CM - 34

Shen Tingwen and his group were sent to the hospital. School teachers and the dean accompanied them. Zhou Shuirong wasn’t injured and didn’t need to go, but she was suspended. The dean made her stand outside the office door, along with a few others who weren’t injured.

Only then did she realize what “K” meant: online roleplay sex, or voice sex.

Just because of this, Shen Tingwen went crazy. Was he still someone who would hide himself online? Was this incident really that big of a deal?

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The school’s disciplinary action came down very quickly. Before school was even out, it was announced over the loudspeaker: Shen Tingwen received a major demerit and a one-week suspension to reflect at home. Zhou Shuirong, as an accomplice, received a major demerit and a three-day suspension. The rest of the students received similar punishments.

Xu Su, hearing that Zhou Shuirong was involved in a group fight at school, rushed over from Yunnan, bringing a woman with him.

In Zhou Shuirong’s apartment, the woman put a band-aid on Zhou Shuirong’s cut arm, then told Xu Su: “Just a small cut here on her arm, nowhere else.”

Xu Su said, “Thank you for coming all this way with me.”

The woman smiled: “You’re welcome.”

Xu Su didn’t keep her: “Well then, Fang Qi, I’ll book you a hotel and buy you a ticket back for tomorrow.”

Fang Qi refused: “I’ll stay with you for a few days. Anyway, I have nothing to do, and it’s inconvenient for you, a grown man, to be here alone. It’s also not good for a young girl to have things she can’t talk to you about.”

She said that, but he felt... Before he could speak, Fang Qi had already said: “It’s settled then.”

Xu Su had no choice but to agree.

Fang Qi was perceptive. She stood up: “I’ll go buy some food, you two chat.”

As soon as she left, Xu Su angrily slammed the table: “You were doing so well, and then you go get into a group fight? Are you a student or a gangster? And fighting in school! If anything happened to you, how would I explain it to your uncle, how would I explain it to your parents?”

Zhou Shuirong said nothing.

“You said you could protect yourself. Is this how you protect yourself? You almost protected yourself straight into a hospital! You’re still young now. When you grow up, you’ll definitely regret these actions. Do you think group fighting is trendy? It’s simply absurd!”

Zhou Shuirong retorted: “What about you? Did you fight when you were in school?”

Xu Su paused.

Zhou Shuirong knew from his reaction that he had fought plenty: “Yes, I will regret it later, but I can’t just cower like a grandson. What kind of teenage years are they if you don’t do something you might regret? People should do things appropriate for their age. You see me fighting, and you think I’m immature. I see you playing both sides, and I find it disgusting. Why don’t you stop lecturing me, and I won’t interfere with you? Isn’t that better? The number of meals you’ve eaten, the number of bridges you’ve crossed, that’s your life experience, not mine. Don’t use your life experience to restrict me. My life has never been the same as yours.”

Xu Su was stunned.

What is youth? Youth is fearlessness. In the eyes of those who feel very mature, what they’re doing is called “chuunibyou” (eighth-grade syndrome). So what if it’s chuunibyou? Should they be spending their teenage years practicing health preservation and spouting life philosophies?

What nonsense.

There are always people who, being a few years older, think they are important. Zhou Shuirong’s ability to discern right from wrong, and her straightforward and uninhibited nature, came from her parents never telling her “how you should be.”

There is no “should” or “shouldn’t,” only “willing” or “unwilling.”

If I am willing, I will do it. It has nothing to do with age, nothing to do with identity, nothing to do with anything, as long as it has something to do with the heart.

Xu Su had been blinded by anger. Zhou Shuirong’s words jolted him awake. He had misunderstood his own role and overstepped in Zhou Shuirong’s upbringing. What right did he have to educate her?

His voice lowered: “I’m sorry, I lost my temper.”

Zhou Shuirong forgave him: “You can also live a little more freely, not bound by the ‘shoulds’ that society has summarized from the past. My mom told me that because of too many ‘shoulds,’ many people aren’t willing to let themselves go, which is why they’re unhappy.”

Xu Su never expected that he, who considered himself quite clear-headed, was not as insightful as Zhou Shuirong, a seventeen-year-old girl.

Her words also seemed to tell him that the gap between them was not just in their status, but also in their way of thinking. But the more she was different from others, the more unforgettable she became.

Xu Su’s mind was completely in turmoil.