Zhang Shu was talking to Han Xiao outside the window.

Han Xiao was Zhang Shu’s middle school classmate. Only three students from No. 35 Middle School got into the affiliated high school that year – Zhang Shu, Han Xiao, and Chen Mengyao. It was already the best performance in the school’s history; in previous years, getting even one student in would have been a blessing from Buddha.

Chen Mengyao was an art student, and Zhang Shu was the dark horse – both their admissions were unexpected.

Only Han Xiao, who had been the top student since seventh grade, was expected to get in. In the end, he was surpassed by Zhang Shu, the dark horse, which left him quite resentful. However, his grades, which had been impressive at No. 35, became mediocre at the affiliated school. The huge gap devastated him.

For some reason, he sought out Zhang Shu, his old classmate, for a chat. As they talked, he became a devoted fan, sticking to Zhang Shu all the time. During breaks and evening self-study sessions, he would often run to Zhang Shu’s class and stay for half the period. Almost every teacher in Class 6 had chased him out, and everyone in the class knew him. Later, when the liberal arts classes were moved to a different floor, the distance reduced his visits.

Now he was back again, and Class 6 students were used to it.

The classrooms had corridors on both the north and south sides. The north corridor was only one meter wide and normally unused except for cleaning supplies. Han Xiao was now crouching by the window, using a mop as cover.

“Bro Shu, how are you planning your birthday?” Han Xiao asked.

“No plans,” Zhang Shu replied.

“That won’t do! This is your coming-of-age birthday!” Han Xiao insisted.

Zhang Shu had never liked celebrating his birthday. Who didn’t know his mother died giving birth to him?

“No money, no mood,” Zhang Shu said dismissively.

“Brother Hou told us you’re tight on money lately. How could we let you pay?” Han Xiao persuaded earnestly. “Zhou Yingxiang and others said they’ll treat you at Milk.”

Zhou Yingxiang was a super-rich second-generation developer’s son. Back at No. 35, he had always tried to curry favor with Zhang Shu for unknown reasons. Word was that he had bought his way into the elite class this semester, and surprisingly, he had already connected with Han Xiao. And Milk? One night there would cost several thousand at least. With more people, the drinks alone would burn through money, and bills over ten thousand were common. Few students could afford it; most could only use someone else’s membership card.

Not to be narcissistic, but Zhang Shu was starting to wonder if he appealed to both men and women.

Zhang Shu swallowed the words “what nonsense” and politely replied, “What’s there to celebrate? We’re too young for formal dinners.”

Han Xiao: …If only Bro Shu didn’t have such a sharp tongue.

“Just to have some fun together,” Han Xiao played his trump card. “Zhou Yingxiang said he’ll get Chen Mengyao to come to celebrate with you.”

…

When Sheng Xia came in following Wang Wei’s instructions, she saw Zhang Shu talking to himself at a mop head outside the window, too far to hear what he was saying…

As she got closer, she heard him tell the mop: “Get lost.”

Then the mop moved and fell.

The night wind rustled outside, and there was nothing there.

Sheng Xia: …

Zhang Shu slammed the window shut with a bang. When he turned around, he saw the girl standing a meter away, looking at him with terror.

Zhang Shu tilted his head and looked back at her: …?

Do you need something?

“Zhang… Shu… The teacher is calling you.” Sheng Xia understood his expression, dropped these words, and left without waiting for an answer.

Zhang, Shu.

These two characters had rather hard pronunciations, but unexpectedly, someone could make them sound so gentle.

A boy in the back seat rubbed his arms and said in a falsetto: “Zhang… Shu… Oh my~ The new student is too…”

Soft.

This was the descriptor that popped into Zhang Shu’s mind.

When he was leaving, he casually glanced at the seat by the door. The girl was bowing her head as if doing exercises, but her scratch paper was full of doodles, clearly distracted.

What kind of mind structure did she have, always trembling about something?

Wang Wei’s summons – the content was crystal clear to him as always.

Words like “aim for top scholar,” “maintain stable mentality,” “stay focused,” and “don’t get cocky” appeared repeatedly. Zhang Shu could recite them backward.

“What’s with that expression? Don’t think I’m nagging. Truth is truth, it needs repetition to sink in. At this crucial moment, you can’t slack off for even a moment. Would I waste my breath nagging just anyone? Would I stop some random person on the street…”

“Would I stop some random person on the street to nag them? Don’t take your blessings for granted!” Zhang Shu interrupted Wang Wei, completing his sentence perfectly.

Wang Wei: …

People in the classroom heard a “smack” and saw Wang Wei hit Zhang Shu on the back with a chemistry workbook. “You little…”

Class 6 students were used to this and just glanced before minding their own business, too lazy to watch.

