The classroom of Class 3 erupted into an uproar, with an occasional “Fuck!” or “Damn!” mixed in. Someone even blurted out a line in their local dialect in their excitement.
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
Xiao Yan: “……”
“What’s going on?” Luo Zhiyu was good at reading people’s expressions and immediately noticed that something was off amid the chaotic atmosphere of the class. “Are they this excited just because the school heartthrob showed up?”
Luo Zhiyu thought about it seriously. “I don’t look that much worse than you, do I?”
By the time Xiao Yan left the classroom of Class 3, Grade 10, Luo Zhiyu noticed that his classmates’ gazes had shifted from admiration to sympathy.
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
On the City No. 1 High School campus forum, students secretly playing on their phones during evening self-study had built two entire discussion threads. The protagonists of both threads were Luo Zhiyu and Xiao Yan.
One thread firmly believed that Luo Zhiyu and Xiao Yan had a completely innocent relationship. With a 0% pheromone compatibility rate, the only thing people needed to worry about was whether the two of them would start fighting.
The other thread firmly believed that there was definitely something going on between Xiao Yan and Luo Zhiyu, and that Xiao Yan might very well be a scumbag.
111L (Not Zhile): ? He’s not a scumbag.
112L: Now that’s more like it.
113L (Not Zhile): ? What’s wrong with you?
114L (Gunpowder and Smoke): Forget it, forget it. Wipes sweat.jpg
115L (Gunpowder and Smoke): .
The bell signaling the end of evening self-study rang. The students who had packed their schoolbags long ago rushed toward the stairwell one after another.
“Come on, Brother Yan, you’re really giving up on clearing your name just like that?” Tang Yuan felt that their dormitory’s reputation could still be saved.
As an onlooker who had watched everything from the first day of school until now, Fan Yue felt that he had a very clear understanding of the situation. He sighed regretfully.
“Look at him now. If he bullies Luo Zhiyu, he’s a scumbag in the eyes of our class. If he treats Luo Zhiyu well, he’s a scumbag alpha who has turned over a new leaf in the eyes of Class 3 downstairs. He can’t win either way.”
“That’s pretty miserable.” Zhang Shu agreed.
Xiao Yan himself didn’t seem to care much. He followed the crowd downstairs step by step. From a distance, he spotted someone in the crowd and pulled a stack of sticky notes and a pen from the side pocket of his schoolbag.
“I told you not to provoke him in the first place.” Fan Yue could no longer suppress the schadenfreude bubbling inside him. “Getting your own back now, huh?”
Fan Yue didn’t get to see his roommate regret his actions. Instead, he watched his roommate draw a pig’s face with slanted, mischievous eyes on a sticky note, walk a few steps forward, and slap it onto Luo Zhiyu’s back.
Fan Yue: “……”
“What are you doing?!” Luo Zhiyu was limping downstairs with Jing Ximing supporting him, completely unaware of the sticker on his back. “When did the two of us get this familiar?”
“Can you manage?” Xiao Yan looked extremely kind.
“It doesn’t hurt as much as when I first fell. I’m fine.” Xiao Yan’s sudden change in attitude was too drastic for Luo Zhiyu to get used to. “Stop bothering me. Just don’t forget about this weekend.”
The outdoor temperature wasn’t high. A group of students who had left the teaching building shivered as they headed toward the dormitory area. For some reason, Luo Zhiyu kept feeling that every student passing around him was looking at him. Some people even laughed without bothering to hide it.
“What are you laughing at?” Luo Zhiyu found it inexplicable. “Never seen someone fall before?”
The students split into three groups at the edge of the field, each heading toward their respective dormitories. Luo Zhiyu stopped and saw Xiao Yan and his three roommates walking directly toward the other end of the field.
“What are you looking at?” Jing Ximing asked when he saw him stop. “That’s the direction of the alpha dormitory area. Didn’t you get punished by being made to stand over there last time?”
“Can you get to their dormitory area by going through the field?” Luo Zhiyu remembered that last night, he and Xiao Yan had crossed the field together. There had even been people playing soccer nearby.
“You can, but that’s taking the long way around, isn’t it? You’d have to circle around the omega dormitory area. Normally no one would walk that way.” Jing Ximing asked strangely, “Zhiyu, you’re still as bad at finding your way around as ever.”
Luo Zhiyu had taken a fall, so his hand wasn’t working very well. Jing Ximing opened the dormitory door for him, while Luo Zhiyu took responsibility for going inside and turning on the lights.
“Wait.” Jing Ximing tugged at Luo Zhiyu. “What’s that thing on your back?”
Jing Ximing plucked a sticky note off Luo Zhiyu’s back.
Luo Zhiyu: “……”
That bastard Xiao Yan.
[Not Zhile]: [Picture] Come out and confess your crimes.
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: He says he’s not here.
[Not Zhile]: ??? Get lost.
[Not Zhile]: You drew it that ugly and still had the nerve to stick it on me.
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: Of course it’s not as good as yours.
As he said this, the person even changed his profile picture. It was the very orange Luo Zhiyu had thrown at him that evening, complete with the meme of Luo Zhiyu’s expression that he had drawn on it.
[Not Zhile]: You already ate the orange, and now you’re using its portrait as your profile picture?
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: ……
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: Fairy frowning.jpg
Luo Zhiyu’s phone rang, interrupting his chat with Xiao Yan.
“Hello? Mom?”
“How are you feeling about school?” Her voice came from the other end of the phone. The signal wasn’t very good, making her voice sound slightly distorted. “Are you studying properly?”
