Chapter One: Encounter

  One

  In the summer of 2005, the scorching sun shone brightly on this warm and beautiful southern small town. The ground was scorched hot, but people on the street seemed unaffected by the tropical weather. Girls held parasols and wore shorts, strolling leisurely on the streets with elegant and charming figures. Occasionally, a few middle school students wearing uniforms and looking innocent mixed in with the crowd, their faces tanned dark purple. Lan Yu was one of them.

  The military training has been going on for the fifth day. The school did not issue military uniforms to freshmen, so they wore their school uniforms for military training. The oversized school uniforms could not cover their arms and necks exposed outside their clothes. All freshmen, without exception, now have a very tacit "black and white distinction" all over their bodies.

  Lan stood in the last row of the team, with all boys except her. Due to her continuous weight gain since junior high school, the instructor had to separate her from the petite girls.

  Blue? Squinting to avoid the direct sunlight, the instructor was loudly scolding a mischievous boy who had whistled at a girl in the front row while standing at attention. I didn't know his name, but he should be one of the best-looking boys in this new class.

  She carefully painted his appearance in her heart, with short hair, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a handsome smile, and a straight figure. He would often pop out one or two cold jokes to tease the girls around him, making them giggle shyly. Of course, these shy girls did not include Lan C, who thought she didn't look good when she smiled, as there were always two dimples on her face, so she rarely smiled.

  There seem to be many pretty girls in the class, they all have long hair and sweet smiles when laughing. Especially that pale girl standing in the first row, she even shows two small teeth when smiling, very beautiful. Thinking of this, Lan looked down at her feet wearing a pair of pink shoes her mom bought yesterday, the pretty girls in the class are all wearing this kind of shoe.

  "Hey, the guy standing at the edge! Are your shoes okay?" The crowd burst into loud and unanimous laughter, and Lan raised his head to find that everyone's eyes were looking at him with a hint of teasing.

  "Look, the instructor is a girl!" A voice with a hint of amusement floated from the crowd. The girl's face, already reddened by the sun, grew even hotter, her camouflage cap pulled low to cover her tense and embarrassed eyes.

  "What's your name?" The instructor walked straight up to the girl, pen in hand, scanning the attendance sheet.

  "Blue? c." Smallest possible decibel.

  "Speak louder! Haven't eaten yet or what?!"

  "Blue!"

  "How did I teach you?!"

  "Reporting officer! I'm Blue C!"

  "Posture not straight, deduct two points." Another burst of loud laughter, through the laughter that was uneven in the team, the boy who had just been scolded by the instructor and had a good-looking smile, was quietly looking at himself, without any teasing. He didn't laugh, maybe because he had also been severely scolded, did he feel a bit of sympathy? Zhang Chongyu. Lan...c only found out his name later, in the repeated complaints of the girls in the class. Maybe it was from then on that she had a special feeling for him, so much so that all her efforts and hardships afterwards were reduced to nothing by the compassion he brought at that moment.

  From Zhang Chongyu's perspective, the girl standing at the end of the same row with short hair looked a bit chubby and seemed to have developed earlier than usual girls. She was even taller than some boys in the class who were late developers. But compared to himself, Zhang Chongyu quickly measured her height in his mind and found that she was still about two heads shorter. The instructor was scolding her for something, her face was bright red, and her big eyes kept glancing over here, which made her look a bit cute, but it would be better if she were a bit thinner.

  I don't know how many times I've had my hair cut at this humble barber shop. Since mom brought me here for a haircut in elementary school, every time I get a haircut is by myself. It seems to have become a habit, and with so many barber shops on the street, I'm too lazy to change. There's only one middle-aged auntie in the store, who always cuts my hair neatly and efficiently with just a few snips, without even asking if I want a stylish haircut.

  Auntie whispered in her ear again, "Lan'er, your hair is so smooth and silky, it would look great if you grew it long, why do you always want to cut it?"

  "I'm hot." Lan smiled at the aunt in the mirror and then slowly pursed her lips.

  Riding a bicycle to school with a freshly cut short hair that's as short as a boy's, tonight is the first late self-study in life, and also the first time boarding. The military training just ended, the dark complexion on his face hasn't faded yet, looking like a fake young man. Just thinking about it, a bicycle appeared at the upcoming turn, going in the same direction... Is that him? Blue? Suddenly felt a bit unstable breathing, slowly slowed down the pedaling speed.

  The boy rode his bicycle against the wind, his white school uniform puffed up by the gusts, his short hair barely ruffled in the breeze. Blue followed quietly behind him as he drove into the school's driveway.

  As soon as I entered the classroom, I found that it was already packed with people. There was only one seat left in the corner of the last table, so I had to hold my books and walk towards the corner. Just as I had arranged my books, a not-too-friendly face turned around from the front, and he pushed down the books I had just arranged with a look of disgust on his face.

