Chapter 21 Parent's Signature: Go back and get a second copy with parent's signature.
Ye Yuying's face turned pale instantly. She hurriedly turned off the flashlight, but she couldn't suppress her rapid breathing.
The moment she was caught, she felt like a small animal that had wandered into forbidden territory, embarrassed, panicked, and with nowhere to escape.
"I...I..."
Her voice was hoarse, and she tried to explain in a flustered manner, but for a moment she didn't know how to start.
The more I tried to explain, the less I could say, and I could only stand there, frozen in the night.
Cheng Mingdu stood at the door of the attic, holding a cardboard box, and looked at her calmly.
In the stillness of the night, his silhouette was clearly outlined by the dim light, and he was as still as a statue.
After a few seconds of silence, he slowly took a few steps forward.
"curious?"
He didn't question or assign blame; he simply narrated calmly.
Ye Yuying bit her lip, lowered her head, and looked like a child who had done something wrong. Her pale face didn't recover for a long time, and she just nodded repeatedly.
She didn't mean to spy, it's just that... that intense curiosity got the better of her when she saw his name appear first on the Zhiyuan Wall.
Cheng Mingdu stood in front of her, bent down slightly, and gently placed the old cardboard box in his hand on the floor.
The wooden board made a soft creak.
Then, he looked up at her quietly and said, "Come down first, I'm going upstairs to put some things down."
That gaze held neither anger nor contempt, only a suffocating tranquility.
It was like watching a small animal that had wandered into his world; he was devoid of emotion, merely observing her without even a hint of curiosity about her purpose.
Ye Yuying froze on the spot, then hurriedly climbed down, her eyes filled with the panic of having made a mistake. She thought she had done something wrong, and stood there blankly, waiting for Cheng Mingdu to come down and interrogate her.
But in fact nothing happened. Cheng Mingdu patted the dust off his clothes and saw that the small figure was still standing obediently at the top of the stairs.
He frowned slightly, his voice remaining calm and devoid of warmth: "Why are you still standing?"
Ye Yuying was taken aback and subconsciously took another half step back, as if afraid that staying even a second longer would provoke his displeasure.
"I went to Rongcheng No.1 High School today..." She hesitated, but still wanted to confirm, "You... did you graduate from there?"
She originally wanted to ask him what the last character of his name was, but she was too nervous to control her mind.
After asking that question, she quickly looked away, hiding all her emotions.
Cheng Mingdu stopped what he was doing and glanced at her slightly.
There was a slight hint of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly regained his usual composure.
He didn't seem to intend to avoid the question, and answered casually, "Yes."
She bit her lower lip and asked in a low voice, almost inaudible: "Is your name... the 'Du' from 'Mingde Duxing'?"
After she finished speaking, she felt embarrassed and superfluous. She couldn't look directly at the gazes in front of her, and her fingers twisted the hem of her clothes tightly, as if she was ready to run away at any moment.
Cheng Mingdu looked at her quietly, his gaze calm, like a cold spring in the night.
After a long pause, he gave a barely audible "hmm".
His voice was extremely soft, but it wasn't perfunctory; it was as if he had carefully confirmed her question before giving his answer.
Ye Yuying looked up blankly at his eyes, which were as still as a forest after a snowfall.
The air was so still it felt almost stagnant.
Cheng Mingdu seemed to sense the change in atmosphere, and his tone softened, becoming more casual: "There's a box numbered thirteen in the attic, which contains my study materials from junior high school. There are also several bookshelves filled with leisure books. If you need anything, just go and get it."
Ye Yuying was taken aback. She didn't even say a word, but Cheng Mingdu assumed that she had some learning purpose.
She had no intention of seeking out the study materials, but for now, that was the most plausible explanation for her strange behavior.
She whispered her thanks, but felt a little guilty, thinking that she was uneducated and destined to let down the materials.
Cheng Mingdu simply nodded slightly, his voice languidly falling: "Okay, go back now. I'll put some other things in the fridge tonight, you can eat by yourself."
That feeling of weightlessness returned, and Ye Yuying gripped her sleeve tightly, whispering her thanks: "Thank you."
