...
As the bell signaling the end of the exam rang.
Su Baixue put down her pen and let out a breath. She began to pack her things. Just as she was putting her pencils and eraser into a transparent pencil case, ready to leave, a boy from the desk behind suddenly spoke: "Excuse me..."
Su Baixue didn't realize he was calling her until she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned around, paused for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Ah, it's you."
"Thank you for lending me your pencil." Though the boy behind her was thanking her, his expression was very cold. His slender, phoenix-shaped eyes fixed on the girl as she turned back.
The boy held out the pencil in his hand.
His hand was very beautiful, with skin so pale it was almost translucent, which gave his coldness a hint of sickly pallor.
Su Baixue took it. "Almost forgot. You're welcome. It's a good thing I had an extra one. Remember to bring your own next time, or you'll be in trouble."
"What's your name?"
"My name is Su Baixue. And you?"
"What a coincidence." The boy looked at her calmly, as if thinking of something. Then he tilted his head and smiled slowly, the corner of his mouth curling up.
"My surname is also Su. My name is Su Yang."
...
Su Cui stood outside the city middle school exam hall, waiting for her granddaughter.
Su Baixue couldn't attend this school—first, because they had no money, and second, because their home wasn't near the city center. She studied at City A No. 4 Middle School. In previous years, most exam locations were set at the students' own schools, but this year, due to equipment issues at Su Baixue's school, all the teachers and students had to transfer here.
After waiting a while, Su Cui vaguely sensed that Su Baixue was about to come out.
This was something she had recently discovered—she seemed to have a natural intuition for where Su Baixue was. She looked up following her instinct and sure enough, she saw her granddaughter... walking out while chatting and laughing with a boy!?
Su Cui's sturdy body jolted.
She stared hard at the boy beside her granddaughter with her presbyopic eyes. Apart from being amazed by the boy's appearance, what shocked her most was his thin, frail body. Su Baixue, standing next to him, even looked a little plump—what a weak and slender boy.
He looked suspicious no matter how she saw it.
She took a few quick steps, intending to rush to her granddaughter's side, but before she could reach them, the boy separated from her granddaughter. She slowed down again, smiling as she strolled over to Su Baixue.
Su Cui acted like a kind old grandmother and asked, "Baixue, that boy beside you just now—was he your classmate? What's his name?"
"Grandma! You're here~" Su Baixue happily grabbed Su Cui's arm. "He's a classmate I met today... His name is Su Yang."
"Surname Su?" Su Cui frowned and thought for a while. She couldn't remember any character with the surname Su who lasted till the end. Relieved, she thought: If he didn't survive till the end, his influence isn't big enough—he's just a random sleazy guy. So it's fine.
"Yeah, what a coincidence. Today, he forgot to bring a 2B pencil, and I happened to have an extra, so I lent him one."
Su Cui nodded. "Oh, I see. Did he ask for your contact info or invite you to dinner or anything?"
"No, Grandma. We just compared answers to a few questions. He seems pretty smart."
"Oh, good, good."
Arm in arm, they walked away. Su Yang, who had already gone far, turned back to look at the old and young pair. The slight smile on his face suddenly turned cold, as if evaporating in the scorching buzz of cicadas. Through the tree shadows, the boy stared for a long time in the direction Su Baixue had left, then leaned against the wall in the corner of the teaching building, casually taking a cigarette handed to him from the side.
The smoke slowly exhaled and the flickering fire between his fingers created a twisted beauty beneath his thin silhouette.
After the entrance exam, the heat wave of summer vacation came in full force.
Soon, the Su family received Su Baixue's admission letter. The school she was admitted to was precisely City A High School.
[Author's note]
Writing is very enjoyable; happiness is the motivation for typing. If I get lots of collections, I'll be even happier, hehe~