The Youth That Slipped Through the Cracks

On the playground, Yu Shao was listening to his classmate lamenting his breakup.

"Love is bullshit!"

The whole thing started when, after entering high school, his classmate noticed his girlfriend from junior high had become hot and cold.

An experienced man would tell you that if the shower water is hot and cold, it's because someone else is sharing the water supply with you.

But this classmate clearly didn't know that. So, he found a junior high classmate who attended the same high school as his girlfriend and asked about her.

Then, as he'd hoped, he got news that his girlfriend seemed to be flirting with a muscular sports student at their school. Enraged, he immediately grabbed his phone and started questioning his girlfriend.

In the end, he successfully heard a resolute "goodbye" from his girlfriend, and in the dimness, he felt a burning sensation as if under the scorching sun.

During the break, he began pouring his heart out to his male classmates, declaring himself a mature man who had tasted the bitterness of love.

"Women, that's just how they are."

"They love you to death at first, then turn around and find someone new. If you ask them, they'll say they still love you, but you hurt my feelings, basically meaning 'it's not my fault.'"

"It's fine, there are so many pretty girls at our school. Find someone even prettier and show her off on your Moments!"

"What's the point of dating? Let's not suffer for love."

A bunch of sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys began to pontificate about women and love, all while trying to console their heartbroken classmate.

Yu Shao remained silent, content to spectate with interest, finding it quite amusing.

"Ring ring!"

Just then, the class bell rang. One boy jolted, exclaiming, "Holy crap, it's Li Kang's math class next!"

Hearing this, the boys snapped back to reality and scrambled towards the teaching building. The heartbroken classmate, forgetting his sorrow, ran the fastest.

Li Kang was their math teacher and homeroom teacher. His catchphrase was "Stand up to listen in class," and being late for his lessons usually had unpleasant consequences.

As the boys reached the hallway, they saw Li Kang walking towards the classroom, thermos in hand. Seeing that they weren't in class yet, he looked up and shot them a sharp glance.

The boys' scalps tingled, and they all quickened their pace, rushing into the classroom like the wind, just managing to get in before Li Kang.

"Class!"

"Stand up!"

"Good morning, teacher!"

Li Kang twisted open his thermos, took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and then began the lesson. The topic for this math class was algebra and functions.

In the classroom, Yu Shao listened to the lecture absentmindedly. He was suddenly reminded of his classmate's breakup and their mad dash to avoid being late for class, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"This is youth..."

A high school student mused that youth was strange, but Yu Shao was genuinely reflecting on these verdant years. After all, these bittersweet, naive years should no longer have belonged to him.

No one can share youth and the experience of youth together, unless they've been reborn.

Therefore, Yu Shao was a reborn individual.

He was originally a professional Go player, having represented his country in numerous Go championships and won many honors. In his previous life, while not the absolute top player, his skill ranked within the top five.

He woke up one day to find himself transmigrated into this parallel world, becoming a first-year high school student named "Yu Shao."

Back at sixteen, Yu Shao hadn't figured out what he wanted to do. For now, he just wanted to enjoy this unrestrained, vibrant period of his youth.

After all, in his previous life, he had started learning Go from a young age. By sixteen or seventeen, he was already a professional player, spending his days studying games and competing.

When he later achieved fame, he looked back and realized that his youth had slipped through his fingers.

Writers of romance novels say youth slips through one's fingers to highlight their literary skill and create atmosphere, likening youth to quicksand.

Those who write suggestive content might use it as an implicit metaphor.

But for a Go player, saying youth slips through one's fingers meant youth was literally slipping through one's fingers.

After class, as Li Kang left the classroom with his thermos, several boys rushed out right behind him. The classroom immediately became noisy and bustling.

"Yu Shao, wanna go to the restroom together?"

Someone called out to Yu Shao, inviting him to the restroom. It was unclear why, but during student days, boys always went to the restroom in groups, as if they couldn't go without company.

"No thanks, I'm afraid I might discourage you."

Yu Shao shook his head, declining his classmate's invitation to challenge the heavens.

The boy looked confused. Just as he was about to get angry, he seemed to see something and immediately shut his mouth, staring blankly out the window.

Not only him, but the tone of all the boys in the classroom dropped noticeably. Their eyes, intentionally or unintentionally, kept darting towards the hallway outside the window.

In the hallway outside, a beautiful girl in a blue and white school uniform, carrying a thick stack of homework, walked gracefully past the window of Class 7.

Her skin was very fair, and the small section of her arm exposed as she held the homework was as fair as snow. Her long black hair was tied into the common low ponytail for high school girls, and her delicate features seemed to brighten the classroom itself.

The girl was backlit, her profile and hair strands seemingly gilded, making her appear serene and sacred.

There are some girls who are naturally destined to make men suffer for love, because the first time you see them, your heart skips a beat, yet you know deep down there's no possibility between you.

Clearly, this girl carrying the homework was one of them.

Only after the girl had walked away did the boys reluctantly avert their gazes.

"Gently, she left, just as gently as she came."

The guy who had just called Yu Shao to go to the bathroom together was suddenly inspired, reciting a line of poetry with a rather melancholic air.

"You're not going to the bathroom anymore?"

Yu Shao glanced at him and asked.

The guy shook his head and said, "I'm done."

Yu Shao was shocked by this and quickly looked at the guy's crotch, "What did you say?!"

"You misunderstood."

The guy shook his head and said with deep affection, "I mean, Xu Ziqin... she doesn't have any pee breaks."

Yu Shao was stunned. He felt like he had just been taught a lesson by a high school student, realizing he might have underestimated the unique swagger of high schoolers, saying something that even shook him.

Xu Ziqin was the girl who had just passed by the window. She was the math representative for Class 6 of the first year in the adjacent grade. Admirers flocked to her like fish crossing a river, but few dared to pursue her.

After all, Xu Ziqin was not only beautiful, but also academically excellent, and it was even rumored that her family background was quite good. This was enough to make most pursuers feel inferior and retreat.

In Yu Shao's memory, it seemed that his previous self was one of Xu Ziqin's many secret admirers.