The classroom door opened.
A woman walked in and made her way to the front.
The chatter died down almost instantly.
She didn't look that old, maybe in her late twenties. She had sharp, intelligent eyes and carried herself with quiet confidence.
She set her bag down on the desk and turned to face the class.
"Good morning, everyone," she said, her voice clear and composed. "My name is Liu Mei. I'll be your class counselor."
She paused, letting the words settle.
"I'll explain more about what that entails later, but for now, you can just think of me as your class teacher. I'll be the one you come to for academic guidance, administrative matters, and... well, anything else you might need help with."
She smiled warmly.
"Since today is your first day, why don't we start by getting to know each other a little better?"
She clasped her hands together.
"We'll go around the room and introduce ourselves. Name, where you're from, maybe something interesting about yourself."
Her gaze swept across the classroom.
Then it landed on the back row.
On Lin Feng.
"Let's start with you," she said, pointing directly at him. "The young man in the back."
…
Lin Feng stood up slowly.
He could feel the weight of dozens of gazes settling on him - curious, expectant, indifferent. If it had been the old him, his palms would have been sweating. His voice would have trembled.
But now?
He didn't feel much. Just slightly uncomfortable.
A simple introduction. Such a small thing, yet it could shape how others perceived you for the rest of your school life. Some chose to be reserved - safe, forgettable. Others went for humor - risky, but memorable if it landed. Some tried to appeal to a niche audience, dropping hints about hobbies or interests to attract like-minded people.
But the truth was, it was hard to gauge how others would react. He didn't know these people. Well, he knew some, but it was all superficial. He didn't know what they valued, what they found interesting, what would make them remember him.
While he had sworn to be more confident this time around - to experiment, to take risks - in this particular instant, he decided to play it safe. Playing too much into one side can alienate the other. So he went with the default option.
"I'm Lin Feng," he said, his voice calm and steady. "I hope to get along with everyone."
Then he sat back down.
…
The teacher nodded and pointed to the seat beside him.
"Next."
Su Yue stood up gracefully.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Su Yue. I'm from Hangzhou, born and raised here. I have two younger siblings, so I've been told I have a bit of an older sister vibe." She smiled warmly. "I enjoy reading and taking walks by the lake. I hope we can all get along and have a great four years together."
She sat back down to a smattering of approving nods.
Then she turned to Lin Feng.
"Your introduction was surprisingly minimal," she whispered.
He glanced at her. "Did you think I was a talkative person?"
She nodded. "Aren't you?"
He shook his head.
"Liar," she said, narrowing her eyes playfully. "You seem to talk to me just fine."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"Maybe it's easy because it's you."
A faint blush crept across her cheeks.
"Stawp," she muttered, turning away.
…
The introductions continued, one student after another standing up to share their names and backgrounds.
Lin Feng listened quietly, and as familiar names reached his ears, fragments of memory resurfaced. Faces he had forgotten. People he had once known, however briefly.
His mind refreshed itself, filling in gaps he hadn't realized were there.
Finally, after the last student sat down, the counselor clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Now that introductions are out of the way," Liu Mei said, "we can move on to something important - electing a class monitor."
She clasped her hands behind her back.
"The class monitor will serve as the bridge between the students and the faculty. They'll be responsible for announcements, organizing class activities, and helping maintain order. It's a role that requires responsibility and dedication."
She paused.
"Does anyone have someone in mind they'd like to endorse? You can even endorse yourself."
A few hands went up tentatively.
Liu Mei smiled.
"Before you decide," she added, her voice dropping slightly, "I should mention - the class monitor position isn't just chores. It has its perks too."
The room grew quieter.
"Most of them are secret," she continued, a hint of mischief in her eyes. "But I'll leak one."
She leaned forward slightly.
"Being a class monitor makes it much easier to get into the higher student council positions. And those..." She let the pause linger. "...are paid."
The effect was immediate.
Several more hands shot up.
"Now that's more like it," Liu Mei said with a satisfied nod. "Alright, all of you with your hands raised - remind me of your names again."
She pulled out a small notebook and jotted down the names as each candidate spoke up.
Once she had finished, she moved to the side of the room and gestured toward the front.
"Alright," she said. "You'll each come up one by one and convince your fellow classmates why they should vote for you. After everyone has spoken, we'll hold a vote."
…
One by one, the eight students vying for the class monitor position made their way to the front.
Each gave their speech - some confident, some nervous, some clearly unprepared. A few tried humor. Others went for sincerity. And some simply listed their qualifications.
When the last candidate finished, the counselor instructed all eight of them to move to a corner of the room and face the wall.
"No peeking," she said with a smile.
Once they had complied, she returned to the center and picked up a marker.
She wrote the first name on the whiteboard.
"Don't make a sound," she instructed the class. "Just raise your hand."
She tapped the name.
"Who wants to vote for this person?"
A few hands went up.
She counted silently, then wrote the number beside the name.
She wrote another name and the process continued.