Chapter 44 Swimming

The essay incident had a great impact on Chen Yuan.

It made him realize that his decent writing skills hadn't been used for the right purpose.

If he wanted to write essays, he needed to improve.

So he studied essay writing with Xin Yu.

They both decided to pay more attention to current events and politics, or read weekly briefings, so that their essays would at least seem like they were "concerned about the country despite their humble positions."

Then came the second day.

The college entrance exams for integrated science/liberal arts and foreign languages.

The two of them ate the remaining half of the watermelon and wrote practice questions at home.

The Chinese and math test papers had already been released online, so they had plenty to do.

However…

The cicadas outside were chirping loudly.

Honestly, it was a little hard to calm down.

At this moment, a phone call came in.

Chen Yuan glanced at it and answered, "What's up? Little Tang."

Xia Xin Yu, who was next to him, smiled, thinking, 'Boys are so funny.'

It's been more than half a semester, and he's still using that nickname.

This is the friendship between boys.

"Tsk." Tang Jian clicked his tongue and said, "A friend of my dad's is having a soft opening for his gym today. It has a swimming pool. He asked me to come and said I could bring some friends."

"Your dad hasn't been corrupted, has he?"

"Hey, don't talk nonsense."

"Who else is going?" Chen Yuan asked.

"I asked a few people, but they all have plans. If we go, it'll just be Jiao Yu."

"You didn't ask Zhou Fu?" Chen Yuan asked.

"You ask her. It's a good opportunity to show filial piety."

"You're such a [beep]."

"If you're coming, come around noon. I'll send you the location."

"Okay."

Just like that, Chen Yuan finished talking with Little Tang.

Then, Chen Yuan looked at Xia Xin Yu and asked, "Free swimming, wanna go?"

"Ooh!" Xia Xin Yu was quite enthusiastic when she heard it was free, but hesitated when she thought about swimming, "But I'm not very good at it..."

"That's all the more reason to go," Chen Yuan said. "How can we Jiangdong rats not know how to swim?"

"I'm not a Jiangdong rat..."

"I'll move your household registration here when we get married."

"Well, that's fine too."

Xia Xin Yu suddenly realized that the topic had drifted a bit, so she pulled it back: "So are we going swimming?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to do these stupid problems anyway. Studying? Screw studying!"

Chen Yuan threw the pen in his hand on the table, making a clatter.

"That's great." Seeing this, Xia Xin Yu held his face, quite touched, "You're finally back."

Although the current Chen Yuan was very motivated, this excessive obsession with studying made Xia Xin Yu feel very scared.

Because the former him was much cuter than he was now.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. We have to study. Let's come back and do practice problems after swimming."

But Chen Yuan's quick change of face made Xia Xin Yu a little sad again.

Ah, where did that mischievous boy from before go...?

"Let's go, Xin Yu."

"Okay, I'll go get our swimsuits."

Because they thought they wouldn't need them, both of their swimsuits were left in the rental house and not brought to the school dormitory.

While Xia Xin Yu went to pack her things, Chen Yuan also dialed Zhou Fu's number.

After a few beeps, she answered.

"Hello, Little Zhou," Chen Yuan said.

"What's up?"

Then Zhou Fu's voice came through, quite lazy, as if she hadn't even opened her eyes yet. She was probably still rolling around in bed...

Wearing only underwear, without even a top, Zhou Fu was not very conscious when she answered the phone.

"What time is it? Why are you still sleeping?" Chen Yuan asked.

"I stayed up late reading comics yesterday..."

As she spoke, Zhou Fu slowly sat up from the bed, covered her mouth and gently yawned, then asked, "What do you want?"

"Tang Jian's dad's friend opened a swimming pool. We can swim for free. Are you coming?"

"Swimming, huh..."

Zhou Fu brushed her hair with her hand and said, "Who's going?"

"Me, my wife..."

"Hey! Don't say that."

"Aren't you?"

"...Not yet."

Tsk.

Zhou Fu made the pursed-lips face of a foreign child. She really didn't expect to be woken up by a phone call only to hear other people showing off their affection. Bringing a dog in to kill it, huh?

"There's also Jiao Yu, no one else. If you're coming, you should ask Tang Siwen too," Chen Yuan said.

"Got it, you may leave."

Just like that, Zhou Fu hung up the phone.

