Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The students of Class 2, Grade 11, had already learned during the summer vacation that a special student would be transferring to their class at the start of the new semester.
Their homeroom teacher, Liu Qinghua, didn’t specify Qi Ying’s situation, only telling the students in the class group that the new student’s father was a policeman who had sacrificed his life for the people, a glorious and noble figure. The new student was the daughter of a martyr, a descendant of a hero, and everyone must help and love each other.
These teenagers, whose biggest worries in daily life were usually grades and exams, plus the pain of unrequited love, had never encountered such adjectives as “martyr” or “hero.” After the initial shock, they flooded the screen with promises to cherish their new classmate!
The campus at the start of the new semester was filled with vibrant energy.
Although Qi Ying had prepared herself mentally for a long time, she still felt somewhat out of place seeing so many people around her.
From birth, she had experienced hardship and displacement, leaving behind only devastation and suffering wherever she went. Later, she lived in a general’s mansion, surrounded by only two or three maids; her memories were thus mostly lifeless, lonely, and desolate.
The only lively memory she could recall was the Lantern Festival that year. The general had just returned to the capital, changed into civilian clothes, and led her to the street. He held her hand amidst the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd and bought her a string of candied hawthorns.
The candy was so sweet and sticky it practically glued her teeth together. The general then asked her, “Is it good?”
Unable to open her mouth, she felt secretly embarrassed and annoyed, and could only nod, hesitatingly extending the candied hawthorn in her hand. The general simply smiled and shook his head, “I bought it for you.”
A sudden bump against her shoulder caused Qi Ying to stumble, interrupting her reverie.
A group of boys dashed down the corridor like a gust of wind, cursing and chasing each other. Yu Zhuo however caught Qi Ying and yelled at the boys who had already run far away without even an apology, “Are you blind?”
Unexpectedly, the last boy heard him, slammed on the brakes, and turned around abruptly, seemingly wanting to come over and talk to Yu Zhuo. He had only taken two steps back when he heard his brother shout, “Qu Dazhuang, what are you dawdling for? We’re waiting for you!”
The boy called Qu Dazhuang gave Yu Zhuo the middle finger and ran off.
Yu Zhuo, not to be outdone, returned the middle finger.
The bespectacled boy leaning against the balcony kindly advised, “Classmate, I advise you not to mess with those people.”
Yu Zhuo, a troublemaker since junior high, was never afraid of getting into trouble. Hearing the warning, he just sneered, “Why can’t I mess with them?”
The bespectacled boy covered one corner of his mouth and said, “They’re all followers of Ji Rang.”
Yu Zhuo, fearless as a newborn calf, retorted, “Ji Rang? Which bast**d is he? Never heard of him.”
The noisy surroundings fell silent for two seconds.
The bespectacled boy seemed surprised by his outrageous words, staring blankly for a moment before giving him a “good luck” look and quickly running away.
Yu Zhuo, still unaware of the trouble he had caused, patted the clothes of the awkwardly standing Qi Ying, then took her wrist and led her to the homeroom teacher’s office.
Liu Qinghua was organizing the class roster and happened to turn to Qi Ying’s page. The girl in the photo had her hair in a ponytail, revealing a smooth, full forehead, and a slight smile on her lips, looking both well-behaved and quiet.
Hearing the call to report, she looked up and saw a girl even prettier than in the photo standing timidly at the door.
Yu Zhuo handed Qi Ying over to Liu Qinghua and returned to his classroom.
Liu Qinghua tried to communicate with Qi Ying in his office, using a combination of words and gestures. Qi Ying’s hands trembled slightly behind her back as she tried to understand what the stranger was trying to convey.
A teacher from the next class said, “Teacher Liu, is this your special needs student? She can’t hear or speak, and she won’t understand your gestures.”
Finally, Liu Qinghua gave up and wrote in his notebook for her: “My surname is Liu, I’m your homeroom teacher. I’ll take you to the classroom now. The new classmates are all friendly, don’t worry.”
Qi Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief and obediently nodded.
Class 2 of the second year of high school was at the end of the corridor. The bell for the first class of the new semester had already rung. Liu Qinghua pushed open the door, and the noisy class instantly quieted down. Dozens of eyes turned to the slender figure beside her.
Qi Ying instinctively hid behind Liu Qinghua.
Liu Qinghua noticed her fear, so he gently patted her hand, and led her to the podium. “This is Qi Ying, the student I mentioned to you. From now on, she’ll be part of our Class Two. Qi Ying has a special situation, so everyone should help her and be her friend. Come on, let’s give her a round of applause!”
A burst of applause erupted in the class.
Qi Ying looked at the synchronized clapping. Although she couldn’t hear it, she knew it was a welcome gesture, and a smile appeared on her pale face from nervousness.
The students in Class Two clapped even more enthusiastically.
Qi Ying’s new deskmate was a girl with baby fat and dimples named Yue Li. She stared at Qi Ying with her round eyes, and as soon as Qi Ying sat down, she immediately extended her hand in a friendly gesture.
