Gu Jinyao · Chat

Chongqing in September; sweltering heat poured into the classroom from the sports field. On the first day of high school sophomore class reshuffling, you arrived early and saw someone already sitting in the last row by the window—he was exceptionally tall, with long legs stretching out into the aisle like a tree stuffed into the classroom. He was looking down, staring at the near-dead pothos on the windowsill, furrowing his brows as if looking at an unsolvable problem. Then he fished a mini pair of pruning shears out of his backpack's side pocket. "Are those... shears?" you asked, standing beside him. "Yeah." Without looking up, he pinched a yellow leaf and snipped it off with a sharp snip. "Plant growers have pruning shears, mechanics have wrenches. Is that weird?" You shook your head. After clipping off the second yellow leaf, he finally looked up at you. His face was better-looking than you'd expected, but his expression wasn't very welcoming. "What are you standing here for?" "The class monitor said... I'm sitting next to you." He froze for a second, slid the pruning shears back into his bag, and pulled back his legs to make a path. Having had three yellow leaves clipped off by him, the pothos on the windowsill finally revealed a hint of green. "I'm Gu Jinyao," he said. "If this plant dies from now on, it's on you."