"The jig is up for you guys, get out here!"
Zhang Shutong understood at once. The news about catching the poachers must have reached the school. If this had been in the city, there would have been a two or three-day lag.
But on an island this small, with only one junior high school, the police had naturally called first thing this morning after what happened last night.
Judging by Old Song's thrilled expression, they were definitely in for some praise.
But it was clearly a good thing. Why did he have to make it sound like they were criminals who'd been caught?
Regardless of what Zhang Shutong was thinking, the classroom fell silent, and most of the students' eyes were focused on Lu Qinglian.
—Zhang Shutong and his buddies were always together, so it was no surprise if they got into something. But what was Lu Qinglian's involvement?
This thought occurred to many of them.
Was Lu Qinglian particularly close with any of them?
Quite a few people in class knew Du Kang had a crush on her. After a moment of thought, only one stunning possibility came to mind.
Could the kid have finally succeeded?
With this thought, everyone's eyes shifted to Du Kang. He had just set down his bag but was now jogging smugly out of the classroom. The glares from many of the other boys turned hostile.
In any case, amidst the curious stares and whispers of those around them, the group walked out of the classroom and followed their homeroom teacher to the office.
Old Song, ever the dramatist, decided to be theatrical. He leaned back in his office chair as if he were interrogating a suspect and said in a slow, deliberate tone.
"Do you know why I've called you all here?"
Du Kang was the first to pout.
"Old Song, why are you acting like Qingyi? Just spit it out."
"'Old Song'? Show some respect." Song Nanshan's eyebrows knitted together.
"Let me ask you this, then. Did you or did you not do yesterday's homework?"
"Er..."
"One week of cleaning duty," the homeroom teacher said with a terrifying smile.
"No way!"
Du Kang is still too naive, Zhang Shutong thought. You can't challenge Song Nanshan head-on.
He took the initiative and picked up the teacher's teacup to refill it at the water cooler, playing the part of the perfect, well-behaved student.
Old Song said to Du Kang, "See? Shutong knows how to respect his teachers. You should learn a thing or two from him, kid."
He chuckled and turned his head, only to see Zhang Shutong's hand on the hot water dispenser. His face fell.
"What do you think you're doing now, kid?"
Zhang Shutong stopped, a little disappointed.
"Alright, that's enough. I get it now, you're all just a bunch of ruthless little devils. Give the cup to Ruoping, have her get it for me..."
With that, Song Nanshan was no longer in the mood to joke around with them. He said irritably.
"I'm just here to tell you that there will be no morning exercises today. The principal wants you all to go up to the flagpole stage and take turns saying a few words. Go on back and prepare.”
"We're not getting a cash reward?" Du Kang asked, stunned.
"In your dreams. A cash reward? The most you'll get is a commendation banner," Song Nanshan scolded with a laugh.
"Now, all of you take this seriously and think about what to write. It doesn't need to be long, but the principal is paying close attention. Especially you boys, don't you dare screw this... Feng Ruoping!"
Old Song roared again, his eyes wide. "What, are you trying to boil me alive, too? Think I didn't see that?"
Ruoping stuck out her tongue sheepishly. She was just about to pass the cup to Qingyi, but Old Song wasn't having it. He glared.
"What is this, a relay? Let Qinglian get it for me!"
Lu Qinglian just nodded at his words and calmly took the cup.
Seeing this, Old Song was greatly relieved. At least there's one good kid left.
He shot a look at the four ungrateful whelps and said sternly.
"Praise is one thing, but from now on, stay away from dangerous situations like that. And this time, you even dragged Qinglian into it. I haven't asked for the specifics, but what would happen if you kids got hurt? Think about your parents' lives. Stop trying to be heroes all the time, you hear me?"
They all nodded. Only then did Old Song pull open his drawer. For a rough-and-tough man, he was being awfully motherly, though his tone was still unforgiving.
"I can tell you're not listening at all. Sigh, never mind. Come here. You did well this time. Same as always, one for each of you..."
Song Nanshan's drawer was always stocked with lollipops he'd bought to help him quit smoking. In practice, however, few of them ever made it into his mouth; they all went to his students. He'd give one out for praise, one during a serious talk, and one to comfort a student he'd just chewed out...
In short, everyone happily received a lollipop, even Lu Qinglian.
Song Nanshan waved them off, herding the kids back to their classroom like a brood of chicks. Watching their retreating backs as they laughed and joked, he felt both nostalgic and proud.
In the end, the man just smiled and shook his head, sighing to himself that he really was getting old. He habitually pounded his lower back, straightened his slightly stooped shoulders under his white shirt, and picked up the freshly filled cup.
