Chapter 63: The First Year of High School (With gratitude to the leader of the Yusheng Family)

Chen Shian stood in a quiet spot along the first-floor corridor, his curiosity piqued as he watched the workers repairing the artificial turf on the soccer field.

When he had first entered the school, he’d thought, from afar, that the field was covered with real grass; it was only upon closer inspection that he realized it was fake. In places with such heavy use as a school, artificial turf might lack the texture of real grass, but it was undoubtedly more durable.

“Daoist!”

“You’re here already, Cicada?” Chen Shian turned at the sound, and Wen Zhixia was already standing prettily behind him.

“What are you looking at?” she asked.

“Watching the workers patch the turf.”

“You must be bored out of your mind!”

“Well, waiting for someone is nothing if not boring.”

“It’s only because I didn’t want you to wait too long that I hurried down.”

“No rush. If you’d taken your time, I could’ve learned how they do the repairs.”

“You can see clearly from this far away?”

“My eyesight’s good.”

“Come on, stop staring.”

Once out of the stairwell, Wen Zhixia felt the space open up and her breathing become effortless. Chen Shian was very different from Lin Mengqiu—he was the kind of person she instinctively felt would become a good friend. The feeling of being with him was entirely unlike being with Lin Mengqiu; it was a rare sense of relaxation.

The two walked side by side down the campus path toward the cafeteria. Wen Zhixia, out of habit, scanned the crowd for Lin Mengqiu, but with so many students in blue-and-white uniforms milling about, she had no idea where her friend had gone.

“What are you looking for?” Chen Shian asked.

“…Nothing!” Wen Zhixia stiffened. This pest of a Daoist had sharp eyes!

“You keep glancing around like you’re searching for someone.”

“…Your class president.”

“Huh? Why are you looking for your old deskmate?”

Wen Zhixia shot him a glare. The way he’d deliberately swapped “your class president” for “your old deskmate” was obvious teasing.

“I just ran into her on the stairs. Back when you two were just assigned as deskmates, why didn’t you ask her to join you for meals?” Wen Zhixia asked curiously.

“I did, but the class president said she was taking her food back to the dorm. Did you eat together when you were deskmates?”

“Not really. She never eats with anyone…”

Thinking of this, Wen Zhixia asked, “Then who did you eat with yesterday after your duty shift?”

“With the class president, of course.”

The girl puffed out her cheeks in quiet protest.

Stupid meal buddy! Stupid meal buddy! I had to eat alone yesterday!

She pushed aside the odd twinge of jealousy for now. More than anything, Wen Zhixia was surprised. Lin Mengqiu never ate with anyone—how had she ended up eating with Chen Shian? Was it just because they happened to be on duty together? But that couldn’t be; back when she and Lin Mengqiu were on duty as deskmates, Lin Mengqiu never showed any sign of wanting to eat together.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Shian asked.

“Nothing!” Wen Zhixia, after mentally stinging him a hundred times like a little mosquito, changed the subject. “Is the school really going to switch morning exercises to Baduanjin? Did your class fill out the survey?”

“We did. Whether they’ll switch to Baduanjin, I don’t know.”

“I bet they will!” she declared.

“And you know that how?”

“I saw so many classmates in my class voted for Baduanjin. The old radio calisthenics are too boring; I bet the other classes feel the same.”

She added, “If the school does switch, they’ll probably have you teach it, right? You’re so good at it!”

“And you know that how?”

“I’m serious!”

Guessing right twice in a row left the girl smug, and she began to find the situation entertaining.

“Haha, you as a teacher for the teachers—probably only you could manage that at our school.”

“It’s not that hard. Nothing worth calling teaching.”

“Other than Baduanjin, you must know a lot more, right?”

“Mm. I know the basics of most Taoist health practices.”

Wen Zhixia stared at him incredulously. “You know health practices, and you’re good at music, chess, calligraphy, painting, medicine, martial arts… Are you sure you don’t have superpowers? How can you learn so many things!”

She was speechless. Sometimes the gap between people was so wide you couldn’t even compare. She knew Chen Shian had an excellent memory, but learning so many things surely took more than that. Even if he really only “knew the basics,” it was still quite astonishing.

