When the new semester began, Shao Wu became the English class representative for Humanities Class 1.
Their English teacher was Liu Shan, a recent university graduate whom the students called Sister Shan.
During break, Shao Wu carried a stack of freshly collected exercise books into Sister Shan’s office.
“Yang Shuyi again.” Liu Shan frowned. “What is going on with him?”
“He said he forgot to bring it…”
“Who does he think he’s fooling? He forgets his homework every day. How come he doesn’t forget himself?”
Liu Shan sighed.
“Tell him to rewrite it at school today. I’m supervising evening self-study tonight anyway. Have him bring it to me himself.”
Shao Wu nodded. “Okay.”
“Oh, right.” Liu Shan’s voice suddenly brightened. “Take this and eat it.”
She pulled a red gauze pouch from a drawer. A large golden double-happiness character was embroidered on it.
“Teacher Zhang Han is getting married… Take it. I’m trying to lose weight.”
“Mm, thank you, Sister Shan!”
Shao Wu accepted the wedding candy.
He was fair-skinned and neat-looking, got good grades, and was well behaved, so teachers tended to like him. Every time he brought homework to the office, someone would stuff a little snack into his hands.
Shao Wu slipped the candy into his uniform pocket, stood outside the classroom door, took a deep breath, and walked inside.
“Uh, Shen Qi,” he asked, “where’s Yang Shuyi?”
“Old Dong dragged him away just now.” Shen Qi shrugged. “He didn’t do the math paper.”
Shao Wu: “…”
Shen Qi was Yang Shuyi’s deskmate, a music-track student studying vocal performance.
She was cheerful and outgoing, and sitting beside Yang Shuyi had clearly left her starved for conversation. Right now she was chatting animatedly with the girl in front of her.
A thick row of books stood upright across Shen Qi’s desk: textbooks, workbooks, and two music-theory books. It looked packed.
In fact, most students’ desks were like that, including Shao Wu’s. They had too many books to fit inside the desk compartments, so they had to stack them on top.
Yang Shuyi’s desk, by contrast, was almost empty.
His history textbook lay open on top, its pages spotless, without a single note.
Shao Wu had no choice but to return to his own seat.
After taking a few steps, he glanced back and noticed a crumpled plastic bag inside Yang Shuyi’s desk compartment. It was half open, revealing two steamed buns.
The wedding candy was still sitting heavily in Shao Wu’s pocket.
Second period that morning was politics.
Old Dong came to class, but Yang Shuyi’s seat remained empty.
Forty-five minutes suddenly felt very long.
At last, Dong Ming said, “That’s all for today.”
Shao Wu immediately grabbed his workbook and followed him back to the office.
“Sir,” Shao Wu said softly, “there’s a problem I want to ask you about.”
“Oh? Which one?” Dong Ming lifted his teacup and took two large gulps before glancing behind him. “Have you finished it yet?”
The person sitting behind him was Yang Shuyi.
Dong Ming shared an office with the homeroom teacher of Science Class 7. Yang Shuyi was sitting in that teacher’s chair, gripping a pen with a blank white test paper in front of him.
“…Not yet,” Yang Shuyi answered quietly without looking at Shao Wu.
“Then keep writing. You can go back to class when you finish. Shao Wu, which problem?”
“Oh. This one.”
Shao Wu pointed randomly at a multiple-choice question.
Dong Ming finished explaining it in no time.
Shao Wu reluctantly closed his workbook and was about to leave when Dong Ming suddenly asked, “Hey, next period is Teacher Cui’s, right?”
“Yes.”
“He has something to do this morning, so the schedule changed. You’ll have self-study next period, and geography during the afternoon self-study. Go tell everyone.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Good grief, I’ve got another meeting. Why are there so many meetings every day?”
Dong Ming checked his watch, grabbed his teacup, and hurried out.
For a moment, only Shao Wu and Yang Shuyi remained in the office.
Yang Shuyi sat with his head lowered, gripping his pen without moving.
He was obviously completely helpless in front of the test paper.
Shao Wu knew he should return to the classroom.
But the wedding candy Sister Shan had given him was still in his pocket, weighing heavily against his leg.
“…Yang Shuyi.”
Shao Wu stepped closer and asked very softly,
“Are you hungry?”
Elio’s Notes: The character 囍, often called “Double Happiness,” is a traditional wedding symbol in Chinese culture and is commonly printed or embroidered on wedding decorations and gift packaging.
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