Reluctant

Xu Jianing bent down, picked up the scattered documents one by one, and then handed them back to Wen Sheng.

"Is this the information for the city's English competition next month?"

"Hmm." Wen Sheng nodded, then glanced at him before quickly looking away and asking in a low voice, "Weren't you just in the classroom?"

"Teacher Xue asked me to come to his office." Xu Jianing shook the file bag in his hand and said with some helplessness, "He wants me to participate in the city's math competition."

"Are we on the same day?" Wen Sheng asked.

Xu Jianing thought for a moment and nodded: "It seems so."

"We might run into each other then."

"Actually, I don't really want to go," he suddenly said.

Wen Sheng was almost startled. She quickly glanced around, then suddenly looked up and glared at him, her eyes warning him.

Are you crazy? You're still standing outside the math office! What if your math teacher hears you?!

She grabbed his sleeve and urged him in a low voice, "Let's go!"

Xu Jianing let her pull him along. He watched her back as she held a thick stack of documents in one hand and pulled him with the other.

She walked rather quickly, her ponytail swaying, occasionally brushing against his arm with each step, bringing a faint, ticklish sensation.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and several times he couldn't resist reaching out to touch the ponytail, but he ultimately restrained himself.

How can someone be so cute even when they're angry?

Once the two reached the stairwell, a secluded spot far from the classroom where few people would pass by, Wen Sheng finally let go of his hand and turned to look at him: "Why did you say you didn't want to go?"

When Xu Jianing saw her puffed-up expression, like a little hamster, he was charmed by her cuteness once again. This time, he didn't hold back and, taking advantage of her unpreparedness, gently patted the top of her head.

"You—!" Wen Sheng slapped his hand away, glaring at him angrily, "Why did you give up?"

She really didn't understand why he, with such good grades, would have the idea of ​​giving up participating in the competition.

Xu Jianing lowered his eyes and said slowly, "Because if you get a good ranking, you'll have to go to school in the city for your senior year of high school."

“Cangzhong has always had this rule: any student in the county who wins an award in a city-level competition will be recommended to repeat a year at a key high school, supposedly to enjoy better teachers and resources. Two years ago, a senior was sent there, and I heard that spending a year there greatly increases one’s chances of getting into university.”

"This award is extremely difficult to win, exceptionally difficult. Out of so many high schools in the city, only a handful can stand out. No one can guarantee whether you'll win, but once you do, there's no other choice."

Wen Sheng asked, "What about last year? Did no one get it?"

"One person was almost there."

"who?"

"Lin Fei".

Wen Sheng was taken aback; of course she had heard of this name. Lin Fei, the top student in the senior year of Cangzhong High School, like her and Xu Jianing, had consistently held the top spot for many years.

However, the phrase "almost" already speaks volumes. Although Lin Fei's grades are good, they are not strong enough to easily stand out among the top students from numerous schools throughout the city.

Xu Jianing, however, is different.

Lin Fei, who always came in first place, was always closely followed by someone, and the gap between them was never really widened; while Xu Jianing, on the other hand, could leave the second-place student in the grade far behind in almost every exam, and was all alone at the front.

Over time, his name seemed to be inextricably linked with "first place," and even before the monthly exam results came out, the teachers assumed that he would definitely be number one.

As for herself, she fell somewhere in between. Her grades were stable, but she didn't have the huge advantage that Xu Jianing had, nor did she have the risk of being overtaken by others if she wasn't careful like Lin Fei.

Her first place is more like a balance. She is excellent enough, yet always feels the pressure from those behind her.

If she were to participate in this competition, would she also fall short like Lin Fei?

Moreover, her strengths lay in English and humanities, while math wasn't her strongest subject. Before every major exam, Xu Jianing always had to give her extra tutoring to help her catch up on her weaknesses. Thinking about this, her unease became even clearer.

Xu Jianing stared at Wen Sheng, knowing what she was worried about.

He said without hesitation, "You won't be any worse. If you participate in this competition, you're sure to get a place."

That wasn't just a casual word of comfort; it was a fact he had always believed in.

In other people's eyes, she may just be one of the "number one" students, but in his eyes, she has never been someone who appears excellent only through comparison.

She is unique; she is Wen Sheng, whom he has personally witnessed and who has walked step by step to get here.

Wen Sheng looked up into Xu Jianing's eyes and said earnestly, "You must participate in this competition."

Xu Jianing opened her lips, but didn't voice the real reason she didn't want to go.

I can't bear to part with it.

Because I couldn't bear to part with it.

He's a sophomore in high school, and she's a freshman. If he wins this competition, he'll have to attend the city's high school for a year, meaning he could have simply endured her senior year, by which time he'd be in university, creating a year-long gap between them. But now, that gap has been cruelly brought forward by a year.

The thought of no longer being able to see her in the opposite corridor every day and no longer being able to pretend to bump into her filled Xu Jianing with an indescribable sense of frustration and bitterness.

It was supposed to be just a glance, but he needed to calculate the timing and angle in advance, and even rehearse it countless times in his mind. If he went too fast, he was afraid of missing her; if he went too slow, he was afraid she would notice that he was being deliberate. He could only strike the perfect balance.

