The bookstore owner brought over a chair and handed the menu to Zhang Shu, who took a seat. After a quick glance at the menu, he didn’t take it. "Just water, thanks."
The owner asked, "Anything else?"
Zhang Shu replied, "No."
The owner seemed about to say something else but glanced at Sheng Xia and held back, simply responding with an "Okay" before leaving with the menu.
Bookstores like these never relied on selling books to make money—charging for seating was an unspoken rule. But since Sheng Xia and Tao Zhizhi were regulars and members, the owner didn’t press the issue.
Tao Zhizhi asked, "Zhang... Shu, have you had lunch yet? There’s pizza here—it’s really good."
Sheng Xia rubbed her forehead. How had her usually bold and impulsive best friend suddenly turned into such a considerate person?
"I’ve eaten," Zhang Shu said.
"Oh... alright."
"Have you finished your draft?" Sheng Xia spoke up, rescuing Tao Zhizhi from the awkwardness.
Zhang Shu pulled a notebook from his bag. "The ending isn’t done."
Sheng Xia took it and skimmed through quickly. His writing was flat, illogical, and full of slogans—as if he had pieced together fragments from several different speeches.
"Have you ever listened to other flag-raising ceremony speeches before?" Sheng Xia asked tactfully.
Zhang Shu said, "Being forced to endure a few minutes of torture every week at a fixed time—don’t tell me your school doesn’t do that?"
Uh...
Tao Zhizhi’s eyes darted between the two. This top student didn’t sound the least bit like he was asking for help. Just as the rumors said—cocky and handsome.
His presence was intense enough that even Tao Zhizhi felt a little intimidated.
Unexpectedly, her best friend Sheng Xia remained completely unfazed, even responding with a hint of irritation, as if snapping back: "Then you should at least have a basic idea of what a flag-raising speech is like."
Meaning: You don’t. You must be deaf.
Zhang Shu chuckled. "Why don’t you enlighten me?"
Sheng Xia set down her gel pen, picked up a pencil, and began marking up Zhang Shu’s draft. Leaning slightly toward him, she explained patiently, "First, there’s the issue of the speech format. The salutation here..."
She spoke methodically, offering suggestions that were both tactful and reasonable. Her voice was soft—earnest yet almost hypnotic...
Tao Zhizhi, already drowsy, felt sleepier the longer she listened. She laid her head on the table and closed her eyes.
"That’s all for now," Sheng Xia said, handing the draft back to Zhang Shu. "Why don’t you revise it now? If it still doesn’t work, we can take another look."
Zhang Shu’s gaze shifted from her face, bathed in warm light, before he took the draft and replied, "Sure."
Sheng Xia nodded and went back to her own test papers.
Zhang Shu asked her, "Can I borrow your phone?"
Sheng Xia looked up, her eyes questioning.
"Following your advice—to see how others write theirs," he said, shaking his own phone. "I’m out of data."
Sheng Xia handed hers over.
Not many high school students used this brand of phone.
Zhang Shu raised an eyebrow. Liu Huian was right—her family was clearly well-off.
It took him a while to find the browser. As he clicked on the search bar, the auto-suggested history popped up.
The top entries were names of writers, literary allusions, and idioms. No wonder her Chinese was so good—she clearly did a lot of extracurricular reading.
But as he scrolled further, Zhang Shu’s eyes narrowed.
[What’s the penalty for photocopying and selling **/obscene materials?]
......
......
......
She’d done her homework this thoroughly?
Zhang Shu couldn’t even laugh. He lifted his gaze and stared at the girl across from him.She was bent over a geometry proof, moving her ruler back and forth across the paper, still unsure where to draw the auxiliary line. Frustrated, she bit down hard on her lower lip, the pink flesh turning pale before quickly regaining its color when released, now glistening with moisture...
Zhang Shu swiftly averted his gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing as he took a sip of water.
Sheng Xia hadn't even finished half of her math paper when Zhang Shu had already completed his draft. Looking at it, Sheng Xia thought it was much better than his first attempt. He was truly brilliant—even though writing didn't follow formulas with set rules, he grasped concepts instantly.
"I think it's already very good, but the ending lacks elevation," Sheng Xia suggested again. "The conclusion is the most important part of a speech. The most memorable speeches always leave people inspired at the end."
Of course, this was Zhang Shu's least favorite part. "Isn't that just pumping people up? Still just empty slogans."
Sheng Xia: ...She had just said slogans wouldn't work.
"You could say that, but there are also very sincere endings that leave people wanting more," Sheng Xia patiently explained.
Zhang Shu asked, "What counts as sincere?"
Sheng Xia thought briefly, habitually biting her lip again. "Well..."
As soon as she spoke, she noticed Zhang Shu turning his head away. Puzzled, she watched as he turned back.
She continued, "How about talking about ideals and goals? That would resonate more. What are your ideals?"
Zhang Shu pondered. What were his ideals?
He wanted to come of age. He wanted independence.
But those didn't seem like ideals.
Sheng Xia looked at him in surprise, seeing his blank expression. "Don't you have anything you want to do? Or what kind of person you want to become?"
Zhang Shu gazed at the girl's earnest face, momentarily speechless.
"You're so smart—you could definitely do many things others can't. If I were as smart as you, I'd have so many things I'd want to do," Sheng Xia murmured, gently guiding him.
Smart.
He hadn't expected her opinion of him to be so positive. He'd assumed she saw him as nothing more than a troublemaker.
"Then what do you want to do?" Zhang Shu asked.
