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It turned out that apology letters couldn't bridge the gap between girls, a fact Xia Tong experienced firsthand. The letter that reached her disappeared without a trace, and for the next few days, no matter how Xia Tong tried to talk to her, she ignored her. Gradually, Xia Tong gave up. Without friends, Xia Tong returned to her solitary state. Only later did she realize that all the girls she used to talk to had stopped talking to her, and she belatedly understood: she had been isolated.
Li Jiaqi was an extremely talkative and sociable person, in other words, a big gossip who loved forming cliques. Although she was average-looking and academically average, her silver tongue gave her absolute authority in any group. Soon everyone knew that Xia Tong was a "slut" who was good at playing the victim, liked Yan Chufan upstairs, and was also flirting with Fu Jia from their class. Xia Tong never expected Li Jiaqi to reveal her secret, because Li Jiaqi had sworn to keep it a secret. Actually, the real reason all the girls in the class were angry wasn't because she was "two-timing," but because one of her partners was Fu Jia.
From then on, Xia Tong would avoid Yan Chufan whenever she saw him, but Fu Jia, whom she especially wanted to avoid, clung to her like glue and she couldn't shake him off no matter what.
During the last class in the morning, Xia Tong felt something was wrong. Her pants felt sticky and wet. She secretly shifted her position and found blood all over the bench. Xia Tong wasn't an ignorant girl. Her teacher had already taught her about this in biology class back in seventh grade, and most of the girls in her class had already had this experience. She had seen girls sneaking off to the bathroom with giant bandages in their pockets before. But how was she going to go home with her pants dirty? She felt uneasy. As soon as the school bell rang, everyone packed up to go home. Xia Tong bit her lip and tugged at her deskmate, Wu Mengmeng, who hadn't spoken to her for a long time: "Did you bring—that?" Wu Mengmeng was also surprised that she suddenly asked her, but then quickly returned to her usual expressionless face: "No."
With nowhere to turn for help, Xia Tong could only sit in her seat and pretend to be busy packing her things, hoping her classmates would leave quickly. All the other classmates had already gone, leaving only the anxious Xia Tong and Fu Jia, who was rummaging through his desk. Fu Jia's desk was always messy, and he was sweating profusely as he searched for the little trinkets he'd carelessly stuffed in the night before, finally giving up in frustration. Looking up, she saw Xia Tong was still there: "Xia Xiaotong? Why aren't you leaving yet? Waiting for me?"
"No, no. You go first, I'll leave later," Xia Tong quickly explained.
"What are you doing staying here all by yourself? What's your scheme?" Fu Jia didn't miss any opportunity to tease her and eagerly came closer.
"No, I didn't intend to do anything bad, you should go first!" Xia Tong said hurriedly, pushing Fu Jia who was lingering beside her. Fu Jia pulled her up, and the moment she was off the stool, Xia Tong screamed as if she had been electrocuted, startling Fu Jia. Her hand loosened, and Xia Tong quickly sat back down on the stool, gripping the edge tightly as if afraid someone would snatch it away.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Fu Jia, with his sharp eyes, had already seen everything on the stool. He hadn't had time to think much before being stunned by her scream. Now, after thinking about it carefully, he vaguely understood what had happened. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke with difficulty, "Um—is it—your period?" 'Period' was the girls' code word for 'aunt' in the class, and Fu Jia had only just figured out what it meant. After saying that, he felt a little embarrassed and pretended to look away, even clearing his throat.
Seeing her sitting there looking troubled and not saying anything, Fu Jia became a little anxious: "Does your stomach hurt too?" As she spoke, she shamelessly reached out her hand as if to pinch her stomach.
Xia Tong, embarrassed and angry at having her secret exposed, flung Fu Jia's hand away, saying, "It's none of your business, you should just leave!"
"If I don't care about you, who will?" Fu Jia looked around. In the sweltering summer heat, everyone was only wearing T-shirts; who had any extra jackets to cover themselves? Fu Jia ran to the back of the classroom and scanned the desks. Xia Tong was still nagging, "You should go now. I can go back by myself later. You don't need to meddle..."
Before he could finish reading, Fu Jia came over with a jersey, looking very smug: "See? There's nothing in this world that can stump this handsome guy!" Then he threw the jersey over in a very flamboyant manner.
"Whose is this? It's not right for me to just take it like this, without even telling them," Xia Tong said, somewhat embarrassed.
"It's alright, it's just an emergency. Chen Cheng is my brother, he won't complain."
