On Monday, Fang Yongkang slung his backpack over his shoulders, hopped on his bicycle, and headed to school.
His home was close to school, so he didn't board there. Most of his classmates did, and that was why he seemed more distant than the others.
They had back-to-back math and Chinese classes that morning, and they were enough to make anyone drowsy.
At last, the lunch bell rang.
Fang Yongkang stole a glance at the girl sitting against the wall on the far right. Fu Panxue took her lunchbox from her desk and walked out of the classroom with a few female classmates, chatting and laughing.
To get from the teaching building to the cafeteria, you had to walk along a tree-lined path about a hundred meters long. At night, you could see plenty of couples walking together there.
Fang Yongkang was walking alone when he suddenly heard people whispering behind him.
"Is that him? I heard he's desperate to get famous, so he hired a fortune-teller to promote him."
Fang Yongkang was stunned. He had no idea what was going on. Why were his classmates talking about him behind his back?
Could Master Shen have promoted him on Weibo?
"That looks like him. How ridiculous!"
By then, Fang Yongkang had gone cold all over, and sweat was pouring from him...
Another boy happened to pass by and overheard the two girls discussing Fang Yongkang. He grinned and walked over to join in. "You guys follow Master Shen on Weibo too?"
"No! My dad told me. As soon as I heard the name, I realized he was in the class next door."
The boy laughed. "Oh, I see! Actually, I think he sings pretty well."
Everyone who had heard Fang Yongkang sing thought he was good. The problem was that many people didn't follow Master Shen on Weibo. After all, this wasn't Lingxi City, and Shen Qiong's reputation hadn't reached here yet.
As the saying went, good news traveled slowly, but bad news traveled fast.
Once someone spoke ill of him, others immediately grew curious and started talking.
Before long, people were whispering behind his back. Fang Yongkang didn't even dare raise his head, afraid someone nearby would recognize him.
In truth, not many people were talking about him. But his own anxiety made him feel as if the whole world was watching him.
He stumbled along to the cafeteria in a daze and deliberately joined the queue in an inconspicuous corner. As luck would have it, the girl he had a crush on was standing right in front of him.
Fu Panxue had no idea Fang Yongkang was behind her. She just kept chatting with the girl beside her.
Fang Yongkang wanted badly to speak to her, but he didn't dare make a sound. He was afraid someone would recognize him and spread his "scandal" to Fu Panxue. He would never be able to handle that.
Nobody had heard of Master Shen, so all they knew was that someone at their school had hired a fortune-teller to promote him.
For students worn down by dull, tedious classes every day, this was "big news"—plenty to gossip about in their free time.
"Oh my god! Is that true? He went to a fortune-teller? Was he trying to find out if he had any talent for singing?" a girl who loved gossip scoffed.
"Yeah, that's right! My boyfriend told me. Apparently, he goes to our school!"
The girls loved gossiping, but they had no idea the person they were talking about was standing right beside them.
Fang Yongkang clenched his fists and asked coldly, "You haven't even heard him sing. What gives you the right to mock him?"
The two girls stared at him in surprise. "I don't know! Everyone's saying it. Besides, doesn't he know fortune-telling is just superstition?"
"Yeah! Who believes in that stuff these days?"
Fang Yongkang lowered his head and kept quiet. He didn't dare look at Fu Panxue, afraid he'd see her mocking him.
For the rest of the day, Fang Yongkang was like a man who'd lost his soul. He hadn't gone online, so he had no idea what Master Shen had written on Weibo or that the recording of his song had already passed three thousand plays.
At three-thirty in the afternoon, his homeroom teacher suddenly summoned him to the office. As soon as Fang Yongkang left, the whole class erupted into chatter.
In the teachers' office, his homeroom teacher glared at the computer, looking furious. "Look at this Weibo post. Is it talking about you?"
Looking at Master Shen's Weibo on the teacher's computer, he froze. Master Shen had really promoted him—and even posted a link to his recording.
His face burned instantly.
"Yes... it's me," he said quietly.
His homeroom teacher looked at him in exasperation. "Your grades slipped on the last exam. I don't care what the reason was, but I really don't understand you. You're in your final year of high school! How can you not know the most basic things? Do you really believe in fortune-telling and all that?"
