CY – Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

“Quiet down! Listen up! The boys’ 4×400 meter relay is still one person short,” the sports representative announced from the podium, tapping the blackboard. “And there’s the 1000 meters, who’s signing up?”

Self-study class was ten minutes from ending, and without a teacher present, the students were chatting. Only a few who intended to sign up for events were listening to the sports representative. Zhang Xiaotian rested his chin on his hand, twirling a pen, contemplating the upcoming midterm exams and not giving the sports meet that followed much thought. His midterm scores would determine if he could stay in Class One. As long as he met the minimum standard for the science experimental class, he could remain here. Since joining Class One, he’d certainly put more effort into his studies. He’d done several practice tests at home in the last two days, and after calculating his potential score, he felt confident about staying. Still, with the exam drawing closer each day, he felt a little uncertain.

“Hey, deskmate, are you thinking of signing up for any events?” Lu Bai raised his hand and signed up for the 400-meter relay. He scanned Zhang Xiaotian from head to toe and said, “You have long legs, why not sign up for a long-distance race?”

“I’m not going,” Zhang Xiaotian replied listlessly.

“Sign up for one, it’s about participation,” Lu Bai winked at him.

“If you want to sign up, sign up yourself,” Zhang Xiaotian pouted and turned his head away.

“Sign up,” Lu Bai cozied up to him warmly. “It only happens once a year, just treat it as fun.”

Running until he was covered in sweat, exhausted, and being gawked at by others – what was fun about that? Just as Zhang Xiaotian was about to push away Lu Bai’s tousled head, he was suddenly called out by the sports representative on the podium: “Excuse me, new student, your name is Zhang Xiaotian, right?”

Hearing Zhang Xiaotian being called, Lu Bai and the others stopped what they were doing and looked towards the podium. The sports representative looked a bit embarrassed but still spoke, “Um, we’re a bit short on people. We still need one more for the long jump. Shall I sign you up?”

“Guan Yue, don’t just assign him,” Li An suddenly interjected, and the classroom fell silent for a moment.

“Don’t we need people?” the sports representative, Guan Yue, explained. “Zhang Xiaotian, if you’re okay with it, I’ll write you down…”

“We don’t even know if he’ll be able to stay in our class after the midterms…” someone next to him nudged Li An. Li An seemed to realize his words were inappropriate and his voice grew softer. Whispers spread throughout the room, and some people stealthily glanced at Zhang Xiaotian. Zhang Xiaotian sighed, and the hand twirling the pen stopped.

“Um,” Guan Yue held his pen, unsure whether to write or not, and hesitated before asking again, “Are you signing up, Zhang Xiaotian?”

This was so awkward. Zhang Xiaotian looked at Guan Yue, left hanging at the podium. He thought he should just agree, not to make things difficult for him, and was about to speak when Lu Bai suddenly said, “Yes, why not?”

The classroom fell so silent that even breathing could be heard. Zhang Xiaotian was also startled by Lu Bai’s outburst. He looked at Lu Bai, whose expression was unreadable, his voice ringing out clearly in the eerie atmosphere.

“Lu Bai, you…” Li An’s face was grim, and he seemed about to say something more, but Lu Bai didn’t give him the chance. “My deskmate has such long legs, he looks like he can jump far. He’ll definitely bring back a ranking for our class.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the bell for the end of class rang like thunder. From the moment Lu Bai opened his mouth until now, Zhang Xiaotian hadn’t been able to tear his gaze away from Lu Bai. After Lu Bai finished speaking, he looked back and smiled at Zhang Xiaotian.

Because of this incident, Zhang Xiaotian was distracted all day. To make matters worse, Teacher Zhang liked having group discussions during English class. Zhang Xiaotian’s eyes were on the English newspaper in his hand, but not a single English word registered in his mind.

He didn’t really care about what Class Monitor Li An had said. In fact, ever since he transferred to this class, he could feel a sense of indifference from his classmates. New students transferring in and out was probably commonplace for them; they had likely lost interest in making friends. But it didn’t matter, he wasn’t here to make friends anyway. Only Lu Bai’s attitude towards him was different. However, seeing how he could strike up a conversation with anyone, Lu Bai’s warmth towards him wasn’t entirely unexpected. But Zhang Xiaotian hadn’t anticipated that Lu Bai would speak up for him just now, as if he firmly believed Zhang Xiaotian would stay in Class One. This inexplicable trust suddenly fell upon his shoulders, and Zhang Xiaotian felt a little unaccustomed to it.

“Deskmate, did you get the fourth question right?”

Zhang Xiaotian heard Lu Bai call him and snapped back to attention. He glanced at the newspaper in his hand, “Which fourth question?”

“The fourth question in the third reading passage,” Lu Bai looked at him and took his newspaper. “This one’s wrong too. It’s the second issue, you grabbed the wrong one, deskmate.”

Zhang Xiaotian swapped for another paper.

“Well,” Lu Bai placed the newspaper he was holding on the desk. “Don’t take what Li An said today to heart. He’s like this with everyone, it’s not directed at you.”

“Mm,” Zhang Xiaotian nodded.

“When will Li An ever change,” the slightly plump girl sitting in front of Zhang Xiaotian also put down her newspaper, folded her arms, and said, “Such a sharp tongue, always blabbering, never a good word to say.”

“Exactly,” the girl next to her nodded in agreement.

“Lu Bai, is that how the four of you are supposed to be discussing?” Teacher Zhang suddenly called out. “How can you be discussing problems and put down your newspapers?”

The four of them quickly pretended to be discussing.

“It’s all your fault, Yin Li. You moved your newspaper so loudly, Old Zhang noticed,” Lu Bai whispered, making faces at the slightly plump girl.

