Chapter 3
The entire school crowded the field, rows packed tight with students.
The sound of movement drew a few glances their way.
Yu Fan actually didn’t care where he stood.
If Ms. Zhuang Fangqin wanted, he wouldn’t mind standing at the very front of the class line.
If it were anyone else, he’d have already stepped forward without lifting his head.
Yu Fan looked at him. “Which eye of yours sees me as shorter than you.”
Chen Jingshen lowered his eyes, then looked back up. “Both.”
After another round of scrutiny, Yu Fan nodded. “Pick a time and I’ll check them for you—”
“Check what? Check where?”
A sharp female voice cut in from behind, followed by a light smack on his back. “What’s so much better-looking than the principal? Eyes on the stage!”
Recognizing the voice, Yu Fan curled his lip and half-heartedly looked toward the podium.
Today, Zhuang Fangqin wore all black, with only a hint of purple in her silk scarf. Her hair was pinned perfectly in place. She held a roster in one hand, frowning at the student in front of her.
Because she had worn glasses for years, her eyes looked small, and her slightly protruding teeth gave her a naturally strict look.
The moment she appeared, Chen Jingshen could feel the tension in front of him fade. The hostility that had been building in Yu Fan’s posture dissolved into laziness again.
“The injuries on your face,” she said, “come to my office later and explain them properly.”
She looked down and saw the black hoodie he was wearing. Her expression darkened. “Where’s your uniform?”
“Forgot it.”
“How come you didn’t forget the first day of school.”
“Look around,” she said. “The whole school’s in uniform and you’re the only one standing out. If the student council comes around, our class will lose points for appearance again.”
The teacher from the next class overheard and teased, “There are visitors from the district office today. Thanks to you, your homeroom teacher is getting called into another meeting on the very first day.”
Yu Fan hadn’t cared much, but after hearing that, his fingers curled slightly. “Then maybe I should step aside.”
“Be quiet,” Zhuang Fangqin said wearily, rubbing her temples. “Borrow a jacket from one of your classmates.”
Yu Fan lifted his chin and called, “Wang Lu’an.”
“No need. He only has his jacket too,” she said, puzzled. “Just borrow from the person next to you.”
The person next to him?
Yu Fan didn’t even look. “Borrowing from another class doesn’t seem right.”
“What do you mean another class?” Zhuang Fangqin said. “He’s your classmate.”
“…?”
“He just transferred in. From Class One. He’ll be with us from now on.”
After saying that, she looked at Chen Jingshen. “Chen, can Yu Fan borrow your uniform jacket for a bit? Of course, if you’d rather not, that’s fine.”
Yu Fan frowned. Somehow, the borrower looked more displeased than the lender.
“I’m not—”
“Sure,” Chen Jingshen said, glancing at him. “As long as he doesn’t mind it being too long.”
“You can take it off now,” Yu Fan said flatly.
Half a minute later, Yu Fan pulled on the jacket without much care. He looked down to check the fit.
Not long. Perfect, actually. Same size.
“A little short,” he said. “I’ll give it back after we’re dismissed.”
He was wearing a hoodie with a cracked skull print, black pants, and a few crooked Band-Aids on his face. The clean uniform jacket over all that made him look completely mismatched.
Chen Jingshen’s gaze landed on the bruises peeking out from beneath the Band-Aids. He lifted a hand.
Yu Fan instinctively slapped it away. “What.”
Under his jacket, Chen Jingshen wore the school uniform shirt, buttoned all the way to the top.
Straight back, every movement proper and precise.
His hand paused in midair before falling naturally to his side. “Your collar.”
Yu Fan almost told him to mind his own business but, remembering that he was wearing the other’s jacket, adjusted it perfunctorily instead.
Zhuang Fangqin nodded with satisfaction. “Good. Keep it neat, and don’t get it dirty. Make sure you return it after.”
A moment later, she realized something was off. She tapped both of them lightly with the corner of her notebook. “Wait. The line’s by height. You two switch.”
Yu Fan stood silent.
Two seconds later, he gave up and stepped forward, surrendering the prized last spot in the line.
The march finally stopped.
The flag-raising ended then the principal cleared his throat and launched into a passionate speech.
Normally, this was when Yu Fan would start dozing off, but now he forced his eyes open, staring blankly at the principal’s hairline.
The microphone was louder than usual today, too noisy to sleep through.
The principal was fully prepared this time, speaking for a solid half hour.
Yu Fan’s patience was running out. Out of habit, he shoved his hands into his borrowed jacket pockets and felt something.
Thin. Smooth. With a corner.
Half-asleep, he pulled it out without thinking.
When he saw what it was, he paused.
A pink envelope. No writing on it. From the feel, there was a letter inside.
A tiny red heart sticker sealed it, the same shade as the soft pink paper. The color alone gave away what it was meant to be.
A love letter?
When did that get in here?
Yu Fan frowned, trying to remember, but came up blank.
