If the world had no daytime (GL) - Chapter 2

The graduation ceremony for the third-year junior students at S City’s No. 7 High School ended early.

Most of the students had chosen to directly enroll in the senior high school department, so there wasn’t much sentimentality about parting ways. After making plans to meet up again when the new high school year started, they left the school in small groups.

The scorching summer sun made people want to avoid it at all costs. By a little past one, the third-year teaching building was already empty, and even the teachers had disappeared.

Bai Tian, who had been called to the principal’s office for being late, was feeling miserable. She stood with her head bowed in front of the bald, fat old man, listening to him rant endlessly. In her mind, she was counting how many times he had repeated the phrase “unbelievable.”

“You’re really unbelievable!”

Bai Tian silently added one more to her mental count.

“It’s fine that you’re always late or leaving early, but what day is today? Do you even want to get your graduation certificate?”

Old Bald Li picked up his teacup and took a sip, annoyed by the creaking sound of the old, broken fan in the office.

Someone carrying a stack of folders stood at the office door and gently knocked. “Excuse me, can I come in, Teacher Li?” the person asked in a crisp voice.

Old Bald Li turned to look and immediately smiled. He put down his teacup and waved. “Come in, come in. Why haven’t you gone home yet?” His voice was as gentle as if he were seeing the principal’s daughter.

Bai Tian quietly glanced sideways and then ducked her head.

Oh, so it really is the principal’s daughter. She thought to herself, but on the surface, she pretended to be obedient and didn’t dare to make a sound.

Old Bald Li watched as the person who had entered the office put down the documents neatly and politely said goodbye to him. He responded with a smile, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

When he turned around and saw this little brat who had caused him so much trouble for three years, he immediately became angry.

“Quickly take your graduation certificate and get out of here!” Old Bald Li grabbed the red certificate from the desk and handed it over.

Bai Tian quickly took it and timidly thanked him, then prepared to slip away.

Old Bald Li watched her weak and pitiful appearance. If he hadn’t known for three years that she was just pretending to be good while actually being the most mischievous, he might have been fooled.

“Stop.”

Two light words stopped Bai Tian, who had already moved to the door. She trembled and turned around to ask pitifully, “Is there anything else, Teacher Li?”

Hearing this address, Old Bald Li sneered and said slowly, “When the first-year of senior high school starts, if you’re late again, I’ll make you raise the national flag.”

Bai Tian was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered and smiled, “Teacher Li, you’re a junior high school department teacher. I won’t see you after senior high school.”

Her tone revealed her smugness.

Old Bald Li returned a kindly smile, but looking at his scruffy face, Bai Tian suddenly had a bad premonition.

“You came too late, you didn’t hear.”

As he turned off the fan, he began to pack his things.

“When the new semester starts, I’ll be the homeroom teacher for the first-year senior students. Although the class roster hasn’t been announced yet, all the students in our class are directly enrolling, so I’ll still be teaching you.”

Old Bald Li stood up and patted Bai Tian on the shoulder.

“Come on, Bai Tian, don’t be late for the opening ceremony.”

Bai Tian’s face turned ashen.

•••

“Boss, just accept your fate. You can’t escape Old Bald Li’s clutches for the next three years of senior high school.”

“Fat Liu! Have you eaten too much? If you talk nonsense again, I’ll tell your mom about all your hidden snacks!”

Liu Ran stood in front of a stall, took a crumpled five-yuan note from his pocket, and handed it to the stall owner. He didn’t forget to say, “Aunt Wang, don’t put any vinegar in mine.”

Aunt Wang responded and took the money, quickly starting to fry the potatoes.

He swallowed and then turned to look at Bai Tian, who had a sullen expression, and comforted her, “Boss, there’s no point in thinking so much. Unless you transfer schools, you’ll just have to be honest and don’t get caught by Old Bald Li. Or do you really want to go raise the national flag?”

Bai Tian immediately felt as if she had been stepped on, and angrily said, “I’m not going! Who wants to do something as embarrassing as that?”

She threw the backpack she was holding on her chest onto her shoulder and glanced impatiently at the people passing by. Coincidentally, her gaze met that of a tall boy who was staring at her.

The boy was wearing the uniform of the neighboring vocational school and was also on vacation today. It wasn’t unusual to see him at this snack street, which was a favorite of nearby students.

