Chapter 39: In the End, She Still Chose to Believe
The first semester at No. 1 High was a carnival for the students.
In an era where cramming education was prevalent, the Education Bureau was calling for quality education and comprehensive development, and would occasionally come for inspections. No. 1 High, being at the forefront, was forced to respond.
The autumn of October was a gift from the heavens.
After the sports festival came the National Day holiday. After the holiday, an autumn outing was used to soothe the students’ hearts, which had been wounded by the exams. Then came the Mid-Autumn Festival, and finally, preparations for the Arts Festival rehearsal. A year’s worth of fun was enjoyed in one month.
As for the mid-term exams and parent-teacher conferences, that was for the bitter and resentful November.
Just after the exams, Xu Hao, relying on his mother being a teacher, got first-hand information and revealed that there would be an autumn outing soon, making the whole class itch with anticipation. Finally, at the end of a Chinese class one day, Labor Reform officially announced the news:
“This week is the autumn outing. Everyone can form their own groups, about 5 people per group.”
“OH!”
The cheers almost blew the roof off the classroom.
“Ji Chen, let’s be in a group!”
“Mhm.”
“Ji Chen, Ji Chen, add me!”
As if afraid of being left out, everyone flocked to their own small groups.
Ruan Xi was like she was nailed to her seat, not moving, just occasionally looking at the people forming groups.
Some people were left out, ostracized. The people you thought were your friends had actually already formed groups with better friends, not including you at all. At this time, the person squeezed out of the circle could only give an awkward smile and find an excuse, saying, “It’s okay, I’ll find someone else to group with,” before finally returning to a corner to lick their wounds alone.
Ruan Xi didn’t want to be rejected.
Ruan Xi was afraid of being rejected.
She did have a few friends, but did those friends consider her a friend of high enough priority? If they were to form a group, would she be in their choice?
Ruan Xi didn’t want to guess.
“Desk mate, want to group with us?” Jiang Yiming, surrounded by a group of boys, knocked on her desk with a cheeky grin. “It’s all boys in our group, it’s too gay.”
When he issued the invitation, Jiang Yiming’s heart was pounding.
He was too shy to confess, so he could only use this kind of opportunity to attract his desk mate’s attention and increase their time together.
Ruan Xi was taken aback. She didn’t really want to be in a group with a bunch of boys. At least… there should be two girls, right? Otherwise, she would feel very uncomfortable.
But if she rejected this invitation, who else could she group with?
Fortunately, someone came to her rescue.
“Ruan Ruan, do you have a group yet?”
Yin Jiali came in through the back door, holding a water cup. “I haven’t formed a group yet. Want to be together?”
Another high-quality girl had arrived. The boys were ecstatic, all expressing their welcome and that they would do the heavy lifting.
Ruan Xi thought, this is probably the best choice.
After nodding, she had her own group.
The boys exchanged glances, all understanding each other’s joy—the two prettiest girls in the class were in their group. Others were probably green with envy!
On Friday afternoon after school, the school specially approved a day of free entry and exit to facilitate the students’ purchase of some necessities for the autumn outing.
And Tong Yao, a closeted otaku, got a headache just hearing about the autumn outing. She didn’t like going out, and it wasn’t good to ask for leave from a group activity. She didn’t want to be special, so she could only reluctantly follow the large group out of the school gate.
The destination was the wet market, a place she had never personally shopped at in both her past and present lives.
The wet market was a literal mix of five flavors.
There was dirty water of unknown origin on the ground, flies buzzing around the meat chops, and the pungent, fishy smell of various animals.
Tong Yao felt a little uncomfortable. She stayed away from the meat and went to the edge to pretend to pick out potatoes and ham.
The small market was filled with students.
The stalls in the wet market were chaotic. Next to it was a street with everything from flower sellers to wreath sellers. A spiral staircase led directly to the second floor, where the large red characters for “Chess and Card Room” and “Internet Cafe” were hung on the windows, extremely conspicuous.
Tong Yao’s hand, holding a potato, suddenly paused. From her angle, she could just see Ruan Xi on that staircase, stepping up one step at a time.
Where is she going?
…An internet cafe?
“Beauty, do you want some potatoes? They’re very cheap.”
“Sorry, I don’t want any.” Tong Yao put down the potato and followed with a frown.
The iron staircase was covered with small ads for lock-picking and certificate-making. Stepping on it, she felt the staircase shake. Tong Yao’s heart trembled. She braced herself and went up, finally arriving in front of the internet cafe.
Posters of exciting games were plastered on the windows, along with promotional ads for “recharge 100 get 100 free.” Through the transparent parts, she could see young adults and middle-aged men with headphones on, playing games. She couldn’t find the young girl anywhere for the time being.
It looked like an unlicensed internet cafe that didn’t require an ID.
