Perhaps because of the medicine she had taken, Sang Ru slept sweetly. When she woke up and stretched, she accidentally hit Zhou Tingzhao’s face.

He had already awakened at some point and was lying on his side, looking at her without a word. It seemed to take him a while to react to the not-too-hard hit to his face. He put his arm around her waist, asking her to massage the injured area.

Feeling at fault, Sang Ru made a show of massaging it for him.

Zhou Tingzhao’s voice carried the slight hoarseness of someone who had just awakened: “Did you sleep well?”

Sang Ru: “Very well.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“What?” His skin was so good that Sang Ru couldn’t resist pressing a bit harder two more times.

Zhou Tingzhao suddenly drew closer and asked in a low voice: “Did I lull you to sleep well?”

The question she had drowsily pretended to sleep through earlier was now laid before her again. He was too close; his long, thick eyelashes were slowly blinking less than an inch from her face. Sang Ru was dazed by his beauty and unconsciously spoke what was in her heart.

“Yes, very well.”

Zhou Tingzhao smiled, patted her bottom, and said: “Time to get up.”

Sang Ru came to her senses and pulled up the blanket to bury herself under it.

They arrived just two minutes before the first afternoon class began.

Li Chenfei poked her head out from behind Yang Fan with curiosity: “What kind of porridge were you two eating that took so long?”

Sang Ru: “A complete imperial feast.”

She was always quick to joke. Li Chenfei’s desire for gossip was stirring. She was truly curious about the progress between those two, but Sang Ru wasn’t much of a gossiper and didn’t understand that girlfriends should provide real-time updates on relationship progress.

Class had already started. Li Chenfei thought for a moment, then wrote a note and passed it over.

Sang Ru received it from Zhou Tingzhao’s hand and opened it to read.

[How far have you two gone! I don’t believe you did anything in those two hours! Hmph!]

She glanced at Zhou Tingzhao, then lowered her head to write a reply.

[What about you and yours?]

Sang Ru rolled up the note, poked Zhou Tingzhao, and asked him to pass it on. Zhou Tingzhao looked at her once and obediently did as she asked without saying anything.

Soon, the note came back.

[Don’t even mention it, I’m so angry! Absolutely no progress! Yang Fan is simply a block of wood! Just now, when we went to eat, I was standing in front of him in line and accidentally got pushed backward by the person in front, about to fall. I thought, perfect! I’ll just fall against him! He could reach out and catch me, and that would pretty much count as a hug! But instead! He was quick to dodge to the side and used his shoulder to push me back up! My back is still sore from where he pushed. I’m so mad!]

Li Chenfei had written a long complaint. Sang Ru couldn’t help but laugh, though she quickly swallowed the sound after making a small noise, fortunately not heard by the teacher.

Zhou Tingzhao, however, turned his head to look at her.

Sang Ru didn’t mind. Seeing that the note was already full, she took another sticky note and, trying to hold back her laughter, wrote: [Don’t be angry. He’s just a straight guy, it’s normal.]

After writing, she still wanted to give it to Zhou Tingzhao to pass along. Seeing his left hand resting empty and fisted on the desk, Sang Ru quietly grabbed his hand, opened it, and placed the note in his palm in one fluid motion.

Zhou Tingzhao looked over, his brows beginning to furrow. She immediately pouted, putting on a pitiful expression. He then sighed almost imperceptibly and continued to act as the messenger.

Li Chenfei seemed to realize she had been led around in circles, and that Sang Ru still hadn’t answered her question, so she wrote: [From your tone, you two are making rapid progress?! Quickly tell me how far you’ve gotten!]

While reading, Sang Ru also answered a formula question that the chemistry teacher had asked the whole class.

Then she picked up her pen and wrote: [Well, about eighteen streets ahead of you ^_^]

With an emoticon added, her taunt was perfect.

Using the same technique, she slipped it into Zhou Tingzhao’s palm, but saw that he was looking at the blackboard and directly put the sticky note into his pocket.

Sang Ru reached into his pocket and said softly: “How dare you confiscate it on your own!”

Zhou Tingzhao pressed the paper beneath the back of his hand and held her hand in his palm, squeezing it as he said: “Temporarily confiscated. Pay attention to class.”

Withdrawing her hand, Sang Ru had to admit she was a little charmed, thinking, “Not bad, little Zhou, already acting like a boss, catching an employee slacking off.”

Sang Ru finally ceased her efforts and returned to the concentration expected of a third-year high school student.

After class, Sang Ru had almost forgotten about the confiscated item, but Zhou Tingzhao was very conscientious and took it out of his pocket, placing it on her desk.

Sang Ru finished drinking some water, smacked her lips, and said: “You’re just giving it back? Aren’t you curious what’s written inside?”

Zhou Tingzhao shook his head.

Sang Ru emphasized: “It mentions you.”

At this, Zhou Tingzhao paused and asked: “Good things or bad?”

Sang Ru: “That’s hard to say.”

She was being deliberately mysterious, determined to pique his curiosity.

He showed signs of wavering, so Sang Ru pressed further: “You can look. I won’t sue you for invasion of privacy.”

Zhou Tingzhao gave a light laugh and unhurriedly opened the note to scan it. This piece of paper was only the latter half, but the previous topic of discussion could be roughly inferred.

Zhou Tingzhao’s gaze fell on the last few words and that “simple” smiley face. He slowly said, “Eighteen streets ahead, specifically referring to…?”

“I don’t know,” Sang Ru filled in an answer on her exercise sheet, acting nonchalant.

“Is that so?” Zhou Tingzhao restored the note to its original form and, as usual, passed it across the aisle. Then, looking at his book with equal nonchalance, he said, “It’s enough that I know.”

When the devil grows a foot taller, the righteous grow ten. Zhou Tingzhao truly learned everything quickly. Sang Ru deeply felt that at this rate, he would soon master all there was to know.