Shen Jia Yan’s answer surprised Wen Wan Ning. They had been desk mates for so long that Wen Wan Ning had some understanding of the subjects Shen Jia Yan excelled in.
She clearly remembered Shen Jia Yan’s performance in class ever since everyone began focusing on their chosen subjects.
During physics class, the teacher wrote a problem on the blackboard and randomly selected an entire row of students to answer.
The selected row happened to be Shen Jia Yan’s, and she was the last student in that row.
No one knew if the problem was too difficult or if too many liberal arts students were in that row, but from the first student in the front to the one right in front of Shen Jia Yan, none of them gave the correct answer without exception.
When it reached Shen Jia Yan, she answered correctly with ease. Wen Wan Ning had even quietly praised her at the time.
Shen Jia Yan’s other science grades were also quite good compared to her liberal arts ones. Everyone, including Wen Wan Ning, thought she would choose sciences.
“You’re really going to pick liberal arts? You’re not joking with me, are you?” Wen Wan Ning widened her eyes and looked at Shen Jia Yan with full suspicion.
“It’s true. I mainly want to challenge myself.”
Shen Jia Yan didn’t know if Wen Wan Ning would believe her hastily made-up reason, but she couldn’t think of a better excuse at the moment.
Fortunately, Wen Wan Ning didn’t overthink it and simply believed her, thinking she had quite a personality.
Seeing that Wen Wan Ning no longer suspected anything, Shen Jia Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want Wen Wan Ning to know that she had made the decision right after asking about her choice.
She wanted to take a gamble.
A gamble for the chance to be in the same class as her again, even if it might affect her future grades.
The dismissal bell rang, signaling the end of evening self-study.
Shen Jia Yan returned home and rested as usual.
She picked up a strawberry and leaned on the sofa, preparing to eat it while watching TV with her parents for a bit.
Jiang Jing suddenly thought of something. Her hand paused mid-reach for a strawberry as she turned to Shen Jia Yan. “Yan Yan, isn’t it about time for you all to decide between liberal arts and sciences?”
Shen Jia Yan froze upon hearing this. She had planned to bring it up herself, but she wasn’t sure if they would be angry about her choosing liberal arts, so she had been agonizing over how to broach the topic.
She straightened up and said softly, feeling guilty, “Yeah, it is. I forgot to tell you and Dad. I’m planning to choose liberal arts.”
Shen Yan and Jiang Jing both turned to look at Shen Jia Yan almost simultaneously.
Jiang Jing said seriously, “You’re choosing liberal arts? You don’t have any advantage in liberal arts like you do in sciences. We don’t agree. Change to sciences right now.”
Although Shen Jia Yan wanted liberal arts, classes hadn’t been divided yet, so Jiang Jing wanted to pull her back from the brink in time.
“It’s too late. I’ve been focusing mainly on liberal arts subjects lately. I haven’t paid proper attention to science classes in a long time.” Shen Jia Yan responded without leaving any room for negotiation.
Jiang Jing suppressed her anger and scolded, “You’re really such a worry for us. For something this big, why didn’t you discuss it with your parents first? I don’t even know what to say to you.”
Shen Jia Yan never usually acted spoiled with her parents, but this time, knowing she was in the wrong, she coaxed Jiang Jing in a half-spoiled tone.
“Mom, actually, I have my own reasons. A lot of students choose liberal arts because they’re bad at sciences, but liberal arts still requires math, so my strengths will stand out. My math scores are only average in a science class, but in liberal arts, I might rank at the top.”
She tried to persuade Jiang Jing with the reason she had mulled over for a long time.
As she spoke, she even convinced herself that it made sense. Maybe she really would excel in liberal arts thanks to her math advantage.
But she hadn’t considered that liberal arts wasn’t just about math—comprehensive liberal arts was equally important and heavily relied on memorization, which offered her no advantage at all given her poor memory.
