[Notice from the Student Union: Due to the shortage of manpower for setting up the venue for the Hundred-Club Carnival on Saturday morning, students from other departments who are available are requested to actively participate. If you're available, reply with 1.]
This new message popped up on QQ.
Except for seeing Chi Xu during the previous recruitment interview, Jiang Yuan hadn't seen him in the Student Union yet. Basically, it was always the department head who called for meetings.
She heard that after the Hundred-Club Carnival, the Student Union would hold a unified meeting for everyone to get to know each other.
Jiang Yuan thought for a while. The Hundred-Club Carnival was a relatively large event, and Chi Xu would surely show up. If she signed up, wouldn't it be another chance to meet him? It would also let him see her hardworking and good image.
The more she thought about it, the more cost-effective it seemed. She was简直 a genius! Moreover, at most, she would just sacrifice a bit of her sleep time. She could just go to bed earlier at night to make up for it.
Jiang Yuan couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth. She hummed a tune and sent a "1".
Chi Xu, just wait to see my hard work and fall at my feet.
Early on Saturday morning, Jiang Yuan struggled to get out of bed. She deliberately chose a nice dress and, yawning and staggering, made her way to the school playground.
Looking up, the bright sun was shining like gold on the playground, half in the light and half in the shadow. The crowd was bustling, and in her ears were the orderly voices of the club leaders and the Student Union leaders giving instructions on the setup.
"Hey, aren't you from the Student Union Office? Your department is over there. They're just about to go to the printing shop to pick up the roll-up banners. Hurry over there." Someone saw Jiang Yuan looking lost on the playground and quickly shouted.
Jiang Yuan was a bit slow. She turned her head and saw that the students from her department were about to go to the printing shop. She quickly followed.
She explained her purpose to the department head, who told her to follow the group.
When they arrived at the printing shop, the department head told everyone to wait first. He went in to negotiate with the shop owner and then called people in one by one to carry the roll-up banners needed for the Hundred-Club Carnival.
When it was Jiang Yuan's turn, the roll-up banners had all been taken. There were only some irregular-shaped KT boards left. The department head pointed to a slightly smaller KT board and asked, "Junior sister, can you carry this?"
Jiang Yuan looked over. The irregular-shaped KT board standing against the wall was basically the same size as the roll-up banners, but because of its irregular shape, it was not easy to carry.
She was petite, and the KT board looked almost twice as big as her.
Jiang Yuan was in a dilemma. She kind of wanted to refuse, but looking at the expectant look in the department head's eyes, seeing that the others had already walked away with the roll-up banners, and knowing that the department head himself also had a roll-up banner to carry, the words of refusal on her lips turned into, "I'll give it a try."
She turned the irregular-shaped KT board over so that her hands could just wrap around it. She picked it up with effort and took a few steps forward.
"Then take your time, junior sister. Don't rush. I'll carry the roll-up banner over first." The department head was overjoyed. After giving her some instructions, he carried his own roll-up banner and left.
Jiang Yuan sighed and slowly moved towards the playground with the KT board in her arms.
The sky was blue, and the sunlight shone down, making her feel a bit warm.
After carrying the KT board for a while, her arms started to ache and she couldn't exert any more strength. Jiang Yuan regretted agreeing to carry the irregular-shaped KT board even more.
By the time Chi Xu saw her, she would surely look like a mess.
"Jiang Yuan, let me help you." Someone picked up one side of the KT board, and the weight on her arms immediately lightened. Jiang Yuan turned her head to say thank you, only to find that it was Zhou Xiangmeng.
"I accidentally caused your arm to get injured. And now you're still carrying something so heavy. What if your old injury flares up?" Zhou Xiangmeng said to herself.
In fact, it wasn't that serious. Jiang Yuan silently thought to herself. She wanted to refuse Zhou Xiangmeng's help.
But since Zhou Xiangmeng had said so, she swallowed the words of refusal.
It was really much easier to carry it with two people. In the blink of an eye, they had covered most of the distance.
The entrance to the playground was faintly visible in the distance. Zhou Xiangmeng quickened her pace. Jiang Yuan had been spoiled by her parents since she was a child and had never done any heavy work, let alone carry something heavy.
Her arms were already sore from carrying it alone before, and now that Zhou Xiangmeng was speeding up, Jiang Yuan could barely keep up.
"Zhou Xiangmeng, slow down. Can you slow down?" Jiang Yuan was lagging behind and shouted for her to slow down. But Zhou Xiangmeng seemed not to hear and didn't change her speed at all.
Jiang Yuan was both anxious and annoyed. The weight in her hands seemed to have become even heavier at this moment, and every step she took now was extremely difficult.
Her arms were trembling. Jiang Yuan stumbled, and the KT board in her hands lost its balance and fell heavily to the ground.
She also lost her balance due to the sudden stop and fell forward involuntarily. Her hands instinctively propped on the KT board to avoid falling even worse.
"Jiang Yuan, the KT board..." Zhou Xiangmeng's exclamation rang in her ears. What happened to the KT board? Jiang Yuan looked down and saw that there was a hole where her hand had propped.
The other hand had just happened to prop on a part with a water pipe, which was hard enough, so it didn't break.
Jiang Yuan stared at the broken hole. Her mind went blank instantly, and there was a buzzing sound in her ears.
It was all over. This KT board was supposed to be placed in the center. Now that she had made a hole in it, how could the event proceed later?
This was her first time participating in a large event, and she had caused trouble. Her heart was about to jump out of her throat, and the color drained from her face, turning it deathly pale.
If Chi Xu saw this and knew it was her fault, his impression of her would surely get even worse.
"Jiang Yuan." As if on cue, Jiang Yuan heard this familiar voice. Her body trembled involuntarily, just like when she was a child and her parents scolded her angrily for doing something wrong.
A pair of well-articulated hands appeared in front of her. The veins on the back of the hands were prominent, showing a strong sense of strength.
Jiang Yuan stared blankly at those hands, as if frozen. Her mind was in a mess, and she didn't dare to look up at Chi Xu's expression at this moment.
The noisy sounds around seemed to disappear all of a sudden, leaving only her own violent heartbeat.
Those hands lifted her up with an air of non - negotiability. Jiang Yuan got up mechanically, with her head down and her cheeks burning hot. She didn't dare to look at Chi Xu.
She could feel Chi Xu's gaze on her, as if he could see through all her panic and guilt. The air seemed to freeze, and the atmosphere was so awkward that it was suffocating.
"Are you okay, Yuanyuan?" Chi Xu finally broke the silence. He looked Jiang Yuan up and down. Seeing that she wasn't injured at all, he felt relieved.
"I'm okay, but I made a hole in this KT board." Jiang Yuan said in a small voice, pointing to the hole at the bottom of the KT board that her palm had broken.
Chi Xu looked in the direction of her finger. Suddenly, he smiled and tapped her head, frustrated.
"As long as you're okay, who cares about the KT board? It's okay. It just broke at the very bottom. We can use another KT board from the same series to cover it later."
Jiang Yuan covered the head that had been tapped and looked up at Chi Xu. Her almond eyes were like those soaked in an autumn pond, wet and pitiful. She carefully confirmed, "Really?"
Chi Xu's heart skipped a beat. His gaze fell on her lips that she was unconsciously biting. He swallowed hard before saying, "Really."