Jiang Yufan, who had arrived just in time for the morning self-study session, heard about Yue Zhishi's fight the moment he entered the classroom. Without even putting his bag down, he ran back out, but he was still a step too late. By the time he reached the washroom, the dean of discipline was already there.

The washroom, only a few square meters in size, was packed with people—those who fought and those who tried to break it up. Jiang Yufan pushed through the shoulders and spotted Yue Zhishi at a glance. His right eye socket was bruised, his lip was cut, and his shirt was torn open. Some blood had dripped onto the knitted vest of his school uniform, smearing the school emblem red.

His face held a hostility he had never shown before.

"All of you, follow me to the office. What are the rest of you looking at? Didn't you hear the bell? Go back to your morning self-study!"

Jiang Yufan couldn't for the life of him understand why Yue Zhishi would get into a fight with someone. It was completely out of character for him; he would have believed it if someone said he was possessed. It wasn't just him; everyone in the class was stunned when they heard the news.

"Who got into a fight? Yue Zhishi? You've got to be kidding me..."

"No way. Forget fighting, Yue Zhishi is never even late, oh, except for that one time on the first day of school."

"I heard he was standing up for that kid from the class next door who skipped a grade. I've never seen them interact before. Was it worth it to fight someone like Wang Jie for him?"

"And it was one against four."

"Damn, Lele is awesome."

Some people were even clinging to the windows of Group Four, looking towards the senior high school building opposite them. The offices of the dean and the homeroom teachers were on the second and third floors of that building.

"Can't see a thing..."

"Probably still getting lectured? Maybe he'll be out on the corridor writing a self-criticism letter in a bit."

Jiang Yufan was incredibly anxious and uneasy. He overheard the girls in the front seat talking about the other person involved.

"Cheng Mingming, huh? He's had a grudge against Wang Jie for a long time. I think they were elementary school classmates. Last time in the cafeteria, I heard him telling someone that Wang Jie's family is very poor and that he had stolen his money."

"Really? Then this..."

"Anyway, Wang Jie is no pushover either. He said Cheng Mingming has no parents to look after him. I feel like Lele got screwed over this time, getting involved in something like this. Maybe both sides will deny responsibility, and it'll end up being Lele's fault."

Hearing the words "no parents to look after him," Jiang Yufan sensed something. Worried that Yue Zhishi would be at a disadvantage, he stood up, used the excuse of a stomachache to go to the bathroom, but actually ran to the opposite school building.

In the office, the bullied Cheng Mingming was stuttering, and no matter how the dean of discipline questioned him, he couldn't get a clear explanation.

"What happened? Why did the fight start?"

Cheng Mingming shook his head desperately, "It has nothing to do with me. I didn't hit anyone."

This wasn't the first time Cheng Mingming and Wang Jie had clashed, and the dean of discipline was aware of it. The moment he saw them, he had more or less guessed what happened. But what was strange about this incident was Yue Zhishi's involvement. This kid was a well-known model student; all his teachers knew him to be obedient and sensible.

The homeroom teacher, Wang Qian, had also been called over. The dean of discipline glanced at him, "Your student. You ask him."

Wang Qian knew Yue Zhishi's disposition and didn't just start accusing him without distinguishing right from wrong.

"Yue Zhishi, what happened."

"Why did you get into a fight with a classmate? This isn't like you."

Yue Zhishi's head was slightly lowered, the blood on his lip already dry. He opened his mouth, seeming unwilling to give a reason, but his attitude was good. He directly admitted his mistake, "Teacher Wang, I broke the school rules. I'll write a self-criticism or accept probation, you can handle it directly."

Who would have known that another person would suddenly appear at the door, shouting, "Reporting!" Everyone turned to see Jiang Yufan's anxious face. "Teacher, Yue Zhishi only went to the washroom because he saw Wang Jie bullying Cheng Mingming. He didn't start it!"

Yue Zhishi, afraid of dragging Jiang Yufan into this, immediately said to Wang Qian, "Teacher, Jiang Yufan wasn't there."

Jiang Yufan grew anxious, "I wasn't there, but someone saw it. A lot of students saw it."

Wang Qian glanced at Yue Zhishi and said to Jiang Yufan, "Go back to class. This has nothing to do with you."

Although Jiang Yufan was reluctant, there was nothing he could do. He gave Yue Zhishi a worried look and left with a displeased expression.

The homeroom teacher of the other class didn't seem to intend to treat this as a major incident. He first determined that Cheng Mingming was not seriously at fault, gave the dean of discipline a heads-up, and let him go back to self-study. Then he questioned Wang Jie.

