In May, the late spring and early summer breeze brushed against the face, warm and comfortable, making people want to yawn and curl up, basking in the sun and napping together with the cats on the rooftop. In the third remedial class of the second semester of eighth grade, Michelle Cindy was already a student in the third row of Class B.

Many people who didn’t know the truth thought this dramatic change came from an unexpected outburst one afternoon. During a random recitation check in Chinese class, when it was Michelle Cindy’s turn, as usual, the moment the girl in front of Michelle Cindy sat down, another girl in the first row of another group had already stood up.

“Why did you skip me?”

Michelle Cindy’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was cold and resolute.

Then, while the Chinese teacher and the girl in the first row were still stunned, Michelle Cindy had already started reciting. Zoe Young could hear many complex emotions in her voice; in that thin, trembling tone was a courage wrapped in nervousness and excitement.

She turned around and winked proudly at Mia Waters, as if Michelle Cindy was her own extraordinary creation, finally unveiled to the world.

Mia Waters was still lazy, as if completely uninterested in Michelle Cindy’s actions.

No one knew what had really happened in these short four months. Michelle Cindy seemed like a phoenix butterfly breaking out of its cocoon, fluttering its wings gracefully in early summer. She had become thinner, long-distance running had given her skin a healthy, even tan, her features were gradually becoming more defined, and she no longer wore those cheap clothes that made it impossible to tell her age.

Everyone suddenly realized that she was actually a girl with a unique charm, her thin shoulders and jawline carrying a hint of sharpness.

Zoe Young knew that, in fact, she herself didn’t fully understand the effort Michelle Cindy had put in. Wanting to break away from your former self is like tearing muscle from bone. She had also experienced all kinds of difficulties, but those were all external pressures and setbacks. She just had to wait patiently for a chance to make a comeback, without needing to change herself too much. Even if there was change, it was a silent, gradual process, accumulating over time. No one had ever been as ruthless to themselves as Michelle Cindy.

Was it just to become better?

The now-confident Michelle Cindy would no longer stay silent when Zoe Young explained problems. Occasionally, she would sharply interrupt, bluntly saying that this method was too troublesome, when there was clearly a simpler way.

Every time, Mia Waters would sneer from the side.

Zoe Young, being interrupted, could only scratch her head and smile, saying, “Oh? Why don’t you explain it to me?”

Michelle Cindy was moved to the fourth row, right next to Zoe Young and Mia Waters’s group, separated only by an aisle. More and more classmates started chatting with her, and it seemed that after the initial surprise, everyone quickly accepted this change, completely forgetting how they used to collectively make fun of this girl during idle chatter.

Zoe Young whispered to Mia Waters, “See, good grades really do bring affection.”

Mia Waters lay on the desk, face buried in her arms, only half her head showing, her eyes darting around.

“But don’t you think it’s a little sad?”

Zoe Young didn’t want to admit it, but there really was something about Michelle Cindy that she had never noticed before.

For example, that cold sneer at the corner of her mouth.

One morning at the end of June, Zoe Young and Mia Waters were carrying the whole class’s physics homework through the administrative corridor back to their classroom, when they happened to run into Sean Sherman, who was also carrying homework. Zoe Young grinned, about to greet her, when suddenly a distant electric bell rang, seemingly coming from the teaching building of the Fourth Vocational High School nearby.

The bell rang for a long time; Zoe Young had never heard their school’s bell ring so loudly and brazenly.

“It’s nine o’clock now, which period’s bell is that? Did the old man in the mailroom get drunk?” Mia Waters kept looking out the window.

Suddenly, Zoe Young remembered something: “It’s the high school entrance exam! The Fourth Vocational is a test site, today’s the first subject, right?”

The three of them fell silent. There was nothing to see outside the window; under the blue sky and white clouds, the back of the Fourth Vocational’s teaching building stood quietly.

Next year, it would be their turn!

Zoe Young suddenly remembered some exam information she’d heard a few days ago: “I heard that the high school division of the Normal University Affiliated School will look for students who rank in the top 100 in the city’s unified exam before the high school entrance exam to discuss signing an agreement. If you sign, you can only apply to their high school, but you get a ten-point bonus. A lot of students who want to apply to Zhenhua but are afraid of failing end up signing this as a backup.”

