Lin Wanxing, couldn’t be certain whether having Wen Chengye join was right or wrong.

Most things couldn’t be simply judged as correct or incorrect.

More evaluation standards might be that doing it would be somewhat better, or not doing it would be better.

17 Wutong Road, second floor.

The room was dim, with the projection screen lowered.

The projector beam hanging from the ceiling shifted, the images on the screen wall were colorful, and pleasant music filled the space.

The small classroom was almost full.

The front rows were occupied by younger children, both elementary and middle school students. The soccer team boys sat farther back.

And in the darker corners, there were several middle-aged people, even an elderly couple with graying hair—they were all neighbors from the building.

How exactly this activity began was impossible to verify now.

In any case, it was probably in late summer or early autumn when a child in the building was attracted by the sound of a movie from the tutoring class. Then adults came looking for their children, unconsciously sat down, and watched the entire film.

Later, the children would come at the scheduled time every day, clamoring to watch cartoons.

But this affected the soccer team students’ nightly study.

So Lin Wanxing, as the building supervisor (landlord?), could only suggest selecting two days each week as fixed screening days.

Gradually, all the neighbors learned about this activity. On Wednesday and Friday evenings, people would gather together. Lin Wanxing was even asked to place a small blackboard outside the tutoring class to write the name of the film being shown, making it easier to inform the audience.

In the dilapidated residential building, with a projector that would automatically shut off if used too long, not-so-clear characters floating on the screen, along with music—muffled yet lively orchestral sounds.

Today’s featured film was the famous science fiction movie “The Martian.”

The choice of this film wasn’t because the students were interested in science fiction, but because they had recently been discussing potato planting and somehow found this movie.

The entire film tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who, during a Mars landing mission, is mistakenly presumed dead due to a sandstorm and strives to survive alone on Mars.

On the projection screen, the astronaut was researching how to “grow potatoes” on Mars.

This was roughly the scene Wen Chengye saw when he entered the classroom.

At first, no one noticed Wen Chengye.

The space was filled with bouncing notes, and everyone’s attention was captured by the potato sprouts emerging from the ground.

So the boy with the backpack stood at the door for quite some time before being noticed.

First, Qin Ao kicked Chen Jianghe in the row ahead, then Fu Xinshu stared at the door in surprise. Lin Lu had the biggest reaction, directly shouting “Holy shit!”

When the boys saw Wen Chengye, they all looked as if they’d seen a ghost, creating quite a commotion that made other viewers dissatisfied.

Meanwhile, Wen Chengye just stood stiffly at the door, his phoenix eyes slightly lowered, his fair face tilted upward. Although his fists were secretly clenched at his sides, he showed no intention of turning to leave.

Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa exchanged glances. She nodded to Wang Fa, pushed her chair back, stood up, and walked to Wen Chengye.

“Welcome,” she said to Wen Chengye in a light tone.

The boy naturally didn’t accept her invitation immediately.

Lin Wanxing checked the time and asked Wen Chengye, “Did you clear it with your parents? We’ll finish quite late here.”

The boy lowered his chin by 10 degrees, which more or less counted as a nod.

The classroom was in turmoil, even affecting the children in the front rows.

Wen Chengye still stood at the door, neither entering nor leaving.

Lin Wanxing could see what was on the student’s mind.

“Don’t worry, you’re here because I threatened you, not at all voluntarily,” she reassured him.

The step down was sufficient, and since he had already come, turning back would also be embarrassing. Wen Chengye finally lifted his foot and stepped into the classroom.

The boy walked very slowly. For a moment, the projection light shifted on his face and school uniform, dreamlike and ethereal.

The story in the film progresses steadily. The protagonist recorded his life on Mars, while on Earth, his former crew members began their rescue journey.

For the younger children, these plot elements were somewhat dull and uninteresting, so some of them left later. A young couple renting in the building cuddled together throughout, quietly watching the entire story.

Lin Wanxing looked towards Wen Chengye at the climax of the film and found him intently watching the screen.

There, against the vast deep space background,

Two humans in white spacesuits finally embraced, with an orange-red rescue rope floating around them.

From six o’clock until nearly eight-thirty, over two hours of movie time.

At the end of the film, the protagonist gives a relaxed lecture to future astronauts as the conclusion.

As the end credits rolled, the students finally came back to their senses.

