Counting from the day he was born, Shen Ying had lived with the identity of a deadbeat defaulter’s son for over seventeen years.
Today, that debt was cleared, and the label was finally stripped away for good.
From this moment on, Shen Ying could devote his whole heart and mind to his studies, focusing entirely on getting into university.
Every kindhearted person who knew about the Shen family’s situation made sure to say this to him. Over the past few days, the joy on their faces had been even more obvious than that of Old Comrade Shen and Shen Ying himself.
In September, the evening breeze in Yining City was comfortable and pleasant. A plain mountain bike chimed ding-ling, ding-ling as it threaded through the neon-lit glare of Yinan Avenue.
The whole world seemed to spin along with the pedals beneath the young boy’s feet, brimming with a force that constantly pushed forward, full of boundless vitality.
“Why haven’t you made it yet? To celebrate your upcoming return to ‘Study God’ status, your brother God Peng here specifically came all the way across districts to treat you to an internet session.”
“Where are you? Did you get lost after evening self-study?”
“Don’t you still have one boost order left to complete? Doing it here or there makes no difference, hurry up and get over here! When we finish later, let’s go get some BBQ. I heard there’s a place around here that’s insanely good!”
“Shen Ying! I already set up the machine for you, you better not flake on me!”
Stopping at a red light, Shen Ying pulled up in the non-motor vehicle lane alongside the flow of traffic, taking a moment to listen to several voice notes sent by Peng Sheng.
“Give me a break. All you know how to do is hassle me. Do you have any idea how far Yinan is from our school?” Shen Ying replied with a voice message of his own, his tone sounding exasperated yet laced with amusement. “Ditching evening self-study to ride across districts just to hit an internet café you really take the cake.”
Peng Sheng replied almost instantly. “Hey, my dad called and made me run an errand to drop something off for my second uncle. Then I remembered that BBQ place my favorite blogger recommended a few days ago was around here. Besides, tomorrow’s Saturday so we don’t have class anyway, hurry up and…”
Peng Sheng rambled on with a few more words, but Shen Ying didn’t listen to the end. Two seconds before the green light lit up, he clicked his phone screen off, tossed it back into his pocket, and stepped back onto the pedals, riding forward with the breeze along with the flow of traffic.
The boy’s school uniform jacket wasn’t zipped up. As his pedaling speed picked up, the hem of his jacket fluttered high in the evening wind, swaying merrily.
Unassuming, yet full of spirit.
The internet café Peng Sheng was at required a turn down a street lined with plane trees. Just as Shen Ying was about to turn onto the main avenue on his bike, he noticed groups of students gathered in all directions wearing school uniforms that looked strikingly similar to his own. They had likely just finished evening self-study too.
And if he remembered correctly, there was only one school in this immediate area. Yinan No. 1 High School.
Yinan No. 1 High School was a key private high school. Among the rankings of all schools in Yining City, it stood at the very top, and its key university admission rate was far ahead of the rest.
However, as everyone knew, to get into Yinan No. 1 High School, you had to possess at least one of two things, outstanding grades, or substantial financial backing.
Soaking in the presence of these students exuding various invisible halos from a distance, Shen Ying arrived at Peng Sheng’s location on his bike.
In front of the internet café, two rows of bicycles and electric scooters were packed to the brim. Shen Ying locked eyes on a tight gap right in the middle of the outer row. Estimating that a quick squeeze would work, he nimbly dismounted and cleared out enough room to let his old trusty ride join the standing parade.
With his old ride successfully parked, Shen Ying began humming a tune to himself as he crouched down to put an anti-theft lock on it.
Smooth as clockwork. Just as he finished his tune and was about to stand up with a flourish, his backpack ruthlessly interrupted his joyful melody. With a sharp clack, Shen Ying, having not yet fully straightened his posture, softly uttered a curse, his reaction speed kicking in as his palm instinctively reached back to scoop up whatever was falling.
Fortunately, his palm managed to catch the object. No heartbreaking clatter-bang-crash sounded behind him.
Shen Ying was about to let out a breath of relief when he suddenly realized something was off. He whipped his head around, his grip involuntarily tightening a fraction.
The object he had caught was warm.
In an instant, Shen Ying met a pair of deep, bright black eyes and a subtly furrowed brow…
However, those furrowed brows quickly smoothed out and vanished, the change so swift that it felt as though the faint flash of annoyance Shen Ying caught was just a figment of his imagination.
Shen Ying stared blankly for a second. What met his eyes next was an extraordinarily cool, handsome face whose features could not be faulted in the slightest.
Then, his gaze involuntarily drifted downward, landing on a badge embroidered with the school logo of Yinan No. 1 High School.
A halo.
The phrase popped into Shen Ying’s head, and time seemed to hit a pause button under that halo.
Once Shen Ying snapped back to his senses, he swiftly pulled his hand away from the back of the boy’s hand before him, coughing awkwardly to clear his throat. “Uh… I’m so sorry. I forgot I was still wearing my backpack. I stood up too fast and grazed someone’s bike. Good thing you were quick enough to help catch it, otherwise I’d be in deep trouble right now. Thanks a bunch.”
