Thirteen Wonders (ShíSānYāo) : Chapter 5 - West Wind, North Wind
Chapter 5: West Wind, North Wind
During the lunch break, Deng Jiayu called Zhou Yao to a secluded corner of the first-floor corridor, a spot hidden from plain view but visible to many passersby.
No one knew what they talked about.
Oddly, Deng Jiayu’s usual hostile demeanor toward Zhou Yao was replaced with a bright, pleasant smile, as though she were sharing delightful news. If not for Zhou Yao’s consistently serious expression, the scene might have seemed amicable.
Zheng Yinyin heard about this and approached Zhou Yao before the first class. She got straight to the point: “I heard Deng Jiayu talked to you. What did she say?”
At that moment, Zhou Yao was organizing the practice books for the next class. She flipped through them unhurriedly, her tone as calm as her actions. “Not much. She just said she finds me annoying and told me to stay away from Chen Xuze.”
Zheng Yinyin, knowing that Zhou Yao and Chen Xuze had grown up together, was furious upon hearing this. “Who does she think she is? What gives her the right to demand you stay away from Chen Xuze? He’s not hers!”
Grabbing Zhou Yao’s hand, she asked anxiously, “Aren’t you worried? Deng Jiayu is clearly targeting you. What if she causes trouble for you?”
Zhou Yao’s dark, calm eyes showed no ripples of emotion, as if these events had nothing to do with her. She gently organized her books, smoothing out a folded page with care. “I don’t care.”
“Don’t care?!” Zheng Yinyin was shocked. “You must not know how scary she is! Countless girls at this school have suffered because of her! Some were beaten until they bled and ran crying from the bathroom, others were slapped in the face by her group until their cheeks turned red—and all of it was recorded!”
She added worriedly, “She’s telling you to stay away from Chen Xuze. What are you going to do?”
Closing her book, Zhou Yao replied calmly and steadily, “Why should I listen to her?”
The indifference in her tone left Zheng Yinyin momentarily speechless.
“She’s not Chen Xuze’s nor mine.” Zhou Yao’s gentle face seemed to flash with a hint of determination. She smiled faintly at Zheng Yinyin.
“...Why should I listen to her?”
……
Not long after Zheng Yinyin left, Chen Xuze appeared at the door of Class 7. His presence silenced the idle chatter, and everyone’s gaze followed him to Zhou Yao.
“Come out for a moment.”
Zhou Yao didn’t say much. She stood up and followed him out.
Ignoring the whispers of their classmates, the two walked to a corner of the corridor to talk.
“What did Deng Jiayu say to you?” Chen Xuze opened with this question.
In just ten minutes of the lunch break, the incident had spread throughout their grade. It seemed everyone loved a good drama involving two girls and one boy.
If not for Jiang Jiashu being one of Chen Xuze’s close friends and also disliking Deng Jiayu, he might have already placed bets on who would ‘win.’
Zhou Yao remained silent. Chen Xuze repeated, “What did she say?”
Others couldn’t tell, but he could immediately sense the subtle change in her emotions. Even though she appeared as calm and gentle as always, there was something different—a faint unhappiness.
After a long pause, Zhou Yao raised her eyes to meet his and said, “She talked to me about... that matter.” She hesitated slightly, moving her toes almost imperceptibly. Her smile carried a trace of helplessness. “It seems she knows.”
The scorching sunlight streamed in through the corridor windows, first falling on Chen Xuze, with a smaller portion landing on Zhou Yao.
From a distance, it looked as though he was shielding her from the majority of the blinding light.
……
In their third year, physical education was a rare luxury, with only one class per month. For the students, it was a chance to relax.
After lining up, the teacher began roll call. Upon reaching Zhou Yao’s name, he paused and asked, “You’re not participating in physical activities, correct?”
“Correct,” Zhou Yao replied.
Her simple response drew a wave of attention from those around her.
“Got it,” the PE teacher said, crossing her name off the list. He added casually, “Is it because of health issues? Your homeroom teacher specifically mentioned that you shouldn’t engage in strenuous activities and said you never participated in PE classes at your old school either…”
Zhou Yao didn’t respond, but the murmurs around her grew louder. Several girls whispered among themselves, casting indescribable glances her way.
Zhou Yao pretended not to notice.
When warm-up laps began, she, exempt from physical activity, sat on a stone bench nearby to watch. The class ran lap after lap, sweat dripping from their faces.
After running, they transitioned to free activities. The boys gathered to organize a game, while the girls formed small groups to chat and drink water.
Suddenly, a group of girls approached Zhou Yao. The one in the lead wore a sweet yet saccharine smile. Her gaze lingered on Zhou Yao, scanning her from head to toe, pausing briefly at her feet before returning to her face.
Her voice was sugary yet tinged with malice that she couldn’t even detect.
“Zhou Yao, I heard that you had some issues with your feet before. Is that true? Is it still the case now?”
Her exemption from physical activities seemed to solidify the rumors.
It had been less than a day since Deng Jiayu’s talk with Zhou Yao, yet the gossip had already spread, and school wasn’t even over.
People speculated freely, oblivious to the harm their words caused.
Gossip spread like wildfire, and they couldn't resist sharing the latest tidbit with everyone:
“Hey, did you hear? That new transfer student, Zhou Yao, used to have a limp!”
……
The news traveled fast, and even Jiang Jiashu and his friends caught wind of it.
Several boys were shocked. “No way. Zhou Yao walks perfectly fine—she doesn’t seem like she has any problems with her leg.”
