January 13, 2005. The temperature was low, with gusts of cold wind. Snow fell from the sky, covering the blue tiles and red bricks of streets and alleys.

Jiang Yubai opened an umbrella and walked through the gates of Provincial No. 1 Middle School.

The driver called out behind him: “Young Master Jiang, you left your water bottle in the car!”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not thirsty. I’ll finish the exam early,” Jiang Yubai replied in a flat tone. “Mathematics is my best subject.”

It was time to prove himself!

Jiang Yubai was filled with ambition.

The heavy snow drifted down everywhere, at first like willow catkins, then like swan feathers. Jiang Yubai held his umbrella, braving the wind and snow, walking alone.

Light snowflakes fell by his ear, and he heard a familiar voice: “Jiang Yubai! Jiang Yubai! Wait for me!”

Jiang Yubai stopped but didn’t turn around.

Lin Zhixia ran up to him: “Jiang Yubai, how’s your revision going? Are you one hundred percent confident?”

Jiang Yubai slightly raised the umbrella’s edge and tilted it to the side, covering Lin Zhixia’s head. He casually revealed: “I have a team of mathematics tutors. They’ve been coaching me for a week.”

“That’s great!” Lin Zhixia said with absolute certainty. “You’ll be able to complete the entire test paper!”

Jiang Yubai’s confidence soared, and he unconsciously gripped the umbrella handle tighter.

Today was bitterly cold, with a desolate winter wind, but fortunately, the examination room was equipped with cabinet air conditioners.

The two air conditioners worked together, maintaining a constant indoor temperature of twenty-three degrees. Warm air blew over the seated students, whose expressions were either solemn or nervous, with several people so tense they could only continuously adjust their breathing.

But Lin Zhixia didn’t feel a trace of anxiety.

She had never feared exams.

For her, “exams” were more like amusing games.

She calmly took her seat, waiting for the invigilator to distribute the test papers.

Compared to Lin Zhixia’s casual attitude, Jiang Yubai could be described as “on high alert.” He arranged his ruler, pen, eraser, compass, and other stationery items in order, placing them very neatly.

When he received the test paper, he immediately began analyzing the questions.

The problems in this paper were quite profound, requiring a broad knowledge base, extensive calculations, and ingenious problem-solving techniques.

Jiang Yubai didn’t dare take it lightly. He thought carefully and drafted his answers meticulously.

After a full seven minutes of careful deliberation, Jiang Yubai solved three multiple-choice questions on the test paper.

At the same time, Lin Zhixia had completed the entire test paper, including the extra-credit question. To kill time, she provided two solution methods for each major question.

When ordinary students answered questions, they would typically write the word “Solution.”

But when Lin Zhixia answered, she first wrote “Method One, Solution,” then “Method Two, Solution.” She could have written a third method, but she felt a bit lazy.

She closed her pen cap and looked around.

Apart from her, most students were racing against time, frantically solving problems. They wrote furiously, their expressions focused.

And a small portion of students were biting their pen caps with miserable expressions, enduring the cruel torture of difficult math problems as if death would be better. For them, the entire examination room was not like the human world but resembled the eighteenth level of hell—the test paper was torture, the stationery was shackles, and the admission ticket was an inescapable chain.

Lin Zhixia curiously observed their expressions.

The invigilator gently tapped her desk: “Student, please don’t look around.”

Lin Zhixia nodded in acknowledgment. Then, she stretched lazily and lay down on the desk to sleep.

The tiered classroom of Provincial No. 1 Middle School was very well designed, with each seat having a cushion filled with foam, making it feel soft to sit on, and the desks were spacious. Lin Zhixia relaxed completely and fell asleep.

In the classroom, there was only the “rustle” sound of pen tips rubbing against paper.

Precious time was ticking away, second by second.

Jiang Yubai had just written to the fourth page of the test paper when the extra-credit question gave him a hard blow.

This extra-credit question described “non-coplanar point sets and binary subset line segments,” asking students to find the smallest positive integer n based on known point set conditions, such that “the set consisting of line segments has n elements, all binary subset line segments have common intersection points, and the intersection of the subsets is an empty set.”

Jiang Yubai calmly read the question again, a drop of cold sweat seeping from his forehead. It was too difficult. He had no clue and couldn’t even understand the question.

Since last week, Jiang Yubai has had four math home tutors and a math research team. The teachers tailored a learning method for him and summarized hundreds of problem types for him.

