Chapter 56 - Notebook
The night before the English Public Speaking Competition, Lu Chuwan called Xu Wei and apologized to her on behalf of her mother. Xu Wei accepted her apology and ordered a dress for her from Kimorty at the end of the day. After all, Lu Chuwan was her niece and she had been taking care of her since she was a kid.
The school had specifically turned a few classrooms in the art building into dressing rooms for participants and tasked teachers to prepare them and change their attire.
Lu Chuwan and Fu Zhi were assigned to the same dressing room.
Xu Tongtong kept her company as she waited for her dress in front of a vanity.
Fu Zhi had not shown up yet.
“I heard that not only are the students in that small town bad at their studies, but their English teachers also speak informal English. It sounds very weird and funny, and perhaps that’s the reason Fu Zhi did not show up. She’s ashamed.”
There was not much emotion on Lu Chuwan’s face. “Well, it would be best that way. At least that means her senses are still intact.”
“She owes that to you. Had you not knocked some sense into her head, do you think she would have seen that? After all, she didn’t receive a fine education from a young age and she didn’t grow up in the Lu Family. She’s a philistine person who doesn’t care about others but only about herself. Look at today’s competition. She participated as your cousin, when she will only cast a shadow on your name in the end! Do you think she doesn’t know that? She just doesn’t care about it!”
Lu Chuwan’s expression was ugly.
She was a person who wanted everything to be perfect. She had not expected that Fu Zhi would become her only blemish at school.
Xu Tongtong noticed the change in her face, so she decided to stop talking about Fu Zhi. She changed the topic and said, “Wanwan, you’ve made plenty of preparations, so I’m sure it’ll be a piece of cake for you to defeat Zhou Tingting and get the first prize to visit the FZ Research Institute.”
Lu Chuwan kept her eyes closed as the makeup artist helped her put on makeup. When she heard the things Xu Tongtong said, she replied softly, “Don’t say that, Tongtong. We still can’t be sure how the competition will turn out, so we better not count the chickens before they hatch.”
“You’re too modest, Wanwan. Fu Zhi definitely is no match for you, as she’s a bad student. As for Zhou Tingting, she has the blood of a poor person flowing inside her veins. Were it not for the Lu Family’s sponsorship, she would’ve gone back to her hometown and become a farmer already. Perhaps she might even have become a mother of a few children by now!”
Xu Tongtong did not keep her voice low, and the group of rich girls in the dressing room chuckled.
Lu Chuwan would stay out of this kind of topic. She applied lipstick on her lips and felt really happy upon looking at the pretty young girl in the mirror.
Then, Fu Zhi arrived with Su Xing.
Lu Chuwan realized Fu Zhi had not changed into her dress or put on any makeup.
She just sat down quietly with her legs crossed in front of a vanity and played with her phone. Even if she just sat there and did nothing, she would still attract the attention of other people with her impeccable appearance.
The girls in the dressing room unconsciously lowered their voices while they were talking, and none of them dared to talk about her anymore.
She kept her head low, and her long, slender fingers were dancing nimbly across the screen of her phone. She looked like she was in a bad mood.
By the time Zhou Zihuai found her, she had already finished her game.
“These are my notes. You can take a look. If you get the same topic when you’re on the stage later, you can read from my notes.”
The air-conditioner in the art building was strong, so Fu Zhi draped a blue-colored school uniform over her body.
Her face was delicate, but her expression was cold.
Zhou Zihuai was stunned for a moment. He had no idea why, but Fu Zhi’s face reminded him of the resting b*tch face that he had read about on the internet.
“Thank you.” Fu Zhi raised her head from her phone and spoke.
“I really appreciate your kindness, but I don’t need it.”
There was momentary eye contact, and Zhou Zihuai noticed his new classmate’s pupils, which were as black as ink.
He entered a trance for a while but eventually put his notebook away. Then, he said, “Well, good luck to you then.”
Fu Zhi nodded indifferently, her expression looking as if she was asking people to leave her alone.
Xu Tongtong and the others looked at her in disbelief.
“Why did Zhou Zihuai want to give her his notebook?”
“She’s pretty, so I guess that’s it.”
“She’s nothing but a pretty face. Zhou Zihuai was kind enough to offer her his notebook, yet she turned him down. I’m sure she will regret it when she goes up on the stage later!”