Chen Mo had been rather popular lately. This was mainly reflected in the fact that people turned to look at him when he walked by. When most of his classmates ran into him outside the classroom, they would call out, “Brother Mo.” As for those who had heard the rumors and secretly came to the experimental class just to catch a glimpse of the new school bully, most of the time, all they could see was the back of his head.
This school bully wasn’t particularly intimidating.
Not only was he always in a lazy, listless state, but during every break, he did only one thing—sleep.
And he genuinely fell asleep, too.
“Sometimes I wonder if he never got to sleep in his previous life.” Qi Lin had claimed the second-to-last row. Looking at the accustomed expression on Xi Siyen’s face, he pointed toward Chen Mo and asked quietly, “He’s been asleep since morning self-study. That’s been at least half an hour, hasn’t it?”
Xi Siyen glanced to the side.
All he could see was the boy’s messy, fluffy hair, which looked tousled in the light, and the tip of his ear, reddened from being pressed against his elbow.
Xi Siyen withdrew his gaze and looked at Qi Lin. “Why do you care about that?”
“I’m not the only one who cares.” Qi Lin grinned mischievously. “Speaking of which, the girls who used to sneak peeks into our classroom were basically all here to see you. Now, at least a third of them come to look at Chen Mo. Seriously, how come nobody noticed before that Chen Mo was actually pretty good-looking? He’s threatening your position as the best-looking guy at Suicheng No. 1 High School. Don’t you feel even a little threatened?”
Xi Siyen stared at him expressionlessly.
Qi Lin automatically shut his mouth.
He knew better than to provoke him. These days, the corner of the classroom where the two of them sat was like a spot guarded by two great Buddhas. Hardly anyone dared approach it.
As it happened, two stupid, big guys barged in through the doorway. The back door slammed against the wall with a bang, jolting the sleeping god beside them awake.
Qi Lin watched as the person rubbed his face against his arm twice before lifting his head. He practically wanted to say: Yes, yes, that’s exactly the look! That gloomy, sleepy expression when someone gets woken up and looks at people with drooping brows and a miserable face—it’s incredibly charming. No wonder the girls love it.
Xi Siyen suddenly spoke. “Are there rats in your dormitory?”
“Hm?” Chen Mo was dazed for two seconds before realizing he was talking to him.
Chen Mo asked, “What rats?”
“If there aren’t any rats, why are you up all night and unable to wake up during the day?”
Qi Lin joined in, striking up a conversation with Chen Mo. “Sleep God, I’m curious, too. Where did you learn this incredible skill of being able to fall asleep as soon as you get your hands on a desk? Can I become your disciple?”
Chen Mo yawned, concealing the trace of sleepiness at the corners of his eyes. “Just give up treatment.”
“Huh? What?” Qi Lin said, indicating that he hadn’t heard clearly.
Chen Mo glanced at the person beside him who had his arms crossed, then gave Qi Lin an example. “Take your Brother Yan, for instance. He works hard every day to maintain his first-place ranking in the grade, shoulders the tasks and expectations assigned by all his subject teachers, and is the future of his family and a pillar of the nation. All of the above—just give it all up, and that’s it.”
A soft scoff came from beside him.
Qi Lin had almost been brainwashed, but managed to stay clear-headed. “Old Yan isn’t a normal person. Aside from everything you just mentioned, his sleep schedule is ridiculously abnormal, too. On weekends, he goes to bed at eight sharp, gets up at six in the morning, and throws in an hour of long-distance running for good measure.”
“Wow, so amazing.” Chen Mo clapped perfunctorily before lying back down on his desk. “I can’t do that. If I don’t get enough sleep, my brain just crashes.”
Qi Lin began to envy his state of mind. He almost wanted to reach over and haul him upright by the hair.
He humbly sought advice. “The competition in the experimental class is pretty intense. Doesn’t it make you anxious?”
“Nope.” The person in question rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes again.
“What about the college entrance examination? Doesn’t even hearing those words make your scalp go numb?”
“Just thinking about how I still have two years before graduation makes my scalp even more numb.”
