At this very desk, one year ago,

On the thirty-first, Fang Chang'an spent the morning at the shop with his mother, checking on the renovation progress. After eating lunch and taking a short nap, he supervised his younger siblings in reading for a bit before receiving a call from Fang Dianqiu, who said she and Fang Ying were about to leave home and wanted him to wait for them at the lighthouse in about half an hour.

Because Fang Chang'an had moved, the Magiagou Trio had become a duo. In reality, over the past year, Fang Chang'an hadn't walked to school with Fang Dianqiu and Fang Ying very often, so the impact was minimal. However, they wouldn't be able to walk home together anymore, and neither of them had ever seen Fang Chang'an's new home, which was why Fang Dianqiu wanted to come and take a look.

Half an hour later, Fang Chang'an went out, walked leisurely to the spot, and saw Fang Dianqiu and Fang Ying riding their bicycles over. Fang Dianqiu asked him, "Did you just get here?"

Fang Chang'an waved the popsicle in his hand and said, "I've been waiting for a while. I only went to buy the popsicle when I saw you coming."

"We both saw you. You were walking from over there, and you only turned to buy a popsicle after you saw us," Fang Dianqiu exposed him without hesitation.

"It's all the same. Let's go."

Fang Chang'an hadn't ridden a bicycle. Initially, he had thought about walking more for exercise, but it was too hot, so he gave up. He commandeered Fang Dianqiu's bicycle, gave her a ride home, and after thinking about it, bought two more popsicles on the roadside. Since his mother wasn't home, there was no need to bring one back for her.

Fang Dianqiu and Fang Ying sat at his house for a while, but after walking around twice and finding nothing to do—Fang Ying's suggestion to play cards was vetoed by Fang Chang'an—they watched TV for a short while and then headed back to school.

Fang Chang'an waited for a bit, and seeing that his mother hadn't returned, he made his own dinner: stir-fried shredded potatoes and stir-fried green beans. There were no steamed buns left. He actually knew how to steam them—he had learned in the fourth grade—but he was too lazy to do it and had Fang Changming go out to buy a few steamed buns.

As the three siblings were eating, Cong Rong returned. Fang Chang'an greeted her. After finishing his meal, he strapped on his schoolbag, which contained his summer homework (which he had flipped through as extracurricular reading) and a copy of *Drinking Etiquette*, and walked toward school.

It was a distance of roughly three *li*. Fang Chang'an walked for about twenty minutes, arriving at the classroom at 5:40. He felt this time was quite acceptable, so there would be no need to ride a bicycle in the future.

When Fang Chang'an arrived at the classroom, it was almost full. Except for a few students who had gone off to chat, most were already sitting in their original seats.

The desks that originally belonged to Fang Chang'an and Shen Mo were completely empty, looking somewhat out of place in the nearly packed classroom.

"The monitor is here!"

"Monitor, did you get fairer again?"

"Monitor, did you grow taller?"

"Monitor, did you finish your summer homework?"

Seeing Fang Chang'an walk in, many people smiled and greeted him. Wang Ke, who had been talking to the person behind her, also turned around to look. Their gazes met for a fraction of a second, she gave him a quick, sweeping glance, and then turned back to continue talking with others.

Fang Chang'an sat down in his seat. Wu Di looked at him, seemingly wanting to say something, but remained silent. Fang Chang'an smiled, pulled *Drinking Etiquette* out of his bag, and began to read slowly.

Wang Hao poked him from behind and asked, "Did you go back to the dorm? Our dorms were reassigned, one bed per person."

Fang Chang'an replied, "My family moved to the town, so I won't be staying in the dorm anymore."

Wang Hao was stunned. "You're not staying here ever again?"

"I'll probably have to stay when I'm in high school."

"High school isn't going to be here, though."

"What, do you want me to keep smelling your stinky feet?"

Wang Ke turned around and gave him a slightly amused look, wanting to ask something but holding back. Zheng Liili asked instead, "Then will you still run in the future?"

Fang Chang'an smiled and said, "Of course. I'll run before going home, it doesn't get in the way. Otherwise, some people might think I got scared off."

Wang Ke knew he was referring to the phone call they had previously about "who can beat whom." She snorted and continued to ignore him.

