The spacious classroom left only Shen Ying and Jiang Shi behind to eat lunch.
Shen Ying finished his entire plate. After eating his fill, he stood up and silently “stood in punishment” for a little while.
The portion for today’s lunch was noticeably larger than yesterday’s, and coupled with the exceptionally good taste, how could Shen Ying bear to waste any of it?
Even on ordinary days, no matter how terrible or unpalatable the food tasted, as long as it ended up in his bowl, he generally wouldn’t waste it.
Looking at the time and guessing that the rest of the classmates were probably about to return from the cafeteria to the classroom, Shen Ying took his phone and headed toward the restrooms, while Jiang Shi took the disposable lunch box downstairs to throw it away.
This was the second time today that Shen Ying had said he could just go throw away the trash himself, but once again he couldn’t win against Jiang Shi.
Jiang Shi’s reason was that he wanted to take a walk downstairs and also urged Shen Ying to hurry up and contact his grandfather, reminding him to remember to return to the classroom early for a noon break.
After washing his hands, Shen Ying quickly slipped into a restroom stall, took out his phone, and typed to ask his grandfather how today’s routine checkup results went.
Shen Yizhi seemed to have been waiting for his message and replied very quickly. Because he typed slowly and knew Shen Ying was at school, he always used voice to text. Every time he sent a message, the converted text was a long paragraph with several repeating sentences.
He asked Shen Ying how his studies were going today, whether he was keeping up with the new school’s curriculum, what he ate for lunch, and how he was getting along with his classmates.
Actually, Shen Ying had just transferred yesterday, and Shen Yizhi had already asked all these questions. But perhaps because he didn’t get a satisfying answer yesterday, he was caring about it all over again today.
So, today Shen Ying stayed in the restroom stall for quite a long time, tirelessly replying to his grandfather. But today, he inevitably had to include a few well-intentioned white lies.
When Shen Yizhi finally realized that Shen Ying needed to take a noon break, he urged him to hurry up and rest, telling him not to nod off during afternoon classes.
After smiling and typing back, ‘Got it, old comrade, you rest well too,’ just as he tossed his phone back into his school trouser pocket, he suddenly heard footsteps outside. Judging by the sound, there should be two people talking, their voices moving closer from a distance.
“Damn, it’s been so long, but seeing him still pisses me off so much.”
“All right, who told us not to have faces that are popular with girls? His temper smells like garbage, yet he still walks around with that look of looking down on everyone every day, acting like we have some infectious disease that will rub off on him. What kind of holier than thou germophobia is he putting on?”
“That bunch in Class 3 are the only ones who treat him like a golden baby. A bunch of people who couldn’t even test into Class 1, just because he gave them a little face, they really think they’re hot stuff every day.”
Shen Ying didn’t open the door. When he heard the words “Class 3,” his body quietly leaned closer to the stall door, wanting to hear more clearly.
“I heard that transfer student has a very good relationship with him and even became his desk mate. I really don’t know where a person like that suddenly popped out from.”
“Don’t mention it. When I passed by Class 3 yesterday, I glanced inside. That guy still had bruises on his face, at his old school, he was obviously fighting with others and got expelled, then used money and connections to get in right? I haven’t heard anything about his grades either, yet he can directly enter the key class. Can the people in the other ordinary classes really swallow that anger? I honestly don’t believe it.”
“If I had known you could just buy your way into a key class at Yinan No. 1 High School, why would I have tortured myself staying up late studying all through the first year of high school? Everyone has money.”
“Forget it, forget it, let’s just vent in private. Don’t go spreading it around. After all, we still don’t know what kind of divine entity this transfer student really is. Until we find out the details, we can’t afford to provoke him. Anyway, I already know that because this transfer student was able to enter Class 3 as soon as he arrived, a lot of students in our grade are extremely resentful.”
“Tch, originally we already had Jiang Shi suppressing a bunch of us everywhere in Yinan No. 1 High School, but at least his behavior is still considered relatively honest looking. Now all of a sudden, another thorn in the side who looks like he’s itching to use his fists pops up. He doesn’t look like a good guy at all and is probably super flashy. F***ing annoying.”
Snap,
As the words fell, the sound of a lock clicking suddenly came from the direction of the restroom stalls. The two people smoking and chatting in front of the sink instantly turned their heads to look over there.
Shen Ying calculated his strength, raised his foot, and kicked the door open, making a loud ‘bang’ noise. Since he already heard others building him a persona as a thorny brawler behind his back, Shen Ying had no reason not to adopt it, so he could only wrong the wooden door a little bit.
After using measured strength to kick the door open, Shen Ying wore a bruised, cold face as he slowly walked out. Then, he cast a light, breezy glance at the two men, both holding lit cigarettes in their hands, said nothing, and walked straight toward the sink on the other side.
In the mirror, the expressions of the two boys froze the moment they saw Shen Ying appear here. At that moment, they even forgot to flick the ash off their cigarettes.
Shen Ying leisurely finished washing his hands, straightened his posture, and looked toward the two of them. Before a single line of his full stomach speech could be uttered, he watched the pair exchange looks and turn around to play the deserter, ready to flee.
“You two, you’d better not let me find out which class you’re in. When our school organizes exams next time, I’ll let you see that my entry into Class 3 is well-deserved. By then, if you don’t apologize to me in front of all the teachers and students of the school, you can just wait for it.” Shen Ying was deathly afraid that they would run off without hearing him, so he immediately raised his volume.
However, as soon as he finished that last sentence, the two of them had already vanished without a trace.
The restroom fell silent for a few seconds. Standing in place, Shen Ying wore a wry smile as he carefully reminisced about their earlier conversation.
