Upon hearing that Lín Xiǎotáng also liked him, Chén Zhāoyáng felt as though a little rabbit was jumping around in his chest, his heart fluttering wildly. Yet he also knew, just as Lín Xiǎotáng had said, that they were still students and their studies remained their top priority. The two exchanged a smile, one that concealed a raw, innocent sweetness along with a tiny shared hope for the future, before returning to their respective seats and trying their best to focus on the class. Yet throughout the lesson, both of their minds were in turmoil, completely unable to concentrate. Their eyes kept drifting toward each other, only to quickly dart away the moment their gazes met, leaving them unable to keep the flushes from rising on their cheeks.
With much difficulty, they endured until the end of the school day, and Chén Zhāoyáng walked out of the classroom together with Lín Xiǎotáng. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the campus, casting long shadows of the two. Along the way, both remained somewhat silent, yet this silence radiated a unique warmth. As they neared the intersection where they would part ways, Chén Zhāoyáng finally mustered the courage to say, "Xiǎotáng, then it's settled. Let's study hard together; we still have plenty of time ahead." Lín Xiǎotáng nodded softly, her eyes sparkling. "Mm, definitely!" With that, she turned and ran off with a blushing face.
Chén Zhāoyáng gazed after her retreating figure, the corners of his mouth turned upward the entire time, and he only turned to head home once she was completely out of sight. Back at home, his mind was still filled with Lín Xiǎotáng's every expression and smile. He went about his chores with immense vigor, completely baffling his parents, who assumed he must have encountered some wonderful stroke of luck today. Chén Zhāoyáng offered no explanation, merely flashing a silly grin as he silently thought to himself that this was a little secret shared exclusively between him and Lín Xiǎotáng.
The next day, Chén Zhāoyáng arrived at school early as usual. Just as he stepped into the classroom, he noticed his classmates gathered around the blackboard, engaged in an animated discussion. Curious, he squeezed his way through the crowd, only to see the large, colorful characters "New Semester, New Starting Point" written across the blackboard, flanked by some cute cartoon illustrations and inspirational quotes. Yet upon closer inspection, these contents seemed strangely familiar.
"Who drew this blackboard bulletin? Why does it feel a bit similar to the one in the next class?" a classmate muttered quietly.
"Exactly. When I walked past the next class yesterday, their bulletin's theme was almost identical to ours, right down to the drawn patterns," another classmate chimed in.
Chén Zhāoyáng's heart skipped a beat; having experienced a Rebirth, he was exceptionally sensitive to anything that might involve plagiarism. Just as he was mulling this over, the class monitor walked over, cleared his throat, and said, "Everyone, stop discussing this for a moment. This blackboard bulletin was organized by the study commissar and a few other students. Let's ask them what actually happened."
The study commissar was a bespectacled boy who usually did well in his studies, though he was somewhat overly competitive. Hearing the accusations from everyone, his face instantly flushed red, and he hurriedly explained, "We really didn't plagiarize. We thought of all this ourselves. Even though it looks a bit similar to the next class, it's probably just a coincidence."
However, the classmates were not buying it, chiming in one after another with accusations.
"How could there be such a coincidence? This is obviously copied!"
"Exactly, our class shouldn't be pulling such shameful stunts."
Seeing the study commissar's anxious and guilty expression, Chén Zhāoyáng knew the matter wasn't that simple. He figured that if this storm were allowed to rage on, it would not only damage class unity but might also cause his classmates to harbor prejudices against the study commissar. After all, in this era, plagiarism was a very serious matter; once confirmed, it would make everyone look down on them.
Thus, he stepped forward and said, "Everyone, don't rush to conclusions just yet. Let's take a closer look. There might genuinely be some misunderstanding." Hearing Chén Zhāoyáng's words, the classmates quieted down. In everyone's eyes, ever since Chén Zhāoyáng had saved Lín Xiǎotáng during the sports meet, he had become a hero, and with his academic results steadily improving lately, everyone trusted him quite a bit.
Lín Xiǎotáng also walked over, stood beside Chén Zhāoyáng, and said, "Chén Zhāoyáng is right; we shouldn't just casually accuse people of plagiarism like this. Let's all think of a way to figure out what's really going on."
Chén Zhāoyáng cast a grateful glance at Lín Xiǎotáng, then joined her in carefully comparing the blackboard bulletins of the two classes. He discovered that while the overall theme and some patterns were similar, there were still subtle differences. For instance, the wording on their own class's bulletin was more vivid, and it included some small details that the neighboring class lacked.
Feeling more confident, Chén Zhāoyáng said to his classmates, "Look everyone, although the two classes' bulletins share similarities, they aren't entirely identical. Perhaps when everyone was preparing, they referenced some of the same source materials, which is why this situation occurred. We shouldn't label it as plagiarism simply because of some similarities."
Hearing Chén Zhāoyáng's analysis, the classmates felt it made some sense, and the murmurs gradually died down. Still, a few students remained skeptical, with one of them saying, "Even if we referenced the same materials, they shouldn't look this similar. There's definitely still a problem."
Upon hearing this, the study commissar grew so anxious that tears nearly welled up in his eyes. He looked at Chén Zhāoyáng as though he had caught sight of a lifeline and pleaded, "Chén Zhāoyáng, you have to believe me, I really didn't plagiarize. When we were preparing the bulletin, we did look for some magazines and newspapers for reference, but we conceived and drew everything ourselves."
Chén Zhāoyáng patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, "Don't panic, I believe you. Let's go find some evidence to prove that our class's bulletin is original." With that, he led the study commissar and Lín Xiǎotáng off to hunt down the reference materials they had used while making the bulletin.
They rummaged through boxes and cabinets in the storage room at the back of the classroom for a long time before finally unearthing several old magazines and newspapers. Chén Zhāoyáng flipped through them page by page and indeed discovered content related to the blackboard bulletin. The patterns and text in these materials were precisely the source of everyone's inspiration.
Holding the materials, Chén Zhāoyáng ran excitedly back to the classroom and announced to his classmates, "Look everyone, these are the materials we referenced. Our blackboard bulletin did reference these, but we created and modified everything based on this foundation—it wasn't plagiarism." The classmates crowded around, inspecting the materials and comparing them against the blackboard bulletin, and realized it was indeed just as Chén Zhāoyáng had said.
"So that's how it is. It really was a misunderstanding."
"Yeah, Chén Zhāoyáng, you're amazing! If it weren't for you, we might have wronged the study commissar."
The classmates offered thumbs-up to Chén Zhāoyáng one after another, and the study commissar finally let out a sigh of relief, saying gratefully, "Chén Zhāoyáng, thank you so much! If not for you, I wouldn't have known what to do."
Chén Zhāoyáng smiled and said, "Think nothing of it. We're all classmates; when problems arise, of course we should solve them together. Besides, I believe none of our classmates would ever engage in plagiarism."
This plagiarism storm sparked by the blackboard bulletin was thus placated through Chén Zhāoyáng's efforts. Following this incident, the relationships among the classmates grew even more harmonious, and everyone held an even deeper admiration for Chén Zhāoyáng. Meanwhile, in the process of solving the problem together, the bond between Chén Zhāoyáng and Lín Xiǎotáng grew profoundly deeper. Whenever their eyes met, that hazy, ambiguous sentiment grew richer, as though a thin veil gently enveloped them—sweet and wonderful.