But when he actually looked into her eyes, he always had to pretend to be calm, restrain himself, suppress all his emotions, and not let anyone notice, using his limited rationality to suppress the palpitations that were about to get out of control.

Wen Sheng stared at him for a long time, and seeing that he was lost in thought, she asked, "Are you still listening?"

Xu Jianing paused for a moment, then came to her senses: "Hmm?"

“I said,” she looked at him earnestly and said, word by word, “you must get a good ranking.”

“Yes, I will.” He nodded.

A moment later, he called her softly, "Wen Sheng."

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion.

This time, time is running out; there are only three months left.

Xu Jianing parted her lips slightly and finally uttered the words that had been weighing on her heart for so long: "Could you... wait for me?"

"I'll wait for you?" Wen Sheng tilted her head, asking in confusion, "Shouldn't you be waiting for me? I'm a year younger than you."

She paused, then added very seriously, "Besides, my grades are still a bit behind yours, so I'll need you to help me catch up. If you get first place, then I'll have a goal and the motivation to catch up!"

Xu Jianing lowered his head and smiled, a hint of helplessness hidden in his smile, realizing that the two were not talking about the same thing.

When he said "wait," he was afraid that after a year and a half apart, by the time he came back to confess his feelings, she would already be pursued by someone else; while when she said "wait," she was simply trying to catch up in her studies.

In her eyes, he would always be the unattainable "number one" in that grade, the goal ahead, someone she needed to look up to. But he knew in his heart that what he wanted was not this difference in distance, but for her to see him, whether he was number one or just an ordinary Xu Jianing.

He only wanted to be Xu Jianing by her side.

——

After the last class in the morning, Wen Sheng didn't rush to the cafeteria for lunch. Instead, she sat in her seat, intending to take advantage of the free time to organize the materials her English teacher had given her and take a look at the requirements.

She had just lowered her head and turned to the first page when she suddenly heard someone call out, "Junior Wen!"

Looking up, she saw Li Changshui leaning out of the window, his hand on the window frame, waving at her.

“Qingmiao went to the cafeteria to reserve a seat,” she explained.

"I know. I'm not looking for her, I'm looking for you."

Wen Sheng placed the water bottle on top to prevent the documents from being blown away by the wind before getting up and walking outside.

"Senior, is there something you need from me?"

"Come on, have some biscuits first." Li Changshui took out a small bag of milk biscuits from his pocket and stuffed it into her hand. Feeling that wasn't enough, he put a fruit candy into her arms. "Are you tired from studying? Have some sugar to refresh yourself."

"Thank you, senior."

Li Changshui took a bite of the cookie in his hand. "By the way, did you know? The date for our school's spring outing has been set. It's March 19th, which is the day before the spring equinox."

“I know, Qingmiao mentioned it this morning,” Wen Sheng replied.

Li Changshui brushed the cookie crumbs off and then said casually, "Oh dear, that was Aning's birthday."

Wen Sheng was tearing candy wrappers when she heard this, so she paused. The fruit candy fell to the ground with a thud and rolled twice along the cracks in the floor tiles before stopping.

The three-second rule: pick it up and eat it within three seconds.

She was about to bend down to pick it up when Li Changshui stopped her.

"No, this ground is too dirty." He shook his head with a smile, then took out a new fruit candy from his pocket and put it in her palm. "Here, this one is clean."

Wen Sheng was a little embarrassed: "Thank you, senior."

Li Changshui casually asked, "By the way, Wen, when is your birthday? Is it also in spring?"

Wen Sheng shook her head. "No, my birthday is in the summer, on the fourth day of the fifth lunar month."

“Oh dear, isn’t that the day before the Dragon Boat Festival?” Li Changshui clapped his hands and smiled meaningfully. “You and Aning are a perfect match, one the day before the Spring Equinox and the other the day before the Dragon Boat Festival.”

Wen Sheng was surprised that he could connect these two things, and her ears turned red from his amusement: "There's no such thing as that."

Li Changshui mentally ticked a box: Mission accomplished. The message was successfully delivered, and Wen Xuemei's birthday was also obtained.

"Alright, I won't disturb your studies anymore."

He took another piece of candy out of his pocket and handed it over, then turned and left satisfied, leaving Wen Sheng alone staring blankly at the fruit candy in her hand.

March 19th, the day before the Spring Equinox, is also Xu Jianing's birthday and a day for a spring outing.

Should I give something as a gift? What would be a good gift?

Books? But he reads more books than I do, so giving him a book wouldn't seem very original.

A fountain pen? That seems too ordinary, and the one he uses is already quite good; the one I gave him would probably just be left aside.

A laptop? That's too cheap and shows no sincerity.

Snacks? That seems childish, and besides, he doesn't particularly like snacks.

A scarf? But it's springtime now, so it's out of season.

Wen Sheng sighed, feeling increasingly overwhelmed. Unfortunately, she didn't have much pocket money and couldn't afford to buy anything too expensive.

She returned to her seat, placed the fruit candy on the corner of the table, and stared at it for a long time.

"How about... we give you this candy?"

She tried to justify it to herself: it's her birthday, and a sweet meaning is nice. Besides, Li Changshui gave it to her personally, so it's a genuine "limited edition".