MM | Chapter 19

The Sweet Taste of Humility

In high school, students with exceptional English grades usually fall into two categories.

One type can dissect every sentence into subject, verb, and object, explaining every grammatical point in detail. They know exactly why a question should be answered a certain way and where mistakes are made.

The other type relies on just two words: language intuition.

Yang Jing could tell at a glance which student belonged to which category. The former liked to circle and annotate their papers, leaving plenty of marks, while the latter’s papers were mostly just filled with ABCD.

Her students were clearly divided. Jiang Tian, Qi Jiahao, and the second-tier class committee members and class monitor were grammar types. Sheng Wang was one of the rare intuition types.

Yang Jing had mentioned this in class. She actually preferred students in Class A to focus on developing their language intuition. With a good sense of language, paired with grammar, their speed in answering questions could improve significantly. But most of these kids didn’t take it seriously.

Everyone knew that Class A students were famously fast at doing exercises. Students from other classes were always trying to catch up with them, so why bother speeding up?

Some boastful ones even called themselves “Dugu Qiubai.” Today, half of these “seekers of defeat” were standing in the hallway.

The classroom doors and windows were locked, and Yang Jing had already started teaching. The students who were kicked out spread their test papers on the wall to finish their homework.

Mingli Building was famous for its good lighting. The blazing sun shone on their backs, and within minutes, several boys were wiping sweat like crazy.

“Xiao Lajiao, do you have a tissue? Lend me one.” Gao Tianyang leaned over two people to borrow a tissue from a girl.

The girl, not as thick-skinned as the boys, handed over the tissue and asked, “Did Sister Jing say when we can go back in?”

“No, she didn’t. I guess we’ll go back when we finish.”

“Alright, there’s hope for the future,” a boy said while writing, “Not to brag, but who can beat my speed at doing papers? No one!”

Gao Tianyang couldn’t take it anymore. “Hey, look who’s standing next to you. Aren’t you afraid to say that in front of him?”

The boy turned his head and saw Jiang Tian’s expressionless profile.

“Sorry, Tian-ge.” He didn’t hesitate for a second, then turned back to Gao Tianyang and said, “Does Tian-ge even count as a person? No, so what I said wasn’t wrong.”

Sheng Wang had just finished a page. As he moved his paper, he glanced over.

Jiang Tian stood at the far end, his height making him stand out in the crowd. He was quietly working on his exercises, unaffected by the chatter around him.

Was it because he was aloof, or was he in a bad mood?

Sheng Wang chewed on his pen cap, feeling a bit guilty.

He spaced out for a moment, watching as Jiang Tian flipped the first page of his paper. At that moment, his thin eyelids seemed to lift slightly.

Sheng Wang immediately looked away, filling in a C in the bracket.

After glancing at the question, he changed the C to a B with a blank expression.

Gao Tianyang, oblivious to these small actions, was peering into the classroom, sighing, “With Tian-ge and Sheng-ge not here today, it’s Old Qi’s turn to rule.”

Sister Jing’s class was as strict as ever, and she didn’t let anyone off just because there were fewer students. Only Qi Jiahao could stand up and sit down calmly each time.

“Speaking of Old Qi, do you remember when he first joined our class?” said the boy who bragged about his speed.

“Oh right, I almost forgot. He came from Class 5, right?” another person replied.

“I remember. He joined our class after the first midterm exam in the first year, and he never left,” Gao Tianyang said, suddenly laughing. “Speaking of speed, Old Qi was hilarious when he first came. We were in the same row during a pop quiz. I finished one side of the paper, and he was still on half. By the time I finished, he was still on the second page. I forgot his score, but after class, his hands were shaking. He asked me if I was the fastest in Class A. I said no, I was one of the slowest. He almost cried.”

The boys laughed together. “He’s worked hard to reach his current speed.”

“Yeah, now we’re the ones trying to catch up with him,” Gao Tianyang said. “Have you seen him do English practice papers? He’s so fast! Sister Jing said that with her level of difficulty, 150 questions, if we can finish within two hours, we’ll have plenty of time for the college entrance exam. That beast Old Qi can finish in an hour and a half. I timed him.”

