Summer in Your Name - 10
Deskmate
For the first time since starting high school, Sheng Xia had a boy for a deskmate. Back at No. 2 High, they’d had mixed seating too, and everyone always teased the pairs. She was worried the same thing would happen here.
During break, she discreetly checked. In the whole class, there were only three or four mixed-gender desks.
But by the end of the day, there had been no strange looks, no weird jokes. Maybe the class culture was just different. Here, people didn't seem to care much about that stuff.
She and Zhang Shu unexpectedly reached a peaceful coexistence.
A bulky book crate sat between them, taking up floor space. Zhang Shu usually faced the aisle, one leg stretched out, claiming the walkway.
Aside from being physically closer, it wasn’t much different from when they’d been separated by the aisle.
The only real issue was when she needed to get out. She went through one water bottle a period and had to go to the bathroom often, so she was up almost every single break.
He was almost always facing away from her.
So every time she had to go, she had to make some kind of noise, or call his name.
First time —
Sheng Xia: "Zhang Shu."
He glanced back at her.
Sheng Xia: "I need to get out."
He scooted his chair forward.
Second time —
Sheng Xia: "Zhang Shu, I'm going out."
He didn't even look back, just scooted his chair forward.
Third time —
Sheng Xia: "Zhang Shu, I'm…" going out.
Before she could finish, his chair was already moving forward.
Eventually, she stopped with the full sentences and just said his name.
Zhang Shu. Zhang Shu. Zhang Shu…
Listening to that soft, gentle calling all day, Hou Junqi finally couldn't take it anymore. While Sheng Xia was out getting water, he turned around, and raised an eyebrow at Zhang Shu. "Shu. You can handle this?"
Zhang Shu didn't look up. "Handle what?"
Hou Junqi lowered his voice. "I'm just saying, Sheng Xia’s no worse than Chen Mengyao, you know? What do you think?"
Zhang Shu's pen stopped spinning. He lifted his gaze slightly. "You like her? Go for it."
Hou Junqi let out a dismissive "Psh," suddenly the picture of self-awareness. "Me? No way! I'm obviously talking about you."
Zhang Shu slapped a practice notebook right in Hou Junqi's face. "Worry about yourself."
---
Compared to her old seat by the door, Sheng Xia was really happy with her new spot.
Right by the window. Cicadas singing during the day, camphor leaves rustling softly at night.
It'd be perfect if it weren't for the cleaning station right outside. Mops and brooks were a bit of an eyesore.
Just as she was thinking that, the mop… moved on its own.
Outside, it was pitch black. The rustle of leaves suddenly wasn't so soothing anymore. It was creepy.
Sheng Xia remembered the mop-head she'd seen that day. A chill ran down her spine. She slid the window shut, instinctively shifted closer inside, and in her fluster, her elbow bumped into Zhang Shu.
Zhang Shu turned. He found the girl, practically trembling again, her body leaning toward him, as if trying to escape something outside the window.
Glancing up, he saw the head crouched outside, holding up the mop as cover.
Zhang Shu laughed softly, reached his long arm past Sheng Xia to pull the window back open.
Sheng Xia, faster than he expected, grabbed his arm. "Don't open it! There's a dirty thing out there…"
Zhang Shu: …
Hou Junqi, who’d turned at the commotion: …
Han Xiao, the dirty thing outside the window:...
When Zhang Shu leaned over to open it, the space between them had already shrunk. Now she was gripping his arm, her head innocently hovering near his chest, stray hairs brushing against his jaw…
A faint, sweet scent drifted into his senses. Zhang Shu's Adam's apple moved. Without moving his arm, he flicked his wrist and pushed the window wide open with his fingers. "Already open," he announced.
Then he coolly pulled his arm back.
Han Xiao mimicked an AI robot: "Beauty, sorry, I'm looking for Zhang Shu. I just took a shower, so I should be relatively clean."
Hou Junqi doubled over his desk, clutching his stomach. "I'm dead! This is too funny!"
