Summer in Your Name - 4

Mortal

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At Affiliated High, evening study sessions were for, well, studying. Teachers rotated shifts, sitting at the two desks set up in the hallway. Students could go out to ask questions without disturbing the class, and the school forbade teachers from using the time for lectures.

Though, Xin Xiaohe added, after exams, some teachers always found a way to "accidentally" take over evening study to go over test papers. Wang Wei was the worst offender of this.

There were three evening sessions. Day students could head home after the second one, at 9:30, or stay if they wanted. Boarders were required to stay until 10:30.

It was the first day back, with no homework to speak of. After the second session, everyone was allowed to go.

Xin Xiaohe and her roommates were planning to grab a late-night snack at the North Gate. The girls enthusiastically invited Sheng Xia to join them.

The North Gate was a small entrance directly across from Wenboyuan, the same residential compound Sheng Xia had cut through during her "accident." She hadn't gone that way since and had instead taken the long way around through the South Gate.

"The North Gate isn't just about snacks," Xin Xiaohe declared. "It's Affiliated High culture. Let's go, I'll take you to experience it!"

But Wang Lianhua knew what time evening study ended. If Sheng Xia got home too late, there'd be questions.

Also, Sheng Xia wasn't brave. Right now, right after dismissal, the roads were full of people. But later, when the streets were empty and quiet, riding home alone in that stillness made her uneasy.

She was studying Marxism, yet her mind kept clinging to these antiquated fears.

Sheng Xia politely declined Xin Xiaohe’s invitation, promising to join them next time after getting permission from her family.

---

Just as Sheng Xia walked in the front door, Wang Lianhua arrived with Wu Qiuxuan and Zheng Dongning, back from their summer enrichment classes. Sheng Xia went to school; her sisters went to interest classes. In theory, they should've gotten home earlier.

The four of them squeezed in the entryway, jostling for space to change shoes.

Wu Qiuxuan, annoyed by their slow pace, kicked off her shoes and stormed inside barefoot. With a gloomy expression, she slammed her bedroom door hard enough to rattle the walls.

This was a normal occurrence, but Sheng Xia asked anyway. "What happened to A-Xuan?"

Wang Lianhua snorted. "Your father happened. Said he'd take her and Ningning out to dinner tomorrow. Now he's bailing again."

This, too, was a normal occurrence. Sheng Xia said nothing more.

Zheng Dongning was clearly upset too, but she was young, and easy to distract. Wang Lianhua had bought her a new set of art supplies on the way home, now she was already hunched over the coffee table, testing colors in her sketchbook.

The whole incident put Wang Lianhua in a bad mood, she didn't ask Sheng Xia how her first day had gone. Thus, all her carefully prepared, reporting the good and omitting the bad, speech was left unsaid on her tongue.

The family went about their evening in silence. Washing up. Going to their own rooms.

Sheng Xia propped herself against the headboard, then fished her phone out of the nightstand drawer to charge it.

It was the latest iPhone model. Brother Li had delivered it on Sheng Mingfeng's orders. In his words: You're a senior now. A critical year. If you needed anything, or had things you couldn't talk to your mother about, call me. Don't push yourself too hard. There's more than one road to Rome. A top university isn't the only path. Talent will find its use. No need to torture yourself over it.

Wang Lianhua still didn't know about the existence of this phone.

Sheng Xia had never been big on gadgets. She had a basic student phone, strictly functional, apart from calling her mother, it had no purpose. It could go weeks without charging and still have battery.

Her most-used electronic device was the Kindle her mother had bought her.

This new phone felt like overkill.

Brother Li had set up a new number and WeChat account for her. Her contact list held only two people: Brother Li and Sheng Mingfeng. The message was clear.

After powering it on, she hovered over the WeChat interface for a long time. Finally, she composed a message and sent it.

"Dad. The girls miss you."

Half an hour passed with no response.

Sheng Xia sighed, turned off the light, and tried to sleep.

Sleep wouldn’t come. After tossing and turning for a while, she gave up, sat up, and started memorizing vocabulary.

She'd previewed Unit 1 already. At evening study, the words had gone down easy. Now, reading them again, they all seemed connected to the thoughts weighing on her mind.

Administration. The people who run things.

Capture. To take someone against their will.

