(1)
Summer. On the dry ground, the wind kicked up a few specks of dust. Even though it was already late afternoon, the scorching sun still poured down relentlessly on everyone, and walking under the shade of trees, one could feel the light slipping through the gaps and gently poking at their cheeks.
Occasionally, one or two cars would stop at the school gate to pick up children. Most of them were nothing fancy—common models like vans and pickup trucks. Every now and then, a sedan would appear, but it was always a typical Corolla or Jetta.
Just now, a few heads poked out from those cars parked at the gate, looking over with curiosity.
For the people at the center of the incident, this might have been a huge hassle, but for these middle-aged adults, it was just a small episode that jogged their memories of their own youth.
At that moment, two parents whose cars were parked closest leaned against their doors and struck up a conversation.
“Your son is in Class Three too, right?”
“That’s my daughter. She’s in Class Three as well. Want a smoke?”
“Sure. I’ve got a light. Use mine.”
“Hey—look at these little rascals. Sounds like someone messed with another guy’s girlfriend?”
“Haha, there’s always stuff like this in school. When I was young…”
The middle-aged man was reminiscing about the past, but what was unfolding in front of them was the children’s present.
“You think you can bully me with numbers? Even if there’s a crowd, I won’t back down! If you’ve got the guts, let me go, and be a man—one-on-one, fair fight!”
“Hey, you’ve got a big mouth there. Wanna try me?”
“Lei Laohu, forget it. If he wants to fight me, I’ll take him on.”
“Hmph… Seems like you’ve got some balls after all.”
“I just feel sorry for you—blazing with anger when you don’t know anything and can’t do anything.” Zhou Chao straightened his chest. “Come on, I’ll let you take a free punch. If you still want to fight after that, I won’t go easy on you.”
“Acting all high and mighty? I’ll tear that smug look off your face today!” Fang Qiang tried to step forward, but Zhou Chao pushed him aside. Lei Laohu frowned and glanced at Sun Wei.
An Jing took a deep breath and lowered her voice to Zhu Ying. “Xiao Ying, if he keeps trying to fight Zhou Chao, I’m stepping in.”
“Stop it! Goddammit, stop it!” Sun Wei, who had been silent and even thought about turning and running away several times, had veins bulging on his forehead. He clenched his fists and yelled with his chin raised. “This has nothing to do with Zhou Chao!”
Zheng Kang, who was about to throw a punch, turned his head slightly and gave Sun Wei a suspicious once-over. “Then who does it have to do with?”
“With me! It has to do with me!”
“Ha… What the hell are you babbling about? Xiao Ai’s not blind. There’s no way she’d ever like you!”
“I’m telling the truth! And… and she came to me first! She told me with her own mouth that I’m the one she loves most in the world! She said I was sincere with her, that I’m especially, especially good!” Sun Wei was almost hysterical. “Zhou Chao didn’t know anything about this. Every time she came to the classroom, she came to see me! If you want to fight, fight me! And I’ll tell you, when I was with her, I didn’t know she already had a boyfriend!”
“You bastard! You’re lying!” Zheng Kang was furious and threw a punch straight at Sun Wei’s face. Sun Wei didn’t dodge or flinch; he took the hit hard. His eye socket started to purple visibly, and a few traces of blood oozed from his lip where a tooth had cut it.
“Had enough?” Lei Laohu abruptly grabbed Zheng Kang’s arm before he could throw a second punch. “It’s your fault for not keeping your girl in line. What’s it got to do with him? He didn’t know she hadn’t broken up with her boyfriend yet?”
“You think I’m going to believe that? Huh? Xiao Ai would fall for a guy like this? Come on, he’s a total wreck. Would she really?”
“Don’t judge people by their looks,” Fang Qiang said in a deep voice. “That’s pretty shallow of you. Awei might always look like he deserves a beating, but he’s a decent guy.”
“If you don’t believe us, go ask your so-called girlfriend,” An Jing cut in. “She’ll probably deny it, but you’ll be able to tell from her tone and expression. Don’t keep thinking your girlfriend is so innocent, okay?”
“Heh, yeah. Since she could betray Zhou Chao, of course she’ll betray you too.” Fang Qiang laughed sarcastically. “Isn’t that only natural? You should have seen this coming when you took her from Zhou Chao.”
“I’m warning you, if you swing again, don’t blame us for not being polite. We’re just trying to talk nicely right now.” Lei Laohu stepped forward and grabbed Zheng Kang’s collar hard. “All of us are here. You don’t actually think you can win, do you?”
“…Let go!”
“Hah!”
The expression on Zheng Kang’s face turned ugly. He gritted his teeth, then without saying another word, he turned and walked across the street.
“That guy’s face was scary dark,” Fang Qiang said with a gloating click of his tongue. “Heh, he had it coming.”
