Sheng Xia received her score text message while picking up Wu Qiuxuan from the exam site.

At the same time, she also received the cutoff line message.

[XX Province Education Examination Board] Priority admission line: Arts 536 points, Science 524 points; Undergraduate: Arts 430 points, Science 410 points.

Sheng Xia exceeded the first-tier university line by 65 points, Zhang Shu exceeded it by 191 points.

Wu Qiuxuan clung to Sheng Xia’s arm the whole way: “Forget sharing lucky koi, I’m holding onto this lucky koi right beside me! A shining golden koi!”

Wang Lianhua said: “Look at your sister, always improving, breaking through, you must study hard too.”

Wu Qiuxuan smiled sweetly, not answering Wang Lianhua, but leaned close to Sheng Xia’s ear and said: “If I study hard, can I meet someone like Brother Zhang Shu too?”

Sheng Xia replied softly but firmly: “No.”

How could it be so easy to meet someone like Zhang Shu?

He was the youth’s delightful surprise.

He was summer’s chance encounter.

…

At eight in the evening, the affiliated school’s official website, official Weibo, and WeChat public account simultaneously released the good news.

The characters for “TOP SCHOLAR” dominated the header, bright and golden.

The content was concise, without any embellishment.

[Nanli University Affiliated Middle School’s Zhang Shu scores first place in Science with total score: 715 points]

The red page with its bold layout conveyed just two words: showing off.

Below were listed other brilliant achievements, with first-tier university admission rate maintaining first place in the province, and the number of high-scoring students far ahead.

Whenever Sheng Xia opened her phone, whether Weibo or Xinfeng, QQ, or WeChat, this announcement was everywhere.

Class Six’s group chat messages flew by, impossible to keep track of after blinking.

Red envelopes and various firecracker emoji stickers filled the screen.

“I’m in the same class as the top scholar, enough to brag about for years!”

“So amazing, Brother Shu!”

“Crying my eyes out, going to post on Xinfeng now.”

“Calling Brother Shu, calling Brother Shu!”

“Ah Shu’s phone must have exploded, how would he have time for you!”

Zhang Shu: “1111111”

Zhang Shu sent a red envelope: Thanks.

“Claiming the top scholar’s red envelope!”

“Eating the top scholar’s celebration candy!”

“Where’s the candy, where where?”

“Calling Sheng Xia, calling Sheng Xia!”

“Where’s Xiaxia, where’s Xiaxia?”

“Sheng Xia got into Heqing University’s special recruitment program, am I the last to know?”

“Holy crap!”

“Holy crap crap! If you’re last then I am, is it true, calling Sheng Xia calling Sheng Xia!”

Zhang Shu: “11111111111.”

Zhang Shu: “It’s true.”

“I’m tired of saying how envious I am.”

“Oh my god oh my god, jealousy has completely transformed my face.”

“The CP I ship is real!”

“I’m tired of saying how well-matched they are.”

“Get married, get married, I’m the civil affairs bureau, I came myself.”

“So amazing, are we sure this is a parallel class?”

“Going to Xinfeng to brag everyone!”

On Xinfeng, five out of ten posts were about Zhang Shu.

[Wow, this senior must make it into school history, right?]

—[To be honest, this score isn’t that high in the school’s top scholar history, there’s been 730 before!]

—[How much did you score above?]

—[It’s different, he made it into government internal reports for helping others!]

—[He’s this year’s positive energy model, show some respect.]

[Your father is your father, even after being hospitalized for a month your father comes back and is still your father!]

—[Precise time: hospitalized 42 days thank you.]

—[Looks like the first mock exam really determined everything, Zhang Shu was first then too?]

—[Wonder how those who dissed Zhang Shu are feeling now?]

—[The ones who criticized and those praising now mostly overlap, the internet has no memory like a fence-sitter!]

[A top scholar looking like this, this year’s Top Ten Youth vote will be a hot, trending topic guaranteed.]

—[Some people’s existence just proves how ordinary you are.]

—[Top Ten Youth? What’s that?]

—[It’s on Nanli Public Network’s WeChat account homepage, there’s a voting channel, he’s far ahead already!]

—[So this counts as officially certified good youth?]

—[Such a legendary story, this brother.]

[Zhang Shu’s girlfriend got into Heqing University!]

—[Scores just came out and you’re already guaranteeing admission for her?]

—[Isn’t his girlfriend a transfer from Second Middle School, is she that good?]

—[Look up the special recruitment program, it’s not easier than the college entrance exam, comrades!]

—[Divine couple.]

—[Damn, really? Others’ third year versus my upcoming third year!]

[Don’t get off track, getting a top scholar for the affiliated school is amazing! Congratulations Zhang Shu!]

—[Come build floors! Congratulations Zhang Shu!]

—[Congratulations Zhang Shu!]

