IV

The forty-minute homeroom meeting flew by.

When the bell rang, Zhuang Fangqin ignored the piercing sound and kept going. 'I'll rearrange the seats in a couple of days. If anyone has thoughts or opinions about the seating, you can come find me in the office during break. As for class monitors, we'll keep the same group as before...'

A figure stopped at the classroom door.

Zhuang Fangqin turned and met Hu Pang's eyes, instantly understanding.

'Alright, let's wrap up here. Subject reps, collect the winter break homework.'

Hearing the words 'wrap up,' Yu Fan's head dropped straight down—

'Yu Fan, I need to talk to you.' Zhuang Fangqin's voice dropped coldly. 'Go wait in my office. I'll come over after I finish with Director Hu.'

'...'

Right after homeroom ended, the teachers' office was completely empty.

On Zhuang Fangqin's desk, a tall stack of booklets sat on one side, with a computer and lesson plans on the other, leaving only a small space in the middle.

A cool breeze slipped through the window crack, comfortable and pleasant.

Yu Fan stared at that empty space for a moment, then without hesitation, he flopped down and went to sleep.

...

'Are you settling into the new class okay?'

'Mm.'

'The regular class's pace is way behind Class One. You need to keep up your practice problems, don't let it affect you.'

'Mm.'

'Your parents are really concerned about this too. Your mom called me specially this morning. I told her the class reshuffle is just a temporary measure, and once this blows over, the school will rearrange things.'

Yu Fan waited with his eyes closed for a long time, but the lifeless 'mm' never came.

He lifted his head from his arms, annoyed at being woken up, and looked forward over the mountain-high practice books.

When he saw who was standing up front, Yu Fan narrowed his eyes.

Can't shake this guy, huh.

Chen Jingshen stood silently in front of the desk, talking to his former Class One homeroom teacher.

Yu Fan's movements were small, and with three desks and partitions between them, the people up front didn't notice him for a moment.

'But your parents still have concerns. She suggested I transfer you to a better class, since the one you're in now...'

'No need.' He finally reacted.

The Class One homeroom teacher paused. 'But your mother...'

'They're all regular classes. There's no difference.'

The boy's tone was cold, his thin single eyelids pressed downward.

Yu Fan propped his chin up, lazily watching the show.

'You just transferred to that class, so maybe you don't know yet,' the Class One homeroom teacher hesitated. 'Even though they're all regular classes, Class Seven's atmosphere... is worse than the others. Their average score is always at the bottom, they're last in class hygiene and discipline evaluations, and there are a few notorious troublemakers—one named Yu Fan, you've probably seen him, he's always reading self-criticisms at the flag-raising ceremony. Your mother's concerns aren't unreasonable. It's all for your own good...'

Click.

The sound of a pen hitting the floor.

The Class One homeroom teacher's voice cut off, and they both turned to look behind them.

Yu Fan bent down to pick up the pen, then looked up to meet their eyes.

Seeing him, Chen Jingshen's slightly tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, and he returned to his silent expression.

The Class One homeroom teacher was still frozen with her mouth open.

She saw the band-aid on Yu Fan's face, remembered the rumor she'd heard about Yu Fan hitting a teacher, and felt a flicker of fear inside. It took her a while to find her voice. 'You...'

Yu Fan: 'I think you're right.'

'?'

Before she could react, Yu Fan added, 'I'm this vicious and violent, it'd be bad if I scared the top student. I support him transferring out.'

'Who's vicious and violent? Who's transferring out?' Zhuang Fangqin's voice came from the doorway. Seeing the scene inside, she barked, 'Yu Fan! Who said you could sit in a teacher's seat? Did I call you here so you could sleep? Should I set up a bed for you in the classroom?'

Class One homeroom teacher: '...'

Yu Fan: 'I wasn't sleeping.'

'Then who pressed that mark on your face?' Zhuang Fangqin put her things down on the desk. 'What, not getting up? I'm standing here talking while you sit and listen?'

Yu Fan clicked his tongue, slowly got up, and moved to the side.

