Summer in Your Name - 68

Sheng Xia finished her essay with a few minutes to spare. Her gaze drifted to Zhang Shu, who, hampered by his shoulder injury, couldn’t lift his left arm to hold down his test paper. The sheet kept shifting, slowing his writing to a crawl.

When the exam ended, the teacher collecting papers gave Zhang Shu a lingering look, her expression tinged with regret.

    

During the collection, Sheng Xia caught a glimpse of his essay—only a few lines, barely an intro. 

After the exam, Zhang Sujin came to pick up Zhang Shu. He needed to go home for medication and an IV drip before returning in the afternoon.

The back-and-forth was exhausting, but there was nothing they could do about it.  

After lunch, Sheng Xia wandered to a stationery store, hoping to buy an inkstone. Finding none, she took a taxi to Yifang Bookstore. 

Stepping inside the Bookstore again, she felt an inexplicable unease.    

Since resuming normal operations, the bookstore’s popularity had only grown. Even on a weekday, it was bustling.

The owner, his arm still in a sling from a recent injury, not too severe but noticeable, was warmer than ever when he saw Sheng Xia. He asked about Zhang Shu’s condition, then vividly recounted the day of the incident, leaving Sheng Xia drenched in cold sweat.

Their conversation stretched on, and by the time Sheng Xia returned to school, she had missed the time for a nap. She headed straight to the classroom.  

Zhang Shu arrived just before the next exam. Spotting the inkstone on his desk, he froze for a moment, then noticed the price tag still stuck to its base, boldly stamped with the ‘Yifang’ logo.

He didn’t need to see the tag to know who’d left it.    

History had a way of repeating itself, and he couldn’t help but think of that criminal law book.  

Zhang Shu turned and whispered, “Come here.”

Though he didn’t specify, everyone knew who he meant.  

With the exam about to start and the proctor already in the room displaying the sealed test packets, Sheng Xia crouched low and shuffled to his side. “What’s wrong?”  

She was squatting, lower than his seated height. Zhang Shu leaned down but couldn’t quite reach her ear, so he gently pulled her head closer, murmuring, “I’ll finish properly this time. Focus on your own exam. Don't keep looking at me. It makes me nervous.”  

Before she could respond, a loud cough interrupted. Sheng Xia jerked away, looking up to see the proctor staring at them with test papers in hand, utterly unamused.  

Flustered, Sheng Xia scurried back to her seat, taking deep breaths to block out the amused glances around her.

As the test papers were handed out, Sheng Xia filled in her name and student ID. Her instinct was to glance at Zhang Shu, but recalling his words, she forced herself to resist.

Weird. Does he have eyes on the back of his head? How does he know I'm looking at him?  

With the inkstone anchoring his paper, Zhang Shu regained some of his usual speed.

But Sheng Xia didn’t check if he finished this time. Except for Chinese, she wasn’t so confident in the other subjects.

---  

News of Zhang Shu’s return to take the exams spread throughout the grade that same day. In the days awaiting results, everyone speculated whether he could hold onto his top rank.

The night before scores were released, even Tao Zhizhi messaged Sheng Xia, asking about Zhang Shu.

It wasn't just their school keeping an eye on him; other schools were too.

Since the incident, Zhang Shu’s influence has only grown. Sheng Xia sometimes wondered: If she hadn’t transferred here, she probably would've still heard of Zhang Shu by now, right? 

She replied to Tao Zhizhi: "He's done his absolute best within his current ability.” 

She had seen his barely-started essay with her own eyes. First place was out of the question.  

And so it was. But no one could believe Zhang Shu to fall over 300th place in the Affiliated High School's rankings.  

He failed Chinese. His math score was in the upper range, but not exceptional. He got 148 in English and did average in comprehensive science.  

In the cafeteria, the water room, the corridors, even online, voices lamenting Zhang Shu’s downfall were everywhere.

Sheng Xia heard plenty of them.  

Some people would immediately stop talking when they saw her, only to resume whispering once she passed.

