After two classes came Monday’s flag-raising ceremony.

This time, everyone was not as bored to the point of dozing off as before. Everyone was extremely excited because today included Jiang Wang making a self-criticism in front of the entire school.

So when Academic Director Wang Jianping finished saying: “Last week, an extremely serious incident occurred at our school. Next, let’s have student Jiang Wang come up to make his self-criticism,” there was immediately enthusiastic applause from below.

It was quite impressive.

Although it was supposed to be a public self-criticism, the applause made it feel like an award ceremony.

Jiang Wang walked up from the back of the formation. The tall, long-legged young man was wearing the school uniform and pants today, with his jacket zipper properly pulled up to his chest, the blue collar neatly folded, showing a hint of youthfulness that was rarely seen in him.

Subtle discussions had already begun around them.

Shi Niannian stood at the front of the line, looking down at her toes.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Jiang Wang’s legs and a section of his thin ankles, then they stopped… right… beside her.

“Hey,” he said.

Shi Niannian looked up.

He was facing the light, his brows slightly furrowed because of the sunlight, as he extended his hand toward her. “My self-criticism letter, you haven’t given it to me yet.”

Shi Niannian was startled. After being caught writing the self-criticism by the teacher on Wednesday night in the competition class, she hadn’t continued writing it. Later, she finished it after returning home.

Then she fell ill and went to the hospital, and upon returning, she had forgotten about this matter.

She felt her pocket and sighed in relief.

Fortunately, it was still in her pocket.

She took out a neatly folded piece of paper that had been folded twice and handed it to Jiang Wang.

Everyone’s gaze fell on them, with a wave of teasing sounds and deliberately obvious fake coughs that were hard to ignore.

Wang Jianping, standing at the podium, frowned slightly and leaned toward the microphone: “What’s going on here? What’s this? Your self-criticism letter is written by someone else?”

The second-ranked student in the grade has his self-criticism written by the first-ranked student.

This was truly bizarre.

Jiang Wang was the kind of person who felt no shame even when making a self-criticism. He stood comfortably at the podium, bowing slightly, holding the microphone with two fingers, and leisurely reading from the self-criticism letter.

The young man’s deep, magnetic voice came through the speakers, sounding somewhat frivolous and irreverent.

“Jiang Wang’s voice is so nice to hear, I’m in love!”

“Your love doesn’t matter. Hasn’t he already got someone he likes? The way they were displaying affection just now, tsk tsk, the way big shots show affection is truly different, unstoppable.”

“Are they already together? Isn’t Shi Niannian the top student? Would she date while still in school?”

“Jiang Wang is the second-ranked student, and he’s still making a self-criticism on the podium. Besides, that’s Jiang Wang we’re talking about! If he liked me, I’d be smiling for three days and nights. He even fought for her! My maiden heart! They must be together already!”

“I wish I could soul-possess the academic goddess Shi Niannian!!!”

…

Wang Jianping quickly realized that having Jiang Wang make his self-criticism in front of everyone was a mistake. No one was listening to the content of the self-criticism!

He coughed once, interrupting Jiang Wang’s speech: “Alright, be more careful in the future. Go back to your class!”

As autumn approached, midterm exams were getting closer.

On Wednesday, there was a basketball rematch. Jiang Wang had injured his knee before, and although it was mostly healed, Xu Fei didn’t have the heart to ask him to play. Besides, his leg had recovered, so he played himself.

This time, they got a good draw, playing against Class 2, one of the advanced classes, and won quite easily.

However, the next day in the semifinals, they didn’t get a bye and had to play against Class 8, losing badly.

Xu Fei somewhat understood why Li Lu had dared to throw the ball at Jiang Wang that day. Losing wasn’t unfamiliar, but the feeling of being thoroughly dominated was truly unbearable.

With Li Lu’s temperament, he had no sense when impulsive, and had dared to throw the ball at Jiang Wang.

After dinner, Shi Niannian went to the school’s printing room to make another copy of the physics notes Huang Yao had given her.

She hadn’t attended the competition class that day, and Jiang Wang had been accompanying her at the hospital, so naturally, he hadn’t either.

After finishing the photocopying, Jiang Ling went to buy a bottle of drink, and the two walked toward the teaching building together.

“I heard from Class 2’s monitor this morning that Xu Zhilin might be leaving,” Jiang Ling said, holding onto Shi Niannian’s arm, her eyes drooping, looking somewhat dejected.

“Going to another… school?”

“No, he was originally a teaching intern, still a university student. I heard them talking about some ‘recommended graduate admission’ or something, I don’t understand.”

High school students indeed don’t understand universities’ “recommended graduate admission.” Jiang Ling said confusedly, “Anyway, he might be going back to study for his master’s degree after a while.”

“Ah,” Shi Niannian thought for a moment. “Then does that mean… You won’t see him anymore?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Ling pouted. “But if he’s not a teacher anymore, I can openly pursue him!”

Shi Niannian smiled: “You like him that much.”

