Chapter 7 (2)

  Yao Shuqin and Quancai developed rapidly, making people look at them with admiration. Quancai became more and more daring, sitting next to Yao Shuqin during evening self-study sessions, the two of them chatting non-stop. Yu Xiang couldn't help but admire how they could find so many things to talk about, then smiled at Qian Rong, who was scorched by Yu Xiang's gaze and couldn't bear it anymore, standing up to say: "Hey, this is Class 3, please ask students from other classes to leave." Quancai was hesitating whether to stay or go when Yao Shuqin said: "I'm looking for him to ask a question, none of your business." Yu Xiang heard these heartless words and felt sorry for Qian Rong, thinking that girls without conscience were all like this, turning their faces faster than washing them.

  Qian Rong was still fuming, so he wrote a weekly journal entry. Mei Tong read it and immediately came to the evening self-study session to investigate. He caught the two of them together and called Yao Shuqin and Quan Cai to the office, saying "You two are hopeless." As he said this, his own face turned red. Then he advised the two of them to think carefully about how to overcome their youthful impulses. After being released, the two of them were still shaken, but they symbolically overcame their desires for a day. They couldn't help but be together again, and as Mei Tong had said, even if there was no result, it was enough just to have some fun.

  Qian Rong was not satisfied, and his hatred for Yao Shuqin was deeper than the school's questions. When they met on the road by chance, he cursed: "You hit me, giilie!" Yao Shuqin didn't retort with anything, just gave him a cold stare, which had much more power than Qian Rong's words, because Yao Shuqin couldn't understand what Qian Rong was saying, and he was only cursing for the sake of it; Yao Shuqin's cold stare was different, she herself couldn't see it, but she gave it to Qian Rong alone. In one round, Qian Rong didn't gain any advantage at all.

  Lin Yuxiang was happy to see two people fighting, and it would be better if they could fight out something.

  When Qian Yao was fighting fiercely, Lin Yuxiang unfortunately fell ill for the first time in his third year at Municipal South Middle School. One morning when he got up, his body ached all over, his hands and feet felt like they were going to fall off, and his throat felt like it had been scalded by cigarette smoke. After getting out of bed and taking a few steps, his head felt heavy as if he was going to die, causing him to stumble around, feeling like he wanted to take off his head to lighten the load on his body. Yuxiang cried out in his heart: "I'm sick!" His face full of fear, he went everywhere asking for medicine, but his roommates didn't even look at his condition and just said no, pushing him away. Zhe Jingyuan rummaged through his trunk and after a while also said no.

  Lin Yuxiang's appetite was gone, and he rushed to the infirmary, got two packs of cold medicine, and then clumsily held the pills to ask for water to drink. A classmate saw the medicine and hid the water bottle tightly, saying: "Ah! You're sick? Still asking me for water, wanting me to get infected?" After begging for half a day, he finally met someone who didn't have time to hide the water bottle, and was forced to agree, but only if Lin Yuxiang brought his own container or didn't touch the mouth of the water bottle with his lips. Yuxiang's head was dizzy and didn't want to move, so he chose the latter, drank until his body was full of water, and almost choked on the medicine.

  I can't do that. Is there anything else I can help you with?

  "Teacher Hu, I'm asking for a leave of absence." Yuxiang's voice was barely audible.

  "The homework here is really intense... In the class I used to teach, there was a student who had a high fever but still insisted on attending classes. He eventually fainted... What spirit..."

  Yu Xiang's face was already exhausted and didn't want to make an expression, but in his heart he was greatly shocked, thinking that this time it was over, and he had to wait until he fainted before he could rest.

  "Can you still eat?" Hu Mei asked softly. In her ideal scenario, Yu Xiang's answer would be that he could eat, but unexpectedly, Yu Xiang choked out: "No way, I'd better rest, rest for a day."

  "Alright, you take this note to the dorm teacher and then go back to your room to rest." Lin Yuxiang thanked Hu Mei for not killing him with her thoughts, turned around to leave, but heard a familiar voice from Principal Qian's direction "I won't do it again". Suddenly turning his head, his spirit was like being struck by a heavy hammer, this boy was the one who sold him the portable CD player that night. For a moment, all his illness disappeared, remembering he spent 150 yuan to buy a pile of junk, he felt invigorated and wanted to go fight.

