“Little friend, what are you thinking about? Turn around.” Fu Xueli interrupted her daze.

Xu You made an “ah” sound, moved her eyes away from the water cup, returning from her distracted state, asking in confusion: “What’s wrong?”

“Look.” Fu Xueli gestured for her to look at the podium, “The teacher said group discussion, front and back rows.”

What?

What did the teacher just say? She hadn’t heard at all…

Xu You looked up and saw a line of white chalk writing in the center of the blackboard:

Write down the five things you consider most happy, in English. We’ll call on students to read them aloud later.

Fu Xueli had already turned around, but seeing Xu You not moving, she turned her head again to urge her: “Baby, hurry up, we need you. This old lady especially loves calling on people in our area.”

Just then the teacher finished getting water and came in from outside the classroom, saying as she walked: “Everyone hurry up, there’s still ten minutes left.”

Xu You’s body shook. With no time to think further, she picked up a pen and a piece of white paper and turned around.

The two male students in the back seat had been chatting idly, but at this moment they coincidentally stopped together, their gazes simultaneously looking toward Xu You who had turned around.

She lowered her head slightly, eyes looking at the scratch paper, holding the pen, saying softly and mildly: “You guys speak, I’ll translate.”

The classroom was filled with everyone talking enthusiastically in a cacophony of voices, but here it was strangely quiet.

After Fu Xueli finished replying to messages, she put away her phone. When she lifted her head, she discovered the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

“What’s going on?” She was puzzled.

“Uh…” Song Yifan fell silent for a moment, “Don’t know.”

Actually, he felt a bit guilty because his brother had just bullied the little girl.

As for why Xie Ci wasn’t speaking… he didn’t know that either.

After a few seconds.

Xu You’s fingers curved slightly, sliding unconsciously on the paper. Song Yifan’s voice sounded in her ear, “Why aren’t you all saying anything? Then I’ll go first. Let me think.”

After speaking, he furrowed his brow and looked at the ceiling with squinted eyes, looking like he was deep in thought.

“Hurry up.” Fu Xueli propped her cheek with one hand, saying boredly: “What’s there for you to think about? Someone as shallow as you, besides eating and sleeping, what else is there?”

“Hey, Big Pear, you can’t talk like that. I’m a man with depth and dreams, okay?”

Fu Xueli crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it hard at Song Yifan: “I don’t like the nickname Big Pear, fuck your mother.”

“And.” She sat at a diagonal position from Song Yifan, standing up and making a motion to hit him, “Besides picking up girls, I really can’t see your depth.”

Song Yifan puffed out his chest, speaking righteously: “To be honest, apart from my academic performance being a bit poor—”

“Wait, not a bit poor, but terribly poor.”

Xu You couldn’t hold back and laughed.

Song Yifan, seeing the new classmate finally smile, breathed a sigh of relief, “Aiyowei, I won’t argue with you anymore. I’m going to study together with our Classmate Xu now.”

Then deliberately ignoring the light gaze his deskmate cast over because of that sentence.

While they were arguing, Xu You had already written her own on the paper.

She clicked the ballpoint pen, nodding at Song Yifan: “Then go ahead and say it.”

“Can I say anything? Do you know everything?”

Xu You was taken aback, “What do you want to say? I might not know everything.”

“Mm…” Song Yifan thought for a while, “I like playing basketball, sleeping, playing games…”

Xu You listened to him speak, seriously noting down each item on the scratch paper:

Play basketball, sleep, play games…

Fu Xueli beside them couldn’t listen anymore and reached out to interrupt: “Stop, stop, stop. Don’t say anymore. When you have to read this aloud later, it’ll be so embarrassing.”

“What’s wrong with what I said?” Song Yifan was unconvinced.

Fu Xueli turned her head to Xie Ci for validation, “A’Ci, don’t you think he’s really stupid?”

Xie Ci remained silent, with no reaction, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Xu You said while writing: “Anything else? If not, I’ll turn back around.”

“Wait.” The person who had been silent for so long spoke up slowly.

