After Jingzhe¹Jingzhe (惊蛰): One of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, usually falling in early March. It marks the awakening of hibernating insects and the true beginning of spring, symbolizing the return of warmth and renewed activity. passed, the weather gradually warmed up. It was another Monday, and everyone’s holiday had ended.

Except for senior year.

Because senior year had no holidays at all.

Senior-year students often gave off a very particular aura. Even though everyone wore the same school uniform, they were still easy to tell apart. At the Monday flag-raising ceremony, the playground was a black mass of people, and the area with the strongest “dead-person vibe” was the senior-year formation.

The college entrance exam was right around the corner. It was already annoying enough, and on top of that they had to stand there every Monday like idiots listening to idiot school leaders say idiot things, which made it even more annoying.

The principal was speaking on stage. Hardly anyone was listening seriously. Someone beside her yawned, and Xiang Di yawned along with them.

It wasn’t until the principal mentioned the results of this senior-year joint exam that she suddenly widened her eyes.

Discussion sounds rose around them.

“Na ni²Na ni — A Japanese exclamation meaning “What?”?”

“Mo la gu³Mo la gu — Phonetic rendering of the Korean 뭐라고? (mwo-ra-go, “What did you say?”)?

“It’s out already? What kind of workhorse grading teacher is this?”

“It’s over, I don’t want to know.”

The joint exam was an old tradition among senior classes, with test papers jointly written by eight key high schools across the city, abbreviated as the Eight-School Joint Exam.

The joint exam questions were always harder than the college entrance exam. Students feared these large-scale joint exams the most, but the principal was beaming as he announced a piece of good news to the entire school: in this joint exam, the overall performance of the senior year was outstanding, surpassing their brother schools. In particular, this time, the student ranked first overall in the physics track came from their school.

Now even the freshmen and sophomores, who had nothing to do with it, let out sounds of amazement.

“Holy crap? That’s insane.”

“Unbelievable.”

“My god, who is it? That’s so impressive.”

Meanwhile, those with decent social circles who knew a few senior students were much calmer. Without the principal revealing it, they could already guess who it was.

Let alone the seniors themselves. After so many exams, who could take first place—everyone knew it all too well, unless some dark horse could crush that person.

“Bai Jiangxin, right?”

“If it’s not Bai Jiangxin, I’ll eat my test paper.”

Xiang Di didn’t join the discussion, but she also felt it had to be Bai Jiangxin.

She silently clasped her hands together in her heart, only praying that she could do a little better this time. She didn’t dare hope for first place—that wasn’t realistic—but at least, she wanted to be a little closer to him.

The principal announced the name of the first-place student.

“It’s student Bai Jiangxin from Senior Three (97) Class. Everyone should learn from him.”

On the senior side, there was an immediate chorus of “I knew it” from the self-proclaimed prophets. Students from other classes all turned to look toward Class 97’s formation. This joint exam hadn’t been easy, and everyone wanted to pay their respects to the halo of the top student, hoping it would bless them to guess everything right on the next exam.

Receiving the envious yet complicated looks from colleagues, Class 97’s homeroom teacher, Chen Jinghua, felt quite proud, thinking that the college entrance exam was basically secured this time. If nothing unexpected happened, the top scorer title would come from their class.

Chen Jinghua planned to give Bai Jiangxin an approving look, but when he glanced toward his class’s formation, he didn’t see him.

Chen Jinghua asked, “Where’s Bai Jiangxin?”

Ye Minjia, who was closest to Bai Jiangxin in their class, said, “Teacher, he went to pee. He really couldn’t hold it anymore.”

Chen Jinghua’s expression stiffened in embarrassment, and quiet snickers sounded within the formation.

Holding in urine was actually a pretty normal thing. From childhood to adulthood, who hadn’t held it in a few times while at school? But using that to describe Bai Jiangxin—no matter how you thought about it, you just couldn’t picture it.

Only Xiang Di didn’t laugh, because she knew the truth.

Ye Minjia was covering for Bai Jiangxin. Bai Jiangxin hadn’t been there since morning reading, and the first class later wasn’t the homeroom teacher’s class, so no one would call roll. Up to now, he still hadn’t come to school.

She sneak-glanced at Bai Jiangxin eight hundred times a day, so she was very sure.

But even if she weren’t secretly in love with Bai Jiangxin, as a classmate she still wouldn’t snitch. That was a matter of a person’s character.

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

After the morning assembly ended, everyone left the playground according to their class formations.