  The boy also sensed that the atmosphere was a bit strange, and he inadvertently swept his eyes, took a big fright, thinking that the world was so small, hurriedly shifted his line of sight, bowed his head, as if Lin Yuxiang's illness had all escaped onto him.

  Lin Yuxiang was excited to jump out and expose the truth, but deep down he was afraid. He first quit and stood at the door, waiting for the boy to come out, then slipped into the political education office and said to the two instructors: "Teachers, I want to report a situation."

  "What's going on?"

  "That classmate just now was——"

  "Smell, he's a senior three student, don't bother reasoning with him, what? Did he hit you?"

  "No, he smuggled things."

  The two instructors asked: "What?"

  "He smuggled things."

  "Smuggle things."

  "She introduced me to a smuggled Walkman last week, I spent 200 yuan on it, wanting to buy one that can play English, but it broke after using it once. I know him, but didn't know he was a student at Shiniuzhong until now, what a coincidence."

  Principal Qian slammed his hand on the table, staring at the empty air in front of him as if it were that boy, and scolded: "How could there be such a student at Shi'nan No. 3 Middle School! At such a young age, he's already learned to commit crimes like smuggling and cheating people!" Then he ordered Hu Mei to call him back again. Yu Xiang narrowed his eyes, propped up his head with his hands, and said: "I'll go back to the dorm first."

  Yu Xiang came out of the administration building and slipped away from behind the Hu Shi Building, afraid of being seen by him. The boy was very unlucky and didn't walk far before returning to the administration building again. His denial technique was even higher than his sales technique, refusing to admit it. Principal Qian originally wanted to use his aura to defeat his psychological defense line, making him confess himself, saying: "You'd better confess honestly, we have evidence!" The boy knew that if they said so, they definitely didn't have any evidence, and said: "I really didn't do it, you can bring out the evidence if you have it!"

  Principal Qian's evidence seemed to be hidden in the Mogao Caves documents in the UK, and no matter what, it couldn't be retrieved; his psychological defense line was exhausted, not even a single hole was left, so he had to pretend to be fierce and said: "You go back and study hard, we will investigate this matter."

  When Lin Yu Hui returned to the classroom, there was no one inside, they all went to physical education class. He couldn't help but think about the outcome of that boy's punishment, and it was inevitable that he would be penalized. He felt sorry for him in his heart. Walking to Qian Rong's desk, he kicked the table a few times to vent his anger, and suddenly a black notebook fell down. Yu Hui picked it up and flipped through it casually, only to find that everything inside was in English. He couldn't help but feel a little impressed by Qian Rong's diligence. However, upon closer inspection, he was shocked to discover that the words and phrases inside were eerily familiar, like "God-awful" and "Violins", which were often used by him to show off his English skills. Suddenly it dawned on him that no wonder Qian Rong could speak fluent English, it was all because of this notebook with a few pre-prepared words. He exclaimed in surprise: "I finally figured it out, haha..."

  Then Lin Yuxiang sat quietly waiting for Qian Rong to come back, thinking that he finally had the opportunity to mock him. Qian Rong came in very timely, with a face full of sweat, and saw Lin Yuxiang sitting in his own seat, taking charge of justice: "Hey, wounded soldier, give way, why are you not going to rest, what are you doing here?"

  Lin Yuxiang was born not to mock people, saying: "Your English is really good!" The ideal language should be sarcastic with ups and downs, unfortunately, the emotional expression was inappropriate, and this sentence simply became a compliment.

  Qian Rong had never heard Lin Yuxiang praise anyone, and the retort that had just slipped out was hastily withdrawn, leaving him somewhat embarrassed. "Actually, it's not extremely good," he said, "just a lot of common vocabulary, naturally..."

  Yu Xiang interrupted Qian Rong's words, mainly because he was afraid that he would forget the sound of "common" and add a lot of regret to his next sentence. He said: "So is that 'conunn' also written in your notebook?" His heart was racing wildly as he spoke.

  Qian Rong didn't understand, and his subconscious felt something was off, so he tensely asked: "What notebook?"

