Heartbeat

Just as the bell rang for the end of the last class in the morning, Xu Jianing closed his book and prepared to get ready to go to the cafeteria to line up when he heard someone calling him from the doorway.

"Xu Jianing, your homeroom teacher wants to go to the office."

He responded with a "okay," then tidied up the draft paper on the table, stood up, took a long stride, and walked out of the classroom.

In the office, several teachers were busy grading homework, their red pens making quick checkmarks on the paper. Class teacher Liu Zhigang, sitting by the window, put down his red pen and waved to him as he entered.

"Jia Ning, over here."

"Teacher Liu, is there something you need from me?" Xu Jianing asked.

Liu Zhigang nodded to the female teacher beside him and said, "This is Teacher Li Yingjun. She would like to ask you for a favor: to share her learning experiences with her students."

Li Yingjun smiled and continued, "Jia Ning, our class just started the semester, and the students haven't fully settled in yet. I was thinking, if we could invite you to share your experience and talk about how you usually study, it would definitely be more useful than me doing it, and everyone would listen more attentively."

Seeing his hesitation, I assumed he was just shy, so I smiled and added, "No need to be too formal, just treat it as a chat. Tell me how you usually manage your time and how you deal with academic problems."

Xu Jianing did not agree immediately and remained silent.

This was indeed not difficult for him, but he felt some resistance to it.

He knew he had talent, and his learning methods were a way to maximize that talent.

That's precisely why he's even less willing to mislead others.

He doesn't stay up late or cram in tons of practice problems; his secret is simple: keep his mind clear and his thinking always on point.

Moreover, his learning methods are quite "demonic" if you were to tell others.

Everyone's situation is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. If someone copies your method and ends up achieving less with more effort, then it's not helping, it's making things worse.

What he feared most was standing on the podium with a conceited air, explaining his methods in a seemingly logical way, only to mislead students.

Thinking of this, Xu Jianing pursed her lips, intending to politely decline.

"Jia Ning, this shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?" Liu Zhigang noticed his hesitation and asked.

"Teacher, I—"

"Report!"

The office door was pushed open, and Li Changshui casually poked his head in. "Old Liu, this is the homework you asked me to hand in."

As he put the test paper on the table, he noticed Xu Jianing standing there and said with a grin, "Oh, Aning, you're here too."

Liu Zhigang pretended to be annoyed and cursed, "You're so naughty, you've been putting off your homework until now."

Li Changshui scratched his head and said innocently, "I just forgot to write it yesterday."

“If you had half the self-discipline of your deskmate, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.” Liu Zhigang casually collected the papers and said, “Next time he shares his study experience with the freshmen, you should go and listen too.”

"Huh? Sharing?" Li Changshui perked up immediately. "Which class is it?"

"Which other class could it be? Of course, it's the top class in the first year of high school."

Li Changshui was even happier when he heard this: "Oh, that's perfect! My sister is in the top class of the first year of high school. Let her listen to Aning's experience, and she'll definitely avoid some detours."

Xu Jianing wanted to politely decline, but when she heard the words "first-year key class", a figure suddenly popped into her mind.

In the end, he swallowed back the words, "Teacher, I might not be suitable."

"Teacher, I can give this presentation."

Liu Zhigang nodded in satisfaction: "That's right." Then he turned to Li Yingjun and asked, "Teacher Li, when was it?"

Li Yingjun adjusted her glasses and replied, "It's the last class tomorrow afternoon. I've made the arrangements in advance; Jia Ning just needs to be there on time."

"Okay, it's settled then. Jia Ning, get ready, just tell me how you usually manage your studies and life."

"Um."

As soon as he came out of the office, Li Changshui immediately put his arm around his shoulder: "Hey, is our top student going to give a speech? And share with my sister's class!"

"But my sister is ambitious and a bit picky. However, she will definitely listen to you. If she also gets first place in the grade, I can also mooch off her."

Xu Jianing glanced at him, raised her hand and pushed his arm off her shoulder, saying indifferently, "You've got a pretty good plan."

Li Changshui chuckled, unfazed by his cold attitude: "With you here, I definitely won't be able to get first place in the grade. Now I'm relying on my sister."

"Don't have a cold face then, or the freshmen won't listen if you're too serious."

I will be careful.

Li Changshui was taken aback, staring at him suspiciously: "So cooperative? When did you become so easy to talk to?"

Xu Jianing ignored him and strode towards the cafeteria.

Tomorrow, he will be in her class.

Thinking of a scene she had witnessed that morning, Xu Jianing felt her heart skip a beat, but she suppressed it and continued walking forward without making a sound.

During morning reading time, he passed by the first-year high school students.

The corridor windows were open, and the sound of reading aloud rose and fell. He hadn't originally planned to stop, but when he reached the door of that familiar classroom, he subconsciously slowed down.

I was really just passing by.

It just so happens that the math teaching group's office is on the first-year floor, and it just so happens that he is the math class representative, so Xue Pingsheng called him over to get the test papers.

She sat in the third row by the window, reading with her head down. The morning sunlight shone on her shoulders, and she was quiet and serene, as if she had stepped out of a painting.

They look so alike.

Like when he was in his first year of high school, he sat in the same spot, doing practice problems page by page, enduring one exam after another.

Xu Jianing still remembers that on the upper right corner of that table, during one evening self-study session when he was too sleepy, he lightly carved an English sentence on the wooden table while memorizing vocabulary.

"So it goes." (1)

Since things have come to this point,

That's just how life is.

Let's go then, let's keep going.

