CM - 13

When Shen Tingwen entered the classroom, an obedient student followed him, carrying two boxes of original-flavor soda water. He placed them on the teacher’s desk, tapped the blackboard, and announced: “Young Master is treating us to drinks!”

The nickname ‘Young Master’ was used by some students to tease Shen Tingwen when he was generous, though it carried more of a sarcastic tone.

The class cheered, “Thank you, Young Master!” “Young Master is awesome!”

Shen Tingwen held two bottles of peach-flavored water. Passing Zhou Shuirong’s desk, he placed one down for her.

Zhou Shuirong slightly raised her eyes, glanced at the bottle of water, and then at the hand that placed it there. Shen Tingwen’s hand was too distinctive; she recognized it. She said nothing and continued writing.

After PE class was self-study. Fu Lingying moved to the seat next to Zhou Shuirong to help her correct rhetorical errors in her Chinese composition.

Fu Lingying had excellent writing skills; eighty percent of his essays were published in magazines, and he had even written advertorials for a certain news outlet. With his guidance, Zhou Shuirong, in just one class, mastered the essence of writing on classical ancient topics from a modern perspective.

She loved this feeling of sudden enlightenment. She was fully absorbed throughout the entire self-study session and even outlined the essay topic Fu Lingying had given her.

Shen Tingwen was doing practice problems not far away, feeling a bit agitated: Couldn’t these problems be a little harder? Why are they so simple?

After class, Fu Lingying gave her a collection of easily confused idioms he had summarized: “You can have this too. Sometimes using idioms in essays really adds points.”

As a token of gratitude, Zhou Shuirong gave Fu Lingying the bottle of water Shen Tingwen had given her.

Shen Tingwen watched with his own eyes as she gave that bottle of water to Fu Lingying. The pencil lead he was using to draw snapped. What terrible quality.

During the last class break of the afternoon, the dean came by and called Zhou Shuirong away.

Shen Tingwen remained calm, while Fu Lingying followed them out; he suspected the dean knew about Zhou Shuirong hitting someone.

________________________________________

Dean’s office.

The dean asked Zhou Shuirong: “A few girls said you hit them. Is that true?”

Zhou Shuirong’s expression didn’t change, and her heart didn’t skip a beat: “No.”

The dean stared at her, seemingly trying to find any hint of a lie: “Don’t think you can gloss over this. I know what happened.”

“If you knew, you would have just issued a notice. Why call me in?”

The dean raised an eyebrow. Oh, she’s quite clever. “Don’t try to be smart with me. Don’t think just because you’re an international student I’ll give you special treatment. At Guoda High School, everyone is treated equally. Whoever breaks discipline will be punished!”

“I really didn’t,” Zhou Shuirong said again.

The dean stared at her for a long time, seeing her composed demeanor, she didn’t seem to be lying: “Alright, you can go now.”

As Zhou Shuirong left the dean’s office, she saw Fu Lingying. He approached her: “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Fu Lingying had overheard the conversation from outside the door. He used his imagination: “You cornered that girl, and that spot is a blind spot for the cameras, so there’s no evidence you hit her. And the other two girls, to avoid trouble for themselves, wouldn’t step forward to accuse you.”

Zhou Shuirong didn’t speak, implicitly agreeing.

Fu Lingying scratched his scalp, suddenly feeling a little numb.

Zhou Shuirong was here to study, not to be a hooligan. As long as these people didn’t provoke her, she was perfectly willing to get along with them, but if they couldn’t control themselves, she wasn’t without ways to deal with them.

To be honest, these childish antics were so uninteresting that she didn’t even need the skills Si Wen had taught her.

________________________________________

After school, Liang Jifan and Shen Tingwen were once again standing face to face in their usual spot. When Zhou Shuirong left the school gate, she saw them again. Shen Tingwen even had his sleeves rolled up, revealing a shocking wound on his arm. But this time, she completely ignored them and just walked away.

Shen Tingwen saw that his “bitter trick” wasn’t working and rolled his sleeves back down.

Liang Jifan had other things to do and no time to waste with him: “No, what do you want with me? Are we close?”

Shen Tingwen needed to confirm something: “When Chen Fuyu spread rumors online, did Zhou Shuirong come to you?”

Liang Jifan’s hand, which was searching for a cigarette in his pack, stopped. He looked up: “Why should I tell you?”

Shen Tingwen casually kicked his hand. He dropped the cigarette pack, and the cigarettes tumbled out.

Liang Jifan’s hand was red from the kick. His temper flared, and he didn’t care about the consequences. He threw a punch: “Ow, what the hell, are you crazy? What are you showing off for, acting all high and mighty?”

Shen Tingwen easily caught his punch and, with twice his strength, pinned him against the wall: “Just answer the questions from now on, don’t talk nonsense.”

Liang Jifan wasn’t a pushover, but he definitely couldn’t beat Shen Tingwen in a fight. Plus, he had things to do and no time to waste, so he pushed him away and said impatiently: “Alright, alright, isn’t it just about Zhou Shuirong? Yes, she came. She wanted Chen Fuyu to apologize.”

“You didn’t take the opportunity to make a deal with her?”

That question irked him. Liang Jifan said: “Her? Make a deal? Forget about it. That woman is so damn vicious. You can have her; I’m not fortunate enough to enjoy that.”

Shen Tingwen guessed: “She has something on you.”

“Don’t ask about that. Anyway, that’s what happened. I’ll definitely not provoke her again,” Liang Jifan said, extending his hand to Shen Tingwen.

Shen Tingwen took two hundred yuan from his wallet and gave it to him.

Liang Jifan took the money and used the term ‘Young Master’ to mock him again: “Alright, Young Master, keep kicking my cigarettes from now on. Anyway, you’re rich, and you call the shots in Beijing.”

Shen Tingwen knew that Zhou Shuirong could handle the rumors spread by Chen Fuyu, but he just couldn’t control himself. Seeing those slanders, he found it even harder to accept than she did. Worrying ended up making him suspicious; he feared Zhou Shuirong wouldn’t trust him anymore.

He slung his backpack over one shoulder, hands in his pockets, and walked out of the alley.

Zhou Shuirong hadn’t left; she was leaning against a tree at the alley’s entrance. As Shen Tingwen emerged from the alley, their eyes met.

Shen Tingwen knew he was caught, but remaining composed in a crisis was his specialty, so he didn’t show much reaction. He even greeted her naturally: “Not going back yet?”

Zhou Shuirong slowly removed the headband tied around her forehead, folded it neatly, as if she hadn’t heard him.

Shen Tingwen invited her: “Want to have dinner together? My grandma’s house has a...”

Zhou Shuirong interrupted him: “Are you screwing with me, Shen Tingwen?”