The Chen Family Restaurant was as crowded as ever. Fortunately, Song Yuan had called the owner, Uncle Chen, in advance to reserve a table for them on the second floor.
Hu Hanghang and the others frequently came here, so they grabbed a menu and headed upstairs, taking care of the water and other things themselves.
After sitting down, Song Yuan handed the menu to Tao Jia. “Take a look and see what you want to eat.”
Tao Jia smiled and didn’t take it, her demeanor poised. “It’s fine. You guys come here often, so you can order. I’m good with anything.”
“Okay, you don’t have any dietary restrictions, right?”
“Nope.”
Song Yuan nodded and quickly noted down a few of their usual dishes. Considering they had an extra person today, he paused for a moment and then added a couple more stir-fried dishes.
Once they finished ordering, the four of them chatted casually at the table.
Hu Hanghang looked at Tao Jia. “How come you suddenly transferred from the liberal arts class to the science class? Did you choose the wrong subjects?”
“No.” Tao Jia played with the cup of water on the table. “I just felt that studying pure liberal arts was too exhausting; I’d rather deal with numbers in the science class.”
“You must be a top student.” Xu Yichuan snapped his fingers. “Us average students can’t really tell the difference between liberal arts and science.”
Tao Jia laughed. “I’m not a top student. I took the final exams in the same room as you guys. Have you forgotten?”
“Right.” Hu Hanghang chimed in. “Speaking of which, Sister Lin and Jiang Yan also came from the same exam room as us.”
“Pfft, can Jiang Yan be compared to us? He was absent and ended up in the same exam room as us.” Song Yuan kicked Hu Hanghang’s chair. “Can you stop glorifying yourself?”
Hu Hanghang raised his voice. “When did I glorify myself? I just wanted to highlight the connection among us.”
Tao Jia casually asked, “Jiang Yan has such good grades; why doesn’t he go to the rocket class?”
“He doesn’t want to.” Song Yuan poured himself another glass of water. “He thinks the atmosphere in the rocket class is too oppressive and that it’s more comfortable in the regular key class.”
“Part of the reason is that some teachers don’t agree with letting Jiang Yan into the rocket class. After all, the students there probably haven’t even quarreled, let alone fought. If he goes there, it would be chaos.”
Tao Jia nodded. “I see.”
Xu Yichuan added, “Don’t be fooled by how he seems to be coasting along; he’s already completed the sophomore curriculum. If it weren’t for Old Yu’s constant reminders, he might not even show up for class.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Of course. Those in the rocket class are just top students plus; our brother is a genius.”
While they praised Jiang Yan to the heavens, on the other side, he waited in the hallway but hadn’t seen Lin Tiao come out. His patience was wearing thin.
He pulled out his phone and called Lin Tiao. As soon as she answered, he shot out, “Are you eating in the bathroom?”
Lin Tiao flared up at his sudden outburst, especially since her period had just started. “You’re the one eating in the bathroom! You’re in the bathroom all day!”
“……” Jiang Yan ran a hand through his hair, suppressing his rising anger. “Then may I ask why you’re still not out yet?”
There was a moment of silence on the line.
Lin Tiao lowered her voice. “Are you waiting for me?”
“Otherwise, am I waiting for a ghost?”
“……”
Seeing she remained silent, Jiang Yan, in a good mood, asked again, “What are you doing in there? Are you coming out or not? If not, I’m leaving.”
“Wait a minute.” Lin Tiao called to him on the phone, hesitating for a long time before saying, “My period came. Can you help me buy a pack of… that?”
Lin Tiao’s period arrived a few days earlier, unexpectedly, and she was unprepared. She had originally planned to call Meng Xin for help, but her phone was out of reach.
She didn’t have any particularly close female friends in her class, and it was lunchtime, so there were no other girls in the bathroom. Lin Tiao found herself stuck in there, not knowing what to do.
Who would have thought that Jiang Yan would call at that moment?
After struggling for a long time, she finally worked up the courage to ask.
Though it felt a bit embarrassing, at that moment, she had no other options. It was better to ask for help than to remain in the bathroom indefinitely.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Lin Tiao thought the call had dropped, but when she checked, it was still connected. She whispered, “… Jiang Yan?”
He responded, “Hmm.”
“……” Lin Tiao didn’t know what else to say.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Yan spoke again, “Wait for me.”
“Okay.”
--
Jiang Yan returned ten minutes later and received a call from Lin Tiao. “How do I get the things to you?”
“Just a moment.” Lin Tiao hung up, quickly took care of herself, and pushed the door open to step out.
Jiang Yan was standing at the door, holding a black bag. After glancing at her, he turned away, extending his hand to give her the bag without saying a word.
Lin Tiao accepted it with a flushed face. “Thank you.”