“I pick things up quickly,” Chen Shian replied.

“That’s not just quick, it’s basically superhuman!”

“If I told you I had magical powers, you wouldn’t believe me, but you believe in superpowers?”

“No one believes in magic powers!”

He chuckled. “So, do you have any superpowers?”

“I can super-sleep. On holidays, I can sleep from ten at night to ten the next morning.”

“You really are a little pig, Wen Piglet.”

“You’re the pig!”

She gave him a playful jab, then pinched her chin in thought before brightening. “If I really have a superpower, maybe it’s reading people. Does that count?”

He perked up. “You know physiognomy?”

“Not like your kind. It’s more like… I can look at someone and just know whether they’re a good person, and whether we can be friends.”

“That’s a superpower? Isn’t that just a gut feeling?”

“I’m accurate! If I think I can be good friends with someone, I always end up being good friends with them.”

“And if it’s someone you don’t think you can be friends with?”

“Then I just ignore them.”

Chen Shian burst out laughing.

Wen Zhixia felt a bit indignant. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. It just reminds me of something I saw in the news. During the Spring Festival travel rush, a reporter on a train asked the passengers if they’d managed to buy tickets. Everyone said they had, so the reporter concluded that tickets were easy to get that year, that everyone got one.”

“I know! That’s called survivorship bias.”

“‘Survivorship bias’—that’s an interesting term.” Chen Shian nodded, feeling he’d learned a new phrase.

“What are you getting at?”

“I mean, first impressions aren’t always right. Even someone like me, who reads faces, isn’t as confident as you.”

“Hmph, I’ve never been wrong~”

Wen Zhixia was always confident in her judgment. Take Lin Mengqiu, for example—so strong and aloof in Wen Zhixia’s eyes, could she possibly be a weepy little bunny? Absolutely not! That woman’s competitiveness and willpower were so fierce that back in their academic rivalry, Wen Zhixia nearly gave up.

Wen Zhixia would rather repeat her last year of high school than relive that first semester of freshman year, when the two of them drove each other to the brink of collapse.

“I can tell which auntie serves the biggest portions in the cafeteria!”

“You can tell that too?”

“Come on, let’s go!”

…

Sometimes, the relationships between people are truly mysterious.

With some people, you’re well aware of their flaws but still become close friends. With others, you know they’re perfect in every way, but you just can’t click.

It’s as if some people are born to be your rivals.

Lin Mengqiu sometimes pondered this.

She and Wen Zhixia were completely different in temperament and followed opposite life philosophies. Wen Zhixia was like her reflection, treading a path Lin Mengqiu had long since abandoned.

The only thing they shared was pride—each had her own kind.

At sixteen, with the arrogance and perspective of that age, they set out to prove that their own worldview was correct, turning academics into a battlefield and competing fiercely for an entire semester.

It was as if losing just once meant everything the other person believed was wrong.

Even after moving on to their final year, Lin Mengqiu felt nothing could ever be as exhausting as that first semester… until later, when they split into different study tracks and each took half the kingdom, the rivalry finally subsided.

Unfortunately, even their last exam together didn’t settle the question of who was superior.

When Lin Mengqiu learned that Chen Shian’s study and meal partner was Wen Zhixia, she was genuinely surprised, feeling an odd sense of fate.

Of course, when it came to things unrelated to their rivalry, neither felt the need to compete—Lin Mengqiu wouldn’t be so bored as to fight for the position of Chen Shian’s lunch companion, nor would Wen Zhixia fight for the seat beside him in class.

But when it came to things on the same plane—like both being his study partners, one teaching him math, the other English—the urge not to lose would flare up again…

She just hoped the Daoist’s math wouldn’t score lower than his English, or else Lin Mengqiu thought she might just strangle him…

…

When an unexpected sneeze escaped him, Chen Shian was momentarily bewildered.

How many years had it been since he last sneezed?

Who was being so thoughtless as to curse him now!

(Thanks to the leader of the Yusheng Clan! It’s been a long time, Yusheng! Wishing you great fortune and prosperity! Thank you so much for your support!)