Chapter 42 Love Letter She could finally call him simply for the sake of calling him…
Last night's rain was thorough, and this morning the sky was clear and the air was much cleaner.
Stepping back into the classroom, the atmosphere of the entire space had subtly changed.
This was Ye Yuying's first day back in the classroom after kicking Ge Jie and leaving with Ji Zi. She was like a tightly wound spring, always on high alert.
It seems that revenge is already brewing.
Ye Yuying seemed to have really taken Cheng Mingdu's words to heart, and immediately began to implement them.
She sought out those in the class who might be under Ge Jie's control and dared not resist, trying to win them over.
Ji Zi missed a whole week of classes after the last incident, feeling that she had lost face in front of everyone.
But Ye Yuying wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault and that she shouldn't punish herself for someone else's mistake.
But upon further reflection, this statement is like a Thangka painting, without any flaws or loopholes, so sacred that it commands respect, yet it cannot save me from the pain I feel at this moment.
Ye Yuying seemed to be injected with new life force, and for a very brief moment she even thought that she could shake everything and at least stir up some waves in the stagnant situation.
She sat in the very front row of the classroom, her gaze passing through the glass and landing at the end of the empty corridor, as if she could see Ji Zi walking down the stairs with her head down.
But she didn't come.
The seat had been empty for seven days. She had never paid attention to this seat before, as she used it to put her schoolbag and stationery. But when someone occupied it and then it was empty for a long time, it seemed to have a special presence, like a piece of a collapsed building in a dilapidated house, with the broken edge like a broken wound.
No one mentioned what happened that day again, and no one mentioned Ji Zi again, as if they had reached a kind of collective silence.
This is the most disgusting part—not only do they not apologize after causing harm, but they also continue to live their lives as if nothing happened.
Among the crowd, only Ge Jie was now openly staring at him with hatred. She had gone from being a seemingly innocent but actually powerful figure to being in the spotlight in less than six months.
Ye Yuying knew that she was isolated and helpless in this huge class. She believed that not everyone was willing to stand on Ge Jie's side, but that they were just afraid to resist.
Some people are just afraid. They are not deaf, they are just silent.
There must be a few among them who are just afraid to cause trouble, but their conscience has not been extinguished.
She was waiting—not passively waiting for death, but waiting for someone to have the courage to join her side.
Although Rousseau said that once mankind becomes accustomed to being enslaved, it is difficult for them to truly understand and cherish freedom; once they rebel, they often fall into another, more hidden and even heavier form of enslavement due to their misunderstanding of freedom.
Even so, she still hoped that this stagnant pool would begin to stir...
Ye Yuying began to pay close attention to those who remained silent when Ge Jie confronted others, simply offering a smile without actively provoking her.
For example, at lunchtime, she would deliberately arrive at the cafeteria a few minutes late, walk around to a window seat, and sit down, seemingly waiting for someone. Actually, she was waiting for those "invisible" people who were always the last to enter the cafeteria—no one would compete for their seats, and no one would initiate conversation with them. But just as they were about to pass by her, she would suddenly speak:
"This table is empty, would you like to sit here?"
He spoke in a casual, polite tone, like a perfunctory remark. But his voice was clear and firm, without a trace of condescension.
She never asked too many questions at once, nor did she discuss important matters. She would only talk about whether the child had a solution to a math problem or whether the child had copied the answer to a particular elective assignment incorrectly. She knew very well that these marginalized children were most afraid of "pledging allegiance." She didn't need them to be on her side right now; she just needed them to know that not every word had to be carefully chosen, and not every glance held judgment.
She also observed, especially the scheduling during morning reading and breaks—some people were usually quiet, but were always called on by Ge Jie's "confidants" to run errands, fetch water, or move test papers.
During physical training, she went up to help a girl who had fallen down by the elbow, but Ge Jie mocked her for being pretentious—that girl had previously pretended to be deaf and dumb to Ge Jie, not getting involved in anything, but dared not disobey their wishes.
Ye Yuying knew that this was the type of person who was most easily swayed among them.
They didn't say anything. The girl glanced at her in class the next day. In the silence, Ye Yuying realized that this observation and attempt to win her over seemed to have gone wrong.
During physical education class, when practicing physical fitness, Ye Yuying was asked by Teacher Yang to help take notes because of her outstanding physical education performance.
The previous sports committee member was a boy, and the girls would always ask a lot of questions when registering their menstrual periods. Since Ye Yuying took over, she understood everyone's difficulties and did the registration efficiently without asking any questions.
This matter has won everyone's favor.
Years later, when Ye Yuying looked back at herself at thirteen, she was on the verge of puberty, sensitive and vigilant. At that age, she had already learned how to survive in the cracks of power.
Although she was dealing with a small group rather than real power, it was incredibly exhausting for her at such a young age.
