The atmosphere during the second semester of sophomore year was even more oppressive and tense than anyone had imagined.
Ever since they had untangled the knot in their hearts on that rainy night, Zhou Huai'an had completely become a different person. He no longer skipped class or hung out with punks from outside school. He had even abandoned his usual careless stride, one hand tucked in his pocket, and now walked around clutching a thick copy of *Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Practice Tests* to his chest.
However, going from a street punk to an absolute academic ace was anything but easy.
During the last self-study period on Tuesday afternoon, the classroom was so quiet that the only sound was the soft scratching of pen tips across paper.
In the back row of Class 3, Zhou Huai'an sat ramrod straight, glaring fiercely at the long, complex English reading-comprehension sentence in front of him. A vein at his temple throbbed faintly. His dark circles were heavy, his deep eyes webbed with red, and his long fingers squeezed his black gel pen until it squeaked.
“Group Leader Xia...” Zhou Huai'an suddenly knocked his head against the desk with a dull thud. His voice was hoarse, edged with the desperation of someone teetering on the brink of a breakdown. “My brain's about to explode. What even is this English? How can one sentence have three relative clauses stacked onto it? Choosing between the sciences and humanities is the biggest tribulation of my entire life.”
Xia Zhifeng turned her head and looked at the boy beside her. The usually arrogant teenager was sprawled across his desk like a giant dog, scratching at his ears and hair in frustration. She couldn't help laughing.
She picked up the flexible plastic ruler from her desk and lightly tapped the top of Zhou Huai'an's head. “Quit pretending you're dead. Who was it that said he was going to break into the top twenty in the grade before the end of sophomore year?”
Zhou Huai'an raised his head slightly, resting his chin on his arm as he gave her a resentful look. “You provoked me into it...”
Xia Zhifeng smiled and shook her head. Then she reached into her pocket, pulled out a shelled White Rabbit milk candy, and held it directly to his lips. “Open up.”
Zhou Huai'an lifted an eyelid and obediently bit the candy into his mouth. The rich milky flavor instantly spread across his tongue.
Miraculously, the boy's irritable mood was soothed by that one piece of candy. He snorted, picked up his pen again, and muttered under his breath, “For the sake of the candy... I'll do two more reading passages.”
A classmate sitting in front secretly turned around and caught the scene, then couldn't help snickering. Who could have imagined that the once-famous school bully Zhou Huai'an, known throughout the school for his violent temper, had now been completely tamed by Xia Zhifeng?
The last period on Wednesday afternoon was the rare class meeting.
Mr. Zhang, their homeroom teacher, carried a teacup to the podium and patted the blackboard. “All right, quiet down, everyone! Next month is our school's annual Sophomore School Fair, also known as the school anniversary market. This is the last major event we'll have before everyone buckles down for the final sprint of junior year. Every class needs to prepare a booth to earn money for the class fund. Put your heads together and discuss what our Class 3 should sell.”
The moment he said this, the classroom, stifled for so long, erupted!
“Let's sell handmade dried flowers! Elegant and artistic!” the girl class president suggested.
“Give me a break. It'll be over ninety degrees on the day of the school fair. Who's going to be in the mood to look at dried flowers? They're expensive to make, and no one will buy them!” someone immediately shot back.
“Then let's run a haunted house! Something exciting!”
“Class 2 next door signed up with the discipline office to run a haunted house yesterday. Repeating them would be pointless.” Mr. Zhang shook his head.
“Then let's sell dry-mixed noodles? Everyone can have breakfast after they get tired from walking around!”
“No, no. The health teacher just emphasized at a meeting that selling hot food is strictly prohibited. If someone gets diarrhea, who's going to take responsibility?” Mr. Zhang rejected the idea again.
The class argued fiercely, with one bizarre proposal after another surfacing amid the uproar. The noise made Zhou Huai'an's head buzz.
