Bai Yang lay sprawled on his desk, dozing off.

Strangely, he slept more soundly in the classroom than at home. At home, he had a bed and blankets, while the classroom only had desks and chairs, along with noisy chatter. But right now, it was precisely the surrounding crowd that gave Bai Yang a sense of security. Only when he was under the bright sunlight, amid the hustle and bustle of the city, among peers his age, could he feel that the world was still turning normally. Compared to the tense, oppressive atmosphere of impending doom in his living room at home, the pressure of the college entrance exam seemed trivial.

If someone were to tell Bai Yang right now that the problem had been solved and he only needed to focus on the college entrance exam, it would be an immense liberation.

That’s why Bai Yang rejected Uncle Zhao’s suggestion to take a break from school. Zhao Bowen had proposed that Bai Yang could take the college entrance exam next year and didn’t need to attend school for now, but Bai Yang shook his head without even thinking about it. For him, going to school wasn’t a burden but rather a breathing space.

Besides, the teachers weren’t bothering him anymore.

Bai Yang could sleep from morning reading time until lunch break, and except for He Leqin, no one disturbed him.

He didn’t know how Uncle Zhao had negotiated with the school, but neither the homeroom teacher nor the subject teachers interfered when Bai Yang slept or zoned out in class anymore. He was even excused from homework. Whenever teachers encountered Bai Yang, their eyes always carried hints of pity and sympathy. The homeroom teacher would frequently call Bai Yang to the office, hold his hand, and earnestly say that people only live once, that test scores and college entrance exam results were minor details not worth worrying about, that as long as the mountain remains green there will always be firewood to burn, that he must take care of his health, and that he should always come to teachers if he had any difficulties… as if Bai Yang were a terminal patient with not long to live.

“Little Sheep, everyone’s saying you have severe depression,” Young Master He wrapped an arm around Bai Yang’s shoulders after class and whispered, “What’s going on?”

“What severe depression?” Bai Yang frowned.

“People are saying you’ve been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, but you’re persevering despite your disability, fighting against the disease while insisting on coming to school,” He Leqin explained. “It’s so moving, Little Sheep. I nominate you for the 2019 Touching China Person of the Year award.”

“Bai Yang, are you okay?” Yan Zhihan also came over. “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“What the hell,” Bai Yang was bewildered. “Where did these rumors come from?”

“Someone from the next class saw your dad and some others going to the teachers’ office to find Teacher Liu, all sighing and looking deeply distressed. They thought you’d died in a car accident,” He Leqin said.

“You’re the one who died in a car accident,” Bai Yang said, while silently cursing his old man and the others for whatever tricks they were pulling.

“If it’s not a car accident, then you must have been diagnosed with some terminal illness,” Young Master He said. “That’s why they’re saying you have depression. Look at how off your mental state has been lately.”

Bai Yang wanted to curse. What a mess – good news never leaves the door while bad news travels a thousand miles. In school, baseless rumors always spread the fastest. Students with excess energy outside of their studies had nowhere to release it, so they were caught in shadows everywhere. If Bai Yang knew which big mouth had first spread these ridiculous claims, he would go kick their ass hard.

“Don’t believe rumors, don’t spread rumors, the internet is not lawless territory, waiting for Global Times to reveal the truth, thank you,” Bai Yang yawned. “I’m just sleep-deprived, that’s all.”

“You’re okay?” He Leqin was still worried.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s too bad,” Young Master He shook his head. “And here I was telling people you had severe depression and attempted suicide by jumping off buildings multiple times.”

“So it was you, you rebellious son!” Bai Yang flew into a rage and moved to kick his behind.

“What time did you go to bed last night?” Yan Zhihan asked.

“Got in bed after one, didn’t fall asleep until after three.”

Bai Yang’s insomnia had been getting worse lately, especially after learning that his room was BG4MSR’s room – that they had lived in the same space. Bai Yang started having dreams, though they weren’t exactly nightmares. In the dreams, he would open his eyes and see a blurry dark shadow with an unclear face sitting by his bed. The shadow wouldn’t move or speak. It had no eyes, but Bai Yang knew it was staring at him.

Despite the twenty-year gap, Bai Yang seemed to still sense that girl’s presence. When he sat in the room in complete silence, it felt as if another person’s breath was rising and falling in the air.

“I’m going to sleep,” Bai Yang lay back down. “Wake your emperor up when school’s over, and we shall dine together with my two beloved ministers.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” He Leqin said. “This humble servant shall take his leave.”