Footsteps sounded again, and Cheng Mingdu disappeared at the top of the stairs.
She quickly left, and only dared to stop after closing the door. She leaned against the wall and quietly took a deep breath.
My heart was pounding, as if I had done something incredibly important.
Around midnight, she finally dawdled out of her room and sneaked up to the attic again.
The room was extremely quiet, with only the faint sound of the night wind tapping against the windows.
Following Cheng Mingdu's instructions, she found the cardboard box numbered thirteen in the corner.
Upon opening it, one is greeted by neatly stacked old lecture notes, reference books, thick notebooks, and some worn-out workbooks.
Everything was meticulously organized and categorized, as if it came from someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Upon opening it, one was greeted by exceptionally neat handwriting—it turns out he could write so well even back in junior high school.
Just looking at those questions and annotations made Ye Yuying feel like she couldn't breathe.
She lacks so much that she can't even begin.
She knelt on the ground, carefully picked out two of the most basic-looking math books, and tucked them into her bosom like a thief. Then she gently put the cardboard box back in its original position.
After doing all this, she quickly slipped back to her room, closed the door, and panted nervously and excitedly like a mouse that had stolen candy.
Rather than wanting to study, she was more curious about Cheng Mingdu's world, about the existence that Lin Zhiyan revered, and about how such a genius spent his junior high school years.
She wondered if she could find a solution to life in Cheng Mingdu's objects, at least not like now, like stagnant water, only gradually becoming foul.
So, on these lonely midnights, besides going downstairs to get rice balls, she would lie in her room contemplating life, and in her boredom, she would open Cheng Mingdu's notebook and browse through it to pass the time.
At first, she just wanted to appreciate the handwriting, but over time, she even had the wild idea of trying to understand the thoughts he had gone through when he wrote those notes.
Finally, she had something to do at night. Even if it took half an hour to solve a problem, even if it required a lot of research, even if she was covered in sweat, she stubbornly wrote and revised on the blank paper.
The hands of the clock slid slowly through the night, and the wind outside made the old window frames creak.
In the stillness of the night, a lonely and vulnerable soul quietly made a change in the most inconspicuous corner.
And she herself was unaware that this unintentional act—
That night, the trajectory of her life quietly veered off its predetermined path.
*
Ye Yuying always sat under the lectern—that "special spot".
As the successor to the last-place student in the class, she lived up to expectations and consistently ranked last.
She was caught secretly doing math problems during biology class. After being ridiculed by the teacher, she was made to stand as punishment.
After being "exiled to the frontier," she was finally able to secretly take out the math check sheets tucked inside her textbooks and, under the cover of the textbooks, secretly do the calculations she hadn't finished.
The biology teacher was on stage lecturing on cell division, his tone monotonous and perfunctory.
Most of the students in the audience were listless, except for a small figure in the most inconspicuous corner of the front row, quietly lowering his head, the sound of a pencil scratching across paper.
Standing as punishment?
Sitting in a special seat in the first row?
This is a nightmare for many people during their middle school years, but fortunately, she didn't have a responsible parent who would check her homework.
As long as she could retain a glimmer of light amidst all the cold stares and ridicule, she would be content.
*
When the bell rang, the classroom erupted in an uproar.
The biology teacher said, "Ye Yuying, come to my office after school."
Then he picked up the test paper and walked away.
Several classmates chuckled and turned to look at her, their eyes filled with undisguised contempt and mockery.
After school, Ye Yuying silently lowered her head and packed her things, her movements extremely light and slow.
She was happy to relax after school today because the whole class knew she had been called to the office, and Ge Jie naturally wouldn't force her to go to the school gate to bully others.
She found that the horror of being talked to in the teacher's office was far less severe than being forced by Ge Jie to beat someone up.
After most of the people had left, she slung her backpack over her shoulder, walked through the teaching building, and made her way to the biology department in the teachers' office building. She even hummed a tuneless little tune because the days were so easy.
The biology teacher sat in his chair, flipping through the test papers, not even glancing at her, and coldly said:
"Don't think I don't know you're not paying attention in class. You think math can save you? With your level?"