“Yes.” Luo Zhiyu, who hadn’t done any homework all evening because of his injured hand, casually spun a lie. “My grades are getting better and better. The teachers praise me every time they see me. I’ve never caused them any trouble, and I’ve made lots of friends.”
“That’s good. Are you getting used to living at school?”
“I see you brought your art supplies to school again?”
“Huh? Hello?” Luo Zhiyu pretended not to hear her and moved the phone a little farther away. “Mom, your signal isn’t very good.”
“You’re already in high school. Focus on your studies. Don’t think about those things anymore, okay?”
“Okay.” Luo Zhiyu agreed readily. “We’re high school students now, so we have to race against time to finish our homework. If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up first.”
“You’re pretty good at dealing with your mom. Everything you said was the exact opposite of the truth…” Jing Ximing sat at his own desk and listened to Luo Zhiyu finish spinning his entire web of nonsense. “With your grades, your mom shouldn’t have much to worry about, right?”
“It’s precisely because of my grades that she’s afraid I’ll take the art-school entrance exam.” Luo Zhiyu marked an answer on his English paper. “I’ll just take things one step at a time. What’s the point of thinking so much?”
During the first two days after school started, time always seemed to drag. Once they adapted to the rhythm and became familiar with the routine, time seemed to speed up again. Every day felt like searching for something different within the same repetitive rhythm.
The weekend was the opening examination for the second- and third-year students. The students who had prepared for an entire week walked into the examination rooms with dark circles under their eyes, while the residential areas, field, and other places seemed to have been taken over by the red-uniformed first-year students.
Young people weren’t afraid of the future or tomorrow. Somehow, a group of first-year students tasted a hint of triumph in the leisure of the weekend. Quite a few wandered around outside the examination area in the teaching building, watching the second- and third-year students take their opening exams.
“Enjoy it while you can,” a third-year student who had handed in his paper early said. “One day it’ll be your turn. No one gets to escape the opening exam.”
Luo Zhiyu had just joined the student council and had gotten himself a job as an assistant invigilator. He carried a chair into the first examination room for the second-year students and sat there. One day he did homework, the next day he drew. The invigilating teacher saw how happily busy he was and didn’t disturb him.
Sunday afternoon was the final subject of the second-year opening examinations: English.
The invigilating teacher sat nearby grading papers from the previous exams. After Luo Zhiyu tilted his head and listened to the entire listening section, he began sketching on the paper out of boredom.
Xiao Yan was sitting diagonally in front of him, working on the questions.
One glance was enough for Luo Zhiyu to tell that this guy relied on his sense of language rather than grammar when doing English questions. He didn’t diagram the sentence structures. He merely glanced at each question and immediately selected an answer. He was extremely fast.
Before long, he had flipped to the back of the test paper.
The student sitting behind Xiao Yan became somewhat anxious at the sound of the pages turning, his face turning red as he randomly filled in several answers, trying to catch up with Xiao Yan’s pace.
Luo Zhiyu found it amusing. Gradually, the outline of Xiao Yan began to take shape in his sketchbook.
A test paper was gently handed in front of him.
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
“There are almost an hour left until the end of the exam.” The invigilating teacher reminded him quietly.
“Count it as me handing it in early.” Xiao Yan helped Luo Zhiyu gather his scattered sketchbook and pens. He lowered his voice and said, “Teacher, can I borrow your invigilator’s assistant? I need to take him to the hospital.”
“Why hand it in early?” Luo Zhiyu hugged his backpack and followed him out of the classroom. “The examination isn’t urgent. They already gave us a reservation.”
“I’m finished, so I’ll hand it in.” Xiao Yan walked with him toward the school gate. As a second-year student, he took the opportunity to give Luo Zhiyu some exam advice.
“Don’t you think that after you’ve finished, if you’re uncertain about something and change your answer, the answer you changed it to is always wrong in the end?”
Hesitation leads to defeat.
“I’ve noticed that.” Luo Zhiyu nodded. “That’s why I usually don’t check my answers. I just sit there and flip through the test paper dozens of times, so everyone around me can experience the passage of time.”
Xiao Yan: “……”
What a jerk.
There were many people at the city-center hospital on the weekend. Since they had made an appointment in advance, Luo Zhiyu and Xiao Yan didn’t need to register and went directly to the testing room to queue.
“We didn’t draw blood last time.” Luo Zhiyu repeatedly examined the test form. “Why do I need to draw blood this time? I get a little dizzy when I see blood. It might also be needles.”
When he was little, there had been one time when a doctor inserted the needle in the wrong place while drawing his blood. Ever since then, Luo Zhiyu had felt rather uncomfortable about having blood drawn.
Looking at the three words Blood Collection, Luo Zhiyu’s expression became even worse.
“Don’t be scared. It’ll be quick. The hospital said blood testing is more accurate. Normally, you don’t need to draw blood to test pheromone compatibility.” Xiao Yan was playing a game with Fan Yue and the others, about to push their opponent’s crystal. He didn’t even raise his head. “Only premarital examinations require blood tests, because the pheromone compatibility rate is written on the marriage certificate.”
“Fuck? Premarital examination?” Luo Zhiyu only caught those words, and his voice suddenly became several times louder.
Only then did he notice that the people in the waiting area seemed to all be in pairs.
Only the two of them were wearing school uniforms. One was buried in a game, while the other was engaged in an internal struggle over whether to have his blood drawn, with a chair between them.
The people waiting in line for their premarital examinations were attracted by his shout. When they saw the school uniforms on the two of them, they began whispering among themselves.
A chill ran down Xiao Yan’s back.
His hands trembled, and he swung his character’s blade straight into his teammate.