After leaving school, Xing Wu didn’t go home. In the evening, Qing Ye heard the sound of motorcycles—more than one. She was sitting by the window on the second floor doing practice problems when she looked down and saw Quan Ya, whom she had met at Shun Yi before. He was riding a motorcycle, and beside him stood another man who looked noticeably older than them, more like someone from outside school circles.
With them was a woman with big, smoky blue-gray curls, wearing sexy short shorts and a tight tank top, with a hot figure. They didn’t enter the barbershop but stood smoking at the entrance, waiting for Xing Wu. Qing Ye saw the hot girl holding a cigarette too, looking quite cool.
Xing Wu didn’t come upstairs; it wasn’t clear why he had returned. Shortly after, he came out with a small box. The group exchanged a few words at the entrance, and Xing Wu placed the box on the motorcycle’s footboard. The hot girl walked over and said something to him, and Xing Wu looked up and smiled at her. Although it was just an ordinary interaction, Qing Ye had never seen Xing Wu show such an unguarded smile to anyone.
Soon, they flicked away their cigarettes, and the two motorcycles disappeared at the entrance of Xuan Island.
The air conditioning in the room still gently fell on Qing Ye, but she felt a heat rising inside her. She put down her pen, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering with disdain: “Scumbag.” Then she picked up her pen and tried to focus again.
Xing Wu didn’t come back that night either. The next day, Qing Ye didn’t go downstairs, spending the whole day solving problems in her room. Aunt Lanfang finally showed some semblance of being an aunt, washing an apple and bringing it upstairs to Qing Ye, telling her to rest. Qing Ye took the apple and took a bite. Rest?
She gazed out at the gray sky and sighed. She didn’t dare to rest. She feared that if she stopped, she would be engulfed by this vast sea of dust. Her parents hadn’t raised her for eighteen years just to have her fall into this broken place. She couldn’t let herself be buried.
That evening, Meng Ruihang transferred the second payment to her. It wasn’t much, just tens of thousands, but it would last her a long time in her current situation.
He also told her that he had sent her the application deadlines and admission requirements for the University of Toronto, McGill, and the University of Montreal for next year. Qing Ye opened her computer, saw Meng Ruihang’s email, and replied: “Received, thank you.”
About half an hour later, Meng Ruihang sent her a photo of a box containing her old things from school, neatly arranged.
That day, after finishing her exam, she was taken away directly by Sun Hai. In the following days, she lived in chaos and breakdown, not even having time to say a final goodbye to her familiar classmates before leaving Beijing, naturally never returning to school.
Meng Ruihang told her he had kept all her school things safe, nothing missing, and they were now with him. He asked for her address to send them to her.
They were mostly dispensable items—stationery, study materials, water bottles, and various odds and ends, but Qing Ye remembered there was an electronic dictionary that contained all the copyrighted dictionaries needed for studying abroad. She needed it now. Her father had bought it specially for her, and being worth several thousand yuan, it wasn’t something she could casually discard, especially now that she had no income. Moreover, it would be troublesome to buy one at present, so she went downstairs to ask Aunt Lanfang for Xuan Island’s address, then sent it to Meng Ruihang, telling him to send the things there.
On the first day of official classes, Aunt Lanfang unusually got up early and boiled two eggs for Qing Ye, telling her to put them in her pocket. Qing Ye stared at the two eggs with a troubled expression, not knowing how to tell her that she didn’t like boiled eggs.
But Aunt Lanfang directly stuffed them into her bag and said: “Although your mother and I aren’t blood sisters, I grew up in her house and always treated her as my real sister. Now that she’s gone and entrusted you to me, I’ll take good care of you. I see other third-year high school students having such a hard time. I can’t control Wu’er anymore, but you must keep up with your nutrition. I see you locked in your room studying all day—don’t let your body break down.”
Qing Ye had originally planned to take out the eggs and return them to Aunt Lanfang, but hearing her sudden burst of concern, she didn’t have the heart to reject her kindness.
She did ask casually: “Where’s Xing Wu? Haven’t seen him for several days.”
Aunt Lanfang told her: “Wu’er took a job and went out of town.”
