The last class on Wednesday afternoon was physical education.

During free activity time, Xu Xing sat on the three-tiered metal bleachers beside the playground, propping his chin on his hand and feeling a mix of emotions as he watched the person shining on the basketball court.

Lu Che, tall and with long legs, effortlessly maneuvered the ball past his opponents. With a jump shot, the basketball slammed into the hoop with precision, making the net tremble.

A light breeze lifted his hair and the edges of his clothes, and his handsome face glowed in the last rays of the setting sun—his silhouette blossomed in the hearts of countless girls. Years later, he would remain a dazzling fantasy in their cherished memories of youthful love.

However, to Xu Xing, Lu Che was just an annoying show-off.

Xu Xing found Lu Che’s recent behavior quite strange, though it likely stemmed from the influence of the red thread.

He sighed silently.

At that moment, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the red thread—

Tang Mian and Liu Peilan were walking over together, the latter smiling as she leaned in to whisper something in Tang Mian’s ear before leaving.

After saying goodbye to Liu Peilan, Tang Mian walked over to where Xu Xing was sitting.

With a cheerful tune, Tang Mian hummed an off-key song: “Wake up, wake up, my dear wake up~”

Xu Xing clicked his tongue in annoyance and asked, “Where have you been?”

Tang Mian sat down next to Xu Xing, rubbing her calves and replied, “I was working part-time as a confidante~^[1]a person with whom one shares a secret or private matter, trusting them not to tell it to others. Do you need me to help you with your emotional confusion?”

Xu Xing’s expression turned genuinely disdainful, scoffing, “You? A confidante? You didn’t even catch the early love train; don’t go misleading others.”

Tang Mian immediately protested, “Oh come on, how can that be misleading? Even though I’ve never been in a relationship, I’ve seen enough romance dramas to know the ropes.”

Xu Xing frowned at the thought of Liu Peilan’s red thread wrapped around Lin Peisang’s ankle and asked, “Did you just give Liu Peilan some guidance?”

Xu Xing knew Tang Mian well; she was always an advocate of “don’t secretly like someone, just confess.” However, judging by Liu Peilan’s situation, if the red thread wasn’t just a ruse, then Liu Peilan’s confession was bound to lead to heartache.

Tang Mian replied, “It wasn’t exactly guidance; we were just sharing views on relationships among girls.”

Xu Xing said, “Okay then.”

Tang Mian then asked, “Let me ask you this: If you liked someone, would you choose to confess?”

Xu Xing absentmindedly replied, “It depends. I think it’s a bit early for me to consider this. I’m more curious about how to confirm that I actually like someone.”

Xu Xing felt that he might be missing an emotional nerve. He was considered a popular boy among his peers, but perhaps because he had too many choices, he had never felt any special affection for girls who showed interest in him—

Love is an everlasting theme that has been sung throughout history, and Xu Xing had read many beautiful verses like “To have the heart of one person and never part until we grow old,” but he had never felt the desire to “hold hands with someone and grow old together.”

Tang Mian leaned over, resting her chin on her knees, and smiled at Xu Xing: “When you really like someone, you won’t have the time or the rationality to distinguish whether it’s love. Your body and mind will always lead ahead of your reasoning.

“For example, when it gets cold, you’d remind her to wear more clothes; when it’s hot, you’d ask if she wants ice cream; if you see the moon is bright and full tonight, you’d want to share it with her; if you sense hidden danger, you’d step in front of her; and if you come across a funny video online, your first instinct wouldn’t be to save it but to share it with her.”

“……”

Xu Xing listened to Tang Mian with a serious expression. The words he had planned to dismiss now sounded surprisingly intriguing.

After a moment of thought, Xu Xing said, “When I find a really funny video online, I do tend to save it first.”

Tang Mian laughed and said, “Oh, I’m suddenly so curious about what kind of person you’ll fall for in the future~”

Xu Xing shrugged, dismissing it, “I think I’ll probably need to go on blind dates in the future.”

He then jokingly added, “I just hope I don’t run into you at a blind date event.”

Tang Mian waved her hand and playfully hit Xu Xing’s thigh, laughing as she scolded, “Get lost!”

Xu Xing joined in the laughter.

After chatting idly for a while, Tang Mian ran off to play jianzi (shuttlecock kicking) with others. Xu Xing turned back to the basketball court and quickly realized that Lu Che was no longer on the field.

Xu Xing felt that it wasn’t that he was overly focused on Lu Che; it was that Lu Che was just too conspicuous.

However, after a short while, Xu Xing saw Lu Che walking over with his hands behind his back.

Xu Xing didn’t avoid Lu Che’s gaze; instead, he quietly waited to see what Lu Che was up to.

When Lu Che got closer, he suddenly extended his hands in front of Xu Xing—holding two ice creams, one chocolate and the other taro, both from the Five Rams brand.

He held them out in front of Xu Xing and asked, “Do you want some?”

“……”

Tang Mian’s earlier words echoed in Xu Xing’s ears: when it gets hot, you ask her if she wants ice cream…

Xu Xing shook his head and quickly refused, “No, no, you can eat it yourself.”

Lu Che let out a regretful “Eh,” then sat down on the step below Xu Xing. Just then, Xu Xing stood up and walked toward Tang Mian’s group, calling out, “I want to join too.”

Hearing Xu Xing voluntarily say he wanted to kick the shuttlecock, Tang Mian looked surprised and asked, “Have you been possessed?”

Xu Xing shot her an annoyed glance and replied, “You talk too much.”

Tang Mian giggled, tossing the shuttlecock to Xu Xing for him to kick.

Xu Xing: “……”

Lu Che sat alone on the bleachers, resting his cheek on his hand and absently taking a bite of the crunchy chocolate ice cream, his gaze following Xu Xing’s figure.

