He still remembered that the girl's first work depicted what he yearned for most in his heart, hitting right at his soul.
Half a semester had passed, and finally he saw her again.
"Hey! Are you classmate Mei? Um, classmate Bi Shuang asked me to get her book," Ding Ruola said with a smile as soon as she saw the boy getting dazed again.
"Oh! Here you are." The boy snapped out of his daze and handed the book to Ding Ruola, but she couldn't pull it out no matter how hard she tried.
She looked at the boy in front of her dejectedly and pouted as if dissatisfied.
Suddenly, the boy let go of the book and turned away.
Ding Ruola wasn't paying attention and the book almost fell to the ground.
Ding Ruola: "..."
Was she that unlikable?
"Hey! Woman! What's your relationship with Senior Mei?"
Just as Ding Ruola came out of the restroom and was washing her hands in front of the mirror, a group of girls suddenly appeared behind her.
Some had fresh little curly hair, some had long, shiny black hair reaching their waists, and some had short Japanese-style hair.
They were wearing white school uniform tops and pleated skirts that just reached the top of their thighs.
Well, she counted. There were about four or five of them.
"Classmates, do you need anything?" Ding Ruola asked curiously.
"Are you a freshman? We're asking you what your relationship with Senior Mei is," a girl said impatiently.
"Who's Senior Mei? I have no relationship with him!" Ding Ruola said dejectedly. She only had a connection with Lao Fang! A freshman? Did she look that young?
For some reason, Ding Ruola suddenly thought of the arrogant boy she saw in the morning and his group of little fans.
"Well, just classmates," Ding Ruola said with a twitch of her mouth, looking quite embarrassed.
"Senior Mei is cold by nature. We haven't seen him initiate any interaction with girls in a year. You're the first," a girl added.
Then the girl standing closest to Ding Ruola suddenly took a step forward.
With her arms crossed, she looked down on Ding Ruola haughtily and said, "Senior Mei is handsome and talented. Two-thirds of the girls in school like him. I don't believe you have no thoughts about him!"
"However, even if you do have any ideas, I'd advise you to stay away from him. I'm the newly crowned school beauty and the top student in the Visual and Communication major. My father is also an employee of the famous Pandora Culture and Media Company."
"I have a bright future and I'm beautiful. The only girl who can match Senior Mei is me. What can you compare with me?" Qiao Yimeng looked at Ding Ruola disdainfully.
Then she reached out and tore the book Ding Ruola had placed on the sink into pieces, threw it on the ground and stomped on it a few times. Finally, she threw it into the sink, turned on the faucet, and let the water soak it into a mushy mess.
"This is a warning!" the girl said fiercely, glanced at her, and then left with her group.
Ding Ruola stared blankly at the book that had turned into a pile of paper pulp in the sink. She twitched the corner of her mouth and hadn't even reacted to what the girl had said just now.
All she knew was that her book was gone!
Ding Ruola fished the book out of the sink and threw it into the trash can. Her heart felt a bit clogged.
She missed Lao Fang!
[Hey! Xiaola! Our club president knows you're back at school! There's an assessment in the Design Club tonight. He wants you to come and liven things up, to inspire those junior girls and boys. Come on!]
Ding Ruola was just coming out of the bookstore with two books in her hands.
She had just bought some new review materials and quickly forgot about the unpleasant incident just now.
[What time is it tonight? Where is it?]
[...]
It was in the large classroom on the second floor between Building A and Building B of the school.
This design competition was also a summary of the semester.
Generally, clubs were run by students, but this Design Club was run by a teacher from the school, so its nature was a bit different.
The Design Club recruited students who were interested and talented in design. They got together to exchange ideas and study design. They often represented the school in some provincial design competitions.
Well, except for the super-genius Ding Ruola who had already quit the club. She once represented the school and won an international award!
The competition hadn't started yet.
Ding Ruola was sipping on a cup of milk tea handed over by the vice president, Bi Shuang, and sitting quietly in the corner, looking at some "difficult problems" sent to her by He Caiying.
Suddenly, a group of girls let out screams. Ding Ruola looked up and saw Mei Xuejian just coming in from the door.
Thinking of the crazy things his little fans had done, Ding Ruola suddenly felt a bit of a toothache.
"What are you doing here?"
Just as Ding Ruola was rubbing her forehead and about to look down at her phone again, a shrill voice pierced her ears.
Qiao Yimeng was wearing a pink lace dress and standing in front of her with a look of hatred and arrogance. There were two or three girls beside her.
"Did you sneak in here to see Senior Mei? Do you even understand design? You're really not afraid of anything for the sake of the senior! Didn't I already warn you? Disappear from Senior Mei's sight forever!" Qiao Yimeng said fiercely.
Ding Ruola's temples throbbed. She pressed her eyebrows and was afraid that this classmate would break her phone, so she got up and was about to leave.
Qiao Yimeng was just about to stop her, but then she glanced at Mei Xuejian in the crowd. After thinking for a while, she decided to deal with Ding Ruola properly later.
"Hello everyone! I'm Qiao Yimeng from Class 1 of the Visual Communication major. This is my design..." The girl was coquettishly explaining on the stage, and her eyes would glance at Mei Xuejian sitting in the judge's seat from time to time.
The assessment had started. Bi Shuang and Ding Ruola were sitting on the side of the auditorium closest to the window.
"This is our newly crowned school beauty. Her works are okay. She has her own style and won the first prize in the school district competition," Bi Shuang whispered to Ding Ruola, giving her an introduction about the students.
"… Oh, okay. She's just a bit fierce," Ding Ruola said, blinking her eyes and looking at Bi Shuang innocently and a bit aggrievedly.
Bi Shuang: "Well, what happened?"
"She said I don't understand design!"
Bi Shuang: "..."
"The assessment is over. The student with the highest score is Qiao Yimeng from Class 1 of the Visual Communication major! Let's give her a round of applause!" The club president was beaming as he hosted on the stage.
"Today, I also have good news for everyone! We're very lucky to have invited Senior Ding Ruola, a former member of our club who won an international award! She's going to give us a lecture!"
Hearing this news, Qiao Yimeng on the stage was extremely excited. She quickly tidied up her clothes, hoping that she could perform well later.
She knew that there was a senior in the Design Club who had won an international award, and she also knew that this senior was the only competitor in Senior Mei's heart.
If she could get on good terms with that senior and make some more progress to win an international award, would Senior Mei have some good impressions of her?