In early autumn, the weather in Xicheng was changeable. Just a few days ago, it was sunny and hot, and walking outside felt like being melted by the sun. By Friday, the rain poured down like it had been saving up for a long time, drenching everything.
The rain was heavy and urgent, accompanied by fierce winds. The lush trees by the roadside swayed in the gusts, and passing cars splashed countless droplets.
When Lin Tiao got up in the morning and saw the torrential rain outside her window, she sighed, regretting that their afternoon PE class would likely be canceled.
After the class restructuring in the second year, she and Meng Xin could only rely on their weekly one PE class to maintain their friendship, except for the weekends.
“Tiao Tiao, are you up?” came her mother Fang Yisong’s voice from outside the door.
Fang Yisong had arrived home in the early hours after last night’s flight. Lin Tiao had just fallen asleep and vaguely heard some sounds. In her sleepy haze, she heard the door open and tentatively called out, “Mom?”
Fang Yisong stood at the door without entering, gently saying, “It’s me. I just wanted to see if you were awake. There’s nothing else; you can go back to sleep.”
Lin Tiao murmured in response. After hearing the door close, she pulled the blanket over her head and fell back asleep.
She slept until dawn.
When she heard the knocking, she answered, “I’m up; I’ll be out soon.”
“Okay.”
By the time Lin Tiao got ready and came out, she found that her mother had already prepared breakfast and was sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
She walked over and sat down, saying, “Good morning, Mom.”
Fang Yisong folded the newspaper and set it aside, her well-maintained face showing a hint of fatigue. “Good morning.”
Lin Tiao served herself a bowl of rice porridge, took a few bites, and then asked, “Where’s Dad? He didn’t come back with you?”
“Hmm, he’s still busy with some matters at the company.” Fang Yisong picked up her coffee cup. “Hurry up and eat breakfast. After you finish, I’ll take you to school. With this heavy rain outside, I don’t feel comfortable letting you take the bus alone.”
With such a valid reason, Lin Tiao couldn’t refuse. She quickly finished her porridge and ate two buns before putting down her chopsticks.
When they left the house, the rain had not let up at all. Lin Tiao followed Fang Yisong to the basement garage.
Perhaps due to the heavy rain, there were hardly any cars on the road to school. Lin Tiao sat in the car, watching the dark sky outside, her thoughts drifting far away.
More than half an hour later, Fang Yisong’s car stopped at the school gate, which was bustling with students and umbrellas during the morning rush.
Fang Yisong asked her to wait until there were fewer people before getting out, and Lin Tiao didn’t refuse. She leaned back in her seat, feeling relaxed.
After a while, she suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, Mom.”
Fang Yisong had just finished reading a work email and looked over. “What’s up?”
“Can I get my arm cast off this week?” Lin Tiao recalled what Old Yu had said a few days ago. “I have an exam at the end of the month.”
“Let’s do it tomorrow.” Fang Yisong glanced at her phone where her assistant had just sent the work schedule. “Tomorrow at three in the afternoon, I’ll have Xiaosong come pick you up and take you to the hospital for a check-up.”
Xiaosong was Fang Yisong’s assistant and life secretary, someone Lin Tiao had met before and thought was a really cool sister.
“And about your forehead.” Fang Yisong said, reaching out to touch the injury on Lin Tiao’s forehead, which had been changed from gauze to a band-aid. “Let’s have that checked out too.”
Lin Tiao thought for a moment but didn’t refuse. “Okay.”
She looked outside and noticed that the crowd had thinned out significantly. Taking out her umbrella from her bag, she said, “I’ll head in now.”
“Alright, what time will you finish? I’ll have the driver come pick you up.”
“It’s fine; I’ll go back myself.” Lin Tiao replied, opening the car door and holding up her umbrella as she walked in front of the car.
Fang Yisong watched her through the half-open window.
As Lin Tiao walked halfway, she paused, turned around, and suddenly asked, “Mom, do you have something on your mind?”
Fang Yisong didn’t expect her to be so perceptive. She was momentarily stunned before smiling and saying, “No, Mom is just a bit tired these days. Hurry and go in; it’s getting late.”
Seeing that her mother’s expression didn’t change, Lin Tiao nodded. “Got it. Be safe on the road.”
“Mm.”
Not long after Lin Tiao arrived in the classroom, the class bell rang.
Of course, that wasn’t the main point; the main point was that her usual classmate who was always late arrived earlier than her today.
Lin Tiao put her umbrella away and sat down. Jiang Yan looked up at her. “Why are you so late today?”
Lin Tiao set her backpack down and looked at him seriously. “You, a person who is always late, how dare you question a good student who is never late?”
“Good student?” Jiang Yan smirked. “I’ve never seen a good student who goes to an internet café all night.”
Lin Tiao had other things on her mind, so she didn’t feel like arguing back. She lowered her head and fiddled with her phone.
The sudden silence from the girl surprised Jiang Yan. He stared at her for a moment before speaking up, “Not happy?”