She pushed open the door and walked in, choking on the smell of smoke inside. The young lady at the counter saw her, was first stunned by her beauty, and then asked expertly, “Looking for someone?”
Probably because Tong Yao really didn’t look like someone who would frequent an internet cafe.
Tong Yao nodded in response. She fanned the air in front of her face, trying to wave away the smoke, and then walked further in. The internet cafe wasn’t very crowded, with many empty seats. She even spotted a few boys in No. 1 High school uniforms. Those boys were engrossed in their games and didn’t even glance at her.
Tong Yao pursed her lips, unable to imagine the young girl becoming an internet addict.
She continued to walk further in, carefully observing her surroundings. Finally, she found her in a corner.
It wasn’t a one-sided discovery; their gazes met. The insecure Ruan Xi would glance at the door from time to time, as sneaky as a thief. And this time, she saw Tong Yao.
The young girl was as if petrified, frozen in her seat.
This was the seat in the innermost part of the internet cafe, which was enough to show her guilty conscience.
“Do I have a radar on me or something?” Tong Yao walked slowly, her face expressionless. “I can always find you.”
“T-Teacher Tong…”
Ruan Xi’s voice was a little hoarse, panic written all over her face. She shrank back in the sofa, a silent version of “don’t come over here.”
Tong Yao stopped, stared at the young girl, and asked calmly, “Why did you come to an internet cafe?”
**
Teacher Tong is angry.
It wasn’t the first time Ruan Xi had seen Tong Yao angry, but it was the first time she had seen Tong Yao angry at her.
Going to an internet cafe, for a 16-year-old high school student like her, was a very bad thing.
It wasn’t the act of going online itself that was bad, but going to an internet cafe often meant what kind of people you would come into contact with, what kind of person you would become, and a series of bad habits that came with it. In short, he who touches pitch shall be defiled.
“Why did you come to an internet cafe?”
Ruan Xi realized that if she didn’t explain, it would be too late. On a clean sheet of white paper, any stain was so conspicuous.
“Teacher Tong, I’m not playing games!” she said hastily. “I’m…”
She suddenly got stuck, realizing that what she was doing was equally hard to explain.
Tong Yao turned to the computer. Indeed, the screen was not a game, but a website. The keywords were “manga,” “competition,” “registration.”
The young girl’s hands were on her knees, not daring to put them on the table. Her eyes were raised, secretly looking at her.
Tong Yao pursed her lips, her expression complicated, but most of her anger had already dissipated.
“Didn’t you say you would focus on your studies and not draw anymore?” she asked softly.
“Were you lying to the teacher?”
Ruan Xi’s whole body tensed. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t answer this question. Why was she nervous for the monthly exam? Why did she have insomnia? If she had done better, she could have proven to Teacher Tong that she could balance her studies and her manga.
Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Tong Yao’s gaze turned back to the computer. An image was uploading, gradually revealing its full form. It was a page of a black-and-white manga. There was a clear improvement compared to the young girl’s previous drawings. More importantly, it contained the tempering of time. She lowered her eyes, as if she understood something, and stood there.
“You tell the teacher, was it because you were nervous that you didn’t do well, or was it because you put all your energy into drawing?”
Hearing this, Ruan Xi was filled with grievance. Doesn’t Teacher Tong believe me? Does she suspect that I haven’t been studying hard? Her heart was bitter. Yes, who can I blame? I didn’t do well, and I was caught red-handed in an internet cafe. Who would believe that I’ve been working hard?
“Which class are you from?!”
Suddenly, a loud and righteous roar broke the clamor of the internet cafe.
Tong Yao subconsciously looked over and saw a boy in a No. 1 High school uniform being pulled up from his seat, as pathetic as a stray dog. He hung his head, and in front of him stood a man with a square face. In the smoky internet cafe, he was like an iron torrent.
Is this… Director Zhang from the Student Affairs Office?
Tong Yao calmly sat down. The young girl’s seat was a sofa, which was called a booth in an internet cafe. Ruan Xi had also heard it. Her face was pale, and a drop of cold sweat slid down from her hair. She was trembling with fear.
Tong Yao remembered that Ruan Xi had been publicly criticized for going to an internet cafe before. If she were caught again…
No wonder she was so scared.
Her expression became a little grave. Although she was still a little angry, she didn’t want the young girl to be severely punished by the school rules under any circumstances—the price of being caught a second time was definitely not something a “poor student” could bear. She had never met Director Zhang, who was said to teach politics to the third years. Director Zhang probably wouldn’t recognize her either.
She looked at Ruan Xi. The young girl actually wasn’t crying this time. Even though she was at a loss, she bit her lip and held on. In the end, her heart softened. She comforted herself with Ye Wei’s “the school rules aren’t the law,” and then, pulled the young girl onto herself.
