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Cheng Mi arrived at the Academic Affairs Office, where a bespectacled female teacher was inside.
Seeing her enter, the female teacher asked: “What can I do for you?”
“Teacher Wei said there was a small issue with my enrollment procedures.”
“Oh, it’s you,” the female teacher reached for a form nearby and motioned for her to come closer, “Come in.”
Cheng Mi walked over. The female teacher pointed it out to her: “The guardian section isn’t filled out. You need to complete it.”
So that was the problem.
Cheng Mi said: “I turned eighteen in April this year; I’m already an adult.”
“Starting school a year later than others?”
Cheng Mi neither nodded nor denied.
“But you’re still a high school student. Although you’re an adult, you’re still in high school, so you have to follow the procedures. If you don’t fill this out, it can’t be entered into the system.”
Cheng Mi hesitated.
The female teacher probably couldn’t understand what was so difficult about it and said: “Just fill in anyone, your father, your mother, or even your grandparents will do.”
These people she mentioned.
Cheng Mi had none of them.
Perhaps these were extremely common terms for others, but not for Cheng Mi.
Except for her mother, the others were strangers to her; she had never called them.
But she didn’t say much more to the teacher.
The guardian field was a required entry restricted by the system; there was no way around it.
Cheng Mi could only ask: “Can I put down an uncle?”
“Biological uncle?”
“No, no blood relation.”
Even the slowest teacher would realize that the student in front of her likely had a complicated and unharmonious family situation. After frowning in thought for a moment, she said: “That should be fine.”
The pen the teacher handed her was by Cheng Mi’s hand.
The teacher said: “Then fill it out: name, date of birth, and also phone number and ID number. Don’t miss anything.”
Cheng Mi knew Li Yehang’s name and date of birth, but she wasn’t sure about his ID number.
She asked the teacher: “Can I make a call to ask?”
“ID number, right? Yes, the phone is over there, you can use it.”
The landline was on a table by the window, with a potted plant next to it, and the window was open.
Cheng Mi took the pen and form and walked to the window. Just then, a gust of wind came in, and the collarbone chain felt cold against her neck.
She picked up the receiver, paused for two seconds, then dialed Li Yehang’s number.
Li Yehang had frequent business dealings, so his phone was usually on 24 hours a day.
As Cheng Mi expected, in less than five seconds, he answered the call.
Initially, she didn’t speak, but he guessed who she was first.
“Cheng Mi?”
Cheng Mi paused: “It’s me.”
She then asked: “How did you know?”
Li Yehang said: “The phone showed a call from Fengxun.”
Cheng Mi put her finger on the receiver: “Mhm.”
Li Yehang, like any elder, began to ask about her studies: “Isn’t it class time in China right now?”
Cheng Mi wasn’t too keen on hearing such questions.
But she still replied: “I’m at the Academic Affairs Office.”
She then told him the purpose of the call: “The enrollment form requires guardian information, and I need your ID number.”
“Get a pen and paper to write it down.”
Cheng Mi tapped the retractable ballpoint pen between her fingers on the table: “You say it.”
Li Yehang read out the eighteen digits to her.
Cheng Mi wrote them down one by one: “Got it.”
With the ID number in hand, the call was coming to an end.
Before hanging up, Li Yehang instructed from the other end: “Cheng Mi, write down my ID number. You can just fill it in directly next time you need it.”
Cheng Mi filled in Li Yehang’s name in the guardian name field: “Mhm.”
After hanging up, Cheng Mi submitted the form and left the Academic Affairs Office.
After leaving the Academic Affairs Office, she realized that class had ended, and the corridors on every floor were bustling.
Two girls, arm in arm, walked past Cheng Mi, discussing what to eat at the cafeteria.
The bell had probably rung while she was on the phone with Li Yehang, and class had been over for a while.
Cheng Mi walked back the way she came and soon arrived at Senior Two Class One. Si Tingyan was no longer inside.
Another day she hadn’t eaten with him.
Cheng Mi averted her gaze and went downstairs back to her classroom.
________________________________________
Senior Three had two scheduled comprehensive science mini-tests every week, set for Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, with three class periods combined for the exam.
