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This area was near the school zone, and there weren’t many cars out at night. Drivers usually gave way to students when they saw them.
Liang Qian had barely turned his head when Chen Yang was already across the street.
“Is our Brother Yang really falling for her?” Zhao Mingri rested his hand on Liang Qian’s shoulder, puzzled. “Isn’t this too fast? True love at first sight?”
She was indeed beautiful, but there were plenty of pretty girls. Lin Xin Qiao wasn’t bad either, yet she didn’t catch his eye.
Could it be that he was into this type?
Liang Qian brushed off his hand. “Think about how many times he’s made exceptions—sending her home, helping her carry books. Do you think he’s doing charity work? He definitely has an interest, but I don’t think it’s as simple as love at first sight.”
That was his intuition, but whether it was true or not, you couldn’t ask him directly.
“Alright, alright, hurry up and follow.”
“I want to see how Brother Yang flirts. He’s been flirting for so long and hasn’t even told her his name yet.”
“You don’t understand—it’s all about the charm.”
It was nearing early autumn, and the weather had started to cool down. The occasional gust of wind brought a slight chill.
Le Ya didn’t expect to bump into that girl again after coming out, and now she had tripped over something.
She had been carrying a lot of things, and when she tripped, she hadn’t seen anything clearly. She fell, though luckily her balance wasn’t too bad—she didn’t fall over, but everything dropped to the ground.
The girl stood to one side. “Oh, sorry about that.”
Le Ya ignored her and focused on picking up her things. She felt there was nothing worth discussing with someone like her.
“Didn’t you tell me to apologize before?”
A voice came from above.
Le Ya stopped gathering her items. “You bumped into me earlier, and I didn’t make a big deal of it. This time was clearly intentional. Did I offend you?”
She wasn’t stupid; how could such deliberate actions be considered accidental?
Before the girl could respond, a boy suddenly appeared by the roadside. She immediately batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. “It was an accident.”
Her tone changed completely, leaving Le Ya utterly confused.
It was the first time she realized how much a person’s voice could vary.
Before Le Ya could stand up, she heard a sharp “Ah!” followed by the girl falling in front of her, her glasses dropping off.
Le Ya stepped back slightly and saw Chen Yang lazily pulling back his foot.
Le Ya frowned but still said, “Thank you.”
Chen Yang plucked the fallen drawing paper from the ground and unfolded it in front of him. “Do you never speak up when you’re being bullied?”
The paper showed an apple, unfinished but already shaped.
Le Ya retorted, “I do.”
Chen Yang nodded. “You do.”
Le Ya thought his response sounded dismissive, but she couldn’t find the words to counter him, so she chose to remain silent.
The girl on the ground had gotten up and was about to approach when she saw Chen Yang turn his head. His dark eyes exuded a threatening aura.
She stamped her feet and ran off.
Le Ya gathered her things, stood up, and noticed the drawing paper in Chen Yang’s hand. “Give that back to me.”
Chen Yang flicked the paper and handed it to her.
He looked so nonchalant, yet inexplicably attracted the attention of passersby. Some who walked by couldn’t help but glance over.
Le Ya quickly reached out to take it.
Unexpectedly, before she could touch the paper, everything in her arms was snatched away, startling her into a small cry: “What are you doing?”
Meeting Chen Yang’s gaze, she hurriedly averted her eyes.
Le Ya asked softly, “What do you want to do?”
The load was heavy for her but light as a feather for Chen Yang, effortless to handle.
Chen Yang spoke indifferently, “Give me your bag.”
Le Ya hesitated, gripping her bag tightly at first, then reluctantly handing it over after seeing his furrowed brow.
The place where their fingertips touched felt like ice compared to the warmth of her hands.
Though Le Ya’s own hands were warm, she felt as if she had been burned and quickly pulled back.
Chen Yang hooked his finger, catching the nearly falling strap. “Did you think I could retrieve it through the air?”
Le Ya blushed under his teasing.
Not knowing what to say, she simply walked forward. After taking just one step, her collar was tugged again.
Chen Yang lightly hooked it and leaned in. “You still owe me a meal.”
Le Ya wriggled free from his grasp, covering her slightly heated ears. “...Don’t talk so close.”