“How free are you?”

“I even timed Tian-ge,” Gao Tianyang said, relying on being a childhood friend and Jiang Tian being far away. “Tian-ge was five minutes faster than Old Qi that time, another beast!”

“Damn, nearly 20 questions in 10 minutes at this difficulty?”

“Yeah.”

“I want to drop out.”

“Me too. I get stimulated every day. At this speed, can you find a third person in the whole grade?!” Gao Tianyang finished boasting and remembered there was a new full-score friend next to him.

“Oh wait, there’s Sheng-ge. He should be fast too.” He leaned over to see Sheng Wang already working on the second paper.

Gao Tianyang was stunned, then looked at his own paper—half of the first page.

He glanced around. Everyone was either at the tail of the first half or the beginning of the second half.

He took out his phone to check the time. It had been 20 minutes since they started catching up on homework, and Sheng Wang was on question 58…

“I…” Gao Tianyang was dumbfounded. “Damn?”

“Why are you cursing at me?” Sheng Wang said.

While speaking, his dark eyes scanned a question, and he wrote a D in the bracket.

Gao Tianyang: “???”

Sheng Wang smoothly completed three questions, finally turning his head in confusion.

Gao Tianyang said, in a flat tone, “Dad, did you memorize the answers?”

“I don’t have a son like you,” Sheng Wang said irritably. “Are you sunburned? Talk normally.”

“No—” Gao Tianyang was exasperated. “How can you just glance at a question and get the answer? Don’t you need to analyze it?”

Sheng Wang thought for a moment. “I might underline particularly complex sentences.”

“Which ones aren’t complex?”

“Uh.”

“Uh, what!” Gao Tianyang said with a sacrificial expression. “Just tell me, how long does it usually take you to finish Sister Jing’s 150 practice questions?”

“About an hour,” Sheng Wang estimated, seeing the faces of the people around him twist. He wanted to add another 20 minutes.

But just as he was about to speak, Jiang Tian glanced at him.

For some reason, Sheng Wang paused and said, “About an hour.”

“Damn!”

The hallway homework gang cursed in unison. Only Jiang Tian remained emotionless, coldly returning to his work.

Sheng Wang felt like a monkey scratching its head inside him. Suddenly, he thought this boast was pointless and pretty stupid.

The classroom door opened amid the curses, and Yang Jing poked her head out. “Think I can’t hear you? Swearing while doing homework?”

Gao Tianyang leaned out. “No, Sister Jing, we were just amazed at how fast Sheng Wang does problems.” He quickly pulled back.

Yang Jing sneered, lifting her chin. “I told you to practice your language intuition, but you didn’t listen. Now you see the gap?”

“How do we practice, teacher?”

“Listen, read, and speak more,” Yang Jing said, then asked, “Sheng Wang, did you live abroad before?”

“No, no,” Sheng Wang replied. “But my dad has a few foreign friends. One of their sons studied here for a few years and stayed at our house. We still chat sometimes, so maybe it had an impact.”

“No wonder.”

After mumbling, Yang Jing turned stern again. “You could easily finish the paper but handed in a blank one. Stay outside for two periods. No one can come in. You need to learn a lesson!”

“We’re already very humbled, teacher.”

Yang Jing chuckled and locked the door.

During the break, the top floor of Mingli Building was bustling.

Not only did Class A students come to watch, but from the three floors below, people from each class came up. Even the windows of the first-year building opposite were crowded.

Even the teachers in the office couldn’t sit still. They came out to mock them. Old Wu, the math teacher, went to the hot water room twice in 10 minutes. The math class rep couldn’t stand it and asked, “Teacher, are you drinking hot water so fast in this summer heat?”

Old Wu leisurely said, “I’m here for sightseeing,” openly enjoying the spectacle.

