When the plane took off, the morning glow had not yet had the chance to spread across the sky. Si Bin watched the endless layers of clouds outside the window and drifted off to sleep before he knew it.
On his way back to the city center, he received a call from Shen Xingzhi.
"I have to head back," Shen Xingzhi said.
"Leaving so soon?" Si Bin asked. "Didn't we agree to have dinner together tonight?"
Shen Xingzhi was silent for a moment on the other end. "Bei Fan knows I'm back."
Si Bin frowned, listening as he continued.
"He’s come back begging to reconcile again." Shen Xingzhi seemed to be tearing open a snack package; a rustling sound came through the line.
"He dares to harass you?" Si Bin asked.
"It’s not exactly harassment. He showed up with a ring, properly asking to get back together," Shen Xingzhi said. "But I have no intention of getting tangled up with an ex-boyfriend who cheated and tried to trick me into a sham marriage, so I decided to make an early getaway."
"Right," Si Bin said. "Better to head back then. If he dares to come looking for you again..."
"Are you going to throw a sack over his head and give him a beating?" Shen Xingzhi laughed.
"Not quite."
The taxi pulled up at the entrance of Jingshan Garden. Si Bin held his phone in one hand and opened the car door with the other.
"His direct supervisor is Gao Yuan's older brother. We can solve the problem in a more civilized manner."
The car door shut with a thud.
The school bell rang at No. 1 High School. Sparrows darted from the branches, vanishing from Si Bin's field of vision.
"The results for this classroom test weren't very ideal." Teacher Xia handed the test paper to Jiang Yuxi.
"The highest score was 89, and the lowest was 53." Teacher Xia looked at the students below the podium and sighed. "Those who failed must reflect on themselves and listen carefully in class. If there's something you don't understand, ask your teachers or classmates as soon as possible. Don't let the problems pile up."
Jiang Yuxi thought he had performed quite well this time and walked with a spring in his step. However, while distributing the papers, he was called out by the teacher: "Jiang Yuxi's results this time were very unsatisfactory, especially the multiple-choice questions—they were a total mess. Remember to hand in your error correction notebook for me to check before evening self-study."
The eyes of half the class focused on him. Jiang Yuxi's hand froze as he handed out a paper, and he hurriedly replied, "Yes, Teacher."
The papers were arranged according to the time they were turned in. After handing out a few more, he saw the paper with Lin Murun's name on it.
A bright red 89 hung high at the top of the page. Compared to the score on the next paper, it looked particularly unpleasant.
"Congratulations, Lin Murun," Jiang Yuxi whispered as he handed over the paper. "First place again."
Lin Murun didn't say anything after receiving his paper, only giving him a faint glance.
This attitude made Jiang Yuxi feel even worse. He twitched the corner of his mouth and continued, "Truly, no question can stump you."
"Jiang Yuxi, stop talking and finish handing out the papers quickly," Teacher Xia said, looking up while adjusting the projector.
"Okay." Jiang Yuxi lowered his head, quietly placing his own 65-point paper on his desk.
"Check your papers first. Same as usual, we'll go over the questions with the highest error rates first." Teacher Xia used the projector to enlarge the final multiple-choice question.
"Let's look at this one first. It's technically an advanced question beyond the syllabus, but I included it on the test to broaden your knowledge."
"Only three students in the whole class chose the correct answer. Is anyone willing to come up to the podium and explain their reasoning?"
Teacher Xia looked up and found most of the students staring at the question with furrowed brows.
"Zhou Xuan." He called a name directly.
Zhou Xuan looked up blankly and said, "Teacher, I used the process of elimination and guessed."
Some students burst out laughing.
Teacher Xia laughed too. "Then what about Lin Murun? How did you solve this one?"
Lin Murun stood up and answered, "I calculated it."
"Alright then, I'll have to trouble you to explain the reasoning to everyone," Teacher Xia said.
"Okay." He took his scratch paper and pen and walked up to the podium.
The youth's voice was clean, and he showed no hesitation while explaining the problem. From time to time, he would look up to observe his classmates' expressions to speed up or slow down his explanation.
"Student Lin Murun's explanation was much more detailed than mine."
After Lin Murun finished, Teacher Xia joked, "If anyone still doesn't understand, go ask him after class. This was an advanced question anyway; whether you understand it or not isn't the most important thing. What matters is that you can use it as an excuse to talk more with a handsome guy, right?"
The students roared with laughter.
The morning passed in a blur of lectures and exercises. As soon as the bell for the end of the fifth period rang, the footsteps of the lunch-snatching army echoed in the hallway.
Teacher Li, who hadn't finished explaining a problem, saw that the students' hearts had already flown out of the classroom. He packed up his materials and dismissed the class.
The students of Class 2 ran out of the room like wild horses, heading straight for the cafeteria.
Jiang Yuxi followed at the end of the line and quietly walked to the faculty office.
"Report." He knocked on the office door.
