Chen Jinghua and Ye Minjia both let out an “ah” at the same time.

Chen Jinghua directly denied it to the biology teacher. “Bai Jiangxin couldn’t possibly be dating.”

The biology teacher laughed. “Why not? Kids these days date very secretly. They’re afraid QQ and WeChat will be checked by their parents, so they chat every day in games. Some even use food delivery apps to chat. It’s just that you haven’t caught them.”

Chen Jinghua suddenly felt that he really was getting old. “They can even do that?”

The biology teacher gave a hum and gave an example. “That liberal arts class next door—didn’t they just catch a dating pair not long ago? Every day in that game they were topping up money to gift skins, calling each other husband and wife. The stuff they chatted about would make even adults blush. Their homeroom teacher, Teacher Liu, called both sets of parents to the school to talk and tried to persuade them to break up. They absolutely refused. Later the girl’s father said that if she didn’t break up, he’d cut off the father-daughter relationship. That was the only thing that made them separate.”

There was actually gossip like this? Sure enough, the juiciest gossip was always in the teachers’ office. Ye Minjia was immediately interested and asked, “Then what happened later, teacher?”

“Later that girl became sick of studying. She doesn’t want to attend classes anymore, and she doesn’t want to take the gaokao either. Her mother took her to see a psychologist. In this state, there’s an eighty percent chance she’ll have to repeat a year.”

At this point, the biology teacher sighed. “So I’m telling you students—don’t date when you’re so young. At such a young age, what do you even know about love? Break up once and you’re ready to live or die and don’t want to take the gaokao anymore. You don’t even know which is more important, dating or the gaokao. Her parents are frantic now, saying that if they’d known it would turn out like this, they might as well not have persuaded them to break up in the first place.”

Chen Jinghua twitched the corner of his mouth. Fortunately, his class didn’t have any such love-brained students for now; otherwise his head would hurt to death.

But he still didn’t believe that Bai Jiangxin would date.

The biology teacher continued to analyze. “You tell me, kids at this age—what kind of huge troubles could they possibly have that would make them not want to go to school? Either something happened at home, like parents divorcing or going bankrupt, or a close relative passing away; or they clashed with classmates, got into conflicts, suffered campus bullying; or they didn’t do well on an exam and felt like they couldn’t get into college and the sky was falling. In the end, isn’t it just heartbreak?”

Although Bai Jiangxin was from a single-parent family, his parents had divorced many years ago. In his first year of high school, his father had come to school for a parents’ meeting. Chen Jinghua had seen him—a handsome, steady middle-aged man. Just from the way his father dressed, you could tell that Bai Jiangxin’s family circumstances definitely weren’t bad.

And recently there hadn’t been any news of a close relative in Bai Jiangxin’s family passing away. Eliminating all those factors, there really was only heartbreak left as a reasonable explanation.

The more the biology teacher talked, the more it made sense, and Chen Jinghua also began to waver.

“Teacher Chen, in any case, you must pay more attention to Bai Jiangxin and guide him more. When educating him, you must pay attention to your methods.” the biology teacher reminded him. “There really isn’t much time left before the gaokao.”

“Okay, thank you, Teacher Shan.”

“That’s my duty. Then I’ll go grade papers.”

Once the biology teacher left, the teacher and student fell into silence again.

Chen Jinghua thought, if it really was as the biology teacher said, he definitely couldn’t imitate Teacher Liu from the class next door and directly notify the parents to come to school and beat apart the lovebirds. If he ended up beating away this cohort’s potential top gaokao scorer, wouldn’t the principal scold him to death?

He still had to manage it—but how to manage it, and what method to use, really required careful consideration.

In any case, he first had to find the chief culprit—the one who dated Bai Jiangxin and then made Bai Jiangxin heartbroken, thereby causing him to develop extreme aversion to studying.

After listening to the biology teacher’s analysis, Ye Minjia still didn’t quite believe that Bai Jiangxin would date.

Usually, aside from going to the bathroom, Bai Jiangxin was almost always with him. That person barely exchanged a few words with the girls in the class, who could he possibly be dating?

Ye Minjia was still there reasoning things out when he saw the homeroom teacher sizing him up with a strange look.

Ye Minjia was so frightened that he immediately raised three fingers and swore. “Teacher, I swear it’s not me. I have absolutely no improper thoughts about Bai Jiangxin.”

Having had his thoughts seen through, Chen Jinghua lightly coughed, withdrew his gaze, and muttered, “Then who could it be?”

Ye Minjia’s mood was complicated.

