English class incident
The English classes at Nangang No.1 Middle School are always filled with a tense atmosphere.
Xu Ying sat in her seat, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the edge of her textbook, the paper making a soft rustling sound under her fingertips. Sunlight streamed obliquely through the window, falling on half of her face and casting a soft halo. She lowered her head slightly, her eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyes, as if deliberately avoiding the faint gazes around her.
The classroom was filled with a constant buzz of discussion, occasionally interspersed with a few deliberately suppressed laughs.
"I heard she transferred from the south?"
"The accent must be hilarious."
"It'll get interesting if we get called out later..."
Xu Ying's pen paused briefly on the notebook, the ink spreading into a small patch of deep blue. She took a soft breath, then slowly exhaled, as if trying to dispel the faint sounds around her.
On the podium, the English teacher adjusted her glasses, her gaze sweeping across the class before finally settling on the class roster.
"Next, Xu Ying."
The classroom fell silent for a second.
Xu Ying's fingers tightened slightly, her nails leaving faint crescent-shaped marks on her palm. She slowly stood up, the chair dragging on the floor with a soft scraping sound.
All eyes were on her.
She opened her textbook, her fingertip lightly touching the English passage, her throat tightening slightly.
“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain…”
Her voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something, yet it had a strange clarity.
However, as the word "rain" slipped from her lips, her tongue unconsciously curled slightly, and her soft southern accent made the "r" sound muffled, making it sound more like "lain."
Several suppressed laughs immediately rang out in the classroom.
"Hahaha, it's 'leaked sound' not 'flesh sound'!"
"With such poor English, how dare you transfer to No. 1 High School?"
Xu Ying's earlobes instantly burned, as if licked by flames, so hot they were almost bleeding. Her knuckles pressed hard against the edge of the table, turning white with force, but her back straightened even more, her chin slightly raised, her gaze fixed on her textbook, as if the laughter could not hurt her as long as she didn't look up.
The English teacher frowned and raised her hand to signal for quiet, but the whispering in the classroom continued.
"Keep reading," the teacher said.
Xu Ying's throat moved, and her fingertips trembled slightly, but she did not stop and continued reading.
“But in the dark and lonely night…”
This time, her voice was more stable than before, but her pronunciation still carried the unique gentleness of the South, like a piece of glutinous rice warmed by the sun, sweet and sticky.
The snickers from the back row became even louder.
"This English hurts my ears."
"Does she have trouble speaking clearly?"
Xu Ying's eyelashes trembled, but her voice did not stop.
She just kept reading, word by word, as if trying to shut out all the mocking voices.
Zong Heng leaned back lazily in his chair, one hand supporting his chin, the other casually twirling a pen.
His gaze fell on Xu Ying's retreating figure.
She wore a light blue shirt today, the collar neatly folded, revealing a section of her fair nape. Sunlight streamed in obliquely from the window, making her hair appear a soft brown, as if edged with a thin layer of gold.
Her shoulders were tense, as if she were ready to face a storm at any moment.
Zong Heng's fingers paused, and the pen fell to the table with a "thud".
"Haha, this accent is so rustic!"
A particularly jarring laugh rang out.
The next second—
"Bang!!!"
A loud bang was heard, and the entire classroom fell silent instantly.
Xu Ying turned around abruptly, her pupils contracting slightly.
"What are you laughing at?"
Those two words pierced the noise like an icicle. Zong Heng's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the entire classroom. Xu Ying saw his Adam's apple bob, his jawline tighten, and his left hand still poised to overturn the chair.
The English teacher adjusted her glasses, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but she fell silent at Zong Heng's glance. This usually strict female teacher even took half a step back from the podium.
Zong Heng placed one foot on the crossbar of Li Cong's chair at the desk in front of him, the cheap sheet metal groaning under the weight. As he leaned forward, the protruding spine at the back of his neck resembled an unsheathed knife, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
"Your Mandarin is very standard?" he asked, enunciating each word clearly, his voice carrying a chilling amusement. "Come on, stand up and read it to me."
Li Cong's face turned from red to white, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He looked around for help, only to find that his classmates who had been laughing with him just moments before were all looking down, wishing they could crawl under their desks.
