GT - 7

In the afternoon, there were only a few classes. Little knowledge was absorbed, but the desks were already buried under test papers.

Complaints filled the classroom, only to be swept away by the deluge of new knowledge in the next class.

Class time was tedious and hard to endure. Many eyes quickly grew sleepy under the teacher’s nose, until the last class when those uncontrollably drooping eyelids finally propped open.

Cheng Mi, however, was exceptionally awake. She always stayed up late, and last night’s all-nighter didn’t affect her.

On the podium, the chemistry teacher’s chalk made a sharp, grating sound on the blackboard. Cheng Mi copied a few chemical formulas next to the incorrect problems.

Her pen spun between her fingers, and her phone beneath the desk lit up simultaneously.

She quickly scanned it. It was from Hong Mao, asking if she was going to the arcade after school.

Cheng Mi took out her phone and replied.

[You guys go, I have something to do.]

Not long after, the class bell rang, and the classroom instantly erupted into noise. Cheng Mi picked up her school bag and left the classroom.

Many students at the school were day students. As soon as school ended, they streamed out of the classrooms with their school bags, making the corridor noisy and bustling.

Cheng Mi walked against the flow of people, from the second floor to the third, then turned left after reaching the third floor.

The first classroom near the stairwell was Class 4 of Senior Two. Laughter and playful noise could be heard from inside as she passed the back door.

Further left were Class 3, Class 2, and finally Class 1.

Cheng Mi stopped in front of the Class 1 sign of Senior Two, a dark blue metal plate, its edges a bit rusted.

Fenggao’s Class 1 in each grade had always been a gathering place for top science students. The top fifty in the grade were all in this class. The study atmosphere in Class 1 of Senior Two was quieter compared to the three classes next to it.

But it wasn’t as suffocatingly quiet as she had expected.

More than half the seats in the classroom were empty. Some people were chatting, others were engrossed in solving problems.

Cheng Mi scanned the room but didn’t see Si Tingyan.

A girl with a ponytail was sitting by the window. She walked over and asked: “Excuse me, where did Si Tingyan go?”

The girl had just finished a difficult math problem. Hearing the question, she looked up.

“Si Tingyan?” She looked back to search, then realized, “Ah, Si Tingyan went to the competition class.”

“Competition class?”

“Yeah, the math competition class. He’s going for a direct admission through the competition. If you’re looking for Si Tingyan, you can find him in the lab building. They have classes in the lab building every afternoon.”

Cheng Mi nodded, but showed no intention of leaving.

Instead, she asked the girl: “Where does Si Tingyan sit?”

“Are you going to wait for him in the classroom?”

Cheng Mi smiled and said yes.

The girl pointed to the second-to-last desk in the row by the window: “There, that’s his seat, the one by the window in the third row of the fourth group.”

Cheng Mi followed her finger, her gaze falling on that desk.

After confirming, she withdrew her gaze and smiled at the girl: “Thanks.”

She walked in through the front door, and many people in the classroom cast their glances towards her.

Cheng Mi ignored them, walking directly past the podium, then through the aisle between the window and the desks, walking unhurriedly towards Si Tingyan’s seat.

She stopped in the third row. The desk on her right was very neatly organized, textbooks placed neatly on one side, several test papers folded and stacked on the inner side, with a book on top.

It was clearly a textbook someone had used to hold down the freshly distributed test papers, fearing they’d blow away.

Cheng Mi picked up the book on top and sat down in Si Tingyan’s seat.

It was an English book. The title page didn’t even have a name, and flipping further back, it was completely clean. Like new, Cheng Mi suspected he hadn’t even looked at it.

She held the pages between her fingers, closed the book, and set it aside.

Her gaze fell on the top test paper, which was a comprehensive science exam. It had already been graded, and there was a very conspicuous bright red number in the score section.

Full marks. Impressive.

She suddenly remembered what Si Huiru had told her earlier, that Si Tingyan could help with her homework, as he was good at science.

