Mud beads

The main building was a bit older than the junior high school section; the walls in the stairwell were peeling, and the windows couldn't be opened wide enough, so the wind brought in a bit of dust. Yu Zhu, carrying her workbook, came out of the elevator to find the corridor almost deserted.

The doorplate is affixed to the white door panel.

902.

She stood at the door and knocked twice.

No one answered from inside.

The door wasn't closed properly and opened easily with a gentle push. Yu Zhu peeked inside; it resembled a spare office, with several long tables and a row of empty chairs along the wall. The curtains were half-drawn, and the setting sun slanted in through the gaps, illuminating the tabletops.

nobody.

Just as she was about to back out, she was suddenly shoved hard from behind. The exercise book flew out of her arms, hit the ground, and scattered its pages.

With a soft click, the door was pulled shut from the outside, and the overhead light went out.

Yu Zhu quickly got up, ignoring the stinging pain in her knees, and lunged at the doorknob.

It won't turn.

Someone outside the door was suppressing a laugh, and the sound of footsteps quickly faded away.

Is anyone there?

She knocked on the door.

The sound hit the door and bounced back empty.

She released the handle and then reached for the light switch on the wall, pressing it up and down several times, but nothing happened.

Yu Zhu stood there stunned for a moment, then turned around and bent down to pick up the scattered exercise books from the ground. The pages were covered in dust, so she carefully straightened them one by one and put them back into the book.

There was a lot of clutter in the corner of the office.

Against the wall stood old school desks, their legs sticking outwards. Several cardboard boxes sat in the middle, their openings sealed with tape but torn open, revealing rolled-up banners and yellowed plastic flowers. The blackboard bore only a few white streaks of chalk writing that hadn't been completely erased. The curtains were drawn, and the fabric smelled of something that hadn't been exposed to sunlight for a long time.

She found a clean table, laid out some straw paper on it, straightened her skirt, and carefully sat down.

She took her phone out of her bag, opened her contacts, and saw only three people: Aunt Wang, Teacher Zhao, and Echizen Toru.

She looked at it for a while, then finally turned off the phone and placed it face down on her knee.

Aunt Wang once said that the young master doesn't like trouble.

Nobody likes trouble.

Perhaps someone will arrive in a little while.

Moth

The sunset faded quickly, and soon it got dark.

The hallway was always quiet, save for the occasional car passing by the main building, its tires scraping the ground, and the windows flashing briefly before dimming again. Yu Zhu smelled the chalk dust in the classroom, and her heart was at peace.

She is not afraid of the dark.

The nights in the Qinling Mountains are much darker than here. Once the streetlights go out, you can't even see your own hand in front of your face. Standing in the darkness, your hearing becomes incredibly acute; you can hear the sound of flowing water in the streams and the chirping of insects in the grass. The darkness seems alive, it breathes.

She knew life in the mountains was bad. But the bad was also very plain. Curses came from the main room, and slaps landed right in front of her. What everyone wanted and what everyone disliked about her was all laid bare.

This is not it.

The city was brightly lit, but she often felt like she was blind.

Yu Zhu sat for a while longer, then turned on her phone and opened the English listening practice app.

Birds whistled softly outside. There was a gentle shushing sound from the nearby river. Goats bleated in the yard. Masha woke up every morning to these warm noises……

Moth

At 8:30, my phone rang.

The caller was Aunt Wang.

"Zhuzhu, why aren't you back yet?"

Yu Zhu opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Zhuzhu?" Aunt Wang's voice rose a little. "Where are you?"

"I'm at school," Yu Zhu said softly.

Aunt Wang was taken aback: "It's not finished yet?"

Yu Zhu looked down at the tips of her shoes: "The door... is locked."

There was a half-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Aunt Wang's voice changed: "Don't be afraid, tell Aunt Wang, which classroom?"

"Comprehensive Building, Room 902."

More than twenty minutes later, footsteps finally echoed in the corridor.

Yu Zhu's heart started racing. She jumped off the table and ran to the door.

Light shone in from under the door.

Someone outside was saying, "These students..."

