“Chi Yao is going to perform on stage?” Chen Lin asked as soon as she entered the classroom in the morning, as if hoping someone would deny it. “Is it true or not?”
Lin Zhexia was turning in her homework when she broke Chen Lin’s illusion: “…It’s true.”
Since Lin Zhexia said it was true, it must certainly be true.
Chen Lin could hardly believe it: “So it is true. I thought they were just imagining things.”
Tang Shuxuan interjected: “But Chi Yao has such a bad reputation, why do so many people still pay attention to him?”
Chen Lin, as a former fan girl, immediately hit the nail on the head: “Haters are fans too.”
“…”
During the break, Lin Zhexia took the program list from Teacher Xu.
She quickly spotted Class 1 of Year 2 in the Year 2 section.
The program list is clearly stated in black and white: Year 2 Class 1, program: song performance. Performers: Chi Yao, Xu Ting.
Lin Zhexia held the list, unconsciously replaying in her mind the words from last night that had given her the wrong impression.
—”…Do you want to see?”
So was he participating because of her?
…
When you like someone.
It seems you can’t help but hope they might like you back.
But if that person is Chi Yao, she didn’t even dare to have hope.
Lin Zhexia shook the inappropriate thoughts from her head, telling herself he probably just didn’t want Xu Ting to keep bothering him—
After school, Lin Zhexia went to Class 1 to find Chi Yao. Xu Ting was pulling Chi Yao aside to discuss their performance: “We still have half an hour, why don’t you come in and wait?”
Lin Zhexia entered, originally intending to find a seat at some distance from them.
But Chi Yao, while listening to Xu Ting, reached out and pulled an empty seat next to him.
If she avoided it now, it would seem too deliberate.
So Lin Zhexia took off her backpack and sat down beside Chi Yao.
Lin Zhexia explained: “I was afraid I’d disturb your discussion.”
Xu Ting was still talking nonstop about his plans from across the table when Chi Yao said indifferently, “It’s fine, I wasn’t interested in listening anyway.”
“…”
Lin Zhexia took out her homework, planning to use this time to work on it.
Doing homework next to Chi Yao felt like they were deskmates.
The feeling was quite extraordinary.
Sitting in the unfamiliar yet familiar Class 1 classroom, beside Chi Yao, with just enough distance between them that they might touch if either moved their elbow slightly.
Chi Yao noticed she wasn’t writing, and ignoring Xu Ting, he leaned back and asked: “What’s wrong?”
Without thinking, Lin Zhexia spoke her mind: “Like this, we seem like deskmates.”
The words sounded strange once spoken.
So she added: “I just suddenly realized we’ve never actually been deskmates before.”
Although she and Chi Yao were very familiar with each other, when she thought about it, they really had never shared a desk.
In elementary school, she had transferred in and could only sit where there was space, and back then Chi Yao rarely came to school.
In middle school, they weren’t at the same school, and by high school, they were placed in distant classrooms due to their difference in academic performance.
Chi Yao put both hands in his pockets and casually interpreted her words from another angle: “Never having been my deskmate is indeed your loss.”
“…”
“Thinking about it now, I realize it’s a blessing in disguise,” Lin Zhexia wrote the word ‘solve’ next to a math problem and retorted, “Otherwise, I might have lost many years of my life, and possibly wouldn’t have survived until now.”
At this point, Xu Ting interrupted them: “Is anyone even listening to me?”
Lin Zhexia: “Remove the ‘anyone’ and just say ‘you.’ I’m not going on stage with you, so there’s no real need for me to listen.”
Xu Ting: “…”
Xu Ting: “Has your class chosen a poem yet?”
Lin Zhexia had done many things that day, perfectly implementing Teacher Xu’s plan: “We’ve chosen one, and we finished the arrangement during PE class today. We’ll be ready to perform next month.”
“…”
Xu Ting was speechless for a moment.
After saying this, Lin Zhexia began working seriously on her problems.
When she looked up after completing several problems, she found that Xu Ting had left at some point.
The young man sitting beside her had one hand propped on the desk, casually supporting his head as he watched her. He had been waiting for her to finish, who knows for how long.