After being reprimanded by Yan Ruiping and Hu Fei, Wan Kun and Wu Yueming seemed to behave themselves for a few days. For at least the next week, they all came to class obediently and didn't cause any trouble.
The following day in Chinese class, Wan Kun leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the desk. There was nothing on the desk—it was unclear what he was looking at.
After class, He Lizhen was walking toward the office when she heard a low voice say, "Come here." Then a figure passed by her. Wan Kun strode past He Lizhen, and she stopped, watching his figure disappear around the corner.
The abandoned storage room.
He Lizhen pursed her lips and walked over.
Wan Kun was waiting for her inside.
He Lizhen closed the door and turned to look at him.
The room was no different from before, except for a little more dust.
Wan Kun stood there casually, hands in his pockets.
He Lizhen asked, "What is it?"
Wan Kun glanced at her, casually pulled something from the back of his pants, and tossed it onto the table beside him. He Lizhen looked over—it was his weekly journal.
This notebook was truly pitiful with its owner. It hadn't been filled with much writing, and it was already worn out, crumpled and almost torn to pieces.
He Lizhen said, "What are you doing with your journal?"
Wan Kun pointed at the notebook, looking arrogant, and said, "How can you be a teacher like this?"
He Lizhen was taken aback. "What?"
"You're being too perfunctory." Wan Kun looked around, then said coolly, "I wrote this to you with such seriousness, and you just reply so casually? Can't you take some responsibility?"
He Lizhen ignored his attitude, adhering to the life philosophy of admitting mistakes, and carefully recalled what she had written. "Oh..." she remembered, and said, "I told you to study hard and improve every day, how is that casual?"
Wan Kun was speechless, glaring and taking a step forward.
"I apologized to you, and this is what you write for me?"
He Lizhen looked at him strangely. "What else would you like me to write?"
"I..."
Wan Kun suddenly stammered, then turned his back, stepping on the table leg, and casually said, "Anyway, not this."
He Lizhen looked at him. The boy was backlit, his profile a robust and vigorous arc. Wan Kun seemed to have a grudge against that table, stomping on it again and again.
He Lizhen couldn't help but say, "Stop messing with that table."
Wan Kun turned his head and glanced at her.
He Lizhen said, "The weekly journal is just practice—it's not really useful. Besides, I wrote that for you because I genuinely hope you can study hard and have a pleasant time at school. Also, the teacher won't be perfunctory—the teacher treats everyone equally."
"Oh?" Wan Kun suddenly raised an eyebrow. He Lizhen stood calmly under his "I don't believe you" gaze. Wan Kun's expression changed, as if he had evidence in hand. He pulled another notebook from behind his clothes and threw it on the table.
"And this one?"
He Lizhen looked over. This journal was very well preserved, with only two recent marks, indicating that Wan Kun had just made them. The cover of the notebook bore the owner's name—Wu Wei.
He Lizhen suddenly felt a toothache.
Wan Kun stared at He Lizhen without saying a word, as if waiting to see her panic after her "lie" was exposed.
He Lizhen took a deep breath and said, "Why did you take someone else's journal?" No, she should have asked more specifically. "The journals have already been distributed. Wu Wei's journal should be in his own hands. How did you get his journal?"
Wan Kun ignored her questioning completely, pointing to the notebook and saying, "You wrote hundreds of words in every comment you gave him, but only eight words for me. You still dare to say you weren't just giving me a perfunctory answer?"
He Lizhen said, "Are you bullying Wu Wei?"
Wan Kun said, "You have the nerve to say you treat everyone equally."
He Lizhen suddenly became furious. She slammed her hand on the table next to her.
"I asked you if you bullied Wu Wei!"
Wan Kun's temper flared. With a forceful swing of his arm, he flung the table a meter away, sending two notebooks crashing to the floor, raising a cloud of dust.
He took a few steps, standing in front of He Lizhen, his face rough and ferocious.
"I did bully him, so what?"
He Lizhen trembled with anger. "Looks like Teacher Yan and Teacher Hu didn't discipline you enough. Don't worry, once isn't enough, there'll be another time!"
He Lizhen turned to leave, but Wan Kun said calmly behind her, "Fine, go find them. It's just getting beaten up, what's the big deal?"
