From the balconies of Building 1, the alpha boys who had watched the entire thing unfold all sucked in a breath.
A boy on the third floor commented, “During our alpha physiology class, the teacher said pheromones are really important. I didn’t believe him before, but I believe him now. At 0%, these two really can’t get along peacefully.”
Second floor: “The 0% I imagined: never see each other again and hate the sight of each other. The 0% in reality: jumping all over the place and causing chaos.”
Fifth floor: “Who was it a few days ago who said they wanted to pursue Luo Zhiyu? Luo Zhiyu is fucking awesome!”
East side of the fifth floor: “Nope, nope, not risking it. I’m afraid I’d get hit with a broom. I’ll just watch.”
West side of the second floor: “Not necessarily. Don’t give up yet. Maybe he only hits Xiao Yan with the broom.”
Fourth floor: “The campus heartthrob got owned hahaha. A once-in-a-lifetime sight.”
First floor: “Don’t laugh. Brother Yan is the face of our dorm.”
Under the wall outside the dormitory—
Xiao Yan: “……”
Director Wu: “……”
Director Wu had suffered his first Waterloo in his career of moral education.
The second-year boy in the blue-and-white school uniform had been sprayed right in the face with soda. Water dripped steadily from the ends of his hair, his uniform was soaked through, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of peaches.
The culprit blinked, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and wanted to laugh, but forcibly held it back. His eyes darted away before finally, somewhat awkwardly, raising a hand and plucking the little leaf from the top of Xiao Yan’s head.
Luo Zhiyu regretfully brought the can to his lips and licked up the last bit of peach soda clinging to the rim.
“Where did you buy this? It tastes pretty good.”
“Luo Zhiyu, are you still doing military training tomorrow?”
Xiao Yan wiped the corner of his lips with the back of his hand.
“I’ll buy you another one tomorrow.”
It was sweet without being cloying. The flavor really was pretty good.
Luo Zhiyu wasn’t stupid. He immediately understood what Xiao Yan meant.
His gaze passed over Xiao Yan and landed on the broom beside Director Wu.
He mentally calculated whether he could get in another couple of swings.
“All right, all right.”
Director Wu was having the time of his life trying to mediate their fight. He hurriedly hid the broom behind his back.
“No more fighting. It’s nothing serious. We’re not fighting anymore, okay?”
Fan Yue had just finished eating lunch in the cafeteria and was walking back when he witnessed the entire “Peach Soda Incident.”
“Hello, Director.”
Fan Yue greeted Director Wu before immediately turning to the two big shots.
“It’s almost one. You two should go back and eat.”
“Don’t worry, Director. They’re just playing around. It’s nothing serious.”
Fan Yue thought Director Wu was about to punish them, so he hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
“They’re actually…… pretty united and friendly.”
Even Fan Yue himself lacked confidence when saying that, so he added another reason.
“Xiao Yan measured Luo Zhiyu for his uniform yesterday and even gave him clothes. He also just lent Luo Zhiyu his meal card.”
“That’s good.”
Director Wu was deeply gratified.
Luo Zhiyu slung the broom over his shoulder, carried the lunch he had bought with Xiao Yan’s meal card, and left with Director Wu.
Inside the boys’ dormitory, Room 109 of Building 1, the sweet scent of peaches filled the air.
Xiao Yan had just finished showering. He sat at the desk, drying his hair with a towel, then hung his freshly washed school uniform out on the balcony.
Zhang Shu and Tang Yuan were using every spare second to study for the entrance exams. Fan Yue was organizing the Student Council’s freshman application forms.
With less than an hour before afternoon classes, Xiao Yan collapsed onto the desk, planning to close his eyes and rest for a while.
“Luo Zhi……le?”
Fan Yue frowned at one of the application forms.
“What’s his relationship with Luo Zhiyu?”
A hand reached out from beside Xiao Yan.
He took the application form.
The culprit who had sprayed Xiao Yan from head to toe with peach soda was smiling at him from the ID photo, while the answer boxes on the form were filled with Luo Zhiyu’s barely legible chicken-scratch handwriting.
