Reluctant Shares and Awkward Glances

After enduring a full class of relentless harassment, the bell finally rang for break.

Hearing that ring—which sounded sweeter than ever—Ye Hao whipped around to glare at Li Mengying.

“I swear, you’re just here to mess with my head, aren’t you!”

F*ck, if his seat weren’t so awkward—hidden from the rest of the class—he’d have lost it by now.

Where was this?

The classroom.

A sacred space.

And here she was, not paying attention in class, dragging him into her little games.

Why not copy the others and actually learn!?

Watching Ye Hao fume, Li Mengying propped her chin and thought for a moment before smiling.

“Yeah, that’s exactly why I’m here—to mess with you~”

Holy sh*t, she admitted it outright!

Have some shame—you’re a girl!

Girls can’t just say stuff like that without a shred of decency!

“I think I need to go to the homeroom teacher and switch seats…”

He couldn’t beat her, but he could run, right?

“Sit down. No running.”

Seeing Ye Hao ready to bolt, Li Mengying grabbed the hem of his shirt.

Ye Hao froze.

You’re a girl!

Where does a girl get that kind of strength!?

You some kinda muscle-bound dude!?

“What do you want? Spell it out. I’m not doing anything against the rules. And back off a bit—you’re too close…”

Disgust.

Hearing the disgust dripping from Ye Hao’s words, Li Mengying reached out and pinched his waist hard.

“Hiss~”

“Go on. Keep talking. One more word, one more twist—I’ll snap your waist!”

This…

This was unbeatable.

This girl was bad news for sure.

Out to disrupt his class, his studies.

Drag him into the slacker abyss so she could lord over him.

Terrifying.

This woman was pure darkness.

No way—he needed a plan…

“Move.”

“What for?”

Seeing Ye Hao stand, Li Mengying pouted slightly.

“Gonna hit the boys’ room? If it’s bad, I can come with~”

“I… just go…”

How could he say that to a girl!?

Or…

Was Ye Hao teasing her on purpose!?

But even teasing wouldn’t go that far—together!?

Annoying.

Watching Li Mengying start acting weird, Ye Hao slipped away while he could.

“No way. Today, I, Ye Hao, have to put some distance between me and that nutcase.”

Plan, plan.

Worst case, pair Li Mengying and Liu Qianxia together.

Both girls—no awkwardness there.

And from that morning scene, they seemed to get along fine.

“You there? Great merciful heavenly official?”

“Come in.”

Truth be told, Jiang Yue couldn’t stand the sight of Ye Hao today.

He waltzed in and spent the whole class messing around with the new girl.

A little discretion would’ve been fine.

But the entire period—up to who-knows-what.

Tch!

“Got something? If not, scram quick.”

Irritated.

For some reason, a fire burned in her chest.

Pure annoyance.

“I was wondering if I could get away from that new girl. She’s a total pest in class—like she’s never seen a guy before. Messes with my studying.”

Jiang Yue: ???

Wait, she’d clearly seen Ye Hao goofing off with that Li Mengying for over a class.

And now, right after the bell—???

Love ’em and leave ’em?

“So, what’re you thinking? Let’s hear it.”

“Put Li Mengying and Liu Qianxia together as desk mates. I’ll take that empty single seat in the back—no one’s sat there forever.”

Looking at Jiang Yue, Ye Hao felt baffled.

He was this miserable, and she seemed… happy!?

What the hell!?

What kind of teacher was she!?

Was she screwing with him!?

“Fine. That’s it. I approve.”

Ye Hao: …

“Anything else? No? Then get out.”

“I’m out.”

Jiang Yue: …

Was she overthinking!?

With Ye Hao’s personality, pulling stunts in class seemed unlikely.

Had she misread!?

Plus, that Li Mengying was from money—wouldn’t look twice at a guy like Ye Hao.

Yeah, she’d overthought it.

Wait!

Why did she even care about Ye Hao!?

Why meddle!?

Why feel glad!?

Mission accomplished, Ye Hao dragged his weary body back to the classroom.

He plopped down in the seat at the very back.

Seeing him, Li Mengying’s little head filled with giant question marks.

What the…?

Before she could even ask why he was there, homeroom teacher Jiang Yue strode in.

“Quiet. Seat changes. Liu Qianxia and new student Li Mengying—together. Ye Hao to the back. Switch now.”

Liu Qianxia: “Why!”

Li Mengying: “Why!”

Seeing their over-the-top reactions, Jiang Yue shrugged.

