Best Deskmate of the Batch.
「That summer, the cicadas' cries were louder than ever, the branches outside the classroom window grew wildly, yet they could never block the scorching sun. 」
The inter-class breaks were always full of noise in the top floor of the Mingli Block in Fuzhong*. The study representative of Year 2*, Class A, drifted into the classroom from the hallway, shouting: "Announcement — our class is getting a new student!"
"Here comes the little eunuch from the Department of Internal Affairs to spread rumors again," someone teased.
"You're the one who's a little eunuch, I'm serious."
"It's neither midterms nor finals. Why would someone join now?"
"A transfer student!"
With this said, the awake students in the classroom suddenly perked up. "Male or female? Is it legit?"
"Absolutely legit! I just saw him. Male, fair-skinned, and pretty good-looking," the class representative smacked their lips and added, "Who know's which teacher decided to be a bastard and grabbed the school prince of another campus."
A wave of hoots and hollers echoed through the room. A few girls took advantage of the commotion to glance toward the back corner of the last row. There lay a boy napping on the desk, one hand covering the back of his head, his long fingers slightly bent, and the bones of his wrist standing out.
It was too noisy around him. He ruffled his short hair, turned his head, and changed to another sleeping position.
The girls quickly withdrew their gazes, their voices suddenly much quieter. "Where did he transfer from?"
The class representative announced the name of the school.
"What kind of place is that? Is there such a school around here?"
"I've never heard of it either, but it's probably a key school in the province. Otherwise, he wouldn't be transferring to our class."
"Hold on, I'll check." The boy who spoke, like a thief, pulled out his phone from under the desk. "Is there any teacher coming? Keep an eye out for me."
He quickly searched on his phone, then froze in shock. "What the hell?"
"What's wrong?"The boy showed his phone around, and the others were stunned too.
After a long pause, someone finally snapped back to reality: "He's from another province? He finished the first year of high school and transferred to Jiangsu*? Is he going to take the college entrance exam? Is that handsome guy's brain stuck in the door?"
The handsome guy, Sheng Wang, was currently waiting for a decision in the academic affairs office.
The cicadas continued their loud wails under the thick shade. He moved away from the window and put on his headphones before he could clearly hear the new voice message from his dad. There were three messages in a row, each lasting a minute, typical of Sheng Mingyang's style.
"Your Uncle Xiao-Chen just called and said you went upstairs by yourself. Why didn't you wait for him? New place, new classmates—it's better if someone shows you around.
How's the school environment? Is it very different from your old school? Although it's also a key school in the province, it's not the same province—"
"Did you see Old Xu yet—"
The air conditioner in the student affairs office was a bit old, and could only manage to cool certain areas, suitable for middle-aged and elderly people. Sheng Wang stood in front of the vent, the slight sweat at the tips of his hair blowing cold. He tapped the screen with his finger, only listening to the brief summary of each voice message before cutting it off. Each one made him roll his eyes, and by the third message, he was a bit dazed.
Of course, Sheng Wang knew who Uncle Chen was—he was the driver who had brought him to register. The teaching area didn't allow cars to enter, and the parking lot was far away. Sheng Wang didn't want to take an extra step, so he simply told him to leave after dropping him off.
"Who's Old Xu?" Sheng Wang pressed the send button.
"You're cutting off my voice messages again?" Sheng Mingyang replied instantly.
Sheng Wang tugged at his collar and waved it as if fanning himself, pretending the internet had cut out.
Sheng Mingyang quickly called back, sounding helpless: "Old Xu is the head of the student affairs office. He's not very tall, looks quite proper, might be a bit strict. He should have been the one to greet you. Did you meet him?"
Sheng Wang tried to recall based on his dad's description: "I don't think so. The teacher who greeted me upstairs was really nice, always smiling, but looked like a big-mouthed monkey*."