Zhou Chao smiled and shook his head, looking a bit helpless, maybe even a little sighing, but that didn’t stop the slight upward twitch at the corner of his mouth. “Awei, you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just one punch.” Sun Wei wiped his mouth. “Not like I’ve never been punched before.”
“I thought you weren’t going to step up in the end,” Lei Laohu said, sizing up Sun Wei’s shoulders before giving him a firm slap. “Looks like I underestimated you, huh?”
“Damn it, I do have some pride, you know!”
“Only because there are people around, so you’re not afraid of getting beaten up continuously, right?” Fang Qiang squinted at him, his tone tinged with mockery.
“Hey, what do you take me for!”
“Hahaha—”
“Well, it turned out exactly like this. Awei, too bad.” Zhou Chao sighed. “At first, I really did sincerely wish you two well.”
“…Zhou Chao, I…”
“It’s fine, that’s all in the past. You being with her doesn’t really bother me.” Zhou Chao shook his head with a smile. “Actually, I wanted to warn you later because I was afraid you’d get hurt. But I figured nothing I said would’ve mattered back then.”
“Everyone has to get their heart broken at least once to find true love, I guess,” Fang Qiang lamented again, even though his so-called romance hadn’t lasted long.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!” Zhu Ying’s eyes widened, like she was about to turn into a little monster that eats people.
“Don’t worry, Zhu Ying. An Jing here has already been heartbroken once.” Fang Qiang pursed his lips hard, frantically hinting at Wang Xinru standing nearby.
An Jing didn’t dare say a word. She coughed loudly and threw a pleading look at Zhou Chao.
“Don’t worry, Awei. You probably won’t find a girlfriend as good-looking as this one again, but you’ll definitely find one who truly loves you.”
“Damn, is that a curse or a blessing?”
“Just speaking the truth.”
Everyone couldn’t help laughing. Wang Xinru pulled two band-aids out of her backpack and handed them to Sun Wei. He had no choice but to accept the teasing, even occasionally joining in with a self-deprecating joke—as if he had grown up all at once in just a few minutes.
(2)
“What a farce…” Zhou Chao sighed as he watched Sun Wei walk away with the others.
“Yeah.” An Jing stood on tiptoe and waved vigorously at Zhu Ying, who had turned back in the distance. “Speaking of which, on the other side of the street just now… oh, they’re gone.”
“They had a fight and split up going both ways.”
“I wonder what they fought about. Didn’t catch it. Tsk, too bad.”
“Haha—” Zhou Chao threw his head back and laughed. “It wouldn’t be anything unusual anyway, right? Stuff like ‘I don’t think hugging other guys is that intimate,’ or ‘It’s normal to walk home with other guys,’ or ‘The kind of like I said to him isn’t the kind of like you’re thinking,’ something like that?”
“…You sound experienced.”
“You could figure it out with your butt.”
“Oh? Your butt can do that? Come on, let me see!”
“Get out. Hah, you little—” Zhou Chao slapped his palm on her shoulder with a smack. “Stop messing around. Let’s go for a ride!”
“I don’t want to go up the mountain today. Can we go somewhere like a lake or the seaside?”
“Seaside? Sure. There’s a road that runs right along the coast. We’ll ride out there. It’ll be awesome.”
“Great!” An Jing nodded excitedly and jabbed Zhou Chao in the chest with her elbow. “So, honestly, are you really as fine about it as you acted just now?”
Zhou Chao pulled a crooked smile, acting like he hadn’t heard, and walked straight toward the riverbank beside the school.
“Hey, hey, are you or aren’t you? Tell me!”
“You really want to know?”
“Yeah. To see if you’re just being stubborn.”
“It’s nothing, really. I figured something out recently.”
“What?”
“Her evil is a pure kind of evil—evil without knowing it. People like that are actually pretty pitiful. There’s no need to hate her.” Zhou Chao said with a faint smile, twirling the motorcycle key in his hand. “It’s like a fierce beast. Cruelly hunting prey is its survival instinct. If it didn’t do that, it wouldn’t survive.”
“You’re making too many excuses for her.”
“I’m just telling the truth—the world needs all kinds of people. Good people, bad people, good without knowing it, bad without knowing it…” Zhou Chao caught the key just as it nearly slipped out of his hand. “Anyway, she was someone who spent a part of my life with me growing up. So I still hope she can live well.”
“…Zhou Chao, you’re still the same as always.” A relieved smile appeared on An Jing’s face. “I knew it.”
“Heh… But I’m not worried anymore now.”
“Why?”
“Because someone like her, who’s good at clinging to others to survive, can’t end up too badly.”
“…Do you think she’ll reform?”
“No way.” Zhou Chao’s expression turned serious. “To her, this is her ‘right.’ In her world, she’s never wrong. It’s as natural as a wolf eating small animals.”
“—So there’s no such thing as reforming?”
“That’s right.”
“I think I understand what you mean now… People like that are really pitiful.”