Class A students were always a bit unruly, and the teachers were used to it. As long as it wasn’t during class, any joke was fair game. After Old Wu spoke, he pointed at three girls walking arm in arm down the hallway. “Look, those three girls, from Class 8, right? I’ve seen them go back and forth three or four times. Hey, is your second-floor bathroom broken?”

“Yeah, yeah, there’s a line,” the three girls lied, then ran off, not forgetting to glance at people as they passed. They blushed and giggled at Jiang Tian, then again at Sheng Wang.

The Sheng family’s young master was no stranger to being a tourist attraction, but today was particularly embarrassing.

He held his paper to cover his face, moving a few steps at a time, trying to avoid the attention.

Finally, the class bell rang, and the crowd dispersed like a receding tide. The attraction had to keep standing there.

Sheng Wang put down his paper and sighed, complaining, “Is No. 1 High School always this free during breaks?”

No one answered. He turned to see that the ever-present Gao Tianyang was gone, replaced by Jiang Tian standing beside him.

He had somehow moved from the front door to the back door of the classroom.

The sun was still scorching, and the dozen or so students were steaming like freshly baked buns, sticky and annoying if you got too close.

Jiang Tian’s temples were sweaty, and his neck and Adam’s apple glistened with moisture in the light. But he still seemed cold, like a drink bottle just taken out of the fridge, covered in condensation but cool to the touch.

Sheng Wang also turned around, spreading his paper on the wall, but didn’t rush to finish the remaining questions.

Jiang Tian’s progress wasn’t far behind his. In one class, he had completed over 120 questions. His paper was marked with circles and dots, along with notes in his neat yet messy handwriting.

Sheng Wang hesitated for a moment and quietly called, “Jiang Tian?”

The other’s pen paused.

“Why didn’t you write it?” Sheng Wang asked.

Jiang Tian casually marked a point next to the answer, his gaze moving to the next question, without lifting his eyelids.

Great, really ignoring him now.

The monkey inside Sheng Wang was scratching its head again.

As it scratched, a girl’s voice came from nearby, “He seems to have forgotten to take the paper home.”

Sheng Wang was surprised. “Forgot it?”

The girl, nicknamed Pepper, said, “I went to the Political and Educational Office last night. When I came back, you were all gone. When I turned off the lights and locked the door, I saw papers in his desk. Right, Jiang Tian?”

Sheng Wang turned to look at the ice stick.

“Yeah.” The ice stick replied, still not lifting his eyes, but at least not pretending to be deaf.

Alright, he talks to everyone else, just not to him.

Sheng Wang almost scratched along with the monkey.

Pepper mumbled again, “Then why did you arrive so late this morning? I thought you’d come early to catch up.”

After all, Jiang Tian wasn’t someone who didn’t do his homework.

Jiang Tian didn’t react, but Sheng Wang was stunned.

Right, if he forgot the paper, he could have come early to make up for it. No one could have predicted Yang Jing’s spot check today. With Jiang Tian’s speed, he could have finished a paper in about 20 minutes, leaving the rest to catch up during Yang Jing’s review, as long as he worked faster than she spoke.

So why didn’t he arrive early?

Because someone was being fussy and dawdling, dragging it out until that time. Sheng Wang cursed himself inwardly.

For the next 40 minutes, someone tried to catch Jiang Tian’s attention with glances, failed. Tried to get him to respond to others’ words, failed. Even tried dropping a pen cap at Jiang Tian’s feet, still failed.

The enemy didn’t move, but the young master Sheng was busy to death.

This state continued through the end of English class and into the start of physics class without improvement.

Sheng Wang returned to his seat, feeling deflated, so much so that Gao Tianyang almost thought he had heatstroke.

“Want some heatstroke medicine?” Gao Tianyang asked.

“No, thanks,” Sheng Wang replied dryly.

What he needed more was a remedy for regret.

Homeroom teacher He Jin entered the classroom right on time, waving a form. “Some of you may have heard, the city’s ‘Three Top Students’ selection is here again. As of last night, our class has three spots. This morning, I sat in the Political and Educational Office for an hour and managed to get an extra spot.”

