The weather in Xixi during early autumn was unpredictable. Just a few days earlier it had been blazing sunshine — the kind that could melt you on the street — but by Friday, the rain came down as though it had been storing itself up for a long time, pouring over everything in a rushing torrent.

The rain was fierce and urgent, accompanied by howling wind. The lush, leafy trees by the roadside swayed in the gale, and speeding cars sent up sprays of water in all directions.

Lin Tao woke up early that morning, looked out at the torrential rain, and let out a sigh — rather disappointed that the afternoon PE class was going to be washed out.

After the second-year class split, she and Meng Xin only had one PE class a week to maintain their friendship, and even that would be cancelled now.

“Is Taotao up?” came Lin Tao’s mother Fang Yisong’s voice from outside the door.

Fang Yisong had taken a late-night flight and only arrived home in the small hours. Lin Tao had just fallen asleep; she’d dimly heard some movement, and in that half-conscious state heard the bedroom door being pushed open. She called out tentatively, “Mom?”

Fang Yisong stood in the doorway without entering, and said softly, “It’s me. Mom just wanted to check if you were asleep — nothing’s wrong. You go back to sleep.”

Lin Tao made a sound of acknowledgment. After she heard the door close, she pulled the blanket up over her head and fell back asleep.

She slept straight through till morning.

When she heard the knock at the door now, she answered, “Up — be right out.”

“Okay.”

When Lin Tao got herself together and came out, she found that her mother had already prepared breakfast and was sitting at the table reading the newspaper.

She walked over and took a seat at the table. “Morning, Mom.”

Fang Yisong put the newspaper down at the sound of her voice. Her well-maintained face carried a faint trace of weariness. “Morning.”

Lin Tao ladled herself a bowl of white rice porridge and took a few bites, then looked up and asked, “What about Dad — didn’t he come back with you?”

“Hmm, there are still some things on his end at the company.” Fang Yisong picked up her coffee cup. “Eat your breakfast quickly. Once you’re done I’ll drive you to school — it’s raining so heavily outside, I don’t feel comfortable with you going on the public bus alone.”

A reasonable argument. Lin Tao had no good grounds to refuse. She quickly finished her bowl of porridge, ate two more buns, and then set down her chopsticks.

By the time they headed out, the rain still hadn’t let up at all. Lin Tao followed Fang Yisong straight down to the parking garage.

Perhaps because of the rain, the road to school was essentially clear. Lin Tao sat in the car watching the heavy, dark sky outside, her thoughts drifting far away.

A little over half an hour later, Fang Yisong’s car stopped in front of the school gate. It was peak arrival time, and a dense crowd of umbrellas was packed around the entrance.

Fang Yisong told her to wait until the crowd thinned before getting out, and Lin Tao didn’t argue. She leaned back against the seat, expression relaxed.

After a moment, she suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right — Mom.”

Fang Yisong had just finished reading a work email. She looked up. “What is it?”

“Can I get my cast taken off this week?” Lin Tao thought of Old Yu’s comment from a few days earlier. “I have an exam at the end of this month.”

“Tomorrow, then.” Fang Yisong checked the schedule her assistant had just sent through. “Tomorrow at three in the afternoon — I’ll have Xiao Song come to the house to take you to the hospital for a check-up.”

Xiao Song was Fang Yisong’s assistant and personal secretary. Lin Tao had met her before — a very cool older sister.

“Also, there’s your forehead.” Fang Yisong reached out and touched the injury on Lin Tao’s forehead, now covered by a bandage strip instead of gauze. “Let’s have them take a look at that too while you’re there tomorrow.”

Lin Tao thought about it and didn’t refuse. “Okay.”

She glanced out the window — the crowd had thinned considerably. She fished her umbrella out of her bag. “I’ll head in then.”

“Alright. Let me know what time you finish tonight, and I’ll have the driver come pick you up.”

“It’s fine, I can get home on my own.” Lin Tao said it and pushed open the car door, put up her umbrella, and walked past the front of the car.

Fang Yisong watched her through the half-open window.