Unbelievable. No matter how much Bai Jiangxin kept his distance from girls, there was no need to suspect him, right?

If the homeroom teacher really misunderstood and called his parents, his dad and mom would probably kick him out of the house.

“Teacher, how about you leave this matter to me?” In order to clear himself of suspicion, Ye Minjia volunteered proactively. “After all, you can’t sit in the classroom and stare at Bai Jiangxin twenty-four hours a day, right?”

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

With a whole class of students to manage, Chen Jinghua naturally couldn’t keep an eye on Bai Jiangxin at all times, so Ye Minjia, the class monitor, became his best lookout.

Ye Minjia returned to the classroom, deep in thought.

All the way until evening self-study ended, classmates began packing up one after another, and Ye Minjia was also preparing to leave.

“…Class monitor.”

Absentmindedly, a soft voice pulled him back to his senses.

It was Xiang Di. How rare—normally they wouldn’t exchange a few words in an entire semester, yet today she had come to him twice.

Ye Minjia: “What is it?”

“…I just wanted to ask, um, Bai Jiangxin’s flu—has it still not gotten better?”

Xiang Di hesitated again and again, her hand hidden inside her school uniform sleeve clenched into a fist. This was the first time she had so openly asked someone about Bai Jiangxin’s situation. She was very afraid the class monitor would see that she had feelings for Bai Jiangxin.

But the worry she couldn’t suppress made it impossible for her not to ask. If she asked Qianqian for help, Qianqian would definitely first ask why she was suddenly concerned about Bai Jiangxin.

She could only steel herself and come ask on her own. At least the class monitor wasn’t familiar with her, so he probably wouldn’t be curious.

But contrary to her hopes, Ye Minjia didn’t answer her right away. Instead, he looked at her for quite a while before asking, “Why are you suddenly concerned about Bai Jiangxin? Usually it seems like you two don’t really have much interaction.”

It’s over. He’s going to notice.

A flash of panic quickly passed through Xiang Di’s eyes.

Telling herself to stay calm, she pretended to be composed and said, “Because, wasn’t it said that he caught the flu? If it’s that kind of viral flu, then I also have to be careful. Otherwise, if I get infected, it’ll delay my classes.”

Ye Minjia said, “It’s not that serious. It should just be a minor flu.”

Xiang Di asked softly again, “Then will he still come to class these next few days?”

Ye Minjia said uncertainly, “I guess he probably won’t come.”

Xiang Di lowered her head and softly said, “Oh.”

Bai Jiangxin had taken leave again—very likely it was still because of her that he caught the flu.

But she wasn’t a doctor and couldn’t treat illnesses, so she could only silently pray in her heart that he would hurry and get better. These few days, not seeing him at school, she wouldn’t be happy either; even her motivation to study had dropped a lot.

People say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but windows also depend on their size. Xiang Di’s eyes were round and pretty, her eyelashes like two black feathered curtains. When they drooped halfway, you could still see the light inside suddenly go out.

She was only focused on feeling down, and naturally didn’t notice that the look in Ye Minjia’s eyes as he watched her was becoming more and more suspicious.

Xiang Di left dejectedly, her petite figure lonely even from the back.

“Xiang Di, wait a moment.” Ye Minjia called out to her.

Before he could ask, Xiang Di suddenly let out an “ah,” as if she had remembered something. She turned around and said, “Class monitor, did you go buy the medicine I recommended to you? If you didn’t, I have that medicine at home. I can bring it tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Something had come up at noon, so he hadn’t been able to buy it. Ye Minjia nodded. “Alright, bring it tomorrow. I’ll pay you with the class funds.”

Xiang Di quickly waved her hands. “No, no, it’s not expensive. Um, that medicine actually works pretty well. If Bai Jiangxin still hasn’t gotten better… you can let him take some, so he won’t infect the other people in the class.”

She kept emphasizing that it was just incidental, that she wasn’t caring about anyone in particular—just that she was afraid of catching the flu.

Again and again, she used these seemingly casual words to cover up her heart.

Normally, hearing such things wouldn’t make anyone notice any flaws, but at this moment, to Ye Minjia, her words seemed very much like over-explaining.

But thinking about it carefully, Xiang Di and Bai Jiangxin—at least within his line of sight—really hadn’t had any interaction at all.

In fact, it was only a few days ago that Bai Jiangxin had even learned what Xiang Di’s name was.

Or was he actually acting?

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

Ye Minjia had originally thought that Bai Jiangxin definitely wouldn’t come to school the next day, but stepping in right as the morning self-study bell rang, the guy actually showed up.

