Ice Cream Color Mood (Junior High Volume)

Author: Compiler: China Young Writers' Class
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: The "China Young Writers' Cup" National Writing Competition has successfully been held for four sessions, with over 100,000 participants, resulting in a large number of outstanding works and authors. This year's competition, launched in September 2002, received 44,970 valid entries from all over the country and some suburban areas of Shanghai within ten months. The judges of the competition were appointed by the consultants and compilers of the China Young Writers' Class, ensuring the fairness and impartiality of the results throughout the process. The entire competition involved the hard work of all judges and staff members of the organizing committee, as well as the hopes and expectations for the winning authors and all participants. The annual "China Young Writers' Cup" witnesses the growth and maturation of young Chinese writers, recording the footsteps and traces of future Chinese literary talents. In May, the sun, which had been reluctant to shine for days, finally dispelled the dark clouds and cast a moving smile upon the earth. This Sunday, the school was going on a spring trip to Mount Mangshan. As soon as the news spread, the school buzzed like a, and the students grew increasingly excited. Tao Rui ran over with a radiant smile, saying, "Great! The long dress I bought a few days ago from 'Lady's Workshop' has been itching to be worn to school."
I felt incredibly happy. "Well, I have to think about what to fill my stomach with, haha." Finally, the Sunday arrived. Early in the morning, the school sent in five large buses. We all marched in, carrying bags of food and drinks, sitting cheerfully on the benches and chattering about forming groups. It turned out the teacher was worried about us getting lost, so she divided the class of 50 into 10 small teams. My team had one extra member—me, Potato, Tao Rui, Cheng Yun, Chen Huanjiao, and Wei Ge. The two guys, Potato and Wei Ge, were in charge of protecting the girls' safety, so Wei Ge brought a sharp, decorative knife and a ring from home. Ha, it looked quite cool, but the girls sneaked in and snatched the ring from Wei Ge's chubby little finger, competing to wear it on their own. After a while, we remembered to ask Potato what he had brought as a weapon. I—"What are you doing?" My pupils must have been wide because when Wei Ge turned around, he startled me. I snatched the four colorful balloons from his hands, "You're using these as self-defense weapons? Haha, that's hilarious." Cheng Yun and the others came over to laugh too. Potato, puzzled, took the balloons, "Hey, maybe these can come in handy. If we go on a speedboat on the Yellow River, you lively bunch, if you accidentally..." "Hey, stop saying unlucky things! Who would be as stupid as you to fall into the Yellow River?" Cheng Yun laughed so hard she could barely breathe. "Look, we're leaving soon." Sure enough, a few classes had already formed a line downstairs. The six of us rushed out of the classroom and got onto a bus ten minutes later. Every time I go from here to Zhengzhou with my parents, it takes about 40 minutes, but when I'm out playing with classmates, time seems to shrink into compressed, being devoured by the old man of time in our laughter.
By the time I took off my headphones and silenced's voice in my Walkman, the bus had already arrived at the foot of Mount Mangshan. We all jumped off eagerly, nearly deforming the door. As the team leader, I waved my hand and shouted, "Comrades, charge!" I grabbed Tao Rui's hand and sprinted ahead, reaching the top first. Wei Ge, holding a camera with a "Instax" and four large balloons in his left hand, took a picture of us running frantically without us noticing. He then showed the photo to Cheng Yun and the others—me looking like a wildman, one foot stretched out long, the other tangled with Tao Rui. "Great, great, so hilarious." I took an empty drink bottle and used Potato's head to practice drumming, making him yell in pain. We played and almost climbed the entire mountain. It was already 12 noon when the sun made us sweat profusely, so we took the cable car down and bought some souvenirs at a roadside stall, then gorged on ice cream.!
Soon after lunch, we were ready to go on the speedboat. Rubbing my nearsighted eyes, I said to Wei Ge, "Wei Ge, look, take my sunglasses so I can put them on." The foolish Wei Ge didn't realize it was a trick and took the sunglasses I had just bought from the roadside—they were the same as his, but mine were damaged. Tao Rui and Cheng Yun were laughing so hard they covered their mouths. Wei Ge was still tricked; while he was buying a cold drink, I switched his sunglasses with mine. He was confused by our laughter and stood there stunned for a while. But almost at the same time, we all realized Wei Ge was missing. At first, we just shouted around, thinking he was playing hide-and-seek with us or taking photos secretly. But gradually, I realized the situation was serious—we searched all around for over half an hour but found no trace. The park was so big; could he have been kidnapped by someone? Or maybe he had fallen somewhere? Or I hate myself for being the team leader, running ahead with just a few girls, playing carelessly, thinking Wei Ge and the others would protect us, but I was so panicked I started crying. I immediately split the remaining five people into three teams: me and Tao Rui, Cheng Yun and Huanjiao, and Wei Ge went alone. I clutched the photo Wei Ge had given me, my palms drenched in cold sweat. It felt like that photo was all my hope. Wei Ge, where are you!
