Li Zhong wiped his face, feeling a headache coming on.

In front of him stood a row of students, including Lin Shiyu with an expressionless face, Zhong Qi who had nothing to do with the incident, the innocent-looking Mao Silu, the grinning Gao Jie, and the indifferent Ruan Zhikai.

Li Zhong waved his hand in the air and finally pointed to Zhong Qi. “Zhong Qi, you speak.”

Zhong Qi summarized concisely: “They knocked over Lin Shiyu’s meal, insulted him, then Lin Shiyu got angry and punched them.”

“Did he make the guy’s nose bleed?”

Ruan Zhikai interjected, “No, the guy’s nose started bleeding from falling down.”

“Fell? How did he fall when everything was fine?”

No one said anything.

The whole incident was quite simple. Lin Shiyu threw a punch, and the group of boys surrounded him immediately. Zhong Qi immediately pulled Lin Shiyu to his side, Gao Jie and Mao Silu stood in front of them, and Ruan Zhikai took the opportunity to kick the tray on the ground. The metal tray slid under the feet of the boy, causing him to lose balance and fall face-first onto the ground, with blood streaming from his nose.

In the end, the situation was resolved with both sides receiving a scolding from a cafeteria worker who rushed over with a ladle.

Except for Lin Shiyu, the other three saw Ruan Zhikai’s kick, but at this moment, they all chose to act ignorant.

Li Zhong asked, “What did they say?”

Lin Shiyu remained silent, while Mao Silu reported quietly, “They commented on the clothes Shiyu was wearing… not in a good way.”

Li Zhong glanced at the clothes Lin Shiyu was wearing and sighed inwardly. He then told the others, “You can all go back for now.”

In the end, only Li Zhong and Lin Shiyu were left in the office, sitting face to face. Li Zhong had pulled a chair over for Lin Shiyu.

“Lin Shiyu, how long has it been since your last self-criticism letter? Now you’ve gone and caused trouble again.”

Although Li Zhong said this, there wasn’t much blame in his tone, just a deep sense of resignation.

Lin Shiyu lowered his head in silence for a while before muttering, “I only threw one punch, and I didn’t hit his nose.”

Li Zhong couldn’t help but smile wryly. “Oh, then I’ll thank you on his behalf.”

Lin Shiyu appeared to be in a bad mood, with his beautiful eyebrows furrowed and his lips pressed stubbornly together. He was dressed in a light blue outfit that looked delicate and refined, with a row of small white flowers on it, emitting a gentle glow in the sunlight.

Li Zhong glanced at the outfit and said, “This outfit… your mother bought it for you, right?”

Lin Shiyu replied with a soft, “Mm.”

“She also chose it for you?”

Lin Shiyu’s voice was low as he replied, “My little sister picked it out.”

Li Zhong seemed to understand now.

He looked at the slender youth sitting quietly in front of him and carefully chose his words.

“Don’t pay too much attention to the opinions of the outside world, especially those who misunderstand you. Just ignore them. In the future, you’ll encounter more of these people. If you have to get into fights with everyone who bothers you, it’ll never end, right?”

Lin Shiyu responded coldly, “Some people won’t learn unless they suffer a bit.”

“Violence won’t teach them a lasting lesson.”

“I know.” Lin Shiyu said, absentmindedly tugging at the hem of his clothes, “but I can’t think of any other way.”

“Right now, there may not be another way because you’re still young and growing,” Li Zhong patiently explained. “Your current task is to study well, get into a good university, find a good job, earn money, and strive to become a respected individual in society. By then, the level of your life will naturally separate you from the scum of society, and you’ll also have the ability to protect yourself and your family.”

Lin Shiyu furrowed his brow again, feeling that these words were too distant and lacked practical meaning.

“As for now,” Li Zhong continued, “you can always ask me for help.”

Upon hearing these words, Lin Shiyu had a bewildered expression on his face.

