CY – Chapter 10

“When you get to the new class, don’t just muddle through like before,” the elegantly dressed middle-aged woman said, unable to resist nagging as she drove. “Make an effort, get into a good school, and then I’ll arrange for you to come live with me abroad.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Zhang Xiaotian stared out the window without a word. The blue school uniform he wore was too large, hanging loosely on him.

Zhang Xiaotian’s mother waited patiently for a moment, but when she still didn’t hear her son’s response, her loosened brow furrowed again. She couldn’t help but speak up, “You’ve grown so big but you don’t know how to care about people. You don’t even reply when adults talk to you. That sullen face is all from your father. Your father, that heartless, inhuman thing, abandons his own son to raise someone else’s child. All these years you’ve only grown taller, but you haven’t accomplished anything. You won’t see him again in the future, do you hear me?”

Zhang Xiaotian opened the car window a little wider. This road was always congested. Even though he was being driven to school today, he didn’t feel it was any faster than walking. He silently counted down the numbers of the traffic light, forcing himself not to think about anything.

“Did you hear me?” his mother raised her voice and asked again.

“I heard you,” Zhang Xiaotian said.

“Good that you heard. You must remember what I do for you. I’m far more responsible than your father.” The light turned green, and the traffic began to flow again.

Zhang Xiaotian’s previous class was also an experimental class, but compared to Class One, there were still some differences. Class One had the best teaching staff, which also led to Class One’s academic performance being more outstanding among other experimental classes.

Given Class One’s remarkable achievements, Zhang Xiaotian had expected the atmosphere there to be one of “ignoring all worldly affairs and focusing solely on studying the teachings of the sages.” But he was mistaken. Before he even reached the door, he heard a commotion inside. Zhang Xiaotian, holding a pile of books and belongings, stood at the back door, intending to slip in unnoticed and find a corner to sit down.

Before he could take his first step, someone entered through the front door. It was Director Chi, who had recently been promoted.

“What’s going on with your class? Chirping away on the first morning of the semester, where has the learning atmosphere gone?” Director Chi of the Disciplinary Office’s voice boomed, drowning out all the sounds in the classroom. “You’re already in your second year of high school, and you’re still thinking about playing all day? You’d be better off reading and doing problems with the time you spend chatting. Do you really think your class can stay first forever? Self-study until the class teacher arrives!” Director Chi surveyed the room and noticed Zhang Xiaotian still standing at the back door. He added, “What’s going on at the back door? Why are you standing there? Come in quickly!”

Zhang Xiaotian felt very awkward standing at the back door. Under the spotlight-like gaze, he walked into the classroom and sat down in the seat closest to the back door.

Director Chi stayed for a while longer and only left after confirming that no one in the class was whispering anymore. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t take his things out of his backpack. He didn’t actually know if someone occupied this seat, but since he had already sat down, he would just stay there for now. If someone came later, he could give it up. He placed his backpack by his feet, casually took out a book, and opened it in front of him, but he couldn’t focus on a single word.

He hadn’t seen his mother in many years. The memories he had of his mother were pitifully few, and he couldn’t connect the woman who had yelled at him in the car today with the mother in his memories.

Zhang Xiaotian knew very well that he couldn’t decide his own life right now. Everyone might have the right to choose, but he didn’t know when he would gain that right.

His mother said she had finally found her love after living for so many years, and after divorcing, she resolutely went abroad and was never heard from again. His father also seemed to be waiting for the day of the divorce and quickly started a new family. He was merely someone they couldn’t casually abandon due to responsibility. He was clear about his position.

It was just changing classes, changing guardians to spend time with, it didn’t matter. Zhang Xiaotian had long known that he had no right to fight for or choose these things that never belonged to him. He knew that all he could do was adapt.

He closed the book in front of him and looked up, meeting someone’s gaze. Seeing him look up, the person quickly lowered their head, averting their eyes. Zhang Xiaotian stared fixedly in that direction for a while, then picked up another book and lowered his head again.

The classroom was quiet, making the footsteps in the hallway, sometimes near and sometimes far, seem more pronounced. Zhang Xiaotian flipped through his book, but his attention was on his ears, guessing which direction the people walking by were going. Among them, there was a voice that was fast and heavy, carrying a somewhat abrupt vitality. The moment the early self-study bell rang, that footstep appeared behind Zhang Xiaotian.

Was he in the same class? He was really late. Zhang Xiaotian listened to the footsteps, his head down, guessing where his seat was. He heard the footsteps pause at the doorway for a moment, then get closer and closer, finally stopping to his left. A hand carrying a schoolbag appeared within his line of sight.

“Hey, who’s this new deskmate?”

Zhang Xiaotian followed the arm and looked up, into a pair of bright black eyes.

Lu Bai plopped down into the seat next to Zhang Xiaotian. “Are you a new student?”

Zhang Xiaotian didn’t answer, and instead asked, “Are you supposed to sit here? Is this seat your deskmate’s?”

“Now you’re my deskmate,” Lu Bai said.

That… wasn’t wrong. Zhang Xiaotian couldn’t help but frown, and then continued to ask, “Then where is the person who sat here before?”

