Cheng Sijiao understood the meaning behind his words and couldn't hold back her anger, saying, "Are you crazy?"
Without arguing with her, Xie Chen walked towards another intersection. After a few moments of silence, Cheng Sijiao ultimately gave in, held her breath, and followed Xie Chen's footsteps.
When they reached the school gate, a figure came running from the side and hooked Xie Chen's neck.
"Good morning, Brother Chen! I've missed you so much!" Lu Qifeng shouted loudly.
Xie Chen coldly pulled away from his grasp.
Lu Qifeng noticed Cheng Sijiao on the side, approached her, and smiled, "Hey, what a coincidence."
Without looking at him, Cheng Sijiao frowned and walked a few steps away from the two.
"Is something bothering you? Tell me, who upset you? I'll beat them up for you," Lu Qifeng, completely oblivious, initiated a conversation with her.
Hearing this, Cheng Sijiao's mood lightened a bit. She looked at Lu Qifeng and asked, "Really?"
Lu Qifeng, eager to help, reassured her, "Of course, let me see who dares to mess with you."
Cheng Sijiao pointed her finger at Xie Chen and said, "Him."
Lu Qifeng's smile disappeared, and he glanced nervously at Xie Chen. Trying to mediate, he said, "I think there must be some misunderstanding in this."
"Too much nonsense," Cheng Sijiao frowned.
"Uh, I suddenly remembered I have some homework to finish. Brother Chen, I'll go ahead!" Lu Qifeng released Xie Chen and sprinted towards the teaching building without looking back.
Cheng Sijiao: "..."
Typical, this guy can't be trusted.
Cheng Sijiao hastened her pace, leaving Xie Chen behind, and walked briskly towards the teaching building.
The entire morning passed without them exchanging a word.
The first class was Chinese, and after it ended, most of the students in the class slumped over their desks, seeming listless. Lu Qifeng sprawled on the windowsill of Class Two and shouted, "Chen ge, let's go, to the store?"
Xie Chen propped himself up on the desk, still half-asleep, and responded with a muffled acknowledgment.
Cheng Sijiao reluctantly stood up to give him some space. Lu Qifeng noticed her and asked, "Classmate, how about joining us to the store to relax a bit?"
Cheng Sijiao glanced out the window and replied, "Not going."
"Really not going?" Lu Qifeng persisted.
Xie Chen went out and pulled him aside, saying impatiently, "Why so much nonsense."
In the hasty morning rush, Cheng Sijiao hadn't eaten much. Now, hearing the conversation between the two, a slight hunger pang prompted her to go to the store.
The store was bustling with people. Cheng Sijiao furrowed her brow, maneuvering through the crowded aisles. After squeezing through the crowd, she finally reached the shelves, grabbing two packs of bread and a bag of milk. Still feeling hungry, she bent down to search for some snacks.
While scanning the shelves for her desired snacks, a unfamiliar voice came from beside her.
"Senior."
Cheng Sijiao looked up in the direction of the voice. A short boy stood next to her, the outer part of his school uniform jacket half-open, revealing a tight red shirt underneath. He had a somewhat similar vibe to Lu Qifeng, and his appearance was passable. He looked at her with a sense of pride and frivolity.
Cheng Sijiao didn't want to engage with this person. She turned to walk in the other direction but was blocked by him.
"Senior?"
"Who's your senior?" Cheng Sijiao said impatiently.
To better distinguish the three grades in the high school section, Nancheng Secondary School had made some markings on the uniforms for each grade. Cheng Sijiao had just transferred and was not familiar with this term.
The boy glanced at the white pattern on the sleeve of her uniform and continued nonchalantly, "Aren't you in the eleventh grade? I'm Chen Weishan from Class Three in the tenth grade, so, of course, you're my senior."
Cheng Sijiao became even more annoyed by the boy's words. She furrowed her brow and asked, "What do you want?"
"It's not a big deal," the boy deliberately pretended to be shy, lowering his head and smiling.
"Then shut up," Cheng Sijiao, feeling nauseated by this interaction, said bluntly.
"?"
Seeing Cheng Sijiao about to leave, the boy hastily said, "Don't go, Senior. Look, you're so pretty. Can I have your contact information?"
Xie Chen and Lu Qifeng were checking out at the cashier and heading out. Lu Qifeng suddenly stopped Xie Chen, pointing towards the inside, "Xie Chen, isn't that Chen Weishan from the tenth grade? The one who always deceives senior girls?"
"Don't know him," Xie Chen said without lifting his eyelids.
