In the middle of the night, a light rain fell, leaving the ground slightly damp in the morning. Opening the window, the air felt exceptionally fresh.
“Why are you opening the window? It’s freezing!”
“Sorry, I just wanted to let some air in. If you’re cold, I’ll close it.” Zhai Jiajing turned around, offering an apologetic smile.
Seeing it was Zhai Jiajing, the guy paused, rubbed his nose, and mumbled, “It’s okay, you can keep it open. Ventilating is good.”
Zhai Jiajing was the class monitor, excelling academically, beautiful, and very understanding and gentle. Many guys in the class had a crush on her.
The girl sitting next to him rolled her eyes and pushed his elbow aside disdainfully, then looked up and asked, “Zhai Jiajing, I heard there’s a transfer student in your dorm. Where is she?”
“Oh, she should be coming over with Shi Qin.”
Shi Qin stayed up until three in the morning doing her winter break homework. The dormitory lights went out at eleven, but she managed to drain the battery of all four small desk lamps and finish her assignments.
When Zhai Jiajing left in the morning, Shi Qin still couldn’t be awakened.
Shen Xingruo woke up at the first call, but after checking the time, she calmly said from under her blanket, “I’ll sleep a bit longer.”
As a class cadre, Zhai Jiajing had a lot to do on the first day of school, so she couldn’t wait for them to wake up and ended up leaving first.
By 7:25, most of the class had arrived. Some were chatting, some were reviewing vocabulary, some were doing homework, and some were sneaking breakfast. The whole classroom buzzed like boiling water, bustling with activity.
“Lin Yu proposed publicly, and at a concert! Is he out of his mind? Why would he do something so reckless? His fan base has been dropping rapidly lately, and the engagement rate on his super-topic has plummeted!”
“…Huh? Weren’t there supposed to be ten sets of English test papers?
“I only have ten. I counted them when they were handed out—only ten!”
“…I randomly filled in the math multiple-choice questions.” Shouldn’t have bothered to check? It seems like all these winter break assignments we handed in have been treated as trash.”
And then there was gossip: “I heard Lu Xingyan and Xu Chengzhou from Class Three, and Chen Zhu went out together, to the beach. Do you think Lu Xingyan and Chen Zhu might be dating?”
Another girl looked puzzled. “But weren’t they already dating?”
“Who told you that? Not true.”
“Well then, I don’t know. I always thought they were together last semester. Oh, by the way, it seems like we have a transfer student in our class. She’s staying in Zhai Jiajing’s dorm.”
“I had no idea.”
“Li Ting mentioned it last night when we had dinner together.”
The girl looked around, perplexed. “Where is she…”
As if on cue, at 7:30, Shi Qin and Shen Xingruo entered the classroom one after the other as the bell for morning self-study rang.
When Shen Xingruo entered, the classroom was still bustling, but soon after, everyone quieted down—
Wang Youfu appeared at the classroom door, holding his red thermos cup and wearing a stern expression. Shen Xingruo was somewhat surprised; she hadn’t expected the class teacher, Wang Youfu, to be so intimidating.
The classroom was soon filled with the sound of reading, in both Chinese and English. Faintly, one could hear someone reciting the significance of the scientific development concept and the historical meaning of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894.
Wang Youfu looked satisfied as he leisurely walked to the platform and put down his cherished thermos cup—no, he picked it up again the next second.
“Let’s pause for a moment, everyone. Let me introduce our new classmate.” He waved to Shen Xingruo. “Come on up and introduce yourself.”
Shen Xingruo wasn’t nervous at all. She walked up to the platform, bowed lightly, and then turned to write three large characters on the blackboard. Gracefully, she said, “Hello, everyone. My name is Shen Xingruo. I hope to learn from everyone and progress together in the future.”
Three seconds of silence, and then applause broke out in the classroom.
Wang Youfu looked pleased again, scanning the room. He pointed to an empty seat. “Shen Xingruo, please sit there for now. We’ll rearrange the seating next week.”
Shen Xingruo nodded and headed towards her seat.
Once everyone was seated, Wang Youfu held his thermos cup and began his customary speech, the first spellbinding incantation of the new semester. “Next semester, you’ll be in your senior year. Don’t think that you’re still in junior year and that the college entrance exam is far away…”
He had just begun when a lazy voice interrupted from the doorway. “Reporting in.”
Lu Xingyan stood there casually in his school uniform, boneless, with his head slightly tilted. He wore his backpack with only one strap over his shoulder, and there was a basketball tucked under his arm.
Wang Youfu glanced at him, unsure if he intended to scold or what, but before he could say anything, his phone rang—
It was a call from the grade leader.
Wang Youfu didn’t have time to deal with Lu Xingyan. He hurriedly stepped out while answering the phone.
Lu Xingyan showed no intention of waiting for Wang Youfu to come back and reprimand him. He simply walked in, pausing slightly as he passed Shen Xingruo’s seat.
Shen Xingruo noticed. His basketball looked new, without a speck of dust. It wasn’t the one from last night.
At that moment, Lu Xingyan casually released the basketball, patting it lightly on the ground. The ball hit the floor with a dull, echoing thud.
Shen Xingruo remained unfazed, meeting Lu Xingyan’s gaze without changing her expression.
Lu Xingyan didn’t say anything, just stared at her for a few seconds. Then, he strangely tugged at the corner of his lips before continuing to walk towards the back row.
Shen Xingruo interpreted his gaze as “You wait for me.”
Their seats were separated by an aisle. Shen Xingruo sat in the fifth row of the second section, while Lu Xingyan sat in the seventh row of the first section, not too far apart. Whenever Lu Xingyan looked forward, he could always catch a glimpse of Shen Xingruo’s figure.
When Wang Youfu returned, his gaze swept around until he found Lu Xingyan. He said, “You’re late. Write out the political agenda ten times and hand it in.”
Lu Xingyan didn’t argue. He just replied with an “okay.”
Wang Youfu continued with his previous topic, droning on. Halfway through, Lu Xingyan couldn’t help but yawn.
“I heard you were playing basketball last night, and a girl threw the ball into the trash can. Damn, is this a new tactic to get your attention?” Li Chengfan, his deskmate, whispered.