Wen Chen and I got caught whispering during math class, and as a result, Old Qin punished us by making us sweep the playground during the break.
It was all Wen Chen’s fault. He suddenly passed me a note during class, asking if I wanted some milk tea. We’re seated one in front of the other, so passing notes should have been discreet. But Wen Chen, finding it bothersome, leaned over to my desk and started whispering.
Our seats were quite close to the front, and Old Qin isn’t blind, so he caught us red-handed.
Last week, I scored 98.5 on the weekly math test, and Old Qin was already upset. Now, chatting during his class added fuel to the fire. With the school sports festival approaching, he sent Wen Chen and me to sweep the playground.
Wen Chen walked ahead, carrying two brooms, while I followed behind, kicking him. “It’s all your fault, asking me about milk tea.”
“Hey, I’m buying you milk tea, and now I’m the bad guy?” Wen Chen didn’t feel embarrassed about sweeping the playground at all. Instead, he shouted, “Cheng Yueguang, do you have any conscience?”
Most people on the playground were wearing Senior Year uniforms, probably just finished with their PE class.
Holding brooms already made us stand out, and with Wen Chen being so loud, the seniors around us looked over curiously.
I wished I could rush over and shut Wen Chen up, but my upbringing wouldn’t allow it. I tugged at Wen Chen’s sleeve and whispered, “Stop it, aren’t you embarrassed?”
I forgot that Wen Chen’s skin was thicker than a city wall; he had no concept of embarrassment. Not only was he unashamed, but he also proudly put an arm around my shoulder. “What’s the big deal? It’s just sweeping the playground. Watch me chat up the senior girls in a bit.”
Just as he was speaking, two senior girls walked over from the track. Wen Chen’s eyes lit up like a wolf drooling over fresh meat. He dragged me over to block their path. “Hey, just finished PE class?”
“……”
So embarrassing… I quietly pushed his arm away and went to sweep the leaves.
Autumn was approaching, and the sycamore trees by the school track had shed many leaves. I had just swept one area when a few more fell.
Wen Chen was on the track, chatting happily with the two senior girls, making them laugh behind their hands. Fortunately, he didn’t forget about me, his good buddy, amidst the flirting. He called out to me, “Cheng Yueguang, come join us! There are so many leaves, you’ll never finish sweeping them all. Just pretend to sweep a bit and call it a day.”
That wouldn’t do. I didn’t agree with Wen Chen’s approach. To show I wasn’t going along with him, I deliberately moved a bit further away.
As I swept and slowly moved forward, I soon reached the bend and could no longer hear Wen Chen’s voice, just the rustling of the broom on the track.
I gathered the fallen leaves into a pile, thinking about how to deal with them, when suddenly a pair of running shoes stepped into my leaves, scattering them everywhere.
What was that for? Annoyed, I looked up at the culprit, only to see Yan He’s smirking face.
After the embarrassment he caused me a few days ago, I was really fed up with him. I asked impatiently, “What do you want?”
“Tch.” Yan He looked me up and down, smirked, and turned to the group of athletes with him, all wearing spiked running shoes.
“Look at him,” Yan He drawled, casting me a sidelong glance full of malice, “doesn’t he look like a sissy—”
The athletes with him laughed. I tightened my grip on the broom, my knuckles turning white with anger.
But one must be magnanimous. You can’t bite back when a dog bites you. So I lowered my head, intending to move to the other side with my broom.
Yan He, however, seemed determined to give me trouble today. I took a step left, he blocked me on the left. I moved right, he blocked me on the right. Finally, fed up, I turned to find Wen Chen, but Yan He grabbed my arm.
He yanked me off balance. Worried he might hit me, I was considering calling Wen Chen over when he suddenly rubbed his thumb hard across my lips, then examined his fingertip and asked, “Why are your lips shiny? What did you put on them?”
The weather had been dry lately, and my lips were chapped, so I used some lip balm my dad gave me. How did Yan He notice that?
But what’s wrong with a guy using lip balm? My dad didn’t say anything about it.
