Sunday sunlight rode in with a warm breeze. Just as the school gate was starting to buzz with weekend traffic, Lin Chen spotted Su Wanqing jogging over with her pink backpack bouncing behind her. She carried a white plastic bag in one hand, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead, but her smile was as sweet as freshly picked strawberries.
"Boss Lin! Reporting for duty!" she chirped.
Lin Chen hurried up to meet her. When she pulled out a stack of colorful cardstock and a fat marker from the bag, his eyes lit up. "Whoa, what new trick are you planning?"
"I thought about it all night yesterday. Selling just stickers isn't eye-catching enough!" Su Wanqing crouched at the stall, quickly sorting stickers into neat rows by anime and zodiac sign. As she worked, she explained, "So I made these blessing cards. Buy two stickers, you get one free. I can write anything—'Good luck on the exam,' 'Friendship forever,' whatever they want. Add some doodles, and it'll totally boost sales!"
Her words had barely landed when three girls stopped at the stall, curious.
"How much for this Pikachu sticker?" asked a twin-tailed girl, pointing.
"Fifty cents each! And if you buy two, you get a handwritten blessing card." Su Wanqing smiled brightly, holding up the cardstock. "See? I can even draw little designs. Super cute for giving to friends!"
The girl's eyes lit up. "Then I'll take two. Write 'Good luck on the monthly exam, Xiaomei!'"
Su Wanqing whipped out the marker, her neat handwriting flying across the card. She even added a tiny heart doodle. The girl squealed, "That's adorable!" and happily handed over the money.
With the first customer hooked, more students crowded in. Lin Chen handled the money and passed out stickers with practiced efficiency, while Su Wanqing focused on writing cards, chatting with customers as she went.
"How about grabbing one for your desk mate too?" she suggested to another girl. "Three stickers for only 1.5 yuan, and you'll get an extra card!"
Students who had only planned to buy one ended up grabbing more. Even shy boys shuffled over, asking for Ultraman stickers and blessing cards with things like "Good luck, bro!" written on them.
By noon, the stall's stock had almost cleared out. Su Wanqing wiped sweat from her brow and clapped her hands in delight at the half-empty board. "This is amazing! Even faster than yesterday. Our efficiency is insane!"
Lin Chen grinned, pulling out the day's takings. The clink of coins rang like music. Counting carefully—one note, two notes… in the end, they had earned 176 yuan, a full 56 more than yesterday. He pulled out the extra cash and pushed it into Su Wanqing's hand. "This is thanks to you. You have to take it."
She quickly shook her head, backing away. "No way, I was just helping out! I can't take money."
"If you don't, I won't let you be my 'best partner' next time," Lin Chen teased, pretending to scowl as he stuffed the bills into her palm. "Without your blessing cards, there's no way sales would've been this good. You earned this!"
Looking at his serious expression, Su Wanqing had no choice but to accept. Still, her lips curved into a smile. "Fine, but I'm not spending this on snacks. I'll use it for something useful."
After packing up, they headed to the corner shop and bought two popsicles. Sitting under a sycamore tree, they enjoyed the icy treat together. Between bites, Su Wanqing suddenly said, "Lin Chen, with how fast your math's improving, you must've collected a ton of mistakes. I know a stationery shop that sells really good error notebooks. Each section has space for solutions and notes. Want me to help you pick one?"
Warmth spread in Lin Chen's chest. He nodded quickly. "Sure! But I'm paying for it myself this time. I can't keep letting you spend money on me."
"Who said anything about you paying?" Su Wanqing waved her hand. "Call it a partner's bonus! You can treat me to ice cream with the money we earn next time."
That afternoon, they visited the stationery shop together. Su Wanqing carefully flipped through the notebooks, checking the paper and the layouts. Finally, she picked out a thick blue one with a faint starry-sky cover. "This one. Big and sturdy, with enough space for loads of mistakes and summaries."
Lin Chen took it, running his fingers over the cover, his heart warm. "Perfect! Thanks, Su Wanqing."
"No need for thanks," she said with a grin, pulling a new red pen from her bag. "Here, too. Red's best for marking mistakes. You'll need it for the monthly exam!"
Lin Chen clutched the notebook and pen tightly, his voice firm. "Don't worry. I'll use them well. Next exam, I'm breaking into the top ten. I won't let you down!"
As the sun set, they walked home side by side. Their shadows stretched long across the road, overlapping, the air between them sweet and light. Lin Chen glanced at Su Wanqing beside him, his heart swelling with joy. He had earned money—but what he valued even more was the bond growing between them. In this life, his regrets were slowly being rewritten.
Back home, Lin Chen eagerly opened the new notebook. On the first page, he wrote: To my best partner—Su Wanqing. Then he carefully copied down math problems he'd gotten wrong, adding explanations and marking the key pitfalls in red. The more he wrote, the more fired up he felt, already imagining the day of the exam—acing it, and seeing Su Wanqing's proud smile.
Meanwhile, at her own home, Su Wanqing carefully tucked today's extra 56 yuan into her piggy bank, her lips still curved in a smile. She'd already decided—next time she and Lin Chen sold together, she'd use her share to buy him a proper notebook for Chinese. His notes were always scattered on scrap paper, and it bothered her.
Neither of them noticed that this "partner" bond was quietly changing into something deeper. Nor did they know that a shadow was drawing closer.
In his room, Zhao Kai hunched over a desk, fiddling with a stolen office key from a proctor. In front of him lay a scrap of paper filled with scrawled words: Monthly Exam Frame-Up Plan.
Below the line "Switch answer sheets," he had just added another: Plant a cheat slip in Lin Chen's desk so he can't explain his way out.
His lips twisted into a cruel grin as he stared at the paper, already savoring the scene: Lin Chen branded a cheater, Su Wanqing's disappointment, and the perfect chance for him to swoop in.