Chapter 5

After entering middle school, Qi Zheng was still my deskmate.

After his father started making money, he rarely came home. Most of the time, he lived with another woman on the other side of the city, but when it came to Qi Zheng, his son, he was always generous.

In 2006, when Qi Zheng and I moved up to eighth grade, he got his own computer.

Back then, the Penguin Pet was all the rage. As soon as his computer was connected to the internet, Qi Zheng quickly registered two accounts. Once he was done, he ran over to me, eager to show off.

“Moon, Moon… I registered a Penguin account for you!”

He showed me a small slip of paper with two strings of numbers written on it, his eyes filled with pure joy. “I adopted a little penguin for you, a girl with a bow. You can feed her, bathe her, play with her, even send her to school or have her work…”

I was working on a test paper, glanced indifferently at the slip, then lowered my head and continued calculating on my scratch paper. “Thank you, but I don’t need these.”

For me, being first in the grade was far more appealing.

“I know you’re really busy!”

Qi Zheng looked at me pitifully, his voice trailing off as if he were acting cute. “I’ll take care of her. I’ll keep your account logged in and level it up for you. If you ever need it, you can use it, okay?”

I didn’t even look up, replying coolly, “Whatever.”

Qi Zheng took that as my tacit approval. A small dimple appeared on his left cheek, his smile radiating the sincerity and brightness unique to youth.

Maybe he was afraid I’d change my mind, so he didn’t pester me for long before leaving. Before he left, he left that little slip of paper behind.

After finishing my test paper, I picked it up and stared at those two similar strings of numbers for a long time. Then I tucked it into my notebook, put it away on a high shelf, and opened my workbook to continue solving problems.

And Qi Zheng kept his word.

He really did keep my account logged in all the time, and took care of that little penguin. When adding classmates as friends, he always had them add me first, then himself.

To be honest, that account didn’t mean much to me, but Qi Zheng managed it with great enthusiasm. Except for not posting updates for me, he handled everything else.

His own account remained in its original state, only used to arrange basketball games with friends and to have his pet play with mine.

As the high school entrance exam approached, Qi Zheng got a cell phone. During evening self-study, a troublemaker from another class somehow added my account. In his note, he said he had something urgent to discuss with me. After Qi Zheng approved the request, the guy asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend.

Qi Zheng was furious. He skipped evening self-study and immediately went over to fight the guy.

The scene was chaotic. Frightened classmates quickly called the teacher. Both of them were taken to the office, and their parents were called in.

In the office, Qi Zheng stubbornly refused to say why he fought, and the other boy, probably too embarrassed, also kept silent. In the end, the reason for the fight was chalked up to mutual dislike. Since no one was hurt, the teacher only punished them with a two-thousand-word reflection each.

But I guessed it probably had something to do with me.

Not because I was conceited, but because Qi Zheng was a fool.

He wanted to be in the same class as me, wanted to be my deskmate, but he really wasn’t very smart. Studying already took up most of his energy, so he had no time to get involved with those kinds of people, let alone have any conflicts.

“I’m not as dumb as you say!”

Qi Zheng protested loudly, touching the bruise at the corner of his mouth and wincing in pain. “It really wasn’t because of you. Don’t overthink it, okay?”

I looked at him quietly, saying nothing.

Qi Zheng couldn’t stand my gaze and finally confessed everything. In the end, he hung his head in defeat and said, “Go ahead and scold me.”

He really wasn’t very smart.

Or maybe, in his eyes, I was someone who couldn’t tell right from wrong?

I turned away, flipped my book to a new page, and said calmly, “His existence doesn’t matter to me, and he can’t affect me. Don’t fight over things like this.”

Qi Zheng obediently admitted his mistake. “I understand.”

I responded with a faint “Mm” and continued reading my book intently. But Qi Zheng leaned over again, looking at me and asking softly, “Moon, can you not like anyone else?”

That question was dull and boring, so I ignored him.

But he wouldn’t give up, muttering quietly beside me, “You’re Zhong Yue, after all. Your mission is to defeat all the test paper monsters and always be number one. How could you fall in love early, right?”

I was speechless and couldn’t help but move a little farther away from him. Qi Zheng was finally satisfied.

“That’s more like it.”

He nodded, returned to his seat, and lay on his desk, writing his reflection while mumbling, “Zhong Yue, first in the class. Zhong Yue, first in the grade… Zhong Yue, number one in the world!”

I shook my head. He really was a fool.