GT - 10

In the morning, the room was shrouded in gray, and Cheng Mi knew it was another overcast day.

The curtains hadn’t been drawn last night; outside, there was no light or rain, only a few withered branches and leaves standing against the grayish-white sky.

Cheng Mi got out of bed.

Her suitcase lay open on the floor. No matter how dazzling the clothes inside, once she became a student, they were just scraps of fabric.

She changed into her school uniform. As she stood in front of the full-length mirror putting on her earrings, the sound of breaking bowls and chopsticks came from outside her room, followed by Si Huiru’s small gasp.

Cheng Mi glanced towards her door.

Of course, she saw nothing; the door was closed.

Her earrings weren’t fully on yet; she withdrew her gaze.

The person in the mirror had a delicate chain with small diamonds around her neck. Her red lips were bare of lipstick, yet so vibrant they dazzled the eye.

When she slid the door open, Si Huiru was crouching on the floor cleaning up the mess. White porridge was splattered everywhere, and the steam had reddened her fingers.

Cheng Mi walked over to help her clean, but Si Huiru immediately stopped her, refusing her help.

“Auntie can do it, it’s just a quick clean-up. Breakfast is still warm on the table; hurry and eat so you can go to school early.”

Cheng Mi noticed her bad complexion only when Si Huiru looked up.

It was even worse than when she had gotten up in the night; her lips were pale, her eyes had dark circles, and deep fatigue was evident in them.

Cheng Mi guessed it was probably due to a nightmare.

Si Huiru said: “You’ve been hungry all night. Hurry and drink some porridge to warm your stomach.”

Cheng Mi didn’t ask further, only nodded: “Mhm.”

Then, indicating her hands, she said: “Be careful, you might burn yourself.”

Only then did Si Huiru realize her hands were red and hot. She quickly got up to rinse them under the faucet, not forgetting to repeatedly thank Cheng Mi.

Cheng Mi said nothing; a polite person’s politeness was an unchangeable habit.

She returned to the table. There was only one bowl on it.

Plain porridge and side dishes, prepared by Si Huiru for her.

Si Tingyan’s portion was nowhere to be seen.

Cheng Mi glanced at Si Tingyan’s room door.

Si Huiru had just finished tidying up and returned to the table with a new bowl. Seeing Cheng Mi’s momentary pause, she thought Cheng Mi didn’t like porridge, and her tone was a bit apologetic: “I don’t know if you like plain porridge. Since Xiao Yan woke up feeling a bit unwell today and was rushing to school, I made something lighter. If you’re not used to plain porridge, I’ll make you a bowl of noodles now.”

He went to school?

Si Huiru didn’t pay much attention after that, just smiled at her: “No need, I quite like it.”

Then she casually asked: “Why go to school so early?”

Si Huiru sounded a bit troubled: “Duty. It’s his turn to check school cards at the school gate. The school arranges good students to do these things. I asked Xiao Yan to tell the teacher about his special condition, to see if he could be excused, but the child didn’t go say anything.”

Understood, he didn’t want to be treated differently.

Cheng Mi didn’t ask further, sat down, and ate her breakfast.

After breakfast, just before she left, Si Huiru’s phone on the low table in the living room rang loudly.

Cheng Mi didn’t deliberately listen, but before closing the door, she still heard Si Huiru’s fragmented responses to Li Yehang’s concerns about her sleep last night.

The door closed completely. Her hand lingered on the doorknob for a moment, then she didn’t stop, going downstairs.

________________________________________

Approaching the school gate, it was already bustling with people. Even through the dense crowd, Cheng Mi recognized Si Tingyan from a distance.

Perhaps it wasn’t her good eyesight.

It should be blamed on Si Tingyan’s truly outstanding features.

Everyone around was frantically pulling out their ID tags. Seeing this scene, Cheng Mi remembered she hadn’t worn hers either.

Her fingertips probed the side of her shoulder bag; it was empty.

She felt the other side, same result, nothing there.

Yesterday, besides school, she had only been to two places: home and the magazine studio. It was probably lost in one of those two places.

Unlike the wailing group around her who had forgotten their ID tags, Cheng Mi was rather composed.

There was more than one student on duty at the school gate, but Cheng Mi walked with a clear destination in one direction.

At a distance of about six or seven meters, her gaze met Si Tingyan’s.

Si Tingyan stood at the school gate, his long-sleeved school uniform neatly and properly worn. In his hand, hanging by his side, was a hard clipboard for recording names.

