Li Zhong never imagined that when he went to hold a homeroom meeting, his classroom would be set on fire. Midway through the meeting, the teachers from his class hastily summoned him, reporting that a group of students from another school had caused a ruckus in the classroom. Security had arrived, and the police were on their way.

Li Zhong was close to spitting blood. He barely managed to grab his teaching materials and rushed all the way to the classroom. Upon entering, he saw eight unfamiliar students standing on the platform. They were being stared down by his own students surrounding the platform, with desks, chairs, textbooks, and stationery scattered all over the floor. Some were helping to set the desks back up and collect the books and stationery from the ground.

Gao Jie, Mao Silu, Ruan Zhikai, and several tall boys stood in front, accompanied by a security guard.

“What’s going on?” Li Zhong frowned at the group of unfamiliar students. “Which school are you from?”

Mao Silu said, “Mr. Li, they are from the Foreign Language School.”

Perhaps Li Zhong appeared frail and lacked intimidation, as one of the students in the group made a contemptuous sound. It was neither loud nor soft, but someone from Class 7 immediately retorted, “What’s with this sound?”

Li Zhong immediately raised his hand to calm down his students. With a glance, he noticed that this group of students from the other school wasn’t to be trifled with. They were practically like young adults from society. It seemed someone had messed with this group of hooligans, making the situation quite troublesome.

“Were you fighting just now?” Li Zhong inquired.

Gao Jie replied, “Yes, we got into a fight out of nowhere, and then it stopped for no reason.”

Mao Silu added, “It was Zhong Qi who intervened and scared them off.”

Zhong Qi? Li Zhong had never expected to hear this name. He looked around. 

“Where is Zhong Qi?”

 

….

 

The sound of running water echoed from the bathroom sink.

“I’ll do it myself.”

Zhong Qi held Lin Shiyu, who was moving restlessly, and pinched his jaw, forcing him to lift his face. He took a piece of tissue, dampened it with water, and wiped the bloodstains from Lin Shiyu’s neck.

Lin Shiyu winced from the pain. He grabbed Zhong Qi’s wrist in discontent, trying to break free. “Stop pressing on me.”

Suddenly, Zhong Qi exerted force, causing Lin Shiyu to stumble and hit the wall, showing a bewildered expression.

Lin Shiyu didn’t think of getting angry, he was just purely bewildered about what Zhong Qi suddenly intended to do, so much so that he forgot to resist.

Zhong Qi didn’t do anything. He wiped off the last traces of blood from Lin Shiyu’s face using the tissue and casually tossed it into the nearby trash can before turning and walking away.

He left Lin Shiyu standing with a confused expression, clutching a tissue to his nose that was about to bleed again.

When Zhong Qi returned to the classroom, the tense atmosphere became eerie for a moment. Although his face showed no emotion, he inexplicably sent chills down people’s spines. As his jet-black eyes glanced around, the places on the leader’s body, hurt from his earlier fall, began to throb again.

When Zhong Qi saw Li Zhong, he politely greeted him. “Mr. Li.”

As soon as Zhong Qi appeared, the aggressive attitude of the students from the other school visibly diminished. No other method worked on them, but a show of force from Zhong Qi made them obedient.

The police quickly arrived to handle the situation.

“Who called the police?” Shen Ziyi craned her neck around, relieved after checking to see that her dad hadn’t arrived. If her father found out about this incident, she would probably receive a lecture.

On the side, Chen Xiaoxin said, “I made the call. From the perspective of probability, a brawl incident is highly likely to escalate into a serious fight, possibly even triggering criminal activity. When people lose control of their emotions in a mob-like environment, they’re extremely prone to irrational behavior. In such situations, it often requires intervention by law enforcement to halt the situation from deteriorating. So, my judgment is to immediately call the police.”

The line of people stood before him as if listening to an oracle.

“Who struck first?” the police asked.

“It was him!” Shen Ziyi, taking advantage of Gao Jie in front, arrogantly pointed to a short boy from the other school. “He insulted us first, pushed me, and even tried to hit me!”

Tao Chen immediately testified. “We all saw it.”

“And then?” The police noticed Lin Shiyu’s injured nose and asked, “What’s your situation?”

Before Lin Shiyu could speak, Shen Ziyi quickly interjected, “He got hurt while protecting us. If you don’t believe us, check the classroom surveillance video. This person also insulted Lin Shiyu!”

“We are checking the surveillance. Young lady, please don’t get so agitated for now.”

“It’s my fault.” Ruan Zhikai stepped forward. “They came to find me. This has nothing to do with my classmates.”

