In the milk tea shop, Wu Chuchu fidgeted with her fingers as she softly recounted her love story to Lin Murun.
"His name is Bei Fan." When she mentioned the name, Wu Chuchu’s smile carried the flutter of a girl in her first love. "He’s four years older than me. He used to be a student at No. 1 High School, too."
Lin Murun listened quietly as she spoke of the beautiful fragments of her memories.
"I loved him very much, but in the end, we still parted ways." Wu Chuchu lowered her gaze.
The ice in her milk tea had already melted, and the condensation gathered on the side of the cup rolled down, leaving streaks of water on the glass.
"He’s actually a good father." Wu Chuchu stared at the tabletop, unconsciously stirring her straw. "He can provide the child with better material conditions, and he’s very patient when educating him. Not like me... I start shouting at the child the moment I get angry."
"Your mother must be a very gentle and kind person, right?" Wu Chuchu looked up at Lin Murun. "Very few people are willing to listen to a stranger pour out their grievances."
"She should be," Lin Murun replied.
"What do you mean, 'should be'?" Wu Chuchu laughed.
"I’ve never met her," Lin Murun said. "But my father said she was a very patient person."
Wu Chuchu froze, then quickly realized. "I’m sorry, I didn't know..."
"It’s okay." Lin Murun shook his head.
"Actually, my mother was also..." Wu Chuchu’s eyes reddened. "Back then, she was firmly against me being with Bei Fan. But I was always making her angry, making her lose sleep. In the end, because of her lack of sleep and her dazed state, she got into a car accident on her way to work."
As Wu Chuchu spoke, tears began to fall. She hurriedly pulled out a tissue to wipe them, but only ended up smudging her eye makeup, leaving her looking a mess.
"She was right about me. Bei Fan and I aren't a good match," she choked out. "If I had listened to her back then... would I... would I have not lost her?"
Lin Murun comforted her, "It wasn't entirely your fault."
Wu Chuchu shook her head, weeping silently.
"If she were still here, she would be sad to see you like this," Lin Murun said. "Senior, your life is still very long."
Wu Chuchu buried her face in her palms, only regaining her composure after a long while.
At that moment, the preparatory bell rang across the campus.
"Is class starting soon?" Wu Chuchu asked softly.
"Yes." Lin Murun checked the time and replied, "In ten minutes."
"Then hurry back to class." Wu Chuchu wiped the tear stains from her face as she spoke. "I’m so sorry. Every time I see you, I’m talking about unhappy things."
She took out her phone and opened WeChat. "By the way, I don't even know your name yet. Let's exchange contact info. Next time we meet, I’ll definitely treat you to something delicious."
"Okay." Lin Murun took out his phone and scanned her code to add her.
"By the way, Senior." After adding her, Lin Murun pointed to the area around his own eyes and reminded her in a low voice, "Remember to stop by the restroom."
***
"Eh? Why didn't you bring your violin?" Seeing Lin Murun return to the classroom, Yu Qianyi looked up. "Jiang Yuxi already brought his."
Following the direction of Yu Qianyi’s finger, Lin Murun saw the violin case by Jiang Yuxi’s feet.
"I’ll go get it during the long break." Lin Murun withdrew his gaze and took out his scratch paper and textbooks, preparing for class.
"Ooh?" Yu Qianyi caught a glimpse of the pink envelope he stuffed into his desk drawer, and her eyes lit up. "Top student! Is there a new development?"
"What new development?" Lin Murun asked, confused.
Yu Qianyi winked suggestively. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"
Lin Murun: "..."
"I don't," he said.
"Did you receive a love letter?" Yu Qianyi gossiped. "I saw it! Don't try to fool me!"
Lin Murun lowered his eyes and answered, "It’s not for me."
Just then, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, walked into the classroom, forcing the gossiping Yu Qianyi to drop the subject.
Physical Education was the last period of the day. Lin Murun took advantage of the eye exercise break to ask Mr. Li for leave, then jogged all the way to Si Bin’s house to get his violin.