Figures moved apart and overlapped. When he was unobstructed again, Si Tingyan was no longer looking at her.

Cheng Mi walked over, finally stopping in front of him.

Without waiting for him to ask, she informed him: “Senior Three, Class Four, Cheng Mi.”

It was as casual as asking him about the weather today.

Next to Si Tingyan was a bespectacled male classmate, whose thick glasses made him look somewhat mature. Compared to him, Si Tingyan’s features actually appeared somewhat youthful.

Combined with his sickly constitution, it was hard for anyone not to feel a touch of pity.

But this endearing vulnerability was completely eroded by his own cold aura.

Yet, surprisingly, many girls liked this about him. From what Cheng Mi understood, the number of girls who liked Si Tingyan was comparable to those who liked his older brother, Li Ziyu.

There were many of them.

After she introduced herself, Si Tingyan looked at her for a moment.

Cheng Mi deliberately teased him: “Do you know how to write it?”

At this moment, the bespectacled male student next to him interjected into their conversation. He probably thought Si Tingyan really didn’t know Cheng Mi’s name, so he reminded him: “It’s the Cheng with the ‘he’ radical, and then the Mi from ‘mimian’ (spreading).”

Before he finished speaking, Si Tingyan had already coldly looked down and recorded Cheng Mi’s name.

The bespectacled male student realized after speaking that he had exposed how much he usually listened to forum gossip. Different classes, different grades, no interaction—of course, knowing Cheng Mi could only be hearsay.

Moreover, being directly ignored by Si Tingyan after speaking made him even more awkward. He awkwardly rubbed his nose.

Cheng Mi, however, didn’t seem to mind much and even gave him a friendly smile.

Cheng Mi turned back. Si Tingyan was still writing her name, but for some reason, Cheng Mi felt he was somehow different.

She didn’t have time to think deeply; her attention had already been drawn by the name at the very top of the record sheet.

It was recorded by Si Tingyan, the handwriting naturally familiar beyond words, but that name was even more familiar to Cheng Mi.

—Senior Two (1) Class, Si Tingyan.

She looked at Si Tingyan’s school uniform jacket in surprise.

He actually wasn’t wearing an ID tag.

As a student on duty, he could easily borrow one to make it look like he was wearing it. After all, a student on duty taking the lead in violating discipline went against school rules and regulations.

Si Tingyan, however, didn’t bother to save face at all. He directly recorded his own name, and after finishing, stood there to continue recording others.

No wonder the dean of students, who was lecturing a group of students, had his voice a few decibels louder this morning.

Fenggao had always been strict about this. Not wearing a school uniform or an ID tag wasn’t just about recording names; punishment awaited.

Behind them, a student without an ID tag, trying to sneak into the school gate, was caught by the sharp-eyed dean and pushed forward.

Cheng Mi moved aside, joining the large queue next to him.

Before long, the bell for morning reading rang, and the students at the school gate became sparse.

Problematic students always delayed until this point to show up, several waves of them. The dean of students yelled until his throat was hoarse, then turned to spray them with saliva.

With hardly anyone left, Si Tingyan handed the record board to another student on duty next to him and stood in the front row.

Cheng Mi could only see the back of his head.

Just when she thought no one else would come, she unexpectedly saw an injured person.

Zheng Hongkai, who had fought with Li Ziyu the day before yesterday, had a bruised face and a cast on his arm, yet he came to school today.

Even injured, he didn’t forget to gather his gang, and a group of them walked towards the school gate, laughing and cursing.

Given their appearance, they were naturally stopped by the dean of students before even entering the school gate.

“What’s with the sloppy appearance? Put on your school uniform properly!”

“Where’s your school uniform?”

“ID tag, wear your ID tag!”

But after he yelled, those without school uniforms said they didn’t bring them, and those without ID tags said their tags were missing.

The dean of students looked like he was about to kill these little rascals.

“All of you, go stand at the back!”

These people, of course, feared nothing. Zheng Hongkai saw Cheng Mi and even raised his free hand to wave at her.

He stood next to Cheng Mi: “What a coincidence, running into you here.”

If she didn’t wear her ID tag every day, they could meet here every morning.

“Quite a coincidence,” Cheng Mi said.

“Is this your first time?”

Cheng Mi nodded: “I haven’t been at Fenggao for long.”

“Lost your ID tag?”

“Probably.”

