Yu Hao’s first encounter with Lu Huaizheng was during military training, and it wasn’t a pleasant memory.
Legend had it that the old No. 18 Middle School campus was once a cemetery, making students uneasy. There were also rumors that a madman was kept in a small hut on the back mountain, supposedly a former male teacher at No. 18 Middle School. They’d even heard that a seventh-grade girl in a red dress had drowned in the green pond in front of the teaching building—she had allegedly committed suicide after being raped by that teacher from the back mountain. In short, there were versions of stories for everything.
To ease students’ anxieties, the school leadership applied to rebuild a new campus. The director of studies at that time was called Jingang, a former soldier who took bold measures and immediately implemented this plan.
Their class happened to coincide with the demolition and reconstruction of the old and new campuses. During the half-month military training, both male and female students were arranged in the same dormitory building. Due to the terrain, the third floor of the dormitory was the exit. Girls lived on the first to third floors, going directly downstairs to exit, while boys lived on the fourth to sixth floors, going upstairs, with iron railings separating them. A few days later, a group of migrant workers from the neighboring construction site moved in.
That day was probably the last evening of military training. Jingang had taken all the students to the auditorium to watch a military documentary. A girl in Yu Hao’s room named Shang Qing had suffered heatstroke during daytime training and had been vomiting all afternoon. Jingang specially permitted her to return and rest that evening and also asked Yu Hao to fetch some heat-relief medicine from the infirmary for Shang Qing. When Yu Hao went to deliver it, she encountered that terrifying scene.
Two burly, grimy men had broken into their dormitory to steal, but upon seeing Shang Qing dressed scantily, with an alluring young figure, they became lustful. They quietly locked the door and approached her with menacing gestures, using threats and inducements to make her cooperate.
All seventeen or eighteen-year-old girls had never seen such things. Yu Hao froze in the corner for a few seconds before running away. She ran to the third-floor dormitory management office, only to find the aunt wasn’t there. She thought about running to the auditorium for help but realized it was too far. Anxious like an ant on a hot pot, amid her panic and helplessness, she saw Lu Huaizheng and two other boys coming down from upstairs, hands in their pockets.
Outside, dusk was falling, and the corridor lights were dim. She couldn’t see his face, nor did she have the presence of mind to do so.
The three boys were chatting and laughing as they descended the stairs, their hair still damp, apparently having just showered.
Yu Hao suddenly felt as if she had grasped a lifeline, rushing over and firmly grabbing the arm of the one in the middle. Yet she completely forgot that they too were only sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys, no match for those two migrant workers in their prime who worked at construction sites daily.
The two friends nudged Lu Huaizheng with their elbows, winking suggestively. Through the dim light, one of the boys even recognized her, exclaiming, “Oh, isn’t this Yu Hao, the one who sang on the podium on the first day of military training?”
Yu Hao had been talented in many ways since childhood and was named by the school leadership to lead students in singing military songs on the first day of training.
The girl stood on the podium wearing camouflage and a military cap, the brim shadowing half her face, revealing a round, smooth chin. With red lips and white teeth, her voice was crisp and clear, particularly captivating.
Lu Huaizheng wasn’t as vulgar-minded as his two friends and genuinely thought Yu Hao might need his help. With his hands in his pockets, he bent down, tilting his head to try to see Yu Hao’s face, then heard a tearful voice—
“Two men broke into our dorm… my roommate is still inside.”
Yu Hao rarely cried, but that day she was truly terrified, trembling all over with cold shivers, her voice shaking like a sieve.
The three boys were momentarily stunned, looking at each other with wide eyes, instantly understanding what had happened.
Although they weren’t model students, with a girl crying pitifully in front of them, their sense of masculine duty suddenly surged.
Lu Huaizheng reacted quickest, telling the boy on his left, “Go get Jingang,” then turned to pull Yu Hao down the stairs in a few strides.
He still had his wits about him, not blindly playing the hero, knowing to seek help.
Yu Hao’s dorm was at the very end of the first floor. The two of them could already vaguely hear intermittent sobbing from the corridor. She was so frightened her whole body went weak. Lu Huaizheng pulled her to the wall. In the darkness, she heard the young man softly tell her:
“Wait here, no matter what happens inside, don’t come in.”
