Chapter 3

We played basketball until the end-of-class bell rang. I sat under a tree in the shade and pulled my shirt up to wipe my sweat. A few girls coyly tried to give me mineral water bottles. I took one from someone who looked familiar and thanked her.


She covered her face and peered at me through the gaps in her fingers. I nervously took a gulp of water. It was just a bottle of water, but they made it seem like it was the emperor choosing which concubine to sleep with. I felt quite embarrassed so I bought an ice cream bar to repay her. The girls beside her started to hoot and tease, making me feel even more embarrassed. Honestly, I had already forgotten her name, but I didn't dare to ask.


I ran away.


When I turned and ran, I could still hear them saying 'Duan Yan's really aloof'. I looked around and didn't see anyone. Maybe they were saying the air was aloof.


Once I went back to class, I asked the person sitting in front of me if she remembered the name of the relatively good looking girl with long braids and big eyes from Class Four. She had come to our class in the morning to borrow a book, I added.


The person sitting in front of me replied, irritated, "Ren Yingying?"


I slapped my thigh. Right, Ren Yingying, the girl in 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' who was together with Linghu Chong[1]. Linghu Chong, Ren Yingying, got it.


The person sitting in front of me was still angry at me, so I gave her the red sandalwood bracelet that my Ge had bought for me from his last business trip. She was shocked, her cheeks red all the way to the tip of her ears.


I had used a lighter and burned off a lock of her hair so I had only bribed her out of fear that her parents would come and find my Ge to get even. She seemed to have misunderstood it, but our form teacher had already walked in carrying some books so I didn't have time to explain and by the time class ended, I had forgotten.


During night self-study[2], my form teacher seized me and pulled me out. The director of teaching affairs phoned my Ge in front of me and reported to him that I was dating early[3], then asked him to make a trip to the school. My form teacher brought two weeping girls over. One of them was the person who sat in front of me, and the other was the girl with long braids and big eyes from Class Four. Their offence was throwing things in the dormitory block while fighting over a boy and getting caught by the dormitory administrator. I was that boy.


My form teacher asked me for my thoughts on the situation.


?


I could only think of Linghu Chong.


Just like my Ge rushing towards me to chop me up.


Footnotes:

[1] - 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer': A wuxia novel published in 1967. Linghu Chong is the protagonist and Ren Yingying is the love interest. Duan Yan is using the novel to remember Ren Yingying's name.

[2] - Night self-study: It's common for high schools in mainland China to have 'night self-study' where students use the time to do their work and revise

[3] - Dating early: It's generally a common rule for high school students and younger to be disallowed from dating. If caught, teachers will discipline the students.