Chapter 578: Temporary Committee Member
Zhuang Ni logged off after annoying the cla.s.s leader and left Loud Mouth whining in the group chat.
“Why do I have to pick her up, just because I live a bit closer to her?”
“What???? Zhuang Ni is also partic.i.p.ating in the trip?”
Xiong YaoYue continued sending messages again. I reckon she went to play LOL during the time she was silent.
“That’s right!” Loud Mouth replied, “You should be the one to pick her up, since you can’t sit still with your ADHD anyway.”
“Sure.” Xiong YaoYue easily agreed, “We’re all meeting tomorrow morning at 8:30 outside of the cla.s.s leader’s place and riding the route 28 bus together, right? I’ll make to bring Zhuang Ni along with me.”
“It’s route 23, not 28. Where are you planning to bring her?”
Xiong YaoYue went silent again, not sure if she started another match of LOL.
Loud Mouth said helplessly: “Forget it, Xiong YaoYue is too unreliable, I’ll bring Zhuang Ni to the meeting spot…”
“Oh right, cla.s.s leader, you’re going to be out with us for almost 40 hours. What about your brother, he’s not going to starve to death at home, right?”
“I sent Xiao Zhe to our aunt’s home, so it’s not an issue.”
The aunt that often goes to their parent conference meetings? The aunt who sent too many peaches to the cla.s.s leader and she had to bring the ones she couldn’t finish to school?
“Cla.s.s leader, I’m going to log off since I still have to prepare some stuff. I’ll check in on Zhuang Ni on the way, if she’s too sick then I won’t bring her tomorrow.”
Even though Loud Mouth was always ridiculed by Zhuang Ni, she still couldn’t change the fact she was a warmhearted person. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, it was clear she still cared a lot about Zhuang Ni.
Or was it because Zhuang Ni was frail just like Loud Mouth’s close friend, Little Smart? But Zhuang Ni was only ‘sick’ when it was advantageous to her, so she’s probably faking. Even if she was sick, she would be only sick in the head.
Seeing the group was now silent, I was going to stop lurking, but suddenly the cla.s.s leader sent me a video chat invite.
Huh, what did the cla.s.s leader want? Didn’t Eunuch Cao just tease Zhuang Ni with a video chat? Also, I couldn’t help but think of how the cla.s.s leader’s brother was having video chats with Cilantro Buns while dressed as a girl, so it caused my mind to wander.
The image of the cla.s.s leader wearing less clothes at home popped up in my mind, then I hit the accept b.u.t.ton.
I immediately regretted my decision.
Although the video chat was connected, the cla.s.s leader didn’t have her camera turned on. There was no image from her side, I could only hear her voice.
“Ye Lin, so you were lurking.”
d.a.m.n it, I got lured out. Video chats are all lies, guys please don’t get easily tricked like me.
Since we were on a video chat, at least I didn’t have to type out messages anymore.
“I… was coincidentally online. Did you prepare everything for tomorrow’s trip?”
The cla.s.s leader chuckled a few times, “Almost. Ye Lin, since you were lurking, then you should know what’s going on. So, I will a.s.sign you as the fire prevention member for the trip.”
“Huh, didn’t we say I’m in charge of everyone’s safety? If anything, I should be the safety committee member…”
“Fire prevention is a part of safety! If you want to be the safety committee member, then I’ll let you be the safety committee member. But make sure to prevent fires, or it will be your fault if we start a forest fire or a student gets burned.”
The cla.s.s leader used a more serious tone in order to make me treat it seriously.
I didn’t really think it was a big deal, “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Even if Loud Mouth led everyone, I don’t think it would end up with Cui Song Mountain getting burned down. There’s also a few brooks nearby, so if a fire does start, we can use that water to put it out.”
“Oh right, I heard the water on the mountain is great for swimming. Did you prepare a swimsuit?”
I unwittingly asked that questions, perhaps as revenge for luring me out.
“I… I don’t think it’s any of your business whether I prepare a swimsuit or not. Just do your water pre… no, fire prevention work properly.”
I caused the cla.s.s leader to be a bit disoriented and she disconnected.
In the afternoon, my dad still wasn’t back and I didn’t really want to eat lunch. But then I heard a rhythmic knocking.
“Knock knock knock, is Ye Lin cla.s.smate home?”
Xiao Qin was here again? Why are you trying to act cute, just knock normally, why do you have to add the onomatopoeia?
I went to open the door for Xiao Qin. She was dressed similar to yesterday with a pink off the shoulder top along with a white pleated skirt.
After I opened the door, Xiao Qin timidly stuck her head in and looked around.
