Chapter 35.1: The Passionate Collision of School Bullies From the North and the South

How would Wen Zihui dare to say no? She was frightened to death. She nodded frantically and finally left, still in tears.

Shen Juan didn’t move. He leaned against the wall to smoke, casually turned his head sideways, and saw Lin Yujing standing against the door.

On the 200-meter sports field outside the gate, they didn’t know which group had progressed. There was the “bang” of a gunshot, and shouting that shook the sky.

The room under the bleachers of the stadium was gloomy and cold, and under the low-wattage bulb the light was dim. Lin Yujing stood at the door with the sunlight behind her, making it hard to see her expression clearly.

Shen Juan put the cigarette out and threw it into the trash can on the side. When the smoke finally cleared, he waved to her.

He watched her come over and asked, “Does it still hurt?”

“It’s okay,” Lin Yujing said. “When I got here I saw Wen Zihui run out crying. Why did you bully her?”

Shen Juan said lazily: “I never bully girls.”

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Nkd Zwfkdt oyp pvawttzkdt vs qkde bla rbsdl kd bla pnbssz cyt. Mblal olal vos zyatl pnbssz wdkqsaxp sd vsr, yde yqvla plyanbkdt qsa y zsdt vkxl pbl byed’v qswde kv. Fvyavzle cu vbl pweeld hsknl dlmv vs bla lya, pbl vwadle bla blye yde xlv Fbld Kwyd’p tygl.

It was close to noon and the sun was full and bright, wiping away the coolness of the morning. She’d turned her head toward the light, which was a little dazzling.

Lin Yujing squinted and leaned back, hiding her head in the shadow cast by Shen Juan. She handed him her school bag. “Phone. I want to ask when my friend will arrive.”

Shen Juan paused.

He’d been reaching for the bag, but Lin Yujing had already loosened her hands and the school bag almost fell to the ground. Shen Juan reacted in time to catch it and took out the two school uniforms from inside. He pulled the phone out from a side pocket and handed it to her.

Lin Yujing thanked him, and the moment she took it the voices of the people around them became a lot louder.

The girl sitting in front of her pointed to the sky and asked the boy next to her: “What’s that called? Is it a drone? Our school is quite rich, is it for aerial photography of the competitions?”

Lin Yujing raised her head with them and looked over.

Sure enough, a silver-gray aircraft that looked like a giant spider, with four legs and eight claws, flew in from outside the stadium. Three in a row flew over the stands, one after another, at a leisurely pace. Some boys jumped up to grab them, but the drones were too high, and their fingertips could barely touch the edges.

The three drones looked like lost children, circling the stands twice as if searching for something, and finally gave up. They flew unsteadily toward the center of the stadium and formed a row near the track.

With a swish, a huge red vertical banner with standard yellow-gold block letters suddenly hung from the drone on the far left, matching the colors of the slogans tied to the railings in front of each class.

——The wind is blowing, the rain is falling, and I am waiting for you to call me back.

Even the eyes of those who hadn’t previously noticed the small drones were drawn to them now.

Lin Yujing’s first reaction was that this school is quite creative. 

Then she realized that something was wrong. No matter how she read it, this line didn’t seem like the school wrote it for a sporting event.

As she considered it, the drone on the far right dropped another large vertical banner, and probably because it was a bit heavy the poor little drone swayed twice.

— Mad for you, wild about you, banging against the wall for you. 

Lin Yujing: “…”

By then no one still thought this was arranged by the school. Instead they started taking guesses at which boy would pursue a girl so passionately. Showing love in such a public way at a sports meet was really daring.

The boy who had just changed positions with Shen Juan seemed most interested in the drones, and knew a little about them. He stood up and applauded, “Damn, awesome! The DJI Inspire 2 [1], these things cost more than 20,000 yuan a piece!”

It wasn’t just daring, but also an obscene show of wealth. [2]

The whole stadium thunderously applauded with all kinds of noisy calls and whistles, and everyone waited to find out what the drone in the middle would say.

Lin Yujing wasn’t very interested, so she stopped paying attention and lowered her head to check the time.