“Don’t blame me. Old Zhang can only see my back from the front. I think he saw you put down your newspaper,” Yin Li retorted. While bickering, they still held up their newspapers as if studying.

Zhang Xiaotian looked at the two girls sitting in front of him through his newspaper. The one sitting diagonally opposite him was the one who gave him cookies last time, her name sounded like “Cheng” something, and the one in front of him was likely Yin Li. He didn’t want to hear the three of them talk about today’s incident anymore, so he interjected, “I got it right, the fourth sub-question of the third reading passage.”

“Huh?” Lu Bai didn’t react immediately.

“Didn’t you just ask about this question?” Zhang Xiaotian flicked the newspaper with his finger. “Do you want me to explain it?”

“Explain, explain!” Lu Bai quickly took out his pen.

The incorrect questions on one newspaper were quickly explained, but Teacher Zhang didn’t signal for the discussion to stop. Lu Bai and the two girls started chatting again. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t participate and just held up his newspaper, listening from the side.

“We also have to perform at the sports meet,” Yin Li was drawing on the blank space of the newspaper with a red pen, pretending to be serious about explaining the problem. “I’ve seen other classes practicing on the field when they have free time. They’re all dancing, and a few classes have even clashed with their dance routines.”

“Wouldn’t that be awkward on the performance day?” Lu Bai crouched down behind the front desk and said. “What are we performing then? Why is there no movement at all?”

“I heard it’s going to be a poetry recitation,” Yin Li’s deskmate said. “Old Zhang said so himself.”

“When did he say that?” Lu Bai sat up with a “flutter.” “Where did you hear that, Han Cheng?”

Teacher Zhang’s eyes swept over them like spotlights. Zhang Xiaotian quickly kicked Lu Bai’s stool, and Lu Bai crouched back down.

“Lu Bai, don’t be so fidgety,” Han Chengcheng said. “I overheard Old Zhang talking with Li An yesterday. He said poetry recitation doesn’t require much rehearsal time.”

“Boring,” Lu Bai pouted. “No one in our class is seriously rehearsing for a performance anyway.”

Zhang Xiaotian recalled Class One’s disjointed chorus performance at last year’s sports meet. It truly looked like a token effort.

“Deskmate, you might not be used to it yet,” Lu Bai said to Zhang Xiaotian. “Our class has always prioritized academics. Everything else is secondary, and no one cares about those things anyway.”

“There’s nothing to get used to. I didn’t participate in group activities in Class Four either,” Zhang Xiaotian replied.

“Oh, really?” Lu Bai murmured, then suddenly turned to ask, “So, you didn’t want to jump far originally? Oh dear, was I being too nosy?”

“Why are you so noisy? Keep your movements small,” Zhang Xiaotian tapped his newspaper with his finger, pretending to explain the problem. “It wasn’t you being nosy, I was going to sign up anyway.”

“Oh,” Lu Bai looked dejected, clearly not believing him.

Zhang Xiaotian looked at him and couldn’t help but ask, “Why were you so sure I would stay in Class One?”

“Hmm?” Lu Bai hadn’t expected him to ask that and stammered, “I just felt like your grades should be pretty good. Besides, you got the questions right that the three of us couldn’t answer earlier.”

Zhang Xiaotian looked at him and remained silent.

“Oh, anyway, I just think you’ll definitely do it. I see you every day, so I should know, right?” Lu Bai scratched his head and added.

Seeing his foolish expression, Zhang Xiaotian couldn’t help but laugh. He quickly turned his head away.

“Did you laugh?” Lu Bai nudged him lightly. “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny? I believe in you so much, and you’re still laughing at me.”

Zhang Xiaotian took a deep breath. When he turned his head back, his face was expressionless, except for the unnaturally tight corners of his mouth. Lu Bai slung an arm around his neck. “You dare laugh at me! I’ll deal with you!” he said, reaching out to ruffle Zhang Xiaotian’s hair.

“Stop fooling around!” Zhang Xiaotian tried to dodge but couldn’t break free. Just as he was about to push Lu Bai away, he heard Li An’s voice.

“Lu Bai! Are you messing around right after the homeroom teacher left?”

The homeroom teacher had left at some point, and now Li An stood at the podium with a small notebook. Lu Bai retracted his arm, and both of them looked at Li An.

Li An tapped the blackboard with his notebook. “We’re short one person to help manage things for the sports meet. Lu Bai, you’re in.”

“Li An definitely isn’t up to anything good,” Lu Bai said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder right after evening self-study ended, standing next to Zhang Xiaotian.

Zhang Xiaotian saw that he was waiting for him and quickened his pace. The two of them left the classroom together.

“Is he bullying people?” Zhang Xiaotian asked him.

“Bullying? No way,” Lu Bai said indifferently. “It’s just that I didn’t side with him when signing up for events, so he’s unhappy and wants to give me some trouble, that’s all.”

Quite childish. Zhang Xiaotian chuckled.

“You also think he’s pretty childish, right?” Lu Bai also chuckled. “I can’t be bothered with him.”

“You… if you get too busy to handle it, tell me,” Zhang Xiaotian said. “I can help out too.”

“That’s great, deskmate,” Lu Bai leaned towards Zhang Xiaotian as if he had no bones, but Zhang Xiaotian dodged him.

“After all, you stood up for me,” Zhang Xiaotian said.

“You just focus on your exams and then slap Li An in the face!” Lu Bai grinned, showing a row of white teeth, and clapped Zhang Xiaotian hard on the back before darting away. Zhang Xiaotian staggered from the clap, and by the time he regained his balance, he didn’t chase after him. He watched Lu Bai run a few steps to the school gate, turn around, and disappear.