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墨書 Inktalez
The only girl in the class who failed the exam was not as fortunate. Liu Director's criticism of her could only be described as a "personal attack." With poor grades and an unremarkable appearance, she was told that once she entered society, even working as a hostess would be out of the question due to her looks. Liu Director advised her father to take her home immediately and find someone for her to marry, so at least she wouldn't starve.
The girl who was criticized for failing the exam was named Dong Xiwen. She was usually quiet in class, rarely speaking, let alone interacting with her classmates. She gave off an impression of being isolated from the world. When others bullied her, she never fought back; when they insulted her, she remained silent, enduring everything with her head down. As a result, few classmates paid attention to her, but if she ever drew attention, it was usually because she was being mocked by the teacher for her poor performance.
Zhu Hui watched this unfold with a heavy heart. Although she felt deep sympathy for Dong Xiwen, there was nothing she could do against the arrogant Liu Director. Thus, Liu Director continued to mock Dong Xiwen for most of the class until finally stopping due to exhaustion from talking.
After being harshly reprimanded by Liu Director that morning, Zhu Hui felt a pang of distress every time she saw Dong Xiwen, as if Liu Director's venomous words still echoed in her ears. However, Dong Xiwen seemed unfazed, sitting alone in her usual corner with a blank expression while doodling. Perhaps she had been scolded so many times that she had become numb to it.
In the afternoon, the weather was exceptionally pleasant—fluffy white clouds and gentle breezes painted a picture of warmth and sunshine. It was a rare occasion for Class 4 of Senior Year to have physical education class, and as soon as they arrived at the playground, the students felt rejuvenated like they had just received much-needed rain after a long drought. They shook off the cold water Liu Director had poured over them that morning and joyfully played around on the field.
Today, Dong Xiwen behaved unusually; she actively joined her classmates in playing badminton. This made Zhu Hui, who had been worried about her, finally breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing Dong Xiwen having so much fun made Zhu Hui unable to resist joining in for a few rounds. To her surprise, Dong Xiwen turned out to be quite skilled at badminton; before long, Zhu Hui found herself eliminated from the game. The other students laughed at her misfortune, prompting Zhu Hui to feign anger and shout back at them defiantly.
At that moment, she inadvertently glanced back at Dong Xiwen and caught sight of her smiling radiantly. It was such a beautiful and brilliant smile that Zhu Hui felt moved for the first time in her life by someone's smile. She silently cheered for Dong Xiwen in her heart, believing that her future would surely be bright.
Due to an inspection by district leaders at the school that day, there were no evening classes after physical education; school ended early. Still feeling exhilarated from playing badminton, Zhu Hui took the initiative to invite Dong Xiwen to walk home together so they could discuss badminton techniques on their way back.
"I never expected you to be so good at badminton! Do you often practice at home?" Zhu Hui couldn't help but tease.
Dong Xiwen smiled and shook her head without saying anything.
"You can play this well without practicing? You must really be a natural talent at badminton."
Hearing this made Dong Xiwen laugh out loud; she turned to Zhu Hui and said thoughtfully, "Isn't it too sad if someone not only has a poor mind but also lacks physical ability?"
Zhu Hui's smile instantly faded upon hearing this, and unease began to creep into her heart again.
“Class Leader, why are you blue?” Dong Xiwen looked up, her gaze drifting into the distance as a wistful smile spread across her face.
“Because... because...”
“Because of sadness, right?”
“Sadness...? ” Zhu Hui stared at her, somewhat puzzled.
“Then do the people living above feel sad because they are blue too?”
Zhu Hui was noncommittal in response to her question, feeling increasingly uneasy inside.
“Xi... Dong Xiwen, you...”
Seeing the anxious expression on her face, Dong Xiwen couldn't help but burst into laughter and said, “Class Leader—don't worry, I’m really very happy now, happier than ever before.”
“Really...? Is that true?”
Dong Xiwen nodded at her, gazing deeply into her eyes with a calm smile as she said, “Class Leader, you are truly a good person.”
“Oh, it’s nothing!” Zhu Hui felt herself blush at the compliment. “Actually, I have many flaws; it’s just that you haven’t noticed them.”
“Really?” Dong Xiwen noticed her blush and smiled even brighter. “Even if you have some flaws, I believe those flaws can bring joy to others.”
“No… actually… my inner self is quite dark.”
“No way!”
“Really… really… I’m quite vain in many ways.”
“Like what?”
“For example, I care a lot about my grades. I absolutely cannot tolerate anyone scoring higher than me.” Zhu Hui paused, as if recalling something, and chuckled. “I remember during the last chemistry exam, Jiang Xi asked me if I had reviewed before the test. Of course, I hadn’t! The night before the exam, I spent the whole evening at home watching ‘Women Don’t Cry.’ Later, I asked her if she had reviewed, and she said that the night before the exam, she spent the whole night playing tennis on her rooftop to lose weight.”
“What does that mean?” Dong Xiwen looked at her in confusion.
Seeing her question, Zhu Hui laughed even louder. “What it means is that Jiang Xi and I were both lying to each other. The night before that chemistry exam was a Sunday; the TV station didn’t even air dramas then, and it was pouring rain that night. How could Jiang Xi possibly be playing tennis on her rooftop?”