Chen Jingshen withdrew his gaze. 'Teacher, I'm not transferring. If there's nothing else, I'll head back first.'

The Class One homeroom teacher snapped back to reality, but before she could say anything, he had already turned and walked away without looking back.

Maybe feeling awkward, half a minute later she also hurried off with her lesson plans.

Only two people were left in the office.

Even though Zhuang Fangqin hadn't heard everything, she could guess most of it from the scene just now.

'Look at you, ruining our class's image,' she said, taking a sip from her thermos. 'Tell me, what happened to your face?'

'Fell.'

'That line might fool the discipline director,' Zhuang Fangqin said. 'You got into another fight, didn't you?'

Yu Fan looked out the window, silent.

'How many times have I told you? You're a student. Stop brawling with those street punks all the time. Can't you do something your age is supposed to do?'

The person in front of her stood there slouching, his face full of indifference, with a 'whatever, I don't care' attitude.

Zhuang Fangqin was so mad she took another gulp of hot water. 'And also, the discipline director just told me you threatened a new student outside school yesterday, and you were holding a knife. What's that about?'

Yu Fan: 'He's so good at making stuff up, why doesn't he write a book?'

'This one,' Zhuang Fangqin tapped a practice book on the desk, 'is the math workbook Director Hu wrote.'

'...'

After a long standoff, Yu Fan said flatly, 'I didn't threaten him. The knife was picked up. I don't know the guy.'

'You just pick up a knife on the street?' Zhuang Fangqin glanced at his pocket. 'Where's the knife.'

'At home. Keeping it for cutting vegetables.'

'...'

Zhuang Fangqin stared at him for a moment, feeling slightly relieved inside.

Having led this class for so long, she had some understanding of each student, especially Yu Fan. Judging by his tone and expression, he probably really hadn't done anything.

Still, combined with the situation at the flag-raising ceremony this morning, he wasn't exactly welcoming to the new student.

'I'll take your word for it.' Her expression didn't change. 'A new semester's started. Got any study plans?'

'Memorize the multiplication table.'

'Say one more word and see if you can land me in the hospital.' Zhuang Fangqin shot him a glare, opened her drawer, and pulled out a brand-new workbook, placing it in front of him. 'I went to the bookstore specially to find this for you. The problem types are all basic, and the explanations are simple. Take it home, look it over, do the problems, and come find me in the office if you don't get something.'

Yu Fan stared at the cover for a moment, swallowing the words 'don't waste your money.' 'Oh.'

Right before he left, Zhuang Fangqin called him back.

'And,' Zhuang Fangqin thought about how to put it, 'the transfer students this time are all excellent students with great grades. You should see them as role models and try not to get into conflicts with them...'

'Don't worry,' Yu Fan said without turning around. 'I'm allergic to top students. From now on, if he comes a foot near me, I'll go a yard away. I'm committed to creating a harmonious and beautiful learning environment for our new classmate.'

-

On the first PE class after the semester started, Yu Fan just skipped it.

The Experimental Building First-Floor Restroom was thick with smoke. Usually, no teachers came around here, and the fat guy who regularly patrolled to catch people was in a meeting, so a few guys stood in the restroom, smoking in a group without a care.

'Those idiots from the other school, too scared to fight head-on, just playing dirty. Next time, let's find a time and go to the back gate of the school to settle it.'

'They're hilarious too. Who do they pick to block? The baddest guy in Nancheng No.7 Middle School...'

'Thanks for the invite, I was there. My bro took them out one by one, made them crap their pants,' Wang Luan'an looked at the guy next to him. 'Right, bro?'

'Get lost.'

Yu Fan had dragged a stool over from the empty classroom next door, and was now sitting lazily with his legs crossed. He kept his head down, one hand controlling the game character on his Mobile Phone, the other holding a cigarette. 'Talk among yourselves, don't drag me into it.'

'Damn,' the guy on the far right crouched on the ground, staring at the ranking table on his phone screen. 'Why are there still transfer students in the second semester of Senior 2? And our class got four at once. My class ranking dropped straight from 57 to 61!'