Xiang Di had woken up late that morning and hadn’t eaten breakfast. Her stomach hurt with hunger. She greeted her deskmate, Liang Qianqian, telling her that if the bell rang and she still hadn’t made it back, to help tell the teacher she had gone to the bathroom.

Liang Qianqian said, “OK, OK. Buy me a bread too while you’re at it.”

The morning wind carried a chill. Xiang Di covered her bangs with one hand and jogged toward the school shop.

At this time, it was almost class time, and the shop hardly had anyone inside.

The bell was about to ring. Xiang Di urged herself on, quickly picked two breakfast breads with fresh dates, and went to check out.

After paying, she was just about to sprint back to the classroom at a hundred-meter-dash speed when the shop’s wind-blocking curtain was lifted and someone else came in.

Her originally hurried steps froze instantly. Xiang Di’s brain hadn’t even reacted yet, but her heartbeat had already instinctively sped up a beat ahead of time.

It was Bai Jiangxin.

The boy was tall and slender, carrying his backpack slung over one shoulder. His short hair was neatly trimmed, his school uniform loose and clean. His features were well-proportioned, his brows clear and eyes bright, a straight nose and thin lips. His eyes were dark like ink dots, peach-blossom lashes⁴Peach-blossom lashes (桃花睫): A descriptive term in Chinese aesthetics referring to long, slightly drooping eyelashes that give the eyes a soft, alluring look—often associated with peach-blossom eyes and an effortlessly attractive, romantic aura. slightly drooping. With a blank expression on his face, he looked very hard to approach.

The science god of their grade, known by everyone, and someone who shattered the stereotypical image of science boys. Handsome to the point that, although the school had explicitly banned the selection of school belles and school heartthrobs, in everyone’s hearts he was already an unquestionable school-heartthrob-level figure.

When Xiang Di was little, she had learned traditional Chinese painting from her aunt for a period of time. Every time she saw Bai Jiangxin, she would imagine the baimiao scenes⁵Baimiao scenes (白描): A traditional Chinese painting technique that uses clean, minimal ink lines without shading or color. In literature, it refers to a vivid yet restrained style of depiction—capturing form and spirit with just a few simple strokes. in traditional Chinese paintings—just a few sparse strokes, yet vividly depicting towering mountains, snow blanketing everything, and a cold, aloof immortal standing alone in the snowy landscape, detached from the world.

At times like this, she would deeply regret not having persisted with painting back then. Otherwise, now she could “cook” for herself.

Brushing past Xiang Di, Bai Jiangxin went straight toward the shelves.

Xiang Di’s current mood was no less than pulling a hidden edition from a blind box.

The bell was about to ring—should she hurry back to the classroom, or… stay a little longer?

After a few seconds of inner struggle, Xiang Di convinced herself.

Then she’d stay a little longer. Anyway, Qianqian would cover for her.

So she turned around and went back.

Before the shop owner even asked anything, she covered her ears while stealing a bell⁶Stealing a bell (掩耳盗铃): A Chinese idiom meaning to deceive oneself while trying to hide something obvious. It comes from a story about a thief who covered his own ears while stealing a bell, thinking others wouldn’t hear it if he couldn’t. and proactively explained, “Hehe, I forgot to buy something.”

The girl wore a delicate, cute face and let out an awkward dry laugh. The shop owner looked completely confused.

Xiang Di quietly walked over.

Bai Jiangxin was picking out bread. She stood two meters away, also pretending to pick bread.

At this moment, her brain and her mouth were holding another debate.

—Stupid mouth, such a good opportunity, open your mouth and strike up a conversation!

—Stupid brain, what if he ignores you! Wouldn’t you be embarrassed to death! Just look a couple of times to satisfy yourself, that’s enough. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

—…At the very least, you’re classmates. He wouldn’t ignore you, right?

—Are you sure he even knows you’re classmates? You’ve been in the same class for a whole semester—have you ever said a single sentence to him?

Xiang Di hesitated, only daring to watch from afar.

Until she saw Bai Jiangxin pick up a bread with a bad date. Without thinking much, this time her body moved faster than her brain, and she walked over directly.

“Um, don’t take that row,” Xiang Di said. “I just checked this row, it’s about to expire. Take the row underneath, that one has a fresher date.”

Bai Jiangxin turned his head and met her eyes.

His indifferent gaze landed on her face. Xiang Di held her breath.

He lowered his head to look at the date again, put the bread back, and took another one from the bottom row.

He said, “Thanks.”

It was just a very polite thank-you, nothing special, but at this moment Xiang Di felt as if she had been smashed senseless by happiness.

What kind of good day was today, exactly?

