When Sheng Xia appeared in the classroom on Monday, nobody noticed anything unusual at first. It wasn’t until the break when she went to get water that everyone realized she had fully recovered.
Many students rushed over to congratulate her, clamoring to see her removed cast and insisting she must keep it carefully preserved.
“Of course!” Sheng Xia agreed.
She resumed her seat in the northernmost group, sharing a desk with Zhang Shu.
With final exams approaching, she had already completed his previously assigned task of working through all the Fu Zhong practice papers and organizing her error corrections.
So they didn’t have much else to discuss.
Everyone was busy studying their subjects.
Zhang Shu would occasionally remind her to repeatedly review her error corrections.
She noticed Zhang Shu also reviewed his mistakes when studying – it didn’t matter if new problems weren’t finished, he focused intensely on his error collection.
So she followed his example and did the same.
With final exams imminent, Sheng Xia threw herself completely into reviewing, still writing articles in the evenings. When the tutoring center teacher arranged by Sheng Mingfeng contacted her, she perfunctorily dealt with it, repeatedly declining when they tried to schedule classes.
Time flew by day and night.
She had even forgotten her birthday was approaching.
Sheng Xia followed the lunar calendar, so the date changed yearly on the solar calendar, but it usually fell during exam days.
This year, coincidentally, it was the day before exams.
She naturally wasn’t in any mood to celebrate her birthday, but when Zou Weiping brought a cake, she couldn’t take it home and could only bring it to share with her classmates as an evening snack.
Before evening self-study began, Sheng Xia handed the cake to Xin Xiaohe, saying “You all can take it back to the dorm?”
“Wow, is it your birthday?” asked Xin Xiaohe.
“Mm-hmm.”
“You were born in winter but got a summer name?”
“Yeah.” Yes, just one of life’s little ironies.
“Happy birthday!”
“Thanks!”
“Whoa, Black Swan!” Xin Xiaohe’s pupils dilated as she peeked inside the cake box.
At this, Xin Xiaohe’s roommates and several nearby girls gathered around. The boys also grew curious about what had attracted the girls so eagerly.
Well, no way to take it back now – might as well share it with everyone present.
…
In the bike shed, Hou Junqi stared at the cake in Zhang Shu’s hands, comparing its size to his palm – barely palm-sized. He was stunned: “This tiny thing costs 299? Highway robbery!”
Zhang Shu shrugged, also seeming puzzled, “Who knows.”
Hou Junqi continued critiquing: “It’s not even that pretty – just a big red heart with two white swans stuck on top, looks like something from a two-yuan store.”
Zhang Shu said: “Maybe there’s gold leaf inside the cake.”
They continued critiquing as they walked toward their classroom.
“Shu,” Hou Junqi teased, “Get me one for my birthday too?”
Zhang Shu: “Forget it, not worth the price – pearls before swine.”
Hou Junqi: …Envious of Su Jin and little Sheng Xia, one got an expensive necklace, one got an expensive cake. He, Hou Junqi, was just a bargain brother picked up along the way.
But suddenly he realized – who said Shu was stingy?
Gave his sister a 6000+ yuan necklace for her birthday, and his girlfriend – no, good female friend – the Hermès of cakes for her birthday. Though it was small… if he hadn’t just spent money on the necklace and was short on cash, Shu might have gotten the bigger one.
Damn, his brother was so cool! How many guys could do that? Key point – he earned the money himself!
Zhang Shu hadn’t noticed tall Hou Junqi’s pink-tinted mental calculations. He lifted the cake for a look, his lips curving slightly.
Someone was truly a Disney princess – he’d worried she wouldn’t like anything else. That tiramisu he’d bought from the school store before, she’d barely eaten a few bites.
For the first time, Zhang Shu felt this pickiness wasn’t pretentious – it was exactly as it should be. This was who she was.
They had just reached Class 5 when they heard “Happy Birthday” being sung from Class 6, followed by cheers. Xin Xiaohe was shouting: “I can’t bear to cut it! Am I cutting the cake? No, I’m cutting RMB!”
Zhang Shu and Hou Junqi entered and saw a familiar cake on Sheng Xia’s desk. They stopped in their tracks.
The large version of the “two-yuan store model.”
Hou Junqi muttered: “Oh? Isn’t that the same 1999 one…”
Zhang Shu’s expression truly matched today’s weather – sunny turning cloudy.
The cake on Sheng Xia’s desk was the same style as the one Zhang Shu was holding. But the larger version had black swans, handcrafted, more exquisite.
The curve of those swan necks was truly artistic.
