When he turned to leave, I thought of Zhang Guorong.

——Little Monster's Diary

The assessment test didn't involve class divisions; we just took it in our own classrooms, simply pulling the desks apart.

The students from the Elite Class were arrogant, needing no teacher supervision; they conscientiously did their questions while covering their papers.

"H-how... how are we taking the test together?"

Ding Xian said, lowering her head.

Across the street, the red light changed, the yellow light flashed, and some people had already started moving, but Zhou Siyue remained still. One foot casually rested on the curb of the sidewalk as he calmly uttered two words: "Cheating."

Ch-ch-ch-ch... Cheating?!

Ding Xian was stunned. She abruptly looked up and met his half-smile, and the little deer in her heart started pounding wildly again. She had never cheated in her life, and if she got caught, with Liu Jiang's personality, he would definitely call her parents.

"Th-that's not... good, right?" she whispered.

Zhou Siyue glanced back. The light was green. One hand in his pocket, the other reached for the hood hanging on her back. He looked at the passing vehicles, then simply pulled her along, lazily replying, "What's wrong with it?"

'Is that the attitude of a top student?'

"Why do you... want... to be my deskmate?"

Ding Xian leaned in to listen. 'Come on, praise me.'

Zhou Siyue glanced at her, the corners of his lips curling slightly in a sneer. "Because you're stupid."

"..."

"Excuse me, I'm going home."

After saying that, Ding Xian hugged her books and walked quickly forward.

Zhou Siyue stretched out his long arm, grabbed the hood on her back, and Ding Xian became stuck in place. The girl was so angry she stamped her feet, shouting his full name: "Zhou Siyue!"

Zhou Siyue dragged her back. The hood tightened around Ding Xian, making her eyes red. He pressed his large hand on her head, fixed her in front of him, looked down at her, and smiled broadly, "All I can say is, being your deskmate, there's no pressure."

Ding Xian was stunned.

Zhou Siyue released her hand, straightened up again, swept his gaze forward, and put his hands in his pockets. "You won't ask me what score I got, you won't subtly inquire what time I studied until last night, you won't use questions to test how far I've studied, and you won't tell me that participating in competitions is actually a waste of time."

As he finished speaking, he gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Because you don't care about me, I feel very relaxed."

'No, no, no, please don't say that.'

'Usually, I'm used to seeing his uninhibited, casual, and dashing appearance. When had I ever seen a young master speak in such a tone? It turns out that even someone as intelligent as him could feel lost and confused.'

Ding Xian suddenly felt a psychological balance. 'So what if he had a high IQ? He had more worries.'

"So, you're also afraid... of these things," Ding Xian said softly, lowering her head. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything..."

"Afraid?" A scoff came from above her head. "I just find it annoying."

"..."

'Damn it.'

Actually, their grades were similar, but Ding Xian's total score was still higher. Zhou Siyue was only good at math and physics; his other subjects were stable and didn't hold him back. Ding Xian, however, was in a worse state; her math performance was inconsistent, so her ranking would definitely drop significantly.

The two returned to the Hutong's entrance along the road. Dusk fell, the old man was nowhere to be seen, and the old poplars at the Hutong's entrance still stood tall.

Yansan's East and West Alleys stretched in two directions, and the two stopped at the Hutong's entrance.

Zhou Siyue slightly raised his chin at her, raising an eyebrow. "Shall I walk you in?"

'How dare I trouble you, sir.'

Ding Xian shook her head. "No... no need."

Zhou Siyue smiled, then suddenly reached out and ruffled her head. "Silly, aren't you? Let's go."

He turned and didn't linger for a second.

The evening glow exuded a magnificent beauty, like a colorful curtain hanging across the sky, brilliant and serene.

The two rows of old poplars at the Hutong's entrance stood ramrod straight, like soldiers who had guarded city walls for years, standing firm in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The boy's back was broad yet slender. His loose T-shirt draped over his slightly thin shoulders, his arms were gracefully contoured, hanging by his sides, his fingertips faintly glowing. Having grown accustomed to seeing him surrounded by people wherever he went, this tall, slender back now looked a bit lonely. In that instant, Ding Xian felt he was solitary.

For someone who can learn effortlessly, who knows the bitterness within?

He once said that his IQ was no different from ordinary people, he just found the right method. But why can some people find the right method, while others can't? The latter, for example, her.

She had done a single problem countless times, making all sorts of mistakes, and only on the fifth or sixth try could she get it 100% right. But a problem he had once gotten wrong, he would absolutely never get wrong again.

The boy's figure gradually receded, swaying gently, slowly moving towards the end of the East Alley. Old paint peeled from the walls, dust drifted in the air, covering his tall, hazy form.

His path was wide and bright.

While she seemed to still be struggling in a fishpond.

No matter where she would be in the future, she would never forget this boy, as dazzling as the morning star.

In the year she turned sixteen, he waved his hand, bidding her a final farewell, and embarked on his own journey, then—

He never looked back.

Ding Xian put her hand to her mouth and suddenly shouted towards the end of the alley—

"Zhou Siyue!"

The boy stopped, turned to look at her, his eyes slightly narrowed, his hands still in his pockets. The golden glow of the setting sun behind him made his face indistinct.

