The school’s response was very quick. In just a few days, the school distributed uniformly customized cardholders and required all students to wear their student cards around their necks when entering and leaving the school. The security guards watched at the school gates.

As for Ruan Zhikai, because the fight incident was ultimately caused by him, and because he repeatedly requested that the other students in the class not be blamed, he told them he was willing to accept any punishment. Eventually, after discussion between the grade director and teachers, Ruan Zhikai’s punishment was to help the sanitation worker sweep the school square for a week.

Another additional condition was proposed by Li Zhong, requiring Ruan Zhikai to improve his biology score by twenty points in his final exam.

Lin Shiyu also had a goal to improve by twenty points.

“Why am I being punished along with him?” Lin Shiyu protested.

“What are you shouting about? I give you both special treatment every week. If you don’t perform well in the final exam, can you justify that to me?” Li Zhong retorted without any courtesy. “The Biology Class Representative ranks the lowest in the class in biology scores. Do you have any sense of responsibility, Lin Shiyu?”

After being scolded, Lin Shiyu was thrown out of the office.

Feeling wronged, Lin Shiyu returned to the classroom, taking out the paper for the special treatment and threw it on the table. The paper was covered with red pen markings, so many that it was unbearable to look at.

Zhong Qi came back from outside the classroom and saw Lin Shiyu’s paper.

“Spectacular,” Zhong Qi commented.

Lin Shiyu threw his pen to hit him, and Zhong Qi casually held the person back, taking the test paper and looking at it. “You got the protein question wrong again. Are you a goldfish?”

Lin Shiyu, red-faced, struggled to grab his paper. “Give it back to me!”

“The most important disaccharides in plant cells are lactose and sucrose.” Zhong Qi pushed his head to the side and read his answer. “How can you write such an answer?”

Lin Shiyu used both his hands and feet to try to reach his paper, but the two had a significant difference in arm length. Lin Shiyu almost couldn’t reach him, and he immediately became furious.

The next second, Zhong Qi took a breath, relaxed his grip, and Lin Shiyu immediately snatched back the paper, glaring angrily at Zhong Qi.

Zhong Qi looked at the fresh teeth marks on his hand. “…”

So he bites?

“Nice teeth,” Zhong Qi commented.

Lin Shiyu looked at him with a face resembling a lunatic.

Suddenly, Zhong Qi pinched Lin Shiyu’s chin, using his thumb to forcibly press on his jawbone. Caught off guard, Lin Shiyu was compelled to open his mouth, letting out a muffled sound while grabbing Zhong Qi’s arm.

Zhong Qi, composed and inquisitive, examined his teeth. “You indeed have fangs. No wonder it hurts so much when you bite.”

Lin Shiyu raised his foot to kick him, but Zhong Qi was faster, placing his foot on the chair’s crossbar, securing Lin Shiyu’s flailing leg with his knee. His fingertips rested at the edge of Lin Shiyu’s lips. His gaze fixed on the moist and pale red lips, briefly forgetting what he was going to do next.

He suddenly had the urge to press against those lips to confirm if they felt as soft as they looked.

“What are you guys doing?”

They both turned to see a few girls standing by the aisle, all wearing subtle expressions while looking at them.

“Do all you guys play like this?”

“Sorry to disturb you, we’ll leave now.”

Zhong Qi released Lin Shiyu, who immediately hit him with a textbook. “Are you crazy?”

Zhong Qi didn’t tease him further.

The warmth and sensation on his fingertips remained.

Lin Shiyu was a peculiar person. At first glance, he was strikingly beautiful, as white as icicles descending from the sky. Later, it became apparent that he was a problem child, and difficult to approach with his prickly exterior. He wasn’t like a snowflake that melted at a touch but more like aggressively incoming hailstones.

However, getting a bit closer, looking into his eyes, touching his skin, the senses returned to softness.

A texture more fragile and easily shattered than imagined.

Zhong Qi silently withdrew his five fingers, his expression calm.

