The Scorching Sun - 4

 Over in the boys' dormitory, the lights had also been cut for the night.

The five occupants fumbled through the dark for a bit, then quickly settled into their beds.

Up on the top bunk, Yan Lie tossed and turned several times, unable to sleep. Finally, he dropped one arm over the edge of the bed and knocked against the ladder.“Hey, Cake,” he called. “You know anything about your jie’s situation?”

The room quieted, listening in.

Shen Musi was baffled. "I don't have a jie?"

Two seconds later, it clicked. "Oh, you mean Fang Zhuo?”

Fang Zhuo might keep to herself, but her name surfaced in the boys’ dorm fairly often. Especially when she'd first transferred in, she had caused quite a stir back then.

After all, she was strikingly pretty, her face pale and delicate, the very picture of someone who needed protection. That fragile exterior softened her cold aura and gave them all a false sense of courage.

After orbiting around her for a while, however, they'd all woken up to reality. They had underestimated Fang Zhuo and vastly overestimated themselves. The girl was completely impenetrable. She had no good face for any guy who approached her.

"I heard she's got a sharp tongue," Zhao Jiayou recalled. "Some guy from the next class confessed to her once. She roasted him so hard he probably needs therapy now.”

Yan Lie jerked upright. "No way.”

Fang Zhuo? Sharp-tongued? She looked like she'd have to rack her brain for ages just to come up with a single insult.

The guy in the bunk by the window spoke up. “That’s exaggerated. I sat with her for a bit last year. She's not that antisocial, really. Just can't be bothered. The cool, aloof type. When we got assigned to the same cleanup duty, I asked her for help and she always said yes. Pretty easy to get along with, honestly.”

The class monitor from the corner bunk chimed in too. “Yeah. Old Zhao, don't even bring up that guy from the next class. He thought just because Fang Zhuo’s poor and he had some money, he could act all condescending around her. Pissed her off, so she tore into him. I swear those guys all have something wrong with their heads. They treat chasing Fang Zhuo like some kind of challenge run, thinking getting her would earn them bragging rights. Do they ever look at their own sorry faces? No shame whatsoever. If it were me, I’d curse them out too.”

Yan Lie turned his head. His lowered voice sounded tight. "What do you mean?"

The monitor sighed. "Fang Zhuo's circumstances should be pretty rough. I’ve seen her in the cafeteria a few times, always during off-hours, she eats the simplest meals. And she's got no phone. Everyone else has the latest iPhone, but she doesn’t even own a Nokia.”

They wore uniforms every day at school, so the wealth gap wasn’t immediately obvious. And since Fang Zhuo had kept her distance from everyone since transferring, most people wouldn’t notice much unless they were paying particular attention.

They'd all vaguely sensed Fang Zhuo's family situation probably wasn't great. She lived with extreme frugality, everything from the shoes on her feet to her everyday school supplies was cheap and well-worn.

But just how deep that "not great" went, none of them had ever really dug into.

Yan Lie's voice turned cold, carrying an edge in the dark of the night: "That's not what I'm asking. Condescending how?"

He was about to demand him to unpack the word "condescending" when Shen Musi, who'd been lost in thought for a while, suddenly dropped a bombshell. 

"I'll tell you guys in secret, don't breathe a word of this outside. Once we step out of this dorm room, I'm denying everything. Thing is, over break I ran into Fang Zhuo working some under-the-table job. She was sitting in an alley eating a boxed meal, so exhausted her hands were shaking. Her family doesn't seem to care for her. And last year, for the arts festival. Class monitor, remember when you insisted everyone buy matching white outfits? That hundred-something yuan? Fang Zhuo went out and earned it herself, working odd jobs."

Silence.

Then, a collective explosion.

The monitor went off. "Holy crap, why didn't you say something before?"

“I did!” Shen Musi sounded deeply wronged. “When you first brought it up, I kept trying to steer the conversation away! I said it wasn’t necessary! But you criticized me! Said it was our last arts festival together and we needed collective spirit! Everyone backed you up! I couldn't just say in front of everyone that Fang Zhuo had no money, could I? Her pride's so fierce. What was I supposed to do?"

The monitor said, dazed, "I had no idea! Why didn't she apply for financial aid?"

Zhao Jiayou, swept up in the fervor, added, "No wonder I noticed she was looking poorer and poorer."

Yan Lie: "Shh—"

Everyone sucked in a collective breath, forcing their rising voices back down their throats before the dorm supervisor caught on.

Once they'd calmed down, Zhao Jiayou sighed, "I think she's seriously beautiful. Completely my type. Exactly the kind I'm into, you know?”

The conversation hit a sudden, stagnant wall. Four other souls in that dorm room had zero desire to engage him on it.

Zhao Jiayou drifted into his own fantasy. "Say, if I brought her breakfast every day, let her feel the warmth of human connection, do you think she'd be so touched she'd fall with me?"

"Ha." the class president scoffed. "That's probably what those bastards in the next class thought."

Zhao Jiayou immediately bristled. “My intentions are obviously purer! I’m serious! How can you compare me to them? That’s insulting.”

Shen Musi drawled, "The homeroom teacher would probably haul you into her office to feel her warmth for having puppy love first.” 

Zhao Jiayou deflated instantly. "Never mind. Her whole life philosophy is just too torturous."

Everyone figured the topic was over, but Zhao Jiayou, insufferable to the last, started rambling off a string of shameless nonsense. "After all, a guy like me, this handsome, with good grades and good hygiene, is bound to be the teacher's primary surveillance target. The second I make a move, she'll be on high alert..."

