Chapter 74: Seeing the Sun Through the Clouds
The fact that Ruan Xi had won a prize of seventy thousand yuan was known by few, but it was not a secret.
With so many people at the school, it wasn’t strange that some would read Ican Manga Net. As soon as you entered the website’s homepage, the recommendation column had the manga Dream Walk, and it was also marked as the silver prize winner of the competition. Clicking further in, there was also a photo of the author—a young girl in a white shirt, looking very fresh and neighborly. Acquaintances could naturally recognize that this was Ruan Xi.
The photo was requested by the editor on behalf of the website. Ruan Xi understood that they wanted to use the gimmick of a “beautiful high school girl manga artist.” After weighing the pros and cons, she agreed. The manga’s popularity rose rapidly, and the fan group expanded again and again. However, the number of people harassing her also began to increase.
Some people would start with malicious speculation, and some were explicit harassment, or blatant temptations.
“Hehe, a high school student? Not going to school, drawing manga. I wonder how many people this kind of girl has slept with.”
“Identification complete, still a virgin. Let me analyze for you all, first look at the legs…”
She just silently deleted these nauseating comments and private messages, sometimes staring blankly on the dormitory balcony.
From the moment she started using herself for publicity, she knew this would happen. She didn’t want Teacher Tong to see these filthy things, so she buried them in her heart and refused to tell anyone. The pure world was like the little dog that had died at home before. She had dug a small pit on the mountain by herself and then personally buried it. Life seemed unchanged, but something in her heart had already changed.
By the way, she had gotten her phone and money back. The two thousand yuan He Zeyu had was from her bag, and her phone was among the ones the accomplice hadn’t dealt with yet. The police had returned it to her the next day after catching the person, but not everyone was as lucky as her—Xu Yin’s class funds, not a single cent had been returned. He Zeyu had stolen from the second-year floor. The thief insisted that He Zeyu had only given him 2000, and the money had been spent. A dead pig is not afraid of boiling water, and he couldn’t produce it. Xu Yin had burst into tears on the spot.
“He clearly took it all,” Xu Yin said, crying. “I didn’t touch the money…”
The surveillance was very blurry. No one could prove how much was in Xu Yin’s wallet at the time, and no one knew how much He Zeyu had taken. If it weren’t for the fact that He Zeyu had admitted that the money found in the boys’ dorm was Ruan Xi’s, the money probably wouldn’t have been returned.
“It’s okay, no one will doubt you,” Tong Yao comforted her. “The teacher will help you find someone to sentence him for a longer time, to make him sell his family’s property to compensate you.”
Xu Yin’s eyes were wet, and she was also very worried.
“Sister Yao Yao, they won’t retaliate against you, will they?”
Tong Yao smiled and rubbed her hair. “You’re so cute. Don’t worry, they wouldn’t dare.”
No matter how fierce the threats were, after being locked up for a few years, any desire for revenge would be worn down.
She said, “The teacher will help you ask the school about how to handle it. Don’t be sad. Focus on your review.”
Xu Yin hugged her and said with attachment, “Thank you, Sister Yao Yao.”
At the entrance of Class 7, Ruan Xi watched the two of them coming out of the grade group office from a distance, her face full of jealousy.
—So annoying.
Taking advantage of the fact that she lost six thousand to get comfort from Teacher Tong every day.
The young girl thought to herself, it would have been so much better if the six thousand found in the boys’ dorm had been Xu Yin’s.
She thought sourly, there’s nothing to be envious or jealous of. I’ve already kissed Teacher Tong. No other girl can come between us.
But when she told this idea to Yan Zhi, Yan Zhi directly poured a basin of cold water on her.
“Huh? No tongue? Is that called a kiss? Some best friends even use tongue when they kiss, right? Are you sure Teacher Tong didn’t just touch you with her hand?”
Ruan Xi was silent.
Her middle school was in a remote and poor city. The school atmosphere was very bad, and the students prided themselves on being “socially adept,” which had given rise to many bizarre phenomena. Smoking, sleeping around—compared to these, the girls in her dorm kissing each other and touching each other’s chests seemed like nothing.