Early morning self-study was the fixed time for Ruan Zhikai to sweep the square. The square in front of the school was the largest area aside from the playground. Ruan Zhikai had to sweep from one end to the other at least ten times every morning, and in between, he was forced to listen to the scattered gossip from the cleaning ladies, which gave him a headache.

Today, Mao Silu specifically took a break from early self-study to accompany him. Well, ‘accompany’ was more about holding a broom and being beside him.

“Kai Kai, I still can’t understand.” Mao Silu played with the broom, scattering the trash Ruan Zhikai had collected all around.

Ruan Zhikai: “Go back.”

“Why did you get to know those people?” Mao Silu approached curiously. “You never used to hang out with those kinds of people before.”

“I don’t hang out with them now. Why ask so much?’

“I feel like something’s bothering you,” Mao Silu said. “What’s wrong? It’s not because your parents are fighting, right?”

“They didn’t fight.” Ruan Zhikai denied this and continued sweeping.

“Then tell me about it. We can think of a solution together.”

Mao Silu was straightforward and not sensitive to others’ expressions. He was always curious and wanted to get to the bottom of things. Because Ruan Zhikai was his childhood buddy, whenever his good buddy encountered any trouble, he was determined to help.

Ruan Zhikai was aware of Mao Silu’s nature and, after being pestered for a while, impatiently stuck the broom into the ground and said uncomfortably, “Alright, I’ll tell you, but you mustn’t tell anyone.”

Mao Silu hurriedly nodded. “Okay.”

“No one should be told, especially those in our class, got it?”

Mao Silu was puzzled. “What are you being so secretive about?”

Ruan Zhikai then briefly explained the matter to Mao Silu.

After a while, Mao Silu retreated in shock. “You said you, you, you, you…confessed to Tao Chen?”

Ruan Zhikai, feeling awkward, picked up the broom again and pretended to sweep while reminding him, “Don’t tell anyone.”

Mao Silu was still in shock. “When did this happen?”

“After the freshman welcoming performance.”

“So, she… she rejected you, right?”

Ruan Zhikai, being exposed by his own dim-witted brother about his inner hurt, pretended to be nonchalant. “Yeah, she rejected me.”

“I guessed as much. She barely talks to you usually, so logically, she doesn’t like you.”

After taking double damage, Ruan Zhikai was bleeding inwardly. “Change the subject.”

“Then…” Mao Silu contemplated and asked, “What does this have to do with you knowing that group from the other school?”

Ruan Zhikai fell silent, but under Mao Silu’s persistent questioning, he finally gave up the concealment and answered, “I wasn’t feeling good during that period and often went to the internet café alone. I accidentally bumped into them playing games together. I was also upset at the time. They invited me to sing, and I agreed.”

Afterwards, they became more familiar and often went to the internet café together to play games.

After hearing the whole story, Mao Silu was stunned for a while.

“So, after being dumped, you were in a bad mood and didn’t want to hang out with us, so you spent time with that group?” Mao Silu finally summed it up, having clarified his thoughts.

Ruan Zhikai moved the broom around and let out a muffled sound.

“Ruan Zhikai!” Even Mao Silu, known for his good temper, got angry upon learning about this incident and shouted his full name. “Are you bored or what!”

Ruan Zhikai was yelled at, and felt three parts indignant and seven parts guilty. “I said I was in a bad mood back then.”

“You’re in a bad mood, so you do this kind of thing?” Mao Silu threw the broom at Ruan Zhikai, who agilely dodged it. “Moreover, what’s the big deal about a rejected confession?”

“Keep your voice down!”

“You’re driving me crazy!” Mao Silu chased Ruan Zhikai to hit him, angrily shouting, “Because of this, Shen Ziyi and her friends almost got into a fight, and Shiyu got hurt! You, you, you… Stop right there!”

Ruan Zhikai, usually proud and cool, ran while arguing, “I got punished, didn’t I?”

“You deserve it!”

They both abandoned their sweeping and ran around the square in a noisy argument. Eventually, they were caught by an angry janitor and had to pick up the brooms to sweep obediently.

