Meng Xinglan had other matters to attend to with Liang Yiran, so she didn’t have Ruan Mian accompany her to the liberal arts class to find him. The two separated at the stairway on the second floor.

Ruan Mian walked to the classroom door and reached out to push it open. Just then, someone inside was coming out. One pulled while the other pushed, neither noticing the other, and they collided unexpectedly.

The cup in the girl’s hand slipped from her grip and fell to the floor with a clatter. The little bit of water remaining at the bottom splashed onto Ruan Mian’s shoes.

Ruan Mian took a small step back, bent down to pick up the cup and the lid scattered beside it, and handed them over: “Sorry, I didn’t notice someone was coming out.”

The girl was named Liu Jingyi, the Chinese class representative.

She took the cup from Ruan Mian’s hands, barely perceptibly curling her lips, her expression and eyes carrying naked disgust, her tone not very pleasant either: “Watch where you’re going next time.”

Before leaving, she deliberately bumped Ruan Mian’s shoulder with her own.

Ruan Mian rubbed her shoulder, watching her retreating figure, finding it somewhat baffling. But she didn’t think much of it and lifted her foot to enter the classroom.

Not long after sitting down, Liu Jingyi returned from refilling her water, accompanied by Zhao Shutang chatting and laughing beside her. Only then did Ruan Mian have a sudden realization, understanding that Zhao Shutang had probably stirred up trouble in the middle of this.

This kind of boring trick didn’t even catch Ruan Mian’s attention. She twirled the pen in her hand and withdrew her gaze without interest.

Zhao Shutang, not far away, finished listening to Liu Jingyi’s words and also looked up toward Ruan Mian, then said indifferently: “That’s just how she is. Usually she pretends to be like a little white rabbit, but actually she’s just like her mother—full of evil schemes. That’s how my dad got deceived.”

Liu Jingyi sighed: “I really feel bad for you.”

Back during summer vacation, Liu Jingyi had heard Zhao Shutang say that after her dad remarried, he stopped caring much about her. In his heart, all he thought about and cared for was her stepmother’s daughter. He even spent money to stuff that person into their class.

She and Zhao Shutang had been classmates since middle school, together for five or six years now, with quite deep feelings. She believed Zhao Shutang’s words without question.

Liu Jingyi was upset and felt sorry for her good friend at the time, so she gave most of her saved-up pocket money to Zhao Shutang, saying that no matter what happened in the future, she would be there for her.

Zhao Shutang didn’t take Liu Jingyi’s money but treated her to a meal outside. After that, whenever she suffered any grievances at home, she would tell her about them.

After school started, having heard too much during summer vacation about the bad things Zhao Shutang’s stepmother and stepmother’s daughter did, Liu Jingyi’s impression of Ruan Mian naturally wasn’t good either.

She patted Zhao Shutang’s shoulder, consoling her: “Alright, don’t think about it so much. Anyway, I’ll always be on the same side as you.”

Zhao Shutang laughed softly, “Good thing I have you.”

Ruan Mian was completely unaware of all this. After finishing half a physics test paper with her head down, she pillowed her arm on the desk and took a brief afternoon nap.

In her drowsy state, she felt someone moving beside her. She wanted to wake up, but her eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. In the end, she only fluttered her lashes and fell back asleep.

She woke again when she heard the class bell.

The results had only just come out today, and the school rankings weren’t out yet. Zhou Hai hadn’t had time to bring up switching seats, so Ruan Mian still sat in the very last row of the classroom.

When the back door opened, the cool breeze came right in. Having just woken up and not yet recovered her senses, she couldn’t help but shiver first.

However, this commotion also completely woke her up.

Ruan Mian rubbed her numb arm, thinking about the first Chinese class in the afternoon. No matter how she thought about it, something felt wrong. She was afraid Zhao Qi would make her read her essay aloud in front of everyone during class.

Just as she was lost in random thoughts, the stool beside her was moved away. A tall figure walked down, and between breaths came the fresh, clean scent of shampoo.

Her motion of rubbing her arm gradually slowed down. Just as she was hesitating whether to speak, the boy suddenly reached out and placed a cup of bubble tea on her desk.

Ruan Mian froze.

