At this, everyone around turned to look, all holding back their expressions, wanting to laugh but not daring to be too excited.
After all, Jiang Wen was still just a young boy, awkward with emotions and desire. These words had too much impact, seriously affecting his fragile teenage heart.
He was completely flustered, his small face quickly changing from pale to flushed as he snapped, “Are you some kind of hooligan?”
A male student turned around and teased her, “Hey hey hey, Feng Ning, what’s your deal, always going after the class heartthrob?”
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Feng Ning casually countered, “Well, should I go after you instead?”
The guy was just making casual small talk, but was left speechless by her retort. When he came to his senses, he said angrily, “Damn, forget it, don’t be a toad trying to eat swan meat1.”
To everyone’s surprise, Feng Ning rolled up her book and lightly tapped Jiang Wen’s wrist, her eyes curving into crescents, “Handsome, what kind of toad do you prefer?”
At this, the other boys completely lost it, laughing hysterically and pounding their desks. The commotion was so big that it drew curious looks from all around the classroom.
Jiang Wen’s expression changed several times, leaving him no room to think, and he awkwardly turned away.
He had been confessed to in public before, some even more dramatic and exaggerated. But none had left him feeling so conflicted about how to react. Mixed with some inexplicable nervousness and uncertainty, he actually felt embarrassed, though he couldn’t quite figure out why.
The news of Jiang Wen being publicly flirted with spread quickly.
That evening at dinner, students from other classes who knew him would pounce on him with mischievous grins, pulling at his clothes and saying, “Tsk tsk, let me admire where that sexy mole is on our Top Model.”
Jiang Wen cursed “idiot” and dodged sideways, pushing away their hands.
As they were fooling around, a girl hesitated nearby, looking around nervously. After being pushed and pulled by her friends, she finally gathered her courage and slowly shuffled over to their table, timidly asking, “Um, can I add your WeChat?”
Jiang Wen only turned around after someone pushed his shoulder. His gaze moved up a few inches as he examined her for two or three seconds. Lazily, with his black lashes lowered, he said casually, “Sorry, I don’t have a phone.”
His attitude lacked sincerity but wasn’t exactly arrogant – it was just his habitual way of brushing people off.
“Oh… okay.” The girl couldn’t hide her disappointment and quickly left.
The people at the table were used to such scenes and started teasing him from all sides, “Why is Jiang Wen getting more and more heartless with girls? Look how spoiled he’s become!”
Zhao Binlin snorted, “As handsome guys, we’re supposed to be aloof with pretty girls, okay? Only ugly people aren’t choosy.”
Xi Gaoyuan patted Jiang Wen’s head and asked seriously, “Hey bro, why is your head steaming?”
“Get lost.” Jiang Wen raised his hand to fix his hair, giving him a lazy glance. “What steam?”
“The steam of handsomeness!”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Tong Erdie poked at her rice, making a hole but not stopping. She remained distracted until someone called her name. Her eyes kept glancing to the side. After a while, she pulled out a piece of paper and stood up, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
As she passed their table, she deliberately slowed her pace. Amid the group’s laughter, Jiang Wen seemed to slightly raise his head and glance at her.
Tong Erdie walked past step by step, distractedly wondering if he had actually looked at her twice. Her heart was racing, and she wanted to turn back to check, but she couldn’t.
If she turned back so openly, how would she be any different from those other girls who always pestered him?
After the sudden joy came an empty disappointment. She bit her lip, her heart beating wildly as she remembered the day they first met.
It was raining heavily that day, with fog making visibility low on the roads. Tong Erdie had just left the dormitory building when she slipped at the corner and bumped into someone. She felt pain and looked at the person she had hit.
He was holding an umbrella, tall and slim, his wrist bones like bamboo branches. As her gaze moved upward – a black low-neck t-shirt, prominent collarbones, with a withered red rose design on the chest that moved slightly with his breathing.