Precisely because of this, Ding Xian felt filled with strength and shouted with all her might:

"Today is my birthday! Thank you for watching the movie with me."

For some reason, she just couldn't let this day pass by in vain.

After shouting, she chickened out. Without waiting for his reply, Ding Xian turned and left. Zhou Siyue watched her hurried departure, then suddenly smiled and lazily called back to her retreating figure—

"Happy birthday."

She suddenly felt that this was also very good.

If we can't be a couple, then let's be deskmates. At least, I'll be the one who stays by your side.

...

The assessment test arrived as scheduled. Before school ended, Zhou Siyue reiterated to her that he would write down the answers and pass them to her before the last half-hour, and she just needed to estimate the score and correct it accordingly.

Ding Xian rubbed her hands, looking at him pitifully. "I'm nervous."

Zhou Siyue laughed. "What's there to be nervous about? It's not like you're cheating on the college entrance exam."

Ding Xian lowered her eyes and whispered, "I've never cheated in my life."

"Everything has a first time. Once unfamiliar, twice familiar."

He was as calm as a seasoned veteran.

Ding Xian's face darkened. "Is that what a good student would say?"

Zhou Siyue chuckled, casually flipped a page in his book, and said with a self-deprecating smile, "Don't flatter me; I never said I was a good student."

Right, by Liu Jiang's standards, he certainly couldn't be considered a good student.

What good student would sit in class reading extracurricular books? Today, he had even switched to Why the World is So Different.

Ding Xian was still somewhat hesitant.

Zhou Siyue flipped his book to the last page, closed it, and dropped it onto the desk. He looked up and glanced around; most of the class had left. He patted Ding Xian's shoulder and stood up to pack his things. "Alright, worrying blindly is useless. If you don't want to cheat, then take the test yourself; we don't have to sit together."

Ding Xian looked up at him. "Can you definitely guarantee we'll get the same score?"

He slung his bag over his shoulder, one hand resting on the edge of the desk, and said honestly, "I can't guarantee it."

After all, he couldn't control the objective questions.

"But it'll be pretty close."

"Then let's try it."

With this intention, Ding Xian was on tenterhooks throughout several exams. She constantly felt that Liu Jiang's eyes were like X-rays. A glance from him would make her panic as if she'd been caught, and she'd quickly lower her head.

In truth, Liu Jiang wasn't even looking at her.

The first subject was math, Young Master Zhou's specialty. Normally, she only saw him doing practice papers, but this was her first time witnessing him in action during an actual exam. This guy was practically inhuman.

Zhou Siyue's speed in solving problems was incredible. Having done so many competition papers, these assessment papers were child's play to him. He knew the answers to some questions with just a glance. He finished more than half the paper without writing a single word on his scratch pad.

Ding Xian was sweating profusely just to finish the first page, while this guy had already finished everything, written down all the answers, and tossed them directly under her desk.

Liu Jiang was looking elsewhere at this moment.

Ding Xian gazed at the crumpled paper ball at her feet, her heart rate suddenly quickening, pounding in her chest, almost ready to burst out.

Zhou Siyue glanced at her.

'Forget it, if I die, I die.'

Ding Xian stepped on the paper slip, dropped her eraser on the floor, and, while Liu Jiang wasn't looking, bent down to pick it up.

She carefully opened the paper slip, placed it under her test paper, suppressed her wildly pounding heart, and glanced up at Liu Jiang, who was distractedly looking out the window.

The paper slip had all the answers, even the last question.

'He probably made it more accurate than the standard answer itself.'

One exam finished.

Ding Xian felt half-dead, her chin resting on the desk as she gasped, trying to calm her breathing.

The classroom was noisy, everyone excitedly comparing answers. Ding Xian felt both guilty and helpless, realizing once again that Zhou Siyue likely had no rivals in math at this school.

Deng Wanwan suddenly turned and shouted over, "Zhou Siyue, what's the answer to the last question? What's the volume of the quadrangular pyramid?"

"Five-sixths."

Everyone took his answer as the correct one. Those whose answers didn't match groaned, while those who got it right happily turned back to discuss other questions with others.

Yang Chunzi spoke to him voluntarily for the first time. "What about the second-to-last question? The range of values for t?"

'Isn't she supposed to be a cool and aloof goddess? She never compares answers with anyone.'

"Greater than twenty, less than thirty."

Zhou Siyue replied.

Again, some rejoiced, while others despaired.

The next four exams all went smoothly, following the same pattern.

After handing in the last exam paper, Ding Xian lay sprawled on the desk like a dead dog, too tired to even breathe.

Zhou Siyue dragged his desk back and teased her, "You're so stupid! Got scared stiff by such a small thing?"

Ding Xian glared at him. "Did you often cheat before?"

"Nonsense."

He lowered his head and chuckled. "Do I need to cheat? Coward."

Her tense nerves relaxed. Ding Xian excitedly sat up and blurted out, "How thrilling that whole process was, do you know? Liu Jiang was right beside me just now, he almost discovered me! Do you know how nervous I was?! For you... I almost got into big trouble..."

She almost confessed everything—

The latter half of the sentence was swallowed back, because she realized what she had said and froze. Zhou Siyue leaned back in his chair, his legs crossed, a familiar light smile playing on his lips, his gaze lightly falling on her:

"Hmm, what about 'for me'?"