[Wall-E]: Zhiyu, what kind of performance art are you two pulling? [Picture]
[Wall-E]: Half the teaching building is going crazy. Don’t tell me you two didn’t do it on purpose.
Not Zhile: It’s not my fault. Xiao Yan has no idea what he was thinking. Cover-face crying.jpg
Not Zhile: I was forced into it. I really tried my hardest to struggle. Cover-face crying.jpg
[Wall-E]: Fine. Looking at the picture, I thought you were enjoying yourself.
Not Zhile: He said he wanted to clear his name. How was I supposed to know he actually wanted to use me as a tool to clear his reputation? It’s all because my legs weren’t working properly today.
[Wall-E]: Everyone thought you two had merely been passing by the window of their classroom, until everyone’s photos came together on the forum.
[Wall-E]: Now whenever people mention Xiao Yan’s name, yours is bound to follow right after.
[Wall-E]: You two were apart for only a little while. How did you end up permanently linked?
Luo Zhiyu sat on the chair in the Student Affairs Office and狠狠ly glared at Xiao Yan beside him.
“Be a little friendlier,” Xiao Yan said. “I just worked my butt off carrying you over here. Is this how you treat a good classmate?”
Luo Zhiyu moved one seat to the left, putting an entire seat between himself and Xiao Yan.
It was close to eight in the evening. The students who had been approved for the first-year student council gradually gathered in the classroom. No one spoke. Everyone had brought their homework, burying their heads in their exercises while they waited. This made the two people sitting in the middle with absolutely nothing in their hands look rather conspicuous.
At a time like this, looking at his phone would be far too obvious. Luo Zhiyu told Jing Ximing, “We’ll talk when I get back,” then tucked his phone into his school-uniform pocket.
“Hey, you can go back now.” Luo Zhiyu nudged Xiao Yan’s calf with his uninjured foot. “The color of your school uniform is way too conspicuous in this classroom.”
“It won’t be conspicuous in a moment.” Xiao Yan stood up and walked out of the classroom. “See you later.”
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
At eight o’clock, the second- and third-year student council members arrived in the classroom, and all the students who had been doing their homework stopped writing.
“Director Xu, who’s in charge of student affairs, and Teacher Xu both have classes tonight and can’t make it,” the third-year president said. “We’ll take everyone through the interview process. Everyone’s busy with their studies, so we’ll only ask a few questions. At most five minutes per person, and it’ll be over very quickly. There’s no need to be nervous.”
Luo Zhiyu had submitted his application late, so his number was near the end. By the time he followed his number to the assigned room, the others had more or less already returned to the classroom.
Xiao Yan was sitting inside the room, wearing a pair of non-prescription glasses that he had somehow produced from nowhere. He looked at him through the lenses.
“You’re here. Sit down.”
“Why is it you again?” Luo Zhiyu felt that ever since the start of the semester, he had been seeing Xiao Yan even more often than his own classmates. For two people whose relationship was so terrible, this really shouldn’t have been happening.
“Because I’ve been losing evaluation points lately.” Xiao Yan flipped open an information form. “I had no choice but to stay on for another year and earn some more credits. Anyway, the president does all the work.”
There were only the two of them in the activity room. Luo Zhiyu moved a chair over and sat near the door, watching Xiao Yan from neither too close nor too far away.
“Forget the self-introduction.” Xiao Yan waved his hand. “I don’t need that from you.”
Luo Zhiyu thought the same.
“You applied for the Arts Department?” Xiao Yan checked Luo Zhiyu’s application information. “Are you sure you want the Arts Department?”
“Is there a problem with the Arts Department?” Luo Zhiyu asked.
“No problem.” Xiao Yan put a checkmark on the paper. “But you should know that First High School has a heavy academic workload. There aren’t many arts activities, and there aren’t many members, so the evaluation points probably won’t be ideal.”
“That’s fine.” Luo Zhiyu shook his head. “I only like this. Other than drawing, don’t call me for anything else.”
“I thought so.” Xiao Yan marked him as passed on the interview form, signed his own name in the remarks section, and briskly filled in the interview information. “No need to ask about your personality. Short-tempered and stubborn. No need to ask about your hobbies and talents. You like drawing. You’re not an only child. I’ll fill in your family structure for you. That’s all. Nothing else.”
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
Was this an interview?
“That’s it?” Luo Zhiyu questioned him. “Just this?”
He had worked so hard to hop all the way up to the third floor, then worked equally hard to have Xiao Yan carry him back down from the third floor. Was all of that just for this completely pointless formality?
“That’s all.” Xiao Yan was gathering the scattered documents on the desk. When he looked up and saw Luo Zhiyu’s slightly stunned expression, he lifted his chin toward him. “Didn’t get enough answers?”