“It’s Luo Zhiyu.”
Xiao Yan handed the form back and pulled an English test paper from the bookshelf. His eyes were half closed as he looked at it.
“As someone who’s been there, I’m telling you—don’t call him ‘Luo Zhile’ to his face.”
Fan Yue: “……”
In the corridor of Room 101, Building 3, Jing Ximing stared blankly at the giant broom that had mysteriously appeared in the hallway.
“Where did this come from?” Jing Ximing asked.
“Picked it up from the sports field.”
Luo Zhiyu gulped down a glass of water.
“It’s pretty handy.”
“I agree.”
Jing Ximing nodded.
There was always a pecking order to everything. The second-year students definitely knew their way around the cafeteria.
Luo Zhiyu felt that this lunch bought with Xiao Yan’s meal card was especially delicious.
He pulled out his phone, took a picture of the boxed lunch in front of him, and sent it to Xiao Yan.
[Not Cicada]: I forgive you. [Picture]
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: Fairy Frowning.jpg
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: I don’t forgive you.
[Not Cicada]: You lump of chicken shit.jpg. We’ll fight again another day.
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: No need to wait for another day.
[Not Cicada]: Huh?
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: You got caught fighting, so you have to sweep the sports field for two days. You’re not thinking of running away, are you? Fairy Frowning.jpg
[Not Cicada]: I didn’t fight. I just beat you up.
[Outstanding Second-Year Student Representative]: After class this afternoon, bring your broom. We’ll meet at the sports field. Otherwise, they’ll deduct your conduct points.
[Not Cicada]: Damn you.
“Zhiyu!”
Jing Ximing called to him from in front of the washing machine.
“I’m doing laundry. Do you want to wash your military training uniform too? The teacher said you just finished differentiating, so you shouldn’t go to military training for the next few days.”
No. 1 High School’s military training uniforms were dark blue. The cut looked good, but the quality was mediocre.
Luo Zhiyu had chased Xiao Yan halfway across campus and even carried a broom around. His entire body was covered in dust and dirt, and there was still a faint peach scent clinging to him.
“Coming!”
Luo Zhiyu walked over carrying the clothes he had just changed out of and tossed everything into the washing machine.
“Then I’ll wash my school uniform too.”
Students at No. 1 High School weren’t allowed to wander around campus without wearing their uniforms.
There were two sets of autumn uniforms, just enough for students to alternate between wearing and washing them.
Luo Zhiyu tossed the uniform he had worn on the opening ceremony into the washing machine and changed into his other set.
“No. 1 High School’s uniforms are fucking ugly.”
There were quite a lot of clothes in the washing machine. Jing Ximing turned the broom by the door upside down and used it to poke the two piles of clothes further inside before closing the lid.
“I recommend nominating them for the ugliest school uniform in the country.”
The No. 1 High School uniform actually wasn’t that bad.
The first-year uniform, white with red trim, had a distinctly sporty look. When worn by the students, it gave them a youthful, energetic appearance.
It was perfectly conventional—teachers and parents liked it.
The students, however, hated it.
Since he didn’t have to attend military training, Luo Zhiyu slept in the dormitory until evening.
Then he received a voice call from Xiao Yan.
“Where are you?”
An extremely punchable voice came from the other end of the phone.
Luo Zhiyu had just woken up and couldn’t remember where he was for a moment.
He accidentally tapped the video-call button and was startled by the sight of his own wildly messy hair on the screen.
The person on the other end paused for a moment.
Then he turned on his own camera too.
“I’ve swept half of it.”
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Xiao Yan shamelessly held up his phone and filmed the sports field.
“I’m leaving the other half for you. Hurry up and come.”
“Got it.”
Jing Ximing was still asleep.
Luo Zhiyu picked up the giant broom by the door and headed toward the sports field beneath the golden evening sunlight.
Just as expected, Xiao Yan had already swept half the sports field.
