Speaking of which, I must mention Xia Wei. She once won the best image award at a school talent show, and since then, she has had a container full of male admirers following her around! One of them was particularly over the top and lacking in common sense, stalking her every day. One day, finally fed up, she walked up to him out of the blue and said, “Are you sick in the head, why do you follow me every day?” The guy probably never expected Xia Wei to talk to him, and he was stunned for a moment, staring at her for a while before he managed to say in a dream-like voice, “I, I, I want an autograph.” Xia Wei, being Xia Wei, was not moved by such a fan, didn’t even glance at him, and just spat out four words: “Turn around!” The guy, as if sleepwalking, obediently turned around. She quickly took out a ballpoint pen and wrote three large characters on his white T-shirt: “Xia Wei”. After finishing, she didn’t even look at him and walked away. That guy was almost moved to tears. Since then, similar stories have been playing out at our school, but I never thought they would involve me and Gu Nanxiang. Since the girls had set the stage, provided the props, and were calmly waiting for me to continue the play, I couldn’t not go along with it. However, I didn’t want to mess up his cool black T-shirt, so I solemnly drew the large characters “Xiaowu”; after finishing, I handed over the paper and sank back into the couch like a toad. The crowd around me burst into cheers, whistles, and foot-stamping; Xia Wei was laughing so hard she could barely breathe, still managing to say between breaths, “Gu Nanxiang, you better keep this safe, it’ll appreciate in value, just wait to make a fortune.”
“Exactly, exactly, Gu Nanxiang, just wait for her to become famous in a thousand years after her death,” Dong Luo added, somewhat ruthlessly. I remained silent. Gu Nanxiang, holding the autograph, laughed in an odd way, as if he had been hit with some mythical poison, his expression unnatural; I bet crying would look better than that! I dropped the pen, ignoring him, following the game rules set by Xia Wei, daring to carry it forward. That night, everyone got pretty drunk, lying or sitting in all sorts of positions, shouting or roaring to let out their frustrations until around midnight when they started to disperse; around one, Lin Xiaole and her group also left, leaving just me, Xia Wei, Gu Nanxiang, Sheng Siwei, and Xu Yang. Tan Shuang, all worked up, said she wanted to go to a KTV to sing. Anyone who’s known her for a bit knows that she must celebrate every holiday, no matter what, and won’t stop until the night’s through. Xu Nuo immediately raised both hands in agreement, her mood lifting at the mention of singing, her small face flushed with excitement, ready to go. This person is a karaoke queen; once she enters the room, she grabs the microphone and never lets go, regardless of how off-key she might be. That night, I wasn’t in a good mood, feeling out of place, so I was eager to leave; when I heard we were going to a KTV, I got excited, shouting, “GO, GO, GO, let’s go now!” Xu Yang looked at me, saying, “Xiaowu, are you so eager because you have a sweetheart waiting at some KTV?” Xia Wei spat, “What’s it to you? She has plenty of admirers, whether there’s one at the other place or not, this place definitely has one.”
I felt my head swell, seeing Gu Nanxiang and Sheng Siwei staring at me. “Really?” Xu Yang pretended to be shocked, his eyes scanning around as if they were X-ray vision, saying “really” as if to say, “Xiaowu, you’re quite the charmer.”
“If I say it’s not true, would you believe me?”
“Of course, I believe you. Here, there are three guys, are you talking about Gu Nanxiang or Sheng Siwei? It certainly won’t be me, right?” I started to feel nervous again. Xia Wei, sensing my embarrassment, quickly changed the subject: “Stop talking nonsense, are we going to grab the microphone or not? Don’t make the karaoke queen wait.” Finally, Xu Yang stopped with the previous topic and started thinking about which KTV to go to. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a boy walked in from outside, carrying a large paper bag, his face glowing with the moonlight.