Wang Luan'an mocked him: 'Not much difference. You're still last place.'

'Get out, get out,' the guy blew a puff of smoke at Wang Luan'an, stood up, and said, 'School's about to let out. Anyone up for basketball?'

Everyone chimed in, stubbing out their cigarettes and skillfully waving their hands to disperse the smoke smell.

Seeing the person still motionless in the chair, the guy asked, 'Yu Fan, you not coming?'

'Nah, gaming.'

Wang Luan'an immediately said, 'Then I'm not going either.'

The group filed out noisily.

Yu Fan leaned back in his chair, enjoying killing enemies in the game, when he heard a rapid clatter of typing next to him.

Wang Luan'an had a weird habit—he liked the default keyboard click sound on his phone when typing. It was annoyingly loud.

Yu Fan paused the game and turned to him. 'You sending a telegram?'

'I'm chatting,' Wang Luan'an said. 'Asking around about Chen Jingshen.'

'?'

Yu Fan was baffled. 'Why are you asking about him?'

'What do you think?' Wang Luan'an said. 'He's the grade's top student! I gotta find out if he's easy to talk to, see if I can get him to help with quizzes and homework later.'

Yu Fan wasn't interested. 'Oh.'

A moment later, Wang Luan'an put down his phone and sighed.

He'd asked a friend who used to be in Class One, and the friend didn't even hesitate, gently telling him: no chance.

Apparently, this top student was famously cold and quiet in Class One, his personality matching his looks exactly. If you brought a few questions you couldn't solve to him, he might spare a hand to help, but that was it. Couldn't get past ten sentences of conversation.

'Oh right, my friend also told me Chen Jingshen's family is loaded,' Wang Luan'an said. 'He said at the last parent-teacher meeting, Chen Jingshen's mom's whole vibe was super impressive... Hey, that scratch on the back of your hand healed pretty fast.'

Yu Fan turned his wrist slightly.

This kind of small injury healed quickly. It had already started scabbing over by the time he got home last night.

He stared at the wound for a while, and for some reason, he suddenly felt like reaching out and scratching it a couple of times.

Tear the wound open. It should bleed again, then fester, get infected.

Yu Fan had just curled his other hand and touched the scar when his shoulder got shoved hard a few times by the guy next to him.

He snapped back to reality, dazed for two seconds before asking, 'Looking for a beating?'

'No, holy shit, look out the window!' Wang Luan'an whispered. 'You really can't talk about people behind their backs. Is that Chen Jingshen?'

Yu Fan instinctively looked outside.

He didn't even need to see the face. Just spotting that bleached green-and-white winter uniform was enough for Yu Fan to know who it was.

From this angle, they could only see Chen Jingshen's tall, slender silhouette.

A girl was standing in front of him.

Wang Luan'an squinted. 'Is that Zhang Xianjing next to him?'

The two people in Senior 2 Class 7 who gave Zhuang Fangqin the biggest headaches were Yu Fan and Zhang Xianjing.

Contrary to her name, Zhang Xianjing had been perming and dyeing her hair since Senior 1, smoking, skipping class, and making countless guys cry. She was pretty, and in Senior 1 she had a bunch of admirers, but after her reputation spread, most guys gave her a wide berth.

'What are they doing...' Wang Luan'an muttered.

As soon as he spoke, Zhang Xianjing took a step toward Chen Jingshen, her pretty curls swaying in the wind.

'Hey, you're Chen Jingshen, right?' She smiled, her lipsticked lips curving brightly upward. 'I like you. Wanna go out with me?'

Yu Fan's eyelid twitched, and he got up to leave.

Wang Luan'an quickly grabbed him. 'Where to? Aren't you gonna watch the rest?'

'Not interested.'

'Come on, just a little longer,' Wang Luan'an said. 'Is Zhang Xianjing crazy? A model student like Chen Jingshen would never date in high school!'

Yu Fan thought of that pink love letter and said to himself, yeah right.