Then, she lowered her head and rubbed her head with her hand, feeling a little uneasy: "Judging by the naked eye, it seems like they've gotten a little bigger again..."

Hopefully the swimsuit from before won't make me look fat.

I'm not even eighteen yet, and I'm already at the same level as my mom.

Tsk, annoying.

How nice it would be to have a cute and carefree size like Xin Yu.

So, she dialed Tang Siwen's number again: "Hey, baby, what are you doing?"

"Writing practice problems, baby," Tang Siwen replied calmly.

"Hiss... So diligent." Zhou Fu suddenly realized that she seemed to be the only pure idler in this group. "Want to go swimming at noon?"

"Hmm, who's going?"

"What if it's just me?"

Zhou Fu lay down on the bed, a smile appearing on her lips, and asked provocatively.

*Still testing the waters*

"...Um, sure."

Tang Siwen was obviously a little flustered by this topic, but she still agreed.

Just like that, Zhou Fu gained great pleasure.

For some reason, Tang Siwen was especially fun to tease.

Because she would give you all the reactions you wanted, without fail.

It is recommended that those who have the conditions tease her.

"I'm kidding, Zhou Fu and Chen Yuan, who you like the most, are going," Zhou Fu said sweetly.

"..."

However, after a brief silence, the person on the other end of the phone murmured in a low voice, with a hint of complaint: "If you keep doing this, I won't want to talk to you anymore."

*Panicked*

"I'm sorry, just kidding." Zhou Fu said quickly, "There's Tang Jian, Jiao Yu, me, and also Xin Yuan."

"The previous group, plus Tang Jian, right?"

"Yeah, because it's Tang Jian's dad's friend. He's treating everyone."

"If you go, I'll go."

"Okay, then we're all set."

Just like that, the outing was decided.

And Zhou Fu also got out of bed and went to the swimsuit area of the closet to start picking.

Then, she found her favorite one-piece swim dress.

Bending down, after putting it on, she slowly pulled up the zipper on the back while facing the dressing mirror...

However, she stopped just before it reached the top.

At this moment, Zhou Fu's cheeks were already a little flushed...

Lowering her head, looking at her majestic self, she dejectedly lowered her head, full of despair: "Why is it that only I am a fatty..."

………

The location wasn't very far, so Chen Yuan and Xia Xin Yu took a taxi and arrived quickly.

Then, they met up with the others below the mall.

Everyone was wearing casual clothes, mostly short sleeves and shorts, very light and cool.

Only Xia Xin Yu was a little more formal, with a half-length skirt on her lower body.

"Is it inside the mall?" Zhou Fu asked.

"Yes, a chain gym," Tang Jian said. "Actually, there's no real soft opening. There aren't many staff working today. They're just inviting people over to play."

"Why did they invite you?" Chen Yuan asked vigilantly.

"There should be some other people besides me." Tang Jian knew what this guy was implying, so he explained, "My dad was just being polite before, but they kept insisting and said to bring classmates, so I couldn't refuse."

Indeed, it wasn't officially open yet, so using the excuse of coming over for a trial experience wasn't a big favor. It was just expressing goodwill.

"I've wanted to go swimming for a long time. It's really boring staying in the air-conditioned room," Zhou Yu said with a sigh.

"Yeah, the last time I went swimming was at the beach," He Si Jiao also said.

"By the way, didn't you give your phone to Lao Mo? How did you call me?" Chen Yuan suddenly asked curiously.

Everyone also looked at Tang Jian in unison.

Then he supported his forehead, and after a while, took out a phone watch from his pocket...

"Pfft ha ha ha—"

Instantly, bursts of joyful laughter erupted.

"What's so funny? It's just a communication tool," Tang Jian said, a little speechless.

"You should put on your watch quickly, or mom will scold you for losing it," He Si Jiao said, covering her mouth, unable to stop herself from laughing.

"..."

"Let's go to the mall, it's a little hot," Zhou Fu suggested.

"Yes, let's go quickly." Tang Jian, who had been spared, also breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to change the subject.

At this moment, Zhou Fu suddenly turned around, looked at Tang Jian, and said seriously, "Keep up, don't get lost."

Tang Jian: "..."

"Pfft ha ha ha—"

Everyone laughed again.

"It's okay." Still covering her mouth, He Si Jiao's tears were about to come out, "Little genius has a GPS, he won't get lost haha..."

"Okay, let's go quickly, really, stop talking."

