Disinterest after school indicates a problem in thinking.
By this time in the evening, the area is bustling with students, who run and frolic about, causing chaos. Near the gate of No. 1 High School, even large vehicles dare not exceed 20 miles per hour.
Additionally, in this era, the intersections in Jinsong City lack traffic lights, making it necessary to inch forward to feel safe.
Amidst the sea of people, Bian Ying has not yet left the school.
However, her cousin Bian is already waiting at the entrance of a narrow alley, accompanied by five or six guys from the society.
The wind rustles through the trees at the alley’s mouth, scattering loose snowflakes that fall on the society guys squatting by the curb. One of them brushes off the snow, takes a drag on his cigarette, and asks:
“Only two boys and one girl on the other side? And you still can’t beat them? Weren’t you quite energetic when it came to kicking people before?”
“There’s one boy who can really fight.” Bian’s cousin claps her hands. Facing those nerdy-looking high school students who are scared as soon as they see her, she can of course beat them, but the boy who joined the fight yesterday is clearly experienced in brawling, and he’s not easy to handle.
“Hmph, how tough can high school students be.” He takes a puff of his cigarette, exhales a smoke ring, and expresses his boredom.
“He’s really tall, looks like an athlete,” says Bian’s cousin. She suddenly laughs, considering her friends she called over are also all athletic champions, especially skilled in the sport of fighting:
“Hey, be gentle when you start, don’t hurt the kid too badly.”
“I know, I’ll hold back. Even if I really hurt him, you can definitely afford the compensation,” the society guy confidently pinches his cigarette, squinting and blowing smoke.
“Mm, I trust you guys when it comes to fighting,” Bian’s cousin kicks at the snow by the roadside.
“But speaking of which, since two boys are escorting her home, the girl must be pretty, right?” The society guy suddenly raises the topic, smirking lewdly.
“Nothing special,” Bian’s cousin snorts.
Just then, a large group of people suddenly appears ahead, forming a line that could block the whole road.
“Kids these days really do develop well,” the society guy casually glances over, noting how tall and strong they all are.
“This generation eats well,” Bian’s cousin stamps her feet in boredom.
“Are all these athletes meeting up to go eat skewers?” The society guy watches the group head in one direction, idly speculating about their destination.
“Don’t these kids have a curfew? Do they even have enough money for skewers—huh?” Bian’s cousin is chatting when she suddenly stops.
Her eyes widen in shock.
Wait!
The person walking in the middle of the group, isn’t that a young girl? And… she’s wearing an oversized cotton jacket, school pants, short hair over her ears, and bangs…
“???”!!!
The snowball Bian’s cousin had just formed drops to the ground.
…..
Shen Mo arrived late, almost unable to find anyone to fight.
Each society guy was assigned to two or three upperclassmen, highly sought after.
The enthusiasm of the students brought by Hua Jie’s neighbor brother was too much.
If only they had such zeal for their studies, they could probably all get into top universities.
After much contention, Shen Mo finally caught a society guy, pinned him to the ground, and unleashed a barrage of fierce punches, stuffing a handful of snow into the man’s collar for good measure. Listening to the man’s loud howls as he struggled, the rage simmering inside Shen Mo cooled slightly.
After exiting the school gates, Bian Ying walked straight ahead, suddenly noticing a chaotic fight at the distant alley entrance, causing her heart to skip a beat.
She hadn’t told her cousin to continue the revenge; her cousin couldn’t have possibly taken matters into her own hands…
The words of the head teacher and the class teacher still echoed in her ears, frightening her into sprinting towards the fray.
Upon getting closer, she indeed saw key figures like Hua Jie, her cousin, and Shen Mo, and she collapsed emotionally, standing at the sidelines screaming:
“Stop fighting! Stop fighting!”
“…” Taking the opportunity, Hua Jie sneakily kicked her cousin’s behind and looked up to see Bian Ying.
But why did it seem like she was trying to break up the fight?
Wasn’t it Bian Ying who started this whole mess?
Hua Jie was about to circle around to have a proper chat with Bian Ying when she saw her attempting to restrain a society guy. However, with a slight struggle, she was fiercely slapped across the face by him.
Bian Ying staggered back a couple of steps and sat down hard on the ground, her cheek swelling up rapidly, turning from red to a bruising purple.
She reached out to cover her face, but the touch was so painful that she retracted her hand, wincing in pain, and then stared at her hand, sitting there stupefied and motionless.
