Chapter 024

Every day, going to school, leaving school, attending classes, and finishing classes—time, though it could feel slow, passed quickly as well.

In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday, and the school gave a regular two-day break.

Meng Li and her friends, including Zhuo Xi, had made plans to go out and have fun on Sunday.

Their outing was nothing too special—just visiting various places around the city. However, the main reason Meng Li wanted to go out was to buy some books.

Because she had to wake up early for school from Monday to Friday, her sleep wasn’t as restful as it was during the holidays. Therefore, on Saturday, Meng Li slept in late. She caught up on all the sleep she had missed during the week, and in the afternoon, she finished her homework at home.

On Sunday morning, she went out as planned to join Zhuo Xi and the others for their outing.

Gu Huijuan never cared about her. All she ever did was mock her with sarcastic remarks and subtle jabs, so Meng Li didn’t feel the need to report her whereabouts to her.

When she left, she would at least say goodbye to Grandma Cheng.

In the morning, Meng Li and Zhuo Xi, along with the others, wandered around outside and had a blast.

After lunch, they found a place to rest, and then they headed to Wangfujing.

Zhuo Xi and the others didn’t need to buy books or newspapers, and they weren’t interested in going to the bookstore, so they went to a street where they could hang out.

Once they arrived, they grouped together in clusters, greeting familiar faces, chatting, or admiring the girls passing by.

Whenever they saw someone dressed brightly, they either whistled or went up to pat them on the back.

Meanwhile, Meng Li was at Xinhua Bookstore on her own, looking for books. She browsed through the shelves, and in the end, she picked out a few.

Besides study materials, she also bought two extracurricular books.

During this era, due to the campaign against the “Four Olds,” many books had become banned, and only a handful were available for sale in bookstores.

These books all shared a common theme—almost all of them revolved around revolution.

For domestic books, people read Lu Xun, Song of Youth, and Bitter Chrysanthemum.

As for foreign books, they were limited to titles like How the Steel Was Tempered, The Gadfly, and Anna Karenina.

Meng Li packed the books she had bought into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and left the bookstore to find Zhuo Xi and the others.

They often hung out around Wangfujing, so Meng Li knew exactly where to look for them.

When she found them, they were enjoying themselves, each with a cigarette in their mouth, looking more stylish than the last.

They had also brought along two girls and were chatting merrily.

Seeing how lively the conversation was, Meng Li had no interest in joining their chatter. She decided not to interrupt and quietly kept her distance.

She glanced at them for a moment, then stepped aside, deciding to just watch the scene from a distance.

However, she hadn’t been watching for long when someone suddenly patted her shoulder from behind.

Meng Li turned around and saw that it was Ji Chen.

Ji Chen was probably the most charismatic among the boys. He gave Meng Li a playful look from head to toe and smiled, saying, “It’s rare to see Third Master Meng out and about these days, and you’re not even in military uniform. Should I lend you a set?”

Meng Li didn’t want to get into any conflict with Ji Chen. She always had one thought in her mind when she saw him—avoid him and walk away without causing trouble.

So, she smiled politely and replied, “No need, thank you.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, she turned and walked away.

However, before she could take more than a few steps, she suddenly heard someone from not too far away shout, “Lei Zi’s here!”

The term “Lei Zi” was somewhat unfamiliar to Meng Li. Her brain took a few seconds to process it, and then she realized it was their slang—Lei Zi meant the police.

In the few seconds it took Meng Li to process the word, the other boys had already bolted, running away in a frenzy.

Meng Li stood there, stunned, not fully realizing what was happening, when suddenly someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.

She turned to see that it was Ji Chen.

While pulling her along, Ji Chen was cursing, “Damn, are you stupid? The police are here, and you’re just standing there?”

Only then did Meng Li snap into action and hurriedly picked up her pace.

However, as she tried to run faster, her foot got caught on the curb, and she suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.

Ji Chen didn’t let go of her hand and pulled her up roughly. “Damn, you’re amazing, buddy. You can’t even run without tripping?”

Meng Li tried to shake off his grip. “I’m not running anymore. You go ahead.”

Before Ji Chen could say anything, both of them were grabbed by the police.

