Xu Wangchuan’s school uniform was somewhat too loose on Xu Muchan.
But there was nothing he could do about it for now, so he could only make do with it.
After changing into the uniform, Xu Muchan returned to his room and took out the stone statue that had been enshrined on the altar.
He secretly slipped it into a corner of his crossbody bag.
Through the fabric, he pressed his fingers against the smooth statue inside and smiled as he said, “Big Brother, let’s go to school.”
It was still early when they arrived at school.
Xu Muchan got out of the car and walked into the school together with Xu Wangchuan.
Xu Wangchuan beside him didn’t know what he was doing. He remained unusually quiet and didn’t say a word.
Xu Muchan slowly followed behind him, leaning on his white cane and using his ears to pick up the sounds coming from every direction.
Whenever the students passing by Xu Muchan came near him, they would invariably slow their steps for some inexplicable reason and whisper to one another in voices they assumed Xu Muchan couldn’t hear.
“That’s the transfer student, right? What did he do to offend Jinqi?”
“No idea. Don’t you know what those people around Jinqi are like? Maybe he just got jealous because the transfer student is better-looking than him.”
“Should we warn him?”
“Forget it. We don’t even know him. If we get Jinqi’s attention, it’ll be trouble.”
Xu Muchan listened carefully and gradually understood the situation.
There were several large group chats among the students at Nanming. Students from different grades were all in them, and there were no teachers.
Last night, Jinqi had posted a message in several of the large groups, saying that there would be an exciting show in the equipment room after school that afternoon and inviting anyone who was free to come watch the fun.
At first, many students didn’t know what kind of “fun” Jinqi was talking about. They even thought there really was going to be some kind of performance.
Later, someone explained what had happened in the cafeteria, and everyone learned that the “fun” Jinqi was talking about was actually the new blind transfer student.
Some people shared Jinqi’s twisted interests and eagerly speculated about how Jinqi intended to torment the new transfer student.
Others felt that bullying a blind person was simply too pathetic and had no intention of getting involved.
However, Jinqi’s family was wealthy and influential, and Jinqi was notoriously petty and vindictive at Nanming.
So even those who disapproved were unwilling to stand up for a transfer student they had no relationship with.
Therefore, during their morning arrival at school, the students who passed by Xu Muchan would slow down and take a few extra looks at him.
Some were sympathetic or pitying.
Others were simply there to watch the disaster unfold.
Sensing the subtle malice coming from every direction, Xu Muchan lowered his head slightly.
He slipped a hand into his crossbody bag and touched the smooth, cool stone statue inside.
In a soft voice, he murmured, “What should I do, Big Brother? They all want to bully me.”
His slightly long hair fell along the curve of his cheeks, conveniently concealing the secret upward curl of his lips.
From Xu Wangchuan’s angle, the young man who had become the center of everyone’s attention appeared timid, his head lowered in fear.
His exceptionally striking features seemed to lose some of their brilliance because of that timid posture.
Xu Wangchuan looked through the chat history in the group.
As he watched Jinqi loudly announce in the group exactly how he planned to “welcome” the new transfer student, the corners of his lips gradually curled higher.
The shock and fear he had experienced the previous night faded away, replaced by a low and despicable excitement.
Perhaps because Jinqi had already made his intentions known, the entire rest of the day passed peacefully.
Xu Muchan devoted himself wholeheartedly to listening to the lessons and studying, seemingly completely unaware of the prank being planned against him.
The students in his class might have been curious about their new classmate.
Unfortunately, the new student wasn’t the warm and outgoing type.
During class, he listened attentively.
After class, he immediately put on his headphones.
It didn’t look as though everyone else was isolating him.
Rather, it looked as though he had isolated the entire world.
Wei Yao, who sat to his right, spent the entire day as restless as though he’d grown grass under his butt.
Several times, he wanted to talk to the little blind guy beside him and give him a warning.
But the other side simply never gave him the chance.
The moment class ended, Xu Muchan would swiftly take out his headphones and put them on.
Wei Yao even suspected that he was wearing headphones just to show off. He deliberately lightened his footsteps and crept closer, then unexpectedly snatched one of the headphones and held it to his ear, smugly saying, “Let me hear what you’re listening to—”
Before he could finish, the smile on his face froze. His entire body jolted—
He had actually heard their homeroom teacher, Old Wan, speaking through the headphones.
