"You're... Shen Jin?"
Li Zhe cupped clean water in his hands and rinsed his eyes, trying to dull the searing burn.
As soon as he heard the other man say they had shared a dorm room, together with that initial greeting of "Class President," he guessed it was Shen Jin.
Everyone else called him Brother Zhe, class president, or dorm leader.
Only Shen Jin called him "Class President" every time, especially when he was making one of his humblebrags.
For example:
Li Zhe: "Man, applying for Party membership in freshman year was so hard. If I'd known, I'd have waited until sophomore year. I only found out after finishing the whole thing that I was the only one in our year whose application succeeded. It was such a hassle!"
The other four guys in the dorm all exclaimed, "Class president, you're fucking awesome!"
"That's incredible! You're practically the top dog among us freshmen!"
"Brother Zhe, could you teach me how? I want to join the Party in sophomore year too."
"Class president, could you see about getting me named a Three-Good Student this year? I heard your student council handles that?"
Only Shen Jin sat on the upper bunk and said with a grin, "Impressive, Class President. Must've cost you quite a bit, huh?"
Then Li Zhe, who had been thoroughly enjoying showing off, felt uncomfortable, because... he really had spent money to grease the right palms and get a spot so quickly.
It was one thing for everyone to know, but Shen Jin just had to say it aloud.
And he called him "Class President" every time, which always felt faintly mocking.
But there was nothing he could do about Shen Jin. Shen Jin never competed for any honors or wanted a financial hardship subsidy spot. His grades were