DXXZL - 18

That joke slowly faded away only after the final exams and the arrival of summer vacation. During the summer break, Zhu Xingyao went to Beijing, and Zhu Yunping gave her a surprise — Chen Lan became her teacher. She was overjoyed.

Besides practicing piano, she also enrolled in a German class. The whole summer was busy and fulfilling. At the end of August, she celebrated her sixteenth birthday and officially turned seventeen.

Thinking seriously, growing up was really fast.

…

The day before school started, Jiang Tu came home and saw Chen Yi sitting cross-legged on his family’s sofa. Shu Xian hadn’t come home from work yet, Jiang Jinhui was not around, and Jiang Lu, a little classmate, was sitting on a small stool across from him, staring wide-eyed at a group of tough guys.

The scene looked like he had been kidnapped. If Jiang Tu had come back even a bit later, Jiang Lu might have been taken hostage. As soon as the little kid saw him, he immediately ran over and whispered, “Brother.”

Jiang Tu’s expression instantly turned cold. Chen Yi smirked arrogantly, “You’re back, huh? Haven’t seen you for months.”

Chen Yi had disappeared for months, but that thirty thousand yuan was pretty useful — it bought Jiang Tu half a year of short-term relief. Jiang Tu patted Jiang Lu on the head and took out a stack of money from his pocket, placing it on the table.

Just then, Lin Jiayu ran in and saw the scene.

Chen Yi pocketed the money, glanced at Lin Jiayu, and sneered, “Is this your little wife?”

“Watch your mouth.” Jiang Tu frowned. “The money’s given, you can leave now.”

“Looks like you care quite a bit about Zhu Xingyao. Last time you just splashed a whole cup of wine on me.”

Jiang Tu gave him a cold look, but Chen Yi got no response, so he got up with a bored expression and waved his hand, “I’m leaving.”

After they left, Lin Jiayu finally breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Jiang Tu with curiosity, “Why did Chen Yi mention Zhu Xingyao just now?”

Jiang Tu’s expression turned impatient. “Nothing.”

He turned and walked into his room.

Though the home was old and worn, the size was decent — about ninety square meters with three separate rooms. It was a bit small, but at least everyone had their own room. He closed the door, took a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from the drawer.

Leaning against the chair, he smoked half a cigarette, then raised his hand to put it out and walked out of the room.

The school’s class assignment list should be posted by now.

It was already evening. Jiang Tu rode his bicycle to the school. The class lists were posted on the bulletin board of the second-year teaching building. There he saw Lu Ji and Zhou Yuan. Lu Ji had his hands in his pants pockets, frowning as he stared at the class list.

Zhou Yuan scratched his head. “This… you really have no luck with the goddess. Even Xu Xiangyang is luckier than you.”

Lu Ji was annoyed and turned around. His eyes landed on Jiang Tu, who was leaning on his bike. He was a bit surprised. “You came to see the class list too?”

“Yeah.”

Jiang Tu glanced at him, then sat on his bike and looked up at the class list.

The second year was divided into science and arts streams. There were 13 science classes, 5 of which were key classes. The ranking was based on science scores. Jiang Tu looked starting from Class 1. The first name on the list was his, then after a name gap with Xu Xiangyang, the next was Zhu Xingyao.

Jiang Tu loosened his grip on the bike handles, the heart he’d been holding dropped — he felt he still had some luck.

At least, luckier than Lu Ji.

He looked at Lu Ji and said coldly, “Tomorrow morning this place will probably be packed with people. Better to check early.”

After speaking, he pedaled his bike and quickly left.

—

On the first day of the second year, Jiang Tu learned that Li Xixi and Ding Xiang were also assigned to Class 1, along with several students from Class 7, including Zhang Sheng and Cao Ming.

Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi arrived late and sat in the third group, second to last row. Jiang Tu and Ding Xiang sat in the fourth group, last row. Ding Xiang was excited like he was on some kind of stimulant: “I’m basically glowing! Not only did I get into a key class with the lowest scores, but I also get to be in the same class as you and the goddess.”

Jiang Tu glanced at Zhu Xingyao but just gave a noncommittal smile.

However, this time the class arrangement was a bit awkward. The class belle of Class 15, Xia Jin, was also assigned to Class 1. She was no longer the class belle here, and her expression seemed unpleasant.

Li Xixi sighed, “Two tigers cannot share a mountain.”

Zhu Xingyao rolled her eyes, “Keep your voice down, and can you at least try to be more original with your metaphors?”

Li Xixi laughed and hugged her, “Ah, who cares? It’s not like you’re the one feeling wronged.”

The homeroom teacher of second year Class 1 was Cao Shujun; Class 2’s was Xie Ya.

