In the third week of transferring schools, Li Wu faced his first grade-level test—the midterm exams of the first semester of his second year of high school.
For him, this exam wasn't just an assessment of his learning progress over a certain period. It was a test of whether a drifting cattail seed could take root in a broader world, depending on the feedback his final results would provide.
At noon on Friday, after handing in his answer sheet and leaving the exam hall, Li Wu absentmindedly reviewed some of the multiple-choice questions, already having a rough idea of how he'd performed.
He lowered his gaze, neatly folded the exam papers, placed them along with his pencil case into his backpack, and then picked it up and walked ahead.
Cheng Rui caught up and slung an arm over his shoulder: "You slipped away way too fast."
Li Wu snapped back to attention at his gesture and immediately asked about a question he wasn't sure of: "For the 18th question in the cloze test, did you choose 'retire' or 'retreat'?"
"You're asking me? I've already forgotten what was on the test." Cheng Rui pointed at his own face incredulously: "You might as well ask me what I plan to do over the weekend."
Li Wu realized belatedly: "We have a two-day weekend this week?"
"Yeah."
He confirmed: "Really, a two-day weekend?"
"Of course, have you studied yourself stupid?" Cheng Rui's tone was as if he wanted to knock Li Wu's head, but the next second, noticing his roommate's slightly changed expression, he asked in puzzlement: "Why are you suddenly smiling?"
Li Wu quickly pressed his lips together and quickened his pace: "It's nothing."
Cheng Rui followed, somewhat surprised by his reaction: "You're actually happy about a weekend? I thought you'd prefer if there were 48 hours in a day just for studying."
Li Wu stopped abruptly: "Aren't there only 24 hours in a day?"
"..." Cheng Rui stared blankly: "Do you have any sense of humor at all?"
Li Wu caught on, his dark eyes turning to Cheng Rui as he curled the corner of his mouth emotionlessly.
The feeling of being brushed off was too obvious, and Cheng Rui couldn't help but curse: "Damn."
The neighboring class had just ended as well, and the hallway instantly flooded with students, like a crowded school of fish in a pipe.
Li Wu walked straight ahead, always appearing calm and composed.
Boys his age couldn't wait to show off their colorful undershirts to boost their trendy image and express individuality, but only he meticulously zipped his school jacket all the way up, completely sealing himself off.
Some girls frequently glanced back at him; the bolder ones deliberately waited for him to pass before giggling and nudging each other to squeeze forward, just to brush past him.
Li Wu's arm was bumped, and his steps faltered for a moment.
With so many people around, it was impossible to find the culprit—all that was left for him was a string of clear, tinkling laughter.
Li Wu felt somewhat at a loss. Even after all this time, he still struggled to adapt to the straightforward and bold behavior of the unfamiliar city girls. He could only slightly turn his shoulder and quickly distance himself from the crowd.
Cheng Rui followed him down the stairs: "If I were you, I'd fake an injury."
Li Wu asked: "How would you do that?"
"Immediately grab your shoulder, put on a pained expression," Cheng Rui held onto the railing and performed with flair, letting out a dramatic groan: "Who was it! Who bumped into me! Maybe you'd run into a pretty one..."
"You can stop now, I don't need that." Li Wu gave a reasonable response while avoiding the curious gazes gathering around them.
"Then why did you even ask?"
...
Back in the dormitory, Li Wu took his phone out of the drawer, pondered for a moment, and typed: We have a two-day weekend this week...
His thumb paused, then he deleted it all and rephrased: We had midterm exams on Thursday and Friday.
After checking for any typos, he sent the message.After the most anxious and unsettled twenty seconds of his life, a reply came from the other side: Next week?
Li Wu let out a soft sigh and responded: This week.
The next moment, his phone rang.
The device vibrated in his hand like a pot nearing its boiling point, and Li Wu’s face grew warm from the sensation.
He hurriedly stood up, gripping his phone tightly, and strode out to the balcony.
As soon as he answered, an irritated inquiry came through: "You’re only telling me this week? Isn’t it midterm exams?"
The boy’s eyelids lifted slightly as he noticed his roommates looking over curiously.
