Chapter 16: Transfer students

For Lin You, the first day of school was like a dream.

Being laughed at and isolated by his classmates was not surprising at all.

However, not everyone was like that.

His deskmate, Zhong Yuxiu, was a very special girl.

She was friendly, pretty, smart, and even willing to stand against a group of female classmates for his sake.

The head teacher had stepped in to discipline Zhang Chunli and the others, and had also solemnly warned the students of Class Two not to bully Lin You or call him names.

The teacher’s actions were great, but the person Lin You was most grateful to in his heart was his deskmate.

The last period of the day.

The boy couldn’t focus on the lecture. His eyes would inadvertently drift, his gaze focusing on the female deskmate beside him.

He had already said thank you, but it felt far from enough.

The first, second… and third time he had received help from a peer, it had all been from the same person.

Lin You would remember the events of this day for his entire life, simply because on this day, there was a girl who treated him with kindness and helped him.

“Class, the teacher has something to attend to and needs to step out for a moment. Everyone stay in the classroom, don’t run around.”

In the middle of class, the teacher was called away by the school leadership, leaving the students to study on their own.

“Yay!”

This was the kind of thing the students loved the most. A classroom with a teacher and one without were two completely different scenes.

“Classmate Lin, I noticed you haven’t written your name in your textbooks. You should write it down, so if you accidentally lose one, you can get it back.”

The girl had unintentionally noticed this detail and kindly reminded him.

“I don’t know how to write…”

Lin You had never received any preschool education. He barely knew how to hold a pen, let alone write his own name.

“Is that so? Then I’ll help you write it!”

Zhong Yuxiu had received a good education since she was little. The knowledge she possessed surpassed that of most of her peers. Writing a few characters was nothing to her.

“Classmate Zhong, thank you.”

Lin You himself didn’t realize how many times he had said thank you. He was no longer pushing away his deskmate’s help.

“You’re welcome!”

A faint smile touched Zhong Yuxiu’s small face. She took Lin You’s textbook and wrote his name in neat, elegant characters on the first page.

“Your name has so few strokes, it’s so easy to write!”

The girl wrote his name in all of his textbooks in one go, taking less than a minute in total.

“My grandma chose it. She wants me to be an outstanding person!”

The boy stared blankly at his own name in the book. He didn’t quite understand the meaning yet, but joy gradually crept into his heart.

“What a coincidence! My name was also chosen by my grandma. She wants me to be a clever girl, as beautiful and talented as the name implies.”

Zhong Yuxiu’s eyes sparkled as she instantly found a common point between them.

“It sounds nice!”

Lin You was imperceptibly becoming more willing to communicate with the girl, no longer choosing to avoid her as he had in the morning.

“It does sound nice, but the name has too many strokes, and it’s easy to write it wrong sometimes. I almost want to switch names with you, Classmate Lin. I’ll be Zhong You, and you’ll be Lin Yuxiu! Hehe.”

Hearing the boy’s praise, Zhong Yuxiu was quite pleased, her little chin lifting slightly. But when she thought about having to write her own name on all her future homework and exams, her pretty face fell. She came up with the wild idea of swapping names, and the thought of it made her giggle.

“Hehe!”

Lin You was also infected by his deskmate’s cheerful laughter and couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

“Wow!”

Zhong Yuxiu had been turned sideways the whole time, facing Lin You as they talked.

She could see his every frown and smile clearly.

This was the first time the girl had seen Lin You smile. It turned out that this reclusive, unsociable boy could also laugh, and his smile was so pure and beautiful.

“What is it?”

Lin You’s sensitive heart noticed his deskmate’s surprised reaction. He immediately suppressed his smile, thinking he had done something wrong.

“It’s nothing. I just think you have a really nice smile, Classmate Lin! It would be great if you smiled more often. My grandma says that a person who always smiles can live to be a hundred.”

His deskmate had stopped smiling, and the girl felt a sense of regret. She quickly explained the reason, not wanting him to think she was laughing at him.

“Mhm.”

Lin You was praised again, but his mood suddenly sank, and his face unconsciously drooped.

He had misunderstood his deskmate’s meaning.

With the red birthmark on his face, his smile must look very ugly.

He thought Zhong Yuxiu was just being too kind, unable to bring herself to say such harsh words.

“Huh??”

Zhong Yuxiu was completely bewildered. She was clearly complimenting her deskmate’s good looks, so why did he seem so down?

The girl was baffled, not yet truly understanding the sensitivity and inferiority complex in Lin You’s heart.

Because of this, the conversation between the deskmates seemed to come to an end.

Lin You stared intently at the two neat characters in his book—his name.

He couldn’t trouble his deskmate to write his name for him every day.

With this thought in mind, the boy clumsily held his pen and, as if drawing a picture, began to copy his own name in the blank space of the book.

‘We were just talking and laughing. What did I do wrong?’

The usually clever girl was still纠结ing over this question.

Since the boy seemed to be in a bad mood, she didn’t want to ask him about it right now.

The teacher’s absence didn’t last long; she returned after about five minutes.

To be precise, the teacher came back with a girl who had an air of nobility about her.

“Class, let’s all welcome Classmate Zhao Xixia to the family of Class Two.”

The teacher introduced the new transfer student to everyone.

“She’s so pretty.”

The students cast curious glances, and this was their unanimous first impression.

“Her clothes and shoes are so beautiful. They must be very expensive.”

Zhong Yuxiu didn’t think she was any less attractive than Zhao Xixia, but she also noticed where she fell short.

She came from a moderately well-off family, and the clothes she wore were of above-average quality. But compared to the new transfer student, Zhao Xixia, she was far behind.

‘This… new classmate is very different from the other students in the class.’

Lin You glanced once, then lowered his head and silently clapped to welcome her.

He wasn’t looking at her face or her clothes; he was referring to the unique, noble air about Zhao Xixia.

She was like the young mistress of a great city family who had come to a small country school, standing out like a crane among chickens.

“A bunch of childish, boring elementary school students.”

Zhao Xixia was also sizing up her classmates. After a cursory glance, she lost interest in observing them.

“Classmate Zhao, the teacher will arrange a seat for you now. Where would you like to sit?”

The teacher’s tone was gentle, almost fawning.

“Her, then.”

Zhao Xixia casually pointed at Zhong Yuxiu. She was the only girl her age in the entire class who was pleasing to the eye.

“Alright.”

The teacher nodded and bowed, immediately getting to it.

“What? You want to be my deskmate? Then what about Classmate Lin?”

When the teacher came over to explain the situation, Zhong Yuxiu’s first reaction was to refuse.

“…”

Lin You kept his head down. Even though he really wanted to continue being deskmates with Zhong Yuxiu, he didn’t have the courage to go against the teacher.

It was worth mentioning that the number of students in Class Two had originally been an even number. Now, with Zhao Xixia’s addition, it had become an odd number.

This meant that one person would not be able to share a desk and would have to sit alone.