The weekend always passed the fastest, with most people having played crazily for two full days.

At six-thirty, Xu You climbed to the floor where the classroom was located, hugging her books.

As soon as she entered the classroom, she wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

For Monday morning self-study, there weren’t many people. More than half the seats at the back of the classroom were empty.

Only a handful of people were doing morning reading.

She took her bread to her seat and sat down, casually looking around, with only one thought in her mind—

Everyone attended morning self-study very casually and freely.

She took out her English book from the desk, turned to the vocabulary list page, and began writing from memory.

While writing, she was still thinking.

The teachers in this class didn’t seem to manage very strictly.

She remembered the school she used to attend was also a key high school in the city. Being late was a major taboo—everyone had to be in class by six-ten in the morning, and being even one minute late meant standing as punishment for one period. Classmates all seized every minute and second to study, didn’t chat during class, and never chased or played around after class. It formed a stark contrast with her current class.

Half an hour of morning self-study passed. Approaching the time for the first class period, more people gradually appeared in class.

The classroom was a din of voices.

Those rushing to do homework, those leaving their seats to collect homework, those wanting to copy homework—it was a bit chaotic.

Across an aisle, a male student asked Xu You to borrow the math paper she’d written over the weekend to check answers.

Xu You didn’t say anything and just pulled it out from her drawer and handed it to that boy.

She was still looking down organizing her English notes when from the corner of her eye she caught someone stopping beside her.

Xu You’s pen tip paused, and she looked up.

A tall male student stood at her side.

He wore a clean white school uniform, simple black athletic pants, holding a form in his hand.

“Hello, classmate. I’m the Class 9 president.”

“Ah, hello. Is there something?”

Chen Xiao, who was playing on her phone beside her, paused in her movements.

“It’s like this.” The class president placed the form on her desk and explained in a few words: “This is our class’s duty roster. You’re assigned to clean on Wednesday.”

Xu You picked it up to look at it and nodded: “I understand. Is it cleaning the classroom?”

“Yes, paired with Fu Xueli.”

After the class president finished his instructions, his gaze seemed to casually sweep to the side, then he turned and walked back to his own seat.

Fu Xueli watched that person’s retreating back, withdrew her gaze, and pretended to casually resume playing on her phone.

After playing for a while, she couldn’t hold back and struck up conversation with Xu You: “Hey, let me tell you, our class president has the same surname as you.”

Xu You made an “ah” sound and turned her head to look at her, “Also surnamed Xu?”

“That’s right.” Fu Xueli leaned close to her, “His name is Xu Xingchun. Isn’t the name really feminine? He also looks really feminine.”

Xu Xingchun.

She seemed to have heard this name somewhere…

Xu You frowned in thought and honestly said: “I think his name, like yours, sounds very nice.”

After speaking, she recalled in her mind what that boy had looked like just now.

His facial contours were a bit thin, his features very delicate, with narrow eyes at the corners.

“He doesn’t look feminine either.” Xu You was very honest.

Fu Xueli huffed, her expression unnatural, “What do you mean ‘like mine’? My name sounds much better than his.”

Xu You felt it was a bit strange. She wanted to ask but felt it was inappropriate, so she continued looking down to do homework.

After writing for a while.

Someone beside her placed a test paper on her desk.

“Classmate, there’s one problem where my calculation is different from yours. I don’t quite understand the method you wrote.”

It was the boy who had borrowed Xu You’s paper to check answers.

He bent down slightly, pushed up his glasses, and handed Xu You the draft paper: “Could I trouble you to explain it to me?”

“Ah, which problem?” Xu You pulled off the cap of her black gel pen and took the draft paper.

“The second-to-last major problem.”

She flipped the paper over and found that problem. Xu You glanced at it, wrote on the paper, and explained the problem-solving approach to that boy: “For this analytic geometry problem, I used trigonometric functions…”

Song Yifan happened to enter the classroom at this time.

He tossed his school uniform jacket into the drawer and asked Fu Xueli, “What’s Glasses doing with your deskmate?”

“Asking about a problem.”