“Then let me ask you something else.” Xiao Yan put the glasses away and slipped them into his pocket before walking toward Luo Zhiyu. “Student Luo Zhiyu, is there anything you particularly like to eat?”
“Trying to sneak in your own agenda?” Luo Zhiyu rolled his eyes at Xiao Yan again and moved the chair back to its original position.
Xiao Yan arranged the desk in front of him neatly. As he moved the desk, the scar on his wrist once again appeared and disappeared before Luo Zhiyu’s eyes. To the person responsible for it, it looked very much like a peach blossom.
“There’s nothing I particularly like to eat.” Luo Zhiyu swallowed. “When I bit your paw back then, though, it tasted pretty good.”
Xiao Yan’s hand trembled, and the desk crashed to the floor with a bang.
“Are you finished?” Teacher Xu, who had just finished his class, encountered the two students in the hallway. “Is anyone still in the activity area?”
“No one.” Xiao Yan handed over the documents and pointed at Luo Zhiyu beside him. “He’s the last person I interviewed. We’re finished.”
Teacher Xu naturally knew the two of them. Seeing that Teacher Xu’s gaze remained fixed on Luo Zhiyu, Xiao Yan and Luo Zhiyu hurriedly spoke at the same time—
Xiao Yan: “He fell by himself.”
Luo Zhiyu: “I fell by myself.”
Teacher Xu: “……”
“Got it, got it.” Teacher Xu had already witnessed the two of them going at each other during dorm inspections. “Get along well. The student council is one big family.”
It was raining outside. As soon as the door of the Student Affairs Office opened, a slightly cool, damp air swept in.
“I’ll take you back.” Xiao Yan closed the door behind him.
“I don’t want you to carry me.” Luo Zhiyu thought of the forced “parade” he’d endured on the way here, and his feelings became complicated. “Your snake-like route is way too ridiculous.”
“Then do you want me to carry you in my arms?” Xiao Yan countered.
“No need. I’ll hop back myself.” As he spoke, Luo Zhiyu grabbed the stair railing with one hand. “All roads lead to heaven. Let’s go our separate ways.”
The door behind them opened. Teacher Xu came out holding an umbrella, preparing to leave work, and saw the two students who had not left yet.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, nothing.” The two immediately made peace, forced to put on an act under Teacher Xu’s piercing gaze.
In the classroom of Class 3, Grade 10, evening self-study had just ended. The students stopped writing one after another, giving their eyes and brains a chance to rest.
“Is the school heartthrob’s relationship with Luo Zhiyu really that bad?” Someone boredly poked Jing Ximing, who was dozing off. “Xiao Yan even came to our classroom and blocked him during evening self-study today.”
“Zero compatibility. Anyway, I’ve never experienced it.” An alpha student said, “From what I see, the omega students all seem pretty eager to get close to him.”
“Bah.” An omega student spoke up. “We don’t want to play with you.”
“Xiao Yan didn’t even manage to block Zhiyu just now.” Jing Ximing rubbed his eyes. “Their relationship has always been terrible, right? They’ve been picking on each other since they were little. Their families don’t get along either.”
Classmate 1: “But Xiao Yan was carrying Luo Zhiyu on his back just now. It looked like their relationship was pretty good. What happened? How did they suddenly make up?”
Classmate 2: “Yeah. They were still making a huge mess earlier. How did they suddenly end up walking together hand in hand?”
Classmate 1: “I’m confused. Does 0% actually have friendship or not?”
Jing Ximing knew about the whole reputation-clearing operation. He was just about to explain when the class started discussing another topic—
Classmate 4: “I think I heard someone from Class 3 say a few days ago that the school heartthrob was a scumbag?”
“Impossible! Don’t spread nonsense. My sister is in Class 3, Grade 11. Anyway, I just heard people from their class talking about it. Xiao Yan is definitely not a scumbag. Don’t listen to what certain people are saying. If he ever did anything, he’d definitely take responsibility.”
“Oh……”
The classroom door opened, and Xiao Yan supported Luo Zhiyu as they walked in.
“You go back and do your homework.” Xiao Yan gently patted Luo Zhiyu on the shoulder. “After the exam on Saturday afternoon, I’ll come to your dorm and take you to the hospital.”
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
The gossip-loving students of Class 3 all pricked up their ears.
To further cement his image as an honest person, a non-scumbag, and a good student, Xiao Yan stood at the door of Class 3 and repeated what he had said to Luo Zhiyu earlier—
“I’ve decided to completely change my ways and treat you better.”
“I won’t bully you anymore. From now on, I’ll only treat you well.”