The morning breeze was truly delightful, and the boisterous voices of boys and girls throughout the campus sounded wonderful.
Reborn, Hua Jie found everything pleasing to the eye, everything smelled fragrant, and everything she heard was moving, so much so that she could break into dance as she walked.
As she approached the academic building, she brushed past an uncle. A quick glance at his attire in black and gray left her impressed with his sophisticated understanding of color coordination.
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she noticed the uncle pulling out a bulky Nokia phone from his pocket, and a stack of money fell to the ground without him noticing as he continued to walk forward, leaving the tempting bills behind.
Hua Jie bent down to pick them up—the pink and hefty fifth edition of the Renminbi1The fifth edition of the Renminbi, introduced by the People’s Bank of China starting in 1999, includes a series of banknotes and coins that were redesigned to enhance security features and improve durability., issued in 1999.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she stepped forward and called out:
“Uncle, you dropped your money.”
The middle-aged man seemed about to make a call, but turned around bewildered upon hearing her voice.
Hua Jie looked up at the face of the middle-aged man and was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange yet familiar intense sensation.
Despite his age, the man was still strikingly handsome and sharp-featured, both attractive and somewhat intimidating.
He bore a striking resemblance to Shen Mo, the school tyrant and beautiful boy she had secretly loved for three years in high school.
Staring at him, she handed the money back. The man’s features softened a bit, and he thanked her gently.
Hua Jie’s gaze swept over him again from head to toe. Her eyes, trained by years of painting, instantly captured several details—
His cuffs, knees, and the tips of his shoes all had traces of paint to varying degrees, and there were remnants of paint not fully washed off his fingers.
Speaking before thinking, she blurted out:
“Uncle, are you a painter?”
Only someone professionally involved with painting would have so many marks of an artist on them.
Especially since he seemed well-off, yet his hairstyle was far from the meticulous look typical of successful middle-aged men. His seemingly casual yet aesthetically coordinated attire solidified her judgment.
“How did you know?” Shen Jiaru was accompanying his son, Shen Mo, to meet with the principal of No. 1 High School, having just completed the final procedures for his son’s school transfer.
His mind had been preoccupied with calling his son, who had gone to the restroom, and informing the driver to bring the car to the school gate to pick them up.
At that moment, diverted by the young girl’s honest and spirited remark, he wondered:
Could this girl recognize him?
In the under-informed small northern town, despite his significant status in his circle, he remained a low-profile figure in a relatively obscure profession.
Unlike pop stars or actors, he wasn’t widely recognized by the public, especially not by high school students like her.
How did she know who he was?
“I sensed the aura of an artist on you,” Hua Jie initially wanted to seriously point out the clues she had observed, but as the time for morning self-study was approaching, she couldn’t delay any longer. With a twinkle in her black eyes, she cracked a joke with a smile.
Shen Jiaru was momentarily taken aback. His life was very simple; after his wife’s death, aside from his son, painting, a few students, and old friends, there was not much else.
His students were wary of his status and hardly dared to speak to him.
His old friends, mostly made through painting, respected him more than they were close to him.
Even his relationship with his son wasn’t close; the two rarely chatted or joked.
He was like an old antique who had never heard anyone speak playfully, stunned, somewhat unsure how to respond, and looked at the young girl with a distant, bewildered expression.
When Hua Jie spoke, she received no response, not even a smile from him.
Thinking she might have offended the uncle, she remembered that she wasn’t a woman in her twenties anymore but a teenager. Perhaps speaking to an adult that way was indeed inappropriate.
Scratching her nose, she gave an embarrassed smile, thinking they were strangers and probably wouldn’t meet again, so she didn’t bother explaining and turned to dash away quickly.
Shen Jiaru watched the girl’s retreating figure, realizing he had once again retreated into his own world and forgotten to give the ‘expected reaction.’
Accustomed to long years of companionship with his paintings, he was indeed not very good at interacting with people, even scaring away a child.
When Shen Mo leisurely stepped up to his father, what he saw was his father’s somewhat self-mocking smile.
“What’s wrong?” He turned his head, following his father’s gaze towards the academic building. His sharp eyes, similar to his father’s, were hard to conceal.
“It’s nothing, let’s go.” Shen Jiaru withdrew his gaze and nodded to his son as they headed towards the school gate.
They walked against the stream of students entering the school, their striking appearances drawing attention.
Yet, the father and son were indifferent to the stares of others, casually at ease as if they were used to being watched, or perhaps innately proud, completely unconcerned with what others thought.
Just before they passed through the school gate, a girl suddenly exclaimed:
“Wow! That’s Shen Mo!”
“Who is that?” her classmate asked.
“I was in the same class as him in middle school. He’s really good at studying, but he’s ruthless. Before—”
Suddenly, Shen Mo looked over, his gaze sharp and cold, frightening the girl into silence. She quickly averted her eyes and hurried away.
Only then did he look away, tilting his head in irritation and gazing at the sky, his expression far more complex than his age would suggest.
Meanwhile, Father Shen continued to walk at an unhurried pace.
After they stepped out of the school gate, he suddenly brought his hand and sleeve up to his nose and sniffed quietly.
Was there a hint of paint? Was this the scent of an artist the girl had mentioned?
