"..…”
“Pfft!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Someone in the classroom couldn’t help but laugh, and soon everyone joined in, causing the scene to become somewhat uncontrollable.
Lin Tiao was suddenly awakened by the commotion. When she raised her head, she looked bewildered, not understanding why she had fallen asleep, and found that the whole class was staring at her.
Old Yu was still standing at the podium, genuinely patient. “Alright, your deskmate has woken up just in time. Jiang Yan, why don’t you tell us what you were staring at Lin Tiao for?”
Lin Tiao: “?”
What the hell.
Under Lin Tiao’s “Why are you staring at me?” gaze, Jiang Yan helplessly spoke up, “Old Yu, I wasn’t staring at my deskmate. I was just hesitating whether to wake her up. After all, students should prioritize learning, and sleeping in class isn’t a good habit.”
Lin Tiao: “?”
What the hell!!!
Pah!
Old Yu: “……”
Everyone: “……”
It seemed that neither Old Yu nor the audience watching this expected Jiang Yan to come up with such an excuse, and they were momentarily stunned.
After a brief silence, the classmates snapped back to reality and burst into laughter.
Hu Hanghang patted Jiang Yan on the shoulder. “Dude, if you keep this up when you’re old, you won’t need a cane; you can just support yourself.”
Old Yu also joined in the laughter, knowing that Jiang Yan was joking, but upon further thought, it didn’t seem entirely unreasonable.
He cleared his throat and took a couple of sips of hot tea from his thermos. “What you said does make sense; sleeping in class is indeed not a good habit.”
Old Yu, holding the thermos, spoke in a slow, low tone, “Since that’s the case, Lin Tiao, you should stand and listen to the class.”
Lin Tiao: “……”
As his voice fell, Old Yu turned and placed the thermos back on the podium, looking at the two of them again. “Jiang Yan, you stand and listen too.”
The two figures stood there awkwardly.
Sitting behind them, Hu Hanghang and Song Yuan were thoroughly entertained. “Old Yu, with those two standing there, we can't see the blackboard at all.”
“We’re all good kids who love learning; this won’t do.”
Old Yu thought about it and realized that made sense. He pointed outside, “Then you two can stand in the hallway.”
Lin Tiao: “……”
Jiang Yan: “……”
The class erupted in laughter again, attracting students from the neighboring class, who had no teacher and were self-studying, coming out one by one to see what Class 18 was laughing about.
Lin Tiao hadn’t said a word and was thus invited out of the classroom, coincidentally bumping into the self-proclaimed loudspeaker of the adjacent class, who came out to check the situation.
As soon as the boy saw Jiang Yan, he abruptly halted and dashed back into the classroom, shutting the door with a bang.
A few seconds later, a loud voice came from Class 17, “What the hell! I just saw Jiang Yan standing in the hallway with a girl!”
“……”
At first, Lin Tiao hadn’t fully woken up in the classroom and was still in a daze, but the cold wind brought her back to reality. She glared at Jiang Yan and snapped, “Are you out of your mind?”
Jiang Yan looked at her with confusion. “What?”
“Why were you staring at me during class?” Lin Tiao was still half-asleep and on her period, feeling an overwhelming surge of anger, almost ready to explode.
Seeing her prickly demeanor, Jiang Yan silently edged away a bit, wanting to laugh but holding it in. “No one said I was staring at you.”
“Old Yu.” Lin Tiao turned her head away, fixing her gaze on the phoenix tree beside the teaching building.
“Then you believe whatever Old Yu says? What if he said I kissed you—would you believe that?”
“???” Lin Tiao nearly choked on her own breath, looking at him in disbelief. “You pervert! Full of trash thoughts!”
“I was just giving you an example.” Jiang Yan stifled his laughter, poking her shoulder lightly with two fingers. “Calm down; we’re in class.”
Lin Tiao wanted to calm down, but before she could manage for even three minutes, misfortune struck. Today was just perfect for the Director of Instruction, Li Kun, to be on duty, and he was currently inspecting each classroom. By the time he reached the entrance of Class 18, their eyes met.
The atmosphere was incredibly awkward.
“What’s going on with you two? Why are you not in the classroom during class time but standing in the hallway? Can’t you hear the lesson?”
“Are you playing on your phones or sleeping?”
“Now, you two better confess honestly to me, and I won’t punish you.”
Lin Tiao fought the urge to roll her eyes, mentally cursing, “You’re the only one talking; what can we say?”
Since they were already in trouble, Lin Tiao decided to go all out and loudly declared, “My deskmate was playing on his phone in class; I was sleeping, and Teacher Yu caught us and sent us out.”
Jiang Yan: “……”
What a fierce one.
Everyone in the classroom who had been eavesdropping: “……”
Li Kun was startled by Lin Tiao's sudden raised voice, but he had to maintain control of the situation. “Alright, you two come to my office after class.”
After speaking, he knocked on the classroom door and looked at Yu Bingshan, who was standing at the podium, sighing deeply. “Old Yu…”
He didn’t say much more and left, not forgetting to close the classroom door behind him, worried that the two “mouse droppings” at the door would spoil the “good soup” inside the classroom.
Lin Tiao: “……”
Jiang Yan: “……”
---
“…”
After the math class ended, Old Yu took the two “mouse droppings” to the Director of Instruction’s office.
There, they bowed their heads and admitted their mistakes, and after each of them wrote a 3,000-word reflection, Li Kun finally relented and allowed them to return to the classroom.
By the time they got back, the second period had already started for ten minutes, and the two of them silently endured the rest of the class.
