Chapter 63 The Truth (1)

The bell for morning reading had just rung, and the steam from steamed buns and soy milk still hung heavy in the air of the sixth-grade class, Class 2. Sun Lei sat by the window, his back straight. The morning light filtered through the glass onto his open math workbook, illuminating the complex formulas. "Hey, that nerd working on his homework again?" Three boys, arm in arm, wandered over to his desk. Li Zhuangzhuang, the leader, deliberately bumped into the corner. Sun Lei's fingers tightened around his pencil, but he didn't look up. His bangs drooped, covering half his face, revealing only the corners of his tightly pursed mouth. "Speak? Are you stupid?" Another tall, thin boy poked him in the back with a pencil. "I heard your dad's a street vendor? No wonder you're so silent all day." Li Zhuangzhuang chuckled and, with his hand, gestured as if he were chopping vegetables. "Maybe you'll end up doing that, too. You're just a nerd." A few chuckles echoed from the surroundings, and several classmates glanced over, then quickly lowered their heads. Sun Lei's shoulders trembled slightly, his pencil scratching a deep groove in his exercise book, but his face remained expressionless, like a mute stone statue. "What are you doing?" a clear female voice suddenly rang out. Luo Xue stood at the classroom door, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, her red bow tilted to one side. She rushed to Sun Lei's desk in a few steps and opened her arms to block him, "You are not allowed to bully others!" Li Zhuangzhuang raised his eyebrows and deliberately dragged out his voice: "Oh, Princess Luo Xue is here to protect me? What, are you interested in this little dwarf?" "You are talking nonsense!" Luo Xue's face flushed all of a sudden, but her eyes were wide open, "Sun Lei is the number one in our class, why do you laugh at him? Is it wrong to study hard?" Her knuckles turned white from gripping the straps of her schoolbag, "If you continue like this, I will tell the teacher!" Li Zhuangzhuang curled his lips, obviously a little afraid of the head teacher, but he was still not forgiving: "Go ahead and tell, who's afraid of who?" He tapped Luo Xue's forehead with his finger, "Don't meddle in other people's business, or we will beat you up too." The tall and thin boy followed suit, "That's right, getting so close to this nerd, huh!" Luo Xue was so angry that her eyes turned red, but she stood in front of Sun Lei stubbornly, saying word by word: "I'm not afraid." Seeing her frantic, Li Zhuangzhuang and the others, fearing she'd get to the teacher, left cursing. As they passed Luo Xue, someone deliberately bumped into her, causing her bag to fall to the ground, and the pencil case inside to scatter with a clatter. "Luo Xue!" Sun Lei finally raised his head, his voice hoarse as rusty iron. He tried to pick up the pencil case, but Luo Xue...

The bell for morning reading class had just rung, and the classroom of Grade 6 (2) was still filled with the steam of buns and soy milk.

Sun Lei sat by the window with his back straight. The morning light shone through the glass onto his open math exercise book, illuminating the complex formulas clearly.

"Hey, the nerd is working on his homework again?" Three boys came to his desk arm in arm, and the leader, Li Zhuangzhuang, deliberately bumped into the corner of the desk.

Sun Lei's fingers tightened around his pencil, but he didn't look up. His bangs hung down, covering half his face, leaving only the corners of his mouth tightly pursed.

"Talk? Are you stupid?" Another tall and thin boy poked him on the back with a pencil. "I heard your dad is a street vendor? No wonder you're so silent all day long."

Li Zhuangzhuang chuckled and used his hands to imitate the act of cooking: "Maybe you'll have to do this in the future, you're just a nerd."

There were a few chuckles around, and a few classmates glanced over here secretly, then quickly lowered their heads. Sun Lei's shoulders trembled slightly, and his pencil scratched a deep groove on the exercise book, but his face remained expressionless, like a mute stone statue.

"What are you doing?" A clear female voice suddenly rang out. Luo Xue stood at the classroom door, her schoolbag on her back, her red bow tilted to one side.

She rushed to Sun Lei's desk and opened her arms to block him. "Don't bully me!"

Li Zhuangzhuang raised his eyebrows and deliberately dragged out his voice: "Oh, Princess Luo Xue is here to protect the emperor? What, are you interested in this little dwarf?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Luo Xue's face flushed instantly, but her eyes widened. "Sun Lei is the top student in our class. What gives you the right to laugh at him? Is there anything wrong with studying hard?" Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the straps of her schoolbag. "If you keep doing this, I'll tell the teacher!"

Li Zhuangzhuang curled his lips, obviously a little afraid of the head teacher, but he still said: "Go ahead and sue me, who's afraid of who?" He tapped Luo Xue's forehead with his finger and said, "Don't meddle in other people's business, or we'll beat you up too."

