Chapter 476: Qiaomu Private High School |
“I don’t even have many requirements for you.” Xu Wei scolded until her voice was dry, then she picked up a glass and took a sip of water. “I won’t hold the things from your first and second years of high school against you, but you’re already in your third year. When you actually choose to come to class, shouldn’t you at least attend properly?”
Xu Wei glared at him, slamming a notebook onto the desk and pointing at it fiercely with her red-nailed finger: “Look at what you’re doing during my class!”
The name Bai Liu was scribbled messily on the cover of the notebook. Beside it were a few formulas that hadn’t been calculated to a result, the final letters becoming so distorted they looked as if they were written without any care at all.
Bai Liu picked up the notebook that looked somewhat familiar to him and flipped through it casually. Seeing the various simple doodles inside, he had a moment of sudden realization.
So it was this notebook.
During the early stages of high school, he frequently skipped class. It wasn’t until the second semester of his second year that Lu Yizhan used various means of coercion and enticement to get him to attend, but even then, he didn’t study properly. Most of the time in class, he would zone out or stare blankly, drawing random doodles in his notebook.
This was the notebook he often used for those doodles. It turned out it had been confiscated by Xu Wei halfway through; no wonder he couldn’t find it when he graduated.
Xu Wei snatched the notebook back from Bai Liu’s hand and threw it down in a fit of rage, flipping open a few pages and shoving them in front of Bai Liu’s face for him to see:
“What on earth are these things you’re drawing?!”
The drawings were done with a ballpoint pen—sketchy and simple, but clear enough to convey their meaning.
In the earlier parts, the drawings mostly depicted a female monster with red nails and bulging eyeballs being torn limb from limb or dying a miserable death. Occasionally, there was a toad with a watermelon-style haircut grinning as it was also killed. These drawings took up about half the notebook, mostly using a red and blue ballpoint pen color scheme, making them look quite striking and bloody.
However, toward the end, the art style shifted. A faceless pencil-drawn figure appeared. This figure was described very vaguely—a thin, small person wearing a school uniform, sitting alone by a flower bed, looking down at two popsicle sticks in their hand, appearing very lonely.
Then, on the next page, a messy, blurry mass of lines about the size of a small dog appeared in front of the pencil figure.
This pile of lines had no discernible shape; it seemed as if the artist couldn’t clearly see the form of the thing that had suddenly appeared before them, and could only depict the shape of the shadow as it appeared in their eyes.
This furry, small-dog-shaped mass of lines crouched in front of the figure’s legs. A dialogue box was drawn next to it, saying: [Can I have one of the ice creams in your hand?]
The figure answered in a dialogue box: [No.]
The small-dog-shaped lines continued to ask: [Then can I trade with you?]
The figure asked: [Trade with what?]
The small-dog-shaped lines said: [Trade using my newly born soul.]
Bai Liu stared straight at the notebook and reached out to take it.
He didn’t remember ever drawing such a segment.
Xu Wei pulled the notebook back. Just as she was about to continue her scolding, she met Bai Liu’s level gaze.
Her scalp tingled, and the voice she used to speak grew weaker: “…What are you looking at me like that for?”
It felt like he wanted to strangle her with a whip. She had never seen such overt aggression in Bai Liu’s eyes before. For a moment, a chill ran down her spine, and she subconsciously loosened her grip on the notebook, allowing Bai Liu to take it back.
“The teacher scolding you is for your own good.” Xu Wei forced herself to maintain her composure, her movements becoming slightly smaller as she pointed lightly at the notebook in Bai Liu’s hand. “Look at what you’re drawing, it’s all a mess. If you drew well, the teacher could help you apply for the arts and sports class, but look at the things you draw…”
“Some red-nailed female monster, some toad… they’re all too terrifying. They must be monsters from those horror games you like to play, right?”
Bai Liu glanced at the red nails on Xu Wei’s hand, the corner of his mouth curling slightly as he gave a non-committal hum: “I suppose so.”
Xu Wei cleared her throat: “And those figures and lines in the back—that figure is you, right? What is that mass of lines supposed to be, talking to you?”
“You know that some things have happened recently, and everyone is very concerned about the psychological problems of third-year students.” Xu Wei feigned a sigh. “As your teacher, I’m also very worried about your psychological state, so I took the things you drew and asked the school’s psychological experts.”
“They said this kind of drawing is, to a certain extent, due to self-isolation, leading to childhood imaginary friends persisting into the present. It’s a relatively serious psychological issue.”
Bai Liu lowered his head, holding the notebook without saying a word.
Seeing this, Xu Wei couldn’t help but feel a sense of smugness at having hurt Bai Liu. She slowly straightened her chest, her expression becoming hypocritical and arrogant: “Of course, it’s not that the teacher can’t understand why you would have such problems. After all, you grew up in that kind of environment and have this kind of personality. It seems you didn’t have any friends in the welfare home?”
Bai Liu still didn’t answer.
The smile on Xu Wei’s face widened further: “The pressure here at Qiaomu is very high for the third year. It might exacerbate your psychological problems. You’ve seen it too; many students have had issues this year. The teacher doesn’t want you to have problems as well.”
“How about this? The teacher can help you apply for withdrawal first. You can go to another class once your psychological issues have improved, how does that sound?”
As long as she forced Bai Liu away, her class’s grades wouldn’t be affected, and Hou Tong wouldn’t be able to pester Bai Liu anymore.
Seeing that Bai Liu still wasn’t responding to her, Xu Wei frowned. Just as she was about to speak again, a female teacher walked over and tapped on Xu Wei’s desk: “Teacher Xu, we need to go down and assemble.”
