In the boys’ dormitory, the lights had also gone out for the night.

The five of them fumbled around in the dark for a moment before quickly settling into bed.

Yan Lie, on the top bunk, turned over several times, unable to work up any drowsiness. He let his hand drop down to pat the ladder and asked in a low voice, “Cake, do you know anything about your sister?”

The room went quiet as everyone listened to the two of them.

Shen Musi said, baffled, “I don’t have a sister?”

Two seconds later, he caught on. “Oh, you mean Fang Zhuo?”

Despite how solitary Fang Zhuo usually kept to herself, her name actually came up quite often in the boys’ dormitory, especially right after she’d transferred in, when she had stirred up quite a stir.

After all, she was very pretty, with a pale, delicate look about her, the kind that seemed to need protecting. That frail appearance softened her cold air, and it had also given them a misplaced sense of courage.

After spending some time around her, though, everyone had a sudden realization: they had underestimated Fang Zhuo and overestimated themselves. The girl was utterly unreceptive—any guy who came up to chat with her got nothing but a cold shoulder, every time.

Zhao Jiayou recalled, “I heard her mouth’s pretty sharp. There was a guy in the class next door who confessed to her, and she mocked him so badly he nearly came out of it traumatized.”

Yan Lie was startled. “No way.”

Fang Zhuo, of all people? Sharp-tongued? She probably had to rack her brain for ages just to come up with one biting remark, right?

The boy near the window spoke up. “Not really. I sat next to her last year. She’s actually not that standoffish, just doesn’t bother engaging—kind of like a cool, distant type. We used to be on cleaning duty together, and every time I asked her for help she’d agree. She’s actually pretty easy to talk to.”

The class monitor, sleeping in the corner, added, “Right. Old Zhao, don’t even get me started on that guy from the class next door. He figured Fang Zhuo was poor while he had a bit of money, so he got cocky about it, and that’s what set her off. I swear those guys next door have something wrong in the head—pestering Fang Zhuo over and over like they’re rushing some tower in a game, thinking it’d be a real flex if they landed her, without even checking what they themselves look like. Have some shame. If it were me, I’d curse them out too.”

Yan Lie tilted his head, his lowered voice sounding somewhat tense. “What do you mean?”

The class monitor sighed. “Fang Zhuo’s situation really must not be great. The few times I’ve run into her at the cafeteria, it was never during normal meal hours, and what she eats is pretty plain. Plus she doesn’t even have a phone. Smartphones are everywhere now and she doesn’t even have a basic Nokia.”

Since students wore uniforms all day at school, the gap between rich and poor wasn’t easy to notice. And in the year since Fang Zhuo had transferred, she hadn’t grown particularly close with them, so without paying special attention, it was hard to pick up on much.

Everyone had a vague sense that Fang Zhuo’s family circumstances likely weren’t good, since she lived with extreme restraint—the shoes on her feet, the everyday items she used, were all cheap, half-worn goods.

But just how bad things really were, none of them had ever dug deeper into.

Yan Lie’s voice turned cold, sounding faintly chilling in the dark. “I’m asking—what did that guy mean by it?”

Just as he was about to get someone to clarify what exactly “getting cocky” had meant, Shen Musi, who had been pondering things for a while, suddenly dropped a bombshell. “Let me tell you guys something quietly, but don’t repeat it, okay? Once we walk out this door, I’ll deny ever saying it. Actually, during the last break, I ran into Fang Zhuo working an under-the-table job outside. She was sitting in an alley eating a boxed meal, so exhausted her hands were shaking. Her family doesn’t seem to look after her at all. Remember last year’s school performance, monitor, when you said we should all buy matching all-white outfits? That hundred-something yuan—Fang Zhuo earned that herself doing odd jobs.”

Everyone fell silent.

A moment later, the room erupted all at once.

The class monitor exclaimed, agitated, “Damn it, why didn’t you say something earlier?!”

“I did say something!” Shen Musi protested, aggrieved. “When you proposed it, I tried to interrupt! I said it wasn’t necessary, didn’t I? And you criticized me for it! You said it was our last performance ever and we needed team spirit! Everyone went along with it! I couldn’t exactly announce in front of everyone that Fang Zhuo had no money, could I? Her pride is so strong—what was I supposed to do!”

The class monitor said, dazed, “Well, I had no idea either! Why didn’t she just apply for the poverty subsidy?”

Zhao Jiayou chimed in, equally worked up for no real reason, “No wonder I felt like she’s been looking poorer and poorer!”

Yan Lie: “Shh—”

Everyone took a deep breath together, pulling their rising voices back down their throats, so as not to draw the dorm supervisor’s attention.

After calming down, Zhao Jiayou said softly, “I really think she’s gorgeous, totally my type. You know I’m into this kind of look, right?”

The conversation suddenly stalled. None of the other four dogs in the room felt much like responding to him.

Zhao Jiayou, lost in his own fantasy, went on, “Tell me, if I kept sending her breakfast every day, letting her feel the warmth of human kindness, do you think she’d fall for me out of sheer gratitude?”

“Ha.” The class monitor scoffed. “Those mutts in the class next door probably thought the exact same thing.”

Zhao Jiayou said indignantly, “Well, mine would definitely be more pure-hearted—I’m being serious! How dare you insult me by comparing me to them!”

Shen Musi said leisurely, “You’ll get hauled into the homeroom teacher’s office over a puppy-love issue and feel her warmth first.”

Zhao Jiayou immediately deflated. “Forget it then. Her life philosophy is truly exhausting.”

