Little Duckling - Chapter 17

Winter nights always stretched long.

At seven in the morning, the sky remained a deep, lingering darkness.

Outside the classroom of Class 1, Grade 8, several students huddled by the railing, munching on breakfast brought in by day students while murmuring amongst themselves.

“She only has one school uniform. She washes it on weekends, but it’s never fully dry by Monday. Now that someone drew on it, she doesn’t even dare to complain… If she’s willing to be a punching bag, doesn’t she deserve to be bullied?”

“You mean her? Qi Xia shares a dorm room with her. I heard she’s incredibly stingy—hiding her things the moment someone uses them, acting like they’re treasures. Everyone else leaves their stuff on the sink counter, and if something’s missing, we just ask and borrow it. Who’d know which one is hers?”

“She won’t even buy hot water tickets. She washes everything with cold water…”

“Her family’s poor, right? She’s always mooching off other people’s meal cards.”

“But she’s not even a designated ‘impoverished student’…”

Suddenly, someone coughed lightly and shot a warning glance. The conversation abruptly ceased.

Jian Xin had just finished breakfast at the school gate and hadn’t even entered the classroom when she overheard a group gossiping, instantly souring her mood.

“Hey, why did you stop talking? I only caught a few words,” Jian Xin said with a smile, leaning closer. “Who were you talking about just now?”

“Oh, just… someone from another class.”

“Someone from another class? Then how is she in the same dorm as Qi Xia? I thought dorms weren’t mixed by class,” Jian Xin said, her smile unwavering as she turned to her former deskmate. “Zhang Danya, you’re close to Qi Xia, right? I’m a day student, so I don’t know these things. Which of her roommates were you talking about?”

Zhang Danya gaped, too afraid to speak.

Li Yue: “What’s it to you? You heard everything already, why are you asking? What’s with the passive-aggressive tone?”

Zhang Danya: “Li Yue! Jian Xin didn’t mean it like that!”

“Exactly, I didn’t mean it like that at all,” Jian Xin said with a smile, her voice calm. “I just overheard your conversation and almost thought Third High School was some kind of elite academy where they judge you by your background, not your grades.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“Exactly what I said,” Jian Xin replied, flicking her ponytail as she turned and walked into the classroom.

“What’s with her passive-aggressive attitude?” Someone behind her clearly lost their composure, their voice rising sharply. “Talking about grades like she’s some genius! She’s barely in the top 700!”

“Calm down, calm down!”

“Birds of a feather flock together…”

Jian Xin rolled her eyes, her lips twitching slightly as she muttered a soft “tsk.”

Back at her desk, Jian Xin greeted Yan Lu, who was buried in writing her novel, and instinctively glanced behind her.

Yan Lu had attended a vocal music class during evening self-study yesterday. In just one night, someone had drawn an ugly crying face on her school uniform with a green marker.

“Who did this?” Jian Xin asked.

Yan Lu shook her head, remaining silent.

“Come on, tell me. I’m not going to start a fight or anything—I just want to avoid this person in the future.”

Yan Lu hesitated, then whispered, “Wang Xiaofeng.”

“Oh, that little bastard,” Jian Xin said, suddenly standing up from her seat.

Yan Lu grabbed her sleeve. “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t…”

“Of course I won’t fight,” Jian Xin replied.

Yan Lu opened her mouth to offer some advice, but before she could speak, Jian Xin had already planted her hands on her hips, strode back several rows with an air of defiant indifference, and asked a nearby classmate in a friendly tone, “Is Wang Xiaofeng sitting here?”

“Yes,” the girl nodded. “He’s outside getting breakfast…”

Before the girl could finish, Jian Xin had already yanked Wang Xiaofeng’s backpack out of the desk compartment.

The backpack’s zipper was open, and her rough handling caused a chaotic crash as books and stationery spilled onto the floor.

The girl beside her widened her eyes and instinctively scooted away.

Jian Xin crouched down, picked up a green marker, and drew a large smiley face on the blue backpack.

Just as she finished drawing, an angry shout erupted from behind her.

Wang Xiaofeng: “Jian Xin? Are you out of your mind?!”

Jian Xin looked up, her face innocent. “Is there something you need?”

Wang Xiaofeng: “You…”

Jian Xin tossed her pen aside, braced her hands on her knees, and stood up with a “heave-ho.”

She pointed to the smiley face on the backpack, her eyebrows curving into a smile. “Classmate, I saw the crying face you drew. It seems like you’ve been lacking sunshine lately, so this is a gift for you. Don’t be too touched.”

Wang Xiaofeng: “You, you, you…!”

“Why are you getting so angry?” Jian Xin tilted her head. “Are you going to tell the teacher on me?”

