The letter was delivered after the first evening self-study session. For this, Lin Haiyang even scammed a bottle of sports drink out of Wang Jingjing.

A dense, slanting rain fell. The railings at the classroom door were hung full of mainly black and gray umbrellas. The dark glass reflected the silhouettes of two or three students. Jiang Du sat still just like that, her mind clear. The letter was written, like some sort of mission had been completed. Because she held no hope at all, she could instead throw herself into her studies during the next class.

Lin Haiyang wasn't familiar with Wei Qingyue. But, being boys, they were always pretty direct with each other and easy to communicate with. He directly knocked on Class One's window, and when someone slid it open, he said, "Help me call for Wei Qingyue."

The boy came out quickly.

"Your letter," Lin Haiyang said, handing it to him.

As if assuming Wei Qingyue knew who had written it.

Wei Qingyue took it in his hand and looked down at it. It was the same envelope as the one he had seen on the balcony last time.

He shook the letter in his hand and asked, "Who wrote this?"

Lin Haiyang finally had a sudden realization: Wei Qingyue wasn't just anyone; he got too many letters. He must have completely forgotten about the last one. He had said so. Wang Jingjing was wasting her effort. These girls just fawned over Wei Qingyue.

"Wang Jingjing from Class Two. Buddy, you probably don't know who that is, right? I'll point her out to you." Lin Haiyang was overly enthusiastic, but Wei Qingyue was indifferent. An unfamiliar name; he had no interest in getting to know strangers. "No need."

"She sits by the window..." Lin Haiyang stopped abruptly, the words on the tip of his tongue. Wang Jingjing was sneakily peeking in their direction from the end of the corridor. He was amused and pointed a finger. "Her, she's the one who wrote it for you."

At the end of the corridor was a group of girls. Wei Qingyue glanced over but couldn't make out who was who at all. He said "Thanks" and turned back into the classroom.

Top students are just top students, always so full of personality. Lin Haiyang sauntered back and teased Wang Jingjing again, and the two of them started roughhousing in the classroom. Jiang Du said nothing. She quietly rested her head on her desk and zoned out for a while. After the bell for the second evening self-study session rang, she emptied her mind and began to seriously work on her assignments.

The autumn rain drizzled on, never-ending.

Mei Zhong was very large, and there was some distance between the academic building and the dormitory. Evening self-study ended at ten. The crowd surged towards the boiler room. A long string of streetlights snaked forward, and the road was filled with opened umbrellas.

Wei Qingyue wasn't in a hurry to leave. Alone, at a window in the empty corridor, he looked at the letter.

The sound of the rain was right by his ear. He actually looked out the window, searching for that tree near the library. A dark, indistinct shadow, so tall, it didn't look like a person no matter how he looked at it.

There were people in the cafeteria having a late-night snack. The weather had suddenly turned cold, and people got hungry especially easily. Especially middle school students going through puberty, who were still growing and had amazing appetites. Some people looked very unattractive during these years, becoming coarse and stout from eating so much; it was a low point in their looks that everyone would rather not recall. Most people's looks were still developing anyway. Therefore, to be good-looking and eye-catching during this period was very rare.

Jiang Du's grandma knew how to make sweet chili sauce. She got one jar, and Wang Jingjing got one jar. Lin Haiyang had seen the two of them in the cafeteria dipping fried chicken legs into the sauce to eat. He tried it once and, as if addicted, shamelessly asked Jiang Du for some. After getting hot water, the three of them gathered around, dipping hot steamed buns into the sauce. Lin Haiyang had a huge mouth; one bite and half a bun was gone.

He could eat three steamed buns in one meal, which meant... six bites. Jiang Du did the strange arithmetic in her head while Wang Jingjing was constantly scolding him:

"You're so shameless! The jar is so small, you'll finish a whole jar for us in just a few dips. Aren't you just awful!"

"Why are you getting so worked up? The sauce is Jiang Du's, not yours."

"Then don't eat mine! This jar was given to me by Jiang Du's grandma, why are you dipping into mine?"

As the two were sparring back and forth, Lin Haiyang suddenly shouted, "Wei Qingyue! Wang Jingjing invites you to have some sauce!"

The moment these words left his mouth, it was Jiang Du whose heart stopped. She couldn't help but look up. A familiar figure was indeed standing at the entrance of the cafeteria. In the light, at the edge between brightness and dimness, the boy was closing his umbrella.

Lin Haiyang's eyes were really sharp. Wang Jingjing went "Ahhh" and covered her face, squirming where she sat. She was genuinely a little shy; it was weird for her dreamboat to see her here eating steamed buns with dipping sauce.

Wei Qingyue, however, was more poised and natural than they had expected. As he walked closer, he glanced in their direction. Beside them, Wang Jingjing said, a little flustered, "Hey, Wei Qingyue, you're here to recharge too, huh? Want some sauce?"

Jiang Du's mouth went stiff, and her chewing motion involuntarily slowed down. The more people there were, the less courage she had to look up at Wei Qingyue. She just stared at the jet-black glass jar.

