At Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, the director of discipline for the senior year specially reminded all the third-year students that this Thursday there would be the citywide first mock exam. The exam room arrangements and procedures would all follow the standards of the college entrance examination, telling everyone to take it seriously and prepare well.

Back in the classroom, the first period was Chinese. As usual, the Chinese teacher let everyone study on their own.

Xiang Di chose to do a mock paper. Before putting pen to paper, she told herself that this time she must do it seriously from start to finish and not think about other things.

There was a reason she reminded herself like this, because before, every time during class or exams, once a certain knowledge point appeared that could be associated with a certain person, that certain person would suddenly pop up in her heart.

Even though she had already warned herself in advance this time, it was still useless. Liking Bai Jiangxin had already become a part of her life that had seeped into her bones.

【The polyphonic character pì (辟), when read as pì in the fourth tone, as in kāi tiān pì dì (to create the world); when read as bì in the second tone, as in fù bì (restoration of a deposed ruler)… Right, speaking of which, the bǎi (柏) in his name is also polyphonic. But such a simple polyphonic character probably won’t be tested on the college entrance exam. What a pity. If there were a multiple-choice question, I would definitely get it right…】

It was like this. Even when eating and sleeping—while eating, she would suddenly think, what does Bai Jiangxin like to eat? Before sleeping, she would also think, I wonder if he has gone to sleep by now.

【At the head of the Xunyang River, at night I see off a guest; maple leaves and reed flowers rustle with autumn’s bleakness.… So coincidental, this line has the character 江 (Jiāng) from his name in it…】

But this kind of association didn’t last long. Xiang Di knocked on her own head.

【No, why am I thinking about him again? Xiang Di, I order you not to think about him right now.】

【You must forget about what happened yesterday. There are only two months left until the college entrance exam, and the mock exam is the day after tomorrow! There’s no time for you to be indulging in romance here. From now on, if you think about Bai Jiangxin even once, you’ll order one less dish at lunch.】

In order to shift her attention, she even went so far as to threaten herself with lunch.

Throughout the rest of the morning, Bai Jiangxin indeed never heard a single inner thought about himself from Xiang Di again.

When the dismissal bell for lunch rang, the hungry Xiang Di thought, great, I can still order two dishes at noon today.

After she left, Bai Jiangxin, on one hand, felt helpless that he was actually not even as important as a lunch, and on the other hand, felt relieved that at least she knew to eat properly. No matter what, health comes first.

Her avoidance—he was the one who caused all of it.

It was he who had unilaterally crossed the boundary of their interactions, putting her into an awkward situation. She avoided him; he had nothing to say about that.

But her evasive attitude still genuinely made him feel a little chilled.

He couldn’t help but blame her somewhat.

What exactly did she want from him?

She clearly thought about wanting to be with him all the time, even dreamed about dating him. Yet when he truly started to take her to heart and give her a response, she instead began to retreat.

Even if yesterday he had been rash and failed to restrain himself, between the two of them, the one who liked first was her. The one who first had the thought of kissing was also her. It was she who secretly stood in front of him, thinking he hadn’t noticed, staring at his lips, even imagining what it would feel like to French-kiss him, which made it impossible for him not to follow along and think about it too.

What she thinks about him in her heart, and how her body reacts to him, are always two extremes.

This was only brushing the corner of her mouth, and she was already hiding like this. If in the future things really developed to a level deeper than kissing, wouldn’t she be scared to death on the spot?

What he had thought before really wasn’t wrong.

Some girls talk big every day, their dirty talk louder than anyone else’s, tiger-and-wolf words spilling out as soon as they open their mouths, making it seem like they’re some experienced veteran who’s played around a lot. But once you actually get real with her, she runs faster than anyone.

Heh.

Bai Jiangxin had finally seen with his own eyes what it meant to be a giant in language and a dwarf in action.

With the way she is, she even dares to fantasize about doing that kind of thing with him. How exactly does she dare to think it?

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

The bell had rung for a long time, and most people in the classroom had already left. Ye Minjia waited for ages and still didn’t see Bai Jiangxin move from his seat, so he could only go over and ask in person.

“Are you eating or not?”

Bai Jiangxin came back to his senses and looked at Ye Minjia calmly. “Let me ask you something.”

“Talk after we eat. I’m starving right now, my brain can’t turn.” Ye Minjia looked impatient. “I’ve been waiting for you forever. If we don’t go now, the cafeteria food is going to get wiped out by those starving ghosts from first and second year.”

Bai Jiangxin: “I’ll treat you to a restaurant.”

Ye Minjia’s eyes lit up immediately. As the saying goes, take someone’s hand and your mouth goes soft. His attitude instantly became respectful.

“Thank you, Boss Bai, for the meal. Boss, please ask. I will tell you everything I know, and hold nothing back.”

Bai Jiangxin had never liked using excuses like “I have a friend.” He directly said:

“Someone likes me. Before, when I ignored her, she liked me like crazy. Now I’m paying attention to her, and she’s avoiding me instead.”

After a pause, Bai Jiangxin stated his simple and rough demand with absolute calm:

“How should you deal with this kind of person?”

Ye Minjia: “……”

Bai Jiangxin: “Speak.”

Ye Minjia made a “stop” gesture at him, his tone complicated. “Wait a second. That’s too much information. Let me digest it first.”