Chen Yang chuckled. “I’m worried you won’t hear me.”
Hearing this, Le Ya released her hands, pointed to her hearing aid, and earnestly said, “I can hear.”
She turned sideways, pushed aside her hair, revealing her clean white earlobe and the small hearing aid embedded inside.
The girl was completely unguarded, her face fresh and innocent, her lips slightly parted, and her fair skin showing tiny hairs.
Chen Yang’s Adam’s apple moved.
Facing him like this, he felt a sudden urge to act.
Le Ya heard the person beside her sigh deeply.
She didn’t understand, but it didn’t stop her thoughts. “I have to go home for dinner tonight. How about I treat you to milk tea instead?”
Chen Yang didn’t answer.
Le Ya thought for a moment. “If you don’t like milk tea, tell me what you like to eat, and I’ll...”
Before she finished, Chen Yang interrupted, “Just milk tea.”
Le Ya glanced up at him and quickly turned her head. “There’s a milk tea shop across the street. Do you want to go?”
Chen Yang smirked. “No, not today.”
Le Ya was taken aback and instinctively asked, “Then when?”
“When I feel like it, I’ll come find you.” Chen Yang said.
Since he put it that way, Le Ya naturally couldn’t refuse. After all, he had helped her greatly before, despite his later misbehavior.
Chen Yang gathered the items. “If you don’t leave soon, the bus will arrive.”
Le Ya cried out softly, watching him with no intention of returning her things, unable to remind him. She could only follow him.
The bus stop wasn’t far. When they reached the sign, a bus arrived just in time.
There weren’t many people inside. Le Ya turned around and hesitantly said, “You... give my things back to me.”
Chen Yang didn’t speak, just looked at her, allowing the girl to take everything back, her arms full once more.
Le Ya got on the bus and placed her things on an empty seat nearby. Unintentionally turning her head, she saw the figure outside the window.
She rubbed her hands—they had accidentally touched earlier.
Are boys’ hands always this cold?
The bus began to move forward. Just as it was about to pass Chen Yang, Le Ya opened the window and softly said, “Thank you.”
Chen Yang replied meaningfully, “You’re welcome.”
In the time it took to say those words, the bus had already accelerated away from the stop. Le Ya closed the window.
...
Not far behind, Liang Qian and Zhao Mingri were nearly laughing uncontrollably.
Liang Qian said, “Wow, I never knew Brother Yang drank milk tea.”
Zhao Mingri replied, “Your memory is poor. He’s never drunk it before. Remember that time when a girl sent milk tea every day, and in the end, it all went into our stomachs.”
At that, Liang Qian remembered.
Back in sophomore year, a freshman girl had seen Chen Yang and started sending milk tea to Class Seventeen every day, changing flavors daily.
Chen Yang never drank any, and eventually, they all ended up drinking it. Liang Qian and others had reminded her, but she didn’t listen. Everyone in Class Seventeen had tasted a few cups.
Presumably, after seeing no effect, she stopped sending it halfway through the semester.
Liang Qian stroked his chin. “That girl was also this type. Why the stark difference in treatment?”
Just then, Chen Yang had actively taken her things and even escorted her to the bus. It couldn’t be a casual favor. If anyone said he had no ulterior motive, he wouldn’t believe it even if they swore.
Zhao Mingri said, “What’s hard to understand? Brother Yang doesn’t have a shred of camaraderie in mutual assistance among classmates.”
Liang Qian clapped. “It means it’s not a classmate—it’s a sweetheart.”
The two discussed animatedly until Chen Yang turned around and walked toward them, silencing their conversation.
After half past eight, Le Ya arrived home.
Zhang Yi, who had just finished cooking, came out to take the things from her arms. “Why did you come back so late today?”
Le Ya said, “I took the bus back myself.”
“You should have called earlier. Carrying so many things must have been exhausting. The driver should have picked you up. Wash your hands quickly; dinner will be ready soon.”
Le Ya acknowledged.
She brought everything upstairs. Her art class was in two weeks, and these materials would be needed then.
The last item was the drawing paper.
Le Ya smoothed the paper on the desk, thinking about tonight’s events, sighed while resting her chin on her hand. “He’s helped me twice.”
She had to repay him for those two times.
