The happiest moments were actually after class, sitting inside the glass box, grinning and shouting at the line of friends outside through the transparent window. Because her face had broken out in pimples, she wrapped herself up completely in a scarf, leaving only her eyes exposed. Mia Waters raised her eyebrows and made all sorts of funny faces to amuse her, watching with satisfaction as her eyes stayed curved like crescent moons, feeling a sense of fulfillment like feeding a baby panda at the zoo.

Still with indifferent eyes and expressive face, Martin Bates, Michelle Cindy with a rare smile, and Sean Sherman, who managed to show up despite being so busy.

Zoe Young laughed until her eyes filled with tears.

She really wished they could stay together forever, always trapped in the winter of being fifteen, fighting side by side under the pressure of the high school entrance exam, not knowing that it would never actually come.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful.

When Zoe Young returned to class after recovering from her illness, something hit her out of nowhere.

She only got second place in the class on the first mock exam.

First place was Michelle Cindy.

Monica Zack’s strong praise for Michelle Cindy also carried the hope that other struggling students could use her as a role model, but the excessive wording only made Zoe Young’s situation more awkward. When you’ve been first place too many times, it stops being a joy or an honor and becomes a shackle. The moment you’re no longer first, you’re nothing at all. Even if it’s just a fluke, others will look at you as if your glory days are over.

Mia Waters poked her gently from behind, and Zoe Young turned around, her smile a little forced.

“What is it?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

What could be wrong with me? I’m not that petty. I’m truly happy for Michelle Cindy. This is the result I hoped to see when I was helping her. Why would I be upset?

Michelle Cindy sat calmly at her desk the whole time. Zoe Young was always afraid she’d come over to comfort her, which would be awkward. But when the other girl really did stay cold and distant as she wished, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

Zoe Young turned away, laying her head on the desk, suddenly feeling very tired. After recovering from chickenpox, her body was weak and she got tired easily. Of course, this time her heart was tired too.

Mia Waters was still persistently poking her from behind: “I’m not done asking!”

“What else?”

“Can you get fifth place next time?”

“What?”

“Fifth. Don’t you think it’s amazing that I always get sixth? That’s harder than staying first. To be first, you just have to get the highest score, but to stay sixth takes skill—one point more and you’re fifth, one point less and you’re seventh. That’s real ability!”

Zoe Young finally laughed: “Ability my foot, that’s just luck!”

Mia Waters raised her eyebrows: “And to think I’m so nice to you, giving you fifth place and letting you be ahead of me…”

It was probably just to save her some face, Zoe Young thought, afraid she’d be under too much pressure for the next exam, so she used fifth place as an excuse. That way, if she did badly next time, she could claim she was aiming for fifth all along, but fate had other plans…

Zoe Young smiled gently and said seriously, “Mia Waters, thank you, you’re really great.”

Mia Waters turned her face away and said nothing.

There was another matter concerning Martin Bates. Martin Bates had skipped too many classes, and Monica Zack clearly told Zoe Young to help keep track of how many times Martin Bates skipped. If it exceeded the limit, he’d be expelled.

Martin Bates had been going with Ethan Xavier and the others to the internet café to play “StarCraft” and “Counter-Strike” for over a year now. Maybe because school was getting less and less fun, with math, Chinese, English, physics, and chemistry classes packed from morning self-study onward, even the most playful students had their heads buried in books and practice papers. Many of Martin Bates’s attention-seeking antics had completely lost their audience.

Zoe Young had gotten used to him not being at school, but often missed the troublemaker by her side.

“Honestly, there’s no need for him to keep studying.”

Zoe Young snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Monica Zack: “Huh?”

Monica Zack sighed: “The kid’s not a bad kid, but his family situation… His grandparents run a stall at the elementary school gate to support him, his parents divorced and no one knows where his mom went, and now his dad’s been diagnosed with late-stage throat cancer. How is this life even possible? If he leaves school early to work, he can help his family a bit. He’s not learning anything here, just hanging out with those students at the internet café every day, and the endless workbook and tutoring fees are still being paid. That expense should have been saved long ago.”