“Alright.” Xu Wei stood up. She swept a glance at Bai Liu. “Bai Liu, think about it carefully yourself.”
“I’m doing this for your own good.”
From outside the window came the sound of the loudspeaker announcement: [Will all students please assemble on the playground! Will all students please assemble on the playground!]
Students carrying their stools swarmed downstairs in a noisy crowd, complaining to each other about having a meeting under such a large sun at two in the afternoon. Basically every student held a bottle of frozen mineral water and a bag of ice cream, popsicles, and other snacks.
Most students at Qiaomu High School were from well-off backgrounds. When there was a pep rally, everyone would buy something to eat while the meeting was in progress.
Except for Bai Liu.
He didn’t have the money to buy these things, though that didn’t necessarily mean he couldn’t eat them.
“Teacher Xu kept you for the whole break again.” Hou Tong complained as she walked up. She opened her bag and handed Bai Liu a popsicle. “She should at least give you time to drink some water, right?”
Bai Liu closed the notebook he had just half-opened. His gaze swept over the popsicle she offered, and he thanked her with polite detachment: “Thank you, but there’s no need.”
Hou Tong froze for a moment. She quickly understood something and hurriedly stopped Bai Liu as he turned to leave, explaining anxiously: “I didn’t buy this for you!”
“Fang Dian bought it and asked me to bring it to you!”
Bai Liu paused. He turned to look at Hou Tong.
“I’m not lying, I really didn’t buy it!” Hou Tong urgently pulled it out to show Bai Liu. “Look, it’s the cheapest kind of popsicle, five cents a stick. If I were buying for you, I wouldn’t buy this kind.”
It was true. The bag was full of ice creams costing seven, eight, or even over ten yuan each. Inside, a cheap double-headed popsicle that cost only a fraction of the others looked completely out of place.
—But this was the kind of popsicle Bai Liu had eaten the most throughout high school.
In the summer, Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian would save money to buy Bai Liu this kind of popsicle.
“Thanks.” Bai Liu took it. He smiled very faintly; this time, there was a bit less detachment and a bit more sincerity on his face. “Thanks for bringing it.”
Seeing Bai Liu take it and walk away, Hou Tong breathed a sigh of relief. But looking down at the bag of expensive ice creams costing over ten yuan, none of which could compare to the five-cent popsicle Fang Dian had casually bought for Bai Liu, she stomped her feet in frustration, her eyes turning slightly red.
Just where was she inferior to Fang Dian!
Why didn’t he ever want her things!
As Bai Liu walked, he casually tore open the popsicle’s wrapper. This kind of cheap popsicle consisted of two stick-shaped ices stuck together.
Lu Yizhan had been looking after him since their time in the welfare home, and was used to sharing half of all food with him. This habit had persisted into high school. Before Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian got together, he would usually share one of these popsicles with Lu Yizhan, one stick each, which was very cost-effective.
But after Lu Yizhan started dating Fang Dian, the two-stick popsicle was only enough for two people. It became awkward when three people were sharing. At those times, Bai Liu, the outsider who was just tagging along, would tactfully withdraw from their private world and go to the office to get water.
The eighteen-year-old Bai Liu thought calmly: finally, it was time for Lu Yizhan to have his own circle.
He didn’t understand why Lu Yizhan had looked after him for over ten years for no reason, but his confusion finally ceased when Fang Dian appeared—perhaps at that time, there was nothing more interesting around for Lu Yizhan to focus on, so he looked after him out of boredom.
But soon, Bai Liu fell into even greater confusion.
He had originally thought Fang Dian’s arrival would set Lu Yizhan on the path of a normal person—getting into a good university, finding a good job after graduation, getting married, having children, making many excellent friends, and living a normal and successful life. In short, his interactions with an edge-dweller like Bai Liu should have ended there.
Just like how the half of the five-cent popsicle Lu Yizhan gave him should have stopped there.
The future Lu Yizhan shouldn’t be eating such cheap popsicles and sharing half with someone like him. They weren’t from the same world to begin with; it was Lu Yizhan who had been forcing it, forcing it to the point of compromising himself.
But… that didn’t happen.
Fang Dian’s arrival didn’t take away the popsicle that belonged to Bai Liu; instead, it resulted in Bai Liu eating one more popsicle each time.
This woman would laugh heartily and also buy a five-cent double-headed popsicle, then give her other stick to Bai Liu, patting his head and saying: “Why are you hiding? I like you a lot, too.”
From then on, the number of popsicles Bai Liu could eat became two, and his confusion doubled.
“Bai Liu!”
A bright and generous voice called out. A girl with a high ponytail, wearing a school uniform and skirt, shouted and laughed from among the crowd. She waved her right hand, her smile brilliant and radiant. The sunlight falling on her became dazzling and warm, dispelling the dead atmosphere of the surroundings:
“Bai Liu! Over here!”
“Come sit by me!”
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Author’s Note:
This instance will explain some of the characters’ backstories, especially regarding some matters from Bai Liu’s high school period. The pace in the beginning is relatively slow; for readers who are anxious, it is suggested to wait until it’s finished to read it all at once.
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*(T/N: I love Fang Dian. I wish she had a more active role in this novel. In Bai Liu’s world line she has no memories of the other world lines, right? Only Lu Yizhan has those memories. So in that world line. Lu Yizhan is Bai Liu’s friend but he has ulterior motives, while Fang Dian is his friend simply because she’s a good person.)*
