Six years ago, Beijing No. 1 Middle School.
The autumn breeze carried the lingering heat of summer, and the scorching sun baked the ground, making the dying cicadas shriek even more desperately.
Today was the first day of the senior year. Class 11 was noisy as students chatted away. The urgency of the upcoming college entrance exam had not quite caught up to them yet, though the mountains of test papers and workbooks piled on their desks and floors suggested the pressure was already mounting.
In the back row, a dark-haired youth sat with his legs crossed and his chin resting on his hand. With a half smile, he listened to his friends brag.
He was tall with long legs and a well-proportioned frame, looking like a vigorous young pine tree. His school uniform sleeves were casually rolled up to his elbows, revealing smooth, lean forearms. His face was unreasonably handsome, possessing a sort of rebellious, cool charm with sharp contours, a slender neck, and a prominent Adam’s apple. Even sitting in the very back, he was the most eye-catching presence in the room.
“Hey, guess how many freshman girls will confess to Zhou Fan in this first week back?” a boy wearing glasses said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I bet three.”
“Three? That is too low. You are underestimating our Brother Fan’s charm. At least ten.”
“What is the bet? You haven’t said.”
Just as the boy with glasses was about to speak, the dark-haired youth said lazily, “I say, guessing about the underclasswomen is boring. Why don’t you guess about the underclassmen instead?”
This was the eighteen-year-old Zhou Fan.
At his words, his friends all shared a knowing smile. The orientation of this campus heartthrob was never a secret.
Dai Lin, the boy with glasses, thought for a moment. “Wait, that’s not right. Last week I saw Brother Fan at the milk tea shop with the Class 7 monitor. What, did you break up already?”
“Yeah,” Zhou Fan replied. “If I did not break up, I would have been pickled by the scent of artificial flavoring.”
He then looked at his seatmate. “Can we break up now?”
The seatmate, who was helping Zhou Fan finish his homework, turned around and grinned. “Yes, yes. I have already successfully pursued that girl.”
Zhou Fan nodded. The Class 7 monitor was a top student with thick bangs, slender and pale. He had been timid when they first met but became quite clingy later on. Zhou Fan found it suffocating, so after dating for a week, he found an excuse to end it.
He felt no guilt or pressure about the breakup. That person was not his type anyway. He had only approached him because his seatmate liked a girl who liked the monitor, and his seatmate had begged him for a favor. Based on Zhou Fan’s observations, the monitor did not like the girl much, nor did he like Zhou Fan that much. He simply enjoyed the feeling of being pursued by the campus idol.
Therefore, he felt even less psychological pressure when making the break. They had not even kissed, only held hands. Zhou Fan did not even bother to count that week-long stint in his dating history.
The conversation around him shifted again. Zhou Fan listened half-heartedly until his ears caught a key phrase. He raised his eyelids. “A transfer student is coming to our class?”
“Yeah, apparently from Class 1.” Dai Lin nodded. Remembering Zhou Fan’s preference, he added in a low voice with a knowing smile, “I heard it is a very handsome rich boy.”
Class 1 was the undisputed top class at No. 1 Middle School, filled with the most academically gifted students. In contrast, Class 11 was mostly made up of students with connections.
At the critical juncture of senior year, why would someone transfer from Class 1 to Class 11? Had he broken some heavenly law?
Zhou Fan raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes brewing with interest. However, this interest was not in the transfer itself, but in the second half of Dai Lin’s sentence. “How handsome?”
“I do not know,” Dai Lin shrugged. “But he should be here during the morning reading session.”
Zhou Fan looked up at the clock hanging at the front of the room. That was ten minutes away.
Before long, the morning bell rang. Everyone returned to their seats, and the sound of reading filled the air. Zhou Fan leaned back in his seat and yawned. He checked the progress of his seatmate writing his homework and boredly turned his gaze toward the window.
It was already so hot in the morning. Fortunately, their grade had just gotten air conditioning. He wondered what he should eat for lunch. He thought about the handsome and rich transfer student and wondered if there was anyone like that in Class 1.
Suddenly, the somewhat noisy reading in the classroom went silent for a brief second. Zhou Fan turned his head toward the door. First, he saw the bald head of their homeroom teacher, Old Jiang, and his eternal Mao suit. Then, a youth wearing a white shirt with an indifferent expression followed him in and stood on the podium.
The youth had fair, delicate skin and a tall, slender build. His shirt was buttoned to the very top, fitting tightly against his slender neck. His face was lean with smooth lines, his eyebrows were a bit light, his eyes narrow, and his nose straight. He had an extraordinary aura, looking like a beautiful and cold young master.
A gust of wind blew through the room. It ruffled the open pages on Zhou Fan’s desk and fluttered the hem of the youth’s shirt. The sunlight poured in, making his pale skin look almost transparent.
Zhou Fan was dazed and instinctively lowered the hand that was propping up his chin. It was clear that Old Jiang was very fond of this top student from Class 1. He clapped his hands to signal silence and then said to the youth with a smile, “Come, introduce yourself to everyone.”
“Hello everyone, my name is Chi Hanqing,” the youth said. His expression remained flat. Even from a distance, Zhou Fan could feel his aloofness. “I hope to get along well with everyone in the coming year.”
Chi Hanqing.
Zhou Fan rolled the refined name around in his mouth and tilted his head. “Is he really a student at our school?” If he had been in the same school as someone like this for over two years, there was no way he would just be finding out now.
His seatmate looked equally confused and shook his head. “I have never seen him before, and I have not heard of anyone like that in Class 1.”
Fortunately, Old Jiang soon answered their confusion. “Student Chi Hanqing has been studying at another school as a guest student from freshman to sophomore year. Today is essentially his first day at No. 1 Middle School. If there is anything he does not understand, you all should help him out.”
After saying this, his eyes swept over the room. “Zhou Fan!”
Zhou Fan snapped back. “Present!”
“Tell Zhang Chifeng to stop busy-ing himself with your homework. I am not collecting it today.”
Zhang Chifeng was the name of Zhou Fan’s seatmate. Being called out suddenly, he hurried to lower his head and shrink behind his desk. Zhou Fan’s lips twitched. He quickly realized Old Jiang was deliberately making him lose face in front of the new student and reminding him not to get any ideas.
The school was always trying to catch early romances, but Zhou Fan’s charm was too great. Boys from both this school and others would proactively throw themselves at him. If two boys were together, it was hard to manage. Zhou Fan’s lazy attitude made them look like normal buddies. But if they were just buddies, why would they walk arm in arm and lean on each other’s shoulders? Of course, Zhou Fan’s overly open-minded parents were also a significant issue.
Fortunately, while Zhou Fan played around, he knew his limits. Old Jiang only gave a brief warning.
At the good news that homework would not be collected, a small cheer broke out in the classroom. However, after Old Jiang arranged for Chi Hanqing to sit in an empty front row seat, he pulled a stack of test papers from beneath the podium like a magic trick.
“I am not collecting homework today,” Old Jiang said amiably. “We are having a test instead.”