Chapter 12

  (Twelfth)

  The exam results are out. Kang Mi is ranked 53rd in the whole school, and Shen Shuxian is 50th. Holding the test papers, ready to go home for Chinese New Year.

  The graduation ceremony is about to begin, and I heard that there will be a Confucius worship ceremony at the same time. It's going to be a long day, probably won't finish until nightfall. Before the graduation ceremony, the school atmosphere has become tense again. Although there are no military officers entering the classroom to give speeches like last time, Zong Xiuyu also warned students through notices that they are not allowed to leave the campus before winter break unless it's a major event.

  Shen Shuxian's headache had finally healed, and she was relieved to have returned to her dormitory first on the day she left the noodle shop. As soon as she entered, she saw that the area between her legs was already a bright red, almost staining her underwear. She washed up and lay down on her bed, but her mind kept wandering back to Ning Xingguo's image. She fell into a daze, feeling a sweet numbness in her mouth, and suddenly it seemed like night had fallen. With great effort, she opened her eyes to see Luo Xiaojun rushing back to the dormitory alone, saying something to herself that Shen Shuxian couldn't quite remember, but it seemed to mention Ning Xingguo's name. She wanted to listen carefully, but soon fell into a dream again. Shen Shuxian was very afraid of falling asleep, because in her dreams was a dark world filled with mice, snakes, ferocious ghosts, bloated corpses, blood-soaked vengeful spirits crying out with their heads raised, and wolves pouncing from behind.

  The snow is getting heavy, almost knee-deep, and classes have been suspended. The teachers can't be seen either, and the school doesn't even allow people to visit each other's homes freely, as if they were enemies.

  As soon as the sky turned dark, after dinner, because of the cold weather, the coal stove couldn't be placed indoors, and we had to close all doors and windows to sleep, fearing carbon monoxide poisoning. The only thing to do was snuggle under the quilt early and chat, with each person having a cup of tea on the desk in front of the bed, and each person having a small chamber pot filled with water under the bed, this is what winter was like.

  Everyone was talking about how they spent their winter break and those damn homework assignments, when Luo Xiaoyu suddenly said, "Do you guys know that our school has a revolutionary party?"

  "It's impossible." Shen Shuxian hastily chimed in.

  Kang's pale face turned even whiter in the darkness, "Who told you?"

  Lu Xiaoyu's voice became very small, "That day I was accompanying Zhou Huijuan to print poetry, she told me. Originally, I didn't want to tell you guys, but I think we three are good friends, and with her, it's probably that her dad wants my grandfather's old seal carvings, and he kept trying to get close to me."

  "What did she say then?" Kang Yu asked.

  Lu Xiaoyu wrapped herself in a quilt and sat up, "You two come sit on my bed. It's not good if someone eavesdrops."

  The strong wind outside was pounding against the door, and upon careful listening, it sounded like a child crying. Shen Shuxian rummaged around for her shoes, felt her way to Luo Xiaowen's bed in the dark, pulled up the quilt and wrapped herself in it together with Luo. On this side, Kang Miao had brought her own cotton-padded quilt.

  "She said it was our principal, Mr. Zong and Mr. Ning." The words came out of Luo Xiaoyu's mouth like the humming of a mosquito, but to the other two, they were like thunderclaps.

  "Don't be ridiculous, how is that possible? Didn't those soldiers also come to our school to search?" Kang Yu said, her hands shaking with anger in the darkness, and were pressed down by Shen Shuxian.

  Lu Xiaoyu helped Shen Shuxian pull the quilt, "I also said it was impossible, but she said she heard it with her own ears. She also said that there would be troops coming to supervise our graduation ceremony, fearing that we would gather and parade. She said she wanted to expose it in person, and could help her father earn 8,000 yuan. Damn traitor. And said to share half of it with me."

  "What did you say at that time?" Shen Shuxian, although she trusted Luo Xiaowan who lived in the same room, this was a matter of great importance, and if it wasn't handled properly, it could cost her her head.

  "Whatever, I wouldn't go along with her, but I look down on her as a person. Let alone our principal and teacher aren't revolutionaries, even if they were, that would be our school's pride, I wouldn't betray them. She even asked me to meet her in the forbidden area of the backyard, I didn't want to go with her. What's there, ghosts? People have died there before, what else could be there? She kept saying there was something in the tomb. What could be in a tomb, dead people, right?"

  "What? Backyard? Tomb? Isn't Zhou Huijuan a madwoman?" Kang Yu couldn't help but shout loudly, and was tightly covered by Shen Shuxian's hand, "Shh!"

