The winter morning was misty and hazy. The girl’s face was bold and glamorous, her slender, slightly upturned eyes full of laughter. Ruan Mian endured the discomfort in her throat and nodded at her. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Sheng Huan responded cheerfully. A classmate nearby urged her to hurry along. She released her arm from Qi Jia’s shoulder. “I’ll go first then. I’ll come find you at your place later.”

Qi Jia’s tone was helpless. “Better if I come to your place instead, so your mom won’t nag at you again.”

“Deal.”

The girl ran off into the distance.

Ruan Mian couldn’t help turning back to look. In the dead of winter, the girl dressed lightly. Below her above-the-knee short skirt were two straight, slender legs, her figure graceful and shapely.

Qi Jia beside her paid no attention and picked up their previously interrupted conversation again.

Ruan Mian listened absentmindedly, her mind full of the girl’s words: “Chen Yi accepted my QQ friend request this morning.”

Feelings were just this unreasonable. Some people tried every possible way to hide their thoughts, while others would pursue recklessly.

She was a coward without the courage to take a step forward, but others were not.

Ruan Mian returned to the classroom, feeling the discomfort in her throat becoming increasingly obvious. She coughed while getting up with her water cup to get water.

The water room was separated from the restroom by a single wall.

Ruan Mian stood in front of the water heater coughing severely, the hand holding the cup trembling along with it. Some hot water unexpectedly spilled out.

She hurriedly pulled her hand back. The hot water poured down, crashing against the iron plate of the sink, water splashing everywhere. Fortunately, at that moment someone beside her reached out in time to turn off the faucet.

The boy’s figure blocked in front of her due to this action, the light, faint scent on him clearly discernible.

Ruan Mian couldn’t help turning her head to cough a few more times. Her cheeks quickly took on a flush—whether from coughing or from feeling embarrassed, it was unclear.

Chen Yi took the water cup from her hand, filled it about two-thirds full, and handed it over. “Have some water.”

“Thank you.” Ruan Mian took it. The insulated cup’s wall revealed no temperature. She brought it to her lips and took a small sip. The hot water slid down her throat, relieving much of the discomfort.

The window beside them wasn’t closed tightly. The howling cold wind squeezed in through the window crack, making one’s body feel cold.

“Let’s go. Class is about to start.” Chen Yi put his hands back in his coat pockets and took the lead walking toward the classroom. He didn’t walk with the slouching manner of other boys—each step was upright.

Ruan Mian fell two steps behind, walking behind him.

At that time, the winter morning sunlight lay in a thin layer, passing through the not-yet-dispersed mist and falling into the corridor. The two people, one in front and one behind, were like two strangers in a movie who brush past each other countless times but would never have any intersection.

The next day was Monday. The morning flag-raising ceremony proceeded as usual. The field was a pool of blue and white. Over the broadcast, Wu Yan was publicly disciplining students who had violated rules the previous week.

Among them was Sheng Huan, who had behaved inappropriately at the New Year’s Eve gala. The girl had changed into her school uniform, standing out particularly among a group of boys.

When her name was called over the loudspeaker, Ruan Mian heard sighing and jeering sounds all around. Some people brazenly turned their gazes to the back row of Class 1’s formation.

Jiang Rang patted Chen Yi’s shoulder, teasing: “Now that Sheng Huan has made this scene, you’re even more famous in our school.”

The boy’s casual gaze swept past the stage, his tone indifferent. “Boring.”

The voice over the loudspeaker continued. Ruan Mian, standing in the crowd, silently withdrew her gaze and looked toward the rising sun in the distance.

For a long time after that, Ruan Mian could hear things about Sheng Huan from different people—good and bad, unconventional yet bold and carefree. And Sheng Huan truly did as she said, formally launching her pursuit of Chen Yi.

Someone with her personality pursued people methodically—sending breakfast in the morning, milk tea in the afternoon, and even offering an escort service in the evening.

The “flower” being escorted was none other than Chen Yi.

Every day after evening self-study, she would report to Class 1. The arts class’s classroom was at the westernmost end of the first floor of the teaching building. Sheng Huan had to sneak out of the classroom ten minutes early each time to arrive before class ended at Class 1 of Science, located at the easternmost end of the third floor.