He was about to take a closer look when his peripheral vision caught the jacket’s too-clean white sleeve, sticking out among the dark uniforms like it had been bleached.
Damn.
He blinked back to full awareness. This wasn’t his jacket. It was Chen Jingshen’s.
The love letter was Chen Jingshen’s.
Yu Fan reacted quickly, sliding the envelope back into the pocket just as it had been. Then, without thinking, he glanced back.
Chen Jingshen was watching the podium, looking every bit the serious student. Whether he’d noticed or not, Yu Fan couldn’t tell.
The photography club loved taking pictures of this kind of student: upright, attentive, teacher’s favorite.
A bookworm like that could be in a relationship?
Sensing Yu Fan’s stare, Chen Jingshen lowered his eyes slightly. “What?”
It seemed he hadn’t seen anything.
Yu Fan turned his head away. “Nothing.”
When the ceremony finally ended, Yu Fan pulled off the jacket and shoved it into Chen Jingshen’s hands. “Yours.”
Chen Jingshen took it, waited a second, and said, “You’re welcome.”
“… ”
From the line ahead, Wang Lu’an turned around just in time to see his friend walking off.
He hurried after him. “What the hell, why are you leaving so fast? Weren’t you skipping the ceremony?”
Wang Lu’an always talked during flag-raisings and cost the class points. This morning, Zhuang Fangqin had warned him: one word, one extra assignment.
He’d been holding it in the entire ceremony.
“Fat Tiger caught me,” Yu Fan said.
“That unlucky?”
Wang Lu’an glanced toward the crowded stairs of the teaching building. “Damn, that’s packed. How about we hit the cafeteria first? I didn’t eat enough breakfast.”
“No.”
Yu Fan didn’t even look back. “I'm tired. Going home to sleep.”
When Zhuang Fangqin walked into the classroom, the first thing she saw was a head lying face-down on the last desk.
She slammed the roster onto the metal lectern and said in the voice that had already been reported to the teachers’ office several times, “Anyone who’s sleepy, wash your face and wake up. Hurry up, we’re starting homeroom.”
Yu Fan slowly sat up, temples throbbing from the noise. He rubbed his face and stood.
“Not you, Yu Fan,” she said.
He stopped and raised a brow. Why not?
“You go to the restroom and you won’t come back.”
She pointed toward the back wall. “If you’re tired, go stand there. You’ll wake up soon enough.”
Yu Fan stood still for a few seconds, then sat back down.
He slouched, head half-lowered, looking completely uninterested.
Zhuang Fangqin held back a sigh and plugged her USB drive into the computer. “Before we start, two announcements.”
“First, we have two new classmates this term, Chen Jingshen and Wu Si. Both transferred from Class One. I won’t say much more, you can get to know each other later. Their grades are excellent, and they take their studies seriously. Learn from them.”
“Second,” she said, clicking open a file titled ‘Grade Rankings – Class Seven, End of Term Results.’ “Your final exam rankings.”
The room erupted with groans.
Yu Fan wasn’t interested in rankings, but a quick glance showed him the name at the very top.
“Chen Jingshen. Math 150, Chinese 110, English 148, Science…” Wang Lu’an’s jaw dropped. “Full marks?”
He turned to Yu Fan. “Bro, even if you copied the answer sheet, you wouldn’t get that.”
Yu Fan said, “And you think you’re a fair comparison.”
“Standard stuff,” someone in front turned around to add. “He’s scary. Except for Chinese, he doesn’t have a weak subject.”
Wang Lu’an nodded wisely. “Guess even geniuses hate memorizing essays.”
“Not exactly,” another classmate said after a pause. “I heard from a friend in Class One. His essays always go off-topic.”
“…”
“The first in the entire grade is in our class,” Zhuang Fangqin said, still sounding a bit disbelieving. “I skimmed his papers. Other than losing points for the essay, there were basically no mistakes. Before the teachers go over the tests, you can take a look at his if you’d like.”
The class immediately turned their heads toward the first row, seventh seat.
Chen Jingshen didn’t even look up. He was flipping through a workbook, pen between his fingers, expression calm and distant.
So full of himself.
Yu Fan looked away.
“As for the rest of you,” Zhuang Fangqin continued, “the results were pretty average. The class’s overall score is even lower than last time. Think about it. With grades like this, what kind of university do you think you’ll get into.”
Someone muttered, “If the college entrance exam is this hard, I’ll just go lay bricks.”
“Others are getting full marks, and I can’t even understand the questions.”
“And a small number of you…”
Zhuang Fangqin scrolled to the bottom of the list, her cursor hovering over the last name.
She stared at the number nine under Mathematics and finally couldn’t hold back. “Yu Fan, after graduation are you planning to pick up trash for a living.”
“Haven’t decided,” Yu Fan said after a moment. “Could consider it.”
Zhuang Fangqin grabbed a piece of chalk and threw it straight at his head.
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