  The three of them suddenly fell silent, and there were faint footsteps at the door.

  A heart beats thump-thumping in the throat, so late at night, who would come.

  The footsteps got closer and closer, but stopped at the dormitory door. The three people trembled with fear. Someone was knocking on the door, which sounded especially terrifying in the cold night. Knock, knock, knock, it knocked three times.

  Kang Youyou's voice trembled as she asked, "Who?"

  "Roll call." Zhang Xiaoping calmly said at the door, hearing voices on this side, holding a flashlight and roll call book knocking on the door.

  The three of them let out a sigh of relief, and when they heard their own names, they responded loudly. Zhang Xiao Ping warned the three girls in the dormitory, "Don't make noise, don't discuss things that have nothing to do with you, and don't walk around on campus at night."

  Heaven knows how she's so fierce, this is the dorm supervisor.

  "We know, sir."

  The footsteps faded away, and the three of them resumed their conversation. Luo Xiaoyu was naturally the center of attention. "Where was I?"

  Kang Weiwei and Shen Shuxian both reached out to pinch her, but Luo Xiaoyu just giggled and didn't understand the two's anxious mood. After a commotion, she said, "Seriously, it seems like she's going to sneak into the backyard forbidden area after 12 tonight to look for evidence. She said she heard Principal Zong say that there's a secret in the backyard."

  "Does she have the guts?" Shen Shuxian looked at Hei An with disdain.

  Kang MiMi was worried about Ning XingGuo, and actually expressed her concern, "We have to get rid of her, the principal and teacher are too careless, being eavesdropped by this little person."

  Lu Xiaoyu became excited, "Yes, we must get rid of this traitorous garbage. I heard his father was a supplier of silk fabrics to Yuan Shikai's presidential palace. If she sells out our principal and teachers, our school will be doomed. We won't even have books to read after the New Year."

  Shen Shuxian's anger was uncontrollable, "It's almost twelve o'clock now, what are we going to do?"

  "Seriously, as friends, tell me, is Mr. Ning really...?" Luo Xiaoyu asked solemnly.

  "Yes." Kang Miao nodded resolutely. This secret would soon spread far and wide, and before long, it would be a secret known to all.

  A word of warning: whether in school, in the factory or in the vast social space, don't casually share secrets with a woman. Once you tell her, it's as if everyone in her dormitory knows about it. Especially when it comes to bad things. At the same time, don't assume that just because someone is playing with you, you are of the same kind.

  Everyone has their own bottom line and principles, Luo Xiaoyu doesn't want to offend or harm anyone, her bottom line is morality, conscience, and justice. Heaven, such a person, even after graduation, can't escape the clutches of marriage, relying on her identity as a female student, finding a prominent or moderately prominent man, being slept with by that man for a lifetime, then giving birth, breastfeeding, and finally becoming wrinkled all over her face.

  The wind is getting stronger, and it's clear that no one knows how cold it is outside. The snow is weighing down the branches, and the sound of them breaking is intermittent. The three of them are discussing, and they all feel a chill behind their backs. If Zhou Huijuan discovers the secret of the forbidden land tonight and exposes the identities of the two at the Confucius worship ceremony during the graduation ceremony, it will implicate even more people, or even the entire school.

  "Xiao Wan, don't go, it's better for you to stay in the dormitory." Kang Miao made such a decision in an instant. The fewer people who went out, the less likely they would attract attention. Besides, Luo Xiao Wan had already done a great job by sharing such important news.

  "But do you have a knife? What if she finds out and calls for help?" Luo Xiaoyu was still worried about them, and she really couldn't think of why these two girls were willing to take risks to help a man. If Luo Xiaoyu knew they loved him, it would be understandable - one openly, the other secretly, united for a common goal.

  Shen Shuxian's face suddenly appeared a fierce aura, "Not afraid!"

  Even if the road ahead is fraught with wind and frost that cuts like a knife, even if thorns spread out underfoot, one must still go forward without hesitation to protect the ones they love. Is this foolish? Even if it costs them their life, is it laughable? This kind of determination represents never regretting.

  The two of them often climbed over the wall and were quite skilled at it, but their fingers had been frozen stiff by the thick snow. When they fell into the backyard, Shen Shuxian quickly helped Kang Weiwei up and brushed off the snow from her body. The autumn grass was already completely withered, and their feet were numb to the point of having no sensation. They found a crooked-necked tree and crouched behind a tombstone as cover. Kang Weiwei muttered an apology, "Sorry, we didn't mean to tread on your head."

  "Goodbye... talk... words... finished..., have... everyone..."