Lin Zhixia had read a series of computer programming books such as “Dive into Python,” “Thinking in Java,” “C++ Primer,” “Programming Mathematics Using MATLAB,” and others. While reading, she treated programming languages as an abstract expression for data collection and processing, just like when she created her language to analyze physics at the age of eight. “Computer programs” were similar to a toolkit for problem-solving.

The three books “Principles of Compilers,” “Elements of Computer Systems,” and “Computer Architecture” made her reconsider the topic of “virtual information and human interaction.”

Lin Zhixia firmly believed that the “world” she perceived was not the true appearance of this world. So, could computers possess self-awareness? Could computers describe their world?

On the first day of eighth grade, Lin Zhixia’s mind was filled with thoughts of “humans and computers.” Although she sat in the classroom of Class 17, Grade 8, her thoughts drifted to a far-off place.

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

She said softly: “I’m thinking about how to construct a virtual world.”

Jiang Yubai reached into his drawer and found a notebook. The title page had a line—Communications and Insights in Learning and Life. Jiang Yubai opened the page and wrote: What kind of virtual world?

Lin Zhixia immediately replied in writing: A virtual world created by computers. Humans control all protocols.

Jiang Yubai thought for a moment and wrote another sentence: Can time also be controlled?

Lin Zhixia capped her pen and described aloud: “Einstein’s special theory of relativity sets the speed of light as constant. Even if the observer’s reference frame changes, the observed measured speed of light is always a constant value. Isn’t that fascinating? The spacetime curvature in special relativity is zero. In general relativity, the spacetime curvature is not zero, spacetime is in a curved state, and gravity comes from curved spacetime. Black holes have extremely high density and very strong gravity; even light cannot escape, so the concept of time on a black hole, the concept of time on Earth, and the concept of time in quantum mechanics must have enormous differences… I believe that ‘time’ can be completely controlled. Some philosophical schools consider ‘time’ a subjective concept.”

Jiang Yubai had just asked casually. He hadn’t expected Lin Zhixia to bring up Einstein’s “Theory of Relativity” again.

When Jiang Yubai was nine years old, whenever Lin Zhixia talked about physics and mathematics, his heart would feel very bewildered. But now, at eleven years old, he could roughly understand what she was saying.

Indeed, heaven rewards diligence.

His hard work had not been in vain.

He had truly grown.

The head teacher, Teacher Zhang, was still speaking at length on the podium. Teacher Zhang said with a slight smile: “Students, from today on, you are all eighth-grade students. In the past year, you have achieved very good results, and I have progressed and improved together with you. Several students in our class, Jiang Yubai, Lin Zhixia, Shen Fuxuan, and Duan Qiyan, all won highly valuable first prizes in the mathematics competition last year…”

He paused, then emphasized: “This semester, Lin Zhixia will participate in the high school competition. Let’s give her a round of applause for encouragement. Class 17 students, you must persist to the end on the path of competition. I don’t want to see anyone fall behind! You are all excellent students, one in a hundred!”

Applause thundered through the classroom of Class 17.

Lin Zhixia lightly tapped the desk with her left hand, unzipped her backpack with her right hand, and took out a wooden box. The wooden box was about fourteen centimeters long and six centimeters high, with a butterfly bow stuck to the side, accompanied by a red strawberry greeting card.

“This is the birthday gift I prepared for you,” Lin Zhixia said very frankly.

Jiang Yubai accepted the wooden box, and Lin Zhixia smiled lightly: “Happy eleventh birthday, Jiang Yubai, congratulations on growing a year older.”

Jiang Yubai had long been anticipating the birthday gift from Lin Zhixia. But when Lin Zhixia pushed the item into his hands, he didn’t reveal his inner excitement. He responded quite reservedly: “Thank you, Lin-Lin-Lin-Lin Zhixia.”

This was the first time he had actively called her “Lin-Lin-Lin-Lin Zhixia.”

Lin Zhixia seemed even happier, with bright light flowing from her beautiful eyes.

Jiang Yubai picked up the strawberry greeting card and discovered that Lin Zhixia had written a poem for him. Every word in the poem seemed to dance in his heart. He surrendered to the profound depth of the Chinese language, appreciated the beauty of the metrical pattern of tones and rhymes, and savored the wonderful wishes between the lines, almost forgetting that he still had a wooden box to open.

“The small wooden box,” Lin Zhixia reminded, “you have a small wooden box.”

Jiang Yubai put down the card and gently opened the latch of the box. Inside the ordinary wooden box was a miniature landscape, including flower beds, a pond, green trees, a stone path, and a small wooden cabin—this was a micro-garden that Lin Zhixia had made for him by hand. He suspected that this exquisite handicraft had cost Lin Zhixia another summer vacation of free time.