“Fine.” Qi Lin brought out his trump card. “Don’t you want to compete with Yang Shule and prove who’s better? He’s been working especially hard lately, from what I’ve seen, preparing for the next monthly exam. He doesn’t even look for Old Yan as much anymore. Don’t you want to wipe away your past humiliation? Make your family see you in a new light? Slap all those people who said you got in through connections right in the face?”
Chen Mo first opened one eye and looked at Qi Lin.
Then he turned toward the person beside him. “Your buddy is rubbing his ass all over my face. Can you do something about him?”
Xi Siyen raised an eyebrow. “Am I his father?”
“He can be your son.”
“Thanks,” Xi Siyen said. “I don’t have a son like that.”
Chen Mo turned back toward Qi Lin and sneered. “Did you hear that, you rebellious son? Listen to the things you just asked me. Trying to humiliate me? Now, get up and get lost. You can choose whether to walk back or crawl.”
Qi Lin had just been thoroughly blasted by that back-and-forth exchange.
It wasn’t news that Xi Siyen wasn’t human, but was he really going to humiliate Chen Mo? He’d only asked whether Chen Mo wanted to work harder. How was that humiliating him?
Who was humiliating whom here?
Qi Lin left in disgrace, only to return again shortly afterward.
“Going cycling at South Mountain this weekend. You in, Young Master Mo?”
Chen Mo froze. “You’re inviting me?”
“Yep.”
Chen Mo had just thought of the rumor he’d heard about someone dying in a racing accident at South Mountain when Qi Lin boldly opened his mouth again. “Compared to car racing, I just remembered that cycling, that popular retirement-age sport, should be more suitable for you. Let’s compete this weekend. I’ll teach you what real humiliation looks like.”
Chen Mo began looking at him suspiciously.
Was this person really Qi Lin, the one who would later become famous in Suicheng’s gay circle for sleeping with countless bottoms? That overwhelming straight-man energy… Chen Mo had thought he relied on his social skills. But judging by what he’d seen so far, could it be that he was simply well-endowed?
Chen Mo’s gaze unconsciously drifted downward, when Xi Siyen spoke again. “It’s just a recreational activity organized by the club. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”
“A car racing club?” Chen Mo turned his head.
Xi Siyen glanced at him. “A cycling club affiliated with the school. Most of its members are students.”
Chen Mo hesitated, then nodded. “In that case… sure, I’ll go.”
“You’ll go?” Xi Siyen sounded doubtful. “I thought you’d prefer to stay home and sleep on weekends.”
Qi Lin suddenly understood. Looking at Chen Mo, he immediately began mocking him. “Oh, right. I almost forgot. We have to gather at six in the morning. Can you even get up?”
Chen Mo ran a hand through his hair and looked up. “Yeah. I can do without sleep, after all. I’d rather spend my weekend teaching you how to behave.”
“Fuck!” Qi Lin lunged forward, looking as though he was about to grab Chen Mo by the neck and shake him.
Xi Siyen kicked the desk. It slid forward and conveniently blocked Qi Lin’s legs, stopping the fight between the two, who had somehow already become rather familiar with each other.
“Class is starting.” Xi Siyen tossed the textbook for the next lesson onto the desk, then asked Qi Lin, “Are you still standing here? Waiting for me to see you off?”
Qi Lin left, cursing under his breath.
Chen Mo let out a soft laugh.
Before his smile had even faded, he realized Xi Siyen was still looking at him.
Chen Mo looked back.
Xi Siyen asked, “Having fun?”
“He’s just funny when he reacts. He’s so big and tall, yet he can’t take the slightest provocation.”
Chen Mo kept up the banter, refusing to lose verbally. In truth, going to South Mountain meant beautiful scenery and fresh air. He could even pedal around on a bicycle when he had nothing else to do. It was perfectly in line with his ideal way of spending a weekend.
Xi Siyen seemed to understand his true intentions and kindly offered him a piece of advice. “Someone who can’t stand being provoked won’t give up until he gets the result he wants.”
After all, Qi Lin was famous for being impulsive and combative on the basketball court.
Then Xi Siyen glanced at the person beside him, who had unscrewed the thermos on his desk. A faint scent of chrysanthemum could still be detected…
Xi Siyen discreetly pressed the space between his brows.
