Three Letters

During the afternoon self-study session, Teacher Luo and another teacher from the academic affairs office, Teacher Sun, arrived to announce that Class One would be voting for a new class monitor.

This decision wasn't unexpected by Li Ye.

With the top students from the three classes reassembled into Retake Class One, re-electing a class monitor made sense. It would also help minimize the negative impact of the previous class monitor's removal.

Teacher Sun wrote the names of the three candidates on the blackboard: Hu Man, the former monitor of Retake Class Two; Zheng Qiang, the former study committee member of Retake Class Three; and Xia Yue, the original monitor of Class One.

Li Ye found this interesting.

Retake Class One was already the advanced class. This time, over thirty students were transferred in, while the students transferred from the other two classes combined were less than twenty. With these numbers, was there really any suspense in the election results?

Teacher Luo's intention to maintain stability was good. Having Xia Yue continue as class monitor would indeed benefit the class's integration and stability, but this was before Li Ye caused that incident.

Now that Li Ye had publicly questioned Xia Yue's character, how could Teacher Luo convince everyone to still trust Xia Yue?

If Xia Yue were still made class monitor, wouldn't Li Ye be constantly annoyed to death?

Teacher Luo was also quite annoyed at the moment.

He had spoken with Xia Yue about the "private opening of mail packages" that morning, informing her in advance that they were preparing to replace the class monitor.

However, Xia Yue was bold and resourceful. At noon, she went directly to the principal's office, adamantly claiming she had undeniable credibility in Class One. She even accused Li Ye of seeking personal revenge and maliciously slandering her.

In her view, opening Li Ye's mail was merely "helping a classmate," at most an unintentional mistake.

Thus, this class monitor election came about. However, Xia Yue didn't completely escape consequences; she was required to write a letter of apology and read it aloud in class as a self-criticism.

Xia Yue readily agreed. What was a letter of apology? As long as she could remain class monitor, there would be plenty of opportunities for Li Ye to apologize to her later.

Just you wait, if I don't ruin your reputation, Li Ye, my name isn't Xia. You still want to join the Youth League or the Party? Dream on!

Li Ye wrote Hu Man's name on his paper and folded it, preparing to hand it to the students counting the votes. Suddenly, he felt his elbow being nudged by his deskmate.

Little Mute, Wen Leyu, stretched her neck and gestured with her chin towards Li Ye's note, her expressive eyes clearly asking, Who did you vote for? Let me see.

Li Ye unfolded the paper and showed it to her. Wen Leyu nodded and then wrote Hu Man's name on her own ballot.

After that, she poked Li Ye's arm again and pushed a folded note towards him.

Why did that Xia Yue intercept your mail? Was it a letter from Lu Jingyao? What did it say?

"..."

Li Ye tilted his head, looking at Wen Leyu's clear, autumn-water eyes about thirty centimeters away, trying to figure out what this little girl was getting at.

Did this little girl have the potential to be a gossip queen?

Wen Leyu hadn't even entered the classroom when Li Ye and Xia Yue argued about Lu Jingyao's letter that morning! How did she know about it?

But after staring at each other for nearly ten seconds, Li Ye couldn't detect any hint of gossip. Instead, he felt a sense of... care.

"Zheng Qiang, one vote."

"Hu Man, one vote."

"Hu Man, one vote."

"Xia Yue, one vote."

Teacher Luo began announcing the votes, while three students meticulously drew tally marks on the blackboard. Below the podium, Xia Yue's fingers were so tightly clenched that her fingernails dug into her flesh.

How can my vote count be even lower than Hu Man's? Are all of Class One's votes at the back? It must be...

But as the vote counting continued, Xia Yue's expression grew increasingly grim.

Hu Man's name already had five tally marks. With only fifty students in the class, no matter how optimistic Xia Yue was, she knew her chances were gone.

She couldn't understand why, out of the more than thirty students who were originally in Class One, they weren't supporting her but instead supporting Hu Man, an "outsider"!

Li Ye, however, understood.

The wicked do evil, yet are unaware of it.

