Chapter Four: You, My Desk-mate

Zhenhua High School is a key provincial school in Hei Province. Since 1995, nearly every year’s top scorer in the college entrance examination has come from here; it’s truly a haven for academic prodigies. Yet, stepping onto the campus, one would hardly notice anything extraordinary. The comprehensive building, the playground, and the teaching blocks all look quite ordinary.

The classrooms appear plain as well—hard to imagine so many top scorers emerging from this setting.

On the first day of school, the classroom was chaotic, filled with students who didn’t know each other, chattering excitedly about their summer vacations.

Looking at the youthful faces before him, Li Jie suddenly felt that his days at school might be quite dull. After all, the kids were too young, and there was a generation gap. It seemed that aside from getting along well with Geng Geng, he would spend the rest of the time focusing on his creative work.

There happened to be two empty seats, so Li Jie put down his backpack and sat down, taking out a book titled “The Art of Photographic Composition” to read.

“Hey, is this seat taken?” A voice with a noticeably husky timbre, clearly in the throes of puberty, spoke beside him.

Li Jie looked up and saw a boy with thick black-rimmed glasses. “Sorry, this seat is already taken. There are plenty of empty seats over there.”

The boy with glasses fell silent.

More students came up with the same question, and Li Jie gave them the same reply. Then, Geng Geng walked into the classroom. She glanced around, and when her eyes landed on Li Jie, she was clearly taken aback.

Why him? He was in the same class, and only the seat beside him was empty. What should she do? She felt conflicted.

“Hey, Geng Geng, come sit here. I saw your name on the class list and saved you a seat,” Li Jie said. Suddenly, the room fell quiet. The students who had just been turned away looked at Li Jie and Geng Geng with evident curiosity.

A man about 1.7 meters tall, sporting a mustache, a smiling face, a slender build, yellowish hair, and wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, entered the classroom.

“Hey, young lady, why aren’t you sitting down? Hurry up and find an empty seat.”

Geng Geng hesitated but finally walked over to the empty seat beside Li Jie.

“Hello everyone, welcome to Zhenhua. I’m your homeroom teacher and also your physics teacher, Zhang Ping,” he said, tracing the strokes of his name in the air.

“I’ll start by taking attendance so you can get to know each other and introduce yourselves,” he said, glancing at the class roster on the podium.

“Xu Yanliang.”

“Present. Hello, I’m Xu Yanliang, from the Affiliated High School of Normal University.”

...

“Lu Xinghe.”

“Here. Hi everyone, I’m Lu Xinghe. I enjoy drawing, photography, and music. Nice to meet you all.”

Oh, he likes photography too, Geng Geng noticed and glanced at the book titled “The Art of Photographic Composition” on Li Jie’s desk, feeling pleased. A kindred spirit—not the typical bookish top student—this meant they might have common interests in the future.

...

“Is there anyone who hasn’t been called yet?”

Geng Geng raised her hand. “Teacher, you missed me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Geng Geng.”

“Are you in our class?” Zhang Ping looked a bit flustered as he flipped through the roster, spotting her name alone on the last page.

“Sorry, your name was on the last page; I didn’t notice. Please introduce yourself.”

“My name is Geng Geng, from No. 13 Middle School.”

“No. 13 Middle School? They can even get into Zhenhua?” A voice laced with skepticism and disdain blurted out.

“Yeah, otherwise, how would your name be on the last page?” With a bang, the class erupted again at the mention of No. 13 Middle School.

Seeing Geng Geng’s downcast expression, Li Jie said, “Don’t mind them. My grades aren’t great either. See, we have a connection: we met this morning, now again, and we’re even deskmates.”

The first step was accomplished. If this were a game, would there be an achievement unlocked for becoming deskmates? Li Jie pondered whimsically.

“It’s nothing. I’ll get over it soon. Lu Xinghe, you like photography too?” Geng Geng asked timidly, pointing at the photography book on the desk.

“Yes, but I’ve only just started learning. You must like photography if you bring a camera to school. Let’s share experiences during our free time,” Li Jie replied cheerfully.

“Sure, I’m just messing around, not very skilled yet.”

Time passed until the day before the National Day holiday. Li Jie hadn’t done much else at school, since Yu Huai had already been placed in Class 1, and now he was deskmates with Geng Geng. As the saying goes, “The nearness of water favors the moon”—no rush. With years of experience and thorough preparation, failure was unlikely.

Recently, Geng Geng had been quite satisfied with this new deskmate, though she found it odd that Li Jie rarely paid attention in class. He was either reading photography books or bent over writing something. Seems like a fellow underachiever! She had asked him a few times but saw he wasn’t very enthusiastic about studying. Hmph, just wait until the midterms!

“Have you read the latest issue of ‘Sprout’? There’s a serialized story called ‘The Devotion of Suspect X.’ It’s so good I want to read it all at once,” Xu Yanliang said to the chubby boy beside him.

“Hmph, I finished it a while ago. Want some insider info about the author, Ming Ri?” the chubby boy said smugly.

“What? Tell me quickly, don’t keep me in suspense. I’ll do all my National Day homework,” Xu Yanliang asked eagerly.

“Rumor has it that the author is just a high school student. Not sure which school, but pretty impressive,” the chubby boy whispered.

Li Jie pricked up his ears at this.

“Come on, I already knew that. No way a high schooler could write something like this—I’d eat the book if they could,” Xu Yanliang scoffed.

Li Jie smiled to himself. Haha, you might really have to eat your words. I thought my identity would be exposed, but it’s just leaked that the author is a high school student. With so many students nationwide, no one would guess it’s me. After all, I signed a confidentiality agreement with the magazine. But for the sake of our classmate friendship, I won’t reveal it—wouldn’t want him to have to eat a book.

After school, Li Jie waited by the gate to invite Geng Geng to go on a photographic outing over the National Day holiday to build their rapport. Watching the lively students in their uniforms, Li Jie felt his own spirit brighten with youth.

Seeing Geng Geng approach, chatting with Jiang Niannian, Li Jie waved.

“Geng Geng, your little sunshine is waiting for you,” Jiang Niannian teased.

“What? We’re just deskmates. We agreed to go out and take photos during National Day, that’s all,” Geng Geng said helplessly.

“Wow, wow, wow! Sounds like a date,” Jiang Niannian teased with a gossiping grin.

Li Jie smiled wryly. High school life was like this—any small breeze quickly turned into a typhoon sweeping through the whole campus. Looks like he’d better be careful not to make Geng Geng uncomfortable.

“Beta, don’t say that. We’re just going to learn photography from my teacher,” Li Jie said with a smile.

“Alright, alright, don’t worry, I won’t spread rumors. Geng Geng was my photo subject, after all,” Jiang Niannian said boastfully, making everyone chuckle.

“Beta, I’m off with Lu Xinghe now. See you after National Day! And remember, it’s not a date, not a date!” Geng Geng said, cheeks flushed, sounding indignant. Oh dear, why is my heart beating so fast?

Jiang Niannian watched as their figures disappeared into the sunset. They looked quite good together, though who knew what they thought themselves? A breeze passed by, and glancing at the sparse crowd, Jiang Niannian hummed a popular campus song as she walked away.

“Tomorrow, will you still remember

The diary you wrote yesterday?

Tomorrow, will you still cherish

The girl who used to cry the most?”

...

A clear, bright girl’s voice hummed on.