The sudden happiness left her a little dizzy. Gathering her courage, she added another sentence: “Um, the principal mentioned your name during the morning assembly today.”

Most people would probably ask what happened at this point, but Bai Jiangxin didn’t. He seemed completely unconcerned about why the principal would mention his name, and instead calmly asked her in return, “How do you know my name?”

Just a second ago she had been marveling at her own luck. This second, his words were like a bucket of cold water poured over her head.

Why did she know? Because they were classmates.

And he didn’t know, which meant he had no impression of her.

He didn’t even know that they were classmates.

It hurt a little—the person she had secretly liked for so long had actually never noticed her at all.

In that instant, Xiang Di didn’t even have the courage to tell him that they were classmates.

She was only thankful that she hadn’t randomly struck up a conversation earlier, that she had only thought about it in her heart and hadn’t shown it in front of him. At least it wasn’t embarrassing.

Xiang Di smiled, her tone generous. “You’re pretty famous in our grade. Of course I know.”

Feeling dejected inside, in order to cover up the real reason she had come back, Xiang Di still bought one more bread before leaving.

 ─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

She sprinted the whole way, arriving at the classroom right as the bell rang.

“Love you, my treasure.” Liang Qianqian let out a sound of surprise. “Why did you even buy meat floss? Don’t you dislike that?”

Xiang Di explained, “Mm, it was too rushed. I didn’t look carefully. I just grabbed one.”

“Then let me eat the meat floss one,” Liang Qianqian said.

“It’s fine. I bought the one you like. You eat that. I’ll eat the meat floss one, I suddenly want to try it.”

“Alright then. If you really can’t accept it, give it to me later.”

While the teacher hadn’t arrived yet, Xiang Di tore open the packaging and took a tentative bite.

She didn’t like savory bread, so she didn’t like meat floss. But just now, seeing that Bai Jiangxin had taken a meat-floss bread, she couldn’t help herself and took one too.

Even if, in Bai Jiangxin’s eyes, she was just a stranger, she still wanted to try everything related to him.

Sigh, such a pathetic love-brain.

Xiang Di evaluated herself like this in her heart as she took another bite of the bread.

But anyway, he didn’t know she had a crush on him, so whatever.

And having a crush on him wasn’t entirely without benefits. Senior year was so exhausting—being able to see him at school every day at least gave her a bit more motivation to study.

Thinking it over like that, the ever-optimistic Xiang Di suddenly felt it wasn’t such a big deal after all, and the bread in her mouth even started to taste better.

She’d barely taken two bites when the teacher arrived. Xiang Di hurriedly put the bread away and hid it in her desk, muttering to herself about why Bai Jiangxin still hadn’t come to class. Had he skipped the morning assembly and planned to skip another class too? How was she supposed to get through the day like this?

A subject teacher wasn’t like the homeroom teacher—they couldn’t keep track of everyone in the class, unless it was a student with a very strong presence.

For example, Bai Jiangxin. The teacher glanced around, noticed Bai Jiangxin wasn’t there, and deliberately asked, “Why isn’t Bai Jiangxin here?”

Ye Minjia used the same excuse again. “Teacher, he went to the bathroom.”

The teacher had just said “Oh,” when a “Report” sounded from the doorway.

Backpack on his back, bread still in his hand—clearly not someone returning from the bathroom.

The teacher wasn’t stupid. He naturally noticed and joked, “As expected of our grade’s number one. When others go to the bathroom, they’re unloading goods. You go to bring goods, huh.”

Someone couldn’t hold back a laugh. Ye Minjia rolled his eyes—this guy really wasn’t even trying to act anymore.

Teachers were always more lenient toward good students, especially someone like Bai Jiangxin. After making a joke, he didn’t fuss over Bai Jiangxin being late and directly let him come in.

Completely unfazed by the teacher’s joke, Bai Jiangxin walked toward his seat. Suddenly, his gaze paused for a moment.

Xiang Di quickly lowered her head, burying her face in a mountain of books, pretending to look for something.

Bai Jiangxin walked through the aisle between the desks and sat down at his seat.

As soon as he sat, Ye Minjia beside him complained, “Bro, you could’ve at least acted a little. I literally just said you went to the bathroom, and now I look like a clown.”

Bai Jiangxin frowned. “You didn’t say it earlier.”

“You’re blaming me now?” Ye Minjia rolled his eyes again. “Do you know the principal publicly mentioned your name today? If your brother here hadn’t been quick on his feet, the whole school would know you were late. You should be thanking me.”

Ye Minjia sold the suspense. “Hey, guess why the principal mentioned your name?”