This was no longer just “good”; it was an exceptionally high talent in science.

However, no one is perfect. Perhaps God closes one window only to open another.

Cheng Mi looked at Si Tingyan’s name in the name section and couldn’t help but laugh.

This laughter held no mockery; she simply found the handwriting somewhat contrasting with the person.

She had originally thought Si Tingyan’s handwriting would be like him: scholarly, neat, and clean.

But his handwriting wasn’t as good as his appearance, or rather, it didn’t look like his. However, despite resembling elementary school handwriting, it was clear he wrote it diligently, trying his best to control sloppiness in the strokes.

As she watched, she picked up the black water-based pen on his desk and wrote his name.

The pen tip touched the paper. Cheng Mi wrote slowly, but her strokes were free-flowing and confident, and the handwriting was grand and beautiful.

—Si, Ting, Yan.

This was the first time Cheng Mi had written his name; to be precise, it was the first time she had genuinely looked at his name.

After watching for a while, she moved her eyes from it, then casually flipped through his other test papers beneath. Those that were graded all had high scores. The other blank papers were probably homework.

After sitting for a while, there was still no sign of him outside, which was indeed a bit boring.

On the blackboard, tonight’s homework was written down. A quick glance showed six or seven assignments, all due tomorrow.

Cheng Mi, with one hand, brushed aside one of Si Tingyan’s test papers, found an empty space in the upper right corner, and helped him copy down tonight’s homework.

First, two English test papers, no listening comprehension or essay. Second, math workbook pages 30-36 to be completed for tomorrow’s review.

Third, chemistry test paper to be completed and submitted tomorrow.

As she wrote this, Cheng Mi seemed to think of something. Her fingertips flipped through the books under the stack of test papers, pulled out the chemistry test paper, and tucked it under the desk.

________________________________________

Just as Cheng Mi was writing the last item, Si Tingyan returned.

She watched him enter from outside. The moment he stepped into the classroom, he noticed her sitting in his seat.

Perhaps it was Cheng Mi’s illusion, but Si Tingyan’s steps seemed to pause for a moment.

Or perhaps it really was just her illusion, for in the blink of an eye, he had already passed the podium.

Cheng Mi was not flustered at all. Her eyes retracted from him, she lowered her gaze, and continued to finish writing the end.

When Si Tingyan reached the desk, Cheng Mi had just finished copying down the homework summary. She didn’t get up to return his seat, but looked up to meet his gaze.

The sky outside was still gloomy, the green foliage covered with a damp chill, making Si Tingyan’s face appear somewhat indifferent.

Cheng Mi handed him the test paper in her hand, her tone relaxed: “I’ve copied it for you, tonight’s homework.”

Si Tingyan looked down at it for a moment, then shifted his gaze away: “I don’t need it.”

He then picked up his school bag and began to pack the items on his desk.

Cheng Mi didn’t ask why, only withdrew her hand: “Is that so?”

But she didn’t take it back herself. Instead, she opened one of his textbooks and casually slipped the test paper inside.

Si Tingyan happened to reach out to grab a nearby exercise book, and his hand almost touched hers. He paused, ignored her, and moved around to grab other things.

Cheng Mi glanced at his hand, then withdrew her own.

Humans are naturally gossipy. Many classmates around them occasionally glanced over, almost pressing their ears to listen.

Cheng Mi wasn’t affected by their gazes, her attention focused on Si Tingyan.

She finally understood why Si Tingyan didn’t need a summary of his homework. If she remembered correctly, Si Tingyan had only glanced at the test paper in her hand just now.

But the items he put into his school bag were exactly what she had copied for him, not missing a single one.

Even though he deliberately messed up the order, he clearly remembered everything, though he didn’t seem to genuinely want to remember it; it was simply because his memory was too good.

