A Certain Someone ( The On1y One ) Chapter 052 – Change of Classes

Sheng Wang Studied It for a Few Seconds, and Changed His Mind. “I Think I’ll Try to Pass by.”

Jiang Tian didn’t have the habit of sharing a bed with people. Despite how he lodged over in Old Man Ding’s house when he was little, he always curled up by that old and worn sofa by himself; no matter how Old Man Ding persuaded and coaxed him, he refused to sleep on the bed.

There was only ever one time that he did: “Leader” had peed on the sofa, and the stench was truly soul rapturing. Old Man Ding removed the sofa cover as well as seat cushions, and washed them for two entire rounds. He even left the frame outside to dry, leaving Jiang Tian with no other choice but to make do by sharing a bare wooden bed with Old Man Ding for a night.

The bare wooden bed was very spacious, more than enough for two whole adult humans to sleep on. Moreover, Jiang Tian was still tiny back then, he could be counted as half of one. Coupled with the old man’s giant blanket, he thought that there would be no issues at all. Unexpectedly however, when he opened his eyes in the middle of the night, he found Jiang Tian nearly falling off the bed.
The old man stared at him for half the night as though he was observing a small animal, and finally understood—

When this kid slept, he was like a living radar: if you shift a little bit towards him, he would subconsciously shift away to the other side of the bed. He would rather freeze with no blankets covering him, than to huddle up against someone to sleep.
As such, for that night, nobody had a good sleep.

Old Man Ding initially thought that that brat was shunning the place, it was only later did he understand that that wasn’t the case. It was just that he had been alone for too long; he could sleep in any given environment, but he wasn’t used to being close to people at all.
Jiang Tian didn’t know what he was like when he’s asleep, of course. He could only recall the giant dark circles under Old Man Ding’s eyes as well as the constant yawns for the entirety of the next day.
From that onwards, he had never shared a bed with someone else ever again……
Including the time Sheng Wang practised his handwriting.

That night, Sheng Wang refused to leave his bed, and all it took was two lines for him to fall asleep.
The bed in that bedroom was bigger than Old Man Ding’s bare wooden bed by one entire round, there was enough space for three, even. Not to mention two. For that one instance, Jiang Tian genuinely hesitated.
But he didn’t sleep there in the end.

He only draped the blanket over Sheng Wang, tucked in twice, and wrapped a certain person up into a cocoon wordlessly, as though he was being mischievous. For himself though, he took out a blanket from the wardrobe, and made do with resting his head on the table for the night.
He knew that Sheng Wang had a sensitive disposition, therefore he went as far to pretend that he slept on the bed the next day.

It was different this time round.
It was him who opened his mouth first; it was him who asked, for no apparent reason, “Scared?”

Smack—
“What are you zoning out for?” Sheng Wang reached out, lightly snapping his fingers.
Jiang Tian came back to himself, and saw how his hand burrowed back under his blankets, like a cat who got sleepy while sitting on its hind legs. He lowered his head, restraining his yawn, and his clear eyes were instantly fogged up by a layer of mist.

A nerve in Jiang Tian’s brain weakly struggled.
“I toss around quite often in my sleep, I’ll easily wake people up,” he said.
Sheng Wang was a little confused. “I don’t think so? Didn’t I share with you before?”
Jiang Tian: “……”

“I slept pretty well though, I wasn’t disturbed.”

Jiang Tian felt like he dug a hole for himself, the kind he couldn’t crawl out of.

The nerve that struggled had been completely smothered. He internally said, fine, and went to tug his blanket.
The drowsy person with his legs crossed had spoken up once again. “This bed is like one metre plus wide at most, can it really fit two blankets?”
No way it could, no doubt.

Jiang Tian quietly contemplated as he held onto the bed railing, and went to the lower bunk as he submitted to fate.

Sheng Wang shared half a blanket, with him being covered by the other half. There were no railings for the lower bunk either; according to what Old Man Ding said years ago, it wouldn’t be too long before he would fall off the side of the bed, covering himself up in a blanket would just be a foolish endeavour.

His eyelids were slightly lowered as he watched the icy moonlight outside the balcony, through the sheer curtains. Some thoughts self-mockingly flashed by in his mind. He felt Sheng Wang lightly turn around, his lightly curved back as well as his shoulder blades pressed up against him. Warmth from another body was diffused to him; the temperature was slightly higher than his.

Even though he was going on about being sleepy earlier, Sheng Wang didn’t fall asleep that quickly. Jiang Tian could tell.
The other person would occasionally make some micro-movements, the back that was pressed up against him lightly dipped up and down with his breathing, with who knows what on his mind.

Not that long later, Sheng Wang finally couldn’t keep it up anymore and gave in to sleep, his breathing becoming calm and even.
Jiang Tian turned to look, and saw the collarbone that was slightly protruded due to his lowered head.
He already heard that drowsiness was infectious; he thought that he would be awake until daybreak, but in reality, not even a few minutes had passed before he felt the call for sleep, like the warmth from the body closely stuck to his arm, constantly transfusing over.

