I wish he would come and rob me of my virtue.
Take it all.*
"Su Zai Zai the Little Fairy's Diary"
Two images suddenly flooded into her mind.
In the Grade 10 Class 1 classroom.
Zhang Lu Rang was hunched over, working on a problem, while Su Zai Zai sat in front of him, turned slightly to watch him.
Then she took out a workbook, smiled, and said, "Can you explain this problem to me?"
He hesitated, touched his neck, and softly replied, "I don't know."
At the bus stop near her home, while waiting for the bus.
Su Zai Zai's expression was a bit conflicted: "Do you have WeChat?"
Zhang Lu Rang hesitated for a moment, raised his hand to touch the back of his neck, and said, "No."
And now, at this very moment, he did the same thing.
So, what he meant to say was...
-Do I not look good?
-Mm.
Su Zai Zai's face instantly burned as if it were on fire, turning completely red.
There was a moment of silence.
The two of them stood facing each other, but neither looked at the other.
Yet, there was an atmosphere between them that no one else could disrupt.
The surroundings were not quiet.
Besides the murmured conversations of the backstage crew, the stage was filled with the soulful singing of a girl.
One note after another.
It felt like the atmosphere was thick with unspoken tension.
Lingering, refusing to fade away.
Su Zai Zai gathered her courage and looked up.
Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly noticed a few of theirclassmates standing beside Zhang Lu Rang, watching them with interest.
The heat on Su Zai Zai's face intensified.
She couldn't take it anymore, and without saying anything, she walked straight toward the audience seats.
Behind her, she immediately heard the boys' gossiping and excited voices: "Hey, Zhang Lu Rang, is she your girlfriend?"
Zhang Lu Rang remained silent.
On stage, the girl happened to be singing the chorus.
The lights suddenly brightened, shining through the curtains.
He kept his eyes down.
The light cast one side of his face in shadow, making the other side appear obscure.
When he didn't answer, the boys didn't press him further.
They just laughed and said, "She's a real beauty!"
Hearing this, Zhang Lu Rang finally looked up.
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
It seemed he wasn't the only one acting strange.
In that instant.
He... actually thought Su Zai Zai looked really pretty.
Su Zai Zai sat down in her seat.
Jiang Jia was talking beside her.
Su Zai Zai took out her water bottle and drank several gulps in a row.
Jiang Jia noticed something was off and looked at her, puzzled.
"What's wrong with you? It's like you've never had water before."
Su Zai Zai lowered her head and covered her face, speaking in a muffled voice: "Let me calm down for a bit."
"...Oh."
Jiang Jia waited for a moment.
A minute later, she heard Su Zai Zai quietly mutter, "The handsome guy wants to kill me."
Jiang Jia: "...Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm serious." Su Zai Zai's breathing had steadied, but her cheeks were still flushed. "He just said I was pretty, and I felt like I was about to suffocate."
Jiang Jia nearly choked on her water, "Oh my god! Hahaha! I can't even imagine Zhang Lu Rang calling you pretty."
Su Zai Zai recounted what had happened.
Jiang Jia: "...Are you sure he was saying you were pretty?"
Even though the handsome guy's response seemed to deny it, his actions...
Su Zai Zai wanted to tell her, but she also wanted to keep this secret to herself.
There were many things about Zhang Lu Rang that she only wanted to know herself.
However, the fact that he touched his neck when lying was still just a guess on her part.
...Maybe she would test it tomorrow.
Jiang Jia looked at her sympathetically, "You're probably just in shock because your handsome guy got beaten by Wang Nan and you can't accept it..."
Hearing this, Su Zai Zai immediately turned to her.
"You're probably crazy," Jiang Jia concluded.
Su Zai Zai: "...Eat dirt or die, pick one."
"I don't want to eat what you eat, so I'll just die."
"Get lost."
While they were talking, they finally heard the host's voice.
"Next up, please enjoy the stage play brought to us by Grade 10 Class 1, *"What to Do When You're Robbed.'*"
Su Zai Zai immediately clammed up and quickly took out her glasses from her bag and put them on.
The auditorium lights dimmed.
The red curtains gradually opened.
A boy stood in the center of the stage.
He was holding up a large white poster board with four big characters written on it: "I'm very rich."
Jiang Jia, sitting beside her, whispered, "'I'm very rich'... Why didn't he just write 'Please rob me'?"
Su Zai Zai blinked.
Was the play going to be about robbery and assault?
The handsome guy should be coming out soon.
Sure enough.
Not long after, Zhang Lu Rang appeared on stage.
He was followed by five or six boys, all with menacing looks.
The exposed skin on their bodies was covered with fake tattoos.
Su Zai Zai: "..."
It seemed that the boys standing next to Zhang Lu Rang earlier were now the ones on stage.
How had she not noticed they were wearing those fake tattoos before?
Su Zai Zai shifted her gaze to Zhang Lu Rang.
He was wearing a black, camo-patterned jacket loosely over his white class uniform. His black hair fell messily over his forehead, his eyes were dark and bright, and a lazy smirk played on his lips.
Somehow, this gave him a roguish charm.
He scratched his head and glanced back at the boys behind him, but he didn't say anything, his lips pressed together.
Su Zai Zai imagined: There's probably supposed to be a line here, but Zhang Lu Rang couldn't bring himself to say it.
Meanwhile, the boys simultaneously pulled paper knives out of their pockets and shouted in unison, "This is a robbery!"
