Chapter 21
It was an ordinary afternoon, and the break between classes was almost over. Li Muxue could even hear the heavy, powerful footsteps of her geography teacher approaching. At that moment, she was being relentlessly tormented by a cold force deep within her body. The pain wasn't a sharp scream, but a dull, continuous crushing, as if a block of ice, constantly sucking in warmth, was feeding on her life force, slowly solidifying and sinking.
She pressed her forehead gently against the cool edge of the wooden desk, trying to gain a sliver of calm. Her face was a translucent pale, like fine white porcelain, with faint blue veins visible beneath. Fine, glistening beads of sweat dotted the tip of her nose, not the exhilaration of exercise, but the outward sign of life being silently evaporated by pain. She bit her lower lip tightly, leaving deep, bloodless marks on her once full and rosy lips, like tire tracks in the snow.
The school bell rang. She took a deep breath, her breath trembling almost imperceptibly, and then, with all her might, used her arms to support her upper body, which felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. Every movement was slow and deliberate, like a slow-motion scene in a movie, as if afraid that any haste would disturb or aggravate the deep-seated pain.
The geography teacher's voice, which usually sounded as powerful as mountains and rivers, now seemed muffled and indistinct, as if muffled by a thick, murky pane of glass. The terms about monsoons and ocean currents, which should have carried the shapes of distant moisture and wind, were now just empty syllables, unable to leave any mark on her pain-stricken mind.
Her entire spirit was channeled into a stubborn thought, an almost tragic willpower, all used to fight against the relentless, agonizing pain. Her back was ramrod straight, an almost harsh self-discipline, a dam built by the fragile dignity of a sixteen-year-old girl to prevent the utter submersion of the waves of agony. But upon closer inspection, one could see that her straight back carried a stiff, unnatural curve, like an overstretched string, ready to snap silently at any moment.
Her hand remained pressed quietly against her lower abdomen, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Her nails, a pale pink and neatly trimmed, were now deeply embedded in her school uniform. Beneath that uniform lay a secret, unspoken battle of growing up. Occasionally, she would subtly shift her posture, trying to find a point of respite to ease the pain, but it was all in vain. The pain receded like the tide, only to surge back with even greater force.
Most of the time, her gaze was vacant, fixed on the open geography book, the colorful maps on the pages fading into a blurry mass of color. But when a particularly intense, sharp pain struck, her eyelashes would flutter violently, like the wings of a startled butterfly. Her eyes would instantly lose focus, becoming veiled with a thin layer of tears, reflecting only pure pain. She would quickly lower her eyelids, tightly sealing away that momentary vulnerability, not letting it spill out in the slightest.
Time seemed to stretch out under this pain, each minute and second becoming agony. Outside the window, the bright autumn sunlight streamed through the glass, casting a small patch of warmth on her pale face. She could see the dust motes floating in the beams of light, so free, so light, a cruel contrast to the heavy shackles binding her body. The sounds of her classmates turning pages, the teacher explaining, all seemed like noises from another world. She was trapped inside her own body, this silent cage built of pain…
The bell rang again, and she had finally made it through another class. She could finally rest her head on her desk for a moment. Her deskmate, Su Suisui, turned and softly asked, "Muxue, can you still hold on? If you really can't, you should ask for leave!"
Li Muxue shook her head: "It's okay, Suisui. I'm too embarrassed to tell the teachers. Both the geography teacher and the homeroom teacher are male. I... I'll just bear with it."
"That's the only way then. Anyway, there's only one class left before school ends! I'll go stretch my legs in the hallway first."
After saying that, Su Suisui flew out of the classroom like a canary that had been caged for too long.
"Muxue, wait for me, I'll be back in five minutes!"
This was Xu Chen's somewhat hurried voice. Before Li Muxue could react, Xu Chen disappeared like a gust of wind, seemingly holding something in his hands.
About five minutes later, Xu Chen returned and placed the item on Li Muxue's desk: "Here, drink this while it's hot. I just went to the water room and rinsed it with hot water. It's about 65 degrees Celsius now, just right. It'll cool down in a bit!"
Li Muxue looked up and saw a glass thermos on her desk. The lid was screwed on tightly, and it contained a dark red liquid.
Li Muxue asked, "What do you want me to drink?"
Xu Chen blinked, her voice very soft: "I noticed you haven't been feeling well for two or three days, so I called Aunt Zhao, the one in the factory's finance department. I asked her if a girl's stomach aches for several days, it couldn't be from eating something bad and having indigestion, right? She chuckled on the phone and then told me a secret recipe: boil brown sugar, ginger, and two jujubes in water, and drink it while it's hot to relieve the pain. I rode my bike home during my lunch break to make this for you, but it wasn't very hot when I got back, so I reheated it. Try it and see if it works?"
Li Muxue's face flushed crimson within seconds, for this was the first time someone had presented her with ginger and brown sugar water in such a somewhat abrupt manner. She sat up straight, unscrewed the thermos, and took a small sip. In an instant, the sweet, slightly spicy, and warm sensation completely melted her heart…
(To be continued)
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