Mia Waters nodded, “I heard about that too.”

Zoe Young thought for a moment and asked softly, “If it were you, would you sign?”

After all, students from No. 13 Middle School who wanted to get into Zhenhua had to risk it all. But the Normal University Affiliated High School was also a very good school.

Mia Waters and Sean Sherman spoke at the same time.

“Of course I’d sign!” “Absolutely not.”

The three of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“What about you, Zoe?”

Zoe Young spread her hands, “I don’t know.”

She suddenly didn’t feel so obsessed with Zhenhua anymore.

Was it because she was too happy?

That summer, there was a song called “Courage” that the boys and girls in the class sang over and over. The couples who secretly held hands after school and went to play CS together would hum, “Love really needs courage, to face all the gossip…”

That summer, there were four handsome boys who made all the students go crazy buying VCDs and entertainment magazines, just to catch a glimpse of news about one of them. The girls no longer asked each other, “Which boy in our class do you like?” Instead, they divided themselves into camps, “Hey, do you like Dao Ming Si or Hua Ze Lei?”

Even Mia Waters stared straight at Zoe Young and asked.

Zoe Young blushed and said, “I didn’t finish watching ‘Meteor Garden’…”

Mia Waters raised her eyebrows in shock, “Why not?”

Zoe Young shook her head, refusing to say anything.

How could she tell Mia Waters? She was sitting in the living room watching TV, her mom peeling fruit beside her, and Uncle Quinn leaning on the sofa reading the newspaper, when suddenly the TV blared out Shancai’s scream. Both adults looked at the TV, just in time to see Dao Ming Si push Shancai against the wall, tear her clothes, and force a kiss.

Shancai’s shoulder was ripped with a tearing sound, and Zoe Young’s dignity was torn just as badly.

She blushed furiously and turned off the TV. Uncle Quinn laughed, and her mom, who never interfered with Zoe Young’s after-school life, finally caught her in the act, put down the apple, walked over, and gently tapped her on the head: “What kind of nonsense is this? Don’t watch it again!”

Zoe Young was on the verge of tears. Damn Dao Ming Si.

So when everyone was passionately discussing the plot and relationships, Zoe Young could only bury her head and draw circles on her paper.

Various F4 groups also sprang up in school. Of course, some took a different path, naming themselves “The Four Talents,” “No. 13 Middle School’s Four Young Masters,” and so on—always revolving around the number four.

Zoe Young heard from Lena Taylor that their grade also had its own F4, with Ethan Xavier as “Dao Ming Si.”

Thinking of Ethan Xavier’s horse face, Zoe Young resisted the urge to roll her eyes and clutched her chest, asking, “Why?”

“Maybe because he’s the most domineering…”

“Then who’s Hua Ze Lei?”

Lena Taylor suddenly got a little shy, and after a while, she said evasively, “I’m not sure, but I heard it’s Charles Morgan from Class 2… Tch, what’s so handsome about him…”

Zoe Young sneered inwardly, “You know exactly what’s handsome about him.”

She didn’t want to think about Benny, the Benny who was better not seen than seen. Or maybe he was never Benny anymore, just a delinquent boy with a fancy surname and a weird name.

For a moment, Zoe Young really wanted to shout in the midst of all the hazy, ambiguous atmosphere: “You’re all lovesick, aren’t you!”

But, adolescent mental health wasn’t her concern. She had to worry about herself.

Ethan Xavier broke up with his girlfriend and started pursuing Zoe Young again.

Michelle Cindy’s transformation reminded Ethan Xavier of the times Zoe Young had challenged him. Reporting him to the teacher in person, rejecting his confession, and now standing in front of him shouting, “Who gave you the right to hit people”… As the Dao Ming Si of No. 13 Middle School, he had the responsibility and duty to quickly find a Shancai, and his eyes were locked firmly on Zoe Young.

He sent flowers, bought her lunch, brought her snacks, and had his little followers spread rumors that the two of them were close. For a while, many students from other classes would linger at the door during breaks, just to catch a glimpse of “Shancai.”

Even on the way home after school, she was surrounded and blocked. Ethan Xavier and a group of his little followers trailed behind her, annoying her to death.

Mia Waters said worriedly, “Come on, I’ll walk you home from now on.”