Just after finishing their exams, the students felt relatively relaxed. Those confident in themselves had already checked their answers and estimated their scores, while those lacking confidence couldn’t be bothered to look at the answers, taking the day easy.
Due to the upcoming school anniversary, the school seemed particularly lively these days. Off-campus stationery stores were selling Mingli High School’s emblematic postcards and mugs. This year, there was a collaboration between the art students and the school. They drew caricatures of some popular teachers, which were then turned into various souvenirs. A tent was set up at the school gate for exclusive sales.
After class, Lu Xingyan and Li Chengfan went to the restroom to smoke. Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming chatted about games while smoking, but Lu Xingyan seemed absent-minded. He smoked half a cigarette, then suddenly extinguished it and walked out.
Li Chengfan said, “Hey, Yan-ge, you’re leaving?”
Lu Xingyan didn’t even turn his head. “Hurry up, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Outside the restroom, he leaned against the railing, chewing on a piece of gum. Coincidentally, girls were discussing in the adjacent girls’ restroom while washing their hands:
“That caricature of Li Deming is really cute! He’s much cuter than he is in real life. I bought a whole set.”
“Liang Dong’s is also good. You know, Liang Dong is usually so stiff… But Wang Youfu’s doesn’t feel special at all. I didn’t buy his.”
“YeAh the one he drew isn’t as interesting as he is. Oh, now that you mention it, I was going to tell you earlier, but then class started, and I forgot.”
“What is it?”
“When I went to the political office this morning, Wang Youfu and Li Deming were arguing. Well, not arguing, but they were disputing. Li Deming even taunted Wang Youfu, implying that he’s unpopular and that his merchandise sales rank last among the teachers. That’s about it. But the look on Wang Youfu’s face was almost like he was dying of anger.”
“Hahaha, are they really that childish?”
“A lot of teachers in our grade are quite childish. I almost died laughing when I heard.”
Indeed, it was quite childish. Lu Xingyan listened in briefly before scoffing lightly. Soon, Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming came out, and the three of them walked back to the classroom, discussing other topics. The petty gossip about the teachers’ childish behavior faded quickly from Lu Xingyan’s mind.
Just after the mid-term exams, it was time for the school anniversary. The teachers knew the students wouldn’t be able to concentrate, so most of Wednesday’s classes were left for self-study.
Shen Xingruo had taken the whole afternoon off, saying she had to rehearse in the auditorium and might not be back until evening self-study. Before leaving, He Siyue remembered something and turned back to her. “Oh, Shen Xingruo, you’re part of the anniversary performance. The school issued tickets separately. I almost forgot.”
With that, he found the tickets and handed them to Shen Xingruo. “You can give them to your roommates.”
“Oh, thank you,” Shen Xingruo said as she took them, counting to find there were five. She casually slipped them into the outer pocket of her backpack.
As it was time for dismissal, Zhao Langming leaned against Li Chengfan’s desk, playing a game together. When Shen Xingruo got up, the two of them teased her.
“Ruojie, are you going for rehearsal? Don’t be nervous, really, just play casually, and you’ll wow everyone.”
“Zhao Langming, it’s rare for you to speak like a human. Oh, Ruojie, we’re not going to the anniversary this time, but our hearts will always be with you!” Li Chengfan’s eyes darted between his phone screen and Shen Xingruo, even managing to free a hand to shape half a heart on his head.
Zhao Langming caught on and formed the other half of the heart. They leaned their heads together and made a heart gesture to her.
Shen Xingruo nodded slightly in response and left the room.
Seeing their oily display, Lu Xingyan felt extremely uncomfortable. Before Shen Xingruo left the classroom, he kicked the leg of Li Chengfan’s chair. “Stop disgusting me, both of you.”
“Damn it! Yan-ge, what’s wrong with you? You ruined my skill… Damn it! There’s just a sliver of health left!”
Zhao Langming widened his eyes. “You’re quite good at shifting blame, you noob.”
Lu Xingyan snatched his phone and continued the game himself.
