In June, the blazing sun was like fire. Outside the gymnasium windows, the cicadas in the trees cried louder and louder, one wave after another. Qi Xi sat backstage behind the rostrum, her emotions mixed with a faint nervousness, a dazed sense of unreality, and a little melancholy.
The graduation ceremony was about to begin. Soon, she would give a speech as Rong University’s only outstanding graduate representative from the law school. After that, her four-year journey through law school would officially come to an end.
To be honest, because she was pretty and also a top student in the law school, Qi Xi’s university life could be described as smooth sailing. The only thing that dissatisfied her was the endless frustration caused by her rival, Gu Yan. Over four years as classmates, Gu Yan had snatched away countless opportunities and awards from her.
For four whole years, Qi Xi had devoted herself to studying like an ascetic monk. In the end, she still had never beaten Gu Yan. Not even once.
He was always first place, while Qi Xi was always second.
Sometimes, the difference was only a few marks. But who remembered second place?
What Qi Xi found hardest to accept was that Gu Yan seemed to win almost effortlessly. Unlike Qi Xi, who had given up all entertainment and socialising to throw herself into studying, that man took part in nearly every law school activity, whether it was debate competitions, basketball games, mock trials, or legal aid.
He shone brightly on almost every stage, using his flawless face and figure to earn the admiration and praise of girls, constantly asserting his presence in front of Qi Xi like a form of mental pollution.
He was like a master of time management who handled everything with ease, perfectly managing almost every field, then casually defeating Qi Xi, who had staked everything on one goal.
That feeling of still losing after giving it her all filled Qi Xi with frustration. Over time, it even caused her to redirect some of that resentment toward Gu Yan.
Rationally, Qi Xi understood that Gu Yan had done nothing wrong. The two of them did not even have much interaction. But she still could not help hating him.
However, this time, the person chosen to speak as the outstanding graduate representative was her, not Gu Yan.
With the secret pleasure of finally winning back one round mixed into her emotions, Qi Xi silently began reciting her speech again.
After thinking for a moment, she called her father, Qi Ruiming.
“Dad, where are you? The graduation ceremony is about to start soon…”
But before she could finish speaking, Qi Ruiming interrupted her.
“What do you mean, where am I? Dad still has a court hearing at the Intermediate People’s Court. I have to head over right away…”
Qi Ruiming had forgotten after all!
Qi Xi felt close to breaking down.
“Dad, today is my graduation ceremony. You said you would come! I’m speaking today as the student representative, I’m going to—”
But Qi Ruiming clearly did not take it seriously. He interrupted Qi Xi and casually coaxed her.
“Xixi, Dad is too busy. I can’t delay a client’s trial. Besides, so many of your classmates are from other cities. Are all their parents coming? There aren’t many parents who can attend the graduation ceremony anyway. Just ask someone to record a video and take some photos, then show Dad later. I have to go now. Bye.”
Qi Ruiming did not even give Qi Xi the chance to finish that final sentence. As always, all he left her with was the sound of the call being cut off.
It was true that not many parents could attend the graduation ceremony. But the honour of speaking at the graduation ceremony as the student representative only came once.
Once again, Qi Xi’s father had hung up on her. She stared at the speech draft in her hand, and her mood began to turn irritable.
Although Qi Xi had drafted the speech herself, after her counsellor had revised it three or four times, the final version had long since lost the main idea she had originally wanted to express. It had become proper, standard, and soulless. But for the honour of standing onstage as the outstanding graduate representative, Qi Xi had accepted those changes.
Only now, when she reached the last paragraph while reciting, she kept feeling that the flow was disconnected. That sense of disjointedness became even more upsetting after her call had been cut off.
Seeing that there was still time, Qi Xi stood up. She still wanted to find her counsellor and ask whether she could improvise slightly and add a transitional paragraph herself.
**
Qi Xi found her counsellor at the backstage entrance. His back was facing her, and he was chatting with a teacher from the academic affairs office.
“Time really flies. Another class is graduating. Who’s speaking at this year’s graduation ceremony?”
“It’s Qi Xi.”
“Qi Xi? The one who always came second? Why didn’t you ask Gu Yan? Isn’t he better?”
Hearing them talk about her, Qi Xi paused. Suddenly, she also felt a little curious about why her counsellor had chosen her in the end. Was it because he had seen her more tenacious attitude toward studying?
However, to her surprise, what Qi Xi received was not affirmation.
