The women’s 800-meter race was scheduled for the afternoon. Yuan Ziyi, wearing a slightly ill-fitting sports outfit, was warming up on the track. I opened a can of Red Bull and offered her a sip.
She was the one competing, yet I was more nervous than she was. I told her not to stress too much, just to do her best.
The playground was buzzing with excitement. The student in charge of the announcements began calling out, “Athletes for the women’s 800-meter race, please take your positions—”
“Bang!”
The starting gun fired, and the crowd by the stands erupted once more. Zhou Shun stood at our class’s spot, holding a small blackboard with the words “Go Yuan Ziyi” scrawled across it.
No matter how we usually got along, during the Sports Festival, we were a united group. Each class appeared most cohesive at times like these—
“Go Yuan Ziyi! Go!”
To accommodate the girls, the school had scheduled the women’s 800 meters at the end of the festival. The setting sun bathed the playground in a warm glow, making everything seem bright and beautiful.
Piles of leaves, gathered during a big cleanup, lined the sides of the track. The sunset painted them a fiery red.
I ran up to the announcer’s platform, grabbed a megaphone, and chased after Yuan Ziyi’s figure, shouting, “Go Yuan Ziyi! You’re the best!”
The student responsible for inventory chased after me, “Class 2’s leader! Put down the megaphone!”
Yuan Ziyi finished in second place. I ran over joyfully to high-five her, and Zhou Shun came over with two girls to support her.
He handed Yuan Ziyi a plastic cup with a screwed-on lid, saying, “There’s glucose water in here. Take a moment before drinking it.”
Yuan Ziyi thanked him, panting heavily, and wiped the sweat from her forehead, “What place did I get?”
“Second!” I circled around her excitedly, “Our class got second! You were amazing!”
Our class ended up with a good overall ranking. After the principal announced the results from the platform, Wen Chen picked me up and kissed me twice, “Did you hear? Our class got second!”
The class urged me to go up and receive the trophy and prize money. I blocked Wen Chen’s mouth with my hand, wiping my face, “I didn’t really help much. It was all Zhou Shun organizing. Let him go.”
“Why don’t both of you go,” Wen Chen gave me a push, “You and Zhou Shun should both go up. We need to make a statement!”
I didn’t want to. I insisted Zhou Shun go, and after a bit of back and forth, I pulled him up from his seat and pushed him onto the stage.
Music started playing on the playground. Regardless of whether they had won or not, everyone’s mood was light and joyful at that moment.
Zhou Shun came down with the prize money and handed it to me, saying it should be used as class funds.
Wen Chen, ever the generous one, slapped the envelope containing the prize money and said, “Forget the class funds. Let’s have a celebration dinner tonight. I’ll cover whatever’s missing.”
Our classmates started making a fuss again. I was helpless and could only let them have their way.
At the celebration dinner, I didn’t see Yuan Ziyi, so I pulled a classmate aside to ask. She said she saw Yuan Ziyi leave with a few girls after school.
“They looked like they were from the upper grades, but they weren’t wearing uniforms, so I didn’t pay much attention.”
Upper grades?
I frowned. The girl added, “Oh, maybe they’re just Yuan Ziyi’s friends.”
I still felt uneasy. Yuan Ziyi had promised to join us for the evening, but she was nowhere to be found. Wen Chen advised me not to wait any longer, suggesting she might have gone home.
“I’ll go home and give her a call.”
Since I didn’t want to stay out too long, I said goodbye to everyone and hurried home with my backpack.
My parents weren’t home, and the house was locked. Tang Shi was leaning against my front door, smoking. When he saw me running over, he tapped my head with the rolled-up paper in his hand, “You’re as dumb as a pig, and you run as slow as a turtle.”
He’s the pig… I frowned, opened the door, and let him in, “How long have you been waiting?”
“Not too long.”
Tang Shi followed me inside and handed me the paper, “Help me with this.”
Just back and already bullying me. I dared not speak up, pouting as I took the test paper, telling him I needed to make a call first.
I called Yuan Ziyi’s home, and her mother said she hadn’t returned yet.
She complained incessantly, “That child, who knows where she’s wandering off to, not even coming to the shop to help me so I can go home and cook. Her little brother is starving…”
I felt awkward and hung up after a quick goodbye.
Where could Yuan Ziyi be if she’s not going home… Tang Shi asked who I called, and I told him, then asked, “Can you come with me to check the school?”
There were many students staying late for self-study at school. I went around asking, but no one knew where Yuan Ziyi had gone.
“What should we do?” I looked at Tang Shi, hoping he’d come up with something.
Tang Shi rolled his eyes at me but didn’t scold me. He pulled out his phone and made a call. Whatever was said on the other end made his brow furrow.
After hanging up, he tossed out a “Follow me” and strode off downstairs.
Near the school, there’s a food street with many dark alleys. In those shadowy corners, people smoked, urinated, and even abused cats. It was also a hotspot for school bullying.
From a distance, I heard a girl’s voice yelling, “Shameless, have you no sense of decency?”
“Look at yourself in the mirror, disgusting, daring to compete with Guoguo for a boyfriend…”
Amidst the mocking laughter, there was the faint sound of a girl crying.
Tang Shi, with his long strides, quickly reached the scene. I heard their argument and ran over. At the end of the alley, Chen Guoguo and a few girls not in uniform looked at Tang Shi in alarm. Yuan Ziyi was leaning against a nearby wall, her clothes torn, hair disheveled, and her face smeared with lipstick.
