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Chapter 69: Adolescence
Yu Zhou Zhou wasnât arranged to sit in the last row as she had imagined. She was moved to the third row and her desk mate changed from Tan Li Na to a boy.
The boy was called Ma Yuan Ben. The allegory behind his name was very clear, it held his parentsâ great expectations and love â it was just that based on his current state, it seemed that this great expectation and love was only a three minute ardour from when they came up with his name.
The large pieces of dandruff on Ma Yuan Benâs shoulders and his sleeves that were already slick with oil made Yu Zhou Zhou somewhat start regretting her act of gratitude in Zhang Minâs office. Ma Yuan Benâs previous desk mate was a frail and squeamish girl. After he had spilled correction fluid on the ends of her ponytail, she had called her parents while crying. The fury and anger of the two parents nearly toppled the ceiling of Zhang Minâs office over.
Yu Zhou Zhouâs expression remained indifferent as she casually flipped through a comic book under her desk while keeping an eye on the seating changes around her. Ma Yuan Ben walked over from the second to last row of seats and angrily threw his schoolbag on the desk. He was pretty much the only one who expressed strong dissatisfaction to the seating change.
Yu Zhou Zhou actually felt a bit surprised but she didnât even lift her eyelids.
After the seating changes were completed, the English teacher walked in and started the class. Yu Zhou Zhou noticed that Ma Yuan Ben beside her kept frequently turning his head to look back as if suffering from lovesickness. He searched for those handsome boys in the back row and the pretty girls who giggled as they asked his mates to run errands for them. He even noticed their silly acts and he supported them through laughter with his eyes glowing.
No wonder those people always liked to make a lot of noise and claptrap all day long â in the corner of the third row, there was such a distant yet dedicated audience. She had never imagined that Ma Yuan Bo would have such a high sense of professional ethics since after all, in Yu Zhou Zhouâs heart, he was just Xu Zhi Qiangâs little follower or, in other words, a guy who was never aware that he was always being bullied. The sloppy Ma Yuan Ben would always hang out next to the delinquent boys and girls in Class 6, with Xu Zhi Qiang as the centre of the group. He would always foolishly help relieve their boredom through his strange accent which they would joke about, help them buy drinks, pass notes, be the scapegoat.
Or to say, they didnât dislike Ma Yuan Ben. While they praised his pure loyalty, they would pass him five dollars without any guilt and ask him to go downstairs to help them buy food.
Was being a clown addicting? She wasnât able to figure it out.
Yu Zhou Zhou was a popular, good student who sat in the first row but she never felt a strong sense of belonging to the class. If something fun happened in class, she might turn to take a look and smile for the sake of it or pout her lips in disdain before lowering her head back to read comics or do the exercises in her book.
The police silence and distant smile of a good student can be interpreted as arrogance or apathy depending on if the other felt admiration, envy or pity towards them. Yu Zhou Zhou didnât notice that her state when she was with her classmates was very similar to a certain someone.
Many years ago, she had stood in the corridor outside the stage of Childrenâs Palace and watched as the seniors in the orchestra crowded around Chen An who had an indifferent smile on his face.
She had once been so envious and had hoped that one day, she could become like the unreachable Chen An.
Time had changed her but she didnât even realise it.
In the current Yu Zhou Zhouâs eyes, Ma Yuan Benâs actions could only be described using eight words.
Mourn for the unfortunate, anger for the incompetence.
The only thing that made her somewhat worried was Xin Mei Xiang.
Xin Mei Xiang was transferred to the last row and her new desk mate was Xu Zhi Qiang.
At this moment, Xu Zhi Qiang had a depressed, poop-like expression on his face precisely because of the seating.
Xin Mei Xiang still had her head bowed deeply as if she couldnât hear Xu Zhi Qiang and the otherâs ridicule and disgust towards her.
Yu Zhou Zhou looked deeply at them with some worry on her face and unexpectedly met with the gaze of Wen Miao who was sitting behind her.
She was startled. Their faces were a little too close to the point where Yu Zhou Zhou could even count the number of high-spirited pimples on his forehead. A shade of red quickly rose from Wen Miaoâs neck to his earlobes and cheeks. He lowered his head and stared at the pictures of Lily and Lucy in his English textbook and whispered, âWhat are you looking at me for?…Why are you using that type of expression to look at me?â
Yu Zhou Zhou felt that he was being inexplicable. She rolled her eyes and turned back.
Unexpectedly, Wen Miao was still chattering behind her.
âWhat about me looks good?â
Yu Zhou Zhou turned around and smiled, âIndeed nothing about you looks good.â
Wen Miao couldnât endure the embarrassment, he whispered back, âWho says Iâm not good looking!?â
Yu Zhou Zhou turned her back to him and smiled like an evil little fox.
—
Winter quietly crept in.
Yu Zhou Zhou hurried back into the classroom after PE class and put her hands over the heater to bake. In the outdoor skating class, she only wore a black cashmere jacket and had forgotten to bring her gloves and scarf so she kept her neck and hands shrivelled and stood on the ice like she had a broken spine.
She suddenly thought of Grandpa Gu. She thought back to that winter morning when the two of them had stood side by side in front of the heater warming their hands. Yu Zhou Zhou discovered that she no longer had an astringent feeling inside but rather, a continuous warm feeling flowed through her. Grandpa Guâs face seemed to be shrouded in mist and couldnât be seen clearly. He only left behind a blurry smile.
Time blurs memories and smoothes scars, leaving behind a piece of beautiful smoothness.
