Summer in Your Name - 71

Zhang Shu’s interview aired that same night.  

It was the slot just before evening study, and nearly every classroom’s screen was tuned to Nanli News.  

Headline: Heroic Youth Zhang Shu Returns to School to Prepare for College Entrance Exam, Welcomed Warmly by Classmates.  

As soon as the anchor said, “Now, let’s dive into the full report,” the screen cut to the corridor of Class 6, where small flags waved wildly as students cheered, “Warm welcome!” The shot of Sheng Xia handing him flowers flashed by briefly, her face mercifully out of frame.

From her seat, Sheng Xia breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness it was a serious outlet.

 

Next came Zhang Shu’s interview at the school gate.  

Reporter: “It’s been a while since you’ve been back to school. Are you excited?”

Zhang Shu: “Why would I be excited about school? School is hard work… But I’m really looking forward to seeing my teachers and classmates.”  

The classroom erupted in laughter.  

“Brother Shu let the truth slip, hahaha!”  

“They actually left that in?!”  

Reporter: “With less than 50 days left until the college entrance exam. Are you confident?”  

Zhang Shu: “I’ll give it my all. No regrets, that’s enough.”  

Reporter: “What are your expectations for the college entrance exam?”  

Zhang Shu: “Still just… no regrets.”

Reporter: “Your heroic actions have touched many people. You’ve been nominated for this year’s Nanli ‘Top Ten Outstanding Youths.’ What do you think about that?”  

Zhang Shu: “I’m grateful for the government and society’s recognition, but ‘heroic’ is too strong a word. That day was just a coincidence—I was passing by, saw what happened, and figured I could handle it before rushing in. It was a calculated decision.”  

Reporter: “Many others passed by too. But you were the only one who rushed toward the danger.”  

Zhang Shu: “Maybe I’m just more physically fit and react faster. I believe any student from Nanli Affiliated High School, granted that they have the means, would've done the same. After all, our school motto is ‘Virtue and Compassion.’”  

The segment then cuts to footage of Zhang Shu studying in class, with a voiceover wishing him luck on the college entrance exams.    

Once the news ended, the class turned off the TV.  

The classroom buzzed with chatter.  

“Brother Shu is a legend. He even managed to give a shout-out to our school. The Admissions Office better cut him some checks!”  

“Top Ten Youth—what’s that even good for?”

“It’s like a merit badge. Total bragging rights!”

“The mayor presents the award!”  

“Whoa.”  

Xin Xiaohe leaned in to whisper to Sheng Xia, “He said he was ‘just passing by’ to debunk those online rumors, right? The ones saying he got hurt saving you while you two were on a date?”

Sheng Xia’s gaze drifted through the crowd, landing on the back of Zhang Shu’s head.  

He must’ve heard about that day from Hou Junqi—the day she got into a scuffle.

He didn’t tell her he knew, nor did he offer empty words of comfort.

That was how he always was—taking action, solving problems quietly.

“Yeah,” Sheng Xia nodded.  

He’s not the type to crave attention, though he’s not afraid of it either. Starting a fuss on purpose? Never. Of course, this was for her sake.

Her chest warmed, and for a moment, she wanted to take back that letter and add a few more lines—  

---

The third mock exam hit like a bolt from the blue.

When the schedule was announced, everyone was dazed. 

The third mock already?

Didn’t we just finish going over the second mock’s papers? They hadn't even digested those yet?! 

Word spread that the third mock would be easy, with lenient grading, to boost everyone’s morale before the college entrance exams.

But when the actual exam arrived, frustrated head-scratching and sighing filled the rooms.

So much for ‘easy’. 

The Education Bureau has lost its mind.  

That was the collective sentiment after the math exam.  

Sheng Xia also felt the questions were oddly niche. Why was the third mock still so brutal?

But the next day’s English and science comprehensive exams were much better—standard, with science noticeably easier.

Everyone came to consensus that this time’s ranking will hinge entirely on math.    

The third mock was still a city-wide joint exam with unified grading.

Waiting for results was pure torture. Xinfeng was flooded with anxious posts about scores, sprinkled with a few speculating on Zhang Shu’s rank.

Interest remained high, but overall, more people seemed pessimistic than optimistic.  

At lunch, Hou Junqi asked, “Shu, how do you think you did on the exam?”  

Zhang Shu looked up, thought for a moment, and said, “Probably around fifty or sixty within our school.”  

“No way!” Hou Junqi didn't believe him. "Aren't you being too modest?" 

