Chapter 7.1| Dream and Reality

Meng Yin tossed and turned in bed, a bit sleepless, so she decided to turn on the light, leaned on the bedside, and finished the English test paper. Eventually, she dozed off on top of the English exam paper.

At the breakfast table the next morning, Yin found all her favourite foods prepared by the elderly for her. Peeling a boiled egg, she pointed to a paper bag on the table and said, "Grandma, these pastries were bought by Xu Zhiyi, remember to try them." 

On several occasions during junior high school, Yin and Zhi would stay late at the library on weekends to study, and it was always Zhiyi who accompanied Yin home. As a result, the elderly had encountered this child a few times and had a rather favourable impression of him.

"How polite Zhiyi is," Grandpa commented as he looked at the pastries in the packaging bag, suddenly recalling something and asking, "Did you meet him yesterday?"

She nodded, "We are classmates again."

"How coincidental," Grandma sighed, "Remember to thank him and invite him over for a meal when he's free."

Yin's swallowing motion paused for a moment, then she playfully replied, "Grandma, why do you always like inviting people over for meals?"

Those times when Zhiyi escorted Meng Yin home and encountered the elderly waiting at the door were similar, with the elderly holding his hands and instructing them: "You must come for a meal next time!"

Upon arriving at the classroom, the English speech group assignment list had already been posted on the bulletin board, but Yin had not noticed it. 

The list was put up by Xipei. "Meng Yin," Xipei, with her ponytail swaying, returned to her seat and excitedly tapped on Yin's desk corner, "We're in the same group." 

"What?" Yin lifted her head from the classical text with a slightly dazed look, gazing at Xipei.

"For the English speech," Xipei gestured towards the two of them, "we're a team, along with Shen Bin, Nie Hai, and Zang Zhuo." With this reminder from Xipei, Yin recalled that Mr. Wang had mentioned yesterday that the pairings for the English speech group would be announced today. 

"I will do my best not to hold back the team." 

"Relax," Xipei looked at Yin's serious expression and patted her shoulder, "just treat it like a game."

After the morning class, Yin asked Xipei for a few speech templates she had written before but she couldn't find a specific speech pattern. Despite being a narrative essay with the traditional structure of introduction, main body, and conclusion, it was challenging to identify similar grammar applications that could help score higher. Yin thought to herself that the school excelled in preparing students for presentations, especially in oral skills, but she was not worried.

When the bell for the break rang, Yin's phone vibrated in the pocket of her school uniform. In the final year of high school, there was no need to participate in the break exercise. Instead, to maintain proper physical health, they would run three laps around the playground. 

Yin and Xipei jogged side by side, while Xu Zhiyi spotted two girls on the track and ran at a steady pace, soon catching up to Yin. Xipei slowed down a few steps, consciously staying behind with Hai. The two of them listened openly in the corner.

"I sent you a message," Yin remembered the vibration in her pocket.

"What did you send?" Can't you say it directly when someone is in front of you?

"The cafeteria menu." Zhiyi said while running, not out of breath, "I categorized and summarized it for you, so you won't be indecisive when you get to the counter."

Meng Yin: "..."

"Xu Zhiyi, can we not be so formal? Helping classmates is about helping classmates, no need for excuses." Yin glanced at him, earnestly speaking.

Zhiyi didn't respond and ran ahead.

Before the lunch break, a few other students approached Xipei and Yin to discuss the speech content together. The English essay for this mock exam revolved around "Dream and Reality," with no specific theme. After skimming through the essay question last night, Yin had some ideas. During the lunch break, she made some revisions to the draft paper but still felt the words were not conveying the intended meaning. So, before the end of the lunch break, Zhiyi received a picture. The words "Dream" and "Reality" on the paper were circled with a question mark written in red next to them. 

Yin asked him, "Xu Zhiyi, the written content doesn't convey the intended meaning, any last-minute suggestions to improve it?"