Xie Ya was a bit puzzled — how did someone as lax as Cao Shujun get assigned as a homeroom teacher? Must have gotten in through some backdoor. When they bumped into each other in the corridor, Cao Shujun smiled, “Teacher Xie, how did you arrange the seating?”

Xie Ya glanced at him, “Anyway, it won’t be voluntary — either a draw or my decision.”

Cao Shujun thought she was mocking him but didn’t care, smiling: “The group leader just told me to learn from you more in the future. Looking forward to working with you.”

Xie Ya gave a half-smile, half-smirk: “Fine.”

They each went into their new classes. Cao Shujun stood on the podium and saw many familiar faces. He asked some boys to carry in books. After distributing the new textbooks, he democratically asked, “How do you want to arrange the seats? By grades or by drawing lots?”

Ding Xiang raised his hand, “The usual way!”

“What’s the usual way?” someone asked, confused.

Cao Shujun smiled, “Then let’s arrange seats according to grades.”

Ding Xiang immediately looked at Jiang Tu and flattered, “Brother Tu...”

Jiang Tu pushed up his glasses and looked up. “Ding Xiang and I will sit here, no changes.”

Xu Xiangyang sat in the last desk of the third group. He didn’t want to change either. Cao Shujun looked over and smiled, “Xu Xiangyang, I saw you’re the only one who’s been class monitor before. I’ll just make you the monitor again directly, is that okay?”

Xu Xiangyang looked around at everyone and smiled, “I’ve been class monitor since elementary school. We should ask if anyone else wants to run.”

Li Xixi was the only one who raised her hand.

Xu Xiangyang: “...”

Cao Shujun asked, “Li Xixi, any objections?”

Seeing she was the only one who raised her hand, Li Xixi backed down, “...None.”

So Xu Xiangyang became class monitor.

Zhu Xingyao hadn’t picked her seat yet when Ding Xiang called from behind, “Goddess, you guys sit in front of us, same as last semester.”

Zhu Xingyao turned her head, and Jiang Tu happened to look up at the same moment. Their eyes met. For a moment, she thought she saw a hint of expectation in Jiang Tu’s eyes. She was stunned for a second, then thought she must be imagining it.

Li Xixi said, “Let’s go. I don’t want to sit here.”

The two of them sat back in the desk in front of Jiang Tu. Jiang Tu and Ding Xiang helped them move the desks. When Zhu Xingyao brushed past Jiang Tu, she smelled a familiar yet strange scent on him and was momentarily stunned.

Jiang Tu had already turned around and looked down at her, “What’s wrong?”

Last winter, Zhu Xingyao had smelled his coat — the black coat carried only the clean scent of soap, with a bit of crispness, very pleasant.

Not sure if it was her imagination, but just now she seemed to have caught a faint whiff of smoke.

She looked up and smiled, “Nothing. It’s just that we’re in the same class again.”

Jiang Tu looked down at her and smiled faintly, “Yeah.”

During the break, Li Xixi hummed a song wearing headphones.

She was singing Jay Chou’s new song, Secret That Cannot Be Told. The movie had just come out in summer vacation and was familiar to many. A few girls gathered to discuss it, saying, “That movie broke my heart, tricked me into shedding so many tears.”

“Yeah, it made me cry so much.”

Ding Xiang spoiled the mood, “You girls are so easy to make cry.”

Li Xixi rolled her eyes, “Ding Xiang, shut up.”

Ding Xiang: “...”

He turned to Jiang Tu, “Brother Tu, what do you think? We’re not murderers or thieves. What secrets could there be that we can’t talk about?”

Zhu Xingyao turned her head and saw Jiang Tu taking off his glasses. She noticed the tiredness and redness in his eyes and thought Ding Xiang was asking the wrong person. Jiang Tu was such a hard person to figure out, she felt he was full of secrets…

Jiang Tu had worked a shift last night at Brother Liang’s barbecue shop and had barely slept. Just as he was about to lie down for a nap, he looked up and met Zhu Xingyao’s curious gaze.

He looked at her, moved slightly, and said quietly, “Everyone has secrets, I guess.”

You are my biggest secret.

…

At the start of school, the national physics competition registration began again. Jiang Tu hadn’t participated last year because of family problems. This time, Cao Shujun called him into the office to talk. Jiang Tu was silent for a moment and said, “Sorry, I can’t participate.”

The physics competition lasted too long — sometimes a month at a time. He didn’t trust Shu Xian and Jiang Lu alone, and he didn’t want his life to be defined by competition admissions. Even without the special admission, he believed he could still get into a top university.

Cao Shujun’s persuasion was useless, and he sighed, “Both you and Zhu Xingyao aren’t joining. Our class only has Xu Xiangyang participating.”

Jiang Tu returned from the office to the classroom. Zhu Xingyao immediately turned to ask, “Did the homeroom teacher talk to you about the competition?”