Out of town? Not even going to school?
Qing Ye was confused about school. Were high school students here so casual? Coming and going as they pleased? More importantly, Aunt Lanfang didn’t even try to manage Xing Wu, as if it was perfectly natural for someone his age to skip school and go out to earn money.
Qing Ye went out wearing her mint green suit, but as soon as she entered the classroom, she noticed all her classmates’ glances were somewhat… unfriendly, with an inexplicable sense of hostility, similar to the looks she used to get from those ranked in the top fifty after exam results were posted, those who were always behind her.
Qing Ye was long accustomed to these looks of jealousy from those who couldn’t surpass her, and with excellent psychological resilience, she walked back to her seat, glanced at the space behind her, sat down, and took out her books.
Xing Wu truly hadn’t come to school, skipping the very first day of classes. This dedication to education greatly impressed Qing Ye—even the most unruly rich kids in her previous class wouldn’t dare to skip class so blatantly. More astounding was that the teachers here chose selective amnesia, completely acting as if Xing Wu didn’t exist.
Qing Ye’s desk mate was a girl called Shi Min, and throughout the morning, Qing Ye found herself gaining respect for her. This Miss Shi was the most attentive student Qing Ye had seen since coming to this school. For all four classes, she maintained perfect posture, kept her eyes forward, stayed focused, and didn’t even go to the bathroom—even Qing Ye, who rarely got distracted in class, had to admire her.
She secretly felt relieved that An Zhong still had such dedicated students, and was even more grateful that this student was her desk mate. Compared to sitting with an underachiever, she preferred sitting with someone with such a proper attitude.
After lunch, Qing Ye lay on her desk for a while, but perhaps due to the unfamiliar environment and the noise, she couldn’t fall asleep. When she groggily sat up, the two desks to her left had been pushed together, with several boys playing cards with their legs propped up, occasionally cursing, their voices never stopping. Some girls in front were gathered around a phone watching some drama, while others were secretly applying makeup under their desks. Students were walking back and forth in front of the podium, the whole classroom a chaotic mess like a slaughterhouse.
Qing Ye turned her head and found Shi Min still copying English vocabulary words—truly a lotus rising from the mud in this class. Qing Ye couldn’t help but gain even more respect for her in her heart, quickly opening her book and trying to block out the noisy sounds to focus.
But before she could read much, suddenly several boys and girls appeared outside, shouting through the window: “Which one is Qing Ye?”
Qing Ye didn’t even raise her head, just lifted her eyelids slightly. Those people shouted again: “What? Too ugly to show your face?”
Shi Min nervously glanced at Qing Ye secretly, not daring to speak, sitting perfectly straight.
They heard a dyed-haired girl among them mock: “She’s probably quite ugly. How many good-looking ones have good grades?” The boys around her all laughed.
Qing Ye slowly straightened up and put down her pen, and Shi-Min raised her book to hide her face, saying weakly to Qing Ye: “Don’t go out, they’re from Class 4, not easy to deal with.”
Qing Ye looked at the group of delinquent-looking youth, sneered slightly, tucked her book away, and stood up.
The boys playing cards on the left stopped their game, the girls in front stopped watching their drama, and even the girl who had only done one eyebrow looked up to stare at Qing Ye.
The group outside quickly locked their eyes on the girl who had just stood up. The mint green suit caught their attention, the butterfly bow at her collar fluttering in the wind as she walked, her whole being radiating a composed and refined air. She walked out of the classroom to face the group, slowly lifting her eyelids to look at them: “What do you want?”
Just then, Qing Ye saw Xing Wu turning up from the stairwell behind the group, his tall figure carrying a black sports bag, short sleeves rolled up, looking lean and eye-catching. He quickly noticed the commotion in the corridor, tilted his chin, and swept a rather cold gaze over.
The boy in front of Qing Ye stared at her intently and said: “Yo, didn’t you all say she was super ugly?”
The tall dyed-hair girl glared at the boy beside her, then turned to meet Qing Ye’s calm gaze, suddenly getting angry: “I’m saying, why are you so damn calm? Do you think you’re so proud because you have good grades and looks?”
