ATIBESLM 4

“What were you chatting about with that guy from Class 7?” As soon as Fei Lan entered the classroom, Gao Linhao approached him. He had been watching from inside the classroom for quite a while. Originally, Brother Lan was alone in the corridor, and this was the strange thing about Brother Lan—obviously, everyone could play and do things together, but Brother Lan preferred to be a loner. Even during group activities, he would rather be a silent listener. However, this didn’t stop Gao Linhao from paying attention to Fei Lan at all times.

Fei Lan turned his head to glance at Gao Linhao, seeming a bit puzzled. “Chat?”

“Wasn’t it?”

“I’m not familiar with him.” Fei Lan lazily and indifferently said, “There’s nothing to chat about.”

The final conversation between Fei Lan and Ye Lingwei ended with a fierce sentence from Ye Lingwei, “Look again and I’ll gouge your eyes out.” Fei Lan was actually a bit surprised at that time. From childhood to adulthood, there had been no shortage of people who spoke harsh words to him. However, to have a character like Ye Lingwei, who possessed absolutely no sense of danger from head to toe to speak ruthlessly to him, this was the first time Fei Lan had encountered it.

He didn’t feel afraid. Instead, he found it quite novel.

After seeing Ye Lingwei’s eyes clearly, Fei Lan was also surprised to discover that the eyes looked a bit familiar. He seemed to have seen this pair of eyes somewhere before.

Gao Linhao didn’t latch onto this issue. He gave an “oh,” lay down on his desk, and with his eyes gazing at Lin Chudong, whispered to Fei Lan, “I heard the class monitor is in a relationship.”

Fei Lan swept a glance at Gao Linhao. His scalp went numb as he immediately reflected, “I was just muttering a sentence. I know you don’t like gossiping about others, but Lan-ge¹It means Brother Lan., why exactly is it? If you studied, would Lin Chudong still have a share of the title of School Heartthrob?”

He and Fei Lan were once in the same middle school. To this day, he still clearly remembered the way Fei Lan proudly stood on the podium holding the first-place certificate for the competition, as well as the indifferent manner in which he spoke as the student representative. He transferred back in his second year of high school and by a twist of fate ended up with Fei Lan again. When he saw Fei Lan once more, he knew that Fei Lan’s grades were only in the lower-middle range of the grade. In No. 3 High School where grades spoke for everything, Fei Lan didn’t stand out in the slightest even if he possessed a face and family background that drove people crazy.

Gao Linhao simply didn’t believe this was the real Fei Lan—the real Fei Lan should be a sharp blade thrust into a glittering golden hall, reigning supreme above all.

Fei Lan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He sighed and mocked himself without a care, “Because I suck.”

Gao Linhao: “…”

—

No. 3 High School had a day-student system, but there were also many boarding students. Especially among the third-year students, almost the majority chose to live on campus to save time spent commuting.

Ye Lingwei didn’t know if Ye Cen was doing it for the original host’s sake or if he just found the original host an eyesore at home, but he had very thoughtfully bought an apartment for the original host in the complex right next to the school. The utilities and renovations were finished long ago, so the original host only needed to bring his bags to move in.

Evening self-study hadn’t ended yet, and with about half an hour to go, Zhang Xian came to the classroom to notify Ye Lingwei that he could pack his things and go to Class 1. She had already arranged it with Class 1’s homeroom teacher.

Zhang Xian stood right on the podium and said it out loud just like that. Suddenly, everyone in the class looked over at that boy in the corner—some with surprise, some with confusion, and some even with delight.

Ye Lingwei was already packing his things. From his face, one couldn’t detect any sign of discomfort.

The original host indeed didn’t really love studying. There weren’t many books in the classroom and the inside of his desk was spotless, so with just one schoolbag and holding a few things in his arms, nothing else was left behind.

Zhang Xian still decided to personally escort Ye Lingwei to Class 1. In the corridor, the ceiling lights were dazzlingly bright, stinging the eyes. Ye Lingwei gazed ahead, but said to Zhang Xian, “Teacher, you must absolutely not regret this.”

The youth’s voice was clear and soft, yet it spoke such baffling words.

Zhang Xian thought she had heard wrong. Since there was no one else in the corridor, she no longer hid her disdain for Ye Lingwei. “Fine, I’ll be waiting.”

Class 1’s homeroom teacher was named Fang Kemeng, a graduate student who had just graduated not long ago. Besides serving as Class 1’s homeroom teacher, he also covered this class’s PE lessons in addition to other classes’ physics lessons. He looked gentle and refined with no temper, so it was no wonder Zhang Xian was so confident.

Fang Kemeng was standing at the classroom door. Before Ye Lingwei even arrived, he walked a few steps forward to take the books from Ye Lingwei’s hands. “Don’t carry heavy objects. I went and found out about it, and since you can’t do physical labor, let teacher handle it.” 

Zhang Xian stood by the side and chuckled, saying thank you for your hard work.

Zhang Xian left without saying more than two sentences. Her receding figure revealed just how relaxed and happy she was, while Fang Kemeng blocked Ye Lingwei’s line of sight looking outward. He pointed to a seat in the fourth row in the center. “Is it okay if you sit in that spot? It takes less effort to see the blackboard from the middle.”

There were many people at No. 3 High School, with fifty, sixty, or even seventy students in every class. The middle section had three people per row, while the sides had two. Historically, the fourth and fifth rows were always the most sought-after spots, where one didn’t have to eat chalk dust and catch the teacher’s spit in the first row, but wouldn’t be so far back in the last row that they couldn’t even hear clearly what the teacher was saying.

Ye Lingwei naturally saw that the expressions of some people in the class were already dissatisfied. From this, it was clear just how much pressure Fang Kemeng had withstood to keep this spot open for him.

