Xin Ye was the class monitor of Class 7 at Variant High School.
Lately, he had a massive headache.
An accident had occurred during their class performance for the Arts Festival. The stage had suddenly collapsed halfway through their chorus, injuring several students. This had cast a pall over the entire class, causing their academic performance to slip—a decline that made their homeroom teacher, Yi Ting, do nothing but shake her head in disapproval.
With final exams approaching, he, as the class monitor, could not allow this state of affairs to continue.
"Monitor! Want to hit the arcade after school today?"
Lian Muyun was the class publicity committee member. His personality was as radiant as the sun in thirty-five-degree August heat; the gloom of others clearly couldn't stop his light from shining. "My hands are itching. I want to try the prize wheel. If you come, I’ll give you all the tickets I win to trade for drinks."
Xin Ye was already packing his bag. Before he could answer, someone stepped up and rapped Lian Muyun on the head to shut him up.
Xing Yue was the study committee member. The assignment notebooks she was supposed to be distributing were currently in the hands of the vice monitor, Leng Xianye. "Here’s yours, take it. Don't go dragging the monitor along every time a random thought pops into your head. He’s busy."
"What could he possibly have to—"
"Monitor, I’m a bit stuck on this problem. Can you help me?" Tang Qiuqiu approached Xin Ye with his newly returned assignment. Whenever he encountered a difficult question, he always sought out the monitor.
Leng Xianye added a finishing blow to Lian Muyun: "See? Things to do."
Tang Qiuqiu, who hadn't heard the previous conversation, stood there clutching his notebook with a bewildered expression.
"Alright, alright," Xin Ye said, patting Tang Qiuqiu’s head. "Pull up a chair and sit next to me. I’ll walk you through it. Sorry, Lian Muyun, I really do have something to attend to after school today. Are you free this Saturday? I’ll go to the shooting range with you."
The moment Lian Muyun heard "shooting range," he was instantly mollified. He turned his attention to pestering Leng Xianye and Xing Yue to see if they would accompany him to the arcade instead.
Tang Qiuqiu wasn't slow, and he worked hard; his foundation was just a bit weak. With a few pointers from Xin Ye, he quickly realized where his mistake lay. The two discussed the problems until five-thirty. After packing his notebook, Tang Qiuqiu bowed to Xin Ye, said, "See you tomorrow, Monitor," and prepared to head home.
Xin Ye’s bag had been packed for a while. He grabbed it and was ready to go.
Regarding the stage incident, it wasn't as if he had no leads.
His home wasn't far from Variant High School, about a fifteen-minute walk. At this hour, his mother and twin brother would likely be sitting at the table waiting for him for dinner. After a moment’s thought, Xin Ye sent a quick message, then headed in the opposite direction of his home.
Every school had a few "bad students" who ranked at the bottom. They often gathered after school at the corners of dark alleys to smoke and bully their "protection fee" targets.
Because Xin Ye lived in the opposite direction, he rarely encountered such things. Whenever he did, he would call a teacher or the police to handle it.
Today, he walked straight toward those bottom-ranked students, but he didn't call anyone.
"Yo, who’s this?"
"Boss, I recognize him. He’s the monitor of Class 7. He’s tight with the principal’s son. We can’t hit him or we’ll get expelled..."
Xin Ye didn't care what they were discussing. He walked straight to the student being bullied, bent down, and picked up the torn pages of a notebook to return them.
The lead thug, seeing Xin Ye ignore him, gave a displeased "tch" and stepped closer. "Hey, you. You think you’re gonna protect this—"
Xin Ye had just seen the name on the notebook. He took off his school uniform jacket and asked, "Can you throw my jacket over that surveillance camera, Xin Yan?"
Xin Yan lifted a face bruised in several places. He took the jacket, nodded at Xin Ye, and endured the pain in his knees to scramble up toward the camera.
A standard camera pole was about three or four meters high. With enough effort, he could snag the clothes onto it to block the lens.
Once Xin Yan was up, Xin Ye turned back to face the thugs.
They were annoyed by Xin Ye’s dismissal and his protection of Xin Yan, but they hadn't dared to act for fear of expulsion. Now that Xin Ye had actively sought to cover the camera, it was practically a signal to initiate conflict. The lead thug finally lost his patience, lunging forward to grab Xin Ye’s collar. "You—"
His hand never reached Xin Ye.
A heavy school bag slammed into his face, sending him stumbling back two steps.
Xin Ye’s physique didn't give him an advantage over his opponents, and his arms, revealed as he rolled up his sleeves, didn't look like those of a frequent fighter. Yet his strength was unexpectedly immense, enough to knock back someone twice his size.
Glancing back to confirm the camera was covered, he decided to let loose completely. He stepped forward and grabbed the thug leader by the collar.
"Come."
...
Once the group had scattered, Xin Ye rolled his sleeves back down.
There had been many of them, after all. He had a scrape on his face, but compared to the "unrecognizable" Xin Yan, he was practically unscathed.
Xin Yan had been hiding nearby, watching the entire fight. He was too stunned for words. Xin Ye was the quintessential "good student" of their grade; no one expected him to be such a capable fighter.
Snapping out of it, he ran over to ask if Xin Ye was okay or if he needed a bandage. Xin Ye shook his head and instead asked, "What’s written in that notebook of yours?"
Xin Yan froze for a moment. "It’s a novel I’m writing. they didn't like that I’m always alone, so they cornered me after school and tore my book."
"Thank you for helping me pick up the pages."
"No need for thanks," Xin Ye said, his gaze shifting away from the notebook.
"Because I came here to corner you, too. It just wouldn't have looked good if the others saw."
By six in the evening, the street corner was mostly dark. People on the main road walked straight ahead, none noticing that just a few meters away, one high schooler was dragging another—wearing the exact same uniform—deeper into the shadows.
"Let me guess. What’s written in your notebook?"
"The title is 'Side Story.' The content is... that I would meet you after school today, right?"
...
Xin Ye didn't hold back at all.
Xun Yin’s face was already battered enough, so he targeted other areas.
When his entire back slammed into the wall, the first things Xun Yin felt were the sharp pains in the back of his head, his spine, and his elbows. His vision went black for a second. Before he could even bite his lip to endure the pain, the impact of knuckles driving into his abdomen followed in quick succession.
It was a one-sided assault.
Xun Yin didn't fight back at all. He fully accepted Xin Ye’s rage. In a moment when Xin Ye wasn't looking, the corner of the boy's swollen eye curved into a slight smile.
A final kick brought Xun Yin to his knees directly in front of Xin Ye. He was in so much pain he could barely curl his elbows to clutch his stomach.
Xin Ye stood before him in silence, steadying his breathing.
The phone he had set aside chimed with a message notification. He stopped looking at Xun Yin and turned to check his messages.
It was a query from his brother, asking when he would be home.
Xin Ye replied "Soon" and went to pick up the school bag that had served as a weapon and then been neglected. As he slung a single strap over his shoulder, he suddenly heard the voice of the person still kneeling behind him.
"So... how did you know... that I am the Author?"
Xin Ye didn't turn around. He looked at his jacket still hanging on the surveillance camera, thinking he couldn't get it down for now. Fortunately, he had two. He’d have to bring a tool to retrieve it tomorrow.
"I can't explain it. But I can tell you that I know many things."
"Like why this school is called Variant High. Why Xing Yue and Leng Xianye are more talented than me, yet I was made the monitor. Why I am in Class 7."
"And..."
"Why, even though I blocked that camera, the sensation of being observed is still so strong."
(The End)
