Chen Zhi: The Perversion

The moment the teacher for the last period stepped out of the classroom, the whole class erupted. A restless energy filled the air.

Chen Zhi took his time packing his backpack, neatly stacking the few workbooks he had to take home into the inner compartment.

"Brother Zhi, heading to the internet cafe?" Li Zihan leaned over with a look of anticipation, wearing a completely empty backpack. "Speed Net Cafe is running a promotion, top up fifty and get thirty free."

Damn, top up fifty get thirty free is enough to tempt you? What if they do top up one hundred get two hundred free later.

"Not going." Chen Zhi didn't even look up as he zipped his pencil case. "I have to go back and try on the military training uniform. If it's too big, I'll have to find someone to swap with."

"Tch, boring." Li Zihan curled his lips. His gaze bypassed Chen Zhi and landed on Lin Wanwan, who was packing her things next to them. His face immediately morphed into a cheeky grin. "Oh, I get it. Ditching your bro for a girl, right? Escorting your childhood sweetheart home?"

"Get lost," Chen Zhi replied concisely.

Li Zihan chuckled and bolted away like his shoes were greased.

Just as Chen Zhi slung his backpack straps over his shoulders, a fair, delicate hand reached over from the side, clutching a set of camouflage military training clothes.

The fabric looked rough, bundled up into a stiff lump.

"What?" Chen Zhi paused and turned his head to look at Lin Wanwan.

The young girl was currently struggling to shove the uniform into Chen Zhi's arms, blinking her large eyes with complete self-righteousness.

"Pack this for me, my bag is full."

Chen Zhi glanced down at her backpack. The bag was indeed bulging, the zipper looking like it was about to burst, and the corners of a few bags of potato chips were faintly visible.

"This is what you call full?" Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow, mercilessly exposing her. "It's all snacks. Are you here to study or go on a picnic?"

"Ugh, mind your own business!" Lin Wanwan's pretty face flushed red. She forcefully wedged the lump of camouflage uniform into the gap of Chen Zhi's already zipped backpack. "Your bag is bigger anyway, what's the big deal with carrying it for me?"

"I have books in my bag too." Chen Zhi leaned back, trying to dodge this forced distribution of labor.

"Just squeeze it in, there's room!"

Lin Wanwan gave him no chance to refuse. Using both hands, she yanked Chen Zhi's backpack zipper open, then violently stuffed the uniform inside. She even pounded it a couple of times with her fists, trying to pack it down.

"..."

Chen Zhi looked at his originally well-shaped backpack, which had instantly transformed into a bloated steamed bun, and let out a helpless sigh.

He lifted the backpack with one hand, the heavy weight making his wrist drop.

"So heavy." Chen Zhi swung the backpack onto his back, his shoulders immediately sagging a bit. "Lin Wanwan, I'm still growing. If I end up short because I'm weighed down by your junk, you're going to have to take responsibility."

"Then I'll take responsibility." Lin Wanwan clapped her hands and casually put on her snack-filled backpack, her eyes curving into a smile. "At worst, I'll just give you all the milk other people give me from now on."

Chen Zhi adjusted the length of his straps to distribute the weight more evenly.

"Deal."

The two walked out of the classroom one after the other.

The corridor was bustling with people, and quite a few gazes drifted their way. After all, one was the top student in the grade, and the other was a sweet school beauty who had caused a sensation upon enrollment. In a campus filled with restless youth, they were an incredibly eye-catching duo.

Chen Zhi turned a blind eye to this, and Lin Wanwan was even more accustomed to such attention since childhood. The two walked toward the bicycle shed as if there was no one else around.

The setting sun stretched their shadows long, overlapping on the concrete pavement.

They got their bikes, exited the school gates, and the noise was gradually left behind.

The early autumn breeze carried a hint of coolness, blowing away the heat of the day. Chen Zhi held the handlebars with one hand, occasionally using the other to tug at the backpack strap that was digging painfully into his shoulder.