And did he even wash his hands before touching my mouth? If the situation were different, I’d have spat twice.
Yan He kept asking if I was wearing women’s lip balm. He was taller than me, and the way he held my arm and questioned me felt like bullying.
Wen Chen, who was half a playground away, saw this and shouted something before running over, leaving the two senior girls behind.
He came over and pushed Yan He’s hand off my arm, shielding me like a mother hen protecting her chick. “What the hell are you doing!”
Wen Chen’s dramatic sprint across the playground drew a crowd. Humans are naturally curious, and soon we were surrounded.
“……”
I glanced at Yan He. He probably hadn’t expected to draw so much attention, and his face looked a bit grim.
Wen Chen turned to me, asking if I was okay. “They didn’t bully you, did they?”
Not far away, the head of the Senior Year group was hurrying over. Senior Year students were notoriously difficult to manage, and the poor head, in his prime, was already balding, his Mediterranean scalp shining with a benevolent glow.
I signaled to Wen Chen with my eyes, putting on a frightened and helpless expression, clutching my broom tightly. I first glanced at Yan He, then quickly lowered my head and whispered, “No, no, the seniors didn’t bully me.”
Wen Chen was momentarily stunned, then quickly caught on, raising his voice as if very angry. “What are you afraid of? The teacher’s here too. If they bullied you, just say it. I heard Mr. Liu from Senior Year is very fair and won’t let us underclassmen be bullied.”
The young and balding Mr. Liu had arrived. After hearing Wen Chen’s words, he paused, adjusted his belt, and pushed through the crowd with his hands behind his back, giving me a sidelong glance. “What’s going on here, young man?”
“Nothing, sir, nothing at all.”
Yan He stepped forward, pulling me over and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “This is my little brother. I was just talking to him, but his classmate misunderstood.”
“Hmm…” I lowered my eyes to the ground, pitifully picking at the broom with my fingers.
Anyone with eyes could see I was being coerced, especially someone like Mr. Liu, who dealt with troublemakers all day.
“Young man,” Mr. Liu said kindly, looking at me, “don’t be afraid. You can tell the teacher if anything’s wrong.”
Yan He’s grip on my shoulder was so tight it felt like he wanted to crush my bones. I was laughing inside, but outwardly I looked troubled, biting my lip and gazing at Mr. Liu with a stubborn, innocent look.
Wen Chen added fuel to the fire. “Mr. Liu, you might not know, but this is our class president, top five in our grade. With the sports festival coming up, he wanted to help me clean the playground, but he got bullied instead. Our class president is sweet and timid; a single shout makes him upset for ages…”
“Is that so?” Mr. Liu frowned, first reassuring me. “Don’t worry, young man. The teacher won’t let them bully you.”
Then he turned to Yan He, his voice full of authority. “Yan He, right? You’re always causing trouble. You and your friends, come to my office!”
After leaving the Senior Year office, Wen Chen and I exchanged glances and couldn’t help but laugh.
Wen Chen slung an arm over my shoulder and whistled. “Didn’t expect it, Cheng Yueguang, you’re quite the rascal.”
“How am I a rascal?” I smiled, my eyes curving. “I just told the truth.”
In the office, I had slightly altered the story between Yan He and me, embellishing it a bit, and subtly hinted to Mr. Liu that if Yan He continued to harass me, my grades might suffer.
Mr. Liu was shocked and scolded Yan He in front of me, then asked if I wanted to visit the school’s counseling room.
“Thank you, sir,” I said, channeling the gratitude I’d learned from Tang Shi, looking at Mr. Liu with appreciation. “You’re very kind.”
Yan He looked like he’d swallowed a swarm of flies, staring at me with a complex expression. I took advantage of Mr. Liu’s distraction to give Yan He an innocent smile.
Mr. Liu then asked Yan He why he was bullying me, but I spoke up first. “I don’t know, sir… He always calls me a sissy. Maybe it’s something about me…”
As I spoke, I pretended to be on the verge of tears. Wen Chen quickly played along, comforting me, while Mr. Liu, furious, scolded Yan He and his group, saying he’d meet their parents tomorrow.