“Over there,” Lu Bai pointed to the person sitting next to the podium. “He asked if I wanted to move with him, but I thought it was too far to the front, so I stayed here.”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded and continued to read his book.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaotian had no intention of talking to him further, Lu Bai also took out a book and placed it on his desk. His eyes were fixed on the book, but he didn’t want to read a single word. He sat still for a while, then pretended to stretch, leaning back and secretly glancing at Zhang Xiaotian’s books.

Although the new deskmate’s book had writing on it, it was still as neat as new, without a single crease or bent corner. His handwriting, however, was somewhat different from his appearance.

Lu Bai carefully examined his handwriting and then stared blankly at the back of Zhang Xiaotian’s head. He looked thin, upright, and quiet, even his whorl was neat and orderly. How could his handwriting be so unrestrained?

Zhang Xiaotian couldn’t concentrate on his studies during the entire early self-study session. Although he had entered a new environment and expected not to get into the groove so quickly, being stared at intently by an unfamiliar new classmate for the entire morning would make it difficult for anyone to study. He thought about going to the front to copy down the class schedule. As soon as he stood up, an unfamiliar classmate walked towards him.

“Uh, classmate, the class teacher wants you to go to his office.”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded and walked out of the classroom.

“Hello, Teacher Zhang,” Zhang Xiaotian knocked on the door. The homeroom teacher gestured for him to come in and pointed to the stool in front of him with his chin. After Zhang Xiaotian sat down, he began, “I just spoke with your mother.”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded.

“I believe you understand what kind of class this is. Setting aside everything else, grades are always the most important thing in my eyes, and I hope you’ll take that seriously. I can’t control who gets into this class or how, but whether you can stay depends on your own abilities.”

The homeroom teacher paused for a moment, sizing up the thin boy in front of him, and then softened his tone.

“Students with good grades are welcome in any class. I’ve seen your previous grades, and they’re not very stable, but I’m optimistic about you. The key is this month’s monthly exam.” He said this and tapped a table with his finger. Zhang Xiaotian leaned in to look. It was the grade-wide ranking list from the last monthly exam, where he had performed poorly, ranking in the low one-hundreds.

“The school’s tiered advancement system isn’t intended for students to change classes every month, but your grades are too unstable. If you perform too poorly in any exam, even if I want to keep you, it will be difficult to explain to the school and your parents. There are parents watching our class’s spots every day.”

Zhang Xiaotian was speechless. He felt a bit dazed, as if one moment he was just drifting along, and the next he was handed a weapon and pushed onto the battlefield without his armor fully on, only to be hit with a face full of sand.

“In the next monthly exam, your ranking must be at least in the top eighty.”

After leaving the office, Zhang Xiaotian returned to the classroom. As soon as he entered, he saw his deskmate chatting with two girls in front of him. The two girls turned away when they saw him return.

As soon as Zhang Xiaotian sat down, Lu Bai leaned over and placed a small biscuit in front of him. “Han Cheng… Han Chengcheng gave this to you. It’s delicious.”

Who is Han Chengcheng? Zhang Xiaotian was about to ask him when he caught a glimpse of the girl sitting in front of Lu Bai secretly peeking at him. When he discovered her, she quickly straightened her body.

It seemed to be her.

“Thank her for me,” Zhang Xiaotian said, then placed the biscuit on the corner of the desk.

“I won’t do that for you. You tell her yourself,” Lu Bai leaned back in his chair and continued, “Which class were you in before?”

“Class Four,” Zhang Xiaotian said, taking out the items he would need for the next class and arranging them on the desk.

“Class Four,” Lu Bai drew out his words. “I don’t know them very well.”

Zhang Xiaotian ignored him.

“Hey, you’ve got the wrong book,” Lu Bai tried to strike up a conversation again. “We don’t have Chinese next.”

“I saw on the schedule at the front that it’s Chinese,” Zhang Xiaotian didn’t believe him.

“That’s the old schedule. I know the new one,” Lu Bai reached out his arm as if to put it on Zhang Xiaotian’s shoulder. After Zhang Xiaotian dodged him, he settled for resting it on his chair back. “Just trust me.”

Zhang Xiaotian was skeptical. Just as he was about to put away his Chinese textbook, he saw the Chinese teacher walk in through the front door.

Zhang Xiaotian looked back at him again. Seeing Lu Bai’s mischievous grin, he felt a bit speechless and couldn’t help but give him a sideways glance.

“Oh, if I remember correctly, she teaches Chinese in Class Four too,” Lu Bai said. Not getting his prank to work didn’t embarrass him; instead, he became more emboldened and leaned closer to look at Zhang Xiaotian’s book.

Lu Bai’s sudden closeness caught Zhang Xiaotian off guard. He couldn’t pull his hand away to push him away in time, only managing to lean back to distance himself. Lu Bai’s fluffy head was right in front of him. He lowered his gaze, looking at the person’s thick, dark hair. He still smelled of laundry detergent, a warm scent of lavender.

Zhang Xiaotian’s name was written in the lower right corner of his Chinese textbook cover. Lu Bai leaned in to get a closer look, realizing that Zhang Xiaotian was trying hard to lean back and keep his distance. He then retreated to his own seat, chuckling, and repeated Zhang Xiaotian’s name.

“Your name is Zhang Xiaotian? That’s a rather cute name.” He rocked his chair back and forth. “My name is Lu Bai. Let’s get along well from now on.”