Qi Ying shook her hand, and while Liu Qinghua was talking about the start of the school year, Yue Li excitedly pulled out a pre-written personal introduction and showed it to Qi Ying.
If the introduction were a little more polished, and with her work experience added, it could practically be used as a resume.
Qi Ying even knew how many people there were in Yue Li’s family, how many dogs they had, and whether they preferred sweet or savory zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
Her classmates around her followed suit, and Qi Ying spent most of the following class meeting looking at resumes.
After class, a female classmate asked Qi Ying to go to the restroom together.
In school, going to the restroom together was a sign of the beginning of friendship.
Although Qi Ying didn’t need to relieve herself, her classmates were all smiles and very friendly, so she couldn’t refuse their kindness and had to go.
The girls from Class Two surrounded her like a fragile object.
They rushed in and out, chatting with students from the next class along the way.
“Is that your class’s special needs student?”
“Is your class beauty going to be replaced?”
“Is she really unable to hear anything?”
….
By the end of the morning, the news had spread throughout the second-year high school class that a very beautiful deaf-mute girl had transferred to Class Two, and that her father was a policeman who had sacrificed his life for the people.
Although the boys in Class 9, who were at the bottom of the class, had just gotten into a fight with some troublemakers from another school, and two of them even had injuries on their faces, it didn’t stop them from gossiping.
Wave after wave of students went to Class 2 to investigate, and soon Qu Dazhuang returned cursing, “Damn, didn’t see a thing. Those bookworms in Class 2 blocked the windows with books, is it really necessary?”
Qu Dazhuang[1]‘s real name was Qu Peng; he was a muscular athlete, hence the nickname.
“Why not?” Liu Haiyang kicked him. “That is the child of a martyr! Do you think you can just look at her like that?”
Qu Dazhuang retorted, “It’s not like she’ll lose a piece of flesh just by looking.”
A commotion erupted from outside the corridor. “I have photos of the special student! Anyone want to see them?”
The classroom erupted in a cacophony of shouts: “I want to see them! Let me see them!”
In the last row, by the window, a boy who lay slumped over his desk, though seemingly disturbed by the noise, didn’t even lift his head, but kicked forward with a sudden thud, sending the chairs in front of him crashing to the floor twice. The classroom suddenly fell silent.
Qu Dazhuang gestured for Liu Haiyang to be quiet.
Even the group of boys who followed him fell silent, let alone the other students, who dared not utter a sound.
After a long pause, a cold voice rang out: “Is it glorious?”
Qu Dazhuang looked bewildered: “What? What did you say, Brother?”
The boy slumped over his desk finally looked up, his dark eyes, hidden beneath messy, torn hair, sharp as knives, piercing through people like a blade. A roguish smile played on his lips. “I said, is sacrificing for the people glorious?”
Having followed Ji Rang around for so long, it would be a waste not to have noticed his current volatile temper.
No one dared to reply.
Ji Rang chuckled silently and slumped back onto his desk.
Even until school ended, the usually noisy back row of the classroom was eerily quiet; even the teacher was surprised by how well-behaved these troublemakers were today.
The school bell had just rung when Luo Bing from Class 8 burst in: “Brother Rang! That kid surnamed Li just told me that a freshman called you a bast**d!”
Ji Rang was still slumped over, not reacting, but the others around him couldn’t sit still any longer.
“What the hell? Which idiot is so arrogant?”
“Damn it, beat him up!”
“If you don’t discipline him, he’ll be tearing the roof off; this year’s freshmen are really outrageous.”
Ji Rang lazily stood up, draped his school uniform over his shoulder, and said, “Take him to Xita Alley.”
Luo Bing obeyed and dashed off.
….
On the first day of school, there weren’t many classes; most of the time was spent collecting homework, distributing new books, and rearranging seats. They only had one Chinese and one math class near the end of the afternoon.
Qi Ying, who couldn’t read before, only learned to write her own name after entering the General’s Mansion. Now possessing the memories of this body, she suddenly became incredibly knowledgeable, feeling utterly flattered.
The original owner of this body had excellent grades, previously ranking in the top ten of her grade. So Qi Ying, looking at the formulas and diagrams in her math textbook, miraculously understood their meaning.
Although she couldn’t hear the teacher’s lectures, she still diligently copied the notes from the blackboard.
She knew that people in any era admired knowledgeable individuals, and now that she finally had the opportunity to go to school and enjoy equality and freedom like boys, she cherished it all the more.
Yue Li, whose notebook was filled with dense notes, felt utterly outclassed when she saw Qi Ying’s.
Feeling ashamed, she passed Qi Ying a note: “Ying Ying, your notes are so organized! Can I borrow them to copy?”
Qi Ying felt she had probably inherited even the body’s learning talent, and generously lent her her notes.
After school, Yu Zhuo came to pick her up.
