Work Text:
The singing of the cicadas matches with the sway of the parasol trees. A lone figure strolls in light and nimble steps, walking past some dozen pictures before stopping on a particular frame.
Middle-High School English Olympiad (Comprehensive)
First Class Award in the Nation
Jiang Tian - Sheng Wang
He looks good here, Sheng Wang concludes, as he looks at the picture of the youth within the frame, forever frozen in time.
Beside Jiang Tian’s picture is his own, and he’s suddenly stupefied as he realizes that among all the other frames with his picture in it, this was the only one with him smiling in the photo.
The monthly break has come upon the students, so Mingli Block is empty; the flower corridors that bypass this historical wall are devoid of any human activity, as well. As for him... he only went to Fuzhong today because He Jin had told him she has some review materials for him for the physics olympiad.
Sheng Wang still remembers the first time he walked past Fuzhong’s proud wall of honour. He was being guided by Big Mouth Xu that time. Back then, Jiang Tian’s expressionless face greeted him on every single step and he had thought of him as an absolute eyesore. Not to mention that his surname was Jiang— even without his last name, the Young Master Sheng of the past would still be repulsed by his cold demeanor.
Thinking about it now inevitably causes a soft laugh to emerge from him and as he gathers his composure, the apparent clicking of heels in the distance alerts him of the presence of another person. Sheng Wang is familiar with this sound, who else would have the courage to stomp their shoes in such a domineering manner aside from their Jing-jie?
“Jing-jie,” Sheng Wang greets. After a year of beating from their Teacher Yang, Class A has collectively decided to drop all formalities with her when they are outside the classroom, thus, the intimidating title that is ‘Teacher Yang’ has permanently turned into a simple ‘Jing-jie’. Yang Jing kicked up a fuss over it after Gao Tianyang mentioned it to her, but in the end, what could she do against the rascals of Class A?
“Sheng Wang, you’re here, I was just looking for you,” Yang Jing says, her gaze drifting from him to the two pictures behind him. Most of Fuzhong’s students may not be in the known as to what transpired during the first semester of their Year Two, but the teachers definitely are. Thankfully, most of the teaching personnel are open-minded and only have the mindset of ‘you’re good to go as long as you excel!’. Moreover, if some teacher were to make things difficult for Sheng Wang, Yang Jing would usually be the first one to shut them off.
Sure enough, as Yang Jing’s eyes land on Jiang Tian’s frame, she mutters under her breath, “how can Fuzhong let go of such a student...” and with only one sentence, this teacher has directed all faults to Fuzhong.
Sheng Wang usually doesn’t like talking about those things, since the more people talk, the more he thinks of some unpleasant memories, thus, he directs the topic to the papers that Yang Jing is holding instead, “Jing-jie, is that for me?”
Yang Jing is sensible and she turns her attention away from the pictures, “yes. Your Teacher He Jin handed me these papers this morning, saying that you’ll be coming over. She wasn’t able to stay here for long as she has some business to settle on her home,” she says, handing the papers to Sheng Wang.
Yang Jing looks around the wall of honour and she says, “I say, aren’t you getting tired of seeing your face here? Half of these pictures are yours and the other half...”
Sheng Wang looks around— most pictures on the wall have been up for a year or two now. Big Mouth Xu still can’t bring himself to remove Jiang Tian’s photos and it’s not like anyone is courageous enough to file a petition to take it down, thus, while Sheng Wang occupies half of the wall, Jiang Tian fills the other half.
It was suffocating at first, in a way— how someone who Sheng Wang could bother until 2 am in the morning has become someone who he could only see as a picture frame. Every time he passes by this wall, the pictures it holds seem to always come alive, taunting and haunting him as he walks further away. There would always come a sinking feeling on his guts— the same pain he had suffered on the summer break when their Year Two ended after he had supposedly eaten rotten cherries.
It’s always like winter has come to his heart, dosing it with ice cold water— and the only warmth that could extinguish the cold is in the hands of that certain someone who mailed himself to another country.
Yang Jing speaks again as she senses the rapid and constant change in the atmosphere around them— sometimes tense, most times solemn— she says, “anyway, I just want to say, you don’t need to strive so hard. Although everyone is happy due to your continuous efforts, you’re still so young. Take a break once in a while, alright?”
