The Mute Who Is Loathed by Everyone Has the School Heartthrob as His Childhood Sweetheart. - Chapter 5

When Zhou Ai entered the classroom, the bustling noise instantly vanished.

That morning, he had nearly choked Hu Cheng to death in front of everyone. The scene had been witnessed clearly by his classmates, and they all remembered it vividly. Although the students of Class 1 engaged in various petty acts escalating to large-scale isolation, bullying, and verbal abuse toward Zhou Ai to a sixteen or seventeen-year-old high school student, the move Zhou Ai made that morning was simply too ruthless.

Most of the students in Class 1 were high-achievers with simple lives; their malevolence was still confined within the ivory tower of the school campus. But Zhou Ai was completely different from them. Zhou Ai had truly intended to take Hu Cheng’s life, which was beyond anything they could accept.

As Zhou Ai walked into the classroom, everyone avoided him, looking at him as if he were some kind of malignant virus. They were afraid he would suddenly go mad, afraid he would suddenly lash out, and afraid that the next person pinned to the desk would be themselves.

Zhou Ai was no different than he had always been. He seemed entirely oblivious to the atmosphere he created his back thin, his face expressionless effortlessly fading into any shadow.

He returned to his seat. His deskmate, Jiang Wenyi, still wearing his cast and bandages, sat with his body leaned to one side, deliberately maintaining a distance from him. Zhou Ai knew clearly that the disgust the class felt toward him had finally been bolstered by fear, which was why the “surprise projects” that usually awaited him upon entering the classroom had disappeared; they had begun to fear Zhou Ai’s very existence.

Zhou Ai sat down and found that pale green envelope in his desk bin. From the jagged tear, it was evident that it had been opened carelessly, even brutally.

Beside him, Jiang Wenyi was still secretly eyeing him. Ever since they became deskmates, Jiang Wenyi had always kept his gaze on him first with curiosity, then with loathing, and now, perhaps, with vigilance. It seemed that upon seeing Zhou Ai pick up the envelope, Jiang Wenyi scooted his chair outward. He wasn’t very mobile, so the movement made a loud noise, but this time, no one in the class turned around to gawk or gossip.

“I didn’t open it…” Jiang Wenyi said.

Zhou Ai kept his head bowed, ignoring him.

Jiang Wenyi looked at Zhou Ai’s calm profile and couldn’t help himself, sneering with malicious intent: “Zhou Ai, you won’t be smug for long. There are plenty of people who can’t stand you. You’d better be careful.”

Zhou Ai gathered up the letter, continuing his own business.

Jiang Wenyi could never get any response from Zhou Ai. Regardless of whether he mocked, belittled, or cursed, Zhou Ai remained unresponsive. This rendered all his venting like hitting a cotton ball, leaving him feeling suffocated.

Jiang Wenyi frowned but forced a smile. He leaned closer to Zhou Ai and whispered: “Do you know how I got these injuries? Zhou Ai, you’ll have a day like this, too. The group chat is going crazy Chen Xunfeng can’t stand you. You will only… end up worse than me.”

Zhou Ai finally moved. He simply turned his neck, and Jiang Wenyi pulled away very sensitively, as if terrified that Zhou Ai might touch him.

Jiang Wenyi backed up so abruptly that he bumped into someone else. He turned around and saw the class monitor standing in the aisle next to them.

The class monitor looked down at him with a frown, her eyes filled with a hint of warning. Then, she turned to Zhou Ai and said, “Zhou Ai, let’s go outside and talk.”

After the two walked out of the classroom, they found a quiet corner in the breeze. The class monitor looked up at Zhou Ai, hesitating slightly before speaking: “I heard about what happened this morning from other students. I didn’t see it myself, but they said… the situation was quite serious.”

Zhou Ai faced the sunlight, his eyes squinting against the glare. He turned his head to avoid the light.

“As the class monitor, I want to handle class matters by minimizing them as much as possible. After all, we are all students, and it wasn’t easy for any of us to get into Class 1. Our purpose here is to study.”

Zhou Ai raised his hand to shield his eyes; his fingers appeared almost translucent in the sunlight.

“I talked to Hu Cheng and the others first. They were in the wrong first. If Teacher Qin found out, they wouldn’t be in the right, so their attitude is that they don’t want to blow this up. They want to reconcile with you. If this escalates and involves parents and leadership, it will likely be labeled and categorized.”

The class monitor pressed her lips together and lowered her voice: “For example, ‘bullying’ or ‘discrimination.’ And because of your… special situation, if this escalates, it could become unmanageable, which in turn will affect our studies. Regarding Hu Cheng, he will apologize to you within this week. Whether you accept it is your right, but afterward, as long as I am in this class, I can do my best to ensure they no longer bully you.”

Zhou Ai just looked at her. Even as she spoke so earnestly, Zhou Ai gave no indication of his stance.

The class monitor hesitated briefly and continued: “So… regarding the dangerous behavior this morning, Zhou Ai, you should not do it again. We are all high school students; there is no hatred… intense enough to threaten someone’s life. Everything can be resolved, right?”

Just as the class monitor finished, she suddenly felt an inexplicable wind behind her. Since they were standing in a drafty area, she didn’t think anything of it until a slender hand swiped quickly past her temple, deflecting a basketball heading straight for her.

