Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

A morning in the final year of high school.

It's dull, boring, and makes you drowsy.

As noon approached, the bell finally rang to signal the end of the last class.

"Wait! Did I say get out of class was over?"

Old Li slammed his lesson plan on the podium, successfully stopping several boys in the back row who had already lifted their butts off their seats.

He pushed up his glasses, his expression turning extremely serious:

"Um... everyone needs to be aware of this. Although the sports meet is just around the corner, I understand that everyone wants to relax. But—"

Old Li changed the subject and tapped the bright red countdown on the blackboard:

"Right after the sports meet ends, it will be the first mock exam for all senior high schools in Jiangcheng! This is the first mock exam! Its value is the same as the college entrance exam! We'll see how they perform then!"

"So, have fun, but don't lose your mind! If anyone fails this exam, don't blame me for inviting their parents to the school for a chat!"

"ah--"

A desperate wail erupted in the classroom.

"Alright, get out of class dismissed! Let's go eat!"

With a wave of his hand, Old Li ruthlessly ended the suffering, releasing the pack of hungry wolves back to the mountains.

……

[12:10 PM · Tree-lined path in front of the cafeteria]

Even if the sky falls, you still have to eat.

Xie Wang and Su Qinghe carried their trays, found a window seat, quickly finished their lunch, and then walked out of the cafeteria side by side.

The midday sun was shining brightly, casting dappled shadows on the concrete ground through the gaps in the sycamore leaves.

"The first mock exam..."

Su Qinghe held a cup of warm soy milk in his hands, his brows furrowing slightly.

"I heard this is a joint exam for several top high schools, and the questions will be very difficult. How's your cloze test practice going lately?"

"Teacher Su, talking about studies is not allowed during lunch break."

Xie Wang lazily interrupted her, reaching out to shield her from the glaring sunlight, a smile playing on his lips:

"Besides, with you as my private tutor every night, how could I possibly fail the exam? Wouldn't that ruin your reputation as the top scholar?"

Su Qinghe glanced at him, and was about to say something when she suddenly felt a chilling sensation creep over her.

The two stopped at the same time.

Ten meters ahead, under the huge camphor tree, a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit and with a receding hairline was standing with his hands behind his back, scanning the passing students.

Director Yan of the Academic Affairs Office.

At this moment, his gaze had already precisely locked onto Xie Wang and Su Qinghe, who were walking side by side.

Although the two did not cross any lines, in Director Yan's eyes, a man and a woman walking side by side with a distance of less than fifty centimeters was itself a sin.

Director Yan squinted, lifted his foot to walk this way, and called out:

"Hey! You there! Xie Wang! And you... Su Qinghe! You two stop right there! Come here!"

Su Qinghe instinctively wanted to stop explaining.

But the next second, a warm, dry hand suddenly grabbed her wrist without saying a word.

"run."

Xie Wang chuckled softly in her ear, his voice carrying the rebellious and arrogant spirit unique to young men.

"What?" Su Qinghe was taken aback.

"I said—Run, Teacher Su!"

Before he finished speaking, Xie Wang did not go over. Instead, under the shocked gaze of Director Yan, whose eyes were practically popping out of their sockets, he took her hand in a generous and open manner, their fingers intertwined.

Then, he turned and ran!

"Holy shit!! Xie Wang, you little brat! You dare hold hands with me in front of me at school?! You've gone too far!!"

Behind me came Director Yan's furious roar.

"Hahahahaha!"

Xie's unrestrained laughter carried far on the wind.

He pulled Su Qinghe along, and under the bright midday sun, they ran through the tree-lined paths and around the flower beds, like two birds that had broken free of their cages, running freely and unrestrainedly through the campus.

The wind lifted Su Qinghe's ponytail, and the ends of her hair brushed against Xie Wang's cheek.

Su Qinghe's heart pounded like a drum, the wind whistling in her ears and Director Yan's angry roar fading into the distance. She looked at the boy's broad back ahead, feeling the warmth of his palm, and her usually taut nerves snapped completely at that moment.