He could no longer quite remember what Chen Mo had looked like when he first met him.
Perhaps it had been those eyes, trapped-animal eyes, seen through the heavy rain from behind a wall of people packed three layers deep, as the police pressed him to the ground.
All around them had been a backward village, with livestock pens and sheds.
The sharp, earthy smell of rainwater mixed with an indescribable stench, thick and suffocating in the air.
The Yang couple’s tears hadn’t seemed entirely fake.
The woman who was probably Chen Mo’s adoptive mother had grabbed the police officer, screaming herself hoarse. On the ground lay Chen Jianli, Chen Mo’s adoptive father, beaten so badly that his face was swollen and bruised, his original features almost unrecognizable.
It had been nothing short of an utterly absurd farce.
Inside the car, Yang Shule’s face was deathly pale.
He asked, “B-Brother Yan, that person is Chen Mo, right?”
Xi Siyen withdrew his gaze and looked up at the roof of the car.
He even thought to himself that this would be the last time. The old lady had softened her heart and insisted that he come along to take a look.
And sure enough, things were exactly as he had expected.
It was unclear whether that Chen Mo had been ruined by his adoptive family, but anyone could see the abyss in his eyes at a glance. If the Yang family was willing to maintain the peace on the surface, perhaps they could preserve the illusion of family harmony for a little while. But if they couldn’t, then this son they had found again was clearly not someone who would let himself be manipulated. The eventual outcome would be difficult to predict.
Yang Shule’s voice beside him sounded timid, almost as if he were talking to himself, yet also as though he were asking Xi Siyen a question.
“Why? Why did it have to be me? I don’t have biological parents like that. I’ll never acknowledge them.”
Xi Siyen’s tone remained calm and undisturbed.
There was even a hint of sarcasm in it. “You’re probably not the only one who wants to ask why.”
That was the strongest reaction he could offer to this matter. The Xi and Yang families had done all they could by stepping forward to help someone find their child. Anything beyond that wasn’t something he cared about.
Sure enough, less than a month later, the Yang family made some moves.
Withdrawing the lawsuit was indeed something that couple would do. Yang Zhi might have been better suited to managing the Yang family, but unfortunately, for a family like theirs, doting on a younger brother who appeared obedient and well-behaved was clearly the more suitable choice.
Perhaps someday, at some kind of gathering or social occasion, he would get to witness the ending of this drama.
What he hadn’t expected was to encounter Chen Mo, burning with a high fever in the back alley behind an internet cafe.
Every word Chen Mo said was sharp and impolite.
Xi Siyen thought back, wondering when he had ever offended him.
Then he understood. In Chen Mo’s eyes, probably everyone who appeared to have any connection to the Yang family was unforgivable.
And then?
Things seemed to have gradually strayed from what he had expected.
The Chen Mo he encountered afterward was the same, yet also very different.
You could say he didn’t fight or compete for anything, but he never allowed himself to suffer a loss. You could say he still had the same ambitions as before, yet there was no longer the slightest trace of them to be seen on him. The change was subtle, but impossible not to notice.
Take the present moment, for example.
Today’s maximum surface temperature was 35°C.
Someone who had dragged himself out of bed early that morning, still half-asleep, only to trade insults with the unlucky Qi Lin, was now holding his ordinary-looking, understated blue-gray thermos. He lowered his head and blew on the contents.
He cautiously took a small sip.
Burned by the heat, he muttered under his breath, “Fuck!”
Then he took another sip.
Frowning, he grumbled, “Why is it so bitter? There must be something wrong with the instructions.”
Xi Siyen held back for a long time before finally asking, “Do you absolutely have to drink hot water?”
The person in question looked over.
“What, like you guys, chugging down bottles of ice water while sweating buckets?”
Xi Siyen’s mouth twitched. “There might be another kind of water in this world called room-temperature water.”
“You can’t steep chrysanthemum tea in room-temperature water. Chrysanthemum clears internal heat. Want a packet?”
“No need.”
Chen Mo and Xi Siyen had been deskmates for almost a week.