“Whether it’s related isn’t for you alone to decide; we’ll have to wait for the investigation.”

The surveillance video was quickly retrieved. The head teacher of the freshman year also arrived, followed by two vice principals. Only then did the children realize the seriousness of the situation and quietly returned to their seats, refraining from running amok.

After watching the video, one of the vice principals was extremely furious. “What’s going on? How did these outsiders get in? Security, how’re you doing your job!”

The security guard was also feeling wronged. “They all looked like students. I couldn’t distinguish who to stop.”

The apparent lead police officer signaled to take the group of students from the other school away, telling the other officers, “Take these students to the station first.”

Then, he pointed to a few people from Class 7 and said, “You guys, come with us to the station as well.”

Ruan Zhikai, Zhong Qi, and Lin Shiyu were chosen. Li Zhong said, “I’m their homeroom teacher; I’ll go with them.”

The police nodded, and soon they took the people away. The head teacher of the freshman year and the vice principals also followed. Li Zhong stopped Mao Silu, who wanted to go along by saying, “What’s the rush? Go home!”

Mao Silu was somewhat anxious. “Mr. Li, I understand about Kai kai’s situation; I want to accompany him.”

“Go back home. Do we need you to accompany him?” Li Zhong pulled Mao Silu back to his seat, and turned to look at the restless people in the classroom with a sigh.

“You all know about this incident. Anyway, remember, even if those people came for Ruan Zhikai, it only shows this guy was careless in choosing friends and made a foolish mistake. Don’t have any ideas about him and don’t spread rumors outside. Got it?”

“Understood.”

“Alright, pack up your things and go home obediently. Be careful on the way.”

The police, upon learning about the group fight over the phone, dispatched several officers, some of whom were very strong and directly took the intruders back to the police station.

After a round of questioning, it turned out that the true story started around two months ago when Ruan Zhikai had met this group of students from another school. They got acquainted after playing games together and started hanging out frequently, having meals, and sometimes going to karaoke. According to the crew-cut guy, Ruan asked him to play games together, treated him to meals and karaoke, and even sought his help with girls. He thought Ruan considered him a close friend, but to his surprise, Ruan abruptly changed, treating them all as fools.

However, Ruan didn’t think he was fooling anyone; he never held back on money matters and never engaged in seeking girls. After Mao Silu, Lin Shiyu, and Zhong Qi found him in the internet café that day, he gradually stopped associating with them. Despite their invitations to the café or for meals, he refused, and due to this, he was ridiculed several times. Ruan talked back a few times and eventually blocked all their contacts.

This action completely infuriated this group of people, leading them to approach the school within a few days. Luckily, Lin Shiyu arrived in time; otherwise, Shen Ziyi and a few other girls might have actually been attacked.

A police officer outside asked Lin Shiyu, “So, you don’t know these students from the other school, right?”

Lin Shiyu replied, “I don’t know them.”

The officer then asked Zhong Qi beside him, “And you?”

“I don’t know them either.”

“You must have received some training, right?”

“I’ve had martial arts training,” Zhong Qi said.

Lin Shiyu glanced at Zhong Qi in surprise.

The police officer nodded. “Both of you need to be careful from now on. Being too aggressive can easily lead to complications. You mightn’t be able to justify yourselves even if you’re in the right. Especially you.” The officer pointed at Zhong Qi.

Li Zhong interjected, “Did you hear that? Learning martial arts isn’t for starting fights; it’s for self-defense.”

Zhong Qi nodded in agreement. “Understood.”

“Officer, they haven’t done anything serious,” the senior teacher said. “They’re just young and unable to control their emotions. We will educate them properly later. Is everything settled now?”

“These two don’t have any problem, but we need to question another student.” The officer referred to Ruan Zhikai. “It’s getting late now, both of you can go home.”

Li Zhong escorted Lin Shiyu and Zhong Qi to the roadside outside the police station. Upon knowing they lived next door to each other, he hailed a car using his phone.

“Let Lin Shiyu go,” Li Zhong faced Zhong Qi with his arms crossed. “Zhong Qi, why are you so impulsive?”

Lin Shiyu pondered silently on the side, what did ‘let him go’ mean?

Zhong Qi said, “I was wrong.”

“When you apologize, try to show a sincere expression on your face,” Li Zhong was both annoyed and amused. “Forget it, just don’t be so impulsive next time. If something really happens, you’ll bear the responsibility yourself. Having a punishment or even a criminal record, is that good for you? Think about it carefully, understand?”

