DXXZL - 1

Three minutes before the morning reading class, Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi walked into the classroom. As soon as they stepped in, they noticed that the atmosphere in the class was off. Just as Zhu Xingyao looked up, she heard Li Xixi exclaim softly: “Ah, Jiang Tu has come to school.”

The boy sitting at the last desk near the door suddenly raised his head. His skin was pale, and he wore a pair of black-framed glasses. Behind the lenses, his eyes were dark and exuded a coldness.

Those who had secretly turned their heads to look at him quickly turned back, and even Li Xixi instinctively lowered her head.

In an instant, only Zhu Xingyao remained, looking straight at him.

Their eyes met.

Caught off guard, but if she were to shift her gaze now, it would seem too deliberate. She tried to maintain eye contact with him, lightly pursing her lips, appearing somewhat at a loss.

Jiang Tu silently stared at her for a few seconds before lowering his head again.

Zhu Xingyao let out a sigh of relief. She and Li Xixi returned to their seats, taking out their homework to wait for the class representatives to collect them. Li Xixi leaned over and whispered, “I didn’t expect Jiang Tu to suddenly come back to school; it startled me.”

Zhu Xingyao glanced at her: “Isn’t it a good thing that he’s come to school? Why are you scared?”

At Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, many people knew about Jiang Tu. Even those who hadn’t seen him knew his name. On the third day of the start of the first year, a group of people had hung banners at the school gate demanding repayment—it was a high-interest loan. How could a high school student owe such a loan? Soon, after the school intervened, it became clear that it wasn’t him but his father who owed the money. They came to the school to pressure him for repayment.

The next day, Jiang Tu started taking leave, and now, nearly two months later, just when everyone was gossiping that he might drop out, he returned.

“You didn’t see his eyes just now? Cold and scary...” Li Xixi shrank her neck, her voice even lower. “Didn’t they say his dad is a gambler and abusive? And his younger brother isn’t easy to handle either. Experts say children growing up in harsh environments have personality and psychological issues. Jiang Tu seems hard to get along with—lonely, cold, and taciturn.”

Zhu Xingyao recalled Jiang Tu’s gaze from earlier and felt it was alright?

Before the morning reading session began, the classroom was bustling with noise. Some were eating breakfast, others chatting. A few boys, excited, spoke loudly with grand gestures, each seemingly afflicted with hyperactivity, embodying the vitality expected of sixteen or seventeen-year-olds.

A boy hurriedly ran in, passing by Zhu Xingyao’s desk and knocking her book off.

The boy quickly picked it up, scratching his head: “Sorry...”

Zhu Xingyao: “It’s okay.”

Li Xixi glanced at the acne-covered boy. He went to sit at the back row next to Jiang Tu. She peeked, then turned back, saying, “But, I think there’s one thing Jiang Tu does better than other boys.”

Zhu Xingyao knew this appearance-obsessed girl all too well and didn’t lift her head: “Good-looking?”

Li Xixi: “Exactly, don’t you think so?”

Zhu Xingyao, because of those few seconds of eye contact earlier, remembered Jiang Tu’s face. After some thought, she said, “It’s okay. I’m not very fond of boys who wear glasses.” She also didn’t like the cold and aloof aura around Jiang Tu. Boys should be more sunny.

After a while, someone shouted, “Old Cao is here!”

At 7:40, the morning bell rang.

Homeroom teacher Cao Shujun entered the classroom. Everyone called him Old Cao, though he wasn’t old at all, just twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, exactly ten years older than these students. This was his first time as a homeroom teacher. Standing at the door, he scanned the room, his gaze lingering on Jiang Tu for a few seconds before shouting at the boys still talking: “Save your conversations for after class. Now, take out your textbooks and start reciting.”

After the morning reading ended, Cao Shujun walked to the back row and patted Jiang Tu’s shoulder: “Come with me to the office.”

Jiang Tu lifted his head slightly, stood up, and walked out.

The class representatives started collecting homework. Zhu Xingyao also stood up to collect physics homework. Her father, Zhu Yunping, used to be a university physics professor. A few years ago, he quit to go into business. She likely inherited her father’s good genes, excelling in physics. In the entrance exam, she ranked second in physics in the class, with Jiang Tu ranking first. She remembered Jiang Tu’s midterm results; although his total score was only average, he got a perfect score in physics, the only one in the entire school.