As the summer approached, the sun hung brightly in the sky, casting warm rays into the classroom through the window grids, making the whole afternoon feel cozy. Normally, this would be the perfect time for a nap, and indeed, a large portion of the class was fast asleep. However, Lu Xingyan, for some reason, felt completely awake. He occasionally glanced at Shen Xingruo’s backpack.
The last geography class was also a self-study session. The teacher sat at the lectern grading assignments after assigning two pages of workbook exercises. Lu Xingyan played with his phone for a while, then lifted his head to find everyone around him either sleeping or quietly working on their exercises. Suddenly, a bold idea struck him.
He stuffed his phone into the desk hole, yawned lazily, casually picked up a pen, and then opened the workbook to doodle and scribble. As he doodled, he seemed to have lost something. He searched around and then casually picked up Shen Xingruo’s backpack, flipping through it.
Seeing Li Chengfan asleep on the desk next to him, snoring peacefully, Lu Xingyan quietly pulled out a ticket for the school anniversary from the outer pocket of Shen Xingruo’s backpack. Then, acting as if nothing had happened, he put Shen Xingruo’s backpack back and continued doodling in the workbook. Not far away, Ruan Wen, tired from solving questions, was startled by his series of actions, her eyes wide open.
When the geography class finally ended, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Some had just woken up, yawning and stretching lazily in their seats. Soon, the sound of desks and chairs being pushed and pulled echoed in the classroom as the students got up in groups of two or three and headed outside the school for snacks.
Lu Xingyan didn’t know when he fell asleep, but the bell didn’t wake him up, nor did the noise in the classroom. Zhao Langming had initially wanted to pat his shoulder and call him to join them for food, but Li Chengfan stopped him in time. “Are you looking to die? Don’t call him. He’s in a bad mood today, haven’t you noticed?”
“Is he?” Zhao Langming looked skeptical, but his body displayed his fear of death quite honestly. He didn’t reach out again and even lowered his voice by eight degrees.
Since neither Li Chengfan nor Zhao Langming called him, no one else dared to disturb him. Gradually, people left, and the classroom became quieter. When the classroom was almost silent, Lu Xingyan, still rubbing his eyes sleepily, lifted his head. Seeing only two girls sitting together eating fruit, he suddenly lost interest in pretending and got up decisively, swiftly leaving the classroom.
The two girls had just been discussing Lu Xingyan with enthusiasm, but now, they looked at each other in confusion.
In any school, there would always be breakfast shops, stationery stores, snack stalls, and of course, printing shops. Due to the dominance of the breakfast shops and stationery stores, the printing shops near Mingli were squeezed to the end of Book Street. Four or five shops lined up neatly, looking harmonious and friendly.
Lu Xingyan chose the most upscale one. The sign listed more than twenty types of services. The shop was empty at the moment, so he pushed the door open and directly took out the ticket, waving it at the boss who was editing on the computer. “Boss, can you print me one exactly like this?”
The boss stood up, took the ticket from him, and examined it carefully for a moment. Then, his expression suddenly turned strange. “Do you want it just color printed or do you want to use special paper like copperplate paper?”
Lu Xingyan didn’t understand the various options. He got straight to the point. “Just make it the same, something I can use.”
The boss scrutinized him from head to toe, his expression becoming increasingly strange. Lu Xingyan felt inexplicable and added, “Money is not a problem.”
Money might not be a problem, but you’re a problem. What’s with making fake tickets out of nowhere?
The boss muttered to himself, then handed the ticket back to Lu Xingyan. “Sorry, this won’t work. The tickets from your school are pretty advanced; they have scanning features. Just printing them won’t do any good.”
He couldn’t help but ask, “But why do you want to print this? Although it’s just a ticket for the school anniversary, forging tickets is illegal, you know.”
“…Well,” Lu Xingyan said sarcastically, “You seem to be a model citizen.”
“Why not just run for office instead of owning a printing shop?” The boss felt oddly proud after hearing this. “Believe it or not, I used to be the head of the school’s disciplinary team when I was a student, specifically in charge of keeping each class in line.”
Lu Xingyan was speechless and didn’t bother with him anymore. He took two steps back, pushed the door, and walked out.