Lin Tao had walked about halfway when she stopped and looked back, then suddenly asked, “Mom, are you worried about something?”

Fang Yisong hadn’t expected her to be so perceptive. She paused, then smiled and said, “No, Mom’s just been exhausted these past few days. Hurry up and get inside — you’re going to be late.”

Lin Tao studied her expression — nothing seemed off. She nodded. “Got it. Drive safe on the way back.”

“Hmm.”

Lin Tao had barely made it to the classroom before the bell rang.

But that wasn’t the important part. The important part was that her seatmate — who was habitually two classes late — had arrived before her today. Even earlier!

Lin Tao folded up her umbrella and sat down at her seat. Jiang Yan lifted his head and looked at her. “You’re late today.”

“……” Lin Tao set her bag down and looked at him with perfect composure. “You, a person who’s late every single day, have the audacity to question a good student who is never late?”

“You? A good student?” Jiang Yan curved his lips into a smile. “I’ve never seen a good student heading to an internet café for an all-nighter.”

“……” Lin Tao still had things on her mind and couldn’t be bothered to trade barbs with him. She lowered her head and fiddled with her phone.

The girl’s sudden quiet surprised Jiang Yan. He lowered his gaze and watched her for a moment, then abruptly spoke up: “Not happy about something?”

Lin Tao kept her eyes down and didn’t look up. “No.”

She wasn’t actually unhappy — she was just preoccupied with thinking about Fang Yisong, and couldn’t quite puzzle it out.

Lin Tao wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Fang Yisong’s mood had been very low since returning from this business trip.

Outwardly, she still looked perfectly put together — flawless makeup, the picture of an unassailable professional.

But Lin Tao could sense clearly that her mother’s state wasn’t actually very good at all.

The trouble was that grown-ups’ problems weren’t things they would share with children. She just didn’t know the reason, and it left her feeling a little blocked up inside.

Since she didn’t want to talk about it, Jiang Yan didn’t press her further. After all, there wasn’t a girl alive who didn’t have a few small secrets tucked away in her heart.

If she didn’t want to say it, he wouldn’t ask — a qualified and cooperative seatmate.

What Jiang Yan hadn’t expected, though, was that Lin Tao’s low mood would come and go as quickly as it did. He hadn’t even had time to think of how to cheer her up.

By the end of morning reading period, she had already healed herself on her own — and was cheerfully chatting with him about some gossip she’d come across the day before.

“You know how that entertainment channel has been doing some kind of talent competition lately? There’s this guy in it named Li Dingding, and it’s just come out that he’s like, rich for many generations — his ancestors going way back were all wealthy. Apparently even the toilet in his house is encrusted with diamonds.” Lin Tao found this last part a bit hard to wrap her head around. “Like, a diamond-encrusted toilet — wouldn’t that be a bit rough to sit on?”

Jiang Yan didn’t particularly want to know whether the person’s name was Dingding Li or Li Dingding, didn’t especially want to know how many generations of wealth he came from, and definitely didn’t want to know whether or not his toilet was diamond-encrusted.

But.

Jiang Yan looked up at Lin Tao and saw that the air of dejection that had surrounded her earlier had completely faded.

He raised an eyebrow and played along with her. “Probably a bit rough, yeah. Why don’t you try encrusting one and see?”

Lin Tao made a sound of consideration and actually seriously weighed this decision in her head for a moment. Then she said with a hint of regret: “That’s probably a bit difficult. First, I don’t have that much money. Second, if I did something like that, my mom would probably throw me out of the house.”

Jiang Yan watched her for a moment, and when he realized she had actually genuinely thought it over before answering, he suddenly dropped his head and laughed.

This little seatmate of his — not only was she silly, she was silly with impressive sincerity.

Lin Tao didn’t understand why he’d suddenly burst out laughing. “What are you laughing at?”

“Laughing at how silly you are,” Jiang Yan said quietly, looking at her.

By the afternoon, the sky that had been windy and rainy all morning had suddenly cleared. Lin Tao had briefly thought PE class might still happen — but just as the third period ended, a light drizzle started up again.