Shen Musi silently climbed off his bed, crawled over to Zhao Jiayou's, and forcefully yanked out the pillow to smother his face.

"Shut up!" he raged, having finally been pushed past his limit. "What gives you the right to gross people out in the middle of the night?!"

They wrestled for a bit, exhausting their energy, and finally settled down.

That night, all of them slept fitfully. Their dreams were invaded by a mess of tangled, troubled things.

***

The next morning, Yan Lie and Zhao Jiayou got up early. They went to the cafeteria for breakfast and grabbed takeout for the few lazy bums back in the dorm.

They'd just gotten through the line when they spotted Fang Zhuo's figure in the vast sea of people.

Maybe it was because of last night's conversation, but now, when Zhao Jiayou looked at Fang Zhuo, his gaze was automatically filtered through a lens of pity, as though she were some tragic abandoned waif. Then he noticed the irritating pest hovering beside her, his temper instantly boiled over. A harsh snort blasted from his nose.

He threw an arm over Yan Lie's shoulder, jabbed a finger forward, and declared with righteous fury, "Let's go. A hero's duty: rescue the beauty!"

The two walked up behind Fang Zhuo just in time to see Bai Lufei, face thick as a brick, laying it on with a greasy spiel. "Why'd you give me money? I bought the stuff for you willingly. Don't misunderstand. I just want to be friends."

Fang Zhuo shot him a sideways glance. Even from a bystander’s perspective, that look radiated pure impatience. "And?"

Bai Lufei smiled. "And express some friendly care between classmates."

Zhao Jiayou pulled a disgusted face. Afraid that Fang Zhuo wasn't good at fending off pests, he was about to speak up. But Fang Zhuo set her stainless steel bowl down on the table, her patience officially gone. “You’re not lacking care,” she said coolly. “You’re lacking several screws in your head. That’s why normal human speech doesn’t register with you.”

 

Bai Lufei: "..."

Fang Zhuo held up her chopsticks. “Considering how much of the motherland’s grain you’ve consumed over the years, you're at least a reserve labor asset. I wouldn't mind lodging one of these right in the top of your skull to help."

Zhao Jiayou: "..."

Fang Zhuo smiled coldly. "Need me to?"

Yan Lie: "..."

Yan Lie's Adam's apple bobbed, a shiver ran through him. He leaned over to his buddy and whispered, “Still planning to bring her breakfast every day and warm her heart?”

Zhao Jiayou shook his head, deeply fearful for his past lack of judgment. He said, humbly, "I'm afraid she'd turn my skull into an incense burner."

Bai Lufei's face cycled through shades of white and green.

Fang Zhuo gripped the rim of her bowl. Her emotionless stare locked onto him. If Bai Lufei took even one step closer, she would not hesitate to fling this bowl of congee straight into his face.

Before any sparks could fly, Yan Lie dropped into the seat right between them.

Fang Zhuo's gaze shifted down to him, brows arching slightly.

Yan Lie propped his chin on one hand. "Morning," he greeted brightly.

The boy's hair was a little messy, curled at the ends. He grinned, eyes curving into crescents as the bright light from the cafeteria entrance made his clear irises glow, a brilliant, infectious smile lit up his face.

He flicked his gaze toward a certain direction.

Fang Zhuo stared at his face for a long beat. Her knuckle-white grip on the bowl loosened. Ignoring the idiot still hovering there, she lowered her head and resumed eating her congee in silence.

Zhao Jiayou positioned himself in front of Bai Lufei, grinning. "Teacher's right over there. Come any closer and I'm yelling harassment. Also, from now on, if you've got nothing important, stop bothering Fang Zhuo. Every time she sees you, she has to invent brand-new insults. Do you know how exhausting that is?”

Bai Lufei ground his teeth. Before he could get a word out, Zhao Jiayou physically steered him off toward some other part of the cafeteria.

After Bai Lufei was gone, Yan Lie took his breakfast and left too. Fang Zhuo finished eating, tidied her tray, and walked slowly back to the classroom.

***

Following morning exercises and the long break afterward, students flooded noisily off the sports field. Shen Musi dragged Yan Lie to the school store.

The place was packed. Yan Lie hated crowds, so he waited outside.

The floor-to-ceiling windows hadn't been cleaned in ages and were smeared with a film of grime. Tall and broad, Yan Lie stood out wherever he was. He'd found a spot in the shadows, and as he turned, he caught sight of Fang Zhuo through the mottled glass, standing in front of a shelf.

She was bent over, searching through the dazzling array of goods. A moment later, she picked up a pair of shoes, checked the price tag, let out a tiny breath of what looked like relief, and put them back.

Yan Lie smiled to himself at the sight. By the time he got back to the classroom, Fang Zhuo was already there.

As if oblivious, he pulled his chair back and sat down, idly flipping through a book on his desk—and found fifty yuan tucked inside.

"Whoa." He pocketed the money, delighted, then spotted the two strawberry cakes sitting at the corner of his desk and laughed under his breath. "How'd the God of Wealth know I love little cakes?"

Fang Zhuo had been trying not to look at him, but at that line, she couldn’t help glancing over. At that exact moment, Yan Lie's appraising gaze collided with hers.

He raised the cake in salute, smiling openly. "Thanks!"  

Fang Zhuo gave a soft "Mm."

...Clueless straight guy.

Fang Zhuo lowered her head thoughtfully.

So what does that make Bai Lufei and his ilk? Industrial waste? 

---

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