In June, there was a harsh rain. And the flowers of Yandu City all wilted and huddled together, looking pitiful and wretched.
The air was humid, trapping unpleasant smells. So the delinquents had discretely moved their usual activities from the secluded toilet to an abandoned room—resulting in a group gathering inside, with smoke lingering in corners.
Yu Sui stayed three feet away from them, yet still got choked by the smell of smoke.
“Sorry, Sui’er.” The boy behind him, named Liang Wen, turned around and apologized to him with a smile.
Yu Sui ignored him, finishing the last bite of his burger. He then carried his bag to the top of the steps. Sitting down, he rummaged for another snack.
“Don’t be mad. It’ll be over in a moment,” said the people below.
These past two days were exams, with a lot of free time in the morning.
Liang Wen twirled his cigarette butt and sighed: “I am very unlucky today. When I went up, I bumped into the Disciplinary Committee.”
The guy next to him looked around: “Who the hell patrols around during an exam? Only Yan Xiu is so dedicated. I think those who do eight laps are nothing…”
The boy turned around and saw Yu Sui, then changed the subject: “…Well, let’s not talk about this. His boyfriend is here.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze met Yu Sui’s gaze.
He had a good-looking face, but his eyes screamed: “If you say another word, I’ll kill you.”
Yang Feiwen, who lowered his head and didn’t see it, chuckled, “Sui’er, why don’t you ask your boyfriend for help and ask him to remove our names? It’s the end of the semester anyway, and their disciplinary committee doesn’t lack one or two names on their record.”
Before he could finish his words, three crumpled papers hit Yang Feiwen’s forehead one after another. Due to the distance and force used, these paper balls caused Yang Feiwen’s head to hurt slightly.
“How many times do I have to say it? I don’t fucking know him.”
Yang Feiwen, rubbing his head, looked at Yu Sui’s back as he walked away, “Hey, he’s angry again.”
“Should’ve known better.” The boy next to him patted Yang Feiwen on the head, “Even a mynah bird can’t gossip as much as you.”
Liang Wen wrapped up their stolen goods with paper and threw them away, waving his hand: “Why aren’t you leaving? Go on. Get out of here.”
There were more than 3,000 students in No. 26 High School, which was relatively a small community with all kinds of people. The Discipline Inspection Department was probably the security police in this small school, responsible for turning the mixed crowd into an organized mess.
The new head of the Discipline Inspection Department was named Yan Xiu, who was at the same level as Yu Sui. He was appointed only two months after starting school and was a hardcore head who was strongly supported by the director.
It was said that he had an icy, handsome face that made people tremble with fear. He was very capable and agile, able to smell takeout from ten meters away and climb walls to catch latecomers.
But, rumors were spread by word of mouth among youth, and each person had their own version of the story, so they could only believe one percent of the information—otherwise, the head of their Discipline Inspection Minister was probably someone like Bao Qingtian[mfn] Bao Qingtian a prominent government official and judge of the Northern Song Dynasty, widely revered in Chinese culture as an emblem of justice, honesty, and incorruptibility due to his legendary impartiality and wisdom in handling legal cases. You can read more about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_Zheng [/mfn], Di Renjie [mfn]Di Renjie (630–700 AD), a prominent official of the Tang Dynasty and the Wu Zhou interregnum, renowned for his administrative abilities, judicial fairness, and political acumen, serving as Chancellor under Empress Wu Zetian. Read here for more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Renjie [/mfn], Spider Man, or Kudo Shinichi.
As someone who had never met the head of the disciplinary committee before, Yu Sui only believed the name in the rumors to be true. After all, he and the minister had no connection, yet there were still people who wished for them to have an entangled relationship.
Just as he was thinking about it, Yu Sui’s classmate, Shu Yi, came towards him.
“Where have you been?” Shu Yi smelled the cigarette smoke on him and stepped back in disgust. “Forget it, it’s not important.”
Yu Sui: “…”
Shu Yi: “Don’t be too proud too soon. I will definitely be ahead of you in this exam.”
Yu Sui hesitated and said: “Do I look very proud?”
Their class was an arts and sports class, so they inevitably neglected their academic subjects. Since they were new to school and were more playful, it resulted in the overall level of the class to be neither high nor low, only hanging around the middle to lower range.
So anyone in the class who studied a little bit seriously could move to the front row of the class.
Shu Yi and Yu Sui were among those in the front row.
Shu Yi wasn’t happy and wanted to say something, but suddenly saw Liang Wen and a few others coming out from the corner.
“I don’t want to talk to you. You can take care of yourself.” Shu Yi finally said.
Yu Sui took two steps to catch up with him.
“What?” Shu Yi stared at him warily.
Yu Sui smoothed out his sagging collar and said, “Nothing. I’m sure you can surpass me.”