  "Your book is out of place, sir." He glanced at him and quietly put the book back in order.

  "Damn it, I said you've crossed the line! Didn't you hear me?!" The English-Chinese dictionary at the top was smashed onto his instep with great force.

  A surge of anger rose with the pain, and a clenched fist flew towards that detestable face. The two people fiercely wrestled together, the surrounding tables were knocked over, books scattered all over the floor, and in the heat of the fight, it was unclear whose book was being trampled underfoot, crunching loudly.

  The girls dodged and screamed, while the boys cheered around them, shouting "Hit! Hit him!"

  "Everyone come and see, the live combat match between these two weirdos has started!" The jeering from the crowd was especially piercing, the girl's short fingernails dug deeply into the boy's arm, sending waves of stinging pain through his fingertips.

  His freshly cut short hair was pulled painfully, he pulled the blue-haired girl's head to make her look at him, his face full of horizontal flesh leaned in close to the girl, baring his teeth and spitting a mouthful of saliva on the girl's face: "You dare to fight me? Wait for me after school, I'll make you kneel down and beg me!"

  Lan C struggled to push him away, telling herself loudly in her heart, "Lan C, if you dare to cry at this time, I really won't forgive you. If you dare to cry, just wait for people to laugh at you! I will also look down on you!"

  "Don't bother with her." Zhang Chongyu pushed through the crowd and walked towards the boy, patting him comfortingly on the shoulder.

  "This little bitch, if I don't teach her a lesson, she won't even know her own surname!"

  "Say it again." His body shook with rage, and Lancer struggled to keep his voice sounding calm.

  "What's going on? What did I just say?"

  As soon as the words fell, the girl's scalp was pulled again, and the boy intentionally increased his strength, making the girl seem very powerless. Knowing that she couldn't beat him, she still had to stubbornly refuse to admit defeat for the sake of her poor self-esteem, let alone Lan?c who was such a proud person.

  Blue? I don't know what's wrong with myself, my eyes are a little hot from the struggle, there's an indescribable shame roaring in my chest, no room to fight back at all, can only grab his collar and dig my fingernails into his flesh, also don't know why he likes pulling my hair so much, typical violent person's face, pain makes my expression uncontrollably twisted, must look extremely disheveled now.

  The sense of urgency from the fight suddenly disappeared, Lan?c panted and stared at Zhang Chongyu, who had pulled away. It was then that wave after wave of pain slowly began to set in, her over-exerted hands trembling uncontrollably. The boy, who had been loudly shouting about making the girl kneel down and beg for mercy, fell silent when he saw her bloody face.

  Lan Yu supported himself on the table and stood up, using his hand to wipe away the blood from his face. Zhang Chongyu let go of that boy and walked over, "Look up, you've got a nosebleed, do you know that?"

  Blue? He hadn't reacted yet when the boy's thick palm grasped his face and made him stare at the ceiling. The peeling fan on the ceiling was creaking slowly, slowly, as his vision began to blur. Sometimes people are really too sensitive, when you encounter some things that others can't easily accept, no matter how hard it is to get through, you'll still put on a thick face and walk past; but when someone wants to show you concern or ask if you're okay, the feeling of grievance will double, and the warmth you want will also increase.

  Zhang Chongyu walked behind Lan Caihe, who was carefully covering her nose with a handkerchief and walking step by step towards the girls' bathroom. There was an unknown place in her heart that was secretly hurting. Watching her enter the girls' bathroom, Zhang Chongyu leaned against the railing and quietly waited. What kind of girl was she? At first, he thought she was shy and timid, but her previous actions were clearly something many girls wouldn't dare to do. She obviously didn't have the strength of a boy, yet she still insisted on being strong. Was it because her self-esteem had been hurt? She wasn't actually a timid girl; she should be a straightforward and honest good girl. When Lan Caihe walked out of the bathroom, Zhang Chongyu's heart suddenly came up with this phrase.

  "Are they all washed?"

  "Uh, I washed your handkerchief at home and will return it to you." Lan C lowered his head without looking at him.

  "Goodbye."

  "This... then I'll also... I'll also give you something!" Blue said as she was about to take off the watch on her hand.

  Zhang Chongyu smiled and looked at the panicked girl, "It's okay, it's just an ordinary handkerchief."

  "How can that be!" She said seriously.

  "It's really okay, I've also sent other girls off, but they didn't react like you." Zhang Chongyu patted her head and smiled as he walked back to the classroom.

  "Oh." The storm in his heart slowly subsided, and Lan C stood still for a long time before coming back to himself. He walked back and forth, and indeed, only he had taken it seriously.