Zhang Shu seemed absolutely furious, looking as if he wanted to strangle her, yet he remained silent—or perhaps it was more accurate to say he was speechless.
Sheng Xia was so tense she could barely breathe. Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed the essay paper from his desk and slammed it onto hers with a loud "smack." "What's my name?"
"Zhang... Shu?" Had he lost his mind?
"Which 'SHU'?"
Sheng Xia: ...?
Her gaze flickered to the paper, where the character "number" in his name had been circled in red ink. Beside it, Fu Jie had scribbled: Your deskmate is adorable ^-^.
The handwriting for "Zhang Shu" was unmistakably Sheng Xia's.
Wait, was it not this "number"? Then... was it "vertical"? "Bundle"? "Narrate"? So many characters with the same pronunciation could be used for names.
What a blunder. First impressions could be so misleading.
"I'm sorry," Sheng Xia apologized sincerely, biting her lip in embarrassment. Writing someone's name wrong was indeed very rude. "Then... which 'SHU' is it?"
Her eyes, whenever guilty, looked as if she had suffered some great injustice, welling up with tears at the slightest provocation.
How could she act so innocent? She had been in this class for over half a month—even Hou Junqi's "Qi," which had dozens of homophones, she had written correctly. How could she not know which "SHU" he was?
Zhang Shu averted his gaze, grabbed Sheng Xia's wrist, and unerringly plucked a marker from her "Disney Princess" crystal pen holder. With deliberate strokes, he wrote the character "Shu" on her forearm.
The cool touch of the marker against her skin sent electric currents tingling through her limbs.
Sheng Xia felt the wrist he held heating up rapidly, the warmth slowly spreading to her ears and cheeks.
She wondered if he could feel her pulse beneath his grip—it was pounding violently.
She tried to pull her hand back, but he held firm, tugging her closer instead.
Once finished, Zhang Shu lifted her slender wrist and admired his handiwork with satisfaction. This 'Shu.' Got it? Don’t erase it. Look at it a few times before bed, and again when you wake up. Morning and night, like clockwork. Guaranteed, you’ll never write it wrong again in your life."
Sheng Xia murmured, "That’s not how the idiom is used... 'Morning and night, like clockwork'—it’s about serving parents in ancient times, tending to them at night and greeting them in the morning."
How did she always manage to fixate on the wrong thing?
Zhang Shu: "Wuji bayu."
Sheng Xia: "What?"
Zhang Shu: "...Praising you for being clever, cultured, and absolutely correct."
Sheng Xia lowered her head: ...That couldn’t possibly be it.
Zhang Shu fell silent too. Why did she look so aggrieved again? He had already swallowed back the urge to say, Why don’t you just treat me like your dad then?
Sheng Xia wasn’t foolish enough to continue the conversation. Perhaps she imagined something even worse—this misunderstanding wasn’t too terrible for her. She calmed down slightly and studied the character on her arm.
So, it was this "Shu."" So rare.
Shu: timely rain, heavenly dew, a metaphor for grace and blessings.
To his parents, he must have been a precious gift. They must have loved him deeply.
It wasn’t until halfway through evening self-study that Sheng Xia realized her essay hadn’t been returned. Then, during break, Xin Xiaohe deliberately came over, her expression teasing, her tone playful as she said, "Sooo amazing~"
Still confused, Sheng Xia followed Xin Xiaohe’s pointing finger to the display wall at the back of the classroom. "Your essay’s been posted on the Model Work board!"It was between classes, and a small crowd had gathered around the model essay wall, whispering among themselves. Some kept glancing back at Sheng Xia.
Sheng Xia didn’t understand what was going on, but she had no intention of joining the crowd. At most, had she scored full marks again?
Xin Xiaohe was sitting in Zhang Shu’s seat, hugging Sheng Xia’s arm. “I was so bored over there by myself. I hope this week passes quickly!”
“Yeah, let it pass quickly…”
It was much more comfortable sitting next to another girl.
Xin Xiaohe let go of Sheng Xia and idly examined Zhang Shu’s desk. “How come he doesn’t have any extra study materials?”
Indeed, he didn’t. Sheng Xia noticed that apart from completing his nightly homework, he hardly did any additional exercises. This was different from what she had imagined a top student would be like.
“Maybe the school-provided materials are enough for him,” Sheng Xia said.
Xin Xiaohe nodded. “Zhang Shu never plays by the rules.” Just then, she noticed the writing on Sheng Xia’s arm. “What the hell is this?”
Sheng Xia frowned, rubbing the spot with her fingertip to no avail. “I thought his name was ‘Shu’ as in ‘mathematics,’ so I wrote it wrong. This… is the result of him not playing by the rules.”