Fascinate. To attract and hold irresistibly.

Centre on. To have something as a main point or focus.

Send in. To mail something for processing or consideration.

Her father was a good official. But he was certainly not a good husband.

Was he a good father?

She honestly couldn't say.

---

The next morning, predictably, Sheng Xia woke up late. She rushed to school without breakfast, taking the shortcut through Wenboyuan. As she passed one of the low-rise apartment buildings, a familiar mountain bike shot out of the entrance.

The boy was in his uniform today. With legs that long, the baggy standard-issue clothes actually looked decent on him. The blue and white fabric glowed youthfully under the morning sun.

As he sped away, the wind caught his shirt, billowing it out behind him. Then he turned, the wind shifted, and it flattened again, deflated against his lean back.

The mountain bike and the little white scooter, one after the other, passed through the North Gate into the bike shed.

The shed was as crowded as ever. They parked far apart.

Then, one after the other, the boy and the girl slipped through the back door of Class 6.

Zhang Shu didn't notice her until after he'd taken his seat. A gust of breeze stirred as she passed, bringing with her a faint, pleasant scent—the same fragrance that had trailed him all the way here.

His gaze landed on her, she drowning in her gym clothes. The top fit well enough, but the pants were so wide you could fit another her inside.

Hou Junqi wasn't wrong. Skinny as a wraith, moving without a sound. What else could she be but a ghost?

The morning reading bell rang seconds after Sheng Xia sat down. She pressed a hand to her chest. That was close. First official day, and she'd almost been late.

Xin Xiaohe was already deep in previewing physics. Sheng Xia felt a pang of shame. Here were these top students, so diligent and focused. While she, the slow bird, didn't even know how to fly early.

"Xia Xia! Morning!" Xin Xiaohe greeted her. "You cut that close. Even closer than Zhang Shu."

"I didn't sleep well last night and overslept."

Xin Xiaohe laughed. "First-day-of-school jitters?"

"Maybe." She seized the excuse. "What time did you get here?"

"Six-thirty."

The shame deepened. While it's normal for oarders to come earlier, at No. 2 High, when she'd boarded, getting to class at 7:30 meant she were one of the first. There'd be, like, a handful of people, maximum.

"That's so early," she murmured.

"That's just how it is when you board," Xin Xiaohe said. "Some girls in my dorm come in as early as five."

On the first day of senior year, the pressure was already suffocating. Sheng Xia felt like she'd been dropped into a Godzilla movie, surrounded by titas. And she was just... a mere mortal.

Morning reading today was Chinese. Before it started, the Chinese teacher, Fu Jie, needed to choose a new class representative.

Several hands shot up. Sheng Xia was surprised seeing this. At No. 2 High, being class rep was practically synonymous with grunt work. Nobody wanted the role. The teacher always had to "appoint" someone.

"Anyone else want to run?" Fu Jie's gaze drifted to the back of the room. "New classmate? Want to give it a try?"

Everyone turned to look.

Fu Jie introduced her. "Student Sheng Xia placed fourth in the city in Chinese last semester. Perfect score on the essay. Learn more from her."

Hou Junqi, in the seat in front of her, spun around so fast her desk wobbled.

His eyes lit up. "That's impressive, Little Sheng Xia! Go for it! This friend will vote for you!"

Sheng Xia had been organizing her stationery. Caught off guard, she froze, feeling the weight of almost the entire class's gaze on her. Heat crept up her ears.

Her skin was pale. Translucently pale. It made the flush all the more conspicuous.

She shook her head. "No."

Her voice was so quiet. If Fu Jie, standing at the podium, hadn't been watching her lips, she wouldn't have heard it.

Fu Jie's eyebrows rose slightly. A flicker of regret crossed her face, then she nodded. "Alright then. Candidates, come up and say a few words."

Sheng Xia had only been responding to Hou Junqi. But since the teacher had heard, she didn't repeat herself.

Hou Junqi slumped, sighing dramatically. "Pity… I thought I could get out of writing weekly essays."

Sheng Xia ducked her head, her small ears still glowing red.

By now, pretty much the whole class had noticed: this new girl was thin-skinned.

And she'd somehow landed herself surrounded by the three most difficult people to deal with in the class.

Xin Xiaohe. Hou Junqi. Zhang Shu.

---

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