Jiang Yubai took a book titled “Selected Song Dynasty Poems” from the bookshelf.

He opened the book and casually asked, “Is your work as club president going smoothly?”

“Yes, quite well,” Lin Zhixia lowered her head, looking at the book in his hands. “Did you receive the letter I sent you last month?”

“I did,” Jiang Yubai responded honestly.

In the middle of last month, Jiang Yubai had received Lin Zhixia’s first letter.

In her letter, she expressed sincere friendship. Her handwriting was neat and beautiful. She had also included two photographs of osmanthus trees in the envelope, with “From Lin Zhixia to Jiang Yubai” written on the back.

Jiang Yubai treasured this letter. He had framed the photos and placed the frame on his bedside table.

Now, Lin Zhixia raised her head and looked at him intently: “Why didn’t you write back to me?”

Jiang Yubai said softly, “I…”

He couldn’t write it.

He often video chatted with Lin Zhixia on QQ, but he never mentioned writing letters. He had attempted to write many times, always dissatisfied, throwing away a wastebasket full of discarded paper.

Lin Zhixia moved closer to him: “Is corresponding by letter a bit boring?”

“Not boring,” Jiang Yubai insisted, “It’s very interesting.”

Lin Zhixia was somewhat puzzled. Her thick eyelashes blinked as she probed, “During our second and third year of middle school, you wrote daily life reports to me quite smoothly.”

Jiang Yubai explained, “Letters and reports are different. Words in a letter should have feeling.”

Seeing how serious he was, Lin Zhixia couldn’t help teasing him: “You don’t write back to me because you have no feelings for me?”

The book in Jiang Yubai’s hand fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up, his voice dropping even lower: “How could that be?”

He stood up straight and added, “You are my only best friend.”

He looked straight ahead, calmly stating the fact: “I wrote more than ten draft versions.”

Lin Zhixia’s heartbeat thundered in her mind. She had to step back a distance, standing farther away. She grabbed a copy of “Selected Tang Dynasty Poems,” hugged it with both hands, and turned to face the door… only then did the flush on her face finally begin to subside.

Jiang Yubai was always efficient when writing work reports, never dragging things out, always completing them quickly. His essay writing speed was also fast. When he was nine years old, he once spent half an hour struggling to write an 800-word self-criticism. However, since then, he had never encountered a similar predicament.

To think he would draft more than ten versions of a letter to Lin Zhixia?

Lin Zhixia steadied herself and declared, “I want your reply, no matter how it turns out.”

Jiang Yubai questioned, “Are you sure?”

Lin Zhixia nodded: “Of course.”

Jiang Yubai unzipped his backpack, took out an unsent letter, and handed it to Lin Zhixia personally.

Jiang Yubai never expected that Lin Zhixia would open the letter right in front of him. She read aloud without hesitation: “Lin Lin Lin Lin Zhixia, greetings, I am Jiang Yubai. It’s been a month since we last met, how have you been lately…”

Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside the classroom, and Jiang Yubai immediately stopped Lin Zhixia: “Don’t read it, don’t let others hear.”

Lin Zhixia quietly read the last sentence of the letter: “Wishing Lin Zhixia eternal health and happiness, and that you continue advancing far on the path of pursuing truth…”

She bounced over to him: “I love this letter! Don’t write drafts anymore, just write whatever comes to mind, then mail it to me. I want to see your handwriting.”

Jiang Yubai had just said “Okay” when two people entered the small classroom—one was Duan Qiyan, the other was Shen Fuxuan.

Many students from Class 27 of the first year of high school had joined the Classical Literature Club. According to the club’s rules, the president must be the person most skilled at “Flying Flower Decree” in the entire club. Any member could challenge the president, and whoever succeeded in the challenge would become the next president.

Today, Duan Qiyan came to school specifically to defeat Lin Zhixia.

This club activity would last from 1:30 to 3:30 in the afternoon. Duan Qiyan entered ten minutes early, unexpectedly encountering Jiang Yubai.

In that instant, Duan Qiyan lost his fighting spirit. He rushed over in a few quick steps, shouting, “Jiang Yubai?”

