Chapter 18 - TMCTM Chapter 18
Tao Xi was in a trance and excitement for the weekend that he didn’t even feel jealous of Yang Duole.
Even if Yang Duole occupied the position that should belong to him, he would prove that even if he had nothing, he would be better than Yang Duole.
He wanted to keep the moon to his own, what were the other stars around the moon?
Tao Xi went to take a closer look. Now you could buy a good smartphone for a thousand yuan, but he had to leave most of his monthly living expenses for Tao Le to see a doctor and buy medicine, so he had to make some extra money.
He pondered for a whole night, but he hadn’t yet figured out how to make money for the time being.
On Monday, Tao Xi came to the classroom early as usual. He used to look forward to see Lin Qinhe every morning, but today was suddenly different.
He wanted to see Lin Qinhe more, but at the same time he didn’t dare to see him, as if he was afraid that his mind would be seen.
Tao Xi stared at Lin Qinhe’s empty seat for a while, and then picked up his water bottle to fetch water in the drinking room. When he passed the podium after fetching the water, Huang Qing, who was trying to write on the blackboard with a chalk, stopped him.
Huang Qing looked up and stared at Tao Xi’s height stupidly before asking: “Can you help me write this sentence on the blackboard?”
Huang Qing was a study committee member of Class 1. Zhou Qiang suddenly wanted her to write an aphorism on the edge of the blackboard every Monday to encourage learning. She was not tall so she was going to get a stool but when she saw Tao Xi passing by, she decided to ask him for help.
Tao Xi was startled, and the first reaction was his own self-review he wrote to Lin Qinhe.
But he also thought that Huang Qing was a good and upright person. He had spoken to her once and she only focused on her study and would not have other thoughts like Jiang Xinyun. Besides, this writing would be finished quickly.
Tao Xi nodded to Huang Qing and said, “Okay.”
He took the paper Huang Qing handed him. On it was Zhou Qiang’s carefully selected aphorisms. Taking out a white chalk from the chalk box, he walked to the right side of the blackboard before tip-toeing slightly, raising his hand and start writing on the blackboard.
As soon as he wrote the first stroke, he noticed someone coming in at the door. He turned his head while writing, and it turned out that it was Lin Qinhe who walked in against the sky light outside the door, with long and straight legs.
At that moment Tao Xi seemed to hear his violent heartbeat, and the world in front of him was covered with a gleaming silver light. He watched Lin Qinhe walked towards the podium in a daze, and suddenly remembered Qiao Yitang telling him that when he saw someone he liked every morning, he should smile and say good morning to him.
He was just about to smile and say good morning to Lin Qinhe when his right hand holding the chalk was suddenly wrapped in a hand, and then the hand took the chalk from his fingers. A deep voice asked him at a very close distance in his ears:
“Write what?”
Tao Xi’s eyelashes trembled, still a little dumbfounded. He only felt that Lin Qinhe was too close to him. Standing tightly behind him, he could even feel Lin Qinhe’s breath behind his right ear.
Huang Qing just wanted to reply from the side when Lin Qinhe shot her a cold look. Sensitively aware of Lin Qinhe’s hostility towards herself, she subconsciously shut up.
Tao Xi reacted afterwards, his mind was confused and he forgot what he was about to write just now. He looked down in a hurry, but Lin Qinhe had already raised his left hand and took the paper in his hand from his side, as if he was half hugging him.
Lin Qinhe started to write on the blackboard according to the content on the paper. Tao Xi stood still without daring to move. He squeezed the right hand that was wrapped by Lin Qinhe just now, even his breathing was very light.
He turned his face slightly and saw Lin Qinhe’s tall nose, outlined by the morning light outside the door with a pale golden halo, like a snowy peak at sunrise.
It turned out that Lin Qinhe was so much taller than him, so tall that if he wanted to kiss Lin Qinhe, he had to tiptoe, so tall that he had the illusion of being surrounded by Lin Qinhe.
This illusion made his ears become hotter and hotter, and his heartbeat was uncontrollable, so he could only force himself to read the words written by Lin Qinhe.
The first saying Zhou Qiang gave was: “Work is improved with diligence, wasted when playing; action is formed by thinking, and destroyed by conformity.1业精于勤荒于嬉,行成于思毁于随. A saying that means your work will be improved by hardworking but ruined by wasting too much time in having fun, success comes from thinking and is destroyed by conformity (cr: hinative). I don’t translate it literally“
There were only 14 characters, but Tao Xi felt that Lin Qinhe had been writing for a long time, and at the same time it felt like he wrote it quickly.
