Chapter 33.2: Say Something Nice

Lin Yujing lived on campus so she thought she’d be early, but when she arrived half the class was already there. Song Zhiming got a big red drum from somewhere and put it on the table in front of their class.

On the railing hung a large banner with golden letters on a crimson background, carrying the slogan of their class team.

——Tigers in the mountains! Dragons [1] in the water! Sophomore Class 10! Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragons!

It was shockingly stupid.

Li Lin was the one who came up with it. He made full use of the talent he’d displayed before in an article he wrote for the school paper: “Please Drink Chrysanthemum Tea All Year [2], Reduce Fever, Detoxify, and Relieve Inflammation.” 

At first Lin Yujing didn’t accept it, then Song Zhiming raised his hand and read with a sense of satisfaction the slogan he had written:

——The time of burning passion! No one can surpass Class 10!

After Song Zhiming read it aloud, he asked confidently, “How is it? Isn’t it quite youthful?”

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“…”

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Nkd Zwfkdt oyp yxwple, yde pvsse zywtbkdt yv vbl vsr sq vbl pvykap okvb vbl Uzypp 10 pktd kd bla byde. Fweeldzu, y tkaz’p ydtau hsknl nyxl qasx clbkde. “Qlv swv sq vbl oyu, sjyu?”

Nkd Zwfkdt iwknjzu pbkqvle vs vbl pkel yde vwadle yaswde vs yrszstkgl. Mbl tkaz tzyale yv bla yde cawpble rypv bla pbswzela, cwxrkdt kdvs bla.

Nkd Zwfkdt hytwlzu alxlxclale bla dyxl clkdt psxlvbkdt okvb y “bwk,” vbl alralpldvyvkhl sq vbl zkvlayvwal yde yav nzypp. Fbl nswzed’v alxlxcla vblx byhkdt prsjld vs lynb svbla clqsal, yde eked’v iwkvl wdelapvyde oblal vbl tkaz’p bspvkzkvu nyxl qasx.

Fsdt Hbkxkdt pyo vbl kdvlaynvksd, yde obld vbl tkaz oyzjle yoyu bl ayd shla. “Tlu, yal usw sjyu?”

Lin Yujing shook her head. “I’m fine. What’s her name?”

Song Zhiming was amused. He held the railing and said quietly, “Wen Zihui. Come on, she has been glaring at you constantly for the past two days, and you don’t even remember her name?”

“I sit in the first row, how would I know if she’s looking at me?” Lin Yujing asked innocently, “Why is she glaring at me?”

Song Zhiming tapped the sign in her hand. “Because of this, sister. When you weren’t here, Wen Zihui was the little class flower and held the class sign in the sports meet last year, but when you showed up that person became you.”

The sign-holding was usually done by the prettiest girl in class; in other words, it was the job of the official class flower.

Song Zhiming continued, “Tell me, wearing a skirt to show off to the audience or standing silently in formation, which one is showier? On the rare day when you don’t have to wear a school uniform, pretty girls want to show off their legs.”

“…”

Lin Yujing felt like it was really difficult to know the minds of other girls her age. She didn’t understand why they wanted to show off their legs. Did Wu Yanzu or Kaneshiro Takeshi [3] come to No. 8 High School to look at girls?

The opening ceremony began at 7 o’clock. All classes had to stand on the field in front of the rostrum. First they walked around with their signs and slogans, then each class went in and stood in their separate areas where they listened to speeches from the host, class sports representatives, and the principal. After they stood for the flag-raising ceremony at 7:30am, the sports meet officially started.

Shen Juan came at 7:20am. He’d timed it very precisely; he’d just escaped the shameful group march but was present for the flag-raising ceremony.

He arrived while the principal was still speaking. In the entire stadium, there were only people in the middle of the field. The students were in dense square formations, and the principal stood at the podium above them, passionately spraying spittle.

Shen Juan listlessly entered through Gate No. 3. He stood at the entrance scanning the area for the class sign, but didn’t expect to see Lin Yujing right away, standing at the front of the line.