The tall and thin boy followed suit, "That's right, getting so close to this nerd, huh!"

Luo Xue's eyes were red with anger, but she stood firmly in front of Sun Lei, saying word by word: "I'm not afraid."

Seeing that she was really anxious, Li Zhuangzhuang and the others were afraid that she would really cause trouble to the teacher, so they left cursing. When passing by Luo Xue, someone deliberately bumped into her, causing her schoolbag to fall to the ground, and the pencil case inside it scatters all over the floor with a "clatter".

"Luo Xue!" Sun Lei finally raised his head, his voice hoarse as rusty iron. He wanted to pick up the pencil case, but Luo Xue had already squatted down.

"Ignore them." Luo Xue stuffed her pencil case into her schoolbag. Her voice softened, trembling with fear. "They're just jealous of your good grades. They're dumb themselves and don't want others to work hard."

Sun Lei looked at the strands of hair on her forehead swaying gently in the wind, and suddenly said, "Thank you." His voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

Luo Xue was stunned for a moment, then smiled, her eyes curved into crescents. "What are you thanking me for? We're classmates." She took out a piece of candy from her schoolbag and placed it on Sun Lei's exercise book. "Here you go. Strawberry flavored, very sweet."

Sun Lei looked at the candy, then looked up at Luo Xue. The girl had already run back to her seat, her red bow faintly visible in the crowd.

He carefully peeled off the candy wrapper and put the candy into his mouth. The sweetness of the strawberry spread on the tip of his tongue, with a hint of sourness, just like the feeling in his heart at that moment.

The sparrows outside the window chirped and landed on the branches. Sun Lei lowered his head, but this time, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

In the corner of the exercise book, a small butterfly pattern appeared at some point, with a star on its wings.

*

Halfway through the afternoon Chinese class, Lin Xiaoyu suddenly burst into tears, her sobs piercing the classroom's silence like a sharp whistle. She slumped over the table, her shoulders heaving, looking particularly aggrieved.

"What's going on?" The Chinese teacher pushed her glasses and walked over quickly. Her last name was Zhou, and she always liked to wear floral dresses. She was particularly attentive to Lin Xiaoyu—everyone knew that Lin Xiaoyu's uncle was the school's vice principal.

"My notebook..." Lin Xiaoyu raised her head, "My notebook with the lock is gone! It contained my composition and the stickers my mom bought for me!"

The classroom erupted in an uproar, with students whispering to each other and their eyes darting from one face to the next. Teacher Zhou frowned, "When did you notice it was missing?"

"It was still there yesterday!" Lin Xiaoyu suddenly pointed her finger at Luo Xue, her voice rising sharply, "She was on duty yesterday, and she was the last one to leave! She must have stolen it!"

All eyes snapped to Luo Xue. The girl, who had been taking notes, jerked her head up, her face pale as a sheet. "I don't have any!"

"If not you, then who else?" Lin Xiaoyu jumped up from her seat, her school uniform skirt sweeping across the desk, causing her pencil case to clatter to the ground. "I took a special look when I left yesterday, and the notebook was right there on the corner! You were the last one to leave in the class!"

Luo Xue's fingers gripping the pen were shaking so badly that the ink spread out into a small black stain on the exercise book. "I really didn't. I locked the door and left after my shift. I didn't touch your things at all."

"Who would believe that?" Lin Xiaoyu rushed to Luo Xue's desk and glared down at her. "You must have never seen such a beautiful notebook before, so you stole it! Mine is imported and costs over a hundred yuan!"

"I didn't steal!" Luo Xue's voice was filled with tears, her eyes were red like ripe cherries, tears welled up in them, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall, "You can't accuse me for nothing!"

"I think it's you!" Lin Xiaoyu reached out to lift Luo Xue's schoolbag, but Luo Xue held her down firmly. The two girls started to tug at each other, and pencils and erasers rolled all over the floor.

"Stop!" Teacher Zhou stopped them, but her gaze fell on Luo Xue, her tone clearly biased, "Luo Xue, a classmate's things are missing. As the last student on duty to leave, shouldn't you cooperate in checking?"

Luo Xue was stunned, the light in her eyes dimmed a little bit: "Teacher, I didn't take..."

"Wouldn't it be clear if we just checked?" Teacher Zhou's tone softened, yet it carried an undeniable firmness. "A person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear. Let her take a look, and that will clear your name."

Lin Xiaoyu immediately became complacent and, without waiting for Luo Xue's consent, reached into her schoolbag. Textbooks and exercise books were dumped onto the table. The pink pencil case fell open, and the bear eraser inside rolled to Sun Lei's feet. He bent down and picked it up.

