Carrying My Senior's Coffin (GL) - Chapter 1

Summer came early this year. It was only early May, but the midday temperature had already reached nearly 30 degree Celsius. The sun beat down fiercely from overhead. No one in their right mind would willingly go outside, especially during the summer lunch break. As a result, the campus of Zhengling Women’s University was deserted, with few people seen outdoors.

Fang Yiyi was the anomaly among the few.

She had just been chased out by her roommates, not even having time to comb her hair, which stuck up in a messy, weed-like tangle on her head. Rubbing her groggy eyes, she endured the blazing sun, wandering aimlessly around the enormous campus.

The teaching building was locked at noon. There were people she knew in the library, and if she went there, she would certainly be mocked. The school had strict rules, only allowing students out for two days on Saturdays, and today was Wednesday. In other words, she had nowhere to go.

Sweat trickled down her temples to her chin. Fang Yiyi looked up with a bitter expression. Whether it was the blinding light or the scorching heat, she felt a slight dizziness when she lowered her head again.

She licked her chapped lips and grabbed the wide hem of her school uniform jacket to fan herself. The air was hot.

She felt like she was going to get heatstroke if she stayed out here.

She lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from her face. In her line of sight, the supermarket not far ahead was open, with a white, rectangular air conditioner unit below the glass wall, blowing out air.

Fang Yiyi gazed longingly at it and instinctively reached for her pocket. After fumbling around for a while, she found nothing but a badly scuffed black brick phone—her pockets were cleaner than her face.

She paused, then sighed.

Just then, her phone vibrated suddenly.

Fang Yiyi was startled. A large yellow envelope appeared on the screen, sender: Xuanxuan.

This was her maternal uncle’s only daughter, surnamed Bai, given name Xuan. She was two years younger than Fang Yiyi. Since Fang Yiyi’s parents died in a car accident four years ago, she had been living with her uncle’s family, sharing a roof with her cousin. They saw each other constantly when not at school.

Fang Yiyi was an excellent student and was admitted to the prestigious Zhengling Women’s University, which ranked among the top three in the country. Two years later, Bai Xuan was enrolled after her father paid a large sum, and now they were schoolmates.

Xuanxuan: Are you crazy?! Why are you standing out there in this heat?

Fang Yiyi wiped some sweat and looked up, squinting at the pink dormitory building directly to her right. Only then did she realize she had subconsciously walked all the way here.

She lowered her head again, preparing to reply, when Bai Xuan called her directly.

Fang Yiyi bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, and pressed the talk button.

As expected, a barrage of words, like beans poured from a container, exploded as soon as she picked up.

“Are you sick? It’s 33 degrees, Big Sister! Get back right now! Even if you don’t mind getting heatstroke, I’m embarrassed for you. Look around—which other idiot is doing what you’re doing? If my roommate hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known. Do you think you’re a sweet potato that needs to be roasted to look unique?”

Fang Yiyi glanced around, slowly walking to stand under the shade of a roadside tree. “I’m here now.”

There was an eerie pause on the other end of the phone.

“Fang Yiyi!” A roar, identical to her aunt’s, erupted in her ear. They truly are mother and daughter, she thought distractedly. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Hurry up! Immediately! Now! Get back to the dorm!!”

Fang Yiyi hid behind the tree, in Bai Xuan’s blind spot, and rubbed her ringing ear. She said weakly, “I’m going to the library.”

“Then hurry up and go. Don’t let me see you standing there like an idiot, it’s humiliating!”

The busy tone sounded. Fang Yiyi pressed the end call button and sighed.

Her cousin had only called her “Jie-jie” (older sister) a couple of times when they were little.

Actually, whether she called her that or not didn’t really matter. Fang Yiyi didn’t care much, as they weren’t blood-related to begin with.

Fang Yiyi’s father had been married twice: first to her biological mother, and second to Bai Xuan’s aunt, who was her stepmother. Fang Yiyi had never met her birth mother and dreamed of having a mother to attend parent-teacher meetings. Finally, around the age of seven or eight, this “mother” arrived. Unlike other children, she didn’t show any resistance and got along very well with her stepmother; they were closer than a real mother and daughter. Later, Fang Yiyi’s father’s business went bankrupt, all assets were mortgaged, and the couple died in a car accident. Having no other close relatives, her uncle, out of respect for his deceased sister, took her in.

Since she wasn’t their own, the care she received naturally wasn’t as meticulous as before.

Fang Yiyi plummeted from being a spoiled young lady to a pitiful girl dependent on others. Not only did she lose both parents, but her life became much worse. She couldn’t adapt and threw childish tantrums for quite a while. Finally, her aunt lost all patience, dragged her up, beat her severely several times with a mop handle, and starved her for two days. This made her completely face reality and her situation. From then on, she became the well-behaved, obedient “freeloader” her aunt described.

Fang Yiyi looked at the sky. The sunlight was beautiful, so bright it hurt her eyes.

