "That's good. Don't be late next time." The two chatted and laughed as they followed the group back to the classroom.

She sat back down; class had already started. The first class was math, and Yunya dared not say a word.

Pan Guojiao has a fiery temper, so you have to behave well in his class. Even if you don't actively answer questions, you still have to follow the rules.

After everyone handed in their homework, Pan Guojiao began the new lesson. Everyone sat in their seats, looking up at the blackboard attentively, listening to the teacher.

After he finished explaining the example problems, he started asking students to answer questions, mainly to check whether the students had learned the material and whether they had listened attentively in class.

The question happened to be asked to Meng Fanxing, and he really didn't understand it and didn't know much about it.

Yunya lowered her head and covered her mouth, whispering the answer to him. The teacher didn't notice Yunya's little action.

Because she covered her mouth with her hand, her classmates didn't notice anything amiss.

However, Meng Fanxing had already heard Yun Ya's answer. He repeated the answer, and the teacher then asked him to sit down.

Yun Ya secretly breathed a sigh of relief; she didn't want her deskmate to get beaten up. After Meng Fanxing sat down, he gave her a grateful look, and Yun Ya understood and smiled.

On the blackboard, Pan Guojiao wrote another question and asked the students to answer it.

It just so happens that the person they asked for help was Sun Fei, but she didn't know either. Yun Ya was too far away from her seat to tell her, so she could only worry helplessly.

Sun Fei looked distressed and stammered, unable to give an answer. Under the table, she secretly kicked her deskmate, hoping to get the answer from her.

His deskmate had always been a top student, and Sun Fei was sure he knew the answer to this question. But when she kicked him, Fu Jingchao didn't react at all.

Sun Fei was so anxious she was almost in tears, but Fu Jingchao remained motionless as if he were asleep.

Sun Fei was afraid he didn't realize she needed help, so she kicked him again, but he still didn't react.

Sun Fei felt that he did it on purpose; it must be like that.

Pan Guo waited for a minute, but Sun Fei didn't give an answer. He yelled with a dark face, "You stand there, stand to the side, don't block the students behind you."

Sun Fei stood obediently in the aisle beside the table, her head bowed. Tears streamed down her face.

Only then did Fu Jingchao make a move, slowly looking at Sun Fei. What met his gaze were Sun Fei's red eyes, large tears falling like pearls onto her clothes, the ground, and into his heart.

A pang of sadness welled up inside him, and he didn't know why he felt this way. Fu Jingchao glanced at Sun Fei again, feeling guilty and not daring to look her in the eye.

He regretted it; perhaps he should have helped her. Isn't it said that classmates should help each other?

In that instant, he thought of many things, but he had to admit that Sun Fei was pouting, her face flushed, like a wounded little rabbit, her red eyes were so cute.

Just then, the bell rang, and Pan Guojiao left his homework and walked out of the classroom.

When Sun Fei saw the teacher leave, she felt like a balloon that had been released, suddenly losing all her strength and deflated.

She slumped in her seat, her two red eyes glaring fiercely at Fu Jingchao.

Fu Jingchao scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Sun...Fei..., you...you don't glare at me, I, I don't know the answer to that question either."

Sun Fei cried and said, "You're just lying to me! You liar, you definitely will. You just don't want to help me, you want me to get punished."

Fu Jingchao didn't understand why this had become her fault. It clearly had nothing to do with her; the teacher asked her the question, she didn't know the answer, so what did it have to do with her?

He thought girls were really difficult to deal with, and decided to talk to her less in the future.

At this moment, Yun Ya came over, pulled Fu Jingchao aside, and said, "Get out of the way, let me comfort Feifei."

Fu Jingchao wanted to argue with her, since this was clearly his seat, but Sun Yunya had squeezed in like a robber and pulled him aside.

But thinking of the girl's unreasonable and irrational behavior, he gave up, said nothing more, and got up to go to the side.