“Now let’s look at this question — regarding the determination of criminal responsibility, which of the following options is correct? A. Jia was born blind and, during college, seriously injured a roommate over a trivial matter. Jia has diminished criminal responsibility. B. Yi is deaf-mute and has long organized several other deaf-mute individuals to commit pickpocketing in public places. Yi has relative criminal responsibility. C. Bing took sleeping pills and fell into a deep sleep, causing the infant sharing the bed to suffocate. Bing lacks criminal responsibility. D. Ding, heavily drunk, walked home and, annoyed that someone’s car was blocking his way, smashed it, with no memory of the incident afterward. Ding has full criminal responsibility.”

Usually when Li Chongwen went over criminal law questions with Qian Wei, she’d sit through it dutifully, listening along. But today, faced with this particular question, she finally couldn’t hold back and lost it.

“No, wait, this question is completely unscientific. You’re telling me Jia was born blind and still managed to seriously stab someone? That’s damn impressive! And Yi, a deaf-mute who’s still disabled-but-determined, skilled and daring enough to steal in public and even organize a whole crew — round that up and he’s basically the CEO of a pickpocketing syndicate! Bing is even cooler — why would you take sleeping pills and then sleep right next to an infant? And Ding is quite something too — drunk out of his mind and still had the strength to smash up a car… this whole thing reads like a series about hidden masters among the common folk…”

Li Chongwen couldn’t help but laugh too. “I don’t know what the professor who wrote this criminal law exam question was thinking, this question really is bizarre.”

After a good laugh, Li Chongwen settled back down and diligently went through the rest of the material before finally closing his textbook.

“Come on, let me treat you to dinner.”

This time, Li Chongwen shook his head. “No need, you don’t have to treat me to dinner.”

Qian Wei was about to keep trying to persuade him, when she heard Li Chongwen continue, “Actually, I wanted to ask — are you free this Saturday?”

“Yeah!” Qian Wei was a bit puzzled. “What’s up?”

Li Chongwen looked a little bashful. “So, there’s an English speech competition this Saturday, and I’m one of the contestants selected to represent our law school. If you’re free, you’re welcome to come watch. The department wants us to bring some supporters, and I didn’t feel comfortable asking just anyone, but since we know each other pretty well…”

“No problem, no problem! I’ll definitely make you a support banner!” Qian Wei agreed immediately. “If Qian Chuan’s free, I’ll bring him along too — he’s been wanting to thank you for tutoring him in English!”

As it turned out, Qian Chuan wasn’t available.

“I’ve got a date, can’t make it.” Qian Chuan was completely absorbed in the glow of romance. “Zixin said she wants to check out the city, we’re planning to walk around the old Republican-era streets downtown on Saturday.”

With Qian Chuan out, Liu Shiyun happened to be free instead, and Qian Wei managed to convince her to come support Li Chongwen. She also roped in a few other girls from her class, but as a support squad, it still felt a bit thin, so Qian Wei’s mind turned to Lu Xun.

Wasn’t Lu Xun going through a breakup right now?! They always said that during a heartbreak, it’s best to find things to do to keep your mind occupied — the worst thing you can do is sit alone doing nothing, since that just leaves too much room for overthinking, making it harder to move on.

“Lu Xun, want to come to the English speech competition on Saturday?”

Lu Xun seemed rather surprised by the invitation. “You already know about this competition?”

Qian Wei nodded. “Come with us?”

Lu Xun smiled, and his mood seemed to lift. “Sure.”

Not long after arranging things with Lu Xun, Qian Wei got a call from Mo Tao.

“Qian Wei, are you free Saturday?”

Qian Wei thought, seriously, why does everyone want Saturday!

“Not free this Saturday! Some of our classmates are competing in that English speech competition, I’ve got to go cheer them on.”

Mo Tao, however, perked right up. “Wait, wait, wait! That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about! I’m representing the foreign languages college in that same competition. If you’re already coming to cheer on your classmates, that’s perfect.” His voice suddenly turned a little bashful. “By the way, I haven’t updated you yet — I finally got that neighbor girl I’ve been chasing.”