Listening more carefully, he realized it was the material Old Wan had just taught in class.
——This little blind guy had actually recorded the lesson and was listening to it again after class.
Wei Yao: “……”
For the first time in his life, he felt an overwhelming sense of shame. He even stammered, “Ah… you’re listening to this… You—you really love studying that much?”
Xu Muchan had already frowned unhappily when the headphone was snatched away. He remembered Wei Yao’s voice and did not have a good impression of this classmate. His tone also turned cold as he held out his hand.
“Give me back my headphone.”
Wei Yao sheepishly returned it, but could not resist saying, “Isn’t studying like this really inefficient? If you don’t understand something, you can come ask me. I’ll reluctantly teach you.”
After saying that last sentence, he felt extremely awkward. At the same time, he thought that he really was a great humanitarian. He was enthusiastically helping a blind classmate, so getting an award for being an exemplary student would not be a problem either.
Xu Muchan asked, “What’s your grade ranking?”
Wei Yao did not understand what he meant and answered blankly, “I ranked 112th on the last exam.”
“Oh.”
Xu Muchan put his headphones back on and turned his head away.
112th in the entire grade.
Ever since elementary school, Xu Muchan had never fallen out of the top three in any exam. In fact, saying top three was already being modest. He was basically always first.
From that single “Oh,” Wei Yao somehow detected a subtle sense of disdain.
He could not believe it and raised his voice. “You’re looking down on me too?”
Xu Muchan was wearing his headphones and completely ignored him.
Wei Yao was about to slam his hand on the desk and stand up, but then he noticed everyone around them looking over. He sheepishly sat back down.
Then he saw his childhood friend at the desk diagonally across from him, Wen Dajiang, still craning his neck and looking in his direction like some long-necked turtle.
Feeling embarrassed and angry, Wei Yao shouted, “Class is about to start! Wen Dajiang, why are you still looking around?!”
Wen Dajiang gave him a thumbs-down.
Wei Yao responded with a raised middle finger.
Time always passed especially quickly when one was studying seriously. When Xu Muchan heard the dismissal bell ring, he only then realized that it was already time to leave school.
Normally, this would be the time to go 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 that he had something else to do and would not be going to the cafeteria.
Xu Wangchuan naturally knew what he was going to do and did not ask any questions. He simply watched him leave with a smile as he leaned on his cane.
Wei Yao saw this from a distance and scoffed.
“That bastard is still smiling. He must have seen the messages in the group chat. I told you he wasn’t a good person. Usually, he pretends to be all proper and respectable.”
Wen Dajiang said, “There isn’t a single good bird in Lord Wei’s eyes. Come on, Lord Wei, can we go to the cafeteria now? Your humble servant is starving to death.”
Wei Yao looked disgusted.
“Are you a food bucket or something? Go eat by yourself. I’m not eating!”
After saying that, he strode off in the direction the little blind guy had gone.
Xu Muchan had only ever been to the sports field and had never been to the equipment room. However, the equipment room was inside the gymnasium, and the gymnasium was right beside the sports field.
Relying on his memory, he felt his way toward the place where the school raised its flag and unexpectedly ran into He Jiaqi.
He Jiaqi nervously looked around before speaking quickly in a low voice.
“Are you going to the equipment room? Jinqi and the others tricked you. They don’t want to be friends with you. They just want to humiliate you.”
Looking at the young boy’s empty, unfocused eyes, she seemed to see her former self. Her tone became increasingly anxious.
She felt that Xu Muchan was the same as her. Both of them had come to this school from small places, and neither of them fit in with the wealthy young masters and young ladies here.
Nanming was a school that ran continuously from elementary through high school. More than half of the students had attended Nanming from elementary school, through middle school, and all the way to high school.
Their families were similar in status, and they had attended the same school since childhood. Having known one another from a young age, they had naturally formed an alliance.
For outsiders like her, whose families were not well-off and who had entered the school through hard work and good grades, it was very difficult to integrate into that circle.
Although Xu Muchan came from a good family, he was blind and had transferred here halfway through his schooling from Yundong. His situation could not be much better than hers.