Teacher Xia, who was grading homework, looked up. "Come in."
"Teacher Xia." He walked over, glanced at the crowded hallway behind him, and hesitated. "I have something I want to tell you..."
Teacher Xia put down his red pen and asked, "What is it?"
"The last multiple-choice question on this test... I've seen it before in Lin Murun's daily practice exercises..." he said in a low voice.
***
Si Bin finished his shower and casually opened an app on his phone to order takeout.
Little White, who had been curled up by the window soaking in the sun, saw him come out of the bathroom and scurried over, darting inside.
"Little White." Si Bin turned around. "Come out, quickly."
The steam in the bathroom hadn't dissipated yet, and the floor was covered in water.
"Aren't you afraid of water?" Si Bin bent down, intending to pick it up and carry it out, but the cat nimbly dodged his hand and bolted upstairs.
Si Bin didn't bother with it further. He turned to open the window for ventilation and took a hairdryer out of the drawer.
The takeout arrived right on time—homemade rice with toppings and a side of pork rib soup. It tasted decent. Si Bin ate while scrolling through practice problems on his phone.
When he opened WeChat, he remembered the letter Lin Murun had mentioned a few days ago.
Though he didn't know who sent it, he had no intention of opening it.
After finishing his meal, he went upstairs to his bedroom, planning to catch up on sleep before visiting his grandfather's house.
Even a high-energy teenager couldn't resist the effects of sleep deprivation. After staying up for several nights at the hospital, Si Bin was exhausted to the point of collapse.
Just then, Yu Wenbo sent a WeChat message.
"Bin-ge, you there?"
Si Bin unlocked his phone and replied, "Yeah."
Yu Wenbo asked, "Are you back? Interested in participating in a poetry recitation?"
Lying on the bed, Si Bin ruthlessly rejected the invitation: "No."
Yu Wenbo: [Soft 1 Crying.JPG]
"Bin-ge, the recitation requires a mix of boys and girls, but our class doesn't have many boys," he said.
"Even fewer can actually do a recitation."
"The looks of the sports representative and the math representative are really... not fit for public display. But a group performance represents the face of the class."
"We need you! Brother!"
Si Bin looked expressionlessly at the new messages popping up on the screen and replied, "Not going."
Yu Wenbo: "Bin-ge! I come bearing the hopes of the entire class!"
Si Bin: "Oh."
On the other end, Yu Wenbo typed out another long paragraph.
"I promise! The lines you need to say are really, really few. You just need to stand quietly on the podium after reciting your part!"
Si Bin imagined the scene and thought it looked incredibly stupid.
"This afternoon during self-study, the large classroom in the music building. Be there or be square~"
Before Si Bin could argue, Yu Wenbo added, "The students from Class 2 are also going to the music building for class today, right next door to us."
After saying that, fearing Si Bin wouldn't understand the hint, he added one more line: "Scholar Lin is going too."
Before Si Bin could send his rejection, he deleted it all upon seeing the words "Scholar Lin."
Lin Murun's violin was still sitting in his study.
Si Bin's sleepiness vanished instantly. He checked the time and saw it was already past one o'clock.
If Lin Murun was going to the music building to practice this afternoon, he would likely choose to come pick up the violin during the lunch break. Calculating the time, he should be leaving the school gates soon.
Si Bin sprang up from the bed and rushed into the walk-in closet.
When Lin Murun pushed open the study door, he was startled by Si Bin sitting upright at the desk.
"You... when did you get back?" Lin Murun asked.
Si Bin stopped writing and said, "Just got back. I'm planning to head down to school soon."
"Sorry, I didn't know you were home," Lin Murun explained. "I just let myself in."
"It's fine," Si Bin said. "I didn't tell you."
"Are you here for the violin?" he asked.
Lin Murun nodded.
Si Bin stood up, handed him the violin resting nearby, and asked, "How's the practice going?"
"It's alright," Lin Murun said. "We're practicing a few more times this afternoon. The program selection is tomorrow."
"What about you?" he asked. "What program are you participating in?"
Si Bin replied, "I'm doing a group poetry recitation."
Back in the classroom during lunch break, Yu Wenbo let out a loud sneeze.
He muttered to himself, "Who's badmouthing me?"
Lin Murun nodded and was just about to leave when Si Bin called out to him again.
"That letter..." Si Bin asked. "Who gave it to you?"
"Which one?" Lin Murun thought for a moment. "Do you mean the love letter?"
Si Bin nodded.
"It was Jiang Yuxi," he answered. "He asked me to give it to you."
The sentence sounded a bit ambiguous, so Lin Murun added, "He was passing it on for a friend."
"Oh..." Si Bin nodded. "He certainly knows how to put you to work."
"It was just a small favor." Lin Murun tilted his head and asked softly, "Did you read it?"
"No," Si Bin said. "No need to."
"If you encounter similar requests in the future, you can refuse," Si Bin said. "I don't read anyone's love letters."