Jiang Yubai chose a seat and sat down calmly. He looked at Duan Qiyan and uttered the name: “Duan Qiyan.”

Standing nearby, Shen Fuxuan smiled with an unclear meaning. Meanwhile, Duan Qiyan continued questioning Jiang Yubai: “Hey, how are you doing in Beijing?”

Jiang Yubai remained silent. He took out several boxes of Beijing specialty pastries from his backpack and distributed them to Shen Fuxuan, Duan Qiyan, and Lin Zhixia. The strawberry-filled pastries were exclusively for Lin Zhixia.

Duan Qiyan happened to be very hungry. He opened the packaging of his pastry box, swallowed a piece whole, and got it stuck in his throat. He coughed several times, and Shen Fuxuan quickly took out his water bottle.

Duan Qiyan lowered his head, took a big gulp of water, caught his breath for a moment, then suddenly realized: “Hey, Shen Fuxuan, how could I drink from your cup?”

Shen Fuxuan leaned back in his chair and said lazily: “You’ve already drunk from it, what else can be done? If it weren’t for my water, you would have choked on the pastry by now. Not to criticize you, but haven’t you ever seen nice things before? Jiang Yubai gives you a box of pastries, and you eat like a starving ghost.”

Duan Qiyan’s face turned red: “Get lost, what starving ghost?”

As more people filled the classroom, Duan Qiyan didn’t dare argue with Shen Fuxuan. He was Lin Zhixia’s classmate and couldn’t disrupt Lin Zhixia’s event during club activities, regardless of their friendship.

Today was October 7th, the last day of the National Day holiday. Almost all members of the Classical Literature Club were present, which greatly pleased Lin Zhixia. She stood at the front of the classroom, with two vice presidents standing straight behind her, like her guardian protectors.

Lin Zhixia began speaking: “Thank you all for participating in this club activity. Last Wednesday, we welcomed two new members, Shen Fuxuan and Duan Qiyan, from Class 27 of the first year! Let’s give them a round of applause!”

After she finished speaking, the members applauded.

Duan Qiyan stood up in response to the applause: “I am Duan Qiyan, your next club president.”

Most of the Classical Literature Club members were speechless, while a small portion began whispering amongst themselves. Duan Qiyan showed no signs of timidity.

Previously, Duan Qiyan and Shen Fuxuan had played “Flying Flower Decree” more than a dozen times, with Shen Fuxuan always losing badly. Shen Fuxuan had said that Lin Zhixia’s level was similar to his own and suggested that Duan Qiyan challenge Lin Zhixia to take over the Classical Literature Club’s territory.

Duan Qiyan had agreed.

The vice president of the Classical Literature Club was a senior from the second year. This senior sighed lightly and announced loudly: “The first rule of the Classical Literature Club, challenging the president takes effect immediately.”

Lin Zhixia clapped and cheered: “Takes effect immediately!”

Jiang Yubai raised his hand to ask: “Are you going to play Flying Flower Decree?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia nodded.

Jiang Yubai asked again: “Do you need a referee?”

Lin Zhixia made a gesture of invitation: “Jiang Yubai, would you please help us keep time?”

Jiang Yubai wore an expensive watch. The brand was Piagetsa, made in Switzerland, though Duan Qiyan didn’t recognize its value. There was no clock in the classroom, so Jiang Yubai took off his watch to serve as a timer. Duan Qiyan questioned him: “Your watch doesn’t look like a digital one, is it accurate?”

Shen Fuxuan, sitting in the first row, glanced at the watch and sneered: “Duan Qiyan, you haven’t seen nice things before.”

Duan Qiyan was puzzled why Shen Fuxuan kept picking on him today—did he think Duan Qiyan was easy to bully? Just as he was about to react, Lin Zhixia stopped him: “The competition begins now. You choose the character for the Flying Flower Decree.”

Duan Qiyan was startled: “I choose the character? Aren’t you afraid of losing?”

Lin Zhixia calmly replied: “It’s fine, go ahead and choose.”

