Sheng Xia walked down the long corridor to Class 6 of Grade 3 at the westernmost end. Every classroom she passed was filled with students—groups of three or five laughing, shouting, and roughhousing—the entire floor buzzing with noise.
The first day back to school was always the most lively, even at a prestigious high school.
But Class 6 was much quieter because Wang Wei stood on the podium with his arms crossed, a notebook tucked under his armpit, his expression sour as he counted heads with sharp nods of his chin. The students below the podium were all on edge.
He was the first to notice Sheng Xia hesitating outside the corridor.
He gave a nod and stepped out, prompting the students inside to crane their necks and look outside.
"Hello, Teacher," Sheng Xia greeted first.
"Ah, Sheng Xia, you're here," Wang Wei switched to a smile and pointed to the very back. "Your seat is at the last desk in the third row. Don’t worry, we rotate weekly—shifting diagonally toward the lower right corner. Next week, you’ll be at the first desk."
Though she didn’t quite grasp the specifics of the rotation, Sheng Xia wasn’t worried about seating—her eyesight was good, and her height was sufficient—so she simply nodded.
Just as Wang Wei was about to lead her to the podium for introductions, she spoke softly, "Teacher Wang, may I go straight to my seat?"
Wang Wei knew the girl was shy and didn’t insist. "Go ahead. I’ll introduce you to the class."
Sheng Xia entered the classroom through the back door from the corridor and took her seat.
Aside from the single row of seats against the wall, hers was the closest to the door. She didn’t have to walk down the aisle in front of everyone, which suited her just fine.
Even so, she still couldn’t avoid the collective gaze of the entire class.
Wang Wei returned to the podium and tapped the desk. "This semester, we have a new classmate—Sheng Xia. Everyone, do your best to help her settle into Class 6. Communicate and study together."
"Got it, Teacher!" A bright female voice rose above the scattered murmurs.
The speaker was Sheng Xia’s deskmate—a girl with slightly dark skin and a sweet smile, now grinning broadly, her dimples showing as she beamed at Sheng Xia.
Wang Wei responded, "Good. Xin Xiaohe, take good care of your deskmate."
Xiaohe rocked her chair like a seesaw, lifting the front legs off the ground while balancing on the back legs. She even raised her hand high, stretching out. "No problem!"
As she spoke, the chair wobbled, and Sheng Xia swiftly steadied it.
Wang Wei scolded, "Xin Xiaohe! Sit properly—don’t go falling and lying in bed for weeks. What about the college entrance exam?"
"Understood," Xiaohe obediently settled back, still grinning.
Wang Wei called a few boys to fetch the new textbooks, and before they’d even left, the classroom grew restless again.
The students glanced at the new classmate with varying degrees of curiosity, but no one approached her.
"Sheng Xia, right? Welcome! You’re with me from now on. I’m Xin Xiaohe," she introduced herself.
"Thank you," Sheng Xia replied. "Which 'He' is it?"
Hearing her soft voice, Xiaohe instinctively lowered her tone. "The 'He' as in 'seedling,' y’know?"
Sheng Xia: "That’s special."
"What’s so special about it?"
After a brief pause, Sheng Xia said, "Seedlings bathed in morning light—full of hope."
Xiaohe chuckled. This new classmate’s earnestness was oddly amusing. "Not the 'Xiao' for 'morning'—it’s the 'Xiao' with the bamboo radical."
"Then it’s even more special," Sheng Xia said. "A seedling growing beside little bamboo—very resilient."Xin Xiaohe could no longer hold back, instantly dropping her uncertain gentle tone as she burst into laughter: "Hahahahaha, if my mom knew the two random characters she picked from the dictionary were interpreted so intellectually by you, she'd laugh herself unconscious."
As she spoke, she gave Sheng Xia's shoulder a hearty slap.
Sheng Xia winced in pain, unsure if her words had been unnecessary, forcing a somewhat strained smile.
The boy sitting in front, overhearing the girls' meaningless chatter, turned around to see this scene and looked at Xin Xiaohe with disdain. "Xin Xiaohe, don't bully the new student!"
"What nonsense are you spouting, Yang Linyu! We're having a soulful exchange here. What do you know? Mind your own business when it comes to beauties!" Xin Xiaohe completely shed her earlier gentle facade, firing off rapid retorts like a string of firecrackers.
The boy raised his hands in surrender, adopting an "I give up, don't want to argue" expression, muttering as he turned back: "Since when were you considered a beauty..."
The next second, Xin Xiaohe's notebook landed squarely on the back of the boy's head.
With a loud "smack" and the boy's pained "oof," Sheng Xia's heart raced.
Her deskmate seemed... a bit temperamental.
After the first evening self-study session ended and textbooks for various subjects had been distributed, the seats in front and to Sheng Xia's right remained empty. But she knew they were occupied because textbooks had been placed there during distribution, now piled into small mountains.
Her right side was that single column of seats against the wall, separated from her by an aisle.
While the empty desk in front had been somewhat organized by its occupant, the desk to her right stood piled precariously high with no one to tend to it.
Sheng Xia leaned over and reached in to straighten the books, but the slippery covers betrayed her. What had maintained a delicate balance now came crashing down in a noisy heap.
The commotion went largely unnoticed in the bustling classroom, but Sheng Xia panicked as if she'd done something wrong. She hurriedly gathered the fallen books, carefully stacking them by size and thickness to prevent another collapse.
Xin Xiaohe, who had been explaining various aspects of the affiliated high school to Sheng Xia until she was hoarse and had since dozed off, woke to the sound of falling books. Opening her eyes, she saw the girl meticulously arranging each book with almost obsessive precision, aligning every corner perfectly under the light that illuminated her fair cheeks, where fine downy hairs danced softly in the glow.
