On the first day of regular classes following the sports meet, Zhou Ai was summoned to the office by Teacher Qin, accompanied by his desk-mate, Jiang Wenyi.
The Sixth High was a century-old prestigious institution. Every year, in addition to sending large numbers of students to top-tier universities through the college entrance exams, it also boasted impressive results in competitions and independent admissions. As November approached, the preliminary selection rounds for the National Middle School Physics Competition were about to begin across the district.
In the office, Teacher Qin clicked open the notification document for them to see: “November is almost here. The seniors in the competition class will soon start participating in round after round of preliminaries and semifinals, eventually pushing toward the finals to compete for gold medals. However, the school has secured a few extra spots for the preliminaries this time, which are being allocated to students from the first and second years.”
“Zhou Ai, you have experience in competitions from junior high, and your grades since enrolling have been consistently stable. Jiang Wenyi, your scores in recent exams have been… somewhat inconsistent, but physics has always been your trump card. Therefore, out of the three spots allocated to the freshman year, two have been given to you both.”
Zhou Ai raised his eyes to look at Teacher Qin.
Teacher Qin smiled slightly: “There’s no need to feel any pressure. You certainly won’t outperform the seniors who are exclusively focused on the competition. This time, it’s mainly to let you follow the team leaders and the seniors to get a feel for the process. If there are opportunities and quotas available to you, go ahead and try. If you choose to pursue this path later, you can consider this a preliminary rehearsal.”
In the office, Jiang Wenyi had no objections and quickly nodded in agreement.
Zhou Ai, however, remained slightly silent, not expressing an attitude for a full two minutes, until Teacher Qin urged him: “Zhou Ai, do you have any questions?”
Hearing Teacher Qin’s urging, Zhou Ai seemed to snap out of his thoughts. He looked at Teacher Qin’s serious face and slowly shook his head, indicating he had no questions.
During the week before the exam, the participating students from the lower grades added three extra intensive training sessions after school each evening. They asked the teachers to provide high-speed, high-efficiency tutoring on physics competition knowledge points. The school teachers couldn’t actually let them head into the exam room completely blind; the intent was truly just for them to get a feel for the test papers.
The evening classes ran from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, consisting entirely of high-difficulty knowledge points delivered at a blistering pace. The teachers spoke so quickly they didn’t even leave the students time to process. Consequently, every time they left the classroom after the sessions, the students beside Zhou Ai looked as if they had been squeezed dry, sighing and complaining. Then, at some point, they would unanimously fall silent, casting subtle glances toward the quietest person in their ranks: Zhou Ai.
Today was no exception, because they saw Chen Xunfeng leaning against the corridor railing again.
From the first day of intensive training, Chen Xunfeng had appeared there every night to wait for Zhou Ai. Even two nights ago, during a torrential downpour, when they pushed open the back door of the classroom at 10:00 PM, the first thing they saw aside from the pouring rain was Chen Xunfeng leaning against the inner side of the corridor.
At this moment, Chen Xunfeng had his back against the railing, his tall, slender frame leaning loosely. When he bowed his head to check his phone, the clean lines of his shoulders and back were visible. There was a breeze in the corridor, whipping Chen Xunfeng’s hair and clothes into the air. Sensing the movement, he put away his phone and looked up, looking naturally and only at Zhou Ai, and walking only toward Zhou Ai. He then asked him: “Finished?”
Walking through the night-time campus, the air held the moist, humid scent of plants after the rain. Beyond that, Zhou Ai also caught the fresh, fragrant scent on the boy beside him; it seemed Chen Xunfeng had already gone back to take a shower.
During this period, Zhou Ai was picked up and dropped off by his family’s driver every day. Chen Xunfeng’s nightly wait there meant that the path they shared was merely the distance from the classroom to the car at the back gate.
By the school fountain, Zhou Ai paused. Chen Xunfeng stopped alongside him: “What’s wrong?”
Zhou Ai looked at Chen Xunfeng beside him before taking out his phone. He bowed his head and opened a new memo, typing quickly at the very top: You don’t need to come wait for me in the evening. It’s unnecessary.
He showed the phone screen to Chen Xunfeng. Chen Xunfeng’s gaze lingered on it for two seconds before he seemed to smile, his tone relaxed: “No one is home, it’s just me if I go back.”
The night was quiet. The white streetlights of the campus shone on Zhou Ai’s face, making his features even more distinct.
Chen Xunfeng looked at Zhou Ai’s calm face and watched as he typed a second sentence on the second line of the memo: And there is no need to waste your time on me.
Chen Xunfeng ground a pebble under his heel. The smile on his face faded as he asked Zhou Ai: “What is a waste?”
Zhou Ai stood there holding the phone, looking at him silently.
Chen Xunfeng kicked the pebble far away. He bowed his head, not looking at Zhou Ai: “If you think spending time on you… is a waste,” Chen Xunfeng raised his head again, looking into Zhou Ai’s eyes: “Then I might actually quite like wasting time on you.”
Autumn nights were cooling down after several rains. Chen Xunfeng looked at Zhou Ai’s hand, which was still gripping the phone, and reached out naturally to touch the back of it. It felt slightly cold to the touch. He skipped the previous topic and asked Zhou Ai: “Are you cold? Let’s go, let’s get home earlier.”
Chen Xunfeng’s eyes were very earnest, dark and deep as he looked at him. Zhou Ai avoided his gaze, withdrawing his hand to tuck it into the pocket of his school jacket, and walked ahead.
Chen Xunfeng followed behind him.
