Chapter 5

Cheng Yanran and Chen Jing were both the kind of people who could accept others’ advice. After more than a month at school, they also realized that No. 9 High School really was full of talented students, and the competition was intense.

If they kept studying the way they used to, at best, they might end up somewhere in the middle or upper-middle ranks. But being top students would be impossible. In several big and small tests, many students scored far beyond what they had expected—especially Zhou Zhou. No matter how difficult the test, her English never dropped below 145, and her math was always above 140. Even her Chinese stayed steady around 130.

With these three main subjects, she had already secured a strong position.

Besides that, Zhou Zhou was also good at her other subjects—history, politics, and geography. Only biology hovered just around the passing line.

Overall, she was still among the top 10 in the whole grade.

Cheng Yanran was doing slightly better than Chen Jing—ranking between 50th and 100th in the grade.

Chen Jing had a serious problem with Chinese; he often failed it and was ranked between 100th and 200th.

Compared to Chinese, both of them thought that English was easier to improve. So, they started learning English the way Zhou Zhou had suggested, and they even bought the same math problem books she used.

Zhou Zhou only took the same route home as them for a short part of the way, so the three of them didn’t always run into each other.

But whenever they did, Chen Jing always went up to talk.

Chen Jing was cheerful and funny, good at lightening the mood. Every time he saw Zhou Zhou, he called her “Top Student! Top Student!”

Cheng Yanran didn’t talk much. He was more the quiet listener, though when he did speak, he usually got right to the point.

Zhou Zhou spoke just enough—not too much, not too little. She also made sure to keep a respectful distance when talking with male classmates, only discussing schoolwork.

As time passed and they interacted more, the three of them developed a kind of quiet, unspoken understanding.

For example, Zhou Zhou only rode her bike on sunny days. When it rained or was cloudy, her dad would drive her to school. Her family car was an older model of a basic domestic sedan—not fancy—but back then, having a car at all meant the family was doing fairly well. Cheng Yanran guessed that her family’s financial situation was pretty good.

The reason Cheng Yanran, a high school student, knew car models was because his family sold cars. His dad, Cheng Anzhi, often talked about the car business at home. Over time, Cheng Yanran picked up some knowledge and could recognize the popular car models on the market.

On mornings when she rode her bike, Zhou Zhou would usually buy a pancake and soy milk from a food stall near the school around 6:30 a.m.

So, during the last few weeks of the first semester of their first year, on sunny mornings, Chen Jing and Cheng Yanran would make a plan—not to eat breakfast at home, but to arrive at the food stall a few minutes early, buy pancakes, and wait for Zhou Zhou there.

They even bought breakfast for her a few times, saying it was to thank her for helping them with their studies, especially in English.

And yes, their English had already improved to around 130 points. If the test was easier, they could get over 130; if it was harder, they could still manage at least 125.

Improving in English was really about consistent effort over time. The two of them were already very happy with their progress. After all, high school English reading comprehension was much harder, and it wasn’t something you could master overnight. As long as they kept listening, reading, and writing regularly, they’d continue to improve.

About Buying Breakfast for Zhou Zhou

Cheng Yanran and Chen Jing never talked openly about buying breakfast for Zhou Zhou, but they took turns paying for it as if they had silently agreed to do so.

Actually, they didn’t buy breakfast for her many times, because in the winter, it often rained or snowed in H City. When that happened, Zhou Zhou didn’t ride her bike, so they didn’t get to meet her in the morning. After she tried to pay them back and they refused, she invited them for milk tea twice on Friday evenings as a thank-you.

Getting treated to milk tea by a classmate always made people happy.

There was a Coco milk tea shop on Henghu Street. Every Friday evening after night study, Zhou Zhou would go there to buy a cup of milk tea.

The first time she treated Cheng Yanran and Chen Jing, she asked, “I’m getting Ceylon roasted milk tea. What would you two like?”

The two boys—one tall and quiet with sharp features, the other darker-skinned and cheerful—looked at the list of more than 20 drink options with completely confused faces.

In the past few years, neither of them had ever stepped into a milk tea shop. They always thought milk tea was too sweet and made people feel sick.

But 16-year-old Zhou Zhou liked milk tea!

Cheng Yanran and Chen Jing didn’t know the difference between roasted milk tea, coconut milk, or regular milk tea. So they just said, “We’ll have the same as you.”

Zhou Zhou didn’t push them. She simply didn’t want to feel like she owed her classmates anything. Treating them to milk tea twice made her feel even.

But when Cheng Yanran took a sip of the warm, sweet milk tea, he felt it was actually pretty nice once in a while.

He smiled and thanked Zhou Zhou.

Chen Jing, on the other hand, joked loudly, “Top Student, next time I want to try green tea roasted milk!”

Cheng Yanran wasn’t interested in green tea flavor. He liked the Ceylon one just fine. So he said, “I’ll treat next Friday. Is that okay with you, Zhou Zhou?”

Zhou Zhou agreed right away.

It had already been one full semester of high school. Though the three of them were good at different subjects, they often helped each other and had become pretty familiar classmates. But Zhou Zhou still felt she needed to treat one more time to return the kindness from the pancake breakfasts. So she said, “Alright, you treat next Friday, I’ll treat the Friday after.”

“No way, I’ll treat next Friday,” Chen Jing suddenly said.

No way he was going to let a girl keep paying.

But unfortunately, they only got to do this once or twice before the semester ended.

In the final exams, Cheng Yanran and Chen Jing both made big improvements in English—one scored 136, the other 132.

Zhou Zhou still got a high score of 148.

In terms of total score and ranking, Zhou Zhou was first in the class and fourth in the whole grade.

Cheng Yanran moved up to the top 50 in the grade, and Chen Jing got into the top 100.

Both of them really enjoyed spending time with Zhou Zhou, the smart and down-to-earth girl.

On the last day before winter break, Cheng Yanran even went out of his way to stop Zhou Zhou as she was leaving the classroom.

“Zhou Zhou, are you going to Xinhua Bookstore during the break to buy study guides?”

“I am.”

“When are you planning to go?” Cheng Yanran asked.

Chen Jing also caught on and added, “Top Student, let’s go together.”

Zhou Zhou hesitated a little. It didn’t feel quite right going out with two male classmates. But she also didn’t want to push away friends who were genuinely kind. So she said, “I’ll finish the homework the teacher gave us first. Maybe in a week. If it doesn’t snow, how about next Sunday?”

“Sounds good,” Cheng Yanran nodded. Then he asked, “Do you have a phone? Can you give us your number so we can contact you?”

He had seen her using a phone to listen to English before.

Zhou Zhou gave them her number. Both boys took out their phones to type it in carefully. Cheng Yanran saved her as just “Zhou Zhou,” while Chen Jing saved her as “Top Student.”