The door opened.
The dorm room was well-lit.
It was a typical six-person dorm layout.
Three metal-frame bunk beds lined each side of the room.
A narrow aisle ran down the middle, with two old wooden desks placed by the window.
There was no air conditioning. A green, three-bladed electric fan hung from the ceiling, spinning slowly.
These were all the same people who had stood on the awards stage together.
On the bottom bunk to the left, near the door, sat a lean, dark-skinned boy.
He was wearing a red T-shirt with the Chicago Bulls logo printed on it.
In his hand, he held a half-eaten apple.
This was Wang Huashao, the boy who had been talking a mile a minute just earlier.
On the middle bottom bunk on the right, sat a boy in a clean white shirt.
It was short-sleeved, and the buttons were done up meticulously.
He had a refined look, with a pair of thin, gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.
A natural, gentle smile played on his lips.
Miao Shian.
On the top bunk to the left, by the window, was a boy who looked very small and thin, almost frail.
He wore a gray short-sleeved shirt that was faded from washing.
He was holding a damp cloth, silently wiping the dust from the metal bed rail.
Hearing the door open, he stopped what he was doing and looked over, a little self-consciously.
He Gui.
On the bottom bunk to the right, by the window—the spot with the best light—sat a boy in a black athletic T-shirt.
He was tall, with broad shoulders.
He held a thick copy of *General Physics* in his hands.
His back was ramrod straight, and the lines of his profile were somewhat cold and severe.
Zhou Kai.
One of the absolute top students from Provincial Experimental Middle School.
Four boys.
Four completely different auras.
An empty bunk was being used to hold luggage.
This small Dorm 204 had gathered some of the top ninth-grade physics competition students from across the province.
At the sound of the door, all four boys’ gazes turned toward the entrance.
They saw Chen Zhuo walk in.
A light gray T-shirt, dark blue shorts.
White canvas shoes.
He wore glasses.
And he was carrying a backpack so large it looked almost comical.
He was just a little over five feet tall.
The dorm room fell into a strange silence.
The only sound was the whirring of the ceiling fan.
They all knew who their last roommate was.
Chen Zhuo, from Zeyang City No.1 Middle School.
Perfect scores in both subjects.
The monster who had crushed every single one of them—including Zhou Kai from Provincial Experimental School—leaving them in the dust.
But when this monster was actually standing before them, the stark visual contrast still rendered these fifteen- and sixteen-year-old geniuses speechless for a moment.
He looked too ordinary.
As ordinary as any random seventh-grader you might pull off the street.
He didn’t have three heads and six arms, nor did he possess the usual arrogance of a genius.
He just stood there quietly.
Wang Huashao was the first to react.
The half-eaten apple in his hand paused mid-air before he tossed it directly into the nearby trash can.
He leaped up from his bed.
In a few steps, he was in front of Chen Zhuo.
A brilliant smile spread across his tanned face.
"Well, well!"
Wang Huashao rubbed his hands together, his tone as familiar as if they’d known each other for eight hundred years.
"You must be Chen Zhuo, the guy from Zeyang City No.1 Middle School with perfect scores in both subjects, right?"
"I’ve heard so much about you! Your name precedes you!"
He pointed to himself.
"Name’s Wang Huashao. My dad named me ’Huashao,’ which means ’few words,’ but I just can’t keep my mouth shut. I talk a lot, so I hope you don’t find me annoying."
He enthusiastically pointed to the only empty bottom bunk in the dorm.
"Come on, come on, your bed is this bottom one! We saved it for you. It’s by the door, so it’s easy to get in and out."
Chen Zhuo looked at the hyperactive boy in front of him.
He pushed up his glasses.
And nodded.
"Thanks. I’m Chen Zhuo."
His voice was very calm.
He carried his heavy bag over to the empty bottom bunk.
The wooden bedframe was covered with a thin straw mat.
Chen Zhuo placed his bag on the mat.
He was about to take out a change of clothes.
He gripped the zipper at the top of the bag.
The zipper was already stretched taut to its limit by the contents inside.
Chen Zhuo used a little bit of force.
And pulled down.
RRRIP—
The teeth of the zipper tore apart with a loud rip.
Like a ball bursting from being overinflated, a landslide-like scene unfolded in Dorm 204.
Two huge packages of Inner Mongolian air-dried beef jerky, tightly wrapped in brown paper, were the first to tumble out.
They were followed by three heavy cans of Ma Ling brand braised pork and luncheon meat.
Then came several boxes of exquisitely packaged imported chocolates with foreign letters on them.
There were also two metal cans of Jianlibao.
All these items scattered across the wooden bed.
Due to inertia, one can of luncheon meat rolled off the edge of the bed.
THUD.
It hit the floor with a crisp metallic clang.
And rolled to a stop in the middle of the aisle.
In the dorm room, everyone was staring at the bed.
Staring at the bedful of hardcore, high-calorie, wilderness-survival-style rations.
An extremely rugged, strong aroma of air-dried beef jerky, mingled with a hint of greasy savoriness, instantly filled the dorm room.