  Yu Xiang took it out and waved it a few times, his hand shaking slightly, asking: "Do you see?"

  Qian Rong was stunned on the spot.

  Yu Xiang flipped through a few pages and read: "Hmmm, when did Media pass away? And..."

  Qian Rong's soul returned, and with a wave of his hand, the exercise book landed on Yu Xiang's palm. Qian Rong picked it up, exerting his divine power, crumpling the book into an unrecognizable state, gritting his teeth and saying: "You... you this pig is so despicable..." Afraid that their classmates would hear, he left out the specifics.

  Yu Xiang couldn't help but expose his own scars and said: "Didn't you also tear up my letter? Hmm?"

  Qian Rong's logic was as messy as his hair after waking up, saying: "That's two different things, you were sneaking a peek at my private stuff and I was sneaking a peek at your letter, Un——" He had originally wanted to say "Understand"? Now that the secret is out, he can't even speak English properly.

  Lin Yuxiang helped Qian Rong comb her hair: "Is a letter private?"

  Qiancai jumped up and roared: "What's wrong with privacy? The letters that were sent out and returned aren't private, you go check..."

  "My letter is sealed, but your notebook isn't. Which one has more secrets?"

  Qian Rong's expression suddenly turned serious and he said, "What about the matter of you sneaking out at night?"

  Lin Yuxiang's whole body was drenched in cold sweat, scolding himself for forgetting. He couldn't think of anything to say to make up for it, blaming himself for being too impulsive, feeling that the world was dead silent, and who had the heart to speak out in this stillness. Suddenly a bell rang, Yuxiang felt his ears shrink back, looking at Qian Rong's furious face, he forced a stiff smile, and fled back to the dormitory like a bird in flight.

  A person sat alone in a dark corner, clutching his thigh and wondering what to do. What if Qian Rong spoke out, the school investigated slightly, and punishment was unavoidable. Once punished... he would also bear the reputation of the small town, how could he face people, and how could others

  I looked out the window, and my heart was in a mess. Rain Xiang unintentionally raised his head to look outside, saw a blurry scene, thought it was tears, rubbed his eyes several times before realizing it was raining again. Recently, winter rain has been continuous, the ground of Nan San Middle School is as moist as the lips of Yángzhī Qiú's sister in "Yangzhi Ball", only without being able to kiss. The wet and gloomy world weighed on Rain Xiang's body, the dull sky and earth evoking a heart-wrenching pain that came in waves.

  Just as he was despairing, the phone suddenly rang, and the ringing echoed in the dormitory, causing Lin Yuxiang's attention to focus on the ringing, and his spirit also floated. The person on the other end of the phone said cheerfully: "Hello, is this Lin Yuxiang? This is the Political Education Department."

  Yu Xiangren's legs went soft, wanting to kneel down, his throat dry and hoarse, he managed to say: "I am... what... what's the matter?" In his heart, he knew that Qian Rong had betrayed him. Like a prisoner who had been sentenced to death, he could only wait for those few bullets.

  "We asked that senior three male classmate, but he said no. You recall, it's not possible to remember wrong, or is there any evidence? Ji Yu Xiang was overjoyed and rushed to the phone shouting: "No! I didn't remember wrong, definitely didn't remember wrong!" The fear in his heart was dispelled with these few words, calmly saying: "I have a portable CD player, it's what he sold me!"

  "Can you bring it over?"

  "Alright, alright!" Yu Xiang forgot that he was ill and took out his portable CD player to give it a try. The sound was still like mush. He thought of going out, but suddenly came up with an idea, slammed the player on the ground, and a piece cracked off from the corner. He tried listening again, and the effect was so good that there was no effect at all.

  Yu Xiang braved the rain to hand-deliver the Walkman to Principal Qian. Principal Qian took one look at the maltreated machine and was convinced, handing the Walkman over to Hu Lin saying: "The school must investigate this matter to the end!" Hu Mei saw the ill-fated machine and painfully said: "How could such a person exist in Shi Nan No. 3 Middle School?"