The feeling of ignoring the rules for the first time was even more dizzying than getting a perfect score on a test.

Screw the school rules.

She couldn't help but laugh too, and grabbed Xie Wang's hand tightly, running wildly with him in the golden sunlight.

……

Director Yan, panting, chased after him to the corner of the administration building. Just as he was about to speed up again, a figure suddenly blocked his way.

"Oh my, Director Yan! What a coincidence!"

Old Li, holding a stack of documents and beaming with smiles, blocked the way, as if he hadn't seen what had just happened at all.

"I was just about to report to you! There's some crucial data regarding the top students in our class's college admission quotas after the mock exam; you need to sign off on it immediately!"

"Old Li, get out of the way! I just saw that kid Xie Wang..." Director Yan pointed into the distance, his beard trembling with anger.

"Oh dear, it's normal for kids to go for a run after meals to help them digest!"

Old Li gripped Director Yan's arm tightly, his face serious and businesslike, and dragged him into the office:

"Director Yan, this data is crucial to our school's college entrance examination pass rate! Nothing is more important than the pass rate, don't you think? Come, let's look at the document first..."

Under Lao Li's forceful intervention, Director Yan could only watch helplessly as the two escapees disappeared from sight, letting out a sigh of impotent rage.

……

Xie Wang pulled Su Qinghe and ran all the way to the top floor of the library.

The two pushed open the door and went inside, leaning against the door panel, panting heavily.

It had been a month since I'd last visited. The attic was quiet, with only a few beams of sunlight slanting in through the window.

"madman……"

Su Qinghe, her hands on her knees, cheeks flushed and forehead covered in sweat, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness. She looked at Xie Wang, panting and laughing:

"Just now... Director Yan's face turned green."

"It's better that he's been cuckolded." Xie Wang leaned casually against the bookshelf, laughing so hard his chest vibrated. "Let him keep an eye on us every day. Now that's good, it confirms his guilt and saves him from making wild guesses."

Just as the two were immersed in the ambiguity and excitement of this moment—

"Cough cough."

A sudden, somewhat resentful cough came from behind the mountain of old books.

Xie Wang and Su Qinghe were startled and immediately separated, looking over warily.

Where the sunlight fell, a person lay on a pile of yellowed National Geographic magazines.

Road 1.

His face was covered by the ever-present copy of "The Flowers of Evil," his hands were folded over his abdomen, and he was in an extremely peaceful posture, as if... he was receiving a farewell to his deceased loved one?

Hearing the noise, he slowly removed the book from his face, revealing a pair of eyes that were squinting from the sunlight, and pushed up his glasses that had slipped down to the bridge of his nose.

He looked at the two uninvited guests who had suddenly barged in, sighed, and said in a tone full of displeasure at being disturbed:

"You two..."

"If we're going to film the elopement scene from 'Titanic,' could we find a different location?"

Lu Yi pointed to the sunlight streaming down from above, his face serious and thoughtful:

"I'm trying to air-dry myself into a quiet specimen."

"As a result, your running around brought a whole room full of heat."

Lu Yi shrank back in disgust, pulling up her collar to cover her nose: "The air is too thick now, full of restless hormones, and this... naivety that hasn't been beaten down by the world."

Xie Wang: "..."

Su Qinghe: "..."

The originally enchanting and exciting atmosphere was instantly shattered by this simpleton, leaving not a trace.

Xie Wangqi laughed, walked over and kicked the pile of books by the roadside:

"No wonder you're everywhere! How did you find your way here? Instead of studying, you're hiding here pretending to be a corpse?"

"Review?"

Lu Yi rolled over, finding a more comfortable position to lie down, and covered her face with the book again, her voice muffled:

"vulgar."

"Knowledge is endless, but every minute you bask in the sun is one minute less."

Xie Wang and Su Qinghe exchanged a glance, both seeing a helpless smile in each other's eyes.

"Teacher Su," Xie Wang lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, "next time I run away, I'll take you with me."

Su Qinghe looked at the dust in that beam of light, a slight smile playing on his lips:

"it is good."