Tuesday was the day for cleaning the community park. Early in the morning, the school had already sent a bus to pick up the students and take them there.
Since it was a work assignment, everyone wore their gym class uniforms—Bai Yuyou was dressed in a short-sleeved top and long pants, her waist-length hair tied into a ponytail, her slender arms pale and delicate.
"Ha~" Tang Keke yawned beside her, looking drowsy. "I'm so tired. Yuyou, let me lean on you for a bit."
With that, Tang Keke rested her head on Bai Yuyou's shoulder, her plump, rosy cheeks squishing slightly, making them look even rounder.
Bai Yuyou glanced at her, then reached out and poked her cheek.
"Mmm, stop poking my face."
"Okay." Bai Yuyou then poked something else.
"Not my backpack either, geez!"
After Bai Yuyou's antics, Tang Keke was no longer in the mood to nap—especially since the community park wasn’t far. If not for safety concerns, the school probably would’ve just let the students walk there on their own.
Then, Tang Keke noticed Bai Yuyou flipping through a small booklet. Curious, she peeked and realized it was filled with study notes.
She couldn’t help but ask, "Studying so hard? Your grades are already great—you’ll definitely get into a good school."
Bai Yuyou didn’t look up, answering softly, "Ye Shuang said… learning expands your horizons. I’m not very smart… so I have to work harder."
"Not very smart?" Tang Keke suddenly felt personally attacked. "Why do I feel like I just got insulted?"
If you’re not very smart, then what does that make me?
"Hmm…" Tang Keke watched Bai Yuyou study for a while before growing bored and turning to gaze out the window.
"Yuyou, what do you think is the point of living? I feel like I don’t really have any goals. It’s like I’m always just following what others say I should do."
Bai Yuyou seemed puzzled by the question.
"I mean, do you have anything you really want to do?" Keke clarified.
The girl replied, "I want to eat Ye Shuang’s cooking."
"That’s not what I meant! I’m talking about the purpose of life."
Bai Yuyou answered seriously,
"To eat Ye Shuang’s cooking."
"……"
Soon, the bus came to a stop.
The homeroom teacher at the front picked up a megaphone. "We’re here. Everyone, exit in an orderly fashion."
"And you two snacking in the back—do you think this is a field trip?!"
After gathering the students, Li Chunhua took attendance and distributed cleaning supplies. "Pair up in twos and clean the assigned areas. Meet back here at 11:30 AM. Understood?"
"Okaaay~"
"Don’t just ‘okay’ me—acknowledge properly!"
"Squeak!"
"Pfft—hahahaha!"
Before Li Chunhua could scold them, the students scattered in all directions.
"Honestly."
……
"This park is huge. It’d be nice to come here for a walk sometime," Tang Keke said, stretching her arms as she breathed in the fresh air.
"Your belly button’s showing."
"Eep." Tang Keke quickly tugged her gym shirt down. "Guess I need a bigger size."
Bai Yuyou looked around too. The morning sunlight filtered through the thick tree branches, scattering fragmented patches of light on the ground. A gentle breeze made the shadows sway like swimming fish.
Under the shade, elderly people were doing their morning exercises.
"Those are all retired folks. They look so healthy," Keke remarked.
Especially that grandpa swinging a meteor hammer with his head—sir, are you sure you’re okay?!
"Keke, let’s go," Bai Yuyou said, holding a trash picker.
"Mm."
The two girls’ task was simple: use the pickers to collect discarded bottles and cans. But since scavengers usually took those, they mostly ended up picking up wrappers and tissues.
"So much trash. Feels like the school’s just exploiting our labor," Tang Keke grumbled as she stuffed dried leaves into a bag.
"Maybe I should skip my part-time job tonight. I’m exhausted."
"What do you think, Yuyou?"
Bai Yuyou was busy stuffing wads of tissues into a bag but replied, "Ye Shuang said… you should finish what you start."
"Three sentences and you’re back to talking about your brother. Fine, I’ll tough it out."
After over an hour of work, Tang Keke—who wasn’t overweight but had terrible stamina—was already complaining. "Yuyou, Yuyou, let’s take a break. I’m dying here."
Bai Yuyou wasn’t particularly tired. Despite the heat, she wasn’t even sweating. But seeing Tang Keke half-dead, she nodded. "Okay…"
"Let’s hide behind that tree over there. No one will notice if we rest a little longer," Keke suggested, pointing to a secluded spot under a large tree.
When they got there, though, someone was already there.
A short-haired girl sat leaning against the tree, wearing headphones as she watched videos. Sensing their presence, she glanced sideways.
Recognizing them, she lazily greeted, "Yo."
"An Shiyu, aren’t you supposed to be picking up trash?" Tang Keke asked, then noticed An Shiyu’s trash bag was being used as a seat cushion—completely empty.
She hadn’t done any work.
"I have a condition where bending over could kill me, so I’m resting," An Shiyu sighed, feigning sorrow.
Tang Keke: "……"
Bai Yuyou, however, bent down slightly and asked, "That’s terrible… Can it be cured?"
Tang Keke was stunned. "You actually believe her?!"
Seeing Bai Yuyou’s clueless, tilted head, Keke immediately exposed An Shiyu’s terrible excuse. "Yuyou, she’s obviously just slacking off!"
"Really?" Bai Yuyou looked at An Shiyu. "Are you… slacking off?"
"Nope."
"She says no," Bai Yuyou relayed to Tang Keke.
Keke grabbed Bai Yuyou’s shoulders and shook her. "You absolute airhead!"
"You two came here too," An Shiyu remarked, removing her headphones.
"We’re just taking a short break because we’re tired."
"Same difference." An Shiyu yawned and went back to her phone. "Someone’s gotta be the lazy one in this world. Might as well be me."
"Uh…"