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Le Ya was truly mortified.

Her actions had been so silly—she shouldn’t have listened to him and should have just taken it out herself.

Fortunately, there were no lights here, which allowed her to conceal her embarrassment. Otherwise, she would’ve blushed furiously on the spot.

Le Ya stole a glance at Chen Yang across from her.

Even in the dim light, his features were still clearly visible. The shadows accentuated his high nose bridge and sharp, handsome contours.

However, holding a spoon like that seemed somewhat out of place.

Looking at this scene, Le Ya felt like laughing, but realizing she couldn’t, she suppressed it and secretly enjoyed the moment in her heart.

She quickly snatched the spoon from Chen Yang’s hand.

Chen Yang glanced at her. “Aren’t you going to say thank you?”

Le Ya widened her eyes and timidly said, “Thank you.”

Chen Yang found her voice incredibly pleasant when she spoke like this—soft and delicate, evoking a desire to tease her.

Le Ya swiftly pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her mouth, moving so fast that no one around noticed what she was doing.

Chen Yang chuckled softly.

Hearing the laughter above her head, Le Ya’s ears grew hot.

After shifting his gaze from the paper bag in her hand, Chen Yang, in a good mood, asked, “Was the cake delicious?”

Should she say it or not? Le Ya hesitated.

If she said it was delicious, he’d definitely become smug. If she said it wasn’t, it would be disrespectful since someone had sent it.

Le Ya could only answer truthfully: “Delicious.”

After all, it really was delicious.

Le Ya silently criticized herself in her mind. How could she be so easily won over by a simple cake? But now that she had already finished eating it, there was no point in dwelling on it.

Chen Yang stood in front of her, hands in his pockets.

Passing students couldn’t help but glance at him, their gazes then naturally falling on Le Ya.

Le Ya could easily sense this and wanted to leave.

Chen Yang curved his lips slightly but didn’t say anything.

Suddenly, Liang Qian appeared behind them, empty-handed and carefree. “Brother Yang, why are you still not leaving?”

Once he stopped, he noticed Le Ya in front of him and greeted her with a smile. “Hello?”

Le Ya vividly remembered his bright red hair. She also saw the yellow-haired classmate behind him approaching.

She politely responded, “Hello.”

Liang Qian was about to say something else when he noticed Chen Yang walking away. He quickly chased after him.

“Brother Yang, why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

From the corner of her eye, Le Ya could still see his long legs striding past her side before disappearing.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit confused.

Had he come just to ask such a simple question?

Many people had already left the school grounds. When Le Ya turned around again, she saw Chen Yang’s figure disappearing at the school gate.

An undeniable charm surrounded him that drew attention.

Xie Qingyu, who had been watching for a while, was shocked. “What’s going on? What does it matter to him whether the cake was good or not? Is he worried about whether you liked it?”

Le Ya didn’t have time to respond.

Xie Qingyu guessed again, “Could it be because he saw you eating earlier and got curious?”

Seeing Xie Qingyu’s wild imagination, Le Ya couldn’t hold back anymore and tugged at her. “No, it’s not like that.”

Xie Qingyu asked, “Then what is it?”

Le Ya hesitated for a moment. “The cake… was from him…”

“He sent it?” Xie Qingyu blurted out, then immediately realized what she had said. She was astonished. “He sent it?”

Le Ya nodded slightly.

Xie Qingyu took a deep breath. “I thought it was from your dad. No wonder you didn’t say anything at the time—it makes sense now.”

She carefully recalled the moment. Le Ya’s expression hadn’t seemed quite right then, but she hadn’t paid much attention. Now, looking back, she realized Le Ya must have been stunned.

Le Ya said, “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

Xie Qingyu laughed. “I’m not. Why are you in such a hurry to explain?”

Le Ya’s face warmed up as she glanced at her family’s car. “I’m not talking about this anymore. I need to go home.”

