Chapter 129: Chapter 129: I Was Drawing a Dragon
In the blink of an eye, it was time for winter break.
The break started much later than the students had expected, practically right before the New Year, which led to a lot of complaints.
The school gate was packed with parents who had come to pick up their children.
Many students took their boarding luggage home with them.
Xue Rui felt it was unnecessary. The weather in Hedong was so dry that leaving things in the dorm would, at most, just gather a bit of dust.
The students whose parents didn’t fuss over them much didn’t bother moving their luggage, like Qiu Mengze, Yi Bing, and their group.
In Xue Rui’s opinion, these students were much more self-reliant.
The school’s facilities were basic, with no place to take a proper shower. They’d just connect a hose in the school’s utility room to rinse off. Since their parents weren’t too involved, they washed their own clothes and bedsheets.
As for the so-called "good students," they were far worse off in this regard.
Their parents came to pick them up and drop things off every other day...
When it came time for college, these coddled children would have a much harder time adapting to a new environment than the students who were left to fend for themselves.
On the last day, the students were required to clean their classroom before they could leave.
Lin Ruoxi was the tallest among the girls, even taller than many of the boys in class, so she was in charge of wiping the windows.
When she got to Xue Rui’s desk, she asked, "Aren’t you taking your things home?"
She was carrying a huge backpack today, specifically to help Xue Rui move his things.
"Nope," Xue Rui said.
He just needed to take home the books he planned to read; there was no need to move everything back.
But there were always so many students who, as if following some damn procedure, had to haul every single thing home with them every time.
Then they’d just dump it all at home without opening a single book, only to lug it all back untouched when school started again...
’Lin Ruoxi had probably been one of those students in the past.’
’Hauling large and small bags onto the bus all by herself...’
Xue Rui thought it was just too much trouble. "Let me help you carry your books home. I heard from the security guard that old scrap collectors sometimes sneak into the school during the break to steal students’ textbooks."
As for Gu Muxue, he didn’t need to worry about her. She had someone to drive her.
Besides, Mei Lili had already practically pushed Gu Muxue out the door and sent her home.
Mei Lili was like a total sycophant. She believed her "goddess" shouldn’t have to deal with such "dust," so she had taken on all of Gu Muxue’s cleaning duties for her...
Lin Ruoxi hesitated for a long time. "I won’t take them... If they get stolen, they get stolen."
"Why?" Qiu Mengze, who was cleaning up trash with Xue Rui, couldn’t understand her answer.
"Um... They’re very pitiful. If they sell the books, they can eat a little better for the New Year," Lin Ruoxi explained. Besides, she didn’t need those books anyway.
"Being pitiful doesn’t give them the right to steal things," Qiu Mengze muttered.
He’d had his textbooks stolen once. He ended up having to borrow some from upperclassmen and buy a few more from Xinhua Bookstore just to scrape together a complete set. It had pained him for quite a while.
He hated those old men who stole textbooks down to the bone.
Xue Rui nodded, thinking that his childhood friend’s values were still on the right track.
Pitiful is pitiful, but despicable is despicable.
To harm others’ interests just because you’re pitiful, especially by stealing books from the "future flowers of the motherland"—isn’t that just trampling on saplings?
’People like that only steal textbooks because they’re old and don’t have the physical strength for anything else. If they were stronger, who knows what kind of heinous crimes they’d commit.’
"Anyway, I’ve already hidden mine, so they can’t steal them," Qiu Mengze said with a sly grin.
Xue Rui clicked his tongue. "I knew it. You can’t expect a dog to spit out ivory."
"Then why don’t you spit some out and let me see?" Qiu Mengze retorted.
The students in the classroom were all buzzing with excitement, because as soon as they finished cleaning, they could go home for the New Year break.
Many of the boys were cheering, chasing each other, and roughhousing.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the classroom froze, just like when a head teacher makes a surprise visit during evening self-study.
Xue Rui glanced around strangely. Director Wang was standing at the back door of the classroom.
"Hello, Director," Xue Rui said with a smile.
This Director Wang was a real character in the world of education. He had clearly graduated from a top university, yet his manners were worse than a village shrew’s. When he lost his temper, he’d let loose a stream of profanity that was truly foul to hear.
It wasn’t just the students who were afraid of him; even the teachers under him were terrified.
When the principal wasn’t around, he was practically the king of the school...
"Lin Ruoxi, how about I give you a ride home?" Director Wang said with a smile, his tone very friendly.
"Director, you should take her books back for her, too. I still have to clean."
With a look of great enthusiasm, Xue Rui placed a thick stack of textbooks into Director Wang’s arms.
"Alright, alright." Director Wang’s shoulders sagged under the weight, but far from being angry, he looked pleased.
Director Wang put the books down on a desk, held one up, and said to the students:
"Look at a good student’s textbooks. See how neat they are, just like new."
Then, he picked up another student’s book. "Now look at yours. They’re a mess, with dog-eared pages."
Director Wang seized the opportunity to lecture them for a bit, comparing Lin Ruoxi to the other students.
The students opened their mouths, wanting to explain things to Director Wang, but then they remembered his usual intimidating presence.