"Zhang Shu really threw it all away. All because he saved that transfer student! Ugh, so infuriating. Our school could’ve had a top scorer with a record-breaking gap this year."  

“No kidding, what a shame.”

"And with Zhang Shu’s looks, after his college entrance scores come out, he’ll instantly go viral.”  

"Our school hasn’t had someone like him in years."    

“Do you think he can bounce back after recovering?”  

“No way. It's too late. At this rate, he’ll be lucky to scrape into a lower-tier 985 university. Ranking 300+ in our school means he’s already a nobody in the city, let alone the province. Zhang Shu’s done for. The school’s probably given up on him too."    

"Ugh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. I feel annoyed, and I don’t even know him!”

Sheng Xia stood frozen outside the water room.

Two girls emerged, bumping into her, but Sheng Xia didn’t budge.  

They panicked at first, then shrugged it off, one even nudging her as they passed.  

Sheng Xia turned, calling after them, "Apologize."    

The girls spun around, surprised, then the leader smirked and stepped closer, “Apologize? For what? Was I wrong? If it weren’t for you, would Zhang Shu be injured? Would he have gone from the city's number one to a nobody? Don’t you know how much trouble you’ve caused, you jinx? Why should I apologize to you?”

Sheng Xia, shorter than the girl, tilted her chin up, meeting her gaze. “I'm not asking you to apologize to me. Apologize to Zhang Shu."  

The girls exchanged a glance, then sneered at her, as if she’d just told the world’s dumbest joke.

Sheng Xia: "Do you know him? Have you ever understood him? No one has the right to say he’s too late or that he’s done for. Apologize to him!”

This time, the lead girl looked stunned.

They were in the same grade and shared the floor, often crossing paths at the water room or bathroom. Sometimes, she’d overhear her chatting with classmates. Sheng Xia always seemed soft-spoken and gentle, someone easy to push around.

But this calm, piercing gaze and icy tone caught her off guard.

“Apologize to Zhang Shu!” Sheng Xia’s voice trembled with emotion, yet remained firm.  

Hah. Just a paper tiger.  

The girl scoffed and pushed Sheng Xia, “Mind your own business! What right do you have? So what if I talk about him?”

Sheng Xia staggered but held her ground. The girl, using her height advantage, closed in and shoved again. "You’re the one who caused all this, and now you’re acting all high and mighty?"  

Each push forced Sheng Xia back a step until she reached the edge of a staircase. When the girl reached out again, Sheng Xia dodged swiftly. The girl, missing her push, lost her balance and stumbled down the low steps with a shrill “Ah!” and landed face-first in the grass below.

The steps were only two or three, the ground soft with grass.

Not serious enough for major injuries, but it definitely hurt. 

The girl’s friend hurried down to help her up, "Are you okay?”

The girl sat up, wincing in pain. She raised her hands—both palms were red from scraping against the ground, her chin smeared with mud. She glared angrily at Sheng Xia. "You!"    

"Apologize!" Holding her water cup tightly, Sheng Xia repeated herself again. Tears streaming down her face, sudden and overwhelming, yet strangely still.

She swallowed hard, trying to choke down the lump in her throat, but it was futile.

She didn't even know what it was.

When she heard the word ‘nobody’, it felt like someone had stabbed her, something raw and nameless surging up, suffocating her.

How could such a radiant boy be described like that?

As the standoff continued, passing students gathered to watch. Someone alerted Class 6, and Hou Junqi came sprinting over.

God knows what he felt hearing “Sheng Xia’s being bullied.” If anything happened to her, how was he supposed to explain himself?

But the scene he found was this: the usually frail girl standing at the edge of the corridor, glaring down at two girls sprawled below, clutching her water bottle like crossed arms, fierce as a storm.  

Just who was bullying whom here?

Hou Junqi's first instinct was to pull out his phone and take a picture.

The students around: “…”  

Unwilling to back down, the other girl snapped, “I’m the one who fell! Why are you crying? God, I can’t stand girls like you, always playing the victim. Do you think crying makes you right?"    

Only then did Hou Junqi notice Sheng Xia’s tears.  