Because time was tight, he pushed the door open in a hurry, not noticing that Dabai was lying right behind it.
Dabai was bumped by the door and ran off a long distance, looking quite aggrieved.
"Sorry."
Lin Murun picked up Dabai and checked him over. After confirming he wasn't hurt, he went upstairs to the study.
He picked up his violin, and after a moment of hesitation, he still placed that pink love letter on Si Bin’s desk.
"A girl wrote you a letter," Lin Murun sent a message to Si Bin on his phone. "I put it on your desk."
"Okay, thanks." This time, Si Bin replied very quickly.
Xiaobai, finally seeing a human, was unwilling to let Lin Murun leave and kept rubbing against his legs.
Lin Murun held the violin in one hand and placed Xiaobai onto the cat tree with the other.
"I’ll come see you again tonight." He reached out and scratched the cat’s chin.
When he stepped back into the classroom just as the preparatory bell rang, the geography teacher was already standing on the podium.
"Reporting."
The geography teacher had heard about Lin Murun’s whereabouts from the homeroom teacher, so he didn't ask much. He waved him over to the podium to collect a paper.
"We’re having an in-class test this period. It started ten minutes ago. Take your paper and get to work quickly," the geography teacher said.
Hearing the commotion, the students in the class looked up one after another, some even taking the opportunity to quietly exchange answers.
"Quiet down," the geography teacher criticized, looking up. "Shen Hao, keep writing. If you don't score at least a seventy, I’m calling your parents."
The geography teacher was Shen Hao’s maternal cousin’s husband, and he had been calling him out by name frequently since taking over Class 2 of the Arts stream.
Shen Hao wailed, "No... Teacher, you’re joking, right? These questions are way too hard."
"Just write!" The geography teacher’s eyebrows shot up.
"Ah! Okay, okay, okay!" Shen Hao lowered his head, scratching his head for a long time without coming up with a solution.
Just as Shen Hao said, the difficulty of this test paper was very high. Many students were beginning to doubt their life choices as they worked.
Lin Murun quickly scanned the questions and found the last multiple-choice question looked familiar; it was likely one he had done before.
The geography teacher, who was patrolling the classroom, saw that he hadn't put pen to paper for a while and walked over, whispering, "You were ten minutes late. If you can't finish, you can have an extra ten minutes before turning it in."
The geography teacher’s surname was Xia. He had always liked serious students and was known as one of the most easy-going teachers in Class 2.
"No need, thank you, Teacher." Lin Murun wrote down his name and student ID, then began calculating rapidly on his scratch paper.
Mr. Xia stood behind him for a moment, nodded with satisfaction, and walked away.
Five minutes before the bell rang, Lin Murun stopped writing and turned in his paper.
Jiang Yuxi was a step behind him. When the two met, one in front of the other, Jiang Yuxi smiled at him and asked, "Did you get your violin?"
"I got it," Lin Murun replied.
Jiang Yuxi asked in surprise, "So fast?"
Lin Murun: "Mm."
The bell rang.
Amidst the wails of the students in Class 2, Mr. Xia heartlessly collected the test papers.
"Wait, wait!" Shen Hao banged his head on the desk. "Just call my parents directly, don't take the paper!"
The surrounding students all burst into laughter.
"Let's go, to the music building." Li Menglai walked out of the classroom, jingling the keys in her hand. "I borrowed a key from a senior. We can go directly to her practice room."
"Going to practice?" Mr. Xia, holding the test papers, looked at Jiang Yuxi. "I was going to ask you to stay and help grade the multiple-choice section."
"No problem, I can help." Jiang Yuxi turned to Li Menglai and Lin Murun. "Why don't you guys head over first? I’ll be there soon."
"Let's go, let's go!" Yu Qianyi took Li Menglai’s arm and then turned to call out to Lin Murun. "We’ll head to the practice room first. I’m super excited for your duet!"
The music building was located in the southwest of the school. It had five floors. Entering through the main doors led to the school auditorium, where all large-scale events were held. The third and fourth floors contained several small practice rooms and four dance studios, specifically for the use of arts students.
