The previous lesson of being late had reformed Sang Ru. She now remembered to set her alarm every day.

Last night she had slept for a while during her IV drip, and today she woke up even earlier than her alarm. Sang Ru lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, when she heard a notification sound.

[z: Feeling better today?]

Sang Ru yawned, thinking to herself that Zhou Tingzhao was up too early.

Zai zai’s: Quite good. How about you?]

[z: I’m good too.]

Zai zai’s: Then see you at school. Good morning, little Zhou.]

[z: Okay, good morning.]

[Zai zai’s: I taught you before, how should you say it?]

Zhou Tingzhao paused, then replied.

[Z: Good morning, Zai zai.]

—

Halfway through morning reading, Sang Ru and Zhou Tingzhao were called out together by the Chinese teacher.

Sang Ru showed a good attitude, speaking up before the teacher could ask: “Teacher Wang, we took sick leave yesterday. We’ll make up the homework today.”

“It’s not about that,” Teacher Wang smiled, amused by her. “There’s going to be an essay competition in the district soon. Our grade is planning to recommend you two and a few students from other classes to participate. Do you have any thoughts?”

Sang Ru had barely gone through a few pages of the thick essay book Zhou Tingzhao had given her. She hesitated: “But for argumentative essays, I’m not confident…”

“Just write in the style you’re good at. Essay competitions are a bit different from exams. Your style might be more suitable for competitions.”

Sang Ru made an “Oh” sound, then heard the teacher ask: “Zhou Tingzhao, do you have any questions?”

Zhou Tingzhao: “Not at the moment.”

The teacher patted them: “Don’t feel too much pressure. Just treat it as a warm-up. It doesn’t matter if you don’t win any prizes.”

“As for your unfinished homework…” her tone dragged out, making Sang Ru’s heart tighten. “You don’t need to do it anymore.”

Sang Ru sighed in relief, nodding with seeming calmness. Zhou Tingzhao glanced at her, his lips curving almost imperceptibly.

“But you need to submit an essay instead. The competition will be a prompt essay. I’ll discuss a topic with the other teachers in our grade, but you should try writing one first.”

The two of them accepted their task and went back to continue reciting their lessons.

The essay topic was brought by a classmate who happened to go to the office before the fourth class, with a message that it was due the next evening.

The topic was written on a note. Zhou Tingzhao held it closer to Sang Ru, placing it in the middle for both to see—

Time is boundless. Life’s encounters demand a sense of ‘one time, one meeting.’ On this one-way train journey, we see many beautiful landscapes, yet many scenes also pass us by in a hurry. Looking back again, might we discover lost treasures? Listening again, might we hear the echoes of time?

Based on the above material, choose an angle, create your title, and write an essay of no less than 800 words. The genre is your choice, except poetry.]

Sang Ru was momentarily stunned and instinctively looked at Zhou Tingzhao, only to find herself caught in his gaze.

His eyelids were slightly lowered, and his gaze seemed to lack intensity. It was only because she had tilted her head up that his gaze happened to rest lightly upon her.

Zhou Tingzhao quickly averted his eyes and looked back at the topic, asking as if casually: “What do you think?”

“What do I think about what?”

“The prompt. What do you think?”

What could she think? If she hadn’t kept her secret from everyone, Sang Ru would have suspected that the teacher who came up with this topic was tailoring it specifically for her.

She had already thought of a theme within seconds: Zhou Tingzhao-brand second chances, truly delicious.

If only she could write about it.

“It’s good,” Sang Ru said half-truthfully, “thought-provoking.”

Zhou Tingzhao slightly raised an eyebrow: “Mm-hmm.”

For some reason, Sang Ru felt that Zhou Tingzhao was in a particularly good mood today. Then she heard him ask: “Have you memorized the topic?”

“More or less.”

Sang Ru then watched as his long, elegant fingers methodically and slowly rolled up the note and put it in his pocket, saying: “Then I’ll keep it. Try to recall it a few more times to reinforce your memory. It’ll help with your writing.”

Sang Ru:?

Zhou Tingzhao emphasized again: “Remember it well.”

Sang Ru didn’t have time to ask what was going on with him before the bell rang and math class continued.

Although they had taken leave, they had still done some work after returning. In the previous class, Teacher Zheng had quickly gone through the simple problems, leaving the last fill-in-the-blank question and several major problems for this class.

The last fill-in-the-blank question was difficult. Teacher Zheng called on several students, but none gave the correct answer. Then he remembered his class representative.

He leisurely walked down from the podium: “Class rep, did you do it today?”

“Teacher, I was on sick leave last night.”

“Oh, so you didn’t do it.”

“But I did,” Sang Ru cleared her throat and gave the answer, “square root of three over two.”

Teacher Zheng was taken aback. He had originally intended to tease her, but ended up being outmaneuvered: “Alright, sit down.”

Sang Ru sat down and noticed that Zhou Tingzhao seemed to be smiling. She nudged him with her elbow.

Teacher Zheng saw it all. This one won’t work, but there’s another.

“Zhou Tingzhao, you were also on leave. Did you do it?”

Zhou Tingzhao stood up, standing a head taller than Teacher Zheng, and directly answered: “Square root of three over two.”

Having failed to tease students again, Teacher Zheng sighed: “Both of your answers are correct. Zhou Tingzhao, please explain to everyone how you calculated it.”

Zhou Tingzhao scanned the problem and explained his solution. After listening, the entire class had “confusion” written all over their faces.

Teacher Zheng also frowned at the problem, pondering for a long time before finally saying: “Did you use a college-level method?”

Zhou Tingzhao lowered his gaze and saw Sang Ru looking up at him. His heart suddenly tensed, and he said, “Yes, I had seen some college textbooks before.”

Teacher Zheng told him to sit down: “That’s good, but it’s beyond the syllabus. Sang Ru, please explain your method.”

Sang Ru stood up and explained her approach. This time, most people showed expressions of sudden understanding. Teacher Zheng returned to the blackboard and gave everyone a clear explanation based on this method.

While Zhou Tingzhao was worrying about whether he had revealed too much, his arm suddenly felt warm.

Sang Ru leaned over, eyes on the blackboard, and whispered: “How are you already studying college textbooks? That’s amazing.”

Zhou Tingzhao sighed in relief; at least she didn’t suspect anything. Then, because of her praise, the tips of his ears grew slightly warm, and he vaguely responded with an “Mm.”

Just as he finished speaking, he faintly heard two nasal sounds from her, tinged with amusement.

—