After sending Jiang Qihuai off, Tao Zhi felt as though her heart had turned to ashes.

Tao Xiuping had probably seen that pair of white sneakers when he came home, which was why he suddenly decided to do a surprise inspection of her room. She felt that she had behaved perfectly at the time, flawless and seamless, without revealing any mistakes.

And Tao Xiuping’s reaction was also very natural, not showing the slightest trace of suspicion, leaving Tao Zhi unable to judge whether he had discovered anything or not.

If he really had noticed, he should have gone straight into her room to look for the person, but Tao Xiuping didn’t. He only asked a few questions, then left without a sound.

For some time after that, Tao Zhi kept secretly observing Tao Xiuping’s reaction.

Old Tao still went about his days as usual—coming home for dinner, working, chatting with her and Ji Fan for a while—and as for the incident of the size-43 white sneakers on Saturday, he never mentioned a word about it.

He didn’t even drop any hints when talking with Tao Zhi, nor did he ask about the progress of that “little brat” she had been secretly liking.

When the other side remained unmoved, Tao Zhi instead couldn’t hold back first. During dinner, she picked up a shrimp and put it into her bowl. Not wanting to dirty her hands, she used her chopsticks to poke at the shrimp head, peeling it slowly as she spoke in an offhand tone:

“Our class’s Jiang Qihuai participated in that national Olympiad math competition a while ago.”

At her words, both Ji Fan and Tao Xiuping looked up.

Ji Fan silently rolled his eyes, thinking that the fact Tao Zhi said ‘our class’s’ Jiang Qihuai instead of ‘our Jiang Qihuai’ already showed considerable restraint.

“Yesterday, our teacher said he seems to have achieved quite an impressive result,” Tao Zhi continued, “the school’s going to publicly commend him during the flag-raising on Monday.”

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Tao Xiuping, watching every subtle expression on his face.

Tao Xiuping nodded, showing an approving expression. “That child is very outstanding.”

“……”

Tao Xiuping sighed, and his gaze suddenly grew distant as he began reminiscing: “When I was in school, everyone just studied hard—we didn’t even know about participating in competitions. If I had joined one back then, I probably could’ve taken first place too, just for fun.”

Not a drop leaked through.

Ginger really does grow spicier with age.

Tao Xiuping was the real secret agent.

No wonder he was a man who built everything from scratch and achieved what he has today.

Tao Zhi conceded defeat.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

After entering December, the weather grew noticeably colder. Early in the month, a light snow had fallen, and the perceived temperature seemed to drop another two or three degrees every few days.

By mid-December, Tao Zhi’s autumn pants were no longer enough. She rummaged through her closet and pulled out the cotton trousers she wore in winter.

Girls her age generally disliked wearing thick pants—once the thickness increased, their legs looked bulky and unattractive.

Fortunately, the school uniform pants were wide enough that it didn’t really show.

Because Christmas was approaching, the previously dull classroom life—centered every day around tests, exams, and studying—became lively again.

Li Shuangjiang and Zhao Mingqi had previously been punished harshly by Wang Er, forced to copy math formulas in his office every day for a week. But less than half a month after they had calmed down, they started growing restless again, ready to stir up some trouble.

Christmas Day fell on a Thursday—they still had class and couldn’t go out to play, so they could only celebrate it at school.

On Christmas Eve the night before, Li Shuangjiang discussed with Tao Zhi whether they should have some kind of entertainment activity.

[Li Shuangjiang]: Christmas, come on, it only happens once a year!

Tao Zhi didn’t quite understand what was going on in his head and typed:

[Tao Zhi]: Boss Li, all the holidays in this world only happen once a year.

[Li Shuangjiang]: That’s different. Christmas is basically the second Children’s Day! Our boss is still young, so we’ve got to celebrate it.

Tao Zhi thought about it and found that it made some sense.

She herself didn’t particularly like celebrating these kinds of random holidays. When she was younger, she might have enjoyed joining in the fun, but after growing up, she didn’t even feel like doing that anymore.

Although for some of the more important traditional festivals, Tao Xiuping would try to find time to come back and spend them with her, there were still many times when he couldn’t make it.

Tao Zhi would eat mooncakes alone, eat sweet dumplings alone, set an early morning alarm all by herself, get up when the sky was just barely bright, go out to the breakfast shop to buy two tea eggs and a white zongzi stuffed with candied dates, then head to the riverside for an outing to watch the dragon boat races.

Last year, she had grown so lazy she didn’t even bother with such routines, simply sleeping in until noon and going about her day as usual.

But Li Shuangjiang and Zhao Mingqi were both extremely enthusiastic. Even Fu Xiling had become more lively these past few days—she had even given each of them an apple wrapped in pretty colored paper the day before.