But what was unusual was that there was a girl wearing the No. 7 High School uniform beside him. Bai Tian glanced at her profile and thought she looked familiar.

“Fat Liu, who was that?” She pulled Liu Ran’s sleeve and asked in a low voice.

Liu Ran took the bowl of potatoes that Aunt Wang handed him and couldn’t help but cough a few times.

“Damn, isn’t that the class flower of Class D? Boss, have you forgotten? She was in the same relay race as you during the sports meet and caused you to fall and eat…”

Liu Ran swallowed nervously, his mouth closing under Bai Tian’s deathly stare.

The tall boy, hand in hand with a girl, slowly disappeared down the alley at the end of the street. The alley led to two streets: one lined with internet cafes and the other with hotels.

Bai Tian watched the direction they went with interest, her hand resting on Liu Ran’s shoulder as she whistled casually.

“It’s a big gossip,” she said.

Liu Ran, sensing the tone of her voice, couldn’t help but shiver. He quickly tried to dissuade her, “That guy is mixed up with Zhang Laowu from the vocational school. Don’t mess with him. We can’t afford to provoke those kind of people.”

“I’m not looking for trouble,” Bai Tian replied, annoyed by his nagging. She waved her hand, grabbed her bag, and left.

“Where are you going, boss? Aren’t you going to eat your potatoes?”

“Is one bowl enough for you? Of course I’m going to play games during the holidays. Don’t bother me.”

Liu Ran watched her back, feeling a sense of unease. He watched her walk past the alley without even glancing back, finally feeling relieved. He then took the second bowl of potatoes and happily held it in his hands as he walked home from the opposite end of the street.

The back alley of the internet cafe street was a gathering place for delinquent students. Bai Tian rarely walked this way, because although she was often late, absent, and didn’t do her homework, she knew she was a good student.

Even today, she avoided that alley, intending to take a longer route to the internet cafe. Of course, not a legitimate one.

But Bai Tian never expected that she would get her shoes wet, even though she never walked by the river.

The sounds of punches and kicks, a boy’s screams, and a girl’s cries from deep within the alley made Bai Tian hesitate at the entrance.

On a weekday afternoon, there were few people walking on the roadside. Bai Tian glanced around, then gritted her teeth and quietly walked into the alley.

The closer she got, the clearer the sounds of chaos became. Bai Tian carefully walked along the wall, then peeked around the corner.

A boy, curled up on the ground, was being beaten by four or five young men. He was holding his head and screaming in pain.

Bai Tian’s gaze shifted upwards, and she saw the girl being held by the tall young man. She was crying, her beautiful little face full of tears.

Bai Tian muttered to herself, ‘Oh no, isn’t that the vocational school boy and the class flower from Class D?’

“Please, please stop, I’m begging you. I was wrong, I know I was wrong…”

Bai Tian wasn’t sure what was going on and didn’t dare to do anything. She clutched her phone tightly in her hand and watched the situation in the alley.

A slender figure in a gray hoodie was leaning against the wall, head down, silent. From Bai Tian’s perspective, she could only see the person’s side profile, and most of their face was hidden under the hood, only revealing a white chin.

The Class D girl was still crying, the boy on the ground was motionless, and the attackers had stopped. The alley was filled with the sound of her crying.

Bai Tian felt she couldn’t wait any longer. If she waited any longer, someone might actually die.

She looked down at her phone, but found her hands trembling. Bai Tian took a deep breath, tried to control her shaking, and quickly typed a few numbers on her phone.

As soon as she made the call, the noise in the alley stopped.

Bai Tian was startled. She held her breath and peeked out.

The four or five young men surrounding the boy had dispersed and were walking towards another exit of the alley. The Class D girl was sitting on the ground, covering her face and sobbing, while the gray figure stood straight in front of her.

For a moment, there were only three people in the alley. Just as Bai Tian was hesitating whether or not to rush in, the person suddenly spoke.

“I’m asking you.” The person lowered their head and looked at the crying girl. As soon as they spoke, Bai Tian widened her eyes.

A strand of black hair fell from the hoodie. The person squatted down, looking directly at the Class D girl.

“Do you want to be with him?”

The sobbing girl shuddered. She was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised her head, her previous weakness replaced by a loud shout. “Yes! I like him! It’s my freedom to be with whoever I want. Why are you doing this?”

