Life was as ordinary as ever. For a lot of people, that was just how it was.

For Lin Ruoxing, even more so.

Life wasn't exactly interesting... though maybe at a time like this, it wasn't supposed to be.

A lot of people online liked to say that when they looked back, their school days were what they missed most. Those green, youthful years mattered because they could never return to them.

But what time could anyone ever return to?

People moved forward. Time moved forward too, step by step.

How interesting was student life, really? Not that interesting. Studying, exams, grades, and then life.

The sky might shine brilliantly once in a while, but she never felt her own life was anything dazzling. Maybe, like many people said, that was because she hadn't fallen into a just-right romance at just the right age...

But was falling in love just for the sake of being in love really reliable?

Probably not.

Life wasn't romantic every second of every day. But the days still slipped by, little by little.

Like liquid gold scattered all over the ground. You picked up a little, and there was a little less. Then one windy day, it would all be blown away.

Lu Huai had been a little strange lately.

Maybe she suddenly thought of Lu Huai because, in her mind, he was a very interesting subject to observe.

Interesting didn't mean he was funny, or bizarre, or the kind of person who made you blurt out, wow, what a character—

Okay, not that at all.

By a lot of girls' standards, this boy definitely didn't count as interesting. Calling him ordinary was already being generous.

But sometimes, when people interacted, it wasn't about whether the other person was interesting.

It was about whether you could actually talk on the same wavelength...

Though he didn't seem very good at talking.

Oh. Never mind, then.

It wasn't completely absent, though.

More or less, he probably knew she had been observing him. Maybe that was why, back then after school, he had refused her offer to help.

A big part of the reason was probably because... she hadn't been sincere.

She had treated him as an object of observation, a sample for psychological analysis. Maybe... he had thought she was the kind of girl who liked to toy with human nature.

On that point... Lin Ruoxing didn't really deny it.

She had always liked looking at the people around her with a detached, indifferent gaze. She never got too close to anyone, but she never had especially bad relationships either.

Thinking about it that way, she really did seem a little cold and heartless.

But none of that... was something she had caused.

Through his essay, maybe what most people noticed was that this boy had an unusual talent for words.

What Lin Ruoxing saw, though, was a sensitive and distinctive heart.

Not being interesting to talk to, not seeming especially bright or sunny—maybe that was just because he had no way to express those feelings inside him.

There was a huge difference between someone who couldn't speak well and someone who couldn't think.

That's what Lin Ruoxing believed.

And then came the interesting part.

Because of one simple blackboard newspaper assignment—

Come to think of it, why had Teacher Xu given that task to Lu Huai?

Maybe... because she wanted him to take part in group activities? To change his withdrawn personality?

But that wasn't it at all...

That was social anxiety. How could something like this change it?

Did people really think life worked like anime? A few incidents, a few warm and caring words, one flash of truth that hit like lightning—and suddenly the person was transformed?

Suddenly enlightened?

That was just wishful thinking.

He only wanted to protect that small little world in his heart... probably.

At least, that was Lin Ruoxing's guess. She wasn't completely sure.

But what happened afterward more or less proved her right.

Jiang Yao had finished drawing the layout on Tuesday. But by Thursday, not a single bit of content had appeared.

Exactly as expected...

Lin Ruoxing thought Lu Huai was worth observing, not because she liked him all that much.

In fact... maybe not even a little.

It was because his inner world was so rich, yet in the end it might produce no real action at all. In business terms, the kind merchants liked to use, that meant conversion rate, efficiency, and things like that.

If thought couldn't turn into action or change, then it was just empty fantasy.

Honestly speaking, a person like that really wasn't worth expecting much from.

At noon on Thursday, during lunch break, the classroom was empty. After eating, Lin Ruoxing went back once and saw the boy standing blankly in front of the blackboard.

He stared at it in a daze, chalk in hand.

He looked at the board, raised his hand, then lowered it again.

Several times, his movements almost gave Lin Ruoxing the illusion that... he was finally about to start.

Noticing all this wasn't hard.

It looked like something he could do with just one lift of the hand.

To be honest, Lin Ruoxing couldn't imagine how difficult this was supposed to be.

But once social anxiety and this boy were put together, everything somehow started to feel a little more understandable...

As for what he thought about most before doing this, what kinds of things he imagined—she had never really considered that.

She only felt that it was difficult for him. As for how difficult, or what kind of effect it had on him mentally, she couldn't truly empathize.

That afternoon, the blackboard was still completely blank.

Lin Ruoxing nodded. This was exactly what she had expected. For some people, some things were always mountains they could never cross.

Maybe he would regret it much later.

But if he went back to that moment, he would probably still make the same choice.

That was what Lin Ruoxing thought, with an obvious kind of coldness.

She even saw Jiang Yao get angry for once. For a girl who was usually gentle to lose her temper like that...

Lin Ruoxing glanced at Lu Huai, who didn't resist at all and looked small and helpless.

That was a kind of skill too, she supposed.

Just not one worth showing off.

That was what Lin Ruoxing thought. Seeing how uneasy the boy had been these past few days, maybe she could have helped...

But...

It didn't seem all that necessary anymore.

If some things weren't experienced through bone-deep pain, how could anyone truly change?

Recording the changes in his inner journey might be a pretty good direction too.

So after school that day, he sat in the classroom for a long time, and Lin Ruoxing left.

She understood the boy's situation. He had to think. He had to question himself.

But in the end, it was still a battle against himself.

And most of the time, that battle wasn't won.

Friday.

The day of judging felt like a threshold.

