Three Letters

During afternoon study hall, Teacher Luo and another teacher from the Academic Affairs Office came in and announced that Class One would vote to elect a new class monitor.

This decision did not surprise Li Ye.

The top students from the three classes had been reshuffled into Retake Class One. It was only reasonable to elect a new class monitor, and doing so would minimize the negative impact of replacing the old one.

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

Li Ye found it interesting.

Retake Class One had originally been the advanced class. More than thirty students had been transferred in during this round of adjustments and mergers, while the students transferred from the other two classes combined numbered fewer than twenty. Was there really any suspense in the election result?

Teacher Luo's intention to maintain stability was sound. Letting Xia Yue continue as class monitor would indeed help the class blend together and remain stable—but that was before Li Ye had kicked up that fuss.

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

If Xia Yue still became class monitor after this, wouldn't Li Ye be sickened by it every single day?

Teacher Luo was feeling pretty sickened at the moment too.

That morning, he had spoken with Xia Yue about her "privately opening a mail parcel" and told her in advance that they were preparing to replace the class monitor.

But Xia Yue had both nerve and insight. At noon, she went straight to the principal's office and stubbornly insisted that she possessed unquestionable public credibility in Class One. She even claimed that Li Ye was maliciously slandering her out of personal spite.

Anyway, her opening Li Ye's parcel was merely "helping a classmate," at most an unintentional mistake.

Thus, this election for class monitor came about. Xia Yue had not gotten off entirely unscathed, though; she was required to write a letter of apology, read it aloud in class, and conduct a little self-criticism.

Xia Yue agreed without hesitation. What was a letter of apology? As long as she could remain class monitor, there would be plenty of times in the future when Li Ye would apologize to her.

Just wait. If I don't ruin your reputation, Li Ye, then I won't be surnamed Xia. You still want to join the Youth League and Join the Party in the future? Dream on!

Li Ye wrote Hu Man's name on his slip of paper, then folded it and prepared to hand it to the student counting the votes. Suddenly, he felt his elbow get nudged by his deskmate.

Little Mute, Wen Leyu, craned her neck and pursed her lips toward Li Ye's ballot. Her eloquent eyes clearly said—Who did you vote for? Let me see.

Li Ye unfolded the paper in his hand and let her look. Wen Leyu nodded, then wrote Hu Man's name on her own ballot as well.

Then she poked Li Ye's elbow again and pushed over a note with writing on it.

Why did Xia Yue hold back your letter? Was it a letter from Lu Jingyao? What did it say?

"..."

Li Ye tilted his head and looked into Wen Leyu's autumn-water eyes from thirty centimeters away, trying to figure out what this little girl meant.

Could this little girl have the makings of a gossip queen?

When Li Ye and Xia Yue had clashed over Lu Jingyao's letter that morning, Wen Leyu had not even entered the classroom yet! How did she know about it?

But after the two stared wide-eyed at each other for nearly ten seconds, Li Ye did not discover even the slightest spark of gossip. Instead, he sensed... concern.

"One vote for Zheng Qiang."

"One vote for Hu Man."

"One vote for Hu Man."

"One vote for Xia Yue."

Teacher Luo began reading out the votes. Three students made tally marks on the blackboard stroke by stroke, while Xia Yue, beneath the podium, clenched her fingernails so hard they dug into her flesh.

How could I have fewer votes than Hu Man? The votes from Class One must be later. They have to be.

But as the vote count continued, Xia Yue's face grew uglier and uglier.

Five groups of tally marks had already been drawn after Hu Man's name. There were only fifty people in the class. No matter how optimistic Xia Yue was, she knew the tide had turned against her.

She truly could not understand it. She had had more than thirty classmates from the original Class One—so why did they not support her, but instead support Hu Man, an "outsider"?

But Li Ye understood.

The wicked do evil, yet never know themselves to be wicked.