Jiang Jing didn’t respond upon hearing this. She just glared at Shen Jia Yan a few times.
Shen Yan hadn’t joined the conversation between mother and daughter. He sat with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning back on the sofa.
Once Shen Jia Yan finished, he looked at her and said earnestly, “This is your own choice. Since you have your own ideas, your mom and I won’t interfere too much. But you have to take responsibility for it. Know your strengths, but also your weaknesses. For knowledge points you can’t remember, review them multiple times.”
“Okay, I got it, Dad.”
Seeing that her parents had relented, Shen Jia Yan felt secretly delighted inside, and a smile she couldn’t hide appeared on her face.
Her heart was filled with anticipation for being in the same class as Wen Wan Ning again.
There were twelve liberal arts classes in total. She had fought for one-twelfth of a chance.
Shen Jia Yan never wondered why she was so eager to be in the same class as Wen Wan Ning, why she always wanted to see her, study with her, play with her, or just quietly be together…
The night grew deep and silent, with the moon casting its pure light over the buildings.
Shen Jia Yan lay in bed, looking forward to seeing Wen Wan Ning at school the next day.
Another day of intense studying passed.
During the last evening self-study, after finishing her homework, Shen Jia Yan prepared to do a few more math problems.
Wen Wan Ning lightly tapped Shen Jia Yan’s desk with her right hand.
Once she looked up, Wen Wan Ning whispered in her ear, “Lend me your history book for a bit. I took mine home at noon.”
“Sure.” Shen Jia Yan found the book and handed it to her.
After finishing one problem, she saw a note passed from Wen Wan Ning. “Why did you write my name so many times in your book?”
Under the note was her history book, opened to a blank page filled densely with the three characters “Wen Wan Ning.”
The moment she read the note, Shen Jia Yan’s cheeks flushed red, her ears burned, and her flustered expression was fully exposed.
That was the person—and name—she thought of most when she zoned out during class.
As her mind raced to come up with a reasonable excuse, the dismissal bell rang opportunely.
She immediately grabbed her bag and stood up, stammering, “Ah, i-it’s nothing, just practicing my handwriting. Um, I-I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”
With that, she bolted out of the classroom, leaving a bewildered Wen Wan Ning behind.
Why did Jia Yan seem so nervous? But her nervous look was pretty cute. A faint smile appeared in Wen Wan Ning’s eyes.
As Shen Jia Yan ran, she thought, Why am I so nervous? What exactly are my feelings for Wen Wan Ning?
Like? Friendship? Love?
She knew what her feelings for friends were like.
But for Wen Wan Ning, it seemed like a completely different feeling, one she’d never experienced before.
It was wanting to see her the moment she arrived at school every day.
It was wanting to be with her every moment.
It was feeling happy when she was happy.
Feeling unhappy when she was sad, wanting to cheer her up…
This must be what it felt like to like someone.
Liking between girls?
Could girls like girls?
Shen Jia Yan was startled by her own thought and stopped in her tracks.
This kind of liking seemed impossible to suppress.
But even if it really was that kind of liking, she had to bury it deep in her heart. She didn’t know if Wen Wan Ning would distance herself or hate her if she found out.
※
December’s snow arrived right on schedule, coinciding with Christmas Day.
Snowflakes like goose feathers swirled down silently and endlessly, quickly blanketing the entire campus in pure white.
Sunlight slanted into the classroom, and the history teacher’s voice seemed to come from afar. “The fundamental reason for the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform was…” Chalk dust slowly settled in the beam of light.
Shen Jia Yan’s gaze stuck to the bare tree branches outside the window, nearly buried in snow. Her history book lay open, and a black ballpoint pen left an increasingly large ink blot on the words “constitutional monarchy,” perfectly drowning out the portrait of the Guangxu Emperor.
Snow on Christmas—truly romantic.