So did the surrounding students.  

Her commanding presence had overshadowed her tears until now.

Too focused, Sheng Xia hadn’t noticed Hou Junqi. Then a shadow loomed over her. Hou Junqi stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body.  

He drawled lightly, “She saw something filthy and needed to wash her eyes.”  

Snickers rippled through the crowd.  

The girl shut up. Faced with Hou Junqi’s towering frame, she didn’t dare to look up.  

The commotion drew the attention of the disciplinary teacher, who hauled everyone involved to the office. The crowd dispersed like startled birds.  

After sorting out the story, the dean let them go, favoring the ‘injured’, he only made the two girls apologize. He then tasked Wang Wei with taking Sheng Xia and Hou Junqi back for a lecture and a period of standing in the corridor as punishment.

Hou Junqi muttered, “What era is this, standing in reflection? Trying to go retro?"

The teacher fumed, but Wang Wei quickly stepped in and dragged him away.  

In all her life, Sheng Xia had never been punished like this.  

But she stood there willingly.  

She deserved to reflect—why argue with fools?

If everyone could understand Zhang Shu, how ordinary would that make him?  

‘How can dust and mud fathom a heart of pure ice?’ How had she forgotten that?

---  

That evening, Sheng Xia brought Zhang Shu’s test papers to the hospital.

Except for Wang Wei, no other teachers knew she’d suspended her study abroad prep classes, so no one really paid attention to her absence during self-study sessions. Still, skipping class left her uneasy.  

But she couldn’t wait. She needed to see him.    

Even if they hadn’t gotten the physical papers yet, the scores were already up on the school’s system. Zhang Shu must have seen them by now.   

Since choosing the science track, has he ever scored this low?

To fall so far from such heights. How crushing must that be?  

Sheng Xia tried to put herself in his shoes, but she knew no one could truly feel his pain.  

She expected him to be upset, but seeing him through the small window—slumped, disheveled, lost in thought—her heart clenched.    

He sat at the desk his sister had set up for him, staring blankly at his phone. His hair was a mess, like he’d been raking his hands through it in frustration. Stubble dotted his jaw.  

It was the first time Sheng Xia saw Zhang Shu unshaven.

He looked unfamiliar.

Sheng Xia felt her eyes sting, her heart aching unbearably. But she forced back her tears, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

Zhang Shu assumed it was his sister and didn’t look up—until a faint, sweet fragrance reached him.

His head snapped up.  

Why hadn’t she told him she was coming?    

His phone screen reflected his face: disheveled, exhausted.  

His grip loosened, and the phone clattered onto the desk. 

The fall must’ve hit the power button, as the screen lit up, showing the academic system’s page, zoomed in on his Chinese score: a glaring 78.  

“Why’re you here?” he asked absently.

Damn it.  

In the hospital, he’d been lax, often going days without shaving. Only when she was coming would he tidy up.  

With his injury, he couldn’t bend over. Even having his face wiped by the male caregiver felt awkward, let alone shaving. He hated having his chin handled by another man.

So he shaved as rarely as possible.

At first, his sister used to do it for him. But when Lu Zheng saw it, he flat-out forbade her.

Zhang Shu found it absurd, but if he imagined Sheng Xia shaving her brother, he’d hate it too. 

Though she didn’t have a brother.

But still…

Why did she come so suddenly?

She was so particular about cleanliness. She'd be disgusted by him.

"I brought your test papers," Sheng Xia answered.    

He watched her closely. Sure enough, she wouldn’t even look at him.

Was she really disgusted?

Zhang Shu set the papers aside and stood. Sheng Xia rushed to support him, and Zhang Shu’s whole body stiffened.  

In her haste, she hadn’t controlled the distance between them, her entire front was now pressing against his arm.  

Zhang Shu felt something soft squeezing his arm. The sensation was entirely new for him. Like cotton candy? No, not quite. It's more than that. 

His mind blanked.  

One thought filled his mind—

Soft-Fluffy Xia Xia.  

The accuracy of that contact name, Xin Xiaohe was truly a literary genius.

---

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