From childhood onward, Lin Xinran always thought that Zhou Mingyu was someone she could boss around, keep in line, and lead through life.
They lived only five minutes apart,
went to school together and went home together,
and stayed in the same class from elementary school through middle and high school.
She was class president and sports committee member, the kind of student teachers could always rely on.
He was sharp-tongued and funny, ranked near the bottom of the class, yet always followed behind her with a grin.
It wasn't until their second year of high school that she realized something:
The boy who used to ask her to explain lessons and bail him out
had somehow caught up with her without her noticing.
And she was still standing right where she had always been,
acting, as a matter of course, like his "boss."
Only later did she understand:
Some companionship goes unnoticed
because it has never once been absent.