Wang Jie had been subdued from the beating, constantly wiping the blood from his mouth with a tissue. But being pressed like this sparked his rebellious spirit, "What did I do? It had nothing to do with him; he stuck his nose in it himself. I was already letting them go, then he came back and punched me. He's insane."

His lackeys chimed in, "That's right! Yue Zhishi started it!"

"We were even trying to break it up. We don't know why he went crazy and started hitting people."

"Teacher, if you don't believe us, you can ask the people who were breaking up the fight in the washroom. They saw who threw the first punch."

"It was me." Yue Zhishi admitted calmly. "I just wanted to hit him."

As soon as these words were spoken, the other teachers in the office glanced over.

Wang Qian could never have imagined this. He felt that the Yue Zhishi standing before him was a completely different person.

"I don't want to waste time here calculating who was more at fault." The dean of discipline clasped his hands behind his back and sorted out the matter according to his own understanding. "Wang Jie, you brought people to bully Cheng Mingming. Yue Zhishi, you were standing up for Cheng Mingming, right? But you caused a brawl. Both you and Wang Jie have made serious mistakes and will receive a major demerit. Your homeroom teachers will handle the rest."

After speaking, he looked at Teacher Wang, "Call the parents if you need to, and assign self-criticisms where they're due."

Teacher Wang nodded, watching the dean of discipline leave. He vaguely felt that something wasn't right, so he took Yue Zhishi to the teachers' lounge next door. "I'll take you to the school clinic to treat the injuries on your face."

"It's fine, teacher," Yue Zhishi said. "I can go by myself when it opens later."

Teacher Wang poured him a cup of water. "If this were a student who usually gets into fights and causes trouble, I would have just called their parents and dealt with it. To get a rabbit this cornered, things can't be that simple."

Yue Zhishi clutched the paper cup and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "Teacher, I don't want to talk about it, but I promise you that I will never fight with a classmate again. You can punish me however you want."

"Then I'll have to call your parents?" Wang Qian put down his cup and looked at Yue Zhishi.

"I..." Yue Zhishi also looked up at him. "You can, but my parents are out of town for the next few days. They can only... after they get back..."

"Alright." Wang Qian looked at him. "As your homeroom teacher, I respect that you have reasons you're unwilling to share. But you need to understand that violence is never a good way to solve problems, no matter the situation. If the other party insulted you, you can tell a teacher. If you don't trust the teachers, you can also seek help from others, understand?"

Yue Zhishi knew his own problem and nodded.

"Yes, I understand."

He stayed in the teachers' lounge to finish writing his self-criticism. By the time he went out, the morning self-study session was already over. Yue Zhishi went to the school clinic alone to have his wounds treated simply. When he returned to the classroom, just before Wang Qian's Chinese class began, he read the contents of his self-criticism to the entire class.

"You can go back to your seat," Teacher Wang said, standing at the podium. "This fighting incident also serves as a wake-up call for our other students. Don't casually try to be a hero. If you encounter school violence, notify a teacher immediately. Don't try to use violence to counter violence."

Although he had gotten into a fight, Yue Zhishi's popularity meant that almost everyone sided with him. The story quickly spread among the students, mostly framing him as a hero who had acted for a just cause. No one knew the real reason Yue Zhishi had fought, and they weren't that eager to find out. It was just a fresh topic of conversation to break up the monotony of their studies.

After class, when it was time for the morning exercises, Jiang Yufan ran to Yue Zhishi's seat. "Does your eye hurt? Let's go to the little supermarket and buy an ice pop to put on it." He reached out, wanting to touch it, but was afraid of causing pain. Seeing Yue Zhishi just obediently shaking his head, looking pitiful, he said, "They were too vicious. Why didn't you wait for me to come with you?"

"I made him bleed too," Yue Zhishi recounted his battle record with a straight face.

"He must have provoked you. What on earth happened? You never get involved in these things. Tell me, and I'll find a chance to get revenge for you."

But no matter how he asked, Yue Zhishi kept his mouth shut. Jiang Yufan guessed it was probably close to what he had thought; if it weren't for the matter of his parents, Yue Zhishi wouldn't have stepped in, and he definitely wouldn't have fought. He subtly changed the subject. "That candied osmanthus of yours looks delicious."

"Right? You have to wait until all the sugar has melted before you can eat it. Brother Song Yu and I knocked all of this down from the tree... Hiss..." The topic got Yue Zhishi excited, and he accidentally pulled at the cut on his lip.

"Hey, slow down." Speaking of which, Jiang Yufan remembered, "Your brother probably knows you got into a fight. He won't scold you, will he?"

Yue Zhishi's eyes widened in an instant. "No way."

"What do you think? It spread everywhere as soon as the morning self-study ended, okay? I just saw a post about it on the Peiya online forum. A lot of people upvoted it, but most of them were cursing out Wang Jie."

