While Lu Xingyan was at home, unaware that Shen Xingruo and Wang Youfu had already discussed the seating arrangement issue, he finished answering the multiple-choice questions and then opened his phone to check the latest messages in the group chat with his friends. Initially, everyone was talking about the houses they rented near the school and how they were, but suddenly someone mentioned the seating arrangement, which made Lu Xingyan realize something—
With the new semester starting, the class would rearrange the seating, meaning he and Shen Xingruo probably wouldn’t be able to sit together anymore.
Bian Hejin was also at school today, helping Wang Youfu. He chimed in the group chat, “Actually, the seating arrangement chart is already out. I saw it when I passed by the classroom; it’s posted on the podium. I’ll be sitting with Zhai Jiajing.”
Messages flooded the group chat, praising his luck for sitting with Zhai Jiajing.
Lu Xingyan, who had been lurking in the chat, finally spoke up.
“Hey Bian Hejin, buddy, could you take a picture of the seating chart for me?”
“I’m out buying things for Teacher Wang right now. I’ll take the picture when I get back to school,” replied Bian Hejin.
Lu Xingyan couldn’t wait, so he sent a message to Shen Xingru.
“Shen Xingru, what are you up to?”
Shen Xingruo happened to be attaching his comment to his paper. Wang Youfu had tried his best, reluctantly finding a few positive points for him and even embellishing them quite insincerely.
The comment stated, “This student is cooperative and friendly,” which she felt was originally intended to imply he was forming cliques with his friends.
The comment also stated, “He has a lively and cheerful personality,” which was true enough; he was always ready to start a fight with his friends at the drop of a hat.
And then there was, “He takes his studies seriously and has made significant progress in the second half of the sophomore year.” The improvement space was indeed vast for a score in the three hundred.
As she silently criticized, she quickly finished reading and used glue to fix the comment sheet in place.
When she picked up the next student handbook, she noticed her phone, which had been placed beside it, was constantly buzzing with new messages.
“Shen Xingru, what are you doing?”
“Shen Xingru, I heard the seating chart is out. Can you go to the classroom and take a picture of it for me? I want to see who my deskmate will be this semester.”
“Shen Xingru???”
Putting down the glue stick, she replied, “Have you finished your paper?”
Lu Xingyan replied with two curt words, “Almost.”
Shen Xingruo suggested, “You take the papers, I’ll take the seating chart.”
“Lu Xingyan…”
Why did it sound like handing in the paper while receiving payment? It would be better to wait for Bian Hejin to return to the classroom.
He replied to Shen Xingruo with a “goodbye” emoji, tossed his phone aside, and continued working on his exam paper. Half an hour later, it was Bian Hejin who first sent him a photo of the seating chart. Lu Xingyan squinted as he scanned it, and at a glance, he saw his name in the front row next to Shen Xingru—quite a striking and fitting arrangement. Wang Youfu was truly a miraculous homeroom teacher. It seemed like the purchases he made last semester around the school were not in vain.
He then bothered Shen Xingruo again.
“Shen Xingru, we’re desk mates again.”
“This is what they call a destined connection over a thousand miles, you know?”
“Shen Xingru…”
“Shen Xingru, have you finished your paper?”
“Lu Xingyan…”
“Lu Xingyan, can you stop being a buzzkill? Besides, I need some rest. I only have a few more big questions left.”
“Why don’t you go take a rest in the exam hall during the college entrance examination? What’s the difference between that and taking a break in the enemy’s artillery nest during a battle? Do you also want to brew a pot of Luo Han Guo chrysanthemum tea for your health? Do you enjoy seeking death like this?”
“Ok, ok, I’ll mute myself.”
“Lu Xingyan, calm down, fairy goddess.”
Seeing Shen Xingruo chatting so seriously on her phone, Zhai Jiajing couldn’t help but ask, “Xingru, what are you doing?”
Shen Xingruo raised her head, suppressing the unconscious curve of her lips, and replied softly, “Nothing.”
Her phone was running out of battery, so she didn’t reply further, putting her phone aside and continuing to attach comments to the papers.
The weather in Xingcheng during the summer was always unpredictable.
When Shen Xingruo went out, the sun was still shining brightly, scorching the ground, and the leaves drooped lazily from being sunburnt.
But in the blink of an eye, as evening approached, while the red clouds had not yet faded from the sky, heavy raindrops began to fall.
Originally seeming like a sunshower, the dark clouds soon obscured the glow, the sky turned a leaden gray, and then lightning and thunder followed, and the rain grew heavier.
Zhou Yi was preparing dinner when she suddenly saw heavy rain pouring outside. She hurriedly took off her apron and muttered, “Xingru didn’t bring an umbrella when she went out. I’ll go pick her up at the school gate. Oh, where’s my phone…”
Lu Xingyan had just finished his exam paper and came out of the bathroom, also hearing the sound of rain. So he picked up where Zhou Yi left off, “I’ll go get her. Auntie Zhou, don’t get yourself wet and catch a cold. Plus, I need to buy some stuff anyway.”
Zhou Yi thought about it, “That’s fine. If you go get Xingru, come back quickly, and I’ll cook dinner for you guys.”
Lu Xingyan nodded, grabbed his phone, changed his shoes at the entrance, and went out with an umbrella.
He originally intended to take the big black umbrella, but it was too big, enough to shelter three people. He thought about it and decided to take a smaller one so that they could get closer to it. In the end, he chose a dark green umbrella nearby.
After getting off the elevator, he called Shen Xingru.
But a mechanical female voice on the other end of the phone said, “The number you dialed is powered off, the number…”
He didn’t need to think twice; he knew it was out of battery. Shen Xingruo was good with everything else, but she never liked to carry a power bank or charging cable when she went out. However, since she wasn’t fond of chatting or playing on her phone, her phone rarely ran out of battery halfway. He called Bian Hejin instead.
Bian Hejin said he had left a while ago, and Wang Youfu’s matters were almost finished, so he and Shen Xingruo were probably leaving soon too.