This sounded a bit sarcastic, but Yu Sui spoke slowly and gently.
Shu Yi blushed and felt embarrassed. But when he saw Liang Wen’s group again in his peripheral view, Shu Yi whispered: “Yu Sui, stay away from Tang Bohu and Liang Wen’s group. Those who are close to vermilion will be red, and those who are close to ink will be black [mfn]”你離唐泊虎和梁文那幫人遠點吧，近朱者赤近墨者黑。” environment can influence who you are.[/mfn].”
Yu Sui was indifferent and was about to respond when Shu Yi immediately finished the sentence: “The head of the Discipline Inspection Department is very good. You should do well in the next class placement test. Maybe, you will be assigned in the same class as the head of the discipline committee next semester…”
Yu Sui: “…”
Who wants to be in the same class with him?
There were nine subjects in total to be examined for the class placement. Yu Sui crammed for the exams by flipping through a few pages of the textbook. He was sleep deprived every day and was exhausted after two days of exams.
These two days, Tang Bohu and Liang Wen were deducted points for being late for the exam. The homeroom teacher, Lao Gu, was furious and kept complaining about why they were still making trouble on such days.
In addition to being late, the points deducted for being caught by the head for leaving the dormitory late that morning hadn’t been deducted yet. Tang Bohu and Liang Wen thought that Yu Sui had done something and bought him two small bottles of milk.
Yu Sui didn’t think much about it and accepted it directly.
The rain outside continued and got heavier. Yu Sui closed the window and lowered his eyes to look at the bustling crowd below. With two bottles of milk and his schoolbag, he leaned against the window, waiting for his father’s call.
After seven in the evening, there were still no calls answered from Yu Sui’s phone. The school was almost empty. Yu Sui was sure that Yu Jingyuan had forgotten that he had a son trapped in the wind and rain.
He entered the group chat of “A Loving Family” and posted a photo of the school gate from a bird’s-eye view.
Before he could send out the emoji of “other people’s children have gone home”, his sister called him and asked in a hurry: “Where are you?”
“School.” Yu Sui lifted his collar and loosened it a bit. Just as his fingers touched the first button, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a blue and white figure passing by outside the door. He paused for a moment, then put his collar down properly.
Yu Zhen: “Holy Emperor?”
“No. 26 High School.” Yu Sui paused and added, “It’s been almost a year since I graduated.”
“I know,” Yu Zhen answered. “Well, Dad can’t make it back today, and I still have half an hour before I get off work. You wait for me at school for forty minutes and finish your homework first.”
Who does homework right after an exam?
The figure outside the door seemed to pass by again. Yu Sui turned his head and glanced: “No need. I’ll take a taxi back.”
“Your school doesn’t allow people to stay?” Yu Zhen seemed to hesitate for a moment, “Okay then.”
Yu Zhen’s voice was very loud, and the feeling of sudden silence was obvious when the phone was hung up, with only the increasingly heavy sound of rain.
The phone vibrated, and Yu Zhen transferred money to him.
Yu Sui accepted it without hesitation and turned to send a message to someone else.
[Brother, I want to go to your house for dinner.]
The intense presence behind him was impossible to ignore. After sending the message, Yu Sui turned around and saw the white sneakers at the door. He paused, then looked up at the man.
The boy lowered his head slightly, only the tip of his nose could be seen at a glance, and was holding a notepad in his hand. He looked up when he heard the noise stop, and the blue badge hanging around his neck and the red armband on his arm were revealed.
From the Discipline Inspection Department.
Yu Sui had been in school for a year and had committed many disciplinary violations. He had been hiding from the Discipline Inspection Department every day. This was the first time he had encountered them head-on.
He immediately examined himself in his head and was glad that the two buttons were not unbuttoned.
He didn’t violate any discipline.
Yu Sui regained his confidence and spoke calmly: “Classmate, is there anything wrong?”
The person from the Discipline Inspection Department seemed to be quiet, pointing at the lights and fans in the classroom with a pen and then gently pointing in the direction of the window.
Look at this effortless air of pretentiousness.
Yu Sui sighed inwardly and then noticed the seal still in his hand.
After this exam, there was a short vacation, and the classrooms will be closed after leaving school. Yu Sui didn’t pay attention just now and accidentally ended up waiting so long.
“I’ll do it.” Yu Sui picked up his schoolbag and walked over.
This handsome guy from the Discipline Inspection Department seemed to have a bad temper. He quickly withdrew his hand and dodged, as if he would be infected with a virus if touched by Yu Sui. He lowered his head and made a mark on the board.
Yu Sui had good eyesight and saw him write the number one next to their class.
Yu Sui: ???
