In the middle of the night, a light rain fell, leaving the ground slightly damp in the morning. Opening the window, the air felt exceptionally fresh.
“Why are you opening the window? It’s freezing!”
“Sorry, I just wanted to let some air in. If you’re cold, I’ll close it.” Zhai Jiajing turned around, offering an apologetic smile.
Seeing it was Zhai Jiajing, the guy paused, rubbed his nose, and mumbled, “It’s okay, you can keep it open. Ventilating is good.”
Zhai Jiajing was the class monitor, excelling academically, beautiful, and very understanding and gentle. Many guys in the class had a crush on her.
The girl sitting next to him rolled her eyes and pushed his elbow aside disdainfully, then looked up and asked, “Zhai Jiajing, I heard there’s a transfer student in your dorm. Where is she?”
“Oh, she should be coming over with Shi Qin.”
Shi Qin stayed up until three in the morning doing her winter break homework. The dormitory lights went out at eleven, but she managed to drain the battery of all four small desk lamps and finish her assignments.
When Zhai Jiajing left in the morning, Shi Qin still couldn’t be awakened.
Shen Xingruo woke up at the first call, but after checking the time, she calmly said from under her blanket, “I’ll sleep a bit longer.”
As a class cadre, Zhai Jiajing had a lot to do on the first day of school, so she couldn’t wait for them to wake up and ended up leaving first.
By 7:25, most of the class had arrived. Some were chatting, some were reviewing vocabulary, some were doing homework, and some were sneaking breakfast. The whole classroom buzzed like boiling water, bustling with activity.
“Lin Yu proposed publicly, and at a concert! Is he out of his mind? Why would he do something so reckless? His fan base has been dropping rapidly lately, and the engagement rate on his super-topic has plummeted!”
“…Huh? Weren’t there supposed to be ten sets of English test papers?
“I only have ten. I counted them when they were handed out—only ten!”
“…I randomly filled in the math multiple-choice questions.” Shouldn’t have bothered to check? It seems like all these winter break assignments we handed in have been treated as trash.”
And then there was gossip: “I heard Lu Xingyan and Xu Chengzhou from Class Three, and Chen Zhu went out together, to the beach. Do you think Lu Xingyan and Chen Zhu might be dating?”
Another girl looked puzzled. “But weren’t they already dating?”
“Who told you that? Not true.”
“Well then, I don’t know. I always thought they were together last semester. Oh, by the way, it seems like we have a transfer student in our class. She’s staying in Zhai Jiajing’s dorm.”
“I had no idea.”
“Li Ting mentioned it last night when we had dinner together.”
The girl looked around, perplexed. “Where is she…”
As if on cue, at 7:30, Shi Qin and Shen Xingruo entered the classroom one after the other as the bell for morning self-study rang.
When Shen Xingruo entered, the classroom was still bustling, but soon after, everyone quieted down—
Wang Youfu appeared at the classroom door, holding his red thermos cup and wearing a stern expression. Shen Xingruo was somewhat surprised; she hadn’t expected the class teacher, Wang Youfu, to be so intimidating.
The classroom was soon filled with the sound of reading, in both Chinese and English. Faintly, one could hear someone reciting the significance of the scientific development concept and the historical meaning of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894.
Wang Youfu looked satisfied as he leisurely walked to the platform and put down his cherished thermos cup—no, he picked it up again the next second.
“Let’s pause for a moment, everyone. Let me introduce our new classmate.” He waved to Shen Xingruo. “Come on up and introduce yourself.”
Shen Xingruo wasn’t nervous at all. She walked up to the platform, bowed lightly, and then turned to write three large characters on the blackboard. Gracefully, she said, “Hello, everyone. My name is Shen Xingruo. I hope to learn from everyone and progress together in the future.”
Three seconds of silence, and then applause broke out in the classroom.
Wang Youfu looked pleased again, scanning the room. He pointed to an empty seat. “Shen Xingruo, please sit there for now. We’ll rearrange the seating next week.”
Shen Xingruo nodded and headed towards her seat.
Once everyone was seated, Wang Youfu held his thermos cup and began his customary speech, the first spellbinding incantation of the new semester. “Next semester, you’ll be in your senior year. Don’t think that you’re still in junior year and that the college entrance exam is far away…”
He had just begun when a lazy voice interrupted from the doorway. “Reporting in.”
Lu Xingyan stood there casually in his school uniform, boneless, with his head slightly tilted. He wore his backpack with only one strap over his shoulder, and there was a basketball tucked under his arm.
Wang Youfu glanced at him, unsure if he intended to scold or what, but before he could say anything, his phone rang—
It was a call from the grade leader.
Wang Youfu didn’t have time to deal with Lu Xingyan. He hurriedly stepped out while answering the phone.
Lu Xingyan showed no intention of waiting for Wang Youfu to come back and reprimand him. He simply walked in, pausing slightly as he passed Shen Xingruo’s seat.
Shen Xingruo noticed. His basketball looked new, without a speck of dust. It wasn’t the one from last night.
At that moment, Lu Xingyan casually released the basketball, patting it lightly on the ground. The ball hit the floor with a dull, echoing thud.
Shen Xingruo remained unfazed, meeting Lu Xingyan’s gaze without changing her expression.
Lu Xingyan didn’t say anything, just stared at her for a few seconds. Then, he strangely tugged at the corner of his lips before continuing to walk towards the back row.
Shen Xingruo interpreted his gaze as “You wait for me.”
Their seats were separated by an aisle. Shen Xingruo sat in the fifth row of the second section, while Lu Xingyan sat in the seventh row of the first section, not too far apart. Whenever Lu Xingyan looked forward, he could always catch a glimpse of Shen Xingruo’s figure.