  Things went smoothly, Qian Rong didn't go to the school administration office, Lin Yuxiang's hanging heart relaxed a bit, too lazy to apologize, and when he saw Qian Rong, they didn't say a word. He thought things should have passed. The investigation at the school administration office was even more smooth, ordering the opening of that boy's locker, inside were all earphone wires, evidence was conclusive, should be convicted, but that boy still refused to admit it, Principal Qian was stumped, almost using torture on him, unexpectedly that boy later confessed voluntarily. Inside there was a 5! Raised Principal Qian's suspicion, called Lin Yuxiang over and said: "He has already confessed, we will punish him, those goods of his are not smuggled, but assembled from several small factories nearby, this also involves crime, we have notified the police department, there are a few questions to verify, what time did you run into him?"

  Lin Yuxiang said without thinking: "Nine thirty more."

  "Tonight?"

  "Good evening."

  "See you on Sunday?"

  Friday.

  "Are you attending the supplementary lecture at school tomorrow?"

  Yes.

  Principal Qian's tone rose an octave as he said, "The school gate closes at 9:30. How did you end up outside?"

  Lin Yuxiang was stung, his face suddenly turned white, and he didn't expect to dig his own grave. He stuttered: "Uh... I think, it's... it's nine o'clock, or maybe a little less."

  "Did you go back to your dormitory to sleep that day?"

  "Once again..."

  "How come your name isn't on the registration list?" Principal Qian slapped down the boarding student registration form. "There's no signature from you."

  Lin Yuxiang flipped through a few pages, his body was all over with stinging pain, sweat lurking on his forehead, waiting to be released.

  "I was just going to fetch water at that time, yes, I went to fetch water."

  "That day, there was still a classmate in your dormitory named Qian Rong. I asked him and he's certain that you weren't there that night, only returning early the next morning with water all over your body..."

  Yu Xiang's hands and feet were icy cold, and apart from his instinct to lie, he was no different from a dead man. He knew that Principal Qian must have understood that he was lying, but he still numbly lied: "Ah, I was staying at a relative's house that day, her phone number is... I need to go check."

  "Which relative?"

  "My aunt."

  "I'll give your family a call to confirm."

  "It's okay, never mind."

  "What?"

  "No, my parents aren't home, they'll be back tonight."

  "I'll call you again tonight."

  "I really didn't run away at night."

  "Speak the truth!"

  At this time, the silent Hu Shu changed his name to "Fact" and said: "Lin Yuxiang, school attaches importance to evidence. You yourself have some relaxation, not strict requirements for yourself, your self-examination is still with me. If you really escaped at night, no matter what reason, the school will punish you. The male classmate you exposed, after discussion, has been decided to be administratively demerited, and what about you? You need to reflect on yourself."

  Principal Qian said: "We will be fair and impartial. You'd better think about it yourself, now is still the right time to speak out, later on it'll be too late!"

  Yu Xiang thought of confessing several times, but he still had a last shred of hope, and his family members proved that he returned home that night. Like a greedy person seeing an isolated fruit hanging on the fruit tree, kneeling devoutly to pick it up, although not knowing whether the fruit would fall or could be picked up.

  Principal Qian let him go back to his dormitory. Yu Xiang lowered his head and walked slowly, when he reached the entrance of his classroom, he saw from afar the three neatly arranged teaching buildings with three staircases, front and back connected, were triple doors, didn't know if the first year had been punished, still could or not be promoted to second year. What would happen to Liang Yangjun...Liang Yangjun's family was rich, my family...was too afraid to think about it.

  He lowered his head and walked slowly, as if the scenery was fleeting, and the sound of Susan's voice echoed in his ears again - "How's your review going?" ... As soon as he thought of her, his body, which had just entered the empty door, fell back into the mundane dust. Lin Yuxiang's heart was filled with hatred for that love thief - it was all because of that kid, who took away my... and made me sleep outside for a night, it was all your fault, it was all... Lin Yuxiang's thoughts were too tired to think more, and he dragged his body into the dormitory. Why did the school have to be like this? The classroom was so crowded and noisy that they couldn't go there, but instead had to reflect in the dormitory. But it was also good, the dormitory was quiet. Lin Yuxiang felt like a wild animal, afraid of humans. As soon as he thought of someone, his body would tremble with fear. When he arrived at the dormitory, he lay down without taking off his shoes and stared blankly at the ceiling. Yu Xiong's voice floated down - "Endure everything." "Endure my ass!" Lin Yuxiang jumped up from bed in anger, threw the pillow to the ground, and then regretted it and picked it up to pat it a few times. His actions made him think of Song Shiping, who loved to flatter people, and he wondered why this kid had been missing recently, even skipping physical education training. How could it be? Did you have to flatter people to get ahead? Lin Yuxiang's thoughts reached this level, and his anger rose again. His hand, out of control, grasped the corner of the pillow tightly, and he wished he could throw it again.