He Jiaqi lowered her voice.
“Jinqi and the others aren’t good people. Believe me. Don’t go.”
Xu Muchan could hear the hidden sadness in the girl’s voice. It sounded as though she had once experienced the same kind of humiliation herself, which was why she did not want him to fall for the same trick again.
Xu Muchan would never take the initiative to make friends, but he also would not reject someone’s kindness.
He tilted his face slightly, his empty eyes turning toward He Jiaqi. He slyly blinked once and whispered,
“Thank you for warning me. Then I’ll tell you a secret too.”
“I’ll be fine. Believe me.”
He Jiaqi stared at him in astonishment.
For a moment, the boy in front of her seemed completely different. His entire person suddenly became vivid and lively, no longer looking as dull and timid as before.
She froze.
Xu Muchan smiled at her again.
“Classmate, could I trouble you to tell me how to get to the equipment room? I don’t know the way.”
Almost as if possessed by some strange impulse, He Jiaqi pointed out the direction.
“Go to the right. Follow the track all the way to the end. When you reach the gymnasium, turn left. That’s it.”
Xu Muchan waved goodbye to her before turning toward the track on the right.
Following He Jiaqi’s directions, Xu Muchan walked along the track until he reached the end. Just as he was feeling around for the gymnasium after turning left, someone unexpectedly took the initiative to come over and show him the way.
And it seemed there were unusually many kindhearted people today.
One person left, and another immediately came over. The second person even volunteered to lead him.
“Classmate, what are you going to the equipment room for at this time?”
The person leading him was a boy, but when he spoke to Xu Muchan, he deliberately raised his voice into a strange, higher pitch.
However, the moment he spoke, Xu Muchan had already recognized him.
He was one of the three people Xu Muchan had encountered in the cafeteria yesterday.
At the time, Jinqi had been sitting opposite Xu Muchan, while another person named Liang Yong had been sitting beside him. The boy leading him now had been sitting next to Jinqi.
Of the three people yesterday, he had spoken the least. Today, he was deliberately changing his voice, probably thinking that Xu Muchan would not recognize him that way.
Xu Muchan did not expose him either. He obediently answered,
“I made plans to meet my friends in the equipment room.”
Chen Zhou, the boy leading him, desperately suppressed his laughter and secretly gestured toward his two companions in the distance.
Jinqi and Liang Yong were indeed nearby, but neither of them made a sound.
Apart from the three people leading the whole scheme, there were also a few other students who had received the messages and come over to watch the fun.
Seeing the transfer student being completely fooled and led around by the three of them, some even took out their phones to record videos.
Chen Zhou led Xu Muchan to the equipment room. He pretended to open the door and look inside, then made a strange “Huh?” sound.
“Are you sure you arranged to meet your friends here? I don’t see anyone in the equipment room.”
Xu Muchan showed a puzzled expression, still wearing that same honest and easily fooled look.
“We did arrange to meet here. Maybe they haven’t arrived yet.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Chen Zhou drew out his words with a grin.
Suddenly, he reached out and shoved Xu Muchan hard in the back, pushing him into the equipment room. He then quickly closed the door, locked it from the outside, and burst out laughing.
“Then you can wait for them inside.”
Nanming’s equipment room was very large. It was a separate classroom in the corner of the gymnasium, filled with numerous metal shelves holding all kinds of new and old sports equipment.
At this time, however, there were not many people in the gymnasium. The equipment room was located in a secluded corner, and the lights were not turned on. Looking through its narrow windows, one could only see a pitch-black interior.
The fading daylight from the sports field slanted inside, but it was still unable to fully illuminate the equipment room. The dimness only made the shadows inside seem increasingly eerie.
Timid students did not dare come to the equipment room alone after dusk.
Outside, Jinqi and the other two laughed and chatted.
“How come there’s no sound after he went inside? Don’t tell me he’s scared stupid. How long do you think it’ll take before he starts crying and begging for mercy?”
“If it were someone else, they probably wouldn’t be able to stand it after dark. But can a blind guy even be afraid of the dark?”
“Maybe he can last even longer than everyone else. Why don’t we go eat dinner first and come back to watch? I’m starving.”
The three of them laughed and joked as they walked away, leaving the quiet equipment room behind.