Xu Ying noticed that Zong Heng's right hand was trembling slightly at his side—not from fear, but from a suppressed rage.
His fingernails dug deeply into his palm, leaving four crescent-shaped red marks.
"I...I didn't mean to..." Li Cong stammered, his voice growing softer and softer.
Zong Heng suddenly laughed. This laugh sent a chill down Xu Ying's spine. It was not the expression a seventeen-year-old boy should have; it was more like the prelude to some wild beast baring its fangs.
"Li Cong," he slowly pulled the textbook from the other's hand, "you got 38 on your midterm English exam, and you can't even tell the difference between 'rain' and 'run'. What gives you the nerve?"
The textbook was slammed onto the table with a "thud," sending chalk dust flying everywhere. Li Cong pulled his hand back as if he had been burned, and the desk shook violently with his movement. The pencil case crashed to the ground with a "clatter," and several pens rolled to Xu Ying's feet.
The classroom was eerily quiet. Xu Ying could even hear the rustling of the sycamore leaves outside the window, and her own rapid heartbeat. She saw sunlight filtering through Zong Heng's hair, casting dappled patterns of light on his face, but it couldn't penetrate his dark eyes.
The English teacher cleared her throat: "Zong Heng, pay attention to classroom discipline..."
"I was maintaining discipline, teacher." Zong Heng straightened up, his tone suddenly becoming lighter, as if his earlier violence had been an illusion. He casually picked up his chair, the metal legs scraping harshly against the floor. "Didn't you say that classmates should help each other?"
When he said "help each other," his gaze swept across Xu Ying's face, lingering for less than a second before moving away. But in that instant, Xu Ying clearly saw something flash in his eyes, like a spark from a flint in the dark.
Li Cong's deskmate was sneakily trying to pick up the fallen pen when Zong Heng gave him a look, and the hand immediately froze in mid-air.
"Keep reading," Zong Heng said to Xu Ying without turning his head, his voice so low that only a few rows nearby could hear it.
Xu Ying was stunned. She noticed a faint scar at the hairline on the back of Zong Heng's neck, hidden beneath his wispy hair, like a lurking centipede. His shoulders were broader than she had imagined, stretching his hoodie into a sharp curve, and the outline of his shoulder blades was faintly visible beneath the fabric.
"Xu Ying?" the English teacher urged.
She snapped back to reality, realizing she had been staring at Zong Heng's back for far too long. Her focus returned to the letters in her textbook; she took a deep breath and continued reading. This time, no one dared to laugh.
Zong Heng stood there listening to the rest of the passage, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders slumped against the wall. Sunlight streamed in from the window behind him, gilding his silhouette with a fuzzy golden edge, like some untimely deity descending.
As Xu Ying finished reading the last word, scattered applause rang out in the classroom—from a few girls who had been bullied by Li Cong. Zong Heng raised an eyebrow, then suddenly turned to face the whole class:
"What? Now you know how to clap?"
The applause abruptly stopped. He chuckled, bent down to pick up the pencil case from the floor, and casually tossed it back onto Li Cong's desk: "Next time I hear anyone laughing at her accent..." The last part of his sentence was drowned out by the ringing bell, but Li Cong's pale face said it all.
The sharp sound of the school bell pierced the still air, and the students scattered like a receding tide, but all tacitly avoided the area where Xu Ying was. She was tidying up her books, her movements slow, as if deliberately stalling for time. The dusty shoe print on the cover of her English book was particularly glaring; she reached out and gently wiped it, but couldn't remove it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zong Heng bent down to right the chair he had kicked over, the chair legs scraping loudly on the floor. He picked up Xu Ying's book that had fallen to the ground with one hand, casually flicked it, and dust floated in the sunlight.
"Yours." He tossed it back onto her desk, his tone indifferent.
Xu Ying looked up at him.
Zong Heng didn't leave; he stood by her desk, looking down at her. He was very tall, with broad shoulders, and his features were sharp, as if carved by a knife, when backlit. Xu Ying couldn't see his expression, but she could sense that his breathing was a little faster than usual.
She didn't say anything, but looked down and took a piece of candy out of her pencil case.