Su Zai Zai: "
She had fantasized about so many scenarios, imagining Zhang Lu Rang being the victim of a robbery for so long.
She never thought he would be... the one doing the robbing.
And not just that he was the leader, the big boss.
At that moment, a female narrator's voice suddenly rang out, sweetand clear.
"When you're being robbed, you shouldn't blindly try to escape."
Everyone on stage froze, as if time had stopped.
"If you do, you might end up like this."
The boy holding the large sign started moving, lifting the sign as he ran.
The group of boys chased after him, dragging him back in front of Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang looked at him expressionlessly and lifted his long leg to give a mock kick.
The boy immediately fell to the ground, wailing.
The action on stage froze again.
"You should try to outwit the robber while ensuring your safety, and definitely don't anger him."
The boy lying on the ground pretending to be dead immediately sat up, took the microphone, and said, "I'll give you whatever you want, just don't hurt me."
Zhang Lu Rang chuckled softly, "What do you think?"
The boy obediently handed the large sign over to Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang took it and carelessly tossed it behind him.
The boy started taking off his jacket and handed it to Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang repeated the same action as before.
Seeing that none of this was getting a reaction from him, the boy then cupped his face in his hands and fluttered his eyelashes at Zhang Lu Rang.
Su Zai Zai: ".."
This guy is crazy! He's being robbed and still flirts!
Jiang Jia, sitting beside her, whispered, "I heard that originally, Zhang Lu Rang was supposed to be the one getting robbed. Oh my god, I would love to see him flirt back, hahaha."
Flirt back...
Su Zai Zai wanted to see that too.
Zhang Lu Rang paused in place, then picked up the microphone and softly said, "Can't you tell?"
His voice was rich and resonant, amplified by the speakers, making it deeper and more magnetic than usual.
Su Zai Zai felt a shiver run through her, a tingling sensation in her heart, as if thousands of ants were gnawing at it.
Zhang Lu Rang crouched down to be at eye level with the boy.
A slight smile curved his lips as he said, "I'm here to rob you of yourvirtue."
Immediately, suppressed screams erupted around them.
In the distance, a girl could be heard shouting, "Rob me instead!"
Then the crowd burst into laughter.
Jiang Jia was laughing hysterically beside her, "Oh my gosh! Hahaha, what kind of plot twist is this? It's killing me!"
Su Zai Zai felt like something had exploded in her mind, making her want to scream.
But it was as if her throat was caught, leaving her excitement without an outlet.
So, so hot, she thought, almost in tears.
Unable to hold back, Su Zai Zai took advantage of the crowd.
She shouted at the top of her lungs, "Big beauty, I want to ravage you!"
Then, immediately feeling embarrassed, she ducked behind the back of the front-row seats.
The classmates around her bent over laughing, and even Jiang Jia couldn't help but give her a thumbs up.
Su Zai Zai covered her face and thought.
When I shouted just now, my voice cracked. Hopefully, thehandsome guy didn't recognize it was me...
Su Zai Zai was lost in her own world.
She didn't notice the slight pause in Zhang Lu Rang's delivery of his lines.
After the "Campus Night" event ended.
Students poured out of the auditorium through every exit.
A sea of black heads crowded together, making the place feel stuffy.
Zhang Lu Rang sat in his seat for a while, waiting until the crowd thinned out before getting up to leave.
He returned to the classroom.
The chair next to his, empty for two weeks, finally had someone sitting in it.
Zhang Lu Rang walked over, picked up his water bottle, and took a few sips.
Zhou Xuyin was organizing the papers in his drawer.
After a few minutes, he turned to Zhang Lu Rang and quietly asked, "Do you know why I took time off?"
That day, it was Zhang Lu Rang who had walked Zhou Xuyin to theschool gate.
On his way back, he ran into Su Zai Zai.
And that was when the days of being pestered began, with no understanding of why.
"I don't know," Zhang Lu Rang replied.
He noticed that the furrow between Zhou Xuyin's brows finally relaxed.
Based on his reaction that day, it seemed he might have been sick.
But as to what kind of illness, Zhang Lu Rang wasn't interested in knowing.
Because he understood that everyone has things they don't want others to know.
Back at the dormitory.
Zhang Lu Rang first went to the balcony to wash up, then walked to his cabinet and opened it.
He checked his phone.
Seeing a missed call, Zhang Lu Rang hesitated for a moment before dialing back.
After a few rings, the call was answered.
"Ah Rang."
"Mm."
"I heard from your uncle that you have midterms next week?"
Zhang Lu Rang walked to the balcony, closed the sliding door, and quietly responded.
"Why don't you ever call your mom?"
"What rank did you get in the last monthly exam?"
Zhang Lu Rang was silent for a moment, then softly replied, "Thirty-second."
The person on the other end sighed.
That sigh squeezed his heart, making it hard to breathe.
After a while.
The woman's gentle voice came through again.
"Is it still because of English? You're just like A Li... I'll call your uncle later and ask him to find a tutor for you, okay?"
"No need," Zhang Lu Rang immediately refused.
There was silence on the other end.
Zhang Lu Rang looked up at the distant sky.
As if resigned, he said, "I'm not good at it."
"You..."
Zhang Lu Rang interrupted her, repeating, "I'm not good at it, don't waste money on me."
He hung up the phone, pressing his lips together as he ran his hand through his hair.
Zhou Xuyin had things he didn't want others to know because he was too proud.
But Zhang Lu Rang was different. His insecurity ran deep, right to his core. He had struggled.
But in the end, he simply accepted his fate.