After the second period on Monday, all first and second-year high school students went to the north field for the weekly flag-raising ceremony.
Class 9’s position was directly facing the flag platform, in the middle of the field. Boys in one column, girls in another, arranged by height.
The summer sun was fierce. Though it was just past ten, the light on exposed skin caused everyone to sweat.
Lin City First High’s rules required students to wear uniforms during flag-raising ceremonies. From afar, it was a sea of blue and white, except for one conspicuous section.
The group of boys at the end of the class line wore their own clothes.
Black, yellow, red – a small patch of different colored T-shirts mixed in, highlighting their nonconformity.
Second Year Class 9 was special in their grade.
They had top students who could compete with the experimental class, and also wealthy underachievers at the bottom of the grade. Class 9 students were troublemakers, yet the school maintained a hands-off approach, or rather, turned a blind eye. This made other students maintain a respectful distance from this class.
If even the school couldn’t control them, they weren’t to be messed with.
The guidance counselor had come once, restraining himself as he asked Xu Xingchun, who stood at the front of the class, “Why aren’t those students wearing uniforms again?”
Xu Xingchun pressed his lips together and answered formally: “They forgot to bring them.”
“Forgot again? How many times is this?!”
Li Zhiping frowned, raising his voice, “Class 9, stop trying to be special in this grade. If you’re studying at this school, you must follow the school rules!”
Xu Xingchun listened quietly, his expression unchanging. His features were cold and serene, his profile sharp.
After lecturing for a while, constrained by the fact that this student was consistently among the top of the grade and a model student, Li Zhiping couldn’t directly lose his temper. He could only say: “Remember to remind them next time, don’t go too far.”
Only after the guidance counselor left did the girls at the front dare to breathe out.
They whispered among themselves.
“Li Zhiping only dares to speak to the class monitor, if he’s got the guts why doesn’t he go talk to Xie Ci and his group…”
“Heh, what’s the use of talking to those people, would they listen?”
“Then what’s the use of talking to the class monitor?”
“At least Principal Ping should dare to confront that group in the back…”
“…”
With all the chatter around her reaching her ears, Ma Xuanrui couldn’t help secretly glancing at the boy standing diagonally in front of her.
Perhaps she looked too long, or her gaze was too direct. He noticed and turned to look back, his profile cast in shadow by the sunlight.
She didn’t dare continue looking and quickly lowered her head, but her heart was in a daze.
Ma Xuanrui had been in the same class as Xu Xingchun for two semesters, but they had barely spoken.
She knew he was handsome, had excellent grades, and many female classmates secretly liked him. During breaks, girls would deliberately bring their homework to ask him questions. He was never impatient, his expression calm but always polite.
When heaven favors someone, they get all the best things.
Xu Xingchun was such a person.
The kind of good student teachers bragged about in the office, a top student with nearly perfect scores in every subject, and flawless looks.
She was aware of her own ordinariness, unremarkable among the crowd of bright and beautiful girls. She never dared dream of confessing to him.
She would only occasionally daydream in class, filling her draft paper with Xu Xingchun’s name.
During PE class, she would secretly watch him. His interests, hobbies, even his grades – she knew them all by heart. She didn’t dare let others know of her admiration, afraid they would think she was delusional.
She could only watch him secretly.
The quiet and proud Xu Xingchun.
—
The flag-raising ceremony had reached its fifth item.
At the flag platform, the host read from the list: “Next, please welcome Qiu Qingqing from Second Year Class 8 to give a speech under the national flag.”
After reading this, the host stepped down.
The applause below continued endlessly. There were even cheers and whistles.
Xu You had been looking down at her book, but raised her head at the commotion.
From afar, she saw the girl on the flag platform, wearing a high ponytail, white uniform and pleated skirt. She radiated confidence.
Qiu Qingqing…
Xu You recalled this name in her mind.
Oh.
The female protagonist from that fight at noon that day.
Returning to her thoughts, Xu You continued reading.
As she lowered her head, she heard two male students next to her discussing casually.
“Hey, isn’t Shen Jiayi the one who just dumped Xie Ci recently?”
“When did that happen?”
“Last week, probably.”
One boy answered casually.
Fu Xueli, standing in front of Xu You, couldn’t help rolling her eyes and impatiently said to the two beside her, “Fang Qicheng, your mouth is too big.” It was clearly Xie Ci who had dumped Qiu Qingqing, who knows who spread that wrong rumor.
Fang Qicheng raised his eyebrows innocently, smiling while saying: “Sister Xueli, I just heard it from others, don’t mind it.”
He knew Fu Xueli was close with Xie Ci’s group, so he consciously stopped talking.
Fu Xueli snorted, “Who’s your sister.” After speaking, she turned off her phone and let her bored gaze wander, eventually landing on Xu You.
Her desk mate wore a blue and white autumn jacket, her ponytail ends falling loosely on her shoulders as she quietly read her book.
She was completely out of place in the noisy atmosphere.
“What are you reading, so seriously?” Fu Xueli bent slightly, resting her head on Xu You’s shoulder to look down and ask.
“Ah, what?” Xu You turned her head slightly, lifting up her book, “This?”
“Yeah.”
Xu You closed the book and showed her the cover, a gentle smile appearing: “Lu Xun’s book.”
