Jiang Yubai would not allow Lin Zhixia to call him “Young Master Jiang.”

He stated that Lin Zhixia’s behavior violated the “Rules of Friendly Deskmate Relations.”

He repeatedly declared that mutual respect was the foundation of friendly deskmate relations.

Lin Zhixia showed a bewildered expression: “Calling you Young Master Jiang means I don’t respect you? Why?”

Jiang Yubai liked hearing Lin Zhixia ask “why”—clearly, this meant Lin Zhixia was also seeking his guidance on questions. He explained with neither arrogance nor humility: “You and I are classmates. You call me Young Master Jiang, but are you my employee? Have I ever paid you a salary? My name is Jiang Yubai, you should call me Jiang Yubai.”

Lin Zhixia nodded: “Jiang Yubai.”

Jiang Yubai sat up straight, maintaining even greater composure: “Lin Zhixia.”

Lin Zhixia called out again: “Jiang Yubai!”

Jiang Yubai responded once more: “Lin Zhixia.”

Lin Zhixia used a breathy voice, squeezing out from her throat: “Jiang Yubai…”

Jiang Yubai lowered his voice: “Lin Zhixia…”

Lin Zhixia rocked back and forth, laughing heartily: “Jiang-Jiang-Jiang-Jiang Yubai!”

Jiang Yubai said: “You’re crazy.”

“You don’t respect me!” Lin Zhixia turned the tables on him, “You’re violating the Rules of Friendly Deskmate Relations!”

Jiang Yubai couldn’t out-argue Lin Zhixia. His ears turned red. He took out his math notebook again and browsed through complex number operations. He looked at line after line of sample problems, pretending to be immersed in mathematics, unable to hear Lin Zhixia’s voice.

Strangely, Lin Zhixia fell silent and remained quiet.

She was also reading a book.

Jiang Yubai secretly turned his face sideways. He discovered that the book in Lin Zhixia’s hands was titled “Quantum Mechanics in Atomic and Molecular Research.” She had just opened to a page that was densely packed with formulas, with a single formula derivation covering half a page.

Lin Zhixia was taking notes in the book with a pencil. Her notes were also very strange, messy, and disorganized, possibly not even in Chinese.

Jiang Yubai asked her: “Are you writing in Chinese?”

“This is a language I created myself,” Lin Zhixia answered honestly, “Do you want to learn it? Do you want me to teach you? This language is based on elementary physics language. It can’t be used for communication yet, it’s just used to simplify my learning process.”

A self-created language?

What was that?

Jiang Yubai was once again struck a blow.

Previously, Jiang Yubai firmly believed he was a smart child. Now, his belief was somewhat shaken.

Jiang Yubai gripped a stack of draft paper, his knuckles turning white. He calmly refused: “No need. I won’t learn it. I don’t like simplifying the learning process. I like complex things, you wouldn’t understand.”

Lin Zhixia was very confused: “Why?”

Finally, Jiang Yubai heard Lin Zhixia ask “why” again.

Jiang Yubai’s answer was profound: “If I could solve all your problems, I should be a grown-up adult.”

“Many adults are very strange,” Lin Zhixia sat up straight and stated with conviction, “Adults can’t accept when we discover they’ve made mistakes, it makes them lose face. Face is more important than truth. I hate that kind of adult.”

Jiang Yubai agreed: “And there are many children who deliberately act stupid in front of adults.”

Lin Zhixia agreed: “Yes! They know, but pretend not to know. They don’t know, but pretend to know.”

After saying this, she moved closer to Jiang Yubai: “What about you? Jiang Yubai, do you know about physics? Have you studied molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons?”

Outside the window, the sky was clear, with clouds like cotton wool.

The summer heat was fading, autumn was gradually deepening. On such a beautiful sunny day, Jiang Yubai felt as if he’d fallen into an ice cave. He didn’t want to admit that he knew nothing about physics. He didn’t understand where Lin Zhixia had learned so many strange terms… Were they all taught by the teachers at school? Had domestic education already reached such a high level?

Jiang Yubai deeply regretted wasting three precious years in Singapore.

He lowered his head slightly and remained silent for a long time.

This class was English.

The English teacher was a young female teacher who had just graduated from university. Her surname was Zheng, and the classmates all called her “Teacher Zheng.” Today, Teacher Zheng wanted to teach a situational dialogue set in a park—with deskmates as units, she would select one pair of deskmates from each large group to demonstrate in front of the class.

Teacher Zheng said: “Dear students, today I to give directions.”

Then, she explained herself: “Dear students, today, the teacher will lead everyone to learn how to ask for directions and how to give directions to others. Our story is set in a park. First, I’ll teach everyone a few sentence patterns, and we’ll read through this text with the tape recorder. I will… select one pair of deskmates from each large group to demonstrate for the whole class. Don’t doze off in class, everyone pay attention.”

Teacher Zheng grabbed chalk and wrote sentence patterns on the blackboard.

The entire text had eight commonly tested words and four standard sentence patterns.

Most students in the class were listening attentively. Jiang Yubai was absent-minded, while Lin Zhixia looked out the window. She spotted a sparrow hopping about on a branch. The locust tree was in bloom, its flowers not yet withered, and the sparrow was moving between the gaps of petals and leaves. She couldn’t help wondering, what differences were there between the sparrow, the locust tree, and the world as she saw it?

