"Now, students, take out set 38, we have gone over this question before, do you remember? Look at multiple-choice question number five, does this type of question look familiar..."
The math teacher was discussing problems above, and all around the air was filled with the sound of flipping papers, fine chalk dust spiraled in the winter sunlight. Bai Yang rested his head on his hand as he sat at his desk, the tip of his pen touching the test paper, appearing to listen to the lesson yet also not listening. The classroom had no air conditioning on, and the index and middle fingers clutching his pen were somewhat stiff. After entering December, the temperature curve had slumped like a hibernating snake, never climbing above ten degrees. The autumn had been particularly short this year; the leaves of the French sycamore trees on Zhongshan Gate Street were still summer-like when they detached due to acidification but became wintery upon hitting the ground.
