Chapter 206: Putting Aside Prejudices
"Hey!" He Yun snorted. What did they mean by that? They did not find joy in bullying others!
"Okay, stop it." Qiao Nan clutched her head in exasperation. What Zhu Baoguo said could easily enrage others.
Zhu Baoguo tried to help Qiao Nan, but others had been enraged by what he said and directed their anger toward Qiao Nan. On their way to the dormitory, no one walked with Qiao Nan. They kept a distance from her, and nobody spoke to Qiao Nan.
If any other girl encountered such matter, she might feel wronged and inferior. She might not have an easy life for the next three years, and her studies might be affected as well. Qiao Nan had to rejoice once again that she was not, in actual fact, a sixteen-year-old child. After all, she was more sensitive than the average person at this age.
After arriving at the dormitory, Qiao Nan located her bed and cabinet. She put her clothes inside and locked it with a small lock.
The beds in the dormitory of Ping Cheng High School were all issued in a unified manner. The cost was already included in the tuition fees paid by the students.
Qiao Nan was a special enrollment student. She was exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees and also did not need to pay for the blanket in the dormitory. Therefore, Qiao Nan and Zhou Lei were just going through the formalities when they did their enrollment just now.
Looking at the blanket that was exactly the same as the others, Qiao Nan took out her needles and thread and embroidered the words 'Qiao Nan' and 'High School Year One Class One' on her blanket.
This way, even if she hanged out the blanket to air under the sun in the future, Qiao Nan could easily identify her blanket.
The other five girls in the dormitory were stunned.
Why did they not think of making a marking on their blankets? After all, everyone's blanket and its cover had the same pattern. If all of them were to hang their blankets out to air, they could easily mix up the blankets.
No one had thought of this in advance, hence they did not come prepared like Qiao Nan.
Today was the first day of school. It would be good to air the blankets under the sun. Though the school had arranged a big area for the students to air their blankets, the students did not dare to air their blankets lest they could not identify their blankets. But if they did not air them, they would not be able to use them at night. They were in a dilemma.
Qiao Nan did not pay attention to the five girls who shared the dormitory with her. After making a marking on her blanket, she brought her blanket out to air.
Even if the school had arranged a big area for them to air their blankets, if all of the students were to air their blankets at the same time, it would still be very cramped. Thus, it would be good to occupy a good spot first.
After bringing her blanket out to air, Qiao Nan wiped her bed and the surrounding areas. Compared to the way her classmates cleaned up the classroom just now, she was much more nimble and dexterous.
He Yun watched Qiao Nan as she worked and did most of the work. She gritted her teeth and walked to Qiao Nan's side. "Qiao... Qiao Nan, can I borrow your needles and threads? I... I want to make a marking too so that my blanket will not be confused with someone else's blanket."
"Sure." Qiao Nan replied faintly and handed the needles and threads to He Yun. "You can pick the color by yourself."
"No, no, this color will do." He Yun from high school year one class one. She was the only person by the name He Yun. It was impossible to have any confusion.
More importantly, He Yun usually did not do needlework at home. She might not be able to change the threads. She did not want to embarrass herself in front of others.
He Yun noticed that Qiao Nan did it with ease when she embroidered her name on the blanket just now. And the most important thing was that the embroidered words were quite beautiful. He Yun had thought that it was an easy task. But when she worked on the embroidery herself, she then realized that it was not easy at all!
He Yun's embroidery was twisted and crooked like her handwritings from back when she was still in kindergarten, the moment when she had just learned to write. He Yun had the impulse to cover herself in shame.
She knew that Qiao Nan was the top scholar in middle school examination and that she was smarter than the average person. But she did not know that not only was she smart but also well-versed in other areas as well. Her embroidery was so beautiful. It was as if she was a young lady of an influential family from ancient times.
She was such an all-rounder that others paled in comparison.
Thinking of the words that Qiao Nan embroidered and looking back at the words she embroidered, He Yun did not have the courage to air her blanket.
"Qiao Nan, can you lend us the needles and threads too?" Seeing that He Yun had taken the first step of borrowing the needles and threads from Qiao Nan, several other students in the dormitory also asked Qiao Nan to lend them the needles in a friendly tone.
"Sure. When He Yun is done with her embroidery, all of you can take turns to use them." Qiao Nan nodded.
Qiao Nan's calm attitude made these students breathed a sigh of relief.
Minutes ago, all of them gave Qiao Nan the cold shoulder, but now they had to ask a favor of Qiao Nan. They could not help but feel awkward and embarrassed.
"I am done." He Yun handed over the needles and threads, picked up her blanket, and rushed out at the fastest speed, lest others noticed her face which was dusted in red due to embarrassment.
When the other four students took their turns to embroider their names, they also felt as embarrassed and awkward as He Yun.
But they finally made a marking like Qiao Nan and went to air their blankets.
However, they were smart students after all. Nobody tried to embroider anything too fancy or complicated. They just used the simplest method and embroidered their names stroke by stroke onto the blankets.
It did not matter whether it was ugly or not. What was important was that they were able to recognize their own blankets and would not confuse it with the blankets of other students. Besides, it was the fastest method of embroidering!
By the time all of the blankets in Qiao Nan's dormitory were brought out to air, there had not been much space left at the area meant for airing of blankets.
"Is it time to eat?" Tang Mengran, who was appointed the head of their dormitory by the form teacher, approached He Yun and asked, "Shall we?"
They had just borrowed needles and threads from Qiao Nan. It would not be right of them to ignore her now, would it?
"Qiao Nan, it's time to go to the canteen for dinner. Do you want to go with us?" He Yun mustered her courage to ask Qiao Nan.
"Sure." Qiao Nan put down her book. If her classmates alienated her, she would not try to join in. But if her classmates were willing to accept her, she would not be unsociable.
The five students relaxed at Qiao Nan's attitude. They were not as nervous as before.
He Yun could not help but say this to Qiao Nan. "Qiao Nan, your temper is actually very good." Even if Qiao Nan was the top scholar in the middle school examination, and the first place in the school, she was a nice person and easy to get along with since her temper is good. They had initially thought that top students like her would be arrogant and aloof.
Qiao Nan could not help but laugh. "In fact, I have always been very easy to get along with." At most, she was not easy to become close with others.
"The main reason is that your deskmate is very fierce and scary. Qiao Nan, are you on close terms with your deskmate? Are the two of you...?" The Life committee member was curious and interested to learn about the gossip she heard. "You and your deskmate seem to get along very well. Are both of you in that kind of relationship?"
"That kind of relationship? What kind of relationship?"