Li Zhong looked at him seriously and said, “I am your homeroom teacher, an adult responsible for ensuring that my students concentrate their energy on their studies. I also have a duty to provide a healthy growth environment for minors. It’s only natural for you to seek my help, right?”

Lin Shiyu, rarely showing embarrassment, almost bit his tongue when he opened his mouth: “I don’t really need… help.”

Li Zhong leaned forward slightly, with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped, adopting a calm and natural posture for the conversation. He said, “You need to learn to seek help from others, Lin Shiyu.”

Seek help from others? Lin Shiyu thought. He didn’t want to rely on anyone. Dependence meant letting down his guard, becoming subordinate to someone else’s influence, and that was deadly for him.

Li Zhong’s voice gently reached his ears. “Humans are social animals. Individuals cannot exist without the group. That’s why we need help from others and, at the same time, we need to help others.”

Lin Shiyu listened with some confusion. “Does that mean people have to depend on others?”

“Dependency and being depended upon, helping and being helped, are all intertwined contradictions. When you rely on others, aren’t they also relying on you? Showing vulnerability doesn’t mean you can’t survive on your own; it’s actually a way of survival.”

“Why?”

“It’s the law of survival for social animals. Everyone huddles together for warmth, and you’re the only one covered in thorns, making them all cry out. Who would they reject if not you?” Li Zhong handed him a set of papers and said, “Your biology coursework is terrible. Do this set of papers, and when you’re done, give it to me for grading. Consider it a punishment. Alright, go back to class.”

What does biology have to do with this? Lin Shiyu sat at his desk working on the biology papers, flipping the page when one side was done and continuing to write. He couldn’t help but think about what Li Zhong talked to him about political ideology.

Gao Jie turned around and asked, “Shiyu, did Mr. Li scold you?”

Lin Shiyu sluggishly worked on the papers, and the questions were somewhat challenging. He replied, “No, he just told me to do these papers.”

Zhong Qi added, “You got the sixth question wrong. The answer is bacteriophage, not ribosome.”

“…” Lin Shiyu frustratedly crossed out his answer on the paper.

“There’s no vacuole in plant cells.” Zhong Qi said as he looked at Lin Shiyu’s answers. “Your biology work is really bad.”

Lin Shiyu, annoyed at having his shortcomings exposed, retorted, “Then don’t look.”

“But there are so many mistakes. If I don’t point them out, there will be even more.”

Lin Shiyu remained silent.

Zhong Qi glanced at one of Lin Shiyu’s completed papers, filled with chaos and errors.

He took the paper, marked several of the mistakes with a pen, and said, “Teacher Li covered these topics in class, and the textbook had the exact questions. How could you get them wrong?”

Lin Shiyu looked frustrated. “Where are the exact questions?”

Zhong Qi took his textbook and flipped to the corresponding page. “Here, it lists the elements that make up cells. Didn’t you take notes?”

Lin Shiyu silently erased the answers on his paper and began to rewrite the answers based on the notes in his textbook.

“Zhong Qi,” the Entertainment Committee Member came over to their desk and said, “Let’s discuss what kind of performance we should prepare for after school today.”

Zhong Qi was still holding the pen, guiding Lin Shiyu through each question. He turned his head upon hearing this and asked, “We’re starting to plan so early?”

“Of course! Early preparation means you and Tao Chen will have more time to practice. During this period, could you guys bring your instruments, and on the weekends, we’ll try to find time to practice together. How does that sound?”

Zhong Qi had no choice but to agree. “Alright.”

As soon as the Entertainment Committee Member left, Gao Jie immediately leaned in and said, “We’ll see each other every day, from Monday to Sunday.”

Lin Shiyu asked, “See each other for what?”

“What else could it be? It’s the class flower meeting the class grass, the class grass meeting the class flower. You play the instrument, and I’ll sing, the lute and the zither in harmony, and as time goes by, love will blossom.”