PE class was naturally cancelled.

But since it was the last class on a Friday, no teacher came to the classroom either. Zhou Li alone couldn’t manage three classes, so he simply threw up his hands and let them be.

Jiang Yan got a call from Guan Che and left outright. Lin Tao joined Hu Hanghang and the others for a group match.

Honor of Kings — not a battle for one person to fight alone.

Hu Hanghang logged into his account first and scanned his friend list. He noticed that Lin Tao was already at the Star rank and was surprised. “Didn’t expect that from you, Tao Sis — you’re actually pretty good.”

“Ah… no, I’m terrible. Meng Xin boosted me to that rank.”

Lin Tao’s skills were limited. She’d been stuck in Diamond for a while and couldn’t break through, so she’d handed her account to Meng Xin, who had taken it and shot straight to the Grandmaster rank.

Then Lin Tao played a few matches herself and dropped back down from Grandmaster.

“That’s fine, that’s fine — in that case just play support,” Hu Hanghang said. He was a damage-dealer enthusiast. “Just cover me.”

“Sure.”

Also joining their group was Tao Jia, who was genuinely at the Star rank — a real, solid, not-a-drop-of-water Star rank earned entirely through her own skill.

Lin Tao let out a sigh of admiration.

A match started quickly.

Tao Jia brought something up in an offhand sort of way. “Do you guys have time this Saturday? Come out and hang, I’ll treat everyone to dinner.”

Lin Tao only now remembered that when Tao Jia had first transferred in, she had mentioned wanting to treat them to a meal. But everyone had just started the new semester with a lot going on, so it had kept getting pushed back.

Hu Hanghang was furiously tapping his skills. “Saturday? Free? No — we’re free every single day.” He scored a kill, then added, “The main thing is Jiang Yan — he might not be free on weekends.”

“Oh… I see.” A hint of disappointment crept into Tao Jia’s voice.

Lin Tao glanced up at her and said nothing.

The match ended.

Hu Hanghang savored the sweetness of victory and quickly launched another round. Tao Jia grabbed the support role this time.

Lin Tao paused for a moment, then took the mid-lane.

Hu Hanghang was a little uneasy. “You okay with mid, Tao Sis?”

“Me. Mid-lane. Incredibly strong.” Delivered with quite remarkable coldness.

“……”

The match began. Lin Tao steered her hero out of the fountain. The enemy hero she was up against in lane had a lot of mobility.

Not that it scared her one bit.

And then she nearly gave up First Blood.

“……”

Lin Tao gave up on direct confrontation, retreated to base to heal, and then returned to lane. From that point on, whenever the enemy mid-laner was there, she basically never left her tower — occasionally checking the vision around the blue buff boss, now and then pinging the bottom lane, then following the jungler up top to catch someone.

Essentially: avoid the enemy mid-laner at all costs.

The pace in Star rank games was fast. Lin Tao roamed the map, racking up 5 assists and 2 kills, and was soon well-farmed.

After finishing her first major mage item, she hesitated over what to build next.

She looked at the enemy team composition and decided to build a Blood Book next to improve sustain.

Lin Tao opened the equipment page, about to buy.

At that moment, an arm suddenly reached out from beside her head. The sleeve brushed against her ear as it passed, bringing a cool gust of air with it.

“Build the Nightmare first.” Jiang Yan’s low voice followed, right by her ear.

Lin Tao startled and turned her head, only to realize Jiang Yan had come back at some point. He was sitting on the desk, leaning slightly forward, close to her right side.

She apparently hadn’t noticed how close the two of them now were. She tilted her face up to look at him. “You know how to play this?”

Jiang Yan looked down, and in the dark depths of her eyes he saw his own tiny reflection. His lips curved, and he said in a low voice, “Kind of.”

“Grandmaster level.”

“……”

She knew it.

She just knew it.

How on earth could this person — how — just let an opportunity to show off pass him by like that.