“You look like you’re feeling guilty,” Xie Qingyu teased. Seeing Le Ya about to get upset, she quickly added, “Alright, alright, I won’t say anything else. Go ahead and head back.”

Le Ya said, “Be safe.”

Xie Qingyu waved her hand dismissively.

Every night, her older brother came to pick her up, so she felt completely secure.

By the time Le Ya arrived home, it was already 10:40 PM.

Senior year students were already accustomed to this schedule. Evening self-study ended at 10 PM, and some students who lived farther away stayed even longer.

Her family had already prepared a late-night snack.

Before returning home, Le Ya had eaten an entire small cake, so her stomach was still full. She wasn’t hungry at all.

At the table, Le Yi Jian noticed her taking small bites and asked, “Why don’t you have an appetite today? Don’t want to eat?”

Le Ya shook her head. “I ate snacks at school.”

Le Yi Jian said, “Snacks aren’t good for your health. Try to eat less of them.”

“Mm.” Le Ya explained further, “It was just a small cake.”

Cakes weren’t too bad, so Le Yi Jian nodded and didn’t say anything else. He finished the last sip of his soup.

After dinner, Le Ya was about to run upstairs.

Le Yi Jian called out to her: “Yueya.”

Le Ya stopped and asked, puzzled, “What is it?”

Looking at his obedient daughter, Le Yi Jian thought for a moment before speaking. “This weekend is your grandmother’s birthday.”

Le Ya’s previously good mood plummeted.

Le Yi Jian asked, “Do you want to go?”

If she didn’t want to, he wouldn’t force her. After all, the past events had nothing to do with her—she was an innocent victim.

Le Ya stood at the stairway entrance, her toes nervously touching each other.

The house remained silent for a long while until Aunt Zhang came out to clear the table, breaking the tension.

Le Ya said, “Let’s go.”

Hearing this response, Le Yi Jian was a bit surprised because her answer now was completely opposite from her previous responses to the same question.

He stepped forward and patted Le Ya’s head. “Dad will be there with you.”

Le Ya softly hummed in acknowledgment, gave him a quick hug, then let go. “I’m going back to my room.”

Le Yi Jian nodded. “Go ahead.”

Only after returning to her room did Le Ya’s smile gradually fade.

She sat at her desk for a few minutes, then opened a locked drawer, pulling out a notebook.

The notebook was beautiful and cute—something only a child would have.

Le Ya reached out to touch it, then slowly opened it. Though this exquisite notebook had only a couple hundred pages to write on, most of it was filled with illustrations.

The first few dozen pages were already filled with her writing.

From elementary school onward, her childish handwriting and lively language reflected her fluctuating moods—writing whatever came to mind.

When she first received the notebook, she wrote two full pages praising her mother to the skies, then tucked in a photograph.

This was the happiest time of her life.

Later, many pages were torn out, leaving only a few sheets of writing. Eventually, she stopped writing altogether.

Le Ya carefully retrieved the photograph from the notebook. It was already torn but had been clumsily taped back together by her—it was crooked and far from pretty.

All three people in the photo were smiling happily.

This was the last gift her mother had given her.

Le Ya took a deep breath and closed the notebook again.

________________________________________

On Friday, Class One held another weekly exam.

These small exams were prepared by their own class, not the entire grade, so the schedule was tight—they could finish all subjects in a single day.

Fortunately, they were used to taking exams.

At noon, Le Ya and Xie Qingyu ate lunch in the cafeteria.

The food at school was cheaper than outside, so many students chose to eat there. With the addition of middle school and grades 10 and 11, the cafeteria was bustling with people.

While waiting in line, Xie Qingyu gossiped with Le Ya about recent events.

For instance, who fought with whom, who got caught holding hands by the discipline master, and who went into the little grove to kiss.

Le Ya listened wide-eyed.

Xie Qingyu pinched her cheek. “Don’t think the teachers are unaware. There’s plenty of hypocrisy beneath the surface.”

Le Ya said, “But the teachers don’t know.”