After he replies with a simple nod, Yang Jing bids him farewell and Sheng Wang is left standing on the same spot he has been standing on before Yang Jing arrived. It was just like she had never come by.
Sheng Wang looks at the papers in his hand, some practice questions for physics that He Jin has specially compiled for him, and he thinks of Yang Jing’s words— a break.
He was always striving for excellence, always trying to achieve something. Like he’s treading on fragile ground, every step he takes must be calculated carefully. It gives the illusion that in one wrong stride, the building blocks that made the Sheng Wang of today will all collapse, eventually revealing the 16-year-old Young Master Sheng that Sheng Wang has carefully hidden in his heart.
He hasn’t caught a break since the first semester of Year Two, and they’re now in the last semester of their Year Three. He crawled his way to the first place in their level, possibly in the whole school. He stays in that place and has never left ever since. He enters competitions, he is sent to training camps; he excels, excels and excels— but all of these are not done for his university application.
After all, even if he takes the test like any other normal student would, even without the countless certificates he has been given along with the numerous recommendation letters from his teachers, Sheng Wang would still manage to enter his chosen university with flying colors.
His hard work is not for the sake of prettying up his portfolio, no, Sheng Wang is surprisingly pretty clear about his motive.
These were all done to keep the memory of that certain someone.
“Graduating! We’re graduating!”
Gao Tianyang’s voice is loudest among the shouts that reverberate throughout the whole building of Year 3, even their teachers, who promised them absolute freedom for the day, couldn’t help but eat their words to reprimand him for the disturbance he’s been continuously making for the past hour.
Sheng Wang can’t find it in himself to blame him, after all, they are graduating; closing yet another chapter of their story to start writing a new one.
He sits on his desk, his feet swaying vigorously as he watches Gao Tianyang and Song Sirui move the mountains and empty the seas, wrecking havoc all over the classroom. They write all over the blackboard, toss their correction collection notebooks— every test paper that these bunch of fools get their hand on is casted on the floor, forced to join the rest of their comrades; even Sheng Wang’s papers weren’t spared.
At this point, he thinks, there should be a low chuckle beside him.
He glances at the empty desk, just a step or two away from his own. The top is clean and pristine, even if no one has used it for more than a year; he knows Gao Tianyang and the others take turns to clean it when they think he wasn’t looking, after all, their Tian-ge has always hated dirtiness.
“What is all this ruckus! If I don’t spank each of you with this ruler one by one as you go out from this room, then I’m not human!” He Jin appears and she holds in her hands a metallic ruler, indeed. She looks at the classroom and as she sees test papers everywhere she looks, as well as the chalk dust all over the floor, she feels her blood pressure steadily rising.
Gao Tianyang and the others hurry to appease her, fearing that their Commander He will suffer from a sudden cardiac arrest; they quickly clean up the place and soon, the classroom that had just seen disaster in its wake transforms into a proper room for studying.
Only after He Jin is satisfied with the classroom’s appearance and after the students are properly seated like humans instead of monkeys, did she make her way to the center of the class.
Of course, the first thing their Commander He must do is interrogate her lowly subordinates.
“Sheng Wang, have you prepared your speech?”
Subordinate Sheng gasps in an exaggerated way, he lies through his teeth without blinking even once, “teacher, what should I do? I’ve forgotten it...”
“Bullshit, I saw you practicing earlier.” This is one of the few instances where He Jin freely curses in front of them, thus, the students all laugh as she crosses her arms.
Subordinate Sheng can only scratch his head, “then why ask in the first place...” he says, emitting a scoff from He Jin and another bout of laughter from the class.
He Jin points at him to sit down and finally decides to get into business, “your graduation ceremony will start in a few,” she says to the crowd attentively watching her.
“These past years, the lecture I want you guys to learn the most is, in the end, none of the physics lessons I’ve stayed up all night preparing for; after all, who cares about those, right?” The class laughs at her as she shakes her head. He Jin looks at the youths in front of her, “I badly wanted you to learn that today, when you walk out of the gates of Fuzhong, you will no longer be the teens that we have to reprimand in every stupid step you take.”
