Chapter 2

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No matter how I built myself up mentally, jealousy was an enemy I had to face every day when I first started hanging out with her. Indeed, it was too difficult for a teenage girl to harbor no jealousy over another beautiful girl with good grades and to willingly be her supporting role.

Although she was cold, she was actually a very sincere person. Whenever she explained something to me, she would always get to the crux of the matter at once and was straight to the point. I was also a rather smart girl, so usually just one sentence of hers would enlighten me.

So at the time, it was difficult to describe my feelings toward her. Besides jealousy, there were also feelings of harmony.

After being with her for a long time, I got used to it and was glad not to have to talk more than necessary. Except for us two, the other girls would always chatter on and on when they were together. So at the time I thought, even if I left her because I didn’t want to be her foil, I would probably be unable to endure the other girls’ chattiness.

When Chen Ruobing did anything it was as if she could always achieve much without having to try. In the second semester of freshman year, there was a physics competition with a limit of one applicant per class. There was a boy in our class who was very good at physics and had finished learning the high school curriculum early on. When he had nothing to do, he would discuss things with the physics teacher that sounded metaphysical to us, such as “quanta” and “time distortion.” Thus, the spot naturally went to him. At the last minute, they said there was an added spot for our class, so the teacher had Chen Ruobing fill in. In the end, Chen Ruobing, who had had no preparation, and that boy came back with the national second prize.

Although I wasn’t a particularly hardworking student in my class, I would ensure at least three hours of study time every evening when I got home. Because we were the only key class in the school and were motivated to apply to Tsinghua and Peking University, the workload was very heavy. I asked Chen Ruobing once, and she said that she would pretty much finish her homework at around eight o’clock every day and would use the remaining time to read random books.

One day, she secretly showed me a book that was densely packed with words and said it was a novel she had half-written. I flipped through it, and at the beginning of every chapter, there were two lines of poetry as the title, which she had modeled after Dream of the Red Chamber. It wasn’t until later on that I remembered this was called a zhanghui novel.

At the time, I only glanced through it and thought there were many big words and it was hard to understand, so I casually said a few things and gave it back to her.

Indeed, my literary skills were far below hers (if I even had any).

I still didn’t know at the time that a person wouldn’t casually show a novel they had written to others unless they thought the other person could understand it.

As I spent more and more time with her, my jealousy gradually faded. A person will only feel jealous of those who are on the same level as themselves. Once the distance between you and her grows, you will no longer envy her.

From then on, I felt like I was starting to have a good time with her. It wasn’t actually much different on the surface. We still did boring things every day like go to PE, eat, take walks, and feel the breeze, but I was convinced that the barrier in my heart had lifted and we could both feel a difference.

It was likely a minuscule difference. Maybe it was a change in my tone of voice when I spoke, a change in the curve of my lips when I smiled, or simply the expression in my eyes.

At that time, Meteor Garden became popular throughout the country, and every adolescent girl envisioned a Cinderella dream. Chen Ruobing later got me a Meteor Garden book, which I read every single word of. The next day, she said, “Why does the female lead always have to fall in love with the prince charming? I’m going to write a different kind of story.”

“Yes!” I said, “I’m also tired of seeing the same old plot.”

“Then let’s write a story where the female lead rejects the emperor, rejects the prince, and chooses a failed scholar in the end.”

Chen Ruobing and I were excited about the idea for days. It felt like peeking into the secrets of the universe as the entire world reveled in the idea that the earth was flat, while we two sneered and said, “The earth is a sphere, stupid.”

So, I really began to write a story with her. The story was divided into two main storylines, one for each of us. It was difficult in the beginning, but with Chen Ruobing, many problems I encountered for the first time were easily resolved. She taught me that “say” was “dao” or “yue.” I said that I still couldn’t write dialogue yet I had actually learned to before in Chinese class. She said that by the time we finished writing this story, I would be able to write dialogue.

If we took out what we had written back then and looked at it now, we would certainly think it was ridiculously childish. But at the time, Chen Ruobing and I were creating a world that only belonged to us.

During the second semester of freshman year, a distant cousin of mine transferred to our school. He was one year older than me and had average grades, but he was exceptional at basketball. From then on, I often played basketball with my cousin and his bunch. My cousin taught us some basic skills, and I practiced them all without really understanding them. According to my cousin, when girls played basketball they didn’t have to score and didn’t even need to know how to really play—just being able to pose was enough.

Back then, I believed that he was very immature, but thinking about it now, it was invaluable advice.

