On September 4, 2004, Jiang Yubai had just turned nine years old and transferred to a new school.
He was assigned to Class 1, Grade 4.
His homeroom teacher was a woman in her thirties. She had shoulder-length hair, wore framed glasses, and was dressed in a white blouse with a linen skirt, appearing slightly stern.
The principal, vice principal, and academic dean stood at the entrance of Class 1, Grade 4, whispering a few words to the homeroom teacher one after another. Immediately, the teacher broke into a radiant smile and said gently, "Jiang Yubai, I am your homeroom teacher, Wu Xiqian."
Jiang Yubai stood ramrod straight and replied, "Hello, Teacher Wu."
Wu Xiqian's smile deepened. "Jiang Yubai, please come into the classroom. This period happens to be my Chinese class, so I'll have all our classmates get to know you."
Teacher Wu raised a hand and knocked on the main door of Class 1, Grade 4.
Instantly, the entire class fell silent.
Teacher Wu stepped into the classroom, her shoes thudding softly on the vinyl floor. Meanwhile, Jiang Yubai, carrying his backpack, moved without a sound, standing on the three-foot-high podium like a quiet ghost.
"Attention, everyone," Teacher Wu clapped her hands and announced, "Our class has a new transfer student this semester. His name is Jiang Yubai."
There were forty-eight students in the class. As soon as Teacher Wu finished speaking, forty-eight pairs of eyes converged on Jiang Yubai's face.
Jiang Yubai wore a light-colored T-shirt and black athletic pants. His height, build, and appearance surpassed all the boys in the class.
The evidence was plain for all to see—Jiang Yubai was the best-looking boy in the entire grade, if not the entire school. His features could withstand the most critical scrutiny.
He introduced himself, "Hello everyone, my name is Jiang Yubai. 'Jiang' as in the Yangtze River, and 'Yubai' is..."
From the back row of the classroom, a girl's voice chimed in, "'Over white birds, a river's emerald gleams; On red blooms, a mountain's blue burns.'"
"Over white birds, a river's emerald gleams; On red blooms, a mountain's blue burns."
Indeed, this line of poetry, penned by Du Fu, was the origin of Jiang Yubai's name.
Who had spoken?
Jiang Yubai followed the voice and saw a pretty girl with a ponytail. Still bearing traces of childishness, her eyes were clear and bright as she gazed past the many students in the classroom, meeting his eyes with keen interest.
There was an empty seat beside her.
She had no deskmate.
Jiang Yubai was momentarily distracted. He had thought the origin of his name was obscure and that no classmate would know it. How could a random girl in the class recite it so easily?
Just then, Teacher Wu tapped the blackboard. The homeroom teacher wrote "Jiang Yubai" in large characters on the board, dutifully instructing the entire class. She concluded with an additional remark, "Classmate Jiang Yubai studied for three years at a private elementary school in Singapore. He only returned to China with his Mom and Dad this summer to continue his development. If his Chinese studies aren't strong, classmates, should you help him?"
The whole class shouted in unison, "Yes!"Teacher Wu nodded and said loudly, "You are my third group of students. Every time Teacher Wu takes on a class, I start from first grade and continue through sixth grade... Why? Because this way, Teacher Wu and the students become like one family, very close, right? Our class is also the experimental class for the entire grade level, setting a good example and establishing positive trends for the whole grade. Let me be blunt upfront—if anyone dares to bully a transfer student in my class, don’t blame me for not showing any leniency when the time comes. Understood?"
The students responded sporadically, "Understood!"
Teacher Wu wiped the blackboard clean and clapped her hands twice to dust off the chalk residue.
The chalk dust drifted in the brilliant sunlight, each particle taking on a distinct shape.
They settled on Teacher Wu’s clothes and clung to her hair, like a flurry of snow falling from the sky, making Jiang Yubai instinctively take a step back—he had always had a slight case of mysophobia since childhood.
Teacher Wu faced the class and urged them again, "Speak up! Didn’t you have breakfast this morning? Did you hear what the teacher said?"
The students immediately replied in a more spirited tone, "Understood!"
Only then was Teacher Wu satisfied.
She turned to Jiang Yubai and said, "Alright, look around and see where there’s an empty seat. You can choose one yourself. Or, if you prefer, the teacher can help you pick one..."
