Chapter 1

It was a damp early winter morning. The school’s white teaching building seemed to melt into the thick fog. Only the fluorescent lights shining through the clear and green-tinted windows could be seen, their pale glow filtering through the glass in overlapping layers of light and shadow.

The sudden heavy fog caused many students to arrive late. Even the dean on duty couldn’t bring himself to get angry. He simply repeated over and over, “Move it, hurry up! Get to your classrooms and start morning reading. No talking!”

Song Jia Nan wheeled her bicycle into the bike shed with the crowd. She found a parking spot that would be convenient for retrieving her bike at noon, locked it, picked up her schoolbag, and was about to leave after straightening the rear wheel when she noticed a tall, slender boy standing at the front row of bicycle racks.

His back alone was strikingly attractive. He stood straight and poised, his blue-and-white school tracksuit fitting him perfectly. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing a gleaming wristwatch. He was awkwardly trying to make a little more room for his bicycle, his movements clumsy enough to be slightly amusing. Song Jia Nan couldn’t help glancing at him a little longer before quietly walking away.

It was a morning like any other. As soon as the exhausting morning reading session ended, everyone rushed downstairs to fill their thermoses with hot water. The water station was packed with students. When the teacher for the first class entered the room, she waved her hand impatiently. “Open the windows and let some fresh air in! If you’re falling asleep, wake yourselves up. Stand up and stretch a little!”

A gust of icy wind swept across the back of Song Jia Nan’s neck, making her shiver twice. She struggled to lift herself from her desk just as the class bell rang. Their elderly Chinese teacher slowly wrote across the blackboard:

“The Epang Palace Rhapsody.”

After staring at it for a moment, Song Jia Nan tore off a piece of paper and quickly scribbled a note.

“I’m eating lunch with you today. My parents are on a business trip.”

She passed it to the seat behind her.

“Give this to Zhang Jing Kang.”

A short while later, the note came back. Besides a single word—

“Okay.”

—there was also a smiling face drawn beside it.

She crumpled the paper and casually tossed it into her desk.

The teacher’s flat, monotonous voice droned on, making her increasingly drowsy.

Then suddenly, warmth settled across the back of her hand.

A small circle of sunlight spread over her arm. Tiny rays slowly expanded outward, growing longer and wider until the warm winter sun covered even her face.

Her mood instantly brightened.

She forced herself to stay fully awake and face the otherwise dull lesson.

When the final class bell rang, it was immediately drowned out by the English teacher’s loud voice.

“Everyone, don’t move yet. I’ll just keep you a little longer so I can finish explaining this section.”

The classroom erupted into restless complaints.

Some students had already packed their bags and sat impatiently in their seats, staring at the clock at the back of the room. Others deliberately slammed their books shut with loud bangs. Rulers and pencil cases mysteriously “fell” onto the floor one after another. Several boys sitting in the back row shouted, “Class is over! Every other class has already been dismissed! There won’t be any food left in the cafeteria, and we won’t even be able to get our bikes out!”

The young teacher, who had only recently graduated herself, continued explaining as though she hadn’t heard a thing.

Song Jia Nan glanced toward the back and met Zhang Jing Kang’s irritated glare.

She smiled and mouthed silently, “We’ll miss the food anyway. Let’s go a little later.”

Zhang Jing Kang exaggeratedly waved both hands.

“No way! The moment class ends, we’re running!”

The class next door had already been dismissed. Students walked back and forth along the corridor, some looking at them sympathetically, others openly enjoying their misfortune. A few pretty girls leaned casually against the wall, smiling and making playful faces at several handsome boys inside the classroom.

Before the English teacher had even finished saying, “Let’s call it a day,” the room exploded into motion.

In less than a minute, more than half the class had disappeared.

From the classroom door, Zhang Jing Kang shouted, “Song Jia Nan! Hurry up! You’re so slow! If we’re late, there won’t be any spare ribs left!”

Song Jia Nan looked like she was about to cry. She practically begged her deskmate, “Please, just let me squeeze past first. I’m racing to the cafeteria today. Look, I’ve been holding my meal card this whole time!”

The two of them ran all the way to the cafeteria.

Students were scattered around the dining hall, already eating at the tables. Long lines stretched before every serving window. From time to time, someone walked past carrying delicious-looking spare ribs or chicken drumsticks, making everyone else envious.

Zhang Jing Kang grumbled nonstop.

“That English teacher seriously has issues. Why does she drag every single class out? I swear I’ve never seen her end a lesson on time!”

Song Jia Nan wasn’t paying much attention. Every now and then she craned her neck to see which dishes were running out.

But the moment she leaned forward again, a familiar figure entered her sight.

It was the same slender back she had seen that morning.

His tracksuit jacket was casually draped over one shoulder. Underneath, the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled high above his elbows, as though he had just finished gym class.

He bent slightly to tell the cafeteria worker what he wanted, then stepped aside to make room for the next student. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his meal card and lightly swiped it across the card reader.

Song Jia Nan watched him pick up his tray and turn around.

Amid the noisy cafeteria, she could somehow hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

Heavy.

Rapid.

In that instant, she couldn’t look away.

What kind of face was that?

