“Quiet! Quiet!” The proctor silenced the whispering voices of the crowd. “I’m about to distribute the exam papers! Everyone, check one last time that your phones are turned off, and all paper materials must be submitted!”

Xu Zhinan confirmed again that her phone was off and put it back in her bag.

Sitting next to Lin Qingye in this situation made her feel very uncomfortable, but fortunately, the proctor soon handed out the test papers, and everyone quieted down, temporarily shifting their attention away from them.

The Modern History professor knew the class attendance situation, so the exam was relatively merciful.

40 points for multiple choice questions, and 60 points for subjective questions.

Xu Zhinan quickly scanned through it; most questions weren’t difficult, and many were common knowledge questions.

The multiple choice questions went quickly. After Xu Zhinan finished, she glanced up at the proctor and quietly shifted her answer sheet slightly toward Zhao Qian’s direction.

As she looked back, she unconsciously glanced at Lin Qingye on her other side.

His hands were beautiful, slender, and bony. With his hand propping up his head, he appeared lazy, eyelids drooping. After looking at the questions for a while, he wrote down a large “A.”

Who knew whether he was guessing or had worked it out?

If he couldn’t pass this course again, his graduation would be delayed.

Xu Zhinan was one of the hosts for this year’s senior graduation ceremony. The Art Department at Pingchuan University was impressive, and many graduating students had original performances at the ceremony.

The department had originally wanted Lin Qingye to perform, after all, he was their most representative student. But now, with his grades still unknown, it wasn’t certain whether he could graduate on time.

On the program list Xu Zhinan had received, there was a special note marked “tentative” next to Lin Qingye’s name.

Thinking about the program list, Xu Zhinan remembered something she had forgotten.

Ruan Yuanyuan had previously asked her for the program list, which she hadn’t given her yet.

As her mind wandered to other matters, Lin Qingye had already lifted his gaze toward her.

Their eyes met.

The exam room was silent.

Xu Zhinan’s mind went blank for a moment, and she even forgot to look away.

Lin Qingye remained relaxed, his face showing both playfulness and mockery, steadily meeting her gaze without changing his expression.

Until the proctor slapped the desk forcefully and scolded them harshly: “What are you doing! Don’t you understand what an exam is? You don’t pay attention in class, but you’re eager to communicate during the exam!”

Xu Zhinan quickly turned her head to the side, lowering it and remaining motionless.

Quite a few people were secretly cheating, but the proctor wasn’t referring to them.

A laugh sounded from beside her, neither too loud nor too soft.

It resonated from deep in his throat, magnetic and hoarse, somehow stirring her heart.

Xu Zhinan felt as if the laugh had directly hit her, making her spine tingle and her face flush red. She used her hair to hide the side of her face and refocused on the exam.

With half an hour left before the papers were collected, many people had already turned in their exams.

For the Modern History course, those who had seriously prepared were writing furiously, rushing to include all the key points, while those who had only crammed at the last minute wrote something simple and turned in their papers early.

Xu Zhinan belonged to the former category, while Zhao Qian and Lin Qingye belonged to the latter.

She had been distracted by Lin Qingye earlier, and only when she was the last one left in that row could she truly focus on the exam.

“Only five minutes left, students who haven’t finished should hurry up,” the proctor reminded.

Xu Zhinan checked her paper, organized her things, submitted the exam, and walked out of the exam room.

As soon as she turned on her phone, a missed call notification popped up.

It was from Gu Congwang.

Xu Zhinan had her bag in one hand and her water bottle in the other, with her phone pinched between two fingers.

She tightened the water bottle cap and put it in her bag. Just as she was about to call him back, Gu Congwang called again.

She swiped to answer, but before she could say hello, her wrist was grabbed by a hand, and she was unexpectedly pulled into the empty classroom next door.

It wasn’t empty.

Someone was there.

Lin Qingye.

He was the one who had pulled her in.

The classroom had light blue curtains drawn, which gave the entire room a bluish tint in the sunlight.

Xu Zhinan opened her mouth to speak, but then remembered she had just answered Gu Congwang’s call. From the phone, his voice called out: “Hello? Hello? Can you hear me, Ah Nan?”

Lin Qingye sneered, easily taking the phone from her hand and glancing at the caller ID.

“Give it back to me,” Xu Zhinan said in a low voice, reaching out to grab it.

Lin Qingye raised his arm high above his head.

Xu Zhinan jumped several times but couldn’t reach it. Instead, she fell against him, and he went with the flow, gently circling her slender waist with his arm.

He sat back on a chair, and Xu Zhinan ended up sitting on his lap.

Still in the classroom, Xu Zhinan’s entire spine instantly stiffened.

The posture was awkward. Lin Qingye’s long arm wrapped around her, restraining her arms as well, and then he placed the phone on the desk in front of them.