Jet-black short hair, pale face, light eyelashes. A small brown mole by his eyebrow, slightly upturned eyes at the corners, extremely cold.
Tong Erdie instinctively stepped back, almost forgetting to breathe for a moment, blinking twice. She had never seen anyone who could look this beautiful.
It was very similar to a scene from a manga. Others blurred into the background, becoming unclear. He slowly, slowly tilted his head, lowered his eyelashes, and looked at her. With his beautiful eyebrows and eyes, he seemed so above it all.
On the way to class, her female companion told her that the boy was called Jiang Wen, and many girls at school had feelings for him – he was very popular. Tong Erdie’s mind was already in a mess, completely distracted, but she firmly remembered this name.
The second time she saw him was on an evening. In the dim light, she sat in the classroom, looking out at the corridor.
A girl with watery eyes stood in front of Jiang Wen, grabbing his wrist, looking up at him while talking and crying. How could she still cry even knowing she was being laughed at by so many people?
But from beginning to end, he just slightly frowned, his expression and eyes never changing.
Behind them, people were chattering, treating it like a show, quietly discussing her lack of dignity, “Ah, how embarrassing.”
“Yeah, yeah, she must be devastated after finding out Jiang Wen is with that someone from Class 6.”
“What? Are you sure? Who from Class 6? Is it true?”
“Don’t know exactly, but someone saw Jiang Wen eating with her or something, it must be pretty much true.”
“They’re from two different worlds anyway, what’s the point?”
Tong Erdie perked up her ears, her mind wandering. When she came back to her senses, she found the ink from her pen had spread into a circle on her homework.
She couldn’t write another word, as a strong fear welled up inside her – that she would end up like that girl outside the classroom, hopelessly trapped and becoming someone else’s laughingstock.
That night back in the dormitory, in the darkness and silence, Tong Erdie lay in bed crying secretly. She didn’t dare cry too loudly, afraid her roommates would hear.
Actually, it wasn’t really anything.
Jiang Wen was someone she shouldn’t even dream about.
Before dark, Meng Hanmo brought some fruit to see Feng Ning, calling her to meet him at the school gate.
He was smoking. Feng Ning slouched casually on the nearby flower bed while talking with him, half a candy stick in her mouth.
The old guard in the security room looked their way repeatedly, seeming to want to say something.
“Brother, you’re smoking really heavily. Want some water? I can go buy you a bottle?”
Meng Hanmo put out his half-finished cigarette, a casual smile on his lips, “No need, I’m leaving soon, I have something else to do.”
“Are you still working as a bouncer at Brother Ma’s place?”
“No, just helping out occasionally. How about you? How’s high school?”
“Nothing special, can’t really get used to collective life, feels not very free. But I did meet a pretty nice girl. Ah, you don’t know how charming I am, now this kid has become my fan. Oh right, when you have time, help me check on my mom, I’m worried she’ll get depressed being alone at home.”
Meng Hanmo patted her head, “I know.”
Feng Ning peeled an orange, tore off half and put it to his mouth, smiling, “Here, let’s have a competition, same rules as always – whoever finishes eating first wins. Loser pays ten yuan.”
Across the street, Jiang Wen took in this scene. It was six or seven in the evening, the orange sunset slowly sinking, people coming and going. He quietly watched them until a truck drove past, blocking his view, then quickly drove away.
A group of boys had just finished dinner, hanging out in twos and threes talking, and someone called out, “Young Master Jiang, watch out for cars when crossing the street.”
Amid the rising and falling noise around him, Jiang Wen snapped back to reality, barely finding his voice to respond with a “mm.”
That night back in the dormitory, Zhao Binlin came out after his shower. He sat on the bed edge, flipping through his newly bought basketball magazine, exclaiming how handsome LeBron James was.
He chatted on and on, but no one responded.
Jiang Wen remained silent, propping himself up on his arm. His fingers with prominent knuckles rested on the desk, clearly not even letting Zhao’s words pass his ears.