Sheng Xia turned. Peeking out from behind the mop was a head with small eyes and big glasses. Not exactly handsome, but undeniably human.
Not a ghost.
She glanced at the supervising teacher pacing the hallway and understood. The mop was to hide from the teacher.
Embarrassing.
Impolite.
Shameful.
Sheng Xia felt her cheeks burn. Her hands burned too. She slowly lowered her still-suspended hand, ducked her head, and went back to her problems, practically flattened against her desk to give the guy outside and Zhang Shu space so she wouldn't be in the way.
She didn't grasp a single word of the problem, but she caught every bit of the conversation.
"What now?" Zhang Shu said. "Can't this wait until after class?"
Han Xiao: "Sorry, man, did I scare your deskmate?"
Zhang Shu: "What do you think?"
"Right, really, I'm sorry," Han Xiao choked back a laugh, not daring to actually laugh in front of his brother and put on a serious face. "Shu-ge, how about we just hang around nearby on Thursday? Not Milk. Just play some cards up at the North Gate?"
Zhang Shu: "What did Zhou Yingxiang give you to be working so hard for him?”
"No way! I wouldn't give him the time of day. We’ve got our own thing. It's just, Hou-ge said you were, you know, a little short on…" Han Xiao glanced at Sheng Xia, changing tack. "Said you've been in a mood lately. Figured you could use some fun, loosen up. Besides, who plays cards with you? Might as well be handing you money. You deal cards like a cheater…"
Zhang Shu fixed his gaze on Hou Junqi, who immediately raised both hands in surrender. "Innocent! That wasn't me, I swear. But come on, A-Shu. Let's go. Why say no to easy money from fools.”
He lowered his voice. "Besides… Chen Mengyao said she'd come deal for us."
Zhang Shu: "We'll see."
Not a no was as good as a yes. Han Xiao exchanged a look with Hou Junqi and happily shuffled off.
The mop head hit the ground with a dull thud.
Sheng Xia knew the people outside had left.
She slowly straightened her spine, pretending nothing happened, and kept working on her problems. Sitting upright, eyes forward, she subtly, imperceptibly shifted closer and closer to the window.
Zhang Shu watched the girl's not-at-all-subtle attempt to create distance, practically trying to phase through the wall to get away from him. He had no idea what scenario playing in her head, and he didn't really care to guess.
Plenty of scenarios were playing out in Sheng Xia's head.
The magazines and discs in his bag…
The money he'd taken from the stationery store owner…
Him unbeatable at a card table…
And a school beauty sitting next to him, shuffling for him…
Her deskmate is a "multi-talented" delinquent academic god.
So terrifying.
---
After her first-day close call, Sheng Xia had learned her lesson. Now she was in the classroom by six-thirty every morning.
Quite a few people were already there.
Instead of going straight to her seat, she stopped at Xin Xiaohe's desk, the second one by the door, and handed her a cup. "Xiaohe. Brown sugar ginger tea. For you.”
Xin Xiaohe, who'd been slumped listlessly, looked up. Gratitude flooded her eyes. "Xia Xia... how did you know I got my period..."
Sheng Xia just smiled, not answering such a silly question. She lowered her voice. “I brewed it this morning. It’s still hot. I always start drinking it two days ahead, it helps keep the cramps away. Is your cycle a full month?"
Xin Xiaohe said, "Not exactly. Usually around twenty-eight, twenty-nine days."
Sheng Xia: "How many days each time?"
Xin Xiaohe: "Five."
"Okay, I've got it then," Sheng Xia said. "It's not convenient to make in the dorms. I'll mark my calendar and make it for you two days before from now on."
"No, Xia Xia, that's too much trouble. A hot water bottle works fine, really."
"No trouble at all. I make it in my health pot."
At this, Xin Xiaohe, the tough girl, was on the verge of actual tears. "Wahhh, you're a fairy. Zhang Shu really doesn't deserve…"
Sheng Xia: "Huh?"