It completely overwhelmed the faint smell of mothballs.
From the top bunk by the window, He Gui quickly scrambled down the metal ladder.
He bent down in a bit of a fluster and picked up the can of luncheon meat from the floor.
He walked over to Chen Zhuo’s side.
His face was bright red.
He handed the can over with both hands, his voice as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.
"Y-Your can."
"It’s not broken."
Chen Zhuo looked at He Gui’s flushed face.
And took the can.
"Thanks."
On the other side of the room, Miao Shian, who was sitting on his bed, couldn’t hold it in any longer.
He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and let out a soft laugh.
His laughter was clear and bright.
He stood up and walked over to Chen Zhuo’s bed.
With his long, slender fingers, he helped push the few boxes of chocolate that were about to fall off the edge of the bed back toward the center.
He gathered the two large packages of beef jerky together.
"Your mom really came prepared."
Miao Shian looked at the pile of things on the bed, his tone gentle and full of good-natured teasing.
"Was she afraid you wouldn’t get enough to eat at the school cafeteria, so she put together this care package for you overnight?"
"Truly, a parent’s love knows no bounds."
Chen Zhuo looked at Miao Shian.
He set the can of luncheon meat aside.
And pushed up the glasses on his nose.
"It wasn’t my mom."
Chen Zhuo’s tone was still impassive.
"My childhood friend insisted on packing it."
He glanced down at the completely ruined zipper.
"The zipper’s broken."
Wang Huashao, standing nearby, stared intently at the supplies on the bed. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
"Whoa."
Wang Huashao’s eyes went wide.
"Bro, your childhood friend is the real deal!"
He pointed at the brick-like slabs of Inner Mongolian beef jerky.
"Are you here for a physics training camp,"
"or for desert island survival?"
"These supplies are enough to feed a whole platoon for three days!"
Chen Zhuo ignored Wang Huashao’s exaggeration.
He reached out, and from one of the brown paper packages, he pulled out a long, dark red, rock-hard stick of air-dried beef jerky.
The thing didn’t just look hard; it felt like a wooden club in his hand.
Chen Zhuo turned around.
His gaze crossed the aisle.
And landed on Zhou Kai, who was sitting on the bottom bunk by the window and hadn’t said a word the entire time.
Zhou Kai was still holding his copy of *General Physics*.
Although he hadn’t spoken, his eyes had long since lifted from the book.
He had been watching the scene unfold.
Chen Zhuo held the beef jerky stick.
And extended his hand.
It reached across the aisle, stopping in front of Zhou Kai.
He then turned his head to look at Miao Shian, Wang Huashao, and the still-flustered He Gui beside him.
"Want some?"
There was no showing off, no empty pleasantries.
Just a simple question.
"It’s a little tough,"
he added.
In that instant, a subtle chemical reaction seemed to occur in the dorm room’s atmosphere.
Zhou Kai looked at the greasy stick of jerky offered to him.
He looked at the hand holding it.
And then at Chen Zhuo’s placid, unreadable face.
This was the rival who had utterly pulverized his proud, untouchable title as the top student in the province from Provincial Experimental School.
And now, here he was, holding a rock-hard stick of beef jerky and asking if he wanted some.
Zhou Kai’s jaw tightened.
The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Accepting felt wrong.
But refusing also felt wrong.
Just as Zhou Kai froze, a dark, skinny hand reached out from the side.
And snatched the beef jerky from Chen Zhuo’s hand.
"Of course we’ll eat! Why wouldn’t we?"
Wang Huashao unapologetically yanked the jerky away.
He opened his mouth and took a hard bite with his pearly white teeth.
"Hiss—"
Wang Huashao sucked in a sharp breath.
"Holy crap, this is tough!"
He managed to rip off a small shred of meat and mumbled as he chewed, "But it tastes amazing. The more you chew, the better it gets."
He nudged Zhou Kai’s shoulder.
"Brother Kai, stop reading. Grab one and try it."
"Chen here carried it all the way from his hometown."
Miao Shian also walked over with a smile.
"Well then, I won’t be polite."
He pulled out a slightly thinner stick and held it in his hand.
Under Chen Zhuo’s calm gaze, He Gui, blushing, also carefully took a piece of chocolate.
Zhou Kai watched as Wang Huashao broke the stalemate.
He slowly closed his copy of *General Physics*.
And set it down by his pillow.
He looked at Chen Zhuo.
Took a deep breath.
And reached out his hand.
From the brown paper package, he pulled out a stick of beef jerky.
"Thanks."
Zhou Kai’s voice was a bit stiff.
But he took it nonetheless.
Chen Zhuo nodded.
He turned back, stuffed the ruined bag under his bed, and took out a few of his own books, stacking them neatly beside his pillow.
In Dorm 204, the sound of five people chewing in unison on tough beef jerky filled the air—a heavy, rhythmic crunching.
The palpable, sword-drawn tension that should have existed between these geniuses was completely shattered by this incredibly down-to-earth chewing sound and torn to shreds.

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