The peach-flavored hard candy, wrapped in cellophane, gleamed a pale orange in the sunlight. She pushed it towards the table, her fingertips pausing briefly on the surface.
"Thank you," she said.
Zong Heng stared at the candy, without moving it.
Most of the students had already left the classroom, leaving only a few students on duty dawdling as they wiped the blackboard, occasionally glancing over in this direction. The incessant chirping of cicadas outside the window made the room seem even quieter.
Xu Ying's fingers curled slightly, and she was about to pull them back when Zong Heng suddenly reached out and grabbed the candy into his palm.
"...Don't give me that." His voice was very low, as if it were being squeezed out of his throat.
Xu Ying pursed her lips and didn't reply.
Zong Heng held the candy tightly in his hand, neither eating it nor putting it in his pocket. His knuckles were clenched so tightly they turned white, as if he wanted to crush the candy. Xu Ying noticed the bulging veins on the back of his hand and several small scars on his knuckles—like they were from a fight.
She suddenly remembered how he had kicked over the chair earlier, full of malice, like an enraged wolf.
But now, as he holds a piece of candy, his movements are inexplicably cautious.
"Why are you giving me candy?" Zong Heng suddenly asked.
Xu Ying was taken aback, not expecting him to ask that. She subconsciously looked up and met his eyes.
His eyes were very dark, almost black, yet he was staring straight at her with a scrutinizing gaze.
“It’s… a thank-you gift,” she said softly.
Zong Heng scoffed: "Because I'm the one who insults you?"
Xu Ying shook her head: "Because you made me finish reading it."
Her voice was soft, but clear.
Zong Heng was taken aback.
He hadn't expected her to say that. He thought she would be embarrassed, flustered, or simply avoid him like everyone else. But she just looked at him calmly, her eyes as clear as still water.
He suddenly felt irritated.
"Stop pretending to be innocent." He looked away, his tone harsh. "Next time you get bullied, yell back. Don't act like you're being slaughtered."
Xu Ying wasn't angry; instead, she gently curved the corners of her mouth into a smile: "And what about you?"
"What about me?"
When you're bullied, do you also yell back?
Zong Heng stared at her, his gaze suddenly turning cold.
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
Xu Ying belatedly realized that she might have crossed the line. She had heard from classmates that Zong Heng's family situation was complicated; his father was a well-known local businessman, and his mother didn't pay much attention to his studies. He fought, skipped classes, and was unpredictable, yet his grades were ridiculously good, and the teachers couldn't do anything about him.
Just as she was about to apologize, Zong Heng suddenly turned around.
"I'm leaving." He left without turning his head, his back straight and cold.
He held the candy in his hand and took it away.
Xu Ying watched his figure disappear through the classroom door and let out a soft sigh. She lowered her head to continue packing her schoolbag, but found a crumpled note on the corner of her desk.
She unfolded it and saw a line of words written on it in a flamboyant style:
"Don't be late tomorrow, I'm not waiting for anyone."
The corridors were empty after school.
Zong Heng leaned against the shadows at the corner of the stairs, clutching the candy in his hand. The cellophane reflected the setting sun, casting dappled light on his knuckles.
He stared at it for a long time before finally tearing open the packaging and popping the candy into his mouth.
The sweetness explodes on the tongue, and the peach flavoring is cheap yet strong.
It tastes awful.
He frowned, but still bit the candy into pieces with a crunching sound.
Footsteps approached from afar, and several boys walked over with their arms around each other's shoulders. When they saw Zong Heng, they visibly shrank back and quickened their pace to slip away.
Zong Heng ignored them, simply flattened the candy wrapper, and then, as if possessed, folded it twice.
By the time he realized what was happening, a crooked origami crane was already lying in his palm.
"Damn it," he cursed, stuffed the paper crane into his pocket, and strode away.
That evening, when Xu Ying returned home, she found something stuffed in the side pocket of her schoolbag.
She took it out and saw that it was the strawberry-printed folding umbrella that she had lent to Zong Heng that morning.
A small origami crane, folded from candy wrapper, was tucked between the umbrella ribs, gleaming orange in the lamplight.
She paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
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