At this time, the small practice rooms were all occupied by students.
"Eh? Menglai!" A girl saw Li Menglai and waved at them.
"The small practice rooms here are all full." The girl walked over and asked, "Are you guys here to practice too?"
"Yeah." Li Menglai introduced her to Yu Qianyi and Lin Murun. "This is the Arts Representative for Class 3, Lu Tiantian."
"Just call me Tiantian, no need to be so formal!" Lu Tiantian lived up to her name; when she smiled, two small dimples appeared on her cheeks.
"Come, come, let me introduce you. This is our guitarist, Hu Xu, and this is our drummer, Lai Xinyu. I’m the lead singer, Lu Tiantian." The girl pulled the two boys beside her over. "We’re planning to do rock this time. What about you guys?"
Li Menglai replied, "We’re preparing a piano and violin duet."
"That’s awesome!" Lu Tiantian asked, "Are the three of you performing together?"
"No, no!" Yu Qianyi waved her hands. "I don't know any instruments. I’m just here for the fun."
"Is the new student doing the duet with Menglai?" Lu Tiantian asked Lin Murun with a smile. "I know almost everyone in Class 2, but you look like a new face."
"It’s not settled yet!" Yu Qianyi said. "The other person in our class who plays violin is Jiang Yuxi."
"Jiang Yuxi?" Hearing the name, Lu Tiantian’s brow furrowed.
"Yeah, our class’s geography rep. You should know him," Li Menglai said.
Lu Tiantian looked at Li Menglai with a strange expression. "Haven't you heard?"
Li Menglai didn't understand what she meant. "Heard what?"
Lu Tiantian frowned and asked, "Zhou Xuan and Huang Hao didn't tell you?"
Yu Qianyi was stunned. "What about Zhou Xuan and Huang Hao?"
"Back in middle school, Jiang Yuxi stole Huang Hao’s girlfriend," Lu Tiantian dropped a bombshell.
"What?!" Li Menglai and Yu Qianyi exchanged a look.
"The three of them were all at Experimental Middle School before," Lu Tiantian said with a scowl. "After it happened, that girl was expelled."
"Surely you wouldn't be expelled just for dating? And if it’s a mistake between two people, why was only the girl punished?" Li Menglai asked.
"Because the whole thing blew up, and Jiang Yuxi, acting out of a guilty conscience, snitched to the teacher before the parents could be called. He claimed the girl was the one pestering him relentlessly," Lu Tiantian said indignantly. "Both sets of parents were called to the school. The girl’s parents thought it was their daughter’s fault to begin with and beat her black and blue. No teacher could stop them."
"Later she transferred schools. I heard her parents sent her back to their hometown, and she lost all contact with her old classmates..." Lu Tiantian sighed. "At the time, she almost jumped off the dormitory building. Luckily, Zhou Xuan happened to be passing by and saw her, and he quickly found the dorm matron to talk her down."
"It’s only because No. 1 High is far from Experimental Middle School that Jiang Yuxi hasn't had people pointing fingers at him," Lu Tiantian said with disgust. "He’s an absolute hypocrite!"
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
贝凡 | Bei Fan | Wu Chuchu's ex-husband.
大白 | Dabai | One of Si Bin's cats (the white one).
小白 | Xiaobai | One of Si Bin's cats.
夏老师 | Mr. Xia | The geography teacher for Class 2.
申浩 | Shen Hao | A student in Class 2, Mr. Xia's relative.
陆甜甜 | Lu Tiantian | Arts Representative of Class 3.
胡旭 | Hu Xu | A guitarist in Lu Tiantian's group.
赖辛宇 | Lai Xinyu | A drummer in Lu Tiantian's group.
实验中学 | Experimental Middle School | The middle school Jiang Yuxi previously attended.
周轩 | Zhou Xuan | A student who attended Experimental Middle School with Jiang Yuxi.
黄皓 | Huang Hao | A student whose girlfriend was allegedly stolen by Jiang Yuxi.