Lin Tiao’s eyes were downcast, and she didn’t lift her head. “No.”
She truly wasn’t unhappy; she was just preoccupied with thoughts about Fang Yisong, feeling a bit confused.
Lin Tiao wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that Fang Yisong’s mood seemed low after returning from this business trip.
Although she appeared well-groomed, like a flawless workplace elite, Lin Tiao could clearly sense that her actual state was not great.
But adults don’t share their issues with children. She just didn’t understand the reason, feeling somewhat blocked in her heart.
She didn’t want to talk, and Jiang Yan didn’t ask any further, knowing that no girl was without her little secrets.
If she didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t pry; he would just be a qualified and obedient desk mate.
However, Jiang Yan hadn’t expected Lin Tiao’s low mood to come and go so quickly. He hadn’t even figured out how to cheer her up yet.
After one early reading session, she had already cheered herself up and was happily chatting with him about the gossip she had come across yesterday.
“Isn’t there some talent show going on recently? There’s a guy named Li Ding Ding who’s been exposed as coming from a family of wealth for generations. I heard their family’s toilets are made of diamond.” Lin Tiao said, a bit perplexed. “Don’t you think having diamond toilets is a bit excessive?”
Although Jiang Yan wasn’t particularly interested in knowing whether that person was called Ding Ding Li or Li Ding Ding, nor did he want to know how many generations of wealth they had, or whether their toilet was studded with diamonds, he couldn’t help but look at Lin Tiao. He noticed that the gloomy aura surrounding her had completely dissipated.
He raised an eyebrow and continued along with her conversation, “There should be some, right? Why don’t you give it a try?”
Lin Tiao gasped and seriously considered this decision for a moment. After a while, she regretfully said, “That might be a bit difficult. First of all, I don’t have that much money, and if I did something like that, my mom would probably kick me out of the house.”
Jiang Yan stared at her for a while, realizing she had genuinely thought it through before answering, and suddenly he lowered his head and laughed.
His little deskmate wasn’t just silly; she was seriously silly.
Lin Tiao didn’t understand why he suddenly laughed, “What are you laughing at?”
“Laughing at how silly you are,” Jiang Yan said softly, looking at her.
In the afternoon, the weather, which had been windy and rainy, suddenly cleared up. Lin Tiao thought there might be hope for physical education class, but as soon as the third period ended, it started to drizzle again.
Naturally, physical education was canceled.
However, since it was the last period on a Friday, there were no teachers in the class. Zhou Li couldn’t manage three classes on his own, so he simply gave up.
Jiang Yan received a call from Guan Zhe and walked out directly, while Lin Tiao and Hu Hanghang were busy playing a game together.
“Honor of Kings” was not a one-person battle.
Hu Hanghang entered the game first, glanced at his friend list, and noticed Lin Tiao had already reached the Starry Sky rank. He exclaimed in surprise, “I didn’t expect it, Tiao Mei, you’re actually a pro!”
“Oh no, I’m terrible. That was Meng Xin playing for me,” Lin Tiao admitted.
Her gaming skills were limited; she had been stuck in Diamond for a while and had let Meng Xin take over her account. Meng Xin quickly boosted her up to the King rank, but after a few games, Lin Tiao fell back down again.
“It’s fine. Since that’s the case, you can play support,” Hu Hanghang, a damage dealer enthusiast, said, “Just support me.”
“Okay.”
Joining them in the game was Tao Jia, who was also a Starry Sky rank player, having reached it through her own skill, with no hints of inflated stats.
Lin Tiao sighed with envy.
A game quickly started.
Tao Jia seemingly casually brought up something, “Do you guys have free time this Saturday? Let’s go out and eat; I’ll treat you all.”
Lin Tiao suddenly remembered that Tao Jia had mentioned treating them to a meal when she first transferred, but since everyone was busy with school starting, it had been postponed.
Hu Hanghang was furiously clicking his skills, “We’re free on Saturday; we’re free every day.” After securing a kill, he added, “Mainly it depends on Yan; he might not be available on the weekend.”
“Oh, I see,” Tao Jia’s tone had a hint of disappointment.
Lin Tiao glanced at her but didn’t say anything.
After a while, one game ended.
Hu Hanghang relished the sweetness of victory and quickly started another game, where Tao Jia took the support role this round.
Lin Tiao paused for a moment and chose the mid-lane position.
Hu Hanghang looked a bit worried, “Tiao Mei, are you sure you can handle it?”
“I’m super strong in mid-lane,” she said coolly.
“…”
The game began, and Lin Tiao controlled her hero out of the base, facing an opponent who had a lot of mobility.
However, she wasn’t intimidated at all.
As a result, she almost gave up first blood.
“…”
Lin Tiao decided to retreat, returning to the base to restore health before going back to the lane. She avoided direct confrontation with the opposing mid-laner, occasionally checking the vision of the blue buff, signaling the bottom lane from time to time, and sometimes following the jungler to gank top lane.