Sheng Xia thought so too—way too modest.  

Anyone could see how hard Zhang Shu had been pushing himself lately. Sheng Xia went to bed at 1 a.m., but he was still organizing his mistake notebook, likely staying up until two or three.

He showed up at the classroom by 6 a.m.—earlier than ever before.  

And because his medication made him drowsy, he’d dab menthol oil under his nose, behind his ears, even beneath his eyelids to stay awake.  

Last week, during a weekly test, he'd clearly done well. Perfect scores in math and English, and his science scores were back to his usual standard.  

Only his Chinese was still lagging slightly.  

Zhang Shu arched his brow. “Just wait and see. This time, the scores won’t have huge gaps, the high won't be too high, and the low won't be too low. The top ranks will probably be clumped together. Maybe even a few tied for first.”

On the day the results came out, Sheng Xia and Hou Junqi exchanged stunned looks across the room.  

It was exactly as Zhang Shu predicted.

Did he hack into the Education Bureau’s system or something?  

Zhang Shu ranked 43rd. Four students tied for first. Second place started at fifth, with several others tied too. Beyond that, the gaps between ranks were tiny.  

So while Zhang Shu was 42 ranks behind first place, the actual point difference was less than 20.    

On Xinfeng, those who had been pessimistic about Zhang Shu rushed to ‘prove themselves right’:

“Look, 43rd on such an easy test? What’s he even doing?”  

“Yeah, in previous years, only around 40 students from our school made it into Heqing or Haiyan. His chances are looking slim.”  

“Zhang Shu is done for.”  

“Bet on someone else already. Tired of hearing about him.”    

“Even if his chances are slim, he’s still picking from top-tier 985 schools. What about you guys? Can you even scrape into 211 universities? Stop worrying about others.” 

“Still, what a shame. Such a pity.”  

"If this keeps up, Zhang Shu should consider retaking the year. It’s really such a shame.”

“Y’all are writing his ending over one mock exam? Get a life.”  

“Can’t we have a reasonable discussion? He was supposed to be a top-scorer. Are we not allowed to talk about it?”  

It was noisy. Every day, the arguments raged endlessly.  

Plenty of new accounts popped up. Judging by their posting style and format, they clearly weren’t ‘original residents’, probably students from rival schools here to stir the pot.  

Sheng Xia tried to ignore it, but Li Shiyi would read every post aloud, sometimes grumbling or cursing.

Some classmates from Class 6 would reply to the threads, only to slink back to their seats in frustration when they couldn’t win the arguments.  

Sheng Xia recalled what Zhang Shu said before: Studying is your own business.  

But after everything that had happened, the peace he wanted seemed slipping further away.

 

This time, the grade director didn’t call Zhang Shu for a talk.  

Neither did the vice principal.  

It was as if, like the posts claimed, Nanli Affiliated High School had given up on Zhang Shu.

“Given up.”  

The words stung deeper than it should have.  

A heavy weight settled in Sheng Xia’s chest. For days, she could barely eat or sleep.  

She’d done well herself, especially in math, especially in math, scoring 130, higher than Xin Xiaohe and Yang Linyu.  

This was Sheng Xia’s personal best in math.    

Especially since this math exam was the score-puller, notoriously tough.  

It was nothing short of miraculous.    

Weirdly, Sheng Xia didn’t find it that hard.  

She knew the questions were challenging, but she didn't feel daunted by it.

That was the miraculous part.  

They all felt familiar, as if she’d done them before. The questions were new, many classmates complained they were niche and downright cruel.  

While reviewing her mistake, Sheng Xia realized that many of the questions covered concepts and problem-solving methods Zhang Shu had asked her about. She had then consulted with their teacher and re-explained them to him, cementing the knowledge in her memory.  

Though the applications seemed niche, the core concepts were the same.  

Zhang Shu topped the grade in math with 143.  

Normally, the top math scorer got a perfect or near-perfect score.  

His biggest drag was still Chinese.  

During evening self-study, both Wang Wei and Fu Jie pulled him aside for talks.    

Sheng Xia took his Chinese exam paper to review.  

His reading comprehension answers were a mess, he lost points on classical poetry memorization, basic mistakes. 

While his essay seemed to have regressed to square one. 

Lately, Zhang Shu had been pouring most of his energy into regaining his problem-solving rhythm, leaving Chinese neglected.  

Chinese seems like a low-return subject; past a certain point, it’s hard to improve.

