Chapter Summaries

Wen Zhixia treated Chen Shi'an to a full day of amusement park rides, food, pottery, and a movie, spending much of her pocket money along the way. At the cinema, she fell asleep on Chen Shi'an's shoulder, leaving him quietly enjoying her closeness.

• Wen Zhixia and Chen Shi'an enjoyed amusement park rides and shared milk tea while Chen Shi'an carried their bags and prizes.
• Wen Zhixia bought them a variety of snacks, posted photos of their outing to Moments, and paid her cousin Qingqing fifty to make up for leaving her out.
• Wen Zhixia took Chen Shi'an to Central Shopping Mall, where he guided her hands on the pottery wheel and crafted a Hello Kitty cup for her.
• Wen Zhixia and Chen Shi'an watched a comedy at the cinema, where she squeezed close to him and tucked her hand into his pocket.
• Wen Zhixia fell asleep with her head on Chen Shi'an's shoulder, and he relaxed so she could rest comfortably.

Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu discussed Yunqi No. 1 High School’s upcoming 20th Anniversary Celebration and considered joining its art performance. They agreed to prepare an act together, though Chen Shi'an also wanted to ask Wen Zhixia to perform with them, leaving Lin Meng Qiu jealous as the class began changing seats.

• Chen Shi'an gave Lin Meng Qiu warm milk tea, and they exchanged notes about changing seats while remaining deskmates.
• Old Liang announced the November Monthly Exam and the school’s December 31 anniversary celebration, including an assembly, daytime fireworks, a drone show, and an art performance.
• Chen Shi'an asked Lin Meng Qiu whether she would perform; she offered to accompany him on the piano while he sang.
• Chen Shi'an said he also wanted to ask Little Cicada to join an act, making Lin Meng Qiu jealous.
• After the class meeting, the students began moving desks to change seats.

Class Five changed seats, bringing Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu together in the first group, where they discussed performing at the School Anniversary Art Performance. At lunch, Lin Meng Qiu awkwardly tried to press her legs against Chen Shi'an but accidentally touched Wen Zhixia instead, and the two girls declined Chen Shi'an's invitation to perform together.

• Class Five moved their desks and chairs as the groups shifted, and Chen Shi'an helped Lin Meng Qiu carry her desk.
• Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu switched seats so Lin Meng Qiu could sit against the wall, while Qiu Yufu discussed the art performance registration form with her.
• Wen Zhixia came to Class Five to invite Chen Shi'an to lunch, and Lin Meng Qiu joined them.
• At lunch, Lin Meng Qiu tried to press her legs against Chen Shi'an under the table but mistakenly touched Wen Zhixia's leg, then withdrew when Wen Zhixia noticed.
• Chen Shi'an invited Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu to sing with him at the School Anniversary Art Performance, but both girls refused.

Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu joined the school anniversary performance, and Lin Meng Qiu’s offhand time-travel idea gave Wen Zhixia a direction for her campus skit. The girls agreed to involve Chen Shi'an and each other, then returned to their studies, while Chen Shi'an considered his future plans.

• Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu each registered to perform with Chen Shi'an, and Wen Zhixia asked him about a campus skit.
• Lin Meng Qiu suggested a student from the past traveling to the present, and Wen Zhixia developed it into a skit about campus changes over thirty years.
• Wen Zhixia asked to use Lin Meng Qiu’s idea and invited Chen Shi'an to act; Lin Meng Qiu then asked to join the skit too.
• Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu privately planned to use their roles as director and idea contributor to influence each other’s casting.
• Chen Shi'an studied during the mathematics weekly test and thought about completing his coursework, pursuing advanced subjects, and repaying his creditors.
• Teacher Liang appeared outside the classroom window, startling Lin Meng Qiu when she finally noticed him.

Chen Shi'an, Wen Zhixia, and Lin Meng Qiu chose songs for the school arts performance and reviewed Wen Zhixia’s skit script, which sparked a dispute over Lin Meng Qiu’s minor role. Chen Shi'an agreed to revise the script and casting before they discussed it again after school.

• Wen Zhixia suggested that she and Chen Shi'an sing “You Were Once a Youngster,” and they agreed to perform it together.
• Lin Meng Qiu chose “My Deskmate” for her performance with Chen Shi'an, and he agreed to sing it with her while she played piano.
• Wen Zhixia showed Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu her skit script, “A Classroom Thirty Years Through Time,” which cast Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu as students in 1993 and the others as students in 2023.
• Lin Meng Qiu objected to having almost no lines, and she and Wen Zhixia argued over the script and casting.
• Chen Shi'an offered to revise the script and casting by after school, then considered giving Xu Zihan the role of the student who studied by candlelight.

