Chen Huan’er made herself a summer vacation schedule. Study would begin promptly at eight in the morning, with a two-hour break for lunch and rest, and bedtime at ten in the evening. However, on the first day, she woke up to find it was already noon. She angrily confronted her mother, “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I did call you, but you didn’t hear me.” Chen Ma’s reasoning was flawless.

“Can’t you take out your little whip and give me a few lashes!”

“That won’t do, the country doesn’t encourage corporal punishment.” Chen Ma consoled her cheerfully, “Come on, vacation is mainly for rest. What’s the point of having a vacation if it’s just like being in school?”

Sometimes she wondered if her mother had been cursed with some kind of anti-studying spell.

Chen Ma added, “Tomorrow we’re going fruit picking at the farm, okay?”

“Not going.” Huan’er grumbled, “Young people these days just haven’t experienced hardship. Having money but choosing to go to some mountain valley…”

“Qi Chi and Song Cong are both going. Oh my, I better let them know right away.”

“I suppose doing some farm work wouldn’t be bad, right, Ma?” Hearing that her friends weren’t studying either, Huan’er grinned mischievously. “Not going would make me look unsociable.”

The summer vacation schedule ended before it even began.

The next day, their group set out from the staff residential compound in grand fashion. Seeing everyone else in a family units of three, Huan’er especially missed her father. As she thought about it, she felt regretful. During their last meeting, she had been too preoccupied with unfinished homework, friends ignoring her and being scolded by Director Fu for not wearing her school uniform. She had been so caught up in her trivial troubles that she barely spoke properly with her father. She hadn’t even hugged him before he left on his rare visit home. Now she wanted to knock herself on the head – stupid pig, what had she been thinking?

Irreparable regret always comes with a sigh. It seemed that besides taking a deep, silent breath, there was no other way to express her state of mind.

The picking garden was in the suburbs, part of the city’s largest resort. It covered a vast area with many crop varieties, complete with adjacent restaurants, accommodation, and barbecue facilities. Song Ma, in her wheelchair, joked that she was the only one enjoying VIP treatment. Huan’er deeply admired her – not everyone could calmly accept misfortune. Being able to cope was already remarkable enough, but maintaining enthusiasm and yearning for life afterward was practically a superpower.

A different kind of superpower from her mother’s, but still one that made people’s hearts race with admiration.

The Song couple went fishing at the pond, while Song Cong was dispatched to join the picking team. Huan’er used scissors to cut bunches of grapes, while he held the basket below to catch them. They worked together seamlessly, chatting and laughing. Song Cong told her that the experimental school was much more interesting than Tianzhong – the English teacher showed original movies in class, someone had posted a huge caricature of the disciplinary director on the bulletin board, and during tests, cheat sheets would fly toward his desk from all directions.

Huan’er was shocked, “You help them cheat?”

“Well, I need to know who threw which paper.” Song Cong smiled, “They’re all anonymous notes.”

“Do the teachers not discipline you at all?”

“Mm, not really.”

Having Tianzhong’s top student transfer was like a celestial being descending to earth – they practically worshipped him. Huan’er sighed, “If I hadn’t paid the school selection fee, I’d be your schoolmate now.”

Life’s jokes are always unpredictable.

“It doesn’t matter,” Song Cong replied in a voice too soft for her to hear.

Jing Qi Chi brought over a bunch of grapes, “Chen Huan’er, try these, this variety is super juicy and sweet.” Without waiting for a response, he plucked two grapes and stuffed them into Huan’er’s mouth, covering it with his palm, “See? Aren’t they sweet?”

An intense sour taste filled her mouth, making her whole row of teeth shiver. “Sweet my foot!” Huan’er mumbled as she tried to pry his hand away, but the boy deliberately increased his force, leaving her no choice but to swallow the sour grapes.

Tears welled up in Huan’er’s eyes from the sourness, and she counterattacked with a martial arts hold. Chen Ma shouted from afar, “No bullying!”

Bullying? I’m about to hit him!

Huan’er was utterly indignant, “He poisoned me!”

Jing Qi Chi pleaded pitifully, “The one I ate was really sweet, really really! With our friendship, I wouldn’t lie to you, right?”

Seeing this, Chen Ma started walking over, “Be careful with Qi Chi’s arm, don’t use too much force.”

She had barely taken two steps when Jing Ma pulled her back, “Where are you going? Let them play.”

“But Huan’er trained with her father…”

“Stop worrying about nothing.” Jing Ma watched the children with a smile, “It’s fine, if anything dislocates, old Song can fix it right here.”

Huan’er held Jing Qi Chi’s arms behind his back, her voice filled with resentment, “You did that on purpose! Three days without a beating and you’re running wild!”

Jing Ba passed by slowly with his basket, and Jing Qi Chi called out to him like seeing a savior, “Dad, Dad, your son’s life is in danger!”

