When Lin Murun woke up, it was already the next morning. He groggily climbed out of bed and realized he was still wearing the same clothes from the day before.
The faint scent of alcohol clung to the fabric. Lin Murun scratched his head, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed into the bathroom.
*Tsk... it’s already nine o’clock. Alcohol has delayed my study time.*
The top student thought this to himself while brushing his teeth.
Just as he finished showering, his WeChat rang.
Drying his hair with one hand, he picked up the phone with the other. It was a call from Si Bin.
"Hello?" Lin Murun pressed answer.
"Are you up?" Si Bin asked from the other end.
"Yeah," Lin Murun replied.
"Go eat some breakfast. Keep it light," Si Bin instructed. "Drink some milk or plenty of water to help metabolize the alcohol."
"Okay," Lin Murun answered, rubbing his eyes.
"Don't drink like that next time; it's bad for your health," Si Bin warned. "There’s a limit to how much you should push yourself just to show off. Think about how many practice problems you usually would have finished by this time."
"Mm..." Lin Murun hummed a response. "I just need more practice."
"Practice what?" Si Bin said coolly. "Go eat breakfast."
Without waiting for a reply, he briskly hung up the phone.
Lin Murun put the phone down, only then belatedly realizing something.
—How did he get back last night?
The answer came at the dining table.
"Si Bin carried you back on his back yesterday," Lin Qingqing answered while sipping her porridge.
"..." Lin Murun looked up, a piece of bread hanging from his mouth.
"You fell asleep. I wanted to wake you up, but Si Bin stopped me. He was afraid you’d feel sick if you were forced awake while drunk, so he just carried you up." Lin Qingqing spread her hands. "Good thing our building has an elevator. If he’d had to carry you up eight flights of stairs, that would’ve been insane."
At this time, Lin Murun’s uncle had gone out for a walk, and his aunt was catching up on sleep in her room. Lin Qingqing looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their sibling talk before leaning in. "Wu Yichen even asked me what the deal is between you and Si Bin."
Thinking of the phone call just now, Lin Murun set down his water glass. "He didn't say anything about it."
"Who didn't say anything? Oh, listen to me first!" Lin Qingqing continued. "I told him I didn't know, but he didn't believe me."
"By the way, Brother, did you know Si Bin before you transferred?"
Lin Murun thought for a moment and replied, "I don't think so."
"Then how are you two so close?" Lin Qingqing asked in surprise. "At first, I asked Wu Yichen to carry you, but he was unwilling. He said he was afraid my parents would see."
"It’s fine..." Lin Murun took a sip of water. "He’s quite helpful and easy to get along with."
Lin Qingqing looked like she had seen a ghost. "This is the first time I’ve ever heard someone call Si Bin 'helpful' and 'easy to get along with.'"
Lin Murun gave her a questioning look.
"Haven't you heard? He went to Experimental Middle School. He hung out with a real rough crowd back then. In seventh and eighth grade, he skipped class and got into fights all the time. It wasn't until ninth grade that he suddenly 'saw the light' and started studying hard. He barely managed to scrape into No. 1 High School's senior division at the bottom of the list." Lin Qingqing frowned. "Wu Yichen told me all this. Even though he seems to have mellowed out a lot now, a person's nature doesn't change that quickly."
Lin Murun lowered his eyes in thought for a moment. "He isn't bad at heart."
"But we all think he’s incredibly cold-hearted," Lin Qingqing pouted.
Lin Murun thought back to the night they took Xiaobai to the pet hospital. Though it wasn't intentional, leaving a familiar environment had made the kitten anxious. It had trembled and scratched Si Bin several times along the way. By the time they arrived, Si Bin’s arms were covered in red marks from the cat’s claws, yet he hadn't shown the slightest bit of impatience or annoyance.
"Maybe you all have a misunderstanding of him?" Lin Murun suggested.
Lin Qingqing shook her head. "You should be familiar with Li Menglai from your class, right? She took the initiative to pursue Si Bin and was rejected. It caused quite a stir. Don't you think doing that is hurtful?"
"Should he have said yes then?" Lin Murun countered.
"Huh?" Lin Qingqing blinked, thinking it over. "Well, he didn't have to reject her so bluntly right away. He could have tried dating her first to see how it went. If he really didn't like her, they could have broken up later."