Lin Tao suppressed the urge to fling her phone at his face, withdrew her gaze, and bent her head to control her character. As she closed the equipment page she bought a Nightmare in advance.

Jiang Yan held his position, smiling as he watched her — cast on the left arm, spirit unbroken — playing the game.

Tao Jia, seated across from the two of them, also lowered her head, expression still.

The game continued.

Xu Yichuan remembered something. “Oh right, bro — Tao Jia said she’s treating us to dinner this Saturday. You coming?”

Jiang Yan’s gaze was still on Lin Tao’s phone screen. The breeze drifting in from the window was gentle, and without thinking, his chin grazed her hair.

He tilted his head back slightly, but his eyes didn’t move. His tone was flat. “Has it really come to this — letting a girl foot the bill?”

Xu Yichuan was momentarily at a loss for words. Thinking about it, he supposed having a girl treat several grown men to dinner wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

“All right, fine — let’s just call it a hangout on Saturday. I’ll cover dinner, how’s that?”

At that, Tao Jia spoke up in disagreement. “There’s nothing inappropriate about it. You guys helped me — and if you’d been willing, my parents would have wanted to treat you too.”

“Please, no — the one thing I’ve feared my whole life is having a meal with adults.” Xu Yichuan looked at Tao Jia. “No offense to your parents, by the way.”

Tao Jia gave a small smile and said it was fine, then looked up at Jiang Yan. “One way or another, this dinner has to happen. It just depends on whether you’re free tomorrow.”

“Okay, noted.” Jiang Yan was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said that.

“……”

Lin Tao was a little puzzled — what exactly had he noted?

Not just her — none of them knew what Jiang Yan had noted.

Tao Jia was even more confused, but she didn’t feel she could press him, so she just nodded. “All right then. I’ll let you all know the details tomorrow morning.”

“Sure.” Jiang Yan said nothing more, then suddenly reached out and took Lin Tao’s phone from her, his tone casual. “You rest for a bit, I’ll play for you.”

“Why? No — I want to play myself. Are you looking down on me?” Lin Tao felt genuinely insulted.

What’s wrong with being Grandmaster rank? Does Grandmaster mean someone gets to look down on her Star rank?!

Jiang Yan let out a quiet, subtle throat-clearing sound, then pressed her phone screen off outright, his voice dropping to something a little heavier. “You don’t want your arm anymore? Planning to miss the exam at the end of the month too?”

“……” Lin Tao had no idea where this flash of irritation had come from. She reflexively hunched her shoulders slightly. “Fine, go ahead and play. While you’re at it, let me witness whatever this ‘kind of good at it Grandmaster level’ actually looks like.”

Jiang Yan: “……”

Hu Hanghang and the others were well used to scenes like this. At this point, none of them even looked up — they just pushed to the enemy’s high ground at the fastest typing speed and highest level of mechanics they’d ever managed in their lives, without their own mid-laner in the lineup.

Then in one unbroken surge, they destroyed the enemy’s core.

Hu Hanghang let out a cheer, tossed his phone onto the desk, and exhaled with relief. “Done — no need to keep playing. We won.”

Lin Tao didn’t dare try to grab her phone back from Jiang Yan. She raised an eyebrow, genuinely astounded. “Has my presence in this game really dropped to that level?”

Xu Yichuan laughed and offered comfort: “Not that low — at least you gave the enemy team a chance to get fed.”

“……”

Great. They’re dead to me.

Now that Jiang Yan was back, the others didn’t dare rope Lin Tao into any more games. The five-person squad quickly broke up on the spot.

Lin Tao turned around. Jiang Yan walked past behind her and returned to his own seat.

“Uhh……” A few minutes later, Lin Tao tugged at Jiang Yan’s sleeve. “My phone — you haven’t given it back yet.”

Jiang Yan turned to look at her, his brow furrowing slightly in disbelief. “Can’t you tell?”

“I can tell,” Lin Tao said.

“?”

“I can tell you’re harboring improper intentions toward my phone.”

“……”

Author’s note: Jiang Yan: Can’t she tell this woman is trying to get with me?