Not only was the military training uniform heavy, but the fabric was also stiff. He could feel it poking into him right through the backpack.

This reminded him of the rubber shoes he was about to wear for seven days straight.

Those liberation shoes, with soles as thin as paper and uppers as hard as iron, were simply an anti-human design.

Wearing them was more uncomfortable than going barefoot, let alone having to wear them for seven days.

Chen Zhi shuddered. No, he had to take preventive measures.

"Hey, Chen Zhi."

Lin Wanwan's crisp voice came from behind and to the side, interrupting his thoughts.

"Come over to my house for dinner tonight? My mom bought ribs."

"Not going, my mom is making potato and beef stew today," Chen Zhi casually declined, his mind rapidly calculating how to get that crucial piece of equipment.

They didn't live far from the school; it was only a few minutes' bike ride.

Arriving downstairs at their apartment complex, Chen Zhi squeezed the brakes, extended a long leg, and came to a steady stop.

Lin Wanwan stopped as well. She was just about to push her bike into the lobby when she noticed Chen Zhi hadn't moved. Instead, he waved her over with a mysterious look on his face.

"What?" Lin Wanwan leaned in, confused.

It was the evening rush hour, and the elderly residents of the complex were fanning themselves under the trees to cool off.

Chen Zhi looked left and right. Only after making sure no one around was paying attention to them did he lean his head close to Lin Wanwan's ear and lower his voice.

"Um... do me a favor."

His warm breath brushed against her ear. Lin Wanwan felt a slight tickle and subconsciously shrank her neck.

"What favor? Why are you being so secretive?"

Chen Zhi cleared his throat and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Do you have... any of those?"

"Any of what?" Lin Wanwan looked completely lost.

"You know..." Chen Zhi made a rectangular gesture with his hands. "The things girls use, the ones you need every month."

Lin Wanwan froze for two seconds.

Immediately after, her fair, pretty little face rapidly turned red at a visible speed, the flush spreading all the way to the base of her neck.

Her eyes went wide, staring at Chen Zhi as if she were looking at an alien, her lips trembling.

"Chen Zhi!"

A sharp, furious cry rang out.

Before Chen Zhi could even react, Lin Wanwan swung her backpack in a full arc and smashed it toward him.

Bang!

The backpack landed solidly on Chen Zhi's back, letting out a muffled thud.

"You pervert!"

Lin Wanwan was both embarrassed and furious, practically bristling with rage. She tightly shielded her chest and cautiously took two steps back.

"What do you need sanitary pads for?! Are you sick in the head! I'm telling your mom!"

Hearing the commotion, a few of the nearby aunties cast curious glances their way.

Quick-witted, Chen Zhi clamped a hand over Lin Wanwan's mouth and dragged her into the shadows of the stairwell.

"Shh! What are you yelling for!" Chen Zhi hissed, defending himself against the girl's flurry of wild punches while keeping his voice low to explain. "Who's a pervert? I have a legitimate use for them!"

"What legitimate use could you possibly have!" Lin Wanwan yanked his hand away, her face so red it looked like it might bleed. "You're a grown guy, asking for that stuff... Don't tell me you have some kind of fetish?"

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. The look she gave Chen Zhi was filled with a mix of horror and pity.

It was over. Her childhood friend had grown up to be a pervert. She couldn't live like this anymore.

"Clear the trash out of your head." Chen Zhi rolled his eyes helplessly and pointed at the military uniform in his backpack. "I'm going to use them as shoe insoles!"

"Shoe... insoles?" Lin Wanwan froze, her fist stopping mid-air.

"You've felt the rubber shoes they issue for military training, the soles are as hard as bricks." Seeing her calm down, Chen Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to impart his useful knowledge.