Jiang Yubai hesitated for a moment, then walked straight to the last row of the classroom. He sat down next to the girl from earlier. Before he could say anything, the girl said to him, "Hello, my name is Lin Zhixia."
He replied politely, "Hello, my name is Jiang Yubai."
"Haha," Lin Zhixia laughed sweetly, "I already knew your name was Jiang Yubai."
Jiang Yubai unzipped his backpack and took out a black leather notebook. He placed the notebook on the desk, stuffed his backpack back into the drawer, and prepared to listen attentively to the lesson.
His and Lin Zhixia’s seats were in the corner of the last row. Lin Zhixia was right next to a glass window, with the blue cloth curtain folded into a one-inch roll and hanging to the side.
She was very curious about Jiang Yubai, occasionally turning her head to sneak a glance at him, until she finally annoyed him.
He asked quietly, "Why are you looking at me?"
Lin Zhixia whispered back, "How old are you this year?"
Jiang Yubai answered truthfully, "Nine years old."
Lin Zhixia asked again, "Did you grow up in Singapore?"
Jiang Yubai shook his head, "I went abroad with my Mom and Dad when I was six, and I returned this year."
Lin Zhixia rested her chin on her hand, "Then, can you speak English?"
Jiang Yubai replied with feigned modesty, "Not really."
Despite saying this, Jiang Yubai deliberately spread open his math notebook in front of Lin Zhixia. Every page was filled with math notes written in English—because when Jiang Yubai was preparing for the TIS and PISA math tests in Singapore, he could only find relevant textbooks in English. So his math notebook was full of topics like base conversion and even had two pages on complex number operations.
A light seemed to sparkle in Lin Zhixia’s eyes, as if she were very excited, "Complex numbers? Have you studied complex numbers?"She was so overjoyed she didn’t know what to do, chattering endlessly to Jiang Yubai: "Complex numbers are such a wonderful invention! They made me realize physics is the most fascinating subject in the world! The combination of real and imaginary parts makes wave superposition calculations so much easier! Even quantum computing can be simplified using complex numbers. The product of a complex number and its conjugate becomes a real number, and in quantum computing, we first determine a series of possible positions where a particle might be observed, allowing us to use complex space for the hert inner product…"
Jiang Yubai’s mind buzzed. He couldn’t understand a single word Lin Zhixia was saying.
Not even one word.
The reason Jiang Yubai had studied complex numbers was that, while he was in Singapore, his parents had hired a PhD candidate from the National University of Singapore’s mathematics department as his private tutor.
That tutor was very dedicated. He often broadened Jiang Yubai’s thinking, starting from "integers" to "fractions," then from "fractions" to "number systems," and further expanding from "number systems and real numbers" to "imaginary and complex numbers."
He frequently praised Jiang Yubai: "You are a very intelligent student."
In fact, during Jiang Yubai’s three years of schooling in Singapore, he had always ranked first in his entire grade. His English, mathematics, science, Chinese, physical education, and music were all at the top level among his peers.
The private elementary school Jiang Yubai attended in Singapore charged an annual tuition of 200,000 RMB. In 2003, the average housing price in Beijing’s Second Ring Road was about 10,000 RMB per square meter. Jiang Yubai’s Mom once joked, "Your yearly tuition is equivalent to a small study room in Beijing."
Back then, Jiang Yubai’s elementary school classmates came from either wealthy or prestigious families. Their parents placed great emphasis on education, and everyone attended extensive tutoring classes. For Jiang Yubai to stand out among this group, maintaining the top position undefeated, he considered himself fairly capable.
But today, Jiang Yubai felt somewhat bewildered.
Lin Zhixia’s long monologue reminded him of his experience attending lectures.
When Jiang Yubai was in elementary school in Singapore, their principal occasionally invited professors from the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University to give lectures. At that time, Jiang Yubai and his classmates would sit upright in their seats, clapping enthusiastically for the professors even though they couldn’t understand what was being said.
Those university professors, much like Lin Zhixia, would talk nonstop about their research fields once they started.
Jiang Yubai closed his notebook and couldn’t help asking, "Lin Zhixia, what do you usually think about?"
Lin Zhixia clasped her hands together: "Do you like physics and mathematics? Do you believe the universe has an end? Do you think time and consciousness can measure this world? Do you believe humans have free will?"
She lowered her head slightly, her voice soft, her fair cheeks flushed with excitement.
She also pointed a finger at Jiang Yubai’s notebook: "Jiang Yubai, you shouldn’t just… only know some complex number operations, right?"