It was like they had a fishbone stuck in their throats, wanting to speak but holding back...
’You call that well-kept?’ they thought.
’Lin Ruoxi never opens her books or reads a single word in them. Of course they’re new!’
’Everything a ’good student’ does is good. As long as our grades aren’t good enough, nothing we do is as good as what they do.’
But they didn’t dare try to explain this. They just felt incredibly stifled, as if all their efforts were being negated.
The "grades-are-everything" mentality had accompanied them for more than a decade; they were already used to it.
Xue Rui sighed, picked up one of Lin Ruoxi’s books, and flipped through it.
"Director, you can’t compare her to us. Lin Ruoxi is an overlooked genius."
"Look at her book. She doesn’t write a single note and just doodles all over it. See here? It’s a little snake, and she even added four claws."
The rest of the class sucked in a sharp breath. ’Xue Rui is done for,’ they thought. ’Daring to contradict Director Wang at a time like this? He’s definitely in for a serious scolding.’
"This..." Director Wang casually flipped through a few more books. It was true.
"Now look at this other book. Every single word was written conscientiously during class."
"There’s a difference between people. Isn’t it enough to just do your best?" Xue Rui said sincerely.
Many teachers would say things like, "Good students also have two shoulders and one head, so why can’t you measure up to them?"
But the more they heard this, the greater the sense of inadequacy the students felt.
Many students were unwilling to admit they were worse than others, always feeling like they just weren’t trying hard enough. Secretly, they would lament and suppress their feelings, thinking, ’If only I could just work a little harder.’
But in reality, everyone’s capacity for concentration is different. Even if they tried harder, the results wouldn’t change much, and they might even backfire due to putting too much pressure on themselves...
"Mm, you have a point." Director Wang nodded. He felt that Xue Rui had a profound understanding of education.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand this principle, but in his position, he could only let grades do the talking. The leadership wouldn’t look at anything else.
The students were astonished. ’Director Wang actually listened to reason?’
"I’m sorry, teacher. I shouldn’t have drawn in my textbook..." Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.
Director Wang sighed, picked up the books, and walked out of the classroom. "Geniuses, well, they always have their little quirks."
Director Wang was very good at rationalizing things to himself.
Lin Ruoxi knew that whenever Director Wang gave her a ride, Xue Rui wouldn’t go back with her.
Before she left, Lin Ruoxi explained, "I... I was actually drawing a dragon."
She felt that Xue Rui had misunderstood her.
"HAHAHA!" The students burst into cheerful laughter.
It was the first time they had ever realized that Lin Ruoxi could be so humorous.
"I think Director Wang is actually pretty nice..."
"Maybe he’s in a good mood today?"
"Maybe it’s because Brother Rui has a good relationship with Director Wang. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have dared to say that."
The students looked at Xue Rui with admiration. Today, Xue Rui had acted as their spokesperson, saying the words they had all kept bottled up inside.
At that moment, the cheerful atmosphere returned to the classroom.
Yi Bing came in carrying a trash can. "Wanna go online? We should hurry and grab seats at the internet cafe."
The moment he said it, he suddenly realized this wasn’t the same class as before. The atmosphere was too focused on studying.
The light and cheerful mood from just now had given him the wrong impression.
Yi Bing regretted his words. He silently placed the trash can in a corner and prepared to step outside for some fresh air.
Xue Rui noticed that Qiu Mengze and his group had clearly wavered when they heard Yi Bing mention the internet cafe.
"Let’s go. Hurry up," Xue Rui chimed in.
He felt some students were too wound up; people needed to relax sometimes.
It was only early 2013, and the thinking in small cities was still relatively backward. Many parents saw online games as a terrifying scourge, as if even the slightest contact would spell the end of their child’s future.
But in a few more years, these things that couldn’t be brought out into the open would even appear on the grand stage of the Asian Games, and some famous universities would even offer courses specializing in gaming.
When Xue Rui said this, many people were stunned for a moment.
Xue Rui was the "representative of progress" now. How could he say something that sounded so much like giving up on himself?
But since Xue Rui had taken the lead, a few of the boys started getting antsy.
"Let’s go!" Qiu Mengze threw down the broom in his hand, slung his backpack on, and was about to charge out.
At Qiu Mengze’s shout, a few other students were reminded of the old days when they used to sneak through doggy doors. A rush of excitement surged through them, and they dropped what they were holding.
"Have you fucking finished sweeping? What’s the rush?" Xue Rui cursed.
Hearing Xue Rui shout, Qiu Mengze came back and picked up the broom. "Hehe, got too excited."
"I think we should send someone ahead to get the computers started. It’s almost the New Year, so it’ll probably be hard to find a row of seats together," Yi Bing suggested.
He was an internet cafe regular and knew perfectly well when it would be crowded and when it would be empty.
"No need. It’ll be packed even if we go now," Xue Rui said.
Yi Bing’s words also triggered many memories for Xue Rui.
Hedong City was very poor, so all the young people scrambled to leave for work elsewhere. Right before the New Year, they would all come back from out of town, and the internet cafes would be crammed to bursting.
There wouldn’t be any seats available even if they went now, so there was no point in trying to save a few minutes.
"Brother Rui, you have a plan?"