Wu Di asked, "Where did your family move to?"

"I kind of forgot where it is, too. That road going east from the lighthouse, turn north."

Wu Di's expression turned a bit strange. "My family is over there too. Is your house on the east side of the road or the west side?"

"The west side."

"My family is on the east."

Wu Di looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, and he almost blurted out, "Good thing we're not together."

Fang Chang'an smiled. "What a coincidence. Should I go to your house over the weekend and greet your uncle and aunt?"

"No, no, no need, no need."

Wu Di immediately refused. He certainly didn't want his parents to have yet another "other people's child" to compare him to. Feeling that refusing Fang Chang'an so bluntly might be a bit impolite—after all, this was "Brother Chang'an"—he quickly changed the subject. "However, your house is pretty close to Wang Yuwei's. Her house is also on the west side."

Wang Yuwei heard Wu Di mention her name, turned her head, and looked over. "Wu Di, what are you saying about me?"

Wu Di replied, "Fang Chang'an's family moved to the town. It should be pretty close to your house."

Wang Yuwei was stunned. She had just visited Fang Chang'an's home last year; how long had it been, and why had they moved to the town? She looked at Fang Chang'an and asked, "What's your house number?"

"Sixty-eight."

"My house is seventy."

Fang Chang'an's new home was similar to Fang Luguo's place, where a large courtyard enclosed several smaller ones. The difference was that the "large courtyard" here was even larger than the one at Fang Luguo's. While Fang Luguo's large courtyard only housed three households, theirs had five. The courtyard gates were lined up in a row, and the space in front of them resembled an alley, except it was blocked at one end and had the main gate at the other.

Fang Chang'an's house was the first household upon entering, number sixty-eight. Having moved in three days ago, they had only crossed paths with two of the neighboring families and exchanged a few polite pleasantries; he genuinely hadn't known he had become neighbors with Wang Yuwei.

Both of them were slightly dazed. Wu Di enthusiastically chimed in, "Then the two of you can go to and from school together."

Fang Chang'an smiled. "Whenever we're free, sure."

After speaking, he first looked at Wang Ke. The young girl gave him a watery, fleeting glance and lowered her head to read her book. Fang Chang'an followed her gaze and didn't see the cover, but he recognized it as the *Collection of Su Shi's Ci Poetry* that he had given her.

The classroom quickly filled up, becoming noisy and lively. Most students were chatting, while others were frantically scribbling away at the summer homework they hadn't finished. Fang Chang'an had done such things in his past life, but now he was simply too lazy to bother.

For homework you couldn't finish in an entire summer, which teacher would you expect to be willing to grade it?

When Cheng Mengfei walked into the classroom, Fang Chang'an instinctively looked past her. Through the front door of the classroom, he saw the lingering glow of the setting sun, its orange-gold light casting a dreamy halo over everything before him. He remembered how, before the winter break, he had mistakenly thought he wouldn't see Shen Mo after the New Year. At that time, watching her leave with Cheng Mengfei, he felt as though he had caught a glimpse of what she would look like when she grew up.

And now, recalling that scene, Shen Mo had truly transferred schools.

Two years from now, if they met again at the No. 1 Municipal High School, would she be the person he had "seen" back then?

Cheng Mengfei was sensitive enough to notice Fang Chang'an's unusual behavior. She immediately realized the reason, and on an impulse, she also glanced out the door. Naturally, she saw nothing, so she turned around, walked up to the podium, and smiled inwardly.

Just like the start of the semester last year, the routine was the same: textbooks first, seat assignments second.

"A year has passed, everyone has gone up a grade, and you've all grown a lot taller. We're going to rearrange the seating, and you can freely choose who you want to sit with."

As soon as Cheng Mengfei finished speaking, a slight commotion rippled through the audience—some students were excited, others nervous. She wasn't in a hurry to quiet them down. After waiting a moment, she continued with a smile, "To help everyone get to know each other better, we will change seats twice this semester: once today, and once again after the mid-term exams."

"Everyone, go out into the corridor. I will call out names according to your exam rankings. The students whose names are called will come in first to choose their seats."

"After everyone has chosen, I will make some overall adjustments based on the general situation. Alright, everyone out."