As soon as the bell rang, unable to contain himself, Hu Hanghang immediately approached, “Sister, if we had known you earlier, we wouldn’t have recognized Jiang Yan as our boss.”
“To be honest, you’re way cooler than Jiang Yan.”
“You’re my goddess, I’m serious. You really are my goddess.”
Lin Tiao turned to look at him, puffing her cheeks, “Do you know why you’ll only live to sixty?”
Hu Hanghang was completely out of it. “What the hell, how do you know I can only live to sixty? A fortune teller told me when I was a kid that I would face a life-and-death trial at sixty.”
“Sister, I realize you’re really something.”
“Where did you learn that? You can’t be from the same place as that fortune teller I know, right?”
“…”
Lin Tiao felt both amused and irritated. Before she could say anything, Jiang Yan turned around and covered Hu Hanghang’s chattering mouth with a hand, exuding an air of authority. “Can you please shut up?”
Hu Hanghang gave him an “okay” hand gesture, quietly silencing himself.
Just then, the bell for the third period rang, and a few people returned to their seats.
Lin Tiao and Jiang Yan resumed their silent mode.
This period was physics class.
The physics teacher was the oldest in the entire physics department, and when he lectured, he could rival Old Yu. At this moment, he was discussing an important knowledge point. “This area here is very important. You must pay attention to this small detail. Remember it for when you encounter it in the future…”
Lin Tiao felt a headache coming on; physics had never been her strong suit, and this teacher's style wasn’t particularly engaging.
She felt doomed.
She probably wouldn’t do well under this teacher.
Jiang Yan kept a watchful eye on his deskmate. Noticing her poking at the draft paper with her pen, looking impatient, he considered passing her a note but ultimately gave up. He feared she might take the pen and stab him with it, thinking he was her draft paper.
For the first time, he felt a slight sense of danger regarding his personal safety.
---
The two of them got through the afternoon classes without interfering with each other.
In the evening, there was a self-study session. Usually, after school, Lin Tiao would go out with Jiang Yan and a few others to grab a bite to eat.
But today was different.
Everyone knew that the two of them had had a falling out.
To be precise, Lin Tiao was upset with Jiang Yan, while Jiang Yan seemed unaware of how serious the issue was.
After school had already been out for five or six minutes, Jiang Yan finished a game and casually stuffed his phone into his pocket. As he stood up, Lin Tiao also got up.
Jiang Yan paused and naturally asked, “What are we having for dinner?”
Lin Tiao was still fuming and, feeling unwell, replied quietly, “I’m not eating.”
“Are you really not eating?”
“Yeah, I’m not eating.” Lin Tiao looked up at him and said.
Jiang Yan stared at her for a few seconds, as if trying to confirm something. After more than ten seconds, he nodded and walked out beside her. “Hu Hanghang is leaving.”
“Let’s go.”
The group left the classroom.
After a while, Tao Jia, who had left the classroom earlier to buy something, returned and saw Lin Tiao sitting alone. She raised her eyebrows and walked over, sitting down in the empty seat in front of her.
“Lin Tiao, why didn’t you go eat?”
Lin Tiao looked up at her. “I’m not that hungry, so I didn’t go.”
“Oh, I bought some snacks. Let me give you some.” Tao Jia was quick, and before Lin Tiao could refuse, she had already placed several items on her desk, also putting a few bags on Jiang Yan’s desk.
They were all snacks that girls loved: potato chips, preserved plums, jellies, and dried mango.
Lin Tiao frowned and pulled out the bag of dried mango that was on Jiang Yan’s desk. Tao Jia watched her actions in surprise. “You like dried mango? I have more at home.”
Lin Tiao nodded but then shook her head, naturally explaining, “No, Jiang Yan is allergic to mango. If he sees this, he’ll go crazy.”
“Oh… I see.” Tao Jia nodded as if realizing something.
---
He held his school uniform in one hand and the milk tea he bought for Lin Tiao in the other as he returned to his seat.
Earlier, while eating outside, Song Yuan analyzed that the reason Lin Tiao didn’t come out for lunch was likely that she was angry with him.
After all, a young girl had been sleeping soundly and suddenly had to suffer because of him, standing in the corridor for a whole period.
Who wouldn’t be mad in that situation? Everyone would be angry.
A man should be flexible.
He could be.
At this moment, Lin Tiao had just remembered her 3,000-word reflection. She reached into her bag to pull out a new notebook, preparing to write a lengthy argument, but then suddenly realized that her arm was still in a cast.
What was she even writing?
With a frustrated toss, she flung the pen away and banged her head on the desk with a “thud.”
The sound wasn’t too loud or too soft—just enough for Jiang Yan to hear, and he noticed that his deskmate was currently in a tough spot.
After careful consideration, Jiang Yan poked her shoulder with his pen. “Lin Tiao.”
Lin Tiao didn’t respond, turning her face away from him. Although she didn’t say anything, her entire demeanor radiated impatience.
To be honest, Jiang Yan didn’t really know why she was so angry, but there were countless reasons for a girl to be upset, and he didn’t want to waste time on that.
He just needed to admit his mistake.
“I was wrong in this situation.” The light above them fell down, casting a glow on his shoulder and accentuating his good shoulder line.
Jiang Yan looked at her.
His eyes were a rare shade, resembling phoenix eyes, slightly elongated with a broader curve at the outer corners that turned up a bit. His irises were a pale amber color.
Lin Tiao was lost in thought when she heard him say, “But you really shouldn’t sleep during class.”
“…”
This isn’t over between us.