"Thanks, I'm not really used to eating this. You guys enjoy." Wei Qingyue said this while looking at Wang Jingjing. 'Wang Jingjing, so that was Wang Jingjing,' he silently repeated the name in his mind. It was really hard to connect her appearance with those two letters.

And beside her, one person sat quietly. The girl didn't even lift her face, her cheeks slightly puffed out as if she were eating. Wei Qingyue suddenly found her amusing; she was so quick to pretend she hadn't seen him.

Not many of the cafeteria windows were open. Wei Qingyue casually bought something to fill his stomach. He wasn't that particular about food or clothing. Wei Zhendong was particular about everything, so he was casual about everything.

The rain outside grew heavier for a while. Lin Haiyang started singing 'Cold Rainy Night'. His voice was like a broken gong; his pitch went off after just two lines. Wang Jingjing was so annoyed she plugged her ears, but Jiang Du asked him seriously:

"Whose song are you singing?"

"It's by Beyond, the lead singer is Huang Jiaju." Lin Haiyang mentioned a name that was very unfamiliar to Jiang Du. Most young girls liked Jay Chou; the name Huang Jiaju sounded like it had an old-fashioned air. After asking further, she learned that it was, as expected, a rock band from Hong Kong. The lead singer had already passed away when her generation was two years old. No wonder she didn't know about them.

Lin Haiyang took out his MP3 player and handed the earphones to Jiang Du, saying with a smile, "But this song was originally sung by Huang Jiaqiang."

She put on the earphones, and as the intro played, it was as if cool raindrops were truly falling. Jiang Du instantly fell in love with the song.

As the few of them were discussing Hong Kong singers, they didn't notice that Wei Qingyue's figure had disappeared at some point. Neither Lin Haiyang nor Wang Jingjing paid it any mind. Jiang Du noticed. He bought his food and left directly from the other side, not even glancing their way.

'I want to share this song with you,' Jiang Du thought silently. On the way back, the strands of rain under the lights looked like fine needles. She stared blankly at the rain the entire way, knowing that Wei Qingyue probably hadn't read the letter.

The osmanthus flowers at school had withered, the days grew colder, and it got dark earlier. The days passed one by one, and no one held any expectations for that letter. Once the midterm exams were over, everyone was shocked to realize how quickly time could pass. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the first semester of their first year of high school was over.

At this rate, it seemed like their third year of high school would be upon them very soon. In the midterms, Jiang Du's rank didn't rise but fell instead. Even dropping two places hurt. She had clearly worked just as hard as before; she dropped two places in the class, but quite a few more in the overall grade ranking.

On the notice board, Wei Qingyue was still the dazzling first place, incredibly stable. Jiang Du had firmly committed his score in every subject to memory. The gap was huge; the girl couldn't help but feel a little dejected. Although she didn't know why she was absurdly comparing herself to Wei Qingyue. If anyone were to compare, it should be someone with grades like Zhang Xiaoqiang using him as a benchmark, right?

When she went home for the weekend, she told her grandparents about the midterm exams. Her grandfather was washing fish, and a faint fishy smell drifted from the kitchen. There was a bloody mess in the trash can. Jiang Du squatted beside him, helping to peel garlic.

"Don't get arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat. It's normal for ranks to fluctuate. Just keep working hard!" Her grandfather started chopping the fish head, his voice full of vigor. On the stove were Sichuan peppercorns cut from the tree in their old hometown in early autumn. Jiang Du hummed in agreement, picked up two peppercorns, held them under her nose and sniffed lightly. They held the scent of the season.

Her grandmother was stringing red chili peppers in the living room. They lived on the ground floor and had a small vegetable garden by the door where they grew some vegetables, giving the excess to their neighbors. Hearing the grandparent and grandchild talk about grades, she began to discuss getting tutoring for Jiang Du with the old man.

'It's so expensive,' was Jiang Du's first reaction. She didn't want tutoring. But her math and physics were indeed a bit weak. However, she wanted to choose the liberal arts track, so tutoring for physics would be a waste.

"You should still get tutoring for math," her grandmother said.

Jiang Du gazed at the string of red chili peppers, undecided. "The math for the liberal arts track will be easier in the second year, right? Maybe it'll get better."

"It's best to be prepared," her grandmother said, untying her apron. "Your math isn't that bad to begin with. With a little tutoring, you could reach the next level. Maybe there's just some concept you haven't grasped. Once you get it, you'll improve."

The old woman even made a funny gesture, and Jiang Du laughed along with her.

The family discussed it over a meal and decided to hire a one-on-one math tutor for Jiang Du during the winter break.

The tutoring center was located in an office building in the city center, and they offered a trial lesson. Her grandfather took Jiang Du to check it out first. As they were getting into the elevator, she noticed a teenager with a guitar on his back was just a few steps from the elevator door, so Jiang Du quickly held the "open" button.

The boy was wearing a hoodie, with half his head buried in the hood. His baggy jeans were a faded color. He looked, hmm, very cool.

"Thanks," the boy said without even raising his head.

The elevator doors slowly closed, the space narrow. Jiang Du froze for a moment. She recognized Wei Qingyue from his voice.