The boy in the Yinan No. 1 High School uniform simply watched Shen Ying silently. He didn’t say a word, nor did his hand move away from the bicycle seat he had casually grabbed to save from falling.
The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Perplexed, Shen Ying gradually realized that this guy’s reaction was a bit peculiar.
Was the way he was looking at him a little strange, too?
Shen Ying pondered for a brief moment, then silently raised a hand and waved it lightly in front of the boy’s eyes. “…Classmate?”
Waving at such close range finally brought a reaction out of the boy. He stared at Shen Ying with a cool, indifferent expression for two seconds, then lowered his gaze, quietly straightening and balancing the wobbling bicycle in front of him.
Seeing this, Shen Ying hurriedly withdrew his hand that was still hovering in midair. For a split second just now, he had genuinely suspected the guy had some sort of vision impairment.
“Thanks again, classmate,” Shen Ying said, offering another sincere token of gratitude as he looked at him.
After receiving a second thank you, the boy still didn’t budge at all. There was no sign that he was leaving, no words spoken, and no movement made.
Shen Ying took a tiny step, his foot hovering, neither wanting to lift it nor leave it put.
“This bike isn’t yours, is it? I really didn’t mean to bump into your ride.” After reflecting on the spot for two seconds, Shen Ying pointed at the bicycle standing between them, speeding up his words to explain.
The reason he hadn’t immediately assumed the guy was the owner of the bike was mainly because of his positioning and interception, it had clearly looked like someone just casually lending a helping hand while walking past.
“No,” the boy said, looking at him, his thin lips opening to finally speak.
“Got it.” Shen Ying let out a clear breath of relief, curling his lips into a relaxed smile toward him. “Thanks again for earlier. My friend is waiting for me inside, so I’ll head in first.”
Having delivered his third thank you, Shen Ying didn’t linger or hesitate any longer. He walked straight toward the entrance of the internet café, taking two steps up the stairs in a single stride, and pushed open the glass door.
Once inside, Shen Ying let go of the door handle, only to catch a glimpse from his periphery, the boy from the entrance was stepping onto the steps outside as well. Without a second thought, Shen Ying reached out and pulled back the door that was about to swing shut.
Approaching the doorway, the boy noticed his gesture. He glanced first at Shen Ying’s hand, then stared at his face, stepping inside through the gap of the held-open door.
Meeting his unblinking gaze, Shen Ying almost blurted out, “So Yinan students come to internet cafes too?” Fortunately, his brain worked fast enough to swallow the words back down, after all, that sounded way too stereotype driven.
The automated voice in the store chimed a welcome as the door opened. Peng Sheng, who had been waiting inside, had long stretched his neck out. Seeing that it was Shen Ying, he immediately stood up and raised his arm high, rushing him to hurry over.
“I must be out of my mind, coming all the way here after riding my bike for over twenty minutes,” Shen Ying said as he arrived at Peng Sheng’s section, setting down his backpack.
“You need to strike a balance between work and play. Think of the ride as taking a nice breather,” Peng Sheng said, tossing an individually wrapped dried tangerine peel candy in his direction.
Catching the candy with precision, Shen Ying sat down in front of the machine Peng Sheng had prepared for him. He unceremoniously tore open the wrapper and popped the candy into his mouth, its sweet and tangy flavor instantly bursting and melting across his tongue.
“The guy who walked in behind you, for a second, I almost thought you brought him along,” Peng Sheng said, glancing toward the front desk while watching Shen Ying type in his gaming account.
Shen Ying gave a light laugh. “He’s from Yinan No. 1 High School. Where would I even find a guy like that to bring along?”
“What?” Peng Sheng was stunned. “The Yinan No. 1 High School nearby? Students from that school actually come to internet cafes? I thought anyone studying there was either interested in nothing but studying or looked down on ordinary internet cafes like ours.”
Shen Ying was about to tell him to drop the stereotypes when he heard Peng Sheng lower his voice with a hushed sound. “Look, he’s walking toward us.”
At the sound, Shen Ying raised his head. Sure enough, the boy in the Yinan No. 1 High School uniform was walking over in their direction.
Peng Sheng had booked a spot in the corner, which belonged to the general seating area of the internet cafe. Their row had only three machines, but all of them were occupied, with Shen Ying sitting right in the middle seat. The row opposite them also had three machines, but the seat near the aisle was vacant.
Unsurprisingly, the Yinan No. 1 High School boy stopped right in front of that empty seat opposite them.
Which placed him right at Shen Ying’s front right diagonal.
Perhaps because Shen Ying’s gaze was too blatant and completely unhidden, the boy didn’t immediately pull out the chair to sit down. Instead, he looked over at him.
Caught red handed, Shen Ying didn’t feel awkward at all. Meeting his eyes, he offered a polite smile.
With that minor interlude behind them, Shen Ying didn’t forget he had actual business to attend to. He picked up his phone and sent a message to his gaming client letting them know he was ready to log on.
