Thirteen Middle School, the premier school in the Ningxi Province, located in the middle of Tengfei Road in the provincial capital Xijing, has over two thousand students. A quarter of the students enrolled are from the local catchment area while another quarter are high-achieving students who were selected based on merit. The rest paid substantial school admission fees at the time of transitioning from primary to middle school.
The universal parental anxiety of not letting their child fall behind at the starting line... repeated discussions of this topic have driven up Thirteen Middle's school fees, which now stand at an astonishing 150,000 yuan.
Many parents had to tighten their belts and seek assistance from countless people in order to enroll their children into this school. Amidst those children who were now happily running around the campus, playing snowball fights, or building snowmen, how many understood the sincere intentions and sacrifices of their parents?
Barely a handful.
After all, they are children.
They do not need to bear the burden of adults' heavy thoughts.
This late winter, the major snowfall has set a strong Christmas mood, allowing students to have forty minutes of extracurricular activities after the second class in the afternoon, playing to their heart's content.
Snowflakes fluttering in abundance.
Laughter, shouting, and playful noises echo in every corner of the campus.
On the third floor of the main school building, in front of a classroom window, stands a boy. Beneath his straight eyebrows rest a pair of slender, deep, black eyes that make him appear like a mixed-race child. Sun-kissed handsome, his looks and stature hint that he would likely grow up to be a heartthrob for many women. However, his attire is so plain, almost shabby, that it seems as though he's wearing a tag labelled 'poverty', which is particularly jarring.
His name is Shen Hao, he is thirteen years old, in the second year of middle school, and of pure Han ethnicity. Contrary to the conjectures of many naive students, he isn't a mixture of Uighur and Han, nor is he Chinese-Russian mixed.
He is not in the mood to play and make merry.
His mother, who has been unemployed for many years, is bedridden. The family depends on the money his father earns as a taxi driver. Unable to afford hospital treatment, his mother's illness is worsening day by day.
What is he to do?
Shen Hao, who had to grow up prematurely, pondered hard.
Time quietly slipped away, and the boys and girls who had played hard began to return to the classroom one after another, their noise breaking Shen Hao's thoughts. This kid quietly returned to his seat without a word.
The last lesson in the afternoon was a study period. Shen Hao, who always ranked high in his academic performance, was used to using this time to complete the homework assigned by the teachers, so that he had enough time to clean the house, shop for groceries, and cook dinner after school. This not only took care of his mother but also allowed his father to focus on driving and earn more money.
"Shen Hao, it's Christmas Eve tonight, I want to give you a peace fruit."
Just as Shen Hao opened his book ready to do his homework, a pleasing voice sounded beside him, he looked up subconsciously, and a beautiful little girl with a ponytail was staring at him with a smile.
He Yuan.
His deskmate.
The most beautiful girl in the class as unanimously acknowledged by all the boys.
She came from a well-off family, excelled in her studies, and was beautiful and lovely, naturally attracting lots of male admirers.
Adults may think that middle school relationships are nothing but nonsense. However, this heartfelt adoration is subtly permeating the school campus, affecting more than just one or two kids.
When He Yuan handed a beautifully packaged box to Shen Hao, several boys who always paid attention to He Yuan looked at them with twisted or stunned expressions, symbolizing the jealousy they felt inside.
"Are you really giving it to me?"
It's not that Shen Hao was pretending ignorance. Even though he and He Yuan were close as desk mates, he felt a bit awkward when she affirmed this in public.
"Among all the boys in the class, you are the only one I can stand, of course it's for you." He Yuan boldly handed the beautiful box to Shen Hao, sat down, casually took out her textbook from her desk.
Poor girl had no idea that her statement would bring such a trouble for Shen Hao. The boys who considered her as their dream girl were utterly disgruntled. Their facial expressions became even more animated, middle school boys aren't quite adept at appearing nonchalant or gentlemanly, whatever they felt inside was vividly displayed on their faces.
"Give that back to He Yuan, or I'll beat you up!" A boy immediately erupted, rudely rushing out, grabbing Shen Hao's collar in a threatening manner, looking down from his tall posture.
Wang Zhiqiang, the bully of the class, exploits his father's notoriety in society, dominating with an iron fist and giving teachers constant headaches. He hardly takes any notice of the poor kid Shen Hao.
The classroom, which was noisy a moment ago, fell into sudden silence.
