Chapter 7

The piercing sound of an alarm rang out. Song Cheng jolted awake, throwing off her covers, her chest heaving.

Zhou Ying, who had also sat up, noticed her expression and yawned. “Did you have a nightmare?”

It was no different from a nightmare.

Song Cheng’s heart was still racing. Just a moment ago, she had thought that returning to high school was nothing more than a dream.

Sitting on the bed, Song Cheng glanced around the room. Zhou Ying was climbing down the bed ladder, Li Xueshan was lying motionless, clearly intending to stay in bed, and Lü Wei was sluggishly changing her clothes.

Outside the balcony window, the sky was still dark. The deep night was heavy with dew, and the chill of the early morning seemed to seep through the glass. Zhou Ying flipped on the light with a snap, and the dormitory was instantly flooded with brightness, signaling the start of a new day.

It was just another ordinary morning at a high school campus.

Although she still couldn’t understand the lessons, when knowledge passed through her mind like water, she managed to catch some grains of it.

Whether or not she understood, Song Cheng took her notes very seriously. She meticulously copied what was written on the blackboard, and she also picked out key points from the teacher’s lecture to jot down.

By the end of the class, looking at her full notes, Song Cheng felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

After two periods of math, Song Cheng followed the others out of the classroom in small groups—it was time for morning exercises.

At their school, the morning exercises involved running laps around the campus. As usual, Song Cheng stood at the end of the girls’ line, in front of the boys’ line.

After being cooped up in the classroom for half the morning, the air outside carried the scent of freedom.

Breathing in the fresh air, she looked ahead and saw Wen Xiangyi two rows in front of her. Compared to their seating arrangement in the classroom, they were closer now—close enough for her to catch a glimpse of his figure.

The group began to jog, and at this pace, the jog felt effortless to Song Cheng, no different from a stroll.

She jogged leisurely, keeping a steady pace, and still had the mental space to observe her surroundings.

The sun came out this morning, making it less cold. Wen Xiangyi had taken off his school uniform jacket, and his brown shirt billowed in the wind, reminding Song Cheng of a latte. She suddenly had a craving for one.

Also, Wen Xiangyi seemed very focused on his run, looking straight ahead without glancing back even once.

But Qin Li, running beside him, was different—constantly turning his head to chat.

The boys behind them were the same, whispering about something like “Lin Hang” and “He’s coming to our class lineup again”—

Song Cheng abruptly stopped in her tracks and turned around.

“Lin Hang?”

Chen Zihao and the others were startled by Song Cheng’s sudden reaction, mainly because they didn’t expect her to join in their gossip.

It’s no exaggeration to say that in their first year of high school, a brave soul had confessed to Song Cheng, and she had walked past him like a stranger, almost saying “move aside,” causing the poor guy to be ridiculed in the boys’ dormitory for an entire semester.

Chen Zihao said, “Yeah, he’s been hanging around our class a lot lately.”

Xie Rixin, standing next to him, chimed in, “The teacher sees his good grades and pretends not to notice.”

Song Cheng’s sharp eyes scanned the boys behind her. “Which one is he?”

The tall Chen Zihao pointed into the distance. “The one wearing a blue shirt under his uniform with black pants, running out of line towards the front.”

Although she didn’t know the reason, it was clear that Song Cheng had an issue with Lin Hang, which immediately excited the boys.

Lin Hang was handsome, had good grades, and was popular with the girls—enough reasons for them to be jealous. Now, he even seemed interested in getting closer to the class’s “untouchable flower,” Wen Xiangyi?

They were all well aware of Lin Hang’s little scheme and found it extremely annoying!

Eager to watch the drama unfold, everyone started looking forward to what would happen next. In no time, they saw Song Cheng quickly lock onto Lin Hang.

Lin Hang was skirting the edge of the running group, slowly inching forward from the back, getting closer and closer to the girls’ line, and drawing nearer to Wen Xiangyi.

He grew more excited and cast a glance at Wen Xiangyi’s back. But in the process, his view was suddenly blocked by the last girl in the line.

As soon as Lin Hang saw her face, he recognized her. Song Cheng?

But he didn’t even know her.

Song Cheng was the epitome of unapproachability; otherwise, she wouldn’t have so few boys daring to confess to her. Being caught in her gaze was incredibly intimidating.

As they drew closer, Lin Hang instinctively smiled at her in an attempt to be friendly.

Chen Zihao watched intently. “He’s coming over, he’s coming over!”

Everyone immediately looked at Song Cheng, wondering what she would say to Lin Hang…

“Teacher.”

Song Cheng raised her hand high and shouted to the female teacher with black-framed glasses who was maintaining order by the roadside, “Lin Hang from Class Six has run into our class lineup.”

The boys from Class Five: “???”

Lin Hang stumbled abruptly.

The female teacher heard the commotion and quickly walked over.

Song Cheng solemnly said, “Teacher Liu, what he’s doing is wrong. It disrupts the discipline of our running exercises.”

Teacher Liu, with a stern expression, glanced at her, then looked at Lin Hang, her voice carrying a heavy sense of authority. “Go back to Class Six. If this happens again, you’ll write a self-criticism.”

This Teacher Liu was notorious for being strict, so Lin Hang didn’t dare to hesitate for even a second and immediately turned around to run back.

No one else dared to make a sound either. They all suppressed their restlessness until they had run past the area under Teacher Liu’s supervision and entered the domain of the music teacher. Only then did Xie Rixin exclaim, “Song Cheng, you actually tattled to the teacher!”

Even though they were happy with the outcome, tattling to the teacher seemed a bit out of line!

The commotion hadn’t gone unnoticed by the people around them. Qin Li and the others had all taken note.

Qin Li whispered, “Song Cheng and Lin Hang don’t get along? I’ve never heard of that before.”

He Nianyao, who usually loved gossip, was also puzzled. “She used to do nothing but train all the time.”

Why would Song Cheng resort to such a “nuclear option” just to clash with Lin Hang?

The leaves above rustled in the wind, casting dappled spots of light.

As the running group steadily moved forward, many ears perked up, only to hear Song Cheng calmly say:

“There’s someone in our class who’s in a relationship, and it’s ruining my study environment.”

“Huh???”

Amidst the stunned reactions and question marks, this sentence was carried by the wind to Wen Xiangyi’s ears.

Wen Xiangyi couldn’t help but smile.