Everyone assumed the topic was finished, but to their surprise, Zhao Jiayou refused to let it go, rambling on with a string of shameless nonsense. “After all, a guy as handsome, good at school, and tidy as me is bound to be at the top of her watch list—the moment there’s any sign of trouble from me, she’ll get nervous…”

Shen Musi silently climbed off his bed, crawled over to Zhao Jiayou’s bunk, yanked out his pillow, and pressed it down over his face.

“Shut up!” he said, beyond furious. “Who gave you the right to be this disgusting in the middle of the night!”

The two of them scuffled for a while, and once they’d burned off their energy, they finally settled down to rest.

That night, all of them slept somewhat restlessly, their dreams troubled by a jumble of strange things.

In the morning, Yan Lie and Zhao Jiayou woke up relatively early. The two went to the cafeteria for breakfast and brought back a few packed meals for the lazy ones still in the dorm.

No sooner had they finished lining up than they spotted Fang Zhuo’s figure amid the sea of people.

Maybe because they’d just discussed the topic the night before, but now Zhao Jiayou’s gaze toward Fang Zhuo was automatically filtered through a lens of pitiable, helpless solitude. So when he noticed some irritating guy hovering close beside her, his temper instantly flared up, and he let out a heavy snort through his nose.

He threw an arm around Yan Lie’s shoulders, pointed ahead, and declared righteously, “Let’s go—time to save the damsel in distress!”

The two walked up behind Fang Zhuo just in time to see Bai Lufei, putting on a shameless face, saying in a cloying tone, “Why’d you give me money for it? I wanted to buy it for you myself. Don’t get the wrong idea, I just want to be friends with you.”

Fang Zhuo glanced sideways at him—a look so plainly full of impatience that even a third party could read it clearly. She asked, “And then?”

Bai Lufei smiled. “And then, you know, show a bit of classmate-to-classmate affection.”

Zhao Jiayou made a disgusted face, worried that Fang Zhuo might not be good at refusing this kind of harassment, and was about to step in when Fang Zhuo set her stainless steel bowl down on the table, her patience already spent. “It’s not affection you’re short on—you’re short a screw upstairs, that’s why you can’t understand human speech.”

Bai Lufei: “……”

Fang Zhuo lifted the chopsticks in her hand. “Out of respect for all those years you’ve spent eating the nation’s grain, you’re at least some reserve labor force, so I wouldn’t mind sticking one of these right into the top of your skull.”

Zhao Jiayou: “……”

Fang Zhuo gave a cold smile. “Want me to?”

Yan Lie: “……”

Yan Lie’s throat bobbed as he gave a shudder, whispering into his friend’s ear, “You still want to send her breakfast and move her to tears now?”

Zhao Jiayou shook his head slowly, deeply unsettled in hindsight at his own earlier foolishness, saying humbly, “I’m afraid she’d turn my skull into an incense burner for worship.”

Bai Lufei’s face flickered through shades of pale and livid several times over.

Fang Zhuo’s hand gripped the rim of her bowl, her eyes fixed on him with no warmth at all. If Bai Lufei took even one more step forward, she would, without hesitation, throw the bowl of porridge straight in his face.

Before the sparks could fly, Yan Lie sat down, inserting himself between the two of them.

Fang Zhuo’s gaze shifted down, landing on him, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

Yan Lie propped his chin on one hand and greeted her warmly, “Morning.”

The young man’s hair curled slightly at the tips, his smile crinkling his eyes, facing the bright doorway, his clear eyes seeming to shine, his smile dazzlingly infectious. His eyes flicked forward, glancing meaningfully in a particular direction.

Fang Zhuo studied his face steadily for a moment, then relaxed her fingers, which had been gripping the bowl tight enough to show every knuckle, ignoring the person still standing stiffly off to the side, and bowed her head to focus on her porridge.

Zhao Jiayou stepped in front of Bai Lufei, grinning. “There’s a teacher right up ahead, you know—come any closer and I’ll shout that you’re harassing someone. And another thing, don’t go bothering Fang Zhuo without reason from now on. She has to come up with a new insult every time she sees you—isn’t that exhausting?”

Bai Lufei gritted his teeth, but before he could say anything more, Zhao Jiayou had already pushed him off toward somewhere else.

After Bai Lufei left, Yan Lie also picked up his breakfast and walked off. Once Fang Zhuo finished eating, she cleared her tray and walked slowly back to the classroom.

After morning exercises and the long break, the students dispersed noisily from the field, and Yan Lie was dragged off by Shen Musi to the supermarket.

Inside, the place was packed with people. Yan Lie disliked crowds and stood outside the supermarket waiting.

The floor-to-ceiling windows, unwashed for a long while, were coated in a grayish film. Yan Lie, tall and broad, stood out wherever he went. He found a shaded spot, and as he turned, through the mottled glass, he saw Fang Zhuo standing in front of a shelf.

She was bent over, searching for something among the dazzling array of goods, and after a moment picked up a pair of shoes. After checking the price, she let out a small breath of relief and put the item back.

Seeing this, Yan Lie smiled faintly. By the time he made it back to the classroom, Fang Zhuo was already inside.

Without noticing anything unusual, he pulled out his chair and sat down, casually flipping through the books on his desk, only to find a fifty-yuan note tucked inside.

“Wow.” He tucked the money away in delighted surprise, then picked up the two strawberry cakes sitting at the corner of his desk, chuckling, “How did the God of Wealth know I love little cakes?”

Fang Zhuo had no intention of looking at him, but at that remark she couldn’t help glancing over, and her gaze happened to collide with Yan Lie’s, who had been studying her.

He raised a hand in acknowledgment, smiling generously. “Thanks.”

Fang Zhuo gave a soft “mm” in response.

…Straight man.

Fang Zhuo lowered her head, mulling it over.

So did that make people like Bai Lufei “heavy metal,” then? Toxic.