Xin Xiaohe was both annoyed and amused. “Seriously, is he the emperor or something?”
Sheng Xia pressed her lips together, silently expressing her helplessness.
“Want to grab some late-night snacks later?” Xin Xiaohe invited again.
Sheng Xia patted her stomach. “I might not have any room left. I ate so much for dinner…”
“Is the food at the lunch program good? I’ve been thinking of signing up, but I heard it costs a hundred a day?”
“I’m not sure about the price. The expensive part is probably the midday accommodation. The food is delicious, except…” Sheng Xia paused.
“Except what?”
Sheng Xia: “Except the owner really loves making cola chicken wings.”
“Cola chicken wings are delicious! I love them so much. When will the cafeteria start serving them too…?”
“I like them too,” Sheng Xia said. “But we’ve had them every day this week…”
Xin Xiaohe: “I thought the menu wasn’t supposed to repeat?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think someone complained…”
Xin Xiaohe tapped the desk. “Why don’t you ask this rule-breaker? Isn’t the lunch program run by his relative?”
Sheng Xia: “Is that so?” On the first day, she seemed to hear the auntie and the owner mention “A-Shu.”
“Yeah.”
“Never mind, then…”
“Guess you’ll keep eating chicken wings.”
“Guess so…”
“Hehe.”
“Haha.”
The two girls chatted away, leaning on the desk, unaware of the tall boy lounging against the seat behind them, arms crossed, leisurely scrolling through his phone while listening.
As class was about to start, Xin Xiaohe prepared to return to her seat. She turned around and nearly jumped at the sight of the person behind her.
“Are you a ghost or something?!” Xin Xiaohe clutched her chest.
Zhang Shu: “Was the ghost’s seat comfortable?”
Xin Xiaohe: “Hmph, only because it’s next to a fairy and has some of her aura. Otherwise, why would I come?”
Zhang Shu chuckled briefly.
Was it really okay to flatter one while putting down another?
Fairy aura and all that…
Sheng Xia felt extremely awkward and didn’t want to stay any longer. She grabbed her cup and went out to get water.
The crowd at the back had thinned a little. Sheng Xia pretended to pass by casually, taking a glance at the model essays.
Her composition was posted in the center, marked with a striking “50” at the top—full marks.
In the bottom right corner was Fu Jie’s lengthy hundred-word commentary.
And also, her evaluation of Zhang Shu’s comments.Fu Jie drew two red lines under Zhang Shu's comment "Super impressive!!" and wrote in red ink beside it: Indeed super impressive^-^.
That smiley face had a lot of personality.
When Sheng Xia silently repeated the phrase "Impressive handwriting, impressive writing, impressive arguments, impressive logic, super impressive," she unconsciously substituted "impressive" with "impressive," especially "super impressive," with a rising tone at the end. The slight difference in pronunciation somehow gave it a unique, indescribable feeling.
Unable to find the right words, Sheng Xia quietly returned to her seat.
The girl had come back, and Zhang Shu glanced at her already full water bottle, smiling silently.
Not long after the second evening self-study bell rang, the window near Sheng Xia became lively again. This time, there were one, two, three, four heads peeking in.
Sheng Xia, now experienced, knew they were looking for Zhang Shu. Seeing his back turned to her, she was about to call out to him but remembered he didn’t like being called. Instead, she tapped his arm lightly.
Zhang Shu turned his head, his gaze landing on her slender, pale fingers, then moving up to the character "Shu" on her forearm—black ink on white skin, stark and eye-catching.
"Someone's looking for you..." Sheng Xia reminded him.
Only then did Zhang Shu look up.
Outside the window crouched Han Xiao, Zhou Yingxiang, and two others they used to hang out with before class divisions in their first year—Liu Huian and Wu Pengcheng.
Sheng Xia opened the window for them, noticing their eyes lingering on her. She lowered her head and continued with her homework, avoiding eye contact.
"Let’s go, Shu?" Han Xiao said, then tapped Hou Junqi in front of him. "Hou, you coming?"
Hou Junqi glanced at Zhang Shu.
Zhang Shu scanned the blackboard, flipped through his math workbook, and finally replied, "20 minutes."
Zhou Yingxiang popped his head in. "Just write tomorrow, Shu. Chen Mengyao’s waiting outside?"
Zhang Shu gave him a cool look. "Make it 30 minutes then."
"No, no," Han Xiao knew Zhang Shu well—the more you pushed, the more he resisted. It was better to compromise. "We’ll wait for you at the north gate, 20 minutes?"