What made Yu Zhou Zhou feel fortunate was that her grandmaâs condition kept growing for the better. Although she still had to eat a lot of medicine, she no longer needed to be on IV drips and could walk with effort with the support of someone.
Tan Li Na and a few other classmates squeexed over from the side. Yu Zhou Zhou glanced over at the pure white boots she had on over her tight fitting pants and smiled â this must be the birthday present she had argued with her parents for a long time over right?
The young and inexperienced elementary girl had quietly grown up to become a teenager. Even though it was winter, she could still hear the sound of the seeds sprouting in the ground. Was spring still far away?
When the girls discussed boys, they no longer pretended to be indifferent and not interested like back in elementary. They were also bold enough to paint their nails in a range of colours and after putting on a new dress, theyâd always have a face of expectation for others to notice, but at the same time, carry mixed feelings in fear that theyâd be called out for showing off.
On the other hand, many of the boys who sat in the back rows had started to use little mirrors to carefully spray hair gel on their hair and pop pimples. When they were called on by the teacher, theyâd be nervous but pretend to not care with their lips pursed tightly closed. But then, theyâd suddenly give some claptrap answerâŠ
Sometimes, Yu Zhou Zhou would tell her mum at the dinner table about how there were students in the class who argued with the teacher again, that there were boys and girls who secretly held hands again, that they were students who had skipped class againâŠ
Yu Zhou Zhou held up a piece of pumpkin with her chopsticks, âMum, everyoneâs changed, theyâve grown bolder.â
Her mum only smiled, âItâs only adolescence.â
–
The teacher for their health class sat in front of the podium reading a newspaper. Below, the students giggled and talked in whispers. The topic of the class was pubertal development. The secondary sexual characteristics of males and females that develop during puberty, physiological structure, mensturationâŠ
âIn this class⊠read the textbook by yourself.â This was the only thing the health teacher said after walking into the classroom.
Naturally, Yu Zhou Zhou and the other shy and obedient students didnât follow the teachers instructions to read the health textbook. With a slightly red face, she pretended not to be interested, flipped open the English exercise book and started to do multiple choice questions.
The boys and girls in the back row would burst into laughter from time to time. Xu Zhi Qiang held up his health textbook and read out something. The girl next to him kept blushing and hitting his shoulders giggling. Even Ma Yuan Ben looked over with a dumb smirk on his face. In the bashful yet happy âself-study environmentâ, only Xin Mei Xiang kept her head down as if she couldnât hear anything.
Yu Zhou Zhou still frowned and looked back. In the past half a year, Xin Mei Xiang became more and more reclusive and her grades were just as bad as ever. Every time Zhang Min received the results of the major exams or small monthly tests, she would only reprimand two people, one being Xin Mei Xiang and the other, Ma Yuan Ben.
Even though there were far more people with bad grades than just the two of them.
Yu Zhou Zhou sighed but from the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Wen Miao who was reading the contents of the textbook with relish. Inside, the diagram of the male physiological structure was drawn like an antâs next â of course, Yu Zhou Zhou absolutely refused to admit that back when they were given their textbooks at the start of school, she had already secrety read the chapters of the health textbook. Otherwise, how would she know that the picture was drawn too complicated to be comprehended?
âYouâŠâ Yu Zhou Zhou smirked.
Wen Miao raised his head in panic, his cheeks flushing red in an instant.
âThe teacher said⊠The teacher said to self studyâŠâ
Yu Zhou Zhou nodded, âYouâre able to study so hard for a small subject that doesnât even have a final exam. Wen Miao, youâre really a well-rounded teenager, not partial to subjects at all.â
Wen Miaoâs face began to turn blue.
âOf course I have to work hard. My role models are in front so I have to keep work hard to keep up â actually, itâs already too late if I start working hard now,â He smiled and tapped the large âMenstrual Precautionsâ text on the page with his plastic ruler, âOur role model Yu Er Er has always been preparing for lessons in advance!â
Yu Zhou Zhou who already had a guilty conscience was caught in the open. She stared at Wen Miao speechlessly for a long time and blinked her eyes again and again before spluttering, âI, I havenât looked!â
Wen Miao didnât speak, he only raised his eyebrows and smiled arrogantly. For the past six months, Wen Miao and Yu Zhou Zhou were in a state of bickering every three days and having a big argument every five days. Yu Zhou Zhou who appeared quiet and gentle was actually sharp and ruthless. He argued with her about the simplest way to do a maths problem to whether the songs âDark Dayâ or âKiteâ was better. He even used underhanded tactics like secretly tying her shoelaces to the table leg but every time, the one who last was always him. This time, through relying on the advantage of boys being inherently shamelessness, he was finally able to gain a round of victory.
While he was still being smug, he discovered that Yu Zhou Zhouâs gaze was already glued to his book. His ruler unfortunately was pointing to the two large words âwet dreamâ.
Yu Zhou Zhou looked down at the book then looked up at him then looked back down at the book then at him again.
Compared to girls who had nearly developed a âcommon routineâ with their periods, these two words were indeed more lethal. Wen Miaoâs neck turned still and was too embarrassed to speak. He could only pitifully look at Yu Zhou Zhou for mercy.
If one was shameless, anything was possible. Yu Zhou Zhou who had pulled the victory back, had a smile on her face. She turned her head back before lying down on her desk in relief. She felt that her cheeks and ears seemed to be burning and were terrifying hot.
Truly, neither side could win.
Tofubyu 