"That would be even more hurtful," Lin Murun said.
"Why?" Lin Qingqing asked, puzzled.
"If you don't like someone, why give them hope?" Lin Murun replied.
"Oh! I get it. So that’s why you didn't agree to Jiajia yesterday?" Lin Qingqing smiled, biting her spoon. "I knew it! I’ve never heard of you having a girlfriend."
"But seriously, she has a lot of pursuers." Lin Qingqing winked. "Brother, are you really not going to consider it?"
Lin Murun’s hand paused as he scooped his porridge. "Do you hang out with them often?"
"Not really..." Lin Qingqing thought about it. "It started because of Qianqian’s birthday. I met Wu Yichen at the party. Those students yesterday were all Wu Yichen’s friends."
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
Lin Murun looked down at his porridge. After a long silence, he replied, "You should probably see less of them in the future."
"Huh?" Lin Qingqing was confused. "Why?"
Lin Murun answered, "You aren't the same kind of people."
***
Student gossip always travels fast. As long as there is one "little trumpet" in a group, a piece of gossip can grow wings and fly through an entire social circle.
"Congratulations, Brother Lin! Double congratulations!" Li Xi turned around with the grade sheet. "First in the grade again!"
"Brother Lin is a god!" Yu Qianyi chimed in from the back row.
"Scholar Lin, please enlighten us—how do you manage to balance romance and studies so perfectly?" Shen Hao turned around to ask.
"What romance?" Li Xi froze. "Lin Murun is dating?"
"You didn't know!" Shen Hao raised his eyebrows. "Chen Jiajia from No. 5 High said it. Brother Lin already has a girlfriend, which is why he rejected her confession."
Li Xi: "Holy crap!"
Yu Qianyi: "Holy crap!!"
"What?" Even Zhou Xuan, who had been slumped on his desk, looked up.
"I don't..."
Under the collective gaze of the gossip-hungry crowd, Lin Murun’s denial felt weak and powerless.
"We understand," Li Xi said supportively.
"Don't let this get out! Don't sell out our classmate," Shen Hao told the students nearby.
"I really don't—" Before Lin Murun could finish his sentence, Shen Hao interrupted him.
"Don't be scared, Scholar Lin. Puppy love is very normal at No. 1 High." Shen Hao began to educate him. "Couples here are as common as cow hair. As long as it doesn't affect your studies or bother others, the teachers turn a blind eye."
"And our school culture is very open. Have you seen the Confession Wall downstairs? Whether you're looking for a girlfriend or a boyfriend, if you dare to go public, we dare to give our blessings." Li Xi puffed out her chest proudly. "I even cheered for a pair of senior girls once!"
Huang Hao, who hadn't participated in the discussion until now, finally looked up. "Aren't you going to study? Can gossip get you first place in the grade?"
At his reminder, Shen Hao remembered he hadn't finished his homework.
"Scholar!" He waved at Lin Murun. "Lend me your homework for a bit!"
Lin Murun looked up. "Which subject?"
"English! And Geography!"
Lin Murun took the assignments out of his bag and handed them over.
"Thanks, Dad! The top student is truly a god—finishing homework while dating." Before Lin Murun could argue, Shen Hao gave him an "I get you, I won't say more" look.
"Right, right! I won't say a word. We'll just keep it between us." Shen Hao happily began copying the homework.
Lin Murun: "..."
***
Evening self-study was, as usual, dedicated to reviewing exam papers.
"In this exam, there was only one perfect score in Mathematics for the entire grade. I believe you all know who it is—Si Bin from Class 1."
As soon as Teacher Li, the homeroom teacher, finished speaking, a chorus of gasps filled the room.
"Holy crap! Is he even human?"
"The questions were so hard. I showed the paper to a friend, and he said it was basically at the level of a math competition!"
"Si Bin participated in the Provincial Math Olympiad before!"
"Quiet!" Teacher Li glared, and Class 2 instantly fell silent.
"Now, let's talk about our class. The highest math score is Lin Murun, with 135 points."
"Whoa!"
"Amazing!"
Several students whispered in admiration as they looked at Lin Murun.
"The class has made great progress in this monthly exam. We have six people in the top ten of the grade, and twenty-two in the top sixty. The top student in the grade is still Lin Murun, with a total score of 675."
