At 1:40 in the afternoon, the scorching sun was blazing upon the earth. Over a hundred students were standing on the soccer field to the east of YiZhong High School's main teaching building. They were wearing blue and white school uniforms, surrounding those in the center who were wearing yellow and red jerseys.

The short-statured grade director stormed through the two soccer teams with anger. After scanning the surroundings, he said with his hands behind his back, "Who was the one who started the fight? Step forward immediately!"

Lin Jinglei stepped out of the team of Class 18 in his freshman year, disdainfully glancing at the boy in the red jersey who was standing across from him.

Liu Zhihe pointed his finger at the two tall and thin boys and said, "You two, come with me."

The whole school knows that the students in Class 17 and Class 18 of the first grade are notoriously hard to deal with. It has only been a month since the school started, and this is already the second time they have started a brawl. The last time was outside of the school, but this time they actually fought right on the playground.

A few days ago, there was a draw for the campus football league, and unfortunately, these two classes ended up being matched against each other. At that time, the PE teachers were extremely worried about the possibility of uncontrollable situations occurring during the game. And sure enough, before the match even started, the male students from both classes started fighting each other. Even with the shouts of three or four PE teachers, they couldn't stop the commotion. The situation escalated to the point where the discipline head had to be called in.

This batch of freshmen is nothing but trouble. Being in these two incompatible classes is already a headache. They've already caused a big commotion since they arrived. Even though they have the same group of teachers, they seem to bear a deep hatred towards each other. It's not just a headache for the two class advisors, but also for Liu Zhi, who is in charge of discipline for the first-year students. With so many people involved in the fight, the typical way to handle it is to punish the main culprit and criticize and educate the others. He sighs silently, glancing at the two male classmates who entered the office with him. He recognizes one of them, so he asks the other, "What's your name?"

The young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes had an expressionless face as he stared ahead. His voice lacked warmth as he said, "Yan Zizheng."

"Why are you fighting?"

The room fell into a deathly silence, and the two boys standing side by side wore no expression of guilt that they should have had.

Liu Zhihe knew that he couldn't ask him for the reason of the fight, and now it was really unnecessary to dig out the cause. The main thing was to make sure they learned their lesson and wouldn't commit the same mistake next time.

Lin Jinglei glanced out of the corner of his eye at the figure pacing back and forth, feeling a sense of satisfaction knowing that Old Liu Tou was probably at a loss for what to do.

However, Liu Zhihan quickly turned around, pointing to the corner of the wall and said, "There are rags and a basin over there. Go and get them, then come out with me."

What path is this? Lin Jinglei wondered. He moved to pick up the basin but as soon as his hand touched the edge, another pair of hands preempted him.

Then, four hands forcefully pulled on the slightly wet basin. Their shoulders collided, each refusing to give way, splashing water in all directions.

Liu Zhihe shouted upon seeing this situation, "Lin Jinglei, go get a cloth!"

Damn it, Lin Jinglei cursed silently and released his grip reluctantly. He picked up the nearby rag unwillingly, refusing to let Yan Zizheng gain even the slightest advantage as he took a few big strides ahead.

The main hall of the building is filled with glass doors. The cleaning auntie polishes them every morning, leaving them spotlessly clear. However, due to the constant flow of people coming in and out, they have long become blurry and indistinct.

Standing in front of the row of glass doors that stretched for over ten meters, Liu Zhihe turned around with a serious expression and said, "Start cleaning all the glass doors."

Lin Jinglei and Yan Zizheng both had bewildered expressions on their faces.

What are you still spacing out for? Finish wiping and then go home after school. Only when you finish wiping will you be able to go home.

Lin Jinglei walked to the innermost area, wielding a rag in his hand, while Yan Zizheng carried a basin in the opposite direction of Lin Jinglei.

"Do it together, each person wiping one door at a time. One person on the inside, one person on the outside. Go change the water in the bucket, then come back and get two cleaning cloths. I'll be watching here, no slacking off allowed."