*
Jiang Tian was awakened by the rustling sound of the door opening. When he opened his eyes, everything outside the windows were clear and bright.

To describe having a good night’s sleep, people would often say “a dreamless sleep until daybreak”. He didn’t get to enjoy this feeling. Quite the opposite, really, he did not waste a single second by having three consecutive dreams in a row.

A dream found his hand being entangled by seaweed by the edge of a deserted island. Another dream found half his body being pressed down by a heavy boulder due to the residential block collapsing after the school started getting haunted. There was even a dream where he was playing basketball during PE lesson; he was either heatstroked or poisoned or something, no matter what, he couldn’t jump up. He was basically held down by a steelyard weight.

He squinted his eyes, trying to get used to daylight. He wanted to sit up straight on the bed, but he realised he couldn’t get up at all—young master Sheng got too warm in his sleep, and piled up the blanket all on him. Afterwards, due to the sensation of cotton, he treated him as a bolster, and over half his body crowded against him; he practically slept by sprawling over him.

Jiang Tian numbly stared at the bed board on the upper bunk, and understood how the dreams came to be at last. The exaggerated complaints from Old Man Ding ten years ago were unable to be proven, because someone wouldn’t give him a chance to fall off at all.

“What the fuck!”
Shi Yu’s voice abruptly rang, and Qiu Wenbin went “ow” for a while, as though he tripped over something. The stumbling footsteps, as well as the clanging noises that came from the schoolbag crashing against the bed frame, had completely aroused Jiang Tian from his sleep.
He turned to look, and saw the two dormmates watching him with their jaws gaping open, the spitting image of having just seen a ghost.

Sheng Wang moved a bit from all the racket, and looked around with bleary eyes……the dorm was nothing but a blur, he couldn’t see anything clearly. He then lowered his head, wanting to bury himself back inside the blanket to recover for a bit. That was, until the “blanket” was a little stiff to the touch, he couldn’t bury himself inside.

Sheng Wang looked up once again in confusion, and saw Jiang Tian’s face.
Sheng Wang: “……”

He zoned out as he was still shrouded in his morning moods, and suddenly sat up straight in one breath.

“Did I really sleep like this the whole time???” Sheng Wang asked.
Jiang Tian could get up at last. He leaned against the railing at the head of the bed, and was about to to exercise his right hand which had gone numb. Upon hearing that, he paused in his action, and said neutrally, “No, am I stupid?”

“That’s true.” Sheng Wang was at ease.
But Shi Yu and Qiu Wenbin weren’t.

The two of them carried all sorts of luggage in various sizes, their schoolbags had already fallen to their elbows, looking both unkempt and comical. They somehow managed to stay frozen for a long while before stuttering, “T-tian-ge, what’s the situation with you two?”

Shi Yu looked an entire round at the dorm. “There’s even six beds in here……”
And it’s still not enough for you two to sleep???

Sheng Wang was stuck. He shot a glance at Jiang Tian, and explained to the two of them in all seriousness, “There’s a thief in the dorms last night, have you heard?”
Shi Yu was a little lost, it was Qiu Wenbin instead who let out an “oh”, saying, “I was registering the number of luggage I have with the auntie just now—”
“You actually register them?” Shi Yu didn’t get it.
“According to the rules, I have to.” Qiu Wenbin appeared completely guileless. “Don’t you do it too?”

“If nobody catches me, I wouldn’t. That’s just troublesome.” Shi Yu waved, “Let’s not digress, you continue.”
“The auntie reminded us to keep an eye on our belongings, saying that someone snuck in last night.”

“Yeah, nearly everyone has some losses on our entire floor, I even saw a human figure.”
“Figure?”
Sheng Wang described what happened last night; this person watched plenty of horror films, as well as having hoarded a whole bunch of horror games. When he narrated, he was so good at creating the ambience that Shi Yu’s tanned face managed to turn white.

“You okay?” Sheng Wang wanted to laugh.
“It’s not that I’m scared, I just think that for this thing, hm, there’s heavy potential for more danger.” Shi Yu desperately held onto his pride as he defended himself, and after that, he asked Sheng Wang, “So did the person get caught?”

“You wish, the report was only made last night.” Sheng Wang quoted the residence manager upon seeing his chance, “This incidence is pretty spooky, so the auntie said that if we’re scared we can share beds.”
Qiu Wenbin was about to say “I wasn’t really scared” when he saw Shi Yu woefully look at him, saying, “Bin-zi, how about we share too?”
“……okay.”

*
The school is a piece of fertile land, with too many nutrients, any sort of people can come out of it. The news about the thief entering the boy’s dormitories soon spreaded throughout the entire school, and people kept on approaching Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian to ask about what they experienced that night. Some did it out of concern, some simply thought that it was thrilling.