But he still fell into the trap of the extra-credit question.

Jiang Yubai turned his head and glanced at Lin Zhixia—the scene before him shocked his soul. Lin Zhixia was lying on the desk, sleeping peacefully. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her cheeks were tinged pink, and she was sleeping soundly.

Had she finished?

She had finished.

This was her ability.

The exam would end in thirty minutes. Jiang Yubai gave up on the extra-credit question. Even if given more time, he had no approach to solve it.

He raised his hand high, claiming he wanted to “turn in the paper early.” So the invigilator took his paper.

Jiang Yubai stood up discreetly, pretending he didn’t have the strength to hold a metal pencil case. The heavy metal pencil case fell to the ground with a “thud,” and as he had hoped, he woke Lin Zhixia up.

Lin Zhixia opened her eyes and immediately saw Jiang Yubai.

She followed suit and promptly turned in her paper.

The invigilator walked toward her and saw that her test paper was filled with answers. However, Lin Zhixia had been sleeping almost the entire time. How could she have completed it? And even provided two solution methods for the extra-credit question?

There were more than two hundred test-takers in the first tiered classroom.

These two hundred-plus students came from the best elementary schools in the city, including many sixth-grade seniors from the Experimental Elementary School.

Those senior students didn’t dare turn in their papers early, yet Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia both headed toward the classroom door.

Jiang Yubai asked Lin Zhixia: “Did you find the test difficult?”

Lin Zhixia answered honestly: “It was so simple!”

So. Simple.

Those four words were like a terrifying spell, disturbing the quiet atmosphere of the examination room.

The invigilator had extensive teaching experience. He quickly stood on the podium and shouted: “Maintain silence, students, no whispering! Pay attention to exam discipline! There are still thirty minutes before the exam ends!”

Lin Zhixia, standing outside the examination room, could still hear the invigilator’s shouts.

She grabbed her backpack and followed Jiang Yubai outside the school.

“Jiang Yubai, how did you do on the exam?” she asked frankly.

Jiang Yubai hesitated for a few seconds before saying: “I couldn’t solve the last extra-credit question.” After speaking, he held the umbrella in his left hand, put his right hand in his coat pocket, and gazed toward the distant horizon.

As he had expected, Lin Zhixia was surprised. She murmured: “Was the extra-credit question difficult? Difficult?”

She was lost in a swamp of confusion, unable to distinguish what was simple and what was difficult. She helped organize his thoughts: “You could have constructed a connected graph, applied connected branches and permutation combination formulas…”

“I haven’t learned about connected graphs,” Jiang Yubai told her.

“What about the other students? They’re even less likely to have learned it!” Lin Zhixia found an entry point. “Exams are about ranking, not total score. Even if you only scored twenty points, as long as you rank in the top seventy, the 2005 competition class will accept you.”

Jiang Yubai had never scored twenty points.

If the full score was 100, Jiang Yubai had never scored below 97.

Jiang Yubai looked at Lin Zhixia with a complex expression.

Lin Zhixia thought Jiang Yubai was worried about his score.

Without hesitation, Lin Zhixia decided on the spot, pulling Jiang Yubai back to the tiered classroom. They waited for another dozen minutes until all the students in the examination room had turned in their papers, and Lin Zhixia immediately grabbed a few people, interviewing them: “Hello, student, may I ask, what do you think about the overall difficulty of this math test?”

The student being interviewed was about twelve years old. He wore black-framed glasses, looked haggard, with messy hair falling over his forehead, and seemed a bit dazed: “Hehe…” He let out a bleak and tragic laugh: “Hehe… the math test… was so simple!”

“Simple?” Jiang Yubai asked in surprise.

Initially, Jiang Yubai believed he could pass the competition class with his eyes closed. After hearing that unnamed student’s description, Jiang Yubai began to doubt himself.

Lin Zhixia comforted him: “Don’t be afraid, you’re very capable! Jiang Yubai!”

Then, Lin Zhixia found another female student, persistently asking: “Hello, this student, excuse me, what do you think about this math test…”

Before Lin Zhixia finished, the girl threw down her backpack, tilted her head back, and burst into tears. This girl had come to take the exam with her elementary school classmates, and both girls had not done well, hugging each other and crying in the corridor.

An atmosphere of sadness, worry, and frustration permeated the air.

Lin Zhixia was shocked by them. This was her first time closely encountering a group of ordinary students who had failed an exam.