Since the high-end shop couldn’t do it, he went to the other shops one by one, but none of them could help either.
Carrying the ticket, Lu Xingyan walked back, suddenly feeling like he was going crazy, acting like a fool for a school anniversary celebration. Was it worth all this trouble? He made up his mind not to go to the stupid event. But as soon as he entered the school gate, he saw a crowd around the booth selling Q-version merchandise of the teachers.
At that moment, he remembered the conversation he overheard while smoking.
Thoughts exploded in his mind, setting off fireworks. He walked over, looking lazy and indifferent. Some people recognized him and whispered, making room for him automatically. Even the girl running the stall recognized him, stealing glances at him shyly.
Without looking up, he casually picked up a refrigerator magnet and asked, “Do you have any of Wang Youfu’s?”
“All of the teachers are here,” the girl replied.
Silently in her heart, she added: But hardly any of Wang’s sold.
So Lu Xingyan casually said, “His, I’ll take them all.”
The onlookers naturally went through the trilogy of surprise, confusion, and chill, while Lu Xingyan remained nonchalant as if he had just bought some cabbage.
With so many items, Lu Xingyan couldn’t be bothered to carry them. He paid and had them delivered directly to Class One, one for each person, and any extras were sent to Class Four – because Wang Youfu also taught political science there.
Of course, more importantly, the homeroom teacher of Class Four was Li Deming.
Upon returning to the classroom, Lu Xingyan put the ticket back where it belonged. As expected, not long after evening self-study started, Wang Youfu sent someone to call him to the office.
Lu Xingyan reached the door just as Shen Xingruo was returning to the classroom, her hair disheveled as she tied it up, possibly due to rehearsal requirements.
As they passed each other, Lu Xingyan caught a whiff of the grassy scent on her neck, similar to his own, but with a hint of delicate floral fragrance.
For some reason, he couldn’t help but smirk.
Shen Xingruo was busy with rehearsals, and she hadn’t even eaten dinner, feeling drained of energy. She only brought a carton of milk, but halfway through it, He Siyue turned to her and asked in a hushed tone, “Have you had dinner?”
Shen Xingruo shook her head.
Siyue chuckled, “I have a friend also in rehearsals. They still message me during rehearsals, asking me to bring them food. I figured you probably hadn’t eaten either.”
Their rotating seats for the week happened to be under the surveillance camera, in a blind spot. He Siyue glanced up, then discreetly passed her a sandwich from under the desk.
Shen Xingruo paused, then set down her milk and thanked him.
“No problem,” He Siyue replied with a smile, tilting his head towards the desk, indicating he would continue with his work.
Shen Xingruo nodded, and she smiled back warmly. She thought He Siyue was a nice guy – gentle, considerate, and always willing to help. Although he didn’t have Lu Xingyan’s flashy looks, his smile was also attractive, with clean and neat teeth, giving people a warm and approachable feeling.
After the first evening study session, Shen Xingruo finally opened the sandwich. Ruan Wen ran over from the back and, seeing that Lu Xingyan hadn’t returned yet, sat in his seat and leaned in to talk to Shen Xingruo. “Xingruo, let me tell you something.”
Shen Xingruo nodded in response.
After hesitating for almost the whole afternoon, Ruan Wen found it difficult to speak up. She hesitated and kept an eye on whether Lu Xingyan would suddenly appear at the front or back door. After a long while, she said softly, “During geography class today, I saw Lu Xingyan rummaging through your bag…”
Shen Xingruo’s chewing slowed down.
Ruan Wen continued hesitantly, “It seemed like he took something, from the outer pocket. Do you want to check?”
She added, “Maybe I was mistaken, or maybe he accidentally left something in your bag…”
Shen Xingruo set down her sandwich and opened the outer pocket.
Ruan Wen asked, “Is anything missing?”
Shen Xingruo unfolded and counted the items one by one. “Nothing’s missing.”
Meanwhile, in the office, Wang Youfu lectured Lu Xingyan earnestly with a smile on his lips. “…We shouldn’t pay attention to these formalities. They have no practical use for teachers’ teaching or your learning.”
