Over the next few days, Lin Ran gradually got used to the atmosphere in Class S. Once he did, the pressure didn’t feel all that overwhelming. It wasn’t hard to see that while the teachers pushed you, they also helped you unwind. Every day at noon, Ye Qingqian would call Lin Ran to the office to help out. If there was work to do, he did it; if there wasn’t, he got stuck with odd jobs. Lin Ran’s face clearly showed how unhappy he was, but he never actually snapped at Ye Qingqian. He just did the work without complaint. The upside was that Ye Qingqian had said good performance in the Student Council could give him priority when it came to joining the Youth League or even the Party—either way, it could help him in the future. For his own sake, Lin Ran decided to put up with it for now.

By the time school let out on Friday evening, Lin Ran had gathered his things and gone to meet Lin Ruixue, bringing Su Shijie along too. The four of them headed home together.

Not long after they left the school gates, four unfriendly-looking boys blocked Lin Ran’s way. Standing beside the one in front was Yuchi Yanran, the girl who’d badmouthed Lin Ruixue behind her back.

Lin Ran glanced at them. From the way they were dressed, they didn’t look like street thugs, but they had a delinquent air about them. They didn’t seem like good people.

“What do you want?” Lin Ran asked calmly.

The boy at the front gave a small smile. He didn’t seem particularly hostile. “I need to talk to you about something, but first, let me make sure. Your name’s Lin Ran, right?”

“You guys here to start trouble?” Su Shijie asked with a grin. He and Lin Ran never went looking for trouble, but if trouble came to them, they weren’t afraid of it either.

“Not exactly. I just wanted to remind you that you’re not the only person in the world who sticks up for their own. My name’s Yuchi Chen. I’m Yanran’s older brother,” the boy at the front said with a polite smile.

The other boys behind him were all smiling, too. They didn’t seem especially hostile—not like street thugs, with their greasy grins and obnoxious, asking-for-a-punch way of talking.

“I didn’t expect a girl who has a grudge against Yanran to be this cute!” remarked one of the rather handsome boys, admiring Lin Ruixue.

Lin Ruixue shrank behind Lin Ran, looking terrified.

“You want to fight? If you do, let’s find somewhere out of the way. We’re pretty close to the school gates.” Lin Ran was completely calm. He wasn’t afraid of a fight. Sure, the four in front of him outnumbered him and were older, but he hadn’t spent the whole two-month summer vacation training for nothing. He might not come out ahead if they fought, but at least he wouldn’t let himself get pushed around.

But Yuchi Chen just smiled and shook his head. “We’re not fighting. Only street thugs enjoy doing something as tasteless as that. I’m not here to start trouble with you, either. I know what Yanran’s like—she loves getting herself into trouble. She told me she was the one who’d been wronged, but after seeing you all, I could guess she was the one who started it.”

“Hey, don’t go looking for a fight over everything. We don’t like fighting. If something can be settled peacefully, then settle it peacefully. If it really can’t, we’ll talk about what comes next. Always jumping straight to fighting and killing is pretty stupid,” said the boy who’d just teased Lin Ruixue, still smiling.

Lin Ran couldn’t make sense of them. What exactly had they come here for?

“Then go on. What do you want to do?” Su Shijie asked with a cheerful smile.

“It’s simple. Look, you’re a guy, after all. Shouting at a girl in front of the whole class isn’t a good look. She started the trouble, and she apologized to your sister, but shouldn’t you apologize to mine for what happened too?” Yuchi Chen said with a smile, pointing at Yuchi Yanran.

Lin Ran smiled and shook his head.

Yuchi Chen’s expression darkened. They were just trying to settle things fairly and ask for an apology. Did Lin Ran really have to make things unpleasant for everyone? Was he determined to turn this into a fight?

“Dude, forget about getting an apology. This guy’s got a nasty temper and won’t apologize. Besides, your sister started this in the first place. Have you even asked her what she said about that girl behind her back? You can forget about an apology. So here’s how it goes: either you go on your way, or we settle it with a fight. There’s no way he’s apologizing.” Su Shijie stared down Yuchi Chen and the other three boys without backing down.