He was standing beside the reviewing platform waiting for him, a vocabulary book still in his hands.
Luo Zhiyu stopped in front of him with the broom on his shoulder.
“Did your mother ever teach you that studying like this is extremely inefficient?”
Xiao Yan leaned against the reviewing platform together with his broom.
“Did your mother ever teach you that studying like this looks very good in the eyes of teachers?”
Only then did Luo Zhiyu notice that the book in Xiao Yan’s hands was upside down.
He was purely putting on an act.
“Pretending to be hardworking.”
The two people who had been fighting that morning now each carried a broom and swept the sports field.
Under the setting sun, they temporarily entered a brief period of peace.
Every time Luo Zhiyu swung his broom once, Xiao Yan followed behind him and half-heartedly swung his twice.
The two of them barely managed to get the entire sports field cleaned, leaving only the flowerbeds along the edge.
Quite a few shrubs had been planted in the school’s flowerbeds, and the edges were covered with plenty of dust, making them much harder to clean.
Luo Zhiyu had felt that something was off about Xiao Yan for a while.
Now, he finally realized what it was.
Xiao Yan had changed into a different school uniform, and it was the same color scheme as the one Luo Zhiyu was wearing.
Even the name tags sewn onto their uniforms looked remarkably similar.
0301 Xiao Yan
0301 Luo Zhiyu
“You’re wearing a first-year uniform?”
Luo Zhiyu stopped walking.
“Yeah.”
Xiao Yan said, “My bad. I only brought one second-year uniform. I couldn’t exactly go without wearing one.”
Going without one would get his conduct points deducted.
“Whose fault do you think that is?”
Xiao Yan lightly tapped Luo Zhiyu’s hand with the handle of his broom.
The shrubs were genuinely difficult to clean around.
While talking with Xiao Yan, Luo Zhiyu climbed up onto the flowerbed with him.
“You’re the idiot. Don’t blame me.”
Luo Zhiyu swung the broom in his hands.
“Accidents always happen without warning. You should always have two sets of uniforms ready. You know, people need to plan ahead and prepare for unexpected situations.”
With just a few sentences, he managed to turn the entire “Peach Soda Incident” into an accident and completely absolved himself of responsibility.
The shrubs had grown wildly and recklessly.
Luo Zhiyu was too busy annoying Xiao Yan to notice.
The moment he finished speaking, both of them heard the unmistakable sound of fabric tearing.
Xiao Yan: “?”
Luo Zhiyu: “……”
A huge tear had been ripped across the back of his school uniform where a sharp branch had caught it.
Xiao Yan immediately took a step backward, distancing himself from the incident, and casually threw out a remark.
“Accidents always happen without warning.”
“But I have two sets of uniforms.”
Luo Zhiyu was completely unfazed.
“As long as I have something to wear, it’s fine.”
Having the uniform remade would take a week at least.
At most, changing and washing his clothes would be inconvenient, but he certainly wouldn’t have nothing to wear.
He tied the torn uniform around his waist and, joking and fooling around with Xiao Yan as they swept, eventually finished the entire sports field.
They headed back toward the dormitory.
Just as Luo Zhiyu was about to open the door, he heard a scream from Jing Ximing.
Luo Zhiyu’s right hand trembled as he opened the door.
“What happened?”
Jing Ximing stood in front of the washing machine, waiting for the wash cycle to finish, looking somewhat heartbroken.
“Stay calm when something happens. Don’t overreact.”
Luo Zhiyu took off his battered school uniform jacket and walked over.
Luo Zhiyu: “……”
I’m suffocating.
The two students who were living on campus for the first time stared at the washing machine in shock.
The dark blue military training uniform had bled its color.
The entire washing machine was now a sea of blue.
Now, whether it was Jing Ximing’s white shirt or Luo Zhiyu’s red-and-white school uniform—
They were all blue.
Outstanding freshman student representative Luo Zhiyu had been at No. 1 High School for only three days.
And he had already lost every single one of his school uniforms.