After that incident, Ge Jie did not immediately bring a storm; instead, everything remained as usual, so calm that Ye Yuying found it rather eerie.
After Ji Zi returned to school, she became haggard and changed from a sunny and cheerful person to a silent and gloomy one. She also rarely had close communication with Ye Yuying.
On the day of the midterm exams, the students in the entire grade were reassigned to different exam rooms.
During the math exam, the proctor was a newly transferred teacher who didn't know the students in the class. He had a cold look in his eyes and seemed impartial.
Ye Yuying had just finished answering the fill-in-the-blank questions and was working on a more complex problem when a crumpled piece of paper suddenly fell to the ground beside her.
She subconsciously looked up and saw Ge Jie's slightly tilted face in the third row. That face was expressionless at that moment, but her eyes met hers in mid-air.
It was like a scene that had been planned in advance.
The proctor immediately came over, picked up the crumpled paper, and unfolded it in front of everyone.
The detailed answer was written in the corner of a crumpled piece of homework paper. The handwriting was deliberately made to look messy, but the content was still recognizable at a glance.
The teacher frowned and questioned Ye Yuying, "Whose paper is this?"
She was also surprised, but her voice remained calm: "It's not mine."
The teacher then turned to ask the people around him, but no one saw who threw it, and no one spoke.
She cast a hopeful glance at Ji Zi behind her. The crumpled paper had been thrown from behind, and Ji Zi might have witnessed it.
But what hurt more than being bewildered was that Ji Zi didn't look at her, but instead buried herself in the test paper and wrote quickly, seemingly without any intention of getting involved.
All the students in the classroom, both from their own class and other classes, were shaking their heads, as if they were performing a pantomime.
The note was eventually taken away. The teacher gave Ye Yuying a cold look, collected her unfinished test paper, wrote down her name, and said that she would report the situation to the grade group for verification.
The news spread quickly. Before lunch break was even over, the head of the grade came to talk to her, leaving her with the words: "Go back and wait for further notice."
But later she discovered that this was just the beginning.
As the last bell rang before school ended, Ye Yuying was packing her schoolbag to go to the gymnasium for training when she was stopped by an unfamiliar teacher.
When the teacher in charge approached to inquire, the other party said, "Excuse me, Teacher Wang, I need to have my students identify the servants. Please keep everyone here for a couple of minutes."
Behind the unfamiliar female teacher was a tearful, aggrieved seventh-grade boy. He was a bit chubby, covered in dust, and his school uniform zipper was torn.
“Zhang, don’t be afraid. Go and identify who is the person who extorted protection money from you and beat you up outside of school.”
Ye Yuying didn't pay any attention to it, sat back down properly, and waited for the incident to pass.
The little boy scanned the whole class and pointed precisely at Ye Yuying: "It's her, she even stole the jade pendant my mother gave me."
Ye Yuying's pupils dilated, finding the whole thing unbelievable. She looked directly at the other person and asked, "Are you sure it's really me? You haven't mistaken me for someone else, have you?"
The little boy suddenly felt a little aggrieved, his eyes reddened, and he turned around and hid behind the female teacher.
A commotion erupted in the classroom, and all eyes were fixed on Ye Yuying. She felt dizzy, as if the whole world was spinning.
She tried to calm herself down and said, "Teacher, he has mistaken me for someone else. I have never done such a thing."
The female teacher frowned: "We will investigate this thoroughly. Now, please come with us."
Helpless, Ye Yuying prepared to put her schoolbag back on, but the female teacher snatched it away and said sternly, "Don't touch your bag. Who knows if there's evidence inside? I've seen plenty of students like you."
Ye Yuying was taken to the principal's office. The principal's face was grave: "Student Ye, this matter is very serious. Recently, many students have been extorted for protection money outside of school, which has attracted our attention. We need your cooperation in the investigation."
She was somewhat frightened by this situation. Although she knew she was innocent, having even the slightest suspicion against her was a very negative thing.
She had no choice but to nod: "I'm willing to cooperate, but I really haven't done it."
When the school asked to search her bag, she remembered the two handwritten letters in her inner pocket and turned pale with fright.
This only deepened everyone's suspicions.
But before the searcher could reach the hidden compartment, a gold-inlaid jade pendant had already been pulled out of the side pocket.
The evidence is conclusive.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, surrounded by a group of adults who were teachers, Ye Yuying felt her vision go black and nearly collapsed.
Some teachers were drawn to the commotion as they passed the principal's office. One of them, who was the proctor in the morning, immediately stepped forward and said, "This student cheated on the math exam today by passing notes. The grade level team is still investigating!"
The schoolbag was thrown back at her, a very heartless act.
The incident lasted for an hour that day. She was already late for track and field training and left the school feeling dejected.