The squatting person watched her quietly without saying a word. The girl became scared again. She lowered her head and pleaded, “I beg you, please let me go.”

After she finished speaking, there was another silence.

Just when Bai Tian thought the person was about to get angry, they stood up calmly and put their hands in their pockets. The wide hoodie slipped off, revealing long, black hair and a delicate, beautiful face.

She smiled lightly and replied calmly, “I hope you don’t regret it.”

When the ambulance arrived, Bai Tian was hiding in a convenience store at the end of the street, drinking soda.

She was drenched in sweat, but the chill still lingered, making her feel deeply uneasy.

Bai Tian wanted to convince herself with reasons like “maybe they look alike,” but the image of that side profile was too deeply ingrained in her mind, and she couldn’t separate it from the face she remembered. Although there were no similarities in terms of expression or clothing.

It was like two people with the same face.

“I should let Old Bald Li see her like this.”

Bai Tian mumbled to herself, hugged her bag, and went home.

People have an instinct to avoid harm. Even Bai Tian, a naturally rebellious troublemaker, knows what can and cannot be done.

Reporting the incident to the police or the school was not feasible. Even if it was frustrating, there were countless injustices in the world that could not be redressed.

So Bai Tian could only force herself to forget about it. She was just an ordinary student. She had done everything she could, and she couldn’t do anything beyond her abilities.

She couldn’t even let anyone know that she was involved in this incident.

Especially the person involved.

Just thinking about that face made Bai Tian’s hair stand on end. She made up her mind to avoid that person like the plague whenever she saw them at school.

But as the saying goes, things never go as planned.

On the first day of high school, before Bai Tian had recovered from the fatal blow of seeing Old Bald Li, she found a crowd of people gathered around her seat, chattering away noisily.

“What are you doing? Get out of the way,” Bai Tian shouted, carrying her bag, successfully dispersing the crowd and making room for her to walk in.

The person sitting next to Bai Tian’s seat looked up and gave her a gentle smile, apologetically saying to Bai Tian, “Sorry, there was something to discuss in class, so I took your seat for a moment. Just wait a minute, we’ll be done soon.”

“Oh, class monitor, don’t mind her. She’s always like this, with no sense of collective honor.”

Everyone else echoed, and the seated person smiled, said nothing more, and continued to fill out the record on the form.

Bai Tian, clutching her bag strap, quietly retreated from the crowd and turned to leave.

Liu Ran, eating a pancake, came in through the back door and bumped into Bai Tian, who was looking down.

“Wow, boss, watch where you’re going. Class is about to start, where are you going?”

“I’m skipping class,” Bai Tian replied without looking up, and quickly slipped out of the classroom, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Liu Ran stared dumbfounded at her disappearing back and muttered to himself, “Does she even know who our homeroom teacher is?”

Of course, Bai Tian knew, but she still skipped class without hesitation.

While Old Bald Li was cursing and searching for her everywhere, Bai Tian was hiding in the arcade, losing all the game tokens she had saved for half a month.

The boss lady snatched the crumpled banknotes from her hand with disdain, gave her a new box of game tokens, and said, “Why are you skipping class on the first day of school? If your third uncle finds out, he’ll give you another scolding.”

Bai Tian held the game tokens with a dejected expression, then looked up at her and asked, “Sister Hua, do you think my third uncle will agree if I tell him I want to transfer schools now?”

The boss lady was startled, “What did you do wrong at school again?”

“Oh,” Bai Tian sighed, looking old and wise, and turned to sit down at a machine.

“You won’t believe me if I tell you.”

The principal’s daughter was leading a gang of thugs to beat up her classmates in a back alley. Who would believe such a thing?

Bai Tian thought about the person sitting next to her seat and her perfect portrayal of an excellent student, and a chill ran down her spine.

She buried her head in her arms, seriously considering the possibility of transferring schools, and then took out her phone and called her third uncle.

Half an hour later, Bai Tian was dragged into the school by her furious third uncle and handed over to the gloomy-faced Old Bald Li before leaving without looking back.

Bai Tian glanced at Old Bald Li, who was standing on the podium and spraying saliva everywhere, and then glanced at the girl next to her who seemed to be listening very attentively. Feeling dizzy, she fell face-first onto the desk. Her bare forehead hit the wood with a clear thud, interrupting the words coming out of the person on the podium.

“Bai Tian! Get out here and stand!”