"What kind of sweetheart is this?" Xin Xiaohe murmured to herself.
Zhang Shu and Hou Junqi strode into the classroom through the back door only to find an unfamiliar girl standing by their seats—familiar to them, yet out of place in this classroom. Both paused mid-step.
Hou Junqi even backed out into the hallway to double-check the class number: "Class 6, Grade 3... correct. Am I seeing ghosts?"
This frequent coincidence made Sheng Xia want to echo the ghost sentiment.
This time she didn't need to guess—these two empty seats clearly belonged to these "strangers" she was meeting for the third time in a week.
And from Xin Xiaohe's explanations, she'd learned that Nan Da Affiliated High School had very particular seating arrangements:
First, the top eight students in class were seated in that single column;
Then, the remaining students were paired according to the "assistance principle"—the better a student's grades, the worse their deskmate's grades would be. Thus, the ninth-ranked student sat with the lowest-ranked, the tenth with the second-lowest, and so on;
Additionally, they tried to pair girls with girls and boys with boys, making minor adjustments based on the previous arrangement;
Finally, seats were rotated weekly, with each student moving one column to the right and one row back.This approach not only ensured fairness in seating arrangements and minimized parental interference but also guaranteed that everyone was surrounded by both top students and struggling ones, facilitating mutual improvement.
As for why there was a separate column.
Xin Xiaohe said, "It's to give you some independence and clarity after a period of sitting together."
Why did it sound like they were cohabiting?
After hearing these complex rules, Sheng Xia's first thought was that the management style of a key school was indeed unique.
Her second thought naturally turned to her own grades. Xin Xiaohe was ranked eleventh, which meant Sheng Xia was near the bottom.
Xin Xiaohe comforted her, saying the last few spots were all boys, so they had swapped with her.
This didn’t comfort Sheng Xia at all—no matter what, she was still the lowest-ranked among the girls...
Additionally, next week when the seats changed, she would move to the right and end up in that separate column. The week after, she’d shift to the first group on the far north side.
Her new deskmate would be the person sitting to her right now—
This person pulled out his chair, slung his backpack over the backrest, and glanced at her standing there. He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you standing?"
No greeting, his tone neither warm nor cold. Between two people who knew each other, it wouldn’t have meant much.
But between two strangers, such a blunt remark came off as unfriendly.
Add to that his towering height—he stood a head taller than her, looking down with a hint of intimidation.
Sheng Xia’s fingers, clutching the corner of her book, stiffened. She silently retreated to her seat and sat down.
"Zhang Shu, are you a dog barking at everyone?" Xin Xiaohe stood up angrily, hands on her hips.
The boy looked up, slightly confused, and shot Xin Xiaohe a look: What’s your problem?
Xin Xiaohe said, "She was kind enough to tidy up your books for you, or they’d be trampled by now. Some gratitude would be nice."
She then smacked the head of the boy in front of her. "Yang Linyu, get up and see what bullying a new classmate really looks like."
Yang Linyu rubbed the back of his head. "Can’t you talk without hitting? Careful, no one will marry you!"
"None of your business!"
The two of them bickered endlessly.
Zhang Shu. Sheng Xia repeated the name in her mind.
He was the one who had infuriated Wang Wei, the rebel who wanted to report the school for holding extra classes.
According to the seating arrangement, he was also the top student who had crushed all the elite students from No. 2 High School on exams.
All these labels on one person—what a nightmare.
Zhang Shu glanced at the neatly arranged books on his desk and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."
Before Sheng Xia could respond, she felt a massive presence plop down in front of her.
Hou Junqi twisted around in the seat ahead of hers, grinning excitedly. "New classmate? What a coincidence!"
His movement jolted her desk slightly.
He was... impressively burly.
"Yes, hello..." Sheng Xia replied politely, her voice soft as a rabbit’s compared to Hou Junqi’s booming tone.
Hou Junqi asked, "Where’d you transfer from?"
Sheng Xia said, "No. 2 High School."
Hou Junqi asked, "Which middle school did you go to?"
Sheng Xia said, "No. 8 Middle School."
Hou Junqi: "I was at No. 15 Middle School."
Sheng Xia: "Oh." Another key middle school.
Hou Junqi asked, "What’s your name?"
"Sheng Xia."
"I’m Hou Junqi. Hou as in marquis, Jun as in steed, Qi as in the art of healing."
Sheng Xia said, "Hou Junqi, nice to meet you."
Hou Junqi jerked his chin toward the back. "That’s Zhang Shu."
"Oh."
"From No. 35 Middle School.""Like this." She had no impression of this high school—it was quite remote, not in the city center.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sheng Xia noticed the person who had been forcibly introduced turning to glance at them.
Hou Junqi suddenly leaned in, lowering his voice with a mysterious expression as he said to Sheng Xia, "Knowing such details makes us friends, right?"
Sheng Xia: ?
"Mm."
Hou Junqi: "Then you've got to keep a secret for your friend tonight."
A secret? Sheng Xia didn't react immediately. "What thing?"
However, her delayed response seemed like tacit understanding—an "I've forgotten"—in Hou Junqi's eyes.
He slapped his thigh and sprang up, looking at Sheng Xia with an approving gaze that said, "You're the kind of friend I want!" and exclaimed, "The new classmate really gets it!"
Sheng Xia: ……?
A short laugh came from the right.
Zhang Shu commented, "Fucking idiot."
It wasn't clear who he was referring to.
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