Ye Lingwei didn’t move, but instead pleaded very softly, “Teacher Fang, let me sit in the back for now. If I sit in the front, it’s easy for me to block others.”

He didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone.

Moreover, he certainly didn’t want to make enemies for himself before he had even done anything.

Fang Kemeng agreed without much hesitation. To a large extent, he respected students’ opinions. No. 3 High School had so many students, and Ye Lingwei certainly wasn’t the worst. It was just that Zhang Xian’s requirements for students in her class were too high. He had always heard Zhang Xian in the office talking about how unpromising and disappointing this student was.

He had originally prepared for the worst, but after actually meeting the person, Fang Kemeng actually felt he wasn’t bad. He looked good and had manners, and as for grades, well, he could wait and see—if he weren’t good, he could always be taught.

“Then go up to the podium and introduce yourself.” Fang Kemeng signaled. “Come, let’s welcome our new classmate, let’s have some applause.”

The applause wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, but it certainly couldn’t be called cold either. At least Ye Lingwei didn’t feel slighted.

Ye Lingwei gripped the shoulder straps of his schoolbag tightly, looking pure and harmless. “Hello everyone, I’m Ye Lingwei. I’ll be studying with you all from now on.”

Gao Linhao clapped the most enthusiastically, not forgetting to say to Fei Lan, “This is a total shura field. Look how scared Lin Chudong is—hey, say, don’t you think little beauty came to Class 1 for Lin Chudong, do you?”

Fei Lan had his hands in his pockets. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow. “Who is little beauty?”

Gao Linhao answered, “Ye Lingwei, obviously. Look at him standing on the podium. The way he wears that uniform—I think he’s the only one who makes it look good.”

“No.” Fei Lan said the word out of nowhere.

Gao Linhao didn’t catch on for a moment. “What’s no?”

Fei Lan yawned and pulled his school uniform over his head. “I’m sleeping for a while. Wake me up when class is over.”

Gao Linhao: “…”

Fei Lan listened to the youth’s warm and soft voice on the podium. It was completely different from the tone that had spoken in his ear that afternoon. Being so changeable, how could he have transferred to Class 1 for someone like Lin Chudong?

For someone like Ye Lingwei, the idiom “everything happens for a reason” would never be suitable to use on him. “Because I want to”—these words were perhaps much more suitable for him.

Ye Lingwei sat down in an empty seat in the second-to-last row. While walking back down the aisle, Ye Lingwei felt a puzzled gaze lingering on him. He originally thought it was that boy from this afternoon, but when he looked over at him, he realized that person wasn’t looking at him at all. He was staring blankly out the window, as if he hadn’t even realized a new student had transferred into the class.

It was only after sitting down that Ye Lingwei belatedly realized that Class 1, which he had chosen, was the very class that person was in… but it didn’t matter; they weren’t close anyway, having only exchanged a couple of sentences.

That puzzling gaze disappeared when Ye Lingwei looked around after sitting down. Ye Lingwei looked at the room full of dark backs of heads and felt a bit dazed.

He wasn’t very clear about the book’s plot, after all, he had skipped through it while reading. Even details like what kind of family the original host belonged to or who was in the family, he didn’t know very well. Besides, starting from yesterday, the original host’s storyline in the book had already ended. Everything happening now was all because of Ye Lingwei.

So, both Ye Lingwei and the original host had begun their second lives.

They bestowed this upon each other.

The evening breeze blew gently, and clouds veiled the moonlight, which was like thin gauze. Ye Lingwei was enduring the final half-hour. The apricot tree was almost reaching inside the classroom, and as for the leaves on the branches, since Ye Lingwei sat down, the twenty-third one had already fallen.

Ye Lingwei’s desk mate sat by the window. He felt Ye Lingwei’s gaze constantly directed in his direction. At first, he was a bit annoyed and frowned impatiently. He was ready to scold Ye Lingwei, but as soon as he turned his head, he met Ye Lingwei’s innocent and bewildered gaze.

Light and soft, like the tender leaves in the middle of the apricot tree’s crown outside, tickling his heart.

Chu Ran had originally intended to fiercely show him who was boss, but after being looked at by Ye Lingwei like that, it turned into a trembling sentence. “Y-You, look at the book!”

Ye Lingwei let out an “oh,” dropped his hand, and slumped onto the desk. He blinked a few times, then turned his head to the side and buried his face into the crook of his arm, thinking he might as well sleep for ten minutes.

He hadn’t planned on getting along with everyone anyway. That wasn’t his intention.

Chu Ran stared at the back of Ye Lingwei’s head. He was stunned for a long time, before mentally cursing, “Holy shit.” He was curious just how hearts of stone the people in Class 7 must have, to be able to do such things to someone with a face like this, to the point of hitting him until he had a heart attack? They simply weren’t human!

Senior year evening self-study ended at 10:00 PM. As soon as the dismissal bell rang, the classroom instantly burst into noise. Students walked out arm-in-arm in droves. Usually, the last person to leave the room was responsible for turning off the lights and closing the door.

Ye Lingwei happened to be the last one to leave the classroom. Shouldering a backpack that held nothing but a water bottle and holding his phone, he walked unhurriedly toward the door.

He scanned the room once around, and after confirming that there was indeed no one left, he reached out and pressed the switch by the door.

The classroom instantly plunged into darkness. Before Ye Lingwei could retract his hand, the back of his hand was covered by a cold palm. The person’s fingers slipped into the spaces between Ye Lingwei’s fingers, reaching past him to press down on the switch.

“There’s still someone here, didn’t you see?”

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  It means Brother Lan.