He whispered in her ear: “Xu Zhinan.”

Lin Qingye rarely called her by her full name.

He was willful and arrogant, casually indifferent to many people’s affections, yet he could effortlessly achieve the right degree of intimacy. For instance, he always called her “Ah Nan.”

“I’ve noticed you’ve become quite bold lately,” he said lazily.

Xu Zhinan’s face was burning red, her neck felt hot, and she struggled forcefully but couldn’t break free.

To make matters worse, the phone was still connected and placed on the desk in front of them. Gu Congwang’s voice faintly came through: “Xu Zhinan! What are you doing? What’s that sound on your end?”

Xu Zhinan’s head was buzzing, but she had to keep her voice down: “Lin Qingye, let me go first.”

“Oh,” he laughed, curling his lips in a roguish smile. “Not even calling me ‘brother’ anymore, huh?”

“…”

Xu Zhinan couldn’t take it anymore. “Can you be reasonable?”

With one hand restraining her, he tapped his index finger on the desk with the other hand and asked bluntly with excessive confidence: “Who is this guy?”

“My friend.”

Very disrespectfully, as soon as Xu Zhinan finished speaking, he snorted softly, clearly disdainful.

The bell rang throughout the teaching building, and Xu Zhinan instinctively tried to stand up, only to be pulled back again. She sat on his lap, facing away from him.

Then, a weight settled on her shoulders as Lin Qingye rested his chin on her shoulder.

“This classroom has no class now, and I’ve already locked the door,” he said in a somewhat deep voice.

But people could still see in through the windows and doors.

Xu Zhinan grew more anxious as she thought about it.

It was strange how, in their relationship, Lin Qingye was the dominant one, yet she was the one constantly afraid of being seen.

Perhaps those in the superior position were more carefree and unrestricted.

Gu Congwang had sensed something was wrong and didn’t hang up. He continued calling out: “What are you up to? What is that person saying to you? Are you being harassed? Where are you now?”

Xu Zhinan tried hard to pull her hand free: “Just let me say one thing to him.”

Lin Qingye leaned back lazily, tilting his head: “Your voice is so small, what are you saying?”

“…”

Xu Zhinan had no choice but to lean back as well, turning her head to repeat herself in his ear.

Lin Qingye laughed and finally let go.

Xu Zhinan immediately grabbed the phone and put it to her ear: “Hello?”

Gu Congwang hadn’t even reacted, taking several seconds before cursing: “What was that just now? Why was there some stupid guy’s voice?”

“…It’s nothing, I just ran into a guy on the way.”

Xu Zhinan was worried he might figure out something and tell her mother, so she had to make up a lie.

Lin Qingye clicked his tongue, reached out to grasp her neck, and pressed it.

After bending over the exam paper for so long, Xu Zhinan also had the occupational hazard of a tattoo artist. His squeeze on her neck caused an aching pain that made her gasp sharply.

Gu Congwang heard and asked: “What now?”

That “what now” clearly showed he didn’t believe her earlier words at all.

Lin Qingye stretched out his arm and took her phone again, hanging up directly.

At this point, Xu Zhinan was truly annoyed by his actions. Her fine eyebrows furrowed, and she turned her head to question him, but then her chin was gripped firmly.

He lowered his head and kissed her directly.

In that instant, she forgot what she had wanted to say.

Liking someone was just that strange.

Even though they had parted on bad terms at his apartment earlier, even though they hadn’t contacted each other for so many days, even though she had just been irritated by his teasing, now Xu Zhinan couldn’t muster any anger at all.

The sadness came from him, but so did the happiness.

“Which classroom is it? Class has been going on for several minutes already!”

“C section, C section! We went to the wrong section.”

Voices suddenly sounded from the corridor outside.

Xu Zhinan snapped back to reality and tried to hide, but Lin Qingye caught her behind the knees, repositioning her to sit sideways on his lap, then gripped her chin more firmly and lifted it.

The footsteps outside came closer and then faded away.

Lin Qingye pressed against her lips, laughing quietly, then straightened up and looked at her flushed face with smiling eyes.

The phone rang again, still Gu Congwang.

Needless to say, Young Master Gu was going to explode after being hung up on.

Lin Qingye’s gaze moved from her face back to the phone. Afraid he would do something rash again, Xu Zhinan quickly grabbed the phone and hid it behind her back.

With this movement, she unconsciously thrust out her chest.

Xu Zhinan’s face indeed looked pure, beautiful, and delicate, without a trace of gloom, gentle and soft. Her figure was equally impressive, but she usually didn’t wear clothes that showed off her body, so it wasn’t obvious.

But Lin Qingye was well aware of this.

He watched her movements, flicked her chin with his index finger, and said casually: “Day after day, your admirers just keep coming, don’t they?”