He was also shorter, just about reaching Sheng Wang's shoulder, and had to look up to talk to him. He left Sheng Wang here and went downstairs, saying he was going to get the new textbooks.
Sheng Mingyang paused for a moment: "Oh, well, that sounds like him."
Sheng Wang: "..."
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Dad, do you think I look proper?"
Sheng Mingyang wanted to hit him.
As a businessman, he was highly skilled at talking to anyone, whether human or ghost, but when it came to his son, he couldn't hold back.
A voice came from outside the door. Sheng Wang peeked his head out and said, "Monkey—no, I mean, Director Xu is here. I'll hang up now."
Sheng Mingyang sped up his speech: "Alright, make a good impression, try to leave a good first impression with the teachers, and don't give people silly nicknames."
"Okay." Sheng Wang replied lazily.
"Tonight, let Xiao Chen pick you up. By that time, I should almost be home, and I'll take you—"
He hesitated for a moment, then casually added, "We'll go out to eat with Aunt Jiang. You know, the thing we discussed last time, okay?"
Sheng Wang pressed his lips together.
Aunt Jiang's name was Jiang Ou, and she had a son. Sheng Wang had never met Jiang Ou in person, only seen two photos of her, and those he barely glanced at.
This name had been mentioned every now and then for almost a year, at first every few months, but now almost daily. He was getting used to it.
It had to be said that Sheng Mingyang was a master at controlling the pace of things; there was no way to find fault with him. Even when Sheng Wang wanted to throw a tantrum, he couldn't find the right angle to start from.
Last month, Sheng Mingyang said he'd be much busier in the second half of the year and wouldn't be home much. He also said that something had happened with Jiang O, and her house was no longer livable. So, he wanted Jiang O to move in—she'd have a place to stay and could help look after Sheng Wang.
Actually, the "looking after" was a lie; the house had maids for cleaning and cooking. The "accident" might not have been real either, but it was just an excuse, a reason to bring her in. Once they were living together, could she really leave?
This matter was presented as a discussion, but before Sheng Wang even had a chance to agree, new supplies had already started to appear in the house. Everything was being prepared to welcome the woman—and her son.
Whether or not they had dinner together tonight, the result was already set.
After a long silence and no response from Sheng Wang, Sheng Mingyang called out his name. At that moment, Director Xu, who looked like a big-mouthed monkey, happened to walk in. Sheng Wang paused for a moment and ended the call.
After all, it was new student registration, and Director Xu from the political education office still maintained a basic level of kindness: "Talking to your family? No problem, you don't have to hang up so quickly, it's fine to finish your conversation."
Sheng Wang turned around, smiling with youthful energy: "Thank you, Teacher. I was just finishing up."
Director Xu nodded to the teacher behind him. He had just said downstairs that although the new transfer student had a face that could easily trouble young girls, he looked like a well-behaved student and wouldn't cause any trouble.
"Come, sit." Director Xu pointed to a small stack of books that had been moved in. "These are the textbooks we will theoretically be using this semester, you can flip through them."
What did "theoretically" mean?
Sheng Wang didn't quite understand the meaning of that phrase at first. He flipped through the chemistry book on top of the stack for a couple of pages. The content seemed to connect well with what he had learned before; it wasn't too different, and he felt it wouldn't be difficult to catch up.
"I've looked through your previous records. You've transferred schools a few times, right?" Director Xu asked.
Sheng Wang nodded slightly: "Mm, I've transferred a few times." Most of the time, he just followed his father, Sheng Mingyang.
He went to elementary school in Jiangsu, transferred twice from middle school to first year of high school, and this was his third time. Because of these experiences, he didn't really have any attachment to any place and never stayed long.
"I've seen your transcripts, very impressive. You've mostly been in the top three of your grade in exams. Your qualifications are definitely up to par, it's just that the course schedule and progress might be a bit different between the two schools," Director Xu said, gesturing with his fingers to indicate a small gap of less than a centimeter. "Transferring schools, you'll inevitably face these kinds of issues. Just put in a little effort, and you can catch up. Don't worry."