“Yeah, I refused.”

Zhu Xingyao was surprised, “Ah? Why? Your physics is so good; it’s such a waste not to go.”

Even Ding Xiang and Li Xixi looked at him and asked at the same time, “Yeah, why?”

Ding Xiang lamented, “If you went, you might have gotten the special admission.”

Jiang Tu glanced at them, his gaze resting on Zhu Xingyao.

The girl wore a summer uniform, white shirt with blue collar, and the curve of her neck was soft and pretty. Every time she turned her head, the small distinct mole on her nose pointed toward him. Jiang Tu looked at that mole and said, “Special admissions aren’t that important to me.”

Zhu Xingyao thought for a moment, then smiled softly, “True. After the streams split, you’re already top of your class. Your grades are amazing. Even without the special admission, you’ll definitely get into Tsinghua or Peking University.”

Jiang Tu looked at her long, thick curled eyelashes and faintly smiled, “Hopefully.”

…

At noon, Xu Xiangyang, Lu Ji, and Zhou Yuan had finished getting their meals in the cafeteria. Lu Ji was a bit surprised hearing about this, “Really? I thought he’d definitely join this year. His physics is so good; it’d be a shame not to.”

Xu Xiangyang agreed, “It is a little regrettable, but what he said makes sense. There’s more than one way to get into university besides competitions.”

Lu Ji nodded without commenting, “Hmm.”

He didn’t really want to participate either, but he couldn’t say no to the teacher, so he just went along with it to bring honor to the school.

The group of them scanned the cafeteria for empty tables. Lu Ji looked up and saw Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi carrying their trays, walking over to sit in front of his new deskmate.

Zhou Yuan immediately bumped his shoulder and said, “Hey, do you know Zhu Xingyao, your new deskmate?”

Lu Ji’s new deskmate was Lin Jiayu, who had just been assigned to Class 2, a seat arranged by Xie Yading. The girl had been rather reserved at first and hadn’t said much to him, so he didn’t expect she actually knew Zhu Xingyao.

There were many shops around the school, plus the cafeteria was divided into a big one and a small one. Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi didn’t usually come to the big cafeteria, so this was the first time they’d run into Lin Jiayu there.

Lin Jiayu had taken up a whole table by herself, and she brought Li Xixi over to sit with her.

Zhu Xingyao introduced them, and Li Xixi exclaimed, “You’re the childhood friend of Brother Tu, huh?”

“Yeah, we grew up together,” Lin Jiayu smiled a little shyly, then asked curiously, “How did he become ‘Brother Tu’?”

Zhu Xingyao bit her straw and took a sip of soy milk, “His deskmate started calling him that first.”

Lin Jiayu laughed, “Do you call him that too?”

“Sometimes…” Zhu Xingyao released the straw, thought for a moment, and said, “But sometimes he stops me from calling him that.”

Lin Jiayu blinked, “Why?”

Li Xixi took a bite of her chicken leg and said happily, “Maybe he can’t handle it, after all, not just anyone can call Xingxing ‘brother.’ Once our class sports committee member, Zhang Sheng — you’ll get to know him later — when he heard Xingxing call Tu ‘brother,’ his eyes almost popped out from jealousy.”

Zhu Xingyao said, “You’re exaggerating.”

“Not at all! I think Zhang Sheng is a little obsessed with you,” Li Xixi said, then suddenly realized what she’d said might be a bit much — childhood friends… that sounds kind of flirty. What if Lin Jiayu liked Jiang Tu? She quickly changed the subject, “No, no, I’m just joking. Xingxing only calls him ‘Brother Tu’ when she’s teasing.”

Lin Jiayu couldn’t help but smile.

Just as Zhu Xingyao was about to speak, the empty seat across from her was suddenly taken.

Lu Ji sat down opposite her, smiling, “Is it okay if we sit here?”

This was the first time since school started that Zhu Xingyao and Lu Ji were sitting so close, face to face. She thought about the nearly two semesters’ worth of Friday love letters — envelopes and cards all decorated with a girl playing the cello. Seeing Lu Ji, she got a little distracted but noticed he was still looking at her, and she pressed her lips into a small smile, “Sure, no one else is here.”

Lu Ji and a few others sat nearby. Because of what happened in the hallway, Li Xixi wasn’t in a good mood with Xu Xiangyang and rolled her eyes at him. Xu Xiangyang cleared his throat.

Lu Ji glanced at Lin Jiayu, then at Zhu Xingyao, “Didn’t expect you two to know each other.”

Zhu Xingyao looked at Lin Jiayu.

Lin Jiayu explained, “The homeroom teacher arranged the seating. I’m his deskmate.”

“Weren’t you in Class 15 before?” Zhou Yuan asked curiously, then looked at Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi, “How come you’re so familiar with someone from Class 7?”