“Holy crap.” Song Yifan was very surprised. He took out two homework assignments, turned around neatly, and frantically started copying, “So impressive—to have Glasses ask for help with a problem, your deskmate is an academic genius.”

Glasses was called Chen Chunlin. He was also considered a top student in the class, but unfortunately his Chinese had never been good, so his grade ranking wasn’t high. However, he was usually arrogant and very disdainful of students with poor grades.

Fu Xueli nodded absentmindedly, playing with her phone: “Yes.”

Song Yifan continued: “Then from now on, don’t drag her into chatting during class and delay her getting into Tsinghua or Peking University.”

“Who’s getting into Tsinghua or Peking University?”

Xie Ci stepped into the classroom right on time. He stood behind Song Yifan, heard their conversation, casually asked, and tossed his backpack inside.

Song Yifan got up to give him the seat, “Why did you come so late? There’s no time to copy homework for you.”

While speaking, the classroom door was pushed open. Teacher Li, who taught math, walked in, and the class bell rang.

The noisy sounds in class gradually diminished.

Song Yifan finished copying the last character, shook the test paper, and glanced sideways at Xie Ci: “What about your math paper? In a bit, Psycho Li will come around collecting them one by one. You’ll have to stand as punishment again.”

Tsk.

Xie Ci gave him a contemptuous glance, curved the corner of his lips, leaned back in his chair, and called out to Fu Xueli.

Fu Xueli turned around, “What?”

“Have your deskmate come here.”

Xie Ci’s chin gestured in Xu You’s direction.

Before Fu Xueli could speak, Xu You directly pulled out a completed math paper from a pile of papers on her desk and handed it to her. After handing it over, she picked up her pen again, lowered her head, and started working on problems. Looking as if it had nothing to do with her.

The entire process—she never glanced at them once.

But Fu Xueli understood, though she found it speechless. She slapped the test paper on Xie Ci’s desk: “Can’t you copy it yourself? Why do you always make other people write homework for you?”

Song Yifan acted as audience on the side, his expression also somewhat subtle.

In his impression, Xie Ci didn’t really like to provoke girls.

But…

“You…” Song Yifan put his hand on his shoulder, lowering his voice slightly to ask: “You’re a grown man, why do you keep bullying the little girl…?”

“Bullying what? The new student just likes helping me write homework.” Xie Ci pressed on his phone, smiling nonchalantly, lazily.

As soon as the words fell.

Xu You suddenly turned her head and met his eyes.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, and she said seriously: “The new student doesn’t really like it.”

Her tone was a bit naive, but also carried that waxy quality from Jiangnan, sounding completely non-threatening.

Xie Ci leaned his body slightly forward, arms pressed on the desk, tilted his head, and stared at her with a smile: “Why don’t you like it?”

Her eyes were clean as water, but her brows furrowed slightly, as if very puzzled: “Why would you ask such a question?”

Xie Ci raised his eyebrows.

Then.

A group of unscholarly wastrels around them heard a piece of chicken soup for the soul from the southern transfer student:

“Homework should be written by yourself. Knowledge belongs to yourself.”

The air solidified.

“—Pfft.”

The originally somewhat tense atmosphere—then Song Yifan couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Xie Ci was stunned for a moment, then also slowly curved his lips.

“Hahahahaha.” Fu Xueli reached over and couldn’t help pinching Xu You’s face.

Oh my, this child was truly adorable.

“Ahem.”

Song Yifan made a fist with his hand, placed it by his lips, and barely stopped laughing. Looking seemingly serious, he said: “Right, right, Student Xu’s teaching is correct. Well said—truly worthy of being our motherland’s future, the successor of communism.”

After speaking, he even clapped.

Xu You didn’t know what they were laughing about. Feeling somewhat vexed in her heart, she said nothing and turned around.

Her back was straight, thin and slender.

Soft black hair loosely bound behind her head, with a few strands of bangs falling in front, covering the contours of her profile.

From Xie Ci’s angle, he could only see that section of fair, tender neck.

Fuck.

He withdrew his gaze and cursed under his breath.