The next day, the whole school was buzzing about the "missing hamsters incident" in Class 6-2. Teacher Tian furiously scolded the class during the morning assembly, declaring a thorough investigation.
"Three hundred yuan worth of teaching materials stolen," his sharp gaze swept across the class, finally stopping on Song Xiaoyang. "This is a serious theft."
Song Xiaoyang kept his head down, heart pounding like a drum. The night before, he had secretly released the hamsters into the river's drainage pipe and left behind Li Hao's student ID card — Li Hao was the class caretaker who always helped Teacher Tian spy on him.
"This is your last chance," Teacher Tian knocked on the podium. "Return the hamsters before noon, and I might be lenient."
During recess exercise, Song Xiaoyang deliberately dawdled until the classroom was empty. Then, he slipped Li Hao's student ID card into Wang Lei's backpack. After finishing, his hands trembled so much he could barely hold his water cup.
"Nice work," Bai Ye suddenly appeared on Wang Lei's desk. Her hospital gown was now covered in mud. "But it's not ruthless enough... You should have drowned the hamsters and put their bodies in Tian Mingyuan's desk drawer."
Song Xiaoyang's stomach twisted painfully. "Th-That's too cruel..."
"Cruel?" Bai Ye floated in front of him, the stench of decay wafting off her. "Is it cruel when he calls your mother an 'irresponsible parent' in front of the class? When Wang Lei pushed you down the stairs? When your father says 'boys must be tough'?"
Song Xiaoyang covered his ears, but Bai Ye's voice pierced straight into his mind: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth — that's the most just law in the world."
At noon, Teacher Tian indeed found "evidence" in Wang Lei's backpack. Despite Wang Lei's desperate protests, the witnesses and evidence were overwhelming — classmates saw him leave the classroom last yesterday, and he knew the location of the hamster cage inside out.
"Didn't expect it to be you," Teacher Tian said in genuine surprise. "Have your parents come this afternoon."
When Wang Lei was taken away, he glared fiercely back at Song Xiaoyang. That look plunged Song Xiaoyang into an icy pit — Wang Lei knew it was him who did it.
After school, Song Xiaoyang deliberately took a longer route home. He was afraid of running into Wang Lei, and even more afraid of facing the darkness growing inside him. Passing a small bridge, he stopped and watched the river carry fallen leaves downstream.
"How does it feel to fight back for the first time?" Bai Ye sat on the bridge railing, swinging her legs.
Song Xiaoyang said nothing. He thought of Wang Lei's red eyes when taken away, the way the hamsters trembled when he released them by the river last night, his father's frequent saying "be honest and upright"... but more often he remembered Teacher Tian's smirk when humiliating him, classmates' twisted faces when laughing, and his father's words, "It takes two to make a quarrel."
"Not enough yet, right?" Bai Ye jumped down and stood beside him. "Wang Lei is just a small player. The real devil is Tian Mingyuan." Her fingers brushed his neck. "Think about how he destroyed you... those nights you hid under your blanket crying..."
Song Xiaoyang's breath quickened. The distant chimes of the church bells startled a flock of pigeons into flight. As the last pigeon vanished into the dusk, he made a decision.
"What should I do?"
Bai Ye grinned, her teeth sharp and long. "First, we need to learn the enemy's weakness..."