Chapter Twenty: My New Desk Mate

“Hello, my name is Liu Han, I was originally from Class 3, Grade 10.” As soon as I found my seat and sat down, the thin boy next to me eagerly introduced himself.

“Uh, hi, I’m Li Xiaobei.” Though nothing showed on my face, my heart was full of disappointment. Was I really going to be stuck sitting next to him in class from now on? Who on earth arranged these seats? Didn’t they know it’s better to mix boys and girls?

Before I could finish complaining to myself, a tall, handsome young man suddenly walked in from outside the classroom. Everyone looked puzzled and began whispering to each other.

“Which class was he in before? I’ve never seen him.” Out of habit, I nudged my desk mate, only to suddenly remember that Chu Chu no longer sat beside me.

“Uh, maybe he’s a new student,” Liu Han replied, shaking his head thoughtfully.

“Maybe…” Thinking of Chu Chu made me feel a pang of sadness. To be honest, I really wasn’t fond of this new desk mate, whose wooden expression made him seem awkward.

To my surprise, the handsome guy walked straight up to the podium. He tapped lightly on the desk, and the classroom instantly fell silent. We all exchanged glances, wondering to ourselves: “Who is he?”

“Hello, everyone. I’m your new homeroom teacher. My surname is Han.” Sensing our confusion, the handsome man immediately picked up a piece of chalk, snapped it in half, and then turned to write three large characters on the blackboard: Han Side.

“This is my name. You can just call me Brother De from now on. It’s my first time as a homeroom teacher, so I hope you’ll take good care of me.” A bashful smile flashed across his handsome face.

The classroom burst into laughter. Having a good-looking guy as our homeroom teacher was a first for us all.

Once everyone had laughed enough, Brother De raised his hands in front of his chest and pressed down, signaling us to quiet down. Naturally, we gave him face, and the classroom fell silent.

“To keep it brief, according to the school’s arrangements, the second-year students will begin a week-long military training the day after tomorrow, which is Monday. Please use the weekend to prepare. Next Monday at 7:30 in the morning, gather in the classroom…”

Military training! Oh god, not again! Of all things, I dreaded military training the most. The thought of standing motionless under the blazing sun for hours made my scalp tingle.

The classroom erupted in protest as everyone voiced their complaints about the school’s dreadful decision.

“I heard there’s a typhoon coming tomorrow—how are we supposed to do military training?” Liu Tao, sitting in the back row, shouted out.

His words quickly resonated with everyone. “Yeah! The forecast says the typhoon will hit tomorrow!”

Brother De leaned on the podium, smiling as he said, “Well, that will depend on your luck. That’s all for today’s class meeting. Go home and pray for a downpour on Monday. Oh, and remember: no cell phones during military training, and no…”

After the meeting, everyone dispersed. I packed up and was just about to leave when I noticed Liu Han still sitting there, eyes glued to his phone, showing no intention of leaving.

“Liu Han, class is over! What are you doing? Aren’t you leaving?” I asked, perplexed.

“Heh, I’ve got something to do, you go ahead,” Liu Han replied without looking up, his eyes never leaving the phone screen.

I didn’t bother with him and walked straight out the back door. Lele’s class teacher was still lecturing endlessly, so I could only wait quietly by the corridor.

Lele sat by the window, and when she turned her head, she saw me immediately. She smiled and waved her little hand at me. I quickly took out my phone, waved it in her direction, and sent her a text: “Stupid Lele, when will your class finally end? Your teacher just won’t stop talking…”

“No idea, this teacher is a total tyrant, scary as hell! Don’t wait for me, you pighead, I don’t know how long she’ll keep us. Oh, and stop texting—if she catches me, I’m finished.” Lele replied not long after.

“It’s fine, I’ll wait for you.” After sending the text, I looked up to see Lele waving at me, so I winked at her and moved over to the stairwell, sitting in a spot safe from the sun…

“Lele, our new homeroom teacher is a total hottie. And guess what, my new desk mate is a boy—kind of awkward and stiff…” When school was finally out, I couldn’t help but tell Lele about everything that had happened in class as we rode home together.