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

Although she only ordered two dishes at noon today, one meat and one vegetable, Xiang Di still ate very happily.

This trick was very effective, so Xiang Di applied the same method, continuing to use how many dishes she could order for dinner as a warning to herself, and smoothly made it through the entire afternoon.

In the evening, after eating her fill at the cafeteria and coming back, Xiang Di played on her phone for a while as a reward to herself.

Today her own performance was really good. In total she had thought about Bai Jiangxin fewer than four times, and she had also held back today—she hadn’t fantasized about him at all, being a pure and innocent good kid for an entire day.

Not bad, not bad. If this keeps up, by the time the college entrance exam arrives, she’ll be desensitized to Bai Jiangxin. In the future she won’t need to use him as her motivation for studying anymore.

Because she had accidentally liked a few of Xiang Sheng’s videos before, the algorithm had recently been pushing all kinds of handsome-guy videos to her. Xiang Di had just finished watching a cute-pet video, swiped with her finger, and immediately got pushed a handsome guy.

And it was a borderline video. The BGM was especially flirtatious and ambiguous. Luckily, Xiang Di was wearing earphones. She quickly lifted her head and glanced to both sides—no one was paying attention to her.

So she quietly placed her phone under the desk and, mustering her courage, started appreciating this borderline video.

Ambiguous BGM, dim lighting. The handsome guy had his legs spread and was kneeling in front of a mirror, his upper body wearing nothing. If one had to say he was wearing something, then it was a set of binding ropes—nothing that should be covered was covered, the ropes following the lines of his chest muscles and abs, fashioning an “emperor’s top” for him.

【…My god, this is way too hot. Dead Bro compared to this guy is basically elementary-school-level borderline content. This dude definitely secretly slipped money to the reviewers, right? How is this allowed to be posted without getting taken down?】

Xiang Di buried her head into the desk, unable to stop herself from covering her mouth, eyes glued to the screen.

【Oh my god his chest is really so full and big, totally daddy-level. His nipples are so perky and pink too, they look so suckable. Damn it, his pants are really tight—this hot guy definitely did it on purpose, right? You can even see the shape and the position. Hmm, so he likes to put it on the left side—】

Just as she was watching with gusto, a sudden knock on the desk interrupted her drooling.

All these years of schooling weren’t for nothing. Xiang Di reacted quickly, violently stuffing her phone between her thighs, clamping her legs shut, pretending nothing had happened, and lifting her head.

Not the teacher, not the discipline monitor.

It was Bai Jiangxin?

Looking at Bai Jiangxin’s handsome, indifferent face, and because she had just been stunned by the borderline handsome guy, with that guy’s body still lingering vividly in her mind, Xiang Di couldn’t help but compare the two.

【In terms of looks, Bai Jiangxin is indeed still better. But physique… hmm, after tasting big fish and big meat, why does Bai Jiangxin suddenly feel kind of bland?】

Bai Jiangxin’s face darkened.

Very good. Today not only had the number of times she thought about him plummeted, she hadn’t even fantasized about him the whole day. One second ago she was saying she wanted to become desensitized to him, and the next second she was openly sneaking a look at other men’s borderline videos in the classroom. Looking at chests was one thing—she even managed to judge which side another man keeps that thing on.

Most unforgivable of all, she actually said he was bland.

She hasn’t even seen it. On what basis is he bland.

On what basis does she stir his heart into a mess and then say he’s bland.

Though in her heart she said he was bland, Xiang Di didn’t show anything on her face, and politely asked him, “Do you need something?”

Bai Jiangxin: “Come out and talk.”

Xiang Di pressed her legs together. Her phone was still hidden there. If she stood up, wouldn’t she be exposed?

“…It’s not very convenient for me to go out right now.”

Bai Jiangxin said lightly, “Take your phone out and it’ll be convenient.”

Xiang Di’s expression turned shocked.

How did he know she had hidden her phone there?!

He—he—he didn’t see what she was watching just now, did he?

She immediately played dumb: “What are you talking about? There’s no phone.”

Bai Jiangxin’s gaze swept lightly between her legs.

He vaguely recalled that Xiang Di seemed to have a mole on her left thigh. He hadn’t seen it in reality, only in the scenes of her fantasies. He had even kissed it there. Her thigh was very fair, and although the mole was small, it was conspicuous.

It wasn’t summer yet, so she was still wearing long pants. Thus, Bai Jiangxin couldn’t verify whether she actually had that mole on her thigh.

Unclear whether he wanted to verify it or not, Bai Jiangxin restrainedly shifted his gaze away, looking back at her face instead.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he asked in a low voice, “Do you want me to help you take it out?”

Xiang Di let out an “ah,” and like the proverbial ostrich hiding its head in the sand, she squeezed her legs a little tighter.

Wait, did he already know she had hidden the phone between her thighs?

And he still offered to help her take it out? What did that mean?

…Did he intend to reach his hand between her thighs?

The moment she imagined Bai Jiangxin’s slender, fair hand with its distinct knuckles and faintly raised veins reaching in there, Xiang Di’s face instantly flushed red, and a strange sensation arose between her legs.

Bai Jiangxin let out a soft, derisive snort.

…You little pervert. Let’s see how you desensitize yourself now.