The temperature dropped abruptly, and the autumn wind was so strong that it made one’s head ache. During math class, the teacher scribbled several problems on the board with chalk and called on students to solve them. Jiao Bai was among those called, and he was assigned the final, most challenging problem.

Jiao Bai rubbed his face as he walked toward the podium. Considering Wang Chuqiu's grades, if Wang Chuqiu had originally been a student in Class 7, this would be the moment for a face-slapping scene[1].

However, Wang Chuqiu attended middle school in his hometown before coming to South City. Afterwards, during ages seventeen to nineteen, he stayed inside his pen. The reason Jiao Bai could appear here under a new identity was all because he used his golden finger, ‘money,’ to find a capable person to arrange everything for him.

Having twenty million available to spend was incredibly satisfying.

Jiao Bai was a student with uneven academic strengths. He wasn’t very good at English, but he was quite good at math. He held the chalk and wrote down a few steps. His eyes darted around and then he erased everything and started over.

“Why isn't that stir-fry meat[2] done yet?” Liang Dong laughed disdainfully while shaking his leg “He’s just randomly scribbling. Etbj.”

Shen Er’an was solving the problems on his graph paper.

“He’s still writing,” Liang Dong complained. “He’s probably using every formula he knows. He must think he’s so awesome.”

Jiao Bai's female deskmate turned back and kicked Liang Dong. “You're so annoying.”

“Is it fun to give people nicknames?” She snorted. “I think you are just envious and jealous of my Jiao Bai.”

VSE, when did he become hers? That vgnqd is this popular? Liang Dong was about to lose his temper, but Shen Er’an kicked him and looked at the blackboard.

When Jiao Bai brushed the chalk off his hands, he noticed that Shen Er’an was looking at his solution steps.

He deliberately erased the standard solution method and replaced it with a complex, interesting one.

Actually, he was just showing off.

After Jiao Bai sat down, his female deskmate leaned over and said admiringly, “Bai Bai, you're amazing!”

Bai Bai was Jiao Bai’s nickname. His friends used to call him that. Being able to hear people call him that in this world made him really happy. “You know that I solved it correctly?”

“I don’t know.” His female deskmate shook her head. “But you wrote so much. It looks very impressive.”

Jiao Bai: “...”

Not only did Jiao Bai solve the problem correctly, but he also solved it very elegantly. The teacher praised him extensively, and said that from that moment on, the new student was his protege.

Jiao Bai gained fame and popularity from solving a single math problem, and the number of people asking to be his friend on WeChat significantly increased. However, Jiao Bai couldn't feel happy about it.

Because he still hadn’t broken through Shen Er’an's firewall.

One evening at the end of the month, just before eleven o'clock, Jiao Bai was soaking his feet and doing his homework. He heard a commotion downstairs, and casually slipped on his slippers and went to the window to take a look.

After understanding the situation outside, Jiao Bai sat back down and continued soaking his feet and answering questions. He found time to reply to Zhang Zhen with a message: Big sister, there's a fire on the sixth floor here, and I'm on the eleventh floor. I haven't finished my homework yet. This message was followed by an emoji that had a somewhat anxious expression.

Actually, there wasn’t any wind tonight, and since the floors weren’t adjacent, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

Zhang Zhen sent a voice message.

Jiao Bai was a bit surprised. This was the first time Zhang Zhen had sent him a voice message. He clicked on it.

He didn’t know where the man was but it was a bit noisy in the background. He spoke like an older brother, his tone calm and reassuring, “If the fire is in the same building, you can’t be careless. Open your door and check the hallway. If there’s no smoke or if the smoke is light, go down quickly and take the stairs, not the elevator. If the smoke is a bit thick, dampen a towel and cover your nose and mouth...”

Jiao Bai’s expression suddenly changed. He smelled smoke. The wind had arrived!

As expected, you shouldn’t raise flags[3].

Jiao Bai ran out with his phone. “Young Master Shen?”

There was no response from Shen Er’an's room.

“Classmate Shen?” Jiao Bai tried a different form of address, but there was still no response.

“Shen Er’an!”

After waiting a few seconds, Jiao Bai kicked the door. He had to kick it several times before it finally gave way. There was no one inside. Shen Er'an had already etbjhmf gone downstairs without warning him!

Etbj.

I can't believe I was actually worried about your safety.

Jiao Bai hurried down the stairs with a scowl on his face. On the ninth-floor stairs, he saw a... paper dragonfly.

Jiao Bai: ???

Tap tap tap—

A series of footsteps came up from downstairs, with a somewhat hurried and chaotic rhythm.

Shen Er’an, holding a small wooden box, appeared on the corridor connecting the eighth-floor stairs and the ninth-floor stairs. He noticed something, stopped and looked up.

The young man squatted by the wall, holding a paper dragonfly between his fingers. He gently tapped the dragonfly's wings a couple of times, blew on them softly, and said with a smile, “Poor thing, your owner left you here, didn’t he? Don’t worry, big brother will take you to find him right away.”

Shen Er’an saw the young man stand up and meet his gaze. The young man froze for a moment and then awkwardly hid the paper dragonfly behind him, only to pull it out again while making an effort to appear calm and collected.

“Um, I didn't step on it.”

“Take a look if you don't believe me.” Jiao Bai came down the stairs and showed Shen Er’an the paper dragonfly on his palm, “It’s intact, right?”

Shen Er’an reached out to grab the paper dragonfly and his fingertips touched Jiao Bai's palm.

Jiao Bai lightly clasped the paper dragonfly and the young man’s fingertips, looked into his eyes, and said with a bright smile, “You haven’t said thank you yet, Young Master Shen.”


[1] A face-slapping moment is when someone does something that proves people wrong or goes against people’s expectations in a dramatic or public manner. In this context, it would be a face-slapping moment if he solved the question even though no one expected him to be able to. However, Wang Chuqiu wasn’t originally in Class 7, so his classmates don’t know his grades. Therefore, it can’t be a face-slapping moment.

[2] 炒肉 (chǎo ròu) According to an answer on Baidu, it’s a homophone for what I suspect is a censored word. I’m not entirely sure but I think it’s probably ‘bzn’ vnqc enq ‘etbj’ zmc ‘qnt’ vnqc enq ldzs, onrrhakx ldzmhmf lzm-vgnqd.

[3] A ‘flag’ is an event or occurrence that signifies that something will happen later in the story. Most well-known is the ‘death flag’ which tells you the characters is going to die. When someone ‘raises a death flag,’ they usually say something like ‘After some dangerous battle, I’ll do X’ and they are almost certain to die, making their statement a death flag. The flag that Jiao Bai raised was his thinking that it would be safe, which was an omen/flag to signify it wouldn’t be safe.