It stood to reason that the day after the final grades came out should be a holiday, but with the “cheating” incident, the usually relaxed atmosphere was filled with gossip.
In fact, schools wouldn’t often judge a student for cheating so easily. There were three main reasons why the grade director was so decisive this time.
First, Pei Chuan's historical results were far from first place in the joint examination. Normal people would not believe that anyone could make rapid progress in a month.
Second, the joint examination was very important. If the Third High School did not deal with it quickly, it would be a thorn in the heart of every student who would be going home for the winter holidays for New Year.
Third, tomorrow was a holiday, and there was no time for Pei Chuan to take another test.
Ordinary cheating was not a scandal, but the answer leak was; it could cause doubt among the students. Why were the Third High School’s people the only ones who could get the exams’ answers out of the three schools?
They would wonder, was it possible that the results of the third school had always been false?
With the school’s reputation at stake, the director almost subconsciously wanted to give an immediate statement to put the matter at rest. After all, tomorrow was a holiday and all the students would be going home. If this matter wasn’t handled well, not to mention the students, even the school’s leader would not pass the New Year with ease.
But he just had to be stubborn.
When the evening self-study began, Pei Chuan still had not given an explanation. Teacher Chen said, "Pei Chuan, teacher can only contact your father."
Pei Chuan suddenly stood up. At that time, the classroom was very quiet. Almost everyone heard the teenager coldly say: "I have written on the information, that there are no parents."
The class was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Pei Chuan took the coat he had draped on the chair and walked out of the classroom.
In the winter of C City, the heavy snow was endless.
He stepped on the snow, leaving deep and shallow footprints.
When Bei Yao ran to the Third High School, she happened to see him walking outside. At night, the lights in Third High School were all turned on. She was wrapped in a red scarf and her breath created a white fog in the cold air.
“Pei Chuan.” The girl ran to his side. “Where are you going?”
Pei Chuan saw his “reason” and pursed his lips. “What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t cheat, why didn’t you explain it?”
Those eyes were soft and bright. Pei Chuan looked at her. “What’s the use of explaining.”
Bei Yao said, “Follow me, we explain it together. Don’t let other people wrong you.”
Pei Chuan lowered his voice. “Bei Yao, it’s not important.”
She tilted her head in confusion. “What?”
Pei Chuan closed his eyes.
Those were not important. Scores, reputation, nothing was important. The important thing was, everything in this world, as long as she said it, he would risk his life to get it.
She was clearly his reason and feelings, but he had to keep his lips sealed, and not let anyone know about it.
Bei Yao blinked and said, “Go back, okay?”
Pei Chuan’s eyes were dark and he walked towards the school gates.
Bei Yao looked at his back, still thinking about that possibility. Why hadn’t he explained, ah? Was it really what she thought?
She touched her soft cheek; it was a little hot.
Was Pei Chuan… just like how she liked him a bit, was he actually working hard because of her one sentence?
Once she thought of this, her eyes couldn’t help but be filled with a shy and smiling expression.
“Pei Chuan.” She made her hands into a trumpet-like shape and she lengthened her voice; it was soft and sweet in the winter night. “Pei Chuan——”
He turned his head.
Bei Yao said. “Come back, ah.”
She waved at him in the middle of the snow, wearing a red scarf, resembling a festive little dumpling. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes appeared to be a bay of clear lake water.
His heart was beating vigorously. In an instant, he became helpless.
Pei Chuan’s principles and hatred left with those pair of clear almond eyes.
He was even somewhat annoyed and didn’t know what to do with her anymore. Could she be good and behave properly?
Be good, alright? Stay away from me a little bit, okay?
He went over.
He was annoyed at how dense she was that he wanted to cut his throat and kill himself.
“Okay, let’s go back.” Unlike Pei Chuan, her heart was full of happiness.
She suddenly seemed to understand something, as if the small seed in her heart broke through the hard soil and grew into a young green seedling which made her heart feel soft and filled with joy.
