MM | Chapter 40

Titles

The dorm at the Affiliated High School was spacious. Shi Yu and Qiu Wenbin’s beds were on one side, while Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s beds and a row of wardrobes were on the other, separated by a long table big enough for six, like it had been moved from a library.

As soon as Sheng Mingyang and Jiang Ou left, Shi Yu flipped off his bed and leaned on the table, asking, “You two are family?”

Sheng Wang nodded. “Yeah.”

“Real brothers?” Shi Yu was extremely curious.

“What do you mean by ‘real’?” Sheng Wang asked.

“Biological brothers?”

“No,” Sheng Wang shook his head.

“I thought so. You don’t look alike. So, cousins?”

“No,” Sheng Wang glanced at Jiang Tian, who didn’t seem to mind, and said, “We’re both from single-parent families. Understand?”

Since they were sharing a dorm, they’d find out sooner or later. Plus, with Sheng Mingyang and Jiang Ou having visited the school, there was no point in hiding it.

Shi Yu immediately understood after Sheng Wang’s explanation.

He was tactful enough to drop the topic, saying, “When I saw the name list at the door, I knew my luck was great. I’m Shi Yu from Class B. Our classes played basketball together a couple of weeks ago. Remember?”

“Yeah, I know you.”

Although Sheng Wang was face-blind, he remembered this new roommate because he was the darkest guy on the basketball court, playing aggressively. Sheng Wang had asked Gao Tianyang about him and remembered his name.

“You actually know me?” Shi Yu was surprised. “I’m pretty low-key in Class B.”

“I don’t know about your class, but on the court, you’re explosive. I played half a game and got stepped on by you six times.” Sheng Wang patted his right leg. “All on this leg. Hard to forget. You could’ve at least alternated.”

Shi Yu: “…”

Jiang Tian had witnessed Sheng Wang’s face-blindness before, so he was a bit surprised Sheng Wang remembered Shi Yu. But hearing the reason, he turned away.

Sheng Wang immediately looked at him. “You’re laughing?”

Shi Yu followed Sheng Wang’s gaze, wondering how Sheng Wang could tell Jiang Tian was laughing from the back of his head.

“The next day, my right shoe felt tight. Visually fine, but felt like I grew a pig’s foot,” Sheng Wang added.

Even Shi Yu could now see Jiang Tian was laughing, as his Adam’s apple moved twice.

“What? You can laugh?” Shi Yu was genuinely surprised.

Jiang Tian frowned and turned back, wearing an expression that said, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Shi Yu awkwardly shut his mouth, but Sheng Wang burst out laughing.

He always found it fun to tease Jiang Tian into changing expressions, though others didn’t seem to agree.

Taking advantage of his laughter, Shi Yu quickly apologized, “Sorry for stepping on you six times. I’ll be careful next time.”

Sheng Wang said, “No worries. We’re in the same dorm. I can step on you back after the game.”

Shi Yu laughed heartily.

The atmosphere in the dorm became much friendlier, and Qiu Wenbin finally found a chance to speak. “Uh, I’m Qiu Wenbin from Class 11.”

Compared to Shi Yu, he was much more reserved and shy. He had been laughing along with his roommates but was too embarrassed to speak.

He stammered, “You guys are all geniuses. You probably don’t know me.”

To everyone’s surprise, Jiang Tian spoke up, “I’ve seen you.”

Now it was Sheng Wang’s turn to be surprised.

Jiang Tian knew a lot of people, the opposite of Sheng Wang. Even if he just glanced at someone on the street, he’d recognize them again, though he rarely mentioned it.

To him, unless someone was close enough, it didn’t matter if he recognized them or not.

Instances where he actively said, “I’ve seen you,” were rare, so Sheng Wang looked at Jiang Tian with mild surprise.

“He was in the same exam room as Ding Xiu,” Jiang Tian explained, lowering his head slightly.

Hearing this, Qiu Wenbin blushed. He was about to add, “I’m really bad at exams,” when Sheng Wang asked blankly, “Ding Xiu? Who’s that?”