Qi Ying waved and greeted each of her classmates before finally stepping out of the classroom with her backpack.
Just as Yu Zhuo reached the school gate, his buddy Yang Xinyuan rushed up to him, panting, and said, “I just heard Ji Rang brought some guys to ambush you, you’d better get out of here!”
Yu Zhuo: “Which Ji Rang?”
Yang Xinyuan: “The one you called a bast**d! The school bully from Haicheng No. 1 High School!”
Yu Zhuo’s face changed. It wasn’t that he was afraid of this legendary school bully, but Qi Ying was with him now, and if even a single hair on her head was missing, he was afraid his father would skin him alive.
Not far away, Luo Bing had already led her group over menacingly.
Yu Zhuo pushed Qi Ying next to Yang Xinyuan: “You take my sister to Qilixiang[2] Milk Tea Shop first, I’ll come find you in a bit.”
The owner of Qilixiang Milk Tea Shop was a Jay Chou fan, and no matter when you went to the shop, you could always hear Jay Chou’s songs.
Yang Xinyuan bought Qi Ying a cup of milk tea and waited anxiously.
Even after Qi Ying finished the entire cup of milk tea, without leaving a single pearl, Yu Zhuo still hadn’t returned.
He remembered how Ji Rang had beaten an older student to the point of hospitalization last semester, and he couldn’t sit still any longer. He typed to Qi Ying to stay put and not wander off, then ran out to find Yu Zhuo.
Although Qi Ying didn’t know what had happened, she could tell from his demeanor that something was wrong. Thinking about Yu Zhuo’s reaction earlier, she realized he must have run into some trouble, and she couldn’t help but worry.
After a moment’s thought, she got up to go find him too.
….
Xita Lane was right at the back gate of the school.
Yu Zhuo faced a group of people alone, completely unfazed. He had been a bully in junior high and had practiced Taekwondo since childhood, having been in at least eighty or a hundred fights. So he didn’t take this school bully seriously at all.
Standing there nonchalantly, he asked in an incredibly irritating way, “All at once or one by one?”
The crowd erupted in anger!
Qu Dazhuang rolled up his sleeves and cursed, “Don’t you fu**ing get cocky, you’ll be crying for your parents soon enough!”
A group of people were about to rush forward to beat him up when a cold voice came from the air: “Get out of the way.”
Yu Zhuo watched as a boy a head taller than him lazily walked forward from the parted crowd. His eyelids were half-open, a half-smile on his face, and he asked, “Yu Zhuo, right?”
Yu Zhuo sneered, “Yes, this is your grandpa.”
Ji Rang beckoned to him with his finger: “Come on.”
Yu Zhuo raised his fist and lunged forward.
He had never lost a fight in a one-on-one situation.
But his punch missed, and almost instantly, he felt a pain in his lower abdomen as Ji Rang nearly kicked him over with a knee.
Yu Zhuo thought to himself, “Damn it, I underestimated him, I’ve met a master.”
The two were about to fight again when a commotion suddenly broke out in the quiet alley, and then more than a dozen people ran out from around the corner, some carrying sticks and some carrying bricks.
Qu Dazhuang cursed, “Damn it, you even had an ambush!”
Yu Zhuo shouted, “They’re not my men!”
Qu Dazhuang looked closely and realized they were the troublemakers from the neighboring No. 3 Middle School whom they had dealt with that morning.
Taking advantage of their fight, they had launched a sneak attack.
The one-on-one duel turned into a group brawl, and Yu Zhuo, standing in the middle, was truly innocent.
He felt it was wrong of him to fight anyone.
So he simply started watching.
Ji Rang was truly ruthless; it was clear he had trained in martial arts, his blows clean and decisive, each punch drawing blood. However, Ji Rang hadn’t brought many people or any tools with him to ambush him, while the other side, relying on their numbers and weapons, was extremely arrogant.
Yu Zhuo pondered, since they were from the same school, should he lend a hand?
Just then, a small boy wielding a steel rod, taking advantage of Ji Rang’s back being to the other two, suddenly lunged forward and swung the rod down. And Yu Zhuo shouted, “Watch out!”
Before he could even finish speaking, a figure flashed past his eye. And before he could react, the person was behind Ji Rang, taking the blow for him.
When Yu Zhuo recognized the person, cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
“Sister!” he cried, his eyes blazing with fury, rushing forward and kicking the small boy who had attacked him away. “I’ll f**k your mother!”
Ji Rang whirled around, grabbing the limp body behind him.
He caught a faint, sweet scent.
He looked down and met a pair of teary eyes, like eyes filled with moonlight and starlight.
She was silently calling out to him, “General.”
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[1] Dazhuang (大壮) translates literally to “big and strong” or “great power” in Chinese.
[2] The phrase is widely known globally as the title of a famous 2004 Mandopop song, Qi-Li-Xiang, by Taiwanese artist Jay Chou. In the context of the song, the name evokes the sweet nostalgia, purity, and lingering memory of first love.
