When Lin Tiao left, Jiang Yan was still lying on the desk, catching up on sleep. Hu Hanghang and the other two weren’t in any rush, gathered around their phones, playing a game together.
Lying there with his face toward the wall, Jiang Yan vaguely heard the girl say to Xu Yichuan, “I’ll go ahead,” followed by the sound of a chair scraping across the floor.
When the classroom had mostly emptied, Jiang Yan finally woke up, splashed his face in the restroom, and came back. Then the group of them headed downstairs, planning to eat outside.
Class 14 and Class 18 were one floor apart.
One was on the third floor, the other on the fourth.
As they went downstairs, Jiang Yan still seemed half-asleep. Song Yuan had an arm around his shoulders, while Xu Yichuan was going on and on about his daily life sitting next to the class beauty.
Hu Hanghang sneered, “A flower stuck in cow dung.”
Jiang Yan chuckled at that.
Song Yuan glanced over at him, noticing his sleepy look, and asked, “Are you working the night shift again tonight?”
Jiang Yan rubbed his eyes, red at the corners, his voice still thick with sleep. “Not tonight. I’m off.”
Hearing this, Song Yuan sighed but said nothing more.
Just as the four of them reached the third-floor stairwell, they heard a female voice drift down the hallway, carried by the wind, “You think just because you have someone backing you now, that makes you so great?”
Then another voice replied, but it was too distant and quiet to catch clearly. Still, Jiang Yan felt a strange sense of familiarity.
He turned to look down the hallway, his steps slowing.
The other three followed his gaze, stopping to look back as well. Hu Hanghang reacted first, “Whoa, isn’t that Lin Tiao? Who’s the girl with her?”
Before anyone could answer, the first girl raised her voice again, “Do you really think Jiang Yan will always take your side?”
Hearing this, Jiang Yan squinted slightly. Seeing the sarcastic smile on Lin Tiao’s face, he stepped forward, answering the girl, “And why wouldn’t he?”
Within moments, Jiang Yan was standing beside Lin Tiao. His expression was cold as he looked at Tang Yushi and repeated, “Why wouldn’t he?”
His tone matched his expression—chilly and sharp.
When Tang Yushi saw him approach, she instantly faltered, her thin legs starting to tremble. Especially as he looked at her, expressionless, she couldn’t help but shrink back, her voice stammering, “How... how would I know?”
Jiang Yan gave a dismissive chuckle, his tone mocking and indifferent, “If you don’t know, then what are you running your mouth about?”
Tang Yushi was too scared to respond, her face shifting between red and white like a color palette, her eyes wide, looking as if she might cry at any moment.
Jiang Yan looked her up and down a few times, connecting pieces of memory. He turned to Lin Tiao and asked, “Is she the one who threw the ball at you on the basketball court last time?”
Lin Tiao reflexively let out an “ah” and nodded.
“Did she apologize?” he asked.
Lin Tiao answered truthfully, “She did.”
“Alright.” Jiang Yan rubbed his neck, his gaze falling on Tang Yushi’s face again as he said nonchalantly, “If she apologized, then it’s over.”
Tang Yushi’s breathing hitched, but then she heard him say, “I don’t hit girls. But if you cross my bottom line, being a girl won’t save you.”
“…”
Jiang Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly, his voice low and calm, “My desk mate is my bottom line.”
In the end, Lin Tiao and Meng Xin went with the four boys to eat.
Meng Xin had been called to the office for a lecture after getting caught sleeping in class, which delayed things a bit. And since none of them liked the cafeteria food, they decided to go to a restaurant off-campus.
The six of them dawdled their way to the school gate, only to find that what was usually an open entrance was now reduced to a narrow gap, just big enough for one person to squeeze through. There were only a few students lingering around.
“What’s going on?” Xu Yichuan was the first to run over to the security room. He’d skipped class often enough that he was on good terms with the guards.
The rest of the group stayed where they were, waiting for Xu Yichuan’s report.
In less than a minute, they saw Xu Yichuan being dragged out of the security room by his ear, courtesy of Director Li Kun. “What are you thinking, going out to eat lunch in the middle of the day? Is the school cafeteria not good enough for you?”
Xu Yichuan bent over, whining, “Ow, ow, ow, Director! Director!”
Li Kun didn’t let go. His eyes scanned the remaining five. “Alright, the rest of you, come here too.”
The five of them exchanged a silent look.
After a round of reprimands from Li Kun, lunchtime was nearly over, and he personally escorted all six of them to the school cafeteria.
“Get in line,” Li Kun commanded, giving Xu Yichuan, who was at the end of the line, a light kick. “Starting today, you’re not allowed to leave campus for lunch during break. If I catch you going out again at noon, you can skip lunch and write a self-reflection in the office.”
The group stared, speechless.
What a pain.