She calculated the admission probability: 287 people took the exam, but only 70 students would be admitted, making the admission rate just 0.2439. When she randomly interviewed examinees, equivalent to random sampling, the sample not including Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia, the probability of selecting two students who would be eliminated was as high as 0.58.

She stopped the interviews and walked toward the stairs.

From behind came a young man’s voice: “Are you the one who slept for more than an hour, turned in the paper early, and said the paper was simple?”

Lin Zhixia turned her head and saw a boy about twelve years old. The boy had a crew cut, handsome features, a high nose bridge, wore a long black coat, and had dark blue ink stains on his right index finger and thumb.

He stepped down the stairs one by one: “I won the first prize in the 2004 Provincial Hua Luogeng Elementary School Mathematics Competition. I went to Beijing to compete. What about you?”

People around held him back, calling out: “Duan Qiyan, First Wargod, stop arguing with a girl.”

Another student nearby chimed in: “Duan Qiyan is from Teachers’ Training Attached Elementary School. He ranks first in the school every year. His nickname at school is ‘First Wargod,’ we all know that.”

Duan Qiyan yanked his arm away and looked condescendingly at Lin Zhixia: “You and that boy turned in your papers half an hour early, disrupting many people’s plans. You slept for at least an hour during the exam. Both of you are just slackers. Slackers should stay home and not come to the competition class exam to make trouble.”

“Your name is Duan Qiyan?” Lin Zhixia raised her chin, her aura no less intimidating. “I am Lin Zhixia—Lin as in ‘a tree standing out in the forest,’ Zhi as in ‘self-awareness,’ Xia as in ‘summer insect speaks of ice.'”

So arrogant!

Lin Zhixia was so arrogant!

Jiang Yubai had known Lin Zhixia for nearly half a year but had never seen her this arrogant.

Lin Zhixia was very angry. She hated people calling Jiang Yubai a slacker. Those people had no idea how hard-working, diligent, and self-disciplined Jiang Yubai was!

Lin Zhixia’s cheeks flushed, like a small cat with its fur standing on end.

Duan Qiyan wasn’t afraid of her at all. He leaned against the stair railing and sneered: “Lin Zhixia, what qualifies you to be so cocky with me? Have you participated in competitions? Can you differentiate between rational and irrational numbers? Slackers should talk less.”

Jiang Yubai immediately raised his hand, blocking the angry Lin Zhixia, and said in a tactical retreat: “Lin Zhixia and I haven’t participated in competitions. We are students from Class 1, Grade 4 of the Experimental Elementary School.”

“They’re only fourth graders?”

“Fourth-grade kids participating in Provincial No. 1 Middle School’s competition class selection?”

“Just visiting?”

Noisy discussions erupted around them. Jiang Yubai began setting a trap: “My surname is Jiang, my name is Jiang Yubai. The sixth-grade seniors from the Experimental Elementary School should know us. Duan Qiyan, let’s make a bet. If Lin Zhixia’s final ranking is higher than yours, you’ll call me Teacher Jiang. If Lin Zhixia’s ranking is lower than yours, I’ll call you Teacher Duan.”

Duan Qiyan frowned tightly: “Why should I agree?”

Jiang Yubai countered: “Are you afraid to bet with me? You, a sixth-grade student, afraid of being surpassed by a fourth-grader?”

Jiang Yubai’s provocation was perfectly timed.

The sixth-grade seniors from the Experimental Elementary School had already recognized Lin Zhixia and had terrified expressions on their faces. But Duan Qiyan still accepted the challenge: “Fine, Jiang Yubai, you’re going to lose. I solved the extra-credit question, did you?”

Although Jiang Yubai couldn’t even understand the extra-credit question, he still looked at Duan Qiyan with pitying eyes and demanded: “If you lose, on the first day of seventh grade, you must stand on the podium and publicly call me teacher. Vice versa, I will do the same.”

A few minutes earlier, Lin Zhixia’s statement “Lin as in ‘a tree standing out in the forest,’ Zhi as in ‘self-awareness,’ Xia as in ‘summer insect speaks of ice'” had left a deep impression on Duan Qiyan.

She had displayed a subtext: I stand out like a tree in the forest, you lack self-awareness, and I won’t discuss ice with a summer insect like you.

Lin Zhixia’s insult contained no vulgar words, which was a very irritating way to argue.

Moreover, it was Lin Zhixia who was wrong in the first place.

