Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When I returned to the classroom, Shen Dongye had already arrived. He frowned as he glanced at Li Lang.

Li Lang smiled and wrapped her arm around me. “Linlin and I are best friends. Why are you looking at me like that?”

So hypocritical.

I brushed her hand off and returned to my seat.

Shen Dongye’s nose was red, and he kept sneezing. He tossed a carton of banana milk onto my desk. “Go get me some hot water, bro. Consider this your payment.”

Li Lang’s eyes widened. “Shen Dongye, you’re giving the milk I gave you to someone else?”

Shen Dongye tossed the milk back to her. “Fine, take it back. Li Linlin, I’ll owe you the milk for now.”

Li Lang nearly died of frustration.

I fetched the hot water for him and mixed in a packet of cold medicine.

Shen Dongye hated bitter things, but under my intense gaze, he swallowed it anyway.

Then, he forced me to drink a cup too. “Good brothers share the bitterness!”

The medicine was bitter, but my heart felt sweet.

As morning self-study was nearing its end, Jiayi finally arrived.

She made up a random excuse. Because her grades were good, the homeroom teacher didn’t give her a hard time.

After class, I pressed her about where she had been disappearing to lately.

Her face flushed, and her eyes sparkled. “Linlin, I’ve found true love. He’s incredibly handsome. I’ll introduce you next time.”

I told her, “Jiayi, I’ve decided to take my studies seriously.”

“Haven’t you always been studying?”

“It’s different now.”

Before, studying felt like completing a chore.

Now, I studied so that I could always stand by Shen Dongye’s side.

I truly gave it my all.

I often asked Shen Dongye for help with problems. Sometimes he would sigh. “Li Linlin, you did a similar problem a few days ago. You have to learn how to apply the logic to other cases.”

He was right.

I had to learn to generalize from one example, or he’d think I was an idiot.

I couldn’t waste too much of his time.

My method for memorizing vocabulary was always rigid and inefficient.

Watching me write words over and over on paper to burn them into my memory, Shen Dongye shook his head. “You need to find the patterns. Rote memorization like this will be forgotten quickly.”

“Find a memory code that’s unique to you…”

Later, I actually found a way.

Before, those words were like marbles that I couldn’t fish out of the water.

Now, they scrambled to jump into my tray. Even if things got bumpy, they wouldn’t easily fall out.

Shen Dongye was curious. “What’s your code?”

The weather had turned cold. As he spoke, a cloud of white mist escaped his mouth, blurring his features.

My code is you, Shen Dongye.

By connecting every memory to you, they became firmly anchored in my mind.

I made small flashcards and clipped them to the handlebars of my bicycle.

On the way to school, I could memorize a string of formulas.

When helping my mother knead dough and prepare fillings, I would mentally review all the related English vocabulary to reinforce my memory.

I stopped going out to socialize with Jiayi.

Anyway, those friends still couldn’t remember my full name even now.

The weather grew colder and colder, and final exams soon arrived.

I was assigned to the same examination room as Shen Dongye, while Li Lang was in another.

Before the Chinese exam, she handed me a letter. “Li Linlin, help me give this to Shen Dongye, will you?”

The pink envelope was covered in peach-colored hearts.

A young girl’s feelings, plain for all to see.