Qing Ye turned her eyes to look at her and asked back: “Isn’t it worth being proud of?”
“…” They never expected this transfer student to show no modesty at all, instead radiating an aura of fearlessness.
The dyed-haired girl suddenly grabbed Qing Ye’s collar bow, immediately loosening the smooth butterfly knot, and said fiercely: “Keep acting so arrogant.”
Qing Ye glanced slightly, seeing Xing Wu who had walked up close just brush past her shoulder and enter the classroom. Entered the classroom?
A fire suddenly rose in her chest, and she raised her eyes to coldly look at the dyed-haired girl: “Let go.”
The dyed-haired girl raised her hand, but before the slap could land, Qing Ye suddenly shouted: “Slap me!”
Instantly, all the students on the third floor stuck their heads out to look, while no one from Class 2 in the classroom stepped forward, just nervously watching this scene. Xing Wu walked back to his seat and put down his bag as if he hadn’t seen anything.
As soon as he sat down, Fat Hu hurriedly came over and anxiously said: “Brother Wu…”
Xing Wu looked up and stared at him, and Fat Hu forcefully swallowed his next words. Xing Wu took out his phone, propped his feet on the desk, and started playing games.
Meanwhile, the dyed-haired girl’s hand that was about to fall was suddenly startled by Qing Ye’s angry shout, and her hand froze for a moment. In these two seconds of hesitation, Qing Ye grabbed her wrist and threw it off forcefully, then turned to enter the classroom.
Two girls beside the dyed-haired girl stepped in front of her, blocking Class 2’s door, saying menacingly: “Leaving before we’re done talking? Do you think having good grades means you can walk sideways in An Zhong? We’re going to teach you how to be a person today.”
Qing Ye’s eyes swept over to Fat Hu, raising her voice to say to him: “Class monitor, aren’t you going to do anything when I can’t enter the classroom?”
Fat Hu had a constipated expression, looking at Qing Ye, then at Xing Wu. Qing Ye immediately understood from Fat Hu’s expression that he wouldn’t help, clenched her fist, took out her phone, and directly dialed a number: “Hello, is this the Academic Affairs Office?”
The surrounding students immediately looked at each other, showing angry expressions. Although they were troublemakers, they were still students, and no one wanted to be dragged to the Academic Affairs Office for a lecture. They pushed and shoved their way back to class. As she left, the dyed-haired girl forcefully pushed Qing Ye, causing her arm to slam hard against the doorframe. An instant piercing pain shot straight to her heart.
She bit her lip and looked down at her arm, covering it with her hand and taking a deep breath. She turned her head to look at that tall retreating figure, the light in her eyes growing cold.
Two seconds later, her face was as if nothing had happened as she entered the classroom, with everyone whispering as she passed.
Qing Ye blocked out everyone’s gaze as she walked to her seat, pulled out her chair, and suddenly slammed it hard into the desk behind her. The sound was so loud it made the whole class turn around, only to see that she had directly knocked Xing Wu’s desk askew.
If everyone had been watching the previous scene with an attitude of spectating entertainment, now they truly didn’t dare breathe. The originally noisy classroom instantly fell silent.
While Xing Wu just slowly put his feet down, casually straightened his desk, and continued playing his game, as if nothing had happened.
Only after Qing Ye sat down did she release her hand, looking at her arm—the skin was broken and bleeding. Shi Min gasped softly, which made Xing Wu lift his eyelids, his gaze falling on Qing Ye’s arm, and suddenly the light in his eyes sank.
Shi Min quickly dug out a Band-Aid from her bag and tore it open, helping Qing Ye put it on her arm while telling her: “Next time, don’t provoke Class 4 people.”
Qing Ye asked: “What’s wrong with Class 4 people?”
“Class 4…”
Shi Min had only said half when suddenly someone directly rushed into Class 2. Everyone shuddered again, and Shi-Min stammered: “Class 4 is the most chaotic class in our school, and that person is the most fierce.”
Qing Ye raised her head to look at this student who had just rushed into their class, supposedly the most fierce in Class 4 and immediately broke into a cold smile—Yellow Hair.