Chapter 36: Duty

After school on Tuesday, the noisy classrooms were empty within minutes.
In the entire classroom, the only person left was the figure in the last row who never left on time.
Yu Yuhui lowered her head and quietly turned the pages of the book, as if immersed in another world.
Xiahou Ming looked at the stretched light and shadow outside the window, and then she realized that it was her turn to be on duty today.
She sighed, mentally cursing her own memory, and resigned herself to picking up the broom in the corner.
She and Wen Xuelan had made an appointment to go out for dinner after school today.
As a result, she completely forgot about her duty.
As she swept the floor distractedly, she couldn’t help but look toward the classroom door.
Could it be that she… has already left?
That girl is so timid that if she couldn’t wait for anyone, she would definitely go back to the dormitory by herself.
Just then, a thin figure appeared at the classroom door, timidly sticking out only half of her head to look inside.
It was Wen Xuelan.
Seeing Xiahou Ming still in the classroom, she seemed relieved, but she was also a little at a loss because she didn’t dare to come in.
When Xiahou Ming saw her like this, the irritation she felt for breaking the appointment was instantly replaced by an inexplicable sense of guilt.
She put down her broom and walked to the door.
“Sorry… I forgot I’m on duty today. Can you… wait for me a little longer?”
This sentence, ostensibly said to Wen Xuelan, was actually a report to the “invigilator” behind her—
Look, I did as you said and became friends with her.
“No… it’s okay!” Wen Xuelan waved her hands quickly, “Then… then let me help you…”
Without waiting for Xiahou Ming to refuse, she walked into the classroom and picked up another broom from the sanitary corner.
At the same time, she nervously greeted the figure reading in the corner:
“Yu Yuhui… hasn’t gone home yet…?”
Yu Yuhui just raised her eyelids from the book, glanced at her, and nodded slightly in response.
The look in her eyes was like she was looking at a small animal that suddenly entered her field of vision.
Their duty soon turned into a silent tug of war.
Xiahou Ming was concentrating on sweeping the garbage on her side into a pile, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a small handful of new dust and paper scraps suddenly appearing on the floor she had just swept.
The more they swept, the more garbage there seemed to be.
She looked up in confusion and saw Wen Xuelan at the other end of the classroom, who was seriously sweeping the garbage on her side toward the center of the classroom—which was at Xiahou Ming’s feet.
Xiahou Ming held her forehead with a headache.
Seeing her like this, Wen Xuelan stopped in embarrassment, tightly gripping the broom in her hand, her face instantly red.
“I’m sorry… I usually do this alone, I’m used to it…”
“Me too…”
Xiahou Ming sighed, and finally softened her tone, taking the broom from Wen Xuelan.
“How about…” she said, “you go and clean the tables and windowsills?”
“Huh? But…”
“It’s easier to wipe the table.”
Xiahou Ming interrupted her and didn’t give her a chance to refuse.
She leaned both brooms against the wall, then picked up a clean rag and stuffed it into Wen Xuelan’s hand.
“…Okay.”
Wen Xuelan took the rag and started wiping the desks in the first row.
She wiped very carefully, even the corners of the table legs were not spared.
Xiahou Ming looked at her back and felt a little strange.
This girl was as timid as a rabbit, but she was stubborn and serious when doing things.
When sweeping the floor before, Wen Xuelan would intentionally or unintentionally avoid that dark corner.
But when she took the rag to wipe the table, she couldn’t avoid it anyway.
“Yu… Yu Yuhui,” she asked softly, “I… I want to wipe your desk, is that okay?”
Yu Yuhui didn’t say anything, but just closed the book, picked it up together with her pencil case, and stood aside.
“Thanks…”
Wen Xuelan quickly thanked her and wiped the table, which was so clean that it almost didn’t need wiping, as quickly as possible.
Xiahou Ming watched from the side, and the strange feeling in her heart became stronger.
She always felt that Wen Xuelan’s attitude toward Yu Yuhui, besides fear, seemed to carry a hint of… inexplicable respect?
When she reached a row in the middle of the classroom, Wen Xuelan stopped unconsciously.
That was Lin Xiaomei’s seat.
Wen Xuelan’s gaze was fixed on the desk with several scratches on it.
Her eyes were complicated, filled with fear, hatred, but more than that, a bottomless darkness.
Xiahou Ming put down the broom, walked over, and gently took the wet rag from Wen Xuelan’s hand.
Wen Xuelan trembled all over, came back to her senses as if waking from a dream, and looked at her in panic.
“Let me do it.”
Then, she silently wiped the scratches on the table back and forth vigorously with the rag in her hand, as if she wanted to erase the ugly past carved into the wood.
Then, she turned Lin Xiaomei’s chair upside down and moved it to the table, making a slight “clang” sound.
Wen Xuelan looked at Xiahou Ming’s actions.
Although she didn’t say anything, her eyes revealed a hint of gratitude and dependence.
“Um…” She looked at Xiahou Ming’s cheeks, which were slightly red from the effort, and asked softly, “Do you want to… do you want to wipe the blackboard?”
“Okay.”
The two walked to the podium together, Wen Xuelan wet the rag, and Xiahou Ming picked up the blackboard eraser.
She stood on the podium, looking at the rows of empty tables and chairs below, and suddenly had a wonderful feeling.
It turns out that this is what the classroom looks like from this angle.
She was wiping the blackboard, and Wen Xuelan followed her with a wet rag, carefully wiping away the remaining chalk dust.
“Xia Houya,” Wen Xuelan suddenly asked in a low voice, “You… you transferred to our school. Are you used to it?”
“…It’s okay.” Xiahou Ming answered vaguely.
“If… if there’s anything you’re not used to, or… if someone bullies you,” Wen Xuelan’s voice became softer, but she was incredibly firm, “you… you can tell me.”
Xiahou Ming’s hand, which was wiping the blackboard, suddenly stopped.
She turned her head and looked at the girl next to her who was even thinner than herself, and looked at her eyes that were full of sincerity and courage.
For a moment, she almost blurted out the whole truth.
But in the end, she just nodded and said softly.
“…Thanks.”
When they finished their duty, Yu Yuhui had already walked to the back door of the classroom.
She seemed to be about to leave, but when she saw they had finished, she paused.
“Goodbye, classmate Yu Yuhui.” Wen Xuelan waved to her politely.
Yu Yuhui’s gaze swept over the two of them, and finally landed on Xiahou Ming’s face.
“Um.”
Then, without saying anything, she turned and disappeared into the corridor.
“Um…” Xiahou Ming looked at the sky outside the window, which was beginning to darken, and asked with some concern, “You’re a boarding student, right? Let’s go out for a meal now… Will you still make it in time?”
“Yeah, it’s okay.” Wen Xuelan nodded quickly, “We have an hour of free time after school, so… it should be enough.”
“Okay.”
Xiahou Ming dumped the last of the garbage into the trash can in the corridor, then came back and picked up her schoolbag.
She walked to Wen Xuelan and looked at her eyes, which seemed bright with anticipation.
She felt that the heaviness in her heart seemed to be relieved a little.
“Let’s go.”