Chapter 51.4: The End of the Book

They walked into the teaching building and started up the stairs.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Sun Qing’s palm was hot and clammy with sweat.

Even now, Sun Qing still felt foggy-headed. This high school was a massive one, with over a dozen classes in each grade.

A few nights ago, as she lay in bed with her husband, she had idly hoped this kid might end up in her class. But she hadn’t really expected the “longevity peach” to be placed right into her lap.

Distracted, she missed a step on the stairs and almost tripped. Luckily, she managed to steady herself with a hand on the railing—otherwise, the prodigy the principal had just handed her would’ve gone tumbling down the stairs with her.

The scare brought tears to her eyes.

“Ms. Sun, I’d like to sit with Binbin—Tan Wenbin,” Li Zhuiyuan said.

“Uh, okay.”

She agreed but then frowned. Something felt off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

It wasn’t until they reached the door of Class 13, Senior Grade 3, that both she and Li Zhuiyuan realized what was wrong.

Tan Wenbin’s seat was apart from the rest of the class, tucked up right next to the teacher’s lectern.

His back to the door, Tan Wenbin hadn’t noticed Li Zhuiyuan entering—he was focused on solving problems.

Most teachers had gone off to watch the commotion elsewhere; the whole senior grade was basically having self-study this period.

When Tan Wenbin sensed something different in the room’s atmosphere, he turned around. He saw his homeroom teacher first, then Li Zhuiyuan. His face lit up with joy, and without the slightest concern for age appropriateness or appearances, he waved and shouted:

“Xiaoyuan-ge!”

Sun Qing instinctively glared at Tan Wenbin. He wasn’t a bad kid, just too much of a troublemaker—too loud, too bold.

But after a moment, her expression softened. After all, she owed her good fortune today to him.

“Everyone, please welcome our new classmate.”

Li Zhuiyuan stepped up to the podium and gave a textbook-shy smile.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Li Zhuiyuan. I hope we can all get along.”

Sun Qing pointed to the first row by the door. “Tan Wenbin, move your desk over here. You’ll sit with Xiaoyuan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Tan Wenbin moved his desk. Because of his height, he sat by the wall; Li Zhuiyuan took the outer seat.

Actually, Li Zhuiyuan had wanted to sit in the back corner—that spot had good feng shui.

But he knew that was never going to happen.

“Tan Wenbin, help Xiaoyuan pick up his textbooks.”

“Got it, teacher!”

And so began an unremarkable class period.

The teacher lectured at the front. Li Zhuiyuan sat below, flipping through his books. He needed to refresh himself on the high school curriculum.

During the lesson, other teachers pretended to pass by the classroom just to sneak a peek at him.

During breaks, curious students from other classes would gather at the door.

But Li Zhuiyuan simply flipped through his book silently. With Tan Wenbin beside him, no one dared bother him.

At lunch, Tan Wenbin said the cafeteria food was terrible and took him to a snack shop outside. They brought along one more person—Zheng Haiyang, the kid who had been bullied earlier.

His parents were both sailors and rarely home, so he was very shy.

While they ate, Tan Wenbin mentioned that both the homeroom teacher and the principal had spoken to him, asking him to take good care of Xiaoyuan.

After lunch, they returned to class for a nominal self-study period, which was actually a Chinese lesson, followed by a 25-minute nap and more classes.

The teachers gave Li Zhuiyuan a great deal of freedom. During English class, he read a physics textbook right under the teacher’s nose, and she acted like she didn’t notice.

By the end of the second afternoon class, he had gone through all the textbooks.

He decided to bring Wei Zhengdao’s book to school starting tomorrow.

Periods three and four were both math. Li Zhuiyuan laid his head down to sleep.

It wasn’t out of disrespect for the teacher—he just knew that trying to pretend engagement would exhaust him. Better to establish a mutual understanding from the start.

At first, the other students thought they were in for a show. Their math teacher, Yan, was infamous for his temper.

But as he taught, Yan noticed the little new student in the front row sleeping. He quietly took off his own jacket and draped it over the boy.

His face even softened into a kind smile.

Halfway through the fourth period, Yan put three problems on the board and asked the class to solve them. Then he walked down and gently patted Li Zhuiyuan awake.

Li Zhuiyuan sat up, glanced at the blackboard, picked up his pen, and scribbled out the answers.

Yan swallowed hard and rubbed his hands together.

“Xiaoyuan, would you be interested in joining the math competition team?”

“Sure, teacher. I’d like that.”

Overcome with excitement, Yan thanked him several times in a row.

After the fourth class, it was dinner time, followed by evening self-study.

“I’m heading home,” Li Zhuiyuan said to Tan Wenbin.

“You’re skipping evening study on the first day?” Tan Wenbin was stunned.

“Yep.”

“Don’t you want to experience the full grind of a senior year day?”

“Not really. Runsheng-ge is picking me up around now.”

Books and supplies could stay at his desk. Li Zhuiyuan walked out empty-handed.

On the way, many students stared at him—like a middle schooler had infiltrated the senior high crowd.

Li Zhuiyuan felt the same way.

Only after exiting the building did he remember—he had forgotten to stop by Panzi, Yingzi, and Leizi’s classroom.

Oh well, tomorrow then.

“Xiaoyuan-ge, wait up!”

He turned around and saw Tan Wenbin running up with his backpack.

“I’m going home too.”

“I’m going to Taigong’s house.”

“I’m going to Zhuangzhuang’s place.”

“Aren’t you worried Uncle Tan will beat you for skipping?”

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the schedule—morning and evening self-study were labeled as full class periods, complete with teachers.

“He’ll be glad I’m tagging along with you.”

“Did you tell him?”

“I’ll call him from Aunt Zhang’s corner shop when we get back.”

“Oh.”

Li Zhuiyuan replied and continued toward the school gate.

Tan Wenbin followed, grinning broadly—especially smug when he saw classmates heading back to class after dinner.

Outside the gate, Li Zhuiyuan looked around for Runsheng’s tricycle—but didn’t spot it.

“Did Runsheng forget to pick you up?” Tan Wenbin tiptoed to look around.

“He probably parked farther away. Let’s cross the road.”

“What’s wrong with just waiting at the gate?”

“Too crowded.”

“That’s not a real reason.”

After crossing the street and dodging students and vendors, they spotted Runsheng waving from the alley’s northwest corner.

As they approached, Tan Wenbin couldn’t help blurting out, “Why not just park outside Grandpa Li’s house?”

Then he shut up.

Because sitting at the back of the tricycle was a girl in a red dress.

This alley was relatively hidden, but still busy enough. Passersby came and went.

The girl perched on the bench seat like a frightened fawn—clearly trying to be brave.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed on, and the girl immediately reached out to hold his hand. Only then did she truly relax.

Tan Wenbin stood there, unsure whether he should get on.

Runsheng remembered the earlier teasing, gave him a glance, and said, “You’re not needed.”

“I’ll get my dad to bring me a bike tomorrow.”

“Binbin-ge, get on,” Li Zhuiyuan said. He had noticed that Ah Li was no longer wary of people familiar with their household.

“Okay, Xiaoyuan-ge.” Tan Wenbin climbed on and took the edge seat.

“Let’s go home!”

Runsheng pedaled west, steering the tricycle out of the alley.

Onboard, the youthful energy of the boys and girl dyed the evening sky red with envy and brought down the sun’s final blaze.

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