“I do,” Jiang Ling nodded, mumbling, “He’s very handsome.”

The two went upstairs to return to the classroom together. Recently, a trend had swept through the class, with many girls folding lily flowers from square note paper.

Jiang Ling, with nothing to do during class, had folded many.

Lilies were quite difficult to fold, with many complex steps, but Jiang Ling was skillful and could fold them beautifully.

As soon as she returned to her seat, Chen Shushu came over with a stack of note paper and sat beside her: “Jiang Ling, could you help me fold some?”

“No,” Jiang Ling grinned, refusing very decisively. “It’s too troublesome. Why do you need to fold so many?”

Chen Shushu replied softly: “As a gift.”

Jiang Ling also asked in a low voice: “For Xu Fei?”

“How did you know?” Chen Shushu was shocked.

Jiang Ling made a dismissive sound, winking suggestively: “You two are too obvious. I could tell you got together after the birthday party last time.”

Chen Shushu shyly scratched her hair and took out a small cookie tin from her desk. The bottom was already covered with lily flowers.

Jiang Ling burst out laughing: “Are you even a girl? How could you fold them so ugly?”

Chen Shushu rolled her eyes: “That’s why I’m asking for your help!”

“No, if it’s a gift for Xu Fei, how could I fold it for you?” Jiang Ling poked her shoulder with her index finger. “Where’s your sincerity?”

“…Well, it’s better than giving him something this ugly. Giving something like this would be too embarrassing.”

“Fine,” Jiang Ling coughed twice, placing her hand on Chen Shushu’s shoulder. “Since you’ve asked so sincerely, I’ll mercifully help you. How many do you need?”

Chen Shushu shook the tin: “One box.”

Jiang Ling gave her a thumbs up: “Love is truly great. But I can’t fold that many.”

“I’ll fold some myself, just put yours on top,” Chen Shushu turned to Shi Niannian, placing her hands on the edge of the desk against her chest, blinking her eyes as she looked at her.

“…”

Shi Niannian glanced at Jiang Ling, who had already started folding. “I don’t know how… to do this.”

“It’s not very difficult,” Jiang Ling turned her head and said. “Look, I’ve learned it, with your intelligence, you’ll pick it up right away. I’ll teach you.”

Jiang Ling took a piece of paper and handed it to her, demonstrating step by step.

Chen Shushu slapped the desk, clasping her hands together and rubbing them, smiling flatteringly: “Thank you both!”

Jiang Wang didn’t attend classes at school in the afternoon, but he did inform Cai Yucai that he needed to take leave.

Cai Yucai had been his homeroom teacher before and was one of the few who knew about Jiang Wang’s swimming team situation. Seeing him come to ask for leave despite not attending afternoon classes moved him tremendously.

He comforted him: “It’s alright! All roads lead to Rome! If swimming doesn’t work out, we’ll take another path! With your grades, pursuing academics will lead to a bright future!”

As he spoke, he patted Jiang Wang’s shoulder heavily twice.

Jiang Wang laughed: “I’m taking leave to see my swimming coach.”

Cai Yucai was stunned: “So you’ve decided to swim after all?”

He replied calmly: “Just giving it another try.”

“Good, good,” Cai Yucai nodded, looking very moved, patting his shoulder again and saying “good” once more.

“Daring to get up from where you fell, I admire that about you!”

After leaving school, Jiang Wang first went to the hospital to check his ear. It was the same as before, recovering slowly as always.

There were quite a few people at the swimming team today, half of them being seniors and juniors who had been on the team with Jiang Wang before, and quite a few new faces recently recruited to the team.

As soon as they saw him enter, they all put down what they were doing, wanting to greet him but not knowing where to start.

That year, Jiang Wang had been the most valued member of the team, but then came his ear injury, imprisonment, and a series of events that could truly be called a series of misfortunes.

What made it worse was that an athlete’s golden period is short, and so much time had been wasted.

“You’re here,” the coach had been told in advance that he was coming. He looked back at Jiang Wang, stood up, and instructed the other team members who were all looking over, “Keep practicing, what are you all standing around for?”

Then he walked over to Jiang Wang, putting his arm around his back: “Come, let’s go to the office.”

He poured Jiang Wang a cup of water: “So you’ve made up your mind this time?”

Jiang Wang recalled that night in the hospital, the way the girl had earnestly said “I just think you’re amazing,” soft, gentle, with a hint of apology and awkwardness for knowing someone else’s secret.

To be honest, from the time Jiang Wang first started swimming, many people had told him he was amazing, and he did indeed have talent.

It might not be considered a dream, but he did quite enjoy the feeling of competitive sports.

Taking the crown and becoming king.

He had his hands in his pockets, leaning lazily against the wall, curling his lips, flippantly: “Studying is too easy, might as well try something challenging.”

“You kid!” The coach laughed. “Fine, come with me.”

He had been away from the team for too long. They did a series of baseline assessments and planning, and he swam a timed 100 meters, with average, unremarkable results.