Even in a long-distance race, athletes couldn’t false start or sprint frantically in the first lap—this was an unwritten rule.

But what about Lin Zhixia? She had slept comfortably for more than an hour, then turned in her paper early with her classmate. This kind of ignorant slacker not only disrupted the examination principles but also trampled on the competition ethos.

The more Duan Qiyan thought about it, the angrier he became. He shrugged: “Jiang Yubai, if you want to play big, I’m happy to oblige.”

Jiang Yubai nodded: “See you at school in September.”

Duan Qiyan pressed aggressively: “I look forward to your bowing to me on the podium and calling me Teacher Duan.”

“We have to bow too?” Lin Zhixia interjected.

“Do you dare?” Duan Qiyan looked at Jiang Yubai.

“I dare,” Jiang Yubai answered. “Of course I dare. You’re no match for Lin Zhixia.”

Jiang Yubai’s firm belief in Lin Zhixia made her feel very good.

The clouds in the sky dispersed, snowflakes danced in small patches, and the faint sunlight illuminated the entire teaching building.

“Let’s go, it’s time to head home,” Lin Zhixia suggested. “My father has probably arrived at the school gate, and your driver is waiting for you too.”

Jiang Yubai didn’t say a word. He reopened his umbrella and walked ahead. Their silhouettes gradually merged into the ethereal snowy landscape.

*

The results of the initial test for the 2005 competition class were released in March.

Lin Zhixia was the undisputed first place.

In that exam, she scored a perfect score, plus the 10 points from the extra-credit question, totaling 110 points. Jiang Yubai was a bit worse, scoring 84 points, but still easily qualified for the second round.

Lin Zhixia excitedly announced the good news at home.

It was dinner time, and after hearing her words, Lin Zeqiu suddenly felt a lump in his throat, momentarily losing his senses.

110 points?

She scored 110 points?

Lin Zeqiu had never heard of any student who could score 110 points on the competition class math test.

It was as if his soul had been drawn out, leaving only a walking corpse. His mind went blank, and he didn’t hear his sister calling him several times.

His deliberate coldness and indifference ignited Lin Zhixia’s anger.

Lin Zhixia questioned him: “Brother, why aren’t you responding to me? If you continue to ignore me, I’ll get angry!”

Her brother ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice and coldly said: “I’m full.”

Their mother questioned him: “Qiuqiu, you normally eat two bowls of rice. Why have you only eaten one bowl tonight?”

Her brother didn’t answer. He stood up, walked to his bedroom, and shut the door with a “bang.”

Behind his door hung a calendar. He flipped through several pages before realizing that his peaceful middle school life had only three months left. And his respected status in class also had only three months of shelf life.

This was a cruel world. He was about to face the storm brought by fate.

For several consecutive nights afterward, Lin Zeqiu had nightmares.

He always dreamed of Lin Zhixia holding a megaphone, shouting at the gate of Provincial No. 1 Middle School: Attention all students! Attention all teachers! Lin Zeqiu is my brother! I often tutor him! He can stay in the advanced class and rank in the top ten of his grade! It’s because I teach well! I treat my brother as my student!

In the following half-month, Lin Zhixia occasionally sneezed for no reason. She suspected someone was constantly talking about her, but didn’t know about her brother’s inner struggle.

As the weather gradually warmed, the sunshine became brighter, street trees sprouted new buds, and the flourishing city was filled with the vigor of spring.

Lin Zhixia happily participated in the second round of the competition class selection and once again stood out. In the May interview, she made a stunning statement that earned applause from all three reviewing teachers.

At that time, the teachers discussed a mathematical problem of mixed probability distribution with her. Lin Zhixia noticed that the variables were independent in one scenario, so she kept three disjoint groups, introduced the Chernoff inequality, further contracted the probability range, and solved the final algebraic expression on the blackboard.

Among more than one hundred and forty candidates, no student’s thinking was more agile or sharper than hers.

The teachers exclaimed in amazement: “What a promising talent!”

Lin Zhixia smiled in response: “Thank you, teacher.”

The order of this round of interviews was arranged according to the alphabetical order of the students’ names. Jiang Yubai’s interview had already ended. When Lin Zhixia walked out of the classroom, she secretly glanced at the evaluation form in the teacher’s hand and saw that Jiang Yubai’s grade was “A,” which placed him at the upper level among the interviewees.

She finally felt relieved.

Indeed, Jiang Yubai was quite an excellent boy!