Just looking at the sense of superiority Xia Yue displayed today, one could guess how overbearing her usual manner was. The students of Class One had probably suffered plenty of her PUA before.

Now that they had a chance to vote again, how could a domineering, plain-looking, ordinary-yet-confident girl like her compete with the gentle and strikingly beautiful Hu Man?

Were the numbers of male and female high school students in the eighties really one-to-one?

What a joke. Most girls, dismissed as "money-losing goods," were made to go home and work after finishing middle school. Naturally, girls were the minority in high school.

Boys of seventeen or eighteen were all highly emotional. A capable class monitor might indeed be better at collecting everyone's homework, but a beautiful and gentle class monitor was what the people wanted.

"Alright, let us welcome Hu Man as the new class monitor of our Class One."

"There is one more matter. Xia Yue has recognized her mistake and voluntarily wishes to apologize to Li Ye. Now, please invite Xia Yue to come up to the podium—"

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

Xia Yue did not know how she walked onto the podium, nor did she know how she finished reading the letter of apology in her hand.

At this very moment, there was only one thought in her heart—unbearable humiliation, unbearable humiliation, simply unbearable humiliation.

Inside the County First High School's Guidance Office, Lu Zixue's eyes brimmed with tears as he wrote furiously.

After Li Ye snatched away his bicycle last week, he had been waiting for his Older Sister to settle the matter for him.

But before his Older Sister could show her might, Director Yao from the Guidance Office summoned him and asked whether he had brought the registration certificate for that Phoenix bicycle.

Where the hell was Lu Zixue supposed to get a bicycle registration certificate?

Several days had already passed. He had thought Director Yao had forgotten about it!

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

But that morning, X Police Station in the west of town had called directly to ask whether a bicycle robbery had occurred outside the school gates last Saturday.

This humiliation had reached his grandmother's house. If he did not vent his anger, would he not suffocate himself? So he hauled Lu Zixue over to vent it on him.

Lu Zixue could only begin writing a self-criticism on the spot, roaring inwardly as he wrote.

Unbearable humiliation, unbearable humiliation! Li Ye and I cannot exist beneath the same sky!

But revenge required strength. Neither Lu Zixue nor Xia Yue could manage it now, so both of them thought of someone "with strength."

That evening, two letters were dropped into mailboxes near County First High School and County Second High School respectively. Then they sped all the way toward Beijing Foreign Studies University.

And during evening self-study, Li Ye opened the letter Lu Jingyao had written to him.

Li Ye, long time no see. The feeling you give me has become unfamiliar. Where has that kind, magnanimous, responsible man gone?

Return the bicycle to my younger brother. He is still young and cannot bear rumors and criticism. Don't worry—I will repay the money for the bicycle, principal and interest included.

Li Ye finished Lu Jingyao's letter in astonishment, then shook his head hard before confirming that he was still in '81, rather than back in '23, when keyboard warriors flew everywhere.

He had originally not wanted to have anything more to do with Lu Jingyao, but now he could not help picking up his fountain pen and writing a reply on the back of the letter paper.

Your younger brother cannot bear rumors and gossip? But I can? My family can?

Do you know what they call me at school now because you sent money to the school? I merely took back money that belonged to me—how did that make me Huang Shiren? If you do not repay the money, I will drag you off to settle the debt? You are so sly—would you let me use you to settle a debt?

When my family helped yours repair your house, why did you not say I was Huang Shiren? When my family helped your father transfer jobs, why did you not say I was a landlord dog?

Since you accepted my family's favors with a clear conscience, why are you now turning black into white and pretending to be an innocent victim?

Since you chose to pursue your freedom, what right do you have to interfere in my life? What right do you have to demand that I be magnanimous and give the bicycle to your younger brother? Do you not find it shameless to want both the whorehouse sign and the chastity arch?

Do not contact me again. A swan that has flown into the sky, please stop harassing the frog at the bottom of the well. Even if one day he becomes a prince, he will already have nothing to do with you.