“Well… now that you mention it, she does walk pretty slowly. Sometimes she even stops suddenly. And yeah, I’ve never seen her run either.”
“But just because she used to have an issue doesn’t mean she still does.”
“Haven’t you heard? She never participated in PE at her old school, No. 5 High School. Her classmates there, even after years, pretty much never saw her run.”
“Enough! Are you done yet? Babbling nonsense all day long—so annoying!”
Jiang Jiashu cut them off impatiently. “So what if others are gossiping? Zhou Yao is one of us! Are you seriously joining in on the crap talk? Have some decency, will you?”
He added coldly, “Let me warn you—don’t ever bring this up in front of Zhou Yao or Chen Xuze. What does it matter if her leg has issues? Does it make her less of a person? Idiots.”
The boys froze, caught between embarrassment and guilt. “Yeah, you’re right…”
Snorting, Jiang Jiashu warned again, “Whoever started this rumor and keeps spreading it—I swear, I’ll tear their mouth off!”
The conversation shifted after that. Jiang Jiashu even made them promise never to mention the topic near Zhou Yao or Chen Xuze. Once reassured, they finally dropped it.
As class ended, Chen Xuze returned from the restroom and decided to buy some water at the campus store. Coincidentally, he and Jiang Jiashu’s group arrived at the sports field just as PE class was ending, and Zhou Yao’s class was walking back.
Zhou Yao walked ahead of her classmates, who clustered behind her in groups, chatting and laughing. Some girls in the nearest group kept glancing at her legs, pointing and whispering among themselves.
Chen Xuze stopped abruptly and told Jiang Jiashu, “I’m not going to the store anymore. You guys go ahead and get me a bottle of water.”
Without waiting for an explanation, he strode toward Zhou Yao. She turned when she noticed him approaching. “What are you doing here?”
For a moment, he thought her usually pale face seemed even more delicate today, as though almost translucent under the sunlight.
Chen Xuze frowned slightly but quickly masked it. “Just passing by. Want to head back to the classroom together?”
Zhou Yao didn’t refuse, so they walked side by side toward the school building.
With Chen Xuze present, the hushed gossiping voices dimmed noticeably, but they couldn’t entirely snuff out the curious, speculative gazes.
Zhou Yao’s steps were slow, as they always were. Yet to Chen Xuze, it seemed as if her pace was even more hesitant today, her strides slightly faltering under the weight of the attention.
Every stare seemed to scrutinize her, as if waiting for her to reveal the supposed ‘limp’ leg.
Because of this label, Zhou Yao instantly became different.
Chen Xuze heard the whispered remarks, the cruel speculation about her supposed disability. But, like Zhou Yao, he ignored them.
Instead, he walked a step behind her, his tall frame subtly shielding her from the prying eyes and malicious whispers.
……
After school, Chen Xuze turned to Jiang Jiashu and said, “I won’t be joining you guys for dinner tonight. Zhou Yao and I have something to do.”
“Where are you going?” Jiang Jiashu asked.
“Just some business,” was all Chen Xuze offered.
Unable to get more details, Jiang Jiashu relented with a shrug. “Alright then.”
Suddenly recalling something, he stopped him. “What about that Liu Hao situation? How are we handling it?”
Liu Hao was a thug that Deng Jiayu knew outside of school, and he’d brought a group of lackeys to back her up when she ambushed Chen Xuze in an alley with her ‘confession.’
The grudge stemmed from Deng Jiayu, but Liu Hao was complicit too.
“Weren’t we planning to confront them tonight?” Jiang Jiashu pressed.
“Not tonight,” Chen Xuze said firmly. “I’ve got something else to deal with.”
“Ah?”
“And,” Chen Xuze added, “don’t bother me for the next couple of days.”
This month’s weekend break happened to coincide with a public holiday, giving them two rare consecutive days off. Jiang Jiashu had been looking forward to making plans, but Chen Xuze’s sudden retreat threw a wrench into things.
Still, once Chen Xuze made up his mind, there was no arguing. Jiang Jiashu sighed in defeat. “Fine, I won’t bother you.”
Packing his things, Chen Xuze left school and met Zhou Yao by the bulletin board. She stood quietly, her head tilted slightly as she read the various notices—which for ordinary students were boring.
“Been waiting long?” he asked.
Hearing his voice, she turned around with a light, understated smile—just like her personality, always composed and measured. “Not really.”
Chen Xuze glanced at the bulletin board, which was covered with various notices—announcements about striving to become an exemplary key school, student behavior regulations, and a newly posted one that appeared to be a notice about a provincial education delegation's upcoming inspection.
They left the school together, turning left past the gates. The street was alive with vendors calling out, trying to draw students to their sizzling, fragrant food stalls.
Zhou Yao was petite beside him, her fair complexion accentuated by the contrast. Chen Xuze, tall and lean but solidly built, carried himself with an effortless coolness. Even the simplest clothes seemed to fit him with a unique charm.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long behind them. His voice, carried by the breeze, sounded distant yet steady.
“Are you scared?”
Zhou Yao shook her head. “No.”
Not of the rumors at school. Not of her so-called defect. Not of the judgmental stares or the whispered words. Nothing designed to break her down seemed to faze her.
As they reached the first intersection, they didn’t turn toward the usual route home or head for dinner.
Instead, they veered into a long, shaded alleyway, disappearing from the main road.
The author has something to say:
You’ll soon see just how twisted the ‘big boss’ can be. Of course, our childhood sweetheart isn’t to be trifled with either!
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