He wasn’t originally a good-tempered person and wasn’t happy about being stood up and forgotten by his dad. Seeing the handsome guy’s actions, he felt for the first time how Liang Wen felt when he complained about the disciplinary committee every day. A row of upside-down smiling figures appeared in his heart.
But Yu Sui said nothing. He just raised his hand to turn off the lights and the fan. While the disciplinary committee didn’t respond, he pinched the small edge of his sleeve with two fingers and forcibly pulled him out. He closed the classroom door with his backhand, pointing his chin at the door, and smiled gently: “Close it.”
He didn’t feel anything when he was standing far away, but when he got closer, he realized that the person from the Discipline Inspection was taller than him. Maybe it was because of the rain, his eyes seemed to be filled with ice water, cold and full of oppression.
Yu Sui’s salted fish mentality came out again, thinking “whatever”. The young master’s temper that had just emerged, quietly receded. He withdrew his finger, politely saying “sorry”, before leaving.
Walking past the corner, he saw that person seemingly patting their sleeve, and Yu Sui didn’t get angry. His thinking had been led astray by Tang Bohu and his gang for a long time. He conceded that the environment of the Discipline Inspection had nurtured some oddities, so it was not surprising that they had some strange problems.
Later, Yu Sui forgot about this little episode. He borrowed a small stool from the security guard at the school gate and sat there waiting to be picked up, quietly playing his role as a mushroom flower.
“No luggage?” the security guard asked.
Yu Sui was just holding a backpack, and the guard said, “With so little stuff, no wonder you didn’t even bring an umbrella.”
It was only when a motorcycle with its signal lights came into view that Yu Sui stood up, finally getting rid of the security guard’s nagging concern.
Motorcycles were rare in Yandu, and it was even rarer to see someone picking up students from school on a motorcycle. The security guard followed him worriedly and saw that the man looked like a young man.
He stopped beside Yu Sui and threw a raincoat and a helmet at him. Behind the helmet, there seemed to be actual eyes looking at them.
Although the security guard couldn’t see his eyes, he somehow sensed a hint of interest in his gaze.
“Brother, did you bring an umbrella?” Yu Sui put on his raincoat hood and leaned over to ask him.
His brother didn’t know why he asked this: “It’s no use holding an umbrella.”
That meant he brought one.
Yu Sui searched for an umbrella on the top box and pulled it out, before walking back to the guard: “Uncle, there is still a classmate inside who hasn’t come out yet. If he doesn’t have an umbrella, you can lend him this one.”
Young Master Yu did good deeds without leaving his name. He just dropped his umbrella and disappeared. The motorcycle was going too fast; no matter how many times the guard called, he couldn’t bring him back.
“Where do these students come from and even stay at school?” The security guard had just finished speaking when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around in shock and saw a student behind him.
He had his school uniform jacket on his head, glancing outside lazily, and said politely, “Uncle, excuse me.”
Guard: “…”
He thought about it for a moment before handing over the umbrella: “Kid, another person lent you an umbrella just now.”
The boy didn’t answer; he just looked outside with a bit of surprise.
“Just now, the kid just lent it to you.” The security guard was afraid that he would not take it and go home with his school uniform jacket on. But when he saw this, his nagging fear came to his mind again, “It started raining ten days ago. Why are there still so many people who don’t remember to bring umbrellas…”
“…”
The security guard was too nagging, and the students didn’t dare to talk to him for too long. Yan Xiu’s politeness only lasted until the second sentence. Unable to refuse any longer, he had no choice but to take the umbrella.
The security guard was still watching him from behind, insisting on seeing him leave with the umbrella.
Yan Xiu lowered his head to examine the umbrella, his long fingers curling slightly, as if captivated by the colors coming from the umbrella. He pulled the Velcro and looked roughly across the umbrella.
The quality of the umbrella was pretty good, with at least ten ribs. It looked like a custom-made one, but perhaps the person who ordered it didn’t look into it clearly. One side said “Good Luck in the Grand Opening” [mfn]original phrase is: 開張大吉 (Derived from ‘開張’ (to open a business) and ‘大吉’ (great auspiciousness/fortune). It’s a traditional Chinese blessing for new beginnings in business.) This phrase is commonly displayed on red banners or given as a verbal greeting during the opening ceremonies of new shops, restaurants, or companies in Chinese culture. It embodies the hope for prosperity and good fortune from the very beginning.[/mfn] written on it, and the other half had “Happy Marriage” in vibrant color.
“Oh, this…” The security guard came over to take a look, and his expression twisted. He knew that kids of this age cared about their image and might even prefer to wear their school uniform jacket. At least, it would still look cool.
Just when the guard was about to tell him that a good umbrella or a bad one was still an umbrella, the boy draped his jacket over his shoulder.
In the dim rain curtain, a large umbrella was boldly spread out, displaying a burst of vibrant colors, swaying as it moved along.
