1

At six in the morning, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

Lin Xiao, with a mess of hair, crawled out from under the covers. In winter, the warmth of the bed was incredibly precious.

The knocking on the door continued insistently, while the other roommates slept like dead pigs.

Irritated from being woken up, Lin Xiao pounded the bed and cursed, then angrily opened the door. Outside stood Su Bai, his delicate little nose frozen red, looking blank as he said, ‘I’m looking for Lin Xiao.’

Lin Xiao was instantly furious: ‘Are you blind?’

Su Bai squinted and leaned in closer: ‘You are Lin Xiao.’

Lin Xiao: ‘No kidding.’

Su Bai felt a bit embarrassed: ‘Sorry, I’m not wearing my glasses.’

Lin Xiao: ‘Then why don’t you put them on?’

Su Bai: ‘You said I look ugly in glasses.’

Lin Xiao: ‘…’

Su Bai handed him a bag of buns: ‘I bought you breakfast. Eat it while it’s hot.’

Su Bai: ‘It’s snowing heavily outside, and it’s really cold. You shouldn’t leave the dorm today.’

Lin Xiao looked at Su Bai’s rosy, frozen little face, and his heart stirred. Just as he was about to reach out to warm him up, Su Bai started nagging in an old-fashioned tone again: ‘You should focus on writing your paper in the dorm. And don’t take the highlights I marked for you last time lightly. Make sure to study them…’

Lin Xiao expressionlessly slammed the door shut, tossed the cold buns onto the table, and crawled back into his chilly bed to catch a little more sleep.

‘Fuck! What a retard!.’

2

Actually, Lin Xiao and Su Bai have been classmates since high school.

One is the most handsome in the entire school, known as the school heartthrob, while the other is the top student—the school academic genius.

The academic genius is actually quite good-looking too, but his big eyes are always hidden behind thick glasses, and he often looks a bit silly.

Su Bai had always had a crush on Lin Xiao. Before Lin Xiao’s seventeenth birthday, Su Bai secretly asked Lin Xiao’s friends what he liked.

Lin Xiao found out about this from his friend Li Chao.

Li Chao: ‘That guy Su Bai asked me what you like for a birthday gift.’

Lin Xiao coldly replied: ‘Oh, what did you say?’

Li Chao grinned mischievously: ‘I told him to tie himself in a bow and give himself to you as a present.’

Lin Xiao’s face turned red, and he cursed, ‘Fuck you!’

Li Chao nudged him with his elbow and said, ‘Hey, don’t you like guys too? I think you two would make a great match. One’s good-looking, and the other’s smart.’

Lin Xiao: ‘Get lost, get lost, get lost!!!’

After evening self-study that day, Su Bai called out to Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao nervously rubbed his nose and asked, ‘What’s up?’

Su Bai: ‘Is it your birthday today?’

Lin Xiao put his hands in his pockets and replied, ‘Ah, yeah.’

With flushed cheeks, Su Bai pulled out a large gift box from under his desk. He solemnly handed it to Lin Xiao and said, ‘Happy birthday.’

Lin Xiao licked his lips, also solemnly accepting it, and said, ‘…Thank you.’

The classmates who hadn’t left the classroom yet saw this scene and instantly went wild—girls screamed, and the boys started teasing.

Lin Xiao impatiently tore off the gorgeous wrapping of the gift box, revealing a plain white box in front of him.

It was heavy. What could it be?

Lin Xiao lifted the lid, and suddenly, he was dazzled by a bright purple-golden light.

—Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations.

—The complete set.

Su Bai’s gaze was sharp and focused. ‘I notice you don’t usually do exercises, so I’m giving you this set. I think it’ll come in handy.’

Lin Xiao’s face turned red amidst the classmate’s hysterical laughter.

‘Damn retard!’

3

Su Bai was just this kind of creature with a unique character.

In high school, there was a water dispenser in the classroom, so students didn’t need to bring water to school, just a water cup would do.

