Summer Green Apples

The path leading out of the teaching building after evening self-study is probably the most relaxing moment of the day for high school students.

The nights at the end of October were cool and chilly, filled with the fragrance of unknown flowers, and bustling with the sounds of people.

"No, brother, I'm serious. Why don't you go to the hospital for a checkup? There's something wrong with your brain." Xu Jiyang took a deep breath, looking pained. "Other people's relationships get better and better over time. Take Cui Kai, for example. He's become very clean now. Last time we went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, he even had to scald the bowls and chopsticks. How come you're getting more and more brain-dead?"

Chi Sui remained silent and began to pretend to be deaf.

He walked forward chewing bubble gum, blowing a big bubble with an indifferent expression.

Li Junyu hooked her arm around his neck and said with a smile, "That's because Sui Sui hasn't started dating yet, and she's been in a one-sided crush, so she doesn't feel secure."

Chi Sui: "…………"

"Oh, oh, I see." Xu Jiyang laughed like he was going crazy. "That makes perfect sense, hahahahahaha."

"You two idiots, don't ask me to play games with you tonight." Chi Sui slapped Li Junyu's hand away.

The three of them left the school.

The entire street outside was filled with food stalls, with grilled cold noodles, fried chicken strips, kebabs, turkey noodles, rice noodle rolls, and all kinds of snacks all mixed together, filling the air with tempting aromas.

Xu Jiyang was so tempted that he went to queue up to buy grilled cold noodles.

Just as I arrived at the grilled cold noodles stall, a familiar girl approached me. "Xu Jiyang, did you ask her yet?"

Chi then raised his eyes to take a look.

Meng Leran was wearing a black dress and had her hair in a high bun. She was accompanied by two girlfriends.

Just as Xu Jiyang was about to speak, Chi Sui's cold voice came from the side, "She doesn't agree to add you as a friend, give up."

Xu Jiyang: "..."

Meng Leran glanced at Chi Sui.

This person was probably feeling cold, as they were wearing a school uniform jacket over their light blue class uniform bottoms.

The colors were mismatched, he carried a backpack on one shoulder, and looked at her with a blank expression.

It was as if she were a robber trying to steal his things.

"Tch, fine, don't add it then." She pouted. "Why are you being so fierce?"

After saying that, Meng Leran left with her girlfriends.

"You scheming man," Xu Jiyang cursed. "The girl's sister clearly said yes."

Chi Sui was still holding a bottle of mineral water. He tapped Xu Jiyang's shoulder with the bottle cap and said, "Shut your mouth, understand?"

"understood."

Xu Jiyang followed with a snort.

-

On the evening of the last day of the sports meet, our homeroom teacher, Lao Mao, came to rearrange the seats.

During the first evening self-study session, everyone lined up in the corridor according to their scores from the last monthly exam, and then went in one by one to choose their own seats.

The corridor was noisy while we were queuing.

Chi poked her in the waist from behind, "Don't forget, you agreed to be my deskmate, you know?"

"Okay, okay." Ji Xiwen turned her head and whispered, "Don't poke my waist."

"Children don't have waists," Chi Sui said, but lowered his hand.

He was very tall with broad shoulders, and when he lazily crossed his arms, he could completely block Ji Xiwen from view.

Anyway, Jian Xing, who came in third place, was standing right behind Chi Sui and didn't even glance at Ji Xiwen.

While waiting in line, Jian Xing held a vocabulary notebook in her hand and silently recited words.

Li Junyu ranked fourth.

He stood there listlessly with his hands in his pockets.

During the first few seating arrangements, he was able to chat with Chi Sui from a distance.

Now that there's another person, someone like Chi Sui, who's typically obsessed with romance, probably doesn't even recognize him anymore.

"Li, Li Junyu."

A girl's weak voice came from behind.

Li Junyu turned around with his hands in his pockets. "What's wrong?"

Sui Yu pursed her lips. "Do you have a deskmate yet?"

