A lie-flat slacker gong who takes things as they come x a perfectionist shou who pushes himself to the limit
Golden retriever gong and cat shou
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Class 1 of the second year of high school was about to welcome a transfer student. Their homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu, reminded the class again and again: “The new student grew up overseas, and I hear his Chinese isn’t very good. Don’t exclude him.”
He also arranged for Gu Chuhuan, who had held the top spot in the grade for years, to sit with the new student. Mr. Liu pitched him to Gu Chuhuan like this: “He’s won several international competition awards.”
So the whole class assumed the new student would be shy and withdrawn, unable to understand Chinese, and a competition fanatic who did nothing but solve problems.
But the next day, they saw a tall, broad-shouldered boy with fluffy curls peeking around the door of Class 1.
His outfit was outrageously cool, and he had a pair of sunglasses perched on his forehead. He was so stylish that one look was enough to give you rheumatism.
The next moment, under the baffled and horrified gazes of everyone in the room, he strolled calmly into the classroom.
The boy had striking features, and his eyes and brows suggested he was of mixed Slavic descent. He stopped at the front of the classroom and spoke clearly in fluent Chinese: “Hi, everyone! I’m Fu Xi, your new classmate.”
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Watching his new deskmate lie flat at his desk all day, sitting only when he couldn’t lie down, Gu Chuhuan often thought back to what Mr. Liu had said. He felt as helpless as someone who’d met an online date in person only to find out he’d been scammed.
Just as he was about to ask whether the new student had been misrepresented, his gaze landed on the uneven hoodie drawstrings.
Unable to stop himself, Gu Chuhuan adjusted them until they were level. Only then did he feel at ease.
Hearing the question, Fu Xi answered lazily, “You mean the Olympiad awards? I needed them for my college applications. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered. They kill so many brain cells...”
“What? Who needs all that obscure Olympiad knowledge in everyday life? It’s exhausting.”
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That evening, one of Fu Xi’s friends called to invite him out. But first, he made the usual small talk and asked what Fu Xi was doing.
Fu Xi answered nonchalantly, “I’m at an after-school tutoring class.”
“Oh, tutoring,” his friend replied automatically. “What?! Fu Xi, don’t do anything rash!”
Fu Xi yawned and filled in the answer he’d worked out mentally on his answer sheet before replying, “Can’t be helped. My boyfriend is a perfectionist. He says that if I’m going to be his boyfriend, my grades have to match his...”
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A sweet, slice-of-life school romance
Note:
The gong is of mixed descent from a warrior nation and acts pretty recklessly (?).
*In the story, Fu Xi is more like an exchange student than a transfer student. He returned to China for a while for personal reasons, and will go back to the US later to continue his studies.
Theme: Study hard and keep improving.