Chen Yi leaned over to place another cup on Meng Xinglan’s desk. Only when he sat down did he speak: “Jiang Rang bought them.”

“Oh, thank you.” Ruan Mian reacted quickly this time, not missing the chance to speak. After finishing, she even looked up at him once.

This one look captivated her spirit again.

The boy’s hair had been cut short, a thin layer. Without scattered bangs covering his forehead, his angular features became even more distinct. Those eyes were deep and aloof, his brow bones sharp.

The vigorous youthful energy had been forcefully suppressed by a few degrees of emerging, unruly defiance.

Chen Yi looked up, the thin skin of his eyelids creasing into a deep fold. His response was casual: “You’re welcome.”

As he spoke, Zhao Qi had already entered the classroom. Ruan Mian suppressed her wildly racing heartbeat, reached out to put the bubble tea in her drawer, and absentmindedly joined everyone in greeting the teacher.

Perhaps because he had already lectured someone once in the morning, Teacher Zhao didn’t give Ruan Mian any trouble during this class. Only when he caught her spacing out did he slowly walk over and tap on her desk: “Pay attention in class.”

Ruan Mian’s ears burned, and she lifted her test paper up a bit.

Chen Yi hadn’t been paying attention to class either. Hearing Teacher Zhao’s voice, he glanced to the side.

The autumn sunlight was fluffy and thin, passing through the transparent, clean glass. In the faint light and shadow, it outlined the girl’s slender figure.

She actually didn’t look as plain as Jiang Rang had described. Her skin was fine and fair, her eyes clear and clean, like a shallow marsh holding the fireflies of a moonlit night.

It was just that her personality was somewhat too gentle and reserved. Having been deskmates for so long, the two of them had spoken less than ten sentences combined.

To say she wasn’t afraid of him—but it didn’t quite seem that way either. Though ultimately, what kind of personality a person had didn’t have much to do with him.

Chen Yi opened his book, once again assuming that appearance of not caring about anything.

Outside the classroom, the sky’s winds swept the flowing clouds. Faint traces left by passing airplanes remained in the air, scattered by the wind into fleeting smoke.

…

By evening self-study, the overall rankings for this monthly exam had also come out.

Chen Yi’s total score was 704, placing first in the class and first in the grade. Second place was a girl from Science Class Two, whose total score was very close to his.

Ruan Mian, affected by Chinese and English, had a total score of 621, ranking forty-sixth in the class and exactly one hundredth in the grade—a position that was neither high nor low.

After receiving her results, Ruan Mian was called to the office by Zhou Hai. The biology competition she had registered for when school started was going to begin in a few days.

Zhou Hai handed her the admission ticket: “The timing of this competition works out well. Right after you return, it’ll be sports day. I heard from the PE representative that you signed up for the fifty meters and three thousand meters. Don’t go to training these next few days. Review properly and strive to get good results then.”

Ruan Mian nodded and said: “Okay, I understand.”

After finishing with competition matters, Zhou Hai opened the grade-wide rankings on his desk. “Did you look at this monthly exam ranking?”

“I did.”

Zhou Hai looked up: “So what do you think?”

Ruan Mian thought seriously for a moment: “My subject imbalance is quite serious. Chinese and English both rank very low within the top hundred.”

“That’s right. Your Chinese should be the lowest here, English is slightly better but also near the bottom. I called your mother this afternoon, and she said your subject imbalance was already very serious at No. 6 Middle School. I want to ask, do you not want to study them, or can you not get into studying them?”

“I want to study, but studying them doesn’t seem to help much.” Ruan Mian pressed her lips together. “I attended tutoring classes during summer vacation too, but the results weren’t very obvious.”

“I see…” Zhou Hai sighed and thought for a moment before saying: “The school has always had an essay tutoring class organized for first-year students. It’s free. If you want to go, should I register you too?”

Ruan Mian hesitated for a few seconds: “Okay.”

“Alright then, let’s leave it at that for now. As for English, I’ll talk with your Teacher Song later to see if there are any targeted study methods. We’ll discuss it then.”

“Okay, then thank you, Teacher Zhou.”

This was only the first monthly exam, and Ruan Mian had already been called in for talks by teachers several times because of subject imbalance. When she returned to the classroom, she seemed somewhat listless.