"Nothing…" Xin Xiaohe grabbed Sheng Xia's arm and shook it. "I wish this week was over already. Next week you're my deskmate again!"
Sheng Xia: "I wish that too!"
Xin Xiaohe: "If Zhang Shu bullies you, you call me!"
Sheng Xia laughed, her voice clear and sweet. "Okay!"
"I'll beat his stupid dog head in!"
"Yeah!"
The two girls chatted away, oblivious to their surroundings. Lu Youze, sitting right behind Xin Xiaohe, had been trying to focus on memorizing vocabulary. Now he couldn't help but smile a little.
Did they think they were being quiet?
He looked up as Sheng Xia walked away. His gaze unconsciously trailed after her until she took her seat, then he slowly looked away.
---
The first essay class of the semester was met with a chorus of groans.
Nobody wanted to write an essay. Even fewer wanted to write critique for their deskmate's.
This was Fu Jie's teaching method: a double period for essays. The first period was for writing, the second for peer review, followed by discussion, and finally, handing them in. Fu Jie would then mark both the essays and the review.
A poorly written essay is unacceptable. A poorly written review is also unacceptable.
The prompt was a reading passage about famous figures who accomplished great things in the tides of their era. The key concepts were "era" and "hero."
A standard prompt, no set title. Lots of room to play.
This type of current events material wasn't hard to write. It didn't require super nuanced emotion, and leaned more toward high-level theory, perfect for an argumentative essay. Sheng Xia thought for a moment, then started writing.
Zhang Shu remembered Wang Wei going on and on about how amazing her essays were. After reading the prompt and writing his own title, he glanced at her paper.
Damn, she'd already finished the introduction!
Everything else aside, her handwriting was truly beautiful. Unlike her gentle, reserved personality, her characters were bold and vigorous, the ink sinking deep into the page. The overall effect was striking.
Her title: There Are No Era of Heroes, Only Heroes Within the Era.
Zhang Shu looked back at his own paper.
His title: The Era of Heroes.
…
If she hadn't written hers first, he'd have suspected she was deliberately showing him up.
Bad luck. They really are not compatible, damn it!
Forty minutes wasn’t enough for most to finish an essay. Even after the bell, many were still scribbling furiously. Sheng Xia checked her paper for any mistakes, folded it neatly, and got up to get water.
This time, as soon as she picked up her cup, Zhang Shu's chair slid forward before she could even say a word.
Sheng Xia paused for a second, murmuring "Thanks," as she walked past him.
The moment she was out the door, Hou Junqi spun around, snatched her essay, and opened it. "Holy shit, is this handwriting printed? And the title's, like, super philosophical... 'The wheels of history roll on, the tides of the era surge forward'... this opening... A-Shu, you see this? It's insane. Lu Youze better step down and hand over the class rep role."
Zhang Shu: "Really that good?"
"Awesome!" Hou Junqi didn't know the first thing about essay writing. "It's just awesome."
Zhang Shu: "Heh."
Second period was for the peer review. If you hadn't finished writing, your essay was marked as incomplete. In an exam, if you couldn't finish in fifty-five minutes, you could forget about a high score.
When Sheng Xia received Zhang Shu's essay, she stared at it for a couple of seconds.
The Era of Heroes.
Well… not totally off-topic. He'd hit the keywords. The idea just wasn't very elevated.
It didn't fit the material's underlying historical perspective.
His prose was average. The examples he used were textbook-standard, a bit of a rehash, like they were straight out of a Model Essays for Middle School compilation. Nothing new. His strength was a clear structure, a classic five-paragraph, three-point essay, very safe. But safe meant it wouldn't get a high score.
Sheng Xia wrote her review: Neat handwriting. Logically consistent. Appropriate use of quotes. Could be improved by using more current examples.
After writing it, she read it over and over in her head.
This should be tactful and objective enough, right?
She snuck a glance his way. He'd just finished reading hers and was writing his review.
With a flourish, he left four words:
Don't understand, but awesome.
Sheng Xia: …
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