Sheng Wang had always sailed through smoothly and had never been scared of academics. He wasn't really the type to feel fear. But he couldn't appear too arrogant, so he lowered his pride and said, "I was mentally prepared before coming. I'll work hard to catch up."
Director Xu became even kinder: "Did you have any pre-course tracking in first year?"
Sheng Wang answered: "No, the school tried a class rotation system for a semester."
"Oh," Director Xu nodded, "Actually, we also use a class rotation system, just a little differently."
Sheng Wang was a bit confused: "Differently? How is it different?"
"The class you're joining, Class A, is the Year 2 Physics and Chemistry Intensive Class. We rotate halfway through the semester. You know there are two big exams, midterms and finals, right? After each exam, the bottom three students drop down to Class B, and the top three from Class B are promoted to Class A. That's the rotation system we use."
Sheng Wang: "..."
In short, their system was a course selection rotation, while ours was a "get out" rotation.
After scaring the kids enough, Director Xu finally decided to act a little more like a person.
He led Sheng Wang through the flower corridor toward Mingli Block. As they passed an honor wall, Sheng Wang couldn't help but glance at it a few more times because the expressionless "ID photos" on the wall looked way too much like wanted posters.
The school's sense of aesthetics was truly something, he thought.
However, Director Xu, standing on tiptoe, proudly performed a "peacock display" and said, "There weren't too many competitions in Year 1, but we still performed quite well. Most of the people on this wall will become your classmates, so you can take a look and recognize a few in advance."
Sheng Wang, who had face blindness, wasn't interested in recognizing his classmates in advance, but he did remember one person.
First, this person's photo appeared so often that they had practically turned the honor wall into a "connect the dots" game.
Second, his surname was Jiang, his name was Jiang Tian.
The key point was the second one.
Sheng Wang thought if he were an emperor, he'd probably be a tyrant, always punishing people. He was a little petty, but lately, he just couldn't stand anyone with the surname Jiang.
Director Xu admired the wall for the thousandth time but suddenly made a sour face. He stepped closer to Jiang Tian's photo, wiped it twice with his hand, and said angrily, "Who drew these hearts on the honor wall? No rules, no discipline!"
Sheng Wang, standing next to him, added fuel to the fire: "It's not just one person who drew them."
The school photographer had a wild style, but the people in the photos still retained some kind of characteristic. In Director Xu's words, they had the kind of face that could easily charm young girls. However, Sheng Wang thought that these cool-toned boys were probably all "Bking"* types.
He silently prayed that he'd stay away from this person in the future, so he wouldn't accidentally get into a fight one day because he couldn't stand it anymore.
But as soon as he made this wish, within five minutes, Director Xu had placed him next to the real-life "Bking." The reason was that, at the start, catching up with the lessons would be a bit difficult, and the best solution was to ask your desk mate if you had any questions.
Director Xu said: "Looking across the whole year, I doubt you'll find a more suitable desk mate than Jiang Tian."
As soon as the words left his mouth, all forty-odd pairs of eyes in the class turned to look at him with suffocating stares.
Sheng Wang dryly glanced at the "Big-Mouth Monkey" and thought to himself, "I can't believe this."
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*Fuzhong: 附中 (fù zhōng) is an abbreviation in Chinese that stands for 附属中学 (fù shǔ zhōng xué), meaning an affiliated middle or high school. These schools are often connected to universities or prestigious institutions, serving as their secondary education branch.
*Year 2: Grade 11.
* Jiangsu: Jiangsu is notorious for having the hardest college entrance exams out of all the provinces, to the students, someone transferring in is the same as asking for death.
*Big mouth monkey: The name for Paul frank in chinese.
*Bking: Or read as B-king, is a cn (chinese internet) slang used to mock/tease people who seemed to appear "cool" for every single action, and the light practically shining out of thier asses.