He immediately turned his back, gazing at a branch of the ginkgo tree outside the window, where clustered leaves resembled a gathering of golden butterflies.
Li Wu didn’t know how to respond and remained silent for nearly half a minute.
He just didn’t want her to worry along with him.
"Are the exams over?" Perhaps noticing his silence, her tone softened.
Li Wu said, "Not yet."
"What else do you have to take this afternoon?"
"Two more subjects."
"Do you have classes this Saturday?"
"No." She had finally reached the key point, and Li Wu answered carefully.
"So it’s a two-day weekend?"
"Mm."
"I’ll pick you up after work today."
"Okay." A smile spread across the young man’s face.
―
Science was Li Wu’s strong suit. After finishing the last subject, Biology, he felt both mentally and physically relaxed. He dashed downstairs and headed straight to his dorm to pack.
Though this efficiency was somewhat pointless—no matter how quickly he got everything ready, the person waiting for him would only arrive at the fixed time.
Still, the process of preparing made the waiting period a little more bearable.
Cen Jin didn’t finish work early, but as she had done the previous two weeks, she bought Li Wu a box of takoyaki from a roadside stall.
She could almost understand her female colleagues who, during maternity leave, would complain in group chats while enduring the pain of breastfeeding. Feeding a child was indeed a heartwarming and satisfying experience. This joy, however, ended when Li Wu got into the car and declined her offering.
As he fastened his seatbelt, he said, "I’m not hungry right now. You have it."
Cen Jin’s expression fell slightly. Considering various possibilities, she chose the one most likely to explain his lack of appetite: "Did you not do well on the exams?"
Li Wu looked at her. "Probably fine."
"What does 'fine' mean?" Cen Jin didn’t bother closing the lid and casually placed the takoyaki box on the center console, letting the savory aroma of bonito flakes fill the space.
Li Wu couldn’t quite articulate it and changed his wording: "Just not bad."
"Are you in the top thirty of your grade?" she suddenly asked, setting an astonishingly high bar.
Li Wu fell silent, then admitted honestly, "Probably not." Yi High School was full of exceptional students, and he knew his limits well enough not to make such an empty boast.
Cen Jin didn’t say another word. She picked up the box of takoyaki, speared one ball with a stick, and began chewing.
Only a divine being could eat a whole takoyaki ball in one bite.
The molten center scalded Cen Jin’s mouth, making her hiss in pain. She pulled out two tissues and spat it out. Her tongue burning intensely, she unscrewed a bottle of water and took a drink.
Just as she was about to cap the bottle, she glanced sideways and noticed Li Wu watching her. In the dim light, his eyes were bright, though his expression was hard to read.
"What are you looking at?" she snapped. "If you’re not going to eat it, isn’t it a waste?"
Li Wu turned his face toward the window, as if to let some emotion drift away with the wind. After a moment, he looked back. "I’ll go throw it out."
His gaze fell on her right hand, where she was crumpling the tissue-wrapped takoyaki remnants in her palm.
Cen Jin retaliated in kind: "No need. I’ll throw it out myself."
With that, she opened the car door and stepped out to find the nearest trash can.When she returned and opened the car door, the young man was sitting upright in the passenger seat, eating the box of takoyaki.
Cen Jin froze for a moment before sliding into the driver’s seat. She wanted to mock him but ended up gripping the steering wheel and saying coolly, "Do you suspect I poisoned it?"
"No." How could he appropriately express his true thoughts? He just wanted her to eat because she had also just gotten off work and hadn’t eaten yet.
Cen Jin pressed further, "Then why?"
The young man hesitated for a moment, as if steeling himself, before saying, "I was afraid you’d be hungry." His voice was slightly deep, as though the words were difficult to utter.
"Oh..." Yet Cen Jin’s irritation instantly dissolved at those three simple words. She glanced at him, suppressing the joy of "not raising an ungrateful wolf," and said calmly, "Then save half for me."
Li Wu immediately brightened. "Okay."
Back home, considering Li Wu had just finished his exams, Cen Jin proactively asked if he wanted to use the computer or watch TV.
