Chapter 81: The Scenery Here Is Uniquely Beautiful

The campus, shrouded in mist, was silent. Sunlight, filtered through the thick layers of cloud, scattered in fragments across the ground—neither intense nor faint, but somewhere in between. The dampness brought by the white fog grew ever more oppressive, cool and penetrating to the bone.

Many of the seniors, making use of the short break to visit the restroom, completed the task with a brisk walk or a quick jog. Back in 2012, someone had remarked that the hardest-working group in China was not the employees of Foxconn, nor the child laborers in illegal workshops, but every single senior student in their last years of high school.

Watching figure after figure hurrying to and fro, Lin Yu silently agreed with this sentiment. Thus, he declined Lin Lie’s invitation to skip class for a deep conversation. When the bell rang, he made his way slowly toward the teaching building.

He had no idea what rumors Lin Lie might have heard, nor why the latter was suddenly acting friendly. But he knew one thing: when someone offers favors for no reason, it’s either flattery or deceit. Besides, Lin Lie was one of Zhang Yang’s people, likely sent to probe for information. Even if he switched sides, he’d still be a fair-weather friend, unprincipled and untrustworthy.

Lin Lie remained standing in place, lost in thought, a troubled expression on his face. Earlier that morning, half-awake in a dream, he had received a call from Zhang Yang, who said his arm had been broken by someone—though he hadn’t seen who it was. Zhang Yang suspected Lin Yu had arranged it, but what surprised Lin Lie was that the usually arrogant Zhang Yang showed no intention of retaliation.

Something so out of the ordinary surely concealed a deeper secret. Compared to Zhang Yang, Lin Lie was only a second-rate rich kid in Bincheng, and now he found himself utterly bewildered. “Could it be that the Lin Yu I’ve always looked down on actually has the strength to rival Zhang Yang?” he wondered.

On the other hand, Lin Yu, with an untroubled mind and a single-minded focus on study, attended class diligently. Whenever he encountered something he didn’t understand, he would turn to his deskmate, Wang Libo, for help.

Curiously, while Wang Libo could solve almost any problem during regular study, he always seemed to falter during formal exams, never quite achieving outstanding results. Lin Yu attributed this to psychological factors and hoped that, with Wang Libo’s help, he might subtly influence his friend’s mindset, so they could both improve together.

At lunchtime, Qi Yue pulled Lin Yu aside and took him to KFC, where they shared a quick meal with Lin Ran. During the meal, they arranged the time and place for their first tutoring session—this weekend, at Qi Yue’s home.

Seeing Lin Yu’s grades improve by leaps and bounds, Qi Yue was even happier than when she achieved good results herself. She would often let slip a foolish smile during class, earning a pointed cough from the male teachers, or a flying piece of chalk from the female ones. Faced with this, Lin Yu and Yang Zhilin could only exchange knowing smiles.

During PE in the afternoon, Lin Yu hopped the wall and went to an internet café, where he found Wang Yan and Zhang Zhilong. After chatting with them for a while, he headed back to school.

Upon his return, most of the boys were sweating it out on the basketball courts, while the girls, under the guidance of the PE teacher, played volleyball. Some couples were strolling around the football field, or walking side by side through the woods, talking in low voices about the future.

In the lush bamboo grove, rich with spiritual energy, Lin Yu found Qi Yue and Yang Zhilin. At that moment, Qi Yue was demonstrating a high kick from taekwondo, exuding the air of a heroic swordswoman. Yang Zhilin, meanwhile, was reciting poetry about women outshining men, praising her deskmate.

During this rare PE class, everyone enjoyed a brief respite. In the lives of seniors, PE was the only chance to relax—two sessions a week, indelible memories of youth and struggle for these seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds.

Under Yang Zhilin’s attentive gaze, Lin Yu and Qi Yue began sparring in taekwondo in the small bamboo grove. The two figures in blue school uniforms seemed to be both sparring and dancing, startling countless birds and knocking loose many bamboo leaves.

In that instant, as leaves swirled in the air, it felt almost eternal.

The verdant campus is my ark. That was how Lin Yu defined his school. Only here did he feel utterly unburdened, able to truly relax.

“Hey, deskmate, are you dating Qi Yue, or are you with our class beauty? Or are the three of you together? Why are you always sticking together?” In the penultimate English reading class, Wang Libo suddenly asked Lin Yu.

“…I never realized your mind was quite so lively,” Lin Yu replied, speechless.

This time, even though he was talking in class, the foreign teacher Tom didn’t say much. He kept telling stories about Jordan and Nike, occasionally tossing out questions in English for the class to answer.

“I’m sure something’s going on with you three!” Wang Libo said, peering out from behind his wall of books, his tone conspiratorial.

“Oh? And what makes you say that?” Lin Yu asked, amused. He knew there was really nothing between him and Yang Zhilin.

Seeing Lin Yu respond, Wang Libo lowered his voice and said, “Didn’t you notice? Last time in history class, Qi Yue looked back at you twenty-one times— that’s once every two minutes.”

“Hmm, I guess you could say I’m dating Qi Yue. Her looking back at me is only natural.” Lin Yu played along with his deskmate, hiding behind their book wall.

“I know you and Qi Yue are close. But last class, Yang Zhilin also turned to look at you seven or eight times—whether intentionally or not! And her eyes were always focused on you!” Wang Libo gossiped excitedly.

“So, deskmate, does that mean you were watching both of them too? For the full forty minutes?” Lin Yu teased, smiling.

“Pff, they’re both yours. I just appreciate the view now and then. You know history’s my strong suit—I don’t really need to listen much. With all this pressure, it’s only right to admire a pretty girl for a bit of relaxation. You don’t mind, do you?” Wang Libo explained, a little embarrassed.

“Pervert!” Before Lin Yu could reply, the girl at the desk behind them cut in, disdainfully.

Lin Yu just laughed. “It really is a small thing.”

After saying this, he suddenly thought of the film “A Little Thing Called First Love,” starring Mario Maurer, and the Cinderella-like Xiaoshui who blossomed into a princess. Glancing around the class, he noticed that the class monitor, Nie Xiaona, bore a resemblance to Xiaoshui.

With that thought, Lin Yu’s lips curled into a faint smile.

He hadn’t expected that, just at that moment, Qi Yue would glance back and catch his smile. She immediately drew a finger across her neck, signaling that he was dead meat.

“This is bad,” Lin Yu thought, immediately surrendering. He quickly scribbled a note and passed it over: “I was just admiring the scenery, that’s all.”

A minute later, the note came back from Qi Yue and Yang Zhilin’s desk. There was just one line: “The scenery is especially beautiful on this side.”