He couldn’t help but reach out his finger, his fingertip brushing over the branches. Lin Zhixia introduced it beside him: “I twisted wire into thin lines, brushed on a layer of white latex, then sprinkled dark green plastic fragments to create the appearance of leaves.”

“How was this wooden cabin made?” Jiang Yubai asked.

“My father has a toolbox,” Lin Zhixia honestly said, “and we have discarded wood at home.”

She paused for a moment and added: “My grandfather was a carpenter in the village, and my father also knows a bit of carpentry. My father helped me cut the small wooden strips used for building the house, but I completed the house construction all by myself.”

After saying this, she nodded and confirmed: “Father was the material supplier, Lin Zhixia was the chief designer and chief architect.”

Jiang Yubai closed the wooden box: “I will carefully preserve it.”

“Okay,” Lin Zhixia responded.

Then, she quietly said: “Leader Jiang Yubai, I discovered this garden on the new planet. Even if I leave the spaceship to carry out other missions, please remember, my beliefs are all in the garden.”

Jiang Yubai held the wooden box containing the garden and played along: “Captain Lin Zhixia’s belief is the most precious treasure in the universe.”

Lin Zhixia gripped the edge of the desk with both hands. Joyful emotions welled up from the bottom of her heart, bursting in her chest like surging tides. She very much wanted to quietly sing a song for Jiang Yubai, but the head teacher, Teacher Zhang, suddenly knocked on the blackboard.

Teacher Zhang knocked more than a dozen times, and the entire class fell silent, with no one daring to speak.

Teacher Zhang walked down from the podium, stood at the side of the first large group, and announced: “At the end of September, our school will hold its centennial celebration. The predecessor of Provincial No. 1 Middle School was a school established in 1906. 2006 marks exactly the hundredth anniversary of the school’s founding. The principal attaches great importance to this celebration, and every class in the junior high division must prepare a performance.”

Prepare a performance?

Does this mean they need to rehearse a program?

As the class monitor of Class 17, Lin Zhixia certainly wouldn’t miss such important information. She immediately raised her head and attentively looked at the head teacher.

The head teacher felt her gaze and immediately called her name: “Lin Zhixia, although you are our class monitor, this month you also need to participate in the preliminary round of the National High School Mathematics Competition…”

Lin Zhixia stood up from her seat, put her hands behind her back, and said with full responsibility: “Teacher Zhang, I can organize my classmates and prepare the performance. The High School Mathematics Competition has no impact on me whatsoever.”

After Lin Zhixia said, “The High School Mathematics Competition has no impact on me whatsoever,” all the students in Class 17 instantly became mute. Lin Zhixia had already won first prize in the Junior High Mathematics Competition, and it seemed that the first prize in the High School Competition would also be hers.

The classmates looked up at Lin Zhixia’s figure, feeling that she was incredibly strong and towering. Her name was a legend in the junior high division.

Teacher Zhang was extremely kind to Lin Zhixia: “Good, Lin Zhixia, manage your time freely, and discuss with our class’s arts committee member and sports committee member. Everyone should pool their ideas and create a performance together, including but not limited to skits, dance, drama, and instrumental ensemble.”

The students immediately became eager to try, but Teacher Zhang changed his tone and suddenly warned: “You must all remember two key points. First, studying is your most important task; don’t let the performance affect your study progress. Second, the theme of the performance must be positive and uplifting. Don’t perform ‘Hamlet,’ or no one will save face. The centennial celebration should be lively and festive.”

Lin Zhixia took the lead in agreeing: “No problem!”

After her shout, the other students confusedly followed and shouted: “No problem!”

Shen Fuxuan couldn’t help but sigh: “Class Monitor Lin has such high prestige in our class.”

Shen Fuxuan’s seat was directly in front of Jiang Yubai. As soon as Shen Fuxuan expressed his opinion, Jiang Yubai immediately responded: “Isn’t it a good thing for a class to have cohesion?”

“It is a good thing,” Shen Fuxuan nodded slightly, “it makes selecting a performance convenient. As long as Lin Zhixia agrees, no one in the class will object.”

However, Shen Fuxuan’s deskmate Han Peng said: “Not necessarily. Our class has thirty-six people, and it’s hard to satisfy everyone. Also, not everyone can perform on stage. Just wait, there will be arguments.”

As soon as Han Peng said “arguments,” Jiang Yubai involuntarily looked at Duan Qiyan. In Jiang Yubai’s eyes, Duan Qiyan was an irritable, easily angered classmate who loved running wildly. He might suggest the whole class do a “speed running” performance as a solemn gift for the school celebration.

*

After the class meeting ended, Teacher Zhang had just stepped out of the classroom when the students rushed to the area around Lin Zhixia’s seat. Everyone surrounded Lin Zhixia, offering ideas and suggestions, their voices a jumble, making it difficult for Lin Zhixia to understand.