Yuchi Chen frowned. Lin Ran sure had a hard head. But thinking it over, he had a point. Under normal circumstances, a grown man wouldn’t yell at a girl over a minor squabble between girls, much less try to hit her—unless he wasn’t much of a man to begin with, or something seriously out of line had happened.

“Hey, don’t push your luck. We’re just talking about what happened. If you did something wrong, then you did something wrong. What’s so honorable about a grown man picking on a girl?” another boy said in displeasure.

“Honestly, I don’t really want to waste time arguing with you. But since you don’t seem to mean any harm, I don’t mind explaining it. You think it’s shameful for a guy to bully a girl? Fine. Then let me ask you this: is it honorable to stick up for someone who goes around slandering another girl, spreading rumors that she sells herself? She’s so young, and already has such a malicious streak. If she was raised with no manners, then don’t let her out to embarrass herself.” Lin Ran said with a cold laugh.

Lin Ran’s words made all four boys turn to look at Yuchi Yanran. If that was really what had happened, then the girl had gone way too far. Saying something so malicious was completely disgraceful.

“Did you say that?” Yuchi Chen asked Yuchi Yanran, his voice edged with anger. If it had just been some ordinary squabble, he wouldn’t have minded smoothing things over for his troublemaking little sister. But if the dispute was over something like this, he couldn’t let her off the hook. If words like that got around, they could cause a girl tremendous emotional harm—enough to ruin her life. Rumors grew with every retelling, and by the end, who knew what version people would be spreading?

“No, I didn’t say she was selling herself! I just told the girl next to me that she had a boyfriend even though she’d only just started high school. She always acts so pitiful, too. All I said was that she was pretending to be pathetic. I didn’t say anything that awful!” Yuchi Yanran explained.

“Bullshit! Why are you denying it now? Wasn’t it your deskmate who asked Xiaoxue after school how much she charged?” Si Qing snapped angrily.

“You’re the one talking bullshit! I really didn’t say that. They made that up themselves!” Yuchi Yanran shot back.

“That’s enough! Both of you, shut up!” Yuchi Chen cut in, his voice low and stern.

Yuchi Chen looked at Lin Ran, then at Yuchi Yanran. “Let’s leave it at that. Sorry for holding you up. We won’t ask for an apology, either. Let’s go.”

“Bro!” Yuchi Yanran tugged at Yuchi Chen’s arm, unhappy.

Yuchi Chen glared at her.

Lin Ran left with Lin Ruixue and Si Qing. Su Shijie hurried after them.

Once they were out of sight, Yuchi Chen’s smile vanished. He turned to Yuchi Yanran. “How many times have I told you not to go around saying whatever pops into your head? Did any of it get through to you? Have I never warned you about this? Haven’t I told you what happened? Back in high school, over some stupid little thing, a girl spread a rumor behind another girl’s back. Before long, the whole school was repeating it, and they drove a perfectly good girl to jump off a building. Haven’t I told you how much damage rumors can do to someone?”

“A-Chen, don’t talk to her like that. You’re going to scare Yanran,” said the handsome boy, tugging at Yuchi Chen’s sleeve to remind him.

“Look at how much trouble you’ve caused over the years. How many times has our family had to clean up after you? Is that still not enough? Do you want Mom and Dad worrying themselves sick? Are you happy when people say you have no manners? Yanran, listen to me. There are some things we can let you get away with, but this isn’t one of them. Ever since you started getting into trouble, I’ve told you again and again: learn how to be a decent person before you try to get things done. With a personality like yours, one day you’ll pick a fight with someone you shouldn’t. You feel wronged, is that it? Fine. I’ve said enough. Let’s go home. If you want to cry, go cry to Mom and Dad. We’ll see if they defend you.” Yuchi Chen was furious. She was his precious little sister, but he couldn’t just indulge her this time. What had happened back in high school was still fresh in his mind. A girl who’d been good at school and well-behaved had jumped off a building because of those rumors. This wasn’t just troublemaking. It was killing someone!

