Step by Step to Success

Jiang Nian burst out laughing and shoved a backpack into her arms.

"Sure. Carry my bag for me."

As he spoke, he handed her his otherwise empty backpack containing twenty thousand yuan. Then he took hers off her shoulders, hefted it in one hand, and clicked his tongue.

"Did you pack bricks to take home? Aren't you planning to sleep tonight?"

Xu Qianqian was speechless, but she didn't argue. She simply hugged Jiang Nian's backpack to her chest and headed downstairs. After a while, something felt off, and she couldn't help asking curiously.

"What have you got in here? It's hard, like bricks."

"Money."

"You're nuts." Xu Qianqian kept walking with the bag in her arms. Catching the sweaty smell coming from it, she went pale. "Jiang Nian, how long has it been since you washed your bag?"

"I washed it last week. It just picked up a little sweat from me." He leaned closer of his own accord, tugging at his white T-shirt. "Hey, smell it if you don't believe me."

"Look at you!" She tossed her head and moved away from him.

On their way home, whenever they reached a stretch with hardly anyone around, Xu Qianqian couldn't resist striking up a conversation.

"Hey, I heard the class promotion list is out."

"Yeah."

"Which class did you get?"

"Ugh, don't ask. Olympiad Class Three. Room 403."

Hearing the regret in his voice, the girl couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from lifting, as though to say, You wanted to be in my class that badly? But on second thought, she couldn't feel happy about it.

They really wouldn't be in the same class. She felt a faint pang of disappointment.

"Good thing you didn't get in. I'm pretty happy about that."

By the time they got home and went upstairs, they had swapped their bags back.

Jiang Nian walked in and found that his parents were still awake. They were working out some figures in the living room. His dad had even put on his glasses and was muttering under his breath.

Without so much as looking at Jiang Nian, Li Hongmei said,

"Take a shower and get to bed early."

Jiang Nian didn't answer. Instead, he walked into the middle of the living room and stood in front of his parents. They both turned to look at their son in puzzlement.

Li Hongmei immediately frowned. "Go shower. You smell sour."

"It's not that I won't shower. The time hasn't come." Jiang Nian talked the biggest game, unafraid of the harshest beating. "Ahem. Comrade Li Hongmei, Comrade Dad, I have an announcement."

His dad looked confused. Li Hongmei sneered and started to get up for the feather duster.

Then they saw their son pull a pink brick out of his backpack. No, not a pink brick. It seemed to be... money? A whole thick block, neatly stacked together.

At that thickness, it had to be twenty thousand yuan! Once it landed on the table, the visual impact of all those banknotes hit full force.

Li Hongmei's face went white, and she sprang to her feet.

"Did you rob a bank? Take it back right now!"

His dad was a little calmer. Recalling Jiang Nian's reaction that morning, he seemed to realize something. He looked at the money on the table, then at his fine young son.

"You earned this?"

"Yeah. This is all I've earned so far." Jiang Nian spread his hands. "Who knows what'll happen later? Hard to say. Anyway, spend it however you like. You don't have to scrimp."

Something stirred in Li Hongmei's eyes at the words "don't have to scrimp." Even so, she kept scolding him and telling him to put the money back in the bank, going on and on.

"Won't you need money later? You think being full today means you won't be hungry tomorrow? Your dad and I can handle things at home. What's a kid like you worrying about it for?"

Grinning, Jiang Nian tossed out an excuse that once he'd withdrawn it, he couldn't deposit it again-today wasn't his allotted day. Before Li Hongmei could blow up, he left the money on the table and darted into his room.

Click. The door locked.

His parents were left in the living room, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Who did this kid take after? How was he so utterly impossible to deal with?

The next day, Thursday.

"National Day's almost here. How many days do you think school will give us off?" Jiang Nian ate breakfast as he walked. "Stingy as ever. We'll be lucky to get three."

"No idea. National Day's the day after tomorrow, right?" Xu Qianqian's small pink lips closed around the straw in her soy milk, her eyes slightly narrowed. It made him really want to kiss her.

Jiang Nian swallowed and viciously berated himself for that ridiculous thought.

Fuck. Even rabbits don't eat the grass beside their own burrows!

He didn't know what had gotten into him lately. Maybe he'd been single too long-even Xu Qianqian was starting to look pretty. Sometimes she showed up in his dreams, and one punch turned her into a cream puff.

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Jiang Nian loosely chalked it up to adolescent hormones, shook his head, and kept walking.

When they parted at the stairs, Xu Qianqian called out to him.

"What?" Jiang Nian assumed she was about to bring up milk tea. "I'll buy you one at lunch. Who drinks milk tea this early? Were you born a water barrel?"

"As if I care!" Xu Qianqian spat the words at him and shoved something into his hand.

Jiang Nian looked down. It was a box of Step by Step to Success pen refills, its red packaging looking festive. When he looked up, she was already far away and turning back at her classroom door.

Their eyes met. Jiang Nian tilted his head in confusion, and Xu Qianqian flipped him the middle finger. Hmph.

During the morning break, the homeroom teacher suddenly stormed in.

"Jiang Nian, time to move your desk."

At that, Jiang Nian started acting bashful. "Sir, honestly, I'm kind of sad to leave."

The teacher looked at his mischievous face, somewhat speechless. "Then stay? I'll file a request for you. We can make a special exception."

"No need for that. I was kidding." Jiang Nian gave an awkward laugh.

The class immediately burst into laughter, filling the break with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Go on, get out of here. Study hard, and don't embarrass our class." The teacher waved him away. "Room 403 upstairs. Move your desk, chair, and books over now."

Jiang Nian asked two friends he got along with to help. To his surprise, Le Zhi came too.

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem. Just lending a hand." Le Zhi had been quiet these past few days. Ever since the exam, he'd kept to himself and, for the first time ever, actually started reading his textbooks.

They arrived early. Everyone else had gone out for the group run, which Le Zhi simply skipped. He didn't seem inclined to leave, either, standing in the corridor outside Room 403 and chatting with Jiang Nian.

"I had a falling-out with them a couple of days ago."

"Uh, why?" Jiang Nian felt a little awkward too.

Le Zhi leaned against the corridor railing, sunlight spilling over him, and recounted what had happened on the day they finished the exam.

"I figure if I keep hanging around those people, sooner or later I'll turn into an idiot too. I think the homeroom teacher was right about one thing. After grinding through high school for so long, I ought to get into a decent university."

After they chatted for a while, Le Zhi left.

Jiang Nian felt no particular stir of emotion. He'd moved up a class precisely because he didn't want to get mixed up with Zhou Yuting and her crowd. Whether Le Zhi had really broken with them had nothing to do with him.

With everyone out on the group run, the teaching building was practically empty. Suddenly, he heard the sound of desks and chairs being moved at the stairwell.

Jiang Nian turned and saw a familiar face.

Zhang Ningzhi?

Huh? She seemed to be heading his way. Only one girl was helping her move her desk and chair, and they looked to be struggling. Zhang Ningzhi's little face was flushed red.

After freezing for a few seconds, Jiang Nian walked over to help.

"We meet again. Are you...?"

"Oh, it's you." Zhang Ningzhi blinked, then grew a little bashful and softly said his name. "Jiang Nian... I got promoted. Room 403."