“Any complaints? Boys and girls as desk mates is iffy anyway. Plus, new student’s a girl—so this feels normal.”

“Yes, yes! Teacher Jiang’s wise!”

No need to guess who said that—Ye Hao for sure.

The other classmates agreed but kept quiet.

Only this fool blurted it out.

“See? Ye Hao agrees too. Settled.”

Ye Hao!?

Both girls’ gazes snapped to him in unison.

Ye Hao: …

Me… what did I do…

Why stare at me, Ye Hao…?

He hadn’t messed up!

You two got along fine, right!?

Putting you together—should be great!?

Under all those eyes, Ye Hao went to his old seat.

Packed his stuff.

Then happily shuffled to his new spot.

In Li Mengying and Liu Qianxia’s eyes, though Ye Hao had dipped…

His desk and chair hadn’t moved.

So…

With the distance edge, Li Mengying zipped to Ye Hao’s seat first.

Shoved her old one—Liu Qianxia’s—back to her.

Meeting Li Mengying’s gaze, Liu Qianxia clenched her teeth in secret.

Settling into his new seat, Ye Hao was over the moon.

The whole back row—his alone.

Like stepping into a new world.

That carefree, detached peace.

Nice~

Gazing at the gorgeous test paper in his hands, Ye Hao felt like he was in a peach blossom grove.

Look at this pristine white page.

This elegant, seductive black ink.

This tempting core of knowledge.

He couldn’t hold it in—Ye Hao’s excitement was overflowing!

But one flaw: why did this paper smell like Teacher Jiang’s perfume!?

And so damn strong…

Major flaw.

Total letdown.

Though… every day’s papers smelled like that, huh.

Ye Hao didn’t know.

Didn’t dare ask.

Feared a whack over the head.

Grind the papers.

Grind ’em.

If grinding games was one of life’s joys, for Ye Hao, grinding tests was his greatest pleasure.

Now, Li Mengying and Liu Qianxia were in total awkward hell.

Li Mengying looked down on Liu Qianxia.

Liu Qianxia hated Li Mengying’s guts.

But their one synced move: stealing glances at Ye Hao every few seconds.

How could Ye Hao, lost in the sea of knowledge, notice two girls eyeing him!?

Were there not enough papers!?

Or knowledge points not tempting enough!?

Yup, that line held true.

Ye Hao: I love studying!

After a morning of dull, draining classes, Ye Hao—ready to dig into Yao Sis’s loving bento—suddenly felt a primal force surging inside.

To grind those papers, he’d… held it all morning!?

One more minute, and boom—explosion!

Pee escape!

Bladder burst jutsu after holding all morning!

Refreshed, Ye Hao wandered out of the bathroom in a daze.

And spotted Li Mengying sulking all alone.

What was this chick doing!?

Big midday, skipping lunch to chow down on wind!?

“Hey, what’re you up to here? If you wanna jump, I ain’t helping.”

“Mind your business, tch!”

Ye Hao: …

Just being nosy, huh!?

Unreasonable.

Bail, bail.

No clue what Yao Sis packed, but probably meatballs.

Though he didn’t wanna deal…

Who made Ye Hao such a softie!?

“It’s noon. Back to class for lunch.”

“Afternoon’s got free activity—don’t whine later if you starve.”

Weird, right!?

Gaokao looming, no review, but free time!?

Go figure.

Maybe studying on the field had more vibe.

“Mm…”

“Grrrr~~~”

Dead air.

Knee-jerk obvious: the chick was starving!

But why starve and skip food!? Just munch wind here!?

Truth was one: dieting!

Dieting—great.

But starving like this!? Bad for the body.

Girls loving beauty—he got that. Looked like no lunch for the diet.

Really…

“Come with me.”

“Wh-what?”

Clutching her belly, Li Mengying’s little face flushed as she stared at Ye Hao.

“Come on. My bento’s oversized today—sharing’s no biggie.”

“Huh?”

Li Mengying blinked, all dopey and stunned at Ye Hao.

This gentle guy—the same Ye Hao she knew!?

Fake, right!?

Or happiness hitting too hard…

“Let’s go. Shy my a*s.”

Seeing her blush, Ye Hao just grabbed her wrist.

“I can walk myself—why pull me…”

“Oh, then lemme go.”

“No! Like this…”

Watching Li Mengying contradict herself, Ye Hao was lost.

“What?”

“Nothing, just… I’m hungry, okay! I’m starving!”

Ye Hao: …