He Lizhen recalled the previous scene and slowly stopped. She calmed herself down, slowly turned her head, and said to Wan Kun, "I don't want you to get hit either, and I don't expect you to be as attentive in class as Wu Wei, but at the very least, you have to follow the rules and not disturb others."
"And—" He Lizhen glanced at the two journals on the ground and said, "Don't just look at things from your own perspective. I wrote a lot of comments for Wu Wei because he wrote a lot in his journals. Learning and life are the same—if you want something in return, you have to put in the effort. Don't always think about getting something for nothing."
Wan Kun stood there, his head tilted slightly as he looked at He Lizhen, his face expressionless.
He Lizhen assumed he was thinking about her words and waited a while, but there was still no response.
"Do you understand?"
Wan Kun nodded and slowly said, "So, if I write more, you'll write more for me, right?"
"..." Sometimes He Lizhen really wanted to crack open his head and see what was so different about his thought process compared to a normal person.
Wan Kun said okay, then picked up the journals and was about to leave. He Lizhen suddenly said, "And one more thing!"
Wan Kun slowly turned around.
"I'm telling you, don't bully your classmates." He Lizhen stared into Wan Kun's eyes and said seriously, "If I find out, I will definitely not show you any mercy."
"Just tell me not to touch that fat guy." Wan Kun said lazily, "If you want me to leave him alone, don't try to fool me like that next time." After saying that, he walked past her like an emperor granting a general amnesty.
He Lizhen was dumbfounded. She felt that she would never see another student like this in her life.
When Wan Kun's hand was on the doorknob, He Lizhen remembered something else.
"You..."
Wan Kun turned his head. "Hmm?"
He Lizhen said, "How's your back injury? Did Teacher Yan hit you when she hit you?"
Wan Kun smiled and said, "Who told you she only hit me once?"
"What?"
Wan Kun said, "It's nothing, don't worry."
"Did you apply the medicine properly when you got back?"
"Yes."
He Lizhen realized he was lying in less than half a second.
"It's your own body, can't you take care of yourself?"
Wan Kun turned to face He Lizhen, his expression finally clearing up a bit.
"I live alone, no one applies the medicine for me."
He Lizhen said, "Don't you have any friends? What about Wu Yueming?"
Wan Kun didn't reply, turning his back and saying, "If you're really that worried, then apply the medicine for me." After saying that, he didn't wait for He Lizhen's reply, opened the door and left.
He Lizhen stayed there, listening to the school bell outside, thinking of his broad back, and felt her ears getting hot.
That afternoon, she was sitting in her office when Peng Qian stood at the window and said to her, "Look, Class Six is having PE."
He Lizhen thought, Of course I know they're having PE. In fact, she probably knew Class Six's schedule better than Hu Fei. He Lizhen went to the windowsill, where Peng Qian was holding a teacup, looking outside.
Two classes were having PE on the playground. He Lizhen's gaze swept over them and found the boy. Perhaps his back injury had almost healed—he was playing basketball with others.
He Lizhen recognized that the other team was from Class 5. She also taught Chinese to Class 5 and recognized the student leading the group as Fu Li, a rather troublesome student.
"Who do you think will win?" Peng Qian was also watching the court.
"I don't understand basketball," He Lizhen said.
"Score points, what's there to not understand?"
He Lizhen didn't speak. Peng Qian said, "I think Class 6 will win."
He Lizhen glanced at her, but Peng Qian didn't turn her head, keeping her eyes fixed on the court below. "What do you think?"
He Lizhen stood by the window, looking down. She wanted to watch the game fairly and objectively, but her gaze involuntarily lingered on one person.
In just over ten minutes, Wan Kun had scored twenty points. He was sweating profusely and lifted his shirt to wipe his face.
Every time he jumped, girls cheered.
A moment later, Class Six scored another goal. This goal was slightly controversial—the boy who scored bumped into a student from Class Five when he jumped. The students from Class Five, who had been constantly pressured, were like dried-up straw, instantly ignited by this spark. Fu Li walked over and shoved the boy.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Peng Qian exclaimed, as if watching a good show. "They're starting a fight."
He Lizhen was a little nervous. She saw the students from both classes standing on opposite sides of the field. Class Five was on the left, with Fu Li leading the charge. Class Six was on the right, with Wu Yueming leading the charge. After searching for a while, she finally spotted Wan Kun leaning against the goalpost, rubbing his shoes.
It seemed like there was sand in Wan Kun's shoes, making him very uncomfortable—it took him a while to clean them.