Jiang Tian used only a single line of “I didn’t see” to get rid of all the busybodies. Sheng Wang, at the start, still briefly narrated out of politeness. Eventually, when it started to get on his nerves, he muddled through with a “ask the residence manager” or “wait for the school’s announcement, I suppose”.
Either way, it was Shi Yu—who wasn’t in the dorm that night—who told people with much vividness.

In the next few days, new rumours constantly popped up left and right: for instance, someone in a certain girls’ dormitory heard someone knocking on her bed, strange footprints were found on the balcony and along the corridors, someone heard someone sticking something in the keyhole in the wee hours of the night. There were even a few dorms who solemnly swore that they met a thief too. With both truths and lies being completely mixed up, everyone in the residential block was clouded by anxiety.

Thus, sharing bed inexplicably became a trend.

Shi Yu declared that as long as the rumours weren’t gone, there was no way he was sleeping on his own bed; his bed was opposite the closet. Sometimes, when the closet doors were not closed shut, the doors would occasionally creak open in the middle of night.
Truthfully speaking, that was really quite terrifying. Although Sheng Wang wasn’t scared, he wouldn’t blame him.

The one who suffered was Qiu Wenbin. He’s already fat, and disliked being warm. With an extra scaredy-cat crowding him on his bed, he woke up drenched in sweat every single day. The scaredy-cat was clearly disdainful of that, but he still insisted on not leaving.

With Shi Yu—this coward—as a base, no matter what others did it wouldn’t seem strange any more.
Sheng Wang’s ankles, under Sheng Wang’s……and Jiang Tian’s collaborative care, recovered very well. By the last third of October, he was pretty much barely affected by it. It would just get a little swollen if he ran for a long time or if he kept hopping and jumping.

Sheng Wang basically moved back to the upper bunk. This “basically” was also dependent on the state of his ankle.
When it would occasionally relapse and swell up again, he would go down to squeeze with Jiang Tian for a couple of nights, and continue living recklessly after the swelling went down.

The midterms that were supposed to be arriving in mid-October were delayed due to the various crises the residential block was going through, and was definitively pushed to the first third of November instead.
An assembly was conducted for each level at the end of October. Old He came back with a notebook, and announced the new regulations for “change of class”.

“I’m going to be honest: it’s more severe this time. For certain students in our class who are too used to slacking off, this is probably a bolt from the blue.” He Jin’s expression was solemn. “In the past, it’s the last three places for the major exams like midterms and finals who would have to leave. But, you all know deep down that there’s definitely more than three who scored out of the top 50 places.”

“I get it, we all have ups and downs when it comes to exams, just like a waveform graph. You may be in an especially good state for this exam, but next time it might not be as good, then next next time, it’s better again. It basically comes in alternation. Therefore, while I personally think that just because you aren’t in the top 50 for a major exam, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have what it takes to be in Class A—no, it doesn’t work like that—”

She paused, and continued, “—Your placing can still reflect the fruit of your learning for a period of time, the adjustment of your state is also part of that. Therefore, don’t think that this new rule is out to make your lives difficult on purpose, the school’s purpose will never be that. Rather, it is for the sake that your lives wouldn’t be made difficult after you leave the school.”

“So what’s the new rule, teacher?” Someone couldn’t help but ask.

He Jin said, “Our class has 45 people, and 45 seats. Therefore, the first 45 places in the major exam would be in Class A. Those who are behind these places will be sent to the corresponding classes. 46-90 will be in Class B, 91 to 136 would be in Class 1, and so on and so forth. For students in other classes, if they make it into the first 45 places, no matter how many of them there will be, they will all come here.

The commotion exploded within the class.
Gao Tianyang wailed, “I’m gonna die, I’m always the lucky fourth person. Great, now I’m sent straight to the elimination zone.”
Sheng Wang said, “Hey, don’t die yet, I’m staying in the elimination zone too.”

“You call that staying? Yours is clearly passing by!” Gao Tianyang said.
“I haven’t taken an exam for a while now, ever since I broke my leg, I don’t have the feel for it anymore. Maybe this time round I can’t pass by, and when we’re all exiled together, you might still get company.” Sheng Wang tried to console him, but the moment he turned around after he was done consoling, he saw Jiang Tian’s face. He wasn’t looking particularly pleased.
Sheng Wang: “?”

The pen around Jiang Tian’s fingers spun for one round, and smacked against the notebook, his expression ice cold.
Sheng Wang studied it for a few seconds, and changed his mind. “I think I’ll try to pass by.”
Gao Tianyang: “?”

A week and a half before midterms, Sheng Wang found the time to make yet another trip to the sickbay. He finally acquired teacher Lu’s orders: he could finally stop taking medication for his ankles, and he no longer needed to avoid any food.
In order to express his exuberance, he planned to treat the entire class to skewers on Sunday, the location being “During Those Years” BBQ store, those who wanted to come were all invited. Zhao Xi and Lin Beiting had been back for a while now, it’s time to make up for the meal he owed everyone when he got a prize.

TO BE CONTINUED.