“See how naive you are,” Xie Qingyu teased. “Teachers know their students well. They can tell who farted in the classroom. Romantic relationships between students are crystal clear—one glance is enough.”

It all depended on whether they wanted to intervene.

Downstairs, in Class Five, there was a couple—two subject representatives who had been dating for months. Practically the whole class knew about them. How could the teachers not hear anything?

Xie Qingyu whispered, “Every teacher has their informants in the class—people who report everything.”

Le Ya smiled faintly. “Sounds like a spy drama.”

“Informer? Don’t doubt me,” Xie Qingyu said. “We have them in our class too—you just don’t know. Otherwise, why does the homeroom teacher always show up so promptly when something happens?”

Le Ya gave a soft smile but didn’t argue.

As they chatted back and forth, the queue ahead suddenly moved forward, creating a gap. At that moment, a boy walked straight into the middle of the line.

Le Ya, who had already lifted her foot to step forward, quickly pulled it back.

Why was this person cutting in line?

Xie Qingyu, already hungry, was infuriated by the sight of someone jumping the queue. She slapped the shoulder of the buzz-cut boy.

The boy turned around. “What’s your problem?”

Xie Qingyu said, “You’re cutting in line!”

There were only seven or eight people ahead of them before it was their turn, and now this extra person made them wait an additional minute.

The boy retorted smugly, “Where does it say we have to queue up here?”

Even Le Ya, with her calm temperament, couldn’t help but say, “Everyone here is queuing up. Even if you don’t want to queue, why cut in line?”

Though the school didn’t enforce queuing, almost everyone followed the unspoken rule. With over ten windows, orderly lines formed naturally—a tacit agreement among students.

“It’s none of my business if others queue,” the boy shot back, standing casually. “So what if I cut in line? Is letting me in really going to kill you?”

As they argued, two more people moved forward in the queue.

Xie Qingyu was absolutely livid. “I’ve never seen someone as uncouth as you. Are you seriously from the same school as me?”

Her voice carried, drawing the attention of those around them.

But bystanders generally minded their own business. As long as it didn’t affect them, no one stepped in. Moreover, the boy looked tall and strong—not someone to provoke easily.

Most students at First High School were relatively well-behaved.

The boy glanced around, feeling irritated. He snapped, “Look at my temper today—I’m cutting in line no matter what. What are you going to do about it? If you don’t like it, go to the back and wait.”

Xie Qingyu was fuming.

Le Ya wanted to scold him, but she’d never sworn before. She knew a few curse words she’d heard but couldn’t bring herself to say them.

Xie Qingyu blurted out, “Are you rushing to reincarnate? Cutting in line for food? If you’re so great, why don’t you cut straight to the front?”

Her loud voice caused the boy’s expression to darken.

Especially since her words drew even more attention from the surrounding crowd. His face flushed with embarrassment. All because of cutting in line?

He reached out to grab someone’s hair.

Le Ya, standing closest, was startled. “Are you planning to hit someone?”

Before she could react, her collar was tugged backward, causing her to stumble into a hard chest.

Le Ya didn’t even have time to gasp.

Suddenly, a tray flew through the air, covering the boy’s face entirely.

The situation unfolded so quickly that many people didn’t even process it.

The tray clattered to the ground, and the boy’s face was drenched in soup, with two pieces of vegetables hanging off his nose. The scene was comical and absurd, completely erasing his earlier arrogance.

An eerie silence fell over the area.

Liang Qian’s anguished voice rang out from behind. “That was my lunch! Chen Yang, you maniac—why didn’t you use your own tray?”

The name wasn’t unfamiliar at First High School.

Le Ya’s nose was enveloped in a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Then Chen Yang’s voice sounded above her head: “So eager to eat? Let me treat you.”

Before Le Ya could get up, whispers erupted from the neighboring queue. “Is that really Chen Yang?”

“Didn’t you hear what he just said?”

“Wow, I’ve never seen Chen Yang lose his temper like this. I wonder what’ll happen next.”