So, on Su Bai’s desk, there was always a huge white enamel cup, with the portrait of the great leader printed on it, and the five bold characters beneath it:

‘SERVE THE PEOPLE‘

One day, Lin Xiao accidentally dropped his water cup, and it broke.

The next morning, when Lin Xiao entered the classroom, he found that a large white enamel cup had appeared on his desk.

Lin Xiao: …

Su Bai turned around from the front desk, pushed up his glasses, and said seriously, ‘Enamel cups are drop-resistant.’

Lin Xiao stared at him wide-eyed.

Su Bai, worried that Lin Xiao might not get it, added with a sense of pride, ‘I got it for you.’

Lin Xiao squeezed out a few words between his teeth: ‘I know. Who else would it be but you?’

Just then, Li Chao rushed into the classroom, his bag swinging, and as he passed by the two of them, he slapped Lin Xiao’s shoulder hard and teased, ‘Hey, damn, it’s a couple’s cup!’

Lin Xiao yelled angrily, ‘Fuck off!’

Li Chao laughed loudly and ran away.

At this point, Su Bai had already turned back to his work.

Lin Xiao glanced at the enamel cup on his desk, then shifted his gaze to the one on Su Bai’s desk.

From then on, Lin Xiao started using the enamel cup to drink water.

He cursed inwardly as he drank.

‘Goddamn retard!’

4

After his seventeenth birthday, Lin Xiao noticed that for the past few days, Su Bai had been skipping lunch.

He would sit alone in the classroom, nibbling on a piece of bread while doing exercises.

Lin Xiao pulled out the Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations that had been buried deep in his desk and took a look.

It turns out that buying the whole set was pretty expensive.

Lin Xiao’s family was well-off, so he spent money freely without a second thought. But Su Bai, on the other hand, seemed to be quite frugal.

So that day, Lin Xiao bought two sets of burgers, fries, and cola at the fast food restaurant by the school gate. He sat down in the empty seat next to Su Bai, placed the food on the table, and said coolly, ‘Eat.’

Su Bai adjusted his glasses, his face turning red. ‘No need, I have bread.’

Lin Xiao was straightforward and blunt. ‘Hurry up.’

Su Bai bit his lip, still not moving.

Lin Xiao rubbed his face. ‘I accidentally bought an extra one.’

Su Bai looked at him with a worried expression and said, ‘You’re really careless. Can’t you return it?’

Lin Xiao took a deep breath, gritting his teeth, and said, ‘I can’t return it. Just eat it!’

Su Bai hesitated for a moment, then started eating with Lin Xiao. ‘Don’t pick out the lettuce and onions.’

Lin Xiao was irritated. ‘I don’t like it.’

Su Bai muttered softly, ‘Hey, you know, haven’t you heard the saying, ‘Plowing the fields at noon, with sweat dropping onto the soil’? The farmers work hard to grow the lettuce and onions, and you’re just throwing them away like this.’

Lin Xiao smiled slightly and said, ‘I know plowing the fields at noon.’

Su Bai ignored his teasing and kept going, ‘And this picky eating isn’t good for you. You only eat meat and carbs, no veggies at all, and you’re drinking Coke. Look, you’re even picking out the little bits of greens. This kind of habit… you’ll easily…’

Lin Xiao slammed the table with a loud bang.

Su Bai shrank his neck in fright, blinking nervously, then stubbornly finished his sentence: ‘…lacking vitamins.’

Lin Xiao gritted his teeth and placed the lettuce he had picked out back into the paper box.

Su Bai wore a kind expression. ‘Ah, that’s more like it…’

Lin Xiao slammed the table again. ‘Shut up!’

‘Goddamn retard!’

5

When Lin Xiao was in high school, World of Warcraft was becoming very popular.

He got hooked on the game and often skipped afternoon self-study to sneak over the wall and play at an internet café.

One day, he jumped down from the wall excitedly and landed on Su Bai, who was waiting below.

Lin Xiao stared in confusion at Su Bai, who was pinned under him.

Su Bai’s glasses had fallen off, his collar was askew, and his large, innocent eyes blinked repeatedly: ‘Lin Xiao? I knew I’d catch you.’

