Wen Zhi, that loser
As the days went by, the new semester gradually got on track.
On Wednesday of the third week of school, the corridor was already packed with students before the morning exercise bell rang. Liang An had just come out of the restroom and was about to hurry back to Class 1 when he caught a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
It is Wen Zhi.
He leaned against the window at the end of the corridor, his face as pale as paper, fine beads of sweat on his forehead, one hand gripping the window frame, his knuckles white from the force.
Liang An involuntarily stopped and glanced down at the black bracelet on his left wrist, but it remained motionless. He observed Wen Zhi from a distance.
"Wen Zhi, are you alright?" Cai Meng's voice came as he, Xu Sheng, and Wei Qi walked towards Wen Zhi.
Wen Zhi turned his head at the sound, his lips almost bloodless. "It's nothing... I'm just a little dizzy."
"Should we go to the infirmary?" Cai Meng asked.
"No need." Wen Zhi saw Liang An not far away and walked towards him uncontrollably.
Liang An stood still, neither dodging nor avoiding, and the bracelet did not register anything.
Wen Zhi walked to Liang An's side, but suddenly his legs went weak, and Liang An instinctively supported him.
The moment Liang An's hand touched Wen Zhi's arm, Wen Zhi's body suddenly stiffened. A strange feeling spread from his spine throughout his body—the chest tightness that had persisted for days, the inexplicable weakness that even doctors couldn't explain, began to recede like a tide. It was as if a ray of sunlight had shone into a dark room, warm and healing.
Wen Zhi looked up in shock, staring intently at Liang An.
Liang An withdrew his hand, glancing thoughtfully at Wen Zhi. Just moments ago, he looked like he was about to collapse, but after Liang An steadied him, Wen Zhi's face went from pale to slightly rosy in a matter of seconds. This familiar feeling…
The school bell rang at that moment. Liang An didn't have time to think and quickly walked past Wen Zhi toward the classroom.
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In Class 9 of Grade 1, Wen Zhisheng lay listlessly on his desk, the feeling of chest tightness and shortness of breath returning. The brief recovery just now felt like an illusion.
[Liang An—why does this feeling disappear when I'm near him? Is it a coincidence?] Wen Zhi thought to himself, lost in thought.
After finally making it to noon, Wen Zhi, suppressing his heart palpitations and panting, rushed to Class 1, only to see Liang An and Ling Xiao's departing figures.
He followed them from a distance to the locust tree behind the teaching building, where he saw them sharing lunch intimately.
Ignoring the strange feeling rising in his mind, Wen Zhi followed his body's guidance and kept getting closer to them.
As they drew closer, that pleasant feeling of comfort returned. Wen Zhi could almost clearly feel every discomfort in his body subsiding, replaced by a familiar sense of ease.
Liang An looked up and was slightly taken aback when she saw Wen Zhi: "Wen Zhi? You... is something wrong?"
"No... I was just passing by." Wen Zhi explained somewhat awkwardly, "When I saw you here... I just..." He was inexplicably beaten up by Liang An last time, and he still felt a bit of uncontrollable fear of him.
"Just what?"
"Um, it's nothing, I'll be going now." Wen Zhi felt that his body's comfort level had stabilized, and he knew that staying here would only make him seem suspicious. He turned to leave, but his mind was racing as he considered his next move.
Seeing Wen Zhi walk away, Liang An turned to Ling Xiao and whispered, "I ran into Wen Zhi in the corridor today. The bracelet didn't react at all, and I didn't feel any discomfort. It seems that Wen Zhi no longer affects the bracelet."
"Is the progress bar still stuck at 50%?" Ling Xiao asked, frowning.
“Yes, nothing has changed,” Liang An replied.
“Wen Zhi seems a bit off…” Ling Xiao said hesitantly.
“That’s what I wanted to say. Wen Zhi’s current state is very similar to mine when I was first put on the plot bracelet,” Liang An paused for a moment. “When he gets close to me, his behavior is very familiar, just like how I felt when I saw you on the first day I transferred to Class 1.”