Lin Zhixia thought: Yes, I know that the world I see isn’t the world as it truly is—my eyes can only discern limited colors, my olfactory cells are far inferior to a rat’s, my ears can’t hear infrasonic or ultrasonic waves. But those things objectively exist. In this vast universe, my consciousness…

She tilted her head and began to ponder “consciousness.”

“You’re daydreaming,” Jiang Yubai reminded her.

Lin Zhixia nodded: “Yes, I am daydreaming.”

Jiang Yubai immediately asked her: “What are you thinking about now?”

Lin Zhixia leaned on the desk and suggested: “Close your eyes, and I’ll tell you.”

She was very young, with a childish voice, watery eyes like a little rabbit, and thick eyelashes that cast shadows beneath her eyes. Her suggestion carried no sense of intimidation, yet Jiang Yubai surprisingly chose to comply.

He closed his eyes during this English class period and heard Lin Zhixia speaking slowly: “Have you ever thought about where you came from? When you close your eyes, can you feel your true self? I often wonder, I am me, but who exactly am I? This question has troubled me for a long time, and I don’t understand.”

Jiang Yubai was confused by her. He could only stammer: “You… are you, a different you.”

His extensive conversation with Lin Zhixia had indeed attracted Teacher Zheng’s attention.

Teacher Zheng wiped her hands with a towel. All ten of her fingernails were painted a bright pink. She pointed a finger at Jiang Yubai: “Oh? This student, you’re the new transfer student in our class, right? Perfect, you and your deskmate come up and demonstrate for us how to ask for directions in a park. I noticed you were getting a bit sleepy just now, weren’t you?”

No.

Jiang Yubai wasn’t drowsy.

At this moment, he was more alert than ever.

Because this was his domain.

He stood up steadily, walking to the front, accepting the attention of the entire class.

Lin Zhixia followed behind Jiang Yubai, keenly sensing that he was up to something. He looked back at her twice, more nervous than a soldier keeping watch on a battlefield, as if afraid she would flee at the critical moment.

Lin Zhixia didn’t understand the situation and thought Jiang Yubai wasn’t very good at speaking English, hoping she could rescue him.

Oh, so that’s it! Lin Zhixia believed she had found the crux of the problem.

Without waiting for Jiang Yubai to speak, Lin Zhixia asked: “I’m a little turned around. Is there a subway station nearby?”

Teacher Zheng translated for everyone: “Hey, not bad! Our classmate Lin Zhixia used a phrase, ‘I’m a little turned around,’ which means ‘I’m lost.’ Lin Zhixia says she’s lost and is asking Jiang Yubai if there’s a subway station nearby.”

Jiang Yubai answered: “Sure. If you look at this map, you’ll see that your destination is just across the park. The subway station is at the south entrance.”

Lin Zhixia smiled and said: “Many thanks. A few minutes ago I walked across…”

“Alright, alright,” Teacher Zheng interrupted, “How are you two acting like you’re in a play? However, Lin Zhixia used a phrase that everyone should note: ‘walk across the park’ and ‘walk through the park’ both represent someone walking through a park. So, what’s the difference between the prepositions ‘across’ and ‘through’ when used in the context of a park? Which student knows?”

Jiang Yubai raised his hand on the spot.

Teacher Zheng agreed: “Jiang Yubai, you tell us.”

Jiang Yubai answered seriously: “When we use ‘across’ as a preposition, it indicates that Lin Zhixia directly crossed the park without looking at the scenery. Generally, ‘through’ is more commonly used.”

“Correct,” Teacher Zheng nodded repeatedly, “Alright, you can return to your seats.”

*

Starting at age four, Jiang Yubai had one-on-one foreign English teachers. His first teacher was British. Later, his mother hired three Americans. The four foreign teachers formed an English teaching research group, specifically teaching Jiang Yubai.

So, how well did Jiang Yubai learn English? He felt it was average, just so-so. The combined education from American and British teachers occasionally caused him to confuse American and British English expressions.

He thought Lin Zhixia’s accent was not bad. Not perfect, but acceptable.

He asked Lin Zhixia: “How did you learn your pronunciation?”

Lin Zhixia answered matter-of-factly: “Me? I learned from tape recorders.”

“Tape recorders?” Jiang Yubai was surprised.

He tried to hold back, but couldn’t restrain himself: “Impossible. Don’t lie to me.”

Lin Zhixia scratched her head: “Really, why would I lie to you? When I learn foreign languages, I just buy books from bookstores, listen to tapes at home, and watch videos online. Anything I’ve seen, if I want to remember it, I never forget, ever.”

Never forget, ever.

Jiang Yubai exclaimed: “Are you a genius?”

Lin Zhixia rested her face on one hand and secretly revealed to him: “When I was seven, my mom took me to test my IQ at the city center hospital, where they were offering free testing as part of a promotional activity. That year my IQ was 174… The doctor said this number would continue to rise. What’s your IQ? Am I smarter than you?”

Jiang Yubai picked up a stack of draft paper and suddenly covered his face with it.

Classmates in front, behind, and to the sides all turned to stare blankly at Jiang Yubai’s behavior.

Jiang Yubai calmly responded: “I’m fine.”