For harmony, this section will be replaced with a short story, and let your imagination fill in the rest...
"Hey, Xiao Hei, stop doing the problems and pass me the water bottle," said the girl with a ponytail, pushing her deskmate sitting by the aisle. There was still one minute before the class bell was due to ring, there was just enough time to get some water.
The boy looked up at the girl, said nothing, and silently continued working on his problems, clearly unwilling to engage with her.
The girl wanted to say more, but at that moment, the pre-class bell rang. She clenched her fists tightly, muttering under her breath, "Stingy, grumpy guy, get up now, I need to get through!"
This time, the boy stood up. Once he did, the girl felt the pressure; she was just a fifteen-year-old high school girl, standing at 155 cm, which is pretty normal, right? What’s not normal is this boy; who knows what he ate, but at just freshman year he had grown to 185 cm. As he moved to his seat, she gloomily grabbed the water bottle inside, but was startled by its weight: "Huh?"
"Class has started, no talking," the boy glanced at her.
The girl curved her lips upward, her joy evident on her face.
On such a cold day, if there wasn’t a warm cup of water, she would freeze to death.
The math teacher was the strictest one, his favorite activity was to hammer down on students who didn’t listen during class, slept, or played with their phones.
Of course, neither the boy nor the girl were among them...
The boy was the class top scholar, liked by all teachers, but... he liked to do homework during class, yet still managed to follow what the teacher was talking about, which infuriated the teacher, but he was powerless to change it.
The girl, on the other hand, was a seriously lively little girl, but alas, she couldn’t understand a thing.
She claimed she used to understand, but one day after a bad stomach and a trip to the restroom, everything sounded like gibberish when she came back... and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Xiao Bai, you really live up to your name," the math teacher watched Xiao Bai taking notes seriously and also listening attentively to the class, yet when called upon she knew nothing. Because of her seriousness, her eyesight was still not bad, so she was moved to a middle seat by the door, against the wall.
The idea was that pairing her with the top scholar, since both of them were well-behaved, they could potentially help each other progress academically.
But what happened? The top scholar was silent and reserved, not even a kick would make him let out a peep.
"Come on, let’s have your deskmate answer this one." Xiao Bai stood up shorter than her deskmate sitting down, and looked gloomily at him, having to tilt her head back to see him.
True to his title, the top scholar, though his hand was on a physics paper, stood up and gave a fluent answer.
"Sit down, everyone sit down," the math teacher banged on the desk, "Listen to me, you all made it to high school, but no one listens in class. If you are not listening, at least learn from the top student in our grade, right? He can be doing other things, and still manage to answer the questions correctly..."
A customary praise, the girl gave her deskmate a thumbs-up: "You’re really amazing."
Seeing her little hand red with cold, the top scholar grabbed it without knowing why.
The girl was startled momentarily, and for some reason didn’t pull her hand back. Instead, her face turned bright red as she continued taking notes.
Winter passed quickly, and spring arrived.
Every year at this time, freshmen face a significant issue, that is the division between arts and sciences.
At that moment, the girl stood in the office, facing her homeroom teacher who was also the physics teacher.
"Xiao Bai, you see, your humanities are so good, it is really not wise for you to study science. Look, your scores in physics and chemistry combined, plus math, are not as high as your history score. Isn’t studying science a waste?" the teacher sincerely said.
"Teacher, my mom said that studying science makes it easier to find a job and pursue a professional career," the girl argued confidently.
"But with your science scores, whether you can get into university is a problem. Aren’t you joking with your own future? If you can’t even get into university, how will you find a good job? Or are you just settling to degenerate, planning to randomly marry someone and become a full-time housewife when you reach the right age?" The teacher was genuinely concerned for the student, noticing how pretty and earnest the girl was, aside from her dreadful science grades...
"Nowadays, women should also hold up half the sky. If you can’t find a good job, even if you get married, you’ll be looked down upon, and your future in-laws will also..."
At that moment, the boy entered the office holding a stack of papers. Hearing the teacher’s words, he didn’t say anything but slightly raised his eyebrows and set down the papers.
However, the teacher stopped him. "Don’t you think so, too? In the future, will you also look for a partner with similar educational level who can earn their own money? Would you support someone who can’t do anything?"
The girl’s face, which had been determined before, crumbled a bit when she saw the boy, fear evident in her expression.
The boy smiled, "My parents both like her quite a bit; they wouldn’t look down on her." He confidently took the girl’s hand in front of the teacher, "As for college? With my help, even if she can’t rank among the top few in the grade, getting into a university won’t be a problem."
Not only did the teacher’s mouth drop open in surprise, but the girl was also so astounded that she couldn’t contain herself.
Normally, apart from helping her fetch water or bringing her snacks, the boy hadn’t overstepped any boundaries, except for that one time he held her hand.
And it was because of that hand-holding, she thought that the boy hadn’t said anything because he felt she wasn’t good enough, so now, hearing his words, she was stunned.
"Teacher, we will still be sitting together in the future, so we’ll need your help, but her..." the boy flashed a confident smile, "I’ll teach her myself."
Then, holding the girl’s hand, he walked out of the office, leaving the teacher flabbergasted.
The other teachers in the office were also stunned, "Is this class about to explode? The top student in the grade brazenly admitting to a relationship in front of the teacher?"
The class teacher helplessly covered his forehead.
"Wuwuwu, I’m scared to check..." Sitting in front of the phone, the girl looked tearfully at her parents.
Since the college entrance exam ended, the boy hadn’t mentioned anything about the results, which made her very anxious.
"Why are you so timid? Get up," her mother commanded authoritatively, pulling her up, "I really don’t know where you got the courage to admit to a relationship in front of the teacher in your first year."
Borrowed from Xiao Hei...
The girl pursed her lips.
Her mother hadn’t even picked up the phone when it rang.
She instinctively answered the call, "..." but didn’t speak.
"Haven’t checked yet? Congratulations, you should be in the same city as me." The boy’s pleasant voice came through, followed by a soft cough, "If nothing unexpected happened, we should be in the same university."
"What?" the girl’s mother was stunned.
"...Uh, hi Auntie," the boy quickly responded.
Watching the two celebrate their university acceptance together, the physics teacher was also deeply moved, tears falling, "I didn’t expect this at all, I really didn’t, I even taught a Top Scholar."
The Top Scholar, at that moment, was leading a very nervous girl toward a table of people.
"Xiao Hei, I need to go to the bathroom..."
The boy said nothing but continued to pull her along.
They reached a table of people: "Dad, Mom, this is my girlfriend, you’ve seen her pictures..."