After everyone had left the classroom, Shen Moyu brought up the stack of English test papers that Jin Shuoshuo had given him.
He was unlucky; he was the best in humanities in his class, so many teachers would often assign him the task of grading homework.
It's said that good students receive special treatment from teachers, and he wanted to know if helping teachers grade homework counted as one of those treatments.
Shen Moyu sighed and sent Xia Wei a WeChat message telling her that he had something to do and wouldn't be home for dinner. After receiving Xia Wei's reply, he put his phone back in his desk drawer.
[Name: Su Jinning]
To his surprise, the first paper he received was Su Jinning's. Looking at the still neat and handsome handwriting, he prepared to move on to the next paper.
But what's even more surprising is...
The entire exam paper was basically blank except for the space where I wrote my name.
Although Shen Moyu had guessed it, she was still at a loss for a moment.
He could swear that of all the papers, Su Jinning's was the easiest for him to grade, because it was just like drawing a picture; he could just mark one cross after another.
He tossed aside Su Jinning's paper with a hint of disdain; if it weren't for Su Jinning's beautiful handwriting, he really wouldn't have bothered grading it.
Around five o'clock, he finally finished organizing the huge stack of papers. Then he leaned back in his chair, stretched lazily, looked at the city gradually darkening outside the window, and yawned.
Thinking about the mountain of homework he had to do when he got back, which had been delayed for so long because of grading papers, he realized he might have to work until the early hours of the morning. He sighed, packed his bag, and carried a stack of papers taller than his head toward Jin Shuoshuo's office.
After delivering the exam papers, he went downstairs to go home.
The main gate was closed again. He looked at the tightly closed main gate of the teaching building and shook his head. Every time the first and second-year students left, the main gate would be closed, so the third-year students and the teachers grading papers at the school had to use the side gate to enter and exit.
He lifted his backpack strap and exited the teaching building through the side door. After walking a few steps, he saw that the main door of the adjacent sports building was unlocked.
It's next to the school's back gate and is the only way for most students. Maybe a student went in to get something and forgot to close it.
As soon as he reached the window, he saw a familiar figure standing in the middle of the corridor, facing a large group of boys who were not wearing school uniforms.
He squinted and looked over; it was indeed Su Jinning. What was he doing in the gym building so late? The group of boys in front of him, not wearing school uniforms, didn't look like students from this school.
To be more like...
The vocational high school next door.
He frowned and took another closer look. The group of boys had a leader, a boy wearing the uniform of Zhengde No. 1 Middle School, who was talking to Su Jinning with his arms crossed. He didn't seem to be very close to Su Jinning.
He was all too familiar with that atmosphere.
We just want to fight.
"I told you, the time has passed, and the sports building is no longer lending out equipment. Don't you understand?" Su Jinning crossed her arms and looked impatiently at the large group of people blocking her way.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu immediately laughed: "Who do you think you are, meddling in other people's business? So what if school's over? The gym building is still open, isn't it? Why can't we use it?"
He thought he was right and even puffed out his chest, and the group of students behind him echoed his sentiments.
Su Jinning rolled her eyes and pointed to the large sign next to her: "Please look at the sign next to you yourselves. After school, you may not borrow the equipment in this building without a teacher, supervisor, or special reason. Also, the door is not closed after school so that students can return the equipment. You've been in No. 1 High School for two years, are you out of your mind and can't you remember?"
"You!" Zhao Yu was enraged by the last sentence and sneered twice: "So what if I borrow it today? Let me tell you, Su Jinning, I've been wanting to get rid of you for a long time! I advise you to get out of my way and stop blocking my way, or you'll be sorry."
Su Jinning was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, leaving the group opposite her completely bewildered.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Zhao Yu pointed at his nose.
"Sorry. I just felt like you guys were having a fight like elementary school kids." Su Jinning sighed, looking at them with a disappointed expression: "Is your next move to steal my pencil case?"
"You fucking asking for a beating, huh!" Zhao Yu rolled up his sleeves, his face turning pale and then flushed.
"I'm telling you," a large, fat man in a black jacket and loafers squeezed through from behind, "Zhao Yu, are all the students at No. 1 High School this arrogant? Is this your school bully?"
After speaking, he gave the handsome young man in front of him, who was dressed neatly in his school uniform and looked clean and refreshing, and clicked his tongue twice.