But right now, Chinese was Zhang Shu’s lifeline.  

Sheng Xia drafted a ‘Chinese Score Improvement Plan’ and called him outside.  

This time, they sat properly in the corridor seats to discuss their studies, but half the class still craned their necks like curious geese.

Because this time, it was Sheng Xia who’d initiated it!  

She fidgeted uncomfortably.  

Zhang Shu glanced at her nervous expression, grabbed her fidgeting hand from her lap, and gave it a quick squeeze under the table.

Sheng Xia’s head snapped up, meeting his slight smile and sticky-sweet gaze.  

“No eyes, no eyes…”  

Qi Xiulei passed by, clicked his tongue twice, and disappeared into the classroom.  

Sheng Xia yanked her hand back and slapped the ‘Chinese Score Improvement Plan’ against his chest. “Just read it already!”  

Zhang Shu, still wearing that slight smile, pressed the notebook down and complied. “Alright, I’m reading.”  

He skimmed the contents, but his peripheral vision caught anxious glances darting around the corridor.

Finally, he couldn’t resist, reaching out to ruffle her hair. “Great writer, ever heard of ‘the more you hide, the more it shows’?”  

Her overly righteous, prim expression—did she really think that would convince anyone they were just studying?

Sheng Xia straightened, serious. “Ever heard of ‘fire singeing your brows¹’?”  

(¹: Idiom for urgency in a crisis.) 

Zhang Shu stifled a laugh, nodding. “I do, I do. The fire’s singeing my eyebrows, it’s burning, so hot—blow it out for me, quick…”

Sheng Xia: "..."  

Just let him burn.  

“You… don’t have to force a smile. At least not in front of me.”   

Zhang Shu paused.  

Forcing a smile?  

A little, maybe. No one’s truly immune to others’ scrutiny.  

No one stays perfectly calm when they’ve climbed high and fallen hard.

It was just a matter of degree.  

Zhang Shu lowered his voice. “I can handle it. Don’t worry about me, or I’ll start worrying about you worrying.”

Sheng Xia stared at him.  

“Underdog rises, star falls—people love those stories. The first, they admire; the second, they sigh over. At their core, people are just measuring themselves, to make themselves feel better.”    

Zhang Shu’s voice was steady as he set her notebook down, catching her hand again under the table, toying with it in his palm.

Sheng Xia instinctively pulled back but, meeting his earnest look , she relented obediently.  

He continued, “Watching an underdog rise is like drinking motivational soup, hoping it’ll happen to them too. Watching a star falling is like sighing at fate’s fickleness, reassuring themselves that ‘the wheel always turns.’”

“That’s how gossip starts. People talk about you, but they’re really thinking about themselves. They don’t actually care to understand you.”  

He met her gaze. “So don’t let their words weigh you down. Live your own life.”  

Live your own life.  

Sheng Xia studied his youthful face, struck by disbelief that he was her age.    

Zhang Shu was… extraordinary.

Sometimes he could be so childish you wanted to give him a good slap; other times he'd say something that left you stunned. 

“Doesn't it ever upset you?” she asked.  

Zhang Shu’s brow twitched. If he said he was upset, she’d probably lose sleep. If he said he wasn’t, she wouldn’t believe him and still lose sleep.

She always worried too much.  

“Then let me read the love letter, and I won’t be upset. Okay?”  

Heaven knows, she gave him a letter, told him not to read it until after the college entrance exams.

Zhang Shu had never been so speechless. Why not just give it to him after the exam then?

When it came to driving him crazy, Sheng Xia had a million tricks. 

“No,” she refused.  

Zhang Shu: “Why?”  

Sheng Xia: “Just no.”  

Zhang Shu: “Trying to kill me?”

Sheng Xia: “Then give it back.”  

Zhang Shu: “Fine. I won’t look.”  

Sheng Xia checked the time—11 p.m.  

“I’m going home.”  

Wang Lianhua was already waiting to pick her up.  

Zhang Shu walked her to the corridor end, then returned to the classroom, burying himself in his studies again.  

By now, Class 6 had grown accustomed to it. Those who stayed late didn’t need late night snacks—there was always dog food to feast on.  

Zhang Shu returned home at midnight. Zhang Suji was busy preparing for her wedding lately and was often away.  

No one would scold him even if he studied until 3 a.m.  

He pulled out the ‘Chinese Score Improvement Plan’ and read it carefully. 

That beautiful handwriting made his heart race.

Such pretty handwriting…writing love letters…

Who could be so lucky to receive such a privilege?  