Meng Xinglan sat in Chen Yi’s seat. “What’s wrong? Did Teacher Zhou lecture you again?”

“No lecture, but he plans to register me for the first-year essay tutoring class.” Ruan Mian stuffed the competition admission ticket into her drawer. “Did you go to this tutoring class in your first year? Was it effective?”

“So-so. After all, it’s not a paid tutoring class, so the teacher’s management isn’t strict either. By the later period in our time, we hardly went anymore.”

“…”

Meng Xinglan leaned over: “Didn’t Old Zhao say this morning that Chen Yi should teach you more? Didn’t you ask him?”

Ruan Mian pressed down on her pen and shook her head: “Didn’t dare ask.”

“Then forget it. Having him teach is worse than going to the tutoring class.” The class bell rang. Meng Xinglan stood up and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry too much. This is only the first monthly exam. There’s still a long time ahead.”

“Mm.”

At nine-thirty in the evening, accompanied by the bell for the last self-study period, the long and busy Monday finally came to an end.

As soon as Ruan Mian got home that night, she saw her mother sitting in the living room, looking like she was waiting for her. She changed her shoes and walked over, calling out “Mom.”

Fang Ruqing came back to her senses, put down the remote control, and looked up at her: “You’re back.”

“Mm.” Ruan Mian took an orange from the table and peeled it. “I heard from Teacher Zhou that he called you this afternoon?”

Fang Ruqing nodded: “He told me about your monthly exam results. He praised you for doing well, just that you have some subject imbalance.”

Ruan Mian popped a segment of orange into her mouth and didn’t respond.

Fang Ruqing glanced at her: “How did Shutang do this time?”

“Pretty good, a few ranks higher than me.” Ruan Mian lowered her head to spit out seeds.

Fang Ruqing: “I heard from your Uncle Zhao that Shutang’s comprehensive science isn’t very good. When you’re free and home on holidays, help her out more.”

“…”

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard.” Ruan Mian picked up her school bag. “There’s a lot of homework today. I’m going upstairs first. No need to bring me milk—I don’t really want to drink it these days.”

Back in her room, Ruan Mian pulled out the competition admission ticket. The exam time was this Friday. She didn’t mention this to Fang Ruqing. On exam day, she left home as if going to school normally, then followed the school-arranged bus to the exam location.

This biology competition was jointly organized by No. 8 Middle School and several other key high schools. The exam location was ultimately set at No. 10 Middle School, which had two campuses.

No. 10 Middle School’s two campuses were only separated by one street. Third-year students, the sports field, cafeteria, and dormitory buildings were on the south side of the road, while first and second years and other office buildings were on the north side. For this competition, No. 10 Middle School had given first and second years a day off, leaving the north campus empty.

The exam finished close to noon. Ruan Mian hadn’t eaten anything in the morning and was extremely hungry after the mental exertion. She greeted the supervising teacher and didn’t go back with the school bus.

Since the afternoon was a holiday, many people didn’t take the bus. When Ruan Mian was queuing outside the noodle shop, she saw only a few people on the bus.

The noodle shop was crowded. Ruan Mian got her noodles but couldn’t get a seat. Just as she was about to have the server pack it up for takeout, someone suddenly tapped her shoulder from behind.

She turned around, saw the boy, her tone surprised and delighted: “Li Zhi!”

Li Zhi reached out to help her steady the bowl that was about to spill, asking with a smile: “How did you end up at our school? Don’t you have class today?”

“I came here for an exam, that seven-school joint biology competition.” Ruan Mian touched her neck. “I didn’t expect your school to have so many people during meal times.”

“That’s because the cafeteria food is terrible. Come with me first—I have a spot.” Li Zhi led her to a table in the corner where three boys were already sitting.

Seeing Li Zhi bring someone back, and a girl at that, all three boys showed gossipy expressions: “What’s the situation, Brother Zhi?”

Li Zhi placed the bowl on the table, had Ruan Mian sit on the inside, and said with a light smile: “Just the little sister from my neighbor’s house. She came to our school for an exam today. What are you guys thinking?”

Everyone present was generally older than Ruan Mian, so calling her little sister wasn’t wrong. After getting to know each other, Ruan Mian ate her noodles while listening to the several of them complain about how third-year students had too much homework, great pressure, and little time.