She knew this might be an escalation of revenge, and Ge Jie's methods escalated. She no longer focused on violence against her, knowing that she was a tough nut to crack, so she started by targeting her personality and character.
But she only suspected it; she couldn't find any evidence at all.
She didn't return to the Cheng family immediately, but felt that she was now a suspect, and the two letters in her schoolbag were no longer safe whether she kept them at home or in her schoolbag.
Just then... she told everyone another lie.
That person's place was actually the safest place for these two letters.
On her way to Rongcheng No. 1 High School, she found a corner and added "Lin Zhiyan" to the salutation at the beginning of the letter. But Ye Yuying knew that not a single word in the entire letter was truly written to him.
She used the name Lin Zhiyan only to give this overly naked and dangerous emotion a realistic foothold. A pretext, a substitute, so that she could send the letter out, and at the same time, send out her feelings.
In her extreme loneliness, she was unwittingly redeemed by a tenderness that was not meant for her.
Cheng Mingdu taught her so much, taught her to be calm and rational, gave her the courage and confidence to rebel against the world, and quietly pulled her back from the edge of the abyss.
But she couldn't say it was for Cheng Mingdu, she couldn't say it. This idea itself shouldn't have been allowed to run in broad daylight.
Before handing over the letter, Ye Yuying asked Lin Zhiyan a question: "Lin Zhiyan, no one can win you over, and neither can I, right?"
Lin Zhiyan was momentarily bewildered: "What do you mean? You don't mean you want to pursue me too, do you? I don't want to ruin our friendship. Besides, I'm not interested in children..."
Ye Yuying smiled with satisfaction, relieved. As she spoke, she handed him her letter, saying each word slowly and deliberately:
"That's good, Lin Zhiyan. Never take these things seriously, and always treat them as the ignorance of a child, okay?"
Under his hesitant and doubtful gaze, she placed the letter in his hand with a solemn air, as if entrusting it to her own child.
She left with the letter in her hand, relieved.
That day, her schoolbag felt lighter than usual. She had survived two false accusations, but felt an unprecedented sense of relief because she had already revealed her secret.
She went to the tennis court to find Cheng Mingdu and called out in a clear, crisp voice from afar, "Brother."
Cheng Mingdu gestured for the personal trainer to stop and looked at her.
She didn't go up to him, but smiled at the stadium entrance and said, "It's nothing, I just wanted to call you. Practice hard, I'm going back now."
Finally, she had the courage to call him simply for the sake of calling him, without needing any grand or respectable reason.
She went to school as usual the next day, but the whole day was filled with discussions about her bad character, both in and out of class.
She began to think and reflect, wondering if she should have resisted, or secretly recruited people and made underhanded moves.
To put it more metaphysically, perhaps she should just accept her fate and not try to struggle, otherwise she will suffer a backlash.
On the evening of that day, when these emotions were about to completely engulf her, Ye Yuying saw Ji Zi behind the school's teaching building.
She stood under an ash tree, her back slender, sunlight dappling through the branches and leaves, falling on her school uniform. At that moment, Ye Yuying almost thought that the gentle and bright Ji Zi of the past had returned.
She walked over silently, but her footsteps startled the other person.
Ji Zi's expression remained indifferent as she turned back, but a hint of hesitation flickered in her eyes—
“I saw it,” she said in a low voice, almost through gritted teeth. “That piece of paper was thrown by Li Ying, most likely at Ge Jie’s behest.”
These words struck Ye Yuying like a bolt of lightning—she suddenly realized that someone had witnessed her innocence.
"But why didn't you say so then?"
Ji Zi remained silent for a long while, her voice hoarse, "I'm afraid... I'll offend her."
Ye Yuying didn't speak, her fingers slowly tightening until her nails almost dug into her palms. But she suppressed the urge to confront him on the spot, and simply replied softly, "I understand."
Instead of blaming her, she completely understood. She couldn't force someone to be a witness willingly, and she couldn't judge others by her own standards. Not everyone has the courage to take such a risk.
Ji Zi was willing to tell him the truth in private, and that was enough.
Before leaving, Ji Zi smiled playfully: "Yu Ying, so the person who occupies your heart is named Lin Zhiyan. Other classmates told me, and you admitted it to them in public before."
Ye Yuying was both amused and exasperated, but she nodded reluctantly.
Ji Zi asked, "Did you finally give out your love letter?"
Ye Yuying smiled and nodded, though the smile didn't reach her eyes, but she finally felt somewhat relieved.
Ji Zi said, "Congratulations."
They said goodbye.
The investigation lasted for several days, during which Ye Yuying was temporarily suspended from school. She felt lonely and cold.
However, she knew she shouldn't give up and should find evidence to prove her innocence.
However, she fell ill. It was as if all the diseases she had been carrying had suddenly come to her in an instant.
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Author's note: 50 red envelopes!
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