By the time the exam was over, it was already time for school to end.
The classroom became noisy as soon as school ended, with various talking voices and the sounds of chairs being dragged.
Amidst the clamor, Cheng Mi saw her small deskmate say something to her.
She didn’t hear clearly and leaned her ear slightly to listen: “What?”
Even when she leaned closer, Meng Yin’s voice was still very soft: “Do you want to go get bubble tea?”
She said: “My friend’s dad opened a bubble tea shop outside our school gate today, and it’s their grand opening. It’s buy-one-get-one-free. Do you want to go together?”
Cheng Mi smiled: “Advertising for your friend?”
Meng Yin, easily flustered, stammered: “N-no.”
Cheng Mi saw her trying to explain but not knowing how, and her smile deepened. She spoke for her: “Got it, you want me to take advantage of a good deal.”
She really considered her a friend.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go when I pass by later.”
Cheng Mi finished speaking, picked up her school bag, and stood up from her seat.
Meng Yin watched her about to leave: “Aren’t you going together?”
Cheng Mi had untied her hair during her lunch break, and her long hair was now loose behind her.
When she stood up, the hair by her ears fell to her cheeks, slightly blocking her vision. She raised her hand to smooth it back. “Mhm, I have something to do. I’ll go later.”
Meng Yin remembered her words: “I’m going to pursue him.”
“You’re going to find Si Tingyan?”
“Yes.”
Meng Yin very earnestly told her: “Then I wish you success.”
Cheng Mi smiled: “Thanks. Most likely, I won’t disappoint you, but it might take a bit longer. I’m off now.”
Cheng Mi said that and left.
Meng Yin ended up going to the bubble tea shop alone to find her friend.
Her friend’s bubble tea shop had quite a romantic and artistic name, “Turn Corner,” and the shop’s decor was also high-end, built with money, located right opposite the school.
Halfway there, her friend, the bubble tea shop owner, called, saying there were so many people and to hurry to the shop to help.
People are always looking for novelty when it comes to food and entertainment. When Meng Yin arrived, the shop was almost bursting at the seams; there wasn’t a single empty seat, and a long queue snaked in front of the counter.
Meng Yin’s friend was the one who had previously used Cheng Mi’s profile picture.
Later, after meeting Cheng Mi in person, she changed it, saying it was too strange to use a beautiful friend as her profile picture.
Meng Yin and this friend were childhood sweethearts, neighbors who grew up together. Although they were a year apart in age and a grade apart in school, their relationship had always been very good.
Meng Yin’s friend had a completely different personality from her; Meng Yin was quiet, while her friend was outgoing and generous, carefree, and got along with both boys and girls.
Half of the reason the shop was so lively today was thanks to her, attracting many classmates.
Qi Yunmiao also came. Meng Yin’s friend was in Senior Two, so it wasn’t strange for her to know Qi Yunmiao.
Qi Yunmiao’s group was always high-profile and flashy, a bright spot at this age. The shop was filled with their laughter and chatter. Meng Yin, helping in the back, could hear them talking.
At first, Meng Yin didn’t pay much attention, until the atmosphere later became strange, and those fragmented words truly landed in her ears.
“I’m telling you how despicable she is.”
“What did she do?”
“That model has always been Qi Yunmiao’s, and she snatched it away.”
“What the heck, so manipulative.”
“And so fake. Last time, when I dropped my soda, she pretended to help me pick it up. I almost wanted to throw up.”
Meng Yin’s friend happened to come in at this moment, and she asked: “Who are they talking about?”
“Are you talking about Qi Yunmiao and Fu Shenwei? Do you know Fu Shenwei?”
Meng Yin only knew Qi Yunmiao, the school beauty of Fenggao; she didn’t know the other one and shook her head.
“Here,” her friend pointed to her, “The one who looks a bit dark.”
Meng Yin glanced in the direction she was pointing, then withdrew: “So, who are they talking about?”
“Cheng Mi, that new girl from your Senior Three. They hate her guts.”
Meng Yin paused, then slowly asked: “Why?”
“That girl is very scheming. She just arrived and snatched the magazine Qi Yunmiao had always been modeling for.”