Lin Wanxing waited a while longer, then stood up and turned on the lights in the classroom.

As usual, like a cinema emptying after a show.

The other neighbors from the building left one by one, leaving many seats in the classroom empty again.

Lin Wanxing walked to the podium.

Wen Chengye sat alone in one corner of the classroom, while the other students were distributed on the opposite side.

The empty desks and chairs between them were like the cosmic space between Mars and Earth. Without the dimness of the movie screening to conceal the gulf.

Lin Wanxing methodically packed up the computer and projection screen, gradually revealing the blackboard.

“How did you feel about today’s movie?” she asked.

As if suddenly awakened from a dream, Qin Ao half-jumped up from his seat, pointing at Wen Chengye with a booming voice, “Why is he here?”

This question wasn’t directed at Wen Chengye.

Lin Wanxing knew this question was challenging her.

So she looked at Wen Chengye.

The young man’s face suddenly tensed, his eyes finally revealing uneasiness, but he still sat there, wary of what she would say next.

Lin Wanxing’s gaze skimmed over Wen Chengye like a dragonfly touching water, looking toward the other students.

She didn’t mention anything about her negotiation with Wen Chengye, but smiled and said, “Ah, don’t you all already know?”

“Know what?”

“Teacher, don’t play dumb!”

“You brought Wen Dog here?”

“Yes,” Lin Wanxing said calmly. “Doesn’t our soccer team still need one more player? Weren’t you all sincerely wanting to invite Wen Chengye to join before?”

“Yuck!”

“Teacher, you’re so disgusting!”

“Who invited him!”

“No, even if we were looking for him to fill a spot, why did you bring him here?”

The boys all made gestures as if they were about to vomit, clearly not buying her diplomatic words. And they couldn’t accept their territory being invaded by Wen Chengye.

It was probably like a group of Golden Retrievers full of hostility toward a Doberman coming to take over their den.

Lin Wanxing — “Our goal is the competition, but time is tight and our task is heavy. The training field has too little time for coordination. I believe having little Wen join our life would be better…” She thought for a moment, suddenly stumbling, and couldn’t help looking at the position behind Wen Chengye.

“Cultivate tacit understanding between teammates,” Wang Fa’s voice sounded timely.

Wen Chengye turned around in shock.

There, Wang Fa slightly rose from behind the desk, gentlemanly extending his hand, and introduced himself, “My name is Wang Fa, your coach.”

Wen Chengye’s expression was very cold.

He stood stiffly, just looking down at Wang Fa’s extended hand without making any movement.

After a moment, Wang Fa naturally withdrew his hand.

Qin Ao immediately protested, “Coach, you’re giving him face. Why bother with him?”

“Don’t be jealous,” Wang Fa soothed Qin Ao.

Qin Ao immediately widened his eyes, stuttering a bit, “Jealous of what? What would I be jealous of?!”

“If you can’t speak properly, go eat shit,” Qi Liang coldly said from the side.

Qin Ao swiftly turned around, shouting at Qi Liang, “Your master is here, so you’re picking on me, right?”

Seeing that the students were about to argue again, Lin Wanxing said, “It seems everyone is already very familiar with each other. Do we need to introduce ourselves again?”

“Teacher, stop forcing awkward conversations!” Qin Ao said angrily.

“Ah, it’s rare to have a newcomer. I don’t know what to say either,” Lin Wanxing looked at Wen Chengye, smiling as she opened a drawer. “Let’s fast-forward to the next segment then.”

From the drawer, Lin Wanxing took out a form and placed it in front of Wen Chengye. “This is our daily schedule, all self-determined through meetings. If you have objections to the contents of the form, you can propose a motion at the class meeting every Friday night.”

As she spoke, she looked at the other students beside her. “They will introduce you to the specific processes of our self-governance management. Once you familiarize yourself, you’ll know how to proceed.”

In response, the other soccer team students had rejection written all over their faces. No one was willing to introduce anything, still unhappy that Wen Chengye would be joining them.

Wen Chengye lowered his head to look at the schedule, his brows furrowed.

Lin Wanxing gave him some time to read.

“You have so many useless things every day,” Wen Chengye said disdainfully after reading the form.

Before the students could retort to Wen Chengye, Lin Wanxing said, “We are indeed busy because everyone has many interesting things to do.” Lin Wanxing said gently, “If you have something you want to do together, you can also propose it at the Friday meeting.”

