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Chen Yang’s words were perplexing.

Le Ya followed his gaze and noticed the red marks on her hand, which she had pinched in the office earlier. They hadn’t completely faded yet, but there was no injury—just redness.

It didn’t hurt anyway, so she pulled her hand back and casually said, “I accidentally did it myself. It’s nothing, no injury.”

Chen Yang stared at her.

Only a fool would believe he didn’t know how those marks came to be. While he didn’t understand why she did it, he quickly deduced that it must be related to today’s events.

Chen Yang asked, “Because of last night?”

Le Ya hid her hand behind her back. “No.”

Chen Yang watched her deny it but had already made up his mind internally.

The washroom remained quiet for a long while. Le Ya grew restless and thought about leaving when she suddenly heard Chen Yang’s voice: “I’m sorry.”

Le Ya couldn’t help but look up.

This seemed to be the first time she’d heard Chen Yang apologize so earnestly. In the past, no matter what mischief he caused, he’d only tease her.

Her hands behind her back twitched slightly.

Chen Yang reached out and ruffled her hair, explaining, “They didn’t capture any photos, and I didn’t say anything reckless to the teacher. There won’t be any trouble.”

Le Ya’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Chen Yang nodded. “Really.”

Le Ya’s mood instantly improved. Though she still wasn’t entirely pleased with yesterday’s incident, her impression of Chen Yang rose significantly.

She patted his chest lightly. “Alright, I got it. I need to go back to class now. Move aside, will you?”

Her tone was natural.

Chen Yang, still caught up in the realization that “the little girl seems unusually cheerful today and even smiled at him,” automatically stepped aside a bit.

Through the small gap, Le Ya slipped out.

Once she was far enough away, Chen Yang finally snapped out of his daze. He found himself puzzled by how easily he had let her go just moments ago.

________________________________________

In Class One, students were already comparing answers.

The English teacher had already written out the answers to yesterday’s exam, and most of the multiple-choice questions were listed on the board.

After checking her answers, Xie Qingyu screamed in excitement, “Oh my god, I actually scored over ninety this time! If I add the essay score, I might even break a hundred! Hahahaha, I’m so happy!”

Her English used to be poor, but after studying with Le Ya daily—memorizing, asking questions, and practicing—she had improved significantly.

Seeing Le Ya return, Xie Qingyu excitedly exclaimed, “Yue Ya, did you hear? I’ve finally broken the hundred-point barrier!”

Le Ya smiled. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you! Let me treat you to a meal,” Xie Qingyu replied before snapping back to reality. “Oh, right, where did you go just now? Why are you only returning now?”

Le Ya sat down. “I went to the teacher’s office.”

Xie Qingyu hadn’t thought much of it initially, but upon seeing Le Ya’s expression, she suddenly recalled the events of last night and whispered, “Is it because of what happened last night?”

Le Ya nodded but then realized her mistake and quickly shook her head, emphasizing, “Nothing happened last night.”

Xie Qingyu: “...”

How adorably naive.

A while later, Zhou Xiaoqing strolled past the aisle, speaking in a tone neither too loud nor too soft, “Some people appear so pure on the surface, but behind closed doors, they do all sorts of things. Sigh, even the teachers’ eyesight has failed them.”

She walked back and forth at least five or six times, each time rephrasing the same sentiment.

Even someone as oblivious as Le Ya could tell Zhou Xiaoqing was talking about her.

When Zhou Xiaoqing came around again, Le Ya put down her pen and couldn’t resist remarking, “If you applied this much effort during exams, your sentence transformation wouldn’t have scored zero.”

Zhou Xiaoqing: ???

Xie Qingyu, who had been itching to lash out, burst into laughter upon hearing this. After Zhou Xiaoqing stormed off in anger, Xie Qingyu remarked, “Yue Ya, your comebacks have gotten so sharp.”

Not a single curse word, yet she managed to infuriate someone into leaving.

Le Ya smiled faintly. “It’s nothing, really.”

Xie Qingyu said, “You don’t understand the joy of such sharp-tongued banter. Making someone so mad they want to throw up blood is fun—it takes real skill.”

Le Ya was reminded of Chen Yang.

She had often been driven to the brink of frustration by him, unable to retort effectively. Now, she finally understood the satisfaction of this feeling.

In Class Seventeen, Chen Yang, who had just sat down, felt an itch in his nose.