The keys rattled. The security guard tried two keys, and it wasn't until the third one that he opened the door. As soon as the door opened, the bright white light from the corridor lamp shone in, and Yu Zhu raised her hand to shield her eyes.

Lowering his arm, he saw Toru Echizen, who was wearing a black hoodie.

It's not Aunt Wang.

"Are you alright, student?" the security guard asked.

Yu Zhu quickly shook her head.

"It's alright, I'll have your brother take you to the security room tomorrow to check the surveillance footage. They'll definitely give you an explanation."

Yu Zhu quickly shook her head again.

Echizen Tetsu said on her behalf, "Thank you for your trouble, Master."

The security guard waved his hand and said repeatedly, "It's my duty, it's my duty."

There was a mirror in the elevator. Yu Zhu saw herself standing in the corner of the elevator, her hair a little disheveled, and a gray patch on the side of her school uniform skirt. Yue Jianche stood in front of her, his shoulders and back straight, his skin clear and bright. The security guard's keychain kept jingling, making her heart flutter.

The car parked at the school gate wasn't the Bentley that Etsuya Toru usually rode in; it was a black minivan he'd never seen before. The driver stood beside the car and opened the back door for him.

Echizen Toru bowed and sat down.

Yu Zhu stood outside the car, unsure where to sit or whether she should get in. It wasn't until Yue Jianche nodded to her that she cautiously sat down inside.

The car was dry and warm, the leather and wood trim so clean it felt cold. Yu Zhu stood close to the car door, her knees together, one hand clutching her schoolbag to her chest, the other secretly clutching the dirty patch on her skirt.

Outside the window, the streetlights receded one by one. She kept her head down, her lips dry and chapped.

Suddenly, Toru Eshima's voice rang out.

"Are you really that useless?"

Upon hearing his voice, Yu Zhu subconsciously raised her head, then immediately lowered it again.

"Why?" Toru Echizen asked again.

Yu Zhu swallowed hard. "I...didn't do well on the exam."

"Our class didn't get the 'Outstanding Class' designation," she said. "There were fewer competition slots available."

The wheel rolled over a groove, causing a slight jolt.

Echizen Toru chuckled: "Can't write, and can't even copy?"

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror, then quickly looked away.

Yu Zhu felt a burning sensation in her ears.

Echizen Toru said the same thing as Teacher Zhao. Teacher Zhao had also tapped her test papers with her red pen in the same way. She said there were no shortcuts to learning; it was all about practicing, memorizing, and copying. The more you repeat, the more naturally you'll remember.

She didn't copy enough.

Yu Zhu gripped the backpack strap tightly, her nails digging into it.

"I see."

Koshima Toru turned his head: "What do you know?"

Yu Zhu raised her head.

The lights on both sides of the elevated road slid past the car window one by one, and Etsuke Toru's face lit up and dimmed, his eyebrows slightly raised, his expression carrying a hint of expectation.

"A bad pen is worse than a good memory," Yu Zhu said.

Echigo stared at her for two seconds.

Suddenly he burst into loud laughter.

Yu Zhu hugged her schoolbag even tighter, unsure of how to react.

She had never seen Echizen Tetsuya show such obvious emotion, much less seen him laugh so heartily. His narrow eyes curved in the interplay of light and shadow, and a very shallow dimple appeared on one cheek.

Echizen called her: "Yu Zhu".

Yu Zhu nervously replied, "Yes."

Suddenly, Toru Koshima's hand reached towards her face.

Yu Zhu subconsciously closed her eyes, shrank her neck, turned her head away, and hunched her shoulders.

She hadn't been beaten in a long time and forgot that Liu Guizhen would always get even angrier when she did this.

But Koshima Tetsuya's slap didn't land.

His hand simply stopped near her cheek and patted it lightly twice.

"Yu Zhu," Yuejian Tetsu said cheerfully, "you're really interesting."

The car descended the elevated highway and merged into the traffic. The city streetlights and the GG license plate illuminated the dimly lit carriage. Yu Zhu opened her eyes and saw Yue Jianche's face very close to hers.

The colorful neon lights fell into his eyes, flickering eerily like will-o'-the-wisps.

The area on her face where he had just touched her slowly warmed up.