With that, Cheng Mengfei walked out of the classroom first. The rest of the students stood up amidst a buzzing chatter, some recalling their rankings from the final exams.

"Fang Chang'an was first, Shen Mo second..."

"Are you an idiot? Shen Mo transferred!"

"I know, I'm just talking about the rankings."

"Who was third again?"

Someone even shouted to Fang Chang'an, "Monitor, Shen Mo is gone. How about I be your deskmate?"

"Go stay wherever it's cool."

Wang Ke didn't look at Fang Chang'an. After standing up and waiting for Zheng Liili to come out, she asked her, "How about the two of us sit together?"

Zheng Liili looked at her, then glanced back at Fang Chang'an, her expression a mix of confusion and inquiry. Fang Chang'an smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

Wang Ke blushed, grabbed Zheng Liili's arm, and pulled her outward, whispering, "I'm not sitting with him anyway, he has a deskmate."

Zheng Liili said, "Shen Mo transferred."

Wang Ke whispered, "Then there's still Wang Yuwei."

Fang Chang'an let out an inward sigh. *Who did I offend, anyway?*

All the students walked out and stood in the corridor. Fang Chang'an very consciously stood close to the classroom door. Cheng Mengfei stood inside the doorway, holding the final exam grade sheet and calling out names in order.

"Fang Chang'an, Liu Bei, Wang Sha, Li Shuai, Mao Shanshan."

Because Shen Mo had transferred, everyone's ranking from Liu Bei onward moved up a spot. Cheng Mengfei called the first five students in. Fang Chang'an led the way into the classroom, followed by Liu Bei and Wang Sha, and then Li Shuai and Mao Shanshan.

Wang Sha whispered from behind, "Where are you guys sitting?"

Liu Bei said, "I'm definitely sitting in the back."

Fang Chang'an had grown two centimeters over the summer, reaching a height of one meter sixty-seven. Liu Bei was almost the same height as him, and even though she entered first, she had no intention of sitting at the front.

Fang Chang'an smiled. "I'm sitting in the back too."

He chose the fourth row, the spot where Wang Hao used to sit. Liu Bei looked at him, seemingly wanting to walk over, but seeing him choose this spot, she seemed to understand something. She gave a thin smile and went to the other side of the aisle to sit with Wang Sha.

"Why did you come over here?" Wang Sha asked, somewhat puzzled.

Liu Bei motioned with her chin toward the spot Fang Chang'an had chosen. Wang Sha looked over, understood with a knowing smile, nodded, and exchanged a glance with Liu Bei—everything understood without a word.

Mao Shanshan had been hesitating, but seeing the two of them become deskmates, she said, "Then I'll sit in front of you guys."

She wasn't very tall, around one meter fifty-six or fifty-seven. Liu Bei and Wang Sha had both chosen the fourth row. After hesitating for a moment, she moved up one row further, choosing the second row in the same column as Liu Bei and Wang Sha.

Wang Ke had ranked twelfth in the final exams, making her the eleventh person to enter the classroom, putting her right in the third batch. She had also grown a bit taller over the summer; Fang Chang'an estimated inwardly that she must be around one meter sixty now.

Wang Ke walked into the classroom and assessed the seating layout. Fang Chang'an was sitting in the middle of the fourth row, near the outer aisle. The middle desk was empty, and Liu Bei and Wang Sha were sitting on the inner aisle side.

She had originally intended to walk toward Fang Chang'an's side. However, the moment she moved, she noticed that Liu Bei, Wang Sha, Mao Shanshan, Li Shuai, and many other seated students were looking at her with faint smiles on their faces, as if they were all waiting for her to walk over.

Wang Ke wasn't particularly introverted, but she was at a sensitive age. It had been fine last year when Shen Mo was around—since they were both close to Fang Chang'an, no one said anything. However, with Shen Mo's transfer, a subtle balance seemed to have been broken.

Being stared at by her classmates with no malice, but with obvious curiosity, she felt her face heat up. She inexplicably thought of her birthday night when Fang Chang'an called from his new phone and what her younger brother had said. The girl behind her leaned closer and seemed to give her a gentle push on the back, the force extremely weak.