Zhang Shu: "You’re wasting time I could use to solve a problem."
Han Xiao: "Fine, fine. We’re leaving. See you soon."
But Zhang Shu didn’t leave after 20 minutes. He only packed up leisurely when the second evening self-study ended.
Hou Junqi had turned around to look countless times from his front seat.
Sheng Xia stared at his empty seat, feeling a bit surprised. Was he playing hard to get, making the girl wait longer, or was he genuinely prioritizing his studies?
As Zhang Shu and Hou Junqi stepped out of the teaching building, they spotted the four of them squatting by the roadside, cigarette embers glowing in the dark.
They were guarding the intersection, as if afraid he wouldn’t show.
Seeing them, the group stubbed out their cigarettes and stood up. "Shu!"
"What are we playing?" Zhang Shu asked.
"Anything," Zhou Yingxiang chimed in enthusiastically. "With this many people, how about 'Emperor'?"
"Sure."
As they walked toward the north gate, Wu Pengcheng suddenly asked, "Shu, your deskmate is really pretty. How come I’ve never seen her before?"
Zhang Shu raised an eyebrow. "Is she?"
Wu Pengcheng: "She’s gorgeous, are you blind?"
Liu Huian added, "Why bother telling him? He only has eyes for Chen Mengyao."
Wu Pengcheng, who shared a class with Chen Mengyao, inexplicably had a low opinion of her. "Chen Mengyao knows how to dress up, but your deskmate has this ethereal beauty. They’re not the same kind of pretty."Hou Junqi also seemed to agree: "One's a worldly socialite, the other's an ethereal goddess untouched by mortal affairs."
Wu Pengcheng gave a thumbs-up: "Alright, you've got a way with words. That's the gist of it."
Zhang Shu neither confirmed nor denied, saying calmly, "She just transferred here."
Wu Pengcheng asked, "From where?"
Zhang Shu replied, "No. 2 High."
Liu Huian commented, "Transferring schools in senior year, and from No. 2 High at that. This girl's family must have serious connections."
Liu Huian's mother worked as an administrative teacher at the affiliated high school, so he had deeper insights into its workings.
Hou Junqi perked up with interest: "How so?"
Liu Huian pointed at Zhou Yingxiang: "Even our Brother Xiang here could only get into the Elite Division, right? Our school only ever has students transferring out—when have you seen anyone transfer in?"
Zhou Yingxiang nodded: "That's true. Just getting into the Elite Division cost my dad a lot of effort pulling strings everywhere."
The Elite Division was originally the retake program of Nanda Affiliated High, with exorbitant tuition fees that weren't accessible to just anyone. It mainly admitted either students from our school who failed college entrance exams or high-performing students from other schools aiming for top universities.
But in recent years, whether the school was genuinely strapped for cash or not, the Elite Division started admitting an entire class of senior-year transfer students from other schools, charging an additional "attendance fee" on top of the already steep tuition—a fee so high it deterred ordinary families.
Even so, spots were in high demand because the Elite Division was taught by the affiliated high's faculty, following its entire teaching system.
Essentially, it was like paying a fortune to attend a year at the affiliated high.
Thinking about it this way, it really was unheard of for someone to transfer directly into the main division.
Zhang Shu knew Sheng Xia attended his sister's after-school program, which wasn't cheap. She drank at least one juice a day, sometimes two, bought stationery in bulk without checking prices... He knew her family was well-off.
And the girl always carried herself with poised serenity, the picture of refined upbringing—likely from a strict family environment.
"What's with the writing on that girl's arm?" Liu Huian nudged Zhang Shu's shoulder. "Already marking your territory so fast? What about your Chen Mengyao?"
"Yeah, didn't she skip training just to celebrate your birthday?" Zhou Yingxiang chimed in eagerly, since he was the one who'd invited Chen Mengyao. He didn't want to misread the situation.
Zhang Shu suddenly stopped walking and asked, "How exactly did you all decide that I'm somehow destined for Chen Mengyao?"
Back when he was in the music club, he'd hung out with Chen Mengyao for a while, and though rumors spread, he hadn't paid them much mind. But lately, they'd gotten increasingly outlandish.
To this day, he couldn't pinpoint where the rumors started. Few people actually confronted him about gossip, and since it wasn't something that bothered him, he'd let it slide.
Over time, not just random outsiders but even people close to him began taking it as fact.
Wu Pengcheng asked, "Weren't you chasing her since middle school? That's some unshakable devotion, bro."
Zhang Shu nearly rolled his eyes. "I didn't even know Chen Mengyao in middle school!"
Even Han Xiao, his middle school classmate, was shocked: "What?!"
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