When the final results were announced, Lin Zhixia ranked first with a total score of 117.8, more than thirty points ahead of the second place.

Jiang Yubai ranked sixteenth and successfully entered the competition class. He glanced at his score, which was indeed very average. But he still received praise from his father, mother, and uncle. His uncle particularly praised him for three consecutive days, saying that Jiang Yubai was an outstanding person who had skipped two grades at such a young age, remained humble and steady, and had a promising future—truly worthy of being his uncle’s carefully nurtured nephew.

As for Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia’s arch-enemy—student Duan Qiyan—his total score ranked third.

Lin Zhixia scored more than fifty points higher than Duan Qiyan. Looking at his score, she sighed slightly. What could be done? What’s done is done, spilled water cannot be gathered back.

She would bury Duan Qiyan’s reputation with a merciful heart.

She remembered that Duan Qiyan was a sixth-grade student from Teachers’ Training Attached Elementary School. During his six years there, he often ranked first and was nicknamed “First Wargod.”

“Teachers’ Training Attached Elementary School, First Wargod”—this reputation was truly silly and foolish.

*

Jiang Yubai had almost forgotten about Duan Qiyan.

Jiang Yubai’s daily life was very fulfilling. Under the nurturing of his parents and numerous tutors, he grew healthily and robustly. Especially since spring, his height had increased even faster. By June, he had changed a batch of pants and shoes again, and his mother said with satisfaction: “At this rate of growth, you’ll be as tall as your father when you’re an adult.”

Growing to be as tall as his father—this was one of Jiang Yubai’s wishes.

His father also teased him: “Jiang Yubai is better than me. When I was ten, I never thought about skipping grades.”

His mother laughed lightly: “You’re not bad either now. Like father, like son.”

His father and mother were originally sitting on the sofa. His father suddenly leaned forward and whispered in his wife’s ear. He also raised a hand to straighten the diamond necklace around his wife’s neck. His wife blushed slightly and said softly: “Jiang Yubai is still here.”

Jiang Yubai didn’t quite understand.

What difference did it make whether he was here or not?

His father said gently: “Go review your lessons.”

“I just came out of the study,” Jiang Yubai stated.

“Very good,” his father praised him. “You just reviewed your lessons, now go to the training area to exercise. Being physically and mentally sound is what makes a real man.”

Jiang Yubai thought his father’s words made sense. So he changed into sportswear and went to the family’s training area by himself.

It was a peaceful Sunday afternoon, with bright sunshine, clear skies, and a breeze carrying the fragrance of early summer flowers. Jiang Yubai ran half a lap around the training area when he suddenly remembered that Ding Yan had once said… he was tired of taekwondo and was preparing to learn tennis. Ding Yan had even signed up for this summer’s “Children’s Tennis Crash Course.”

Jiang Yubai was about to enter middle school. He couldn’t graduate with Ding Yan, Dong Sunqi, and other friends.

He decided to prepare a small gift for those classmates.

*

On Monday morning, Jiang Yubai carried his backpack and a carrier bag, stepping into the classroom of Experimental Elementary School Grade 4 (1).

Recently, the final exam of the fourth grade had ended, and today was the day for students to receive their results. The homeroom teacher hadn’t appeared yet, and the classroom was noisy with clamor.

Jiang Yubai walked to Ding Yan’s seat, took out a tennis ball and racket from his carrier bag, and placed them on Ding Yan’s desk. Ding Yan was surprised, his mouth wide open, but before he could speak, Jiang Yubai had already walked away.

Jiang Yubai then went near Dong Sunqi’s seat. He gave Dong Sunqi a book titled “Business Records and Supply Chain Management,” saying: “You often lend things to classmates, supply chain management is most suitable for you.”

Finally, Jiang Yubai returned to his seat and gave Lin Zhixia a “Jiang Shaoqi Violin Solo Original DVD.” He said somewhat uncertainly: “You seem to like music very much.”

“Yes!” Lin Zhixia admitted. “Ever since the last time you taught me to read music scores, I’ve particularly liked pure music.”

Jiang Yubai thought to himself that he had never taught Lin Zhixia.

Lin Zhixia held the disc and somewhat shyly asked him: “I-I thought you had prepared farewell gifts for your friends. Why did you also give me a DVD? I’ll be in the same class as you in middle school, just like in the ‘Exploring the Universe’ comic, we won’t be separated.”