Shen Jia Yan had wanted to buy a delicate Christmas gift for Wen Wan Ning at the mall, but on Christmas Day, the school checked students’ belongings extra strictly upon entry to prevent distractions from gift exchanges.
She settled for the next best thing, planning to visit the gift shop under the school stadium during the break before evening self-study to pick one out for Wen Wan Ning.
The bell rang, just as everyone prepared to rest, but the school broadcast interrupted.
“Due to the weather, tonight’s evening self-study is canceled. After afternoon classes end, school is dismissed directly. Homeroom teachers, please notify parents. Students, be safe going home.”
Cheers erupted in the classroom.
One reason was no evening self-study, and the second was that this rare day off fell on a snowy Christmas.
The room filled with laughter and joy, but only Shen Jia Yan showed faint disappointment on her face.
Sigh, she had been looking forward to giving Wan Ning a Christmas gift, but now evening self-study was canceled. Ten minutes after class wasn’t enough time for a trip to the gift shop. Why cancel on this day of all days?
Seeing Shen Jia Yan slumped despondently over her desk, Wen Wan Ning restrained her smile and asked, “What’s wrong, Jia Yan? You don’t look too happy.”
The first snow of the year on Christmas, with early dismissal—even the most studious students would feel somewhat uplifted and catch the festive mood. But Shen Jia Yan didn’t seem to.
She lay on her desk and turned her head to look at Wen Wan Ning.
Wen Wan Ning’s slightly upturned lips and watery eyes drew Shen Jia Yan in even more.
Wan Ning looked better the more she saw her.
A sudden idea flashed in Shen Jia Yan’s mind—one that Wen Wan Ning might overthink: Why not just ask her out for dinner after fourth period, to spend Christmas together? If she didn’t want it to be just the two of them, she could invite Lü Xin too.
“We—” Shen Jia Yan sat up straight and was just about to voice her idea when Class Monitor Yang Hongzhuo and Lü Xin approached.
“Wan Ning, got time tonight? A few classmates from our old junior high in Class No. 1 Middle School want to grab dinner together for Christmas, catch up a bit. We’ve been at it since the start of school—time for a little break.”
Yang Hongzhuo and Wen Wan Ning had both attended No. 1 Middle School in junior high, so they were somewhat familiar.
Even if familiar, did he have to call her so intimately? Shen Jia Yan quietly rolled her eyes at Yang Hongzhuo calling “Wan Ning.”
Lü Xin chimed in from the side, “Come on, Wan Ning. We’ll go together. It’s a rare day off, and it’s Christmas.”
Wen Wan Ning hadn’t wanted to go, but seeing Yang Hongzhuo’s enthusiasm and not wanting Lü Xin to go alone, she agreed.
“Alright, then after dismissal, we’ll go home, change, and head over.” She shook her head helplessly at Lü Xin as she said it.
“It’s settled then.” Yang Hongzhuo left reassured once Wen Wan Ning agreed.
Lü Xin stuck out her tongue at Wen Wan Ning, grabbed her arm, and wheedled, “I knew Wan Ning was the best, willing to come with me.”
“I’m really just coming for you. If you weren’t going, I wouldn’t.” She rolled her eyes at Lü Xin.
“Okay, okay, okay. I know our Wan Ning is the most thoughtful. I’ll head back to my seat then.” With that, she dashed back to her seat as if afraid Wen Wan Ning would change her mind.
From the moment Wen Wan Ning agreed to Yang Hongzhuo, Shen Jia Yan’s mood plummeted.
Wen Wan Ning came back to her senses and suddenly remembered that Shen Jia Yan had seemed about to say something earlier.
“Right, Jia Yan, what were you going to tell me just now?”
Shen Jia Yan still lay on her desk and responded flatly, “Nothing.”
“I feel like you’re not happy. You can tell me anything; it’s fine.” Wen Wan Ning pressed.
Shen Jia Yan turned her head to glance at Wen Wan Ning. “You’re really going to dinner with them tonight?”