When Wang Youfu returned, his gaze swept around until he found Lu Xingyan. He said, “You’re late. Write out the political agenda ten times and hand it in.”
Lu Xingyan didn’t argue. He just replied with an “okay.”
Wang Youfu continued with his previous topic, droning on. Halfway through, Lu Xingyan couldn’t help but yawn.
“I heard you were playing basketball last night, and a girl threw the ball into the trash can. Damn, is this a new tactic to get your attention?” Li Chengfan, his deskmate, whispered.
It wasn’t surprising for Li Chengfan to think that way. Nowadays, female students are quite innovative, having read plenty of novels. They knew that ordinary gestures like sending love letters or chocolates couldn’t spark any excitement in the night sky.
Last semester, when Lu Xingyan finally made it to the cafeteria, he had a bowl of hot soup thrown at him by a girl from the science class.
There was also a bold freshman girl who approached Lu Xingyan with a bossy CEO-style confession, even attempting to kiss him on tiptoe. Unfortunately, she wasn’t tall enough, and Lu Xingyan lifted her away like a little chick.
Li Chengfan asked, “Which class is that girl from? What does she look like? Doing this right at the beginning of the semester, she’s quite impressive. Did you guys manage to get the ball back?”
“Didn’t ask for it.” Lu Xingyan twirled his pen casually, glancing at Shen Xingruo out of the corner of his eye.
“Damn, what a waste,” Li Chengfan remarked.
Seeing Lu Xingyan’s lack of response, Li Chengfan quickly shifted to a new topic. “Hey, you didn’t notice earlier, but in the second section, fifth row… that girl sitting with Ruan Wen, the new transfer student, she’s gorgeous!”
He discreetly pointed out the girl to Lu Xingyan, emphasizing the word “gorgeous.”
Not only Li Chengfan, but many students in the classroom were whispering about Shen Xingruo, occasionally sneaking glances at her.
Unfazed, Shen Xingruo listened to Wang Youfu while reading her book. At Hui Ze, the college entrance exam included self-made questions for the liberal arts subjects, so the textbooks for the three liberal arts subjects were different from those at Ming Li School.
She hadn’t had the chance to pick up the new books yet, so she borrowed them from Shi Qin before leaving home, taking this opportunity to compare them.
At exactly 8 o’clock, the bell rang, signaling the end of morning self-study. Wang Youfu finally finished his speech. “Alright, that’s all for now. You still need to think carefully about your studies. Oh, class monitor, where’s the class monitor—Ah Ruan Wen, I won’t collect the winter break homework for politics yet. I’ll discuss the exam papers during class.”
“Okay, Mr. Wang,” Ruan Wen responded gently and obediently.
Shen Xingruo turned her head slightly, and Ruan Wen sensitively met her gaze, politely and somewhat awkwardly smiling. “Hello, I’m Ruan Wen.”
She opened her book, showing Shen Xingruo her name. “This one.”
Shen Xingruo nodded. “Hello, I’m Shen Xingruo.”
Ruan Wen nodded twice. “Your name sounds very nice. Is it from Cao Cao’s ‘Observing the Sea,’ where the stars are shining brightly as if coming from within?”
Shen Xingruo wasn’t sure, but she just smiled faintly.
As Wang Youfu left the platform, the classroom buzzed with activity again.
Just as Shen Xingruo finished greeting Ruan Wen, a boy from the back patted her shoulder.
She turned around.
The boy had a gentle smile, revealing white and neatly aligned teeth. He looked sunny and clean, with a hint of familiarity.
“Shen Xingruo, do you remember me?” His voice sounded somewhat familiar.
“I’m He Siyue.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar too.
He Siyue smiled helplessly. “Looks like you don’t remember. We met at the Model United Nations conference before. You were from Huize First High School, right?”
He tried to provide more details to jog her memory. “The theme of that Model UN conference was ocean environmental protection and development. You were the representative of New Zealand, and I was the representative of Nigeria. We both received the Best Delegate award. After it ended, we had dinner together.”
Shen Xingruo finally remembered. “Oh, it’s you.”
She felt a bit dry and added, “What a coincidence.”
“YeAh too coincidental. It’s been a year since we last met, but I recognized you at first sight,” Siyue said.
“Sorry, but you… um… have changed a bit since the Model UN,” Shen Xingruo said, refusing to admit that her memory wasn’t great.
Siyue chuckled again. “Just got a new hairstyle.”
As he spoke, he slightly lowered his head and ruffled his hair.
People nearby appeared to mind their own business, but they were all secretly listening to their conversation.
When they heard keywords like “Best Delegate,” everyone was surprised. A student transferred from Huize First High School, who had won the Best Delegate award at the Model UN conference, seemed to be quite a high achiever…
Lu Xingyan and Li Chengfan also overheard, but they were typical latecomers and had no idea what a Model UN conference was.
Liu Xingyan didn’t know, but he wouldn’t say it. Li Chengfan, on the other hand, was different. With a puzzled expression, he asked, “What’s the Model United Nations Conference? The Model Alliance Conference?”
The voice came out during a brief lull, sounding a bit abrupt.
He Siyue and Shen Xingruo both glanced over, seemingly spontaneously.
Liu Xingyan licked his molars, expressionless as he rolled up the textbook on the table and tapped Li Chengfan’s head. “If you don’t know, then shut up.”
At this moment, Li Chengfan displayed a strong thirst for knowledge. “You know? Then tell us what it is.”
Liu Xingyan: “…”
Damn, you’re annoying as hell.