It was eleven o’clock, Cheng Yi and Lu Jiaheng should be there soon. As she thought about making a phone call, the area around her that had just been so chaotic and loud suddenly fell silent.

After several seconds Lin Yujing raised her head and realized that everyone she saw was looking at her.

She blinked slowly at the girl next to her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The girl didn’t speak.

Lin Yujing turned her head and looked at the vertical banner in the middle, the last one to drop.

With the largest font for the shortest message, a scant three words read:

——To Lin Yujing.

Lin Yujing: “…”

Lin Yujing knew with 100% certainty that this thing was made by Cheng Yi.

Feeling the eyes of everyone present upon her, she stood abruptly and called Cheng Yi as she limped down the steps. While she walked to Gate 3, Cheng Yi picked up.

Lin Yujing started scolding before he could say a word. “Have you been kicked in the head by a donkey?”

“’The wind is blowing, the rain is falling, I am waiting for you to call back,’” Cheng Yi recited aloud, “’Mad for you, wild about you, banging against the wall for you! To… Lin Yujing.’ Isn’t it romantic?”

“It’s romantic,” Lin Yujing said sincerely, “I’m quite curious. When I left did I take your brain with me, causing you to be mindless now?”

Cheng Yi laughed madly on the other end. “Hey, I saw you. Are you at Gate 3? Not bad, sister, wearing the school uniform of No. 8 High School you’re a crane in a flock of chickens [3].”

Lin Yujing looked around for him, but the sun was blazing and her vision was limited. “Where are you? No… how did you get in?”

She was looking around in circles when someone tapped her shoulder.

Lin Yujing turned her head and Cheng Yi looked at her with a playful smile. He said into the phone, “We brought some local products from our hometown for the security guard at the gate–two cartons of Zhongnanhai [4].”

Lin Yujing looked at him sarcastically. “You are really sociable, such a good little boy for your elders.”

Cheng Yi waved his hand modestly. “I don’t dare, I don’t dare… I’m not familiar with the place, so I should keep a low profile.”

She didn’t feel like teasing him anymore, so she glanced behind him. “Where’s my son?”

“Your son is hungry, so he went to find a restaurant. The inflight meal was fucking terrible and he didn’t eat any of it.” Cheng Yi lowered his hand, “Let’s go eat, it looks like the morning program is almost over. Almost half the people in the classes over there left, so let’s leave ten minutes early?”

Lin Yujing nodded, “I’ll get my bag.” She paused and glanced over at Class 10.

Gate 3 was very close to Class 10, and everyone was still looking at them. Liu Fujiang leaned on the railing, thinking he was being stealthy, but it was obvious that he was watching them too.

In the center of the stadium, three large vertical banners were still moving chaotically in the wind, wildly making their presence felt.

Lin Yujing couldn’t take it anymore. “Can you put away your crazy banners first? If you mess with me like this I’ll be called in by the teacher this afternoon and asked about puppy love.”

Cheng Yi solemnly stood at attention and gave her a standard salute. “Copy.”

She went back to get her school bag, and Cheng Yi took out the remote control. The three small drones wobbled away from the field, dragging the long banners behind them.

Come in style, go in style. It was extremely on-brand.

Lin Yujing sighed, turned around, and walked back to the platform, then went up the steps and returned to her seat. For a girl like her who was not usually afraid of being stared at, she was still a little uncomfortable being watched by such uniformly enthusiastic eyes.

Her school bag and things were still there. Shen Juan slumped in his seat and watched her expressionlessly.

—

[1] DJI is a drone manufacturer, and at the time of posting, the Inspire 2 model starts at around US $3300.

[2] 壕无人性 – roughly “trench inhumanity” – an excessive use of money to do something simple and commonplace, like sending a fleet of Rolls-Royces to go to the grocery store, or using three $3300 drones with large banners to send someone a text

[3] 鹤立鸡群 – “crane in a flock of chickens” – to stand out from the crowd in a very positive way

[4] 中南海 – Zhongnanhai is a Chinese brand of cigarettes. It is also a location in Beijing, where Cheng Yi and Lin Yujing are from.

Edited By: ceres