"It must be in the bookcase!" Lin Xiaoyu went back to Luo Xue's desk, rifling through the test papers and exercise books. Luo Xue stood by, her shoulders trembling slightly. Finally, two hot tears fell, hitting the wrinkled test paper, leaving a small stain.

"No?" Teacher Zhou looked a little embarrassed and coughed twice. "Maybe Lin Xiaoyu forgot about it..."

"Impossible!" Lin Xiaoyu was still stubborn, stamping her feet and saying, "She must have hidden it back home! I'll check her schoolbag tomorrow!"

Teacher Zhou sighed and didn't pursue the matter any further. He just asked Lin Xiaoyu to return to her seat first: "Okay, okay, class is starting. Lin Xiaoyu, look carefully again, maybe it fell into some corner."

Luo Xue silently gathered up the scattered stationery. When her fingers touched the torn cover of the exercise book, her shoulders shook even more violently. Sun Lei looked at her hair hanging down by her cheek, a tear still stained on it, and clenched his fists.

When the school bell rang, Lin Xiaoyu suddenly screamed, "Oh! Here it is!" She took out a pink notebook from the hole in her desk.

The whole class looked at her, waiting for an apology. But Lin Xiaoyu just stuffed her notebook into her bag and glared at Luo Xue as she passed by her, as if she was not at fault.

Luo Xue walked out of the classroom with her schoolbag on her back, her steps slow and her red bow drooping, like a butterfly with broken wings. Sun Lei followed her and watched her walk to the sycamore tree at the edge of the playground, squatting down and hugging her knees, her shoulders slightly heaving.

He pulled a piece of candy from his pocket. It was the strawberry-flavored candy Luo Xue had given him earlier. The wrapper gleamed in the setting sun. He hesitated for a moment, then gently placed it on the stone bench beside the girl and quickly walked away.

The wind blew through the leaves of the sycamore tree, making a rustling sound.

*

At the end of the afternoon, a sharp cry came from the school gate. Teacher Zhou stood beside his white car, pointing at the tire that had been deflated to pieces, shaking with anger.

"Who did it! Who did this!" Her voice broke, and the hem of her floral dress swayed in the wind.

All four tires had long punctures, the black rubber curled up like gaping wounds. The car window glass was scattered all over the ground, and the sunlight shone on it, reflecting a glaring light.

The security guard came running over on crutches, smacking his lips at the sight. "Mr. Zhou, who did you offend? It was fine when I was on patrol last night." He bent down to pick up a piece of broken glass. "That's too harsh. It's like hitting an enemy."

Teacher Zhou's face turned pale and red. "Call the police! We must call the police! Check the surveillance! I want to see who is so bold!"

——

Li Zhuangzhuang slumped over the table, his face as pale as an old newspaper. He'd been suffering from diarrhea for a whole week, his once chubby face sunken inwards. He barely had the energy to speak. "Water... give me some water..."

His deskmate handed him his water cup and saw that his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't unscrew the bottle cap. He couldn't help but sigh, "Zhuangzhuang, what's wrong with you? You were fine last week, why are you suddenly like this?"

"I don't know..." Li Zhuangzhuang took a sip of water, and his Adam's apple rolled with great difficulty. Not long after he finished drinking the water, he shouted, "It hurts, it hurts." After that, he ran to the toilet shouting.

——

There was a sudden commotion in the classroom. Lin Xiaoyu rushed in, covering her face, her sobs even more piercing than when she lost her notebook. A bright red gash ran down her right cheek, and blood dripped down her chin, staining the red scarf on her chest.

"What's wrong?" The squad leader quickly handed her a tissue and gasped at the bruises on her arm. "Who hit you?"

"On the playground..." Lin Xiaoyu cried so hard that she couldn't utter a complete sentence. Tears mixed with blood flowed into her mouth. "I was pushed from behind... and kicked several times..."

The head teacher, Ms. Li, walked in wearing high heels and said, "Lin Xiaoyu, go to the infirmary to treat your wound first." She glanced at the whole class without saying a word.

Later, the police also came, but they could not find the cause of the three incidents, so they were left unresolved and Lin Xiaoyu transferred to another school.

After school, Luo Xue waited for Sun Lei at the edge of the playground. Sun Lei had asked her to wait. Sun Lei looked at her and suddenly smiled, the first time he had smiled this semester. He simply pulled a wooden sculpture from his pocket and handed it to Luo Xue.

It was a butterfly with its wings spread out, and tiny patterns were engraved on its wings, each of which contained a small word "snow".

"For you." After he said that, he turned around and walked away quickly. His back became smaller and smaller in the twilight, and finally disappeared in the shadow of the teaching building.

The evening breeze swirled fallen leaves around Luo Xue's feet. A black cat darted past the base of the teaching building, its eyes flashing a faint green light.

She vaguely felt that the recent events at school might be related to one person...