"We both go to Tsinghua."
—— Jiang Su.
[No matter how many years go by, Jiang Su and Lin Wei will never forget that day, the first day they met.]
...
Being quite far from the stairs, Lin Wei, who had taken three days of sick leave, walked into class with her backpack along the corridor, feeling that the entire floor had a strange vibe.
Oddly silent.
There were still twenty-seven minutes until morning study time, yet there was no noise at all.
Everyone was seated in the classroom, with Lin Wei being the last to arrive.
Everyone was like a primary school student, heads bowed down, either reading, staring blankly at the book, or yawning.
Even though everyone in the class was the best of the best in the science department, they usually didn't study this hard.
She only left for three days, three short days, how come everyone is acting as if they don't recognize her?
Feeling a bit like she was sleepwalking, Lin Wei sat in her seat, took out her textbook while gently nudging her sleepy classmate who was engrossed in their book: "What happened?"
Lin Wei's classmate's name is Bai Jian, even though her surname is "white", her skin isn't.
She heard Lin Wei's voice and immediately shushed her, pretending to be mumbling and memorizing, she said in a low voice: "You missed a big event in the past three days when you were not here."
"Do you know Jiang Su?"
Lin Wei nodded, "Yeah, Jiangsu Province."
"..."
"The capital is Nanjing, located on the eastern coast of mainland China, north to Shandong, east to the Yellow Sea, southeast to Zhejiang and Shanghai, and west to Anhui."
"..."
Bai Jian paused for a moment, said "Okay" and turned a page of her book in a very formal manner: "The Jiang Su I'm talking about is not Jiangsu Province, but 'Su' for destiny."
"I'm talking about that Jiang Su, the provincial exam top scorer a year ahead of us, who scored full marks on his composition and made the news, and was invited by our school. He has always been the pride of our school. He just had to participate in any competition and our school's honor was guaranteed. But later, he fell from grace."
"It was said that he got into a fight during the winter holiday of his sophomore year, and seemed to have caused someone's death. Everyone thought he would go to jail, but he didn't. The matter was mysteriously hushed up."
Lin Wei felt that her deskmate was quite enthusiastic about the story. Even though she had no interest at all, she decided to show some: "Oh."
"After the winter holiday, he didn't come to school for a whole year. Do you know where he was in that year? They said he was in a mental hospital. Some people believe his mental issue was not cured at all. However, thanks to his wealthy family, he not only left the mental hospital early, but also returned to school. He joined our class and started studying again at the second half term of the sophomore year."
"You just don't know what happened these two days since he came. Not to mention our class being more than disciplined, even the whole floor became extremely quiet. We even hold it in unless we can't resist the urge to use the toilet during class breaks, for fear of provoking that psycho."
"The day when he came, he kissed a female student as soon as he arrived at school, beat up the girl's boyfriend, and even claimed that he likes girls who have boyfriends — he would mess with any girl who had one."
"
"This Jiang Su…" Lin Wei interrupted Bai Jian, thinking that if what Bai Jian was saying was all true, then Jiang Su isn't just crazy, he is :"... a fool?"
Bai Jian tugged at her sleeve under the desk in a secretive manner: "Lower your voice."
Bai Jian's words were cut off by the arrival of exercise books from the front row.
Although Lin Wei had taken leave, she had been conscientiously finishing her homework every day, and had her mother, who worked in the same school, submit it for her to the head teacher.
Although Lin Wei and Bai Jian were said to be sitting in the second to the last row, they were effectively in the last row, for the two desks behind them were vacant and nobody ever sat there.
Bai Jian didn't even turn her head as she dropped Lin Wei's exercise book on her desk, reaching as far as she could.
However, it was Lin Wei who accepted two exercise books from the previous row.
Noticing the two exercise books, Lin Wei was surprised, when Bai Jian nudged her shoulder: "That Jiang Su is right behind you. I heard he is vengeful, diabolical and terrifying…"
Remembering that she had just mindlessly called Jiang Su a fool behind his back, Lin Wei felt a bit awkward. She held the two exercise books in her hand and lowered her voice to ask, "Do you think he heard what I just said?"
"He shouldn't have, right? At that time the head teacher just walked into the classroom and was telling the first row to distribute the homework."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not really that sure."
"What if he heard and hits me…"
Before Lin Wei could finish speaking, a pen poked her shoulder.
She shivered and twisted her head to see a particularly good-looking hand.
Distinct knuckles, slender fingers... only the skin was too pale, a kind of white that emits a cold glint.
The one who prodded her became impatient when she didn't react. Likely leaning on his elbows on the table, he sat up his upper body. Despite being inside the classroom, he still had the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. His cap pulled down low, and only a tiny section of his chin glowed white was revealed.
He pointed with a pen at the homework book Lin Wei was holding. Seeing she had no reaction, he slightly stood up, extended his arm toward it but didn't pull the book away. His voice was cold, impatient, and displeased, "Just how long are you going to leave it on top of mine?"
Lin Wei: "..."
Jiang Su's voice wasn't loud, but it still attracted the attention of many people in the subsequent rows.
Though they didn't hear Jiang Su's exact words, they could sense a subtle atmosphere at the last two desks by the window.
In the midst of silence, Lin Wei, who was startled by Jiang Su's words, slowly looked up and stared at that slightly glowing white chin of his.
Was he flirting with her just now?
Yes, he was indeed flirting with her.
It seems Bai Jian was right. Her new deskmate was indeed a bit strange.
Jiang Su waited for a while. Seeing that the girl at the front desk was tightly holding her assignment book with no intention to let go of it, he slightly rose from his seat to extend his arm even further.
His chin moved forward with his motion.
Lin Wei saw his lips, which were of a pale color, and beautifully shaped, just like those favored by painters.
As his lips got closer and closer to her, Lin Wei suddenly remembered what Bai Jian told her.
On his first day at school, he forcefully kissed a girl and arrogantly claimed that he would steal anyone's girlfriend.
He couldn't be aiming at her now, could he?
Seeing Jiang Su continually moving his head forward without stopping, Lin Wei blurted out subconsciously: "I don't have a boyfriend."
Jiang Su paused for a moment.
His face was mostly covered by his sweatshirt hood, so his expression couldn't be seen.
However, Lin Wei felt that he glanced at her lips once, and instinctively pursed her own.
Jiang Su "heh" at her, a short and light laugh filled with mockery and disdain. He then forcefully snatched away the two assignment books from her hands.
He tossed the upper one onto Lin Wei's desk and then sat back down with the other one. He carelessly threw the assignment book on the desk and rested his head on it without moving.
Lin Wei: "..."
The bell rang, and it was time for morning reading.
The classroom was filled with loud reading voices.
Lin Wei took out her textbook and quietly recited English words.
Her voice faded out as she kept reciting. And then, after a while, she realized what had happened. Looking at the assignment book on her desk, she felt a surge of embarrassment.
Just how long are you going to leave it on top of mine?
Just how long are you (assignment book) going to stay on top of mine (assignment book)?
It turned out that her somewhat strange new deskmate was a master of impressive abbreviations.