Yet, she involuntarily moved forward along with that force, stepping onto the podium side, walking toward the classroom's inner aisle, and coming to the area where Mao Shanshan, Liu Bei, and Wang Sha were.

Liu Bei and the others, who had already assumed she would be Fang Chang'an's deskmate, were slightly stunned and turned to look at Fang Chang'an.

The moment Wang Ke took that step, regret instantly washed over her. But under the watchful eyes of everyone, once the step was taken, there was no turning back. For a moment, she felt a mix of regret, annoyance, and embarrassment, feeling even more self-conscious than if she had just walked over to sit with Fang Chang'an. She felt like the foolish character in the idiom who buried three hundred taels of silver and put up a sign saying "the neighbor is not a thief."

She didn't dare look at Fang Chang'an, nor did she know how to explain herself to him afterward. She even imagined how the plot would unfold: Fang Chang'an would definitely be angry with her, and from now on they would sit so far apart that they wouldn't have many chances to talk, slowly drifting apart... *Should I find him after evening self-study to explain? But what should I say? The more I explain, the more confused it gets...*

She sat down in the empty third-row desk in front of Liu Bei and Wang Sha. Mao Shanshan, sitting in front of her, turned around as if wanting to speak, but didn't open her mouth, seemingly distracted by something else catching her attention.

Wang Ke was still immersed in her remorseful and regretful emotions, so her reaction was slow. After a few seconds, she realized something felt off, raised her head to look at Mao Shanshan, and saw that Mao Shanshan was looking behind her, her gaze seemingly shifting forward.

This trajectory... it felt like...

She instinctively turned her head, following Mao Shanshan's gaze toward the aisle beside her seat. As soon as she turned, her view was blocked by a familiar, brand-new white shirt, and a hand tapped lightly on her desk.

Fang Chang'an pointed to the empty seat beside her and asked, "Is anyone sitting here?"

Wang Ke looked up at him, stunned, as if doubting whether the person before her was real. She didn't answer, instead turning her head to look at the seat he had just occupied.

Fang Chang'an was amused by her foolish-looking dazed expression and tried hard to hold back a laugh. Wang Ke had already snapped out of it. She looked up at him, and seeing his stern, somewhat fierce expression, she lowered her head aggrievedly and whispered, "No."

"Then let me in."

Wang Ke didn't look up, nor did she speak. She imperceptibly pursed her lips, scooted her chair closer to the desk, and let him pass from behind.

Throughout this process, her mind was blank, her cheeks burned, and her heart beat fast. She didn't dare look at the surrounding classmates. Fortunately, she soon heard Teacher Cheng calling out another name, which allowed her to secretly lift her head. She saw that very few people were paying attention to her; most were focused on the newly entered students. Mao Shanshan had also welcomed her deskmate, Zhang Lu.

Wang Ke quietly let out a sigh of relief. Then, seeing Teacher Cheng glance in their direction, she couldn't help but worry for Fang Chang'an. Before she even had time to check Fang Chang'an's reaction, she saw Teacher Cheng cast a brief glance over, wearing an expression that seemed somewhat helpless, before nonchalantly shifting her gaze away as if she had seen nothing at all.

She froze once more, and only then did she dare look at Fang Chang'an. Fang Chang'an glared at her with an unfriendly expression. She immediately turned her head away, earnestly staring out the window. The roof of the bicycle shed, the courtyard wall, and the residential buildings outside the school were all bare. Electric wires were strung between utility poles, with fallen leaves hanging from them. There were tall poplar trees, lush and green, both inside and outside the courtyard walls, but for a country girl like her, there really wasn't anything particularly interesting to look at.

Yet, she stared for a long time, trying hard to keep her small face taut, until finally, she couldn't help it anymore, and a suppressed, sweet smile quietly bloomed on her face.

At the same time, she suddenly remembered—around this time last year... no, that was September 5th, anyway, it was the start of the semester when no one knew each other. She had been sitting alone in the classroom, and he had come very late, walking over just like this to ask if anyone was sitting next to her. She had said "no," and then he had said, "Then let me in."

It was identical to the conversation they had just had!

And! Even the seat was the exact same—right at this very desk where she was sitting now!