He took a sip, then spat it out on the floor with a pfft, his eyes wide.
"Wait, how is it still scalding hot?"
……
The moment they left the office, Ruoping sidled up to Lu Qinglian to talk.
Hindsight is 20/20. If he'd known their teacher was going to call them out anyway, he wouldn't have gone to all that trouble earlier and gotten on Gu Qiumian's bad side for no reason.
But regardless of whether he had called Lu Qinglian over or not, remembering her behavior during the morning reading, Zhang Shutong could only offer a moment of silent mourning for Ruoping.
She was probably in for a cold shoulder.
But who knew? The two of them were actually getting along. As they chatted, Lu Qinglian, with Ruoping's help, unwrapped her lollipop and popped it in her mouth. One of her cheeks bulged out, and she seemed to be in a decent mood, her almond eyes crinkling at the corners.
At first, he thought it was just because Ruoping was so sociable, but then Du Kang and Qingyi went over and spoke to her as well. She would nod or shake her head at their words, or reply in her usual indifferent tone.
While she still didn't show much expression, she was at least a little more animated than she had been during the morning reading.
Sucking on his own lollipop, he wondered, Then why is it only with me that she frowns and looks so intimidating?
Then he heard Ruoping ask.
"I was originally going to have Shutong call you over, but I don't know if he ever did..."
"Oh, he did. As long as he did. Wait, how did you say he called for you..."
"What?"
Ruoping suddenly turned her head and glared at Zhang Shutong.
"Pah, pervert!"
Zhang Shutong walked back into the classroom, completely baffled. Gu Qiumian had also returned, and not just by herself; she was surrounded by three other girls, all chatting enthusiastically.
That wasn't entirely accurate. It was more that Gu Qiumian was sitting at her desk, and the three girls were gathered around her, chattering away.
As he got closer, he saw that she was on her phone. He recognized it as the latest iPhone, the one that was being scalped for exorbitant prices.
She stared at her screen, every now and then pulling out some snacks from her bag. The dazzlingly colorful wrappers were all covered in foreign languages he couldn't read. You certainly wouldn't find any low-brow items like Wang Wang Breakfast Sausages in that pile; he wondered if even Oreos were qualified to be there.
She placed the snacks on his desk, letting the girls divvy them up as they pleased. They would munch away, trying their best to liven up the mood with all sorts of interesting gossip, all for the sake of making the Young Lady smile.
Gu Qiumian, however, would just nod absently, a corner of her mouth occasionally twitching upward. When the snacks ran out, she'd just pull another pile from her bag.
One of the girls, seeing that Gu Qiumian wasn't interested, tactfully changed the subject and started complimenting her new phone.
The moment she brought it up, another girl immediately chimed in, "Wow, wasn't that just released in America in September? I don't think it's available here yet. I read online that the only way to get one now is from Hong Kong, and they're crazy expensive and almost impossible to find."
Another said, "Forget the new model, I've only ever seen the old one online. I've never seen anyone actually use one. It would be nice if I could afford one someday."
And there was one cutesy girl who pouted and said, "Qiumian, Qiumian, let me see, please..."
In reality, the girls didn't have a good eye for luxury goods. He had noticed yesterday that the most expensive item she was wearing was probably her ladies' wristwatch. It could have been tens of thousands of yuan, or even over a hundred thousand. He hadn't checked the exact price, but the phone was likely worth less than her wool coat.
At their words, Gu Qiumian put down the phone. She gave the Apple logo on the back a strange look, then handed it over, saying casually, "If you want to look, go ahead. I'm not that interested in these gadgets. An uncle gave it to me, so I just started using it."
This sent another wave of envy through the girls.
But he didn't think she was lying or trying to show off. Hadn't they noticed she typed with the one-finger method? Just a single, pale finger, poking away at the screen, slow as molasses...
As he approached his desk, they had already moved on to the next topic.
"So are we inviting Zhao Yang today…”
"We're not inviting him."
Gu Qiumian didn't even look up.
"He actually asked me to apologize for him. He's just a bit dense and misspoke; he shouldn't have been telling people he likes you. Qiumian, listen..."
Gu Qiumian looked up at the girl, who immediately bit her lip and fell silent.
The other two girls glanced at each other, quietly set down their snacks, and also fell silent. It seemed no one dared to make a sound until Gu Qiumian had made her stance clear.
The formerly boisterous clique fell into a deadlock. Gu Qiumian was, of course, the center of their circle. Just as the conversation stalled, Zhang Shutong was walking back to his desk.