He curved his lips, his voice drawn out, his tone a bit teasing, “Let me say—”

Whatever you want to say, just say it quickly.

Xu You chanted silently in her heart, not taking the bait.

Xie Ci didn’t speak, and she didn’t talk either, just holding the pen and waiting quietly, not anxious.

His wrist rested on the edge of the desk, his fingers constantly flipping the black phone, but his eyes were looking at her.

Quietly lying on the desk, so well-behaved, like a pure little white rabbit.

Song Yifan’s gaze shifted between Xu You and Xie Ci, going back and forth, discovering something wasn’t quite right.

After a while, his lazy voice sounded.

“Let me think…”

Xie Ci paused for a moment, as if seriously thinking.

Xu You glanced at her watch. Three minutes left. She concentrated on listening, pen ready to write.

“Seems like there’s nothing I particularly like. What should I do?”

Song Yifan laughed lecherously, punching him in the chest, “So simple. Xu You, just write ‘women’ for him.”

“Jesus, boring.” Fu Xueli clicked her tongue resentfully and turned around.

Xu You kept a straight face, ignoring their nonsense. She quickly wrote on the white paper: nothing. After writing, she put it on their desk, preparing to gather her things and turn back around.

“Oh, right, I remembered.” Xie Ci raised his eyebrows, calling out to stop Xu You again.

She slowly raised her eyes to look at him.

“What else?” she asked softly.

Why does this person have so many things to do?

“Don’t you know?” he asked back.

Xu You was silent. After two seconds, she frowned, “How would I know?”

Xie Ci suddenly laughed, “You really don’t know?”

There was some deeper meaning in his words, but Xu You was too lazy to figure it out.

The instant she turned her head, suddenly a wave of hot breath approached her ear.

Bringing a gust of wind.

Xie Ci stood up, supporting himself on the desk with one hand, leaning down close to Xu You’s neck. His pair of dark pupils looked straight ahead, his Adam’s apple moving slightly, lips curving wickedly as he whispered a sentence to her.

Xu You’s form froze like stone.

Xie Ci sat back in his seat, his elbow propped on the desk edge of the person behind him, supporting his head, staring at Xu You’s flushed profile. He laughed harder and harder.

Suddenly feeling someone watching him, Xie Ci shifted his gaze.

“Bro.” Song Yifan leaned over, saying with a complex expression: “When did you become…”

“What?”

“So fond of teasing little girls?”

Xie Ci glanced at him, asking lightly: “You have an opinion?”

“Aiyou, how would I dare?”

After a while.

“It’s not that, I just feel.” Song Yifan really couldn’t hold back. He leaned over again, using a voice only the two of them could hear, saying, “I just feel that lately you’re like you’re possessed or something, loving to get close to other people’s new classmate. What do you think?”

As soon as he finished speaking, his calf was viciously kicked. Song Yifan groaned in pain and immediately wisely shut his mouth.

Xu You used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat on her forehead.

With lowered eyes, she quickly wrote a passage on the scratch paper, tore it off, and slapped it on that person’s desk behind her.

In the classroom, the English teacher stood on the podium. Below, it gradually quieted down.

She cleared her throat, holding the lesson plan and asking: “Are you all done discussing?”

No one answered.

Teacher Zhang’s eyes scanned around. She raised her chin, pointing at Group 4: “Xie Ci, where did you run off to last period? You’re really lawless. Come, come, come, tell us what I wrote on the board.”

Xu You couldn’t help but bite her lower lip.

The person behind her stood up unhurriedly, the chair legs scraping against the floor, making a sound.

Seeing him not speak, Teacher Zhang glanced over coolly, saying mercilessly: “If you can’t say it, stand for one period.”

Xie Ci leaned lazily against the wall, using two fingers to pick up a white piece of scratch paper from the desk.

In the quiet classroom, using halting English, he slowly read aloud the sentence written in ballpoint pen:

—”I love to give somebody a glass of hot water.”

After Teacher Zhang heard it once, she thought for a few seconds, saying incredulously: “You like helping other people get hot water?”