At the time, he didn't think much of it; he just felt that the phrase suited the path he had chosen. Only after finishing carving did he realize that the pen nib had broken off, but the marks were still there. He didn't erase them, and no one noticed.

He sat there for a whole year without mentioning the sentence carved on the table to anyone, not even his deskmate Li Changshui.

When she came to her senses, Xu Jianing was already standing in front of the cafeteria window.

The line moved slowly forward, with a cacophony of noise behind them. Some people shouted, "Auntie, please scoop more soup!" while others discussed their afternoon PE class while waiting in line.

Xu Jianing didn't look at the menu, and only said, "The usual."

The lady serving the food didn't even look up: "They really don't change anything at all."

He gave a soft "hmm," picked up his lunchbox, and turned to walk to a corner seat by the window.

Xu Jianing admitted that his brief pause that morning was not unintentional, but he wouldn't admit it easily.

In particular, now is not the time to admit it.

He never does anything he's not sure about.

——

Having just finished getting their food, Wen Sheng and Li Qingmiao walked around the cafeteria with their lunchboxes, looking for a quiet place to sit down.

Suddenly, Li Qingmiao called out, "Hey! There's an empty table by the window over there, my brother's table!"

When Wen Sheng saw the person by the window, before she could even say "never mind," she was already being dragged over by Li Qingmiao.

At the table by the window, Li Changshui was gnawing on ribs, his mouth glistening with oil. As soon as he saw the two women approaching, he immediately grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth: "No, no, no, Qingmiao, don't sit here. If you come, my image in public will be ruined."

Li Qingmiao scoffed, slammed her lunchbox down, and sat down without any politeness: "Your image is completely covered by grease. Wipe your mouth again, it's not even clean."

Li Changshui rolled his eyes and shoved a mouthful of rice into his mouth angrily: "It's better if you don't come. Even if you do, I'll have to eat less. It's so annoying."

As soon as Wen Sheng sat down, she realized that Xu Jianing was sitting right across from her.

"Hello, Senior Xu."

The boy opposite her ate his meal quietly, glanced at her, and said in a low, husky voice, "Mmm." Then he continued to eat, spoonful by spoonful.

Wen Sheng lowered her head somewhat awkwardly, about to open her lunchbox, but then unconsciously glanced at him.

The food in his bowl was surprisingly simple: a small bowl of rice and two vegetarian dishes, namely stir-fried shredded potatoes and bok choy.

Despite being the top student in the entire grade and a role model repeatedly mentioned by their homeroom teacher, the lunch in front of them was far too meager.

Wen Sheng bit her chopsticks, wanting to ask if he had forgotten to serve the food, but then felt that it would be too abrupt, so she swallowed the question back.

Just as a vague sense of sympathy began to form in her mind, the person on the other end suddenly spoke.

"Li Changshui, the meat I bought today, you can buy it tomorrow."

Li Changshui, who had been called upon, was biting into his last piece of rib and mumbled, "Mmm, I know, I know."

Li Qingmiao, sitting opposite her, immediately seized on the key information. Her eyes narrowed, and her voice rose several octaves: "So, Li Changshui, every time you come home you tell Mom you've spent all your money on food, but you actually had someone else buy you meat? How much money have you embezzled?!"

Li Changshui suddenly lost interest in the ribs in his hand and hurriedly explained, "No, sister, Qingmiao, Miaomiao, listen to me, I'm saving money for the family."

Li Qingmiao looked at the other person with an expression that said, "I won't listen, I'm going home to tell on you."

Li Changshui: "......"

Xu Jianing, who was standing to the side, was already used to this. Li Changshui looked at him for help: "Aning, say something! You also ate the ribs, won't you put in a good word for me?"

Xu Jianing slowly picked up a small piece of cabbage and said, "These pieces were originally bought by me."

Li Changshui clutched his chest, as if he had suffered a great injustice, "What happened to the camaraderie, the bond between classmates, and the mutual assistance in times of poverty?"

"When did I ever admit to any of that?" Xu Jianing retorted.

Wen Sheng couldn't help but burst out laughing. She quickly lowered her head to eat, trying her best to appear "completely unconcerned" about the gossip battlefield, but her ears gradually turned red.

Li Changshui was still explaining to his sister, "Qingmiao, you don't understand. This is called trust between brothers. I really just take turns buying meat with him and we eat together. Don't tell Mom when you go back."

"The money you get for meals every week is enough for you to eat meat every day!" Li Qingmiao complained.

Li Changshui glared at her, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and turned to Wen Sheng, saying, "Wen Sheng! You saw it just now, we shared the food. Don't you think I'm very responsible?"

"Hmm...right?" Wen Sheng said hesitantly.

"Listen to this!" Li Changshui said smugly to Li Qingmiao, not seeing any problem when he saw Xu Jianing's gaze.

Li Qingmiao rolled her eyes: "She was just being polite, don't take it too seriously."

"Tsk, stubborn." Li Changshui was about to retort when he suddenly noticed the commotion on Xu Jianing's side.

The other person didn't speak, but just glanced at him indifferently, as if they were a little unhappy.

Li Changshui was taken aback, touched his nose, and awkwardly shut his mouth, not daring to say anything more.

Xu Jianing finished cleaning up the dishes and headed towards the sink. Li Changshui also quickly tidied up, and didn't forget to tell the two of them, "He's going to your class for a sharing session tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Wen Sheng subconsciously looked towards the sink.

The man stood there, his back ramrod straight, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, intently washing the dishes, his cool and handsome face outlined by the sunlight.

Wen Sheng suddenly began to doubt herself. Could it be that she really only noticed him because he was good-looking?

She took a bite of rice, feeling a little annoyed, wondering if she had been too superficial.