~
The director was forty-eight this year. He was slightly fat and had a beer belly.
Because he often scolded students and was petty, he was quite unpopular.
Bei Yao and Pei Chuan stood side by side, and Teacher Chen was also present. Bei Yao looked at Pei Chuan. The young man's expression was cold and his voice was dull. “I didn’t cheat.”
Director Zhang sneered, “Humph, you say no so you didn’t? I gave you time to clarify what happened this afternoon, how come you didn’t explain back then?”
Pei Chuan’s pupils turned darker.
Bei Yao said, “You needed an explanation. He already said he didn’t cheat; as a teacher, you should believe your students.”
Director Zhang’s eyes widened. He then spat out, “Who are you? What does it have to do with you that you have to come here rather than attend the class for evening self-study?”
Pei Chuan stood in front of Bei Yao. Teacher Chen noticed that he was angry.
Teacher Chen was shocked and afraid that Pei Chuan would hit someone. The cheating incident hadn’t yet passed. If he dared to hit the teacher, he would really be ruined.
A small hand pulled the hem of Pei Chuan's coat, and Bei Yao poked her small head out from behind the tall teenager. "Anyway, it's you who wronged others. As a teacher, how could you expect bad things rather than good things from students?"
Teacher Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The pretty little girl was clearly afraid of the director, but her eyes were bright and black and she insisted on finishing her sentence.
Pei Chuan was slightly stiff.
Her hand pulled on his clothes intimately. Even if the winter clothes were thick, with such an intimate action, if she still valued her reputation, she shouldn't do it in front of the teachers.
Bei Yao bluntly said, “It’s clearly very easy to prove whether someone cheated or not, just let him do the same level of test again, but you did not give him a chance to prove it.”
“Tomorrow is a holiday, who would want to accompany him to take another test? Isn’t cheating once shameful enough?” Director Zhang questioned.
Bei Yao responded, “I will supervise his exams, if he doesn't do well, we accept the punishment, if he does well, you have to apologize to him in all three schools."
Director Zhang met the teenager’s dark pupils and was startled. He then frowned, “You know him, who knows if you will help him cheat.”
Teacher Chen stepped forward, “Director, I will also supervise him. If you also don’t feel assured with me, then Teacher Fang, who is in the evening study, and Teacher Liu, who is in our class guarding the evening study in class four, can also be called over together. It's a big deal, no one will find it troublesome."
Director Zhang’s face was hard to look at.
Teacher Chen added, “We have a set of relatively difficult papers for our winter vacation homework, a little more difficult than this general exam. They’re questions from the teacher in the next city. The students have never seen it before, and they don't know that there is this math paper, so we can use this one as the test paper."
Ms. Chen's words had come to this point, and if Director Zhang did not agree, it would seem like he was really someone who did not deserve to be a teacher in Bei Yao’s mouth.
The supervised exams were conducted in the empty classroom on the ground floor.
Teacher Chen put the paper in front of Pei Chuan and smiled. "Jiayou*, you didn't bring your phone, right?"
[*t/n: Jiayou = good luck]
Pei Chuan pursed his lips and gave her the phone in his trousers.
“Okay, the exam starts now, you have two hours. It is estimated that the third period of evening study will be over when you finish."
Bei Yao sat on the podium to watch over him.
As Teacher Chen said, there were two other teachers in the classroom. When they heard that it was to prove the student’s innocence, the two teachers came immediately.
Bei Yao couldn’t help but think, Pei Chuan, look, there are more good people in this world besides bad adults like Director Zhang. Sometimes, what we need is a chance to meet them.
Pei Chuan held the pen and looked down on the math papers.
No one disturbed him. The classroom was extremely quiet.
She watched him quietly for two hours. He was very good-looking, different from the delicate and soft-looking Han Zhen. Pei Chuan’s facial features were handsome, sharp and angular. There was a kind of cold temperament and sharpness of youth. It was not quite in line with the young girl’s aesthetics nowadays, but he looked very handsome in her eyes.