After Lin Qinhe finished writing, he put down his hand and did not respond to Huang Qing’s thanks. When he threw the chalk and started walking directly to the last row, Tao Xi finally recovered and quickly followed Lin Qinhe.
He was very happy in his heart, his eyes were shining, but his mouth was about to ask: “I know how to write, why you are doing it for me?”
Lin Qinhe had already walked to his seat and sat down. He threw the empty water bottle on Tao Xi’s table, saying, “It’s hard for you to stand on tiptoe.”
Tao Xi was stunned, and suddenly felt angry.
Picking up Lin Qinhe’s water bottle, he opened his eyes and looked at Lin Qinhe angrily: “I will grow taller!”
In fact, he was not short at all, it was Lin Qinhe who was too tall.
“Really?” Lin Qinhe spoke casually.
“Of course!”
Tao Xi turned around to fetch water, feeling that today’s Lin Qinhe was inexplicably childish.
It also made his heart beat and him to blush.
When he came back after fetching water, he found that there was something on the table.
Tao Xi looked down at the documents on the table. The huge title read:
The newly revised school rules and disciplines of Wenhua No. 1 High School.
He looked at Lin Qinhe blankly and asked, “You give it to me?”
Lin Qinhe said lightly: “As a new student, you should take a good look.”
Tao Xi wondered if he had violated the school rules? He began to look down nervously.
Ten minutes later, he looked at Lin Qinhe and said, “I’m finished.”
“What’s the point?” Lin Qinhe asked.
Tao Xi didn’t expect that he still needed to focus on the school rules key points. He tentatively said, “No fighting, no smoking, no drinking? Don’t worry, I won’t do this.”
In fact, he felt a little guilty because he had just threatened Xu Ziqi with violence.
As a result, Lin Qinhe frowned and replied coldly: “No.”
Tao Xi tilted his head for a moment, then said, “No perm, no dye, no tattoo? I don’t have the money to do this.”
Lin Qinhe seemed to have run out of patience, so he took the school rulebook, drew a circle with a pen, and put it on Tao Xi’s desk.
Tao Xi looked down, the eighth article was circled.
The eighth article was: Do not fall in love early
Tao Xi’s heart stopped beating suddenly. He thought almost instantly, could it be that Lin Qinhe had noticed his thoughts? But he obviously only saw Lin Qinhe today.
He looked at Lin Qinhe and talked back to cover up his guilty conscience: “But isn’t the principal’s daughter also in early love?” Afraid that Lin Qinhe would not know her, he added, “It’s Qiao xue jie from the third grade, the president of our art club.”
Qiao Yitang had ten boyfriends, but Tao Xi only wanted to have one boyfriend.
Lin Qinhe who was obviously angry because of him talking back raised his eyebrows and asked, “She is the principal’s daughter, how about you?”
Well, he was nothing.
Tao Xi didn’t expect Lin Qinhe to tell him not to fall in love on the first day when he decided to pursue Lin Qinhe.
Really lived in Waterloo2Waterloo is used as a metaphor for tragic failure.
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Tao Xi was more puzzled than sad. He paused and asked: “Why do you suddenly emphasize this to me?”
Lin Qinhe was silent before replying: “You only rank 138th in the first-semester exam. According to this score, you can only enter Class 3. You’re the fifth lowest in the English quiz, you missed the last question of multiple choice question and two big questions in the math practice papers, and you missed several questions that shouldn’t be wrong in the comprehensive test. Even if you get the highest score in the Chinese test, you can’t score in other subjects.”
Tao Xi was completely stunned.
It was the first time that he heard Lin Qinhe say so much in one breath.
He looked at Lin Qinhe and asked in astonishment: “How do you know so clearly?”
Lin Qinhe averted his gaze, and said flatly: “That was what the head teacher said.”
Tao Xi knew it. Zhou Qiang probably was anxious about his grades, worried that he would fall in love at the new school, so he nagged Lin Qinhe to supervise his studies. Lin Qinhe must have been annoyed hearing that before finally telling him.
He nodded obediently: “I know, I will study hard and I will never fall in love early.”
The displeasure on Lin Qinhe’s face disappeared a little. He hummed, put on the headphones and went to read.
Tao Xi thought, “That’s strange.”
He suddenly felt that Lin Qinhe was like his parent.
And he was a teenager in a rebellious period.
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The author has something to say:
Xiaolin shot himself in the foot
1业精于勤荒于嬉,行成于思毁于随. A saying that means your work will be improved by hardworking but ruined by wasting too much time in having fun, success comes from thinking and is destroyed by conformity (cr: hinative). I don’t translate it literally2Waterloo is used as a metaphor for tragic failure