Thinking about it, Le Ya suddenly realized she hadn’t asked for his name. She patted her head, only remembering that his class was Class Seventeen.
She wrinkled her nose, recalling the incident in the washroom.
Le Ya remembered him cornering her and forcing her to say those words—it was terrifying.
Perhaps it was better not to know his name. After treating him to milk tea, they wouldn’t need any further interaction.
She stored the drawing paper and opened her phone.
There were five packages in total. The online logistics had already shipped them. Le Ya calculated that they should arrive one by one next week.
By then, she wondered if Chen Yang would be surprised.
...
It suddenly rained for two days over the weekend, and Monday morning dawned clear.
To avoid getting wet, Le Ya still brought an umbrella when she left. Every time she saw it, she thought of the rabbit-patterned umbrella she lent out and never got back, which always made her grit her teeth.
Before class, Xie Qingyu complained to her, “My brother seems to be dating someone. I heard him talking on the phone, and his voice sounded strange.”
Le Ya said, “Your brother is in college now. That’s normal.”
Xie Qingyu said, “It’s normal, but I’m just feeling sentimental. I’m still stuck in lonely high school. I want to date too.”
Le Ya smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.
Xie Qingyu was about to say more when the math teacher entered with his book. They quickly sat down.
Teacher Zhou placed his things down. “Last month’s exam papers didn’t get full marks in our main campus, but the new campus did. I borrowed their papers; pass them around.”
The highest score in the main campus was two points short.
Upon hearing this result, the classroom gasped in surprise, then became very curious about who the student was.
Hearing about the perfect math score, Le Ya instinctively recalled the name she saw on the grade sheet.
If she remembered correctly, Chen Yang had scored full marks.
Teacher Zhou passed the test paper down. “Look at how others achieved full marks. In our class, ten people failed, and the lowest score was in the teens. Even if I guessed blindly, I couldn’t get that score.”
The failing students quietly rebutted, “You’re a teacher; of course, your guesses would be better than that.”
Teacher Zhou sneered. “Still daring to be cheeky.”
The classroom quieted down. The seating arrangement was two desks together, and each pair had less than a minute to look.
Many just took the paper and passed it to the next person without paying attention or examining it closely.
Soon it was Le Ya’s turn.
“After you’ve all looked, give the test paper to the class representative, and return it to Class Seventeen. Don’t forget.” Teacher Zhou said, “Now take out your books, and we’ll continue with the problem we covered halfway last time.”
Le Ya happened to be the math class representative.
Since it was the last stop here, she didn’t look at it and sent it to the back. About ten minutes later, the test paper returned to her hands.
Xie Qingyu whispered from behind, “See, we weren’t wrong. Such neat handwriting must belong to someone like our class committee member.”
The committee member was a boy wearing 800-degree glasses.
Le Ya nodded and unfolded the test paper.
On the left column, the name “Chen Yang” was written horizontally. Comparing it with the subsequent solution writing, the name was somewhat scribbled but very handsome.
Seeing the handwriting, Le Ya had a soft spot for people with good penmanship.
Although math required few words, it was evident that he was very serious. Each stroke was neat and bold, with distinct edges.
It seemed like the kind of handwriting that came from years of practicing calligraphy.
Leaving the surface, Le Ya’s attention was drawn to the problem-solving approach.
She loved math. People with meticulous thinking naturally had excellent logic, possessing unparalleled charm.
Among various problems, she liked geometry-related ones the most, which was when she truly fell in love with math.
His problem-solving approach was concise yet perfectly appropriate.
Since the test paper had been explained last week and she had lost a few points herself, she specifically flipped to that question.
Le Ya was so absorbed that she unconsciously began writing along with his method. Realizing it, she quickly erased it.
Fortunately, she had been using a pencil earlier; otherwise, it wouldn’t have erased.
Until the bell rang for the end of class.
Xie Qingyu in the back row was extremely excited, tapping her desk. “You haven’t finished looking at the test paper in one class period?”
Le Ya folded the test paper, blushing. “I’ve finished.”
“Finished is good,” Xie Qingyu leaned closer. “Hurry up, let’s return the test paper. This way, we can openly see what he looks like.”
It had been a week, and they still hadn’t seen him. She was almost dying of impatience.
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