Lin Xigu had written “see you tomorrow”, but he did not see She Xiao the next day. Strictly speaking, he did not see She Xiao at all for the next three days.
The boy did not appear again after he was led away by the dean, although whispers soon began to circulate among the students that a line had been crossed this time, that the school was had put expulsion on the table.
Lin Xigu could not bring himself to believe this. What would the scenery look like without She Xiao by his side? After sitting together for so long without conflict or friction, he had grown accustomed to his presence. However, something did indeed feel different this time, with three days passing without any word of explanation from the school.
After math, Lin Xigu slipped out the back door and ambushed their homeroom teacher on his way back to his office. Zhou Cheng looked at him, startled. “What is it?”
Lin Xigu smiled. “Zhou-laoshi, I wanted to ask, why hasn’t She Xiao been coming to class?”
Zhou Cheng did not answer him directly but instead responded with a question of his own, “You two have been tongzhuo for a while now. What’s your take on She Xiao?”
Lin Xigu thought for a moment, “Pretty… good. We don’t exactly talk, but we don’t argue either.”
“Hmm, his grades are quite good. Could be a good influence on you,” Zhou Cheng mused, then aimed a kick at a student who was walking by. “I’ve told you a thousand times already: ditch those damn screens! There are cameras literally hanging over your head. You’ve racked up so many demerits that you don’t even care anymore, do you?”
The student didn’t anticipate that Zhou Cheng would still be patrolling the halls at this time of day. He quickly hid his phone behind his back and grinned, “Aye aye, Zhou-ge! My bad!”
After the student was out of earshot, Zhou Cheng turned to Lin Xigu, “Okay, leave it with me. I’m still in discussions with the board. Which is not to say he’s entirely blameless, but I will always do my best to protect my students. Run along back to class now. Don’t let this distract you from your studies.”
Lin Xigu relaxed slightly upon hearing this. At the very least, it meant that Zhou Cheng had not given up on She Xiao. She Xiao’s grades were excellent, and with their homeroom teacher coming to his defence, surely the situation would resolve itself.
Just before walking away, he turned and asked haltingly, “She Xiao, he… what did he do?”
Zhou Cheng answered only with a heavy sigh. There were mixed emotions in his eyes. Regret, perhaps, that She Xiao was a good seed, and worry, over how best to plead his case to the school. However, there in greatest proportion, was his exasperation at the sheer difficulty of She Xiao’s personality.
No matter how good his grades were, he was not going to get very far after graduation with an attitude like his.
Three days without its owner and She Xiao’s desk had amassed a disordered jumble of paper. Lin Xigu collected them all into a neat pile, setting them off to the side.
“Lin Xigu, you’re being much too considerate. I don’t get you at all. She Xiao won’t even speak to you and you’re still helping him? If I were you, I would have moved desks long ago. How can you stand to be around a grump who frowns all the time like some god of tragedy?”
“Oi, don’t say that,” Lin Xigu made a shushing gesture at her. “Don’t talk about people behind their backs, little girl.”
“I’m not a high-roader like you. I’m just a teenager who loves her gossip, very shallow.” Li Balei leaned in closer and said, “When I was out on break last period, I heard the girls from Class 8 say that She Xiao almost killed someone…”
Lin Xigu shook his head. “Don’t spread rumours like that without evidence. If that’s what he did, it wouldn’t be a simple matter of expulsion; he would be on his way to juvie already.”
“The story is that the family didn’t press charges. They just wanted compensation,” Li Balei wore the look of a mystic when gossiping. “I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. I’m serious! Last semester, he beat those skinheads in Class 2 until they…”
“Hey, hey, look who’s getting worked up again,” Lin Xigu laughed. “Someone as pretty as you has to take the high road. Let’s work on decoupling you from the rumour mill, and we’ll start with not talking about people behind their backs.”
Li Balei blinked, then sighed. “Only you could scold someone and make it sound like a compliment.”
Lin Xigu smiled and motioned for her to face the front of the room.
Although the grapevine could not be fully trusted, there was a good chance that there was a grain of truth to the story, given the seriousness of the school’s approach to the situation. Lin Xigu glanced at She Xiao’s empty chair and reorganized the pile again.
Good-looking, yes, but also violent.
The mystery was revealed two days later. Lin Xigu was on cleaning duty again and he was holding a rag on his way to dust the windows of the administration wing. As he approached, he could hear the sound of a woman shrieking.