The girls holding the signs for each class wore white shirts and red skirts issued by the school. They wore white sneakers, with their hair tied up into high ponytails.

The weird thing was that they couldn’t wear socks, because the colors had to be uniform.

The sports meet queue had a row for boys and a row for girls. The girls in charge of holding the signs for each class stood alone in front, their skirts ending an inch above their knees, showing off their slender and pale legs. It was a very pleasant sight.

Shen Juan lazily walked across the empty orange-red track under everyone’s gaze, and ignored Liu Fujiang’s order to walk quickly. He approached slowly, and saw Lin Yujing standing motionless with the class sign in her hand standing in front.

It was just that her whole body was shivering.

It was just past 7am at the end of October or beginning of November, and it was rather chilly outside. The wind was damp and frigid, as if the cold were trying to drill into bone.

Lin Yujing wasn’t quite used to the chill here, and Shen Juan saw her toes move slightly. Her knees rubbed against each other, and her neck shrank back into her shoulders.

He walked silently to the end of the line and stood there.

After half an hour the flag-raising ceremony was finally over, and the classes returned to their respective positions. As soon as Lin Yujing walked under the stage, she immediately huddled into a ball and stamped her feet.

The class sign was a bit heavy, and her arms were slightly sore. She went to the last row on the stage and put the class sign down in the empty space on the next step, securing it with a nylon rope to prevent it from falling, then turned around to walk back down.

She wanted to go back to her room and put on her school uniform. She hadn’t brought the school jacket and trousers she wanted to wear. She didn’t go to the sports meet at her old high school in her freshman year and she hadn’t expected this kind of situation, she’d just stuffed the two school uniforms she borrowed from Shen Juan into her bag.

She headed out to get the school jacket for the morning, and then go back to the dormitory to change during the lunch break.

Walking briskly, she looked at the path with her head down, and started down the steps. Many classmates who were sitting in the higher seats were still headed up, so Lin Yujing walked close to the edge.

The result was that Wen Zihui, who was walking directly toward her, suddenly stopped and turned to the side without warning to block her.

Lin Yujing had already stepped down with one foot. When she raised her eyes and saw that she was about to bump into someone, she hurriedly turned her foot to the side.

There was a bottle of grape soda that had tipped over, which should’ve belonged to the student sitting on the outermost side. Lin Yujing had already reacted quickly to change her footing, but couldn’t change it again. 

She stepped on the round plastic bottle and slipped. The right half of her body hit the girl hard, her body completely unbalanced, and fell backwards. She reacted by raising her hand to meet the ground and absorb the shock, but just like that she fell to the ground anyway, rolling down two steps.

Lin Yujing could feel her ankles scrape heavily against the concrete steps, and she could vaguely hear a “tss” sound, like fabric being ripped. She didn’t make a sound, but Wen Zihui screamed and startled her, making her jump.

She stifled the cry that nearly escaped from her throat.

When Lin Yujing fell to the ground, her hands took the brunt of the fall. Her wrists were numb from the shock, and her palms felt so painful they were almost numb. She endured the pain and tried to stand up, but there was another tingling pain in her ankle.

Someone was babbling next to her, Wen Zihui’s cry was long and sharp, and it seemed like someone reacted to ask her if she was okay.

The mess of voices ran together, becoming a chaotic din. 

Lin Yujin sat on the ground with a burning pain from the middle of her calf to her ankle. The red skirt on her body was pushed up, resting on her upper thighs and exposing a large area of smooth white skin to the cold morning air.

In the next moment a very large school jacket was spread over her and fastened tightly, shielding her from view. Someone squatted in front of her and pulled the edges of the jacket to cover her front, gently scraping her forehead with their chin.

Lin Yujing looked up and saw Shen Juan’s sharp adam’s apple close to her face, a hint of tobacco lingering in her nose.

He must have gone to smoke in secret just now, Lin Yujing thought.

—

[1] 蛟龙 – jiaolong – Specifically a Chinese water dragon. 

[2] 春秋 – chunqiu – lit. “spring and autumn,” fig. “all year” but more poetic.

[3] Famous actors.

Edited By: ceres