She figured that if she didn’t want to suffer heatstroke and collapse on the scorching stone road, she absolutely had to find somewhere to cool down.

Since she had already said she was going to the library, she might as well go. She sighed and walked listlessly toward the library.

The library was large, but the reading area was separate from the stacks. Once inside the door, it was clear who was sitting where.

Fang Yiyi scanned the area without much hope and, sure enough, found the girls from her class preparing for postgraduate exams in the northwest corner.

Fortunately, being an academic had its benefits: once they entered their study zone, they were oblivious to their surroundings. Therefore, they hadn’t yet noticed Fang Yiyi’s arrival.

Fang Yiyi quickly and quietly moved past them, her small frame soon disappearing among the rows of shelves.

She stopped in front of a bookshelf and exhaled deeply. As her tense muscles relaxed, she finally felt the cool air conditioning of the library. Her pores, scorched by the heatwave, instantly cooled down—it was incredibly refreshing.

But before she could truly relax, a sharp voice, laced with mockery, suddenly sounded behind her: “Well, well, Fang Yiyi.”

Fang Yiyi’s pupils contracted. She turned around to see a girl with an apple-shaped face and a ponytail standing behind her.

“What a rare visitor,” the apple-faced girl raised an eyebrow, looking at her and giving a casual order: “You’ve come at the right time. Go and buy a few ice creams.”

Fang Yiyi had just escaped the near-heatstroke weather. Her limbs felt sluggish, and besides, she had no money, so she didn’t move.

Sensing her resistance, the apple-faced girl’s face instantly dropped, and her tone turned hostile: “What? You’re not going?”

Fang Yiyi lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes like little fans. She whispered, “I don’t have any money…”

“You’re going to buy something, and you expect me to give you money?!” The apple-faced girl shrieked exaggeratedly, as if she had heard something utterly preposterous. Her scream was jarring and piercing in the quiet library.

Unfortunately, the bookshelves blocked the view, so people only knew the general direction of the sound, not the specifics. Scholars’ time was generally precious. Only a few curious ones paced over, poking their heads in to look. When they saw that Fang Yiyi was one of the central figures, they understood and returned to their seats.

It was well-known in the school that Fang Yiyi was bullied. Initially, a few people couldn’t stand it and stepped forward, but later they found it was useless. As time passed, everyone gradually got used to it, and no one bothered to help her anymore.

Fang Yiyi shrank her shoulders uncomfortably. She hated being the center of attention and being watched, even if only by a few people.

To avoid this, normally she would have fled in a panic and obeyed their demand to buy the items.

But today, she truly had no money.

However, turning and leaving was also not a wise move, because if she just walked away, her life would likely become much harder for a long time to come. After weighing her options, Fang Yiyi bit the bullet and stayed.

The apple-faced girl frowned, her face tight with anger. “Hey! I’m talking to you. What do you mean, Fang Yiyi!” As she spoke, she reached out and shoved Fang Yiyi hard on the shoulder.

Fang Yiyi was small, weak from prolonged poor nutrition, and immediately lost her balance. Her back slammed into the bookshelf. The tall, ancient wooden frame swayed, and her skinny back was hit by the hard spines of the books, leaving her skin bruised and sore.

“Manman, you’re taking forever just to get a book, you… Oho, Miss Campus Belle.” A girl with loose hair walked over after hearing the commotion. Seeing Fang Yiyi, she raised her finely drawn eyebrows in surprise.

The “Campus Belle” referred to Fang Yiyi.

Fang Yiyi had a beautiful face. Even without makeup, she was particularly eye-catching among the girls and certainly worthy of the title “Campus Belle.”

However, because she was not good with words and had a timid nature to the point where almost everyone could bully her, the title “Campus Belle” lost its original meaning, becoming a derogatory mockery.

Fang Yiyi hung her head, imperceptibly frowning where others couldn’t see.

“Youlan,” Manman said to her companion, “Come and judge for yourself. Our Campus Belle has gotten too arrogant lately and is no longer being a good classmate. She’s asking me for money to buy things.”

“Ha,” Youlan chuckled, a malicious glint in her eyes. She hugged her arms and leaned against the shelf next to Fang Yiyi, surrounding her with Manman, one in front and one to the left. “Campus Belle, the class adviser just talked about being united in class this morning. Doing this… isn’t very nice, is it?”

Fang Yiyi pursed her lips, having no desire to speak.

Receiving no answer, Youlan poked her forehead, causing her head to bob sideways. “Are you mute?”

Forced to speak, Fang Yiyi replied, “…No.”

“What? Speak up. Are you a buzzing mosquito?”

Fang Yiyi clung tightly to the bookshelf: “I didn’t ask to buy anything, and I didn’t ask anyone for money!”

“…”

The two girls exchanged glances, both seeing a look of amusement in the other’s eyes.

Suddenly, Manman grabbed a lock of hair from Fang Yiyi’s forehead and pulled hard, forcing Fang Yiyi to move half a step forward. “How dare you talk back? What gives you the courage? You just told me you were going to the supermarket to buy ice cream—were you lying to me?”