When I ran desperately across most of the park, exhausted and blurry-eyed, I suddenly saw the river—red, yellow, blue, green—Wei Ge's balloons! Tao Rui suddenly burst into tears, supporting me up and pointing weakly toward the river. In the darkness, I saw a crowd gathered by the river, pulling a thin boy with a large portrait of Wen Xijun on his chest out of the water. I dragged my heavy legs toward the thin figure, my throat already too dry to make a sound, only tears flowing uncontrollably. Over and over, the words "This can't be true, this can't be true" echoed in my mind. But then I saw Wei Ge's pale face, pale lips, and the familiar, dense acne. I knelt on the ground, hugging my classmates in tears, watching helplessly as the team teacher called an ambulance to take Wei Ge away. In the midst of the classmates' cries, I struggled to hear the teacher's words: "He was saving a girl who had accidentally fallen into the water from a speedboat. Witnesses said he was walking on the shore with some classmates when he suddenly spotted the danger. He ran a few steps back, shouting to the tourists on the boat, but no one heard him. So he didn’t hesitate and jumped into the water. He gave the girl the balloons but lost his own strength in the end."
Wei Ge! My best friend! Why were you so foolish? Why! I even wondered if the words he had said to us before we left had turned into a curse from the devil, and we had taken that dangerous curse as a joke. I raised the only photo he had left, tears like relentless tides soaking the smiles of me and Tao Rui, which had been so bright just hours ago.
I am an ordinary person, so ordinary that I don’t deserve anyone’s attention. In others' eyes, I’m just a naive girl who has grown a bit melancholic. I pretend to be so good that even I myself am deceived. In fact, I’m a very fake person. Don’t believe me? I admit I’ve always liked the boy who wrote to me, and I’ve tried to hint at it countless times. But when we finally sat face-to-face with a can of cola, I shook my head against my will. Don’t I like him? No, I do. I could say I’ve been waiting for this for years, just waiting for him to say it again, then a third time. But after the fourth time, I still shook my head. As his lonely back gradually disappeared, I cried. If I told anyone, they wouldn’t believe me, not even myself. What’s wrong with me?
The whole class hates the annoying teacher because he always argues with the students. I hate him the most, and I probably stirred up most of the students' rebellious attitude. But when facing the teacher, I’d smile so brightly my facial muscles ached. I feel like there are two words in my bones called "flattery." It’s like swallowing a fly, but I still ate lunch happily.
I hate that self-righteous girl. She thinks her pretty face can win the teachers' favor. When she flatters the teacher, I almost want to tear her face off. But I can’t, really can’t. I can only glare fiercely at her. But when she comes to greet me, I still smile and say "Hi." Strange, didn’t I swear not to talk to someone who flatters the teacher?
When chatting with my mom, she casually asked what I loved the most. Without thinking, I said, "Of course, you, Mom." But when I calmed down and thought about it again, I was confused. If I were to speak my heart, this beloved thing definitely wasn’t my mom. Many things could be ahead of her, like grades—the thing that controls my fate; chocolate—the black solid that I’ve been attached to for over a decade; or that boy who hurt me. But why did I say that then? I don’t know, I really don’t.
This article only expresses my heart. I want to tell everyone that what you see is just my shadow, just a shadow. The true self is a forbidden zone—you can’t see it, enter it, or even touch it. Tomorrow, I’ll still be the seemingly innocent girl who’s just stepped into the world, but I’ll be worried. Because I wrote this article secretly without telling my dad, and I don’t know how he’ll react after reading it—I’m sure he’ll be angry, maybe even throw a teacup, but of course, he might just be surprised.
That evening, when it was time for self-study, my classmate Bao Liyan asked me a physics question. Before I could explain, Guo Weiqian, who was sitting in front, turned around and said, "Boss! Do you want to pass physics? Ask her!" Bao Liyan snatched the book from my hands and looked around, saying, "Where’s Wang Nan? She didn’t come back?" Wang Nan and Bao Liyan are both very smart and excel in science. Every time we discuss problems in class, Wang and Bao debate fiercely, and I, sitting next to them, can only bury my head in my homework. When Guo said that, I felt very embarrassed and laughed heartily, "haha." But it was fake—I didn’t want to laugh, I wanted to cry. I knew there was nothing I could do.
During self-study, while doing homework, a wave of bitter emotion washed over me. I slowly lifted my head, staring at the monotonous ceiling and the old fan. Teacher Zhang was explaining a problem to a student behind me. Ever since I started failing math in junior high, Teacher Zhang wasn’t as close to me anymore. Before, when I answered questions, she would smile slightly. Everyone thought I was a very little kid and liked how I answered questions in class, and they would all laugh. Now, in junior high, I hardly ever answer questions. I know I’m bad at science. I think Teacher Zhang won’t smile at me anymore, that she’ll give up on me. Of course, no one told me this, but when I asked her questions after class, I could feel something was different, but what could I do? I still often fail. After Teacher Zhang finished explaining to the student, she walked past me. I looked up, and after a while, when my eyes weren’t stinging anymore, I was sure nothing would slide down my face. Then I lowered my head and continued doing homework.