Sheng Wang lowers his gaze as he listens to He Jin. The cicadas by the trees sing softly, clamoring quietly as if assimilating with the nostalgia and melancholy within the classroom.
“As you enter university, at this point, you’ll think that you will have to cultivate your mark to the society,” He Jin says, her voice somber and serious.
Sheng Wang thinks of that certain someone; he doesn’t know if Jiang Tian has made his mark on society yet, but he sure has made his mark on Sheng Wang’s life.
As Sheng Wang spaces out, the rest of He Jin’s speech makes its way to him, she says, “but I don’t want you to worry about that, since as long as you’ve received your diploma from the majestic hands of our Old Xu, it means that you have already made your first mark here.”
Some of the few others who were messing up their classroom just earlier have their heads bowed already— Gao Tianyang, in front of Sheng Wang, is pestering Chili to pass him some tissues.
“For the years in the future, if there’s a chance, you can come back here and take a look— see for yourself and you’ll find traces of your youth.”
Many years later, Sheng Wang would look back to this day— he’d think of the retired He Jin who, at this time, although was speaking so sullen, still had traces of mirth on her face; he’d think of the wild friendships formed, eventually tamed by time; he’d think of the empty desk haunting him behind, while in the future, beside him will stand Jiang Tian, tightly holding his hand.
But these will all come in the years after.
In the present, he sees He Jin letting out a shaky breath as she smiles at them, “you’ve grown up, Class A.”
Sheng Wang stands tall on the platform overseeing all students of Year 3, and behind him sits all the teachers that have graced their classrooms with their presence throughout the year.
As the first in their level, he’s obliged to give his speech to these bunch of birds who all flock together, yet don’t have the same feathers.
With all eyes on him, he steadily thanks their teachers one by one, even going as far as giving them his own evaluation on the spot, as if he’s a supervisor who came to visit unannounced. He makes mention of his classmates too, expressing his gratitude as they have made it easier for him to adapt to a new environment after transferring.
Below the platform, Gao Tianyang and the others look at him. On Sheng Wang’s side, they seem to see the shadow of a certain someone, quietly looking at him with a soft gaze and an even softer smile gracing his otherwise frosty look— just like how it had once been, some moons ago. They seem to be taken aback to that one particular summer, when Sheng Wang just entered their classroom, with Big Mouth Xu pointing at Jiang Tian sprawled on his desk, saying, “sit beside him.”
Class A crowds Sheng Wang when he comes down from the platform. They bombard him with exclamations such as “our Sheng-ge is the best!” and “Sheng Wang, you’ve really grown up!” among many others.
Sheng Wang plays along with them, indulging them as he says, “in the future, it would be good to see you again,” his voice carrying a hint of hoarseness.
Everyone naturally thinks he’s talking about Class A and their cheers just leap one pitch higher— only those in the know are aware that his statement is for that certain someone.
Speaking his name in Sheng Wang’s presence has become taboo for them, it’s something Gao Tianyang and the others have collectively agreed on. They had been standing on their tip toes during the first few months Jiang Tian transferred, afraid that one wrong move from them would make Sheng Wang explode.
Gao Tianyang’s eyes reddened and Sheng Wang has the audacity to laugh at his face, “our Old Gao is a crybaby?”
Gao Tianyang’s expression which seems to say ‘eat shit’ just makes Sheng Wang laugh louder.
“Go, laugh, laugh, laugh! Crybaby, my ass! Take a picture with me!”
Sheng Wang’s eyes glow in a melancholic gaze and before posing with Gao Tianyang to take a picture, his eyes stray to the platform he just got off from.
He stares at it, intently.
There was an additional line he’s supposed to say, but opted not to under the prying gaze of other people. It was personal to him, it’d be better if that certain someone is personally here instead.
But that person has long since set his feet off to another country.
Sheng Wang sighs, bringing himself to smile in front of the camera, even amidst the cold that once again threatens to overtake his heart.
On that platform, the person he had wanted to mention was the one who arguably have the most contribution to his high school life; the one who directed him physics formula in a post it, the one who patiently helped him with his correction collection until the ungodly hours of midnight—
That certain someone, who he could only yearn for in the deepest corner of his heart.