You Must Be Good 9

Chapter 9

◎She had never thought.◎

The scorching sun baked the campus, and the asphalt road steamed with distorted waves of heat. Qiao Xiaoxiao felt as if she were walking on cotton, her legs so weak they could barely support her weight.

The area where the results were posted was bustling with people, filled with cheerful families. Fathers proudly patted their sons’ shoulders, mothers excitedly took pictures with their daughters, and entire families gathered around the red announcement board, pointing and commenting.

Qiao Xiaoxiao stood alone at the edge of the crowd, watching her shadow shrink into a small, lonely shape under the harsh sun.

She mechanically followed the flow of people towards the teaching building, her ears constantly filled with excited conversations.

“I got into Class 1! The one-on-one tutoring over the summer paid off!”

“That’s great, we can be in the same class again!”

“My parents promised to buy me a new phone!”

Every cheerful voice was like a knife, slicing through her already shattered self-esteem. Once, in the earthen classroom of the village, Qiao Xiaoxiao was the top student, the one the teachers said had the “most hope of getting out.” Now, in this dream high school, she had become a bottom-ranking underachiever.

The camphor trees on campus were a brilliant green under the sun, and the new plastic track gave off the smell of rubber.

But all this beauty had nothing to do with her.

Once in Class 10, perhaps because of the unique vigor of youth, or perhaps because they knew the classes would be reassigned every semester, no one was too affected by the “bottom-ranking class” label. The classroom was filled with a youthful atmosphere, with students gathering in twos and threes, chatting excitedly.

“Have you seen ‘You Are the Apple of My Eye’?” a girl with a ponytail asked excitedly. “The theme song ‘Those Years’ sung by Hu Xia is amazing. I had it on repeat for days after watching the movie!”

“Of course I’ve seen it!” a boy next to her immediately chimed in. “But ‘The Avengers’ is what’s really hot right now. The scene with Iron Man and Captain America together was so epic. I’m planning to watch it again this weekend!”

In the back row, a few boys were heatedly discussing games. “I’m almost at Gold rank in ‘League of Legends.’ What position do you guys usually play? I main ADC.”

“I specialize in mid-lane mages. The feeling of one-shotting someone with a combo is just too satisfying!” another boy pushed up his glasses. “I heard the new Dust II map in ‘CrossFire’ is really cool. Want to team up?”

In another corner of the classroom, a few girls were humming, “Because of love, how can there be vicissitudes…” A round-faced girl said dreamily, “This song ‘Because of Love’ by Faye Wong and Eason Chan is something you never get tired of. It’s my ringtone.”

“Yeah, yeah,” her deskmate agreed. “But ‘Father’ by the Chopstick Brothers is even more of a tearjerker. Every time I hear the line ‘Always taking from you but never saying thank you,’ I can’t help but want to call my dad.”

In this lively atmosphere, Qiao Xiaoxiao sat quietly in her seat, her slender fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

The movies, games, and songs her classmates were talking about were all so foreign to her. She secretly observed the fashionable clothes of the students around her. Although she couldn’t recognize the brands, the cut and texture of the clothes exuded a sense of refinement. Qiao Xiaoxiao quietly tucked the loose thread at the hem of her T-shirt into her waistband and shrank further into her seat.

Just then, the head teacher, Song Yang, walked into the classroom with a brisk pace. She briefly introduced the school’s schedule, handed out the class timetables, and then suddenly changed the subject, asking with a beaming smile, “Class, does anyone want to volunteer to be a class officer?”

As she spoke, her gentle gaze slowly swept across the class.

Qiao Xiaoxiao unconsciously lowered her head, her shoulders shrinking slightly. In stark contrast to her, a forest of arms shot up in the classroom, and the sound of self-nominations was endless.

“Teacher, pick me!”

“I was the class president for three years in middle school!”

“I’m best at organizing activities!”

…

This half-day was like sitting on pins and needles for Qiao Xiaoxiao. The noisy chatter in the classroom seemed to be filtered through a layer of frosted glass, blurry and distant. Her mind was a blank, and everything before her felt like a story from another world.

She quietly shrank into herself, her back pressed tightly against the cool back of the chair, as if this could hide her in an unnoticed corner.

September 1, 2012. Qiao Xiaoxiao would never forget it.

When she stepped from the small village into the top high school, thinking she could finally spread her wings and fly, reality hit her hard.

She had naively thought that the gap between her and the city kids was only in academic performance. But now she truly understood that what lay between them were completely different lives—the movies she had never seen, the songs she had never heard, the games she had never played, and even the social media accounts she had never had.

Towards the end of class, a tall boy walked up to her desk. Although Qiao Xiaoxiao was small and thin, her skin tanned dark red from years of labor, her features were delicate, with a hint of refined beauty in her face.

The boy smiled and asked, “Classmate, do you have a school network account? Can we add each other as friends?”

Qiao Xiaoxiao shook her head in confusion, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes.

The boy thought she was unwilling to give it and tried another way. “What about QQ? You must have that, right?”

Her ears burned slightly. She lowered her eyes, her voice almost inaudible. “…No.”

The boy’s smile froze. He scratched his head awkwardly and finally said, “Alright then,” before turning and leaving.

Qiao Xiaoxiao watched the boy’s retreating back, the heart in her chest beating heavy and hard, as if it would shatter her ribs. The gaps she had deliberately ignored now turned into countless tiny needles, densely pricking her heart, the pain so intense she almost had to bend over.

When the bell for the end of class rang, Qiao Xiaoxiao mechanically packed her schoolbag. The sounds of laughter and joy around her surged in like a tide, and then receded like one. She kept her head down, staring at the worn tips of her shoes, and slowly walked out like a tortoise. The September sun was clearly so bright, but it felt cold on her skin.

Just then, a gentle call pierced through the noisy crowd: “Xiaoxiao!”

Qiao Xiaoxiao’s head shot up, and in the bustling crowd, she saw Chu Xinrou at a glance.

Sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the hallway, falling on her. Her white gauze dress fluttered gently in the wind, and the pearl earrings on her earlobes glowed with a soft luster. She stood there like a luminous painting, causing passing students and parents to turn and look.

Chu Xinrou was worried about Qiao Xiaoxiao’s first day of school and had deliberately waited at the school gate half an hour early. Classes were being dismissed one after another, and seeing the youthful and lively faces of the students, her heart was also infected with joy. She had already pictured the scene in her mind: Xiaoxiao would surely come running out, bouncing with joy, like the other children. She would take her to buy a strawberry-flavored ice cream. Seeing her devotion to popcorn, the child would probably like sweets and would be very happy.

When the expectant Chu Xinrou finally saw that familiar small figure, she immediately raised a gentle smile and waved. But to her surprise, the joyful scene she had imagined did not happen. The moment Qiao Xiaoxiao saw her, her eyes reddened, and she quickly lowered her head, her thin shoulders trembling slightly.

She could have held it in.

She, who was used to hiding in unnoticed corners and silently enduring everything, could have held it in.

But… but…

She had never thought someone would come to pick her up.

Never thought…