After reprimanding Yan He, Mr. Liu turned his attention to me, looking me up and down before sighing. “But young man, boys your age should exercise more. Boys should be energetic and lively.”
“Sir,” I looked at him timidly, “do you think I’m effeminate too?”
Mr. Liu let out a dry laugh. “…No, no, of course not. It’s getting late. You should head back to class. Once the school decides on the matter, I’ll have your teacher inform you.”
“Do you think I’m effeminate too—” Back in the classroom, Wen Chen mimicked my gesture, raising his hand in a delicate manner, and the boys around burst into laughter.
I was mortified, burying my face in my arms, my ears burning red.
“Cheng Yueguang,” Yuan Ziyi leaned on her desk, turning her head toward me with concern. “Did they really bully you?”
“It’s nothing,” I turned my head too, winking at her. “If something really happened, would Wen Chen be laughing like that?”
The school wasn’t that big, and Wen Chen and I were somewhat well-known in our grade. By the end of the afternoon, the story of me being bullied by Yan He had spread throughout the school.
Rumors are like that, growing more exaggerated as they’re passed on. With my carefully maintained image of a sweet, handsome boy, Wen Chen said my looks easily evoked paternal instincts. So, for a while, everyone believed I’d been bullied by Yan He for a long time.
No one laughed at me for being bullied. Many girls felt sorry for me and came to our class to check on me. Even Chen Guoguo, unaware of the truth, had an argument with Yan He.
Tang Shi was out of town for a speech competition. He’d passed the preliminaries and was preparing for the next round, so he wouldn’t be back for a couple of days.
Somehow, this incident reached his ears, and that evening he called me, asking, “Did Yan He hit you?”
I was eating bird’s nest soup, fresh from the pot and still hot. Holding the spoon, I blew on it, not really paying attention to Tang Shi’s words, and casually replied with a “yeah.”
Tang Shi fell silent. I took a sip of the soup and asked when he’d be back.
“I’ll return after the competition. I should make it back in time for the sports festival,” Tang Shi said. “I’ve never seen a pig run before, so I have to come back and watch.”
!!!
Even though I knew he was just a sharp-tongued and annoying person, I couldn’t help but shout at him, “You’re the pig! You’re driving me crazy! I’m eating, hanging up now.”
After hanging up, Tang Shi called again. I wanted to answer, but my mom pinched me, telling me not to talk on the phone while eating. Since she said so, I had to hang up in front of her.
Much later, when chatting with Qi Le, I learned that Tang Shi deliberately forgot his lines during the speech competition semifinals to come back and watch me run, getting eliminated in the second round.
But back then, I was too dense to realize that someone as smart as Tang Shi couldn’t possibly forget his lines. I even teased him about it for a long time.
After dinner, I lied to my mom, saying I was going upstairs to study, but as soon as I entered my room, I called Tang Shi.
It wasn’t that I felt guilty for hanging up on him, but something kept nagging at me.
Boys are usually careless. How would a typical guy notice if someone else was wearing lip balm? I couldn’t remember when Yan He started calling me effeminate, but I was sure it had something to do with Tang Shi.
Tang Shi answered quickly, sounding a bit annoyed. “You’ve got some nerve, hanging up on me.”
“Don’t start with me,” I was also a bit angry, demanding, “Tang Shi, did you show my photos to someone?”
“What photos?” Tang Shi sounded confused. “What photos of you did I show anyone?”
Did he forget? I reminded him, “The ones you took at your house that day, when I was wearing lipstick. Did you show them to someone?”
“…Ah.” Tang Shi paused, probably thinking about how to explain.
“That day, we went out, and they borrowed my phone to take pictures. They might have seen them…”
No wonder Yan He started calling me effeminate out of nowhere. The culprit was right here! How could Tang Shi let people see those photos!
I was both angry and aggrieved. Tang Shi tried to say something, but I didn’t want to hear his explanation. In a fit of anger, I hung up on him again.