A girl intent on stirring up trouble and suppressing others still didn’t understand that some situations, once provoked, are hard to calm down.
…
The fight was in full swing when the police suddenly appeared, swooping down and escorting the group to the station.
This crowd was seated along the wall on stools, still restless, occasionally throwing insults at each other, too young and reckless to understand the gravity of the situation.
Shen Mo, on the other hand, was quiet, standing in a corner rubbing his knuckles.
He was accustomed to focusing on one person in a fight, beating them until they cried for mercy and couldn’t get up, before moving on to another.
So now, in the station, aside from him, the quiet ones were those he had beaten up.
Bian’s cousin, originally a formidable woman who also looked quite decent, now looked a mess.
It wasn’t clear who she had tangled with, but not only was her jacket torn, her hair was pulled out in clumps, her face swollen, and her chin bruised, a sight too pitiful to behold.
The society guy who had been squatting by the curb, chatting casually with her while smoking, fared even worse. He was one of those Shen Mo had beaten up, his body aching all over, his face bruised and blackened, and even losing a shoe in the fray.
Among the group, only Hua Jie was consistently protected at the back.
Whenever she tried to step into the fray, Shen Mo, Bian Hong, or Zhou Wei would push her back, ensuring she remained unharmed.
Not only that, but she also took the opportunity to fiercely kick a couple of the bad guys in the rear.
With nonstop commotion around and no one calm enough to speak reasonably, all Bian Ying could do was cry.
Hua Jie glanced at the silent Shen Mo, then calmly and composedly stepped forward to communicate with the police officer, politely and systematically explaining what had happened inside the small room.
As the police officer took notes, he observed the young girl sitting opposite him.
Despite her petite and immature appearance, she spoke with a maturity and composure beyond her years.
“You actually managed to gather so many people,” the police officer remarked, closing his notebook and looking at her as she sat there meekly, unable to help but marvel.
These days, appearances truly can be deceiving; they look honest enough, but the people they rely on are all fierce.
“I have six older neighbors, and only two of them came,” Hua Jie proudly flashed six fingers, only to receive a stern look from the police officer, realizing too late that her boastful attitude was quite inappropriate.
She scratched her head sheepishly, but still couldn’t help adding one last comment:
“And a deskmate who’s really good at fighting.”
“…” The young police officer had already walked to the door of the small room, propping it open as he turned back to glare at her.
Just a moment ago he had praised her for being calm and collected, and now she was acting childish.
“Let’s go.”
“Oh, thank you, uncle,” Hua Jie quickly got up and obediently followed behind him.
…
After about fifteen minutes, the adrenaline rush of the fight had worn off, and the group of young people had finally calmed down.
Through mediation, both sides shook hands and made peace.
Since no one from Shen Mo and Bian Hong’s side was seriously injured, it even saved Bian’s cousin some compensation money.
Although the society guys were badly beaten, Hua Jie’s side was acting in self-defense, making it impossible for anyone to extort them.
Outside the police station, Hua Jie and Bian Ying unexpectedly locked eyes.
Bian Ying’s face was pale, her eyes and nose red and swollen, either from fright or injury, looking utterly soulless and dazed.
The spot where her face had been struck was swollen into a purple peach, a chaotic slap neither light nor severe, enough to pain a delicate young girl for many days.
Suddenly, Bian Ying blinked, her eyes regaining some luster. She looked at Hua Jie, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but then she pressed her lips tightly together, turned her eyes away in humiliation, and finally said nothing, hurriedly turning and leaving.
“…” Hua Jie watched her departing figure, her gaze flickering.
Turning around, she bowed to the police officer uncle before running to Shen Mo’s side.
This incident would surely stir the school authorities tomorrow, and it wouldn’t end so easily.
It was uncertain whether Bian Ying could bear the consequences of the trouble she had stirred up.
Shen Mo gripped her head and pulled her close, his gaze locking with that of a societal brother looking back at them. His intense stare made the other turn away dejectedly and leave. Only then did he retract his gaze and his hand from the little “potato head.”
This little thing was her desk mate, now also his father’s student, his protegée; no one was allowed to even speak harshly to her, let alone hit or beat her.
Zhou Wei and Bian Hong’s brothers had made their presence felt, and although they had spent some time at the police station being sternly lectured by the officer, they were still in high spirits.
Hua Jie thanked each one of them; the brothers departed cheerily, carrying with them the sense of achievement of having been heroes, and ambled home.
