Sheng Xia crumpled that note and threw it into her trash bag.
As soon as the class bell rang, several people gathered around Sheng Xia’s desk, wanting to see her essay. But there was only one test paper, and someone asked, “Sheng Xia, do you have your previous essays?”
Sheng Xia thought for a moment, “They’re all at home.”
“Could you bring them some time for us to look at?”
“Okay.” Sheng Xia agreed, still a bit embarrassed.
Previously at No. 2 High School, her essays were also praised to the skies by teachers, but no classmates had been so studious in asking for guidance. She just knew how to write; if she had to analyze and explain, she wouldn’t know where to begin.
The crowd only dispersed when the class bell was about to ring. Lu Youze from the diagonal back seat patted her shoulder, “Sheng Xia, can I borrow your essay to look at?”
“Sure.”
Sheng Xia picked up the test paper, about to pass it back when a corner of the paper was pinched by someone. She looked up to see an arrogant handsome face.
Zhang Shu looked at her, speaking coolly: “Didn’t you say we’d talk after class?”
Sheng Xia: …
She glanced at Lu Youze. Lu Youze showed an understanding expression, “You explain to him first, I’m not in a hurry.”
“Mm.” Sheng Xia’s eyes showed gratitude, but when she looked at Zhang Shu, her expression returned to normal, “I don’t know how to explain, I just know how to write.”
Zhang Shu frowned – why did she have this coerced expression just with him? Wasn’t she all tender and affectionate just now?
“Didn’t you explain the speech draft very well before?” Zhang Shu sat down, facing her.
Occasionally classmates passed through the aisle, blocking their line of sight. Zhang Shu tilted his head, not missing a single expression of hers.
Sheng Xia said: “You have strong comprehension ability, why don’t you look at it yourself first.”
This was true. Last night she had briefly scanned his essay – it had improved greatly, at least moving beyond templated five-paragraph argumentative methods, and the word choice wasn’t rigid anymore.
She recalled the previous essay class when he had looked at her essay for a long time, presumably analyzing the logic and thought process.
She had to admit, that even in subjects like Chinese that relied more on accumulation, he still had his methods.
He caught on quickly.
This was talent.
“Is that a compliment?” Zhang Shu asked.
Sheng Xia was stunned – wasn’t he focusing on the wrong point? She dubiously nodded, “Mm.”
“Fine,” Zhang Shu took her test paper, suddenly appearing very agreeable, “I’ll look at it some more.”
Sheng Xia sighed imperceptibly.
He looked at it all day, and by evening study session still hadn’t returned it to her. Lu Youze could only wait.
Sheng Xia asked: “Have you finished looking?”
Zhang Shu replied: “Let me analyze it some more.”
Nothing she could do.
After the exam, evening study naturally became Old Wang’s heart-to-heart brother time. Sheng Xia was again the first to be called out. This sparked some whispers in the classroom.
Old Wang seemed to pay special attention to this new classmate.
Sheng Xia was also a bit nervous. She knew what Wang Wei wanted to say, but hadn’t figured out how to respond.
Sure enough, Wang Wei first laid some groundwork, comforting her that it was normal to have some fluctuations in grades when first arriving and not yet adapted, telling her not to be too nervous and to adjust her mindset. Then came the turn – after the “but” came talk about time being tight and having to adapt to the environment and teachers by herself.
Sheng Xia kept nodding slightly, not saying a word.
Wang Wei asked: “What do you think is the most difficult problem in your studies? You can tell the teacher.”
If she said there wasn’t any, it would seem too perfunctory. It was obvious that although Wang Wei always used old clichés without fresh wording, the concern in his eyes was genuine. Sheng Xia thought for a moment and said: “Many problems, they’re variations on a theme, but I still make mistakes, I don’t know what to do…”
“I see,” Wang Wei stroked his chin, thinking for a few seconds before asking, “Do you usually keep a collection of wrong problems?”
“Yes.”
“Show it to me later. There are methods to organizing wrong problems – it’s not just about copying them down,” Wang Wei said, then seeming to recall something, continued, “Why don’t you ask Zhang Shu? His wrong problem collection is very good. He sold his second-year collection to the stationery store at the north gate, where they made copies to sell to junior students. It was quite popular…”
At this point, Wang Wei smiled, “This kid I don’t know how to evaluate him.”
Returning to the topic, he continued, “His wrong problem collection – almost everyone in the second year had a copy. With such good sales, it must be decent.”
Hearing this, Sheng Xia’s face went white.
Wrong problem collection? What he copied was a wrong problem collection!
Not… that other thing?
Seeing her looking quite affected, Wang Wei understood – that Zhang Shu’s kid indeed wasn’t very friendly to girls. Wang Wei said earnestly: “Don’t be afraid. Sometimes help between classmates is more effective than asking teachers. If you have any questions, just ask him. If he doesn’t tell you, you tell me, and I’ll criticize him!”
“Th-thank you, teacher.”
“Mm, you go now, and send Zhang Shu to me.”
Sheng Xia returned to her seat in a daze, calling softly: “Zhang Shu…”
Why did her tone sound so plaintive?