Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Xu Muchan was swimming in Xu Wangchuan's school uniform, but there was nothing he could do about it for now, so he'd just have to make do.

After changing, Xu Muchan went back to his room, took out the stone statue he kept in the shrine, and slipped it into a corner of his messenger bag. He pressed the statue through the fabric and smiled. "Brother, let's go to school."

They got to school early. Xu Muchan got out of the car and walked toward the school building with Xu Wangchuan.

Xu Wangchuan, walking beside him, was unusually quiet—not saying a word. Xu Muchan followed slowly behind with his blind cane, using his ears to catch everything going on around him.

Students passing Xu Muchan would inexplicably slow down and whisper, thinking he couldn't hear them:

"Is that the transfer student? What did he do to piss off Jin Qi?"

"No idea. You know how Jin Qi and his crew are—maybe he's just jealous 'cause the new kid's better looking than him."

"Should we warn him?"

"Forget it. We don't even know him. Pissing off Jin Qi would be asking for trouble."

Xu Muchan listened closely and figured out that Nanming students had several big group chats spanning all grade levels, with no teachers in them.

Last night, Jin Qi posted in several groups saying there'd be a spectacular show in the equipment room after school today, and invited everyone to come watch if they were free.

At first, a lot of students didn't know what Jin Qi meant by "spectacular show" and thought there was actually going to be a performance. Then someone explained what happened in the cafeteria, and everyone realized the "show" Jin Qi was talking about was the new blind transfer student.

Some people who were cut from the same cloth as Jin Qi eagerly speculated about how he planned to mess with the new kid.

Others thought it was low-class for Jin Qi to bully a blind kid and wanted no part of it.

But since Jin Qi came from money and influence and was famous at Nanming for holding grudges, even people who didn't approve weren't about to stick their necks out for some transfer student they didn't even know.

So on the way to school that morning, students passing Xu Muchan would slow down to get a good look at him—some with sympathy, others with barely concealed glee.

Feeling the low-key hostility coming at him from every direction, Xu Muchan ducked his head a little, reached into his messenger bag, and ran his fingers over the smooth, cold stone statue inside. He whispered, "What should I do, big brother? They all want to mess with me."

His slightly long hair fell along his face, conveniently hiding the faint smirk tugging at his lips.

From Xu Wangchuan's angle, the boy who'd become the center of attention kept his head down, looking timid, his striking good looks dimmed by his cowering posture.

Xu Wangchuan scrolled through the group chats, watching Jin Qi loudly announce how he planned to "welcome" the new transfer student, and the corners of his mouth kept curling up higher and higher.

The fear and dread he'd felt last night faded, replaced by a nasty kind of excitement.

Maybe because of Jin Qi's announcement, the rest of the day was quiet. Xu Muchan focused hard on his lessons, acting like he had no idea a prank was being planned against him.

The kids in class were curious about the new kid, but unfortunately, he wasn't the warm and friendly type. He paid attention in class and put his earphones on the second class ended. It didn't look like everyone else was shutting him out—it looked like he was shutting out the whole world.

Wei Yao, sitting to his right, was restless all day, as if he had ants in his pants.

He tried a few times to strike up a conversation with the little blind kid next to him and maybe tip him off, but the guy never gave him the chance—the second class ended, he'd whip out his earphones and put them on.

Wei Yao even suspected he was just wearing them to look cool. He moved quietly, leaned over, and snatched one of the earphones right off his head, pressing it to his own ear and saying smugly, "Let me hear what you're listen—"

Before he could finish, the smile on his face froze and he jolted—he actually heard Old Wan's voice coming through the earphone.

Listening closer, it turned out to be the lesson Old Wan had just taught in class.

—This little blind kid had actually recorded the whole lesson and was listening to it again after class.

Wei Yao: "..."

For the first time in his life, he was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole. He even started stuttering: "Uh... you're listening to this... you—you just love studying that much?"

Xu Muchan had been frowning ever since his earphone got snatched. He recognized Wei Yao's voice and didn't have a good impression of the guy. His voice went cold as he held out his hand: "Give me back my earphone."

Wei Yao sheepishly handed the earphone back, then couldn't help adding, "Studying like that's pretty inefficient, isn't it? If you don't get something, you can ask me. I'll be nice and teach you."

After saying that, he felt super awkward, but also figured he was such a saint—helping out his blind classmate and all. Surely that deserved a "Model Student" award.

Xu Muchan shot back, "What's your class ranking?"

Wei Yao didn't process it in time and answered blankly, "One hundred and twelfth on the last exam."

"Oh."

Xu Muchan put on his earphones and turned away.

One hundred and twelfth in the grade.

Xu Muchan had never fallen out of the top three in his grade since elementary school. Actually, saying top three was underselling it—he was basically always first.

Wei Yao caught the subtle disdain in the little blind kid's one-word answer and raised his voice in disbelief: "You're looking down on me?"

Xu Muchan, earphones on, completely ignored him.

Wei Yao was about to slam the table and stand up, but saw everyone staring at him, so he sheepishly sat back down.

Then he saw his childhood friend Wen Dajiang at the diagonal table still craning his neck to look over, like some long-necked turtle, and shouted, half embarrassed, half pissed: "Class is about to start, Wen Dajiang! What the hell are you staring at?!"

Wen Dajiang gave him a thumbs-down.

Wei Yao flipped him off in return.

Time flies when you're actually studying. When Xu Muchan heard the dismissal bell, he realized it was already time to head home.

