Chapter 14 P - Undercurrent
Before evening self-study, the class monitor went to the office to retrieve the first semester's class schedule and posted it on the bulletin board.
Their art classes are scheduled for the entire afternoons of Monday and Friday, and the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday. The classes are sketching, color, and quick sketching, with 4, 3, and 2 hours of class time respectively. The rest of the time is spent on academic subjects. They are not even spared from evening self-study sessions, except for Sunday and Thursday evenings which are self-study sessions.
Chu Beiling asked in confusion, "With such a full schedule of classes, there's no homework?"
"Imagination is beautiful, but reality is harsh." Xing Yu appeared behind him at some point, bringing with him a faint lemon scent, which smelled pleasant, whether from shower gel or laundry detergent.
Chu Beiling turned her head to look at him: "If you can't speak, you don't have to speak."
Xing Yu explained what had happened to him: "Grandma Chen, her age..."
Thinking of what had just happened, Chu Beiling had no patience to listen to him finish, nor did she want to continue arguing with him. She turned around and went back to her seat.
Not long after I sat down, Xing Yu returned.
He sat down without speaking, his gaze lingering on Chu Beiling for a long time without moving. Noticing Xing Yu's gaze, Chu Beiling turned her head to look at him: "Am I pretty?"
Xing Yu smiled, but the smile vanished so quickly that Chu Beiling couldn't tell if it was mockery or not; it certainly wasn't a good one.
When this person smiles, it's never a good sign.
Chu Beiling decided she couldn't let this 37-degree man say something about minus twenty degrees. "Xing Yu, if you don't often jump around in front of me and cause trouble, do you want to be pierced by light or have nothing to do with me at all outside the crowd?"
Xing Yu lifted his eyelids: "I'm sure you started it."
Chu Beiling didn't know why this person could always spout off so fluently: "I'm really impressed. You have a goldfish's memory and have forgotten about Beishan Street."
"You're really something, remembering a painting until now." Xing Yu's lips curled up, his tone full of mockery.
His smile instantly ignited all of Chu Beiling's anger; "You still have the nerve to say that? I tore up one of your paintings, and I ask you if you're in a hurry?"
Xing Yu: "You drew me."
Chu Beiling's voice softened considerably: "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you have to wait until I finished drawing before coming over!"
Xing Yu said unhurriedly, "That way you'll remember it."
Chu Beiling was so angry she wanted to curse, "I'm really impressed, you're good, you're amazing."
"That's quite impressive, considering you've remembered it for so long. I hope you'll always remember it." Xing Yu didn't care about the sarcasm in Chu Beiling's words and readily accepted the compliment.
Chu Beiling was so enraged by Xing Yu's shamelessness and his nonchalant mockery that he almost had a heart attack. He wanted Xing Yu to get out of his sight, or he would rather leave himself.
However, Young Master Chu can't get out of there now, so he can only pull the table away in protest.
Unexpectedly, even the desks were bullying him. Because he was moved to a position inside the window, the two desks were put back together. Chu Beiling couldn't move his position inside. At first, he squeezed in inside, trying his best to avoid bumping into Xing Yu.
When he saw Xing Yu brazenly occupying almost a third of his space, the young master Chu refused to accept it. He insisted on sitting however he wanted and refused to give up even a inch of his own spot.
Chu Beiling tapped Xing Yu's tabletop with her finger: "Move out a little."
When the bell rang for evening self-study, Xing Yu, holding a ballpoint pen, scribbled on the paper, ignoring the sound.
"Xing Yu, move it out a little." Young Master Chu repeated, suppressing his temper.
Xing Yu put down his pen and looked back at him: "If the seat is moved out of the way and gets in the teacher's way, I'll have to take responsibility for that. When you ask someone for a favor, you should either speak politely or offer an equal exchange, instead of talking to me in a commanding tone."
He was truly speechless. Chu Beiling was now filled with regret, deep regret, for ever having the brain fart to agree to switch places with him.
Young Master Chu rolled his eyes at Xing Yu. He figured it was better to squeeze in than to beg Xing Yu to move out.
At 6:20 a.m. on Monday, a piercing and terrifying reveille echoed throughout the campus, waking everyone up. Chu Beiling, who was still under the covers, struggled in bed for a moment before finally managing to get out.
The upper bunk railings are all on the left side. Chu Beiling didn't want Xing Yu to step on his head, so he took his pillow and moved it to the side without the railing. He was a good sleeper and wouldn't fall off. The only thing that bothered him was that when everyone sat up in the morning, the two of them could see each other immediately.
At this moment, Xing Yu was dressed neatly, his hair was haphazardly grabbed, but his appearance was not affected at all.
Chu Beiling was different. He had just gotten up, his eyes still half-closed, his hair a mess. He sat up groggily. Xing Yu's movement as he got out of bed stirred up a gust of wind, and a few of his frizzy hairs floated haphazardly in the air.