—[Congratulations Zhang Shu!]

This post reached a thousand floors, hitting Xinfeng’s floor limit, directly capped.

There was also some commotion on Weibo, with some local official accounts in Nanli reposting the announcement, but the congratulations were mostly directed at the school, rarely at individuals.

Self-media was different – Zhang Shu’s previous interviews were dug up, and some quotes were even made into emoticon stickers.

Like that line — “What’s exciting about school? School is hard work.”

It was labeled “Top Scholar Certified.”

The top scholar said it, school is really hard work!

Even the top scholar doesn’t like school, what’s wrong with me not liking it?

Seeing all this, Sheng Xia felt both proud and wistful.

Just two months ago, everywhere was full of pessimistic, desolate scenes.

She got dizzy scrolling through her phone in the car, the messages were all similar. She turned off the screen and stopped looking, closing her eyes to rest.

At nine-thirty in the evening, the car reached the community entrance. The security barrier opened and closed, opened and closed, but Wang Lianhua didn’t drive in.

Sheng Xia was puzzled, following her mother’s gaze to the right.

Wu Qiuxuan exclaimed excitedly: “Sis, isn’t that Brother Zhang Shu?”

By the auxiliary road at the community entrance, the young man straddled a bicycle and stopped by the roadside looking at his phone.

The street light shone on him, his silhouette slim.

Wang Lianhua turned to look at Sheng Xia, “Are you getting off here or going back?”

Sheng Xia touched the door handle: “Getting off here.”

“Don’t go far, be back home before ten,” Wang Lianhua instructed.

“I know, Mom.”

Zhang Shu instinctively looked up at the sound of the car door closing, seeing Sheng Xia with some surprise.

Since the scores were announced, his phone hadn’t stopped. Dealing with media and admissions was one thing, but there were also some strange companies wanting to come give money.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch – he didn’t want to deal with these things, so he simply went out and got a new card.

Coming out of the service center, he rode aimlessly, realizing he was at her home only when he got there, which surprised him too.

Somehow he’d ridden here.

Since he was here, he messaged to ask if she was back, waiting half an hour with no reply.

Now she suddenly appeared before him, rather like descending from heaven.

Is this how fairies operate?

The car drove into the underground garage, and Sheng Xia walked quickly over, eyes curved in a smile, “Why did you come?”

Zhang Shu put down his phone: “What do you think?”

Sheng Xia pointed at the sky, “There’s no crescent moon tonight either.”

Zhang Shu glanced up too, then pointed at the trees, “Tonight there are Nanli’s camphor trees.”

Sheng Xia: “How can you talk about yourself like that?”

Saying he came to loiter around?

He was still straddling the bike, she stood at some distance. Zhang Shu didn’t like this distance, pulled her hand with a tug, she stumbled forward, and he smoothly wrapped an arm around her waist.

In this position, she was as tall as him, their eyes level.

Zhang Shu asked casually: “Didn’t check your phone?”

Sheng Xia looked around, her gaze guilty, “Fell asleep in the car.”

Zhang Shu turned her face back, “No one’s looking at you.”

This line felt familiar. Sheng Xia muttered: “The top scholar is looking at me.”

Zhang Shu froze, then broke into a smile. After a while, his smile faded, his gaze locked on her lips, eyelids slowly lifting to meet her bright black eyes.

The surroundings were quiet.

His eyebrows lifted slightly, and his hand also squeezed hers, like encouragement.

Sheng Xia’s tightly pressed lips relaxed, quickly pecking his lips, her little face flushing red with embarrassment.

He wasn’t satisfied: “You didn’t miss me.”

“I did…”

“Not sincere.”

His gaze still rested on her lips, his meaning obvious.

Sheng Xia leaned in again, like stamping a seal, pressing against his lips.

The sensation was soft, making her heart tremble.

Before she could pull away, he cradled the back of her head, tilted his head, and captured both her lips, sucking once, kissing once, pressing hard, then gently soothing with light licks, his tongue skillfully parting her teeth, unhurriedly entangling.

Unlike their first kiss’s dominance and urgency, he was extremely patient in his caresses, like savoring a dessert.

Sheng Xia was extraordinarily sensitive, even aware of the sensation of his high bridge nose pressing against her cheek with exceptional clarity.

Then there were his hands, moving from the back of her head to her ear, pinching her earlobe, caressing.

Her breathing was unsteady, he was still yearning for more, cupping her face with both hands, changing the angle of his head, still pursuing her kiss.

Sheng Xia’s lips were numb, both hands pushing away.

After a long while, his lips and tongue retreated, pecking several more light kisses, finally pressing a kiss to her forehead before releasing her.

“That’s about how much I missed you.”

“…”

“Shouldn’t you be very busy?” Sheng Xia searched for a topic, “Heard there would be message bombing, phone exploding.”