Still the same icy demeanor as always—aloof gaze, no warmth. Everyone in the class was looking at him; he acted as if he didn’t see a thing, walked straight to his seat and sat down, his expression calm like a frozen sheet of ice.

No one dared to ask him why he’d been taking leave so often these past few days. Only Ye Minjia tugged at the corner of his mouth and asked, “Didn’t you say you were going to take a long leave?”

Bai Jiangxin frowned slightly. “How do you know I was going to take a long leave?”

Almost let it slip! Ye Minjia hurriedly patched it up. “The homeroom teacher told me.”

“Then didn’t he tell you that he didn’t agree?”

“You can’t really blame the homeroom teacher for not agreeing. You asked for such a long leave—anyone would be worried.” Ye Minjia probed. “So what’s actually wrong with you?”

Bai Jiangxin: “Nothing.”

Ye Minjia: “Nothing, yet you asked for such a long leave.”

“It’s all revision anyway. For me, it’s the same no matter where I am.”

“Then why can’t you stay at school?”

Bai Jiangxin suddenly stopped what he was doing, turned his head to look at him, and asked lightly, “Are you trying to get information out of me?”

“Why would I try to get information out of you? It’s not like we’re acting in Infernal Affairs.” Ye Minjia stiffly changed the subject. “Anyway, the weather’s been pretty weird lately. You can experience spring, summer, autumn, and winter all in one day. It’s especially easy to catch a cold.”

Bai Jiangxin lowered his head to read, responding perfunctorily with an “mm.”

Seeing that Bai Jiangxin was ignoring him, Ye Minjia looked toward another person’s seat.

Strange. The bell had already rung for several minutes. Xiang Di, who was never late, was actually late today.

Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives¹Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives: A Chinese idiom meaning that someone shows up immediately after being mentioned—similar to the English expressions “speak of the devil” or “talk of the devil.”—a figure came rushing breathlessly to the classroom doorway.

“Xiang Di, you’re late.”

Today’s duty student happened to be Liang Qianqian, who deliberately called out to the tardy Xiang Di.

It drew the attention of quite a few people in the class. Xiang Di’s face flushed. Her cheeks were already rosy from sprinting at full speed, and now they turned even redder.

Knowing that Liang Qianqian definitely wouldn’t record her name, Xiang Di shot her a reproachful glare and hurried into the classroom.

Then, caught completely off guard, she saw Bai Jiangxin. Her eyes instantly widened, and her little heart nearly stopped beating.

【Ah! Husband!】

Bai Jiangxin’s brow twitched. He pretended not to hear it.

Xiang Di also hurriedly withdrew her gaze. Her bold strides turned into an affectedly ladylike walk as she followed step by step to her seat.

【Why did husband come to school today?】

【If I’d known he was coming today, I would’ve put on that strawberry-flavored lip balm.】

Bai Jiangxin’s face was expressionless.

Even if she put on durian-flavored lip balm, it had nothing to do with him—he couldn’t smell it at all.

After the questions, Xiang Di suddenly realized something else.

【Ahhh I overslept today, my hair is as messy as a chicken nest!】

She hurriedly covered her frizzy bangs and began rummaging through her desk.

【Huh, where’s my comb? So annoying, I can never find it when I need it.】

【Forget it, I’ll just fix it with my hands. Mirror, mirror—where’s my little mirror? Ah, here it is.】

【Damn it, I didn’t wash my face properly today—there’s even eye gunk!】

【It’s over, my image is completely ruined. He’ll definitely think I’m a sloppy person.】

Bai Jiangxin frowned.

So noisy.

And if she hadn’t been muttering all this, he wouldn’t have noticed at all that her hair wasn’t combed properly today, or that her face wasn’t washed clean.

Bringing trouble upon herself.

But liking someone is just like this—caring especially about how you appear in that person’s eyes, afraid that even the slightest thing might make him feel repulsed.

Xiang Di collapsed face-down onto her desk. Just when Bai Jiangxin thought she had finally quieted down, she inexplicably started singing again.

【Little Sloppy, really very sloppy, the King of Sloppiness is her, no one likes her, hey.】

Then came another whimper, like a little animal that had been abandoned—pitiful, as if the sky were about to fall.

【I’m so careless, what do I do—now he’ll be even less likely to like me.】

“……”

Bai Jiangxin pressed his lips together, lowered his eyes, and silently added a sentence in his heart.

—If only, you’d be quiet.

Footnotes

• 1
  Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives: A Chinese idiom meaning that someone shows up immediately after being mentioned—similar to the English expressions “speak of the devil” or “talk of the devil.”