“I…”

“Drawing on your things without permission was wrong of me,” Jian Xin said, a slight smirk playing on her lips. “But you drew on Yan Lu too, and she didn’t seem upset. I thought it was just friendly banter between classmates, so I assumed you wouldn’t mind either.”

She spoke the entire sentence loudly, deliberately emphasizing the word “friendly.” Many classmates turned to look.

Wang Xiaofeng’s face turned as ugly as if he’d eaten sh1t. Knowing he was in the wrong, he finally managed to choke out, “A real man doesn’t fight with women!”

“Thank you, Mr. Real Man,” Jian Xin said, pushing him aside with a hint of disdain as she stepped out of his seat. Before returning to her own, she added with mock sincerity, “I hope you remember how to write that phrase next time you bully a female classmate!”

The girls who had witnessed the entire exchange couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“What are you laughing at?!” Wang Xiaofeng snapped.

The girls instantly stifled their laughter, lowering their heads to nonchalantly resume memorizing vocabulary.

Gritting his teeth, Wang Xiaofeng crouched down to clean up the mess under his desk, shouting, “You’d better watch yourself!”

Yan Lu stood frozen in the aisle, her face etched with worry.

Jian Xin grabbed her hand and pulled her back to their seats.

As soon as they sat down, Yan Lu murmured, “You didn’t have to do that. He’ll hold a grudge.”

“What do you mean I didn’t have to? Let him hold a grudge! Why should we be afraid of him?” Jian Xin retorted irritably. “He insults you, you take it. He draws on you, you take it… What’s next? You’ll just take it if someone throws bugs at you, cuts your clothes and hair with scissors, or burns you with a lighter?”

“Third High School’s rules are so strict. If there were any bullying, every teacher and school leader would intervene. I refuse to believe there’s some untouchable school bully here.” Jian Xin’s tone suddenly turned smug. “See? I retaliated, and he didn’t dare say a word!”

“The ones who act so tough in class are just cowards who bully the weak. The more you refuse to fight back, the more they’ll target you!” She clenched her fist, gritting her teeth. “You have to make them understand that bullying you comes with a price. Next time anyone thinks about messing with you, they’ll think twice!”

Yan Lu lowered her head, silent.

“I’m not blaming you for not fighting back, okay? Keeping the peace isn’t a bad thing. I hate victim-blaming!” Jian Xin patted Yan Lu’s slender arm. “What I’m saying is, if anything happens in the future, tell me. I’ll have your back. Let’s see who dares to bully you then!”

“…”

“It’s only Tuesday, and you only have one school uniform. You can’t wash it until the weekend…” Jian Xin pondered for a moment, then leaned closer to Yan Lu, resting her chin in her hands. “How about you take it off tonight and give it to me? I’ll take it home and wash it for you. We have a dryer, so it’ll be done in no time!”

Yan Lu blinked, her voice barely a whisper. “Is that… okay?”

Jian Xin: “What’s not okay about it?”

Yan Lu: “It’s too much trouble for you.”

“You’re being too polite,” Jian Xin said. “Do you not consider me a friend?”

Yan Lu lowered her gaze and shook her head.

“Then that settles it!” Jian Xin grinned, nodding toward the novel on Yan Lu’s desk. “Hurry up and write! From now on, just leave your school uniform to me. I can wash it every weekend—I’m doing my own laundry anyway, so it’s no trouble at all. Don’t be shy.”

Yan Lu pressed her lips together and nodded. “Okay,” she murmured.

After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly whispered, “You seem to be good at everything.” Her voice was barely audible, like the buzz of a mosquito.

Jian Xin paused, then tilted her head and replied, “I’m not! I just dump everything on my mom to wash.”

Yan Lu: “……”

That wasn’t what she meant, but… never mind.

Day students had one less evening self-study session than boarding students.

That night, Jian Xin and Yan Lu exchanged uniforms. Jian Xin, sporting the crying face on her back, waved cheerfully at Yan Lu and strode out of the classroom without a care in the world.

Yan Lu followed her to the doorway, silently watching the figure recede into the distance. She stared at the ugly crying face on the uniform, watching it gradually fade from view at a leisurely pace.

Jian Xin’s uniform was noticeably smaller than Yan Lu’s, yet it fit Yan Lu perfectly.

The class bell rang, snapping her out of her reverie. She straightened her collar and turned back toward the classroom.

Lin Xiaoshuang had always been curious about how someone like Li Xia could exist in the world.

To Li Xia, the opinions of others seemed to mean nothing.

No matter what challenges she faced, she handled them with remarkable skill, even finding the energy to help those around her who had stumbled.

She was like… the sun in the sky.

Whether cloudy or clear, it always illuminated each morning.