Zhang Shu handed over his essay paper, “My essay improved dramatically, shouldn’t I thank Teacher Sheng?”
Sheng Xia glanced at it – 47 points.
This counted as a high score. Previously, his essays had always been below 45 points, so these few points were significant.
However, what did this have to do with her – and “Teacher Sheng”? She hadn’t tutored his essay writing at all.
Sheng Xia remained silent for a long while. Zhang Shu said impatiently, “Wasn’t it Old Wang who said we should share resources? Go tell Old Wang then – I’ve fulfilled my duty as a classmate, but you’re not appreciating it.”
This…
When did Old Wang say that? At least, he hadn’t said it to her.
Hou Junqi turned his head, looking at Zhang Shu with great interest: since when has A-Shu become so obedient? Also, would Old Wang use such formal phrases as “share resources”?
Hearing Zhang Shu’s “explanation,” the surrounding classmates’ gossip interest diminished considerably, and they stopped watching, returning to their own business.
Sheng Xia breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “Tomorrow, okay? My family will worry if I get back late.”
Her reason was sincere and her tone gentle. Zhang Shu suddenly felt like he was being difficult – shouldn’t helping others get a better reception than this?
He waved his hand, “Whatever, it’s your grades, why should I care?”
Sheng Xia felt a “thank you” stuck in her throat. Facing such an impatient expression, she couldn’t get it out. In the end, she just pressed her lips together, nodded, and left the classroom with her backpack.
What kind of coerced expression was that?
Zhang Shu withdrew his gaze and irritably slapped the test papers onto the bookshelf.
“A-Shu?” Hou Junqi leaned in with a mischievous look in his eyes. “What’s going on with you?”
Zhang Shu looked up, giving him a “none of your business” look, then lowered his head to continue working on problems.
Hou Junqi was rebuffed but smiled even more cheerfully, muttering: “Interesting, interesting.” Suddenly, a draft book smacked the back of his head.
…
Late at night, Sheng Xia tossed and turned. She still didn’t know how to report her grades. The school had a parent monitoring system, and she wasn’t sure if Wang Lianhua had seen it yet. Thinking of Wang Lianhua’s expression – frustrated yet holding back criticism – Sheng Xia turned over again, lying with eyes open, finally getting up to play English listening exercises to help her sleep.
But it was futile. English words bombarded her ears but couldn’t enter her mind.
Sheng Xia deeply understood Wang Lianhua’s difficulties. She hoped all three daughters would become talented, independent, and strong, hoping they would have the ability and courage to fight against fate. But so far, none of them had met her expectations.
Sheng Xia’s grades were good but just good, and her personality was soft, without much temper, appearing to lack initiative;
Wu Qiuxuan had a strong personality, but too strong, with terrible grades;
As for Zheng Dongning, nothing needed to be said – being able to grow up healthy and recover social abilities was already a blessing…
Sheng Xia remembered her childhood – after school, if not practicing piano then practicing calligraphy, if not memorizing formulas then reciting ancient poems. Even punishments were study-related. For instance, if piano practice wasn’t good enough, she would be punished by standing, with a posture correction board behind her back, standing in front of the TV, and reciting classical texts on the screen until she could recite them from memory.
Looking back now, this hadn’t been unhelpful for her literary cultivation, but at the time, there was only pain.
After standing for a while, the wooden board behind her would hurt her arms terribly. When she couldn’t help crying, Wang Lianhua would hug her and cry together, saying Mommy didn’t want to be like this either, but Xia Xia must become more excellent, otherwise, she would regret it later like Mommy…
Sheng Xia would only sob, saying, “Mommy, I’m sorry, I’ll work hard, don’t cry.”
Sheng Xia picked up her phone again, opening the chat interface with Sheng Mingfeng. Recently, he had transferred her a thousand yuan, which she hadn’t accepted and had returned.
Sheng Mingfeng left a message saying: Concentrating on studies? Don’t be too tense, relax with classmates on weekends.
Sheng Xia typed a few words, then looked at the time, but gave up, turned off her phone, and sank back into darkness.
…
The entire next day was spent going over test papers, leaving Sheng Xia dizzy and confused.
The Chinese teacher read Sheng Xia’s essay in class, using it as a typical example for analysis. Finally, she said: “Sheng Xia’s essay is very worth referencing. Everyone should read and analyze it more. Zhang Shu, didn’t you learn a lot in previous essay classes? Your essay did well this time. Learning isn’t about copying words and phrases – that can’t be learned in a short time – but the structure, thought process and choice of themes are all very worth learning from. You all…”
Sheng Xia kept her head down, avoiding everyone’s attention, when suddenly a paper ball landed on her desk.
She turned her head to see Zhang Shu propping up his cheek, raising his eyebrows.
She put her hands under the desk to open it.
Zhang Shu laughed seeing her sneaky behavior – that hunched-over posture only drew more attention.
[Amazing, amazing]
Four flamboyantly written characters on the note.
Sheng Xia frowned.
[Boring] she replied.
[Then chat with me?] he threw another note.
Now that they weren’t desk mates, throwing notes across the aisle was much more obvious. Sheng Xia didn’t want to reply, but his long leg reached over, occasionally knocking against her chair’s crossbar.
Sheng Xia turned to look – he was focusing intently on the teacher, appearing to listen carefully…
How could someone be like this?
She sighed softly, having to reply: [Talk after class]
She thought that would be the end of it, but he threw another note over, reading: [Roger that]
He was so bored!