“A-Chen, honestly, you didn’t have to say it like that. Come on, Yanran, don’t cry. Your brother’s so mean—we’ll just ignore him.” The handsome boy sighed helplessly and pulled Yuchi Yanran closer, coming to her defense.

The other two boys could only smile wryly. They couldn’t blame Yuchi Chen for being this angry. He’d always been fiercely protective of his family, but now he wasn’t taking Yanran’s side. They’d been Yuchi Chen’s classmates in high school, too. What had happened back then was… And Yuchi Chen had been raised right; that was why he always tried to discuss things politely and settle them peacefully whenever trouble came up. Only if that failed would he consider other means. In the end, Yanran had been spoiled a little by her family and had developed a bit of a princess attitude. As far as this incident went, if she went home and cried to her parents, they’d probably scold her again, too.

They’d planned to go out and have fun that evening, but the whole incident left Yuchi Chen in no mood to go anywhere.

When Yuchi Chen brought Yuchi Yanran home, she immediately let her princess attitude take over. She tossed her schoolbag aside and went to her room to sulk. Yuchi Chen was at a loss. That girl really knew how to make him love her and hate her at the same time.

Yuchi Chen’s parents came over to ask what had happened. He gave them a wry smile and explained everything. As expected, they were pretty angry when they heard about it—not at Yuchi Chen, but at Yuchi Yanran. Luckily, Yuchi Chen stopped them. Otherwise, they would’ve lectured the girl all over again.

His mother scolded Yuchi Yanran through the bedroom door, clearly furious. How could she say something like that?

Before long, though, his parents looked at Yuchi Chen with some hesitation.

“You still remember what happened back then…” his father asked cautiously.

Yuchi Chen’s face tightened. He took a deep breath and waved them off. “I’m going to check on Yanran.”

His parents could only sigh helplessly. Ever since Yuchi Chen had gone through that experience in high school, he’d had a particular hatred for people who talked behind others’ backs. And now this had practically brought the whole incident back to life. No wonder Yuchi Chen was so angry—not even taking Yanran’s side.

Yuchi Chen stood outside the door, switching between getting angry and trying to coax her for ages, but Yuchi Yanran refused to open it. He kept at it a little longer, and finally she opened the door. She stood there, glaring at him, clearly unhappy.

“Yanran, I know I went too far just now. I’m sorry,” Yuchi Chen said, apologizing with an ingratiating smile.

“I really didn’t say that! They made it up later. It wasn’t me!” Yuchi Yanran pouted, hurt. She might like getting into trouble, but she really wouldn’t say something like that. What she’d told the girl who sat next to her was that Lin Ruixue had a boyfriend even though she’d only just started high school, that she always acted all pitiful in class and it was annoying, and that several boys seemed to like her. Who knew how that had turned into a rumor that Lin Ruixue was doing that kind of thing for money?

Seeing the hurt look on Yuchi Yanran’s face, Yuchi Chen nodded. “If you didn’t say it, then you didn’t say it. I just wanted you to understand that talking badly about people behind their backs isn’t something to be proud of.”

“Mm.” Yuchi Yanran nodded.

“Not mad anymore?” Yuchi Chen asked with a smile, patting Yuchi Yanran on the head.

“I’m mad!” Yuchi Yanran snapped.

“All right, all right. Don’t be mad. I’ll take you out tomorrow, okay?” Yuchi Chen said with a smile.

“No. You have to do my homework for me,” Yuchi Yanran said.

“Fine, fine. I’ll do your homework. Happy now?” Yuchi Chen gave in helplessly. He’d been doing her homework for her since middle school and had lost count of how many assignments he’d done. Still, at least she was doing pretty well in school—she’d made it into Class A at No. 5 High School.

After comforting Yuchi Yanran, Yuchi Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Back in his room, he picked up a photo frame from his desk. Inside was a girl wearing an Eighth High School uniform and glasses. There was a hint of shyness in her smile. Looking at it, Yuchi Chen couldn’t help smiling. Then, as he kept smiling, tears began to fall. She was the girl he’d loved most.

On the back of the photo frame were three characters and two numbers.

Gong Xinle, 6.1.