He then grabbed a mop from the corner and tried to push the door, only to find it had been locked. He shook the lock forcefully with clattering sounds. The sounds inside seemed to grow louder. Lu Huaizheng suddenly kicked the door and shouted: “What are you doing in there? Open the door!”
The sobbing inside suddenly stopped. Shang Qing whimpered a couple more times, seemingly pleading with the person outside to save her.
“I said open the door!”
Lu Huaizheng suddenly lowered his voice and roared, then rolled up his sleeves and began pounding on the door, kicking it several more times.
After a series of violent kicks, he told the other boy, “Go guard outside, don’t let them escape through the window.”
By the time he kicked the door open, the two men inside had hurriedly put on their clothes and were preparing to escape through the window. He knocked them down from the windowsill with a single blow.
Seeing no escape, the two men steeled themselves for a fight to the death with him. He also mustered all his strength to grapple fiercely with them. Though his reactions were quick, he was ultimately outnumbered. Being young at the time, his strength was no match for those burly men. He was quickly knocked to the ground but still managed to grab one man’s legs, using the fighting techniques his father had taught him to firmly lock the man beneath his feet. Restraining one was already a struggle; the other took the opportunity to pound his face with heavy punches.
Lu Huaizheng cursed inwardly, “Damn it, didn’t your mother teach you not to hit the face?!”
But he was truly tough, refusing to let go no matter what, maintaining an attitude that no one was leaving today.
Finally, Jingang rushed in with his men. Having been a soldier and knowing some martial arts since childhood, he dealt with people swiftly and efficiently. Despite his bulky appearance, he moved agilely and decisively, tying up the men in no time. Only then did Lu Huaizheng release his grip, completely relaxing as he fell backward onto the ground, gasping for breath. Lying there, he glanced at Jingang with a sideways smile: “You finally came.”
It was probably from that moment that Jingang developed a special feeling toward Lu Huaizheng, finding that ruthless spirit in him particularly reminiscent of himself in his younger days. He tossed aside his club, squatted down to check Lu Huaizheng’s injuries, and after confirming there was nothing serious, patted his shoulder saying, “Get up, you did well today. Tomorrow the school will publicly commend you.”
The boy remained lying on the ground, “Skip the public commendation, just offset a future demerit for me next time I make a mistake.”
“No time for your jokes, if you don’t get up, just keep lying there.”
The boy then cursed, “Damn, I could get up, but my waist is nearly broken from the kicks.”
Jingang was about to scold him for being a cheeky brat when Yu Hao appeared from nowhere, quick to help him up.
When the cold touch met his arm, Lu Huaizheng was startled. He hadn’t expected this girl to be so perceptive. Supporting himself on the floor to sit up, he crossed his long legs, his face covered in blood, grinning at her as he flexed his shoulder blades,
“Thanks.”
After that incident, Lu Huaizheng’s group of boys suggested to the school leaders that the girls should move upstairs while the boys lived on the first floor, at least to prevent people from breaking in. Jingang was moved to see these normally carefree boys thinking about protecting the girls. He would later occasionally mention to future students, “Some seniors from your school were particularly good, especially aware of protecting their female schoolmates. They were the most united class of students I’ve ever taught, unlike you lot, always bullying girls, so immature!”
After military training ended, within a month came the school’s basketball tournament. Lu Huaizheng alone scored forty points for Class 8, causing the girls from Class 8 to erupt in excitement, rushing to bring him water and towels. He grabbed the front of his basketball jersey and wiped his face roughly, accepting only water and nothing else. Then, hunching his back, his gaze returned to the court, watching intently, occasionally tilting his head back to gulp water, sweat sliding down his smooth neck into his blue jersey.
Later, someone started joking that Lu Huaizheng was good at basketball, had a good personality, and was handsome, teasingly calling him the school’s heartthrob. He wasn’t embarrassed at all and joked back, “You’ve got good taste.”
Not long after military training ended, Shang Qing wrote a letter and asked Yu Hao to deliver it to Lu Huaizheng. Since that day, she hadn’t seen Lu Huaizheng again, and even when they passed each other on the road, they rarely greeted each other.
Yu Hao found it strange: “Why don’t you give it to him yourself?”
Shang Qing lowered her head, her fingertips tightly gripping the letter, but remained silent.
She didn’t dare, and since the incident had just ended, she was also afraid to go directly to his classroom to find him, fearing gossip.
