02 : Responsible for enrolling me?

 At Xia City No. 1 High School, senior students began returning to school in late June and mid-July, followed by junior students a week later.

Song Shi's transfer was arranged by his aunt, while Tang Ze's was arranged by his grandfather. Song Shi had already anticipated that they wouldn't be in the same class; he was in Class 1, and Tang Ze in Class 4.

The homeroom teacher of Class 1 was a young-looking woman. She stood up and slammed the door shut, cutting off Tang Ze's reluctant gaze as he looked back.

Jiang Man sat in her chair, looking at the tall, imposing transfer student. Two thin sheets of paper held in her hand: one listing his excellent grades, which everyone would praise, and the other detailing his misconduct at school, the most recent being assaulting a classmate and ending up in the hospital. A

high-achieving but problematic student? Jiang Man looked up at Song Shi again. The boy standing in front of her was tall, a height that wouldn't be out of place even in the north, but his eyes were downcast, and his hands were neatly at his sides.

He didn't look like a slacker at all; perhaps there was still hope. When the two of them came in, he had politely bowed and greeted them.

She glanced at the paper in her hand and realized Song Shi was already an adult. She asked in surprise, "You repeated a grade?" " I took

a leave of absence due to health reasons."

Jiang Man's hand tightened on the documents. Looking at his thin frame, she knew that with such good grades, any school would be scrambling to hire him, but this boy had traveled almost halfway across China, from the south to the north. Her tone immediately softened with concern: "Oh, I see. If you need anything in the future, just tell me. Don't be shy."

"We in Xia City lack many things, but the one thing we have in abundance is enthusiasm."

Song Shi followed behind Jiang Man, listening to the teacher's rambling: "You haven't been here long, have you? Tell me if you're having any trouble adjusting. I'll definitely help you out if I can."

"I know you southerners are generally shy. By the way, have your parents come to the north too?"

"No," Song Shi replied casually.

He had come all alone to such a faraway place, completely unfamiliar with everyone and everything.

She stopped and patted Song Shi on the shoulder: "If you have any problems with your studies or life, just tell me."

"Tell me if you've been bullied."

It was as if she had long forgotten that tainted piece of paper, treating Song Shi like a helpless child.

Song Shi nodded. The distance from the office to Class 1 wasn't far, but the closer they got to the classroom, the louder the noise became. After Jiang Man had told him countless times to come to her if he had any trouble, they arrived at the classroom door. Both the front and back doors were closed.

On the front door, there was a white note with crooked handwriting that read: "No Trespassing." However, these four words were crossed out in red, replaced by four large red characters:

"Brother, Please Come In!"

followed by a bold exclamation mark.

Song Shi's temples twitched; he suddenly remembered the auto repair shop from a few weeks ago. Ever since that night at the auto repair shop, Song Shi had been having nightmares for the past few weeks.

Every time, it ended with that guy in the vest chasing after him with a motorcycle seat, yelling, "Hey bro, wanna buy some jianbing guozi?"

So now, the word "bro" made him want to vomit.

Before Song Shi could even look away, a loud bang rang in his ears. It turned out Jiang Man had kicked the door open violently, the door slamming against the wall and bouncing back.

Class One fell silent. Song Shi was surprised; there were many footprints on the door.

"What's all the noise about! We're the noisiest class in the whole building! I can hear you all talking from the first floor. If you keep making noise, you're all going home!" Jiang Man walked in expressionlessly.

Song Shi twitched his lips: "..."

Then he saw Jiang Man walk out from under the podium, revealing a gentle smile: "Go in."

She resumed her usual demeanor, addressing the students in her seats: "We have a new transfer student in our class today, welcome."

After a moment of silence, the class erupted in cheers: "A handsome guy! Oh oh oh!"

"Brother Mu's position is probably in jeopardy."

"Stop!" Jiang Man patted the podium, and after the noise subsided, she pointed to an empty seat in the last row: "Song Shi, you can sit there for now, there's a seat available."

Song Shi nodded. From the moment he entered the classroom, everyone's eyes were on him, eager to sit down as quickly as possible, a strange sense of irritation rising within him.

After finally sitting down, Song Shi relaxed, glancing out of the corner of his eye at his new deskmate sleeping on the desk, feeling a surge of relief that he wouldn't have to interact with strangers anymore.

Jiang Man said a few more words and then left. Students at the beginning of the semester didn't have many classes, mostly self-study periods, so Song Shi had plenty of free time.

But after a while, the person at the table in front of him by the window patted the person sitting next to Song Shi: "Bro, it's only the first day, did you go steal chickens last night? Why are you so sleepy?" "

..."

No one responded, but the person didn't seem inclined to turn around, muttering a few words to himself before staring at Song Shi.

Just as Song Shi was about to explode, the person finally spoke: "Brother, where are you from?"

Song Shi just wanted to sit quietly, but patiently replied: "Southern."

"Where in the South?" the person pressed

, not waiting for Song Shi to answer. The person, who had been slumped over the table, looked up, expressionless at the person opposite him: "Say one more word and get out."

Song Shi, who had been reading with his head down, felt a sharp pain in his brow upon hearing that familiar voice.