“The school refuses to give a statement?” The woman’s voice was shrill, climbing to an octave that pierced his eardrums. “What do you mean, it has nothing to do with the school? How could it not have anything to do with the school? Isn’t he your student? You think you can just say ‘we’re not liable’ and that will be the end of it? You think there’s no one who can take you on? Believe me, you don’t want to cross us!”
Lin Xigu wanted to walk away—it wasn’t polite to eavesdrop on the principal’s doorstep—but he had a feeling that this outburst concerned She Xiao, so he hesitated and decided to stay.
The office door was closed, so the principal’s reply was unintelligible, but the woman’s voice rang as clear as day. One could only imagine how loud she must have been.
“Of course, I’ll contact his parents but does that mean the school is absolved of responsibility? Is that how you educate your students? Are you proud of raising antisocial scum like him, who will lash out at anyone for no reason?”
Lin Xigu grimaced. Even though he didn’t know the full story, going by his understanding of She Xiao, it could be assumed that the other party was no saint either. It was more likely that he had provoked She Xiao first.
“—bullshit! Where’s the proof that my son provoked him? Get off your high horse and don’t even think about pointing the finger at my son. My son is the one lying in a hospital bed. Isn’t that little punk doing just fine at home?”
Her voice was sharp. Lin Xigu was starting to develop a splitting headache.
He wiped down the windowed alcoves of the administration wing while suffering the rest of her tirade. When he was at last released from his duties, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was a tickle in his throat from listening to her yell.
He understood the gist of the situation.
She Xiao had indeed beaten someone and landed a few serious blows. Their parents then schemed to make a scene, first at the school and then with She Xiao’s parents, hoping to extort both sides with the assumption that the school would cave to their demands to avoid the negative attention.
Lin Xigu did not mean to be cynical but based on her manner of speaking, he could only imagine that the apple did not fall far from the tree. It was unfortunate that She Xiao had gotten mixed up with people like that.
However, seeing as She Xiao had brought such an entitled complainant to the principal’s office, there was no telling how the principal’s temperament would be tested. If the principal happened to have a short fuse and, in a fit of anger, decided to expel She Xiao, it would not be wholly unjustified.
After finally meeting someone he found attractive, it would be a pity if that person were to exit his life as quickly as he had entered it.
It was Friday, with yet another weekend waiting on the other side of their final class. All students liked weekends, and though Lin Xigu had no one to spend it with, he was nonetheless looking forward to sleeping in and not having to sit in class.
Lin Xigu had already completed his cleaning shift for the week with the athletics rep’s help, but the student assigned to cleaning duty was absent that day. Lin Xigu was friendly with him, so he’d offered to cover. The other student assigned to the group was a girl and he let her leave early.
He made a round trip to the janitorial room to wring out his mop. He was slowly mopping the floors of the classroom with his head bowed when he heard footsteps behind him. He instinctively turned to glance at the intruder and froze.
It was She Xiao.
She Xiao noticed him too, his gaze catching on Lin Xigu’s, and he held it for a few seconds before looking away.
Lin Xigu had not seen him in a week. It was almost jarring to see him in person now.
“You… how are you?”
She Xiao ignored his question, cutting a straight path to his desk.
“I’ve collected all the handouts on your behalf. You can take them home and look them over…” Lin Xigu followed close behind, noting the presence of a fresh bandage on She Xiao’s neck. Another injury, perhaps. “Midterms are coming up. Will you still be able to take them?”
She Xiao silently stuffed the organized workbooks and handouts into his bag. He wasn’t wearing his uniform and was instead dressed in a simple white t-shirt and jeans which elongated his legs and made him look even better than usual.
“What did the school say? Will you be back in class next week?”
He asked with no real hope that She Xiao would give him an answer. This person had made it clear that he was not willing to speak, and so Lin Xigu had no expectations for one.
But this time, She Xiao stopped and slightly tilted his head. “Mn.”
It happened so suddenly that Lin Xigu was caught unawares. He was stunned.
Had She Xiao really just answered him? Sure, it had only been one syllable, but this was progress beyond his wildest dreams. Was it possible that he had misheard?
By the time he regained his composure, She Xiao had already left. Walking to the door, Lin Xigu watched as She Xiao seemingly made his way towards the administration wing. He could not be certain whether his intended destination was the principal’s office or elsewhere.
Lin Xigu was still watching his retreating back when the realization finally caught up with him.
She Xiao had actually spoken to him! After being his tongzhuo for so many days, had he finally managed to make his presence known? His pretty-as-a-picture tongzhuo had extended the olive branch of friendship—it was truly a day worthy of commemoration, a most splendid, wondrous day!