More than fifty pairs of eyes focused on Wang Zhiqiang, Shen Hao, and He Yuan.
"Wang Zhiqiang, what are you doing?" He Yuan stood up glaring at the blustering Wang Zhiqiang. She particularly despised this thick-skinned scoundrel who often called her his wife in public, and several times he even forcibly embraced her. Fortunately, her complaints to the teacher had some effect, otherwise, she really would not be able to study in peace.
"I just want to beat him up unless you take back the stuff you gave him." Wang Zhiqiang's unreasonable rogue behavior almost brought He Yuan to tears.
Shen Hao let Wang Zhiqiang grab his collar, very calmly opening up the beautifully wrapped box to reveal a large red apple affixed with a Santa Claus sticker and a blessing label. Compared to the rest of the apples wrapped in cheap paper usually found in the market, this one looked far more premium.
"The apple is nice... Thank you for the gift." Shen Hao thanked He Yuan with a smile, picked up the apple and began to eat.
He Yuan was dumbstruck.
Wang Zhiqiang was caught off guard.
The bell for class rang at that moment.
Shen Hao didn't say or do anything to Wang Zhiqiang, but his actions looked like a brazen challenge and resistance to the usually arrogant Wang Zhiqiang!
"You just wait!"
Gritting his teeth, Wang Zhiqiang shuffled back to his seat. It was time for class, and headteacher Mr. Xu would be here soon. Faced with Mr. Xu, who was bold enough to criticize his fearsome father, Wang Zhiqiang felt a bit apprehensive.
As the nearly forty, yet still charming, Mr. Xu walked into the classroom, all the students started quietly doing their work as if nothing had happened. It was so quiet all along.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault." He Yuan murmured to Shen Hao when the teacher wasn't looking.
Shen Hao turned his face to look at the guilt-ridden He Yuan and said in a low voice, "It's okay, I don't have money to buy you a present, but tonight I'll go home and make you a Christmas gift. I hope you won't mind."
The naive and whimsical He Yuan didn't care whether Shen Hao had money or not, or whether the gift was made or bought. She nodded happily. Just then, the class advisor, Teacher Xu, suddenly looked over, seeming to notice their conversation.
Fortunately, the last one to return to the classroom turned up at the classroom door just in time, jovially shouting a report, and Teacher Xu who was standing at the podium had no choice but to divert his gaze.
"Are all the persimmons sold out?" Teacher Xu asked in a calm tone.
The last one to return, a chubby boy, scratched his head and smiled goofily saying that they were all sold out.
"Stop grinning and get back to your seat to do your homework," said the previously strict Teacher Xu, brushing off the episode. He stared at the chubby boy who had just walked past the podium, and sighed quietly.
Zhao Xiaobao, the beloved grandson of the old principal, whose parents and elders are mostly graduates from prestigious universities. The most impressive one is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at Yale University in the United States.
However, this child did not inherit his family's good traditions. He does just enough to get by in his studies, never being the worst, nor striving to be the best, but loves doing small businesses, selling stationery and toys to classmates, from pencil erasers to mountain bikes and counterfeit mobile phones. There's nothing this child wouldn't sell, a true character indeed.
If the old principal keeps tolerating it, the child will be ruined.
Teacher Xu was worried about Zhao Xiaobao, neglecting the whispering Shen Hao and He Yuan just now.
The forty-minute study period went by quickly. When the bell rang, the students packed their bags, waited for the class advisor to leave, and then dispersed. Outside the school gate on both sides of Tengfei Road were all sorts of vehicles waiting to pick up children. Shen Hao watched as He Yuan got into a brand new SUV, and then turned back to go home.
The children of rich families have a ride to and from school, while children of poor families like Shen Hao had to walk back. Since they didn't live too far, Shen Hao didn’t worry about taking advantage of the nearby school policy and getting into one of the top middle schools in the city.
On both sides of Tengfei Road, several urban villages were bunched together, with dangerous buildings and low bungalows from the seventies and eighties of the last century, it was impossible to count how many households lived there.
A small street extending from Tengfei Road runs through the biggest urban village, with seven or eight alleys intersecting it. As Shen Hao was about to turn into the third alley, someone from behind suddenly yelled out, "Shen Hao, stop there for me!"
Wang Zhiqiang... Recognizing the voice, Shen Hao frowned, slowly turned around, and saw seven or eight delinquent youths surrounding the youngest among them, Wang Zhiqiang, approaching with an imposing air.