Lin Shiyu stayed quiet. Previously, he was used to fighting and never once considered the consequences of such violence, nor did he feel any reflection or regret. Other than that, he couldn’t find another way to resist violence.

Now, for the first time, Lin Shiyu felt a kind of dejection. He noticed that while Li Zhong’s face appeared normal, there was a hint of weariness in his eyes.

For the first time, he felt the so-called “interconnectedness.” Li Zhong was his class teacher, someone who cared about his students, and he made such a person feel troubled and helpless.

Lin Shiyu lowered his head, unconsciously rubbing his hand in his pocket.

Soon, the car Li Zhong called arrived. He once again reminded them, “Go home obediently, no running around.”

Zhong Qi nodded, opened the car door, and looked at Lin Shiyu.

Lin Shiyu, lost in thought, noticed Li Zhong and Zhong Qi both looking at him, waiting for him to get in the car.

Lin Shiyu hesitated for a moment, supporting the car door, then turned to look at Li Zhong.

“You… you should go home early too.” Lin Shiyu almost bit his tongue, hastily added, “Go home and rest,” and then got into the car.

Li Zhong and Zhong Qi watched him get into the car, then glanced at each other, showing expressions that seemed to say: Did you hear what he said?

“He was probably concerned about you,” Zhong Qi said seriously.

Li Zhong suppressed a smile. “He’s growing up.”

The car door closed, and Li Zhong didn’t leave immediately. He knocked on the window, signaling for Zhong Qi to lower it.

As the window descended, both Zhong Qi and Lin Shiyu looked at him.

“Lin Shiyu, you protected the girl behind you, which is good. It shows you are a brave person. I just hope that when you become stronger one day, you’ll choose how to protect others in a different way,” Li Zhong leaned toward the car window, a smile on his lips. “Only if that day comes.”

The car moved slowly into the night. Streetlights passed by the window, and Lin Shiyu gazed at the dimly lit scenes outside and the passing pedestrians. Inside the car, it was dim and quiet, with only the radio playing softly, accompanied by the gentle hum of the engine.

Lin Shiyu never thought that one day he would become strong. For a long time, he had given up on overcoming the challenges of life, and was just getting by day by day. He could only hold his ground at the foot of the mountain from being washed away by storms which already required a lot of effort. As for climbing the endless staircase on the mountains, he didn’t even want to think about it.

Life wouldn’t get better, reality was always harsh, almost like a rule carved into Lin Shiyu’s mind. He grew up in an environment of violence, fear, and threats, and he was destined to continue living in such a world.

He knew not to fantasize about beauty and happiness, not to hope; that way, despair would fade away. It didn’t matter how wonderful the outside world was. Whether envy or pain, it was all meaningless.

But… since entering high school, many things seemed to have changed.

He never expected to meet a teacher like Li Zhong or encounter people like Zhong Qi, Mao Silu, and Gao Jie. They seemed completely open to the world, easily showing concern for others, more patient, and kinder than the people Lin Shiyu had met before.

Were others always like this? Lin Shiyu silently looked outside the window, a slightly confused look in his eyes. Inside, there was an unfamiliar emotion slowly rising, akin to a bubbling stream, making his heart ache as if longing for a long-lost bitterness, yet accompanied by a subtle and thorny anticipation of something new.

He also wanted to take a closer look at that group of rabbits. The ones that had been frolicking outside his territory for a while now, gentle and non-threatening.

If he could approach them, would life change a bit?

The car stopped.

Zhong Qi got out of the car, held the door open, waiting for Lin Shiyu to move, then closed the door.

The lamplights lingered. Zhong Qi walked beside Lin Shiyu and felt the person next to him was excessively quiet. He glanced over and saw a faint redness on Lin Shiyu’s nose, even though the nosebleed had stopped long ago.

When they reached the entrance to their respective residential areas, Zhong Qi stopped and spoke. “Lin Shiyu.”

Lin Shiyu looked up at him, his eyes asking him what was wrong.

“It’s very convenient to find me.” Zhong Qi raised his hand and pointed behind himself. “When I’m not at school, I’m right across from you.”

Lin Shiyu was slightly stunned.

After Zhong Qi said those words, he didn’t say anything else and turned away. Lin Shiyu, however, stood still, gazing at his departing figure.

There was a cement road between the two residential areas, a distance of less than thirty meters. He was indeed very close.

Before knowing Zhong Qi, Lin Shiyu had never been to the residential area across from him, he’d never even spared it a glance.

It was only upon hearing Zhong Qi’s words that Lin Shiyu suddenly realized this neighborhood, which he had never paid attention to before, was actually so close.

 

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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