Lin Zhixia had no idea that her words were like a knife, stabbing straight into Jiang Yubai’s heart, shattering his self-esteem and making him bleed internally.
"I…" Jiang Yubai took a deep breath but hadn’t yet spoken when Teacher Wu at the podium shouted, "Lin Zhixia!"
Lin Zhixia straightened up and opened her textbook.Teacher Wu rapped the blackboard again: "You lot! Stop whispering in class! Classroom discipline! You must follow classroom rules! I'm the only one still willing to reason with you. When you get to middle school, which teacher would bother with you? They'd immediately kick you chatterboxes out of the classroom. Then you'd miss lessons, your grades would drop, you'd fail the high school entrance exam, and wouldn't get into a good high school. Only then would you realize Teacher Wu only ever had your best interests at heart!"
Lin Zhixia covered her face with a book and secretly laughed.
Even though Teacher Wu's gaze was firmly fixed on Jiang Yubai's area, he still asked: "Lin Zhixia, what are you laughing at?"
"It's funny," Lin Zhixia replied. "I'm a human behavior observer."
After this Chinese class ended, the moment Teacher Wu stepped out of the classroom, most of the students crowded around, gathering near Jiang Yubai.
The classmates formed a solid barrier, with Jiang Yubai like an exhibit displayed within this barrier for everyone to observe.
They were all nine or ten-year-old children, their envy, curiosity, and probing intentions completely undisguised.
A slightly chubby boy spoke up: "Jiang Yubai, I'm Zhou Bufeng. I sit in front of you."
Jiang Yubai had seen his exercise book and recognized his name before nodding: "Hello."
Zhou Bufeng placed both hands on Jiang Yubai's desk. He wore a cotton undershirt that fit somewhat tightly around his stomach, revealing a small belly. He patted his own stomach and suddenly asked: "Jiang Yubai, Dong Sunqi and I saw you and your Dad at the school gate this morning. Does your family have a sports car? Is it an Aston Martin?"
Aston Martin refers to the luxury sports car brand under Ford Motor Company, with its headquarters located in London, England.
Right after Zhou Bufeng asked, Jiang Yubai answered: "My Dad didn't come today. The person you saw was our family's driver."
"Ooh—" The classmates erupted in collective teasing.
This unified group reaction made Jiang Yubai somewhat uncomfortable. Besides that Aston Martin, his family garage also contained Porsches, Ferraris, Koenigseggs, and McLaren F1s. Jiang Yubai suspected he didn't fit in with his classmates. Or rather, his family background placed him among a very small minority in the class.
Sure enough, Zhou Bufeng pushed Jiang Yubai: "Where do your parents work? Your family must be really rich!"
Lin Zhixia added: "Yeah, when you transferred here, even the principal was standing at the gate watching you."
Zhou Bufeng glanced sideways at Lin Zhixia and continued interrogating incessantly: "Jiang Yubai, where do you live? Does your family have a big villa?"
Does your family have a big villa?
Such a blunt way of asking seemed impolite. And a careless answer would be equally abrupt. After all, most classmates' families didn't have sports cars, and likely didn't have villas either. Meanwhile, Jiang Yubai's home in this city wasn't just a villa... more accurately, it should be called a private estate. His home had a tennis court, swimming pool, rose garden, and even a martial arts training ground.
Back in July when Jiang Yubai had first returned home, he frequently got lost inside his own house.
Jiang Yubai lowered his head in thought, slightly furrowing his brow: "I don't know."
He felt quite satisfied with his response, so he repeated: "I don't know."
"You don't even know that?" Zhou Bufeng looked at him as if he were an idiot.Lin Zhixia, however, asked, "Is it because your house is so big that you can't tell whether it's a villa or not?"
"You're right," Jiang Yubai admitted coldly. Having been desk mates with Lin Zhixia for less than half a day, he was already growing annoyed by her quick-wittedness and pretentious cleverness.
Zhou Bufeng pointed at another boy in the class with a buzz cut and said, "Hey, that's Dong Sunqi! Dong Sunqi is our class monitor, and he's the richest in Class One! Jiang Yubai, you're even richer than him!"
Dong Sunqi heard someone call his name. He glanced over his shoulder at Zhou Bufeng before turning his face away again.
Class 4-1 had, imperceptibly, split into two factions.
