Fei Cheng looked at his red, swollen fingers and said, "Friends are about quality, not quantity. Having the two of you is enough."
"I like the sound of that." Yu Qing sat back down, satisfied.
Fei Cheng shrugged. He heard Cheng Yifei ask, "So you're just going to let it happen? You enjoy being given the cold shoulder?"
"Social ostracization? Honestly, I quite like it for now. No one bothers me, which saves me a lot of trouble." Fei Cheng used his pinky to twist the cap off his Coke, keeping his swollen thumb and index finger raised.
Besides, he didn't feel like he had much in common with those classmates anyway.
Seeing how high the swelling had reached on his two fingers, Cheng Yifei reached over, took the Coke, and opened it for him. "What kind of bug bit you? It’s quite toxic."
"Who knows? Maybe my constitution is just naturally toxic." Fei Cheng took a sip of the icy soda, feeling the summer heat recede slightly. "Let's see what other tricks they have up their sleeves. At least for now, they haven't crossed my bottom line."
Yu Qing laughed. "You're so strange. You only have a bottom line *now*? Back then, you—"
"What's for lunch?" Cheng Yifei suddenly interrupted him.
Fei Cheng looked at Yu Qing with a beaming smile and said, "A bottom line isn't some universal standard. Getting beaten or insulted isn't the only way to measure it, right?"
Yu Qing was thrown into a loop. He tried to analyze the statement for a moment, but it only made his head hurt more. He gave a vague, non-committal nod. "I guess so..."
The clock hands swept across the face, and as noon approached, most of the students from Class 1 headed to the cafeteria windows to wait for the meal service to begin.
There was no helping it; the dismissal times for all three grades were identical, without even a staggered minute between them. This resulted in massive queues, and in this sweltering heat, the wait was agonizing. Naturally, they couldn't let the advantage of having an early dismissal from PE go to waste.
Cheng Yifei and the others had been the first to arrive and sit in the shade, but they hadn't stood by the windows. Now that the time was right, they left their Coke bottles on the table to save their spots and joined the line behind a few of their classmates.
Fei Cheng stood at the very back. Being short, he didn't like being sandwiched between two tall guys.
At exactly twelve o'clock, all six service windows opened—three for boys and three for girls.
With only four or five dishes to choose from, the cafeteria ladies worked fast. In less than three minutes, it was Fei Cheng's turn. Just as he handed his meal ticket through the window, someone suddenly shoved their way in, effectively pushing him out of the way.
Liu Yucong glanced at him, raising his voice triumphantly. "I want this, that, and the dish on the far end."
Under the gaze of a dozen classmates, Fei Cheng simply smiled. He reached out and blocked the cafeteria lady's hand before she could take Liu Yucong's ticket.
"Ma'am," he said politely, "the cafeteria has signs posted saying we must queue. It’s to ensure students maintain order and to make your job easier. If everyone just swarmed the window, it would be total chaos for you, wouldn't it? If you allow it once, it'll happen again. If you take the ticket of someone cutting the line, it sets a bad example for everyone behind us."
He extended his own ticket. "So, let's stick to the order. It saves everyone a lot of trouble. Bean sprouts, carrots, and steamed egg, please. Thank you, ma'am."
The cafeteria lady took Fei Cheng's ticket and shot a glare at Liu Yucong. "If you want to eat, go to the back of the line! The nerve of some people, cutting in like that."
Fei Cheng walked away with his tray. He had just left the queue when someone grabbed him by the collar. Fortunately, he hadn't picked up his soup yet.
"What is this for?" Fei Cheng first checked his food to make sure nothing had spilled before looking up at Liu Yucong.
The more composed he remained, the angrier Liu Yucong became. He felt like Fei Cheng was mocking and provoking him. "You're a real piece of work, Fei-dog. You think you're hot shit just because the principal and teachers are backing you up? Fuck you! Just you wait until Friday!"
"First, you've got the wrong person; I don't know any 'Fei-dog.' Second, speaking from experience, having the principal and teachers on your side actually *is* pretty great. Third, are you telling me not to leave after school because you want to fight? Fourth, Liu Yulang from Class 4 is your cousin—I know he's the one who put you up to this."
"Fuck off! What does this have to do with my cousin?"
"If you hit me, it becomes his business. The cafeteria owner is coming this way; are you sure you want to keep holding my collar?" Fei Cheng gestured behind him.
Liu Yucong didn't look back, but his companion tugged at his shirt. "Yucong, the owner really is coming. Don't make a scene here."
Liu Yucong shoved Fei Cheng away. "You just wait. Damned son of a bitch."
Fei Cheng didn't even look at him. Holding his tray in one hand, he straightened his collar with the other, acting as if nothing had happened.
Seeing that there was no fight, the owner gave Fei Cheng a glance and returned to his post at the counter.
Fei Cheng sat down across from Cheng Yifei and noticed that the other boy had already fetched a bowl of soup for him. He offered a word of thanks.
Yu Qing said somewhat sheepishly, "Hey, Fei Cheng, I wanted to go over and help you just now, but Cheng Yifei didn't move! This guy has no sense of brotherhood."
Fei Cheng took a sip of soup. He didn't expose the truth, simply shaking his head. "No need. I'm better at handling my own business."
Yu Qing: "..."
Cheng Yifei glanced at Yu Qing with a smirk. "Just help him pick up the pieces afterward once in a while."
Fei Cheng let out a short laugh. "Spoken like a pro, Cheng-ge."
Yu Qing was truly exasperated by the two of them. He poked at his rice and muttered, "You two really are a perfect match." Then, a thought occurred to him. "He said he'd corner you on Friday. What are you going to do? Cheng Yifei and I take the same way home. Where do you live? If it's not far, we can walk you."