Everything had to start from scratch.

By the time he left the swimming pool, the sky had already darkened.

He hailed a taxi back to school, going directly to the Science and Technology Building. The competition class was about to start.

As soon as he walked into the classroom, he saw a boy sitting next to Shi Niannian.

The boy was the study representative from Class 1, one of the advanced classes. He had been directly admitted from middle school and had always been ranked second in the grade until Jiang Wang took the second place, making him third.

The boy wore heavy black-framed glasses and was asking Shi Niannian about the final, most challenging competition problem assigned last time, sitting quite close to her.

Shi Niannian showed him her completed work.

He looked it over once and noted the key points in his notebook.

Just as he finished writing, a shadow fell across the desk. Someone was standing at the edge of the desk, blocking the light that had been shining on his notebook.

“Excuse me,” Jiang Wang’s voice was a bit cold.

Others looked over as well.

It was obvious he was jealous.

The boy had also heard the increasingly exaggerated rumors circulating in the school and quickly thanked Shi Niannian before taking his book back to his seat.

Shi Niannian took back her test paper, which was due for this class. She wrote her name at the top of the paper.

She didn’t even glance at Jiang Wang.

Very cool.

Jiang Wang sat down beside her, turning his head to watch her movements. His tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth, feeling irritated by her attitude.

“Shi Niannian,” he grabbed her wrist as she was writing. “I’m gone from class for just half a day, and you’re already sitting with someone else?”

The competition class teacher hadn’t arrived yet, and everyone was conscientiously doing their work.

The classroom was completely quiet. Jiang Wang’s words weren’t loud, and he even lowered his voice to the point that it was a bit hoarse, but they could still be heard very clearly.

No one dared to breathe.

Shi Niannian thought he was being too strange. The seats in the competition class weren’t fixed, and that classmate was just asking her about a problem.

And he had such a bad temper…

She tried to free her wrist from his grip, but couldn’t.

“Jiang Wang, please… let go…” she frowned as she spoke.

He didn’t move.

Shi Niannian glanced around. She didn’t like being stared at like this. She lowered her hand under the desk, leaning forward slightly and moving closer to him.

Her skin was so good that her pores were invisible. She looked up at him, her thick, curled eyelashes quickly fluttering, and then in a suppressed voice, with a pleading tone, soft and sweet:

“Don’t be angry.”

She said.

Although Shi Niannian didn’t know what exactly he was angry about, nor was she certain if his anger had anything to do with her, she just wanted to free her hand quickly.

Jiang Wang sat in his seat, stunned for two seconds.

Shi Niannian tried to pull her hand away again, and this time as she applied force, Jiang Wang released it.

The competition class teacher entered just as the bell rang. Without any preamble, as soon as he entered the classroom, he began discussing a competition paper they had taken earlier.

The difficulty in the competition class was high, and the teaching pace was fast, so everyone focused on listening to the lecture.

Shi Niannian had missed three questions on that paper, but before class, she had already figured out how to solve them correctly.

After confirming that the teacher’s method was the same as hers, she pulled out a square piece of note paper from her bag, one that Chen Shushu had given her earlier in the day.

Jiang Ling had taught her how to fold a lily flower, but Shi Niannian, perhaps due to poor manual dexterity, couldn’t fold very pretty ones.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the girl’s slender, fair hands holding a piece of paper, folding and turning it under the desk. Jiang Wang propped his head up with one hand, turning to watch her movements under the desk.

Her bangs had grown a bit long,x and she hadn’t had time to cut them, so they somewhat blocked her eyes. She had pinned them up, with soft wisps of hair along her temples. When she made a mistake in folding, she would slightly furrow her brows, her mouth slightly open, showing a hint of adorable silliness.

Jiang Wang watched for a while.

He asked: “What are you folding?”

Shi Niannian looked up at him: “A lily.”

Jiang Wang had been watching her fold for a while and had memorized most of the steps. He tore half a piece of scratch paper and started folding.

Two minutes later, he reached over and placed a lily flower in front of Shi Niannian’s eyes: “Like this?”

“Ah,” Shi Niannian was surprised to see the lily flower in his hands, which was more beautiful than hers.

“Yes, then—” she picked up a pen and used the pen shaft to curl the “petals” into an arc, “like this.”

She unconsciously leaned closer. While curling the “petals,” one of her hands was supporting Jiang Wang’s wrist, her hair ends brushing against his palm.

Jiang Wang sat up a bit straighter, his Adam’s apple moving up and down as he slowly ground his teeth.

Shi Niannian said softly: “You fold it… so beautifully.”

His fingertips held the paper lily, gently turning it in a circle, and suddenly he raised his hand.

—And tucked the flower behind her ear.

His index finger adjusted the stray hairs at her temple.

Shi Niannian stared at him in surprise, freezing completely when his cool fingertips touched her ear.

Jiang Wang tilted his head and smiled: “Beautiful.”