Yue Zhishi felt a sense of dread and grabbed Jiang Yufan's sleeve. "Do I look really ugly right now?"

"Not at all, you look super manly," Jiang Yufan laughed. "Why do you suddenly have an idol's burden? Don't worry, those girls really admire you. That fight you had was super cool."

Yue Zhishi didn't care about any of that. He just didn't want Song Yu to know he had fought with someone, and even more, he didn't want to face him with this face.

"I'm not going to the exercises. I'm going to ask for leave." Yue Zhishi then ran to find the class president and hid in the classroom to do his homework. He would have to hide anyway if he went down, and it would be too awkward if they ran into each other.

His eye socket was both painful and swollen. Yue Zhishi began to feel regret, not for fighting, but for his poor performance. If he could do it again, he definitely would have dodged those punches and knocked that guy to the ground with one fist.

After the morning exercises, several girls in the class gave him bandages, and a girl from another class bought him a bottle of cold water for his eye. Yue Zhishi thanked them one by one, even though he wouldn't use most of the items. The feeling of being in the spotlight wasn't great. He'd rather keep a low profile in the future.

Coincidentally, Auntie Rong wasn't home at noon, so he didn't have to go home for lunch, which gave Yue Zhishi an opportunity to hide. He wasn't hungry, so he stayed in the classroom to do homework. The more he did now, the less he'd have to do at night. He planned to go home early today, then take a shower and hide in his room, minimizing his chances of bumping into Song Yu.

Immersed in a geometry problem with his "perfect plan," Yue Zhishi buried his head lower and lower, until his chin was resting on his workbook.

"Does there exist a point E... such that it is equal..." Yue Zhishi mumbled the problem statement, his brows knitted together. His eye socket began to hurt even more. "How do you prove this..."

"Assume it exists."

A voice suddenly came from above his head. Yue Zhishi thought he was hearing things and shot his head up.

'Exists?'

He now suspected he was seeing things, that the brother before him did not exist.

Song Yu remained calm, his gaze fixed on the problem, not on him. "Proof by contradiction. First, make the assumption, then use the condition of equality to derive a contradiction."

'So he really came.'

Yue Zhishi let out a soft "oh," lowered his head to write the word "Proof," then carefully asked, "When did you get here?"

"Just now."

"Okay..." Yue Zhishi looked down, writing "Assume there exists a point E."

Song Yu glanced at the top of his head. "Stop doing that. Let's go home and eat."

"Go home?" Yue Zhishi stood up, dazed, and followed Song Yu out. Auntie Rong and his uncle weren't home; there shouldn't be anyone to cook. "Not going to the cafeteria?"

"Going home."

'He must know about the fight, but he doesn't seem angry.' Yue Zhishi felt a little apprehensive.

Song Yu walked just half a step ahead of him. His arms hung at his sides, his fingers long and slender. As he stared, Yue Zhishi was suddenly reminded of when he was in the first grade, right after he started school, they had walked down the road just like this, one in front of the other. Except back then, the one who fought was Song Yu, and the one who was bullied was Yue Zhishi.

He had cried a river of tears, holding Song Yu's hand all the way home.

'Why can't we hold hands now?'

This strange thought suddenly popped into Yue Zhishi's head, and as if by some strange impulse, he reached his hand forward.

But the person in front of him suddenly put his hand into his school uniform pocket. Ever since they left the classroom, Song Yu's phone had been vibrating non-stop. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he took it out for a look. It was from Qin Yan.

[Qin Yan: Damn, I just went to the bathroom, where did you go?]

[Qin Yan: They said you're not going to the cafeteria? Didn't we agree to have lunch together today?]

[Qin Yan: Are you coming back to school later? Let's play ball with Old Zhang and the others for half an hour.]

He was about to reply that he was resting at home for lunch when another long message popped up in the chat, making Song Yu frown.

[Qin Yan: Shit! Xiao Hei just said he saw you leaving the school gate with your little brother. You're not going to hold a criticism session, are you? It's just a little fight between boys, don't take it out on him. Hey, wait, isn't your mom not home today? Who's going to cook when you get back? Are you trying to starve our Lele?]

Song Yu stopped dead in his tracks and lowered his head to reply. Seeing this, Yue Zhishi also stopped, hastily pulling back his outstretched hand and hiding it behind his back.

The autumn sun wasn't strong, but his back felt scorched, and his palms were hot.

After typing, Song Yu looked back at Yue Zhishi. "Let's go."

"Okay."

In the cafeteria, Qin Yan, who was eating soy sauce fried rice, opened his phone and nearly spat everything out.

[I'm cooking. He's been wronged, so he needs to eat something good.]