“Lu Xingyan, I know your family is well-off, but you shouldn’t waste money like this. Over a hundred items, and you bought them all at once. Our classmates can’t even divide them up, so they have to be distributed to Class Four as well.”
Beside him, Li Deming adjusted his glasses, watching Wang Youfu’s overly enthusiastic demeanor, and couldn’t help but sip his tea in silence.
Lu Xingyan nodded several times, then continued, “It’s mainly because you, Teacher Wang, are so popular. The school anniversary only happens once a year, so it’s only right to splurge a bit. Plus, your memorabilia will have great value in the future.”
Wang Youfu’s mouth curled up crazily, his eyes narrowed into slits from laughing.
Li Deming couldn’t bear it anymore, he slammed down his teacup and stood up, storming out angrily. As he reached the door, he turned back and pointed at Wang Youfu, admonishing, “Corruption!”
Wang Youfu shook his head with a smile.
He watched Li Deming storm away in frustration.
Finally regaining some popularity among the crowd, Wang Youfu felt utterly relaxed.
After going through all the motions of the performance, Lu Xingyan finally broached the topic of the performance fee.
He cleared his throat a couple of times and casually asked, “By the way, Teacher Wang, do you still have tickets for the school anniversary? Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming want to go.”
“Yes, yes, you guys should go and enjoy the school anniversary. It’s a good thing,” Wang Youfu said with a bright smile.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Before Wang Youfu could finish his sentence to Lu Xingyan, he called out, “Come in.”
Lu Xingyan also turned to look.
It was Ruan Wen and Shen Xingruo.
Judging by their appearance, they had just arrived, so they probably hadn’t heard the previous conversation.
But as soon as he saw Shen Xingruo, Lu Xingyan had a bad feeling. He thought to himself, “Wang Youfu, please don’t blurt out anything about Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming wanting to attend the school anniversary, you might give yourself away.”
Before he could finish that thought, the next moment, his dread multiplied tenfold, as Wang Youfu inadvertently confirmed it:
“Oh, Shen Xingruo, you’ve arrived just in time. I gave you the remaining tickets for the school anniversary earlier, right? Give a few to Lu Xingyan. He, Li Chengfan, and oh, what’s his name, Zhao Langming, they all want to go.”
Lu Xingyan: “…”
Shen Xingruo: “…”
Their eyes met in midair.
Both were filled with complex emotions.
Lu Xingyan found it difficult to describe the emotions he felt at that moment.
Why add insult to injury by mentioning that he also wanted to go watch the event? His heart suddenly churned with tumultuous waves, like a tsunami crashing down, causing landslides and mudflows… He wanted to return all of Wang Youfu’s tacky memorabilia in the next second.
Five minutes later.
Ruan Wen stayed behind in the office to tally assignment scores.
Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo left Wang Youfu’s office together.
Lu Xingyan was still trying to justify himself. “It’s a few friends from Class Three who want to go, but if I had told Wang Youfu that it’s for Class Three, he definitely wouldn’t have given them. He holds a grudge against the Class Three homeroom teacher, you wouldn’t know since you’re new.”
Trying to change the subject, he added, “Speaking of which, Wang Youfu seems to have a grudge against the homeroom teachers of several classes on the first floor.”
Seeing Shen Xingruo indifferent as she entered the classroom, he redirected the conversation, adopting a semi-exasperated expression to emphasize his innocence. “I didn’t want to go. You heard before the rehearsal, both Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming said they weren’t going. We had plans to play pool instead. If you don’t want the tickets, it’s fine. I’ll have the Class Three folks figure it out themselves when the time comes.”
Shen Xingruo remained silent as she took her seat.
As Lu Xingyan settled into his seat as well, she suddenly placed the extra tickets on his desk.
“No need to explain. I understand,” she said lightly.
Lu Xingyan was puzzled. “Understand what?”
Shen Xingruo casually opened her workbook and replied, “You were just stunned by my unparalleled beauty and wanted to see me perform, so you don’t need to explain.”