Chapter 16: Three Letters

During the afternoon self-study session, Mr. Luo and another teacher, Mr. Sun, from the Academic Affairs Office arrived to announce that Class 1 would vote for a new class monitor.

This decision didn't come as a surprise to Li Ye.

With the top students from three classes reassembled into the repeat Class 1, re-electing a class monitor was reasonable; it could minimize the negative impact of replacing the monitor.

Mr. Sun wrote the names of three candidates on the blackboard: the original repeat Class 2 monitor Hu Man, the original repeat Class 3 study committee member Zheng Qiang, and the original Class 1 monitor... Xia Yue.

Li Ye found it interesting.

Repeat Class 1 was already an accelerated class. This adjustment involved over thirty students, while the students adjusted from the other two classes totaled less than twenty. Was there any suspense in the election result?

Mr. Luo's intention to seek stability was good; letting Xia Yue continue as monitor would indeed facilitate class integration, but that was before Li Ye's incident.

Now that Li Ye had publicly questioned Xia Yue's character, how could Mr. Luo convince everyone to continue trusting her?

If Xia Yue were still the monitor, wouldn't Li Ye be annoyed to death all day?

Mr. Luo was also quite annoyed at the moment.

This morning, he had talked to Xia Yue about the "privately opening mail" incident and informed her in advance that they were preparing to change the monitor.

But Xia Yue was bold; at noon, she went straight to the principal's office, insisting that she had indisputable credibility in Class 1, and even claimed that Li Ye was settling personal scores and maliciously slandering her.

Anyway, her opening Li Ye's mail was just "helping a classmate," at most an unintentional mistake.

Thus, this class monitor election took place, though Xia Yue wasn't completely spared; she was required to write an apology letter, read it in class, and conduct a self-reflection.

Xia Yue agreed immediately. What's an apology letter? As long as she could still be the monitor, there would be plenty of times for Li Ye to apologize to her in the future.

【You just wait. If I don't ruin your reputation, Li Ye, my name isn't Xia... Do you still want to join the Youth League or the Party in the future? Keep dreaming!】

Li Ye wrote Hu Man's name on the paper and folded it, preparing to hand it to the student counting the votes, when he suddenly felt his elbow nudged by his seatmate.

The little mute Watching Wen Leyu stretched her neck and pursed her lips at Li Ye's slip of paper; her expressive eyes clearly meant—who are you voting for? Let me see.

Li Ye unfolded the paper for her to see. Watching Wen Leyu nodded and also wrote Hu Man's name on her ballot.

Then, she poked Li Ye's arm again and pushed a note with writing on it over.

【Why did that Xia Yue withhold your letter? Was it Lu Jingyao's letter? What did the letter say?】

"........"

Li Ye tilted his head, looking at Watching Wen Leyu's autumn-water-like eyes thirty centimeters away, trying to figure out what this little girl meant.

Could this little girl have the potential to be a gossip queen?

When Li Ye and Xia Yue had a dispute over Lu Jingyao's letter this morning, Watching Wen Leyu hadn't even entered the classroom yet! How did she know?

But the two stared at each other for nearly ten seconds, and Li Ye couldn't find a single spark of gossip; instead, he felt... the taste of concern.

. 。。。。。

"One vote for Zheng Qiang."

"One vote for Hu Man."

"One vote for Hu Man."

"One vote for Xia Yue."

Mr. Luo began counting the votes. Three students drew tally marks on the blackboard. Xia Yue, sitting below the podium, was so nervous her fingernails were digging into her flesh.

【How could my vote count be lower than Hu Man's? Are all the Class 1 votes at the back? That must be it.......】

But as the vote counting continued, Xia Yue's face grew uglier.

Five tally marks had already been drawn after Hu Man's name. There were only fifty people in the class; no matter how optimistic Xia Yue was, she knew her situation was hopeless.

She really couldn't understand why the thirty-plus students from her original Class 1 didn't support her, but instead supported Hu Man, an "outsider."

But Li Ye understood.

