Chapter 6: Spring Thunder
The next day, English class.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting bright spots of light on the desks.
The teacher at the podium read the text in a dull tone, the sound like a lullaby, making Xiahou Ming drowsy.
She didn’t sleep well all night.
Her mother’s delighted face and herself in the dress in the mirror played alternately in her mind like two horror movies.
But she forced herself to put it all behind her, just like she stuffed the dress she was forced to wear last night back into her mother’s old wooden box with disgust.
She has more important things to do.
Make some money and take my mother away from this damn place.
As for that weirdo and her ridiculous game?
She glanced at the corner of the classroom facing the corridor.
The girl, Yu Yuhui, was looking down, not sure if she was reading or dozing off.
Xiahou Ming curled up the corner of his mouth in a sneer.
She had decided.
She was going to ignore her.
Completely.
“Okay, now, who can answer this question?”
The English teacher pushed his glasses and looked around the classroom.
“Xiahou Ming.”
The teacher finally called on her, probably because of her “throne” in the last row by the window, which, in the teacher’s opinion, was also a special seat for “problem students” who needed special attention.
The whole class’s attention was instantly focused on him.
Ling Yicai turned around from the front row and looked at her worriedly, while Lin Xiaomei looked as if she was waiting for something interesting to happen.
And Yu Yuhui in the corner also slowly raised her head.
Xiahou Ming could feel that gaze, calm, yet piercing like a needle.
She stood up slowly, with her signature expression of impatience on her face.
“I don’t know.”
She spoke in a vague, almost mumbling tone, neither the deep voice she used to have nor the “gentle and sweet” female voice that Yu Yuhui had requested.
This is a pure, passive form of resistance, and what she considers to be the safest form.
The English teacher frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with her attitude, but didn’t say much.
He just waved his hand for her to sit down, and then called another student.
When Xiahou Ming sat down, he glanced at Yu Yuhui in the corner out of the corner of his eye.
There was no expression on Yu Yuhui’s face.
She lowered her head again, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with her.
Really.
Xiahou Ming thought.
She was just bluffing.
She didn’t dare to do anything in front of so many people.
I won and I successfully punctured that guy’s paper tiger.
The long-lost pleasure of being in control of the situation finally put Xiahou Ming’s heart, which had been hanging in the air all night, at ease.
*
The bell rang for the end of class.
As soon as the teacher left the classroom, the noise immediately returned.
Ling Yicai immediately turned around and walked quickly to her side.
“Xiao Ming, are you okay?
Just now…” She pulled Xiahou Ming’s sleeve and asked in a low voice, her face full of concern.
But before she could finish her words, a figure blocked the light in front of them.
It’s Yu Yuhui.
She didn’t know when, but she had quietly walked to Xiahou Ming’s desk.
“You…” Xiahou Ming was about to say something.
Yu Yuhui suddenly made a move.
Contrary to her usual behavior, she grabbed Xiahou Ming’s wrist with an irresistible force, pulled her up from her seat, and pressed her hard against the wall by the window.
With a “bang”, Xiahou Ming’s back hit the cold wall, and she gasped in pain.
This sudden action made the whole classroom quiet in an instant, and everyone looked at the two “weirdos” in shock.
Xiahou Ming was shocked and angry.
She wanted to break free, but found that the seemingly thin girl had surprisingly strong hands.
“Why don’t you do as I say?”
Yu Yuhui’s voice was very low, and only the two of them could hear it clearly, but the suppressed anger in it made Xiahou Ming feel a palpitation.
“What are you doing!?”
Ling Yicai’s voice came from the side, and she tried hard to search for the girl’s name in her mind.
She didn’t understand why this gloomy classmate who hardly communicated with others suddenly acted so violently towards Xiao Ming.
“Please let her go… Yu-san?”
Ling Yicai took a step forward and tried to pull Yu Yuhui’s hand away.
Her tone remained as gentle as usual, but her eyes were filled with obvious hostility.
“If you have anything to say, you can talk about it.”
Yu Yuhui didn’t even look at Ling Yicai.
All her attention was focused on Xiahou Ming.
“Just say what you want to say.” Xiahou Ming didn’t dare to look her in the eye.
He could only turn his head to look out the window, but he was still trying to be strong.
“No one will believe you.”
“Yeah?”
When Yu Yuhui heard this, she suddenly laughed.
The laughter was very soft, but it made everyone present shudder.
She let go of his hand, turned around and walked back to her seat by the corridor.
Under everyone’s gaze, she took out a half-worn, silver-gray Sony Walkman radio from her desk.
Xiahou Ming’s heart skipped a beat.
Yu Yuhui took the radio and pressed the red play button in front of everyone.
After a burst of electric noise, a clear voice came out from the small speaker.
It was a moist, watery slurping sound, mixed with suppressed, rapid breathing, and finally, a faint, trembling moan.
The students watching were all stunned.
They couldn’t understand what it was, but the strong sense of privacy contained in the sound made the air in the entire corridor ambiguous and dirty.
“What’s that sound!
So disgusting!”
Lin Xiaomei was the first to shout, her face full of contempt and excitement.
Xiahou Ming’s face lost all color in an instant.
She knew what it was, she recognized it as her own breathing.
“Turn it off!”
She screamed and lunged forward, trying to grab the radio.
She wanted to use her voice to drown out the speaker that made her feel so embarrassed.
But her reaction was equivalent to announcing to everyone that the protagonist in the recording was her.
Yu Yuhui easily dodged her hand, then calmly pressed the stop button.
The corridor fell silent again.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed on Xiahou Ming like searchlights.
Ling Yicai looked at everything in front of her in shock.
She looked at Xiahou Ming’s pale face, then at Yu Yuhui’s expression that seemed to have everything under control, and her mind went blank.
“Xiao Ming, are you okay?” She subconsciously pulled Xiahou Ming’s sleeve and asked softly.
Xiahou Ming did not answer her.
She just stared at Yu Yuhui, like a beast cornered, her whole body trembling.
Yu Yuhui looked at that expression and smiled meaningfully.
“Come to the rooftop during lunch break.”
She said softly in a voice that only the three of them could hear.
Then, she turned around, pushed through the crowd, calmly returned to her seat, picked up a book, and opened it.
It was as if she was not the center of the storm just now.
Xiahou Ming and Ling Yicai were left behind, standing in the gaze of everyone, enduring a silent, long, and endless torture.