“Bro has a ton, want one?” Zheng Hongkai pulled one out of his pocket and offered it to her, “I don’t know who made this stupid school rule about ID tags. Damn it, it’s so small, I can lose ten of them in a day. After replacing them, you never know where they’ll pop up next. This morning, I felt four in my jeans, damn it.”

Cheng Mi glanced at his chest: “If you have them, why don’t you wear them yourself?”

“Got things to do.”

Cheng Mi wasn’t interested in asking.

Zheng Hongkai suddenly asked her: “Did you break up with Li Ziyu?”

Cheng Mi looked at him: “Why?”

“Nothing, just asking. If you’re still with him, I’ll cut him some slack for now, give you some face.”

Cheng Mi smiled upon hearing this, saying nothing.

In a blink, Si Tingyan had already taken his place in the front row.

The dean of students paced in front of the line, frustrated: “How many times have I told you! Wear your school uniform, wear your ID tags! Are you all ignoring me? Students should act like students. Look at you all, not wearing your uniforms, not wearing your ID tags, disgracing the school! What kind of behavior is that!”

The students’ defiance made his blood pressure soar, and he showed no mercy in his reprimand.

“All of you, go run three laps around the track. Not even half a lap less. After running, sweep the entire track. If it’s not clean, you’ll sweep again tomorrow!”

Three laps, over a thousand meters.

Someone would die.

The students around Cheng Mi, who had been as quiet as cicadas in winter, instantly let out groans of lament.

“What are you sighing about? If I catch you again tomorrow, you’ll run four laps.”

Reluctant as they were, no one dared to argue. They walked towards the track in groups of three to five, heads bowed in dejection.

Cheng Mi didn’t move immediately.

Si Tingyan in front was called out by the dean of students.

His heart condition probably gave the dean a bit of a headache.

“Si Tingyan, you don’t have to run the thousand meters, just sweep the track.”

Perhaps because of his health condition, Si Tingyan was often treated differently at school.

As Cheng Mi expected, Si Tingyan refused.

“I’ll do what everyone else does.”

Indeed, that was Si Tingyan.

Only when he started walking towards the school gate did Cheng Mi move to follow.

________________________________________

To get to the track, one had to pass through the teaching building, where lush trees stood, and the sound of reading could be heard from every window.

All the way to the track, many students were already panting and swinging their arms on the running track.

Cheng Mi’s running wasn’t much, but not little either. A slow run of a thousand meters wasn’t a big problem for her, but she didn’t plan to run today.

Because—

Si Tingyan stepped onto the track.

He couldn’t run; he could only walk.

People constantly sped past him, yet he remained completely unaffected, walking at his own pace.

Cheng Mi sensed that stubbornness in him, a part of his flesh and blood that wouldn’t disappear even if his bones were shattered.

Whatever he had to endure, he would see it through, even if he had to walk.

The people around him were either disheveled or reeked of smoke with dyed hair. Compared to them, Si Tingyan’s clean school uniform stood out remarkably.

His face was also undeniably handsome; it was hard to ignore him.

Two girls walking behind Cheng Mi were talking about him.

“Who’s that?”

“You don’t know? He’s a junior from Senior Two.”

“What’s his name? He’s quite handsome.”

“Si Tingyan, you actually don’t know him?”

“Oh, so it’s him. He’s Li Ziyu’s younger brother.”

“Eww~ Why do you always bring up Li Ziyu?”

After a burst of laughter, one of the girls suddenly coughed lightly, a clear signal of warning.

Cheng Mi knew they had seen her.

At present, she was still referred to as Li Ziyu’s girlfriend by everyone.

She didn’t seem to care, not pausing her steps, and walked onto the track.

A black hair tie, which she had put on before leaving home this morning, was on her wrist. Cheng Mi grabbed her hair with a few swift movements, pulled out the hair tie, and loosely tied it a few times.

She wasn’t far from Si Tingyan, catching up to him in a few steps.

When she reached his side, he didn’t even turn his head.

Cheng Mi asked: “Did you know I’d follow you?”

Si Tingyan still didn’t look at her: “You came up on your own.”

“Mhm,” Cheng Mi replied lightly, “It’s true, I did come up on my own.”

“So, do you know now? I’m going to pursue you.”

Her words were direct, yet her tone was casual, neither shy nor urgent.

Si Tingyan finally looked at her.

When Cheng Mi spoke, her eyes had been lingering on his profile; now they returned to his eyes.

“What, can’t I?”

She still wore that calm, natural smile: “Even if I can’t, it doesn’t matter. I like you, Si Tingyan.”