Gao Yang is the head of the Mathematics Department at Hengchuan No. 1 High School. Last year, he led the first-year mathematics competition class.
"Principal," Gao Yang pushed open the door, his round face full of hesitation as he asked, "What paper would you like me to grade?"
Principal Xu opened the top drawer of his desk and took out a book.
It was The Kite Runner.
The book had a dark red stain on its side, resembling dried blood.
Xu Principal gently brushed his fingers over the cover.
His head slightly lowered, his fingers lingered on the book's cover before pulling out a piece of paper from within. His fingertips seemed to bear an almost imperceptible trace of desolation.
"Take a look," Xu Principal said, handing the paper to Gao Yang.
The paper was folded neatly, slightly worn with age.
When unfolded, there were faint, stubborn creases on the surface, as though it had once been crumpled into a ball.
Gao Yang paused, clearly surprised.
This was last year's International Olympiad paper. Gao Yang had coached the Olympiad class last year and worked through many problems. It had taken him three tries to fully understand this set of problems.
The first thing that caught his eye was the handwriting—bold, daring, with strokes of varying thickness that danced across the page in wild abandon, yet with a restrained power of its own.
A sense of inner freedom radiated from it.
Even from behind the paper, Gao Yang could almost see the person who had written it—how they must have held the pen, cold yet wild, with an unmistakable air of defiance, as if to smile faintly at him from afar.
The Olympiad problems were from last year's International Mathematical Olympiad, not available online.
Gao Yang had reviewed this paper last year. It was impressive, but a large part of the solution strategy differed from the answers he had seen. Yet, the general direction was correct.
The paper was short, but Gao Yang stared at it for an uncomfortably long time.
"I don't quite understand Olympiad problems," Xu Principal said, handing Gao Yang a cup of tea, "So I'd like you to take a look and see how the student did."
Gao Yang took the cup but didn't drink from it immediately. Instead, he held the paper and gazed at it with deep reverence for a long time.
"Principal Xu, who did this? Is this a student from our school?"
Xu Principal didn't respond. He held the cup in his hand, softly asking, almost with a sigh, "Do you think it's good?"
"Not just good," Gao Yang said, his tone tinged with regret and curiosity, "Had I seen this student a couple of years ago, the Olympiad gold medal would surely have been within reach."
Xu Principal smiled faintly but said no more.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Gao Yang asked again, "Is this student from our school?"
The brightest math students at the school were Xu Yaoguang from their class and Lin Jinxuan, who had graduated a few years ago—but none could compare to the person who had written this paper.
If this student were from their school, they'd be breaking new records.
But then again, it didn't seem likely; he would have heard of them.
The School Infirmary.
A simple, plain gray door frame stood half open.
Not far away, a group of girls from the PE class were playfully glancing toward the infirmary.
It seemed there was something precious inside.
Lu Zhaoying touched the sparkling earring on his left ear, smiling as he sent off the twenty-third girl of the morning, then turned to the side where Cheng Jun was lying on the couch, smiling, "Your mood's as usual..."
Cheng Jun pulled the blanket tighter around him.
"Shut up, stop making noise."
Lu Zhaoying clamped his mouth shut.
His eyes lifted. "Damn, this girl's good-looking!"
He straightened his white lab coat and grabbed a black pen, calling out in a flamboyant, teasing voice, "Little sister, where are you feeling unwell?"
Qin Ran's gaze drifted past him to the medicine cabinet. "Do you have sleeping pills?"
Her voice was neither warm nor cold, just indifferent.
"Sleeping pills?" There had been many girls who came to see Cheng Jun this morning, but this was the first one who had spoken so earnestly about needing medicine.
Lu Zhaoying raised an eyebrow, "Sleeping pills are prescription meds, sweetheart, I can't just give them to you..."
A sudden, slightly deeper voice interrupted him: "How many do you need?"
Lu Zhaoying turned in surprise.
Cheng Jun's long, clean fingers rested lightly on the box of sleeping pills as he looked up at Qin Ran.
"Ten," she said, glancing at the box.
Cheng Jun nodded, counted out ten pills, wrapped them in white paper, and handed them to Qin Ran.
She accepted them without a hint of hesitation, then paused, glancing back at Cheng Jun. "Thank you."
She placed the medicine in her bag, her face stunningly beautiful, void of any particular expression, yet her delicate features betrayed an unmistakable wildness that could not be concealed.
The whites of her eyes were tinged with faint veins, no longer pure but rather murky, lending her an additional air of untamed fierceness.
She wore a simple white t-shirt, and her collarbone was just barely visible, pale and strikingly so, with faint veins discernible beneath the skin.
Cheng Jun glanced at her sideways, then smiled unexpectedly.
He said, "You're welcome. Prescription meds require a signature."
He slid a patient form across to her.
Qin Ran took the pen with her left hand and signed the form.
Cheng Jun looked at the name on the paper—Qin Ran.
Once she left, Lu Zhaoying looked up in realization. "Do you know her?"
Cheng Jun narrowed his eyes, a smile curving his lips. "Her waist is slender."
"Eh?"
Cheng Jun said nothing further.
"Is there something going on?" Lu Zhaoying stroked his chin, grinning lewdly.
Cheng Jun glanced at the patient form with its clearly unsightly handwriting and spoke indifferently, "I'm the doctor here. It's my job."
Lu Zhaoying: "…" Now that he thought about it, you are the doctor here?
A new group of girls came pushing and shoving toward the door.
Lu Zhaoying looked at Cheng Jun.
Cheng Jun turned back, then muttered three words lazily: "Don't disturb me."
Lu Zhaoying: "…"
He looked in the direction Qin Ran had left, noticing that aside from her incredibly beautiful face, there was nothing too special about her. Her handwriting was even charmingly ugly.
But could it be that Jun Ye, who had so many young women chasing after him in the capital, was interested in her?