“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to study.” Zhang Shu was already turning away as he spoke.

“Stop right there!”

Zhang Shu looked back, “Lots of homework, Old Wang.”

Wang Wei didn’t mind the nickname and beckoned, “Come back!”

Zhang Shu looked at Wang Wei very impatiently. Wang Wei stepped forward and put his arm around Zhang Shu’s shoulders. They faced away from the classroom, with Wang Wei turning towards Zhang Shu. When he spoke passionately, even the few hairs on his head trembled – he looked as earnest as could be.

“I’m not worried about your other subjects, just Chinese that’s never been high enough. If other subjects hadn’t widened the gap, your Chinese would be dragging you down. You need to stabilize it above 125 points at least. If you could get 130 points in Chinese, or even push for 135, you’d be valedictorian, understand?”

Zhang Shu: “Why must it be valedictorian? They’re just scores, isn’t it enough if they’re good enough?”

Wang Wei looked incredulous, “Just? Do you know how many people have their hopes on you? Is this just about you?”

“Isn’t it?”

Wang Wei was about to die from anger and took deep breaths, “Can you guarantee nothing will go wrong with other subjects in the exam? There’s not much room left for you to improve in math and sciences now – even if you’re brilliant, can you score 151? Although Chinese relies on accumulation and is hard to improve quickly, Teacher Fu says you could push your composition scores higher – you just don’t take it seriously enough.”

Zhang Shu: “Isn’t this about natural talent?”

“Of course not! They’re all subjects, which means they’re all scientific, so there are ways to improve. With your learning ability, no problem!” Wang Wei finally got a response and spoke more enthusiastically, “Our class’s new student, Sheng Xia, she’s excellent at composition. Teacher Fu says she won first prize in the Phoenix Tree Essay Competition when she was a freshman – that used to guarantee admission to Heyan University. Though that policy doesn’t exist anymore, her skill level is there. You should make good use of this nearby tower, you know?”

Zhang Shu snorted: “Old Wang, you should open a matchmaking service instead.”

What the hell nearby tower?

Class 6 students saw Zhang Shu being chased back into the classroom by Wang Wei again, leaving Wang Wei standing in the corridor with his hands on his hips, fuming.

…

On the weekend, Sheng Xia finally kept her promise to meet her best friend Tao Zhizhi at One Square Bookstore.

Before senior year, Sheng Xia and Tao Zhizhi went to the bookstore almost every week. Sheng Xia read books while Tao Zhizhi read manga. They both had annual memberships and would spend whole days there, having a light lunch and coffee.

“Peach, we probably won’t have such comfortable days anymore,” Sheng Xia sipped her coffee, “The homework at the affiliated school is despairingly overwhelming, wuwu.”

Tao Zhizhi pouted, “Wuwu, we’re all the same. Why do miserable creatures call high school seniors to exist in this world?”

Sheng Xia nodded in agreement, both girls looking dejected.

Naturally, Tao Zhizhi wanted to know about Sheng Xia’s life after transferring, “How’s the affiliated school?”

Sheng Xia told Tao Zhizhi about the strange classroom layout and the unique seating arrangements.

“What? First place? You’re going to sit next to the first-place student, Zhang Shu? He’s in your class! Your class is amazing!” Tao Zhizhi’s eyes widened in surprise when she heard about Sheng Xia’s seat change next week.

Sheng Xia was confused: “You know him?” Tao Zhizhi had been in the same class with her from elementary through middle school, then went to No. 1 High School – how would she know Zhang Shu?

Tao Zhizhi shook her head, then nodded, “One-sided knowledge. Who doesn’t know him? Those joint exam scores were terrifying.”

Well, Sheng Xia didn’t know him. To her, first place was just called first place. For people unrelated to her, she wouldn’t think about remembering other information.

“Is he handsome?” Tao Zhizhi leaned across the table and asked in a low voice, her eyes mischievous, “I heard he looks like a bad student, arrogant and handsome, a real hottie?”

“Huh?” Sheng Xia couldn’t keep up with this topic jump, “Is he?”

“He’s not?” Tao Zhizhi looked disappointed, “Maybe it’s just stereotyping that good students should be ugly, so someone who looks decent counts as handsome. Ah well, it made me want to visit the affiliated school hahaha…”

Was Zhang Shu handsome?

Sheng Xia lowered her head.

Probably no one could deny it in good conscience.

This wasn’t a topic worth discussing anyway, so once it passed, she let it pass and didn’t bring it up again for further explanation.