The sports committee member of Class 17, student Cao Wu, actually suggested with a serious face: “Class Monitor Lin, let’s organize the boys to do pull-ups? We’ll move the horizontal bar onto the stage, play background music ‘A Man of Determination,’ and all the boys in the class will do pull-ups to the music. This performance is so novel, no other class would think of it, and it’s easy for us to prepare and rehearse.”

Lin Zhixia vetoed it with one vote: “It’s very troublesome to fix a horizontal bar on stage. The performance requires too much physical strength from the boys, and girls have no opportunity to participate.”

Cao Wu, like a court official whose suggestion had been rejected, timidly tucked his hands into his sleeves and stood silently aside. Duan Qiyan happened to be standing next to Cao Wu. Duan Qiyan put a hand on Cao Wu’s shoulder and actively spoke up: “How about performing a skit? Teacher Zhang said that the school celebration should be lively and festive. What performance could be livelier and more festive than a skit? We’ll perform according to the Spring Festival Gala standards. Whoever performs successfully will be Provincial No. 1 Middle School’s Zhao Benshan.”

The title of “Provincial No. 1 Middle School’s Zhao Benshan” was undoubtedly an honor. Who would it go to?

Duan Qiyan felt some anticipation in his heart.

However, the arts committee member Tang Tingting said: “What’s so interesting about a skit? The junior high school celebration ceremony will be held in the provincial grand theater. Have you been to that theater? It’s extra large, with lots of audience members. If you do a skit, the audience sitting far away won’t be able to see your expressions. It would be better for the whole class to rehearse a dance together!”

Tang Tingting was Duan Qiyan’s elementary school classmate. But she had no respect for Duan Qiyan. She had already forgotten the glorious history of the “First Warrior.”

When facing Lin Zhixia, Tang Tingting’s attitude became much gentler. Tang Tingting raised both hands, lightly patting her cheeks with her palms, and said with shyness, bashfulness, and a touch of timidity: “Class Monitor Lin, let’s rehearse a dance, with you in the main position. You’re the cutest.”

“Am I the cutest?” Lin Zhixia’s tone was slightly questioning.

Tang Tingting conceded: “Well, or I could dance in the main position?”

“What kind of dance?” Jiang Yubai asked casually.

Jiang Yubai had just turned eleven. But he had attended many banquets and seen many artists perform. He was determined to offer Lin Zhixia advice and help her rehearse a performance that would be attractive enough to capture the attention of the entire audience.

But Lin Zhixia hadn’t decided yet. She was still hesitating between a skit and a dance. At this point, Tang Tingting raised her hand and asked: “Which dance are the girls in our class good at? I can dance street dance. Is there anyone who wants to do street dance with me?”

The room was quiet.

None of the female students in Class 17, Grade 8, made a sound.

Even Lin Zhixia herself knew nothing about dance.

Tang Tingting came to a realization of reality in her daze. She retreated to the second line, silent.

“Instrumental ensemble?” Jiang Yubai sincerely inquired, “Who has practiced violin, cello, or saxophone?”

Shen Fuxuan replied lazily: “I can play the cello.”

“Would you like to perform together with me?” Jiang Yubai politely extended an invitation.

“No.” Shen Fuxuan rudely refused him.

If Shen Fuxuan had been willing to perform with Jiang Yubai, then the responsibility for Class 17, Grade 8’s school celebration tribute would have fallen entirely on the shoulders of Jiang Yubai and Shen Fuxuan. Jiang Yubai believed that by doing this, he could help reduce Lin Zhixia’s burden.

But Lin Zhixia said: “Shen Fuxuan doesn’t want to play the cello. Jiang Yubai, I can’t let you perform a piano solo by yourself…”

“Why not?” Shen Fuxuan teased.

Lin Zhixia explained with reason: “The centennial celebration of Provincial No. 1 Middle School is extremely significant. It would be better if our entire class could participate. So, I think we can rehearse a skit. I will divide our class of thirty-six people into four groups, including the script group, props group, actors group, and directors group. Everyone will take their responsibilities, work together, and bring an excellent performance.”

Jiang Yubai adopted a rational and objective tone: “Class Monitor Lin is very right. For a once-in-a-century school celebration ceremony, the whole class should have the opportunity to participate. I support Class Monitor Lin’s performance arrangement.”

“I support it too!” Shen Fuxuan responded.

Duan Qiyan folded his arms: “Isn’t this exactly what I just suggested?”

“Get lost,” Han Peng refuted, “Class Monitor Lin explained it much more in detail than you.”

Lin Zhixia promptly stopped the argument between Han Peng and Duan Qiyan, concluding: “Good, no one objects, so that’s what we’ll do.”