In the buzzing sound of crickets in the summer, the sun shone on Xie Meng's face through the window. He couldn't help but cover his forehead. The back of his shirt was wet.

The bus arrived at the bus stop. Xie Meng get off the bus in a crowd. He frowned, wiped sweat from his cheeks and walked to the school gate under the scorching sun.

On the first day of W high freshmen enrollment, there was a red banner at the entrance of the school: "I am proud of W today, W high isn't a top school, the teachers are mediocre, so there aren't many new students. There are only 6 classes in grade 10, and there are about 40 students in a class. Even when the first day of school is such an important time, the school yard doesn't appear to be lively.

There are only 6 classes, so all classes are equal in terms of quality. Xie Meng found his name and student number in class 3's list. When he entered the classroom, he found that there were already many people.

W high isn't a top school, so most of them were students who couldn't get into top schools or students with bad grades in middle school. Several girls even wore light makeup, and looked back to Xie Meng curiously.

There is no air conditioner in the classroom, Xie Meng's face is full of sweat, his shirt is attached to the body, because of the sweat, the white neck has a moist luster.

The sound of whispering in the back row was louder. Xie Meng wiped the sweat and sat on the chair. He lowered his head, under the freshly cut bangs are his bright eyes.

"Hey, classmate." There was a petite girl who walked over to him and said, "What's your name?"
Xie Meng looked up and wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"My name is Wu Xiaomei." The girl reached out and squinted her head: "What about you?"
Xie Meng hesitated a moment. He wiped the sweat on his hands on his trouser and shook hands with Wu Xiao Mei: "Xie Meng."

Wu Xiao Mei said: "I graduated from Q." She pointed to a few people in the back row: "They are all from L, only Mi Mi is from the same school as me." The girl named Mimi is a bit shy and sits on the seat next to the two of them, smiling.

Xie Meng was silent for a while, then slowly said: "I am from S."

"S?" Wu Xiaomei was surprised: "The best middle school in the province? I remember that it has direct high school and is the best in the province?"

Xie Meng said "Yes." quietly, and Wu Xiaomei seemed want to ask him more, but gave up when more students came in .

"Would you like to sit with us?" Wu Xiaomei warmly invited: "The teacher has not come yet."

Right after that, there was a big fat man that looked just like Maitreya[1] came in, he smiled and said: "Who said that I am not here? Sit down, sit down."

Wu Xiaomei frowned and reluctantly returned to her seat. There were a few students that haven't come yet, but Maitreya started arranging the seats anyway.

"Little handsome guy." Maitreya greeted: "You sit in the middle. What's your name?"

"Xie Meng." Xie Meng took the bag and came over.

Maitreya glanced at him: "I remember you, you would get to S high if you scored a point higher."

Xie Meng shook his head: "I didn't take it very well."

Maitreya shot his shoulder: "Everyone has their ups and downs, don't be discouraged."

Xie Meng nodded and said seriously: "Thank you teacher."

Maitreya was very happy. He said "You are welcome, you are welcome!" repeatedly, and then continued arranging students' seats.

"Wu Xiaomei!" Maitreya's voice was terrifying: "Don't think about sitting next to the handsome guy! No early love!"

Wu Xiaomei hissed: "What early love? Can't I just sate my eyes?"

Everyone laughed. Xie Meng also showed a smile. Wu Xiaomei looked at him, her face was red, and she stuck out her tongue.

After the seats were arranged, Xie Meng followed the other boys to get their books and uniforms. The books were too heavy so they had to be divided several times to be able to carry. When Xie Meng carried the books back, the door was blocked by several boys.

Maitreya seemed to be yell, but the tone wasn't serious: "Late right on the first day!" After a while, he said, "Did you dye your hair? Dye it black tomorrow!"

Xie Meng said "Excuse me!" passed through the two boys in the back row, and the guy standing at the front looked back at him.

"I was born with this hair color." The boy quickly recovered his gaze. He casually pulled his bangs and lazily said: "If I dye it black, it would be hair dying."

Maitreya was irritated, and then laughed while patting the head of the boy with a book: "You look more like a punk than a student!"

The boy was not angry when he was bitten, instead he smiled cheerfully and then found a seat to sit down. When Xie Meng went to carry the books again, he also stood up.