________________________________________

Two days later, the results for all subjects were released.

Le Ya had already cross-checked many answers beforehand, so she had a rough idea of her score. However, seeing her rank as fifth in the grade still brought her some joy.

Xie Qingyu clasped her face in excitement. “This ranking includes both campuses, Yue Ya. Being fifth is incredible! I need to learn from you.”

Le Ya stapled her test papers together for future review of mistakes and replied, “You’ve improved a lot too.”

Xie Qingyu giggled. “Of course, it’s all thanks to you.”

As expected, the top rank still belonged to Chen Yang.

Though Le Ya didn’t fully understand why Chen Yang was so exceptional, she couldn’t help but feel admiration—a sense of respect for academically gifted students.

This admiration quietly softened her previous impressions of him, layer by layer.

Senior Three’s curriculum was intense, and in the blink of an eye, mid-December arrived.

Winter was drawing nearer, and the weather grew colder. Many students had already donned their down jackets, leaving their school uniforms forgotten.

Le Ya, who was sensitive to the cold, had dressed warmly early on.

As Christmas approached, another simple weekly exam concluded. The class monitor entered the classroom with an excited expression.

He stood on the podium and clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention before announcing, “This year’s Christmas celebration will be the same as last year’s, also known as the New Year’s Eve party. In other words, anyone who wants to sign up can do so now.”

Cheers erupted from below.

“Finally, something fun is happening! I love it when we don’t have class. Can we have a class party this time?”

“I’ll just quietly watch everyone perform.”

“Anyway, I don’t have any talents. Class representative for Chinese, you should go up! Don’t you know how to play the guitar?”

“Hahahaha, I’ll perform breaking bricks on my chest. Everyone, remember to check if I need to go to the hospital afterward.”

Xie Qingyu didn’t want to perform and turned to ask, “Yue Ya, do you want to perform?”

Le Ya was taken aback. “I don’t have anything to perform.”

She had learned piano years ago, but that was long in the past. Now she was learning to paint—she couldn’t exactly go on stage and say, “I’ll perform painting for everyone,” could she?

Xie Qingyu rested her chin on her hand. “Then let’s just watch others perform.”

The class monitor continued speaking. This year, the school had learned from other schools. Due to the New Year holiday, the school-wide party would be held first. On the night before the holiday, each class would hold their own party.

Every class could participate.

This arrangement allowed students time to attend the school-wide event and still have a blast the night before the break—it was very considerate.

Xie Qingyu said, “This year, it’s with the new campus. Who knows what new performances there will be? It has to be more fun than last year.”

Le Ya thought about it. “It should be better.”

More choices meant higher novelty.

When Le Ya went to the washroom to fill her water bottle, she ran into Chen Yang and Liang Qian as usual. Chen Yang was leaning against the railing, and Liang Qian had just come out of the washroom.

Seeing her, Liang Qian let out an amused whistle.

Le Ya exchanged a glance with Chen Yang before entering the washroom.

After the previous incident, her interactions with Chen Yang had decreased. Every time their eyes met, she couldn’t help but recall the moment when he ruffled her hair.

Just as she finished filling her bottle, capped it, and stood up, she suddenly felt an icy sensation on her neck, causing her to shiver. “Ah!”

Turning around, she saw Chen Yang’s gesture and accused, “So cold! What are you doing, Chen Yang?”

Her voice was soft and pleasant, making it hard to stay annoyed.

Chen Yang casually withdrew his hand, the lingering warmth on his fingers prompting him to silently sigh.

Seeing the wary look in her eyes, he smiled faintly and reminded her, “Class is about to start.”

Le Ya glared at him and quickly ran off.

Christmas Eve soon arrived.

The classroom was filled with Christmas cheer. The blackboard was adorned with beautifully written English greetings of “Merry Christmas,” and balloons were even tied beside it.

The fruit shop near the school gate launched a “Peace Apple” promotion, drawing a steady stream of students and raking in profits.

By evening, it was already dark outside. Le Ya was dragged by Xie Qingyu to buy a few exquisitely wrapped apples.

“We’re basically exchanging apples with ourselves—hahaha.” Xie Qingyu swapped one with her and laughed. “Hahaha.”

Le Ya held the bag and said, “Let’s hurry back to the warm air conditioning.”