No one could escape now—they were all taken to the station.

This was the first time Meng Li had ever been to a police station, and her heart was pounding in her chest.

Once they arrived at the station, they were ordered around, told to squat with their heads down by the wall.

The room was crowded with people, mostly kids who looked to be around her age.

It seemed like they were all just troublemakers, regularly caught and brought in for a little “education.”

Ji Chen squatted next to Meng Li, his hands on his head, and turned to look at her. He whispered, “You’re really a disaster. Every time I see you, something goes wrong.”

Meng Li muttered softly, also with her hands on her head, “I didn’t make you drag me into running…”

Ji Chen thought for a moment. She had a point. Why had he pulled her? If he hadn’t dragged her, and if she hadn’t tripped, would they even be here?

He sighed, realizing it was his own fault. He had reached out and pulled her, so he had to accept the consequences.

The room was crowded, and the noise of various conversations made it feel a bit chaotic.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Shut up!”

Instantly, the room fell completely silent.

No one spoke anymore. Meng Li squatted by the wall with her hands on her head, thinking to herself—she was really out of luck. She went to the bookstore to buy a book and ended up getting dragged into the police station. In her seventeen years of life, she had rarely even been scolded by a teacher, let alone taken to the police station for a lesson.

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved and suffocated she felt, her heart sinking with a sense of coldness.

This was her first time in such a place, and she had no way of being as indifferent as Ji Chen and the others.

She wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting in that small room when a police officer wearing a dark blue uniform came to call her. He motioned for her and Ji Chen to get up.

The two of them were then taken to another small room, where the officers began to scrutinize them with intense gazes.

Meng Li was so nervous that she kept picking at her fingers, her mind racing. She wasn’t really a tough leader; she wasn’t rebellious or bold. She could act tough in small situations, but in a serious place like this, she couldn’t even pretend to be fearless.

She kept her head down, not daring to look at the police officer’s face.

She was both nervous and scared, and in that moment, she looked like nothing more than a soft little bunny.

As Meng Li had expected, the police officer’s tone was very harsh. He glared at her and Ji Chen, asking, “What were you doing at Wangfujing? Who told you to gather there and act like hooligans? You trying to cause trouble? A bunch of little punks—nobody’s keeping an eye on you, huh?!”

Hearing the tone, Meng Li’s nerves tightened instantly.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she fought hard to hold them back.

When neither of them spoke, the officer’s tone grew even fiercer. He slammed his hand on the desk and shouted, “Speak!”

Meng Li flinched in fear, and a tear slipped down her cheek.

The officer fixed his gaze on her, his voice still cold, “Now you’re crying? You were so carefree and lively when you were hanging out and acting tough, weren’t you?”

Meng Li sniffed, her voice slightly nasal as she tried to explain, “I wasn’t acting like a hooligan. I was just going to buy books.”

The police officer sneered. “Buy books, huh?”

He then glanced at Ji Chen. “He’s here to buy books too? You two are in cahoots, and you think I don’t see through it?!”

At this point, Meng Li was too focused on clearing things up to think about anything else. She sniffed again, pulled the books from her bag, and placed them on the desk. “Officer, I really was just going to buy books. These are the books I bought.”

The officer looked at the books on the desk, then glanced between Meng Li and Ji Chen, finally turning to Ji Chen. “What about you?”

Ji Chen’s attention had been fixed on Meng Li the whole time, and he hadn’t looked away even once.

He had never imagined that Meng Li would actually cry at the police station, and that she had really gone to Wangfujing just to buy books.

He stared at her, almost in disbelief, as if seeing someone he didn’t recognize at all.

It should have been him laughing at her, but seeing her like this, he didn’t feel the urge to mock her. Instead, a strange feeling began to stir deep inside him.

The police officer glared at Ji Chen when he remained silent, then snapped at him, “I told you to speak! Do you hear me?!”

Ji Chen snapped out of his thoughts, cleared his throat, and said, “Officer, I hear you.”

The officer narrowed his eyes, “Then speak up!”