Meng Yin couldn’t help but speak up for Cheng Mi: “Is there some misunderstanding here...?”
Her friend said: “What misunderstanding could there be? They all saw her go to the shoot.”
The two of them whispered to each other, not paying attention to the other side for a moment.
Then, a sudden, harsh scraping sound of a chair against the floor startled them.
Meng Yin turned to look, only to see Qi Yunmiao’s angry figure disappearing at the doorway.
She immediately had a bad feeling. While working with her hands, her ears were perked up.
Qi Yunmiao’s friends didn’t leave and were chattering away.
Someone complained: “Why did you tell her?”
The girl who spoke next, Meng Yin had just heard her name, Fu Shenwei.
She was also a bit annoyed: “How was I supposed to know she’d get so angry? She likes Si Tingyan, and we always mention him in front of her, telling her everything. How was I supposed to know that Cheng Mi going to our class to find Si Tingyan after school couldn’t be mentioned?”
“You know she doesn’t let people pursue Si Tingyan. It would be strange if she wasn’t angry after you told her.”
Meng Yin didn’t pay attention to what they said next.
Because she was sure that what Fu Shenwei said next was true: Cheng Mi did go to Senior Two to find Si Tingyan.
If Cheng Mi was still there, and Qi Yunmiao went over, the two would definitely run into each other.
Besides Qi Yunmiao’s famous face, her temperamental rich-girl attitude was basically known by everyone.
Her family’s pampered upbringing had resulted in a spoiled and overbearing demeanor, intolerant of any slight.
Everyone at Fenggao knew that Qi Yunmiao liked Si Tingyan, and they also knew that Qi Yunmiao didn’t allow anyone else to pursue Si Tingyan.
Back when they were all in Senior One, there was a girl who sent Si Tingyan breakfast and love letters every day. In the end, all of them fell into the stomachs of Qi Yunmiao’s little clique. The secret, fluttering feelings in those love letters would also be their jokes for several days.
Over time, no girl dared to pursue Si Tingyan again.
Besides Si Tingyan himself being hard to approach, another reason was Qi Yunmiao.
No girl dared to provoke her group of girls.
Meng Yin was halfway through making a bubble tea, wanting to pull out her phone to call Cheng Mi. She didn’t want to see her friend get into trouble.
She opened her contacts but then remembered she hadn’t added Cheng Mi’s number. Just then, someone came to place an order, and she put down her phone, slightly worried.
________________________________________
Cheng Mi didn’t find Si Tingyan in the Senior Two (1) classroom.
She thought he had gone to the competition class, but after waiting for a long time, she didn’t see him return.
She idled in the corridor outside the classroom for a while, then asked a girl who came out of the classroom.
“Hello, classmate, did Si Tingyan go to the competition class?”
The girl, holding books, stopped: “No, he didn’t come to school this afternoon.”
“He didn’t come to class?”
“That’s right, he took leave during roll call this afternoon.”
Si Tingyan didn’t come to school after all.
Cheng Mi nodded to the girl: “Thank you.”
She then remembered Si Huiru saying this morning that Si Tingyan wasn’t feeling well.
With Si Tingyan not there, Cheng Mi naturally didn’t plan to stay there any longer.
Just as she was about to leave, the sound of a skateboard wheel hitting the ground came from behind her.
It had been a while since school ended, and the classrooms and corridors weren’t very lively, so this sound seemed particularly harsh.
Soon, the quick and rapid sound of a skateboard sliding on the ground echoed through the corridor.
A loud noise filled the entire corridor.
The commotion was so loud that many people in the classroom looked outside.
Cheng Mi, of course, did too. As soon as she turned around, her gaze met the gaze from the skateboard squarely.
The other person had black high-top shoes on the skateboard, above which were a pair of slender, straight,筷子腿 (chopstick legs), a mini-skirt, and then a pair of eyes that were also looking at her.
Cheng Mi immediately detected hostility in them.
Qi Yunmiao, sweeping in fiercely with the wind, braked sharply in front of the Class One classroom door.
After landing, she stood her skateboard upright by her feet and turned to look into the classroom.