"My name is Ji Qinyang." The boy looked at Xie Meng, smiling.

"...Xie Meng." Xie Meng paused for a while before saying his name. Ji Qinyang nodded. He muttered the name Xie Meng over and over.

Xie Meng unconsciously raised his head and look at Ji Qinyang. The boy smiled at him.

Someone came from behind Ji Qinyang and patted his shoulder. He seemed to be very open. After a while, he was able to intergrate with the remaining boys in the class. Xie Meng followed behind them. When passing through the corridor, the wind blowed the blue curtains. Xie Meng stopped, he squinted his eyes and let the refreshing summer wind blew on his face.

The next day began with military training. The original three-day content was shortened to one day. From lining up, marching to standing in attention position, many students could not stand it even though it was just noon.

Xie Meng took off his hat and went to the sink to wash his face. While still washing, he suddenly heard the whistle of the playground.

The instructor is playing basketball with a few boys, and there was Ji Qinyang.

The boy was very tall, and the dark brown hair seemed to glow in the sun when he leaped. He skillfully took the ball and shouted right before throwing the basketball into the basket.
Xie Meng looked at the bright smile on his face and silently wore his hat back.

Halfway through the lunch break, the basketball boys came back. They were were full of sweat and seemed to be steaming. Xie Meng bent over to fill his water bottle, when he turned back, he saw Ji Qinyang standing behind him.

"Let me help you." The boy smiled and rolled up his sleeves. The sweat on his face continued to dripped down to his neck. Xie Meng was standing next to him. He could feel the heat radiating from Ji Qinyang.

The two young men joined forces to change the bucket. Xie Meng thanked him and then took the empty bottle out by himself. When he came back, he saw Ji Qinyang talking to the boys around him.

"You and Xie Meng know eachother?" A boy asked.

Ji Qinyang did not answer, he drank a sip of water then shook his head.

The boy added: "The people from S are very prideful. Not many people in the entire class dare to take the initiative with him."

Ji Qin Yang smiled and raised his eyebrows: "Sounds exaggerated."

The boy gave him a punch: "He must be a diligent student."

"Does that matter?" Ji Qinyang didn't care much: "We are in the same school now anyway."

Xie Meng leaned against the door and waited for the two to finish the conversation before entering. When passing through Ji Qinyang, he saw the boy lying on the table, unable to tell if he was sleeping or not.

The girls eventually woke up, and Wu Xiaomei walked towards Xie Meng, poked his shoulders, and whispered: "Ji Qinyang, this person was very infamous in our school."

Xie Meng was a little curious, whispered back: "You two studied in the same school?"

Wu Xiaomei nodded. She was blushing under the watchful eyes of the boy. She started to gossip with great courage: "He is especially good with social studies, used to won 1st place in a provincial competition, and can play a lot of instruments... I heard that he went to those places, I don't know if it's true or not..."

"What kind of place?" Xie Meng couldn't help but repeat: "Which place?"

Wu Xiaomei's eyes are trying to avoid Xie Meng's, she faltered: "It wasn't any nice place anyway..."

Xie Meng blinked.

Wu Xiaomei hurriedly said: "It's just rumors! Take it with a grain of salt."

Xie Meng snorted, and Wu Xiaomei probably felt that she was talking too much. She didn't bother to laugh twice. The two continued chattering until the instructors came.

The afternoon was still the same, but the boys had to take more exercises, more than 20 boys are divided into two teams, several instructors made a net from ropes. After practicing, the slower team will have to skip around the yard.

Xie Meng is the leader of the first team, and Ji Qinyang is the leader of the second team. The leaders had to arm wrest, whoever loses will have to go first.

Xie Meng pulled up his sleeves, his skin was still white under the sun for a long time, but it did not look weak, his arms were smooth and beautiful, and Ji Qinyang had already sat down at the table, raising his arm at Xie Meng, smiling.

The two young men held each other's hands. Ji Qinyang's body temperature was higher than Xie Meng, his palm was dry and warm, Xie Meng swayed a little, and his wrists had been pressed down halfway. Other students were cheering loudly around them. Ji Qinyang was very strong. After taking the lead, he obviously wanted to push down Xie Meng's wrist directly, but it wasn't that easy.

