Chapter 9 What Sin Did She Commit to Deserve Being Pinned Against a Tree and Kissed?

“I never said that.” — Tsangyang Gyatso

It was said that the famous quotes of Mr. Lu Xun were most favored by the Chinese people, to the point that many strange and bizarre words were pinned under Mr. Lu Xun’s name.

In reality, Tsangyang Gyatso and Zhang Ailing expressed that they also wanted to have names of their own, or else even the coffin lids couldn’t hold them down.

What Luo Yi recited was a Buddhist verse, written by the Song Dynasty high monk Shi Shaotan.

He left behind more than a thousand poems in his lifetime, almost all related to Buddhist philosophy. This one wasn’t particularly famous.

She was helping Qian Jiayun out of the situation—even if this little trick could be seen through by Ye Xiaoyang at a glance.

Ye Xiaoyang calmly swept a glance at Qian Jiayun. She still seemed to be pondering what the verse Luo Yi had recited meant.

Ye Xiaoyang walked into the school clinic, placed the bag in his hand on the empty seat beside her, and said, “Bought these for you.”

Luo Yi closed the book and turned her head to look at him.

Ye Xiaoyang pulled the milk teas out of the paper bag one by one and set them on the chair: “Original, pearl, coconut jelly, pudding, milk green. Which one do you want?”

Luo Yi: “…”

For some reason she had the strong sense of déjà vu that he was a milk tea shop clerk.

Qian Jiayun watched from the side. If there was any operation more flashy than flipping through the window just now, this definitely counted as one.

“I’ll take the original,” Luo Yi didn’t refuse him.

Luo Yi had a constitution of chronic low blood sugar and low blood pressure. She was naturally sweet-toothed and couldn’t do without sugar.

She poked a straw into the milk tea cup, took a small sip, and the sweet taste instantly melted on the tip of her tongue. The pain in her cheek seemed to ease a little as well.

Luo Yi hadn’t drunk milk tea in a long time. Boarding students couldn’t buy milk tea at school.

She glanced at those neatly arranged milk teas. The happiness that could explode from just one sip was somehow made a bit strange—like immediately running into an economic bubble after the Great Depression. The inflation was severe.

“You bought too many,” she said slowly. “I can’t finish them all.”

Qian Jiayun winked at Luo Yi, signaling that she could serve her and reluctantly help eliminate some of them. The extra calories could be borne by her!

Who would have expected Ye Xiaoyang to say, “If you can’t finish them, just throw them away.”

Qian Jiayun: “…”

Drink one and throw one away? Even the rich people from eight hundred years ago didn’t show off like that!

Didn’t he know that wasting food would bring divine punishment?

After Luo Yi finished one cup of milk tea, the ice pack had almost melted.

Qian Jiayun examined her face carefully: “It seems a bit better than just now.”

Luo Yi thanked the school doctor and prepared to leave.

The doctor gave her a few disposable masks, which happened to be able to cover her face a little.

When they returned to the classroom, the next period was class meeting. Ji Changming was already at the podium copying the PPT.

Every week No.1 High sent the homeroom teachers a ready-made PPT made by the school to convey the key points of the week.

Luo Yi lowered her eyes and glanced at the milk tea bag in her hand. If the homeroom teacher saw this, it didn’t seem very good, right?

“What are you afraid of? Old Ji doesn’t ban students from eating snacks.” Qian Jiayun nudged Luo Yi with her elbow, signaling her to walk forward boldly.

Luo Yi carefully returned to her seat and placed the milk tea bag on the shelf under the desk.

Ji Changming saw her, but didn’t say anything.

“I feel like Teacher Ji is pretty nice.”

“Of course. Classmates from other classes all envy our class,” Qian Jiayun said. “Old Ji teaches well, cares about us a lot, and most importantly, he’s not as strict as other homeroom teachers.”

“The premise is not to do anything that touches Old Ji’s bottom line,” Qian Jiayun added.

“What counts as touching the bottom line?”

“Last semester a boy was playing Three Kingdoms Kill in class. When Old Ji caught him, he was scolded severely, had his parents called in, and had to write a self-criticism.”

Alright, so playing Three Kingdoms Kill already touched Ji Changming’s bottom line.

Back in Tongze, as long as students didn’t fight, the homeroom teacher wouldn’t care.

“Oh, and probably those points Fahai mentioned today—fighting, going to internet cafes, dating,” Qian Jiayun recalled for a moment, then thought of something else. “But our class still hasn’t had any of those situations so far.”

Just as they were talking, the class bell rang. Qian Jiayun quickly shut her mouth.

“Today’s class meeting mainly covers two things. One is summarizing the midterm exam. The other is emphasizing school rules and regulations.” Ji Changming rolled the cuffs of his checkered shirt up to his elbows, braced both arms on the podium, and spoke.

“Our class’s results in this midterm exam were pretty good. Three people in the grade top ten, seven in the top thirty, eighteen in the top one hundred. Overall average score ranked first in the grade.”

As soon as the words fell, the class immediately applauded and cheered.

Qian Jiayun said softly, “In our school, top ten is a steady ticket to Tsinghua or Peking. Top thirty is highly likely for Tsinghua or Peking. Top one hundred basically lies down into the top five universities.”

“Then what did you rank?” Luo Yi quietly asked.

“Ai, I only ranked 96 this time. Almost didn’t even make the top one hundred.”

Luo Yi: “…”

She was so startled she didn’t dare speak.

Qian Jiayun seemed to spend every day laughing and playing with her, yet it turned out she was also a top student.

As expected, the mouths of top students were full of lies. They always shouted that they didn’t do well, but when the results came out they scored higher than anyone.

Ji Changming opened the PPT. On it was the list of the grade’s top thirty.