Zhang Shu: “Not that exaggerated, check your phone, save my new number.”

Sheng Xia took out her phone, only then discovering he’d sent her messages half an hour ago.

She roughly understood his intention in changing numbers – really strong execution, huh?

“Is this the trouble of overnight fame?” She teased while saving his number.

Zhang Shu pinched her cheek, “You seem quite gleeful about my misfortune. Want to see how many confession DMs are in my Weibo inbox? How about having some sense of crisis?”

Sheng Xia got a bit nervous, “Didn’t you stop using Weibo?”

Zhang Shu was very satisfied with this reaction and stopped teasing her, “I was guessing.”

Sheng Xia glanced at him: “Narcissist.”

…

After reluctantly returning home, Sheng Xia checked Weibo before bed.

She discovered he wasn’t being narcissistic, even though he hadn’t looked.

Under his Weibo, there were confessions from many junior students, including those from other schools, coming after hearing his reputation, and leaving satisfied.

He had forty to fifty thousand followers now.

In the comments were calls to vote for him in the Top Ten Youth selection.

Sheng Xia clicked the public account voting page and saw the votes had doubled since she last looked, not even in the same magnitude as other candidates.

She messaged him on QQ: “Didn’t expect you’d be a candidate?”

Zhang Shu replied quickly: “Because the mayor presents the award.”

“Wow,” she marveled, “that’s amazing!”

Zhang Shu: “…”

Zhang Shu: “He’s your dad’s colleague.”

Was this about making an impression in front of her father’s colleague?

Uh, quite roundabout, thinking quite far ahead.

…

A few days later, they met up again when returning to school to fill out college applications.

Sheng Xia didn’t have much to fill out, her first choice was Classical Chinese Literature at Heqing University, under the Literature Department. Following Wang Wei’s suggestion, she also listed Chinese Language programs at several 211 universities.

Xin Xiaohe’s score couldn’t reach Dongzhou University, her first choice was Yang Linyu’s school: Heyan University of Technology.

But her score was risky, all the majors she wanted were popular, and she was hesitating whether to check the option for a major adjustment.

Yang Linyu advised beside her: “Study what you like, if Heyan Tech doesn’t work out, list other Heyan schools.”

Xin Xiaohe hesitated: “But Tech is in the city, others are in the suburbs, so far.”

Heyan was so big, how was it different from a long-distance relationship?

Yang Linyu: “I promise, I’ll visit you every week.”

Xin Xiaohe: “Actually I don’t even know what I like to study?”

How these two finally decided, Sheng Xia didn’t know, but she was already happy that Xiaohe was also going to Heyan.

Zhang Shu’s application was filled out under the observation of school leaders, grade directors, and various subject teachers.

Of course, they only observed, no one could influence him.

He only needed to consider his first choice, since there was no possibility of rejection.

What he finally chose was temporarily kept secret to avoid media hype.

During dinner that evening, Xin Xiaohe asked curiously: “Xiaxia, what major did Brother Shu apply for?”

Sheng Xia shook her head: “Don’t know.”

Xin Xiaohe: “You don’t know either? He didn’t tell you, you didn’t ask?”

Sheng Xia: “He chooses what he thinks is suitable and what he likes, that’s good.”

Xin Xiaohe gave a thumbs up, “Why do I feel there’s already a wise wife vibe? I feel, even at talent-filled Heqing University, you two will be… sensational!”

Sheng Xia didn’t argue, and thought for a moment, “He probably won’t apply to Heqing. Most likely Haiyan?”

Xin Xiaohe: “Ah? Not going to the same school?”

Sheng Xia: “Don’t know, Haiyan seems more suitable for him?”

Xin Xiaohe: “Really don’t understand you two, even though the schools are just across the street, it’s still not close.”

Xin Xiaohe paused for a while, increasingly puzzled: “But weren’t you working so hard preparing for Heqing’s special recruitment program because of him?”

How could Zhang Shu not honor this dedication?

Sheng Xia looked at her with some confusion: “Is that what you thought?”

“Isn’t it?” Everyone thought so.

Sheng Xia smiled: “No, I like the Chinese language, especially classical Chinese. If I couldn’t get into Heqing, I would have to go abroad – that was the fundamental reason for my efforts. You could say, because of him, the outcome seems more fortunate.”

Xin Xiaohe: “Then what does Zhang Shu like?”

Sheng Xia said: “I hope that what he studies, what grades he achieves, what he wants to do in the future, what achievements he makes – these can always be his own decisions.”

She could accompany him, but the decisions must be his own.

He must also know her hopes.

He was the same toward her.

Xin Xiaohe was struck by a brand new concept.

She couldn’t quite articulate it, only vaguely feeling it was unusual.

This new concept contained within it a higher form of emotion.

— I love you, so I lean toward you, but you are free.

