Chapter Eleven

When Bai Luyao returned to the dormitory, she broke down in tears, and no amount of comfort from the girls could help. Moreover, except for Huang Qi, no one—neither male nor female—could approach her; anyone who tried made her tremble and shriek uncontrollably. Huang Qi had no choice but to stay by her side, soothing her as her grandmother used to do when she was a child. Bai Luyao cried late into the night, finally exhausting herself and drifting off to sleep, still clinging tightly to Huang Qi’s shirt. The two squeezed together on a narrow iron bed, making do for the night.

Early the next morning, Bai Luyao’s parents received word from the teacher and rushed over to take their daughter home. Only upon seeing her parents did Bai Luyao feel secure, letting go of Huang Qi and throwing herself into her mother’s arms. After hearing what had happened, her father was furious and immediately sought justice from the troublemaking boys and teachers at the vocational school.

Those boys, having been beaten black and blue by the students from No. 1 High the previous day and intimidated by the instructor’s gunfire, seemed to realize the situation had gotten out of hand. They conspired together, insisting that Bai Luyao deliberately lingered in the bathroom past the allotted time, dressed provocatively to seduce the boys, who, being naive, couldn’t resist and thus harassed her.

This excuse only enraged the No. 1 High boys even more, sparking a shouting match—one side calling her shameless, the other retorting with curses—nearly escalating into another brawl. Eventually, the instructor punished both sides, each with thirty strikes, and forced the troublemakers to run ten laps around the field, leaving them too exhausted to fight.

Huang Qi was worried about Xiao Ying, unsure whether he’d been caught up in the chaos. She hadn’t seen him since leaving the bathroom, and after sending off Bai Luyao, she wondered how she could find him, regretting they hadn’t exchanged a single word amidst yesterday’s turmoil.

On her way back to the training ground, she saw two instructors stopping a group of boys—some in yellow, some in blue uniforms, some not wearing belts due to the heat, others with their caps worn askew. The instructors ordered them to tidy up and stand at attention before releasing them. Only one tall, thin boy with hair down to his neck and long bangs remained, being lectured in the middle of the road.

Huang Qi paused, walking beside Zhu Xinyi, who stopped as well and asked, “What’s wrong? Hurry, we need to assemble.”

Huang Qi shook her head, not moving. “You go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

Noticing her gaze fixed on the long-haired boy, Zhu Xinyi grew curious and stayed.

One older instructor said, “Military training requires all boys to have crew cuts, girls not to leave their hair loose. This was explained at the outset. Why is your hair still so long?”

Sha Zhouyin stood straight at attention, silent.

The instructor continued, “There’s a barbershop by the cafeteria, free of charge. Go cut your hair right now.”

Sha Zhouyin replied, “Sorry, instructor, I can’t cut my hair.”

“Why not?” the instructor asked.

Sha Zhouyin glanced at Huang Qi watching him, then said, “I just don’t want to.”

“Oh, so now everyone’s trying to be rebellious and cool?” The instructor laughed angrily. “Fine, go run laps on the field. Run until you decide to cut your hair, then come find me.”

Without another word, Sha Zhouyin turned and headed for the track.

The younger instructor watched him go, muttering, “Kids these days… After training so many schools, I’ve never seen discipline this bad.”

The older instructor said, “Too many Hong Kong movies, I bet. Teenagers who don’t study, acting like gangsters, long hair thinking they look cool. Already causing trouble, fighting, harassing girls—who knows what they’ll do when they grow up? If they dare act up in the military, I won’t let them get away with it!”

The younger instructor added, “Yesterday’s incident really infuriated me. If it weren’t for regulations, I’d have beaten those brats myself! Three rules, eight reminders—they even sing about not harassing women! How can we expect them to defend the country someday with such behavior? What won’t they pillage?”

The older instructor said, “Kids aren’t adults yet, don’t understand. If parents and teachers won’t discipline them, we’ll do it in the army! Rules are absolute, but people are living—if they don’t misbehave, we leave them be; if they do, we teach them a lesson!”

“Instructor is awesome!” Zhu Xinyi whispered, making a fist. “Those unruly thugs deserve it! The leader who bullied Bai Luyao was punished this morning, crawling on the dirt—must’ve hurt! He was so tired he lay on the ground like a mangy dog, begging for mercy with scraped knees. It was so satisfying!”

Huang Qi watched the solitary figure running laps. This was so unlike Xiao Ying. Teacher Zhou always kept him neat, and he’d gotten used to monthly haircuts, never letting his hair reach his ears. How had he suddenly grown it out so long? He was the least likely teenager to rebel—always gentle, never contradicting teachers or parents. Could a few months at the vocational school really change him?

She recalled Xiao Ying’s behavior in the bathroom yesterday and felt uncertain.

Zhu Xinyi asked, “What are you looking at? The instructors are gone, let’s get back to the assembly.”