He never could have predicted it, but the girl who'd been biting her lip suddenly exclaimed, "Wow!" Her eyes flew to Zhang Shutong, sparkling like tiny stars.
"Hey handsome, hey handsome! Qiumian, is this your deskmate? Since when?"
The two girls behind her also joined in the teasing, immediately changing the subject.
"You look pretty familiar. What should we call you, senior?"
"Isn't he way better than your old deskmate, Qiumian..."
With that, they moved aside, looking like they were about to ask for an autograph at any second, their attitude incredibly enthusiastic.
He could see, however, that the truly sharp one was the girl who'd been biting her lip. While she was talking about him, she was simultaneously gauging Gu Qiumian's reaction. The other two were a step behind, their attention actually having been successfully redirected.
Gu Qiumian also gave him a detached glance.
"Don't know him."
She spat out the two words cleanly and placed her phone face-down on the desk. The three girls stopped mid-sentence, and the atmosphere grew awkward. They looked at each other, but no one spoke, until Gu Qiumian gave a bored wave of her hand.
"You guys go on ahead. We'll talk about lunch later."
As if granted a royal pardon, the three girls quickly said their goodbyes and trotted out of the classroom.
Back in his seat, if you were to ask him his thoughts, he'd say he had just seen a true glimpse of Gu Qiumian, the "Young Lady." Before, he could only sense her special status by looking at the block castle on the bookcase. Now, it was much clearer.
He still had two things to worry about. The first, finding Zhou Ziheng, was easy. The urgent priority, however, was writing a speech, which was a real headache for him. He had never been good at public speaking.
He was just wondering how to "draft a document"—God knows where that phrasing came from—when the Chinese teacher came in, clapped her hands, and announced a pop quiz, shamelessly merging the morning reading session into the first period.
By the time class was over, he had finally managed to compose a mental draft, but then the bell for the second period rang.
Next was the long break after the second morning period.
There were generally two long breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning one was usually for group exercises downstairs. His main memory of these was the "Rainbow Sunshine" routine, though that wasn't what they did anymore. For the students, it was a chance to go outside and let off some steam.
The afternoon break was for running laps around the sports field, which was a real chore. Luckily, the field had been frozen over for the past few days, so it had been changed to a free period.
Now, even the morning calisthenics had been replaced by listening to their speeches. The school had already announced it over the intercom. Zhang Shutong assumed the other students would be annoyed, but looking around, everyone seemed eager, as if any excuse to get outside was a good one.
As a result, he didn't find an opportunity to question Zhou Ziheng before the assembly. He found it odd how busy he had become; he remembered his previous life as being far more relaxed... He decided to just get the speech over with and deal with everything else afterward.
The class was getting rowdy. This time, Zhang Shutong didn't wait for Gu Qiumian to tap on the stool; he just left early.
Du Kang was still showing off to his classmates when Old Song grabbed him by the collar and hauled him away, signaling for the others to follow.
The group quickly made their way downstairs to the flagpole stage, where Song Nanshan forced them into a rehearsal. As expected, they were quite a handful.
"Du Kang, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? The man was scared off by a single frog from you? Really?"
"Ruoping, yours is too long. Don't start with how you all began playing mobile games..."
"Qingyi, tone down the cringe-worthy lines. This is a reflection on a heroic act, not a discussion of a man's mission..."
"As for you, Shutong... never mind, you're fine as you are. Just try to smile more."
"And lastly, Qinglian. I know I said one sentence was fine, but you can't actually say just one sentence. What is this, 'I am very happy that I subdued a thug last night'?"
After a flurry of activity, a weary Old Song looked up at the sky.
Then they arranged the speaking order.
They unanimously pushed Du Kang to go first, to liven up the atmosphere.
Next were Ruoping and Qingyi.
Zhang Shutong wanted to go last. By that point, the audience would hopefully be tired of listening, and he could get away with a few quick words. But one of the girls was being completely dense; his three friends were already in line, but Lu Qinglian hadn't budged.
He had deliberately left a space behind Qingyi, but the girl simply went and stood behind him instead. He looked back at her for a moment, and she calmly met his gaze.
Should I go line up behind her now? He could only sigh.
Soon, the students were lined up in front of the stage. The morning sun pierced through the clouds, stinging the eyes. Melted snow trickled down the flagpole; if you looked up to find its source, the pale, bright sky would blind you... It was a very clean, crisp scene.
