Li Li bumped into Mao Xiaomei and then gave her a meaningful glance.
Mao Xiaomei almost choked on the biscuit in her mouth.
Did she say something wrong? But no, she had carefully thought about each word she had just said, and they were all correct, none of them were wrong.
She was about to speak again when Li Li pinched her thigh hard, causing Mao Xiaomei to grimace in pain.
"You guys eat, I’m going to the playground for a bit," Qin Xiangnuan could tell that Li Li was feeling uneasy and unnatural at that moment. She took a book; there were still dozens of minutes left before class, and she had arrived early today—perfect for going to the playground to read, and she also wanted to calm down from the layers of resentment stirred up by Mao Xiaomei’s words.
"Why did you pinch me just now?" Mao Xiaomei rubbed her arm.
Was that so fierce because she wanted to pinch off a piece of her flesh?
Calling you dumb doesn’t even do you justice," Li Li shot Mao Xiaomei a sharp look, "Don’t you know?"
"Know what?" Mao Xiaomei pouted, still in pain.
Li Li pulled Mao Xiaomei closer and lowered her voice, "Xiang Nuan doesn’t have a mother, her mother was gone when she was very little. Otherwise, why do you think she’s studying alone in Capital City and even has to sell biscuits to support herself?"
"Ah!" Mao Xiaomei quickly covered her own mouth.
"Yes," Li Li nodded emphatically.
"But how is that possible?" Mao Xiaomei couldn’t believe it, "She doesn’t look like someone without parents at all, living more carefreely than us, and her grades are so good."
"It’s true," Li Li’s voice lowered again, "I heard it from others. When she enrolled, her parent’s information was blank. The teacher even asked her why she didn’t write anything, and she said she didn’t have parents—isn’t that the same as being an orphan?"
Mao Xiaomei was shocked, patting her chest, feeling quite uncomfortable.
So, although our two families aren’t well-off, at least we haven’t suffered much, having food and clothing, but her...
Yes, Li Li sighed as well.
At this point, the two felt a sense of camaraderie and really started to see Qin Xiangnuan as a little cabbage that had endured all hardship.
In reality, Qin Xiangnuan has always been a lonely little cabbage, more pitiable than a little cabbage frosted by the cold.
When Qin Xiangnuan came back from outside, she felt that Li Li and Mao Xiaomei were looking at her strangely, with eyes full of sympathy and pity, staring straight at her chest. She looked down at her chest; her clothes were quite loose, and it didn’t seem obvious whether she had a chest or not.
Are these two not mocking her flat chest?
No, she was still developing.
She gave them a bored half-smile, now it’s not about who has a bigger chest, but who has better grades.
When she returned home in the afternoon, after doing some homework, Teacher Wang arrived. As usual, he brought some test papers for Qin Xiangnuan to do.
Then he practiced speaking English with Qin Xiangnuan. The two of them could now communicate without any issue, and as long as it wasn’t about complicated grammar, Qin Xiangnuan could manage to speak decently. However, this sort of ’dumb’ English was something they couldn’t overcome, as even the school teachers taught ’deaf and mute’ English. So, Teacher Wang’s method of teaching was quite appealing to Qin Xiangnuan.
He wouldn’t just insist on memorization and recitation; grammar was what he taught first, and he emphasized spoken language. Teacher Wang’s spoken English was excellent; it had a very authentic upper-class English flair. If another twenty years passed, he believed that people like him would certainly become valuable talents. It’s just that at present, he seems to be struggling with his livelihood.