Despite her blatant pursuit, Chen Yi remained unmoved throughout.

The breakfasts and milk tea she sent were either thrown away or given to others. Later, to avoid her, Chen Yi even stopped attending evening self-study.

This situation continued until the end of the semester.

One week before final exams, the school began strictly monitoring each class’s evening self-study attendance rate. Absences would result in point deductions for the class. Chen Yi had no choice but to return to evening self-study.

Sheng Huan somehow obtained this information. As soon as the first study period ended, she blocked the entrance to Class 1’s classroom. “Chen Yi, come out.”

The chemistry teacher supervising the study period hadn’t left yet, but jeering sounds had already started in the classroom, and many onlookers had gathered outside.

Teacher Fang was young, his thinking not so rigid. He dropped the chalk in his hand, clapped his hands, and said with a smile: “Chen Yi, the girl has come looking for you personally. As a boy, don’t be so inconsiderate. Whatever it is, go outside and talk about it. Resolve it properly.”

The jeering inside the class mixed with cheering from outside.

Ruan Mian watched the boy stand up and walk out. The lively discussion in the corridor didn’t settle down for a long time.

She lowered her head looking at the test paper, no longer able to focus on a single problem.

Fu Guangsi, who had been her new deskmate for a month, poked her arm. “Teacher Zhou wants you to go to his office.”

“Oh, okay.” Ruan Mian came back to her senses. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Hurry and go.”

Ruan Mian walked out of the classroom. Chen Yi and Sheng Huan’s figures could no longer be seen in the corridor, leaving only gossip spreading rapidly between classes.

The last self-study period was generally supervised by the homeroom teacher. Zhou Hai handed Ruan Mian a stack of test papers: “Test papers made by Teacher Wang from the class next door. Count out our class’s portion, take them back and distribute them. We’ll do this set of papers during the last study period.”

“Okay.” Ruan Mian took them and counted them in an empty space nearby.

Zhou Hai stood up to get water and asked: “How’s your studying with Chen Yi going lately?”

Back then, she had taken Chen Yi’s words and mentioned to Zhou Hai about not going to the essay class. Zhou Hai had also learned about this from Teacher Zhao at the time and hadn’t inquired too much about it.

Ruan Mian didn’t stop her movements, keeping her head lowered as she said: “It’s alright.”

“Final exams are coming up soon. Do well on this exam and see if you can make it into the top fifty of the grade.” Zhou Hai returned to his seat and sat down. “Next semester, the school is opening a mathematics, physics, and chemistry competition class. Teacher Yan from the math group asked me to ask if you’re interested. If you go, you’ll be taking the competition and recommendation path in the future. Think about whether you have any thoughts on this?”

Ruan Mian couldn’t make up her mind for the moment. “I’d like to go back and think about it first.”

“Alright, there’s no rush anyway.” Zhou Hai smiled. “Go back and discuss it with your mother too.”

“Okay, I understand.” Ruan Mian hesitated for a few seconds and asked: “Teacher Zhou, are there other students in our class who want to sign up?”

“Not clear yet. I haven’t notified other students about this. After all, competitions aren’t something where you can win awards just by saying so. The school still needs to comprehensively evaluate students’ academic performance.”

Ruan Mian nodded, didn’t ask further, and returned to the classroom after counting the papers.

Chen Yi was already in the classroom by then. Jiang Rang and Shen Yu from the neighboring class were gathered around his desk. As Ruan Mian passed by distributing test papers, she heard them discussing where to spend this year’s winter vacation.

She placed two test papers on Chen Yi’s deskmate’s seat. Jiang Rang suddenly turned around. Seeing her holding a stack of test papers, he stood up from his seat. “Let me help you distribute them.”

Ruan Mian couldn’t really refuse. She gave him half. “Thank you.”

The two walked down the same aisle toward the back.

Jiang Rang asked: “What did Teacher Zhou want with you?”

Ruan Mian: “To get test papers. He talked about some exam matters, told me to do well on the final exams this time.”

Jiang Rang: “He’s probably worried about your Chinese and English.”

“Probably.”

“I heard you’re studying writing with Chen Yi. Do you want me to help you with English?” Jiang Rang looked at her, as if afraid of being rejected, and added: “As an exchange, how about you help me with math during winter break?”

