Chapter Four: Going Home Together

As soon as the words fell, the whole class erupted in astonishment. After all, such coincidences were rare indeed—no one expected something like this to happen right at the start of the school year.

It was akin to a girl named Summer delighting in swimming or a boy named Chess being obsessed with chess—perhaps not as absurd as some jokes, but enough to spark a flurry of gossip throughout the room.

“So, what will you name your children in the future?” an unexpected voice chimed in from somewhere, causing Wen Yichen’s ears to redden involuntarily.

Though they kept their thoughts to themselves, it was clear they had already paired Wen Yichen and Jiang Muwen together in their minds.

“I haven’t thought about it yet…” Wen Yichen knew they were just teasing, but somehow, he found himself answering seriously—a question that seemed so far away from him, one he had never truly considered before.

Yet—spurred on by his classmates’ playful jeers, he found himself genuinely pondering what he might one day name his child…

“Is there anything else you’d like to share?” At last, the homeroom teacher spoke, and the room quieted immediately.

Wen Yichen lowered his gaze. “No… nothing else…”

...

When the sky on the far side of the window began to blush with a lovely red, the sweet chime of the end-of-class bell rang out cheerfully.

Jiang Muwen hadn’t yet recovered from the whirlwind of her first day, but some classmates, clearly eager to leave, had already thrown on their backpacks and dashed from the classroom as if it weren’t the end of the school day, but a race to the cafeteria.

Suddenly, her desk was tapped twice, drawing Jiang Muwen’s wandering thoughts back. She looked up at the slender hand, and beside her stood Wen Yichen. “What are you daydreaming about?”

“Huh?” Jiang Muwen was caught off guard.

Seeing her so absent-minded, Wen Yichen withdrew his hand and turned to leave. “I’ll go on ahead, then…”

It was only after these words that Jiang Muwen snapped to attention. She hurriedly stuffed her books into her bag, organizing with frantic hands and blurting out a string of hurried pleas for him to wait.

But Wen Yichen paid her no mind and walked out of the classroom with Bai Xu.

Jiang Muwen seemed quite used to this reaction; she didn’t rush. In fact, as soon as Wen Yichen stepped out, her hands moved even more slowly.

“Jiang Muwen, you and Wen Yichen…” Gu Nianxi’s voice drifted over, softening into a tentative probe.

“We’re…” The word ‘neighbors’ was on the tip of Jiang Muwen’s tongue, but she stopped herself. Wen Yichen didn’t want her to say, so she simply replied, “We just happen to take the same route…”

“Then… I’ll head out first?” Gu Nianxi nudged her chair, waved goodbye, and left the classroom.

At last, Jiang Muwen finished packing up. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked out into the sunlight spilling onto the floor, taking her time.

“You making coffee in there?” Wen Yichen’s low voice caught her off guard. She had thought he’d already gone home, not expecting him to wait so long at the door. The unexpected complaint startled her.

“Why didn’t you leave?” Jiang Muwen looked up at him. The sunlight caught in his dark eyes, scattering a kaleidoscope of colors.

Wen Yichen coughed twice, as if embarrassed to say what he really thought. Instead of answering, he walked around her, leaving only, “Let’s go home.”

Bai Xu, trailing behind Wen Yichen, tilted his head as he passed Jiang Muwen. “Isn’t he just waiting for you to finish packing?”

In truth, Wen Yichen had no desire to wait, but his warm-hearted mother, Su Yu, insisted. Ever since learning that Wen Yichen and Jiang Muwen attended the same school, she’d made it a rule for him to escort Jiang Muwen to and from school. Even though Class A didn’t finish late, Su Yu worried endlessly about Jiang Muwen’s safety, always saying it wasn’t safe for a girl to walk alone.

Who knew what Su Yu was really planning? To Wen Yichen, it seemed Jiang Muwen was her real daughter, while he was the bonus child thrown in for free.

Wen Yichen could have easily ignored her wishes—she neither threatened nor bribed, only nagged a few times over several days. In the end, he dutifully added ‘walking Jiang Muwen home’ to his daily routine—it wasn’t really any trouble, since they were neighbors.

The walk home was quiet. Spending time with the taciturn Wen Yichen wasn’t something one got used to; if anything, it became more maddening the longer it lasted.

“Hooray! No homework today. Yichen, are you going to play games tonight?” Bai Xu finally shattered the heavy silence.

“Sure,” Wen Yichen replied without hesitation.

After he answered, Bai Xu turned to Jiang Muwen. “Want to join us, Xiao Jiang?”

Jiang Muwen was hopeless at the boys’ games. She’d tried a few rounds before, only for her teammates to beg her to uninstall.

She shook her head. “No, I’ll go home and review…”

After all… she hadn’t understood a thing the teacher said in class today. She felt like a mere mortal among a room full of deities, pretending to be one of them, staring at the ‘celestial texts’ with feigned composure.

There was no denying the depth of Chinese culture—the teacher spoke words she knew, yet pieced together, they became incomprehensible.

“Hey, did you guys really understand today’s lessons?” Bai Xu asked offhandedly.

That question pierced Jiang Muwen like a needle.

Before she could reply, Wen Yichen, walking ahead, let out a quiet affirmative.

“Do the teachers always teach beyond the syllabus?” Bai Xu pressed.

Wen Yichen responded with another affirmative.

Faced with the conversation of these two academic prodigies, Jiang Muwen dared not interject. She could barely follow the regular classes, let alone those that went beyond the curriculum.

Having avoided the evening rush, Wen Yichen and Jiang Muwen soon arrived at their apartment complex.

“Wen Yichen… did you really understand everything the teacher said today?” Jiang Muwen ventured tentatively.

“Of course,” Wen Yichen replied naturally. For him, grasping the material in class came as easily as breathing.

The air fell silent, his words so deadly that Jiang Muwen was left speechless.

Wen Yichen glanced at her instinctively. Having known each other for over a decade, there were things she didn’t need to say—he could read them in her expression. After a moment, he averted his eyes and asked casually, “You didn’t understand what the teacher taught, did you?”