"Alright, want breakfast? Want some jianbing (Chinese crepe)?" The person, unperturbed by the reprimand, fawned over him again.

Listening to their conversation, Song Shi felt a chill run down his spine. Were they crazy?

Song Shi looked down at his textbook, hoping the two idiots next to him would finish talking so they could go to sleep or turn away.

But reality didn't go as planned.

The person next to him seemed to finally wake up, whispering, "Hey? When did I get a deskmate?"

The person in front of him mumbled, his mouth stuffed with a biscuit, "Bro, Mantou arranged it, a transfer student."

Now both of them were staring at Song Shi. He felt like everyone he'd encountered since arriving here was insane. First, there was the crazy mechanic, then the homeroom teacher who changed faces like a Sichuan opera, and now a group of classmates who were driving him crazy. Even he himself was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Hiss, let me see, I think I've seen this person somewhere before..." The person next to him involuntarily moved their head closer to him.

Song Shi couldn't take it anymore. He turned his head to the side, and the person's big face was only a hand's width away from him. The face that had haunted his nightmares for the past few days gradually overlapped with the person in front of him.

His fist was faster than his brain, and the next second he punched the person's right cheek.

"Ah!" A scream and the sound of a desk overturning came from the back row, and the students who were bored during self-study all turned their heads to look back.

"Holy crap!"

"Brother Mu!"

Song Shi watched as the person next to him helped the person who had fallen to the ground up and sat back down in his seat. There was a clear red mark on his fair face. He felt a little impulsive, he thought.

Chen Zhoumu was a little dazed from the beating, the restlessness from not sleeping last night rising again. He pressed against the soft flesh of the right side of his mouth, his tone somewhat cold: "I said, bro..."

Their eyes met, a moment of stiffness.

Half a second later.

Chen Zhoumu casually waved his hand: "Classmates, don't worry, it's just a little squabble with my new deskmate."

Song Shi: "..." Could you please shut up?

The boy rearranged his seat, and the students in front, seeing that things had calmed down, turned their heads back, but a few still peeked.

"I told you I'd seen you before, the guy who fixes cars, don't you remember me?" He leaned closer again.

Song Shi looked at the mark on his face, a little regretful but still expressionless: "It wasn't intentional."

"Huh?" Chen Zhoumu tilted his head to listen.

Song Shi looked at him, his hair a little messy from the accident, and thought of the white Samoyed he kept back home, so adorably silly.

"I hit you, it wasn't intentional," Song Shi explained.

"What's the big deal? We've become friends through this, and besides, grown men are tough and can take a beating."

He leaned closer, his good buddy putting his arm around Song Shi's shoulder. This time, Song Shi didn't shake his hand off.

"Speaking of which, it's quite a coincidence. My name is Chen Zhoumu, what's yours?"

The person in front of him also turned to look at him: "My name is He Xi."

Amidst their expectant gazes, he said his name: "Song Shi."

*

After the bell rang, Song Shi took out his constantly ringing phone. The message was from his aunt, Zhang Wenwan. After Song Shi's biological mother passed away, no one cared for him except his aunt.

Wen [I've arranged everything over there for you. Don't worry about anything

in Yangcheng right now.] Wen [I'll take care of Song Jinming's situation.]

Wen [I'm worried you won't be used to it there, so I've arranged a double room for you.]

Wen [I've taken care of the teachers. The money will be deposited into your card on time. I know that bastard stopped giving you the card.]

S [Thank you, Aunt.]

Wen [Take care of yourself.]

Song Shi turned off his phone and put it in his bag, intending to go get lunch and then tidy up his dorm room. But in the blink of an eye, he saw Chen Zhoumu looking at him.

Song Shi frowned: "What?"

"Do you want your new deskmate to take you to try some local specialties?"

"No—" Before he could finish speaking, he saw Chen Zhoumu extend his right slender finger and tap on the obvious red mark, the meaning of which was extremely clear.

Song Shi had never seen such a person before, so he could only nod blankly.

Song Shi waited for Tang Ze at the entrance of Class 1 for a while. After a long while, he finally ran out of Class 4,

still out of breath: "I give up! The Class 4 homeroom teacher is completely out of his mind. The seat he assigned me was already taken, making it so awkward for other people to come here."

"By the way, how are things in Class 1..."

Tang Ze turned his head and saw Song Shi leaning against the railing. He changed the subject: "Hey—aren't you that thirty-eight-year-old Engineer Chen?"

"What thirty-eight years old?" He Xi came out of the nearby restroom.

"Nothing, let's go." Song Shi didn't want to talk about this anymore. If he could, he hoped to forget everything about the repair shop that night by tomorrow.

He walked away first, and Chen Zhoumu quickly followed with his long strides.

"Hey new deskmate, my face is all messed up, aren't you going to take responsibility?" Chen Zhoumu said shamelessly.

Song Shi glanced at him. "Didn't you say you were fine?"

"Intermittently."

"..."

Standing behind him, Tang Ze watched the two getting so close and suddenly felt a little threatened by his lackey status: "Hey! Wait for me!"

These two had only met twice, hadn't they? Why did they seem like old friends?

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