Some people say that the way girls treat friendship has a shadow of how they treat love.
But at No. 1 High, everyone seemed to be a reserved child, and the level of intimacy between them had dropped a lot.
“Have you ever kissed a best friend?” she asked Yan Zhi in a small voice.
Yan Zhi looked at the cup, stared at the ripples in the water, and said softly, “Mhm.”
“How… did it feel?”
“…That,” Yan Zhi propped up her face and looked away. “It was just for fun at the time, to see what it felt like. Actually… it was just very soft, and I was very nervous. Then I turned gay, and she didn’t.”
After she spoke, she drank some water. Ruan Xi suddenly felt a sense of being a fellow sufferer, looking at her with both pity and empathy.
Kissing, some people just find it exciting, but some people fall for it at once. It’s like falling into water. Some people fall into a one-meter-deep pond, stand up, and roll up their pants to go ashore. Some people fall directly into a bottomless sea. After struggling to get free and surfacing, they may not be able to find a small boat to take them in.
And Teacher Tong was probably a luxury cruise ship. The people in the water and on the shore were all coveting her, and she might not be able to catch up even if she spent her whole life.
A voice in her heart asked, do you really want to try?
Ruan Xi thought, of course.
No one could stop her.
**
On a Friday afternoon, just after class, the winter sun was hiding in the clouds. The weather was getting colder and colder. The students didn’t want to go out, but there was a commotion in the hallway. The director of the Student Affairs Office, Zhang Zhenhua, and the grade group leader, Ye Wei, were at the door of the office, awkwardly blocking an old woman.
It was an old grandmother. She looked withered, like a tree in winter. The difference was that the tree would have a prosperous time next year, but she was so old that she seemed to be unable to stand firm. Her withered arm was held by Zhang Zhenhua. She was wearing faded and yellowed sleeve protectors, a somewhat tattered dark red cotton-padded jacket, and a self-knitted cotton hat. Gray hair hung out from under it. She was a scavenger who could be seen everywhere on the street.
“…We are in class. Please don’t disturb our students.” Zhang Zhenhua’s face was full of pity, but he still firmly supported and blocked her.
The old woman almost wanted to kneel down, tears streaming down her face. “I beg you, please don’t expel Zeyu… Zeyu has been obedient since he was a child. He was always first in his grade in middle school, and he even said he wanted to get into Tsinghua University in the future… If you expel him, how can he have a future…”
“This… it’s very difficult for us, but your grandson has committed a crime! He’s going to jail!” Ye Wei couldn’t help but say. “He stole his classmates’ money. This is hurting others!”
The hallway was a necessary path for getting water after class. This drama was unfolding at the perfect time. The students were like sharks that had smelled blood, all running out of their classrooms to watch from a distance, pointing and whispering.
Tong Yao came out of Class 4 after class. The path ahead was blocked. She looked over and heard a student next to her say, “It’s He Zeyu’s grandmother.”
“He hasn’t been here for a few days. Is he really in jail?”
Someone else said, “This person is such trash, making his grandmother lose all her dignity like this.”
Xu Yin was holding a water cup and was also blocked on the road. She quietly looked at the old woman and the teachers in front, her lips slightly pursed.
“I know Zeyu made a mistake… I apologize to you on his behalf…” The old woman was stooped, wiped her tears, and looked at the teachers pleadingly, her words intermittent. “Can you not expel him…”
The situation was at a stalemate. The teachers didn’t want to be the bad guys, but they couldn’t possibly give in. They awkwardly said, “Please go back first,” but the old woman refused.
“He hasn’t even returned the money he stole. Our class funds are all gone…” someone said in a voice that was neither loud nor soft.
The air suddenly became quiet. The old woman looked over, then slowly walked over, like a clumsy penguin, her chin seeming to tremble.