Cheng Mi watched Si Tingyan put his physics workbook, math test papers, and English test papers into his school bag—

Then, after rummaging through the stack of test papers and exercises on the desk and failing to find a certain test paper, his hand paused.

Cheng Mi took it all in, knowing he had realized.

Si Tingyan’s eyes looked at her.

Cheng Mi wore an irregular tin-foil gold earring in her ear, with a wrinkled baroque pearl dangling beneath it. It swayed slightly as she looked up into his eyes.

Despite the overcast weather, her eyes remained undimmed, clear as water.

Her red lips possessed the ability to unleash desire, even though she did nothing, appearing even elegant and gentle.

Si Tingyan didn’t speak, just looked at her.

Even though he was as indifferent as usual, he seemed to see right through her.

Cheng Mi, however, acted as if she had never seen the chemistry workbook she had placed under the desk, asking gently: “What’s wrong?”

She said: “Are you looking for something? Do you want me to help you find it?”

This statement was already very clear. Cheng Mi knew Si Tingyan understood.

The chemistry workbook was right there in the desk. If he asked, Cheng Mi would get it for him. Or, he could walk over and get it from under the desk himself.

But Cheng Mi miscalculated.

Si Tingyan didn’t speak as she had expected. His tone was somewhat aloof.

“Nothing’s missing.”

Cheng Mi was a little surprised, but not overly so. Si Tingyan was just like that; although he seemed like a good student, in reality, his personality wouldn’t allow others to manipulate him.

Cheng Mi watched him finish packing his things and asked him: “Going home?”

Si Tingyan’s eyes were utterly different from Cheng Mi’s, dark and devoid of any hint of a smile.

But not outwardly showing emotion didn’t mean he looked harmless; on the contrary, most people would be deterred from looking him directly in the eye by the aloofness within them.

Cheng Mi was not one of those people. Since she had met Si Tingyan, she had never avoided his gaze.

Just like now, she neither dodged nor avoided, meeting his gaze directly, waiting for Si Tingyan to reply.

“Go back by yourself,” he said indifferently.

Cheng Mi hadn’t expected that answer.

She looked at him, her tone unhurried: “I’m here for a reason, you should know.”

A seasoned player in love, one sentence from her could make anyone unable to resist, advancing or retreating were both her traps.

Cheng Mi had to admit Si Tingyan was very clever.

He didn’t fall into her trap. His eyes left her face, and he didn’t reply to her at all.

Cheng Mi watched him reach for a competition textbook and asked: “Leaving?”

Si Tingyan pulled up his school bag, his voice emotionless: “Don’t follow me.”

Then he turned and left the classroom.

Cheng Mi watched his retreating figure, not rushing to follow. She casually flipped open one of his test papers, took a picture with her phone, and after getting up from his seat, didn’t forget to take the chemistry test paper from under the desk.

As she stood up, the corner of her school bag brushed against something, and something fell out of the desk drawer. Small, fragmented solids and plastic collided, clattering onto the floor.

Cheng Mi looked down. A white medicine bottle lay on the ground, somewhat familiar.

In less than half a second, Cheng Mi remembered where she had seen it. The first time she met Si Tingyan, she had stumbled upon him taking medicine in the living room.

At that time, that same white medicine bottle had been beside him.

Back then, when she first arrived in Fengxun, she knew nothing about Si Tingyan or Si Huiru, and naturally didn’t know what illness Si Tingyan was taking medicine for.

She only knew it wasn’t a minor illness, because Si Tingyan’s physical foundation showed he had been plagued by the root of the illness for a long time. Even though his aura was cold and gloomy, building a high wall around him, his frailness couldn’t be hidden.

Now, Cheng Mi knew that Si Tingyan had congenital heart disease.

Si Tingyan’s back had already disappeared from the doorway. Cheng Mi didn’t intend to call him back. She withdrew her gaze, gathering the medicine bottle and the chemistry workbook into one hand.

Only then did she stand up and follow him out of the classroom.