Zoe Young nodded, then shook her head, and in the end didn’t even know what she was thinking.

On the last self-study class, Martin Bates ran back to the classroom. In the dead of winter, he wore only a thin, old jacket, shivering from the cold. As soon as he came in, he rushed to the radiator to warm his hands, the bag of snacks and odds and ends he carried standing out from afar.

“Martin Bates?”

“What?” he answered in his usual odd accent, walking back to his seat. Even from a distance, Zoe Young could feel the chill radiating from him.

“Is it cold outside?” She didn’t know how to start, so she just made small talk.

“Cold, it’s really cold today!” Martin Bates carefully stuffed the plastic bag into his desk, rubbing his hands and blowing on them.

“Went to the internet café again? Who are those snacks for this time?” Zoe Young frowned, staring at the hole in his desk.

“What are you talking about!” Martin Bates suddenly raised his voice, like a sulky child. “These are from my mom! She came all the way back, arrived this morning, and is leaving tonight.”

Zoe Young was stunned: “So you went to see your mom?”

He nodded, looking a bit down. “Uncle said mom went out on business, I didn’t see her.” Seeing the sympathy on Zoe Young’s face, he quickly added, “But these are all things she brought me from far away, just for me!”

Zoe Young found herself staring seriously at the things in the plastic bag: Oishi, Fenhuang Xue Mei, Mentos…

Came all this way, and only brought these things, without even seeing her own child?

Martin Bates was completely unaware, spending the whole class lovingly stroking the plaid scarf his mom had given him, the thin fabric already fraying at the edges. Zoe Young couldn’t bear to watch, so she turned her face away, tears dripping onto her Chinese workbook, soaking the ancient poems printed in lead type with a thousand years of sorrow.

Zoe Young said nothing, and Monica Zack still found Martin Bates for a talk as usual. The school would give him a graduation certificate, so there was no need for him to keep studying.

Martin Bates cleared out his desk completely. He handed all his old practice papers to Zoe Young.

“Use them as scratch paper.”

Zoe Young gave a wry smile: “That’s some expensive scratch paper, you paid for all of it.”

Martin Bates laughed: “Paying was the only way I could be your deskmate!”

Suddenly a wave of sourness rushed to her nose, and Zoe Young was choked up with tears. She lowered her head and asked, “Are you leaving now?”

Martin Bates had already slung his bag over his shoulder, but suddenly sat back down.

“I want to attend one more class.” He smiled.

In Chinese class, everyone recited “Chu Shi Biao” in unison. Zoe Young suddenly remembered the year of the World Cup, when Class Six and the neighboring Class Five had a soccer match that was fittingly called “England vs. Brazil.” But whether they were the skilled Brazil or the handsome England was a matter of image that troubled many players, including Mia Waters—

In their words, having both looks and skill was truly a tragedy.

After Mia Waters spent an entire English class arranging the lineup, she proudly waved the white paper in her hand: “Perfect, this is what perfect means! From strategy to tactics to… to the drawing, it’s flawless!”

Zoe Young laughed: “You’re missing a title.”

Martin Bates, always known for being a slacker, had just woken up and sleepily chimed in: “Call it ‘Chu Shi Biao’ then.”

So the tactics chart was named “Chu Shi Biao.”

And just like Zhuge Liang, they lost completely.

In a blink, another year had passed. The final year.

Amid the chorus of recitation, Martin Bates squinted his eyes, curling up in his seat like a cat without a backbone, yawning contentedly.

Zoe Young remembered Martin Bates once said he liked going to school. In the middle of a “Counter-Strike” match outside, he’d always feel uneasy and want to come back to the classroom.

It was as if this place was Peter Pan’s Neverland, where you never had to grow up.