Chapter Forty-Four: Somewhere in Winter

The two class periods passed quickly, and with a sudden rush, the students scattered like birds and beasts, leaving the classroom much quieter within minutes.

“Yan Yan, what song would you like to hear?” Lin Feng, holding his newly purchased guitar with evident affection, asked her with a smile.

“Around Winter. I like Qi Qin’s songs,” Dong Yan Yan replied, lifting her chin with a smile. She knew he liked Wang Jie and Qi Qin just as she did. Back then, she had never considered what would become of them after their popularity faded. Time is a butcher’s knife; even a wanderer grows old and has his moments of downfall. Since ancient times, heroes, like beauties, are not allowed to grow old before the world’s eyes. She sighed melodramatically in her heart.

“Softly, I’ll leave you. Please wipe away the tears at the corner of your eyes. In the long, long nights, in the days to come, my dear, don’t cry for me...”

Dong Yan Yan loved his focused and tender expression, and even more, his slightly melancholic voice—it was truly captivating. She was so lost in her reverie that she didn’t notice when Teacher Chen walked up behind her.

“Lin Feng, gather the class committee for a meeting later. We’ll meet right here in the classroom,” Teacher Chen said sternly, scanning Dong Yan Yan with a poker face. Dong Yan Yan, her spirits dampened, turned and slipped away. As she exited the classroom, she saw the broadcasting class’s back door wide open. She spotted Du Xin Meng and Ren Jia Xuan at the bulletin board, writing and drawing. She knocked on their classroom door and passed on the teacher’s message, “Meng Meng, the teacher wants your class committee to return for a meeting!”

“Ah? I’ll head back right away!” Du Xin Meng jumped off her chair, called out to Ren Jia Xuan, and hurried out. Ren Jia Xuan looked helplessly at the doorway, then beckoned Dong Yan Yan with a finger, “You—come help!”

“Senior, your class is full of talented people, fierce as wolves and tigers. Why do you need someone from our class to help?” Dong Yan Yan strolled into their classroom, raising her head to inspect the new bulletin board: finally, she wouldn’t have to face that throat every time she visited, which delighted her.

“Our talented bunch is busy up on the sixth floor! Come over and help me steady the chair!” Ren Jia Xuan jumped onto the chair, stood on tiptoe, and tried a few marks with chalk on the blackboard. Finding it not high enough, he brought another chair and stacked it on top, then climbed up.

“That’s too dangerous. You might as well stand directly on the desk,” Dong Yan Yan said, letting go and moving a desk instead. Suddenly, she heard a thud behind her, as if something had fallen, followed by another crash. Startled, she turned to see Ren Jia Xuan had just jumped down from the chair, two chairs toppled at his feet.

“Is this not dangerous?! Not dangerous?! Why didn’t you warn me before letting go?! Were you trying to kill me?” Ren Jia Xuan angrily pulled a desk from beside her, moved it behind, and shot her a glare. “I don’t need your help anymore. Just watch from the side!”

So, Dong Yan Yan obediently sat on a nearby chair and watched him draw. With colored chalk, he started from the left side of the blackboard, sweeping downward in a large arc, then drew another parallel curve. Soon, a vivid, three-dimensional rainbow appeared before her eyes, and he outlined the background buildings with white chalk.

“That’s a clever idea—much more pleasant than that bloody throat. I always thought it was an ad for herbal lozenges,” she said, swinging her legs and smiling languidly.

Ren Jia Xuan turned around and flicked a piece of chalk right at her forehead. “Wrong! That was an ad for watermelon frost lozenges! And what’s our theme this time?”

Dong Yan Yan laughed, rubbing her forehead. “Music is communication—it’s the bridge to the world! Right? Just looking at the shape of this rainbow, I knew—it’s so much like a staff!”

“Correct answer! Hand me that box of chalk!” Ren Jia Xuan said with a smile.

Dong Yan Yan couldn’t draw anything original herself, but she could copy others easily. Bored, she took some chalk and, following the blackboard’s design, sketched a small version on the desk.

Soon, the sound of clanging lunch boxes echoed from outside, as classmates began to return through the front door. After more than a month, Dong Yan Yan was familiar with them, so her presence here felt perfectly natural. Ren Jia Xuan’s desk mate, Yang Xue, approached in high heels, confidently charming, and slung an arm over Dong Yan Yan’s shoulder, laughing, “Yan Yan, watching Jia Xuan draw, huh? Be careful—he likes to keep one eye on the pot while eating from the bowl, always tricking innocent girls like you.”

Ren Jia Xuan, immersed in his drawing, didn’t turn but replied with a smirk, “Is she even enough for a dish?”

“So Senior likes them meatier! Why not bring your girlfriend someday for us to judge—see if she’s heavy enough and tastes good!” Dong Yan Yan retorted, grinning.

The boys in the classroom joined in the teasing, tapping their lunch boxes in chorus. Ren Jia Xuan, not to be outdone, flung another piece of chalk at her head, prompting Dong Yan Yan to jump off the desk and flee, covering her head.

*

That evening, while lining up for dinner, Dong Yan Yan stood behind Du Xin Meng and tapped her back. Du Xin Meng turned around.

“Meng Meng, your class had a meeting this afternoon—what was it about?” she asked curiously.

“Oh, that! Liu Yan got transferred to the Distribution Class, so the teacher called a meeting to elect a new academic monitor,” Du Xin Meng replied, smiling. “Lin Feng and I both recommended you—after all, you scored two perfect marks in the midterm, you’re quite capable. But Song Ming Cheng objected, so the teacher chose Liu Ying instead. Honestly, you should confront him—he badmouthed you.”

“What did he say?”

He gave that disdainful, dismissive look—‘Dong Yan Yan doesn’t cut it, scored sixty-seven in Advanced Mathematics, seventy-six in Pulse...’ So the teacher didn’t hesitate and picked Liu Ying. Du Xin Meng relayed the scene vividly.

For the first time, Dong Yan Yan thought this girl had a mischievous streak, but she didn’t want to disappoint her friend. She decided to give Song Ming Cheng a taste of his own medicine. Who told him to undermine her in front of the teacher? He was really not playing fair!

During evening study, Song Ming Cheng seemed to sense an impending storm and cautiously edged closer to the wall, inching away bit by bit. For the first time, Dong Yan Yan thought he had the makings of a bullied puppy.

“Stop it, or you’ll bring the whole wall down,” she finally couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not such a big deal—I’m not going to retaliate.”

“I did it for your own good,” Song Ming Cheng replied, with his wooden smile, calm and sincere.

“Thanks! By the way, hand me the car keys—you’ve been delivering my newspapers for several days already!”

“No way! It’s raining outside. The roads will be rough tomorrow. Don’t risk catching a cold again,” Song Ming Cheng replied, smiling.