Li Wu shook his head and walked toward the study with familiar silence.
Cen Jin was struck by his obedience, and a wave of pity welled up inside her. She quickly called him back, crossing her arms in front of her and inviting him as naturally as she could, "Don’t be so tense. You just finished your exams—it’s fine to relax a little."
Li Wu turned back. "I never had access to these things before."
His expression was honest, without any hint of playing the victim, yet it sounded utterly pitiful. Cen Jin hadn’t expected this and was completely stunned. It took her a moment to find a response: "Then you should try them now."
"What do you want to watch?" She walked to the coffee table to look for the remote. "Anime? Or variety shows?"
The TV in Cen Jin’s living room had a unique design, completely breaking from traditional models. It wasn’t supported by a TV stand below but rested on four slender, pure black legs. It looked less like a television and more like a clean, minimalist whiteboard with considerable surface area, as if one could write on it at any time.
Li Wu stood motionless.
"Come here," the woman said, standing in front of the screen, her light-colored sweater splashed with colorful light. Her expression showed her patience was running thin. "Sit on the sofa."
Li Wu stopped refusing. "Let me put my backpack away."
"Okay." She was no longer looking at him, holding the remote and nodding at the screen.
Li Wu hurried back to his room, hung up his backpack, and returned to the living room.
Cen Jin flipped through channels for a while, completely clueless about Li Wu’s preferences, so she turned back to ask him, "Do you have anything you like?"
"Anything is fine," he said. Cen Jin suggested, "How about a movie? What genre do you want to watch?"
"You choose."
Countless posters and movie titles swirled in Cen Jin’s mind. Suddenly, an idea struck her. Excitedly, she turned back and said, "Let’s watch Marvel. You’ll definitely like it."
"Okay."
"Hmm..." She turned back, switching to the movie selection screen, muttering to herself, "Iron Man 1... where is it?"
Li Wu stared at her back, unconsciously curling the corners of his lips.
Worried that Li Wu might feel uncomfortable alone, Cen Jin removed her makeup, cut a plate of honeydew melon, and joined him to watch.
They each took one end of the sofa. Cen Jin suppressed her urge to spoil the plot, curling up as usual, and nibbled on a piece of melon with a fork.
Finding it tasty, she used another fork to pick up a piece and called Li Wu’s name as she turned toward him.
The movie was at the part where Tony was developing the prototype of the iron armor in his underground base. The boy’s eyes were fixed on the screen, completely immersed, oblivious to everything else.
Cen Jin raised her voice, "Li Wu."He finally turned his face, his large eyes still dazed from being abruptly interrupted during the movie.
Cen Jin smiled, leaned sideways, and extended the honeydew melon.
The leather sofa creaked as Li Wu tried to reach for it from his seat but couldn’t quite manage, so he stood up to take it.
They were at different heights, and the metal fruit fork was small—inevitably, his fingers brushed against the woman’s skin. Just a brief touch, yet it felt like a tiny electric shock. His mind went blank with a flash of panic.
He put the whole piece into his mouth, sat back down restlessly, and only after a moment did he chew it thoroughly and swallow.
Afterward, Li Wu held the fruit fork, letting the warmth of his skin transfer to it. His entire body felt uncomfortable, and he shifted positions several times. The sounds from the sofa seemed to lay everything bare. His ears flushed crimson, and he dared not move again, sitting even more stiffly upright than before.
Cen Jin noticed his fidgeting and couldn’t help but tease, “Is there an interviewer living inside the TV?”
“...”
—
That night, Li Wu had a dream. The plot resembled a scene from the beginning of the movie that had made him blush. Lying flat on his back, a woman clung to his shoulders, leaning down to press softly against him.
They pressed into each other, kissing breathlessly, lost in passion and emotion. Her hair tickled his ear, making it unbearably itchy, and he couldn’t resist raising a hand to brush it aside, wanting to see her face…
Li Wu jolted upright, his chest burning, his back already drenched in sweat.
Of course, it wasn’t just his back that was soaked.
The young man sat motionless in the darkness, acutely and despairingly aware that the face he himself had unveiled would become his most damp, shadowy obsession from then on.
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