Since Wan Kun didn't speak, the students from Class Six didn't dare to say anything either. Fu Li pointed at Wan Kun and yelled, "Wan Kun, don't be so cocky! Who do you think you are!"
Wan Kun adjusted his shoes, fastened his belt, and then slowly walked to the front of the line. He got hot from playing ball, lifted his shirt halfway up, revealing half his belly, and poked at Fu Li like a thug, smiling gently and raising his eyebrows, saying, "Sorry, I'm used to showing off. What do you think?"
Fu Li's nostrils flared with anger, and he threw a punch.
He Lizhen exclaimed in the office, "Where's Teacher Hu? Quickly find Teacher Hu!" She looked down at her phone, wanting to call Hu Fei. Peng Qian, watching with great interest, said, "That's really exciting."
He Lizhen turned her head and saw that in the blink of an eye, Fu Li had been knocked down by Wan Kun, pinned to the ground and beaten, with no chance to fight back. The students in Class 5 couldn't stand it anymore. Someone shouted, and the boys from both classes started fighting like crazy. The surrounding students rarely saw such a real-life brawl, so they pushed back five meters, found good spots, cheered, and took pictures.
He Lizhen was almost in tears. "Peng Qian, stop looking!"
"Tch." Peng Qian finally looked away and comforted He Lizhen, saying, "It's okay, look, they're here."
He Lizhen looked over, and sure enough, several people rushed over from the entrance of the playground. Hu Fei, Yan Ruiping, and several male teachers, carrying sticks, went up.
After a long commotion, Wan Kun, Fu Li, and the others who were leading the charge were taken away by Yan Ruiping. As Wan Kun walked outside, he seemed to glance up at the office.
"How nice," Peng Qian suddenly said.
He Lizhen didn't understand. "What?"
Peng Qian said leisurely, "Youth, how nice."
"..." He Lizhen was skeptical of this idea of youth.
"I broke up with my boyfriend."
Peng Qian's sudden words stunned He Lizhen. She looked at Peng Qian, whose gaze remained fixed on the window.
"... What happened?" He Lizhen asked.
"He works at the Industry and Commerce Bureau, and he's four years younger than me," Peng Qian said expressionlessly. "He just graduated not long ago."
He Lizhen and Peng Qian were good friends—they often went out to eat and shop together. But this was the first time Peng Qian had mentioned her boyfriend to He Lizhen.
"That's why," Peng Qian said with an indifferent expression, looking at He Lizhen, "Young people are just not persistent." She held her teacup as if it were a winter warmer.
"Especially men..." Peng Qian said, "Like just now, when they're in the mood, they dare to do anything and say anything, as if they really care. But once the mood wears off, they change faster than anyone else."
Finally, she took a sip of water and said, "Young people are just playful."
After saying that, she turned around, and before He Lizhen could even say a word of comfort, she had already returned to her seat.
He Lizhen slowly turned her head, stood by the window, and looked at the playground.
A girl chased after Wan Kun and handed him a drink. Yan Ruiping told her to go first, but she didn't hesitate, casually tossing the drink into Wan Kun's arms. Wan Kun glanced at her indifferently, unscrewed the cap, and drank it.
Behind them, the boisterous shouts of students echoed across the wide playground. A gust of wind swept through, carrying dust and fallen leaves.
He Lizhen stood by the window, watching the lively scene below, chuckled softly, and then turned and left.
Thoughts on Chapter 17
Wan Kun steals Wu Wei's journal to prove He Lizhen shows favoritism (she wrote hundreds of words for Wu Wei vs. eight for him), revealing his need for her attention even as he bullies the same student. When He Lizhen explains she writes more because Wu Wei writes more, Wan Kun completely misses the life lesson and focuses only on "so if I write more, you'll write more for me?"—his singular focus on gaining her attention is both frustrating and endearing. The revelation that he lives alone and has no one to help apply medicine to his injured back adds pathos to his tough-guy persona. His casual "If you're really that worried, then apply the medicine for me" leaves He Lizhen flustered.
The basketball fight showcases Wan Kun's dominance and recklessness, while Peng Qian's breakup confession provides adult perspective: "Young people are just playful... once the mood wears off, they change faster than anyone else." The warning hangs over He Lizhen as she watches a girl give Wan Kun a drink after the fight—a reminder that his attention, however intense now, may be fleeting.
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