"Oh, he's the freshman who's almost blacklisted by all the girls in our grade for deceiving seniors. I wonder which one he's targeted this time," Lu Qifeng explained to Xie Chen.
"Oh damn, Xie Chen!" After recognizing the girl Chen Weishan was talking to, Lu Qifeng quickly grabbed Xie Chen's arm and exclaimed, "Look at this!"
"What's wrong now?" Xie Chen shook off his hand with increased impatience. "What's the big deal?"
"Your desk mate!" Lu Qifeng was overly excited, and his voice trembled a bit. "He's actually hitting on your desk mate! Xie Chen, you need to go over there and give him a lesson!"
"Go deal with it yourself," Xie Chen said upon realizing that Cheng Sijiao was being approached. He reluctantly glanced in that direction, then remembered something and continued, "Besides, how do you know if they know each other or not? Why bother so much?"
"Your desk mate just transferred here. How could they know each other? And this Chen Weishan is infamous for being shameless. He can do all sorts of nasty things. Look, it's almost time for class. She's at least your desk mate; can't you help her out?" Lu Qifeng tried to persuade as he pulled Xie Chen along.
In the midst of their conversation, Lu Qifeng had brought Xie Chen closer to where Cheng Sijiao and the others were. He raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on Cheng Sijiao.
The girl had changed into her school uniform, with her high ponytail secured behind her head. A pair of silver-rimmed glasses rested on her straight nose, and her bangs slightly covered her beautiful eyes.
Annoyed by Lu Qifeng's constant chatter, Xie Chen approached and stood in front of Cheng Sijiao, separating her from Chen Weishan. In a cold tone, he said, "Aren't you going back?"
Cheng Sijiao, troubled by the persistent boy in front of her, looked up and saw Xie Chen. It felt like seeing a savior, and without thinking, she replied, "Going back."
Chen Weishan, who had his hand on Xie Chen's shoulder, said with a smirk, "Even in starting a conversation, there should be a sequence."
Xie Chen turned around and gave him a cold glance.
Seeing Xie Chen's face, Chen Weishan immediately let go, awkwardly smiled, and said insincerely, "Oh, it's Brother Chen. Didn't recognize you."
Xie Chen frowned, "Are we familiar?"
"Is there anyone in the whole school who doesn't recognize Xie Chen from the second year?" Chen Weishan raised an eyebrow, his attitude insincere. "If I offended Brother Chen, I apologize, I apologize."
Xie Chen sneered, not willing to waste time on him. Leaving behind Chen Weishan with a fake smile on his face, Xie Chen walked straight out.
Cheng Sijiao hurriedly caught up with his pace.
Once outside the store and making sure Chen Weishan didn't follow, Cheng Sijiao took a few steps back, creating distance again between her and Xie Chen.
Xie Chen turned around to look at her, "?"
"We haven't clarified what happened earlier," Cheng Sijiao said earnestly, "it's better to maintain a certain distance."
Hearing their conversation, Lu Qifeng asked in confusion, "What happened earlier?"
After a moment of reflection, Lu Qifeng finally realized, "Oh, you're not talking about what happened at the bar that day, are you?"
"Right, why did you hit our Xie Chen that day? Did you misunderstand something? We just wanted you to stay and have a drink. We're not bad people."
Cheng Sijiao was momentarily stunned; it seemed she had indeed misunderstood them.
"I'm sorry." She suddenly said to Xie Chen, "I misunderstood you that day, and thank you for what happened just now."
"No need to thank me." Xie Chen glanced at her lazily and said, "I won't bother with a sick person too much."
Cheng Sijiao: "⸝⸝⸝"
---
The second class was a math lesson. As the bell rang, Lao Zhao entered the classroom holding a stack of documents and knocked on the blackboard: "This class, we won't cover any new topics."
"According to our class rules, we need to re-elect the class committee at the beginning of each semester. So, let's proceed with the election for this semester."
The class committee elections in Class 2 mostly used a voting system. Everyone wrote the names they wanted to elect on small pieces of paper, and then Lao Zhao would tally the votes. The exception was the study committee—
The study committee member was always appointed by Lao Zhao.
Cheng Sijiao had just transferred, and apart from Xie Chen, she didn't know many people in the class. She sneakily glanced at Xie Chen's paper and reluctantly filled in the names of the several class committee positions.
Lao Zhao enlisted a few students to help count the votes, and the results came out quickly. Zhou Yangyang and Xie Chen continued to serve as class monitor and deputy monitor, respectively, and there were no significant changes in the other committee positions.
