Chapter 1 — The Day the Whole School Went Wild

The autumn excursion of the entire class had taken place, leaving behind only one person: myself. I made no fuss, but by the very next day, the entire school was thrown into absolute chaos. Forty-eight students were supposed to go on the autumn outing, yet when the class monitor booked the tickets, he had "accidentally" purchased one short. And the ticket that was missing belonged to me. The monitor posted a group photo of the trip into the class chat, accompanied by the caption: "Remember to be more sociable next time, and stop hiding at home all by yourself." Over forty classmates liked the post and joined in the mockery, while the homeroom teacher vanished from the group entirely, pretending to see nothing. I did not make a scene, nor did I argue in the chat. I simply left the group, pulled the blanket over my head, and slept soundly for an entire day. Early the next morning, continuous phone calls from the principal, the Department of Education, and even city officials flooded my home. My mother covered the mouthpiece, her voice trembling: "My daughter, what on earth... is your true identity?"

The morning homeroom period on Friday had just ended when Class Monitor Hua Jiayan walked up to the podium, holding his phone.

"I have finished booking the tickets for the autumn excursion. Everyone, please transfer the money to me."

The classroom instantly buzzed with excitement. Someone from the back row shouted, "The monitor is so reliable!" Hua Jiayan smiled, waving his phone in the air.

"There are forty-seven tickets for the entire class, not a single one missing."

I raised my head and glanced at him. Our class had forty-eight students. My name was Shen Nanqiao, and I sat in the very last row by the window. The surface of my desk was impeccably clean, holding only an English vocabulary notebook and a black pen. As soon as Hua Jiayan finished speaking, his gaze swept across the classroom, finally landing on my face. He acted as though he had only just remembered, lifting a hand to cover his mouth.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry, Nanqiao, I completely forgot that you were coming too."

The classroom fell silent for a single second. The next moment, someone chuckled.

"She doesn't usually participate in group activities anyway, does she?"

"That's right, she didn't say a single word during the sports festival last time either."

"It's normal for one ticket to be missing. Even if she went, she'd just sit by herself the whole time anyway."

I gripped my pen tightly, saying nothing. Hua Jiayan walked over to my desk, lowering his voice just enough so that those nearby could clearly hear every word.

"If you really want to go, I can ask the travel agency if they can add another ticket."

He paused, then added another sentence.

"But adding a ticket now would probably be a huge hassle. Everyone has already paid their share, so please don't make things difficult for me."

I looked straight at him.

"Did you ask me before you booked the tickets?"

The smile on Hua Jiayan's face froze.

"Do I need to consult everyone individually for a class activity? Everyone just assumed we were all going."

I replied, "Then why didn't that assumption include me?" His face grew cold. Cheng Hao, sitting in the row ahead, leaned his chair back.

"Shen Nanqiao, can you stop being so petty and calculating? The monitor has been busy taking care of everything and booking tickets for everyone, and instead of saying thank you, you're looking for trouble?"

I turned my gaze toward him.

"The missing ticket is mine."

Cheng Hao sneered.

"You just want everyone to coax and pamper you, don't you?"

A few students around us joined in, laughing softly. The laughter wasn't loud, but it dragged on, one after another. The homeroom teacher, Gao Lan, was standing outside the door, holding her insulated thermos. She had clearly heard everything. Yet she did not step inside. She merely glanced at me once before looking away. Hua Jiayan instantly looked as though he had gained strong backing.

"Ms. Gao, Nanqiao is saying we are boycotting her."

Gao Lan stepped into the classroom and placed her thermos on the podium. She looked at me, her tone utterly indifferent.

"Shen Nanqiao, in collective living, occasional oversights are entirely normal."

I said, "Forty-eight people, forty-seven tickets, and the oversight happened to fall precisely on me—is that normal too?" Gao Lan frowned.

"Are you talking back to your teacher now?"

The classroom was utterly still. I capped my pen.

"I am merely asking a question."

Gao Lan's expression darkened.

"Everyone is eagerly looking forward to this excursion; do not let your single self ruin the mood of the entire class."

Her words dropped like a verdict handed down by a judge. Hua Jiayan lowered his head and smiled complacently. He turned back to address the class: "Let me go and ask if an extra ticket can be added, though I cannot make any promises." He spoke with a wronged air, as if I were the one causing trouble for everyone else. By noon, I had not received a single message from him. Before afternoon dismissal, he posted the itinerary in the class group. Forty-seven names. Without mine. The chat was quickly flooded with stickers. Someone asked, "Where is Shen Nanqiao?" Hua Jiayan replied, "She probably didn't want to go, we must respect personal choices." Cheng Hao sent a laughing emoji.

"Don't force her, she's far too arrogant."

I tapped on the chat interface. My finger lingered for a long time. In the end, I sent nothing. I turned my phone face down on the desk and continued memorizing vocabulary. The dismissal bell rang, and the students gathered around Hua Jiayan to discuss snacks, seating arrangements, and photography. I walked past them silently. Hua Jiayan suddenly called out behind me.

「Nanqiao, if you aren't going tomorrow, remember to notify Ms. Gao, otherwise it will be counted as truancy.」

I halted.

"Where is my ticket?"

He shrugged.

"Couldn't add one, the travel agency said they were fully booked."

Cheng Hao chimed in with a grin.

"Then you should just stay home and get some good rest."

I looked at Hua Jiayan. There was not a shred of guilt in his eyes. Only the eager anticipation of watching me humiliated. I nodded.

"Understood."

The following morning, two large tour buses were parked outside the school gates. I arrived with my backpack. I did not get on the bus. I stood by the entrance, watching Hua Jiayan hold up the attendance sheet.