Liu Zhihe moved a chair and sat in the hall, his eyes fixed on the two figures of red and yellow. He never believed that the best lesson was pain, he believed that the best lesson was humiliation. He refused to believe that these two proud and spirited young men would not care about the eyes of the entire school's teachers and students.

It was obvious that he was right. Right from the start, these two children showed resistance, waving the cloth in their hands with no strength. After Liu Zhi let out a sigh of relief, he emphasized, "Clean it well. If it's not clean, wipe it again."

Lin Jinglei stood in the lobby, Yan Zizheng stood outside the lobby, the two of them separated by a transparent glass door, so close yet longing to be as far away as possible.

Lin Jinglei viciously crossed out the face of Yan Zizheng on the glass with a cloth. After meeting the gaze of the other party looking in, he really wanted to shatter the door and punch that punchable face. But he couldn't, Old Liu Tou was watching. The wet cloth slid across the glass, leaving streaks behind, getting blurrier the more he wiped.

When it comes to the conflicts between Lin Jinglei and Yan Zizheng, aside from the incident where Yan Zizheng hit Lin Jinglei's younger brother after the high school entrance exam, there was also the embarrassing moment for Yan Zizheng on the first day of school when Lin Jinglei made fun of him on the school bus. Furthermore, during military training, Yan Zizheng deliberately tripped Lin Jinglei in their group activities, and Lin Jinglei even stepped on Yan Zizheng's new sneakers before their soccer match started.

From the very beginning, they never saw eye to eye with each other. Their animosity had been escalating, and today's fight became the spark that ignited their conflict. The underlying tension between the two groups was the fuse, leading to an inevitable explosion.

These two people glared at each other angrily while wiping the glass. If eye contact could cause physical harm, they would have died a thousand and ten thousand times over.

The bell rang after class, and to his utter dismay, a horde of people was about to rush in and out. Lin Jinglei was afraid that the glass he had just cleaned meticulously would be smudged again and would require another wipe. Therefore, he positioned himself sideways, blocking half of the door with his body. Whoever tried to pass through here today would have to face his wrath.

Class 17 and 18, who had just finished their free activity on the playground, arrived at the scene first. They were surprised to see Lin Jinglei and Yan Zizheng being punished to clean the windows. They chattered and pointed as they walked past.

"Go over there," Lin Jinglei swung a wet mop, urging the person who was just turning the corner, "Everyone, go over there."

Basically, everyone avoided him and Yan Zizheng at that glass door they were wiping, but someone insisted on barging through. Lin Jinglei glared and muttered under his breath, "Tang Shan, can't you fucking understand? Go that way."

"Hey Leizi, it's time for some mandatory labor," Tang Shan teased with a giggling smile as he leaned closer.

Lin Jinglei pushed the person away and said, "Go back to class and take out my backpack after school. I can't go back now."

"No problem."

Students of various grades come and go in the lobby. When passing by, they all glance over. Just earlier, there were two handsome freshmen who were punished to clean the windows for fighting in the lobby downstairs between classes. News of this quickly spread, and now every break period, there are students specifically coming out to spectate the commotion.

Under Liu Zhihe's repeated checks and urging, all the glass doors were finally cleaned inside and out during the last class. The two who were allowed to go returned to their respective classrooms one after the other. If it weren't for the presence of a teacher in the hallway, there was a high chance that they would have started fighting again.

In the classroom where Class 18 was studying, all the male students were standing at their seats as punishment.

The paragraph translates to: Lin Jinglei walked in through the front gate, and someone whistled, saying, "Hey, the great hero Lin is back alive?"

Lin Jinglei swung his wrist and muttered as he walked back to his seat, "Damn it, I never want to see glass again in my lifetime."

"Leizi, do you want me to block someone after school?"

"Dū!"

Pressing against the time to get out of school, a dark cloud appeared and raindrops fell without hesitation.

