The Last Row

On the first day of school at Qingcheng No.1 High, Lin Yizheng scans the class rosters from back to front—and finally spots his name on the very last page. His bottom-tier grades, his crumbling family circumstances, the way everyone looks at him: this is the answer he has handed in. Four boys, all but "exiled" to the last row, end up seated together. Lin Yizheng, ranked second-to-last in the grade, yet the most relentless worker among them; Gu Beichen, ranked first overall, but plagued by sleepless nights; Shen Yifei, the basketball court's MVP, whose right knee is silently counting down its final days; and Zhao Yu'an, who can code his way to real earnings but cannot hold a single conversation with another person. No one believes in them. So they choose to believe in themselves. From the bottom of the rankings to university admission, from last place to competition gold medals, from being trampled underfoot to making everyone sit up and take notice—where you sit does not determine how far you can go. This is the answer four boys write over three years.