Let's Do Some Questions - Chapter 35

Song Man didn’t sleep well all night. In her dream, she spent the entire night fixing a door.

The door creaked back and forth, and she was struggling to fix it with a hammer and nails, utterly exhausted. That door kept blabbering about how “you don’t want to fix it.” Bullshit, she did. But until she woke up, the door remained unfixed.

Damn it.

Song Man scratched her head, got up, turned off her alarm, and yawned listlessly. There were slight dark circles under her eyes, and because she hadn’t slept enough, her steps were a bit unsteady, as if her soul had left her body.

Song Man went out and ran into Chu Fengqiu. She greeted her weakly, walked two steps forward, then suddenly turned back.

“Why did you sleep in today too?”

Chu Fengqiu also looked like she had just finished washing up. Usually, Chu Fengqiu would wake up earlier than her and had a very regular schedule, but it was rare for her to sleep in today.

“Yeah, I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Chu Fengqiu had a hint of fatigue on her face as she walked downstairs with Song Man.

After Lingnan left the group chat yesterday, she exchanged a few words with A Man and then exited the Question Bank app. Her phone automatically went back to the page she hadn’t closed, which was Ke Lingyu’s Moments.

In the photo, the girl’s smile still held a hint of pride, but she was much more reserved than before, looking like she was doing well.

Just as Lingnan herself said, there was no need to disturb her. So Chu Fengqiu exited that Moment, but accidentally liked it with a slip of her hand. She thought there was no need to unlike it and was about to put down her phone to sleep, but unexpectedly, Ke Lingyu sent her a message, teasing her, someone who never used Moments or posted updates, for secretly liking her post.

They started chatting about that, talking about the past and the present. Chu Fengqiu hesitated for a moment, but still sent the problem A Man had sent her to Ke Lingyu.

“Oh, what a coincidence, someone messaged me this problem on Weibo today. I’ll solve it for you.”

That’s how Ke Lingyu responded at the time. Chu Fengqiu thought that maybe the person who asked was Lingnan, and Ke Lingyu was completely unaware, probably thinking it was just a stranger.

After solving the problem, Ke Lingyu also asked with great confusion why Chu Fengqiu had only participated in a few city-level competitions in recent years and why she was wasting time on high school courses.

Chu Fengqiu and Ke Lingyu attended the same middle school. At that time, Ke Lingyu was in ninth grade and Chu Fengqiu was in seventh grade. They participated in competitions together in the youth group and attended the same summer camp. Ke Lingyu was quite caring towards this junior who was two years younger than her and also highly valued her talent. She felt that Chu Fengqiu could have skipped grades or been recommended for university long ago and then immersed herself in the field of academia.

After all, participating in competitions didn’t consume spiritual energy, but it definitely consumed brain cells. So Ke Lingyu felt that those with extra capacity could try more, like Chu Fengqiu. Sometimes, facing more difficult problems and more formidable teammates could push one’s limits. But who knew Chu Fengqiu had been so low-key all this time.

Chu Fengqiu simply replied with ‘I want to take things step by step.’ They chatted a bit more before saying goodnight.

Chu Fengqiu hadn’t thought too much about this matter; she had no intention of interfering in others’ affairs. But she couldn’t shake off the heavy dreams. When she woke up, everything in the dream was shrouded in mist, and she just felt a bit tired, which caused her to wake up late.

As Song Man sat eating breakfast, she heard Chu Fengqiu ask about her plans for the holiday. Song Man realized with a start that the monthly holiday was coming after the monthly exam.

Qingcheng No. 1 High had one day off every Saturday and three days off every month. The third day after the monthly exam was the monthly holiday.

“Haven’t thought about it yet… You look forward to holidays too?”

Song Man had thought Chu Fengqiu only cared about studying hard. Now that she thought about it, loving to study and wanting a holiday weren’t mutually exclusive. It was just that Chu Fengqiu bringing up the topic surprised her, because she was always the one asking Chu Fengqiu if she wanted to go somewhere fun.

“We can relax a bit.”

Chu Fengqiu nodded, taking the initiative.

She knew Song Man considered her a friend, so she also had to show something to Song Man. Relationships needed give and take to last.

Moreover, she knew Song Man was the kind of girl who would repay kindness tenfold. She wanted to get closer to Song Man, to understand Song Man’s world, or let Song Man understand her more, so that Song Man wouldn’t be at a loss for words when talking about her.

“Let me see if I have any plans then. Anyway, I’ll definitely take you with me if I go out to play.”

Song Man thought for a moment. She didn’t seem to have anything major she absolutely had to do. They could plan and discuss where to go then.

Chu Fengqiu nodded. She hadn’t planned yet either. If Song Man had free time, she could plan to take Song Man to her hometown for a few days to escape the summer heat.

The monthly holiday arrived quickly. On the noon of the holiday, one group had to stay behind for a big clean-up, and it happened to be Chu Fengqiu’s group.

Everyone put their chairs on top of their desks before leaving. The sound of chairs and desks bumping lasted for a while before quieting down.

Before they quieted down, Chu Fengqiu’s group had already started cleaning.

There were six people in their group: besides Song Man, Dong Xue, and Chu Fengqiu herself, there were three boys.

Two of the boys were responsible for emptying the trash cans. Chu Fengqiu assigned herself, Dong Xue, and the remaining boy to sweep and mop the floor, giving Song Man the easiest task of wiping the blackboard and podium.