The first faction centered around Dong Sunqi, with mostly boys surrounding him. The second faction revolved around Jiang Yubai, with a nearly equal ratio of boys and girls around him.
Dong Sunqi wore a red scarf and a badge with two stripes. He stretched out his left arm to show off the two stripes, and the boys near him burst into laughter, the air buzzing with inexplicable joy.
Someone shouted, "Adventure Team! Dong Sunqi bought another Adventure Team book!"
Dong Sunqi slowly stood up so that even the students in the back row could see his collection.
At a glance, everyone could see seven Adventure Team books stacked on Dong Sunqi's desk.
Adventure Team was a series popular throughout the entire school. Students were obsessed with reading the books while using a transparent "Decoding Card" to search for clues in the story.
Each Adventure Team book cost 18 yuan.
Buying one yourself was definitely a loss.
Borrowing one from a classmate to play with, however, was a great deal.
Dong Sunqi was the long-term supplier of Adventure Team books, and he got along well with everyone in the class. Besides Adventure Team, he often purchased series like Goosebumps and Ghost Blows Out the Light to meet the extracurricular reading needs of his fellow students.
Dong Sunqi once boasted: My family is rich! I'm rolling in money!
Because of this, his nickname was "Dong Wan Guan" (Dong Ten-Thousand Strings), and some also called him "Young Master Dong."
Zhou Bufeng took the lead in running up to Dong Sunqi, calling out, "Dong Wan Guan, lend me a book! I'll return it next week." As more and more people came to borrow books, Dong Sunqi's area grew noisy and chaotic.
Jiang Yubai's side, in contrast, became much quieter.
Lin Zhixia tidied her desk and said to Jiang Yubai, "In our city, the best schools are all public schools. Public school tuition isn't very expensive... though the school selection fee is a bit pricier. But compared to your private elementary schools in Singapore, our good schools are still much cheaper."
"What do you mean... 'your Singapore'?" Jiang Yubai said impatiently. "I'm not Singaporean. I'm Chinese."
Lin Zhixia tilted her head. "Sorry. Are you angry?"
She blinked, her expression utterly innocent.
Jiang Yubai blushed under her gaze. He could only turn his head away and reply, "I'm not angry."
"That's good!" Lin Zhixia clapped her hands. "Hurry up and move, don't block my way. There are only ten minutes between classes, and I want to go play Card Flipping."
The so-called "Card Flipping" was a fun little game popular throughout the school. This game had been around for a long time, originally started by older students before spreading to the lower grades and even becoming a trend in all elementary schools across the city.Before participating in the "Card Flipping" game, you first need to prepare 1 yuan as starting capital.
This 1 yuan could buy 40 small paper cards at the school gate's convenience store. The back of each card was covered with crisscrossing blue patterns, while the front featured different characters from the Japanese anime Pokémon—including Pikachu, Togepi, Psyduck, Bulbasaur, Chikorita, and others.
At the start of the game, two classmates would stand on opposite sides of a desk, reveal their cards, then flip them face down on the table. Then, they should bend slightly at the waist and take turns slapping the desk with their palms—whoever could flip the cards over would claim them.
"What's so fun about this?" Jiang Yubai exclaimed in astonishment.
Watching his classmates' obsessed expressions, especially seeing Lin Zhixia enjoying herself... Jiang Yubai couldn't understand it.
A new round of the game had already begun.
This round featured Lin Zhixia versus Dong Sunqi.
Lin Zhixia wore a pink long-sleeved shirt and gray jeans, her figure thin and frail. Her wrists were too slender and delicate, seemingly incapable of generating explosive force—how could she possibly flip two cards?
Facing such an opponent, Dong Sunqi actually performed warm-up exercises on the spot. He bounced up and down a few times, stretched his arms and legs, and prepared seriously: "I'll go first!"
Lin Zhixia readily agreed: "Okay! You go first!"
She placed a "Mew" card on the table.
The surrounding students gasped in amazement: "Mew! Mew is so rare! A sixth-grade senior was willing to pay 3 yuan for one Mew card!"
"What do you think?" Lin Zhixia said. "I'm putting down Mew. What are you offering?"
Dong Sunqi felt the pressure from a strong opponent. He had to stay calm. He took a deep breath, letting it settle in his lungs. Spreading his fingers, he gripped the corners of the desk: "I'll put down... Pikachu!"
