Don't Leave After School

When the hot water touched her wounds, the belated pain made her bare her teeth. After a moment's thought, she rummaged through a corner of the cabinet in the main room and found a large bottle of gentian violet.

She dabbed some on her face in front of the mirror, applied a hot compress to her chest, then left with the bucket.

When she returned to the sixth floor, Shi Meng and Xu Duoduo were waiting at the door. Lin Er handed them the bucket, and both of them went wide-eyed when they saw her face.

"It's fine. I put on some gentian violet. You'll get used to the fright after a few days."

Shi Meng was momentarily at a loss for words. She had almost mistaken that for reassurance.

The voices in the dorm fell silent as soon as Lin Er entered. It was so obvious that everyone went back to what they were doing, though they still glanced at the three of them from time to time.

Lin Er went back to bed and lay down. The emotional ups and downs had been exhausting, too. Her body hurt, and she badly wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

When the dorm lights went out, the loud conversations turned to quiet whispers. Lin Er clicked her tongue in irritation, and for some reason, the area around her fell silent.

Great. Tomorrow she would become the legendary boss lady.

In the middle of the night, Lin Er suddenly woke up. The breathing in the dorm varied in depth but was slow and steady. She didn't have a phone and didn't know what time it was, but the whole building was quiet, which meant it was past midnight.

Even the ninth graders, who didn't get out of evening study until nearly ten, were asleep.

She sat up, took her broom into the bathroom, and went to the computer room.

Words popped out of the magic book one by one in the computer's glow. Lin Er looked them up one by one, then wrote a short composition full of grammatical errors and sent it over.

That was how Lin Er learned that Xiao Wang on the other side had also gotten into a fight that day. His opponents had been scared off by him.

Lin Er thought about the ways a wizard could scare people and prayed for those who had been frightened, then told him what had happened to her that day.

Half a bottle of potion emerged from the book. Lin Er paused, and a short sentence appeared.

It was straightforward: it was for the meals.

Judging by the amount, she guessed he had probably saved it from his own share.

She wanted to refuse, but waking up in pain in the middle of the night was miserable, especially with her chest. While she was still developing, it was practically off-limits. Even touching it hurt, never mind the knocks from a fight.

If she hadn't been sure they hadn't done it on purpose, she would definitely have given them a taste of it too. Boys had equally vulnerable spots.

After drinking the bottle of potion, Lin Er stood facing the window and took deep breaths for quite a while. In the end, she still retched.

Was that poison? Poison tasted so awful that no one would dare drink it to kill themselves. And as for poisoning someone else, only a fool would drink something that tasted like that.

Lin Er felt dazed for a moment. She hoped he hadn't betrayed her trust and that this really was medicine for injuries.

Fortunately, magic defied science, and so did potions. A tingling sensation spread across her face, and her swollen, slightly crooked mouth seemed much better.

Her chest felt much better too.

Lin Er looked at the potion bottle but didn't dare dwell on the taste. She hurriedly sent the empty bottle back to him. It could probably be reused; it didn't look new to her.

At the same time, she wrote "Thank you" and sent it over.

She had nothing right now, and would have to wait until the break before she had time to make any plans.

There was no further reply from the other side. Lin Er touched her face, then rode her broom back to the dorm through a window at the rear of the building.

Even if someone in the dorm heard the window, they would only think she had gone to the bathroom.

The next morning was just as busy. Staying up late came at a price: she was late again.

By the time she reached the classroom, their homeroom teacher was already there. Lin Er had gentian violet all over her face. The teacher glanced at her twice but said nothing.

Her deskmate was much quicker this time. As soon as Lin Er came over, he moved out of her way. He had even erased the dividing line on the desk.

Lin Er stuffed her wand and book into her desk. The short-sleeved shirt she wore today had been made with Transfiguration. The one she had made before hadn't changed back after a full day and night, so she had transfigured this one that morning.

A short-sleeved shirt made it hard to hide her wand, so she kept it tucked into her waistband.

Her deskmate saw her pull a stick from her waistband and quickly looked away.

A stick that short wouldn't hurt as much as one of Lin Er's slaps. Surely it wasn't a steel reinforcing bar? He really shouldn't be bringing something like that into the classroom.

Lin Er ignored her deskmate's scrutiny. She still hadn't memorized today's Chinese text. They had been told this morning's self-study period was their last chance, so she had to hurry.

Breakfast was two steamed buns and a bowl of congee. With her face covered in purple, Lin Er asked for four buns. The auntie hesitated as if she wanted to say something, but gave them to her in the end.

Lin Er took a rice bowl filled to the brim with congee and a bag of steamed buns back to the classroom. Hardly anyone skipped breakfast. As usual, she transfigured a leaf into a bowl and saved half for her pen pal.

By now, she suspected he was about the same age as her and that his living conditions were very poor. He hadn't refused any of the food or clothes she had given him.

She didn't have many girls' clothes, but she did have men's suits and shirts.

They had all been sent over by her great-aunt's family.

Of all their relatives, her great-aunt's family was the wealthiest. They discarded many clothes after wearing them only a few times, and some still had their tags on.

The clothes they had sent this time filled a sack, but the young people's clothes were all bizarre: long sleeves with bare midriffs, slanted zippers, cutouts and holes, and even extremely short shorts.

Apart from their colors, the two performance outfits were actually the most normal, with only tiny cutouts in their patterns.

But because those two outfits were still wearable, her grandmother wouldn't buy her any clothes that summer. She had outgrown all her old ones.

The men's clothes had been saved for her grandfather and father, but since both of them already had clothes, the items had been piled up in the upstairs storage room. Lin Er had dug out two sets: one of summer outerwear and one for autumn and winter.

When her pen pal received them, he didn't throw them back as if she had sent him garbage. Instead, he awkwardly thanked her.

Lin Er suddenly had the illusion that she was raising a two-dimensional character. At every meal, she tried to get more food and give him a share.

The cafeteria aunties all knew she had a big appetite. When they saw her purple face, they always gave her a lunchbox packed full of food.

Ying Yuecheng had given her a meal ticket for a special meal once. Lin Er hadn't stood on ceremony and had shared a meal of rice topped with braised pork and potatoes with her pen pal.

The week passed quickly. If the gentian violet hadn't refused to wash off Lin Er's face, it would have been obvious that her wounds had long since healed. The corner of Li Xiang's mouth was still bruised from being hit, and those who had been bitten had suffered terribly.

Apparently, one person's bite had become inflamed and filled with pus, only scabbing over after the homeroom teacher gave them medicine.

And so Lin Er's teeth earned a fearsome reputation as venomous fangs.

On Friday, there were only two classes in the afternoon. Once they were over, break would begin.

Li Xiang came over specifically to threaten her, telling her not to leave after school.

Lin Er nodded absently and began thinking about how to stock up on food for herself and her pen pal. The school meals really did nothing more than fill her up; they had hardly any oil or substance.

When the last two classes ended, Lin Er shouldered her schoolbag, which she had packed long beforehand, and went straight home.

There were no dirty clothes in the dorm for her to take home. She had left her broom at her feet, so she picked it up and went.

Outside the school gate, a group of students were peering around at the entrance to the alley she took home. When they saw her highly recognizable purple face, they immediately surrounded her.

The students nearby scattered in a flash. Li Xiang swaggered at the front, looking immensely pleased with himself.