"Hmm..." Sheng Xia set down her pen, resting her chin on her hand as she thought aloud. "It's not very specific yet. My abilities are limited—I don't know what university I can get into or what major I can study. But broadly speaking, I want to leave something behind. Proof that I was here. If I'm ordinary, at least I can be a good person, useful to those around me—that would be nice. If I'm exceptional, then I could be useful to my country, to the world. The kind of person who's remembered long after they're gone."
She seemed lost in her own world as she spoke, only snapping back to reality afterward and lowering her head slightly in embarrassment. "The latter part is difficult, but I think... if it were you, you might actually achieve it."
This was Sheng Xia's genuine belief.
He hadn't even given his full effort yet, and he'd already achieved excellence that others struggled to reach despite burning the midnight oil. He had the ability to make many choices—if he wanted, he could attend any university, study any major, and accomplish incredible things.
Zhang Shu looked at her without speaking, his gaze seemingly fixed on something far, far away.
As if lost in thought.
A faint blush crept up Sheng Xia's ears as she belatedly realized the conversation had ventured into overly personal territory. His silence was only natural.
Zhang Shu took a sip of water, flicked his draft with his fingers, and nodded. "Alright, I'll revise it again when I get back."
After a pause, he asked, "Have you finished your paper yet?"Sheng Xia shook her head. "There are still two final challenge problems left."
Zhang Shu asked, "Do you usually get to the final problems during exams?"
Sheng Xia shook her head again. "Occasionally, but mostly I can just read through them..."
Zhang Shu said, "I suggest you first improve your speed on the earlier sections before tackling the final problems. Otherwise, what's the point of practicing so many problems if you can't even reach them? For now, just read through them, write down whatever equations come to mind without overthinking, and leave them if you can't solve them. At least you might score a couple points."
"Isn't giving up on the final problems too risky?" Sheng Xia hesitated. Sometimes she could solve one, and although her accuracy wasn't high, they were already in the first semester of senior year. If she didn't practice the final problems now, would there still be time to pick them up later?
Zhang Shu wasn't concerned. "Once your speed and accuracy on multiple-choice questions improve, the rest will follow. Master one, master all."
Sheng Xia pondered this.
"Just a suggestion. How you study is up to you," Zhang Shu added.
True to his word about "reciprocity," Zhang Shu actually waited for Sheng Xia to finish her test, checked the answers with her, and then explained the problems. Even Tao Zhizhi, who had initially been uninterested in studying, woke up and listened in.
After Zhang Shu left, Tao Zhizhi gave a thumbs-up, her expression full of admiration. "Two words: freaking amazing."
Sheng Xia nodded in agreement.
Though he occasionally muttered a few seemingly impatient remarks, overall, he was thorough and patient, explaining complex concepts in simple terms.
"I think he's pretty nice to you," Tao Zhizhi said.
Sheng Xia glanced up. "Not really. He explains problems the same way to everyone."
Tao Zhizhi shook her head seriously. "Not just the explanations. I don't know how to put it, but when he talks to you, he’s less of a show-off. His voice is even softer compared to when he talks to me..."
Sheng Xia: "..."
...
During the evening self-study session after returning to school, Sheng Xia didn’t receive the final draft from Zhang Shu. She didn’t ask about it either. Seeing him take the draft to Fu Jie, she felt relieved—her task was complete.
Before Monday’s morning reading, it was time for the routine seat change. Once again, she became Zhang Shu’s desk mate.
But after several seat changes, Sheng Xia no longer made a big deal out of it. The arrangements were all similar, just a matter of sitting a little closer or farther away. The people around her remained the same.
The high school’s flag-raising ceremony was scheduled for the first long break on Monday. That day, Sheng Xia was on duty, so she didn’t have to attend.
She and Xin Xiaohe swept the floor and cleaned the blackboard, while Lu Youze and his desk mate took out the trash.
Even though they didn’t attend the ceremony, the school broadcast played it live throughout the campus.
"Next, we invite Zhang Shu from Class 6, Grade 12, to deliver a speech under the national flag..."
The host’s clear, pleasant voice came through the speakers on the podium, followed by scattered applause.
A young man’s voice came through the speakers—magnetic and laid-back, with a deep resonance that added a sense of steadiness. "Good morning, teachers and classmates. I’m Zhang Shu..."
Sheng Xia sighed softly. His original draft had said, "Hello everyone, I’m Zhang Shu." After her edits, she had written, "Respected teachers, dear classmates..."
Oh well. The show-off had his own stubbornness.
Suddenly, thunderous applause erupted, accompanied by excited chatter. The sounds came through both the real space and the speakers, overlapping...
"Damn, that voice! Since when do flag-raising speeches sound like this?" Xin Xiaohe paused her sweeping. "Is Zhang Shu peacocking or something?"The applause faded as Zhang Shu began his speech.
The middle portion was the same content Sheng Xia had seen before, with little variation. She noticed that even the most politically orthodox parts sounded less rigid coming from his mouth. He struck a rare balance between casual and earnest, making it easy to listen.
Honestly, he was quite suited for public speaking—no grand, impassioned gestures, just a conversational tone that held attention.
The ending was new to Sheng Xia. She slowed her movements as she wiped the blackboard, listening carefully.
He seemed to pause briefly before continuing, his voice steady:
"Someone once told me that since we're in this world, we ought to leave a mark. If we’re ordinary, at least be good people; if we excel, be useful to our country and the world. I don’t know what legacy I’ll leave, but I know the kind of person I want to be: sound in character, self-driven, devoted to my homeland, yet with a global perspective. If I can become that person, then my youth won’t have been wasted. That’s all. Thank you."
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