“Pretty, right? Luo Heng and I bought it on Xianyu. It’s a Java sparrow.” Si Tian winked proudly at Jin Zhao.

“It is pretty, but is it okay to bring it to school?” Jin Zhao also really liked soft, fluffy little birds. She couldn’t help but reach her hand into the backpack and, through the gap in the cage, touch its soft feathers.

Si Tian said, “It’s fine. Its call is very quiet.”

Luo Heng, a big boy, chimed in from the side, “Yeah, that little sound won’t be noticed.”

“Just because its call is quiet doesn’t mean it won’t call,” Jin Zhao laughed. “If it chirps during class, you’ll be discovered immediately.”

“It’s fine,” Si Tian said magnanimously. “Luo Heng and I have already discussed it—if it makes a sound, we’ll take turns sneezing to cover it up.”

Jin Zhao: “……” Truly astonishing.

“What are you doing?”

Meng Yanxi and Lu Jingyue got out of the car, and from afar noticed the three people tightly gathered together at the school gate.

Hearing the sound, Si Tian looked up and called out in delight, “Meng Yanxi, Lu Jingyue! Come over quickly, I’ve got something good to show you!”

Meng Yanxi looked at Jin Zhao. She was also looking at him, her eyes bright, an unconscious happiness shimmering at their depths.

He strode over to her with long legs and glanced at the birdcage in Si Tian’s backpack.

He had no interest in small animals—neither liked nor disliked them—and turned his head to ask Jin Zhao, “Did you go catching birds over the holiday?”

Before Jin Zhao could reply, Si Tian spat out a “Peh” and said, “What do you mean catching! I bought it! I spent twenty yuan on it!”

Jin Zhao was just about to say it was a Java sparrow when she lifted her head and suddenly noticed that behind Meng Yanxi, Lu Jingyue—who had originally been about to step forward—had suddenly gone pale and taken a step back.

Once they reached the classroom, Si Tian took out the tiny birdcage. While the teacher still hadn’t arrived, she placed the Java sparrow in her palm. The little bird, round and plump, stood in the girl’s soft hand, chirping jiu jiu jiu jiu in a thin, gentle voice, immediately drawing classmates over to watch.

Si Tian turned around and extended her palm in front of Jin Zhao, sharing happily. “Zhao Zhao, look how cute it is! Ahhh, I can’t take it!”

Jin Zhao smiled, but didn’t show the same fondness she had outside the school.

She noticed that her deskmate was a bit off.

In her impression, Lu Jingyue had always been calm and unflustered. Though he wasn’t particularly fond of smiling, when he did smile there was a sense of being pretentious and profound—and indeed impressive. He had never shown such a loss of composure: his face was pale, his breathing rapid, veins standing out on his forehead… especially when Si Tian turned around holding the Java sparrow, his body would instinctively shrink back. It was a signal of rejection and fear coming from the body itself.

Jin Zhao looked thoughtfully at the Java sparrow in Si Tian’s palm.

“The teacher’s coming, put it away quickly,” Jin Zhao urged.

Si Tian let out an “Ah,” hurriedly put the Java sparrow back into the cage, and stuffed it into her backpack.

The entire morning, Lu Jingyue was off.

His face was pale, his breathing deep and hurried, his body constantly taut, as if guarding against something. Later on, he grew even worse, trembling all over.

During the long break, Meng Yanxi called him from behind several times and he didn’t hear. Even Jin Zhao heard it and turned to remind him. Lu Jingyue suddenly stood up and threw out a line: “I’m going to buy a bottle of water.”

Whether it was because he stood up too quickly or felt dizzy, his legs went soft and he suddenly collapsed.

Jin Zhao was startled. Luckily she was close to him and had been paying attention the whole time; out of reflex she lunged forward to support him. Only then did Lu Jingyue avoid crashing into the edge of the desk, falling onto her instead.

After May Day, the temperature had once climbed to thirty degrees. Both of them were wearing short sleeves; with their skin pressed together, Jin Zhao felt that the boy’s body was frighteningly cold, icy and lightly trembling. Her heart jolted, and she called out anxiously, “Lu Jingyue?”

Meng Yanxi was the first to rush over and help lift Lu Jingyue off her.

“I’m fine.” Lu Jingyue’s Adam’s apple rolled. He pushed Meng Yanxi away and quickly left the classroom.

“What’s wrong with him?” Meng Yanxi looked at Jin Zhao.

Jin Zhao gently shook her head, then turned to look at Si Tian, who had also turned back in confusion, the Java sparrow still cradled in her palm.

She thought she might have guessed the reason.

Lu Jingyue was probably afraid of birds.

But he had actually endured it without saying a word. Fear that triggers physical stress responses is very dangerous—he had been so frightened that he fainted, yet still forced himself to stay silent. Clearly, he didn’t want others to know his weakness.

Soon more classmates gathered around to play with Si Tian’s bird. Jin Zhao didn’t join them; she quietly opened all the windows.

During the process of being passed around by the classmates, the Java sparrow indeed flew out through the window.