…

On Monday morning reading time, they changed seats as usual. Sheng Xia’s row was the most troublesome – they had to first move the desks to the corridor to make room for the others to shift right, leaving the leftmost space empty, then move back to the innermost position.

They needed to cross the podium with one step during this process. Boys could just lift the desks over, but girls needed help from each other.

Sheng Xia was in a difficult position. She was only somewhat familiar with Xin Xiaohe, so she could only ask her for help, but Xin Xiaohe was quite listless today, constantly rolling a hot water bottle on her lower abdomen. As a fellow girl, Sheng Xia naturally understood her special situation today.

Yang Linyu was moving Xin Xiaohe’s desk for her.

Sheng Xia pressed her lips together, thinking.

If she took everything out of the desk compartment, the desk would be much lighter, and she should be able to lift it herself. Walking slowly should be fine.

She started working, but there was a lot in the desk compartment – notebooks one after another, plus water bottles, tape, and other small items.

While she was crouching and digging things out, she heard two knocks on the desk surface and looked up.

The young man stood tall at her desk, backlit and looking down at her from above, his expression somewhat impatient and somewhat exasperated.

It was an upgraded version of that “looking at an idiot” expression from last time.

“Stop digging, put it back and I’ll move it for you,” he said flatly.

“What…” Sheng Xia was confused – they weren’t close, were they?

Zhang Shu urged: “Hurry up.”

“Oh…” Sheng Xia instinctively obeyed and stuffed the notebooks back into the desk.

Just as she finished putting things back, before she could stand up, he grabbed the desk with one hand and lifted it, crossing the podium in a few steps towards the inner area. Because he was using strength, his forearm muscles tensed, showing powerful, beautiful lines. His elegant, long fingers gripped the desk edge, the knuckles white from pressure, joints distinct…

Sheng Xia hurriedly looked away and bent down to push her book cart. The cart had wheels and was easy to push to the step edge. Just as she was preparing to lift the step, another shadow fell over her. The sun-scorched grass scent invaded her nose, and in an instant, those distinctly-jointed hands had easily lifted the book cart…

Zhang Shu carried her book cart to the seating area but found nowhere to put it.

Her previous seat had aisles on both sides, but now the left side was against the window, and the right side was next to him.

“Where should I put it?” Zhang Shu turned back to ask.

Sheng Xia stood by the podium, looking left and right. She had overlooked this problem too.

Where indeed?

Seeing the girl’s blank expression, Zhang Shu’s head was full of black lines. He had to decide for her: “Put it in the middle.”

He placed the book cart between their two chairs.

Sheng Xia felt somewhat embarrassed: “Sorry for taking up your space…”

Zhang Shu laughed: “What else can we do?”

Sheng Xia: “I’m sor-” ry…

“Disney princess, it’s understandable to have lots of stuff,” Zhang Shu interrupted.

Sheng Xia: …

Faint snickers came from nearby. Only then did Sheng Xia notice that the bustling classroom changing seats had somehow become orderly. Except for her row, almost everyone had settled in, some already taking out English books for listening practice, so almost the whole class was leisurely watching them at the podium.

She couldn’t help but redden at the ears from all the attention.

Xin Xiaohe had already adjusted her seat and was about to call Yang Linyu to help Sheng Xia when she noticed Sheng Xia was no longer in the corridor. Turning her head, she saw this scene: the girl standing gracefully by the podium, showing embarrassment and apology; the young man standing casually by the seat with his hips slightly cocked. Because of the one-step height difference, they were almost the same height. He looked at her straight on, his expression helpless. Both their profiles were flawless.

Behind them, the windows were bright and clean, the camphor trees lush, the morning sun sparkling.

Like a promotional poster for a summer youth film.

Yang Linyu in front of her asked with a grin: “Hey, don’t you think they look good together?”

Xin Xiaohe glared at him, and feeling it wasn’t forceful enough, stood up and smacked his head: “Zhang Shu? He wishes! The fairy stands alone in her beauty.”

Yang Linyu was in pain, “Stop hitting my head, you’ll have to take responsibility if I can’t get into university!”

“Should I hit your face instead?”

“…”

Hou Junqi arrived late, dawdling as he moved from the last desk at the back door to in front of Sheng Xia. He watched his dear Shu’s helpful performance from behind, grinning with great amusement, “Shu, being quite the gentleman?”

Sheng Xia didn’t want to be watched anymore and returned to her seat, head down organizing things.

The chair beside her was pulled back, and the young man sat down lazily, responding: “A precious tower must be treasured.”

Hou Junqi didn’t understand, “What?”

Zhang Shu ignored him.

Sheng Xia didn’t understand either, and she didn’t want to understand.

Those two had always been strange anyway.