Ruan Mian had clearly been the first to start eating, yet ended up being the last to finish. Li Zhi let the other three boys go back first and sat there playing on his phone waiting for her to finish. Afterward, he walked her to the bus stop.

The early autumn wind was just right—dry and cool. Ruan Mian stood under the platform shelter, her hand fiddling with her jacket zipper: “Do you third-year students really have that many things going on?”

“No, they only have so much going on because they’re not good at studying.” Li Zhi put away his phone. “I heard from Chen Yi that you guys had monthly exams recently?”

“Mm.” Ruan Mian looked at him. “Your next sentence wouldn’t be asking about my results, would it?”

“What, can’t I ask?” Li Zhi leaned against the billboard behind the platform. The boy was tall and thin, his appearance and temperament particularly striking. Passing girls kept turning back to look.

“Ah, no. It’s just that it seems like whenever everyone hears about exams, the next sentence is always asking about results, as if there’s nothing else to ask.”

“Then what do you think there is to ask?”

Ruan Mian thought for a few seconds: “Actually, there really doesn’t seem to be anything else to ask.”

Li Zhi smiled faintly: “With your personality, you’re quite suited to being Chen Yi’s deskmate.”

“…” Ruan Mian didn’t have the nerve to tell him that she and Chen Yi had been deskmates for over a month and hadn’t spoken more than ten sentences.

Later the bus arrived. Ruan Mian got on. When the bus turned at the intersection, she saw Li Zhi’s figure walking back from the window—tall and thin.

The sunlight was clearly ahead, yet he seemed bound by something, looking somewhat carelessly despondent and dejected.

Those two weekend days were No. 8 Middle School’s sports day. The weather cooperated perfectly—temperature neither high nor low, no wind, not cold at all.

The fifty meters and three thousand meters that Ruan Mian had signed up for were on the same day, morning and afternoon. As soon as the opening ceremony ended, the broadcast was calling for the first-year girls’ fifty-meter group to begin registration, asking the second-year girls’ group to prepare.

Physical education was Meng Xinglan’s weak point. She didn’t participate in any events and joined the volunteer group instead, becoming Ruan Mian’s personal volunteer, running back and forth for her the whole time. She only stopped short of competing in her place.

Ruan Mian wore athletic wear today, black and white. When participating in the fifty meters, she took off her jacket, wearing only the white T-shirt underneath. After registration, standing before the track, she symbolically moved her feet as warm-up. Meng Xinglan stood beside the track, holding her clothes in her arms.

Not only that, but almost all the people from their class that Meng Xinglan could call over had come. Even Chen Yi stood at the back of the crowd.

He wore a white baseball cap, the brim pulled low, his expression unclear. A sharply defined section of his jawline showed, his Adam’s apple prominent.

Ruan Mian’s heart pounded.

When she crouched down into starting position, she closed her eyes, then opened them again, raising her head to look at the finish line ahead. Never before had she wanted to win as much as in this moment.

The gunshot rang in her ears. Ruan Mian almost uncontrollably burst forward. In her ears were the whistling, sharp sound of wind and excited shouts.

She ran toward the light, toward that boy hidden in her heart, moving forward without hesitation.

—

Author’s Note: In case you misunderstand, I’ll say this—Li Zhi doesn’t like Ruan Mian. He has his own beloved. I’ve also opened a pre-order for him in my column, “Whirlpool.” It’s rated mature. If interested, you can check it out.

His romance storyline isn’t involved in this book and won’t appear. It won’t affect this book, nor will it impact Mianmian and Chen Yi’s relationship. He is independent, with a story belonging only to Li Zhi.

Here’s the summary. Thanks for your support. I’ll give out some red envelopes for this chapter.

// “Whirlpool” //

Li Zhi’s family has a courtyard house.

On a summer day, a man moved in.

He said his name was Zhou Yi.

But Li Zhi had just seen him on TV yesterday.

Back then he was still called Fang Huailin.

“I can never escape this kind of sweet yet cruel whirlpool”

*Chatty bottom x Effortlessly capable top

*Nine-year age gap / Older partner / Li Zhi is the bottom

*Summary sentence sourced from the internet, will delete if infringement.