Luo Yi immediately spotted Ye Xiaoyang’s name hanging in first place, and his total score was more than ten points ahead of second place!

If all the students’ scores were placed into a standard normal distribution, Ye Xiaoyang would definitely be a discrete data point at the extreme top—the kind that mathematical models would ignore.

Perhaps because Ye Xiaoyang had occupied the throne of first in the grade for too long, Ji Changming was already used to it.

He only mentioned in passing that first place in the grade was once again in Class 6, then flipped past this page of the PPT.

“This Saturday morning there will be a parent-teacher meeting. Remember to notify your parents to attend. If any parents can’t come, tell me in advance.”

Below, a wave of private whispers rose again. No student liked parent-teacher meetings. The mess in the parents’ WeChat groups on ordinary days was already enough to make people depressed.

“Quiet,” Ji Changming said. “Next, let’s emphasize the matter of discipline.”

He clicked to the next page of the PPT. On it was prominently displayed a disciplinary resolution—exactly the one Fang Dahai had read out that morning.

“I’ve never wanted to talk much about these things. You’re not that old, and you’re not that young either. It’s very normal for boys and girls to have good feelings for each other. But—” Ji Changming’s tone shifted, “you’re currently in school, and you must put studying first. The school bans early romance because early romance affects studying too much.”

“Once you start dating, your head fills with all sorts of messy things. How can you calm down and study?” Ji Changming said earnestly. “If everyone’s grades shot straight up after dating, the school would definitely be the first to stand up and encourage early romance.”

“But the facts prove that this is not very likely. I’ve taught so many batches of students. As long as they start dating, their grades will inevitably drop to some degree.”

“A few years ago there was a girl under me. She was originally a seedling for Tsinghua or Peking University, but she was delayed by romance. In the end she didn’t do well on the college entrance exam and only went to an ordinary 985 university. If they had gotten married in the end, that would have been one thing—at least even without a good university she found a partner. But the result was that the two of them broke up less than two months after university started. Tell me, was it worth it?”

The classmates below all shook their heads. This deal was far too unprofitable.

“Don’t even mention high school. Even among couples in university, how many can make it to the end? There’s a saying—graduation equals breakup.” Ji Changming said, “So don’t waste your prime years on early romance. If you really like the other person so much you can’t stand it, then endure until after the college entrance exam.”

Luo Yi had always been a very well-behaved girl. Now that she had come to a top-student concentration camp like No.1 High, her behavior was even more careful and cautious.

Luo Hengzhou was not like other parents who urged their children to study with military force, but deep in her heart she yearned to go to a good university.

From childhood until now, she hadn’t even liked any male classmate.

She developed a bit slower than her peers. Basically the classmates around her treated her like a lower-grade little sister, so early romance had nothing to do with her. The things Ji Changming was saying also had nothing to do with her.

She picked up a pen and randomly doodled on the draft paper to pass the time.

Seeing that class was almost over, Ji Changming brought up a new topic: “I heard that a classmate was injured during PE class just now.”

Luo Yi’s pen paused.

“During usual extracurricular activities, you must pay attention to safety. Don’t injure yourself, and don’t injure others.” Ji Changming’s gaze drifted over to Luo Yi as he emphasized, “The body is the capital of revolution.”

Luo Yi immediately sat up straight. She was wearing a mask, revealing a pair of fawn-like eyes.

“Some male classmates who usually love intense exercise need to be even more careful. Every year the school has one or two cases of broken arms or legs.”

Everyone in the classroom looked toward Ye Xiaoyang. He was resting his chin on his hand and spinning a pen, when he suddenly felt uncomfortable all over under those bundles of caring gazes.

It was as if he already had broken arms and legs.

After evening self-study ended, Luo Yi carried the remaining two cups of milk tea back to the dormitory.

After dinner she had drunk another cup and given one to Qian Jiayun. The remaining two cups she really couldn’t enjoy. If left until tomorrow they would definitely spoil, so it was better to share them with the other two roommates.

The other two girls in the dormitory were named Shen Xinyi and Du Lin. Their families were also not from the urban area of Xishui.

“Wow, there’s actually milk tea.”

“Where did it come from?”

Qian Jiayun came out of the bathroom after washing her face and shouted, “This was bought by Ye Xiaoyang.”

“Who told him to smash Luo Yi?” She plopped down on the bed and said, “Looking at it from the milk tea’s perspective, he’s not that bad.”

The two girls looked at each other.

Buying milk tea for Luo Yi as an apology was understandable, but the key problem was… it seemed he had bought a bit too many?

“Ye Xiaoyang, huh…” Shen Xinyi recalled something. “Have you guys heard? A piece of gossip.”

“What gossip?” Nothing livened up the atmosphere in a girls’ dormitory more than the latest gossip news.

“I also heard it from someone else. Last week Fahai caught Ye Xiaoyang and his girlfriend in the little woods, together with that couple from today. But for some reason this morning Fahai didn’t publicly criticize him.”

“Is that true or false?” Qian Jiayun didn’t believe it. “Ye Xiaoyang has a girlfriend? Who?”

“The school is definitely covering for him. He’s first in the grade and has a powerful dad. They couldn’t possibly let there be a stain on his record,” Du Lin said as if this was only to be expected.

“No wonder Old Ji kept talking about dating issues today. So there was a reason after all.”

“I’m still more curious who his girlfriend is. From another class?”

“I heard that when Fahai caught them, he was pressing his girlfriend against a tree and kissing her.”

The three girls chattered away, the topic developing in an increasingly not-suitable-for-children direction. Although none of them had any experience, their imaginations were first-rate.

Luo Yi: “…”

What was all this nonsense?

The ones performing the campus eighteen-restricted subject matter were clearly that little couple!

Luo Yi didn’t know what kind of sin she had committed to actually become the scapegoat.