But because Jiang Tu took leave right at the start of the term, the role of physics representative fell directly on her shoulders.

As she finished collecting the homework, the English representative Zhou Qian was still urging Jiang Tu’s deskmate at the back door: “Hurry up! If you’re going to copy homework, do it earlier!” She turned to Zhu Xingyao, “Why do you always collect homework so quickly?”

Li Xixi raised her hand across four desks: “I know this question! Because Stars is pretty.”

The boy copying homework nodded in agreement while hastily writing: “Yes, our goddess, how can we make her wait?”

Other boys chimed in: “Yeah, exactly!”

Zhou Qian: “...”

She swung a stack of homework at the boy’s head: “Ding Xianghua, if you keep being rude, I’ll strangle you!”

The boy’s name was Ding Xiang, sometimes with a sharp tongue, earning him the nickname “Ding Xianghua.”

Zhu Xingyao found it amusing, coughed lightly, and quickly left the classroom with the homework.

Just over a month into the school year, each class had already rated their own flowers and grasses. Zhu Xingyao had never lost in such evaluations throughout her life. Someone had posted a video clip of her playing the cello onto the campus network. In the video, the young girl in a custom white dress sat under stage lights, glowing as she closed her eyes and played the cello, particularly moving. Because of this, she became famous in school, and many boys directly regarded Zhu Xingyao as a goddess after watching it.

In the physics office, only two teachers were present. Jiang Tu stood beside Cao Shujun’s desk, tall at over 180 cm despite being only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a slim and straight back.

Cao Shujun first handed him the test papers from last month’s monthly exams. After some thought, he skipped over the family issues and gave some academic advice: “You’ve missed over a month of classes, falling behind a lot. Borrow notes from classmates and catch up on your studies. Don’t think too much about other things.”

Jiang Tu’s expression remained calm as he acknowledged with a hum.

Cao Shujun sighed: “I’ve already arranged everything with the school. Don’t worry about being expelled or anything. The harder things are at home, the more you need to focus on studying to pave a smoother path for the future.”

Zhu Xingyao, holding the homework, walked to the door and saw they were still talking. She stepped back, slightly lowering her head against the wall, wondering if she should return first when a pair of worn-out boys’ sports shoes caught her eye. She quickly looked up.

Jiang Tu was looking down at her. For a moment, Zhu Xingyao felt flustered and wanted to explain that she hadn’t been eavesdropping, but the young man had already turned and walked away. Feeling somewhat dejected, she handed in her homework and returned to the classroom, only to find more people than usual in the corridor. They were all pretending to glance casually toward the back door, curious to see what Jiang Tu looked like. This phenomenon lasted for most of the day.

Jiang Tu seemed completely unaffected, his expression calm and indifferent, ignoring those stares as if they didn’t exist.

Li Xixi’s head twisted around for the eighteenth time. Resting her chin on her hand, she said, “In a way, his mental fortitude is better than yours. He doesn’t seem to feel anything despite being gawked at by so many people. You occasionally blush or get angry.”

When the video was first uploaded to the forum, Zhu Xingyao had also been surrounded and observed by everyone. Wherever she went, people pointed her out—”That’s Zhu Xingyao.”

She looked at Li Xixi: “Didn’t you say this morning that he has psychological issues?”

Li Xixi: “….”

Plop —

A bottle of soy milk suddenly appeared on the desk. She looked up to see Zhang Sheng, the PE monitor, smiling at her: “Zhu Xingyao, here’s a bottle of soy milk for you.”

Ever since she accepted a bottle of soy milk from Zhang Sheng during the school sports meet, this guy had brought her one every day. Zhu Xingyao glanced at the soy milk bottle and helplessly repeated the same line: “Thank you, but really, don’t bring me any more after this.”

Li Xixi took the soy milk away and grinned: “Don’t you know? Drinking too much soy milk can stunt your growth.”

Zhang Sheng: “….”

Ding Xiang passed by, glancing at Li Xixi’s flat chest, and teasingly raised an eyebrow: “So, did you drink too much soy milk?”

Li Xixi: “….”

Zhu Xingyao couldn’t help but chuckle. Her red lips and white teeth shone, her eyes bright, causing everyone to be momentarily dazzled. Suddenly, there was an eruption of laughter. One boy slapped the table and laughed loudly: “Is that real? I suggest girls stop drinking soy milk from now on.”