Normally, he'd head to the cafeteria for dinner, but Xu Muchan still had to go to the equipment room to meet his "new friends," so he told Xu Wangchuan he had something else to do and wouldn't be going to the cafeteria.

Xu Wangchuan, of course, knew exactly what he was up to. He didn't ask any questions and just watched with a smile as Xu Muchan walked off with his cane.

Wei Yao saw from a distance and snorted, "That bastard's still smiling. He must've seen the group messages. I always said he wasn't shit—he just acts all high and mighty."

Wen Dajiang said, "In your eyes, nobody's a good guy. Alright, can we go eat now? I'm starving."

Wei Yao said with disgust, "Are you a bottomless pit? Go eat if you want! I'm not going!"

With that, he took off in the direction the little blind kid had gone.

Xu Muchan had only been to the sports field, never to the equipment room. But since the equipment room was in the gym, and the gym was right next to the sports field, he felt his way over to the flag-raising area and unexpectedly ran into He Jiaqi.

He Jiaqi looked around nervously and said quickly, in a low voice, "Are you going to the equipment room? Jin Qi and his crew set you up—they don't want to be your friends. They just want to make you look like a fool."

Looking at the boy with unseeing eyes, she felt like she was looking at her former self, and her voice got more urgent.

She felt like Xu Muchan was just like her—both of them had come to this school from small towns, both out of place among all these rich, privileged kids.

Nanming was a K-12 school, and over half the students had been there since elementary school, all the way through middle school and into high school.

They came from similar backgrounds, went to the same school, and had known each other since they were kids, so they'd naturally formed their own little clique.

And for someone like her, from a struggling family, an outside student who worked her way in, it was hard to fit in.

Xu Muchan, despite having a good family background, was blind and had transferred mid-way from Yundong, so he wasn't much better off than she was.

He Jiaqi said in a low voice, "Jin Qi and the others aren't good people. Trust me, don't go."

Xu Muchan caught the sadness hidden in the girl's voice, as if she had once experienced such humiliation herself and didn't want to see him get fooled again.

Xu Muchan wasn't one to make the first move in friendships, but he wouldn't turn down someone's kindness either. He tilted his head slightly, his sightless eyes turning toward He Jiaqi's direction, and shot her a sly wink before whispering, "Thanks for the heads-up. Then I'll let you in on a secret too."

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

He Jiaqi looked at him in surprise, feeling like the boy in front of her had suddenly changed, as if he'd suddenly come to life, no longer looking so stiff and timid as before.

She froze, and Xu Muchan smiled at her again. "Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the equipment room? I don't know the way."

He Jiaqi, as if on autopilot, pointed the way and said, "Go right, just follow the track all the way to the end. Once you hit the gym, take a left and you're there."

Xu Muchan waved goodbye and turned toward the right track.

Following He Jiaqi's directions, Xu Muchan walked along the track to the end. As he was feeling his way along, about to turn left toward the gym, someone actually came up and offered to show him the way.

And at that moment, there seemed to be an awful lot of helpful people around. No sooner did one leave than another showed up, and the second even offered to lead the way: "Hey, what are you going to the equipment room for at this hour?"

The guide was a male student, but he spoke to Xu Muchan in a pinched, high-pitched voice.

However, Xu Muchan had actually recognized him the moment he spoke up—this was one of the three he had encountered in the cafeteria yesterday.

Back then, Jin Qi sat across from Xu Muchan, another named Liang Yong sat beside him, and now this guide had been sitting next to Jin Qi.

Of the three from yesterday, he'd said the least, and today he was deliberately putting on a squeaky voice, probably figuring Xu Muchan wouldn't catch on.

Xu Muchan didn't call him out on it and answered plainly, "I'm meeting a friend at the equipment room."

Chen Zhou, the boy leading the way, was barely holding back his laughter and made gestures to his two buddies not far off—Jin Qi and Liang Yong were nearby, though they remained silent.

Besides the three main instigators, there were a few others who had gotten the message and come to watch the fun.

Seeing the transfer student getting played for a fool by the three of them, some even pulled out their phones to record videos.

Chen Zhou led the boy to the equipment room, pretended to open the door and peek inside, then let out a puzzled "Huh?" and said, "Are you sure you made plans with your friend? I don't see anyone in the equipment room."

Xu Muchan wore a confused expression, still putting on that gullible, easy-to-fool look. "We did agree to meet. Maybe they haven't arrived yet."

"Oh, I see."

Chen Zhou grinned and dragged out his words, then suddenly gave Xu Muchan a hard shove in the back, pushing him into the equipment room. He quickly slammed the door shut, locked it from the outside, and burst out laughing. "Then go wait for them inside."

Nanming's equipment room was large, a separate classroom in a corner of the gymnasium, filled with metal shelves holding sports gear both old and new.

But at this hour, the gymnasium was mostly empty. The equipment room was tucked away in a corner with the lights off, and peering through the narrow window, it looked pitch black inside.

The fading daylight from the track slanted in but couldn't fully illuminate the room, making the shadows inside seem even more eerie and ghostly.

Timid students wouldn't dare come near the equipment room alone after dusk.

Jin Qi and his two friends chatted and laughed outside. "Why's it gone quiet in there? Did he get scared stiff? How long do you think before he's crying and begging for mercy?"

"If it were anyone else, they'd probably crack after dark, but would a blind guy be afraid of the dark?"

"Maybe he can hold out longer than most. How about we grab some dinner first and come back to check? I'm starving."

The three walked off, chatting and laughing, leaving the silent equipment room behind.