That evening.

After having dinner together at the cafeteria, Xu Xing and Tang Mian took a leisurely walk. As the streetlights came on, they returned to the classroom to wait for evening self-study.

With half an hour until self-study, a small group of students were scattered around the classroom. Some were studying, while others were resting, each in their own world.

Those chatting lowered their voices subconsciously, keeping the classroom relatively quiet.

Xu Xing stood by the podium, recording the attendance for the class and filling out the class situation for Monday through Wednesday.

Yu Canchun was in front of the podium, wiping it down as well as the blackboard. Neither of them exchanged greetings, each quietly doing their own tasks.

At this moment,

Xu Xing heard someone approaching him from behind, their voice light and teasing: “Class leader, can you record a good deed for me?”

Xu Xing recognized that voice all too well and didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

Xu Xing asked nonchalantly, “What good deed did you do?”

Lu Che didn’t answer; instead, he used his cup to water a small green plant on the podium before claiming, “Look—I’m taking care of our class’s flowers and plants.”

“……”

Xu Xing replied irritably, “You can just go back to your corner!”

Lu Che chuckled, no longer teasing Xu Xing, and turned to the water cooler to get warm water.

After Xu Xing finished filling out the class log, he stretched his arm to place it back on a pile of documents at the center of the podium.

A basin of tap water used by Yu Canchun to wash rags was sitting at the edge of the podium. As Xu Xing reached over, he didn’t notice someone accidentally bumped into the basin at that moment, causing water to splash out right next to Xu Xing’s side.

The sound of water splashing startled the entire class.

“Damn—”

Lu Che, who had just turned around with warm water in hand, quickly reacted and caught the basin, saving Xu Xing from being doused with half a basin of dirty water. However, Lu Che himself ended up splashed with warm water from the uncovered cup in his hand.

Lu Che’s irritated voice snapped the others out of their shock: “Can’t you be a bit more careful?”

That comment was directed at Yu Canchun.

The water in the basin was murky, floating with particles of chalk dust.

Yu Canchun hadn’t expected this to happen either; her pale face was stammering out an apology, “I-I’m sorry…”

Xu Xing suppressed his anger. Although he had strong suspicions about Yu Canchun’s repeated “accidents,” this incident seemed more like an unexpected event for all parties involved.

He looked down at his own soaked state, even hearing the squelching sound of water in his left shoe.

As he told Yu Canchun, “It’s fine, I’ll just change clothes later,” he also instructed Tang Mian, who rushed over to check on him, “Tang Mian, go grab a mop and clean this up.”

Turning back to Lu Che, Xu Xing noticed the large wet spot on his clothes and said, “You should also change clothes in the dorm.”

Autumn had arrived, and the evening breeze carried a chill.

Xu Xing pulled Lu Che away.

After changing his clothes in his dorm, Xu Xing kept his brows slightly furrowed. Tang Mian’s words felt like a thorn, nagging at him. Every time he put on a sweater, it felt prickly, yet he couldn’t quite locate where that thorn was.

Tang Mian had said, “I wonder if someone is deliberately trying to set you up.”

Xu Xing subconsciously believed that Yu Canchun was targeting him, but he had no evidence.

He sighed, wondering what Yu Canchun was up to—was she taking it upon herself to treat him as a rival? But how could Yu Canchun have such keen insight? Not to mention he had nothing with Lu Che; could she really conclude that there was something between them just based on their interactions in class?

And what about Ke Di and Zhou Mang?

Where was Ke Di’s girlfriend?

Xu Xing felt utterly speechless.

After pondering, he ultimately attributed all the inexplicable issues to the red thread.

After changing his clothes, Xu Xing hesitated but decided to go find Lu Che in Room 311. He knocked on the door and heard Lu Che’s voice call out, “Come in.”

Xu Xing turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. He saw Lu Che sitting on the lower bunk with a towel draped around his neck, shirtless and leisurely drying his hair.

Upon seeing Xu Xing, Lu Che smiled and said, “Welcome, class leader, to Room 311~”

Xu Xing was used to seeing boys in the dorm without shirts and didn’t avert his gaze as he asked, “Are you heading back to class?”

Hearing this, Lu Che flopped back onto the bed, rolling around in the blanket, and said, “Ah, I really want to skip class. I don’t want to go to evening self-study.”

Xu Xing casually replied, “Then just skip it. It’s not like you haven’t done it before.”

Xu Xing remembered that Lu Che had often been a regular in the absent or late category on the attendance record during their second year.

Lu Che lay on the blanket, his deep-set eyes shining like the brightest stars in the night sky, unblinking as he looked at Xu Xing and softly said, “But now it’s different.”

Xu Xing stood beside the bed, looking down at him. “How’s it different? Did you realize you need to focus now that you’re in your third year?”

Lu Che chuckled and replied, “How could that be? I want to skip class, but I want to see you even more~”

“……”

Xu Xing asked, dumbfounded, “Where did you learn all this nonsense?”

Lu Che grinned and said, “Maybe once my heart’s knot was untied, my thoughts and realizations just came naturally.”

Xu Xing had no way to deal with Lu Che’s irreverent attitude, retorting, “Get lost. If you want to come back, that’s up to you. I’m leaving first.”

After saying that, Xu Xing turned to leave.

The person behind him hurriedly grabbed his clothes and followed, saying, “Wait, don’t go, class leader~”

Author’s note:

1. Lu Che attempted a seduction tactic and declared it a failure. [Bows]
2. Everyone, please don’t blame her yet; Yu Canchun is truly innocent. She’s here to teach Xu Xing about romance, and it’ll show results within the next few chapters—trust me! [Bows]