Unlike the MINI version, which was just white chocolate coating that did look like a model.
Seeing them arrive, Xin Xiaohe sighed: “You two picked quite the timing, this makes sharing even harder now.”
Hou Junqi glanced at Zhang Shu, who remained expressionless.
The evening study bell rang without warning.
“Quick, share it out!”
“Hurry before Teacher Wang comes, we’ll need to save him a piece!”
The cake wasn’t large but was densely packed. With so many people and not enough utensils, nobody minded sharing sets between two or three people, each just tasting a few bites to join in the festive atmosphere.
“Is it my imagination, or does RMB taste especially delicious?”
“Not imagination – that’s truth.”
“Hahahahahaha!”
…
After the laughter and excitement died down, everyone remembered tomorrow’s exam. Once Teacher Wang arrived, the class quickly quieted.
Just as Sheng Xia was about to start reviewing her notes, a paper ball landed on her desk. She instinctively turned to look at Zhang Shu.
He was spinning his pen, focused on reviewing.
Not him?
Looking up, she saw Hou Junqi in the front seat twisting around to wink at her.
Sheng Xia was slightly surprised. Glancing at the doorway, she saw Wang Wei had disappeared somewhere and wasn’t in the corridor, so she dared to open the note.
Hou Junqi’s writing was crooked – Sheng Xia turned it over and realized she’d been reading it upside down.
Ah, if his handwriting was better, his composition probably wouldn’t score just 35 points.
The note read: Little Sheng Xia, Shu bought you a cake!
Sheng Xia froze slightly, turning to look at Zhang Shu again.
This time he seemed to sense it and turned his head too, with that same look like he was watching an idiot. Seeing Sheng Xia’s gaze didn’t waver, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes asking: Can I help you?
Sheng Xia looked away, only then noticing a white paper bag by his feet – no pattern, no handles, but she recognized it was from Black Swan.
He… bought her a cake?
Zhang Shu saw her holding the little note with that expression and instantly understood.
He glared at Hou Junqi, then suddenly pulled a notebook from his bookstand and stood up.
Everyone around, including Sheng Xia, looked at him puzzled.
Zhang Shu stood still for nearly half a minute, lost in thought, before finally sighing through his nose as if reaching some decision.
Zhang Shu said: “Bring your error notebook and come with me.”
Everyone: …
Sheng Xia: …
His tone was more intimidating than a teacher’s.
Sheng Xia’s eyes signaled: Is this appropriate?
Zhang Shu accurately extracted her notebook from her book box, saying: “Come on.”
The class then watched Zhang Shu lead Sheng Xia out, carrying not just notebooks but also a paper bag.
But they didn’t “study” at the outside tables – they headed toward the connecting corridor.
“That’s a gift, right?”
“Must be, it’s Sheng Xia’s birthday today.”
“They’ve been together so long, why still be so secretive? Do they think we’re idiots?”
“Zhang Shu probably didn’t notice himself, he didn’t even bring a pen – what studying?”
Sheng Xia followed him, only now starting to panic. She stopped and asked: “Where are we going?”
Zhang Shu: “Shut up, let me think.”
Sheng Xia: …
At that moment, Wang Wei approached from the other end of the corridor – apparently, he’d gone to the bathroom.
They met face to face.
Sheng Xia lowered her eyes, unsure whether to turn back or continue forward.
Then she heard Zhang Shu say: “Why aren’t you following?”
Sheng Xia: …?
Then they brazenly walked right past Wang Wei.
Wang Wei’s gaze followed them like a spotlight, stunned: They’re so openly ignoring him?
“Zhang Shu! Where to?”
Zhang Shu seemed irritated: “Don’t disturb!”
Wang Wei gaped: …
These two before him – one his precious bargaining chip, one an untouchable princess. Young love, he wasn’t blind, and it was Sheng Xia’s birthday. He could understand. Zhang Shu was sensible, Sheng Xia was well-behaved, and he wasn’t very worried. But as head teacher he had to maintain authority: “Five minutes!”
Without turning back, Zhang Shu’s free hand made an “OK” sign.
Unable to guess his intentions, Sheng Xia was so nervous she almost stumbled.
They walked to the library hall before Zhang Shu set the notebook and paper bag on a table, saying: “Sit.”
Sheng Xia had only been here during the daytime before, marveling at Fu Zhong’s facilities – a high school with an entire library building, a grand hall downstairs with glass tables and leather sofas, an information desk, and sizeable cubicle study rooms upstairs.
Luxurious.
The library was closed now, only dim lights illuminating the hall.