"Could it be... that the bracelet has backfired?" Ling Xiao held Liang An's hand and rubbed the bracelet on his left wrist.
"I don't know... Never mind for now, let's have lunch, and then go to the library to review the physics competition questions. The registration deadline is approaching."
"Hmm...okay..."
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The announcement of the National Physics Competition caused a sensation when it was posted on the bulletin board. A gold medal in the competition could earn extra points on the college entrance exam and even offer the opportunity for early admission.
As a key middle school, Haicheng No.1 Middle School has students who achieve excellent results in national competitions every year, and the school attaches great importance to this.
Liang An and Ling Xiao signed up together for this year's National Physics Competition.
A week later, the selection competition was held in the lecture hall. Liang An and Ling Xiao successfully entered the top five and qualified to represent Haicheng No.1 Middle School in the competition.
When Ms. Zhang Rui, who was in charge of the competition training, announced the list of selected participants, Wen Zhi stood outside the classroom and watched Liang An and Ling Xiao look at each other excitedly and smile through the glass window.
That evening, Wen Zhi dialed his father's number.
Wen Zhi's father, Wen Qiliang, is an alumnus of Haicheng No. 1 Middle School and one of its main donors. Ten minutes later, Wen Zhi hung up the phone and stared blankly out the window.
The next morning, Wen Zhi was summoned to the principal's office.
Half an hour later, Ms. Zhang Rui walked into the first-year high school teachers' office with a puzzled expression and said to the head of the teaching and research group, "The principal just informed us that Wen Zhi will participate in the physics competition training as an unofficial member."
"An unofficial member?" The physics group leader adjusted his glasses. "What does that mean?"
“That means he can’t represent the school in official competitions, but he can participate in the entire training program at his own expense.” Zhang Rui paused. “Moreover, his father just donated 500,000 yuan to the school, specifically to support academic competitions and laboratory upgrades.”
The teachers exchanged bewildered glances. While such "money power" wasn't uncommon in schools, this was the first time they'd seen it used solely for competition training.
After school, Liang An and Ling Xiao packed their bags and walked side by side toward the physics lab. They were going to receive pre-competition training along with other students who had been selected for the competition.
As Liang An entered the laboratory, he saw Wen Zhi sitting in the center of the classroom, staring at him. Liang An stopped, exchanged a glance with Ling Xiao behind him, and then calmly found an empty seat and sat down.
Other students who participated in the competition arrived at the laboratory one after another. When they saw Wen Zhi, a look of shock and confusion flashed in their eyes.
Wen Zhi himself didn't care about other people's opinions; all his attention was on Liang An.
Zhang Rui was in charge of all the pre-competition training. This young physics teacher, a recent graduate from a prestigious university, is full of enthusiasm and innovation. Unlike traditional teachers, she places greater emphasis on cultivating students' independent thinking and practical abilities.
"Students, this training is not just about doing practice questions." Zhang Rui stood on the podium, her eyes bright. "We will be divided into groups, each responsible for a research direction, and at the end, we will need to submit a short research report."
Grouping was done by free choice. Ling Xiao naturally chose to be in a group with Liang An. Liang An subconsciously looked at Wen Zhi, only to see him talking to several other students who were alone.
Liang An stopped paying attention to Wen Zhi and turned his attention back to Zhang Rui's explanation.
However, in the subsequent experimental phases, whenever group discussions or retrieving experimental equipment were needed, Liang An would always see Wen Zhi lingering nearby.
From that day on, Wen Zhi sought opportunities to interact with Liang An almost every day. Sometimes it was to discuss issues, sometimes to help retrieve materials, and sometimes it was simply a matter of "coincidentally" sitting at the same table in the cafeteria.
Wen Zhi felt that Liang An was like a powerful magnet, constantly drawing him closer...and closer still. This wasn't just longing, it was even dependence.