Lin Zhixia often said, “Jiang Yubai is my good friend,” so when Jiang Yubai brought things for Ding Yan and Dong Sunqi, he felt awkward leaving out Lin Zhixia. He covered up by saying: “I just grabbed one of my uncle’s albums before leaving home this morning.”

“Your uncle is a violin concertmaster?” Lin Zhixia lowered her head to read the introduction.

Inexplicably, Jiang Yubai said: “I can play the piano.”

“I know,” Lin Zhixia looked up at him. “You play the piano very well…”

Before she could finish her sentence, class monitor Dong Sunqi suddenly stood up and announced to the whole class: “Classmates, students of Class 1, Grade 4!”

Dong Sunqi spoke while walking onto the podium: “Everyone should have heard that Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai have been admitted to the competition class of Provincial No. 1 Middle School. They will start middle school next semester. Today, while our whole class is here, I, Dong Sunqi, as the class monitor, want to lead the applause for Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai!”

The applause in the class lasted for a long time.

Dong Sunqi raised both hands, then grabbed backward: “Alright! Everyone stop! Give Monitor Dong a face!”

The whole class immediately quieted down.

Dong Sunqi spoke eloquently: “Lin Zhixia has been in our Class 1 for four years, always ranking first in the grade, bringing so much honor to our class! She is truly material for the competition class of Provincial No. 1 Middle School! Jiang Yubai has been in our class for a year, and he’s also my good brother! His ‘Exploring the Universe’ series, I will remember for life! Today, I, Dong Sunqi, as the class monitor, want to lead the cheers for Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai!”

Below the podium, the cheers were continuous.

Tang Leqin, as the deputy class monitor, suddenly stood up to express her opinion: “Jiang Yubai’s ‘Exploring the Universe’ has no ending.”

“There is an ending!” Lin Zhixia immediately raised her hand. “There is an ending!”

Dong Sunqi slapped the desk: “What ending? Quick, tell us!”

All the classmates concentrated, listening attentively.

Lin Zhixia summarized: “We have all taken different paths. We continue to explore the unknown universe. No matter what the future holds, the students of Class 1, Grade 4 will forever be young and forever determined.”

“A happy ending,” Dong Sunqi unilaterally decided. “We have companions, we have things we want to protect.”

He opened his arms, immersed in the comic plot: “Long live Orion!”

Half the class responded to him.

Jiang Yubai stood up and shouted: “Long live Earth!”

The other half of the class immediately responded.

Lin Zhixia caught a glimpse of someone outside the window. She turned to see that Teacher Wu was standing outside. Teacher Wu had arrived early, but she didn’t enter. She waited until Dong Sunqi had finished all his nonsense before gently knocking on the door of Class 1, Grade 4.

Lin Zhixia only then discovered her gentleness.

This kind of gentleness was not common, and Lin Zhixia was a bit distracted.

Teacher Wu came quickly and left quickly. She arranged the holiday homework, reminded the students to be safe during the summer vacation, and finally, she briefly praised Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai before letting the whole class go home.

The fourth-grade summer vacation officially began.

Students gradually left the classroom.

The sunlight in the corridor was bright, warming everyone. The boys enthusiastically discussed the universe war, and class monitor Dong Sunqi suddenly blurted out: “Hey, next semester when school starts, we won’t see Lin Zhixia and Rich Jiang anymore.”

Dong Sunqi’s desk mate, Wei Rongjie, shook his head and sighed: “The two people in this class who read more than I are both leaving. There’s no place for readers to stand in this class anymore.”

Deputy class monitor Tang Leqin’s sadness was more obvious: “I’ll miss Lin Zhixia. I just realized she’s very cute.”

Gan Shuli said blankly: “Me too.”

Ding Yan hugged his tennis racket, surrounded by a layer of dark clouds: “Damn, I’m about to cry.” He turned to look at Jiang Yubai and shouted: “Jiang Yubai! We’re still friends! I’ll come to see you in the future!”

Jiang Yubai waved to him.

In the stairwell on the fourth floor of the Experimental Elementary School, the shadows of Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia were stretched long by the sunlight. They crossed the steps one after another, parting ways with many of their elementary school classmates from then on.

The classmates couldn’t help but recall what Lin Zhixia had just said.

She said: We have all taken different paths. We continue to explore the unknown universe. No matter what the future holds, the students of Class 1, Grade 4 will forever be young and forever determined.

This was the ending of “Exploring the Universe,” and also the ending they all agreed upon.