Xia Tong tucked the garishly bright jersey around her waist, muttering to herself, "Won't this make me even more exposed...?" Fu Jia poured a bottle of water onto Xia Tong's stool, the undried bloodstains spreading with the glistening water. In that instant, Xia Tong felt as if she were standing naked in front of Fu Jia, forcefully shoving away Fu Jia who was busy pulling out tissues, her voice trembling as she pointed to the door, "Get away! Stand over there!" She even resembled a desperate young woman in a Hong Kong drama, yelling at those trying to save her to stay away.
Fu Jia touched her nose and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry? Fine, I don't care, you wipe it yourself." Then she obediently stood at the door.
Xia Tong was wiping the bloodstains off the stool, on the verge of tears. Why did other girls' first periods pass silently and uneventfully, while it seemed like some devil was watching her suffer?! She secretly glanced up at Fu Jia, who was leaning against the classroom door with his arms crossed, watching Xia Tong with an air of superiority. Seeing Xia Tong looking at him, he immediately grinned mischievously. Xia Tong quickly lowered her head and continued wiping the stool clean.
The two of them dawdled and sneaked out of the classroom. There weren't many students on campus, but Fu Jia insisted on walking with his arm around Xia Tong's waist. Xia Tong resisted, twisting her waist to try and avoid him, but Fu Jia started spouting nonsense: "Do you want to become the center of attention with such a bright-colored jersey?"
"Then don't get so close to me..." Xia Tong continued to struggle.
"Only if I help you block things will you look more natural." Fu Jia pinched Xia Tong's waist, preventing her from escaping his control.
Xia Tong had no choice but to let him stay so close. Fu Jia appeared serious on the surface, but inwardly he was overjoyed and had all sorts of wicked thoughts. Taking an inch and then a mile might just be an impatient version of gradual progress. For example, Fu Jia felt that the sun was shining brightly, the wind was gentle, and the atmosphere was perfect—it was also the perfect moment to give away his first kiss. He always prided himself on being a man of action, so he did exactly what he thought.
When he touched Xia Tong's soft lips, his heart softened unbelievably, but before he could go any deeper, Xia Tong pushed him away. Given Fu Jia's domineering nature, he was determined to do what he wanted. He would usually coax and deceive Xia Tong into obeying him, but in special circumstances, he was capable of forcing her.
Just as Fu Jia pulled Xia Tong back into his arms, intending to savor that kiss that felt like a ginseng fruit swallowed whole by Pigsy, he noticed that Xia Tong's beautiful eyes were now red like a rabbit's eyes.
"What's wrong with you? I just kissed you, I didn't bite you!" Fu Jia's eyes were full of disbelief. No one's first kiss makes the other person cry, right?
In the blink of an eye, the tears that had been welling up in Xia Tong's eyes streamed down her face. Her once bright red lips, now pursed from the kiss, trembled, and she squatted down, burying her head in her legs and sobbing. When everyone called her a promiscuous "slut," Xia Tong always felt she wasn't; that they had misunderstood her. She tried her best to keep her distance from Fu Jia, but every time Fu Jia made a close move, she questioned herself: Was she really as promiscuous as they said, casually flirting with boys? Was she really so bad that this situation had arisen? Fu Jia's semi-forced kiss just now truly convinced Xia Tong that she wasn't "pure" enough, which was why she was ostracized by all the girls in the class.
Fu Jia was at a loss; he had absolutely no experience in comforting a crying little girl. His usual glib tongue was useless now, and he could only stammer an apology: "Don't cry, I'm sorry, okay?"
"I promise I won't kiss you so casually next time."
"Please, stop crying, someone's watching..."
Fu Jia was even more confused. Although she was extremely frustrated, she still tried to appease him by squatting there: "How can you stop crying?"
Xia Tong then looked up, her eyes swollen: "If you promise not to come near me again, I won't cry."
"What the hell?!" Fu Jia immediately exploded. "I'm not some monster, why are you making such a fuss?!"
"You must clear my name."
"..." It's as if I really ruined your reputation.
"Say something."
"Hurry up and wipe your tears and snot. Who would be so crazy as to want to get close to you?" Fu Jia disgustedly threw a pack of tissues at her, then dragged her toward the school gate.
"Are you going to agree or not?"
"Aren't you annoying? You're such a little kid, why do you nag like a housewife?"
Finally, they flagged down a taxi. Xia Tong got in but wouldn't let Fu Jia get in: "You promised me I could get home by myself."
Left with no other choice, Fu Jia had to pay Xia Tong the fare. Xia Tong refused, so Fu Jia gave it directly to the driver, saying, "You little girl, you're always so talkative and troublesome!"
Watching the car disappear into the distance, Fu Jia touched her lips and chuckled to herself. Noticing passersby staring at her as if she were crazy, she immediately regained her composure, but thought with deep regret: next time, she must kiss for a longer time.
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