Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen: Three Letters

During the afternoon self-study period, Teacher Luo and another teacher from the academic affairs office arrived and announced that Class One would vote to elect a new class monitor.

This decision was not unexpected to Li Ye.

The top students from all three classes had been reassembled into the remedial Class One, so holding a new election for class monitor was reasonable—it could best mitigate the negative impact of replacing the monitor.

Teacher Sun wrote three candidates’ names on the blackboard: Hu Man, the former monitor of remedial Class Two; Zheng Qiang, the former study committee member of remedial Class Three; and the former monitor of Class One... Xia Yue.

Li Ye found this interesting.

Remedial Class One was already an elite class; over thirty students were transferred in during this reshuffle, while the combined number from the other two classes was under twenty—was there even any doubt about the outcome?

Teacher Luo’s intention to maintain stability was sound; letting Xia Yue continue as monitor would indeed help the class integrate and stabilize, but only before Li Ye exposed that incident.

Now that Li Ye had publicly questioned Xia Yue’s character, how could Teacher Luo possibly keep the class believing in her?

If Xia Yue remained monitor, wouldn’t Li Ye be driven mad by the constant irritation?

Teacher Luo himself was also deeply irritated.

That morning, he had spoken with Xia Yue about the “tampering with mail” incident and warned her in advance that she might be replaced as monitor.

But Xia Yue was bold and resourceful; at noon, she went straight to the principal’s office and insisted she had unquestionable credibility in Class One, even claiming Li Ye was using public authority to settle private grudges and maliciously slander her.

She claimed opening Li Ye’s mail was merely “helping a classmate,” at worst an innocent mistake.

Hence this class monitor election, though Xia Yue was not entirely spared—she was required to write an apology letter and read it aloud in class as a self-criticism.

Xia Yue agreed immediately—what was writing an apology letter? As long as she kept her position as monitor, there would be plenty of chances for Li Ye to apologize to her later.

【You wait—I won’t let you live if I don’t ruin your reputation, Li Ye... You think you’ll ever get into the Youth League? Dream on!】

Li Ye wrote Hu Man’s name on the paper, folded it, and prepared to hand it to the vote counter when his elbow was nudged by his desk mate.

The mute Wen Leyu stretched her neck, gesturing toward Li Ye’s ballot with her lips—her expressive eyes clearly asked: Who did you pick? Let me see.

Li Ye unfolded the paper and showed it to her; Wen Leyu nodded and wrote Hu Man’s name on her own ballot.

Then she poked Li Ye’s arm again and pushed over a slip of paper with writing on it.

【Why did Xia Yue take your letter? Was it Lu Jingyao’s? What did it say?】

«........»

Li Ye tilted his head, staring into Wen Leyu’s autumn-water eyes thirty centimeters away, trying to discern what this girl meant.

Was this girl secretly a gossip queen?

When Li Ye had argued with Xia Yue over Lu Jingyao’s letter that morning, Wen Leyu hadn’t even entered the classroom yet—how did she know?

Yet after nearly ten seconds of locked gazes, Li Ye detected no trace of gossip—only... a hint of concern.

«One vote for Zheng Qiang.»

«One vote for Hu Man.»

«One vote for Hu Man.»

«One vote for Xia Yue.»

Teacher Luo began tallying the votes; three students drew tally marks on the blackboard, while Xia Yue below, gripping the edge of her seat, dug her nails into her palms.

«How could my votes be fewer than Hu Man’s? Are all the votes from the back? It must be...»

But as the tally continued, Xia Yue’s face grew darker.

Hu Man’s name already had five tally marks—there were only fifty students in the class; no matter how optimistic she was, she knew her fate was sealed.

She simply couldn’t understand: she’d had over thirty classmates in Class One originally—why didn’t they support her, but instead backed this “outsider,” Hu Man?

But Li Ye understood.

【Evil people do evil, yet remain unaware of it.】

Just by observing Xia Yue’s current air of superiority, one could guess how domineering she’d been in daily life—she must have bullied her classmates in Class One for years.

Now, with a fresh election, how could a bossy, plain-looking, self-righteous girl like her compete with Hu Man, who was gentle and strikingly beautiful?

In the 1980s, was the male-to-female ratio among high schoolers one to one?

Please—most girls labeled “money-losing goods” were pulled out of school after junior high to work at home; high school girls were inevitably a minority.

Boys aged seventeen or eighteen were highly emotional; a strict monitor might collect homework more efficiently, but a beautiful, gentle monitor was what everyone truly wanted.

«Alright, welcome Hu Man as our new Class One monitor.»

«Also, one more thing... Classmate Xia Yue has recognized her mistake and voluntarily apologized to Classmate Li Ye. Please, Xia Yue, come up to the podium...»

Teacher Luo gave Xia Yue a long, meaningful look, then stepped aside from the podium.

Xia Yue didn’t know how she walked up to the podium, nor how she finished reading her apology letter.

At that moment, her mind held only one thought: unspeakable humiliation, unspeakable humiliation—utterly unspeakable humiliation.

In the disciplinary office of County No. 1 High School, Lu Zixue, eyes brimming with tears, wrote furiously.

After Li Ye took his bicycle last week, he’d waited for his sister to fix the matter.

But before his sister could act, Director Yao of the disciplinary office summoned him and asked if he’d brought the bicycle registration certificate.

Lu Zixue didn’t even have a bicycle registration certificate!

Several days had passed—he’d assumed Director Yao had forgotten.

Director Yao had indeed intended to “forget,” having been a teacher for so long that he understood a student’s fragile psyche needed protection.

But that morning, the Xicheng Police Station called directly, asking whether a bicycle robbery had occurred at the school gate last Saturday.

The shame was unbearable—unless he vented his rage, he would explode from pent-up frustration, so he dragged Lu Zixue in to take it out on.

Lu Zixue had no choice but to write his self-criticism on the spot, screaming inwardly as he wrote.

【Unspeakable humiliation, unspeakable humiliation—I will never forgive Li Ye!】

But revenge required power; neither Lu Zixue nor Xia Yue had it now, so both simultaneously thought of someone who did.

That night, two letters were dropped into mailboxes near County No. 1 and No. 2 High Schools, then sped all the way to Beijing Foreign Languages College.

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

【Li Ye, long time no see. You feel like a stranger to me—where has the kind, generous, responsible man gone?】

【Give the bike back to my brother... he’s still young, he can’t bear gossip... Don’t worry, I’ll repay you the full price with interest.】

Li Ye finished reading Lu Jingyao’s letter in shock, then shook his head hard to confirm he was still in 1981, not back in the 2023 world of flying fists.

He’d intended to cut all ties with Lu Jingyao, but now he couldn’t help picking up his fountain pen and writing a reply on the back of her letter.

【My brother can’t bear gossip? Can I? Can my family?】

【Do you know what they’re calling me at school because you sent money here? I only took back what was mine—how did I become Huang Shiren? You think I’ll drag you off to pay your debt? You’re too clever to let me do that, aren’t you?】

【When our family repaired your house, why didn’t you call me Huang Shiren? When we helped your father get a job transfer, why didn’t you call me a dog landlord?】

【If you so calmly accepted our family’s help, why now pretend to be an innocent victim and twist the truth?】

【If you chose to pursue your freedom, why interfere in my life? Why demand I be generous and give the bike to your brother? You want to have it both ways—don’t you find that shameless?】

【Don’t contact me again. A swan who’s flown into the sky must not bother the frog at the bottom of the well—even if one day he becomes a prince, he has nothing to do with you.】