"Forty-seven people, everyone is present."

Gao Lan sat right by the front door of the first bus; she heard him but made no corrections. She didn't even spare me a glance. The buses began to roll forward. Through the windows, someone pulled a face at me. Cheng Hao held up his phone to record me. Hua Jiayan sat by the window, flashing a V-sign for the camera. As the vehicle pulled away, my phone buzzed once. A photo appeared in the class group chat, sent by Hua Jiayan. It was a group photo of the entire class. The caption contained only a single sentence.

"Remember to be more sociable next time, and stop hiding at home all by yourself."

Beneath it, dozens of likes quickly accumulated. I stood outside the school gates, staring fixedly at those words. Then, I opened the group settings and left the chat. Just as the screen went dark, an unfamiliar number called. I stared at the screen without answering. The ringing stopped. The very next second, it began again. No name was displayed, only a string of digits jumping across the display. I slipped the phone into my pocket and turned to walk home. The security guard called out from behind, "Young lady, not going to school today?" I didn't look back. Because parked by the curb just outside the school gates was a black sedan. Its window was rolled halfway down. The person sitting inside caught sight of me, and their expression abruptly changed.

Upon returning home, my mother was plucking vegetables in the kitchen. Hearing me enter, the bunch of greens slipped from her hands and dropped straight into the basin.

"Weren't you going on the excursion?"

I changed my shoes.

"I'm not going."

She wiped her hands and hurried over.

"Are you sick?"

I shook my head. Mother looked at my face, then down at my empty hands.

"The teacher didn't notify me."

I placed my backpack on the sofa.

"They bought one ticket short."

Mother froze.

"Whose ticket was missing?"

I replied, "Mine." A sudden silence fell over the house. The faucet was still running, water splashing violently against the vegetable leaves. Mother turned and shut off the water. Her back was turned to me, her shoulders rigid.

"What did the teacher say?"

"It was an oversight."

"And your classmates?"

"They said I need to be more sociable."

Mother spun around abruptly. Her lips trembled, and finally she only managed to say, "Go inside and take a nap." I nodded. I was genuinely exhausted. Walking all the way from the school gates back home, I hadn't cried, nor was I angry. I simply felt profoundly tired. Much like a tightly pulled string that, having been stretched for far too long, had suddenly snapped. I entered my room, drew the curtains, and switched my phone to silent mode. Before falling asleep, I glanced at the screen. Three missed calls. All from unknown numbers. And a text message.

"Shen, please return this call immediately, there are important arrangements that need to be confirmed."

I didn't open it. I laid the phone face down on the bedside table and drifted into a deep sleep. It was a profound slumber. Halfway through, I heard footsteps outside my door. It seemed my mother had come in. She pulled the blanket over me and gently closed the door. I did not wake up. By dusk, the phone on the bedside table vibrated intensely, creating a buzzing sound. Drowsily, I reached out and pressed the power button to turn it off. The screen lit up and then went dark. Over a dozen missed calls. Unknown numbers. The school administration office. Gao Lan. Hua Jiayan. And a number saved under the contact name "City Education Service Center." I skimmed over them and powered the device down entirely. The world fell quiet once more. That evening, mother did not call me for dinner. She set the food on the dining table, covering it with an insulated dome. When I woke up in the middle of the night for water, the living room lights were still on. Mother was sitting on the sofa, her phone resting on the coffee table. She hadn't slept. Seeing me, she immediately stood up.

"Are you hungry, dear?"

I said, "I'm not hungry." She walked over and touched my forehead.

"Nanqiao, tell me the truth, have they always treated you this way?"

I held my glass of water. The surface of the glass was faintly warm.

"Not necessarily *always*."

I paused to think for a moment.

"Ever since I transferred into this class."

Mother's face drained of color. I had transferred into Class 11-3 at the Affiliated High School in September of last year. My father had just passed away at the time. I hadn't wanted people at my old school crowding around with endless questions. Mother had used her connections to transfer me here. She only knew that I was quiet. She didn't know that my cafeteria meal card had once been hidden. She didn't know my name had been written on the duty blackboard three times over. She didn't know that Hua Jiayan had gone around telling everyone I got in through connections, and that my good grades were solely due to obtaining exam papers in advance. Nor did she know that Gao Lan never failed to say:

"Shen Nanqiao, you must learn how to get along with your peers."

I had never told her any of it. I had assumed that if I just endured it for a while, everything would be fine once high school ended. Mother's voice trembled.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I looked at her.

"If I had told you, I still would have had to keep going to school anyway."

As soon as those words left my mouth, the corners of Mother's eyes instantly turned red. She took the glass of water from my hand.

"You are not going to school tomorrow."

I said, "Tomorrow is Sunday." She paused for a moment, as if only just remembering. I lowered my head and smiled faintly. The smile was fleeting, vanishing in an instant.

"Mom, I want to go back to sleep."

"Alright."

Before returning to my room, I heard Mother's phone ring. She answered, her tone exceptionally polite.

"Hello, who is this?"

I didn't hear what the person on the other end said. Mother's back suddenly straightened.

"Principal?"

I stopped at the door. Mother glanced at me. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"Nanqiao, the principal is looking for you."

I said, "I'm going to sleep." Mother looked stunned. The voice from the other end of the line drifted over, sounding intensely urgent.

"Please, you must have student Shen take the call, this is truly a matter of utmost importance."

I closed the door behind me. That night, I slept even more soundly. At seven o'clock the next morning, the doorbell rang. One persistent ring after another. Mother put on her coat and went to open the door. Sitting on my bed, I heard the voice of a man echoing from the living room.