As the bell rang, noisy students poured out from the doors of the long corridor. Upstairs and downstairs, they formed a densely packed crowd. Upon reaching the first-floor lobby, the flow of people slowed down. Those who didn't bring umbrellas stood at the entrance of the teaching building, gazing at the intensity of the rain before hesitating to take another step.

Yan Zizheng also didn't bring an umbrella, but he still squeezed through the crowd without hesitation and ran towards the entrance of the gate. With his tall stature and long legs, his schoolbag on his head, and his light-colored short-sleeved school uniform, he quickly got wet by the drizzle.

He took big strides, darting left and right in the crowd after school. His right arm, which had been twisted during a fight in the afternoon chaos, was throbbing faintly.

"A-Zheng!" a shout came from behind.

Yan Zizheng recognized the voice was Yu Zhao, without even turning his head he shouted, "I'm not going with you!"

Zhaoyu has always been a fast runner. He put in all his effort and caught up to Yan Zizheng, handing him the umbrella in his hand. "I know you won't walk with me, here, I have an umbrella. You didn't bring one, right?"

Yan Zizheng pushed the umbrella back: "I don't need it, you can use it."

"I took the school bus as soon as I left the house. If it's really necessary, I can have the driver pick you up. There's no need for this umbrella. You don't mind getting wet, right? Even Xiaoqing is afraid of rain. Take it."

Yan Zizheng finally pulled open the umbrella and hurriedly ran away.

If it weren't for Crazy Qiao keeping them late after school, Lin Jinglei reckons he would have been able to catch up to Yan Zizheng. By the time he came out with his backpack, Class 17 had already locked their doors, and all the class monitors had gone.

This is obviously the two class advisers being afraid that they would continue fighting outside of school after dismissal, so they agreed for one to dismiss at the normal time and the other to dismiss later.

It was only ten minutes late, and there weren't many people in the teaching building. Most of the people walking downstairs were from their class, Class 18 of the first year. Tang Shan, who was singing while going downstairs, was kicked by a male classmate beside him. After he stopped, he immediately followed everyone and greeted the people coming down the opposite stairs.

"Hello, principal!"

Lin Guodong nodded and paused to observe the figure of the mischievous boy and the talkative girl from his class.

Lin Jinglei felt that something was off. He reluctantly let go of the girl's hair in front of him, cleared his throat, and said in a disinterested tone, "Hello, principal."

He could tell that Old Liu must have told Comrade Lin Guodong about the fight. He had seen that look in Principal Lin's eyes for over ten years, very familiar. The underlying message was clear: settle the score later at home.

Lin Jinglei continued to laugh as he descended the stairs, "What are you all doing on the day off tomorrow?"

Everyone around was dumbfounded upon hearing this. Tang Shan laughed and said, "Are you dumb? Today is only Thursday."

"Damn, it's Thursday, right?" Lin Jinglei recalculated the days in his mind, his shoulders drooping. "Ah, what a drag. I thought I didn't have to get up early tomorrow."

Coming out of the teaching building, I happened to see a group of school buses ready to depart but haven't yet. Several people started sprinting in the rain as if they were in a great escape. I thought that since I came out late, the school buses shouldn't be crowded. However, to my surprise, they were still packed with people. This rain made most students give up on riding their bicycles back.

Lin Jinglei hates being in crowded places the most. Usually, he rides his bike to school, but it is not safe to ride an umbrella bike in rainy weather, and wearing a raincoat would look dumb. Therefore, when it rains, he takes the school bus.

The car door was clearly inaccessible, yet the driver kept shouting for everyone to move towards the back. It felt like there was a bottomless pit behind the carriage. Lin Jinglei stood outside the car, getting soaked in the rain. He regretted being a gentleman and letting two girls go ahead, as he wasn't sure if he could get on this trip.

The people in the car were crowded tightly together, yet the driver still continued to squeeze more in. If you resist him, he can yell you to death. If you don't get on, then get off and wait for the next one!