He had spent the entire day being tortured by advanced math and English. All he wanted was to catch up on some sleep during the class meeting, but the discussion around him grew louder and louder, making it impossible for him to fall asleep.
At the end of his patience, Zhou Huai'an raised a hand and pounded the desk twice. Bang, bang.
The classroom instantly quieted down. Everyone turned to look at the “former school bully.”
Zhou Huai'an rubbed his temples, his expression cool. His tone carried a natural business instinct and decisiveness.
“You're all so damn loud. Who's going to sell handmade flowers and dry-mixed noodles? What a waste of time.”
He stood up, one hand in his pocket, and swept his gaze over Mr. Zhang at the podium and the entire class.
“The school fair is in mid-May, when the temperature will be at least ninety degrees. After walking around for half an hour, everyone will be parched. Add in the demand for photo ops and check-ins, and hand-shaken lemon tea with high-appeal cut desserts is the only thing people will absolutely need.”
Zhou Huai'an casually took a draft page from the back of Xia Zhifeng's notebook. His long fingers flew across the blackboard, writing down several lines of figures.
“A pound of fragrant lemons costs five yuan. A bag of black tea costs three. With concentrated fruit syrup and ice, one cup of hand-shaken lemon tea costs no more than two and a half yuan to make. We can price it at eight to ten yuan, giving us a gross margin of over seventy percent. For the desserts, we can sign a short-term distribution deal directly with a well-known bakery outside the school. We'll get wholesale prices with zero inventory risk.”
“The process is simple, the division of labor is clear, production will move fast, and the check-in rate will be high. In three hours, we'll clean out the wallets of the entire school.”
The boy's handwriting was wild and razor-sharp, while his logic was terrifyingly clear.
All of Class 3 fell silent.
Even Mr. Zhang at the podium stared at the cost-analysis chart on the blackboard, dumbfounded. Then he suddenly slapped the podium and nodded excitedly. “Excellent! This is incredible! Zhou Huai'an, your business mind is unbelievable! Then it's settled! Our class will sell hand-shaken lemon tea and desserts! Zhou Huai'an will be responsible for procuring the ingredients and controlling costs!”
Zhou Huai'an sat back down and raised an eyebrow at the stunned Xia Zhifeng beside him. With a hint of smugness, he said under his breath, “What are you looking at? It's nothing.”
At nine-thirty that night, the bell signaling the end of evening self-study cut through the quiet of the campus.
The sophomore students gradually packed their bags and left the academic building. Golden lamplight covered the tree-lined paths across campus.
Xia Zhifeng and Zhou Huai'an walked side by side along the road leading to the student dormitories. Their pace was slow. The night breeze gently tousled the boy's hair and stretched their shadows long across the concrete path.
At the start of the second semester of sophomore year, Xia Zhifeng had moved into the school dormitory. Her parents hoped she could spend less time commuting back and forth each day and devote more energy to her academic sprint.
What surprised everyone was that Zhou Huai'an, who had originally lived in a huge villa downtown and possessed such a rebellious personality, had also forced the principal to give him a spot in the boys' dormitory during the very same week Xia Zhifeng moved in.
“Zhou Huai'an.” Xia Zhifeng turned her head and looked curiously at the tall boy beside her. “Normally, whenever school group activities come up, you can't even be bothered to look at them. Why were you so enthusiastic about the school fair at the class meeting today? You even calculated the cost controls so precisely.”
Zhou Huai'an's steps faltered.
Moonlight spilled across his deep, sharply defined features. In the night, an unnatural emotion faintly colored the boy's ears.
He turned his head away and coughed awkwardly. His voice was low and carried a hidden tenderness.
“...Now that you're living at school, what's the point of going home alone every day to that big, empty house?”
Xia Zhifeng's heart gave a faint jolt.
Zhou Huai'an stopped and turned to look at her. His eyes were utterly serious in the darkness.
“And besides, the school fair...” he said. “It's the only day in our entire sophomore year when we can openly have fun all day. I want to spend it with you. I want us to stand together at the same booth, somewhere everyone can see us.”