Tang Jian didn't know why, how could the girls in the class also become so abstract?

Chen Yuan, this person, has a terrible influence!

"I'm jealous of your cauliflower," Chen Yuan affirmed the two's sense of humor.

However, Xia Xin Yu was really a good person. Only she didn't attack Tang Jian and asked curiously, "Then do you contact Wu Tang often now?"

Everyone was very curious about the topic of Teacher Wu Tang.

"Just fifteen minutes on the phone every week," Tang Jian said with some sadness.

"What's wrong? Isn't this the 'Little Tang, charge charge charge' stage?" Chen Yuan asked, "Why do I feel like you're a little unhappy?"

"It's not that I'm unhappy..." Tang Jian thought for a while and then revealed, "I always feel that if this continues, if we can't be in the same school, or even the same city... it's going to collapse."

"Collapse?" He Si Jiao asked, puzzled.

"Long-distance relationships aren't going well, and if the plan to be together in college fails, it does feel like something bad is going to happen." Zhou Yu was also a little pessimistic.

"Then just have a good long-distance relationship," Chen Yuan said.

"That won't work." At this time, Xia Xin Yu strongly opposed, "You must be in the same university. If you're not in the same university, there's no way to trust each other."

"...Are you subtly pointing at me?"

Chen Yuan felt it, Xia Xin Yu was also a little nervous.

Indeed, he was now in a similar situation to Tang Jian.

Both of their partners had very good grades, and they needed to work hard to catch up.

Moreover, Tang Jian's situation was even more difficult.

Teacher Wu Tang was a powerhouse at the level of Haidong University.

Even if he took the art route, it would be extremely difficult to get in.

"If you're not at ease, you have to tell her," He Si Jiao didn't want to see other people break up, because she herself had experienced a breakup crisis.

Tang Jian was very troubled: "How do I say it..."

Chen Yuan: "I think..."

"You can shut up."

Tang Jian directly interrupted his spellcasting.

He didn't know where Chen Yuan learned these formulas, he was just mechanically applying them here every day!

The first person to invent this may have been a genius.

But the copycat Chen Yuan was definitely a mediocrity.

He had absolutely no creativity of his own.

"Forget it, let's go to the gym first."

Tang Jian knew that this matter was not so easy to solve, so he decided to clear his head.

Just like that, everyone went to the gym first.

Then, they went to the indoor heated swimming pool on the top floor.

The boys and girls separated and went to the changing rooms.

After entering, everyone found their locker according to their wristbands and changed their clothes.

After Tang Jian put on his swimming trunks, the last thing left to do was to put his phone watch in the locker.

But before putting it in, he opened Wu Tang nasaki's WeChat...

After thinking for a long time, he still sent a WeChat message.

"Aren't you looking down on my four-character formula?"

Suddenly, Chen Yuan's voice came from behind.

Tang Jian's face instantly turned red, and he immediately hid the watch behind his back and retorted, "You copycat, you definitely stole other people's words to use! And, is that four characters?"

"I really want to see you..."

Chen Yuan counted on his fingers and then raised his head: "That's six characters."

"Wow you [beep]!"

Tang Jian panicked.

"Hurry up, it's most important to see what Teacher Wu Tang says." Chen Yuan directly put his arm around Tang Jian's shoulders and joined the gossip.

"I want to see too."

Zhou Yu came over.

"Wow you big dam!"

Tang Jian really couldn't stand these guys' bad personalities.

Terrible guys, you are really terrible.

But indeed, Teacher Wu Tang's response was the key.

So, he waited.

But it said 'typing...'

After a long while, no message was sent.

"She's probably organizing her words," Chen Yuan analyzed.

"I think so too," Zhou Yu nodded. "Maybe she's moved to tears and is starting to shed small pearls."

"Can you two bullfrogs go into the water first?"

The feeling of anticipation in Tang Jian's heart was completely gone because of these two people.

Then, he waited for Wu Tang nasaki.

He had experienced many long-distance relationships.

But when he truly met someone he liked, he took the initiative to give up the long-distance relationship.

Am I doing the right thing?

Just as he was thinking this, Teacher Wu Tang's message came.

But it was an emoji.

Yin Yu, with her hair in a bun, was frowning with her mouth pursed, with huge tears photoshopped on her cheeks, and the words below: Just thinking of you makes me cry loudly...

(End of Chapter)