It was Song Man’s first time doing a big clean-up. She had attended private schools since she was little, paying so much tuition that the school wouldn’t possibly let a bunch of young masters and ladies clean with brooms and mops. There were dedicated staff for that. Song Man only learned after coming to Qingcheng No. 1 High that students were responsible for the school’s hygiene, not only their own classroom but sometimes even the teachers’ offices.

Song Man naturally didn’t lift a finger, because just a few days after arriving, she had started righting wrongs, took down the previous school bully, and began recruiting followers. For cleaning tasks, plenty of people would rush to do it; there was no way she would have to do it herself.

Song Man first used the eraser to wipe the writing off the blackboard, then took a rag and went out.

As soon as she stepped out, she saw Deng Wei waiting there for her. Deng Wei looked like he’d seen a ghost, and with extreme panic, he took, or rather, snatched the rag from Song Man’s hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Man Jie, how could I let you do this kind of thing? I’ll do it, I’ll do it. I love labor, labor makes me glorious and happy.”

Deng Wei said this as he ran towards the restroom, afraid Song Man would snatch the rag back.

Song Man turned back and shrugged at Chu Fengqiu. Deng Wei wanted to do it himself; it wasn’t her being lazy.

While Deng Wei went to wash the rag, Song Man leaned against the podium watching Chu Fengqiu work.

Chu Fengqiu’s expression while cleaning was no different from when she was solving problems; it was always the same. When she wasn’t smiling, she actually looked quite aloof, as if her face was plastered with ‘Don’t talk to me.’

Footsteps approached. Song Man thought Deng Wei was back and looked up, only to find a middle-aged man she hadn’t seen before standing there.

The man wore glasses and looked refined and scholarly. Song Man thought he was a teacher and was about to speak when she heard him call Chu Fengqiu’s name.

Chu Fengqiu looked up at the sound, stopping her movements.

“Why are you here?”

“A few old friends of Dad’s are coming over for lunch today, so I wanted to pick you up to eat together.”

It dawned on Song Man. So this was Chu Fengqiu’s dad, the friend of her dad that her dad had mentioned many times but she had never met, and the source of that ‘mountain-like fatherly love,’ the devil who sent Chu Fengqiu countless practice books.

“Ah, are you Uncle Chu? Hello, Uncle. I’m Song Man.”

Song Man straightened up, patted the dust off herself, walked up to Uncle Chu, and greeted him politely.

“Ah, you must be Lao Xu’s daughter. He’s mentioned you many times. You look like a sensible and lovely child. Are you getting along well with our Fengqiu?”

“Very well, very well.”

Song Man nodded repeatedly.

“Wait for me, I’ll be done with this in a moment.”

Chu Fengqiu didn’t show excessive joy on her face because of her father’s arrival and still intended to finish what she was doing.

“Uncle is already here, you don’t need to do it anymore. Leave this to me, I’ll do it. You go ahead.”

Song Man took the broom from Chu Fengqiu’s hand and told Chu Fengqiu to go get her things.

Chu Fengqiu hesitated for a moment, was urged by Song Man to get her things, and walked to the doorway with her backpack.

“Fengqiu, let’s go.”

Chu Zhicheng waved at Chu Fengqiu and also waved goodbye to Song Man.

“Goodbye, Uncle.”

Song Man waved goodbye and made a gesture for contacting by phone to Chu Fengqiu, who turned back. Chu Fengqiu nodded and disappeared at the doorway.

Just as Song Man was about to take the broom to sweep, Deng Wei came in with the rag.

“Why did Chu Jie leave already?”

Deng Wei only managed to see Chu Fengqiu’s back, so he thought Chu Fengqiu had left first and found it a bit strange, because according to their usual routine, Chu Fengqiu and Song Man should come and go together.

“She had something to do.”

“Oh, oh… Wait! Man Jie, let me do it.”

Deng Wei saw Song Man about to sweep, put the rag on the desk, and lunged forward to snatch the broom from Song Man’s hand.

“Man Jie, you just sit there. No, you go ahead. I’ll finish it for you.”

“Why are you so diligent?”

Song Man ignored the dumbfounded expressions of the other students in the class and looked at Deng Wei strangely.

“Of course! I’ve always been very diligent.”

Deng Wei swept the trash out and answered Song Man with a grin, not bothered that the person standing by the trash can wasn’t from their class. He scooped up the trash and dumped it into the trash can, then grabbed the wet mop nearby and started mopping.

Song Man crossed her arms and sized up Deng Wei.

It was true that Deng Wei was usually quite quick with his hands and feet, but he wasn’t this eager. Something was fishy when things were unusual.

“Spill whatever you’re scheming quickly. If I leave later, you won’t have a chance.”

“Man Jie, lend me your motorcycle for a day… no… half a day, okay?”

Deng Wei immediately spoke, his eyes sparkling and his face full of pleading.

“Any of the three is fine, Man Jie, save the child.”

“What do you need the bike for?”

Song Man looked suspicious.

“To show off. I absolutely won’t carry passengers or lend it to someone else. If I do that, you won’t even need to say anything, I’ll immediately get lost.”

Deng Wei patted his chest to guarantee.

“Brothers are like limbs, wives are like clothes. Could I let my brother ride my wife? Impossible, wake up.”

Song Man said slowly.

“Then Chu Jie…”

“Your Chu Jie is your Chu Jie. Can you compare? Don’t you have any sense?”