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墨書 Inktalez
Zhu Hui paused for a moment, taken aback by her request.
"Of course," she replied softly.
The two of them embraced in the warm glow of the setting sun, their hearts connected, radiating warmth to one another.
"Class Leader, this hug feels so warm. I'm... I'm really afraid I might become attached to this warmth. What if I really do get attached? What should I do then?" Dong Xiwen's voice caught in her throat as she held Zhu Hui tighter.
"Silly girl, it's not like we're parting forever. Our families live so close; if you ever want to hug again, you can anytime!"
"Thank you, Class Leader!" Dong Xiwen sniffled, a smile of happiness spreading across her face. "I've never wished anyone well in my life, but today I especially want to bless you—may you always be happy, now and in the future, whether in heaven or hell... I wish you deeply and sincerely to always be joyful and carefree, just like the happiness we share right now."
"Thank you! I wish you happiness too," Zhu Hui said, holding Dong Xiwen's hands tightly. She smiled at her with a meaningful look. "Dong Xiwen, my greatest joy is seeing you happy, so please don’t ever do anything that would make me unhappy, okay?"
Dong Xiwen smiled back faintly. "Class Leader, you truly are a good person."
As they walked along the path, they chatted about many things—the laughter of their childhood, the troubles of growing up, and the bittersweet moments of life. They shared even their past foolishness and awkward experiences without reservation, hoping to elicit a laugh from each other. They talked animatedly until they reached the crossroads where they had to part ways. Zhu Hui looked at the four paths leading in different directions and felt a wave of melancholy wash over her. The thought of returning home so soon—to eat dinner, take a shower, do homework, and listen to her grandmother's nagging—made her feel deflated like a wilting eggplant. "Time really flies; before we know it, it's time to go our separate ways. See you tomorrow!"
"Class Leader, thank you! Talking with you has been really enjoyable."
"Of course! Who wouldn't enjoy talking to me? No one in this world has ever found it dull," Zhu Hui said with a playful bravado.
"Is that so?" Dong Xiwen replied with a faint smile but with sadness in her eyes. "Goodbye, Class Leader. I wish for your happiness every day just like today." With that, she turned and walked away gracefully.
Zhu Hui watched the distant figure of Dong Xiwen leaving, her heart in turmoil, unable to pinpoint the reason for her unease. She felt a profound discomfort throughout her body, her mind consumed by the unusual smile on Dong Xiwen's face. As the night deepened, she was jolted awake from a nightmare, and the feeling intensified. The image of Dong Xiwen walking away replayed in her mind, and the words "Class Monitor, goodbye" echoed like a haunting refrain in her ears, filling her with dread. She spent the rest of the night unable to close her eyes and sleep.
The next day, upon arriving at school, she heard the shocking news that Dong Xiwen had attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills. The revelation struck her like a bolt from the blue; her earlier sense of foreboding had materialized into a grim reality. She dropped her backpack and rushed to Dong Xiwen's house, frantic and oblivious to everything else. Along the way, she fervently prayed for Dong Xiwen's safety, promising that she would do anything for God, even if it meant serving as a beast of burden in her next life, as long as Dong Xiwen remained unharmed.
When Zhu Hui reached Dong Xiwen's home, she found it empty except for an elderly grandmother who was lost in her own world. Assuming that Dong Xiwen must be at the hospital, she made inquiries and eventually located her in the inpatient department of the Fifth Hospital.
Ah! She was still alive. Zhu Hui looked at Dong Xiwen lying on the hospital bed with a blank expression, tears welling up in her eyes from overwhelming relief. She silently thanked the heavens for allowing her to see that Dong Xiwen was still breathing and had a heartbeat.
"Dong Xiwen, you are so foolish. Why would you do something so stupid?" Zhu Hui cried uncontrollably at her bedside.
Dong Xiwen weakly turned her head, staring blankly at Zhu Hui before softly asking, "Why do you all want to take away my happiness?"
"What are you talking about? Living is what brings happiness; when you're dead, there's nothing left," Zhu Hui replied anxiously upon hearing such nonsensical words.
"No, living won't bring happiness; living means suffering. I don't want to suffer; I don't want to," Dong Xiwen mumbled incoherently before suddenly bursting into tears, curling up into a ball and trembling.
"No, that's not true! You're so pure; don’t listen to Director Liu's nonsense. It won't happen; it can't happen," Zhu Hui said desperately as she watched Dong Xiwen in despair, feeling as if her heart were being torn apart while tears streamed down her face.
"No, Director Liu is right; she's right. Poor grades mean no future; no future means suffering. Do you understand?" Dong Xiwen clutched Zhu Hui's hand in confusion, speaking in a disjointed manner.
"That's not true, Dong Xiwen! It's not like that! There are many successful people in this world who didn't have good grades when they were studying, but that didn't stop them from succeeding later on! Believe in yourself, Dong Xiwen! You can become someone great and successful in the future."
At that moment, Dong Xiwen's mother entered and saw her daughter in such distress. Heartbroken and desperate to comfort her, she said gently, "Bad grades can be improved over time. As long as you work hard in the future, your grades will surely get better."
“No, I don’t want to try, I don’t want to study, I don’t want to learn, I don’t want to go to school, I don’t want… I don’t want…” Dong Xiwen heard her mother mention grades and was so frightened that her fingers dug into her hair, her body trembling even more violently. She resembled a person in the throes of madness, crying and throwing a tantrum on the bed, completely losing her rationality.
“You can’t just stop studying; you have to go to a third-tier university someday,” Dong Xiwen’s mother said, wiping her tears while still contemplating her daughter’s future education.
Zhu Hui stared in shock at Dong Xiwen’s mother, shivering with cold. She never expected that the maternal love she had longed for could sometimes be so terrifying; it could drive a person to despair.