Actually, not many people in class remembered that today was the day the blackboard newspapers would be evaluated.

Because whether in their daily lives or their private lives, it had nothing to do with them.

If it didn't concern them, they naturally didn't care.

Even things happening in their own class might matter less to them than a tiny patch in whatever game they were playing.

The ones who were going to the internet café still went.

The ones who were going to get caught by their parents still got caught.

Just like always.

The sun was bright today. Lin Ruoxing was carrying a faintly unusual mood, more or less. It wasn't that she wanted to see Lu Huai end up humiliated.

She wasn't so mean-spirited that she'd take pleasure in that.

She walked into campus with calm steps.

Sunlight fell in front of the school building. Golden light spilled over the stairs, sharply divided from the building's huge shadow.

It looked like the border between two worlds.

She remembered that when she was little, she often had the same odd feeling. The moment she stepped from sunlight into shadow, she'd suddenly feel like she had entered some other special world.

In truth, it was only a slight change in temperature.

"Lin Ruoxing?"

Someone called her name. It was a gentle, mature voice.

Lin Ruoxing stopped instinctively. She turned her head and saw Xu Zhixi beside her, her long hair washed in sunlight as if plated with a layer of gold.

Her homeroom teacher...

A woman who could very easily make boys this age start having all kinds of strange fantasies.

Lin Ruoxing nodded, then said politely, "Good morning, Teacher Xu..."

Xu Zhixi smiled and nodded. "Good morning to you too..."

Maybe that was all teacher-student conversation was in this era.

Their lives were too different. There wouldn't be much real closeness in their exchanges.

Talking like ordinary friends, chatting casually about daily life, was impossible too. Age created a gap, and the difference in status between teacher and student meant they were never going to understand each other that deeply.

But after they went up one floor, Lin Ruoxing still couldn't help herself. She lowered her voice and asked the woman beside her,

"Teacher Xu... why did you have him do the blackboard newspaper?"

Xu Zhixi turned to her with a smile. "Jiang Yao? She's always done this, hasn't she? And she's an art student."

"No, Teacher. I mean Lu Huai."

The moment Lu Huai's name came up, Lin Ruoxing clearly felt Xu Zhixi glance at her.

That look...

It was hard to describe.

There was no malice in it, but there was a trace of observation.

"Why can't it be him?" Xu Zhixi asked. "Is there some reason it can't be him?"

The attitude was different. Lin Ruoxing could tell.

When she thought Lin Ruoxing meant Jiang Yao, she gave reasons why Jiang Yao was suitable.

But when it came to Lu Huai, she turned the question back on her.

That was a signal.

The signal was that she thought Lin Ruoxing knew something about Lu Huai. Or rather, that she herself had been paying some kind of attention to him.

Which was normal enough.

She was the homeroom teacher, after all...

Lin Ruoxing still gave her answer.

"Teacher Xu probably knows a little too, right?"

"Hm?"

"He... probably has social anxiety..."

"So what does that have to do with this?"

"Maybe nothing... but it would affect him, right? It's Friday already. The judging is starting. If he doesn't finish it, it won't be a huge problem... but in the end, it still won't look good for the teacher."

"At your age, and you're already talking about adults saving face. Hehe..."

"I don't mean anything else by it... I'm just curious..."

"Mhm, you can be curious. But since you know that much, why not help him?"

Xu Zhixi looked at Lin Ruoxing with a smile and stopped at the entrance to Class Five's floor.

Lin Ruoxing smiled helplessly. "I asked him... He said he didn't need it. If I insisted anyway... everyone has their pride, right?"

"Very thoughtful of you. But just saying it out loud... that doesn't count as helping. Hehe..."

Xu Zhixi smiled and walked out. Lin Ruoxing watched her step into the corridor and stop by the back door of Class Five, where she had a direct view of the blackboard.

It was hard to describe that moment...

Lin Ruoxing only felt that by the time she had reached this point, she more or less understood Xu Zhixi's intention.

She couldn't say it directly.

But instinctively, she felt it probably wouldn't work.

After all... a lot of people needed a long time to fight with themselves inside.

For someone like Lu Huai, with social anxiety, it was hard to imagine him crossing that line.

What awaited her should have been the same blank blackboard as before.

The hope in her heart would fall through, and she would probably laugh at her own helplessness, her own powerlessness.

But at that moment...

That wasn't what she saw.

All she knew was that Xu Zhixi's expression was indescribably complicated.

Her red lips glimmered faintly and parted just a little.

And in her eyes...

It was as if light had bloomed.

Then, slowly, a smile spilled out.

Lin Ruoxing's heart began to waver. An impossible thought rose in her mind.

No way... right?

Surely... not...

Based on everything she had assumed, based on her simulation of Lu Huai's state of mind... no way, right?

Then why was Xu Zhixi making that expression...?

Driven by all that curiosity, Lin Ruoxing walked over.

Then she faced the blackboard and held her breath.

Whatever she had expected, whatever she had imagined, it all descended in that instant.

The blackboard she had predicted would be empty...

Was now covered in writing.

Bold and forceful...

As if filled with anger...

And when her eyes landed on the title at the very top of that dense block of text—

Her eyes widened.

“This...” She couldn’t get the words out. She didn’t know what to say, or how to calm the turmoil in her heart.

Those three simple words hit her with overwhelming force... and when paired with the image of that boy, with the way he looked...

It was simply beyond compare.

Maybe if it had come from anyone else, it would’ve felt only natural, but... coming from his hand...

Those three words.

“National Day - Festival.”