Ye Yuying lowered her eyelashes, did not refute, and just stood quietly.
A slight smile even appeared at the corners of her mouth.
The biology teacher chuckled sarcastically and asked, "You seem unconcerned and quite pleased with yourself?"
Ye Yuying immediately straightened her expression and shook her head repeatedly, "No."
Then, with a slap, he threw a crumpled test paper in front of her: "Was the test paper you got 30 points on last time signed by you pretending to be a parent?"
Ye Yuying was stunned, her eyes widening slightly, and she was momentarily unable to react.
The biology teacher stared at her coldly, his tone turning sharp: "What, you're afraid to admit it?"
She bit her lower lip, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the loose thread on the cuff of her school uniform. With a gentle pull, she accidentally tore a hole in the cuff, like an unstitched wound, revealing the white hoodie underneath.
I did very poorly on the test that day, so I took it home to get it signed.
She knew perfectly well that she had no one to rely on, so she could only secretly imitate Jiang Xinxue's handwriting and hastily get by.
Perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps because she desperately wanted to escape the loneliness and failure she felt she had nowhere to turn, she didn't even dare to look at the exam paper again after signing it.
Being exposed in public like this, even though there was no one else in the office, Ye Yuying's previously indifferent mood instantly plummeted. The rising heat on her cheeks made her belatedly realize that she felt a bone-chilling shame...
After a long pause, she lowered her eyes and said softly, "I signed it."
She couldn’t think of any excuse other than admitting it.
The biology teacher, as if expecting this, gave a light snort and slammed the test paper on the table without any hesitation.
"What do you think this is? You're lying! Ye Yuying, a student like you will never be wanted by society."
Ye Yuying lowered her head, her eyelashes trembled, and her nails dug deeply into her palms.
She thought she didn't care, because it wasn't the first time she'd heard these words, but at this moment her chest still felt tight, like a sponge that was about to absorb water and swell, incredibly heavy.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say; she wanted to explain countless times.
He explained that he didn't not want to learn, but simply lacked the ability.
He explained that he wasn't born bad, but that he had taken the wrong path since childhood and was dragged down step by step.
To explain the internal and external troubles: Dad is in jail, Mom is afraid of being a burden, and Grandma is currently bedridden at home due to a back injury...
Nobody paid any attention to her...
What's the point of explaining?
The world never listens to the explanations of the weak.
Ye Yuying gently raised her head, her voice surprisingly calm: "Teacher, I understand."
Her voice was clear, with a deeper quality than that of her peers, as if imbued with the essence of her soul.
"Go back and get a parent's signature, then hand it to me after school tomorrow."
After saying that, the biology teacher ignored her and continued organizing his lecture notes.
Ye Yuying bent down to pick up the paper, her fingers gently stroking the creases.
She asked, "Can I still come to the office after school tomorrow?"
The biology teacher wondered if he had misheard, wondering why he could detect a hint of anticipation.
But after a while, she smiled and said loudly, "Thank you, teacher."
He turned around and left the classroom.
The biology teacher was left standing there puzzled, seemingly unsure what the last glimmer of expectation in her eyes was for.
She had never seen a student like this before.
Without refutation or argument, even after being humiliated or scolded, one can still calmly and sincerely say thank you.
*
And then, late at night.
Cheng Mingdu closed a book and got up to go to the kitchen to pour water.
He spotted a faint light in the servants' lounge, where a small figure sat in a corner, seemingly observing the outside world.
As they walked down the corridor, the figure suddenly stood up, making a sound as if turning over pages.
He paused, turned his head, and found Ye Yuying already standing in the corridor.
In the dim light, she sweetly called out "brother," making it difficult to tell whether it was the result of Jiang Xinxue's training or a genuine address.
Then she came up to him, looking flustered, as if she had been restless for a long time, with a hint of timidity: "Could you help me sign this?"
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Author's Note: 50 red envelopes [Cat emoji]
I won't skip directly to the end of the campus storyline. I'll write one phase and then switch to the modern storyline, but I don't have any drafts saved up. I can't say exactly which chapter or the modern storyline. [shrug]
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