Jiang Tian: “…”

He was speechless for a moment, then asked Sheng Wang, “Do you remember who Zhai Tao is?”

The question was clearly sarcastic. Sheng Wang chuckled awkwardly, finally recalling the incident with the English listening test.

“Oh, right, right, I remember now. Ding Xiu was the one who tricked me into finding Sister Jing.”

Jiang Tian tapped his temple with his index finger. “If you couldn’t remember, I’d suggest you see a doctor.”

“Shut up,” Sheng Wang said.

He then wondered, “It’s normal for you to know Ding Xiu, but how do you know who was in the same exam room?”

Jiang Tian looked at him, expression subtly caught between wanting to say something and not wanting to.

Sheng Wang made a couple of “oh” sounds, indicating he remembered. “You asked Director Xu to check the surveillance.”

As soon as he said it, he noticed Jiang Tian’s expression became even more nuanced, so he quickly added, “No, no, it wasn’t you who asked. Director Xu insisted on showing you the footage.”

Jiang Tian: “…”

“Just shut up,” he said, moving his lips to throw out the words.

Sheng Wang laughed for a while, patting Jiang Tian’s shoulder. “Alright, my bad. Let’s drop it. So you saw him on the surveillance?” He pointed at Qiu Wenbin.

“Yeah, did Big Xu come to see you later?” Jiang Tian asked.

“Huh?” Qiu Wenbin was momentarily confused before realizing Jiang Tian was talking to him. “Yes, yes, Director Xu did come to see me. Actually, not just me, but two other students as well. He asked when Ding Xiu left the exam room and when he came back. Just to confirm.”

Although Big Mouth Xu had only briefly mentioned the punishment for Zhai Tao, Ding Xiu, and Qi Jiahao during a flag-raising ceremony, without going into specifics, many students in the grade, like Qiu Wenbin, had been called in for questioning.

Rumors pieced together could reconstruct most of the story.

Sheng Wang nodded to Qiu Wenbin, saying, “Thanks.”

Qiu Wenbin was startled. “Thanks for what?”

“Didn’t Big Mouth ask you guys questions? Without your confirmation, the matter wouldn’t have been settled, and I’d have been tricked for nothing,” Sheng Wang said with a smile. “Isn’t it right to thank you?”

His words were a bit exaggerated, as the key to resolving the issue was Jiang Tian. The surveillance footage was enough to nail the matter down. Whether they asked Qiu Wenbin or someone else didn’t matter.

But hearing Sheng Wang’s words, Qiu Wenbin felt like he’d done something good.

With his fair skin and slightly chubby build, he looked honest and sincere. “No, no, we’re in the same dorm.”

Perhaps because of this gratitude, after organizing his own luggage, he helped Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian, sweating as he worked. He even went out to get two extra dormitory guides from the dorm manager.

“Each dorm gets one, posted behind the door,” Qiu Wenbin said. “We moved in late, and it seems we lost ours.”

Sheng Wang took it.

The guide listed phone numbers for dorm repairs, management, and service centers, along with a map showing the locations of the hot water room and laundry room.

Seeing the laundry room, Sheng Wang immediately told Qiu Wenbin, “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Why?” Qiu Wenbin was confused by the compliment.

Sheng Wang lifted his backpack from the corner, showing him the mud at the bottom. “I was just looking for the laundry room.”

The dormitory services at the Affiliated High School were quite good. The laundry room had a row of washing machines that could be used with a QR code, and there were also attendants offering laundry services. Items that were inconvenient for machine washing or hand washing could be registered with the attendants.

Sheng Wang took his backpack over.

*

Jiang Tian was the only one left in the dorm. Shi Yu and Qiu Wenbin had gone to get hot water, and he was putting the last of his books into the cabinet. When he finished and looked up, he saw Sheng Wang had already returned from the laundry room.

He was peering into a wardrobe.

“What’s up?” Jiang Tian straightened up and asked.

“Nothing, just looking around,” Sheng Wang replied, glancing over with a seemingly good mood.

Jiang Tian was puzzled and walked over.