Him. Zhang Shu.  

What had she said that day? “If you peek, I’ll be angry?”  

Angry? So be it. He’d just coax her.  

Zhang Shu retrieved the envelope he’d stared at countless times but never opened.

He slid out the letter.

At first glance, it seemed like simple pink paper, but under the light, faint patterns and gold flecks simmered, exceptionally exquisite.  

Disney princess stationery truly lived up to its name.  

Zhang Shu unfolded the first page. There was only one line:  

[Meeting you is, how should I put it, like a dazzling star lighting up a barren little universe.]  

He’d never seen words, or handwriting, so beautiful.

Second page.

Line after line, like diary entries.

====  

July 28, Sunny  

[Blazing sun, white shirts, dense camphor trees; laughter fading with a faint fragrance.]  

Had I not panicked then, would our story have begun more beautifully?  

August 1, Sunny  

[A beauty so enchanting, impossible to forget—better never to have met such radiance.]  

Rosy clouds stretching for miles, a city draped in splendor.

Had I not panicked then, would our story have unfolded more beautifully?  

August 15, Sunny  

[I envy his strength, mighty as mountains, his spirit unmatched².]  

(²: Inspired by a line from Xiang Yu’s Song by Liu Bang, praising strength and heroism.) 

Bright windows, clean desks, morning light shimmering.

Yet my eyes held no scenery.  

August 20, Sunny  

[Year after year, surrounded by friends; age after age, may I not be left behind.]    

Happy birthday. Every year from now on, I want to be part of it.    

September 4, Sunny  

[Summer outing—who’s that dashing youth shining on the court?]  

Basketballs, a young man, and sunlight.  

Even P.E. class feels this magical.

The scenery in my eyes, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

October 6, Sunny  

[Met a thousand faces, yet none compare to you.]    

The river surges, like my heart—for whom?  

November 8, Sunny  

[Mountains have trees, trees have branches; my heart delights you, but you don’t know.]  

So this is what liking someone tastes like. My first taste.

November 15, Sunny  

[Drunk, I forget sky mirrors water; a bed of dreams presses down a river of stars³.]  

(³: Adapted from a Tang poem by Du Fu, evoking dreamy infatuation.) 

You looked at me, just looked, and my heart thought, romance until death. 

December 25, Sunny  

[Shyly I walk away, lingering at the door, sniffing the green plum⁴.]  

(⁴: From a poem by Li Qingzhao, describing shy, youthful flirtation. The green plum symbolizes innocent love.) 

If this is a misunderstanding, it’s intoxicatingly beautiful.  

January 1, Sunny  

[Morning, I watch the sky; evening, I watch the clouds; walking, I think of you, sitting, I think of you.]  

Perhaps shorter holidays wouldn’t be so bad?

February 1, Sunny  

[May I be the star, you the moon, our light entwined night after night⁵.]  

(⁵: From a Song dynasty poem, symbolizing eternal love and mutual devotion.) 

Happy birthday to me. So, so happy.  

February 27, Sunny  

[I lower the crystal curtain, gazing at the autumn moon’s delicate light⁶.]  

(⁶: From a Tang poem by Li Bai, evoking quiet longing.)

The bookstore’s sunlight has always been perfect.  

I’m waiting for the wind, and for you.  

March 11, Sunny  

[In this vast world, life passes like a fleeting traveler⁷.]  

(⁷: From a Han dynasty poem, reflecting life’s transience.)

A blackout, pitch darkness.  

Even a road walked together can feel desolate, lonely.

…  

[When will we meet again in love? This moment, this night, it’s hard to bear⁸.]  

(⁸: Adapted from a Li Bai poem, expressing the pain of longing and separation.) 

…  

====  

Zhang Shu only half-understood, but it didn’t stop his heart from melting into a puddle.

Third page. 

====  

Shu, timely rain.  

Yet every memorable day since meeting him has been sunny.  

Isn’t that magical?  

Lately, I watch the sunset forty-four times a day⁹.  

(⁹: Referencing The Little Prince, where the prince sees 44 sunsets when sad.) 

I’m waiting for my rose.  

Lucky me—he comes with the wind, sleeves full of sunlight. 

He's my rose, my little prince.  

Lucky him, he has an entire summer (Sheng Xia).  

If he wants to.  

====  

Zhang Shu stared at the letter, dazed, finally understanding why she wouldn’t let him read it.

It was 1 a.m., and all he wanted was to drag her to get married.

---

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