Only the study committee position remained undecided. The outgoing study committee member was a girl who excelled in academics and worked hard. Everyone assumed that Lao Zhao would let her continue in the role.
"The results for the other committee positions are all out." Lao Zhao smiled and looked at the whole class, "As for the study committee for this semester—"
"I've decided to have Cheng Sijiao take on the role."
Cheng Sijiao initially thought this activity had nothing to do with her, so she absentmindedly daydreamed below. Suddenly, she heard her name and looked up at Lao Zhao, momentarily unable to speak.
Other students began to whisper, their eyes flickering between Cheng Sijiao and the previous study committee member.
Xie Chen, who was leaning against the wall, heard Lao Zhao's words and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Even though Lao Zhao might have wanted to give Cheng Sijiao a chance for self-improvement, creating such a disturbance at the beginning of the school year undoubtedly set her up with enemies within the class.
No one knew what Lao Zhao was thinking.
Xie Chen glanced at his little desk mate, her beautiful eyes staring blankly ahead as if she hadn't realized what had just happened.
"Everyone, please calm down." Lao Zhao wasn't surprised by the students' reactions. "Let me explain. I've reviewed Cheng Sijiao's previous records, and she excels in various aspects. Her grades are even a bit better than Xu Ting's. I believe she can handle this responsibility well."
Xu Ting was the previous study committee member.
Cheng Sijiao quickly stood up, "Teacher, I think this might not be suitable, especially since I just transferred and there are many things I'm not familiar with. It's better to let Xu Ting continue."
Lao Zhao gave Cheng Sijiao a trusting look and didn't change his mind, "The decision is final. There's no need for further discussion. I believe you have the capability to handle this, Cheng Sijiao."
Cheng Sijiao didn't know what to say and could only sit back down.
She didn't want to attract attention, but now she was unavoidably in the spotlight.
After the class committee elections, the class returned to calm. Cheng Sijiao felt bothered by the unexpected responsibility and had no energy to think about other things.
On the side, Xie Chen didn't say much. Sometimes he would nap with his head on the desk, and other times he would play games on his phone with friends like Lu Qifeng.
No one disturbed anyone else.
Ever since Lao Zhao announced the new class committee, the entire class fell into an eerie silence, which persisted until the afternoon.
After two classes in the afternoon, there was a long break during which most students chose to go to the playground for free activities.
As soon as the break started, Lu Qifeng shouted to Xie Chen through the window, "Xie Chen, come out."
"Shut up." Xie Chen glanced at the window, and Cheng Sijiao stood up to make way for him. At that moment, a few girls walked over and deliberately bumped into them, causing Cheng Sijiao's desk to overturn. Books and other items spilled onto the floor.
"What are you doing!"
Cheng Sijiao lifted her head and saw Xu Ting and a few girls standing nearby. Xu Ting glanced at her coldly and casually said, "Sorry."
Cheng Sijiao could barely understand Xu Ting's feelings, and she didn't want to cause trouble at home on her first day. She forced herself to suppress the anger and calmly reasoned with Xu Ting, "Xu Ting, I understand if you have emotions towards me, but this incident really has nothing to do with me."
"Oh." Xu Ting glanced at Cheng Sijiao and the books on the ground. "I just accidentally bumped into your desk. Did I say something?"
"That's right." Several people around Xu Ting echoed, "Feeling guilty, huh?"
Xu Ting snorted lightly and walked away with her head held high. Xie Chen, who was nearby, witnessed the whole process but didn't say anything.
Cheng Sijiao crouched down to pick up her things. Before she could finish, several subject teachers sent someone to call her to the office.
Cheng Sijiao composed herself, quickly picked up some important items and stuffed them back into her desk, then hurriedly went to the office.
Xie Chen and Lu Qifeng went to the basketball court. Lu Qifeng witnessed the whole incident from the outside, understood the situation, and complained to Xie Chen along the way, "This is just too much! Why should they bully my goddess like this!"
"Can't you have a bit of integrity? When did my desk mate become your goddess?"
"I'd like to think so." Every time Cheng Sijiao was mentioned, Lu Qifeng's mouth couldn't help but curl up. "Xie Chen, what do you think? If I were to pursue my goddess, what would be my success rate?"
"You?"
"Yeah." Lu Qifeng looked at Xie Chen expectantly, stood up straight, patted his chest, and said, "Although I admit I'm not as handsome as you, I've got more human touch! I know how to care for her, unlike you."
Xie Chen slapped the back of Lu Qifeng's head, "Get lost. Your success rate is negative."