Chapter 9
The autumn of 2022 was a time of chaos, irritability, and confusion for Zhang Xiyu.
No matter from which perspective, Zhang Xiyu is an ordinary girl, with an ordinary family background, ordinary grades, ordinary personality, and ordinary popularity. The only thing about her appearance is that it can only score 85 points. She was just barely above the passing line for an ordinary high school and was admitted to No. 29 Middle School. She was always ranked in the bottom ten in her class in every exam.
Before Zhang Xiyu could react, the first year of high school ended and she entered the more stressful second year. According to the cold and straightforward conclusion of the class teacher Fang Chenyu: only 20% of the children in the class can go to a key university, and the remaining 30% can't even get into a junior college - it is meaningless for these people to go to high school. Only then did Zhang Xiyu realize that he might not be able to go to college.
This made her a little upset. If she had known that she could go to a vocational high school after graduating from junior high school, she would not only not have to go through the hard life of high school, but at least she would have a skill that would allow her to find a job. But as soon as she expressed this thought, she was beaten by her father who came home drunk after a social event.
Zhang Liangwei used a ruler to hit her back and arms, and he did it skillfully. This ruler was bought when she was in elementary school and has now become shiny. Zhang Liangwei was busy with work and didn't discipline her very often, but he would always use a ruler every time.
Zhang Xiyu feels that her father is very hypocritical: he is a vocational school graduate and he wore glasses because he played too many games when he was in school, but he works as a financial supervisor on a construction site and yet he always behaves like an intellectual. When he beat her, his true nature was exposed: rude, violent, and unreasonable.
"Vocational school!" The hard and cold ruler hit the girl's thin back fiercely. "Why do I work so hard and drink with others every day? Isn't it just for you two? Eating, drinking, defecating, which of them doesn't require me to make money? You don't study hard and always want to give up. Can you have a little perseverance? Others can do it, why can't you! You always rank among the top 40 or 50 in the exams for me, and you have lost face! The son of Mr. Huang, who is sweeping the floor at the construction site, was admitted to Zhejiang University last year! Damn it, don't eat dinner! Go to your room and reflect on yourself all night!"
With a "bang", the door was closed and the key was locked from the outside. The last thing that appeared in Zhang Xiyu's tearful eyes was her mother's face.
She stood more than one meter away from her father, looking at Zhang Xiyu. There was neither heartache nor anger in her eyes. She just looked at her daughter calmly. So Zhang Xiyu understood, and her mother also felt that her father was right to teach her a lesson and beat her.
They were all very tired and disappointed with her, but they had to discipline her. They didn't care what she was thinking or if she was having a hard time. They only want one result, which is to get into college.
Zhang Xiyu endured the hunger and pain, lying on the bed like a dead fish, crying for an unknown amount of time, and suddenly she didn't feel so sad anymore.
They just treated her as a tool to save face, and had to support her just because of blood relationship, so why should she care about them?
The next morning, Zhang Xiyu hid her makeup tools in her schoolbag and put on a short skirt under her school uniform pants. She didn't feel hungry and walked out of the room calmly. The mother came forward, and said with a look of regret, "I made your favorite wontons. Eat them before you leave."
"No." Zhang Xiyu didn't even look at her mother. "It's too late. I'll go out and buy some."
Today is still a day when I don’t want to attend class.
Because he had a weak foundation in junior high school and could not remember many knowledge points, and he slacked off for a year in the first year of high school, how could Zhang Xiyu have expected that the knowledge system of high school would be so closely intertwined and progress so quickly? Just like an accelerating subway train, once you miss the first door, the following doors will only get farther and farther away from you.
She couldn't understand several classes, which had never happened before. Zhang Xiyu didn't know that this was actually the same dilemma many children faced in high school. At certain critical stages in life, no one will clearly tell children where the key points are. They were just confused and missed the train ticket.
Zhang Xiyu simply stopped listening to the class. He secretly took out his cell phone, hid it in the drawer and played with it. He covered it up and pretended to be serious. He went through class after class without being discovered. It was both exciting and relaxing.
Her deskmate Li Ziyan is her good friend. Their grades are similar, and they used to take notes together with sad faces and biting the tip of their pens. In the middle, Li Ziyan bumped her with her arm several times: "Why aren't you paying attention in class? You're so frivolous."
Zhang Xiyu didn't even raise his head: "Don't worry about it."
During the break, Li Ziyan asked again: "Did you put on makeup? You look so beautiful today."
Zhang Xiyu smiled but did not answer. The wounds on my arms and back are still burning with pain, but it will pass if I endure it.
In the class taught by homeroom teacher Fang Chenyu, Zhang Xiyu was punished to stand in the corridor because he could not answer any questions based on the knowledge taught yesterday. Zhang Xiyu felt that Fang Chenyu was a very realistic person. He only had eyes for those children with good grades and would not even look at people like her. But it’s okay this way, she is happy and at ease.
Zhang Xiyu leaned against the wall of the corridor, untied her hair tie, let her long hair fall on her shoulders, and looked at the mountains and sky in the distance with her hands behind her back.
When she passed by the class next door during physical education class, a few boys at the end of the line whistled at her. Zhang Xiyu felt proud and just glanced away, ignoring them.
In the class with only one person in it, Zhang Xiyu neither played with his phone nor was he distracted. He listened carefully and took notes as usual. Although she would not raise her hand to answer questions on her own initiative, the man always noticed her focused eyes. During one class, he made eye contact with her several times and called on her name twice, once to ask her to read the text and once to ask her to answer a question, and he praised her both times.
When Zhang Xiyu finished answering the question and sat down, Li Ziyan winked at her: "I thought you were going to play with your phone in this class, you are really his good girl!"
Zhang Xiyu's heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously looked towards the thin and tall figure on the podium. Her eyes fell on his fingers holding the chalk, and suddenly a thought popped into her mind: What would it feel like if those hands touched her face?
This bold idea made her feel as if she was floating all over, and even the pain in her back was not so severe anymore.
——
After lunch, most people took a nap on the table, while a small number of people chatted in the corridor and wandered around the campus. Zhang Xiyu's back hurt so much that she couldn't sleep. Li Ziyan next to her was snoring softly. Zhang Xiyu held back his laughter and took a video of her, then tiptoed out of the classroom.
She went to the top floor.
The door leading to the top floor is usually closed, but the door lock is actually broken and can be pushed open with a little force.
The weather was very pleasant that day, not too sunny, not too cold, and not too windy. Zhang Xiyu took off her school uniform pants and jacket and stuffed them in the corner of the rooftop, wearing only a white T-shirt and a short skirt that showed off her chest and waist. It was a little cold, but she felt very comfortable. She lay beautifully on the edge of the rooftop, looking at the endless blue sky and the jungle-like buildings. She wanted to scream, but she didn't dare. She closed her eyes and let the wind blow on her cheeks.
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