“No way! Congratulations, congratulations! No wonder you haven’t been bugging me for advice lately, turns out you’ve been making secret moves this whole time! You’d better treat me to dinner. A nice one! I want a whole table of meat!”

Mo Tao laughed. “Dinner? That’s the least I can do. Actually I was going to invite you along on Saturday anyway — my girlfriend will be coming to the speech competition too, so it’ll be a good chance to introduce you two. We can grab a meal together afterward, you’re basically our matchmaker.”

“No problem! Though once I’m there, I won’t be cheering for you, I’m on team law school support squad.”

Mo Tao’s voice was full of sweetness. “As long as I’ve got my girlfriend cheering me on, that’s all I need. Even a whole army couldn’t compare to her alone.”

“Okay, okay, stop being so mushy or I’m calling the police.”

Saturday afternoon finally arrived for the competition.

Qian Wei dragged Liu Shiyun along, and the two of them settled into the auditorium early to wait.

Li Chongwen still had a tutoring session to finish before the competition, so he was likely still on his way to the auditorium and hadn’t arrived yet. Mo Tao, having invited his girl to visit campus for the first time, was probably still lost in couple-y bliss in that little garden couples loved so much, so he wasn’t there either.

Lu Xun, on the other hand — the man who normally cut it as close as possible to the exact scheduled time — had, for once, actually shown up early this time.

What was even more surprising was that Lu Xun had dressed rather carefully today, almost as if he were the one about to go on stage himself.

The moment he appeared, Qian Wei spotted him instantly at the entrance of the auditorium, and the other girls in the hall who’d come to support their own college’s contestants noticed him too, sharp-eyed as ever, and began whispering among themselves.

“Lu Xun, over here, over here!” Qian Wei stood up and waved toward the person at the door. “I saved you a seat!”

Once Lu Xun had settled in, Qian Wei promptly handed him one of the drinks she’d prepared. He didn’t drink it, but instead took interest in a large bag sitting by Qian Wei’s feet.

“What’s this big bag you brought?”

The question got Qian Wei fired up. “This! It’s an LED soft-cloth support banner I custom-ordered online. Since we’re doing a support squad, we’ve got to do it properly!”

Liu Shiyun chimed in with equal fighting spirit. “Our law school might rank dead last in employment rates among all the majors, but we can’t lose on presence! The foreign languages college has way more girls, and their supporters outnumber ours several times over. When the time comes, we’re pulling out this banner and blinding their eyes with it!”

Lu Xun looked a bit taken aback. “It’s just a school-level speech competition, does it really need this level of production?”

“How is this too much!” Qian Wei said, unzipping the bag to show off her banner. “Look, it’s actually pretty low-key, and it’s foldable, I could carry it in here without anyone noticing.”

Lu Xun looked at the folded-up banner. “Is this thing expensive? Did you plan this out for a long time? I didn’t expect you to put this much thought into it.”

Liu Shiyun cut in. “Not expensive at all, and we only ordered it two days ago!”

Qian Wei pulled out her phone. “Made in one day, guaranteed to blind eyes, lifetime warranty, super lightweight — look at this, and it’s only fifty yuan, seriously good value for the price!”

For some reason, Lu Xun seemed to grow a little bashful. He glanced at Qian Wei. “Even fifty yuan is spending money on this. Can I see what it says on it?”

Qian Wei quietly peeled back a corner of the banner from the bag. “Don’t open it fully yet, if you see it now there won’t be any surprise later, I want to whip it out later and stun the whole crowd, get that whole presence going.”

Though only a corner was revealed, Lu Xun still managed to make out a few characters. “Ma… mad for you?” His face flushed slightly, and he looked away. “What kind of cheer slogan is that.”

“Mad for you, wild for you, banging my head against the wall for you!” Qian Wei said proudly. “How’s that? Catchy, rhymes, and pretty unforgettable, right? You don’t think it’s good?”

“…” Lu Xun’s expression was hard to describe, but in the end, he nodded. “It’s… fine, I guess.” He glanced off into the distance. “I mean, if you all genuinely feel that way, there’s nothing wrong with putting it on a banner.”

“Oh, by the way.”

“Hm?”

Lu Xun paused before continuing. “I heard Mo Tao from the foreign languages college is competing too. Did you make him a banner as well?”