Duan Qiyan had crammed poems related to the character “moon” last night, and he had an extremely rich cultural knowledge base. So he proposed: “Let’s talk about poems related to the character ‘moon.’ You and I will take turns reciting a line containing the character ‘moon.’ There’s only thirty seconds of thinking time; exceeding by one second means losing.”

“Alright,” Lin Zhixia gracefully accepted the challenge.

Duan Qiyan didn’t know that within the Classical Literature Club, many members enjoyed watching Lin Zhixia compete with others. Because Lin Zhixia rarely lost, viewing the competition from her perspective always allowed one to experience the joy of victory.

The classroom fell into momentary silence—the prelude to a great battle. Duan Qiyan folded his arms and made the first move: “Raising my head, I see the bright moon; lowering my head, I think of my hometown.”

Lin Zhixia, facing Jiang Yubai, responded: “The bright moon rises over the sea; we share this moment across great distances.”

She looked at Jiang Yubai as if reciting that ancient poem specifically for him.

Duan Qiyan didn’t notice that Lin Zhixia was still seeking poetic meaning. Duan Qiyan confidently exclaimed: “The wilderness stretches, the sky lowers to the trees; the river is clear, the moon draws near to people.”

Lin Zhixia said: “The parting one is silent, the moon makes no sound; the bright moon has light, people have feelings… Tang Dynasty’s Li Zhi, poem titled ‘Farewell on a Moonlit Night.'”

At this point, Duan Qiyan began to feel slightly nervous. Shen Fuxuan had told Duan Qiyan that Lin Zhixia wasn’t good at Flying Flower Decree. Duan Qiyan believed that Shen Fuxuan wouldn’t trick him. He had no grievances with Shen Fuxuan; he only had enmity with Jin Baihui. Unless Shen Fuxuan… secretly liked Jin Baihui, there was no reason for Shen Fuxuan to make Duan Qiyan lose face in public.

Thinking this way, Duan Qiyan felt reassured.

Jiang Yubai reminded him: “Duan Qiyan, you have five seconds of thinking time left.”

Duan Qiyan hurriedly said: “How pitiful the night of the third day of the ninth month, dew like pearls, moon like a bow.”

Lin Zhixia still looked at Jiang Yubai: “East boat, west boat, quietly without words; only see the autumn moon white over the river’s heart.”

Jiang Yubai knew this verse came from Bai Juyi’s “The Song of the Pipa,” but Lin Zhixia’s gaze never left him. She had particularly emphasized the characters “river” (江) and “white” (白).

Jiang Yubai suspected that all her previous verses were meant for him to hear. He held the watch, continuing to keep time, while Duan Qiyan finally managed to blurt out: “The moon rises over the willow treetops; people see after dusk.”

The vice president immediately intervened: “That’s not right, Duan Qiyan. It should be ‘The moon rises over the willow treetops; people meet after dusk.'”

Duan Qiyan had spoken too quickly and recited one character incorrectly. But he had no chance to take it back because in the “Flying Flower Decree” game, once a party makes a mistake, the game ends. Duan Qiyan’s challenge failed, and he slunk back to Shen Fuxuan’s side.

Lin Zhixia retained her position as club president once again.

She proceeded with the planned club activities. She divided the members into small groups based on seating arrangements and had them play word games such as “Poetry Relay,” “Guess the Poem from the Picture,” and “Historical Allusion Quiz.” The atmosphere in the classroom quickly became lively, and two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Yubai and Shen Fuxuan were in the same group, and both thoroughly enjoyed themselves. As they parted, Shen Fuxuan asked Jiang Yubai: “Are your new high school classmates more interesting than us?”

“Hard to say,” Jiang Yubai described, “Half of my new high school classmates don’t speak Chinese.”

Shen Fuxuan shrugged: “Then you can’t play word games with them.”

Jiang Yubai honestly said: “The classmates sitting in front of me often play word-spelling games.”

Shen Fuxuan mocked: “That’s what bookworms like.”

Jiang Yubai countered: “Are you a bookworm?”

“How could I possibly be a bookworm?” Shen Fuxuan answered very confidently.