After returning to school, the classmates were all discussing the incident, but no one dared to mention that Dong Xiwen’s suicide was related to Director Liu.
During the third period, it was Director Liu’s math class again. As soon as she entered the classroom, she said nothing more than necessary and picked up the textbook to start the lesson. Zhu Hui sat at the front of the classroom, watching her teach with no sign of remorse as if nothing had happened. The fire of anger inside Zhu Hui burned even more fiercely. Halfway through the class, she could no longer bear it. The thought of Dong Xiwen’s desperate eyes made her unable to hold back her tears. Just as Director Liu was reaching a climax in her lecture, Zhu Hui suddenly slammed her hand on the desk and interrupted her in front of everyone.
“Director Liu, don’t you realize we’re missing a student today?”
“Zhu Hui, how dare you speak to your teacher like that?” Director Liu snapped, slamming the book shut and throwing it on the podium.
“One of our classmates is lying in the hospital right now; don’t you have anything to say about that?”
“What is there to say? I’ve been teaching for over thirty years and have never encountered a student as spineless as her. She couldn’t handle a little setback and wanted to end it all after a few words of advice.”
“Advice? Your advice is telling her she should just become a… even if she does become one, no one would want her, right?” Zhu Hui shouted at her in anger.
“I only meant to motivate her…”
“What you did wasn’t motivating; it was murder—murder! Do you understand?” Zhu Hui interrupted angrily before Director Liu could finish.
“Zhu Hui, what do you mean by shouting in class? Don’t think just because I’m usually nice to you that you can behave however you want,” Director Liu said, her face turning pale with rage as she trembled all over.
“I can do whatever I want, but at least I won’t be cruel enough to curse someone’s future.”
“What? You and I are cursing her?”
“Isn’t that what you did? The greatest motivation for living in this world is the ‘future.’ By tarnishing the future of an eighteen-year-old girl, you’re no different from cursing her or murdering her.” Zhu Hui looked at Liu Director’s cold face, sobbing even harder. “Is academic performance the only standard by which you measure everything? When faced with Dong Xiwen’s desperate and helpless eyes, can you really turn a blind eye? Don’t you feel the slightest bit of guilt towards her?”
“Guilt? Is she even worthy of it?” Liu Director gritted her teeth and sneered.
“Maybe she isn’t worthy in your eyes, but I can tell you that making such statements disqualifies you from being our teacher and makes you unworthy of our respect.”
“You… How dare you speak to a teacher like that…” At that moment, Liu Director was nearly infuriated to the point of explosion.
“What I’ve said to you now is merely a light remark, yet you can’t handle it at all.”
“What? You consider this a light remark?”
“This isn’t a light remark. Are the personal attacks you made on Dong Xiwen yesterday considered light? If I were to use your words against you now, would you truly reflect on them as you think others would? Would they enlighten you and help you grasp the true meaning of life?”
“You…” Liu Director was so enraged by Zhu Hui that she was momentarily speechless. In a fit of rage, she overturned the podium. Seeing this, Zhu Hui refused to back down; fueled by anger, she kicked over her desk without hesitation. With two loud crashes echoing through the classroom, the students split into two groups—one rushed to comfort Liu Director while the other went to console Zhu Hui.
It wasn’t until the homeroom teacher, Yu Hong, learned of the situation and hurried over from the office, apologizing profusely to Liu Director, that things began to calm down.
“Go apologize to Liu Director right now. Do you hear me?” Yu Hong noticed Liu Director’s lingering anger and worried about its impact on her future at school, insisting that Zhu Hui apologize.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, nor did I say anything wrong. Why should I apologize to her?”
"You should apologize for not respecting your teacher."
"Respect?" Zhu Hui couldn't help but scoff at his words, exclaiming loudly, "Does Liu Director even understand what respect means?"
"You—" Yu Hong felt helpless seeing Zhu Hui's stubborn attitude. Although he knew that Liu Director was at fault from the beginning to the end, she was still a highly respected senior teacher in the school. He had to give her some face and authority, so he lowered his voice and almost pleaded with Zhu Hui to apologize to Liu Director.
"If you want me to apologize, fine, but only if she apologizes to Dong Xiwen first," Zhu Hui remained unyielding.
Seeing that Zhu Hui refused to back down, Liu Director felt as if she had been hit with a powder keg. She was so furious that her vision darkened, and she nearly fainted. Yu Hong, noticing this, quickly sent a few students to help Liu Director back to her office to rest and calm down.
Zhu Hui's outburst sent shockwaves throughout the campus. After class, various school leaders rushed to Class 4 of Senior Year to mediate the situation. Without asking for details, they reprimanded Zhu Hui harshly, berating her mercilessly. They never expected that the most promising student in the school would behave so recklessly, shouting in class and openly defying a teacher, nearly causing her to have a heart attack. Principal Niu was especially furious and deeply disappointed in Zhu Hui. Her blatant disrespect for authority and moral decay meant she could no longer serve as a role model in the school; thus, all her positions were revoked. The role of Student Council President was temporarily assigned to Jiang Xi, while the class monitor position was taken over by Vice Monitor Wan Shuhui. After being publicly condemned, Zhu Hui had fallen from grace, becoming an ordinary student. Those classmates who had despised her were now gleeful at her downfall, secretly applauding her misfortune.
Because of her open defiance of Liu Director, Zhu Hui became a thorn in Liu Director's side. Whenever Liu Director saw her, it was impossible not to feel a surge of anger that made her ache all over. Therefore, whenever Zhu Hui attended class, Liu Director would hurl sharp and cutting remarks at her. Now that Zhu Hui had grown more confident, even without guidance she could learn on her own; thus, Liu Director would send her out of the classroom to sit alone in the hallway and study by herself.
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