Qian Wei waved her hands quickly. “No, no. Today I’m representing our law school, how could I possibly betray them and cheer for the foreign languages college? Not happening!”

“He’s not bothered by that?”

“I already gave Mo Tao a heads-up, he doesn’t mind.”

“Oh.”

Though Lu Xun didn’t say anything more, the corner of his mouth was slightly raised, and he seemed to be in good spirits.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” With only fifteen minutes left before the competition began, Li Chongwen finally arrived, running a bit late. He’d also changed into fairly formal attire, and now he looked like a refined, handsome young man, tall and good-looking. Standing next to Lu Xun, Qian Wei thought of that phrase — something about one man having a gentleness worn soft by time, the other a striking beauty that dazzled the age.

Li Chongwen spotted Lu Xun and greeted him with a smile. “You’re here quite early.”

Lu Xun seemed a bit uneasy. He coughed. “I didn’t have much else going on, thought I’d come early and get familiar with the venue.”

Li Chongwen patted Lu Xun on the shoulder. “Good luck out there later! Your English pronunciation is way better than mine, you’d better win us first place for the law school.”

Qian Wei: ??? Wait a minute…

She asked cautiously, seeking confirmation, “So… Lu Xun’s competing too???”

Li Chongwen smiled. “Yeah.”

Lu Xun frowned. “Didn’t you come here specifically to cheer people on?”

“Come on, it’s about time, we need to head backstage to gather.” Qian Wei was about to explain herself, but Li Chongwen glanced at his watch and pulled Lu Xun away, leaving Qian Wei only enough time to watch them go with a helpless, longing look.

The truth was, that cheer slogan actually had three more characters before it — “Li Chongwen.”

Fortunately, Qian Wei thought with lingering dread, this banner was foldable!!! She could just fold in the “Li Chongwen” part later! One banner, two uses! One country, two systems! Perfect! Not to mention, since they were cheering for their own school today, she could even secretly betray them and throw in some support for Mo Tao too!

“Has it started already?” Liu Shiyun, who’d just gone to the bathroom, finally returned, holding her stomach. “Such bad luck today, I’ve got a bit of a stomach bug, did I miss anything?”

Qian Wei waved her hand. “No, it just started.”

To keep things fair, the order in which contestants performed was decided by a live drawing once everyone had arrived. After the drawing, all the contestants waited in the front rows specially reserved in the auditorium, only heading backstage when their turn was coming up. Apparently, Li Chongwen and the others hadn’t drawn an early slot, because Qian Wei and Liu Shiyun craned their necks through several contestants without seeing them go up, while Mo Tao, of all people, had walked in for the drawing just barely on time.

“Hey, hey, hey!! Stop dozing off, Qian Wei! It’s Li Chongwen’s turn! He’s about to go on!” Liu Shiyun nudged Qian Wei, then excitedly pulled out the support banner.

Qian Wei had just been dozing off listening to the previous contestants’ English, and when Liu Shiyun nudged her, before she could even react, she saw Liu Shiyun quick-handedly pull out the support banner, and with a rustling sound, unfurl it completely.

Liu Shiyun wasn’t exactly subtle, and the commotion was loud enough that Lu Xun, still sitting in the front row waiting for his turn, instinctively turned his head around.

Qian Wei’s mind was screaming, “Oh no! No! Don’t!” — Liu Shiyun had stepped away with her stomach trouble right when Lu Xun arrived! And for the first half of the event she’d been zoning out too, never noticing who exactly was among the contestants waiting up front — she had no idea Lu Xun was also competing! Qian Wei tried to stop her, but Liu Shiyun was too fast — the entire banner had already been proudly unfurled in full view.

“Li Chongwen, mad for you, wild for you, banging my head against the wall for you!”

To make sure it stood out, Qian Wei had specifically ordered an LED light flashing alternately in red and blue. The moment the banner appeared, that long strip of oversized text genuinely stunned the entire audience into silence.

But Qian Wei just wanted to die…

Because Lu Xun’s gaze was fixed, unblinking, right on those three characters — “Li Chongwen”…

He must have realized it — this banner hadn’t been made for him at all, but for Li Chongwen…