Jiang Yubai asked casually, “How many pull-ups can you do now? Have you achieved a perfect score in the one-kilometer run?”

Shen Fuxuan shouldered his backpack and walked ahead while Lin Zhixia’s laughter sounded behind him. Lin Zhixia walked side by side with Jiang Yubai and candidly told him: “I still can’t get a perfect score in the eight-hundred-meter run.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jiang Yubai encouraged her. “Keep exercising, improve your physical fitness, don’t worry about the eight-hundred-meter score.”

After all, Lin Zhixia was destined to be recommended for admission to a top university. She had won the mathematics competition medal, and whether her eight-hundred-meter run score was perfect or not was a trivial matter.

Yet Lin Zhixia said: “I’ll still try.”

She stood at the gate of Provincial No. 1 High School, maintaining her composure as she bid farewell to Jiang Yubai: “See you during winter break, Jiang Yubai.”

Nearby students came and went, vehicles flowed unceasingly on the road. In such a noisy and bustling environment, Lin Zhixia’s melancholy emotions were diluted. She waved to Jiang Yubai, who just silently watched her.

After a while, Jiang Yubai finally opened the car door and said unhurriedly: “See you during winter break, Lin Lin Lin Lin Zhixia.”

“Mm!” Lin Zhixia agreed.

Jiang Yubai closed the car door. His luggage was in the trunk of the sedan; he would go directly to the airport to catch the six o’clock evening flight, arriving in Beijing that night, and continuing school early the next morning.

Just like the last time they parted, Jiang Yubai sat by the car window, turning back to look at Lin Zhixia. She still stood in place, watching as he rode away.

*

After returning to Beijing, Jiang Yubai signed up for the North American Economics Challenge. This competition was divided into “low difficulty” and “high difficulty” groups.

Logically, given Jiang Yubai’s course level, he should have chosen the “low difficulty” group, but he insisted on registering for the “high difficulty” group. Even when teachers said he would face very significant challenges in the “high difficulty” group and might not even place, his conviction never wavered.

In Jiang Yubai’s class, there were only ten students besides him.

Jiang Yubai observed the daily study habits of these ten people and ultimately invited a Korean classmate named Song Yunxi to team up with him for the North American Economics Challenge.

Song Yunxi’s mother was Chinese, and his father was Korean. He held a Korean passport and wasn’t very fluent in Chinese, so Jiang Yubai mostly communicated with him in English.

Song Yunxi’s mother was a well-known lawyer specializing in international cases, and his father was a businessman in some region of Korea. Both parents had high expectations for him, and he was extremely hard on himself, often studying intensely. He and Jiang Yubai hit it off immediately, both deciding to bravely aim for the high difficulty group of the challenge.

The North American Economics Challenge required each competing team to include four students. After several days of discussion, Jiang Yubai and Song Yunxi approached senior students to form a team. They successfully persuaded two academically excellent seniors, both Chinese students with experience from last year’s challenge.

Jiang Yubai completed a series of preparations before telling Lin Zhixia about his progress.

It was an early winter evening, the weather cold outside but warm indoors. Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai were having a QQ video chat when Jiang Yubai mentioned his plans and study progress. Lin Zhixia seemed even happier than he was.

She said: “That’s wonderful! The competition has a livestream, so when you make it to the North American finals, I can sit in front of my computer and watch you advance victoriously.”

Jiang Yubai calmly replied: “The important thing is to participate. I may not necessarily make it to the North American finals.”

Lin Zhixia insisted: “I believe in you. No matter how far you go, I think you’re the champion.”

Then she added: “Jiang Yubai, I’m preparing a new paper in the computer science field. I’ve been writing it for a long time and am still waiting for a professor’s revision suggestions. Winter break is coming soon, and I want to publish a second paper.”

Jiang Yubai was genuinely happy for her: “Last time was physics, this time computer science…”

Lin Zhixia began to imitate him: “The important thing is to participate. I may not necessarily get it accepted.”

Jiang Yubai was full of confidence in her: “You can do it. Even if it’s not accepted at first, it will be after some revisions. I’m certain that paper represents your discovery of a new planet.”