Xie Meng hand was always at a safe distance from the table. He did not falter so easily. Ji Qinyang raised his eyebrows. He smiled and looked at the opposite person, who was frowning at him.

The two men looked at each other for a while, and then Xie Meng suddenly let loose. The students saw that Ji Qinyang pressed Xie Meng's wrist on the table, but only Ji Qinyang knew that the other party let him win.

After Ji Qinyang won, he did not show any attitude. He smiled and patted Xie Meng's shoulder: "Thanks, bro."

Xie Meng faintly replied: "You are welcome."

At this time, they may not know that in the years afterwards, arm wrestling will become the best way to resolve arguments between the two. Winning or losing doesn't matter, because the result isn't determined by strength. Like how Xie Meng willingly lost to Ji Qinyang today.
Because for the rest of their lives, winning or losing isn't important anymore.

That day, Ji Qinyang's team was slower than Xie Meng's by two seconds. The young men was smiling when frogging around the yard. The afterglow of the setting sun paved on the brick red runway, and the shadows slowly moved slowly. Even though Ji Qinyang was far away, Xie Meng knew that the other party was still smiling.
No particular reason, he just thought so.

After the military training, the studies became more intense. The moment Xie Meng and Ji Qinyang met each other was like a rain drop falling into a lake. Except for learning in the same classroom, listening to the same teachers lecturing, doing the same homework, they had nothing in common.

Xie Meng was a typical gifted student in the eyes of the teachesr. He was calm and diligent. He was even a bit boring. He didn't talk much to anyone. The only one who was close to him was Zhang Ganggang, mainly because they shared the same desk.

In fact, Zhang Ganggang was a bit shy when sitting next to Xie Meng at the beginning. He felt that the other person was from S, so his academic performance must be very good, and he will be looked down. But after some time, it wasn't like what he thought it would be.

Xie Meng was very gentle.

Although using the word "gentle" to describe a boy sounded inappropriate, there weren't any more suitable word to describe Xie Meng.

He was like a beautiful hard candy, a candy which was too beautiful to be eaten. Only when it is in your mouth can you feel its sweetness. Only when you bite will you know there is a sugary filling inside.

... Zhang Ganggang knew what he thought was cheesy, but he really did think so.
Xie Meng certainly didn't know what his deskmate was thinking about him. He was still busy with solving algebraic questions, when he solved the questions, he put it in front of Zhang Ganggang.

"I've done it for you, take a look." Xie Meng had great patience. Sitting next to Zhang Ganggang for nearly 2 months, he had to do homework twice nearly everyday, not to mention exercise correcting.

Zhang Ganggang took out his notebook cheerfully, and after reading Xie Meng's answers, he would recalculate them again by himself. When he finished, he would erase Xie Meng's answers.
While rubbing the eraser, Zhang Ganggang said: "The midterms are coming."

Xie Meng replied, without caring much: "Yes."

"What can I do with math?" Zhang Ganggang said painfully: "Even you won't be able to save me..."

"..." Xie Meng wanted to say that he did not intend to save him.

"But it doesn't matter." Zhang Ganggang suddenly cheered up, and Xie Meng seemed to be able to see his HP bar regenerating to full rapidly: "As long as there is Ji Qinyang, Maitreya won't ever notice me. Yang ge[2] is really stubborn!"

Xie Meng pressed the pen nib: "Ji Qinyang?"

Zhang Ganggang: "Yang ge used to get a 1 in middle school in a math exam. That 1 point was given by the teacher because his handwriting is very beautiful."

Xie Meng: "...He turned in blank?"

Zhang Ganggang shook his head: "No, he wrote a lot. His answer paper was very neat and clean."

"..." Xie Meng was amazed: "He wrote a lot, but got nothing right?"

Zhang Ganggang sounded very understanding: "Yes, he said he knew nothing about math."
...... This is really too capricious, Xie Meng turned his head to the last row, Ji Qinyang was writing something attentively, suddenly he looked up, smiling at Xie Meng.

Xie Meng looked at him for a while and then looked away.

Translator's notes:

1. Maitreya (弥勒菩萨) - the Buddha of Future Age. He is often depicted as a happy fat man. This is not the name of the teacher, just a nickname given to him by the author.

2. Ge (哥) - older brother. Can also be used when referring to a man with respect.