Putting aside his possible current and future relationship with a certain Yang classmate, Chen Mo had no complaints about him as a deskmate.
Quiet, no trouble, and someone whose homework he could copy.
After all, high school really did come with a ridiculous amount of homework. Even if he knew how to do it, he was simply too lazy to waste his brainpower.
What was wrong with him today?
Was drinking hot water really bothering him that much?
Chen Mo held his cup and looked at him suspiciously. “Are you jealous of my healthy lifestyle?”
Xi Siyen seemed to have heard some ridiculous joke.
He was so amused that he almost laughed.
“Jealous of your cigarettes paired with black tea?”
“Putting ice packs on your bruised face?”
“Staying up late and drinking hot water?”
Chen Mo: “…Shut up.”
Two seconds later, the math teacher walked onto the podium in a pair of ordinary black mid-heeled shoes, her steps stern and deliberate.
She carried a stack of in-class test papers in her arms and placed them on the lectern with a dull thud.
“This exam.”
“Overall, the results were satisfactory.”
The female teacher was in her thirties, her hair pinned up so neatly that not a strand was out of place.
Her light gray professional suit seemed to encase her in an unchanging shell—rigid and solemn, giving no one any reason to feel cheerful.
“However, there are some students I need to criticize seriously today.”
As soon as she said this, the classroom began buzzing.
Chen Mo, however, seemed to have anticipated it. He met the female teacher’s piercing gaze and heard her say, “Chen Mo, 125 points. In our experimental class, this score can only be considered barely acceptable. But tell me, how did you solve the final problem?”
“Was there something wrong with the way I solved it, Teacher Bai?” Chen Mo rose from his seat unhurriedly.
His eyes appeared careless, but beneath that nonchalant expression, a layer of gloom had already settled in them.
Bai Suxiu was also Chen Mo’s math teacher in his previous life.
Chen Mo still remembered those words.
—Yang Shule has always had excellent grades. He’s won countless trophies in various competitions. He didn’t even point out that you were the one who cheated, and he even helped smooth things over for you! What about you?
That time, it hadn’t been an in-class test. It had been Chen Mo’s first monthly exam after transferring to No. 1 High School.
In his previous life, he hadn’t lived in the dormitory either.
Yang Shule, who was the math class representative, had accidentally taken a copy of the math exam paper home from the teachers’ office the day before. He explained to Bai Suxiu, “Teacher Bai, it was my mistake. I wasn’t careful.”
In the teachers’ office, Bai Suxiu had accused him in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Chen Mo, the difficulty level at our No. 1 High School is nothing like that of your previous school. You got exactly the same score as the class representative, 149 points, and even got the same question wrong. Do you expect me to believe that’s a coincidence? As long as you apologize today, I’ll pretend this never happened.”
Apologizing was out of the question.
That time, Zhou Yaoqiong had been called in.
The woman was impeccably dressed, her face full of apologies. “I’m sorry, Teacher Bai. I haven’t taught the two children properly.”
Bai Suxiu’s tone softened. “I know Shule. This has nothing to do with him. In a situation like Chen Mo’s, wanting to improve is a good thing, but he has to take the proper path.”
“Yes, yes.”
On the drive home that day, Zhou Yaoqiong still acted as though she were afraid of hurting his pride. She said, “Xiao Mo, I didn’t tell your father or your older brother. They’d be furious if they found out.”
Chen Mo sneered. “You’re more than welcome to tell them.”
Because of that remark, Zhou Yaoqiong decided he was simply feeling guilty and being immature.
Later, Chen Mo’s grades in every subject steadily improved. Math was the only subject in which he could no longer bring himself to pay attention to even a single one of her lessons.
The small difference in points at the end of the college entrance examination had ultimately cost him his chance.
Now, in the present.
It was as though the past were repeating itself.
There were still some differences.
Chen Mo did remember the last major problem.
For someone like him, who had taken advanced mathematics courses in college, the bonus question wasn’t difficult. When he saw it, he hadn’t given it much thought and had simply written down the steps to solve it.
Chen Mo had thought he would be accused of cheating.