The wardrobe was the one he hadn’t closed earlier. Inside hung a neat row of clothes, and at the bottom was his suitcase, still open.

For a long time, his suitcase had always been packed to the brim, with everything organized for easy access and departure. It was convenient and had become a habit.

He had almost forgotten why he developed this habit.

Until this moment, seeing the empty suitcase spread open, he felt a fleeting unfamiliarity, realizing he hadn’t truly settled in one place for a long time.

Something he hadn’t noticed himself had been noticed by someone else.

“Aren’t you going to close the suitcase?” Sheng Wang muttered.

He paused, bent down to close the empty suitcase, zipped it up, locked it, and pushed it into the corner of the wardrobe. When he looked up again, Sheng Wang was leaning against the wardrobe door, a smile hidden in his eyes and at the corners of his lips.

His eyes were long but not narrow, with lashes casting shadows that mingled with the light, like a shallow, bright harbor.

Jiang Tian was momentarily dazed.

Teacher Zhao Cai once read a student’s essay in a writing class, saying that teenagers at sixteen or seventeen always seemed to shine. At the time, Jiang Tian was solving a math problem and only caught that one sentence in passing.

The sentence was incomplete, and he listened absentmindedly. Yet, much later, on this day, it suddenly came back to him.

*

The dorm became very quiet for a moment. Sheng Wang saw Jiang Tian’s thin lips move slightly, as if he wanted to say something. However, voices from the hallway interrupted, Shi Yu’s rough voice easily recognizable.

“Hey? Make way, the hot water’s full.” He and Shi Yu returned with kettles, and Sheng Wang stepped aside to let them in. When he turned back, Jiang Tian had already taken a data cable from the wardrobe, walked to the table, and plugged in his phone to charge.

They had taken leave from evening self-study, so there was no need to go to the classroom.

Sheng Wang touched his nose, pulled out two books from the cabinet, and sat down at the table.

The side facing Qiu Wenbin was already lined with books. Sheng Wang glanced over, seeing seven or eight workbooks and a pile of papers from unknown subjects, with a rechargeable desk lamp beside them. Qiu Wenbin made himself a cup of tea and smiled sheepishly at Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian before sitting down.

“You actually read books?” Shi Yu looked at Jiang Tian in surprise.

Jiang Tian removed an earbud, looking back at him with equal surprise, frowning. “If I don’t read, what should I do?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Shi Yu said. “There was a rumor that some of you in Class A are so amazing that you don’t need to listen in class to get full marks.”

Jiang Tian wasn’t fond of idle chatter, and this made him even less interested. He finally tossed out, “That’s pretty crazy.”

He put the earbud back in, twirled his pen, and focused on his work.

Sheng Wang laughed beside him, telling Shi Yu, “If you’re talking about not listening in language class to write math, or not listening in math class to write physics, then yeah, that’s common in our class.”

Shi Yu said, “Class A is more diligent than I thought. In our class, many don’t listen at all. That includes me sometimes. If class goes on too long, I can’t handle it and secretly play games under the desk. My grades are just passable.”

He was being modest, as Class B was the best after Class A.

When transitioning from middle to high school, the Affiliated High School held an early admission exam, essentially a guaranteed admission test. Students who passed didn’t need to take the high school entrance exam and started high school courses a semester early.

These students formed Classes A and B, with Class A being the top 45 and Class B the next 45.

“Ah,” Sheng Wang nodded, giving him a thumbs-up jokingly, “Impressive.”

Feeling out of place among the three who were studying, Shi Yu wandered around before taking his school card to the bathroom. “I’ll shower first, so I don’t have to squeeze in later.”

The dorms at the Affiliated High School had showers. Inserting a school card into the slot provided hot water, with automatic billing.

Shi Yu usually took quick showers, but today he took his time, as the others weren’t in a hurry. Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s earlier conversation had reassured him. He had always thought the top students in Class A were like monsters, casually learning and leaving others in the dust. But now, it seemed… not so much.

His grades were consistently decent, ranking between 60 and 70 in the grade, more stable than the fluctuating top students in Class A.