Lately, Gao Jie received a few boxes of premium assorted snacks from his mom. Filled with the joy of sharing good things, he brought the boxes to the classroom. He shared some with his top student desk mate, Chen Xiaoxin, then turned to the two behind him and asked, “You two big brothers, do you want to try some top-quality dried fruit and chocolate balls?”

Lin Shiyu gave a ‘Don’t mess with me, my mood is bad’ expression. “I’m not eating.”

Zhong Qi also said, “I’m not eating.”

Gao Jie knew that these two were annoyed again, so he went to Mao Silu and Ruan Zhikai.

Mao Silu’s face wasn’t great. He said, “You eat them; I don’t want to.”

Ruan Zhikai remained silent and cold.

The two people who usually played together and messed around were now sitting separately, the distance between them akin to the Milky Way.

Gao Jie was shocked and nearly dropped the box. How come even these two are arguing?

Unable to share the much-awaited top-quality snacks, Gao Jie looked around and went to the tables of Shen Ziyi and Tao Chen. “Ladies, want some?”

Shen Ziyi’s eyes lit up. “Yes, yes, yes!”

Tao Chen took a piece of dried mango. “Thank you.”

“Well, girls are normal,” Gao Jie sat casually at their table, placing the snack box on it. “I don’t know what’s going on with those silly guys. They are all acting like low-pressure systems, freezing me to shivers.”

Shen Ziyi was enjoying the snacks and said, “It’s just a small quarrel, it’ll be fine in a day or two.”

“Why so many quarrels day by day?”

“You’re a single dog, you won’t understand.”

“Huh?”

Gao Jie realized with dismay that he was starting to not understand what people said anymore.

During the class, Li Zhong emphasized the upcoming final exams and urged everyone to revise properly. He also mentioned the matter of choosing majors, asking those who had already decided to fill out the forms and submit them soon.

Hearing the term ‘choose majors’, Lin Shiyu raised his head from the chaotic world of his biology textbook in his brain, noticing the blank major selection form beneath the books on Zhong Qi’s desk; it hadn’t even been filled in yet.

In front of them, Gao Jie muttered, “What major to choose? My political ideology is so high; I might as well study humanities or arts or something.”

Then, he turned around and gestured toward Zhong Qi’s desk, joking, “Brother Qi, how about it? Join me to study humanities?”

Zhong Qi was focused on his assignment and responded, “Sure.”

Lin Shiyu exerted pressure on the edge of his textbook, creating faint creases on the paper.

After class, Mao Silu came to ask Zhong Qi some questions. Gao Jie was chatting with him on the side. “Er Mao, are you planning to choose humanities or sciences?”

Mao Silu said, “I haven’t decided yet. My mom said to check my grades for this final. If my science and arts results are good, I’ll pick accordingly.”

“What about Kai Kai?”

Mao Silu sounded impatient when mentioning him. “I don’t know. His biology is so bad; he’ll probably opt for humanities.”

Lin Shiyu picked up his water cup and walked out, thinking that his biology was also poor, yet he chose science anyway.

He went to the water fountain for a refill. Shen Ziyi and a few other girls were also pouring water. Lin Shiyu overheard their conversation about choosing majors.

Shen Ziyi: “I’m not sure, but physics is really hard to learn.”

Tao Chen: “I also find physics very difficult. I’m not sure if I’m suitable for a science major.”

After filling his cup, Lin Shiyu tightened the lid. He felt an inexplicable surge of emotions, and walked back to the classroom with a heavy heart, thinking that he had only known them for a few months. Class assignments were just that; why dwell on it?

After school, Zhong Qi was called to the teacher’s office. When he returned, he noticed Lin Shiyu’s seat was already empty.

He paused, seeing Mao Silu and Ruan Zhikai still packing their things in the classroom, then asked Gao Jie, “Where’s Lin Shiyu?”

Gao Jie turned around, surprised. “He left so quickly? Haven’t you two always left together these days?”

Zhong Qi fell silent.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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