“…”
Fu Xueli looked down, paused, then asked: “Lu Xun1, who’s that?”
This time it was Xu You who was speechless.
Her expression looked genuinely stunned, eyes slightly wide.
“Hahahahaha, I’m just joking with you, don’t be so serious!”
After teasing Xu You, Fu Xueli’s smile faded and she remembered something else, asking: “By the way, why do you always wear your uniform? Don’t you think it’s ugly?”
She had wanted to ask for a while why Xu You always wore the uniform jacket. In Fu Xueli’s impression, even when hot, Xu You would only roll up her sleeves, never taking it off.
“Aren’t we required to wear it by school rules?” Xu You was stunned again, asking very seriously.
Xu Xiaocheng standing nearby laughed, “What are school rules? I’ve never heard of them since I was little.”
Xu You: ….
Soon, the flag-raising ceremony came to an end.
The grade’s discipline committee member gave a speech, first briefly summarizing the previous week’s hygiene situation and each class’s tardiness. Then came the routine school criticism through the loudspeaker:
Second Year Class 9’s Xie Ci, Song Yifan, Li Qing, and Second Year Class 1’s Fu Yishun as leaders, gathered other students and engaged in a fight on campus on XX/XX. This had an extremely bad influence and seriously violated school rules. The school has decided to give these four students a public criticism and keep them under observation.
We hope other students will take this as a warning, study seriously, and follow all school rules and regulations.
Before the criticism was finished, there was a wave of murmurs below.
Students expressed that they had heard this type of criticism countless times, Class 9 had almost become a special feature of Lin City First High’s flag-raising ceremonies.
Their class students probably made up the sum of all students under observation in the entire school.
—
After half an hour in the sun, the flag-raising ceremony finally ended.
As the class lines dispersed, Xu You and Fu Xueli merged into the crowd, moving toward the teaching building.
After walking for a while, Fu Xueli linked arms with Xu You and asked seriously in a small voice: “Have you ever forcefully kissed someone… or been forcefully kissed?”
Xu You was stunned for a moment, and after slowly processing the question, clearly couldn’t handle this type of inquiry, waving her hands, “This… is too strange, we’re still high school students.”
“Tch.” Fu Xueli kicked a stone by her foot forcefully, her mood suddenly seeming gloomy.
She muttered, still saying shocking things, “High school students can have babies already, damn it.”
Xu You was silent.
Before she could say anything, two people walked past them, a boy and a girl.
The two seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, the girl almost brushing Xu You’s shoulder as she passed.
She looked up and met the gaze of the boy who had just turned his face.
However, he didn’t look at Xu You, his gaze sliding indifferently past the person beside her.
Fu Xueli was still obliviously looking down, kicking stones and cursing, “Damn, damn, damn that Xu Xingchun…”
Xu You quickly pulled at her clothes, saying nervously: “Xueli, lower your voice…”
The target of her deskmate’s cursing was just a few meters away…
As she spoke, Xu Xingchun seemed to glance their way again.
Only after those two had walked far away did Xu You anxiously explain to Fu Xueli: “You were just cursing the class monitor, he probably heard you.”
Fu Xueli glanced at her, “So what if he heard, it’s not the first time I’ve cursed him.”
From the field back to the classroom, the fourth period was about to begin.
Xu You sat at her desk organizing her books. The standing air conditioner behind her was blowing cold air, the vent directly facing her, making her skin break out in goosebumps.
The cool breeze blew continuously.
Her fingertips were ice cold, and just as she took out her pen to write, she felt a warm flow in her lower abdomen.
Oh no.
Because of the transfer, this month had passed in such a hurry that she’d forgotten about her period date.
Xu You felt annoyed as she dug out a sanitary pad from her bag, stuffed it into her jacket pocket, and checked the time.
“Xueli, how long until class starts?” Xu You asked Fu Xueli.
Fu Xueli saw her strange, anxious expression and was puzzled, “Five more minutes, what’s wrong?”
Xu You nodded, bit her lip, and rushed to the bathroom.
When she came out after dealing with it, there weren’t many people in the hallway, and the corridor was quiet.
Afraid of being late, Xu You couldn’t help speeding up, running back to the classroom.
Class 9’s classroom was in the middle section of the third floor, with stairs by the back door.
As she neared the corner staircase by the classroom, her steps suddenly stopped.
She froze on the spot.
Someone was kissing nearby.
Or rather…
Someone was being forcefully kissed…
From her angle, she could clearly see that boy’s face.
The boy being forcefully kissed.
It was Xie Ci.
When Xu You realized this, she couldn’t help being shocked.
This, they, in public… what if teachers passed by.
She stood rooted to the spot, unable to advance or retreat.
Walking past casually would definitely be awkward… but not going past would make her late for class.
While she was hesitating, her embarrassed gaze darted around, her small face blushing.
A deep, intense gaze looked her way.
Xie Ci had noticed her. There was an unreadable meaning in his dark pupils as his eyebrows raised.
Xu You’s cheeks were slightly red as she lowered her head in extreme embarrassment, wanting to pretend she hadn’t seen anything and quickly pass by.
As she hurriedly quickened her pace, she heard a teasing male voice from beside her, “Miss Xu, seen enough?”
- Lu Xun was a Chinese writer, largely regarded as the father of modern Chinese literature. ↩︎
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