Zu Yai Zu believed that the first day of 11th grade should feel important.
So she woke up ten minutes earlier than usual, tied her shoelaces into neat little bows, and stood in front of the mirror for a long time.
"New class, new people," she whispered to herself.
"Please let today be gentle."
She slipped her small diary into her bag, hesitated, then added her camera too.
Not for the whole day—
only in case something beautiful happened.
Outside the school gate, Mi Miaoyi ran toward her, slightly out of breath.
"Zu Yai Zu! Why do you look so happy so early in the morning?"
"Because today is a new beginning," Zu Yai Zu said seriously.
Miaoyi stared at her. "You sound like a storybook character."
Zu Yai Zu smiled. "That's not a bad thing."
The school building was louder than she remembered.
Shoes echoed on the stairs, lockers slammed, and voices filled the corridors like birds in a cage.
Zu Yai Zu held her class list and walked slowly, reading each line carefully.
"Class 11-A… second floor… left side…"
She kept her eyes on the paper.
That was her mistake.
BUMP.
"Ouch!"
She walked straight into someone.
Her body tilted backward, and for a second she thought she would fall.
But a hand caught her arm.
Firm. Careful.
She looked up.
A boy stood in front of her.
He was taller than her by a head, with neat hair and a clean uniform.
His eyes were calm, almost distant, like he wasn't part of the noisy hallway.
Zu Yai Zu blinked.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going."
He didn't answer immediately.
After a moment, he said quietly,
"…It's fine."
His voice was low and soft.
Zu Yai Zu tilted her head.
"You don't look angry."
He shook his head once.
She relaxed. "That's good. I was scared I'd already broken a school rule."
He hesitated, then lifted his hand slightly and pointed down the hall.
"11-A."
"That way?"
He nodded.
"Thank you!" Zu Yai Zu smiled brightly. "You're really kind."
He didn't reply.
Just nodded again and walked away.
Zu Yai Zu stood there for a second, watching his back disappear into the crowd.
"…He feels like a quiet cloud," she murmured.
Class 11-A was already noisy.
"ZU YAI ZU!"
Mi Miaoyi waved both hands from the back row.
Zu Yai Zu hurried over and sat beside her.
"I met a boy in the hallway," she whispered.
Miaoyi raised an eyebrow. "Already?"
"He helped me find the classroom," Zu Yai Zu said.
"He didn't talk much, but he was polite."
Before Miaoyi could ask more, a man entered the classroom.
"I am your homeroom teacher, Mr. Chen Minghao," he said.
"Welcome to Class 11-A."
The room slowly became quiet.
"Class monitor: Zhou Qin Yang."
A boy stood up from the front row.
Zu Yai Zu's eyes widened.
It was him.
The quiet boy from the hallway.
He stood straight, said nothing else, and sat down again.
Whispers spread across the classroom.
"Top student…" "He never talks…" "He's strict…"
Zu Yai Zu leaned toward Miaoyi and whispered,
"He's my hallway cloud."
Miaoyi tried not to laugh.
During the first lesson, Zu Yai Zu couldn't help glancing at Zhou Qin Yang's back.
He sat very still.
He didn't joke.
He didn't turn around.
He only wrote carefully in his notebook.
He looks like he belongs to a different world, she thought.
When the bell rang, students rushed outside.
Zu Yai Zu followed Miaoyi to the corridor.
Two boys were arguing near the stairs.
"You're too loud, Yi Wan," one said.
"And you're too serious, Wen Ran," the other replied.
Miaoyi whispered, "Those are Zhou Qin Yang's friends."
Yi Wan noticed them first and smiled.
"New classmates?"
Zu Yai Zu nodded. "Yes."
Yi Wan looked amused. "You look easy to bully."
Zu Yai Zu gasped. "I am not!"
Wen Ran crossed his arms. "You talk too much."
She bowed politely. "Sorry."
Yi Wan laughed.
By the time school ended, the sky had turned grey.
Zu Yai Zu walked to the gate with Miaoyi.
Then she stopped.
"…I forgot my umbrella."
Miaoyi looked at the rain and sighed. "My mom is waiting. I can't stay."
Zu Yai Zu nodded. "It's okay. I'll wait."
She stood under the roof, watching the rain fall.
"Rain is pretty," she whispered,
"but it ruins shoes."
A shadow appeared beside her.
An umbrella opened above her head.
She turned.
Zhou Qin Yang stood there.
"You'll get wet," he said quietly.
"…You again," she smiled.
He didn't answer.
"You're Zhou Qin Yang, right?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I'm Zu Yai Zu."
He already knew.
They walked side by side.
He held the umbrella slightly toward her, careful not to let the rain touch her shoulder.
Neither of them spoke.
But the silence wasn't uncomfortable.
It felt… soft.
After a few steps, Zu Yai Zu suddenly stopped.
"This is a nice moment."
She took out her small camera.
"Just one picture."
Click.
Zhou Qin Yang looked at her, surprised.
"You take photos?" he asked.
"Only when something feels special," she said.
"So I don't forget it."
He didn't reply.
But he walked a little slower after that.
That night, Zu Yai Zu opened her diary.
Day One of 11th Grade:
I met a quiet boy.
He helped me in the hallway.
He shared an umbrella with me.
Maybe this is how small stories begin.
She closed the book and hugged it to her chest.
She didn't know yet—
but her ordinary school life had already changed, just a little.
And sometimes,
that was how love began.