“That’s right!”

The girls stopped laughing.

Zhou Qian from the back row glared at those boys: “Shut up!”

Li Xixi had shot herself in the foot. Frustrated, she stomped her feet and threw the soy milk bottle forcefully at Ding Xiang: “Ding Xianghua, go die!”

Ding Xiang hissed, clumsily catching the soy milk, and sighed: “Zhou Qian told me to die earlier today too. I’ve already died twice today.”

Li Xixi rolled her eyes in anger: “Serves you right. Dying a thousand times wouldn’t be enough to atone.”

“All right, I’ll just come back as a zombie.”

Ding Xiang shook his head. Just then, the bell rang for class. He ran back to his seat, taking the soy milk with him, leaving Zhang Sheng fuming.

This period was history class. The history teacher was an old man close to retirement, and few students paid attention in his class. Jiang Tu was still working through the test papers Cao Shujun had given him.

During the break, Ding Xiang had secretly counted while Jiang Tu was in the restroom. Wow, after being gawked at by the entire grade all day, he had managed to complete seven math papers, eight physics papers, and six chemistry papers. He had finished all the science test papers for this period.

He placed the bottle of soy milk over, coughed lightly: “Well, doing papers is tiring. Here’s some soy milk for you.”

Jiang Tu paused his pen, glanced at the soy milk that had passed through five people’s hands, and coldly said: “No thanks.”

Ding Xiang awkwardly took it back and muttered under his breath: “I just can’t stand Zhang Sheng. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that the goddess doesn’t like him bringing her food, yet he brings her soy milk every day. Can a goddess really be won over with a few bottles of soy milk? What an idiot.”

Though his voice was low, Jiang Tu heard every word clearly. He turned his head for the first time, seriously observing his deskmate. Ding Xiang had quite a few pimples on his face, but his features were still decent, certainly more pleasant to look at than Zhang Sheng’s. He had mentioned Zhu Xingyao no less than ten times today.

Feeling uncomfortable under Jiang Tu’s gaze, Ding Xiang shifted uneasily: “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jiang Tu’s voice was flat. He adjusted his glasses and turned back to continue working on the papers.

As soon as the bell rang, Jiang Tu pulled out his black backpack from his desk and was the first to leave the classroom.

Apart from Ding Xiang, no one noticed.

By the time everyone looked back, Jiang Tu’s seat was already empty, as if he had never been there. Some even worried: “Why did Jiang Tu leave so quickly? Will he not come back tomorrow?”

Ding Xiang immediately said: “He won’t skip school. He completed more than ten test papers today.”

“Wow, that’s impressive! Really?”

“Yes, didn’t Old Cao give him all sorts of quizzes and monthly exam papers? Such a thick stack! He finished all the science subjects.”

“Amazing! Then why does he run off? I remember he always leaves very quickly after school.”

Zhang Sheng sneered: “Probably afraid that debt collectors will chase him to the school gate. He’s probably hiding. Otherwise, would he wait to be forced out of school by loan sharks?”

His expression carried a hint of disdain and mockery, his words tinged with schadenfreude. Some laughed softly, but Ding Xiang frowned and said: “Why do you talk like that? Can’t you wish him well, at least as classmates?”

“Isn’t what I said the truth?”

Zhu Xingyao picked up her bag and glanced back emotionlessly. Zhang Sheng’s smile stiffened slightly, but he still liked her cool demeanor and shamelessly waved: “Goddess, see you tomorrow!”

Zhu Xingyao ignored him: “Xixi, let’s go.”

Li Xixi responded with an “Oh” and hurried to catch up. Once outside the classroom, she said: “Zhang Sheng can be really annoying sometimes.”

Zhang Sheng came from a well-off family and had decent grades, so he didn’t take others’ words to heart. To put it nicely, he was overly confident; to put it bluntly, he thought too highly of himself and was hard to deal with. Zhu Xingyao furrowed her brows: “Yes, he can be quite annoying.”

Li Xixi asked: “Do you think Jiang Tu will stop coming to school?”

It was Friday today, so there was no school tomorrow. Remembering what she had overheard outside the office, Zhu Xingyao shook her head: “No, he won’t.”