Lin Tiao stood near the front, grabbing an empty tray from a nearby stack, and shuffled forward in line. Jiang Yan followed behind her.
They were pretty late by then. Though the cafeteria food wasn’t exactly popular, most students still chose to eat there for convenience.
Lin Tiao took a glance around and picked out two ordinary dishes, though the potato stir-fry with green peppers looked like it was all peppers with barely any potato.
Behind her, Jiang Yan glanced at her tray but stayed silent. He rapped his knuckles on the glass food counter. “Auntie, I’ll have this, this, this, and… this.”
He ordered several dishes in a row.
Lin Tiao turned and gave him a look. “Didn’t you say you didn’t like cafeteria food?” The way he was ordering didn’t look like someone who hated it.
Jiang Yan looked at her, not responding. Then, he leaned over, took her tray, and handed it to the cafeteria lady. “Put them all here.”
As he leaned in, a faint minty scent drifted from him. When Lin Tiao looked up, she caught a glimpse of his sharp jawline passing in front of her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t help but think back to what he had said earlier to Tang Yushi. An unfamiliar feeling stirred in her chest.
Once all six of them had their food, Li Kun gave them another lecture before checking the time. Realizing it was indeed late, he concluded his speech. “Alright, eat up. I’ll be going to lunch with Teacher Yu and Teacher Yang.”
The five of them raised their heads, staring at him in shock.
Unbelievable.
Only Jiang Yan was focused on his food, occasionally glancing at his phone. After a while, he suddenly got up and headed to the cafeteria’s small convenience store.
“Bring me back a water, bro,” Hu Hanghang called out.
Jiang Yan didn’t respond or turn back. He walked into the store, and a few minutes later, Lin Tiao saw him come out carrying a bag.
The boy’s posture was straight, his features sharply defined with a cool expression, his skin paler than most, wearing a simple white T-shirt and black pants, exuding an effortlessly youthful vibe.
Jiang Yan walked back to his seat and sat down across from Lin Tiao. After taking two cans of cola from the bag, he handed the rest of the drinks to Hu Hanghang.
He placed one of the colas by Lin Tiao’s hand. His gaze fell on her cast, and just as he was about to pull his hand back, he reached out again.
With his palm resting on the edge of the can, he hooked his finger around the tab, and with a soft “pop,” he opened it.
His hands were attractive, the joints sharply defined as they flexed slightly. Lin Tiao could even make out faint veins along his fingers.
Every detail about this guy is just… perfect.
“Eat,” Jiang Yan said, pulling his hand back. He noticed Lin Tiao staring and quietly added, “Go on.”
“Oh,” Lin Tiao quickly looked down, covering her reaction by shoveling a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth.
After lunch, since they couldn’t go off-campus to kill time, they all just returned to the classroom to mess around on their phones.
Back in the classroom, it wasn’t quite nap time. Besides a few girls in the front row bent over their tests, most people were either chatting, gaming, or doing random things.
Lin Tiao, who hadn’t slept well the night before, was now full and starting to feel drowsy. She lay down on her desk and exchanged a few words with Jiang Yan before drifting off.
Jiang Yan said something, but when he didn’t get a response, he turned to look and saw the girl already fast asleep, breathing shallowly, her eyelashes fluttering as though she was unsettled.
He looked at her for a moment, then pulled his gaze away. Reaching into his desk, he took out his school jacket and draped it over her head, glancing back at Hu Hanghang and the others who were laughing loudly. “Hey, quiet down.”
Hu Hanghang was taken aback, but he went quiet.
In her sleep, Lin Tiao noticed the sudden silence around her. Breathing in the familiar scent, she nestled her head in and fell into a deeper sleep.
When the class bell rang, Lin Tiao jerked awake, the jacket slipping off her shoulders as she moved.
Startled by the bell, she rubbed her eyes and looked down to find the school jacket on her lap. She bent to pick it up, only to see Jiang Yan taking off his glasses beside her.
“Have a nightmare?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head, her gaze falling on the glasses in his hand. “Are you nearsighted?”
“Not really, just a little astigmatism.”
She nodded, handing him the jacket and then noticing the test paper spread on his desk. “What are you working on?”
“Just a test,” Jiang Yan paused, adding, “for the physics competition.”
Raising her brows, she looked at him, remembering his usual casual attitude. After thinking about it, she still found it hard to believe. Leaning over, she asked, “Jiang Yan, tell me the truth.”
As she spoke, she leaned in close, her breath brushing against his arm. He could feel the warmth of her presence.
Jiang Yan looked at her, shifting his arm away calmly. “What is it?”
“Last time, you showed me your competition score, right? You said you got first place.” She licked her lips, hesitantly asking, “Tell me honestly, did you have someone take the test for you?”
Jiang Yan looked at her, speechless.
I really have spoiled you.
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