Ji Chen cleared his throat again, completely in a different mood from Meng Li. “I’m not with him. Didn’t you see he doesn’t even have a uniform? Officer, look at him—he’s thin, short, and crying like a girl. How could he possibly be with me?”

The officer glared at Ji Chen, “What? You think you’re something special?”

Ji Chen chuckled. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t dare act proud in front of you, officer. But you really have the wrong guy here. He’s actually telling the truth—he really was just going to buy books.”

After hearing Ji Chen’s words, the officer’s expression softened a bit.

He looked back at Meng Li, and his tone became gentler. “You really were just going to buy books?”

Meng Li quickly nodded. “Yes.”

The police officer sighed with relief. “Then hurry up and go. In the future, if you haven’t done anything wrong, don’t run when you see the police. If you run when you see the police, who do you think we’re going to catch?”

Meng Li packed up her books, nodded in response, and turned to leave.

As she reached the door, she glanced back at Ji Chen.

He didn’t turn to look at her. He was still talking to the officer, as if this was just another routine matter for him.

It seemed like he was used to such situations and didn’t care at all.

Meng Li opened the door and walked out into the sunlight, leaving the police station.

It wasn’t until she had walked a good distance away from the station that she truly began to process what had just happened.

Once Meng Li finally processed what had happened—how she had cried in front of the police, and especially in front of Ji Chen—she immediately felt her face burn with embarrassment. She was mortified and wished she could disappear. She quickly found a small park to hide away in.

Sitting in the park with her hands on her face, she thought to herself, This time, I’ve completely ruined my image.

Ji Chen would definitely mock her, along with his lackeys, and even her own followers.

Her reputation was so well-known that this incident would spread through the circle quickly. She could already imagine that within a day, everyone in the city would know that Meng Li had been scared to tears by the police.

She told herself that she shouldn’t care about her reputation, but deep down, she realized she couldn’t help it.

She stayed in the park until dusk, and only then did she get up and head home.

During this time, Meng Li had already convinced herself to accept the fact that her image was ruined. After all, it was just a matter of being laughed at.

But… sigh, she really felt too embarrassed to face her brothers now.

Zhuo Xi and the others would probably be very disappointed in her and would never see her as their leader again.

As she walked home, lost in these thoughts, she kept her head lowered as she entered Zhima Hutong.

As she walked, she suddenly found her path blocked, and only then did she look up.

When she raised her head, she saw Zhuo Xi and the others standing in front of her.

A sudden flush spread across Meng Li’s face, but she controlled herself and didn’t turn to run.

Zhuo Xi spoke first, his tone surprisingly gentle. “I didn’t know you had finished buying your books. I didn’t see you when you were running. When we couldn’t find you later, we asked around and found out that you were taken to the station.”

Meng Li thought to herself, So they already know about it.

She didn’t speak, and Zhou Nan continued, “It’s our fault. We won’t go to crowded places anymore.”

Meng Li remained silent.

Wei Dong then asked, “Did they do anything to you?”

Meng Li paused for a moment when she heard this question, then shook her head. “No.”

She subconsciously wondered, They don’t know I cried, do they?

Jin Bei let out a sigh of relief and stepped forward, placing something in Meng Li’s hand. “We’ve been worried about you all this time.”

Meng Li looked down to see that it was an orange fruit candy.

Before Meng Li could react, a few more candies fell into her palm, including a piece of chocolate.

She stared blankly at the candy in her hand, then looked up at Zhuo Xi and the others. “What’s this for?”

Zhuo Xi smiled. “To help calm you down.”

Wei Dong added, “The chocolate’s from me.”

A warm feeling instantly spread through her chest, and suddenly, the idea of face and reputation didn’t matter at all.

Meng Li looked at them, unable to hide the smile on her face, and said, “Since when do boys eat candy and chocolate? You guys really know how to give gifts.”

The others exchanged glances, and it was Zhuo Xi who spoke up. “Who says boys don’t eat candy?”

Wei Dong immediately tried to grab the candy. “Alright, fine, if you’re not going to eat it, just give it to me.”

Meng Li quickly rolled up her hand and stuffed the candies into her pocket. “Who said I wasn’t going to eat it?”

Wei Dong laughed. “Look at you, so stingy…”