Sheng Xia sat down nervously.
She knew he probably had something to say to her.
Perfect timing – she had something to say too.
That’s why she’d so obediently followed him here.
“Sheng Xia…”
“Zhang Shu…”
They spoke almost simultaneously, both startled into silence.
Zhang Shu sat across from her, making a “please” gesture with his hand: “You first.”
Sheng Xia hesitated, hands tightly gripping her pants at the knees.
Zhang Shu observed her small movements but didn’t rush her, just leaned forward to open the paper bag. Inside was a small gift box, its elaborate packaging already opened to reveal a plump red velvet heart with two intertwined white swans on top.
Sheng Xia was slightly surprised – it was the same MINI version.
Zhang Shu’s manner was slightly awkward: “Didn’t expect you’d already had it, and a better one too. But I bought this one already, can’t waste it, so… do with it as you like…”
His tone was light, still that carelessly indifferent manner, but Sheng Xia somehow heard a trace of dejection.
But what she needed to say was completely at odds with the current atmosphere. She had to stop that inexplicable empathy.
Yet what came out was: “How… did you know today was my birthday?”
Since she followed the lunar calendar, even knowing her ID number wouldn’t necessarily reveal her birthday.
Zhang Shu leaned back in his chair: “On your social media message board, someone leaves you birthday wishes every year, but not on the same date. So I checked – it’s the same lunar date.”
Sheng Xia was stunned briefly – he must mean Tao Zhizhi. She nodded slightly because besides nodding, she suddenly didn’t know how to respond.
This counted as… going to great lengths, right?
Did he know that this way, she would truly end up overthinking everything?
She fell silent, and surprisingly the usually talkative Zhang Shu was quiet too.
His hand rested on the sofa arm, but his eyes weren’t looking at her, focused somewhere unknown.
Sheng Xia swallowed and spoke softly: “Zhang Shu.”
He looked over.
In that instant, her heart skipped a beat.
Sheng Xia looked away before speaking again: “My leg has healed.”
Zhang Shu: “Mm.”
She was surprised by his bland response, which disrupted her carefully regulated heartbeat again: “The doctor said it was well cared for, there shouldn’t be any lasting effects.”
Zhang Shu: “Mm.”
Sheng Xia: …
“So, you don’t need to take care of me anymore. This incident wasn’t your fault, to begin with, I never blamed you.” Her tone was sincere.
Zhang Shu didn’t respond with another “mm” this time, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on her.
Sheng Xia lowered her gaze slightly and continued: “So, please don’t do things that cause misunderstandings anymore. The recent rumors have been very troubling for me.”
Finally, finally, she said it.
It wasn’t as hard as imagined, just that sourness suddenly flooded her entire abdomen, impossible to swallow down no matter how hard she tried.
She bore some responsibility for this situation too.
Come to think of it, hadn’t she been going along with his intentional or unintentional flirting all along? Even indulging in it.
Though she kept telling herself not to overthink things, she always couldn’t help it.
She remained tense, then heard him suddenly give a short laugh.
Then she saw him sit up straight, elbows on knees as he suddenly leaned forward, eyes blazing as he looked at her.
From her angle, he looked like an eagle.
“What misunderstandings?” his beautiful mouth moved.
Sheng Xia gripped her knees again.
Ambiguity. The word popped into her mind again.
There was a song that went: Ambiguity makes people suffer endless grievances.
In just one short semester, she seemed to understand.
Ambiguity was like a half-full glass on an empty table – you had no way to tell if it was poured for you or left behind by someone else.
Consuming it yourself was painful, discarding it felt disrespectful.
Doubt, struggle, lingering concerns.
“Misunderstandings,” she began heavily, “Misunderstandings…”
In the end, she couldn’t continue.
“Misunderstanding that I like you?” Zhang Shu finished.
Sheng Xia’s heart skipped a beat – thump thump, thump thump…
“What kind of misunderstanding is that? It’s a fact, Sheng Xia. Are you so dense you can’t see it?”
Thump thump, thump thump, bang, bang, bang, whoosh—
Boiling.
What was it that was frantically jumping, erupting in her abdomen?
She raised her head in a daze, looking into a pair of eyes full of keen interest.
Zhang Shu said: “Sheng Xia, listen carefully. I, Zhang Shu, like you, only you. This is not a misunderstanding.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but every word seemed to repeatedly collide with the air molecules, reaching Sheng Xia’s ears with a buzzing sound, like waves of echoes.
“The rumors say we’re together? That’s temporarily a rumor, but it’s also my — wish.”