Her scalp was painfully stretched. Fang Yiyi clenched her mouth shut and remained silent.

It wasn’t that she had nothing to say; it was because saying anything was useless. It would only be forcibly twisted by them, inviting more ridicule and giving the other party more reasons to attack her.

Campus bullying, in essence, was like this. Once you chose avoidance and compliance at the beginning, you were destined to be bullied unless you developed enough power later on to solve the problem once and for all. Fang Yiyi didn’t believe she had that power. She was an ant, so she had to live a humiliating existence just to survive.

Seeing Fang Yiyi’s dull, expressionless look, with her head bowed and no words, Manman grew impatient: “Aren’t you going to buy it quickly?”

“Hey, wait.” Youlan stopped Manman and gave her a look.

Manman was briefly confused but stopped her hands nonetheless.

Although she really wanted ice cream, if her friend had other plans, not having it was fine.

Youlan lifted a lock of hair from Fang Yiyi’s chest, casually wrapping it around her finger and playing with it. “Fang Yiyi, you were caught by the teacher for bullying a classmate just last week. Why aren’t you behaving? You’re already extorting money from a classmate so soon?”

After speaking, she looked thoughtfully at Fang Yiyi, seeing a trace of anger in her eyes, as expected.

With a sneer, Youlan continued, “Tell me, if I tell the teacher that you are incorrigible, will you get a demerit? If I remember correctly, if you get one more demerit this semester, you’ll be expelled, won’t you?”

Fang Yiyi’s small face turned green then white, and the fists at her sides were clenched tightly.

“I didn’t…” she whispered, making a feeble protest.

She knew she was acting impulsively and would immediately suffer more violent consequences for that one sentence, but she couldn’t help it.

Moreover, if she didn’t say something, and they framed her again, she might truly be expelled.

After trying for so long, enduring humiliation for so many years, suffering scoldings and beatings—wasn’t it all for that coveted diploma?

She was so close to getting it in two more years, and these people were talking about what?

A demerit? Expulsion?

How is that possible…

“Slap!” A loud, sharp sound echoed abruptly in the library.

Fang Yiyi’s left cheek went numb, her head snapping to the side from the impact.

Youlan shook her hand, which was tingling from the shock, and stared at Fang Yiyi as if watching a joke. “Manman, what did she just say? It was too loud, I didn’t hear clearly.”

Manman said, “I didn’t hear clearly either.”

“Did you hear clearly?” Youlan asked Fang Yiyi.

Fang Yiyi’s eyes were dry, and her breathing was rapid, but she still didn’t look up at them.

In the eyes of the abusers, this was a silent display of submission and surrender from a weak person, trying to preserve their last bit of pathetic dignity.

“How about this,” Youlan said, achieving the desired effect and curling her lips, “I’ll give you a chance to make amends. I want to move into your dorm, but your dorm is full. If you move out yourself, we won’t tell the teacher about today’s incident. If you don’t move out,” she paused, threatening casually, “an unwelcome student might be isolated, you know.”

Hearing her say this, Manman seemed to remember something. She paused, looking at her companion in astonishment, and whispered, “Youlan, you wouldn’t be thinking of…”

Youlan shot her a look, signaling her to be quiet.

Having been friends for so long, Manman understood her companion’s meaning but, out of concern, she still said, “That’s not good, what if someone dies…”

She was cut off with a glare: “Are you stupid? Have you wasted all these years of education? This is a scientific society now, understand? Fine. If she won’t go, how about you go?”

“No, no, no…” Manman shrank her neck, shaking her head like a rattle as she thought of something. “I-I’m not going…”

Youlan rolled her eyes at her. “Then there you have it.” She turned back to Fang Yiyi: “It’s settled then. Clear out your bedding before the evening study session. We’ll help you talk to the teacher about it, understood?”

After giving the order, she didn’t wait for Fang Yiyi’s reply, turned around, and walked away. “—Manman, let’s go!”

Manman glanced at Fang Yiyi. Against the light, the girl’s head was slightly lowered, and her overly long bangs cast a shadow over her face, making her expression unclear. However, her swollen half-face was distinctly visible.

Thinking of the place this girl was about to go, Manman shivered abruptly, a nameless chill rising from her heart.

She didn’t dare look at Fang Yiyi again, hastily withdrew her gaze, and quickly ran two steps to catch up with her friend.

When she caught up, Youlan said, “You don’t actually believe that, do you? What era is this? How could such a thing exist? It’s fine, don’t worry. Besides, someone like her might even be happy to stay in a place like that. It suits her perfectly!”

“Youlan,” Manman said, “If you really don’t believe it, why are you making Fang Yiyi move there for you?”

The only response was her friend’s sudden halt.

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Li Ting: Hurry up and let me out! They’re bullying my wife, I’m going to smash their heads in!

I’m incredibly nervous.

Is anyone reading this? _(:з」∠)_