Lin Jinglei impatiently waited to squeeze onto the train, knowing that he would be drenched in just a moment. Taking a few big steps, he walked to the back of the car and knocked on the last row window.

The girl sitting by the window thought he had something to do, so she struggled to open the window a little. Lin Jinglei reached his hand into the crack and gave it a strong push, and the window opened wide. He quickly threw his backpack into the car, then flexibly squeezed himself into the car while pedaling on the edge outside.

When he landed on the thighs of those two girls, it resulted in a prolonged scream. He covered his nearly deafened ears and said, "Hey, stop screaming. Move your legs so I can pass through."

Tang Shan laughed so hard from a distance that he almost choked. As the car jerked forward, he was startled by his own saliva and couldn't stop coughing, causing the people around him to recoil in disgust.

Lin Jinglei finally managed to squeeze into the aisle and stood up straight. He smoothed out his disheveled hair and muttered, "Damn it, where is my schoolbag?"

At half past four, the elementary school in the second district had already dismissed. At this time, there was no one in the campus. Beside the window of the security room, a little girl was half kneeling on a chair, leaning against the window, looking outside. In her mind, she counted the clear zebra crossings on the diagonally opposite road, which had become even more distinct after being washed by rain.

Her watery big eyes suddenly brightened, as she jumped off the chair and picked up her little backpack before rushing out, shouting, "Oh! Big brother is here! Big brother is here!"

Yan Zizheng ran across the street and, after reaching the entrance of the guard room, picked up the little guy who had run out. Then, nodding to the elderly gatekeeper, he turned around and left.

His right arm felt a little weak, so he switched to using his left arm to hold the child. He handed the umbrella to Yan Ziqing and said, "You hold the umbrella and give your school bag to your older brother."

The little girl probably noticed that her older brother's right arm was hurting. After taking the umbrella, she didn't hand over the backpack but held it to her chest, tightly gripping the umbrella handle. She asked, "Brother, did you get into another fight?"

"No," Yan Zizheng said as he took big strides and adjusted the position of the umbrella. "Stay closer to me, don't get wet, you'll catch a cold."

Yan Ziqing blinked her eyes and obediently leaned against her older brother's chest, watching the raindrops slide off the edge of the umbrella without saying another word.

Lin Jinglei swore that he never wanted to ride the school bus again. Getting on was difficult enough, but getting off was even more challenging. When it reached his neighborhood, he nearly missed his stop and had a close encounter with the classmates standing in the aisle before finally getting off the bus.

Running through the rain, he entered the residential area and finally realized what was missing from his backpack when he reached upstairs. It was his key.

He pounded on the door with his fist, and after a while someone opened the door from inside. The person who opened the door was Lin Tai, who looked displeased and said, "Didn't you hear me knocking?"

Lin Tai pouted: "My mom was making dumpling fillings in the kitchen, so I couldn't distinguish the knocking sound."

Lin Jinglei scanned the room and asked, "Has your dad come back?"

"No," Lin Tai couldn't help but say, "Brother, looking at you like this, you must have caused trouble again."

"Go away, you're everywhere."

A woman emerged from the kitchen, holding a vegetable knife. She raised her voice and said loudly, "Jinglei is back."

"Ah, Auntie, I'm back!" Lin Jinglei replied in the same tone.

He immediately emptied the contents of his backpack onto the sofa and carefully checked to see what was missing. After picking up the monthly examination ranking list, a smile appeared on his face.

Lin Tai curiously approached to take a look, expressing his lack of understanding: "Brother, I don't see what's there to be proud of for ranking second to last in your grade."

"You know shit," Lin Jinglei said as he harshly scratched the name of the second to last person with his fingernail, "I'm also proud of being second to last."

The piece of paper quickly crumpled into a ball, performed a parabolic motion, and landed into the trash can. On the spot where Lin Jing Lei had scratched with his fingernail, three words were printed: Yan Zi Zheng.