The basketball bounced thump-thump down the corridor until it was picked up by a strange boy. When the boy saw the class monitor, he showed no sign of apology. From far away, he said with a grin, “Sorry about that,” before continuing to dribble the ball through the aerial corridor toward the teaching building opposite.

When the class monitor turned back, she found that Zhou Ai had already left and returned to the classroom.

Chen Xunfeng sat in the back row of Class 21. The back door of the classroom was wide open, and the early autumn breeze puffed up his T-shirt.

A rhythmic thump-thump-thump of a basketball hitting the ground, erratic and loud, woke him from his dream. Chen Xunfeng rubbed his eyes and propped his body up.

Jiang Chuan sat beside him, head bowed, playing a game passionately. Sensing the movement, he looked over in his spare time: “Xun-er-ge, why are you awake? There are still ten minutes left until class. Sleep a little longer, I’ll call you later.”

Chen Xunfeng had a terrible morning temper. He sat in his seat for ten silent seconds with a cold, “don’t-come-near-me” face before standing up and walking out. Jiang Chuan followed him, phone in hand: “Damn, the afternoon class is Old Wu’s. We can’t skip that.”

The sunlight outside was bright. Chen Xunfeng, having just woken up, couldn’t open his eyes fully against the glare. He shook his numb hands as he walked, saying, “Buying water.”

As he passed a boy carrying a basketball from the class next door, Chen Xunfeng’s loosely swinging hand suddenly turned, pinning the other boy heavily against the nearby wall.

The boy, caught off guard, was slammed against the wall, his basketball rolling onto the floor. He hadn’t even reacted yet: “Damn, Xun-ge…”

Chen Xunfeng frowned, interrupting him in a cold voice: “If I catch you dribbling that piece-of-trash ball in the corridor again, I’ll kick your head like a ball.”

After Chen Xunfeng released the boy and the boy picked up the ball and scurried away, Chen Xunfeng subconsciously looked toward the building opposite.

Across the three-story-high ginkgo trees, through the pale yellow leaves, he finally caught a glimpse of that slender back. Blue and white school uniform, short black hair, and a neck that looked almost translucent against the light. But the back disappeared as soon as it appeared, entering the classroom and vanishing from sight.

Chen Xunfeng withdrew his gaze, looked up slowly, faced the sunlight, and glanced at the blue sky above.

In the dream just now, the weather had been the same blinding sunlight and a clear, piercing blue sky. He was squatting by a sandbox, building a “castle” for someone else. He had finally built a huge castle and was very excited to show it to the person beside him.

Beside him was a boy quite different from himself. He was dirty and messy, while the boy was clean and fresh.

The boy looked at his “castle,” seemingly uninterested, and just pressed his lips together, fishing a tissue from his pocket to wipe the mud off his hands. But before he could wipe it, a rapid thump-thump sounded in his dream, forcing him awake back to reality.

Chen Xunfeng only attended half of the afternoon classes as usual, spending the other half on the basketball court.

When the sunset appeared, they finished their game. Chen Xunfeng wiped away his sweat, ignoring the several bottles of water held out to him. He walked coldly through the crowded court to the end. Suddenly, a slender, white hand appeared in front of him, holding a very plain bottle of mineral water. The slender wrist was circled by a blue school uniform cuff, and the nails were trimmed neatly and cleanly.

Chen Xunfeng paused, his breathing hitching for a beat. He followed that arm up, and at the end of his gaze was the beautiful, brilliant face of a girl. Zhao Yue smiled at him, her words teasing: “Luckily I ran over early. Chen Xunfeng, why did you finish so early today?”

Chen Xunfeng frowned slightly, then let out a breath.

Jiang Chuan came from behind, pulling off the hair tie from his hair as he walked, greeting them with a grin: “Yo, school beauty.”

Zhao Yue looked up at Chen Xunfeng beside her, pretending to hit Jiang Chuan: “Jiang Chuan, don’t talk nonsense, and don’t call me that.”

Dinner was at a hotpot restaurant near the school. The private room was on the second floor. Chen Xunfeng sat by the window; around him, people were noisily ordering food. He looked down at the time on his phone.

Until the numbers on the screen jumped to 18:06, Chen Xunfeng tilted his head toward the window. Across the street was the school’s tree-lined avenue. He counted to five in his heart, and then he saw Zhou Ai’s profile appear at the end of his vision.

The boy was wearing his autumn blue and white school uniform, silver-gray sneakers on his feet, and a bookbag on his back. He was walking quietly across the street. There were many students in school uniforms coming and going, and fallen leaves danced in the wind, but Chen Xunfeng’s gaze was fixed only on that person.

Food had already begun to arrive on the table. Chen Xunfeng watched Zhou Ai walk out of the street, his head turned and unmoving for a long time. Zhao Yue, curious, followed his line of sight: “What exactly is so good to look at? You haven’t even blinked.”

Chen Xunfeng, disturbed, was a bit impatient. Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, he froze midway.

He narrowed his eyes. Within his field of vision, a group of people had been following Zhou Ai at a distance for a while. That group had already followed him through two identical intersections.

Chen Xunfeng hoped he was just being overly sensitive, but he had no room for wishful thinking, nor did he harbor benign speculations about anyone.

He quickly grabbed the jacket on the back of his chair, stood up, and faced the people at the table looking up at him: “I have something to do, I’m leaving.”