"Ah! Pikachu!" another student commented. "Last time I spent 7 yuan buying hundreds of cards and didn't get a single Pikachu! Class Monitor Dong, you're so generous!"
Dong Sunqi raised his hand and pressed down, signaling the crowd to quiet down.
He said: "I'm the class monitor of Class 1. If I'm not generous, who will be?" He looked at Lin Zhixia: "I'm going to make my move!"
Lin Zhixia urged: "Hurry up, don't waste my time."
Dong Sunqi bent over, mustering all his strength, and slammed his palm heavily on the desk with such force that it seemed he might crack the entire table.
The two cards on the desk remained completely motionless.
Dong Sunqi's expression shattered.
"Hahahahahaha, my turn now!" Lin Zhixia was overjoyed.
She knelt on a chair, flattened her right hand, adjusted the angle, and murmured to herself.
What was she saying?
Jiang Yubai couldn't help but move closer to eavesdrop. He got very close to Lin Zhixia. He heard her say: "Thirty-seven degree angle, torque in this direction..."
Then, with a light tap, both cards flipped over simultaneously, revealing the faces of "Mew" and "Pikachu."
The classmates applauded for her: "Lin Zhixia, you're amazing!"
"Oh, just got lucky," Lin Zhixia said cheerfully as she collected the cards, then dove into a group of girls to play Cat's cradle with them.
Dong Sunqi sat dazedly on his chair, secretly grieving over the loss of his "Pikachu." His expression was full of sorrow and melancholy, prompting a nearby classmate to comfort him: "Class Monitor Dong, don't be so sad."Dong Sunqi shook his head. His gaze pierced through the window, looking far into the sky: "No, I'm not sad. Victory and defeat are both the meaning of battle... What I wanted to protect, I ultimately lost! Farewell, Pikachu!"
Jiang Yubai muttered to himself: "What a lunatic."
These classmates from Class 1, Grade 4 still carried the childishness of third grade elementary school, lacking the composure cultivated in fourth grade. Jiang Yubai walked out of the classroom, wanting to get some fresh air outside, when the phone in his pants pocket suddenly began vibrating wildly. Standing in the hallway, he pulled out his phone and answered: "Hello?"
His family's driver replied: "Little Jiang, you left your water bottle in the car. I just found it and will bring it to the school right away..."
"No need," Jiang Yubai insisted. "I'm not thirsty, I won't drink. Don't bring me the water bottle."
The driver sounded anxious: "That won't do, Little Jiang. Children are growing every day. I've already entered your school gate."
While speaking with the driver, Jiang Yubai faintly sensed someone behind him. He turned around to find Lin Zhixia standing right there. She looked as if she had just uncovered some monumental secret, staring straight at him with wide eyes.
He took a step back, his back pressing against the cold railing.
He asked: "Why are you staring at me again?"
Lin Zhixia countered: "Are you afraid of me?"
Jiang Yubai retorted: "What's there to be afraid of about you?"
Lin Zhixia explained: "Some relatives in my family call me a freak. Just like your family... calls you Little Jiang?"
Jiang Yubai's driver wasn't local, but having worked for the Jiang family for a long time, he had grown accustomed to calling Jiang Yubai's father "Jiang," and naturally started calling Jiang Yubai "Little Jiang."
Actually, Jiang Yubai really disliked the nickname "Little Jiang." But he felt too embarrassed to ask people to change it—that would make him seem narrow-minded, bothered by such a trivial matter.
Just as he was about to speak, the class bell rang.
Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai returned to the classroom one after another, quietly taking their seats.
Today the sunlight was brilliant, with bright white spots falling on the desks, making the wooden surfaces gleam like gold and silver. Finding it amusing, Lin Zhixia grabbed a ruler and chased the bright spots. She also imitated others by calling him: "Little Jiang."
He avoided her gaze, turning his face away: "If you call me that again, I won't play with you."
Lin Zhixia found it even more entertaining and called out again: "Little Jiang."
During elementary school, many classmates enjoyed giving others nicknames and loved using them even more. Lin Zhixia used to find this behavior utterly boring.
But once Lin Zhixia discovered how fun it was to call people by their nicknames, she couldn't stop. Especially when the person involved grew more embarrassed, the more curious she became, and the more she couldn't resist calling him: "Little Jiang, Little Jiang, Little Jiang... Little Jiang!"
Jiang Yubai slammed his fist hard against the desk.
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