“I know,” Bai Jiangxin said.

“How do you know? You got wind ears or something?”

Bai Jiangxin lifted his chin slightly and pointed his eyes forward. “That girl told me.”

Ye Minjia looked ahead. “Who?”

“Third row,” Bai Jiangxin described. “The one with straight bangs and a bun.”

Ye Minjia, being the class monitor, quickly guessed it.

“Xiang Di?”

“Her name is Xiang Di?” Bai Jiangxin frowned slightly, then raised another question. “Was she in the same class as us since senior one?”

“No. She only joined our class last semester,” Ye Minjia couldn’t help saying. “Bro, you’re really too detached from worldly affairs. It’s been a whole semester as classmates, are you telling me you still don’t know her?”

Bai Jiangxin didn’t bother pretending and simply responded with an “Mm.”

Ye Minjia: “……”

But it was understandable. There were dozens of people in the class. Even if you saw each other every day, for people you weren’t familiar with, it was indeed possible to go an entire semester without exchanging a single word.

Even he, the class monitor, hadn’t spoken much with Xiang Di either.

At the start of senior year, the school had reshuffled classes based on the overall grade rankings. Many people in their class had originally been in key classes and had already been classmates for two years. But Xiang Di had only tested in from a regular class in senior year. After a semester together, they hadn’t talked much, and Ye Minjia’s impression of her was limited to—

Her grades were middle to upper-middle in the class. Not outstanding, but she wouldn’t drag down the class average either. She wasn’t tall, had a delicate, pure look, and looked very young—calling her a freshman junior wouldn’t even feel strange. Her personality was well-behaved. All in all, she was the kind of student teachers liked and felt at ease with, aside from top students.

Obedient, quiet, not particularly eye-catching, but never causing trouble—a good student.

She looked like the type of girl who wouldn’t dare talk to boys, so Ye Minjia was quite surprised that she had actually taken the initiative to speak to Bai Jiangxin.

Ye Minjia suddenly said mischievously, “You don’t think she’s into you, do you?”

Bai Jiangxin was lowering his head to look for a book. Hearing that, he frowned. “What nonsense are you talking about.”

“You don’t get it. When girls like someone, they’re always very subtle,” Ye Minjia said in a mysterious tone. “Because a secret crush is a silent mime, grand only in one’s heart.”

Hearing this sour line, Bai Jiangxin’s brow twitched, and he asked him, “…Where did you hear that from?”

Ye Minjia slung an arm over his shoulder, sounding smug. “Original work. How is it—pretty literary, right?”

Glancing down at the hand on his shoulder, Bai Jiangxin had already heard the truth straight from the depths of Ye Minjia’s heart.

【Actually, the other day the homeroom teacher confiscated a romance novel. I secretly took it back to the dorm to read. The plot was about the female lead secretly loving the male lead for twenty years, then dying in a car accident. The male lead even got married without knowing she had a crush on him.】

【That line was written by the female lead in her suicide note. Gotta say, it was pretty tragic—it even made a man as mighty as an eagle like me cry.】

“……”

Writing something like that in a suicide note—what kind of normal brain circuitry could that female lead possibly have?

Bai Jiangxin let out a cold scoff in his heart.

Ye Minjia was still asking, “Do you think Xiang Di has a crush on you?”

A few traces of mockery flashed through those cool black eyes. Bai Jiangxin spoke indifferently.

“I don’t know how she is, but I think you should hurry up and go register at a hospital.”

Footnotes

• 1
  Jingzhe (惊蛰): One of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms, usually falling in early March. It marks the awakening of hibernating insects and the true beginning of spring, symbolizing the return of warmth and renewed activity.
• 2
  Na ni — A Japanese exclamation meaning “What?”
• 3
  Mo la gu — Phonetic rendering of the Korean 뭐라고? (mwo-ra-go, “What did you say?”)
• 4
  Peach-blossom lashes (桃花睫): A descriptive term in Chinese aesthetics referring to long, slightly drooping eyelashes that give the eyes a soft, alluring look—often associated with peach-blossom eyes and an effortlessly attractive, romantic aura.
• 5
  Baimiao scenes (白描): A traditional Chinese painting technique that uses clean, minimal ink lines without shading or color. In literature, it refers to a vivid yet restrained style of depiction—capturing form and spirit with just a few simple strokes.
• 6
  Stealing a bell (掩耳盗铃): A Chinese idiom meaning to deceive oneself while trying to hide something obvious. It comes from a story about a thief who covered his own ears while stealing a bell, thinking others wouldn’t hear it if he couldn’t.