Hearing this, the boys naturally protested again.

Comments like “Who wants to do anything with him” were naturally filtered out.

“Can I leave now?” Wen Chengye asked.

“Not yet,” Lin Wanxing said.

“What else is there?”

“It’s like this,” Lin Wanxing slowly walked back to the podium. “After each film viewing, we write a reflection on the movie.”

Wen Chengye — “Such a boring film?”

Lin Wanxing didn’t mind his assessment. “Even if the movie is boring, you can write an interesting reflection. Our ‘reflections’ don’t have a fixed theme, no fixed format, and no word count requirement. You can freely diverge, write something, or even draw a picture.”

“Draw?”

“Yes, I drew a four-panel comic once, and the teacher said I drew well,” Lin Lu cooperated.

“It was indeed good,” Lin Wanxing nodded seriously.

“You treat them like idiots,” Wen Chengye said disdainfully.

“Looking for trouble, you little bastard!” Qin Ao couldn’t help himself again, slamming a fist on Wen Chengye’s desk, standing up for his little brother.

“The grandmother downstairs is preparing to sleep at this hour. Keep your voice down,” Lin Wanxing said helplessly. “It’s about time. Let’s pack up, and we’ll show Wen Chengye around.”

Although very reluctant, Wen Chengye showed no substantive resistance to joining the tour. In summary, he obediently followed along.

Wen Chengye’s compliance was incomprehensible to the other students. When turning a corner, Lin Wanxing was secretly pulled aside by Qin Ao, who asked her what exactly she had “done” to Wen Chengye.

Lin Wanxing smiled mysteriously.

Qin Ao rubbed the goosebumps on his body and said, “Stop smiling, it’s creepy!”

The boys were quite hostile toward Wen Chengye.

As Lin Wanxing introduced the living facilities, they followed like a string of little tails, monitoring Wen Chengye’s every move.

First was the tutoring class.

Lin Wanxing told Wen Chengye that their small classroom was operated by her grandparents who were putting their energy to good use after retirement.

Although the place wasn’t large, it had everything needed. There were classrooms on both sides and a small rest area for students who weren’t in class to rest and interact.

Lin Wanxing opened the last room, which was a storage room.

“There are many materials here that are used for classes, so they need to be organized regularly. I’ll tell you the specific times each person is responsible for later. If you’re bored, there are many magazines and various books to read,” Lin Wanxing pointed at two large bookshelves in the corner of the storage room, making her concluding remarks.

“Classes, who teaches?” Wen Chengye’s cold gaze glanced over. “You?”

“Besides me, there’s no one else,” Lin Wanxing shrugged.

“You teach? No wonder they’re still so useless,” Wen Chengye said.

“Who are you looking down on?” Yu Ming immediately stood up. “Our Teacher Lin is a top scorer in the college entrance exam!”

“And published something something S something I… and won many awards, a very impressive teacher!” Zheng Feiyang added.

“Keep a low profile,” Lin Wanxing modestly told the students.

“You know about keeping a low profile?”

“When did you keep a low profile when you were bragging about yourself?”

“I mean, I prefer to do this kind of thing myself,” Lin Wanxing turned to Wen Chengye and introduced herself. “I am Lin Wanxing, a Master’s student at Yongchuan University, provincial top scorer in the liberal arts college entrance exam, published 9 SCI papers, 6 as first author, and a 7-year National Scholarship recipient.” She paused, and finally said, “Your teacher.”

On Wen Chengye’s ice-sealed face, cracks finally appeared.

Lin Wanxing, quite satisfied, led the team out of the storage room, turned off the classroom lights, and walked upstairs with the students.

Climbing the stairs at night, the students were already accustomed to being considerate of the neighbors, lightening their footsteps at night.

In the stairwell, there were only breathing sounds and very subtle footsteps.

People are instinctively conformist creatures. In this environment, Wen Chengye also became very careful.

It was still that iron door, only the number of students behind had slightly changed.

Lin Wanxing pushed the door open. The autumn night wind poured into the corridor, and before them was an expansive night sky.

The rooftop was full and lively.

Half was filled with white foam boxes for growing vegetables, and the other half with various handcrafted living facilities.

“This is…” Lin Wanxing thought for a moment, then introduced to Wen Chengye, “our home.”