“This is important for you, as it relates to early admission exams for universities. If you can strive for it, try your best. Our class’s selection process is open and transparent, as you all know. One spot is based on grades, that’s hard power. One spot goes to a class committee member, as they’ve worked hard all year and deserve some reward, right? Another is democratic, through class election. Any objections?”

“As for the extra spot, after discussion among the teachers, we’ve decided to give it to the student with the most improvement. After all, effort is also a form of capital and the most commendable one. So how do we measure improvement? We have a weekly test this weekend, and the next week is the monthly exam, which is the first major exam of the term. We’ll base it on these two rounds of exams, okay?”

Originally, many people had no chance at the ‘Three Top Students’ and didn’t care much. But this extra spot gave many students a chance to compete, and several of them straightened up.

Sheng Wang listened briefly, momentarily distracted.

Soon, He Jin put away the form and began the lecture, and Sheng Wang’s attention drifted back.

He took notes absentmindedly.

For a moment, he even thought, forget it. If he couldn’t make it up, so be it. After all, he couldn’t lose both face and Jiang Tian. But he couldn’t lose too much face, he was only 16, and life was long.

But he didn’t last a minute before he ducked down and pulled out his phone.

He fiddled with his fingers, opening Jiang Tian’s WeChat.

Be a little reserved.

He told himself, then sent Jiang Tian three rows of kneeling and crying emojis.

He Jin was explaining a difficult example, engaging the class in discussion. The room buzzed like forty bees, not quiet at all.

In the midst of the noise, Sheng Wang heard three buzzes from the seat behind him.

But there was no reply in the chat box. Sheng Wang closed his eyes and started typing.

Canned: I’m sorry

Canned: I didn’t black out

Canned: I just felt last night was too embarrassing, so I didn’t want to bring it up

The vibration behind him was abruptly cut off, and finally, the chat box showed “The other party is typing.” Sheng Wang stopped typing, waiting silently for a reply.

A few seconds later, a new message popped up in the chat box.

Jiang Tian: Then continue to forget.

Canned: No

Canned: I can’t lose face and look stupid

Jiang Tian: …

The chat finally became a back-and-forth. Although Jiang Tian was sparing with words, for him, this was already a lot. Sheng Wang felt a bit elated, thinking the atmosphere was okay, so he pushed his luck and sent two more messages.

Canned: How about you selectively forget?

Canned: Forget the stupid things I did, pretend you weren’t there, and we just remember the good stuff, okay?

After sending, he vaguely heard a low chuckle from behind.

Alright, the response even had a hint of amusement.

Sheng Wang glanced back at Jiang Tian. He saw him with one hand under the desk, probably holding his phone on his lap, while the other hand was still taking notes.

He finished writing a sentence and leaned back in his chair, looking at Sheng Wang.

At the same time, Sheng Wang’s phone buzzed four times.

Curious, he looked down and saw four new messages in the chat box.

Jiang Tian: Okay.

Then he sent three video clips.

Sheng Wang discreetly put on wireless earbuds and opened the first video.

It showed a narrow alley, with a streetlamp at the corner casting a dim light. A fool in a school uniform walked straight under the lamp, then turned to the camera and asked, “Is it clear?”

Oh no.

Sheng Wang almost threw his phone away.

His chair hit Jiang Tian’s desk with a loud bang. He Jin frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sheng Wang, taking advantage of the angle, quickly pulled out his earbud and stood up. “I wasn’t sitting properly.”

“Oh.” He Jin nodded. “Don’t rock your chair during class. I’ve told you many times.”

As Sheng Wang sat down, he heard that bastard behind him laugh softly.

Alright.

He pulled out his phone again and typed a few words.

Canned: Are you still mad?

Jiang Tian: What do you mean?

Canned: Keep pretending!

Jiang Tian: Put your phone away and pay attention in class.

Sheng Wang instinctively put his phone in his bag, obediently picking up his pen. The next second, he realized he was being too compliant, so he slowly extended a middle finger behind him, only to have it tapped back with a pen.

It seemed like from this class onward, he and Jiang Tian had really gotten a bit closer.