**
Zhang Zhenhua, the director of the Student Affairs Office, a modern-day Juntong agent, the Gestapo of the campus. His poker face was full of deterrence. His hobby was taking walks, locations including but not limited to the campus’s lovers’ trysting spots and the internet cafes and game halls outside the school, and his coverage was constantly expanding.
There were quite a few internet cafes in this area of the school. There were three on the second floor of the wet market alone. He had just randomly chosen one to see which black sheep he could catch taking advantage of the autumn outing shopping to fish in troubled waters.
His characteristic was a photographic memory. Once caught, you couldn’t hope to get away with giving a fake name.
“What are the school’s rules? Huh? So young and not learning anything good, all you know is how to go online all day! Go stand at the door! What’s this? Your cigarette?!”
Zhang Zhenhua berated the boy in front of him. The boy was also trembling, his head shaking like a rattle-drum. Most of the kids at No. 1 High were soft-tempered. They usually wouldn’t skip class or climb the walls at night. If it weren’t for an unbearable itch, they wouldn’t go to an internet cafe.
In a corner of the internet cafe, another student from No. 1 High panicked. He hunched over and tried to go out. Just as he pushed open the glass door, he found a strong sports teacher standing in front of him.
“Caught two!” the sports teacher shouted.
Zhang Zhenhua nodded. The way teachers identified students was simple: by their school uniforms. No. 1 High had a mandatory policy of wearing the school uniform jacket and pants. The jacket could be taken off, but the pants couldn’t. The students who came to the internet cafe couldn’t hide at all.
Zhang Zhenhua walked to the restroom door, knocked, and someone was inside. There was nothing he could do about this. Unless he was willing to wait, he couldn’t confirm. He continued to walk elsewhere. As he passed a corner, he saw a particularly beautiful girl—in the cold autumn, she was wearing a thin shirt, engrossed in operating the computer, completely out of place with the cursing atmosphere of the internet cafe. This girl sitting here had turned this place into a white-collar lady’s office, and the stinky and greasy internet cafe had a hint of elegance.
On her lap, a girl in a beige coat was lying on her stomach, quiet and peaceful, a picture of sisterly affection.
It was just that the pant leg under that coat looked a little familiar.
At this moment, the young girl was so nervous her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
Zhang Zhenhua was scrutinizing her from behind, and she was wearing Teacher Tong’s coat, lying on Teacher Tong’s graceful lap. The fibers couldn’t block the fiery body temperature. Her nose was touching Teacher Tong’s flat stomach. Since it was a shirt, she could even glimpse a patch of icy skin and jade-like bones through the gap.
Teacher Tong still had that familiar fragrance.
Teacher Tong’s lap…
Tong Yao was even more nervous than Ruan Xi. It was the first time she had done something so guilt-ridden, and cold sweat was about to break out. Why wasn’t Director Zhang leaving yet? Was he suspicious of the young girl? She tried to act as natural as possible, reaching out to stroke the young girl’s cheek, but she was actually suppressing her own nervousness.
The breath from the young girl’s mouth was warm, making her stomach itch a little.
Finally, Zhang Zhenhua left.
The alarm was lifted. Tong Yao let out a sigh of relief and shook the young girl, but Ruan Xi didn’t get up.
“Ruan Ruan?”
She didn’t know what kind of emotion to use now. “Director Zhang is gone.”
“…Ruan Ruan, get up.”
She urged.
“Teacher Tong.” Not only did Ruan Xi not get up, but she reached out and wrapped her arms around Tong Yao’s waist, saying in a low voice, “Why did you help me?”
“You… I’m still…” Tong Yao turned her face away, wanting to show that she was still angry, but she couldn’t remember how to act angry. In the end, she pressed her hand to her brow and sighed, “I was afraid you would be punished.”
This child… why does she seem to have suddenly become a little wilder?
“But I deserved to be punished,” Ruan Xi said softly.
“You… you stop arguing with me.”
For a moment, Tong Yao couldn’t explain herself, and she couldn’t bear to speak harshly, so she could only say it with a hint of annoyance.
“Teacher Tong.”
“I’m working very hard in my studies. Don’t you worry.”
“I squeezed out the time to draw myself.”
“I lied about giving up manga. I’m sorry.”
“Can you forgive me?”
The young girl hugged her and slowly sat up. Her eyes were soft, yet they held a light. She took off the coat and covered Tong Yao with it.
“I will definitely, definitely not let you down.”
Tong Yao was in a daze for a moment. All the knowledge she had learned in her life seemed to be insufficient now. She wanted to say something, but she hesitated.
This child still won’t give up on manga?
Will it really not affect her studies?
How does she squeeze out the time?
…
In the end, she didn’t even use the formal “you” anymore. She wasn’t like this before. She clutched the clothes on her body, sighed, and a thousand words were ultimately no match for the young girl’s persistence in front of her.
“…So disrespectful.
“I’ll… just trust you for another month.”
