Ting Lan was about to close her notebook when she saw, on the last page, a single line of elegant script:
Some flowers bloom high up in the trees.
Tinglan recognized these characters. They were a line from the poem “Bride” by the poet Hai Zi. The poem starts with:
and many days after that
Many farewells <<<
You illuminate me.
I will not say anything today.
Let others speak.
….
But on the notebook, there was this unfinished sentence. It was probably because after the sentence, there was only a comma. Listen Lan, as if possessed, added the second half: “some fruit grow deep underground.”
Two lines of text, one above the other, were written on a blank sheet of paper at the bottom. Tinglan originally thought her handwriting was quite beautiful, but comparing it now, it seemed a little petty within the context of Qingxiu’s.
I regret writing on someone else’s notebook now. I shouldn’t have written anything there without permission, but it can’t be erased or torn off at this point. All I can do is hope the owner doesn’t mind.
The weekend was spent at home, and I was a little anxious about the results of Monday’s exam announcement.
Her father went out of town on a business trip, so only she and her mother were home.
During dinner, Mom casually asked, “You guys have exams on Friday, right?”
“I passed the exam.”
How did you do on the exam?
“That’s great.”
Her evaluation of good and bad differs from her mother’s.
Her evaluation was to do her best within her own capabilities, while Mom’s evaluation was based on being simple and straightforward.
Wenjian was always the “ideal child” from a young age. Her academic performance was excellent, needless to say, and she was also generous and well-behaved. Every time we visited her home, she would proactively help her parents with chores. Both her parents loved her very much.
Hearing the hesitation in her tone, Zhang He didn’t press further. After all, she was only a freshman and had just achieved first place.
For this exam, don’t put too much pressure on the child, just say
“I asked Auntie Wen about this, and she said the tutor for Xiao Jian still has an open spot this semester. Mom could sign you up, would you like to go there too?”
Tinglan quickly waved his hand and said, “No need, Wen Jian’s tutoring fees are very expensive. When I was in middle school, it was 300 yuan per hour, and now that I’m in high school, it’s probably even more expensive.”
If we go to that teacher for extra classes, I’m afraid mom’s one month’s salary wouldn’t be enough. Although our family could afford it, she thinks it’s unnecessary.
“Don’t worry about the money, our family can afford your education. The most important thing is to lay a good foundation in high school.”
“Mom, can we wait until the exam scores are out?”
Tinglan mainly didn’t want to have the same tutor as Wenjian. At home, she was used to her mother comparing her to Wenjian, and outside, she didn’t want to be compared by teachers anymore.
On Monday, when going to school, Lan brought the notebook back to school and returned it to Lu Kuo. On the way, Cheng Chen also remembered the types of questions on the notebook and borrowed it to take a look. After reading it, he regretted it loudly, wishing he had studied it seriously before the exam.
Lu Kuo said proudly: “My buddy is a genius, you guys will see.”
Cheng Chen knew that the “bro” he was talking about was Zhuo Yu’an from the next class. He wasn’t sure if he was a genius, but he was definitely a school heartthrob. Whether it was junior high girls, classmates in the same grade, or senior year sisters, everyone’s eyes followed him wherever he went.
Cheng Chen passed the notebook to Tinglan: “You go return it, so you can get to know a genius too.”
Tinglan took the notebook. She didn’t really want to go, she wasn’t interested in this sort of thing, but suddenly…
Thinking about the last sentence she had added on her own, she decided to explain it to someone. So, she took the notebook and went straight to Class 1 next door.
At that moment, it was the end of class time, and both the corridor and classrooms were bustling with noise.
Many students she knew greeted her. She had transferred from the junior high, and coupled with her striking appearance and being the finale performer at the welcome event, she actually had some fame among students in the same year. It’s just that she was low-key and didn’t socialize much with classmates.
She stood at the doorway of Class 2, holding a notebook and shouting inside: Zhuo Yuan!
She only remembered after she had called out that she didn’t know who Zhuo Yuan was. She wanted to go back to her classroom and get Cheng Chen to come with her, but because of her appearance, many students had already noticed her, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and smile, raising her voice a little>>>
“May I ask who Zhuo Yuan is?”
At that time, Zhuo Yu’an was sitting in the back row of the classroom. He suddenly heard the voice and looked up towards the door. He saw a girl with a sweet smile standing there gracefully, holding a notebook in her hand and looking around the classroom for its owner.
Actually, Lan was quite nervous, especially when a tall and handsome boy with a clean and refreshing aura walked towards her. The classmates burst into laughter, and her face quietly flushed red.
The boy stood expressionlessly before her, a complete contrast to Lu Kuo.
Ting Lan originally wanted to explain that she had scribbled a sentence on the back of her notebook, but when the boy took her notebook and said, “My name is not Zhuo Yuan, it’s Zhuo Yu An,” she blushed even behind her ears. She completely forgot about explaining herself.
Just hurriedly said:
“I’m sorry, thank you for your notes.”
Actually, she didn’t really remember the other person’s name either. It sounded quite difficult to pronounce and she hadn’t heard it clearly at all.
This little anecdote ended when she announced the scores back in the classroom.
She did well in the humanities, but not so much in science. Her overall score ranked fifth in her class, which was a bit disappointing as it fell short of her expectations.
So she was uninterested when it came to looking at grade rankings.
When school was out, Lu Kuo followed Cheng Chen to the bulletin board.
When he saw that Wen Jian’s name was at the top of the bulletin board, Lu Kuo almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Zhuo Yu’an had only come in second?
“Damn, who is this Wenjian?”
Ting Lan looked at her ranking of 50th and felt even more dejected. In middle school, she and Wen Jian hadn’t had such a big gap in scores. But there were signs early on: Wen Jian excelled in STEM subjects while Ting Lan leaned towards the humanities. Math, physics, and chemistry weren’t something she could simply study hard for; mastering the methods was crucial.
Three people stood in front of the notice board, each with their own thoughts.
Lu Kuo was heartbroken to see Zhuo Yu’an come in second place, ranking even lower than himself. ;
Listening exam score was lower than I expected. Thinking about going home and facing my mom’s interrogation, I wasn’t in a good mood;
Cheng Chen’s performance was steady, landing him just within the top 100 of his grade, so there were no major ups and downs.
After standing for a while, most of the students from the school had already left. Lu Kuo turned around and saw Zhuo Yu’an standing behind him, giving him a fright.
“When did you arrive?”
“Just arrived.”
A young boy walked with a single backpack slung over one shoulder. He stood tall and straight, his white school uniform making him look even more youthful.
He looked very clean and refreshed. He didn’t seem to care at all that he came in second place, his eyes scanning the list one name at a time until he reached number 50, then he turned his head.
Author’s Note: Tinglan’s unintentional response in poetry, young Zhuo Yu’an would be secretly happy for a long time, right?