Other than herself, the only one completely unaffected by the festive atmosphere was probably Jiang Qihuai.

So calm and unruffled—Tao Zhi thought, truly worthy of being the man she liked.

On Christmas Day, besides her schoolbag, Tao Zhi also carried a big bag to school.

Wang Zhezi could clearly sense the restless mood among the students. Even their answers in class lacked enthusiasm. When Li Shuangjiang turned around to talk to Tao Zhi and Fu Xiling and was called up to the blackboard to solve two problems, Wang Zhezi finally straightened his face and said sternly:

“You kids just love celebrating those foreign holidays! What’s so great about Christmas? It’s not even our New Year. Li Shuangjiang, neither of those problems you wrote are correct! And that homework you turned in today—did you leave those half-angle formulas there for me to fill in for you? With math like yours, you still think you can score 140?”

Li Shuangjiang stood on the podium meekly, and when he turned to walk back, he made a funny face behind Wang Zhezi’s back.

The last period, as usual, was self-study. As soon as the bell rang, half the class immediately emptied out, and students from other classes could be seen trickling down the hallway, heading outside.

Li Shuangjiang and his group stayed seated. When he turned around, he realized Tao Zhi was gone.

“Where’s the boss? We agreed to celebrate Christmas together.”

“She went out to buy something,” Ji Fan said. “Told you guys to play on your own for a bit.”

“Got it.” Li Shuangjiang waited until everyone else in the classroom had left.

About ten minutes later, Zhao Mingqi—who was in charge of keeping watch on the teachers’ office—came running back in, saluted at the door, and said, “Report! Old Wang has left!”

Li Shuangjiang rubbed his hands together and stood up, calling to Zhao Mingqi as he pulled a bunch of stuff out from under the desk. “Old Zhao, let’s get to work.”

It was basically all little trinkets for decoration—colorful Christmas balls, small fake snowflakes made from foam fragments glued onto plastic, strings of tiny colored bulbs that he pulled out and hung in a circle along the blackboard.

This year they weren’t planning to go out; they were going to celebrate Christmas right in the classroom. Said it would feel more atmospheric that way.

Fu Xiling happened to be on duty that day, responsible for borrowing the classroom key from the discipline committee. She was normally obedient and well-behaved, unlike the boys who caused trouble every day, so the committee simply handed her the key without hesitation.

Fu Xiling and Jiang Zhengxun drew a big chibi-style Santa Claus on the blackboard with colored chalk. Li Shuangjiang was hanging Christmas balls on the air conditioner when he turned his head and saw Ji Fan lounging in his chair playing on his phone like a lord. He called out to him, “Brother Fan, stick the snowflakes on the window!”

Ji Fan put away his phone, glanced sideways at the person sitting next to him, pointed with his finger, and said with dissatisfaction, “Why don’t you make him do it?”

Li Shuangjiang didn’t turn around, waved his hand, and said with great leadership presence, “Brother Huai, since you’re already here, might as well help out.”

Ji Fan carried a bag of snowflakes to the window and raised his eyebrows at him. “Deskmate, lend a hand?”

Jiang Qihuai: “……”

When Tao Zhi came back, the classroom was already more or less decorated.

Everywhere was red and white. On the podium sat a small Christmas tree, covered with pinecones and colorful string lights.

Tao Zhi was carrying two bags in her hands; they didn’t look light. She set them down on the desk with a bang and started taking things out.

A box of frozen fish balls, a box of shrimp dumplings, two large boxes of mutton and beef rolls, luncheon meat, crab sticks, a bag of red shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, vermicelli, frozen shrimp paste, bean curd sheets, and a head of Chinese cabbage.

Hotpot soup base, sesame dipping sauce, chili oil, and disposable bowls, chopsticks, and cups.

Everyone watched as she pulled them out one by one, like performing magic tricks. Finally, Tao Zhi went to her own desk, lifted the bag sitting in the corner, and took out an electric cooker and a very long extension cord.

Everyone: “……”

Li Shuangjiang was dumbfounded. “Boss, this is the food you said you’d prepare yesterday?”

Tao Zhi looked up and glanced at him as if it were only natural. “It’s the middle of winter—if we’re not eating hotpot, then what are we eating?”

Even Jiang Qihuai hadn’t expected Tao Zhi to actually bring a hotpot into the classroom. He’d thought she’d at most order some takeout or something.

Only Ji Fan knew about it in advance. He had already pushed several desks together, covered them with a disposable tablecloth, and plugged in the extension cord.