Lin Xiao swallowed nervously but deliberately stayed on top of Su Bai: ‘So, you were waiting here to catch me?’

Su Bai nodded. ‘I noticed you always skip class at this time.’

Lin Xiao kept his eyes on Su Bai’s face, now without his glasses. ‘…Oh.’

Su Bai struggled to pull out his hand, pinned under Lin Xiao. He adjusted his glasses and said, ‘Get off me, you’re crushing me.’

Lin Xiao knocked Su Bai’s glasses off with a grin. ‘I’m not getting off.’

Su Bai put his glasses back on, looking serious. ‘Your habit of skipping class needs to be addressed. Do you know your grades are in the lower half of the class? You failed biology and chemistry in the last exam, barely passed English, and only did okay in physics. And you still have the nerve…’

Lin Xiao raised his hand and knocked Su Bai’s glasses off again, chuckling. ‘Su Bai, you really keep track of my grades, huh?’

Su Bai said seriously, ‘I’m the class monitor. It’s my responsibility to keep an eye on my classmates’ studies.’

Lin Xiao whistled, replying casually, ‘Class monitor, you look way better without your glasses.’

Su Bai pushed his glasses up for the third time, looking dignified. ‘At our age, we shouldn’t focus too much on looks. We should prioritize our studies first. As for everything else, we’ll think about it when we get to college.’

Lin Xiao immediately gave up, stood up, patted his pants, and walked towards the internet café, muttering angrily, ‘Fuck!’

Su Bai quickly got up, hands behind his back, following Lin Xiao with a serious expression, lecturing him all the way.

Lin Xiao, frustrated, snapped, ‘What does me skipping self-study have to do with you? Why do you care so much?’

Su Bai adjusted his glasses and replied seriously, ‘If you keep skipping class like this, how are we ever going to get into the same university?’

Lin Xiao: … ‘Pfft! Who wants to go to the same university as you? Am I looking for trouble?’

Su Bai lowered his eyes, silent.

Lin Xiao gritted his teeth, took a couple of steps forward, then suddenly turned back, ruffled Su Bai’s hair with a big hand, and said, ‘Come on, let’s go back to school.’

Su Bai paused, surprised. ‘Huh? You’re not going to the internet café anymore?’

Lin Xiao, expressionless: ‘I forgot to bring money.’

Su Bai pointed to a corner of a pink bill sticking out of Lin Xiao’s pocket: ‘Isn’t this a hundred?’

Lin Xiao’s forehead twitched with veins as he angrily stuffed the bill back in, saying, word by word: ‘Su Bai, are you freaking stupid?’

Su Bai, confused: ‘I’m not stupid.’

Too embarrassed to even look at him properly, Lin Xiao could only turn and run back to school at full speed.

Damn retard!!!

6

In the blink of an eye, another Valentine’s Day arrived.

Despite the heavy workload in high school, students still had to go to school during the winter break.

That day, Su Bai came to school, touched his drawer, and took out a flat gift box from inside. He opened it, and inside was a high-quality men’s scarf, seemingly sprayed with some perfume.

Lin Xiao, who sat at the back, cleared his throat softly and nervously kept flipping through his book.

Su Bai adjusted his glasses, turned to look at Lin Xiao, and said affirmatively, ‘You gave it.’

Lin Xiao mumbled something indistinctly.

Su Bai smiled and said, ‘Thank you. Happy Valentine’s Day.’

Lin Xiao awkwardly responded, his head lowered as he frantically flipped through the pages, the sound of the book rustling loudly. He muttered to himself, ‘Damn, this question is really hard.’

Su Bai silently moved closer, their foreheads almost touching, their breaths mingling together.

Lin Xiao’s ears and neck turned red, his mind in chaos. He thought, ‘If we move just two centimeters closer, we’ll kiss. Should I do it in the classroom? The teacher hasn’t come yet, so if it happens, it happens. Damn, damn, damn. Why is he suddenly so close? Is he hinting that I should kiss him…’

Su Bai stared at the practice book in Lin Xiao’s hand and straightforwardly asked, ‘Which question do you find really difficult?’