Some were surprised, others envious. A single high score could be attributed to luck, but it was unlikely for someone to get lucky twice in a row. Every student knew how difficult these questions were, and the fact that the transfer student had quietly secured two consecutive championships gave many a sense of crisis.
Classmates could be friends, but they could also be competitors—especially since the group hadn't fully integrated the transfer student yet.
"What are you so surprised about? He might be competing with you for the same university," Lin Murun heard someone whisper.
"Quiet." Teacher Li’s face darkened. "Instead of worrying about others, you should focus on your own studies. Don't forget that there will be another class reshuffle in the third year. Students whose final exam scores fall out of the top sixty in the grade will be moved to the parallel classes."
The drop from an honors class to a parallel class was a blow most students couldn't accept. The students who had been whispering immediately fell silent.
"Good grades are the only hard truth." Teacher Li turned on the projector. "Let's start the lesson."
After Lin Murun received his answer sheet, he lowered his head to correct his mistakes, but he was still stuck on the final question. At this point, the first session of evening self-study wasn't even half over; that specific question likely wouldn't be explained until the second session.
Lin Murun thought for a moment, then took out his phone and quietly sent a WeChat message to Si Bin.
[Are you there?]
Si Bin must have been looking at his phone, as he replied instantly: [Here.]
[Is it convenient for you to let me see your answer for the last sub-question of the math bonus problem?] Lin Murun asked.
[Okay.] After Si Bin replied, there was a brief silence. A moment later, he sent a photo.
Lin Murun clicked on it. It was a complete step-by-step solution for the final problem.
Judging by the paper, the solution wasn't written on an official answer sheet. Knowing Si Bin’s habit of skipping steps in his head, Lin Murun guessed that he had specially written out the full process on a piece of scratch paper for him.
[Thank you.]
Receiving the message, Si Bin lowered his head and smiled, a sight that left Yu Wenbo, sitting in front of him, looking horrified.
[Bin-ge, what's the situation?] Yu Wenbo lowered his head to text him.
To his surprise, Si Bin, who was clearly looking at his phone, didn't reply immediately. Yu Wenbo’s curiosity gnawed at him; he kept glancing back at Si Bin and was glared at several times by the teacher at the podium.
[Also, thank you for taking me home yesterday.]
A moment later, Si Bin received a new message from Lin Murun.
[It was nothing,] he replied. [Focus on class for now. Your Teacher Li is going to come around to collect phones soon.]
Just as he exited the chat, he saw a flurry of messages from Yu Wenbo.
[Bin-ge! Bin-ge, are you there? Look at me!]
[Bin-ge, who are you chatting with?]
[I think something is up!]
[Curious.JPG]
[Nothing.]
Compared to Yu Wenbo, Si Bin’s reply was cold and ruthless.
[Eee! You were just smiling!]
[I don't believe you!]
Yu Wenbo gossiped: [Who were you chatting with?]
[Scholar Lin,] Si Bin replied.
Yu Wenbo: [???]
He sent a string of question marks.
[Really?]
Si Bin: [Yeah.]
[But you were smiling so happily.] Yu Wenbo looked back at Si Bin and found he had already returned to his usual lazy, indifferent expression.
[Oh,] Si Bin replied.
What did "Oh" mean? Yu Wenbo was left completely baffled.
"Yu Wenbo, the answers aren't written on Si Bin’s face," the teacher on the podium called out. "Also, don't make it so obvious that you're playing with your phone!"
Amidst the laughter of his classmates, Yu Wenbo turned red and obediently put his phone away.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 实验中学 | Experimental Middle School | A specific school mentioned in Si Bin's backstory. |
| 一中 | No. 1 High School | The prestigious school the characters currently attend. |
| 五中 | No. 5 High School | Another local high school. |
| 表白墙 | Confession Wall | A social media page or physical board where students post anonymous confessions. |
| 平行班 | Parallel Class | Standard/regular academic track classes. |
| 实验班 | Honors Class | Advanced/Experimental track classes for top students. |
| 附加题 | Bonus Question | Extra credit or more difficult questions at the end of an exam. |
| 小喇叭 | Little Trumpet | Slang for a gossip or someone who spreads news quickly. |
| 吊车尾 | Bottom of the list | Literally "the tail of the cart"; refers to someone ranking last. |