“Is Uncle Ye not here today?”
“Yeah, he’s not here. But he ate the leftover chicken rolls in the morning and complimented your cooking skills.”
It was the truth, so it wasn’t a big deal letting her know.
“It’s great if Uncle Ye likes it too.” Xiao Qin said very pleased, “If I make these dishes in the future, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting scolded…”
What do you mean? It’s like you’re saying that if you get married to me, you will get constantly bullied by me and my dad?
“Ye Lin cla.s.smate, it looks like you didn’t have lunch yet. I didn’t eat either, so let’s go eat together.”
I am pretty hungry…
“After we eat, we can head to the supermarkets to buy some food for tomorrow’s trip.”
Food for the trip? I guess we do need to go to the supermarket.
Xiao Qin and I went downstairs and ate the set meals at a restaurant for lunch. Then we went to they nearby Wal-mart which had a seafood discount sing hanging out at the front.
I b.u.mped into the cla.s.s leader here one before, but that was because she came to buy the discounted milk. I don’t think we will run into each other again since I remember neither the cla.s.s leader nor her brother likes seafood.
If we did meet, it would be hard to explain Xiao Qin’s arms wrapped around mines. Since my dad hasn’t married Auntie Ren yet, then Xiao Qin and I aren’t even step-siblings, so anyone would think of us as a couple.
Once we entered the store, Xiao Qin sprinted towards the grilling food materials section and stared at the frozen seafood while drooling.
No, she wasn’t actually drooling, but it looks like she really wanted to eat it.
“It’s not easy carrying these.” I said, “Even if you know Loud Mouth will bring a grill, but I think all this food would spoil on the way there.”
“It’s fine as long as we keep it in a cooler with ice.” Xiao Qin stared at the squid without moving her eyes.
“The cla.s.s leader authorized me to buy the cooler. It’s fine as long as the total cost of the cooler plus the seafood doesn’t exceed ¥600.”
“Huh, why did the cla.s.s leader…”
“Hehe. The cla.s.s leader a.s.signed me as the seafood committee member an hour ago. She told me to pick out the seafood then have Ye Lin cla.s.smate carry it to the meeting point tomorrow.”
Seafood committee member? It’s not enough to have a fire prevention committee member, now we need a seafood committee member?
“(*^__^*) Hehe… ¥600 of seafood might be a bit heavy, but it shouldn’t be a problem since Ye Lin cla.s.smate is so strong.”
As one of the three largest gluttons in cla.s.s 2-3, the one who loves seafood was a.s.signed to seafood duty.
The other two gluttons, Xiong YaoYue and Loud Mouth, each had their own duties. Loud Mouth was a.s.signed to pick out meats and other foods while Xiong YaoYue was a.s.signed to help Loud Mouth carry it like my job.
It’s probably because Xiong YaoYue forgets too easily, so nothing was a.s.signed directly to her.
Niu ShiLi and Xu LiJun were also a.s.signed similar tasks. Since we were saving a lot of money on transportation and lodging, the cla.s.s leader decided to spend more money on food.
The cla.s.s leader probably thought since we couldn’t stop Loud Mouth from bringing her barbecue tools, we might as well make the best of it.
It makes sense since summer was the season to eat BBQ. We could also improve relationships between cla.s.smates when we’re all eating it together.
I followed Xiao Qin around the frozen seafood section and watched her pick out a lot of high quality and cheap products. As expected of a glutton, she knew which ones were the tastiest, and which ones had the most bang for the buck.
It was so cold. Even though it was the middle of the summer, I got the chills from standing near the frozen section for a long time.
Xiao Qin, who was more afraid of the cold than me, actually more resistant to the cold perhaps it was because of all the food in her mind. She happily filled up bags full of seafood and dumped them into the cart I was pushing.
The older man at the counter stared wide eyed at us as we loaded up bags of seafood on the scales.
“Ye Lin cla.s.smate, what do you want to eat on the bus tomorrow?”
Xiao Qin asked me after buying the seafood.
“The bus? Aren’t we all eating before meeting up?”
For students, meeting up at 8 isn’t really early. Since we usually had to get to school at 7:50, it was normal to finish breakfast before then.
Xiao Qin shifted her feet: “I, I wanted it to be like in manga and make a bento for Ye Lin cla.s.smate…”
“Lotus root cake, golden fried squid rings, onigirazu… which ones does Ye Lin cla.s.smate want to eat? I learned all of them recently.”
It all sounds pretty appetizing. I guess Xiao Qin is placing a heavy emphasis on cooking during the summer break.
“Umm… up to you. If I get hungry, I’ll eat some…”