Chapter 213

Chapter 213 – I Am Not Cutting Corners!

After clicking on the list of participants, everyone gradually boarded the bus to prepare for departure.

As soon as Mei Fang got on the bus, all the seated boys looked at him and laughed, “Mei Fang, your gloves are so stylish!”

Mei Fang didn’t respond. Amidst the laughter, he calmly sat next to his deskmate Xiang Bingbing.

Xiang Bingbing enthusiastically helped Mei Fang take off his guitar and held it in her arms, feeling its weight.

“Wow, it’s much lighter than I thought…”

Mei Fang slightly frowned, “Didn’t you play with this guitar before? During the New Year’s Eve party and the Autumn Festival.”

“That was last year, I’ve long forgotten about it.”

Xiang Bingbing happily hugged Mei Fang’s guitar, “Can I open it and play a bit?”

“Do you want to play it? There’s not much room here.”

“Not playing, I just want to touch it more.”

Mei Fang put his backpack in the luggage rack, then watched as Xiang Bingbing opened the bag, took out his guitar, gently stroked the guitar’s face, pressed her cheek against the neck, and nuzzled it.

Mei Fang felt a bit awkward watching her interact with his guitar from his seat, and couldn’t help but comment:

“There’s nothing worth nuzzling about a guitar, and you look like you have quite a story.”

Xiang Bingbing smiled slightly, “Did I not tell you? The Shennongjia area where I come from is relatively poor. Often, teachers from Jiangcheng come to teach there. When I was in elementary school, a music teacher came to our class. He had a guitar just like yours.”

“He would play for us during breaks when he taught us songs in class. We would sit around him, and he would play in the middle. That teacher was very kind to me. He always praised my voice, encouraged me to study hard, and said I could become a big star in the city when I grew up!”

“But you didn’t end up pursuing music, did you…”

“Yes, after all, learning music costs a lot. My family has many younger siblings who need schooling, plus I later fell in love with basketball. To be honest, my basketball skills were top-notch in Shennongjia, and I was able to get into Jiangcheng No. 1 High School thanks to sports scholarships.”

Xiang Bingbing thought for a moment, “Hmm… Minority students also get extra points.”

“You’re from a minority group?”

Xiang Bingbing showed a puzzled expression, “I haven’t told you yet? I’m from the Miao tribe.”

“Oh? You’re so close to Enshi, I thought you were from the Tujia tribe.”

“That area has more Tujia people, but there are also plenty of Miao people. Actually, I don’t like talking about this. It feels like I’m cutting corners, and I struggle to keep up with everyone else, so I have to work harder not to fall behind…”

Usually, Mei Fang treated her like a cute girl and didn’t chat much with her, but now that they were chatting, he realized she was genuinely interested in music.

“If you love music so much, it’s not too late to start learning. Our Xia Yuan is forming a band, and I think you’d be great as a drummer.”

“Oh, really?”

Xiang Bingbing was genuinely excited by what Mei Fang said, but then she became dejected. She nuzzled the guitar, “But I still want to play the guitar. Playing the guitar is cool; you can stand in the center. Drumming seems like a background role. In that case, it might be better for me to stay in the basketball team.”

“Well, that makes sense…”

Although it wasn’t exactly polite to say such things about drummers, standing in the center or being the lead singer was usually reserved for guitarists or bassists.

A drummer playing and singing at the same time? Haha, that would be pretty funny.

Young Xiang Bingbing had a heart for the center stage.

Everyone left early in the morning, and although they were noisy for only twenty minutes, most of them fell asleep.

Mei Fang checked his phone and saw that Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi hadn’t messaged him. He closed his eyes to rest, but soon woke up when his guitar hit him—Xiang Bingbing had fallen asleep, her head tilted towards him, drooling onto his shoulder.

Mei Fang silently put away his guitar and pushed Xiang Bingbing to the other side of the seat before she could lean over him.

Around half past eight, the bus arrived at the entrance parking lot of Mutianlanchi. After nearly three hours of travel, everyone looked exhausted.

Mei Fang came out of the restroom and bumped into Lin You Xi washing her hands at the door.

“How was the ride? Did you feel carsick?”

Lin You Xi shook her head, “Xia Yuan brought motion sickness medicine this time, so it was fine.”

“Oh, that’s good. She’s always so thoughtful…”

Just as Mei Fang was complaining, Lin You Xi suddenly moved towards him, almost like an embrace, which startled him—

It turned out she was reaching for the rabbit glove in his pocket.

Even though it was a friendly gesture, it drew the attention of many passing students.

“I’ll help Xia Yuan get back her glove.”

“Oh, right, you can give it to her.”

Lin You Xi put the glove on and sniffed it, “Come to think of it… did you do anything weird to the glove?”

“What are you saying! This is on the bus.”

“So you would do something if we weren’t on the bus?”

Mei Fang gave Lin You Xi an exasperated look, and she stuck out her tongue and smiled at him.

She rarely acted cute, and this playful gesture, with a hint of flirtation, made Mei Fang’s heart race.

Just as Mei Fang finished interacting with Lin You Xi, he looked up and saw Liu Xiaoyu, who was behind him, looking directly at him. She looked around shyly, and behind her, Xia Yuan came out of the restroom and patted her shoulder. Xia Yuan then looked up and saw Mei Fang.

Seeing her childhood friend suddenly appear, Xia Yuan instinctively wanted to rush over for a hug but stopped herself and returned to Lin You Xi.

“A-A Fang, you’re here too!”

Xia Yuan awkwardly waved at Mei Fang while hugging Lin You Xi, and Lin You Xi reached out to grab Xia Yuan’s hand, “A Fang returned the glove. Now it’s in my hand.”

“Oh, I see.”

Xia Yuan put the glove back on, “Did you rest well on the bus?”

“Yeah, it was okay.”

Mei Fang smiled at Xia Yuan, “The gloves someone gave me are very warm.”

“Haha, that’s good. Let’s go gather now. Don’t complain when we climb the mountain later.”

“I won’t.”

After Mei Fang greeted Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi, Liu Xiaoyu glanced at him with a complicated look. Without giving him a chance to speak, she followed Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi back to Class 5.

…

This meaningful glance made Mei Fang feel uncomfortable. It seemed unlucky that he kept bumping into Liu Xiaoyu.

Did she see the interaction between him and You Xi?

If so, wouldn’t I be seen as a two-timing jerk?

But Mei Fang had something to say. He felt wronged.

Such interactions don’t count as two-timing!

There were no secret training sessions or anything further.

This was just everyday behavior between childhood friends, and Liu Xiaoyu didn’t have any childhood friends, so she probably wouldn’t understand.

Since she didn’t, why should I act ashamed?

That would make her think I’m guilty and ruin my good image.

Yes!

I need to show Liu Xiaoyu that my interaction with Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi today was not sneaky but straightforward, to avoid affecting her mood…

Mei Fang planned to show off during the team-building activities organized by both classes.

Originally, there were two more chapters today, but since it’s the weekend, I really want to play games with my buddies. Ugh… I’ll go play for an hour first, please. I’ll return later to write, thank you all for loving me.

(End of Chapter 213)