And he hadn’t even put in much effort yet.

Sheng Wang had transferred in and, with some effort, had jumped from the bottom to the top 100 in a month. Surely his starting point was higher, right? What if he put in a bit more effort?

Shi Yu thought, at the very least, getting into Class A should be well within reach.

*

Sheng Wang wasn’t doing much problem-solving today. His grades in each subject had been improving rapidly, with fewer mistakes and faster problem-solving speed, so he didn’t need to stay up until one or two in the morning anymore.

Jiang Tian was working on competition problems, which was just icing on the cake.

He was also adding to the icing, practicing his handwriting.

Following Jiang Tian’s advice, he’d been practicing for half a month, as if he’d unlocked a new level. At least his handwriting had gone from crawling to walking upright.

There hadn’t been any assignments to submit recently, so Zhao Cai and Sister Jing hadn’t noticed. Otherwise, they’d definitely praise him.

Sheng Wang pondered as he finished a page in his notebook. When he looked up, he saw Qiu Wenbin also writing something in his notebook.

He glanced over and asked, “Are you practicing your handwriting too?”

Qiu Wenbin was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m doing a correction workbook.”

Sheng Wang: “…Sorry.”

Jiang Tian, that jerk, was always ready to laugh at him. With earbuds in, he didn’t even look up, just chuckled briefly.

Qiu Wenbin, with his big face turning red, said, “I made a lot of mistakes, so there’s a lot to copy.”

Sheng Wang quickly waved his hand. “No, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

If he was in the same exam room as Ding Xiu, he was likely at the bottom of the grade, sitting across from Jiang Tian, the top student, which must be disheartening. Sheng Wang couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him.

He glanced across the table, unable to resist asking, “Do you copy all your mistakes like that? Writing out the entire problem?”

Qiu Wenbin looked up, confused. “Yeah, the teacher said to make a correction workbook. It’s clearer that way.”

“Uh…” Sheng Wang was considering how to phrase it.

Maybe his pondering was too obvious, or Jiang Tian had eyes on the back of his head. He stopped reading, removed his earbuds, and asked Qiu Wenbin, “Do you finish copying all your mistakes for the day?”

Sheng Wang: “…”

Why are you so good at this?

Qiu Wenbin’s face turned beet red.

Sheng Wang quickly said, “He didn’t mean anything by it. Actually, I wanted to say that copying mistakes like that is too time-consuming. When I first came, I made just as many mistakes and couldn’t finish copying them all.”

Qiu Wenbin was stunned. “Then how do you copy them?”

Sheng Wang chuckled, “I don’t.”

“Huh?” Qiu Wenbin was even more confused.

“I’m pretty casual and don’t care much about books or papers. I just cut them out,” Sheng Wang said. “Cut out the mistakes, categorize them in a notebook, and that’s the correction workbook.”

Sheng Wang pointed at Jiang Tian. “He marks the mistakes in his notebook on the first pass, then reviews the marked problems later. It’s up to you, but it’s best not to copy. The time saved can be used for other things.”

Qiu Wenbin was momentarily stunned, as if enlightened.

“What’s with that expression?” Sheng Wang asked, amused.

Qiu Wenbin scratched his head. “Feels like I stumbled into a cave and found a martial arts manual.”

Teenagers often get inexplicably fired up, and Qiu Wenbin felt that way now. Even though he hadn’t started anything yet, he felt like a magical door was opening.

In a rare moment of impulsiveness, he asked, “If, if I have difficult questions in the future, can I ask you guys? My grades are really bad right now, and my parents don’t even want to see me. I want to climb up a bit.”

Jiang Tian thought for a moment, then asked, “What’s your current rank?”

“…”

Qiu Wenbin turned beet red again.

Sheng Wang immediately covered Jiang Tian’s mouth, saying to Qiu Wenbin, “My brother isn’t good with words. Don’t take it to heart. Just consider him mute.”

He meant it as a joke, but Jiang Tian didn’t seem to get it.

He pulled Sheng Wang’s hand down a bit, glanced over with a raised eyebrow, and asked, “What did you call me?”