Seeing Si Tingyan wasn’t there, she turned back to Cheng Mi, her demeanor unfriendly.
Cheng Mi didn’t flinch or hide. She watched Qi Yunmiao look at her, and she also looked at her.
One stood by the corridor, the other in front of the classroom door.
There was no dialogue.
Two girls returning from the restroom held their breath, passing between them in silence.
A few seconds later, Qi Yunmiao stomped her skateboard onto the ground.
The wheels slid across the floor, and she quickly disappeared down the stairwell.
________________________________________
Cheng Mi didn’t take the small incident she encountered outside the Senior Two Class One classroom to heart.
Having been delayed for a bit at school, it was already late afternoon with the setting sun when she returned.
It was rush hour, and traffic was terrible. People and cars jammed the roads, and horns blared in a cacophony.
This kind of environment easily made Cheng Mi recall the first day she came to Fengxun, the same crowdedness and noise.
After the phone call from the Academic Affairs Office at noon, a subtle emotion had been weighing on her mind. She didn’t pay excessive attention to it, nor did she intentionally ignore it.
She let it float within her body, to live and die on its own, to leave whenever it chose.
Then, a ray of sunset light made it float before Cheng Mi’s eyes.
Even when faced with disappointment, Cheng Mi rarely showed anger or hysteria. It wasn’t numbness, nor was it a lack of sadness.
It was just that when emotions came knocking, she was still the same: not dragged down into a daze by them, nor fighting against them to feign sobriety. She maintained a very peaceful mindset, like meeting an old friend.
A cigarette burned to its end, and everyone concluded their meeting.
The old spot, by the window in the third-floor corridor.
One of Cheng Mi’s elbows rested on the windowsill, her backpack hanging from her arm, and a cigarette held between her fingertips.
Her hand extended outside, the twilight crawling onto the back of her hand, and the smoke curled upwards, dispersing.
Cheng Mi seemed to never be idle whenever she came here.
Last time, the young couple at Gate One were arguing, and she was forced to listen to the entire quarrel.
This time, she had been standing here watching people play with a dog downstairs for half a cigarette.
Apart from anything else, her bad mood was completely forgotten.
The dog was entirely black, small in stature, with short legs, a bit like a plump little ball.
Cheng Mi had met this dog a few times downstairs; it was a male dog.
It seemed to be very obedient to Si Tingyan, constantly circling him. A minute ago, it was ordered to lie down because it was too boisterous and annoyed Si Tingyan, and it hadn’t gotten up since.
Si Tingyan was still wearing his school uniform, and his backpack was still beside him.
He hadn’t attended class in the afternoon, so he had probably just returned from somewhere.
As she watched, the person below seemed to sense something and looked up.
Cheng Mi was already standing by the window, openly watching him. Their gazes met squarely.
The ash on the cigarette in her hand had accumulated too much and was slightly blown by the wind, falling downwards.
Cheng Mi didn’t bother with it, still watching Si Tingyan.
After Si Tingyan saw it was her, he looked away.
Even if he hadn’t seen Cheng Mi, she was going to go down and find him anyway.
Now that he had seen her, there was even more reason to go down.
Cheng Mi extinguished her cigarette in a nearby trash can and went downstairs.
Turning around the residential building where they lived, Si Tingyan’s location was behind it.
At the intersection of the alleys, electrical wires climbed the building walls, and the setting sun cast a reddish glow on half the alley.
Si Tingyan was sitting on the steps in front of a convenience store, the dog still lying at his feet.
Cheng Mi didn’t sit down after arriving but pushed open the supermarket door, went to the freezer, grabbed a bottle of yogurt, and paid.
She didn’t take a straw. Coming out, she slowly stepped down the stairs and crouched in front of the puppy.
Which meant, in front of Si Tingyan.
Cheng Mi’s fingertips pinched the corner of the yogurt seal and tore it open. After a long tearing sound, the seal separated from the yogurt container.
A layer of yogurt clung to the seal. Cheng Mi offered it to the dog.
At the same time, she asked Si Tingyan: “Where did you go this afternoon?”
She had just spoken when her words halted.
Because she saw the IV hemostatic patch on the back of Si Tingyan’s hand.