Zhong Qi commented, “All this gossip is raising your cultural level.”

Lin Shiyu hadn’t fully grasped the situation yet and asked, “Who’s the class flower and who’s the class grass?”

“Oh, why are you so slow and as dense as Ermao? The class flower is obviously Tao Chen, and the class grass is our ‘Big Brother’ here.”

“Ah.”

Zhong Qi asked, “Ah, what?”

Lin Shiyu glanced at him, his clear light brown eyes reflecting Zhong Qi’s figure for a moment.

“It’s true,” Lin Shiyu muttered to himself before falling silent, turning his head back to continue working on his paper. Zhong Qi hesitated for a rare few seconds before understanding Lin Shiyu’s meaning.

The sharp-tongued Lin Shiyu had actually complimented him?

After school, Mao Silu ran over with a basketball. “Zhong Qi, Shiyu, let’s play basketball!”

Gao Jie pushed him away, saying, “Our Big Brother here is busy with rehearsal.”

Lin Shiyu said, “I’m not playing, I’m leaving.”

With his backpack on, he left the classroom. Several male students stared at the rabbit-shaped head on his backpack until Lin Shiyu disappeared through the door.

Mao Silu stood there holding the basketball, looking dumbfounded. After a while, he blurted out, “Shiyu’s backpack…is quite cute.”

Ruan Zhikai asked, “So, do you want to buy one for yourself?”

“No! I just thought about getting one for my younger cousin. She really likes these pink things.”

“In that case, you can go and ask Lin Shiyu where he bought his backpack. Say you find it very cute, and want to buy one for your cousin.”

“Forget it, forget it,” Mao Silu quickly changed his mind, feeling afraid. “Let’s go. Let’s go play basketball.”

Later, Zhong Qi, Tao Chen, the Class President, the Entertainment Committee Member, and a few others who joined in for the fun sat together to discuss what piece of music to perform.

The entertainment committee member played several videos. “Dream Sakura,” “Beautiful Life,” “Night of Confession,” were all classic violin and guitar ensemble pieces. However, everyone felt that “Dream Sakura” was too melancholic, “Beautiful Life” was too soothing and gentle; neither of them was quite suitable for showcasing on the stage of the high school Freshmen’s Evening Event. In the end, Zhong Qi and Tao Chen tried a segment of “Night of Confession,” and everyone unanimously voted to go with this song.

Lin Shiyu first went to Peizhi School to pick up Lin Wanyue and brought her home. After arriving home, he washed his hands and prepared dinner, then sat with his younger sister to have their meal together. Only then did he return to his room to do his homework. It wasn’t until well past nine o’clock in the evening that Lin Shiyu had already taken a shower, and Lin Hui, after finishing her work, finally returned home.

Lin Shi Yu changed into his pajamas and sat at his desk, where there was a business card from the photographer named Zhao Bin.

Lin Shiyu pinched the business card between his fingers and twirled it, deep in thought.

At that moment, the door to the room was pushed open, and Lin Shiyu quickly slid the business card under his homework book. He turned around to see Lin Hui entering with a steaming cup of milk.

“Have some milk.” Lin Hui walked over, placing the cup on the table, her gaze landing on his homework book. “Still working on your homework?”

Lin Shiyu mumbled a response.

“Today, you had to go and pick up Xiao Yue again, and you even had to make dinner.” Lin Hui gently stroked Lin Shiyu’s hair, her voice filled with apology. “I’m sorry; I always end up working late.”

“It’s nothing,” Lin Shiyu said. He couldn’t help but glance at Lin Hui’s neck, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, “That guy didn’t come to see you again, did he?”

Lin Hui hesitated for a moment and then let out a helpless smile. “No. Why are you still worrying about that?”

“What about the necklace? Aren’t you planning to get it back?”

“I gave it away. What more do I need–”

Lin Shiyu insisted, “That was your property.”

There was a moment of silence. Lin Hui sighed and ruffled his hair.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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