The afternoon was spent marching in formation, but Huang Qi’s mind wandered, her eyes often straying to the track. Several times she lost sync with her teammates or missed her steps. Xiao Ying ran lap after lap; their fifty-minute training session matched his fifty minutes of continuous running, gradually slowing, his steps growing heavier. His endurance was never great—before the entrance exams, he’d struggle with the 1500 meters, panting by the third lap, barely pushing through the last. He must have run at least a dozen laps in fifty minutes. How did he keep going? Was it just to avoid cutting his hair?

The instructor blew the whistle: “Ten-minute break!” Xiao Ying finally collapsed, his legs buckling beneath him on the cinder track.

Huang Qi had barely sat down, water bottle in hand, when she saw him fall and dashed over, clutching her cup. Her classmates stared, Wu Ziqing called after her, but she didn’t hear.

Sha Zhouyin lay motionless, face soaked with sweat and covered in cinder dust, his bangs plastered to his forehead, his camouflage shirt darkened with perspiration. Despite the long run, his breathing was surprisingly calm, eyes closed, sweat pouring off him, his face a sickly pale blue. Huang Qi panicked, patting his face. “Xiao Ying! Xiao Ying, can you hear me? It’s Huang Qi! If you can hear me, open your eyes, move a little!”

Sha Zhouyin managed to flutter his eyelids, recognized her, tried to speak but couldn’t, choking on a breath and coughing violently. After clearing his throat, he began to gasp for air, his face flushing from exertion.

Relieved, Huang Qi grabbed his arm to help him up. “Xiao Ying, lying down will make it worse. Let me help you sit up.”

Sha Zhouyin was so spent he couldn’t even shake his head, limp as mud on the ground, unable to rise no matter how hard she tried.

The empty track left them conspicuous, one in yellow, one in blue camouflage, drawing curious looks from nearby students. Wu Ziqing followed after Huang Qi, whispering, “Huang Qi, what are you doing? He’s from the vocational school… The instructor punished him for a reason, don’t meddle, everyone’s watching you.”

Huang Qi didn’t turn back. “He’s my neighbor, we grew up together.”

Wu Ziqing had nothing more to say, urging, “He looks fine, so hurry back—we only have ten minutes.”

Huang Qi persisted in trying to sit Sha Zhouyin up, accidentally knocking off his cap. He stayed limp, but suddenly, as if strength returned, he sat up quickly and grabbed his hat, fitting it back on his head.

Yet Huang Qi noticed immediately. “Xiao Ying! What’s that on your forehead?”

Sha Zhouyin raised his arm to shield his face, but after running so many laps, he couldn’t match Huang Qi’s strength; she pulled away his arm and hat, revealing a scar over an inch long, like a centipede, stretching into his hair, stitches still in place, with fresh bruises at the corners of his eyes.

He struggled to explain, “There was construction at school… I passed by the site and…”

“Don’t say it…” In that moment, she understood everything. Why he hadn’t come to her, why he avoided seeing her. Xiao Ying was still the same, gentle and thoughtful. He hadn’t grown worldly or rebellious.

Yet she couldn’t feel happy. He had helped Bai Luyao, but was misunderstood and punished by his peers and the instructors. His forehead stitched with so many stitches—how severe must the injury have been? Those vocational boys, their words, she could guess how much blame and abuse he’d endured. He would rather run until he collapsed than cut his hair, all to hide the scar from her, so she wouldn’t worry.

“Xiao Qi, it’s really nothing, just six stitches. You got eight when my dad scraped you, remember? It’s not serious at all, right…” he croaked, trying to comfort her, when suddenly two tears fell straight from her eyes onto the back of his hand, warm and wet.

Sha Zhouyin panicked. “Xiao Qi, I’m really fine, it doesn’t hurt at all anymore, please don’t cry…”

Huang Qi had always thought herself strong, but in the past year, she had shed more tears for Xiao Ying than in the previous fourteen combined. She felt his injustice more deeply than her own, unable to bear it. Her heart ached for him, yet she could do nothing—just thinking about it made her chest tighten painfully, with nowhere to vent.

She couldn’t even sob openly; even when crying, it was he who comforted her.

“What’s going on here?” The instructor who had punished Sha Zhouyin hurried over, finding Huang Qi in tears, but seeing Sha Zhouyin too weak to harm anyone. “What’s happening? What are you doing?”

Huang Qi wiped her tears with her sleeve, sniffling, “Xiao Ying, listen to the instructor. Go cut your hair, don’t keep running.”

Sha Zhouyin quickly agreed, “Alright, alright, I’ll cut it right away. Please don’t cry.”

The instructor glanced at them. “Seems girls are more persuasive.” He couldn’t make sense of their situation, but warned, “Can you walk on your own? Get your hair cut and return to training. Miss, you should get back to your team—don’t leave without permission next time.”

The instructor wouldn’t understand; he’d just think these youngsters were making trouble. The classmates wouldn’t understand either, burning with righteous anger for Bai Luyao, viewing vocational students as monsters and casting contemptuous looks at her. She bore the misunderstandings, unable to defend herself, and somehow felt a bit better, as if by sharing Xiao Ying’s burden, his injustice was lessened.