Shi Niannian’s hand stopped cleaning her clothes. Her gaze looked directly at him, meeting a face with a frivolous smile.
She put her school uniform back on, stood up, dusted off the grass-stained uniform pants, and without saying a word, turned and left.
Shi Niannian went to the bathroom to wash her face. Water droplets dampened her hair into several strands that stuck to her face. She raised her hand and wiped them away with the back of her hand.
“Have you heard? Jiang Wang is back, now in Class 3, Grade 2, Teacher Cai Yucai’s class.”
“What? He can still return to Yizhong after coming out of prison?”
“His father is a school director, and his family has plenty of money. Besides, I heard he’s their only son, so he can go wherever he wants.”
“If only he didn’t have violent tendencies, I’d be the first to write him a love letter. I just glanced at Class 3 as I passed by, he’s so handsome!”
…
Shi Niannian threw the tissue into the trash bin and walked out of the bathroom.
“Niannian,” Jiang Ling called to her. “I brought you lunch.”
“Thank you,” Shi Niannian smiled at her.
Jiang Ling sat facing backward, cupping her cheeks with both hands as she watched her eat, glancing at her body. “Cheng Qi and her group didn’t do anything to you, did they?”
Shi Niannian chewed a piece of vegetable, her cheeks slightly puffed, eyes downcast as she continued eating, shaking her head. “Ran away.”
Due to her stutter, Shi Niannian generally kept her speech brief. The sentences she commonly used flowed a bit more smoothly.
Jiang Ling smiled and pinched her face, then shifted her gaze to the desk of the person beside them, whispering mysteriously: “Hey, Niannian, do you know about Jiang Wang?”
“Hmm?” She looked up, and Jiang Ling spoke in a hushed, gossipy tone.
“He used to be Yizhong’s school tyrant. He should be a freshman in college now, but in the summer after his second year of high school, he stabbed someone with a knife. There were even photos on the school forum before, all bloody, super scary.”
At this point, Jiang Ling frowned.
Jiang Ling had been promoted from the junior high section. She was in her third year of junior high when Jiang Wang was in his second year of senior high.
“Jiang Wang’s ear also had some problem during that incident. He was hospitalized for quite a while, then there were lawsuits and such, and later he went to prison.”
Shi Niannian recalled Jiang Wang at the prison gate that night.
“His, his ear?”
Couldn’t he hear?
“Maybe it’s healed by now. It’s been over a year,” Jiang Ling shrugged.
As they spoke, Jiang Wang entered through the door. The previously noisy classroom instantly quieted down.
He was tall with long legs, his lips pressed together, holding his school uniform in his hand, revealing the black T-shirt underneath. Two deep rows of collarbones were exposed, unconsciously making one feel thirsty.
He walked to his seat in a few strides, lay down on the desk, and tossed his uniform on the floor.
From Shi Niannian’s angle, she could see half of his narrowed eye corners and the blue veins behind his ear.
He also had beautiful hands, with distinct knuckles, bony and long, neat and clean.
Were these the same hands that had stabbed someone, dripping with blood?
She quickly withdrew her gaze.
After Jiang Wang returned, Jiang Ling changed the topic, leaning on her desk and softly complaining: “Cheng Qi is so annoying. She’s just jealous of you because you have good grades, you’re pretty, and Fang Cheng is interested in you.”
Fang Cheng was considered Cheng Qi’s ex-boyfriend, a senior in his third year, who asked for Shi Niannian’s number while still with Cheng Qi.
Cheng Qi used to bother Shi Niannian before, but it was more like pranks then, mocking her stutter. It was only afterward that she started to ambush her with a group.
While listening to her, Shi Niannian wrote the last question of today’s chemistry homework and handed the test paper to Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling blew her a kiss.
At the door, Cheng Qi’s group entered the classroom. Cheng Qi walked in front, followed by several others, with the red hoodie girl at the back, looking fierce.
Jiang Ling turned to look, then quickly turned back to Shi Niannian, whispering: “Are you crazy!”
Jiang Wang had been awakened by the noise when Cheng Qi’s group entered the classroom. He frowned with irritation, and then heard that clear, sweet voice.
“She hit me first.”
“Shi Niannian!” The red hoodie girl kicked the desk, making a harsh scraping sound. “Get the fuck out here.”
Shi Niannian didn’t move, and the gazes of everyone around turned toward them.
Jiang Ling gathered her courage to say: “Lu Ming, don’t go too far.”
“Did I ask for your lecture?” Lu Ming sneered, one arm around Cheng Qi’s shoulders, and kicked the desk again. “Stuttering freak, don’t make me drag you out!”
Her raised female voice was as piercing as a scream.
After that sharp sound, the person who had been lying on the desk sat up.
Jiang Wang frowned with narrowed eyes, his slender chin raised, staring at her.
Drowsiness and impatience were written in his half-lowered eyes.
“How annoying,” Jiang Wang said coldly.
And he noticed the red mark on the cheekbone of the girl in the red hoodie, already turning into a bruise that looked quite severe.