His complexion was so pale it was almost translucent. His narrow eyes gazed blankly ahead without focusing on anything. Soft strands of hair fell over his forehead, partially obscuring his vision. The corners of his lips carried a faint chill, giving him an air of melancholy and quiet pride.

He was undoubtedly one of those aloof, refined boys.

At sixteen or seventeen, he possessed the tranquil elegance of a night-blooming flower. His clear, clean presence revealed nothing of the soul hidden beneath it.

He walked without lifting his head, perhaps out of habit, keeping it slightly lowered as he moved through the crowd.

Within five seconds…

…he had disappeared from Song Jia Nan’s sight.

Oddly enough, hardly anyone else seemed to notice him.

Song Jia Nan spent the entire meal distracted.

The boy was sitting at a table not far from hers, directly facing her. By glancing sideways, she could see that he held his chopsticks in his left hand. He ate quickly, yet every movement remained graceful.

When he finished eating, he stood up, carried his tray to the washing area, took a pair of earphones from his pocket, placed them in his ears, and walked out through the side door.

His head was still slightly lowered.

His expression remained unreadable.

Unable to hold back any longer, she finally asked, “Zhang Jing Kang, who is that boy over there?”

With a piece of spare rib stuffed into her mouth, Zhang Jing Kang turned around with some difficulty before answering through her chewing.

“Su Li.”

Song Jia Nan put down her chopsticks and searched her memory.

The name wasn’t unfamiliar, yet she couldn’t immediately remember where she’d heard it before.

Zhang Jing Kang looked over again before saying, “He’s the class monitor next door. Class Eight.”

Song Jia Nan softly murmured, “Oh.”

Then all the rumors she’d heard about him came flooding back.

He had transferred from Experimental Middle School after placing among the top students in the entire city. He had even been recognized during the opening ceremony, and, as expected, had entered the school’s most prestigious advanced science class.

Rumor had it that his family was extremely wealthy.

His father was the mayor of another city.

His mother was the director of the city’s Education Bureau.

His older sister, Su Jin, was already a well-known television host on the province’s entertainment channel.

Seeing Song Jia Nan still looking absentminded, Zhang Jing Kang tapped her hand with her chopsticks.

“Hey! Song Jia Nan, come back to earth! I can’t believe you don’t even know who Su Li is.”

Song Jia Nan shook her head.

“I honestly didn’t know. I haven’t even seen him since school started.”

Zhang Jing Kang laughed.

“You have no idea. The girls in our class deliberately take the left staircase every day just so they can catch a glimpse of him. But he’s a strange person. He doesn’t really fit in with people, yet everyone seems to like him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become Class Eight’s monitor.”

“So… there must be a lot of girls who like him?”

“I guess so. I don’t know about middle school, but there are definitely a few girls in high school. At least, that’s what people say. I also heard someone confessed to him before, but nothing ever came of it.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “What I’m really curious about is… what kind of girl would someone like him actually fall for?”

Song Jia Nan smiled.

“Maybe someone who’s an excellent student… and very beautiful.”

“Oh, please.” Zhang Jing Kang rolled her eyes. “What guy doesn’t like girls like that?”

By the time Song Jia Nan returned from the teachers’ office, more than half of the first-year group activity period had already passed.

Only a handful of students remained in each classroom.

She walked down the long corridor, crossed the skybridge on the fourth floor, and headed back toward her classroom.

Winter afternoons were painfully short.

The fading golden sunlight reflected off the polished marble floor, casting her shadow before her.

As she drew closer, she noticed a few students moving around in her classroom. Class Ten on the right was doing a thorough cleaning.

To the left was Class Eight.

Someone was leaning against the corridor railing outside the classroom, his head tilted slightly to one side.

As she approached, she realized…

It was Su Li.

One of his hands rested casually on the railing.

His gaze was fixed on the sky, focused yet somehow as though he wasn’t looking at anything at all.

His bangs hung neatly beside his ears.

The earphones were still in place.

Following his line of sight, Song Jia Nan looked up.

Massive clouds drifted slowly across the sky. Behind them, the faint outline of the moon could already be seen, while the horizon glowed with a desolate crimson sunset.

So…

That was what he had been watching.

Song Jia Nan stopped walking.

Standing quietly on the fourth-floor skybridge, she looked down toward the third floor.

Then someone came over to speak with Su Li.

He removed one earbud, turned around, and walked back into the classroom.

From where she stood, the angle perfectly blocked the rest of the room from view.

She didn’t know why she remained standing on the bridge for such a long time.

At that moment, Song Jia Nan thought only one thing.

Su Li looked unhappy.

He looked unbearably lonely.

Alone, with both arms resting on the railing, facing the setting sun, quietly gazing at the sky with a faint frown.

She didn’t realize that her eyes, once fixed upon him…

…could no longer look away.

Much later, when she described the feeling of seeing Su Li for the very first time, she said:

She simply couldn’t help looking at him.

Everyone else.

Everything else.

Had become nothing more than scenery.

They no longer needed to exist.

Perhaps they never had.

That single glance transformed the brilliant colors of her youth into a blank sheet of white paper.

From that day onward, against that white background, written in bold black ink from edge to edge, there was only one name.

Su Li.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never erase it. It had already seeped through the paper and into the deepest part of her heart.