The Unwritten Rule and an Unexpected Encounter

Our family has an unwritten rule: no matter how spacious a room is, a double bed is an absolute must. This ensures I always wake up in the most comfortable posture, and since I sleep in my clothes, I simply get out of bed in my short-sleeved shirt and shorts. My room’s furniture consists only of a bed for sleeping, a desk and chair for studying, and a wardrobe for clothes; to brush my teeth and wash my face, I have to cross the living room to reach the bathroom.

After freshening up, I checked the time to find it was barely seven o’clock. Our house is very close to school, a mere ten-minute bus ride of three or four stops, but depending on my mood, I sometimes opt to walk. Today was Monday, and I felt a bit sluggish, my mind hazy, so I decided to walk to school and grab a steamed bun from a street vendor for breakfast along the way.

Approaching the school gates, I spotted the disciplinary committee members on duty from a considerable distance. Wearing their epaulets and holding clipboards, they were verifying the identities of incoming students. The disciplinary committee at our school wields significant authority, reportedly due to a lapse in vigilance by a former security guard, which allowed a pervert to gain entry and caused female students psychological trauma. Ever since, the committee’s jurisdiction and powers have expanded to cover all aspects of campus safety, though all of this happened before I even entered high school; I merely heard it through the grapevine.

I produced my student ID and school badge. The leading disciplinary committee member compared my face to the photograph and promptly waved me through.

The school in the early morning was anything but quiet. I couldn’t tell if they were third-year students cramming for exams or first-year overachievers, but some were reciting texts aloud as soon as they stepped off the bus. There were also a few sports specialists who gathered to play basketball in the path, though one stern glare from a disciplinary committee member was enough to make them desist.

A few brazen individuals foolishly believed that random checks of personal belongings would somehow bypass them. Headphones, gaming consoles, and the like were immediately confiscated, and they faced disciplinary action. Truly pitiful.

Oh, it seemed I had brought my Nintendo console as well. A habit from middle school always made me unconsciously tuck it into my backpack, but fortunately, I had yet to be randomly inspected throughout high school.

Just then, my phone chimed with a notification. Opening it, I saw a WeChat message: [Big Yellow Dog] had initiated a temporary call from Class 1-E, along with a friend request.

[Come to the iron fence by the stadium and help me bring something in.]

‘What in the world?’ I checked the time; there were over twenty minutes until class, so that should be fine. Though I didn’t know who it was or what they wanted, since I had ample time and no valid reason to refuse, I decided to go and see.

On a Monday morning, only one class occupied the sports field. Frankly, the scheduling seemed quite illogical; not a single student in that class looked energetic. Only a few scattered individuals played basketball or jogged; the rest were huddled in corners. I walked past them, and they clearly paid me no mind. Upon reaching the iron fence, I finally saw who was looking for me.

“Holy crap, Brother Yi, you’re finally here,” Huang Zhouyu exclaimed, looking as if he’d spotted his savior. “Here, help me put this in your bag.”

I watched him place his backpack on the ground, unzip it, and reach inside with both hands to pull out… a laptop?

“Why would you bring this to school?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Gao Qinghong and that bastard Zhang Zhongcheng didn’t believe I could defeat Isshin Ashina without taking damage,” he explained. “So I specifically brought it to school to show them what I can do.”

He passed the laptop through the iron bars, and I smoothly took it, then tucked it into my own bag. All I had to do was carry it to class and return it to him later. His reason for doing this was easy enough to guess: he was a troublemaker by nature, his usual behavior drew attention, and several disciplinary committee members already knew him by sight, so he was bound to receive special scrutiny. He probably sought me out specifically because he’d happened to see me entering the school.

“Thanks, Brother Yi. I’ll buy you a drink later,” he said, giving me a dismissive wave before running back toward the main gate.

With the laptop he’d entrusted to me, I turned to head back to class. Glancing behind me, I saw the class on the sports field still huddled in the corner. The stadium was vast, and even if they had noticed us, they wouldn’t have been able to discern what we were doing. Besides, they rarely bothered themselves with other people’s affairs.

‘Or so I thought.’

Just as I was about to step out of the stadium, someone was waiting for me. I looked at the person blocking my path: a girl over 1.7 meters tall, her hair tied in a high ponytail suitable for sports, dressed in the school’s standard blue and white athletic uniform. Her expression was solemn, and she remained silent.

Although the girl before me was quite tall, she was still shorter than I was. Despite her intimidating demeanor, I felt no alarm. Seeing that she continued to say nothing, I decided to simply walk around her.

“Disciplinary committee members at our school have the authority to regulate other students, even when not officially on duty,” the girl stated, her voice sharp and piercing like a blade. “You just brought something into the school through the iron gate, didn’t you? May I inspect what it is?”

She exuded an air of unquestionable authority, her request sounding more like a command. Her confidence, her identity, her power… she possessed ample leverage to demand my cooperation. Still, I had nothing to fear.

“Alright,” I said, unshouldering my bag and handing it to her. “Go ahead and check.”

Just as I expected. She unzipped the bag, reached in, and without even needing to rummage, pulled out the laptop. Well, of course.

“Why would you bring a laptop to school?” she asked.

“I don’t know, a classmate handed it to me.”

She proceeded to open other pockets in my backpack for inspection. “What’s in here?” she inquired, holding up a small pouch without opening it directly.

“A Nintendo gaming console,” I replied.

She set the gaming console and laptop aside, meticulously examining the contents of my backpack. After confirming there were no other suspicious items, she slowly reorganized the books she had pulled out. Then, she looked directly at me, her sharp, phoenix-like eyes meeting mine. ‘I was already racking my brain for an explanation to give my homeroom teacher and how to retrieve my gaming console. As for Huang Zhouyu, he’d be on his own; I couldn’t be blamed for this.’

“Keep the gaming console and laptop safe yourself,” she said. “Just don’t let any teachers or disciplinary committee members on duty see them.”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard. But then I watched as she finished tidying the books, then carefully placed both the laptop and the gaming console back into the bag. She patted off any dust from the backpack before handing it back to me.

“Aren’t these items against the rules?”

“They are,” she admitted. “But they’re not dangerous items, and I’m not even on duty right now. There’s no need to be overly strict about entertainment devices like these; just be careful yourself.”

‘Ah, so that’s it? She was just worried about dangerous items being brought in, then.’ In class, I often heard my classmates voice their dissatisfaction with the disciplinary committee and the student council, railing against them for being arrogant, pretentious, and heartless… But there were also those who genuinely served the students, weren’t there?

“There are disciplinary committee members on duty at the main entrance of the academic building too. That backpack of yours, with a laptop inside, is too conspicuous. Remember to use the side entrance.”

‘It’s perfectly normal for people who genuinely consider others to exist in this world, isn’t it?’

“Thank you. I’ll get going now.”

I checked the remaining time; it wasn’t very generous. Slinging my backpack on, I jogged towards the academic building. I still maintained a perfect attendance record—no early departures, no tardiness, no absences—which would earn me a small scholarship at the end of the semester. I quickened my pace, eager to get back to class, but along the way, I felt as if the girl was still watching me from behind.

Looking back, I could only see a few scattered figures playing basketball on the sports field. I shrugged, then focused on hurrying back to class.