“Gu Yan is better. He’s handsome, has a steady stage presence, and there are many girls in the law school. If he spoke, the audience would probably applaud even more enthusiastically. But what can we do? He wasn’t willing to cooperate with revising the speech. He said that if we asked him to speak, we had to fully respect his wishes, and he would not accept any changes to his speech draft.”
The teacher from the academic affairs office laughed.
“That can’t be helped. Boys are just more individualistic. But the stronger their personality, the stronger their abilities. Girls may be obedient, but they don’t have much innovative ability, nor do they have the skill to lead others.”
The counsellor could not help sighing.
“Actually, for a major occasion like a graduation ceremony, boys are more mentally steady. Qi Xi is a girl, so I’m worried she’ll get nervous when she has to perform on the spot.”
But soon, the counsellor’s tone became relaxed again.
“But after all, she’s a girl. Qi Xi is very obedient. Wherever I told her to change something, she changed it. In the end, I revised the draft several times and had her memorise the whole thing in advance. Normally, there shouldn’t be any problems. The college leaders are all coming today, so nothing can go wrong.”
The two of them quickly began talking about something else, but Qi Xi only felt her hands and feet go cold. She could not listen to another word.
She did not go to find her counsellor after all. Instead, she gripped the speech draft in her hand and silently walked back to the backstage rest area.
So even as the outstanding student representative at the graduation ceremony, the only reason she had been chosen was because she had picked up something Gu Yan did not want.
Gu Yan, Gu Yan. Everywhere, it was Gu Yan. Everyone liked Gu Yan.
Even on her way to the gymnasium earlier for the graduation ceremony rehearsal, Qi Xi had unexpectedly witnessed someone confessing to Gu Yan.
“I’m sorry. I don’t like you.”
“I have someone I like.”
“I’m going to confess to her today.”
“You have no chance.”
The girl confessing to him had said a long string of nervous, uneasy words, humbly begging Gu Yan to give her a chance. Yet Gu Yan had only replied with those four cold sentences. He had not seen Qi Xi. After rejecting the girl, he turned and left on his own, polite but distant, leaving the other person no room at all.
Would a man this ruthless actually like someone?
Who had committed such a bloody misfortune as to be liked by someone like him?
At that moment, because of the episode with the speech draft, Qi Xi’s redirected anger toward Gu Yan had almost reached its peak.
She hoped the girl Gu Yan was about to confess to would reject him mercilessly!
“Qi Xi.”
Because she had been cursing Gu Yan inwardly, the moment his voice rang out, Qi Xi nearly jumped in fright.
She looked up and saw that the person standing in front of her really was Gu Yan himself.
To be honest, Gu Yan’s looks truly were one in ten thousand. He was tall, with excellent proportions, and wherever he stood, he had the image of a sunny, refreshing campus heartthrob. At this moment, bathed in the scattered sunlight filtering through the gymnasium roof, his face, caught between patches of light and shadow, carried the unique cleanness of youth, along with the early outline of a more mature charm. Barring any accidents, he would probably become an extremely handsome man in the future—the kind who, if he wore a suit and smiled more often, would make many girls weak at the knees.
Even though Qi Xi had never paid much attention to him, she knew that several times when Gu Yan had gone shopping off campus, casual street photos of him had gone viral. He was also frequently approached by talent scouts and variety-show staff. One agent had even stubbornly climbed over the law school wall in the middle of the night and had almost been mistaken for a thief and sent to the police station.
Qi Xi’s heart began beating nervously. Gu Yan’s lips were lightly pressed together. She glared at him with a fierce expression that was mostly bluff.
“What is it?”
Gu Yan seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he did not. He paused, then handed her the thing in his hand.
“Your book.”
Qi Xi looked down. It was one of her LSAT practice books.
“You left it in the library.”
After Gu Yan finished speaking, he glanced at Qi Xi again, put the book down, then turned and left.
How baffling.
However, this LSAT practice book stirred up complicated feelings in Qi Xi at that moment. What it represented was countless days and nights she had spent studying in the library.
The conversation she had overheard from her counsellor had left her mind in chaos. Almost unconsciously, she opened the practice book, and a sheet of letter paper fell out.
“To my most beloved baby Qi Xi.”
The opening line on the letter paper made Qi Xi’s whole body jolt.
This was…
Was this a love letter?