Next came a speech from a school administrator. Du Kang, who was long past impatient, was staring at the man's trousers with a twisted expression, looking as if he wanted to yank them down.
Finally, it was their turn. Du Kang dashed up to the stage; down below, Ruoping took a deep breath... everyone reacted differently. As for Zhang Shutong, his mind was wandering.
Why was the applause from below the stage so rhythmic?
First, it was most enthusiastic when sending off the administrator.
When Du Kang went up, it died down considerably.
When Ruoping took the stage, it picked up again.
The girl ran down, blushing, and when Qingyi went up with his deadpan face, the applause was even louder than before.
Next, it was Zhang Shutong's turn.
He was confused as to why the applause suddenly thundered, even louder than it had been for the school leader. Weren't people supposed to be getting bored of this by now?
He walked up the steps to the stage. He could even see people in the crowd waving at him. Looking closer, he realized it was the same group of girls who had been with Gu Qiumian that morning. They were bouncing on their toes, their faces alight with excitement, whispering to their neighbors like a personal cheering section.
By the time he got to the microphone, the applause hadn't died down. From what he could see, the boys had already stopped, and it was only the girls who were still screaming and shouting. He glanced at a few of them but didn't recognize anyone.
Wait, it couldn't be...
Zhang Shutong's eyelid twitched as an absurd guess surfaced in his mind.
But their continued cheering was actually convenient; he could use the noise to get through his speech. He cleared his throat, and the microphone screeched with feedback. Bizarrely, the applause suddenly stopped, and all eyes turned toward him, full of curiosity.
His gaze swept across the faces of his classmates and the underclassmen, and he had no idea what all the excitement was about. But he didn't have stage fright; just because he disliked this kind of setting didn't mean he couldn't handle it. He stood calmly at the podium and looked down.
He didn't need to look at a script. It was only a few sentences, and a single glance was enough to memorize them. He began in a suitably level tone, and as he spoke, he spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.
Gu Qiumian was just too conspicuous. She wore her school uniform jacket on top, but paired it with that light-brown skirt, which made her stand out from the other students.
The girl stood with her hands behind her back, looking quite proud, but every so often she would stomp her feet in place, ruining the effect. Clearly, when faced with a choice between staying warm and looking good, the Young Lady had chosen the latter.
She still had on that red scarf. She usually took it off for the morning exercises, but since today's activity was just standing in the cold wind and clapping, she had put it back on.
Their eyes met for a moment before she looked away, her thoughts unreadable. By then, he had finished speaking. He bowed to a fresh wave of applause, walked off the stage, and passed by Lu Qinglian.
And then—
The crowd went wild.
Besides clapping, the boys below started hooting and hollering, and some even started jumping.
If Old Song hadn't been staring him down, Du Kang would have joined in. The PE teacher had to shout into the microphone to restore order, but by the time he finished, Lu Qinglian had already drifted off the stage like a breeze, leaving without so much as a bow.
This prompted another round of wailing, though this time it was out of regret, not excitement.
It would be best not to participate in this kind of event again.
This was Zhang Shutong's only thought on the matter.
To the sound of some perfunctory music from the loudspeakers, the PE teacher directed the students to leave in an orderly fashion—though in reality, it was turning into a chaotic mess.
The group also hurried back to their classroom.
Du Kang was muttering about which girl had given him an extra look.
Qingyi sighed, looking down at his speech. He had wanted to improvise a line to electrify the audience but had been shut down by a glare from Old Song.
Ruoping was debating with him whose entrance had garnered wilder applause, his or Lu Qinglian's. Their conclusion: given the school's 6:4 boy-to-girl ratio, the shrine maiden had edged him out by a narrow margin.
But he had no interest in discussing it, which would inevitably lead to her giving him a sidelong look and saying, "What's the matter? Eager to get back to your deskmate?”
Zhang Shutong could only endure it.
Just then, Qingyi came over to continue his discussion on the mission of men. Zhang Shutong rolled his eyes and said that whatever it was, it certainly wasn't "endurance."
They all crowded up the staircase. The students in the lead filed into the classroom, but then, for some reason, one of them cried out and stopped short.
The flow of people stopped. There were complaints and curious questions... then, only a spreading sense of shock remained.
And the chaotic noise suddenly died down.
Zhang Shutong was listening to Ruoping and hadn't been paying attention, so he bumped into the person in front of him. Frowning, he squeezed his way forward and followed everyone's gaze—
The Lego castle that had been on the bookcase was smashed on the floor, its pieces scattered everywhere. Half-buried in the debris was a white piece of paper with two large words written on it in black marker.
GO DIE.