Such emotion, if one-sided, would be fatal for the one giving.

But if it flows both ways, then it becomes a life force.

“You two are well-matched,” Xin Xiaohe said.

She didn’t know how to describe it, only felt this compatibility was precious.

After dinner, Zhang Shu walked Sheng Xia home.

They walked hand in hand along the main road, street lights stretching and shortening their shadows.

“I applied to Haiyan University,” Zhang Shu swung their hands, saying casually.

Sheng Xia nodded: “I guessed so.”

Zhang Shu: “School of Information Science and Technology. For graduate school, I want to focus on information communication, control science, and intelligent systems – specifics I’ll understand better as I study.”

Sheng Xia: “You’ve thought it through so clearly. I can’t change majors anyway, if I do graduate studies it’ll be in the same direction. Do you think I’ll become an academic?”

Zhang Shu laughed, “What’s wrong with being an academic?”

Sheng Xia: “The boring kind?”

“No way,” Zhang Shu ruffled her head, “The things in your mind are so rich I couldn’t digest them in a lifetime, and your thought patterns and rhythm, I could hardly keep up in a lifetime – you’ll have to guide me?”

Mmm.

So good at compliments.

Things like “lifetime” really hit her shy spots.

Sheng Xia praised him too: “Ah Shu will become a shining adult! I’ll always watch you, shining brightly.”

Zhang Shu nodded, accepting this blessing, cupping her face, seriously saying: “Better than becoming a shining adult is becoming the adult you want to be. Xiaxia will achieve that.”

Always sincere, always passionate, always pure.

Always doing what she loves.

His Sheng Xia was such a person, should be such a person, he would protect her, always being such a person.

…

August, midsummer.

Applause thundered in the Nanli Broadcasting and Television Building’s studio.

The host smiled gracefully, voice passionate: “Today, we are fortunate to hear the stories of ten young people here, feeling the power of youth. History and practice have fully proved that the nation’s hope lies in its youth, and the future of the people lies in its youth. The broad masses of young people are born at the right time, shouldering heavy responsibilities, should inspire youthful morale, bravely stand at the forefront of the times, and make greater contributions. Next, let’s warmly welcome Nanli City’s Top Ten Youth to receive their awards. Please welcome Nanli City’s □□ Comrade Sheng Mingfeng to present the awards.”

Whispers in the audience.

“Why did Secretary Sheng come?”

“Wasn’t Mayor Chen supposed to present?”

“Such an honor this year.”

Sheng Xia sat in the family and friends section holding a bouquet, beside her Zhang Sujin was also quite surprised, looking at Sheng Xia with questioning eyes.

Sheng Xia shook her head, she didn’t know either.

On stage, Sheng Mingfeng presented awards to the Top Ten Youths one by one. Zhang Shu, because his name’s first letter was last alphabetically, stood at the end of the line.

Sheng Mingfeng handed the certificate and trophy to Zhang Shu, shook hands with the young man, and looked up at him, instructing: “Keep up the good work, Student Zhang Shu.”

He had said “congratulations” and “thank you for your contributions to Nanli’s development” to other youth, but uniquely to Zhang Shu, he called his name, and with such an earnest tone.

Everyone looked over, knowing he was the top scholar who helped others in need, all quite understanding.

He was the youngest recipient on stage, impeccable in both intelligence and character.

Anyone would look upon him favorably.

Zhang Shu held the trophy steadily, nodding slowly and solemnly: “I will rest assured.”

During the final group photo, Sheng Mingfeng beckoned, having Zhang Shu stand beside him.

Camera flashes illuminated the young man’s face, lighting up the entire studio.

The program aired that evening on Nanli TV’s news channel.

Before eight o’clock, the ancient trending topic “Good Samaritan was Prospective Top Scholar” was pushed back to trend.

Ranking is quite high, in the teens.

The music blogger who had previously shared Zhang Shu’s Weibo video reshared “Nanli Local News'” Weibo about today’s award ceremony.

[Really became top scholar, awesome!]

This could be called real-time following.

Netizens compiled the police report of the knife incident, Nanli University Affiliated Middle School’s announcement, and photos of the Nanli Top Ten Youth award ceremony.

[This book is called “Someone Else’s Eighteen Years”]

—[“The Years I Came to Earth to Make Up Numbers”]

—[“A Top Scholar Who Won’t Help Others Isn’t a Good Top Ten Youth”]

—[“A Top Ten Youth Who Can’t Sing Isn’t a Good Top Scholar”]

The halo of college entrance exam top scholar hadn’t faded, now adding Top Ten Youth, yet this politically correct figure hadn’t accepted any interviews.

The heat quickly died down, but the internet retained traces of Zhang Shu.

Searching his name would directly link to his Weibo.

Though he had never logged in again.

He avoided the clamor, growing strong on his own.