Jiang Yan responded nonchalantly with a “hm.” After she entered the restroom, he let out a sigh of relief. Standing in the hallway, he was silent for a few seconds before suddenly kicking the wall.
Damn it!
Thinking of the feeling of being watched at the convenience store earlier, Jiang Yan felt increasingly embarrassed and kicked the wall a few more times.
Ah—!
If it weren’t for the fact that it was a bit inappropriate at that moment, he might have actually yelled out loud.
So damn embarrassing!
He thought about kicking the wall a couple more times to vent his frustration but caught a glimpse of a figure by the ladies' room door. He held his breath, stopped kicking, and turned back to her, feigning calmness. “Let’s go eat.”
After saying that, he went downstairs on his own.
Lin Tiao secretly let out a sigh of relief, quietly following his footsteps.
The two walked side by side along the path, where the leaves in the early autumn campus had already turned yellow, falling gently in the breeze. Jiang Yan had calmed down significantly and glanced down at Lin Tiao.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but now he saw that the girl’s face was a bit red, her ears blushing as well.
Jiang Yan stared at her for a few moments, unable to help but smile, and eventually, he chuckled softly.
Walking beside him, Lin Tiao only heard what seemed like a hum from him and didn’t dare to speak up.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Hu Hanghang and the others were nearly starving. “Damn, are you guys trying to starve us to death?”
“Of course not. If you starve to death, you won’t be worth anything,” Jiang Yan said, pulling out two empty chairs and casually sitting in one. Lin Tiao sat down beside him.
Jiang Yan picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of pork rib into Hu Hanghang's bowl. “Eat more; I’ll find a better butcher for you later.”
“Seriously? If you keep talking like that, it won’t sound nice,” Hu Hanghang protested, raising his meaty hand, hesitating for three seconds before putting it down. “Let’s eat, everyone.”
The others responded with silence.
Their tastes were on the spicier side, and the dishes they ordered were all quite hot. Song Yuan, who had specifically brought a bottle of juice, stood up after everyone started eating and poured a glass for each person.
When he reached Lin Tiao, Jiang Yan suddenly raised his hand to stop him. “Does the restaurant not have hot drinks?”
Lin Tiao paused, her eyelids twitching slightly.
“There is corn juice, but isn’t it a bit early in the season for hot drinks?” Song Yuan stopped, not quite understanding. “Alright, I’ll go ask.”
Jiang Yan put down his chopsticks. “No need; I’ll go myself.”
Song Yuan stared at his figure heading downstairs, muttering, “Weird, usually he wouldn’t drink corn juice for anything, but today he suddenly wants some.”
He was talking to himself, and no one replied, but Lin Tiao heard him. She puffed her cheeks and then let them go.
Jiang Yan quickly returned with freshly made corn juice. After pouring himself half a cup, he naturally filled Lin Tiao’s cup as well.
Everyone at the table was too busy eating to notice.
The corn juice was hot, and after Lin Tiao drank a cup, she felt warm all over. She set the empty cup on the table, preparing to pour another cup.
Suddenly, Jiang Yan, who was still talking with Song Yuan, reached out and filled her cup again.
He didn’t even look at Lin Tiao, continuing his conversation with Song Yuan, leaning lazily against the back of his chair with a smirk.
Lin Tiao glanced at him and noticed that the half cup of corn juice in front of him had barely been touched, causing her heart to skip a beat.
---
After eating, it was already quite late, and the group hurried back to the classroom just as the bell rang.
The first class of the afternoon was math with Old Yu.
Lin Tiao hadn’t rested at noon, and coupled with her period, she didn’t feel well at all. She lay her head on the desk, feeling a bit lethargic.
Old Yu stood at the podium, lecturing on a new topic. “The scope of knowledge regarding trigonometric functions is very broad, and it has a high probability of appearing in major exam questions. Although there are many key points…”
Old Yu was quite talkative, and his lectures tended to be lengthy.
What should have been a few hundred words turned into over ten minutes of preamble.
Lin Tiao found herself getting drowsy, yawning repeatedly. She tried to stay awake, but ultimately couldn’t resist the urge to close her eyes and fell asleep.
Jiang Yan, while trying to borrow a power bank from Hu Hanghang because his phone was out of battery, finally noticed that his deskmate had drifted off to sleep.
The girl had rested her head on her book, sleeping soundly with her face down. Her long, curled eyelashes fluttered slightly, casting a shadow below her closed eyes.
The sunlight from outside fell just right on her face. Lin Tiao’s skin was very fair, glowing in the light, and the tiny hairs on her face were clearly visible.
Jiang Yan watched her quietly for a while until a small piece of chalk fell onto his head from above.
He looked up to see Old Yu smiling down at him, and before he could react, Old Yu spoke first.
“Your deskmate is quite beautiful, huh? I’ve been watching you for a while. You’ve been staring at Lin Tiao for quite some time; what are you thinking, Jiang Yan?”
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