"Just eat. He won't actually do it. Besides, even if he does, he can't kill me," Fei Cheng said with great resignation.
Yu Qing gave him a thumbs up. "Being tough enough to take a pounding is a skill too."
Fei Cheng's hand paused mid-air. He repeatedly told himself: *He means a beating. He means a beating. Don't overreact!*
After finishing lunch, they headed back to the dormitory. Cheng Yifei and Yu Qing discussed the New Year's basketball tournament as they walked. Listening from the side, Fei Cheng found it somewhat interesting.
He knew how to play basketball, but in his current situation, he certainly wouldn't be participating in the class tournament. Not that it would be his turn to play anyway.
The sun was even more intense than it had been during PE, baking everyone until they were drenched in sweat. Fei Cheng raised a hand to shield his forehead, silently reciting English vocabulary. Distracted, he accidentally bumped into someone's shoulder. He apologized instinctively and looked up. With just one glance, he froze.
Qiu Minmin...
The person he had bumped into was Qiu Minmin!
It had been a week. The school wasn't large, and he knew they would run into each other eventually, but he hadn't expected it to be so sudden.
Fei Cheng stared at her blankly, his expression of shock making it look as if he had seen something hideous. Qiu Minmin frowned at him, picked up her student ID from the ground, and continued toward the cafeteria.
Qiu Minmin had shiny, jet-black hair that reached her shoulders in a layered cut. Her palm-sized, heart-shaped face was clean and fair, with delicate features. She was already nearsighted by this age, but her prescription wasn't strong yet, so she didn't wear glasses often. Her clear, almond-shaped eyes weren't yet hidden behind thick frames.
Qiu Minmin was by no means ugly; in fact, she could be called pretty and cute, and she had plenty of admirers. This was the first time she had felt so viscerally rejected by someone's gaze.
Fei Cheng stood rooted to the spot, watching her retreating back. She was even shorter than he was now. Indeed, Qiu Minmin was also a late bloomer; right now, she was probably only 1.55 meters tall. It would take another three years for her to reach 1.65 meters, and then she would stop growing.
"Fei Cheng? Fei Cheng! What are you looking at?" Yu Qing called out, having stopped seven or eight paces ahead.
Fei Cheng withdrew his gaze and hurried to catch up. "Nothing. I just accidentally bumped into a student."
"A girl? Who was it?" Yu Qing was clearly interested.
Cheng Yifei satisfied his curiosity. "Qiu Minmin from Class 3."
Yu Qing's eyes lit up. "I know her! I even went to Class 3 with that guy Yang Kaikai to see her last time."
"Yang Kaikai?" Fei Cheng was puzzled. He had no idea people had been paying so much attention to his past self.
"Yeah. Every day after 5:30 PM, he goes to Class 3 to find his buddies. He stands in the hallway chatting or 'borrowing' things just to sneak a peek at her. He dragged me along last time. I have to say, that Qiu Minmin is pretty cute when she smiles. But I heard she has a bad temper, she's really strong, and she likes to hit people."
"...Thank you." Fei Cheng felt a wave of melancholy. So that was how he had appeared in the eyes of others in the past.
Yu Qing looked at him strangely. "Thank you?"
Fei Cheng quickened his pace to enter the dormitory building and escape the heat. "I'm saying thank you on Qiu Minmin's behalf. She really is very cute." As he stepped onto the stairs, he added, "She's so fucking cute it hurts. Sigh."
Yu Qing was bewildered. "Did he just have a breakdown?"
Cheng Yifei followed him upstairs. "It's not that strange. Two weeks ago, he secretly mentioned Qiu Minmin to me. It seems he's had his eye on her since the first year."
"Holy crap, this is only the fourth week of the term. You were already talking to him at the very start of the year? And you didn't tell me! I never would've guessed he'd be willing to talk to you about that kind of stuff." Yu Qing ran up and punched Cheng Yifei's shoulder playfully.
Cheng Yifei didn't explain why.
When they returned to the room, Yu Qing wanted to ask Fei Cheng for more details, but he found that neither the bathroom nor his bed was occupied. He asked Cheng Yifei, "Where'd he go?"
"You're asking me?" Cheng Yifei changed into his slippers to wash his feet.
As he came out of the bathroom, he ran right into Fei Cheng, who was just walking through the door.
Now that it was clear Cheng Yifei intended to include Fei Cheng in their circle, Yu Qing felt bold enough to talk to him in front of the other roommates. He scrambled up from his bed and asked, "Fei Cheng, weren't you walking ahead of us? Where did you go?"
Fei Cheng gave a vague grunt. "I accidentally went into Room 101."
Room 101 belonged to the first-year Class 1; it was directly below them.
Yu Qing was in stitches. "You actually went to the wrong floor? How did the first-years react when they saw you?"
"I said I was looking for Li Xiuxiu. They said there was no one by that name, so I came back down."
"Pfft..." Yu Qing shook with laughter, looking like he was having a fit he couldn't control.
Fei Cheng calmly returned to his bed to change his shoes and wash his feet. *Go ahead and laugh. Everyone goes to the wrong floor sometimes. If you've got the guts, try using the homeroom teacher's name as a shield too.*
Friday dragged on at an agonizingly slow pace. The morning was fine, but by the last two periods of the afternoon, everyone was restless. The teachers had to rap their knuckles on the lecterns several times to remind the students to focus.
The second-year Class 1 had Political Science in the afternoon—an even drier subject.
Fei Cheng sat beside Cheng Yifei, fiddling with an eraser in his left hand while propping his chin up with a pen in his right, wearing an expression of deep, serious thought.
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