Bai Yang did sleep until school ended, but the more he slept, the drowsier and more confused he became. His brain remained foggy as He Young Master and Brother Yan half-dragged, half-supported him out of the school gates. They found a place on Lanqi Street to eat soup dumplings.

He Leqin ordered three steamer baskets of buns – one of crab roe buns and two of soup dumplings – along with three bowls of bone broth. At six o’clock after school, it was peak dining time, and the restaurant was full of students. Bai Yang, He Leqin, and Yan Zhihan found seats near the entrance. He Leqin patted Bai Yang’s shoulder, “Wake up, how can you still not have had enough sleep all day?”

“Because I’m a superhero,” Bai Yang said. “I may look like an ordinary student during the day, but at night…”

“Still an ordinary student,” Brother Yan said.

“At night I transform.”

“I know!” He Leqin jumped in with the answer. “You’re Underwear Man!”

“That’s right, at night I transform into Underwear Man to fight for justice. When I see injustice I shout once, then keep walking,” Bai Yang said.

With three high school students at one table, the topic inevitably went from mobile games to gossip.

Bai Yang, He Leqin, and Yan Zhihan were all gossip, especially Brother Yan, who knew everything about the boys and girls in their grade. Like how the class belle had broken up with her boyfriend again because the girl’s parents had come to school, how a social butterfly from another class had changed boyfriends three times in the past year with each one looking worse than the last, and how a scumbag from some class had been exposed on Tieba and the school forum for not paying back the money he owed. Yan Zhihan excitedly told the two about someone’s inside story, lowering her voice mysteriously saying, “You know what? That person from the next class…”

Woah!

Bai Yang and He Leqin exclaimed.

“I haven’t finished yet, what are you woah-ing about?”

“Go on,” Bai Yang and He Leqin were waiting for her to continue.

“Actually— I’m so hungry, where are our soup dumplings?” Yan Zhihan suddenly remembered they hadn’t gotten their food yet, so she turned around and called out, “Waitress! What’s happening with our soup dumplings?”

The restaurant was probably too crowded, and the owner had overlooked their order. Yan Zhihan decided to go to the counter to check.

She got up and moved her chair to make way for a young waitress in black who was wiping tables. Bai Yang and Young Master He remained seated, watching as Brother Yan weaved between the tables and diners, stepping on the dark floor tiles to the counter to talk to the owner. The girl gestured and pointed toward Bai Yang’s direction, then nodded and went to the kitchen.

A moment later, she came out carrying three high-stacked steamer baskets. Yan Zhihan raised her eyebrows at the two, looking quite pleased with herself.

“Comrades, dinner is here… Ah!”

Brother Yan was passing sideways between two tables when she suddenly screamed.

Bai Yang and He Leqin were both startled. They watched as Yan Zhihan’s foot caught on a mop handle stretched across the floor below the table. She lost her balance and pitched forward, the three steamer baskets of scalding soup dumplings flying from her hands, heading straight for them.

Bai Yang and He Leqin had opposite reactions at this moment. Young Master He was backing away, trying to escape the range of the falling xiaolongbao, while Bai Yang was standing up and lunging forward, extending both hands to try to catch the falling steamer baskets. But someone reacted even faster than him – a hand shot out of nowhere, accurately catching the bottom steamer basket, then quickly stacking the baskets back together from bottom to top. The whole thing took less than a second. When Bai Yang and He Leqin finally gathered their wits, they saw that hand steadily holding the three stacked steamer baskets suspended above the table.

Yan Zhihan was also suspended above the floor – she had nearly hit her head on the table corner, which would have raised a big bump if she’d struck it, but someone had caught her at the last moment, pulling her back with tremendous strength.

The young waitress in black steadied Yan Zhihan, then bent down to gently place the soup dumplings on the table. Her movements were light and graceful, no different from an ordinary girl, yet a second ago her movements had been incredibly agile.

All three stared in amazement.

The waitress, wearing an apron around her waist, picked up each steamer basket one by one and arranged them neatly. All the soup dumplings were intact. She raised her head and met Bai Yang’s gaze, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Those light brown eyes held an arrow-sharp gaze that pierced straight through to his brain as if trying to see through him. Bai Yang’s foggy brain felt like it had been doused with a bucket of cold water, instantly becoming clear. The girl lowered her head and withdrew her gaze, tucking her short hair behind her ear with her finger, and gave the three a gentle smile:

“Ah, would you like some chili oil?”