【The wicked are wicked, but they don't know it.】

Looking at the sense of superiority Xia Yue displayed today, one could guess how overbearing her usual style was; the students in Class 1 probably hadn't suffered less from her pua.

Now that there was a chance for a re-election, how could she, a domineering, average-looking girl who thought she was special, compare to the gentle and outstanding Hu Man?

Was the male-to-female ratio of high school students in the eighties one-to-one?

Just kidding. Most "money-losing goods" girls were required to go home and work after finishing middle school; high school girls were inevitably in the minority.

Seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys were very emotional. A capable class monitor was indeed better at collecting homework, but a beautiful and gentle class monitor was what everyone hoped for.

"Alright, welcome Hu Man as our new Class 1 monitor."

"There's one more thing....... Student Xia Yue has realized her mistake and voluntarily apologized to Student Li Ye. Now, please, Student Xia Yue, come up to the podium......"

Mr. Luo gave Xia Yue a meaningful look and stepped aside from the podium.

Xia Yue didn't know how she walked onto the podium, nor did she know how she finished reading the apology letter in her hand.

At this very moment, she had only one thought—a great shame, a great shame, simply a great shame.

。。。

Inside the Academic Affairs Office of County No. 1 Middle School, Lu Zixue, with tears in his eyes, was writing furiously.

After Li Ye snatched his bicycle last week, he had been waiting for his sister to settle this matter for him.

But before his sister could show her power, Director Yao from the Academic Affairs Office called him over and asked if he had brought the bicycle license for that Phoenix bicycle.

Lu Zixue didn't have a bicycle license!

It had been a few days, and he thought Director Yao had forgotten about it!

Director Yao had indeed "wanted to forget" it; after all, having been a teacher for so many years, he understood that a student's fragile heart needed protection.

But this morning, the police station in the west of the city called directly to ask if a bicycle robbery had occurred at the school gate last Saturday.

This was shameful to the extreme. If he didn't vent his anger, he would burst, so he dragged Lu Zixue over to vent.

Lu Zixue had no choice but to start writing a self-criticism on the spot, roaring in his heart as he wrote.

【A great shame, a great shame, I am irreconcilable with Li Ye!】

But revenge required strength. Neither Lu Zixue nor Xia Yue could do it now, so they both thought of someone "with strength."

That evening, two letters were dropped into mailboxes near County No. 1 and No. 2 Middle Schools, then sped straight to the Capital Foreign Languages Institute.

And Li Ye, during evening self-study, opened the letter Lu Jingyao had written to him.

【Li Ye, long time no see. The feeling you give me makes me feel like a stranger. Where has that kind, magnanimous, and responsible man gone?】

【Return the bike to my brother... He is still young and cannot withstand gossip... Don't worry, I will definitely return the money for the bike to you with interest.】

Li Ye finished reading Lu Jingyao's letter in surprise, then shook his head hard to confirm he was still in '81, not back in the fist-flying '23.

He originally didn't want to have anything to do with Lu Jingyao again, but now he couldn't help but pick up his fountain pen and write a reply on the back of the letter paper.

【Your brother cannot withstand gossip? Can I withstand gossip? Can my family withstand gossip?】

【Do you know what they call me in school now because you sent money? I'm just taking back my own money; how did I become Huang Shiren? If I don't return the money, should I drag you to pay the debt? You're so clever, would you let me take you to pay the debt?】

【When my family helped you repair your house, why didn't you say I was Huang Shiren? When our family helped your father transfer his job? Why didn't you say I was a dog landlord?】

【Since you accepted our family's benefits with peace of mind, why did you turn black into white and pretend to be an innocent victim?】

【Since you chose to pursue your freedom, why interfere with my life again? Why ask me to be magnanimous and give the bike to your brother? Isn't it shameless to be both a whore and want a memorial arch?】

【Don't contact me again. Please don't harass the frog at the bottom of the well, you swan who has flown into the sky. Even if one day he becomes a prince, it will have nothing to do with you.】 ===== CHAPTER 17 =====