…
…
There were four diagnostic tests in the morning and two in the afternoon, and Hua Jie didn’t perform well on them.
A student’s main job is their studies, an urgent matter that needed immediate improvement.
She felt anxious.
How exactly to go about it, she needed to think.
While others casually scribbled and then discarded their scrap papers during the exams, Hua Jie habitually folded her blank papers neatly to the side—a habit common among those who draw, preserving every scrap for future use.
Lost in thought over her drawing paper, her deskmate Jing Nian placed his unused scrap paper on her desk and spoke to her, snapping her back to reality.
“Why do you collect these? To sell as scrap paper?” Jing Nian stood up, cherishing the rare break between classes, leaned on the desk, and hopped to the corridor, turning to ask her.
“…Yeah.” Hua Jie remembered this deskmate; they had been desk partners all through the first year of high school.
Jing Nian was good-looking, the class heartthrob, though not great academically. He also studied painting and later got into an art school. After graduating, he did video editing and did quite well for himself in Beijing.
However, what Hua Jie remembered most vividly was how throughout their first year, he had forced her to do his homework. He was on good terms with the school bullies and was quite domineering.
Back then, she was afraid of being bullied by him and always complied…
Why didn’t she realize back then that being forced to serve him like a maid was already being terribly bullied?
“Hey, I copied from you in today’s exam. How did you do?” Jing Nian took a couple of steps, then suddenly seemed to remember something, turned back, and asked her blatantly without any hint of concealment.
The surrounding classmates couldn’t help but give him sidelong glances, likely already branding him as ‘handsome but academically poor’ and ‘a dreadful classmate.’
Hearing his question, Hua Jie remembered how he had been copying her answers during the diagnostic test.
Her spirits, previously dampened by her worries, suddenly lifted, and she couldn’t help but suppress a chuckle.
At the age of 28, she was reborn. It had been 13 years since she had last dealt with academics—her knowledge of chemistry was limited to remembering that H2O means water, and as for literary grammar, poetry, or physics formulas… she might as well have given all that back to her teachers.
Him copying her?
She had guessed on everything.
“How so?” Jing Nian seemed to sense an ominous signal.
Hua Jie turned to look at the other onlooking students, pulled a grin to show her pearly white teeth, and hooked up a mischievous smile. Confidently nodding at Jing Nian as he looked relieved, she said sincerely:
“Getting an average of about ten points per subject shouldn’t be a problem.”
“…” Jing Nian was instantly dumbfounded.
He had thought she wrote her answers with such certainty and confidence…
Damn!
The entrance exam papers had to be taken home for parents to sign!
He was doomed!
Realizing this, he stomped back to his desk, furious, and blurted out: “Are you f*cking with your Laozi2 ‘Lao zi’ literally “old man,” is often used colloquially in Chinese to refer to oneself in an arrogant or assertive manner, similar to saying “I” or “me” but with a boastful tone. It’s akin to saying “your daddy” or “the man” in English, implying a position of authority or dominance in a somewhat brash way.?”
The expected scene of a scared, innocent girl didn’t happen. Instead, Hua Jie swiftly grabbed a newly issued textbook and slammed it down on the desk with a loud “bang!” She then stood up abruptly, raising her head and shouted even louder:
“Who are you cursing at with ‘f*cking’ and ‘Laozi’?”
That startled him.
Jing Nian had always been the bully in class since elementary school, always making others cry; this was the first time he was yelled at by a female classmate, and definitely the first time he had encountered such an assertive retaliation.
For a moment, he was so stunned that he felt a flicker of fear rising from within.
He was petrified for a whole minute, then completely lost his composure, his face and ears flushing with embarrassment and shame.
Just as Jing Nian was contemplating whether to use his fists to thoroughly intimidate Hua Jie, the art teacher walked into the classroom carrying books and a box of colored chalk.
He had no choice but to swallow his anger and sit back down, his face a picture of embarrassment and frustration.
Hua Jie watched him return to his seat, then sat down herself, still full of commanding presence as she organized her desk.
The potential conflict had fizzled out before it could explode, but the tense atmosphere still lingered in the classroom.
The classmates were thrilled by the unexpected turn of events, admiring Hua Jie’s courage and curious about her boldness.
Slowly, whispers began to spread among the students—
“Do you know why Hua Jie is so tough?” they whispered, leaning in close, eyebrows raised, eyes squeezed in mischief.
“Why, why? Tell me, tell me!”
“Her brother is the big boss at our Number One Middle School! The top dog, the school tyrant!”
“Really? Wow, no wonder!”
And later—
“Hey, hey, I heard she’s not really the school tyrant’s sister, but I know the real reason why she’s so bold!”
“What is it? What is it?”
“She is… (looking around cautiously)… the girlfriend of that senior from third year who got disciplined for fighting, almost got expelled!” in a very hushed tone.
“Wow~ Isn’t she Bian Hong’s girlfriend?”
“No, no, those are just rumors, what I’m telling you is the real scoop!”
And even later—
“Hey, have you heard?”
“What’s up?” they said, eagerly leaning in for the gossip.
“Hua Jie is the school tyrant’s sister, and right now, she’s dating that senior from third year, and also Bian Hong from second year, two-timing them both…”
“…”