It was freezing outside. The classroom had been heated all day, keeping it warm. She rarely ventured out these days.

The classroom buzzed with excitement.

Several apples had appeared on Le Ya’s desk, left by unknown admirers.

She could guess who some of them were, then distributed her own apples to those she wanted to give to, leaving one extra.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her desk drawer.

Opening it, she saw a new message on WeChat.

Chen Yang: Come out.

He had sent a location.

After finally changing his nickname in her contacts after their last encounter, seeing this message made her heart inexplicably skip a beat.

“I also received one. I asked many classmates, and none of them admitted to it,” Xie Qingyu was chatting with Su Hui.

Su Hui said, “Maybe someone has a crush on you.”

“Maybe,” Xie Qingyu nodded and glanced at Su Hui’s desk. “Who sent that one? I think I saw Su Cheng come over in the evening…”

Le Ya no longer heard the rest.

There were still twenty minutes before class started, so going out now wouldn’t be a problem. After some thought, she took the remaining apple from her desk drawer.

As soon as she stepped out of the classroom, the cold wind rushed in. Her breath turned into white mist, then quickly disappeared.

Following the location, she found herself outside the Senior Three teaching building. However, upon arrival, there was no one in sight.

Le Ya stood there, sending a slightly aggrieved text to Chen Yang: “I’m here. Why aren’t you?”

It was freezing outside.

Just as she was about to look up, she heard Chen Yang’s voice behind her: “Don’t move. Something landed on your back.”

Le Ya froze. “What is it?”

Chen Yang didn’t reply. She could only sense that he seemed to be doing something, though it felt like nothing at all.

After a while, Chen Yang said, “Done.”

Le Ya turned around but didn’t notice anything unusual. She hid the apple behind her back and asked, “Why did you call me out here?”

Chen Yang kept his hands in his pockets. “No particular reason.”

Le Ya was utterly confused and unconsciously scolded him, “On such a cold day, you called me out for no reason?”

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

She shoved the apple into his arms and murmured, “I’m going back. Next time, don’t call me out like this.”

Chen Yang caught it—it was quite a large apple.

Le Ya said, “Happy Christmas Eve.”

She turned to leave but was suddenly immobilized. Chen Yang had reached out from behind and embraced her.

Trapped in his arms, she dared not move. It took her a full minute to snap out of it. “Chen Yang, let go.”

Chen Yang said, “Don’t move.”

Le Ya could feel his face pressed close to her ear, even hearing his breaths brushing against her earlobe, warm and humid.

She was so slim that even in her down jacket, she felt his arms sinking slightly.

Chen Yang didn’t make any other excessive moves. He deeply inhaled, catching the faint scent of her—like poppies.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally released her. “You can go now.”

Le Ya stole a glance at him. Seeing that Chen Yang genuinely let her go, she didn’t linger and hurried away.

Chen Yang watched her oblivious retreating figure and chuckled softly.

________________________________________

Le Ya returned to the classroom, encountering several people on the stairs. They all stared at her with strange expressions, even craning their necks to look back after passing.

She was puzzled, checking herself. Nothing seemed wrong—her clothes weren’t inside out or backwards.

Even as she reached the classroom door, she was still bewildered.

Xie Qingyu had just returned to her seat from Su Hui’s when she saw Le Ya push the door open from outside. She froze.

Le Ya closed the door, feeling the warmth envelop her. Seeing Xie Qingyu’s stunned expression, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Qingyu snapped out of it and finally blurted, “Yue Ya, didn’t you notice anything strange on your way back?”

She had been utterly shocked when she saw it earlier—never expecting such a thing—but somehow found it incredibly beautiful.

Le Ya stiffened. “What’s strange?”

Xie Qingyu covered her face, unable to bear looking directly. She reluctantly uncovered her fingers and pointed behind Le Ya. “Turn around and look above.”

Su Hui also looked over. “Wow, Le Ya, you…”

With so many strange expressions directed at her, Le Ya’s heart pounded. She had a bad feeling about this and instinctively thought of Chen Yang’s actions earlier.

Had something been discovered?

Others in the classroom also looked over, letting out small gasps.

Le Ya pursed her lips, her heart racing as she turned around and looked up. In an instant, she froze.

Her eyes took in a few thin strings stretching upward, ending in three pink bunny-shaped balloons at the top.

The other ends of the strings were tied to her collar.