Chen Shi'an revised the school skit and visited Wen Zhixia's classroom to show her the script. After school, he agreed to cook dinner with Lin Meng Qiu and promised Wen Zhixia cured meat to take home, leaving the two girls waiting together while he rode home to fetch it.

• Chen Shi'an revised the skit script, and Lin Meng Qiu, Xu Zihan, and Qiu Yufu approved the changes.
• Chen Shi'an visited Wen Zhixia in Class Eleven and gave her the revised script to read with Xiao Yan and the others.
• Lin Meng Qiu invited Chen Shi'an to dinner, and they agreed to make rice with his cured meat.
• Chen Shi'an waited for Wen Zhixia after class and gave her a couple of pieces of cured meat to take to her parents.
• Wen Zhixia showed Chen Shi'an the ceramic cup he had made for her, while Lin Meng Qiu watched with envy.
• Both girls offered to go with Chen Shi'an to fetch the cured meat, but he rode home alone and left them waiting together.

Chen Shi'an brought Wen Zhixia cured meat for her family, then went with Lin Meng Qiu to make cured meat rice at her home. After Lin Meng Qiu played piano for him and blushed at his praise, they shared the meal, which she eagerly went back for seconds of.

• Chen Shi'an packed cured and smoked meat for Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu, then gave Wen Zhixia a bag to take home to Aunt Lan.
• Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu stopped at the market for ingredients before going to her home to cook cured meat rice.
• While the rice simmered, Lin Meng Qiu played “My Deskmate” on her piano, and Chen Shi'an praised her performance until she became bashful.
• Chen Shi'an secretly left a wooden figurine on Lin Meng Qiu's piano and served the finished meal.
• Lin Meng Qiu ate her first bowl of cured meat rice and immediately went to get another.

Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu made plans to visit a haunted house and hike Cloud Perch Mountain, and Lin Meng Qiu was delighted to receive the wooden carving he had made of her. Chen Shi'an brought dinner to Li Wanyin, helped at her stall, and massaged her after she told him she had hired an assistant.

• Chen Shi'an packed cured meat rice for Li Wanyin, and Lin Meng Qiu invited him to hike Cloud Perch Mountain after their haunted-house visit the next day.
• Lin Meng Qiu showed Chen Shi'an the new clothes she planned to wear for him, then admired the wooden figure he had carved of her.
• Lin Meng Qiu posted a photo of her carving, prompting Wen Zhixia to erupt in frustration while her mother watched.
• Chen Shi'an brought Li Wanyin dinner and helped her serve customers before they packed up the stall and went home.
• Li Wanyin told Chen Shi'an she had hired a young woman to help at the stall for three thousand yuan a month.
• Chen Shi'an massaged Li Wanyin's sore back, shoulders, and hands as she blushed and covered her face with a cushion.

Chen Shi'an took Lin Meng Qiu to a haunted house before their planned painting trip, where she was frightened enough to cling to him as he carried her through it. Along the way, Chen Shi'an helped a wandering living soul find its way back to its body, earning merit, while Lin Meng Qiu mistakenly thought he had been trying to scare her.

• Chen Shi'an picked up Lin Meng Qiu and rode with her to a haunted house near Cloud Perch Mountain, where she admitted she had bought VIP tickets.
• Lin Meng Qiu was frightened by the horror documentary and haunted-house effects, then clung to Chen Shi'an and wrapped herself around him when a staged ghost appeared.
• Chen Shi'an carried Lin Meng Qiu onward and encountered a wandering living soul that could not find its way back to its body.
• Chen Shi'an strengthened the soul and guided it toward its body, telling it that its family was hoping it would wake up.
• Lin Meng Qiu saw no one where Chen Shi'an had been speaking and secretly deducted a point from him, believing he had been trying to frighten her.

After helping Lin Meng Qiu through the Haunted House, Chen Shi'an rode with her through the countryside and answered her questions about ghosts and death. Lin Meng Qiu revealed that she missed her mother, Ling Yingzhi, and clung to Chen Shi'an as he reassured her that her mother might still be present in the world around her.

• Chen Shi'an carried Lin Meng Qiu out of the Haunted House, where she blushed with embarrassment after realizing she had clung to him.
• Lin Meng Qiu washed her face and reflected on how safe she had felt in Chen Shi'an's arms, then panicked when she couldn't find him outside.
• Chen Shi'an rejoined Lin Meng Qiu, and they rode his bicycle beneath the winter sun toward Cloud Perch Mountain.
• Lin Meng Qiu asked Chen Shi'an whether ghosts existed and whether anything remained after death, then admitted she missed her mother, Ling Yingzhi.
• Chen Shi'an told Lin Meng Qiu that her mother might have become part of the world around her and promised that she was her mother's most cherished treasure.
• Lin Meng Qiu held back tears, tightened her arms around Chen Shi'an, and buried her face in his back.