After that day, she encountered Lu Huaizheng on the road. With the blood washed from his face, his clean-featured face was especially handsome. He passed by her, arm in arm with other boys, laughing and chatting, particularly radiant.
Shang Qing was shy and reserved. Her parents were farmers, and she had a brother ten years younger than her. Her mother said that if she couldn’t get into a good university after high school, she shouldn’t waste time and should go out to work and earn money, saving some for her brother’s future marriage. She had been self-conscious since childhood and had hardly spoken to ordinary boys, let alone someone like Lu Huaizheng. She wasn’t like Yu Hao—beautiful, generous, from a well-off family. Even if Yu Hao was a bit cold and proud, no one dared to offend her.
If she was aloof toward others, people said she was pretentious; if she was enthusiastic, people said she was trying to gain favor. She had experienced this deeply in middle school.
Shang Qing pulled back the envelope, murmuring, “Never mind then.”
She was about to return to her seat when Yu Hao called her back, “Give it to me, I’m going to the teachers’ office later, it’s on my way.”
After much hesitation, Shang Qing finally placed the envelope on the corner of her desk, uttering a thank you before leaving.
During the break after the second period, Yu Hao needed to go to the teacher’s office to fetch homework, so she took the letter along. When passing by Class 8’s door, she asked someone to call Lu Huaizheng out.
And then the boys from Class 8 went wild.
Out of her military uniform and into her school uniform, Yu Hao had lost a touch of that heroic spirit, her features looking much softer and clearer. With a high ponytail, she appeared refined and elegant. When speaking to others, she would slightly bend forward, her voice like a gentle stream—not coquettish, but like a clear, refreshing spring, pleasant to the ear. It was rumored that Yu Hao had a cold personality, and had been famous in middle school for her outstanding achievements, constantly performing in art festivals and winning numerous awards. Both her parents were professors at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, an intellectual family. She had underperformed in the middle school entrance exam and was assigned to No. 18 Middle School. The boys who had pursued her in middle school, if lined up, would form a field of chives, countable by the handful.
Meeting in person wasn’t like hearing from rumors—she wasn’t as aloof as legend had it. She looked quite scholarly, with gentle eyes and a clean demeanor.
Lu Huaizheng was leaning back in his chair, chatting idly. Hearing his name, he turned his head with a confused expression and saw Yu Hao standing there.
He stared at her for a moment before slowly strolling to the classroom door. At that time, his head still bore marks of the fight, with a small white gauze wrapped around his temple, partially covered by his tousled bangs. Leaning against the door frame, he bent his head and smiled at her casually: “Looking for me?”
Yu Hao didn’t even look up, hastily stuffed the letter into his hand, and turned to leave.
When she returned to her classroom, Shang Qing eagerly approached to inquire, “Did he take it?”
Yu Hao gathered the homework to distribute, nodding, “Yes, he did.”
Only then did Shang Qing leave, reassured.
A few days later, Shang Qing came to find her again, looking anxious, “I saw him eating with boys from Class 8 in the cafeteria today. Why is his forehead still wrapped in gauze? Do you think it will leave a scar?”
Yu Hao had no idea, she wasn’t a doctor. Before she could answer, Shang Qing slipped her another note: “This is my grandfather’s ancestral secret recipe, it can remove scars. Please help me give it to him. Such a handsome face shouldn’t be scared.”
Yu Hao agreed, took the note, looked at Shang Qing, but said: “This is the last time.”
Shang Qing nodded repeatedly like a garlic pounder.
The second time Yu Hao went to find Lu Huaizheng, he was leaning in the corridor chatting with several boys. Yu Hao didn’t call him but stood straight by the window waiting for him to finish talking.
By the time they finished chatting, the class bell was already ringing, and the boys scattered. Lu Huaizheng also got up from the railing, and only then did he casually spot her. He rubbed his nose tip as he approached, asking with a trace of a smile in his eyes, “Waiting for me?”
Yu Hao nodded and handed him the note.
Lu Huaizheng looked down at a pair of hands extended before him, with clear, clean palm lines. Fingers like spring onions, slender and long, with a note lying in the palm, fluttering gently in the wind.
The class bell abruptly ceased, and the noisy classroom suddenly quieted down. A fragrance of osmanthus flowers wafted in with the breeze, accompanied by several intermittent, extremely suggestive coughs from inside.
Both were eye-catching figures and soon some gossip began to circulate. After that, Shang Qing never asked her to deliver anything again.