But perhaps the events of his previous life really did leave behind echoes. He heard Bai Suxiu say, “You students submitted the papers yourselves. At the time, the class representative’s paper was right there on the podium. Someone saw you writing on the board with a pen, and your solution methods and steps are exactly the same. This is material that hasn’t even been taught in high school.”
She might as well have come right out and accused him of plagiarism.
“Who saw it?” Chen Mo asked.
The classroom fell completely silent.
Chen Mo looked around. “I’m asking, who saw me writing on the board and copying someone else’s paper?”
This was the first time Chen Mo had shown such a distinct emotional reaction in class.
Over the past few days, everyone had nearly forgotten that this new transfer student, who spent every day with his head down, sleeping, had beaten a group of people so badly just a few days ago that they’d ended up in the school infirmary.
Bai Suxiu snapped, “Chen Mo, who are you trying to intimidate? If you weren’t copying someone else’s answers, then what were you writing?”
Chen Mo sneered. “The questions were too easy. I was afraid I’d scare the teacher, so I deliberately changed quite a few answers to make them wrong. Is there a problem with that?”
“You’re simply impossible to reason with!”
A hand suddenly settled on Chen Mo’s tense shoulder.
The palm was broad, and the fingers were long, with attractive knuckles.
The index finger gently tapped his shoulder twice. To Chen Mo’s surprise, he sensed a hint of reassurance in the gesture, as if telling him to calm down.
The person beside him soon stood up.
“I watched him finish the last question, Teacher Bai.” Xi Siyen’s tone was somewhat nonchalant. “The answer was one-half. He erased and rewrote it once. And during the remaining half hour after finishing, he even drew a… tortoise beside the bonus question.”
Someone in the class couldn’t hold back and suddenly burst out laughing.
Bai Suxiu actually picked up the top exam paper and flipped through it.
Then her expression turned ugly.
Chen Mo looked at Xi Siyen, wondering whether this guy had 20/20 vision.
Xi Siyen spoke again, even with a smile in his voice. “So, Teacher Bai, after making such a sudden and baseless accusation, shouldn’t you also apologize to the student you’ve wronged?”
In that instant, the entire class went deathly silent.
Only Yang Shule, sitting in the front row, clenched the pen in his hand when he heard Xi Siyen’s words.
As a matter of fact, this math teacher wasn’t particularly popular.
Most students disliked her rigid teaching style, but Chen Mo knew that she would continue teaching math in the experimental class right up until graduation.
Chen Mo also knew that Bai Suxiu had instinctively assumed he was cheating simply because she’d heard about his relationship with Yang Shule beforehand. She had already formed a biased opinion of him, believing he had ulterior motives. She also didn’t think a student who had transferred from a high school in some backward county could possibly solve a problem like this.
The atmosphere was rather tense. Chen Mo knew she wasn’t going to apologize.
This time, Chen Mo tugged at Xi Siyen’s sleeve.
Xi Siyen gave a questioning hum through his nose and looked over.
Chen Mo let go and turned toward the podium.
“At the next monthly exam, we’ll use the top ten in the entire grade as the cutoff. If I make it, I’ll stay. If I don’t, the teacher can stay.”
Chen Mo simply couldn’t be bothered to spend every day at odds with a teacher whose subject he had to take. This resentment hadn’t begun just a day or two ago. It had been there for a long time, for many years. Her face was one of countless images that would flash through his mind whenever he looked back on the past.
He’d originally thought he could just close his eyes and let this life pass by. But she had insisted on making him feel as if he’d taken a mouthful of shit, so disgusted that he could practically vomit up the previous night’s dinner.
Either she left, or he left.
One of them had to go.
Of course, he could be fairly certain that he would be the one leaving.
The math teacher’s face turned livid. Clearly, she hadn’t expected Chen Mo to be so brazen.
The entire class fell silent along with her.
“Do you need a written report?”
Only the class monitor, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere, openly mocked Chen Mo. “That’s not for you to decide.”
This could be understood as him saying Chen Mo was getting far too big for his boots.
However, the classmates who had spent a year or two with Xi Siyen knew very well that their class monitor seemed determined to protect his own person to the very end.