Lin Xiao was caught off guard: ‘…Huh?’

Su Bai pushed up his glasses and stepped back to a safer distance. ‘I looked through it once, and it’s not difficult at all.'”

Lin Xiao angrily rubbed his face. ‘You leaned in just now to look at the questions?’

Su Bai replied confidently, ‘Yeah. Let me tell you, the questions in this practice book are all basic. If you find even these difficult, it just means your foundation isn’t solid enough. Have you memorized the concepts and formulas in the book? If not, it won’t help much to do the exercises…’

Lin Xiao, frustrated, poked a hole in the practice book with the tip of his pen. ‘Shut up!’

Su Bai, acting all serious, said, ‘Look at you. I’m just telling you where your problem is, and you’re not even willing to listen.’

Lin Xiao was so angry that he slammed his pen down and stormed out.
‘Fucking retard!’

7

When Lin Xiao returned to the classroom after his anger had subsided, he found Su Bai calmly working on his problems as if nothing had happened.

He was wearing the new scarf Lin Xiao had given him around his neck.

Lin Xiao’s anger immediately disappeared.

He passed by Su Bai’s seat and ruffled his hair lightly.

Lin Xiao asked eagerly, ‘Ahem, Su Bai, why are you wearing a scarf in the classroom?’

Su Bai looked a little puzzled. ‘It keeps me warm. The classroom is so cold.’

Lin Xiao pressed on, ‘So, you’re wearing this scarf just because you’re cold?’

Su Bai, confused, responded, ‘Of course. Why else would I wear it? Because it’s hot?’

Lin Xiao, with a blank expression, replied, ‘Oh.’

In his mind, he thought: Can’t it be because of me!?

‘You fucking retard!’

8

Although he wasn’t sure why, Su Bai noticed that Lin Xiao had been sulking the entire day.

Before the evening study session began, Su Bai cautiously asked, ‘Lin Xiao, are you upset today?’

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes and coldly replied, ‘Mm.’

Su Bai earnestly consoled, ‘Although your test results weren’t good today, don’t get discouraged. There are still many days left until the college entrance exam. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort, nothing is impossible…’

Lin Xiao glared fiercely at the fool in front of him and said, ‘Damn it, I really think that some things are just impossible right now.’

Su Bai gave him a smile full of positivity: ‘Don’t think like that. You’re actually very smart, you just don’t work hard enough.’

Lin Xiao: ‘…’

Su Bai calmly took out a large box from under the desk and said, ‘Actually, I also prepared a gift for you. I was planning to give it to you after school.’

Lin Xiao was excited for three seconds, then instantly calmed down: ‘It’s not another Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulated Tests, right? I’m telling you, if it’s that again, I won’t even bother opening it.’

Su Bai sighed helplessly, ‘How could it be? I already know you don’t like that.’

Lin Xiao let out a breath of relief, and the calmness that Su Bai had instilled in him began to stir again. He quickly and eagerly unwrapped the gift box.

— Complete Guide to the Standard Curriculum Textbook, the full set.

— Chief editor: Wang Houxiong.

Lin Xiao nearly fainted.

Su Bai laughed, ‘Haha, surprised?’

Lin Xiao: ‘…’

Su Bai adjusted his glasses and explained, ‘Last time I gave you Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulated Tests, and I saw you barely worked on it. You didn’t like it, and I understand that. After all, your foundation is weak right now, so doing a large number of questions might not suit you. You found even those basic questions difficult this morning. So, with this set of Complete Guide to the Standard curriculum Textbook, start by familiarizing yourself with it. Actually, in the exam, every question we encounter can be found in the textbook, so never underestimate that thin little book…’

Lin Xiao yelled in agony, ‘Su Bai—!!!’

Su Bai kindly replied, ‘Ah, I’m here. Did you listen carefully? No need to shout like that.’

Lin Xiao was seething with anger. He slammed the desk hard and ran out of the classroom again!

‘You damn retard!’

Retard, retard, retard!!!