"And you even got this Master Shen person to promote you. I... I just can't believe it," his homeroom teacher said, at a loss.
"I-I didn't ask him to promote me. I didn't even know about this," Fang Yongkang hurried to explain.
His homeroom teacher pressed his lips together. "All right, that's enough. Bring your parents in tomorrow. I think I need to discuss this with them."
The moment he heard that his parents would be called in, he panicked. "Please don't, sir. I really didn't know this would happen."
"It's one thing if you're not good at studying, but now I'm worried someone's taken advantage of you," his homeroom teacher said with a sigh.
Fang Yongkang gritted his teeth. "Really, they haven't. Master Shen hasn't asked me for any money, either."
"He hasn't asked you for money? You should know that scammers have all kinds of tricks. He might not ask you for money now, but who knows when he will?"
Fang Yongkang lowered his head and said nothing.
"That settles it. Bring your parents in tomorrow!"
When Fang Yongkang left the teachers' office, his eyes were red. He fought back his tears and didn't let himself cry.
He felt as if the whole world had abandoned him. Why!!!
Why was this happening!!!
He had seen what Master Shen wrote on Weibo, and lots of people had liked it. He couldn't understand why people were still talking about him behind his back. Even his homeroom teacher knew about it now.
He went through the day like a walking corpse. Since the teacher had called him to the office, his classmates soon heard what he'd done. They all looked at him differently.
Fang Yongkang didn't blame Master Shen. He knew Master Shen had only been trying to help him. If anyone was to blame, it was himself.
He clenched his fists, feeling as miserable as a student who had bombed the college entrance exam.
He walked step by step toward the bicycle parking area, his feet heavy. His teacher was even going to call his parents.
His classmates would definitely laugh at him then, and she would too...
At the thought of that, he gave a bleak, awkward smile. If that really happened, he probably wouldn't have the courage to talk to her ever again.
Just then, the school radio suddenly came on and played a song. He knew the melody very well—he knew it by heart.
"Rather than stay in a world where you don't want me, I'd rather forget you and be done with it."
"Everyone knows the truth, but it's easy to say. I'm still stubborn even though I've loved you too deeply."
"I'd rather stay within a few miles of you. If I can't get my heart back, then it's yours."
"Because I love you. It has nothing to do with you..."
The moment the song came through the speakers, Fang Yongkang was completely stunned. Th-this... why was that his voice?
He spun around and ran toward the broadcasting room, accidentally knocking into a girl on the way.
"Ah! I'm sorry." He quickly helped her up.
The girl had scraped her knee red. She stood up through the pain and snapped, "What are you doing? Why are you running so fast without watching where you're going?"
Just then, two students walked by, talking about the song. "I know this one. It's called 'Within a Few Miles of You.' Xue Zhiqian sings it."
"But the voice doesn't sound like Xue Zhiqian's!" the other student said.
"Maybe it's a cover from the internet. It's pretty good—has a different feel."
"I thought it was the original singer. Turns out it's a cover!" the girl beside Fang Yongkang muttered when she heard them.
Fang Yongkang stared at her in shock. "You... you thought it was the original?"
"Yeah! It sounds really good. Maybe I didn't recognize it because I've never heard the original," the girl said.
A sweet voice came over the speakers. "Hello, everyone! It's time to head home. Today, I'm playing Xue Zhiqian's 'Within a Few Miles of You.' I hope you like it. And here's a little secret: what I played just now wasn't the original!"
"What I played just now was a song recorded by one of our schoolmates. Honestly, I was shocked the first time I heard it. It was so good!!!"
"I never knew our school had someone so talented. It's a shame I don't know this student, Fang Yongkang. If you're listening, I'd like to say thank you! Thank you for bringing such beautiful music to our school..."
Fang Yongkang stood there, frozen. He felt as if he'd gone from hell to heaven. Tears streamed down his face as he wept with joy. He had never imagined his song would be played at school—and that so many people would approve of it.
The girl beside him thought she'd said something hurtful and made him cry. She hurriedly said, "Ah! It's okay. I'll put some medicinal wine on it when I get back. Don't cry!"
Wiping away his tears, he smiled. "I'm not crying. I'm just so happy."
Before you continue