Blue veins were partially hidden beneath it, and the back of his hand had a stark, pale appearance.
His hand had clearly defined knuckles, and Si Tingyan was holding a can of dog food with it.
He had gone to the hospital.
A faint scent of alcohol permeated the air.
Cheng Mi was about to look away, but her gaze, which hadn’t yet left the back of his hand, met his directly.
As usual, she couldn’t discern the meaning in his eyes.
After only two seconds, Si Tingyan’s gaze moved away from her face.
The yogurt seal in Cheng Mi’s hand moved. She looked down and saw that the little black dog had licked it, leaving a missing corner of yogurt on the seal.
What Cheng Mi found amusing was that after licking, it pretended not to have stolen anything, thinking they hadn’t seen it. It quickly lay back down at Si Tingyan’s feet, pretending to be busy licking its paws.
It hadn’t even wiped the evidence from its mouth yet.
Cheng Mi couldn’t help but chuckle. She hooked her finger under the little black dog’s chin and gently scratched it a few times: “I’m not stopping you from eating, why act like a thief?”
The little black dog’s fur was quite soft and pleasant to touch.
Cheng Mi held out the yogurt: “Eat, it’s all yours.”
Cheng Mi could tell that the little black dog was quite smart, because after she did all this, it clearly understood what she meant.
What Cheng Mi didn’t quite understand was why it had to look at Si Tingyan.
And its eyeballs were rolling back and forth.
After several times, Cheng Mi understood: it was testing Si Tingyan’s opinion.
She asked: “You won’t let it eat?”
Si Tingyan glanced at the little black dog, but said nothing.
Seeing him like this made Cheng Mi want to tease the little black dog even more. She held the yogurt in her hand and beckoned to it: “Come here, come here.”
Humans sometimes find it hard to control themselves in front of good food, let alone a puppy.
The little black dog, without needing a few beckons from Cheng Mi, got up from the ground, wanting to eat but seemingly afraid. Cheng Mi was sure that if Si Tingyan hadn’t been there, it would have pounced immediately.
Cheng Mi watched as the little black dog slowly approached, observing Si Tingyan’s expression. Seeing no objection from him, it wagged its tail and began to eat.
This puppy could really eat; in no time, it had licked off half of it. It wasn’t good to eat too much of this, so Cheng Mi didn’t let it eat any more.
After eating, the little black dog returned to Si Tingyan’s side, curling up again in its original spot at his feet.
The yogurt likely only satisfied the little black dog’s craving. After returning to Si Tingyan’s feet, it began to make whimpering sounds, wanting more food.
It probably knew that the can Si Tingyan was holding was for it.
But Si Tingyan remained unmoved.
No matter how much it whimpered, Si Tingyan ignored it.
Cheng Mi watched from the side: “Why won’t you let it eat?”
Si Tingyan coldly gave three words: “It’s not hungry.”
Cheng Mi laughed after hearing that: “It’s whimpering so pitifully, didn’t you hear?”
She then gestured towards his feet: “Look, if you wait a few more seconds to feed it, it’s really going to cry.”
Si Tingyan was like stone, still ignoring it.
Frailty often made people seem kind, so even though his appearance and complexion seemed more compassionate than hers.
Yet his heart was harder than anyone’s.
Cheng Mi saw that the little black dog was truly whimpering too pitifully and wanted to give it more yogurt.
This time, however, the little black dog wouldn’t even open its mouth. Its ears drooped, and it wouldn’t look, just whimpering weakly.
At this moment, the can in Si Tingyan’s hand suddenly made a click sound; he opened the can.
The dejected puppy lying at his feet suddenly gave a start, jumped up from the ground, and barked happily.
Cheng Mi suddenly realized why Si Tingyan hadn’t given it food before.
Because it knowingly misbehaved, and despite knowing Si Tingyan’s disapproval, it still ate what she offered.
Disobedience meant punishment.
Conversely, obedience meant the punishment was lifted.
Because when she beckoned it again later, it refused. Once it was obedient, Si Tingyan let it eat.
Cheng Mi realized that Si Tingyan was terrifyingly controlling.
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