  Unconsciously, noon had arrived. Lin Yuxiang's appetite was filled with gloom, and he no longer had the desire to eat. Seeing the crowd outside the window, he envied their carefree and worry-free lives. Qian Rong finished eating and sent Ji away. After the rift, for the first time, she spoke to Lin Yuxiang: "You're not allowed to read books as punishment? Poor thing, has the disciplinary notice been issued?"

  "What did you say?" Lin Yuxiang raised his head, glaring at Qian Rong, who was washing dishes and didn't have time to exchange stares with him. He said: "I had no choice either, the school administration forced me to speak, I wanted to cover for you but couldn't."

  "Do all the classmates in the class know?"

  "Don't worry about this, I'll help you spread the word."

  Yu Xiang couldn't say a word.

  Susan had a bad feeling at this time. A month ago, she asked Shen Xi'er to lie for her, pretending to be a science whiz, and with the help of Luo Tiancheng, they made up a convincing story, thinking that Lin Yuxiang would give up his infatuation and focus on studying, hoping he could get into Tsinghua University again. Susan was too naive, waiting for Lin Yuxiang's letter, thinking that after reading Shen Xi'er's letter, he would definitely write back to her with feelings. She couldn't have imagined that Lin Yuxiang was so careless - or impatient - that he didn't even put a stamp on the envelope, and after waiting for a month, she only received annoying letters and love letters, not knowing whether Lin Yuxiang was working hard or going crazy at the municipal key school, and she couldn't wait any longer, asked for his phone number, and ran to make a public call to Lin Yuxiang that noon.

  Lin Yuxiang was in the midst of a heated argument, and when he answered the phone, he wasn't even thinking about it. He pressed the speakerphone button and shouted, "Hello!" - Susan's voice trembled with fear, and she spoke softly: "Hello... I'm looking for... is Lin Yuxiang there?"

  Yu Xiang heard this voice, paused for a moment, and after realizing what was happening, his heart almost jumped out of his mouth. He said in a soft voice: "I am..." Overjoyed to the point of forgetting everything.

  "Can you tell who I am?" The words were like a provocation to Yu Xiang, and he pretended to say: "You are... Susan, right?" He smiled and asked while looking at Qian Rong, trying to show off his romantic skills, whether it was subtle or overt, in order to make Qian Rong feel inferior.

  "How have you been lately?"

  Yǔ Xiáng has now put aside his worries about being punished and said in a low voice: "It's okay."

  Qian Rong shouted from the side, "Great, great, escaped for the night, hurry up and deal with it!" Lin Yuxiang's face changed greatly, he was so anxious that he didn't know what to do, he quickly picked up the receiver and rushed over, asking on the other end of the line: "Who is this? Is it true? Escaped for the night?"

  "No... nothing..."

  "You're telling the truth!"

  Susan. A loud call. And Lin Yuxiang's true words all poured out: "I didn't run away from school, I just accidentally slept outside for a night, the school has no reason to punish me...". The other end was silent for a long time. Lin Yuxiang thought Susan was angry and urged: "Hey, hey, it's nothing, even wise men make mistakes, I'm always an optimistic person!" After speaking, he thought he was humorous and eagerly waited for the other end to speak.

  There was finally a voice on the phone, faint and very low. Yuxiang leaned in to listen carefully, but was greatly disappointed. It sounded like sobbing. Could it be...? Yuxiang also became sorrowful and said: "Don't... you... I..."

  He let out a sigh, that sigh seemed to have sucked away Lin Yu Xiang's last bit of hope, he closed his eyes and waited for the verdict.