Looking at the sense of superiority Xia Yue displayed today, one could guess how overbearing her usual demeanor was. It was likely that the students in Class One had suffered her PUA before.

Now that there was an opportunity for a new election, how could she, a domineering, plain-looking, and overconfident woman, compare to Hu Man, who had a gentle personality and outstanding looks?

Were the high school students in the 1980s split 50/50 between males and females?

That's a joke. The majority of girls aged seventeen or eighteen were expected to go home and work after junior high. High school girls were definitely a minority.

Seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys were very emotional. A capable class monitor could indeed collect homework more efficiently, but a beautiful and gentle class monitor was the popular choice.

"Alright, let's welcome Hu Man as our new monitor for Class One."

"There's also one more thing... Xia Yue has recognized her mistake and has voluntarily apologized to Li Ye. Now, please welcome Xia Yue to the stage."

Teacher Luo gave Xia Yue a meaningful glance and stepped aside from the lectern.

Xia Yue didn't know how she walked onto the stage, nor how she finished reading the apology letter in her hand.

At that moment, only one thought occupied her mind: utter humiliation, utter humiliation, it was simply utter humiliation.

Inside the discipline office of County No. 1 High School, Lu Zixue was writing with tears in his eyes.

After Li Ye snatched his bicycle away last week, he waited for his older sister to smooth things over for him.

However, before his sister could even make a move, Director Yao from the Disciplinary Office called him over and asked if he had brought the bicycle permit for that Phoenix bicycle.

Lu Zixue didn't have a bicycle permit!

Several days had passed, and he thought Director Yao had forgotten about it!

Director Yao had indeed "intended to forget" it. After all, he had been a teacher for so many years and understood that a student's fragile heart needed to be protected.

But that morning, the X Police Station in the west of the city had called directly, asking if a bicycle robbery had occurred at the school entrance last Saturday.

This was utterly humiliating. If he didn't vent his anger, it would be bad for his health, so he had Lu Zixue brought over to be the target of his frustration.

Lu Zixue had no choice but to write a self-criticism on the spot, roaring internally as he wrote.

[What a profound humiliation! What a profound humiliation! Li Ye and I are irreconcilable enemies!]

However, revenge and settling scores required strength, something neither Lu Zixue nor Xia Yue possessed at the moment. Thus, they both simultaneously thought of someone "with strength."

That evening, two letters were mailed into mailboxes near County First High School and County Second High School, then they sped off, heading straight for Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Meanwhile, Li Ye opened the letter from Lu Jingyao during evening study hall.

[Li Ye, long time no see. The feeling you give me is unfamiliar. Where has that kind, generous, and responsible man gone?]

[Return the car to my brother. He is still young and cannot withstand gossip and criticism. Don't worry, I will definitely repay you the money for the bicycle with interest.]

Li Ye finished reading Lu Jingyao's letter in surprise, then shook his head vigorously, finally confirming he was still in '81, not back in the '23 where boxers flew everywhere.

He originally didn't want to have any more dealings with Lu Jingyao, but now he couldn't help but pick up his pen and write a reply on the back of the letter.

[Your brother can't withstand gossip and criticism? But I can? My family can withstand gossip and criticism?]

[Do you know what they call me at school now because you sent money to the school? I only took back my own money, how did I become Huang Shiren? If I don't repay the money, will you drag me away to settle the debt? You're so cunning, would you let me settle the debt?]

[When my family helped you repair your house, why didn't you say I was Huang Shiren? When our family helped your father transfer jobs? Why didn't you say I was a dog landlord?

Since you accepted our family's benefits with a clear conscience, why are you now twisting the truth and pretending to be an innocent victim?]

[Since you chose to pursue your freedom, why do you still interfere in my life? Why do you ask me to be magnanimous and give the bicycle to your brother? Isn't it shameless to want it both ways?]

[Let's not contact each other anymore. Swans that have flown into the sky, please do not harass the frogs at the bottom of the well. Even if one day he becomes a prince, it will have nothing to do with you anymore.]