"Tch!" Zhao Yu rolled his eyes, full of resentment: "He may be arrogant, but if I hadn't let him off the hook back then, how could he have such a title?"
Zhao Yu lies without even blushing, which gives Su Jinning a headache. She recalls how, when Zhao Yu first arrived in high school, a girl he liked kept confessing her feelings to her, which Zhao Yu witnessed. Without a word, she cornered him after school, threatening to beat him up. Although there were quite a few of them, and they seemed very aggressive, he took them all down in less than twenty minutes.
Having defeated the top dog at Zhengde No. 1 Middle School, he naturally earned the title of "school bully," and his striking good looks made him a prominent figure on campus. From that time onward, Zhao Yu held a deep grudge against him and would find any opportunity to cause him trouble.
"I see." The fat guy crossed his arms and looked at him with disdain. "Hey! You school bully, I suggest you lend us your baseball bat right now. I know you're good at fighting, but you saw how many of us there are, right?"
"Sorry." Su Jinning waved his hand, as if trying to avoid something: "I'm not a school bully, and I don't care about that title. Whoever wants it can have it." After saying that, he also smiled naturally: "Also, this is the No. 1 Middle School's sports building. It's not appropriate for you vocational high school students to come here and make threats."
Although he was smiling, his words were clear and his tone was like a sharp needle, leaving people speechless.
He knew where these guys were from; they weren't wearing school uniforms and had a cocky, youthful vibe—they were clearly from the vocational high school next door. As for why they were borrowing baseball bats so late at night, there was no doubt they were going to use them to fight outside the school.
"Damn it!" The fat man clearly didn't have much patience either, and he swung his fist to punch Su Jinning.
"Hey! Bro! Bro!" Zhao Yu finally chickened out and quickly said respectfully, "Calm down, this isn't appropriate, after all, we're at our school..."
He could make tough threats, but when it came to actually doing it, he was not only afraid of Su Jinning's skills, but also because this was the school's sports building. If he got caught by the dean of students, he could easily get a major demerit.
But these vocational high school students didn't care about any of that. Anyway, it was a middle school next door. They would leave after the fight, and Liang and the others couldn't find them the next day.
"What do you mean?" the fat man laughed. "You're afraid of trouble, aren't you? Let me tell you, Zhao Yu, don't forget why you brought us here today. Didn't you expect us to take care of this kid? Now that you have the chance, why are you chickening out?"
“Yeah, bro, he’s so arrogant, didn’t you already look down on him? He’s all alone today, so why don’t we just beat him up and run away?” Li Xinyang chimed in from the side.
The gym is newly built and has no surveillance cameras. The senior students are all on the top floor, so even if they set off firecrackers here, it would be difficult for the people upstairs to hear them. The gatekeeper is at the front door, and even with three hundred ears, he wouldn't be able to hear what's happening here.
As Zhao Yu hesitated, Su Jinning's voice rang out again from not far away: "I said, can you leave now? Don't delay me from getting off school."
His tone was full of impatience and contempt, showing no regard for them whatsoever. Zhao Yu instantly recalled the first time he blocked his way, when he had acted just as fearlessly. He was immediately blinded by anger.
"Looking for a beating, huh!" He was the first to rush forward, grabbing Su Jinning by the collar and trying to pin her against the wall, but he was shorter and weaker than Su Jinning, and was instantly pulled away three or four steps away by her.
"Let me tell you, Zhao Yu, this is the sports building. If you don't want trouble, get lost. I can pretend nothing happened." Su Jinning straightened her collar, giving her final warning.
"Ha. Things have come to this point, why should I leave? I'll make you kneel down and call me daddy today, or I'm not a Zhao." Zhao Yu clenched his fist and swung it at him, and the rest of them rushed forward as well.
Shen Moyu was outside the window. It was already dark, and the bell for the senior high school class had just rung. There was no one on the back playground.
There's no way he can get anyone to help him.
Shen Moyu didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but when she thought about what happened at the noodle shop that day, she still wavered a little.
He opened his phone to send a WeChat message to Chen Hang, but before he could, he heard the sound of sports equipment rolling down.
He frowned, gazing at the endless corridor of the sports building, which seemed like a black hole, from which he could not fathom how far he would go, nor where the end would be.