In any case, she avoided direct conflict with the enemy mid-laner.
The pace in a Starry Sky match was fast. Lin Tiao roamed the map, accumulating 5 assists and 2 kills, quickly developing her character.
After purchasing her first item, she pondered what to buy next.
Looking at the enemy lineup, she decided to buy a Blood Book first to enhance her hero's sustainability.
As she opened the equipment page and was about to make a purchase, suddenly an arm reached over her head, brushing against her ear and bringing a cool breeze.
“Buy a Nightmare first,” Jiang Yan's deep voice whispered beside her ear.
Lin Tiao was startled, turning her head to find Jiang Yan had returned without her noticing. He sat at the desk, leaning slightly towards her right side.
She hadn’t even realized how close they were, tilting her head up to look at him, “You can play this?”
Jiang Yan looked down, seeing his reflection in her dark eyes, smiled slightly, and said in a low voice, “I can generally play.”
“Your level is on par with Lousy Kings.”
"...."
She knew.
She just knew.
How could this person possibly let go of an opportunity to show off?
Lin Tiao suppressed the urge to smash her phone into his face, withdrew her gaze, and focused on her phone, casually pre-ordering a Nightmare while closing the equipment page.
Jiang Yan remained in his previous position, smiling as he watched her play, fully committed despite her injury.
Tao Jia, sitting across from them, also lowered her head, her expression neutral.
The game continued.
Xu Yichuan suddenly remembered something, “Oh right, bro, Tao Jia said she’s treating us to dinner this Saturday. Are you going?”
Jiang Yan’s gaze stayed on Lin Tiao’s phone screen. A cool breeze blew in from the window, and his chin accidentally brushed against her hair.
He tilted his head slightly but didn’t divert his gaze, his voice casual, “Have you really fallen so low that you need a girl to treat you to dinner now?”
Xu Yichuan was momentarily at a loss for words. Thinking it over, it did seem a bit undignified for a girl to treat a group of guys to dinner.
“Alright then, let’s just consider it a day out on Saturday, and I’ll treat.”
Tao Jia immediately voiced her objection, “There’s nothing wrong with it. You guys saved me; if it weren’t for you, my parents would want to treat you to dinner.”
“Don’t. I’ve been raised to be terrified of dining with elders.” Xu Yichuan looked at Tao Jia, “I’m not referring to your parents, okay?”
Tao Jia smiled, waved it off, and then looked at Jiang Yan, “Anyway, this meal definitely has to be treated, so it depends on whether you’re free tomorrow.”
“Alright, I got it,” Jiang Yan said after a moment of silence.
“?”
Lin Tiao was a bit puzzled. What exactly did this person understand?
Not just her, but everyone was confused about what Jiang Yan knew.
Tao Jia was equally baffled but didn’t want to pry too much. She just nodded, “Okay, I’ll tell you the details tomorrow morning.”
“Mm.” Jiang Yan didn’t say anything else; he suddenly leaned over and grabbed Lin Tiao’s phone, speaking casually, “You take a break; I’ll help you play.”
“Why? I don’t want that! I want to play myself! Are you looking down on me?” Lin Tiao felt insulted.
What was wrong with being a King? Did that mean they could look down on her just because she was Starry Sky?
Jiang Yan swallowed, directly pressing the button to turn off her phone. His voice was somewhat stern, “Are you planning to fail your exams by the end of the month?”
“...” Lin Tiao didn’t understand where his anger came from and couldn’t help but shrink her neck. “Fine, if you want to play, then go ahead. I’ll just see what your ‘general’ skill level in Honor of Kings is like.”
Jiang Yan “...”
Hu Hanghang and the others were already used to this kind of scene; without lifting their heads, they continued to play with the fastest hands and highest skill levels, pushing straight to the enemy's high ground even without their mid-laner.
Then, with one push, they destroyed the enemy's crystal.
Hu Hanghang shouted, throwing his phone onto the table, and sighed in relief, “Alright, no need to keep playing; we’ve won.”
Lin Tiao didn’t dare to snatch her phone back from Jiang Yan. Instead, she raised an eyebrow, quite surprised, “Have I really sunk so low in this game that I have this little presence?”
Xu Yichuan smiled to comfort her, “Not at all! At least you’re helping the enemy level up.”
“...”
Great, that was it—cut off all ties.
Jiang Yan returned, and Hu Hanghang and the others didn’t dare to ask Lin Tiao to play anymore. The five-person team quickly disbanded.
Lin Tiao turned around, and Jiang Yan walked past her, returning to his seat.
“Hey,” a few minutes later, Lin Tiao tugged at Jiang Yan’s sleeve, “You still haven’t returned my phone.”
Jiang Yan glanced at her, his brow slightly furrowed in disbelief, “Can’t you tell?”
“I can tell,” Lin Tiao replied.
“...”
“I can tell you have ulterior motives for my phone.”
“...”
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