The boy's frankness and partiality surged into Xia Zhifeng's heart like a rush of warmth.
Since her rebirth, she had grown used to taking care of him and tutoring him. Yet this boy had been using his own way—carefully, cautiously, but with unwavering determination—to draw closer to her world.
Xia Zhifeng looked at him, a sweet smile blooming in her eyes. Beneath the tree shadows on the deserted path, she reached out first, slid her hand down along his sleeve, and gently hooked her fingers around his cool ones.
Zhou Huai'an's body jerked. Then, without hesitation, he turned his hand over and clasped her soft hand tightly in his palm, all five fingers locking around hers.
The night breeze was soft, and the moonlight was beautiful. At that moment, their hearts drew incredibly close.
From that day on, Class 3's preparations for the school fair officially began.
However, the coursework during the second semester of sophomore year was demanding. Although Mr. Zhang supported the event, he was also deeply worried that everyone would neglect their studies because of the preparations.
As both class president and academic ace, Xia Zhifeng displayed a composure and coordinating ability far beyond her years.
On Friday morning, Xia Zhifeng entered the teachers' office carrying a detailed *Class 3 Schedule and Planning Chart*.
“Mr. Zhang, I've put together a schedule for preparing for the school fair.” Xia Zhifeng placed the chart in front of him, her voice clear. “Every Tuesday and Thursday, the entire class must strictly follow the regular evening self-study schedule. No one is allowed to slack off and discuss the event. In exchange, I'd like to ask you for permission to let everyone spend the first half hour of evening self-study on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays discussing the school fair details and mixing test drinks at the back of the classroom.”
Mr. Zhang looked at the chart's minute-by-minute schedule, then at the determination in Xia Zhifeng's eyes. Satisfied, he closed the lid of his teacup.
“Sure! Zhifeng, with you holding down the fort as class president, I couldn't be more confident! We'll do it your way. I'll give you this privilege!”
With this “special permission,” Class 3's study efficiency unexpectedly soared to an all-time high! To earn thirty minutes of discussion time on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, everyone worked like crazy on practice problems and homework during regular classes and self-study.
And Zhou Huai'an naturally became the class's “business director.”
Whenever discussion time was allowed, classmates crowded around Zhou Huai'an's desk. He worked with several boys to study the ideal number of times to hand-shake the lemons and the perfect sweetness ratio. He even contacted a high-quality ice supplier privately.
One Wednesday evening, the setting sun turned the classroom golden.
Zhou Huai'an stood at the back of the classroom, holding a cup of newly perfected double-peach hand-shaken lemon tea. Pink peach chunks mixed with sparkling ice and green limes looked irresistibly inviting in the clear glass.
Passing through the crowd of onlookers, Zhou Huai'an walked straight to Xia Zhifeng, who was sitting in the first row grading assignments.
The boy leaned slightly down and gently set the ice-cold, misting cup of lemon tea on her desk. The corner of his mouth curved into a reckless, charming smile. In front of the entire class, he raised an eyebrow.
“Class President Xia, please give it a taste. This is exclusively for you—the privilege of being our chief taste tester.”
A wave of good-natured cheers and shrieks immediately erupted around them!
Looking at the radiant boy whose eyes were filled entirely with her, Xia Zhifeng's heart turned soft with sweetness. She lifted the drink and took a sip. Its cool, sugary flavor burst across her mouth.
“Well?” Zhou Huai'an leaned a little closer, anticipation in his eyes.
Xia Zhifeng looked up into the boy's eyes and smiled as she nodded. “It's delicious, Director Zhou. A perfect score.”
The afterglow of sunset spilled over the two of them, forever freezing the most beautiful image of youth in that moment. Everyone's anticipation for next month's school fair reached its peak, and this passionate counterattack belonging to the young boy and girl moved step by step toward an even brighter future amid laughter and joy.