  Susan spoke in an extremely low and slow voice, unable to conceal the sorrow that seeped into her words, with unshed tears: "Lin Yuxiang, you don't treasure yourself enough. I hate your slickness. Do you know why I unexpectedly passed the district exam? It wasn't because of luck, but because I thought you had talent. But...I really wish you could see my math test paper - all five multiple-choice questions were left blank...and I didn't even want the 10 points, because you said you would definitely pass the district exam..."

  Lin Yuxiang was so shocked that he forgot to breathe. After listening to her words, he felt a sense of detachment from his body and mind. Lin Yuxiang by the phone seemed like an empty cicada shell. The shell continued to listen to Susan's words - "Later you actually entered the municipal key school, which is also good, the education in the municipal key school is much better than that in the district middle school. With such a good opportunity, what are you doing in the municipal key school?" Her voice was somewhat agitated, "Haven't you had enough fun? I don't want to hear your voice again!"

  "Wait—" Lin Yuxiang had done his duty to persuade, but unfortunately, his hand couldn't reach tens of miles away, and the right to hang up the phone was still in Susan's hands.

  "Goodbye——"

  "Goodbye..." was all he could say, his voice barely above a whisper.

  Qian Rongtan said: "How, after Susan, you blew away another one, you're really too much of a failure."

  "Failure... failure." Lin Yuxiang muttered to himself.

  Xie Jingzhou just came back and asked his deskmate: "Why didn't you come to class? Today's content is very important."

  "Hmph, how important—” Lin Yuxiang's tone was so down that he could only quote others' words.

  Qian Ronghang said: "I'll let you in on a secret, that senior high school student is looking for someone everywhere and plans to beat you up when you go fetch water tonight!"

  "Beat me——" Lin Yuxiang's hand finally moved away from the phone, heavily kicking the stool, using the pain in his foot to gain a sense of transcendence in his heart.

  Lin Yuxiang decided not to go to the classroom in the afternoon and quietly waited for news. Outside the window, a gloomy sky, this rain seemed to never stop. His thoughts were so disordered that he was tired, and he fell asleep with his clothes on. This sleep was so stable that there were no dreams at all.

  Waking up to find that the weather had changed early, the western sky was already filled with red clouds. It can be seen that Lin Yuxiang was still sleeping when it rained and cleared up.

  The phone ringtone was no longer piercing due to the afterglow of the setting sun. Yuexiang felt weak, picked up the receiver, but heard his father's voice: "What's going on with you? That night you——" Yuexiang was so scared that he didn't dare listen and hung up. He thought his father would call again in a minute, so he took some money from the cabinet and went out to clear his mind.

  The door had just closed when the phone suddenly rang, and Lin Yuxiang felt a little regretful. He thought it might be Susan's call, but then he thought it was impossible, wasn't she avoiding his voice? Susan was also regretting what she said at noon, thinking that Lin Yuxiang must have been hurt enough already, and with this additional stimulation, she feared he would become depressed. She wanted to call to apologize, but no one answered, so she anxiously hung up.

  Lin Yuxiang walked all the way to the school gate, thinking that his parents should be on their way. Maybe Zhao Zhiliang and Jin Bohuan would help out - no, this matter would humiliate them, there was no reason for them to intervene. So what about going back home? His family only cared about grades, not people, they had a critic's style, but this time it wasn't about grades, who knows how it would turn out; Qian Rongtai was hateful, he wouldn't die well. After cursing him, Lin Yuxiang worried about how Luo Tiancheng and the others would look at him when he got back - they would definitely look down on him. Don't even mention Susan, she had become heartless and deaf, she must be hating him now... Thinking this way, he found that the money in his hand was wet, it was 17 yuan, last time's physical education training fee, running too much was not worth it. His eyes couldn't help but get moist.

  Hearing the distant train whistle, I suddenly had an urge to leave, but worried about starving on the road. Although I have a small stomach and a big life, where would I go? The school's disciplinary notice should be coming out soon, should I leave or not? Maybe letting go of all this fuss would make me feel more at ease, but I couldn't let go - like grasping onto a protruding rock with my hand, with an abyss below my feet. Knowing I couldn't climb up, my hand was bleeding in pain, and I didn't know whether to hold on or not. A desolate face dissolved into the sunset.