…
When Jiang Wenyi left the school through the back gate, he saw a boy squatting under the third sycamore tree.
Jiang Wenyi paused for a moment before walking over: “Were you the one who sent me the message?”
The boy’s school jacket was unzipped, the hem hanging at his side. He held a green cigarette in his hand. He looked up from the haze of smoke to look at him. Even in a squatting position, he appeared in no way inferior.
Jiang Wenyi smelled the peppermint notes mixed into the tobacco, then heard Chen Xunfeng’s rhetorical question: “Isn’t that obvious?”
Jiang Wenyi didn’t ask how Chen Xunfeng had gotten his number. He looked down at Chen Xunfeng and went straight to the point: “You called me here—what for?”
Chen Xunfeng sat sideways, not looking at him, exhaling a puff of smoke before asking: “You’re going for exams next Tuesday?”
Jiang Wenyi said “Yes,” then added: “That’s right.”
“How many days will you be gone? What kind of transportation?”
Jiang Wenyi answered the questions: “We leave Tuesday, test on Wednesday, and return after the tests on Wednesday. The round trip is arranged by the school bus.”
The wind was strong at night, and Jiang Wenyi felt quite cold, but the person squatting before him seemed not to notice. The cigarette in his hand was about to burn out. He slowly crushed it out on the ground and said: “Ask you a question.”
Jiang Wenyi was shivering from the cold, but he still managed an “Mm.”
Chen Xunfeng finally turned his head, looking at him slowly: “That day at your Class 1, in the corridor that guy you dragged away by the collar, what’s his name? The one in your class.”
Jiang Wenyi’s brow twitched abruptly. He instantly realized that Chen Xunfeng had seen it that day. Before he could even pause for a few seconds, Chen Xunfeng began to urge him with growing impatience: “Name.”
Jiang Wenyi had no reason to lie to Chen Xunfeng, nor could he. He breathed out softly: “His name is Hu Cheng.”
Chen Xunfeng repeated the name: “Hu… Cheng.”
Jiang Wenyi nodded: “Yes.”
Chen Xunfeng finally stood up from the ground. Jiang Wenyi had an instinctive reaction to step back, but Chen Xunfeng reached out and grabbed Jiang Wenyi’s arm. The cool scent of peppermint and the cold night wind rushed toward Jiang Wenyi, making him shiver even more violently.
“Keep an eye on Hu Cheng. Tell him not to cause trouble.”
Jiang Wenyi swallowed, saying nothing for a moment.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Chen Xunfeng asked him.
“…I understand.”
Chen Xunfeng quickly released him and fished a pack of cigarettes from his school jacket pocket. He lowered his eyes to open the box: “As long as you understand. Get lost.”
Jiang Wenyi left swiftly, his figure disappearing into the street in the blink of an eye. Chen Xunfeng stayed there, leaning against the tree to smoke for a while longer.
He had stalked Zhou Ai, so he knew that Zhou Ai’s daily activities were simple and regular. Zhou Ai was even less the type of person to provoke others. Chen Xunfeng could find reasons for the conflicts on campus, but regarding the stalking by the thugs outside of school, Chen Xunfeng did not accept the “extortion” coincidence.
He had asked Zhou Ai why the thugs were stalking him that night, but Zhou Ai hadn’t told him. Zhou Ai had his reasons for not telling him, but Chen Xunfeng had his own persistence in needing to get to the bottom of it.
Even if Zhou Ai said it was nothing and he didn’t know, Chen Xunfeng still had to find out.
Zhou Ai spent the longest amount of time every day at school, so the conflict most likely stemmed from within the campus or even from within Class 1.
Thinking of this, Chen Xunfeng’s phone in his pocket vibrated abruptly. He took it out and saw it was Chen Zhen.
As he picked up the call, Chen Zhen’s voice came through immediately: “It’s 11:00 PM! Is a high school student who gets out of class at 6:00 PM not going home yet?”
Chen Xunfeng pushed off the tree he was leaning against: “Immediately. I’m heading back.”
…
On the morning of the day they were to leave for the out-of-town exams, Zhou Ai’s mood wasn’t very good. Once on the school bus, even the lead teacher noticed and came over to ask: “Are you feeling carsick, student? There’s motion sickness medication on the bus, and plastic bags are nearby.”
Zhou Ai did not get carsick. Under the teacher’s gaze, he shook his head, then lowered his neck slightly to signal his thanks.
Zhou Ai sat leaning against the bus window. After the teacher left, he turned his face toward the outside, resting his chin on his elbow, and stared out with lowered, indifferent eyes.
A few minutes later, someone touched his shoulder. Zhou Ai snapped out of his daze and looked to the side. Jiang Wenyi was standing in the aisle, holding a plastic bag to hand to him. Zhou Ai scanned it briefly; inside the bag were medication, yogurt, and a box of cut fruit.
Jiang Wenyi pointed toward the window and said flatly: “He told me to bring this up for you.”
Zhou Ai paused. He took the plastic bag from Jiang Wenyi and turned his head. Sure enough, he saw Chen Xunfeng standing outside the window glass.
The bus was parked on the side of the road at the school gate. Chen Xunfeng was standing under a tree on the nearby sidewalk. Beside him was Jiang Chuan, waving his arms dramatically while smiling at him. Jiang Chuan’s exaggerated expression only made Chen Xunfeng’s expression look even flatter.
The sunlight was just beginning to rise, spilling onto Chen Xunfeng. Through the window, Chen Xunfeng was looking at him quietly.