Lin Meng Qiu and Chen Shi'an climbed Cloud Perch Mountain together, drawing closer as he helped her through the difficult ascent and carried her down. They finished the outing with Lin Meng Qiu keeping his sketch and leaning happily against him.

• Lin Meng Qiu paid for their supplies and tickets, then climbed Cloud Perch Mountain with Chen Shi'an, who carried their bags and teased her along the way.
• After Lin Meng Qiu tired on the steep trail, she took Chen Shi'an's hand and relied on his strength to reach the summit.
• At the summit, Lin Meng Qiu and Chen Shi'an sketched each other, and Lin Meng Qiu kept his finished drawing instead of returning it.
• When Lin Meng Qiu said she could no longer walk, she asked Chen Shi'an to carry her to the cableway station, and he carried her down the mountain.
• Lin Meng Qiu thanked Chen Shi'an and quietly rested her cheek against his shoulder as they descended.

As December rain and cold weather kept Li Wanyin from running her stall, Chen Shi'an settled their monthly earnings and gave her an acupuncture treatment that eased her shoulder strain. They agreed to travel together to Li Wanyin's village for New Year's, where Chen Shi'an would examine her mother's old injuries.

• Li Wanyin showed Chen Shi'an that her stall earnings had risen, and transferred him his share of the previous month's income.
• Li Wanyin sent money to her mother, arranged to buy her clothes, and decided to visit home for New Year's.
• Chen Shi'an agreed to accompany Li Wanyin to her village and offered to treat her mother's back and leg problems with acupuncture.
• Chen Shi'an used warm needling on Li Wanyin, easing the stiffness and aches in her neck and shoulders.
• Li Wanyin felt better after the treatment, took Chen Shi'an's summer quilt for the cold night, and said good night.

On a cold, rainy morning, Chen Shi'an walked to school with Wen Zhixia, who swapped scarves with him and shared his umbrella. During the monthly exam, he kept Lin Meng Qiu company in the cold corridor, where their quiet closeness grew as he warmed her hand warmer and applied hand cream to her hands.

• Chen Shi'an met Wen Zhixia at their usual intersection, exchanged scarves with her, and walked with her under his umbrella.
• Chen Shi'an found Lin Meng Qiu studying alone in the cold corridor and sat beside her to keep her company.
• Lin Meng Qiu gave Chen Shi'an warm milk and hand cream, and he rubbed the hand warmer to make it warmer for her.
• Lin Meng Qiu asked Chen Shi'an to apply hand cream to her hands, and he carefully treated both of them.
• Lin Meng Qiu learned that Chen Shi'an had never applied hand cream for Wen Zhixia, grew embarrassed, and returned to studying beside him.

Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu took the Chinese monthly exam together in the Laboratory Building, where he sat in the top-ranked seat and finished the paper early. Afterward, he walked to lunch with Lin Meng Qiu and Wen Zhixia under one umbrella, leaving Principal Lin stunned by the sight of the two girls pressed close to him.

• Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu went to Lecture Hall 302, where the exam seating placed Chen Shi'an first and Lin Meng Qiu second.
• Chen Shi'an wrote his Chinese essay first, finished the exam well before time was called, and dozed while Lin Meng Qiu completed her paper.
• After the exam, Chen Shi'an invited Lin Meng Qiu to lunch, and they met Wen Zhixia, who had been waiting for him near the stairs.
• Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu both declined to use their own umbrellas and squeezed beneath Chen Shi'an's umbrella as they walked to the cafeteria.
• Principal Lin saw Chen Shi'an walking between the two girls and wondered if the girl beside him was his daughter, Meng Qiu.

After the Monthly Exam, Chen Shi'an rehearsed his duet with Wen Zhixia, impressing both her and Lin Meng Qiu with his singing and musical sense. He then accompanied Lin Meng Qiu on piano, while Wen Zhixia watched their growing musical chemistry.

• After the exams, Wen Zhixia invited Chen Shi'an to rehearse their duet, and Lin Meng Qiu insisted on rehearsing her own act with him that day too.
• Wen Zhixia and Chen Shi'an sang "You Were Once a Youngster" together, earned an SSS score, and shared the recording.
• Lin Meng Qiu began rehearsing at the piano and set up her phone to record herself playing with Chen Shi'an.
• Chen Shi'an sang beside Lin Meng Qiu as she played, and his voice helped her piano performance grow smoother.
• Wen Zhixia watched Chen Shi'an and Lin Meng Qiu perform together and silently hoped their song's lyrics would come true.

Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin prepared a barbecue for the girls coming over to rehearse their skit. As the classmates arrived and settled in, Lin Meng Qiu awkwardly asked Chen Shi'an for a phone charger, only to learn Wen Zhixia was using it.

• Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu kept making Chen Shi'an rehearse with them, while the girls planned a Sunday practice for their skit, "A Classroom Thirty Years Through Time."
• Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin bought barbecue supplies and prepared the food for their guests.
• Xu Zihan told his mother he was going to Chen Shi'an's house to study, and she happily sent him off with snacks and fruit.
• Wen Zhixia arrived with Xiao Yan, Yeye, and Yatong, and Li Wanyin welcomed them and told them about the barbecue.
• Lin Meng Qiu and Qiu Yufu arrived, joined the others, and Lin Meng Qiu asked Chen Shi'an for a phone charging cable; he said Wen Zhixia was using it.

Chen Shi'an and his friends rehearsed their short skit at his home, laughing through repeated takes as he dramatically fell to play a time traveler. They called rehearsal early and enjoyed a barbecue together, leaving the group happily gathered in the yard.

• Xu Zihan arrived at Chen Shi'an's home late and awkwardly climbed over the fence to join the group.
• Wen Zhixia began directing the skit, and Chen Shi'an repeatedly threw himself onto the floor to rehearse his character's arrival from the past.
• The friends struggled to keep from laughing during the rehearsal, but after several run-throughs Wen Zhixia said the performance was ready for the preliminary selection.
• Chen Shi'an ended rehearsal after three in the afternoon, and everyone helped bring the barbecue ingredients into the yard.
• Chen Shi'an grilled food for the group, and the friends praised his cooking as they ate together.

After the barbecue, Chen Shi'an headed to evening self-study with Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu, while Li Wanyin invited them to her school anniversary performance. On the way, Chen Shi'an estimated he had scored around 730 or 740 and learned Wen Zhixia planned a New Year's gift if he came first, then cheekily asked Lin Meng Qiu for a reward too.

• Qiu Yufu, Xiao Yan, Xu Zihan, and the others left after the barbecue, while Wen Zhixia, Lin Meng Qiu, Chen Shi'an, and Li Wanyin stayed to clean up.
• Lin Meng Qiu invited Li Wanyin to the school anniversary evening show, and Li Wanyin happily accepted after Lin offered to get her an alumni invitation.
• Chen Shi'an left for school with Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu, pushing them on a bicycle as the two girls bickered and he secretly photographed them.
• Wen Zhixia asked Chen Shi'an to estimate his Monthly Exam score, and he said he expected about 730 or 740, startling both girls.
• Wen Zhixia promised Chen Shi'an a New Year's Day gift if he came first, and Chen Shi'an asked Lin Meng Qiu whether she would reward him too.

Lin Meng Qiu hoped to catch up with Chen Shi'an in the Monthly Exam, but his scores surpassed even his estimate and set a new class record. The results left him firmly in first place and Lin Meng Qiu stunned by the size of the gap.

• Lin Meng Qiu worried about choosing Chen Shi'an's New Year's gift while students placed bets on whether she or Chen Shi'an would top the Monthly Exam.
• Chen Shi'an estimated he had scored around 730 or 740, leaving Xie Mengxuan and Zheng Yining astonished.
• Lin Meng Qiu received 137 in Chinese, while Chen Shi'an scored 142; they compared papers and she found he had gained five points over her.
• Lin Meng Qiu and Chen Shi'an both received full marks in mathematics, then scored 146 and 149 in English, respectively.
• Chen Shi'an earned full marks in physics, chemistry, and biology for a perfect 300 in science comprehensive, while Lin Meng Qiu scored 288.
• The class announced Chen Shi'an's total of 741, and Lin Meng Qiu was left dazed by his commanding lead.

After scoring 741 on the Monthly Exam, Chen Shi'an spent his free time conducting experiments in the school laboratories, exploring how magic power affected biological and chemical reactions. His attempt to charge a power bank with magic power caused an explosion, and Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu rushed in to check on him and demand an explanation.

• Chen Shi'an applied to Principal Lin for laboratory access and began testing textbook experiments with biology, chemistry, and magic power.
• Chen Shi'an observed wood-attribute magic power accelerate onion-cell growth until the cells burst, then recorded his observations.
• Chen Shi'an explored how magic power interacted with acid-base neutralization and began investigating whether it could charge a battery.
• Chen Shi'an dismantled a drained power bank, tested its components, and then infused an intact power bank with magic power until its charging light came on.
• The power bank exploded, and Chen Shi'an used a magic barrier to protect himself from the blast.
• Wen Zhixia and Lin Meng Qiu rushed into the smoky laboratory, checked that Chen Shi'an was unharmed, and asked what experiment he had been conducting.