In places like this where seating is freely chosen, people usually find a tablemate in advance to help reserve a seat.

"have."

He raised his hand and pushed up his glasses. The thin lenses were spotless. He had a high nose bridge and long, narrow eyes. "Xu Jiyang is your current deskmate."

Perhaps finding it a little funny, he gave a slight smile.

Sui Yu quickly replied, "Okay."

She pursed her lips after she finished speaking.

Li Junyu was very tall, and from his angle, he could see the girl's trembling eyelashes and tightly pursed lips.

She was nervous.

Li Junyu was silent for two seconds, then turned around.

After all that effort, the seats of the first and second-ranked students in the class remained unchanged.

However, Ji Xiwen's desk in front of him was changed to Xu Jiyang, and Chi Sui's desk in front of him was changed to Li Junyu.

Zhang Qingyan and Luo Wenjing were at the same table, separated from Ji Xiwen by an aisle.

After everyone had chosen their seats, the homeroom teacher, Lao Mao, stood on the podium and looked around for a moment. Finally, he sighed and said, "I'm really worried about the three of you sitting together."

Everyone followed his gaze and looked around.

Xu Jiyang asked in a low voice, "Brothers, is Old Cat talking about us?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Cat continued, "The three of you are all quite respectable when you're alone, each one like a good student. But when you get together, you're all in cahoots, a den of snakes and rats, and you'll do all sorts of bad things."

Xu Jiyang: "Alright, you mean ours."

Li Junyu sighed, "Purely filthy."

Ji Xiwen was overjoyed but managed to suppress her laughter.

Chi Sui lazily lay on the table. "Let me correct you, it's you two who are bad, I'm completely innocent."

"You hypocrite." Xu Jiyang cursed, then turned to Lao Mao and said, "Don't worry, Lao Ban, Li Junyu and I have broken off all ties with Chi Sui. You don't need to worry about us anymore."

Loud laughter erupted in the classroom.

After returning to the dormitory and washing up, Ji Xiwen finally understood why Lao Mao said that, thanks to Luo Wenjing's explanation.

These three were in the same class in their first year of high school.

At that time, Li Junyu was the class monitor. One semester, the homeroom teacher went away for training and wouldn't be back for two weeks, so the important task of supervising discipline and checking attendance during evening self-study was handed over to Li Junyu.

With him around, Chi Sui and Xu Jiyang lived a very happy life.

One evening, the head of the teaching department, Lao Gou, went to an internet cafe outside the school to check on students.

Chi Sui and Xu Jiyang were comfortably eating instant noodles and playing games.

When he was caught, Xu Jiyang thought he was dreaming.

The flag-raising ceremony is held on Monday morning of the second week.

The three were brought to the podium and made to read their self-criticisms aloud in front of everyone.

From then on, Li Junyu's tenure as class monitor came to an end.

I still have nothing to do with the class officer election.

These three were quite famous in the grade office before, and the first-year homeroom teacher talked about them every day.

I thought we'd be separated in our second year of high school, but all three of us chose humanities and all achieved excellent grades.

Ji Xiwen laughed as she said, "Actually, this is pretty good."

"It's really good." Luo Wenjing propped her chin on her hand. "I heard they've known each other since they were wearing diapers. I also have a childhood friend like that, but we lost contact when we went to junior high."

Zhang Qingyan texted her boyfriend, "It's okay. Even though the three of us have only just met, if we keep in touch, we'll still be the envy of others ten years from now."

"That makes sense," Ji Xiwen agreed.

Luo Wenjing adjusted her posture. "What majors are you interested in applying for?"

Zhang Qingyan thought for a moment, "Not yet, let's take it one step at a time."

"Hehe," Ji Xiwen said, "I want to study law."

"Want to be a lawyer?" Luo Wenjing asked.

She imagined it in her mind, and was even a little afraid to think about it.

"No, I want to be a judge." Ji Xiwen thought for a moment, "I watched TV dramas about it when I was little, and I thought it was kind of cool, hehe."