“Huh, I was just wondering where to dispose of you,” Jing Ba touched his face, “You little rascal, those grapes made my teeth ache.”

After picking ended, the group had dinner together at the resort restaurant. Song Ba handed the freshly caught crucian carp to the waiter, finally making a decision, “Steam two, braise two.”

“Less ginger in the steamed ones,” Huan’er chimed in.

Hearing this, Jing Qi Chi became happy again, ruffling her head affectionately, “The child has grown up, so thoughtful.”

“Get lost.” Just as she was about to retaliate, her mother’s stern voice stopped her, “Chen Huan’er!”

Huan’er had no choice but to sit properly, muttering under her breath, “Why don’t you just adopt a son.”

The younger ones chatted about exams and school gossip, while the adults discussed work and whether there might be a romance between Dr. Zhou’s son Zhou You and Shanshan, who had both grown up in the compound and were returning home for summer break. What a wonderful day it was. The grapes were plump and smooth, the peaches bright red, the mulberries purple and crimson, and homepicked fruit filled the trunk. The caught crucian carp jumped energetically as if unwilling to admit defeat. Everyone was smiling, their faces bright with joy like the proud August evening sun, burning and lingering as if it would never end.

After school started, the third-year classes moved to the first and second floors of the main building – meaning less time to reach the playground and cafeteria, the school’s way of showing that every minute counted. Four new students joined the class, two from other schools and two repeating the year. They didn’t introduce themselves; integration was irrelevant compared to grades. In the first monthly test, Chen Huan’er’s class rank dropped by four places. Looking at the unfamiliar names above hers on the score sheet, she suddenly understood what teachers often said: crossing a log bridge with thousands of troops, for someone to climb up, someone else must be pushed down.

This was a competition with no retreat, and she had no choice but to participate.

Jing Qi Chi’s situation was worse. On the day of the rankings, he told Huan’er he had no idea how to study.

Tianzhong’s pace was fast, and by now there was little new knowledge being input, with teachers spending most of class time on review. Except for mathematics, where his foundation was relatively solid and he could barely keep up, everything else was a mess. Combined with missing classes due to his previous surgery, he was like a headless fly, hitting walls in every subject, unable to solve any problems.

Song Ma was still in recovery, so Song Cong naturally couldn’t help. Huan’er thought for a moment and told him, “Starting today, come straight to my house after school. We’ll study for an hour before you go home.”

She wasn’t a top student herself, and her only worry was that she could not teach effectively.

“I have no idea where to start.” Jing Qi Chi rarely felt discouraged, but now he was extremely dejected. “Besides, I don’t want to waste your time.”

“It’s fine, let’s just waste each other’s time and muddle through this life together.”

A sincere, smiling face fell into Jing Qi Chi’s pupils. But Chen Huan’er, do you know how long a lifetime is?

After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded silently.

—You asked about the first half, and I answered about the second.

Huan’er didn’t know how to teach either. She could only follow Song Cong’s method, randomly picking a test paper from any subject, explaining when they encountered wrong answers, going back to the textbook when he didn’t understand something, and reviewing knowledge points from beginning to end. The planned one hour often stretched to nearly two, and they would only hurriedly wrap up when Chen Ma knocked on the door. After he left, she would start her homework, writing until late into the night. She didn’t have Song Cong’s talent – she taught slowly and wrote slowly herself. Lack of sleep made her doze off in class, and she was angrily awakened by teachers several times. Huan’er didn’t think much of it, but Jing Qi Chi felt extremely guilty.

He wanted to say let’s stop but feared hurting Huan’er’s pride, so after much hesitation, he remained silent.

The third-year sports meet was changed to a long-distance march, firstly to strengthen everyone’s physical fitness, and secondly to save a day. The route went from school to the suburban forest park, thirty kilometers round trip. This distance was nothing to Chen Huan’er, but whether due to underestimating it or a recent lack of rest, she ended up vomiting everything in her stomach upon reaching the park. Even Teacher Xu was surprised that the class’s best runner had been completely defeated by this half-journey. Jing Qi Chi gritted his teeth and told her, “Let’s stop the tutoring, the efficiency is too low.”

He knew her too well – if he honestly said he was worried about her health, she would reject the idea.

“You think my efficiency is low?” Huan’er glared at him.

“I can handle it myself,” Jing Qi Chi waved his hand. “If worst comes to worst, I’ll find a tutor.”

He had always resisted getting a tutor. Both his parents were wage workers, and they had already been struggling with his football expenses before, giving him the best equipment and training they could afford. Now that path was cut off and he wasn’t playing anymore, he didn’t want to burden them with additional expenses.

Besides, Jing Qi Chi wasn’t sure if tutoring would even help.

“Why find a tutor when I can teach you?”

Huan’er didn’t get an answer. Jing Qi Chi’s phone rang, he turned his back to answer it, then ran away quickly without looking back.

She had an extremely bad feeling because this scene was the same as with Song Cong before.