“So your point is…”
“My point is that Jiang Xi and I were deceiving each other. The night before the exam, we were both at home studying hard, burning the midnight oil!” Zhu Hui laughed so hard she nearly doubled over, reflecting, “In fact, being hypocritical is just a foolish thing to do.”
“It seems like there’s really no one in this world who can succeed easily.”
“Exactly! So don’t attribute those who succeed easily to their talent. In reality, there’s no such thing as talent; what we call talent is merely using one’s hypocrisy to cover up one’s foolishness.” Zhu Hui became more animated as she continued to spill secrets. “Do you remember during the last midterm exam when Jiang Xi ranked second in the entire grade? I was so happy that I quickly called her home to share the good news with her mom.”
"Her mother must have been very happy to hear that."
"Happy about what? I called her home mainly to tell her mom that I got first place."
"Ah, you're so petty!" Dong Xiwen exclaimed in surprise.
"You just realized I'm petty," Zhu Hui laughed dismissively. "Do you remember when we were in our first year of high school? There was a history exam where Wan Shuhui scored five points more than me and took first place. She strutted over to me, mocking me endlessly. I was just indifferent, but guess how I retorted?"
Dong Xiwen frowned and shook her head, unsure.
"I said, 'My knowledge of Chinese history is nothing special! I could easily score second place with my eyes closed without even flipping through the book before the exam. Besides, my second place was only five points lower than the first. Sigh—talent is talent; there's no need to care about those diligent birds that fly early.'"
"Then Wan Shuhui must have been furious to hear that," Dong Xiwen laughed, picturing Wan Shuhui going crazy from Zhu Hui's words.
"Yes! But I think what made her even angrier was what I added afterward—complimenting her parents."
"Complimenting her parents?"
"I told her parents they had foresight in naming her 'Wan Shuhui,' which means she would always lose (to) Zhu Hui."
"Wow, you really did that to her!" Dong Xiwen looked at her in astonishment.
"Of course! Who told her to be so arrogant? She deserved it." Zhu Hui crossed her arms and playfully lifted her chin, proudly huffing before turning to ask with a grin, "I've shared so many of my past petty deeds; can you share a little about your own past mischief with me?"
"My past mischief?" Dong Xiwen pondered for a moment and suddenly remembered something. She exclaimed happily, "Last semester, Liu Xi borrowed a pen from me and didn’t return it for half a year. In a fit of anger, I snuck a dead mouse into his backpack!"
"Really? You are so dirty! You are indeed a kindred spirit. For you, I really feel that I have met you too late." Dong Xiwen smiled at her, suddenly lowered his head, and fell silent again . Zhu Hui Seeing her return to the starting point, the gloomy expression on her face showed that she was depressed again. For a moment, she thought that she had said the wrong thing in trying to be happy. She couldn't help but feel nervous and asked uneasily: "Dong Xiwen, you What's wrong? Did I say something wrong just now?" Dong Xiwen shook his head at her and remained silent. "Okay, okay, let me tell you, I am actually the stupid bird! In that history test, I really lost to Wan Shuhui with my own real ability." "Ah?" "Actually, China History is really brilliant. I read through two history books before I managed to get second place in the exam. Alas, I am hopelessly stupid." "Really?" Dong Xiwen Seeing his embarrassed look of admitting his mistake, he couldn't help but laugh again, hesitated for a while, and said calmly: "Actually, I also lied just now, Liu Xi has never borrowed a pen from me, to be precise, it's mine. He hacked the pen in an unfriendly way. "What, Liu Xi dared to hack your things? And he did it in an unfriendly way," Zhu Hui exclaimed in surprise. "Please, this is nothing new. Everyone in the class knows it, you just don't know it." Dong Xiwen said disapprovingly. "This abominable Liu Xi, tomorrow I will teach him a lesson and seek justice for you." Zhu Hui raised his fist and said angrily.
“Class Leader, please don’t,” Dong Xiwen suddenly became anxious and said urgently, “I beg you not to make this a big deal. I don’t want to drag others into it.”
“How can that be? Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘It is the ribs of goodness that bolster the arrogance of evil’? We absolutely cannot tolerate someone like Liu Xi, who is greedy and insatiable. Tolerating him will only nurture treachery.”
“But…” Dong Xiwen wanted to say something but hesitated. She sighed deeply and, with a downcast expression, said, “Do whatever you want. Whether or not to tolerate him no longer matters to me.” With that, she couldn’t help but smile sadly.
“How can it not matter? The significance lies in the fact that I not only want to seek justice for you but also to restore your dignity.”
“Dignity?” Dong Xiwen couldn’t help but scoff at this. “Dignity is too extravagant for me; I can’t afford it.”
“How can that be? In fact, dignity…”
“Class Leader, please don’t analyze the meaning of dignity or assess its value anymore. I appreciate your good intentions,” Dong Xiwen suddenly interrupted her, giving a faint smile as she gazed sincerely into her eyes and earnestly asked, “Class Leader, may I hug you?”
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