He was very serious. There was only the sound of him doing calculations in the classroom. The pen rubbed against the paper, making a rustling sound.
The wind and rain had stopped outside, and the lighting in the classroom was gentle.
Watching his serious and calm appearance made her heart feel soft.
Her heart started to pound even faster than when she was running; these feelings felt magical. Chen Feifei said one would be happy when one saw him, and one would miss him when one didn't see him; that was like.
It was strange but not annoying.
Like the wind and rain outside that had stopped, her heart became clear. This year, she was almost seventeen, and she understood without asking Chen Feifei.
She liked him.
A very shy and sweet kind of person, nobody knew.
She tolerated his cold temper, and loved his unmatched boldness and courage. Also, she sympathized with him for not being tenderly loved by the world. She felt remorse for this reason.
Her cheeks slowly tinted with red color, and her almond eyes were bright and pure.
A teenage girl’s first love, it felt like her heart was stepping on a drumbeat*, and she couldn’t stop even for a moment.
[*t/n: An ancient drum used to set the tempo in traditional Chinese operas.]
Bei Yao couldn’t help thinking, so did he like her then?
Was it like what Chen Feifei had said, that he protected and indulged her because she was his childhood friend, or was it because of other feelings?
She suddenly felt that after that kiss, she should have taken advantage of the moment and asked Pei Chuan if he liked her.
But… but… it would’ve been embarrassing to be rejected.
~
It took Pei Chuan an hour and a half to finish a set of exams. He checked the papers once then handed them to Teacher Chen.
Several teachers rigorously graded the set of papers, and after a few minutes, the results came out.
Full marks.
This score made Teacher Chen bewildered. She looked at Pei Chuan in surprise, and several teachers glanced at each other. However, the results were undoubtedly a pleasant surprise for Teacher Chen.
The answers were rigorous and clear, and the calculations were also proficient.
He really had the ability to get a perfect score.
Teacher Chen was pleasantly surprised and pleased that her support hadn’t gone in vain. Her heart had been hanging for more than an hour, and now she had gotten the best result.
The group went back to the director's office.
~
Director Zhang also hadn’t expected things to turn out like this. His face was green: "Teacher gave you...... an apology, the school will revoke the disciplinary action against you. Student Pei, you can go back to class."
Bei Yao said, "Revoke the suspension, apologize to Pei Chuan in front of three schools, this is what you promised to me."
Pei Chuan looked down at her.
The girl’s voice was soft but stubborn, “It’s a holiday tomorrow. Since it’s not a holiday yet, you have to call every teacher in the three schools and broadcast an apology.”
“...”
“Also, the red list was crossed with black ink, so change it to a new one.”
“...”
“Also, your school got first place in the city, which is really amazing.”
That was true.
Pei Chuan’s finger touched the mobile phone’s screen in his pocket. He had recorded the sound, and Director Zhang, who had carelessly handled the judgment of cheating students, should have been ruined: either fired or could never be promoted in his entire life.
However, the voice of the girl beside him was clear and sharp, like a cheerful little bird.
Her snow-white chin was covered by a fluffy scarf, and her little face looked even more adorable. He had proved his innocence, and she was happier than he was.
He suddenly felt that the bad people in the world, surprisingly, did not have to be exterminated.
Because he was also relying on such kindness, liveliness, and loveliness, to draw warmth from it.
Before they walked out of the office, Director Zhang said with a black face: "Wait, that girl, what is your relationship with Pei Chuan again, puppy love is not allowed!"
Bei Yao’s face is red. She glanced at him softly.
En......
Pei Chuan asked her to go out first.
He looked back at Director Zhang. His hands in his pockets were clasped tightly, and his voice was low with suppressed anger in it. “What kind of relationship do you think we have? She is my little sister.”
Bei Yao, who hadn't gone far from the door, blinked and froze.
Was he telling the truth or not?