As the training entered its second week, Zhang Rui assigned a challenging task: each group needed to design and build a simple physics device on campus to demonstrate specific physical principles.
Liang An and Ling Xiao decided to design a simple solar cooker that would focus sunlight using the principle of parabolic reflection. Since the project required outdoor work, they chose the lawn behind the laboratory building.
On Wednesday afternoon, as the two were adjusting the angle of the parabola, Wen Zhi suddenly appeared.
"Do you need any help?" He held a thick physics book in his hand. "I've looked up some information that might be useful to you."
Ling Xiao and Liang An exchanged a glance. He took the documents Wen Zhi handed him, glanced through them briefly, and said, "Thank you, we just need to calculate the optimal focal length. However..."
“That’s great. I’ll take this opportunity to observe your group work. I’m just here to listen in; I won’t disturb you.” Wen Zhi interrupted Ling Xiao before he could finish speaking. He naturally squatted down, pretending to be very busy looking at the experimental setup on the ground.
Liang An gently squeezed Ling Xiao's hand, signaling him to calm down, and then focused on the blueprints in his hands, occasionally discussing formulas and data with Ling Xiao.
"The calculations here might be incorrect," Ling Xiao said, pointing to a number on the drawing. "If the reflecting surface is a standard parabola, the focal length should be..."
He moved closer to Liang An, their shoulders almost touching. Just by standing there, they seemed to automatically create an invisible barrier, shutting out all irrelevant noise and leaving only the two of them, sharing a tacit understanding and intimacy that no one else could reach.
Wen Zhi watched this scene, ignoring the awkwardness and embarrassment, and stood there shamelessly, like a rock that had taken root.
During Friday's training session, Zhang Rui announced: "This weekend we will have a two-day intensive training session at a science education base in the suburbs. All competition members must attend."
A flurry of excited whispers filled the classroom. A two-day, one-night group activity was undoubtedly a rare experience for high school students.
After class, Liang An and Ling Xiao walked out of the classroom side by side, under Wen Zhi's watchful gaze.
On Saturday morning, Ling Xiao arrived at Liang An's house early to help Liang An pack the items needed for the training camp.
“Wen Zhi will definitely participate in the training camp. He’s been approaching you frequently lately. Have you felt any discomfort?” Ling Xiao asked while putting his clothes into his backpack.
"No, the bracelet isn't responding at all, everything is... um... normal," Liang An said hesitantly.
Ling Xiao stopped what she was doing and looked at him seriously. "If you find anything unusual, be sure to tell me immediately. We'll face it together, okay?"
Liang An cupped Ling Xiao's face and placed a kiss on his lips: "Okay!"
Ling Xiao looked at Liang An, grasped his wrist with his left hand, rubbed the black bracelet, and then slowly intertwined his fingers with Liang An's, lowering his head to deepen the kiss.
The black bracelet on Liang An's left wrist was so quiet it seemed like just an ordinary decoration; no one could guess whether it concealed an unknown undercurrent. It was like a dormant volcano, its fate unknown—whether it would remain forever asleep or erupt suddenly at some unknown moment.
After the kiss ended, Ling Xiao tightened his arms, holding Liang An tightly in his embrace. He buried his nose in the crook of Liang An's neck, greedily inhaling his unique scent, refusing to imagine any scenario where he might lose Liang An.
Time slipped away quietly in their embrace. When Ling Xiao and Liang An arrived at the school, the bus was already full of students waiting to depart.
The science education base is located at the foot of a mountain in the suburbs, with a beautiful environment and advanced facilities. The students were assigned to dormitories with two people per room, with Liang An and Ling Xiao sharing a room. After putting down their luggage, the students were taken to the classroom for class before they even had a chance to look around.
The first day's schedule was packed, from theoretical lectures in the morning to experimental operations in the afternoon, and then to group discussions in the evening, leaving almost no time to breathe.
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