“Child, Zeyu… how much money did he steal from you…”
The person who had just spoken suddenly fell silent. He took a step back, unable to look directly at this difficult old woman. Xu Yin hesitated for a moment. As the class president, she stepped forward and said, “Grandma, he stole our class’s class funds, but… this is something he should bear himself. He has broken the law, and the school can’t help him.”
Then, she saw the old woman nod tremblingly, her hand reaching into a small cloth bag at her waist. She tremblingly took out a stack of money, including some tattered five-yuan and one-yuan bills taped together. Tears rolled down her wrinkled face.
“I… I sold my coffin… There’s over three thousand yuan here. Is it enough… child, can you forgive him… Don’t let Zeyu go to jail… I’m begging you…”
Most students had not seen the cruelty of life.
A girl turned her head to wipe her tears. Xu Yin was frozen. How could she take this money? Such a lonely old woman… why did He Zeyu have to steal?
“I can’t take it, Grandma…”
Xu Yin covered her face, and tears suddenly streamed down. She cried and ran back to the classroom.
The drama finally ended with the bell for class.
The students had to go back to class, but they couldn’t help but look back at the hobbling old woman. She was still begging Zhang Zhenhua and Ye Wei. And the students who had witnessed all of this, life had already taught them the most vivid lesson.
—Don’t let your family be so humble.
“Grandma,” Tong Yao stepped forward and sighed. “The property your grandson stole was all found in his dorm, if he didn’t hide anything else. The one who will judge him is the law, not us. He is a minor, and the sentence won’t be heavy. What you need to do is wait for him to come out and guide him onto the right path, not to associate with those messy people in society.”
What she didn’t say was that there was a problem within He Zeyu’s gang. They were all blaming each other for where Xu Yin’s class funds were, making the final result confusing.
The old woman nodded tremblingly, her expression a mix of resignation and despair. She finally left, perhaps to beg the police, perhaps to see her grandson. She had come from another city to study, and hadn’t seen him in half a year. When she saw him again, he was in prison.
But in the end, it had nothing to do with the school anymore.
There was still one problem left.
What about Xu Yin’s money?
Considering that the possibility of getting it back from the police was very small, Tong Yao once again entered the principal’s office.
Seeing Tong Jiansheng, she asked, “Uncle, the student lost so much money. Is the school really not responsible at all?”
Tong Jiansheng smiled, as if laughing at her naivety.
“Yao Yao, it’s a good thing to care about the students, but you can’t go too far.”
“I didn’t… I just thought, is there a better solution? After all, it was our security that wasn’t good enough…”
“Property safety and personal safety are separate. Hasn’t the school emphasized many times not to bring valuables to the classroom?” Tong Jiansheng smiled, always gentle with his niece. “That student lost six thousand in class funds? If the school helps her pay it back, then do we have to pay back the others too? This time it was six thousand, what if it’s sixty thousand next time? What if a sixty-thousand-yuan watch is lost?
“Yao Yao, you have to look at the problem from the school’s perspective. If you lost money in the office, would you come to me for compensation?”
Tong Yao lowered her head and said sullenly, “I know.”
Because her uncle was right, she felt even more ashamed and troubled.
She stood up, thinking about how to comfort Xu Yin when she got back. But Tong Jiansheng called her back.
“Wait, Yao Yao, that student, she’s the first in our second year, right?”
She was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes.”
“It’s a good thing she lost the most money. The others only lost a small amount,” Tong Jiansheng said. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about this these past few days. How about this, for the final joint exam of the nine schools, the scholarship for the top three of the nine schools was originally set at 2000. I’ll find a way to raise it to 5000. If she can get it, it’s her ability. The remaining 1000 will be a lesson for her. What do you think?”
The clouds parted, and the winter sun shone into the window, sprinkling a layer of gold dust on the desk.
Tong Yao stood in the sunlight, came back to her senses, and bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Principal!”
**
Author’s Note
PS: Yao Yao didn’t leave campus in her previous life, and in this life, she was focused on her studies. She was young and impetuous, and actually not very mature.