Tao Zhi poured a large bottle of mineral water into the pot, tore open the hotpot base, and then pointed at the cabbage on the desk, looking toward Jiang Qihuai. “Don’t just sit there, go wash the cabbage.”

“……”

Jiang Qihuai went silent for a moment, but then obediently picked up the cabbage.

Brother Huai was washing cabbage!

Brother Huai was washing Chinese cabbage!

Li Shuangjiang was full of excitement and immediately raised his hand eagerly. “I’ll go too!”

At this hour, there weren’t many people left in the school building. The washroom was quiet. Li Shuangjiang watched as Jiang Qihuai tore the cabbage leaves off one by one, washed them clean, and placed them neatly into a clean bag beside him. His movements were skilled and quick, as if he did this sort of thing all the time.

Li Shuangjiang was thoroughly impressed.

By the time they returned, the hotpot was already boiling. The spicy, fragrant aroma rushed straight to their noses and filled the entire classroom.

Tao Zhi dragged a chair over and sat by the table. Hearing them come back, she turned her head and saw Jiang Qihuai holding a bag of cabbage. Smiling, she patted the spot next to her. “Come quick and grab some meat.”

Jiang Qihuai walked over, put down the cabbage in his hand, and sat beside her.

Since they had classes the next day and were, after all, still on campus, they had to keep things somewhat restrained. Zhao Mingqi went to buy cola and orange juice and poured them into cups for everyone.

Fu Xiling put all the fish balls and shrimp dumplings Tao Zhi had bought into the pot. Halfway through the meal, night fell.

One of the lights was turned off. In the dark, the string of lights in the classroom hung like tiny stars. Snowflakes were pasted piece by piece on the windows, and beneath Santa Claus’s white beard was a big smiling face.

The classroom was warm. Jiang Zhengxun and Zhao Mingqi were fighting over slices of beef in the pot, their disposable chopsticks crossing above the bubbling broth like a duel, locked in fierce combat.

Li Shuangjiang took out his phone, played a Christmas song, then raised a disposable paper cup filled with cola and stood up.

“For our fleeting youth, brothers.”

His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes shone brightly.

In front of them was the blackboard, beside them the desks, and outside the window was the familiar campus where they had lived and studied for more than a year. Before them, the spicy hotpot on the pushed-together desks was bubbling with a rich aroma.

This strange feeling made everyone’s mood soar. Zhao Mingqi stood up as well, raising his cup high. “For basketball!”

“You sports idiot, can’t you think of anything other than basketball?” Jiang Zhengxun said seriously. “We should drink for everyone’s future dreams.”

Fu Xiling took a small sip of juice, then said slowly and earnestly, “For the college entrance examination.”

Ji Fan couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. “I said you’re a bookworm, and now you’re toasting for the exam?”

Fu Xiling rarely showed emotion. She looked at him, nodded slightly, and said with mild disdain, “You wouldn’t understand anyway—you’d only toast for Demacia.”

“He’d also toast for his twenty points in math,” Zhao Mingqi said.

“And his fifty in English,” Li Shuangjiang added with a nod.

Ji Fan was displeased. “Alright, alright, why are you all attacking someone’s grades now? The most basic morality of being human—don’t launch personal attacks, got it?”

Li Shuangjiang burst out laughing, and Jiang Zhengxun laughed so hard he was hitting the table.

Ji Fan grew even more annoyed and pointed his chopsticks toward them. “Before the hotpot, everyone’s equal. If you’ve got guts, we’ll settle it in the pot—whoever snatches the meat wins, that’s real skill, got it?”

Everyone immediately responded, diving into a new round of battle. Li Shuangjiang rolled up his sleeves. “Come on! If I don’t get the last piece of meat today, I’ll call you grandpa!”

The boys were quarreling back and forth, their chopsticks crossing above the pot as they fought over fish balls and beef slices, as if engaged in a sword duel—fiery and ridiculous.

Childish beyond words.

Tao Zhi rolled her eyes, set down her cup, and continued eating the cabbage leaves from her plastic bowl. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a cold, slender hand reaching from the side—Jiang Qihuai, holding a paper cup, lightly tapped it against hers.

The rims of their cups, where lips would touch, brushed together. Tao Zhi froze for a moment, biting down on the cabbage leaf as she turned her head.

Jiang Qihuai also turned slightly, lashes lifting faintly.

Under the influence of the atmosphere, the icy shell around him seemed to melt a little. His whole person carried a bit more of a youthful, unrestrained vitality, and in his pale eyes, the colorful reflections of the lights shimmered like scattered starlight.

He looked at her, his voice low and slow, carrying a gentle illusion of tenderness.

“For our Zhizhi.”