This kind of bird didn’t fly very high and could only make it out the window. Unfortunately, just after it flew out, it was seen by Chen Shu, who happened to be passing by in the corridor. Chen Shu confiscated Si Tian’s Java sparrow and kept it in the office, telling her to come retrieve it after evening self-study, and promising that she was absolutely not allowed to bring it to school again in the future.

Si Tian and Luo Heng clutched their heads and wailed.

When Lu Jingyue came back, the classroom no longer had the bird that frightened him. He lowered his voice and said to Jin Zhao, “Thank you.”

Jin Zhao lowered her head to look at her test paper and said softly, “I won’t tell anyone.”

In the back row, Meng Yanxi leaned against the chair back, glanced at Lu Jingyue, then thoughtfully looked at the wide-open windows.

The matter of the Java sparrow quickly passed. No one at the affiliated high school knew that Lu Jingyue was afraid of birds—except Jin Zhao and Meng Yanxi.

In mid-May, Meng Yanxi, for the first time ever, signed up to participate in the campus arts festival and needed to coordinate with the school’s arts department. The head of the arts department was a girl in the same grade who liked Meng Yanxi. She had even given him a letter before, but never received a response. Taking the opportunity, she asked him for his WeChat.

Meng Yanxi went to find Lu Jingyue. “Help me add a WeChat.”

“Why don’t you add it yourself?” Lu Jingyue understood immediately. “A girl?”

Meng Yanxi didn’t respond.

Lu Jingyue said, politely yet impolitely, “Sorry, I can’t help you. I only add women who are my direct blood relatives, collateral relatives within three generations, and my future wife.”

“Your future wife?” Meng Yanxi frowned slightly. “What nonsense is that?”

Lu Jingyue said, “Mm. A master calculated it—my future wife’s name has fire and wood, wood and fire in perfect clarity.”

Meng Yanxi’s brow twitched.

On Saturday during the long break, there was no broadcast calisthenics. Lu Jingyue went downstairs to buy water, while Jin Zhao stayed at her seat working on problems.

Someone suddenly sat down beside her. At the same time, the scent of cold mountain pine and mist rushed into her nose, and Jin Zhao’s writing hand paused.

Meng Yanxi had sat down in Lu Jingyue’s seat.

Jin Zhao was still mentally preparing herself on whether to turn her head when Meng Yanxi’s straightforward voice came over. “You haven’t been going to dance lately?”

Jin Zhao put down her pen and gave a light “Mm.”

Meng Yanxi said, “As expected.”

Jin Zhao turned her head in a daze and looked at him. “What?”

Meng Yanxi glanced sideways. “You wouldn’t know if you didn’t go. Jinghong Dance has been running a lottery promotion lately. I just drew thirty free private lessons for my sister—Teacher Yuyu’s.”

“Teacher Yuyu’s thirty private lessons? For free?” Jin Zhao was shocked. “Did the boss pick up money off the street?”

Meng Yanxi said, “No idea. They suddenly notified me to go. Said it was to maintain old clients.”

“Wow, your luck is really amazing!” Jin Zhao was sincerely convinced and couldn’t help saying, “I’m totally different. Things like this never come to me. I didn’t even hear there was a lottery, maybe I’m not in the free-client group.”

Meng Yanxi frowned.

Teacher Xiao Feng, this useless idiot—can’t even make money properly.

During the break, the classroom was full of people coming and going, the sounds of chasing, laughter, and noise filling the air. Meng Yanxi sat in Lu Jingyue’s seat and, for nearly a full minute, didn’t speak again. His quiet presence seemed to thin the air around Jin Zhao.

Jin Zhao lowered her head, uneasily wondering why he had suddenly come over to sit here, why he wasn’t saying anything now, and how long he planned to stay.

At this moment, Meng Yanxi suddenly asked, “Which Zhao is your Zhao?”

Jin Zhao: “?”

He still hadn’t remembered her name?

Though she felt a faint trace of disappointment, Jin Zhao still answered, “The zhao from sheng huo zhao zhao.”

Meng Yanxi said, “Sheng huo zhao zhao—that belongs to fire?”

Jin Zhao said, “Mm.”

Meng Yanxi said, “Then what about Jin?”

Jin Zhao said, “The jin from today.”

“No, what I mean is,” Meng Yanxi paused and said, “which of the Five Elements does it belong to?”

Jin Zhao: “?”

She felt that Meng Yanxi was a bit strange today—no, over the past half month, Meng Yanxi had been strange—but she couldn’t quite say what was strange.

She answered honestly, “Then I don’t know. You can check it on your phone.”

Meng Yanxi didn’t respond, nor did he take out his phone to check. After a few seconds, he said calmly, “I checked. It belongs to wood.”

Jin Zhao didn’t know how to respond. She said “Oh,” then added, “Then I guess it belongs to wood.”

Meng Yanxi said, “Mm. Wood and fire in perfect clarity.”

Jin Zhao: “?”

Since when did he start studying the Five Elements? Was it interest or was he preparing to angrily earn another five million?

At this moment, Lu Jingyue returned from buying water. Seeing Meng Yanxi occupying his seat, he raised his brows in confusion and looked at him.

Even when Lu Jingyue reached the desk, Meng Yanxi still didn’t stand up. Instead, he slowly leaned back against the chair, stretched out his long legs dominantly, and met his gaze with a flat, indifferent look.