Hua Jie and the others went to the bike shed at the police station entrance to get their bicycles, turning to Shen Mo, she said:
“I was really afraid you were going to kill someone.”
Watching him fight was quite frightening.
“How could I? Did I study ‘Sports Anatomy’ for nothing?”
“Did you read that book just to fight?”
“Not entirely.”
“…”
Hua Jie was at a loss for words, just as she was thinking about how to thank him, she saw the young man reach into his down jacket and pull out a black earmuff.
Her heart felt tenderly warm, as if struck by something hot, steaming with warmth.
Was it because he was afraid of losing or damaging the earmuffs during the fight, so he had hidden them in advance?
Beaming with delight, she just stared at him with sparkling eyes, completely forgetting to say thank you.
Shen Mo glanced at Zhou Wei and Bian Hong. With these two around, Hua Jie’s safety was not a concern, and there was no need to see her off.
He patted her bicycle handle, leapt onto his bike, stared ahead, and rode off swiftly.
Hua Jie watched Shen Mo’s figure receding.
Bian Hong looked at Hua Jie’s profile.
Zhou Wei’s gaze swept over everything, finally resting on Bian Hong. He patted the shoulder of the neighborly younger brother and silently sighed.
Brother Zhou had seen through everything—the sour and beautiful aspects of the young people’s world, that’s probably what it should be like.
…
…
Rushing home in a hurry, Hua Jie ate a potato ball her mother had just fried in the evening, clutched her schoolbag, and dashed back to her room.
She pulled out Mr. Shen’s homework, glanced at her own time management plan, and began to work on the test papers.
Organizing several sets of test papers covering subjects like language, math, and foreign languages, she tore them from her exercise book and started her mock exams.
The plan was to work on test papers for a few days, and then revise the areas she was weak in.
She wrote for an hour, drew for another hour, with a 10-minute break in between for the restroom, eye exercises, and stretching her arms.
Her schedule was tight; Hua Jie was nearly overwhelmed when busy.
However, although the plan was such, executing it still presented many difficulties.
For instance, during the second hour of drawing, she unknowingly exceeded her time limit.
She didn’t rush to copy the drawings but tried several techniques demonstrated by Mr. Shen first.
Once she was familiar with these basic techniques, she returned to observe the demonstration painting, recorded some new insights after observation.
Apart from mastering the demonstrated techniques, she noted and recorded other painting methods shown in the painting, and then tried them out based on her conclusions and previous painting experience.
Shen Jiaru wouldn’t have her draw something she couldn’t handle, so the demonstration painting must be within her capability range.
Holding this thought, she immersed herself completely in the painting, not even noticing when her mother came into the room to bring her a cup of hot milk.
Half an hour later, she felt she could try copying it once, and only then did she notice the milk.
The fragrant scent of milk wafted into her nostrils, a layer of fresh cream had formed on top of the milk in the cup—her favorite part. She licked and sucked up the cream before savoring and swallowing it, then began to gulp down the milk.
Stretching lazily, she spread out her paper and started with a simple pencil outline before dipping her brush into water to begin painting.
Hua Jie had an exceptionally keen sensitivity to colors, almost instinctively knowing how to mix them just by a glance. Coupled with the notes she had taken while observing paintings, she wasted no time in this regard.
Previously in the studio, when Mr. Shen had come to observe her, he had mentioned that watercolor appears darker when wet and lightens as it dries—a piece of advice she always remembered and found very helpful for this copywork.
She was able to get the colors right on the first try, avoiding the need for reworking and layering.
Although she was just a beginner in watercolor, her extraordinary observational skills from a previous life, and her understanding of painting, were not like those of someone newly introduced to watercolors.
With the preparatory practice she had done beforehand, her first attempt at copying was quite successful.
Holding Mr. Shen’s painting in her left hand and her own in her right, she repeatedly compared them, focusing on the areas of her painting that felt awkward, and began a new round of thinking.
More notes, analysis, and records followed.
The warm light of the room shone on her face, her brow slightly furrowed, eyelashes quivering lightly, her gaze solid and focused like a glowing statue.
Hua Jie had originally planned to start the second round of copying right after her analysis, but holding Mr. Shen’s painting, she suddenly paused.
The reason Mr. Shen had given her this painting to copy was not just to keep her busy; he intended to teach her how to paint with watercolors through this painting.
She ran her hand over the painting, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
Standing up, she placed the painting at a distance and then crossed her arms to scrutinize it.
This time, she shifted her perspective from studying to appreciating.
And then, she saw beyond the techniques.