A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Tuesday, March 28th, one day before the release of "Four Generations Under One Roof".

When the school bell rang, Lin Shubai was packing his schoolbag, while Su Wan stuffed her textbooks into her desk drawer and went straight downstairs to go for a run. Ever since she said she wanted to take the police academy entrance exam, running a few laps around the track after school every day had become an unwavering habit.

Liu Yang turned around from the front row, still chewing on something, and said, "What's wrong with her lately? She's been running every day."

"Train your physical fitness."

"What's the point of physical training? It's not like she'll have to do manual labor." Liu Yang slung his backpack over his shoulder, chuckled twice, and said, "I'm off now, you wait for her." Then he ran off.

People in the classroom walked quickly. The students on duty were wiping the blackboard. Lin Shubai folded his math test paper in half, stuffed it into his schoolbag, and took out his Chinese textbook to flip through it—actually, there wasn't much to flip through. He just didn't want to go downstairs so quickly. He wanted to wait for Su Wan to finish running so that they could walk together. This was already an unspoken understanding between them.

He sat in the classroom for about ten minutes. The footsteps in the corridor gradually subsided and finally became completely quiet. He stood up, pushed his chair under the desk, and walked out of the classroom.

There weren't many people on the playground. A few boys were shooting hoops on the basketball court, an old man was walking his dog by the soccer goal, and there were two or three people scattered on the track. Lin Shubai stood by the track, glanced around, and didn't see Su Wan.

He walked along the grass on the inside of the track, and when he reached the bend, he saw her.

Su Wan sat on the ground beside the track, one leg stretched out and the other bent, her hand resting on her left ankle. Lin Shubai's heart skipped a beat.

Lin Shubai walked over quickly.

"Su Wan".

She looked up, her face expressionless, but there was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. The right leg of her school uniform pants was rolled up to her calf, revealing her ankle, which was swollen, with taut, shiny, and red skin.

"What's wrong?" He squatted down.

"It's nothing, I just twisted my ankle."

Lin Shubai looked down at her ankle. He reached out to touch it, but before his fingers could even touch her skin, Su Wan pulled her foot back.

"Don't touch it, it hurts."

Lin Shubai withdrew his hand. "Can you stand up?"

"Yes." Su Wan said, trying to stand up, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she swayed, her brows furrowed, and she let out a very short "hiss" before sitting back down.

Lin Shubai didn't say anything. He squatted down and waited. He knew Su Wan's temper. The more you urged her, the more stubborn she would become. If you didn't urge her, she would admit it on her own.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"...No." Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Lin Shubai turned around, his back to her, and squatted down. "Get on."

Su Wan didn't move.

"Su Wan!" he said in a low voice.

Su Wan raised her head and looked at him.

"Come up."

This time she wasn't stubborn. She put her hand on his shoulder, used the leverage to stand up, hopped twice on one foot, and climbed onto his back. Su Wan was lighter than he had imagined, probably from running recently; she had lost weight. Her arms were around his neck, her chin rested on his shoulder, and her breath brushed against his ear.

Lin Shubai's ears felt a little hot. He pretended not to feel it, lifted her up to make sure she wouldn't slip, and walked towards the exit of the playground.

"How did this happen?"

Su Wan did not answer.

"Su Wan".

"I just twisted my ankle."

"I know it's a sprain, but I'm asking how it happened?"

Su Wan fell silent again, and Lin Shubai could feel her fingers gripping his school uniform tightly.

After a while, he said, "I'm thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about that's making you so engrossed?"

"..." Su Wan's breath brushed against his neck, the rhythm becoming uneven. "Have you seen those comments online?"

Lin Shubai knew what she was talking about. He had seen it online yesterday; someone had posted on a forum saying that he had someone else write his books and that his books were all packaged by a team. It wasn't that he didn't care, but he felt it was unnecessary. The more you explain, the more those people think you're guilty. This was a truth he had understood since his past life—some arguments are never about the truth from the start.

"I saw it."

"Don't you feel anything?"

"Having feelings doesn't shut those people up."

"But—" Su Wan's voice trailed off, "They say you had someone else write it for you, but they probably haven't even read the book. What gives them the right?"

"So you're thinking about this while you're running?"

Su Wan paused for two seconds, then said, "...I'm thinking about how to reply."

"Return to what?"

"Reply to that person." Su Wan's voice lowered, but her speech quickened. "Someone posted your photo and said, 'That's it? Writing about the War of Resistance at sixteen?' I defended you and said, 'You dare to live looking like that? What's wrong with someone writing about the War of Resistance?' It got a lot of likes."

Lin Shubai couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't laugh!" Su Wan patted his shoulder.

"and then?"

"Then I went for a run, and I sprained my ankle while I was running."

Lin Shubai laughed, this time a genuine laugh, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Su Wan, clinging to his back, patted him again, this time harder than before.

"What are you laughing at! I'm arguing for you, and you're laughing at me."

"I wasn't laughing at you." Lin Shubai's tone still carried a hint of amusement. "I was thinking that if you don't get into police academy, you could become a debater."

Su Wan thought for a moment, "Then forget it. Not everyone is worth my time."

"So you mean I'm the one who deserves it?" Lin Shubai realized he'd said the wrong thing as soon as he finished speaking; the sentence felt a bit ambiguous.

Su Wan didn't speak; her silence was more unsettling than any response.

He walked forward, his pace quickening slightly, wanting to escape the atmosphere created by those words. He even pondered, between steps, how he should answer if Su Wan asked, "What do you mean?" Or, if she didn't ask anything, should he explain himself—what did "worth it" mean? Was it worth her arguing, worth her spraining her ankle, or was it worth her...?

"Why are you walking so fast?" Su Wan's voice came from behind his shoulder.

Lin Shubai slowed his pace, "in case the infirmary closes."

"Su Wan".

"Um."

"Don't argue with those people anymore."

Su Wan didn't speak.

"Even if you win the argument, they won't believe you; if you lose, you'll get angry, so either way you're at a disadvantage."

"But—" Su Wan's voice became very soft, "I don't like them talking about you like that."

He spoke very softly, but Lin Shubai still heard it. His heart skipped a beat, like a string being touched by a finger, making a buzzing sound that lasted for a while before stopping. Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a little awkward again, Lin Shubai had no choice but to change the subject. After all, they were only in their first year of high school, and it was too early to talk about those things.

"Does your foot hurt?"

Su Wan was taken aback, probably not expecting him to ask that suddenly. "It hurts."

"Bear with it for a bit, we'll be at the infirmary soon."