Ruan Mian found his suggestion somewhat sudden. She neither agreed nor refused outright, only saying: “I’m not sure if I’ll be in Pingcheng this winter vacation.”

“You won’t be in Pingcheng? Where are you going?”

“I might go to my grandmother’s house. She lives in the countryside. If I go back, I probably won’t return until right before school starts.”

Mentioning family, Jiang Rang inevitably thought of the gossip about her and Zhao Shutang that had spread in class before. Afraid of touching on her painful matters, he didn’t ask further, only saying: “Then let’s talk about it later. If you don’t go back, we can contact each other?”

Ruan Mian nodded. “Okay.”

The second study period also began.

Teacher Fang didn’t explain the test papers this period. He let everyone do their own homework. After sitting in the classroom for a while, he got up and walked around twice, then had Ruan Mian’s deskmate, who was also the class monitor Fu Guangsi, come up to the podium to supervise study while he returned to the office to grade papers.

Meng Xinglan greeted Fu Guangsi and sat in her seat, speaking to Ruan Mian in a low voice: “Let me borrow this morning’s physics test paper. There’s a problem I didn’t write down.”

Ruan Mian pulled the paper from her physics book and gave it to her. “I didn’t write down the entire solution process, only the problem-solving approach.”

“That’s fine, no problem. Let me take a look first.” Meng Xinglan took it and looked at it a few times, then lay on the desk and poked Qi Jia sitting in front with her pen. “Hey!”

Qi Jia turned around, looking startled. “When did you switch over?”

“That’s not important.” Meng Xinglan had her lean in closer. “That friend of yours, Sheng Huan, is she still planning to keep pursuing Chen Yi? How many times has she been rejected already?”

Qi Jia leaned back against the desk, turned her head toward Ruan Mian’s side, and held up a book to cover her face. “She’ll definitely keep pursuing. She’s the type who won’t give up until she reaches the Yellow River. She’s determined to catch him before she’ll stop.”

As they spoke, Ruan Mian’s pen slipped, the tip dragging a black line across the test paper.

“I think it’s unlikely. Chen Yi isn’t that easy to pursue.” Meng Xinglan looked toward Ruan Mian again. “Mianmian, what do you think? Can Sheng Huan catch Chen Yi?”

Ruan Mian calmly covered the mark she’d just made with her hand. Her lips moved but made no sound.

Could she?

She didn’t know either, but she hoped not.

Everyone has a selfish side, and Ruan Mian was no exception.

She pressed her lips together. “I… don’t know.”

Meng Xinglan shook her head and sighed, remarking: “But I really admire Sheng Huan. She did something none of us dare to do.”

Qi Jia was simple-minded and didn’t catch on. “You like Chen Yi too?”

“…What are you talking about?” Meng Xinglan didn’t control her voice well. The alarmed commotion was especially loud in the quiet classroom.

Fu Guangsi threw her a look. She made a zipping motion at her mouth and said in a suppressed voice: “I meant publicly confessing like that. It has nothing to do with the person—it’s mainly about the act itself.”

Qi Jia laughed. “Got it, got it.”

After chatting for a few more sentences, a patrolling teacher passed by outside. The two sat up straight and started working on their proper business.

After the patrol left, Meng Xinglan bumped Ruan Mian’s arm and said with her head tilted: “I heard from Jiang Rang that to prevent Sheng Huan from coming to our class to find him again, Chen Yi agreed to go with her to the newly opened haunted house in the city center this weekend.”

Ruan Mian’s eyelid twitched, her voice somewhat hoarse. “Really?”

“Yes, Chen Yi already agreed. But Jiang Rang, Shen Yu, Liang Yiran, and the others will all be going that day. Jiang Rang just asked me if I’m going.” Meng Xinglan clicked her tongue, her tone somewhat troubled. “I want to go, but I’d be the only girl. Sheng Huan will definitely bring friends, and I’m not familiar with her.”

She muttered on, then suddenly thought of something and leaned toward Ruan Mian. “How about you come with me, Mianmian?”

Ruan Mian’s temples throbbed. Her heart was like a chaotic drum. After quite a while, she finally responded: “Okay.”