Having just woken up, with his brain still shut down and not yet able to reboot, Young Master Chu reacted slower than usual, completely unaware that the person living across the street was his nemesis.
He immediately started the morning greeting routine: "Good morning~"
Xing Yu paused on the middle step, and Chu Beiling belatedly realized what was happening.
That person was Xing Yu.
"..." Chu Beiling almost wanted to roar. He awkwardly scratched the tip of his nose, trying his best to act as if nothing had happened, and smiled slightly as he went about his business.
The dormitory has its own bathroom. The only inconvenience of communal living is that getting up and washing in the morning is like a battlefield. During military training, the training time is a bit late, so we can chat while washing up at a leisurely pace. But when classes officially start, washing up is no different from fighting.
While they were jostling for a spot, Xing Yu had already finished washing up and completing all his morning tasks, and was ready to leave.
The morning self-study session at Xigao High School starts at 7:30. Today, Monday, there is a flag-raising ceremony, so their time is even more rushed. After rushing to the restroom and breakfast, they finish their morning tasks in a guerrilla-like manner, and are then gathered on the playground by the marching music.
The morning exercise team was lined up by height. Xing Yu, who was a little taller than him, stood behind him. A breeze blew by, carrying a faint lemon scent. Chu Beiling was still annoyed by the morning's lingering embarrassment and the feeling that he couldn't escape Xing Yu no matter where he went.
Chu Beiling patted the sports committee member in front of him, who was about the same height as him: "Sports committee member, I'd like to switch seats with you."
Liu Jiaxiang glanced at Chu Beiling. The two were about the same height, and he didn't care where he was standing. He was about to agree when he caught a glimpse of Xing Yu's aggressive face and suddenly hesitated.
The gaze that swept over him in that instant made him feel that if he were to switch places with Chu Beiling like this, this cold-faced devil would probably skin him alive.
Liu Jiaxiang stared at Xing Yu's cold eyes and said with a forced smile, "Little Prince Fanfan, I look two sizes bigger than you, but I'm shorter than you. I should stand in front."
Chu Beiling thought that his position during morning exercises was the only one he could change, and he was determined to switch positions with the sports committee member.
Young Master Chu, true to his stubborn nature, had plenty of patience to keep at it, and was just about to try and get a few more words in return.
"You two, you're doing morning exercises. Look out from the podium and don't whisper to each other. Your class will lose points."
A voice with a strong middle-level presence interrupted their conversation.
The visitor was Wu Gang, the director of the Political Education Department. He was slightly overweight, with a very round head and many freckles. Because his face was so round, his eyes looked very small, which was quite comical.
Like the sesame balls in the cafeteria, if they go late in the morning, they won't be able to get any.
Chu Beiling planned to wait for Ma Qiu to leave before trying to persuade the sports committee member again, but Ma Qiu stood behind their class until the flag-raising ceremony ended.
His plan to move away from Xing Yu was doomed to fail.
After morning self-study, they begin a intensive study schedule of four classes each in the morning and afternoon, and three classes in the evening.
Today, their class had two math and two history classes in the morning, two sketching and two color classes in the afternoon, and two Chinese and one politics class in the evening. The schedule was very clear.
Unlike the regular high school classes where students are divided into arts and sciences in their second year, they were assigned to either arts or sciences classes from their first year. There were two art classes, with Class 13 focusing on arts and Class 12 focusing on sciences.
The purpose is to ensure that if I fail the joint entrance exam and the entrance exams for the eight major art colleges in the future, my academic subjects will be able to compensate.
Physics, chemistry, and biology are a top-performing combination in science. It's not that Chu Beiling is bad at these subjects; in fact, she's quite good at them.
But he wasn't a genius. He could achieve high grades just by the teacher explaining things in class. In addition, Ms. Li had particularly high expectations of him, so Chu Beiling even needed to put in more effort and time to summarize, analyze, and do practice problems in order to meet Ms. Li's expectations.
This is too mentally and physically demanding, leaving no time to spend on drawing practice. Besides, science subjects aren't very helpful for art exams.
Chu Beiling wanted to keep painting, aiming for the Central Academy of Fine Arts, or at the very least, other art academies. He didn't want to take a roundabout route and end up at a comprehensive university.
In comparison, humanities subjects, which can be mastered simply by memorizing and reciting, are easier for Chu Beiling, allowing him to multitask without any burden.
Chu Beiling looked at Xing Yu to the side, somewhat curious: "Why aren't you in Class 12?"
When Chu Beiling found out that he was in the same class as Xing Yu, he was only angry that Xing Yu was in the same class as him, even though they were both in Class 12, where they had both chosen to major in humanities and given up more options for the college entrance examination.
Ms. Li often showed Xing Yu his report card, even though Xing Yu was clearly better at science.
Xing Yu threw the question back at him: "What about you? Why aren't you in Class 12?"
Chu Beiling: "I'm not going to pursue a career in science and engineering, and I won't take a roundabout approach to achieving my goals."
Even if he fails the exam due to a lack of mental stability, he would rather retake the exam and try again next year than give up his desire to continue drawing.