Peng Sheng slid his chair closer to Shen Ying, lowering his voice to whisper, “No wonder I thought you brought him here earlier. The uniform for Yinan No. 1 High School looks so much like ours! It’s just that their blue parts are a bit darker than ours.”
Shen Ying agreed with that statement. Earlier, before he realized where he was when turning onto the main plane tree avenue, he had genuinely thought those students belonged to his own school too.
Then again, it wasn’t particularly strange, most Chinese school uniforms shared the same generic blue and white color block design, colloquially referred to as “Chinese style school uniforms.” It just so happened that their school shared a few too many similarities with Yinan No. 1 High School.
“Say, do you think he’s here to play games too? Or is he here to look up study materials? If it’s for study materials, that’s way too hardcore,” Peng Sheng rambled on when Shen Ying didn’t reply.
“Why do you care?” Hearing this, Shen Ying couldn’t help but laugh. “If you’re so curious, why don’t you go over and ask him?”
“No way in hell. Setting aside that intimidating cold face of his, he’s a student from Yinan No. 1 High School. Even at this distance, I can practically smell the money radiating off him. Our vibes just don’t match,” Peng Sheng continued muttering to himself.
Shen Ying didn’t feel like chiming in, but his gaze involuntarily drifted back toward the diagonal corner.
The boy was currently holding a paper towel, wiping down his mouse. Beneath the clean, scattered fringe of hair on his forehead were lowered, quiet eyes. The cool white light emitted by the computer monitor cast reflections across his handsome features, creating sharp shadows that made him appear exceptionally striking and icy.
Recalling what happened at the entrance earlier, Shen Ying couldn’t say whether this guy was hard to get along with or not. Even though Shen Ying had received his help, it didn’t change the fact that he, too, felt the boy didn’t seem like the type of person who easily let others get close.
“Are you really not going to take any more boost orders after finishing Sister Yan’s order tonight? You quit your boba shop job, so why not keep taking gaming orders? Our hours are pretty flexible with this,” Peng Sheng shifted his attention back to Shen Ying. “Even if Grandpa Shen finds out you’re doing this, it shouldn’t matter, right? Seeing you play games might actually make him happier.”
“We’ll see when I have time later. From now on, I have to catch up on all the study progress I missed,” Shen Ying replied to Peng Sheng while typing out a message to Sister Yan, who asked him to wait a few minutes.
Peng Sheng nodded in agreement, “True. Now that your family has paid back the debt, you don’t need to worry about money like before. Besides, with your learning ability, catching up will be a breeze for you. Getting into a good university will definitely be a walk in the park!”
“Get out of here, stop putting pressure on me with those high expectations, will you?” Shen Ying shot him a glare at the last couple of sentences, but a second later, something came to mind and he chuckled. “Old Comrade Shen said just last night that as long as I can get into a vocational college, he’ll hire people to throw a full celebratory banquet for me.”
Peng Sheng burst out laughing. “Grandpa Shen really said that? Man, he really has zero concept of your academic talent.”
Shen Ying and Peng Sheng attended the same standard high school and were both currently in their second year. Leaving primary school aside, ever since middle school started, saying Shen Ying’s grades were “consistently top three in his year” was modest, to put it proudly, he was practically a permanent resident of the number one spot.
The sudden shift in his grades occurred during the second semester of his freshman year in high school, when he dropped directly from first place down past the top fifty.
Over the past six months, he had transformed from a prodigal star student into the very existence that gave teachers of every subject headaches.
“Still, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Look at you, you’ve been catching up on your studies so hard these past few days you look like you’re losing your mind. Have a little faith in your own brain! Who are we? The universally acknowledged Study God!” Seeing that Shen Ying remained silent, Peng Sheng began cheering him on loudly. “Either way, your brother here has absolute faith in you!”
“Screw off. I could say I’ve had faith in you since kindergarten, how come I don’t see you applying yourself to your studies?” Shen Ying felt a desperate urge to sew his big mouth shut with a needle.
Especially considering there was a star student sitting diagonally across from him. If the guy heard all this loud boasting, Shen Ying couldn’t imagine how embarrassing it would be.
Shen Ying decided to ignore the overly excited Peng Sheng beside him and quietly glanced toward the diagonal corner. Surprisingly, the moment his eyes drifted over, his gaze collided directly with the other boy’s once again.
This time, Shen Ying chose to swiftly shift his eyes away, performing a quick series of head exercises on the spot, first raising his head toward the ceiling, then turning it to the right, and finally turning toward Peng Sheng.
“What are you doing? Is your neck stiff? I told you that you were overexerting yourself these past two days! Brother, you really don’t need to push yourself this hard!” Peng Sheng had just picked up his phone when he noticed Shen Ying’s bizarre movements.
Naturally, Shen Ying wasn’t about to explain the actual reason to him. He shot Peng Sheng a look. “You don’t know a damn thing.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a glaring gaze focused squarely on him from the diagonal corner, so intense it was impossible to ignore.
Filled with confusion, Shen Ying turned to look directly over again, only to see the boy staring intensely at his computer screen with an unblinking, focused expression.