Although I was small, I had a lot of athletic talent according to my cousin. At the very least, having a small build gave me the advantage of not losing the ball. Plus, those boys were too embarrassed to truly face off against me, so it seemed like I played quite well.

Because of my cousin’s encouragement and the influence of basketball, I later became absorbed with swimming, marathons, badminton, skiing, table tennis, and muscle training. Plus, I played each sport quite well, though of course this will all come later.

All in all, over the summer, I tanned and miraculously grew four centimeters taller. At the time, Chen Ruobing would often work on our novel after school under the grape trellis next to the basketball court and would occasionally lift her head to glance at us. Her presence would fill all of the boys’ veins with blood, making them run faster and jump higher, so that later on I was able to determine whether Chen Ruobing was around by the boys’ performance.

In this group of boys that played basketball with my cousin, there was a boy named Lin Che that was in the same class as him. Those who have played team sports have certainly experienced the wonderful sense of understanding between teammates. Such as when you go on the offensive when playing basketball and he pick and rolls for you; when you’re playing soccer and are being marked by two defenders as you’re running to the other side of the field with the ball, and a teammate follows and asks for the ball; or when in a doubles badminton match you create an opening for him, and he scores a hit. It was an indescribable kind of rapport, and I felt that it was the beauty of team sports.

Among the people who played basketball, I cooperated best with my cousin initially, but I gradually connected more and more with Lin Che. He would run in the direction of my pass as I was controlling the ball on the backcourt, run over to assist me when I was being marked, or block the opposing players for me when I went in for a layup. The understanding we had on court was much more useful than any sweet talk, and it was impossible to ignore.

One particularly hot day, my jersey was nearly soaked when I finished playing basketball. My cousin bought a few chilled bottles of cola, and I took one and gulped it down as I walked toward the grape trellis. Chen Ruobing leaned against the stone pillar behind her with her legs folded on the stone bench. When she saw me come over, she said to me a bit excitedly, “I’ve gotten to the part where she disguises herself as a man and takes the imperial examinations with the scholar.”

“So fast! Show it to me tonight,” I said as I burped loudly.

Chen Ruobing showed an expression of disgust. Just as I was about to say something, I heard someone speak behind me.

“Can’t you drink a bit slower?” I covered my mouth and turned my head.

Lin Che smiled at me, and his eyes turned to Chen Ruobing. He smiled as he said, “Are you Chen Ruobing?”

Chen Ruobing gave a “Mhm.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you.

Lin Che handed Chen Ruobing a bottle of cola as he spoke, and to my surprise, she took it.

After being with her for so long, I knew that she never drank cola.

Chen Ruobing twisted the cap and took a small sip.

Lin Che sat down across from her, separated by the pathway, and idly spoke with her.

This kind of situation was a common occurrence when I was with Chen Ruobing. It seemed like she was the ultimate target of every boy who came to talk to me. Even if they seemed to be having a good time chatting with me, they would secretly glance at her.

I had spent a lot of time adjusting my mindset. After all, Chen Ruobing had done nothing wrong and treated me very well. So, I thought of her as my little sister who was desired by those silly boys, which would then make me feel just a bit of pride.

However, a devilish emotion rushed into my head at that moment, overpowering the line of defense I had built up for so long, because it was Lin Che and because of that small response from Chen Ruobing.

When I was nearly about to surrender, I heard Lin Che ask, “I always see you here writing in a notebook. Are you doing your homework?”

“I’m writing something,” Chen Ruobing casually said, then looked at me and smiled.

At that moment, I was saved by her smile.

I thought of that little world of ours and the story that didn’t belong to any boy or anyone. No one could take it away, and no one could break in.

I then swore in my heart that I wouldn’t get mad at her for any other boy again, absolutely not.

Translator’s Notes

1. Tsinghua University and Peking University are among the most prestigious universities in China. Back

2. A very famous novel in China that was written by Cao Xueqing in the 18th century and tells the tale of a noble family that falls from grace, including incredible detail of the social, cultural, and spiritual life at the time. Back

3. A type of traditional Chinese novel in which each chapter is headed by a couplet that gives the gist of the content of the chapter. Back

4. A 2001 Taiwanese romance drama (about a rich boy and poor girl falling in love) based on the Japanese manga Boys Over Flowers. Back

5. When writing dialogue in Chinese, there are a few different ways to say “say/said”, including 说 (shuo), 道 (dao), and 曰 (yue). I left the “dao” and “yue” in pinyin to distinguish them so it didn’t say “say” three times in a row. Back

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