My social circle was clean and simple. Though Tang Shi and Wen Chen could be fierce, they rarely fought in front of me. Even Yan He, who targeted me, never went too far.
School bullying was a distant concept to me. Seeing Yuan Ziyi in such a state left me stunned. It wasn’t until Tang Shi draped his jacket over her that I snapped out of it.
I pushed the girl closest to her, unable to control my emotions, and for the first time, I yelled at a girl, “Are you out of your mind?”
The girl stumbled from my push, glanced at Chen Guoguo, and hurriedly explained, “No, Guoguo is about to go out of town for a show… This girl was getting too close to you, and Guoguo was upset…”
“To hell with that,” Tang Shi shielded Yuan Ziyi behind him, glaring at the stunned Chen Guoguo with a fierce look, “Chen Guoguo, didn’t I tell you to stay away from my brother?”
Chen Guoguo shook her head, stepping back, “I just wanted to teach her a lesson, nothing more…”
Yuan Ziyi was still sobbing. She was a stubborn girl, and I’d never seen her cry before. She must have been deeply wronged today.
I went over and hugged her, slightly lifting my heels so she could bury her face in my shoulder.
I felt heartbroken, repeatedly telling her I was sorry.
“Cheng Yueguang…”
Chen Guoguo tried to explain further, but Tang Shi cut her off impatiently, “Get lost. Just because I don’t want to hit a girl doesn’t mean I won’t.”
“Don’t go!”
I stopped them, “Apologize!”
The girls not in uniform exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. Chen Guoguo looked at me in disbelief, tears welling up in her big, watery eyes.
Even in the dimly lit alley, she was beautiful, her delicate face looking pitiful with tears.
But Yuan Ziyi was pitiful too.
I couldn’t understand why someone would harbor such malice toward an unfamiliar girl. Aren’t girls supposed to be cherished, protected?
Yuan Ziyi, though often plain, was still a girl, deserving of care and attention.
I wiped the lipstick off Yuan Ziyi’s face with my sleeve, stubbornly insisting they apologize to her.
Chen Guoguo cried, saying I was siding with Yuan Ziyi.
It wasn’t about taking sides. I patiently explained that she had done something wrong, which was why she needed to apologize.
Chen Guoguo wouldn’t listen, continuing to cry. Yuan Ziyi sniffled, tugged at me, and with a nasal tone said, “Let it go, it’s fine.”
She wiped her tears, forcing a smile, pretending to be unfazed, “I’ll just consider it a dog bite.”
“No,” I said sternly, looking at Chen Guoguo, “Either apologize, or I’ll report this to the school tomorrow.”
Chen Guoguo ran off crying. The girls not in uniform, fearing the situation would escalate, stayed behind to apologize to Yuan Ziyi.
Yuan Ziyi accepted their apology with red eyes. Her magnanimity made one of the girls with a princess cut look awkward. She gruffly said, “Well, I didn’t mean it. I’m Du Qianqian from Senior Year Class 7. If you need anything, you can come to me.”
Yuan Ziyi said nothing, but Tang Shi suddenly spoke, “From Yan He’s class?”
Du Qianqian gave a dry laugh and nodded, “We’ll be going now. Sorry for today, really sorry.”
“Cheng Yueguang,” after the girls left, Yuan Ziyi rested her chin on my shoulder, murmuring, “I didn’t know you could get angry. It’s the first time I’ve seen it.”
Tang Shi glanced at her, smiling, “Who said he doesn’t get angry? Sometimes when he does, he bites. Where do you live? We’ll take you home.”
After that day, I never spoke to Chen Guoguo again. She tried to approach me a few times, but I couldn’t forgive her.
I can tolerate a girl with a bad temper, but I can’t accept someone who harbors malice toward an innocent girl.
My little crush, sweet and innocent, withered like the sycamore leaves by the school track, trembling and falling with the wind.
And just like that, my first love, which had never even begun, quietly slipped away.
Not long after that day, Tang Shi got into a fight with Yan He. They were evenly matched, and neither came out on top. It ended with the school calling in their parents.
Tang Shi was put on probation. Aunt Tang came to our house that night, leaning on my mom and crying for half the night.
Uncle Tang even came back from out of town to scold Tang Shi.
After the scolding, Tang Shi came to find me. I complained to him, telling him not to keep getting into fights.
I knelt by the bed, mimicking what I’d seen on TV, rolling an egg over his bruised face, whispering, “Aunt Tang was so upset she cried.”
Tang Shi looked at me expressionlessly, appearing fierce. I crawled further onto the bed, worried he might suddenly snap and drag me down for a beating.
But Tang Shi didn’t hit me. He said, “Who do you think I fought for?”
There was an inexplicable tone in his words. I didn’t think much of it and told him, “Alright, I know you were standing up for Yuan Ziyi.”
Du Qianqian was someone Yan He had found to help Chen Guoguo, and Tang Shi probably didn’t want to hit a girl, so he took it out on Yan He.
I hadn’t expected someone as fierce as Tang Shi to understand protecting girls, even getting scolded for it. I felt a bit sorry for him and leaned in to continue rolling the egg over his face.
Then, like when I was little and trying to please him, I gave him a sweet smile, “No matter what, thank you. I always knew Tang Shi was the best.”