Gu Yan had handed her the practice book, and Gu Yan had just said earlier that he was going to confess to someone today, so…
So she was actually the unlucky person he liked?
Gu Yan actually liked her?!
This was actually the love letter he had written to her?!
Qi Xi’s entire mind fell into chaos.
Her heart pounded violently. She thought back to Gu Yan’s face and figure, finding it hard to imagine that such a cold, aloof person could write such a cheesy love letter. “Baby Qi Xi”…
So now the question was:
Should Baby Qi Xi accept?
Maybe she should reject him. After all, she and Gu Yan had so many old and new grudges between them, and she did not understand him that well either…
But, but his face and figure really were quite good. He ranked first every time, so his IQ should also be very high. Maybe she could infiltrate his side, observe him from within, and eventually use his own strengths against him?
In the midst of immense confusion and nervousness, Qi Xi unfolded the love letter. Then…
Then her entire face darkened.
“My baby, I fell in love with you at first sight and have thought of you day and night, but I suffered because I never dared to confess. Now that we are about to graduate, I have decided to bravely be myself and confess to you—I love you. I love you so much I can’t sleep. My mind is full of you. At night, I even imagine being intimate with you in my head.”
“My baby, I think you must have feelings for me too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have worn those clothes that showed off your curves to seduce me, twisting in front of me. When I saw your chest, your waist, your hips, I couldn’t even walk. I dream of those things. I’ve grown thin and haggard because of you, I can’t sleep properly, my body has gone weak, and I’m almost drained dry.”
“So you have committed a crime against me, and with my love, I sentence you to lifelong imprisonment by my side.”
“I don’t want to be drained by insomnia anymore. I hope that every night in the future, you’ll be the one to drain me instead.”
…
Qi Xi simply could not believe her eyes.
Was this a love letter?
This was sexual harassment!
It was disgusting!
When had she ever seduced him? What she had worn was called a dance costume. It was meant to be form-fitting and outline the body’s curves. And she had never once twisted around in front of Gu Yan alone. She had been forced to participate in the law school’s Mid-Autumn Festival dance performance! It had been a completely normal artistic performance in front of the entire school!
Qi Xi stared at the final signature on the love letter.
The two large characters “Gu Yan” declared that everything she was experiencing right now was not a dream brought on by her long-term hostility toward Gu Yan.
She had never expected that someone like Gu Yan, who looked cold, aloof, and proper on the surface, would actually be so filthy and obscene inside!
This person was practically hazardous waste!
Baby Qi Xi decided not to hesitate anymore. She would personally send Gu Yan to the rubbish dump.
Qi Xi took a deep breath and finally made up her mind. She handed the LSAT practice book with the love letter tucked inside to her good friend Zhao Yiran, who happened to be passing by. Then she crumpled up the speech draft that had been revised until it seemed as if her counsellor had written it himself, and threw it into the rubbish bin.
She wanted everyone to see that girls did not get stage fright, nor were they always obedient. Girls had their own thoughts and their own free will. They were not accessories to any man, nor were they dolls trapped under stereotypical labels like “obedient,” “well-behaved,” and “gentle.”
“Today, before giving my graduation ceremony speech, I received a love letter. It made me decide to temporarily change my already proper and standard speech draft, improvise on the spot, and talk to everyone about society’s prejudice against women, and the strength women should have to fight against it.”
…
This was a bold rebellion, and also a speech born from a sudden surge of anger. Yet never before had Qi Xi felt so confident. She was no longer the second-place student forever beneath someone else, but her true, genuine self. If she had still been a little nervous at the start, once she let herself speak freely, Qi Xi became more and more fluent, more and more full of energy.
“The proportion of female students in law schools has clearly long since exceeded that of male students, so why do most people still believe that men are more likely to succeed? How many of our senior female students who went through the combined undergraduate-master’s-doctoral programme have successfully stayed on at the university? Even the law school itself unknowingly practises employment discrimination. When recruiting, men are prioritised. When keeping graduates on as teachers, men are prioritised. The whole of society needs women, yet it exploits women and refuses to respect women.”
“I hope that every graduate of the law school, whether female or male, can fight for gender equality. And I also ask every man to understand this: if you like a girl, the best form of pursuit is respecting her, not verbally harassing and objectifying her.”
At that moment, countless eyes were focused on Qi Xi. The college leaders’ expressions were grave, and her counsellor looked as if he was about to faint, but Qi Xi no longer cared.