Zhao Binlin finally noticed something was wrong and peered at him, “If I may ask, who upset you?”
Jiang Wen spoke extremely coldly, “Stay away, don’t talk to me.”
Feng Ning had once taught Zhao Weichen how to pursue the school beauty in middle school, saying a classic line:
When pursuing someone, the most important thing is to make them get used to your presence. Whether they like it or not, even if they think you’re crazy, it doesn’t matter. First, you need to establish enough presence, make them get used to your existence, then you’ve succeeded halfway.
So this was how Feng Ning “pursued” Jiang Wen too, taking advantage of their proximity by randomly tossing candy bars and lollipops onto his desk.
The canned ones were too expensive, so she couldn’t really afford those.
Jiang Wen was already well-practiced in refusing others, skillfully mixing her gifts with others’ and throwing them all in the trash, showing no mercy.
But what kind of person was Feng Ning? She was typically beautiful on the outside but strong on the inside, bulletproof. She wasn’t affected at all – she’d give what she wanted to give, and if he wanted to throw it away, so be it. She had no awareness of being coldly treated.
After a few weeks of this, it was Jiang Wen who started to feel overwhelmed.
Jiang Wen had strict family education and was usually polite to everyone on the surface. But that was all pretense – once his temper flared, he’d look down his nose at anyone.
After the last class on Friday, everyone was rushing home, and Feng Ning packed up her things. As the seats around her emptied one by one, she enjoyed this rare quiet moment, taking out her notebook to start writing paid notes for some struggling student next door for 50 yuan.
Jiang Wen directly put his things on Feng Ning’s desk, looking down at her, “Thank you, but you don’t need to give me anything anymore.”
Feng Ning was buried in her rapid writing. She stopped and looked up bewilderedly, examining him up and down, completely calm, “Why?”
After a moment of silence, Jiang Wen said: “I don’t like it.”
Feng Ning made a few “oh” sounds, tapping her pen on the paper, and asked with great seriousness, “Then what do you like? Let me write it down.”
He was holding back anger, and couldn’t control himself as he said, “I. Don’t. Need. Anything.”
Feng Ning grimaced, “But I just want to give.”
He suddenly became angry, unable to help raising his voice, “Why are you giving me things?!”
“You’re asking that kind of question?” She tilted her head, dragging out her words mischievously while continuing to copy notes, “You know why.”
“Do you just enjoy bothering people everywhere?” Jiang Wen smiled while suppressing his anger, but the smile was ugly.
She paused for two or three seconds before speaking, “Uh, who am I bothering?”
“You know very well.”
Jiang Wen was still in his school uniform, the blue and white short shirt billowing in the wind, his collar blindingly white. The sky hadn’t darkened yet, with crimson sunset breaking through gaps in the clouds. Though young, his features seemed like they could only be drawn with the fine brushwork of traditional Chinese painting, along with a kind of proud air that came from being pampered since childhood.
What had she done to anger this young master before her? He was spitting harsh words like a middle-aged man who had caught his wife cheating red-handed.
Feng Ning thought carefully but remained silent.
“Heh.” Jiang Wen placed both hands on her desk, lowering his body slowly, and showed her an extremely sarcastic smile, his blood-red thin lips opening and closing, “You’ve really gone to great lengths to attract my attention. But I’ve seen plenty of girls like you. I advise you not to harbor any unrealistic fantasies about me. Instead of wasting time on this, you’d be better off focusing on your studies – maybe then you’d have some future.”
Without letting her say another word, he left without even giving her a proper look.
After a moment of blank staring, expression finally returned to Feng Ning’s face. She wasn’t angry, just confused and quite puzzled.
However… as she recalled Jiang Wen’s departing figure, chin slightly pointed upward, face full of noble coldness.
Feng Ning couldn’t help but smile.
— He was quite like a little peacock.
- This is from a Chinese idiom describing someone (a toad) looking for another person that’s out of their league (the swan). ↩︎
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