"Those soles are thin, hard, and don't breathe at all. During military training, we have to stand at attention and do goose-steps. After a whole day, the soles of your feet will absolutely be blistered raw. Sanitary pads... ahem, those things are soft and absorb sweat. Putting them in your shoes is like stepping on clouds, understand?"

Chen Zhi spoke with perfect logic, wearing the weathered look of someone who had been there and done that.

"This is the blood-and-tears experience summarized by our seniors. I wouldn't tell just anyone."

Lin Wanwan looked at him, half-doubting, the blush on her face not yet fully faded.

"Really?"

"I'm a dog if I'm lying," Chen Zhi vowed. "Think about the material: a soft cotton surface, super absorbent. Isn't that better than any insole?"

Lin Wanwan followed his line of thinking.

It seemed... it actually made some sense?

But the moment she pictured a grown boy running all over the field with sanitary pads in his shoes, she found it both hilarious and bizarre.

"Then go buy them yourself," Lin Wanwan muttered, her eyes darting away. "Why ask me for them?"

"Does it look right for a grown man like me to go into a supermarket and buy that?" Chen Zhi said righteously. "If I get arrested as a pervert, you'd have to go bail me out at the police station."

Lin Wanwan burst into a pfft of laughter.

She looked Chen Zhi up and down. Most of her previous embarrassment and anger had dissipated, replaced by the novelty of looking at a rare animal.

"Fine, I'll give you that."

Lin Wanwan snorted, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and then stretched out her fair, delicate little hand in front of Chen Zhi, palm facing up.

"Then give me back my clothes."

Chen Zhi froze. "Why?"

"To get that stuff for you!" Lin Wanwan rolled her eyes at him in annoyance. "Do you expect me to pull it out for you right here on the street? You might be shameless, but I still want to save face."

Chen Zhi suddenly understood and hurriedly took off his backpack.

He unzipped it, and the lump of camouflage uniform that had been forcefully stuffed inside popped out like a compressed biscuit.

Lin Wanwan snatched the clothes and stuffed them back into her already overburdened backpack.

"Wait for it, I'll bring them over tonight." As she adjusted her bag, she muttered softly, "What brand do you even want? Day use or night use? With or without wings?"

Chen Zhi's mouth twitched. "...Thick is fine, the thicker the better. Preferably those 420mm extra-long night use ones, so they can cover the entire sole."

Lin Wanwan was dumbfounded.

"You actually know your stuff?"

"Just a little, just a little."

Lin Wanwan yanked her backpack zipper shut and raised her hand to lightly punch Chen Zhi on the arm.

"Get lost, you're still talking!"

The young girl's coquettish scolding echoed in the hallway, carrying a lingering trace of shyness.

"You're more pampered than I am. Are you even a guy? Actually afraid of shoes rubbing your feet."

Chen Zhi rubbed his arm, not annoyed at all, just looking at her with a grinning face.

"This is called wisdom, understand? You'll see tomorrow during military training. Just don't come crying to me begging for some."

"Tch, who cares."

Lin Wanwan pushed her bike toward the elevator. After two steps, she turned back and made a face at Chen Zhi.

"Pervert Chen Zhi."

With that, the elevator doors opened with a ding. She pushed her bike inside, and just as the doors were closing, she didn't forget to flip the bird at the tall, thin figure standing outside.

Chen Zhi stood where he was, watching the jumping red numbers, and shook his head helplessly.

For the sake of these feet, so be it if he's a pervert.

With a ding, the elevator arrived, and he pushed his bike toward it.

The apartment complex's elevator couldn't fit two bicycles, so the two of them had to go up separately.

Chen Zhi stepped out; the door to his home was left ajar.

He pushed the door open, changed his shoes, and threw that heavy backpack onto the sofa.

"Mom, I'm back."

His mom's loud voice rang out from the kitchen: "Perfect timing. Come peel some garlic!"

Chen Zhi rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the kitchen.

Outside the window, the setting sun completely sank below the horizon, and the city lights lit up one by one.