The only person she cared about was the culprit, Gu Yan.
Gu Yan was staring at Qi Xi with extreme focus and seriousness. Clearly, he was the one who deserved condemnation the most, yet he was still looking at her so brazenly. There was not even the slightest trace of guilt or self-reproach on his face.
Four years of grievances, the suffocation of not being acknowledged, the indignation of being labelled and suppressed, and the humiliation of receiving that vulgar confession letter—all of it made Qi Xi’s blood boil. Her speech also ignited the emotions of most of the girls present, pushing the atmosphere of the graduation ceremony close to boiling point.
And finally, Qi Xi could not hold back anymore. She glared at Gu Yan and launched into a passionate, cathartic accusation, pushing the graduation ceremony to a blazing climax.
“Gu Yan, you have the right to remain secretly in love, but confessing like this is a crime!”
“I hope you remember this: I am someone you will never be able to catch up to in this lifetime! The girls of the law school will never be objects for you to harass!”
Gu Yan, today I’ll tear off your respectable-looking beastly skin!
Qi Xi’s words were like a drop of water falling into a pan of boiling oil. The scene erupted into uproar. Sure enough, every gaze gathered on Gu Yan. Standing on the stage, Qi Xi waited for Gu Yan to panic and flee in defeat.
But he did not.
Gu Yan merely frowned, his face dark, his lips pressed tightly together. He did not say a word, nor did he do anything. He only stared fixedly at Qi Xi on the stage.
What? Had she wronged him or something?
He had the guts to do it, but not the guts to admit it?
…
Qi Xi calmly bowed in thanks amid the chaos, then walked off the stage with righteous dignity and composure.
Below the stage, Zhao Yiran was looking at Qi Xi with an expression of despair that clearly said, “You’re finished.”
But Qi Xi felt extremely satisfied. She walked off the stage, sat down beside Zhao Yiran, and calmly twisted open the cap of a mineral water bottle before taking a sip.
“Cheer up, Zhao Yiran. We’ve all graduated now. Even if the college leaders and the counsellor are unhappy, what can they do? Just consider this the final rebellion of my youth. Think positively. It’s no big deal!”
Zhao Yiran was still holding the practice book Qi Xi had given her earlier, but both her hands had already begun trembling.
“Qi Xi, that love letter… did you finish reading it?”
“I did!”
“Then open it again and look at the back.”
Qi Xi was a little surprised.
“There’s more on the back?”
Hadn’t the front already reached the signature? Could it be that Gu Yan had still felt unsatisfied and had written a few more disgusting lines of monologue on the back?
Having just finished delivering her important speech, Qi Xi felt refreshed and clear-headed. She immediately flipped the love letter over decisively.
Then she…
She discovered a terrifying truth.
This love letter really had not been finished.
Because after that disgusting confession and signature, when she turned to the back, there was still one line of words:
“’s roommate, Zhang Jialiang.”
So when connected together, the signature of the letter was:
Gu Yan’s roommate, Zhang Jialiang…
The letter was not written by Gu Yan.
It was written by Gu Yan’s roommate, Zhang Jialiang!
…
So she had passionately cursed out the wrong person!
Why hadn’t she thought to turn the letter over and check earlier?!
For a moment, Qi Xi felt like she was about to suffocate. Under this heavy sensation, as if fate had seized her by the throat, she slowly turned around and looked back at Gu Yan, who was sitting not far behind her.
Sure enough, Gu Yan ignored all the probing gazes from the people around him. His eyes were passing through the crowd between them, fixed firmly on Qi Xi.
His face was still fair and handsome, but Qi Xi felt as if his whole body was now surrounded by a murderous black aura, like some ancient demon lord from Black Mountain.
At that very moment, Qi Xi’s vision went dark, and her head began to throb.
Zhao Yiran was still adding fuel to the fire beside her.
“You’re finished, Qi Xi. You’re really finished. This is a blood feud that can’t be reconciled…”
Qi Xi also knew that she was finished.
Thinking back to that morning, when she had gone out for breakfast, she had passed by a fortune-telling Daoist under the footbridge who was clearly scamming people. He had grabbed her and rambled on with a bunch of professional-sounding terms, finally concluding that her forehead looked dark and that she was likely to face a calamity soon.
Now, that crow-mouthed feudal superstition had actually come true.
At this moment, she wanted to buy a standing ticket to outer space so she could flee Earth that very night.
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