Xing Yu glanced at him and said indifferently, "I don't need more majors to apply for in the future."
Chu Beiling tapped his fingers absently on the table as he considered whether it was worth it to transfer to Class 12 because of Xing Yu.
The first class was math, taught by Wang Caiyan. She arrived at the classroom five minutes early, threw her textbook on the podium, and raised her voice, saying, "Some of you have absolutely no sense of discipline."
Pointing at Chu Beiling, he said, "Especially you, don't cause trouble and create problems all the time when you were young, and grow up to be a good-for-nothing social outcast! If you want to become a social outcast, I won't stop you, do as you please, but if you don't learn to be good yourself, don't drag others down with you."
Chu Beiling kept tapping the pencil tip, scraping off the pencil ash little by little from the long, sharpened tip.
He didn't understand why adults always linked academic performance with character, as if his future and character were defined simply because he failed one entrance exam.
Moreover, he cares about his grades more than anyone else, and he can't remain indifferent. Every time Wang Caiyan insults him, it hits him where it hurts.
Young Master Chu knew that if he didn't speak with facts, he would only be labeled again. So, instead of retaliating as before, he bit his lip and tried his best to hold back his temper.
Xing Yu stopped what he was doing and looked at Chu Beiling. His skin was fair, and even a little bit of color would stand out.
Xing Yu could clearly see the process of Chu Beiling's body turning red, from her snow-white chest all the way to her face, and every part of her skin that could be seen with the naked eye was red.
Wang Caiyan's insults continued. Xing Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and looked down at the time on his watch.
The school bell rang, and Xing Yu promptly interrupted Wang Caiyan's babbling: "Teacher, it's time to start class."
“Okay, let’s start class.” Wang Caiyan agreed with a smile, but her eyebrows furrowed again as she glanced at Chu Beiling beside her. She pointed at him and said, “Submit an 800-word self-criticism to my office before school ends today.”
These two, one by one, change their expressions faster than a Sichuan opera.
Chu Beiling forced an unpleasant smile.
Class time flies by.
At Xigao High School, lunch and a one-hour nap are included, after which students can return to their dormitories. However, the time to return to the dormitory after lunch is too rushed, so most students choose to rest directly in the classroom.
Because of what happened in the morning, Chu Beiling didn't have much of an appetite for lunch, so he chose to go straight back to his dormitory.
As soon as he got back to his dorm, he called Li Shuying. She was probably not busy and answered quickly.
Li Shuying is always straightforward and direct, preferring people to get straight to the point; in short, don't drag it out.
Seeing that her son on the other end of the phone hadn't said a word, she frowned, quite displeased: "Chu Beiling, what did I tell you? Get to the point."
Chu Beiling sat in the chair, looking utterly dejected. He rested his head on the table and tapped it lightly, saying, "Ms. Li, I want to discuss something with you."
"explain?"
"I want to transfer to Class 12."
Ms. Li was slightly taken aback, then scoffed, "Oh, what did you say back then? You didn't even discuss it with me, you chose the main subject yourself, and now you're telling me you want to go to another class? Let me tell you, no way."
When he was choosing between arts and sciences, Ms. Li was in Singapore. He called to inquire, but Ms. Li had to attend a meeting or go on a business trip and didn't have time to listen to him, so she hung up quickly.
When Ms. Li finished her work and came over to inquire, she learned that he had chosen humanities for his academic subjects. She gave him a severe scolding and then planned to contact the school to change it.
Chu Beiling, stubborn as a mule, argued back a few times and resolutely refused to change.
Li Shuying continued to educate her son: "You made your own choice, so no matter what happens, you have to keep going. Don't come to me crying or asking for my help to change things, it's useless."
Chu Beiling didn't want to transfer to Class 12; he just wanted to hear Ms. Li express her concern for him.
In the end, it would have been better not to make the call at all.
Chu Beiling's nose tingled slightly, and she couldn't utter a single word.
Someone pushed open the office door on the other end of the phone and called out, "President Li."
Ms. Li made the man wait a while, then spoke to Chu Beiling again: "Don't play on your phone while at school. Focus on your studies. If you don't get into the top three in your class in the first monthly exam, I will confiscate your phone when I come back from Singapore."
Chu Beiling: "If that's not possible, how can we contact each other?"
Li Shuying emphasized: "You must do it for me."
Chu Beiling's stubborn temper flared up again: "What if you can't do it?"
“I will ask Xing Yu about you.” Li Shuying added, “Chu Beiling, don’t argue with me. The weak have no right to make demands, do you understand?”
Chu Beiling pursed her lips: "Understood, President Li."
A busy signal came from the other end of the phone.
Chu Beiling rested on his desk for a minute or two, and just as he got up to go back to the classroom, he froze.
Xing Yu stood at the dormitory door, the afternoon sun casting a soft glow on him.
The sunlight was blinding.
Chu Beiling could only see Xing Yu's clearly defined outline.
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