The way they discussed Jiang Shi just now undoubtedly exposed how deeply jealous they were of him, even harboring long standing grievances, yet lacking the strength to actively provoke Jiang Shi, leaving them no choice but to vent their frustrations in private. It was the classic “I can’t stand you, but I can’t take you down either.”
Could this be the main reason why Jiang Shi has no friends at school? Shen Ying thought to himself.
So because he walked closely with Jiang Shi, those people who already couldn’t stand Jiang Shi out of jealousy would naturally lump him in with that disdain, and consequently treat him like transparent air?
Then it was very likely that everyone was silently isolating Jiang Shi.
Those mean spirited remarks he heard just now, had Jiang Shi already heard them countless times?
Shen Ying knew all too well what kind of destructive power verbal bullying could pack.
He just never expected that a student with Jiang Shi’s family background would also find it difficult to escape this trial.
Linbei No. 3 High School.
Peng Sheng and a few other boys finished eating and walked out of the cafeteria together, bursting into cheers and excitement because of some information they had just overheard inside.
“Zhuang Kangbo got beaten up so badly he ended up in the hospital, and he doesn’t even know who hit him! I can laugh at him for five hundred years for this!” One of them laughed out loud.
“I wonder which hero did it. The day I find out, I’ll definitely take him as my master!”
“Get out of here! You said you wanted to take Shen Ying as your master last time, telling him to drag you to a passing grade. And in the end? Fishing for three days and drying nets for two. I’m afraid if that nameless hero really hears your declaration about taking a master, he’ll beat you into the hospital too.”
“Go away!”
“Peng Sheng, what are you thinking about? You haven’t said a word.” Someone noticed Peng Sheng, who was always silent off to the side, and began to remind him, “You should immediately share this news with Shen Sheng so he can feel good about it too.”
“No, can’t tell him!” Yet, Peng Sheng’s reaction was intensely strong, completely inconsistent with his previous silent state.
The person who reminded him was startled by his violent reaction. “What are you doing? Why can’t we?”
Peng Sheng did overreact. He cleared his throat quietly and said, “Shen Ying has already drawn a clean line with everything from Linbei No. 3 High School. You guys aren’t allowed to message him about this either. He’s gone to a better school now, don’t bring up this disgusting Zhuang Kangbo in front of him and affect his studies.”
Shen Ying hadn’t taken the initiative to tell him about looking for Zhuang Kangbo to fight and getting hurt, nor had he gone to the hospital to accompany Grandpa Shen last night. In his heart, Peng Sheng understood that Shen Ying did this because he was afraid he and Grandpa Shen would worry.
Therefore, he simply pretended to remain clueless. As long as he could confirm Shen Ying was studying properly at Yinan No. 1 High School, that was enough.
As for the various old grudges big and small with Zhuang Kangbo, presumably that wealthy young master had quietly settled the score on Shen Ying’s behalf.
Zhuang Kangbo getting beaten up was very likely during that exact time window when he and Shen Ying were chatting on WeChat last night.
Because he clearly remembered Shen Ying saying on WeChat last night that Jiang Shi had other business and hadn’t gone home yet, and then suddenly sending a picture of himself eating octopus balls from that shop at the entrance of Linbei No. 3 High School, claiming Jiang Shi bought them for him on the way. And today, he heard that Zhuang Kangbo had been beaten into the hospital by a nameless hero at the back door of Linbei No. 3 High School last night.
If Peng Sheng couldn’t put these pieces together after all this, he would simply be a fool.
It was also very obvious that this young master Jiang didn’t intend to let Shen Ying know that he had taken revenge for him either.
At this moment, Peng Sheng really had to admit that this young master indeed had some tricks up his sleeve. Setting aside his suspected “ulterior motives” toward his buddy, Jiang Shi not only protected Shen Ying well, but he also seemed to have a master grip on every situation. After all, right under Shen Ying’s nose, he actually managed to keep Shen Ying completely in the dark about certain behaviors of his.
The fact that this person could make Shen Ying firmly believe he was a good person and a little pitiful, Peng Sheng admired him from the bottom of his heart, but it also made him understand all the more that Shen Ying was exceptionally special to Jiang Shi.
However…
His buddy is a straight man!!
If Shen Ying ever failed to meet his standards, disobeyed his commands, or didn’t like him, could Shen Ying still live the life of a normal person under his watch?
Presently, Shen Ying was almost completely fenced in by Jiang Shi’s side. And Jiang Shi had even saved Grandpa Shen’s life, leaving a life saving grace. Thinking about it from every angle, Peng Sheng concluded that he absolutely could not directly tell Shen Ying what he had seen and understood.
If he went straight to Shen Ying with it, it would probably end up shaking their dozen-plus-years childhood friendship.
Jiang Shi had genuinely saved Grandpa Shen’s life, why should he stir up these things and make Shen Ying invite premature trouble for himself?
Yet, inside, he truly couldn’t completely let go of his concern for Shen Ying’s situation. At the very least, he needed to know what kind of environment Shen Ying was dealing with in a life he couldn’t participate in.
With that thought, Peng Sheng pulled out his phone, deciding he had to take the initiative to contact his gaming client with the mediocre skills once more. He needed to confirm whether the other party was really a student at Yinan No. 1 High School.
Ding,
Before Peng Sheng could open QQ, a WeChat notification popped up at the top of his screen.
【Shen Ying: I know why Jiang Shi is being isolated! It seems like a lot of people in this school are jealous of Jiang Shi! They bully Jiang Shi because he’s too lazy to stoop to their level! Verbally bullying him behind his back, silently isolating him! 】
At the same time, Peng Sheng heard someone nearby still saying. “Still, that hero who dared to beat up Zhuang Kangbo, I reckon he’s probably not someone we can normally rub shoulders with anyway. Definitely someone we can’t afford to mess with.”
Peng Sheng: ???