“Hehe, maybe I should try chasing after your homeroom teacher…” Lele leaned her head against my back, joking.

“Stupid Lele, could you really bear to give me up?” I pretended to be angry and reached back, trying to grab her.

Lele quickly clutched my shirt, nervously warning, “Pighead, don’t fool around while you’re riding!”

“Okay.” Reluctantly, I withdrew my hand as Lele protested.

“After military training, I’ll be a ‘child of Africa’ for months again…” Lele sighed, lamenting her soon-to-be-tanned skin—girls do love their beauty.

That night, I checked the weather forecast; unbelievably, the typhoon had changed course, meaning military training would go ahead as scheduled…

The school bus dumped us off in the middle of nowhere and drove away, leaving us in a place so desolate even birds and stray dogs wouldn’t bother to visit. Watching the bus disappear amid clouds of dust, we all felt like there was no turning back.

“Now, let me introduce the instructors for each class! Class One… Class Three, Instructor Zhang!” When it came to our class, a soldier standing in front of our group suddenly turned around, raised his eyebrows dramatically, and said, “Behave yourselves and nothing will happen to you.”

“Class Four, Instructor Zhu…” At the mention of that name, everyone couldn’t help but snicker, and someone’s expression turned particularly sour.

After dismissal, we entered the dorms assigned to us in order of our student numbers. The boys lived on the first and second floors, the girls on the third and fourth.

I had just set down my luggage on my dorm bed when someone called for me outside: “Xiaobei, someone’s looking for you.”

Puzzled, I stepped out and saw Chu Chu standing at the top of the stairs, waving me over. My heart skipped a beat, and I hurried over. “Chu Chu, what’s up?”

“This is for you.” Chu Chu, wearing a pair of cute pink slippers, lowered her head and handed me a bottle of sunscreen.

“Huh? Why would a boy need this?” I didn’t reach for it but asked in confusion.

“Uh, I just brought an extra bottle by accident… Hey! Just take it, will you? Why so many questions? I need to go unpack.” Annoyed, Chu Chu shoved the sunscreen into my hand and quickly ran upstairs.

Stupid Chu Chu, what’s her deal? I stared at the sunscreen in my hand, baffled, then stuffed it into my pocket and strolled back to my dorm…

Military training life was always the same: woken up by the bugle at dawn, followed by morning exercises, breakfast, and then a whole day of training.

Since Lele and I weren’t in the same class, I never saw her, as her group trained on a different field. We didn’t have our phones, and boys weren’t allowed on the third and fourth floors. Even if I wanted to find her, I couldn’t: “Stupid Lele, can’t you come down and look for me? I’m so pissed!” The monotony was driving me insane.

On the last night, the camp arranged for us to watch a movie together on the field. Halfway through, someone suddenly shouted, “Look, a shooting star!”

I looked up quickly but saw nothing. Apparently, many people saw it and made wishes. I suddenly felt a pang of sadness; perhaps time, like that meteor in the night sky, flashes by in an instant, never to return.

After the movie, spurred on by Xiao Yi, we ignored our exhaustion and played basketball on the court. A number of girls sat nearby cooling off, and every boy wanted to impress them, so everyone played their hardest. But reality was cruel—the girls seemed to treat us as invisible, and before long they all left with their chairs.

As soon as the girls were gone, we lost all motivation, so we sat in a circle on the court, chatting into the night. It was late, and some of us started feeling homesick…

The next morning was the drill review, where we demonstrated our week’s training to the school leaders.

Once it was over, we could finally go home.

As the bus drove us out of the training camp, everyone couldn’t help but exclaim, “I can’t believe we made it out alive!”

We got back to school a little after ten, and a few friends and I decided to hit an internet café and play CS. Freed from days of repression, we unleashed our wildest selves. Watching our in-game enemies—whom we imagined as our instructors—get mercilessly shot down, I suddenly wondered if I was a bit twisted.

There’s nothing like the feeling of coming home!