In the bedroom, Jiang Yi buried his head into the pillow, avoiding the sight of Lu Li, whose forehead was plastered with math formulas. After all, who could sleep peacefully with a pair of eyes staring intently at them, especially when the forehead above those eyes was covered in math formulas?

Lu Li refused to let him sleep, lifting Jiang Yi’s eyelid with a serious expression. “Look at the formula.”

Jiang Yi: “…”

Resigned, he lifted his head and glanced at Lu Li, who lay beside him, his forehead still adorned with the formula.

Satisfied, Lu Li thought to himself, if Jiang Yi looked at him like this every night before falling asleep, he was sure Jiang Yi would dream about him.

Five minutes passed.

Jiang Yi was now fully focused on the math formula, while Lu Li, on the other hand, found himself lost in Jiang Yi’s eyes. His long lashes looked so tempting to play with. Lu Li’s heart itched, but after a moment, he warned himself to hold back.

No. He couldn’t do this. What if he ended up dreaming about Jiang Yi again?

Just as he was about to avert his gaze, he noticed Jiang Yi tilting his head slightly, leaning closer toward him. Lu Li froze as if under a spell, watching helplessly as Jiang Yi moved closer. His dark eyes were moist and clear, his cheeks still tinged with the pink hue from a recent shower, making him look soft and delicate. His rose-tinted lips moved slightly.

“…”

Lu Li barely registered what Jiang Yi was saying, his throat tightening as he prepared to speak, only to feel a light tap on his head.

“I said your formula is wrong. What are you spacing out for?” Jiang Yi said sternly, staring at him. “How are you even taking notes in class?”

Lu Li blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

Jiang Yi’s expression tightened. “You didn’t pay attention in class again, did you?”

Lu Li: “…”

“You promised me that even if we’re not in the same class, you’d still focus during lessons.”

The more Jiang Yi thought about it, the more serious the situation seemed to him. If Lu Li managed to write a wrong formula, then he must be slacking off in class, probably dozing off all the time.

Without another word, Jiang Yi threw off the covers, looking at Lu Li with a firm expression. “Go to the study room. I’ll teach you the correct way to transform this formula.”

“This is important, and you’ll need it later. If you don’t get it now, it’ll be harder to fix later on.”

Seeing Lu Li still dazed on the bed, Jiang Yi’s tone turned stricter. “Hurry up and get up.”

Lu Li: “…”

Jiang Yi grabbed his hand and began dragging him out of bed. “Come on—let’s go.”

The study was brightly lit, but Lu Li felt completely lost. He had planned to make Jiang Yi dream about him, yet here they were, sitting in the study, staring at a math book.

Dressed in his pajamas, Jiang Yi leaned over to set some math problems for him, occasionally poking his hand with a pen. “Hurry up and write.”

Suppressing his frustration, Lu Li took the notebook and begrudgingly began working through the problems.

When they finally returned to the bedroom and turned off the lights, Lu Li lay there with his eyes wide open, still unable to figure out what had gone wrong.

He thought about it for a while but couldn’t come up with an answer. However, he was certain of one thing—if he wanted Jiang Yi to dream about him, he’d need to come up with a different strategy.

---

The next day, in the elite class.

As soon as the bell rang, Jiang Yi approached Cai Fang with the incorrect formula in hand. He clung to a shred of hope. “Why do you think this formula is wrong?”

He hoped Cai Fang would say something like, “This transformation is particularly tricky, and it’s easy to mix up during calculations,” so that Lu Li wouldn’t be guilty of slacking off but simply of making a careless mistake.

Cai Fang took the notebook, adjusted his glasses, and looked at him in surprise. “Someone in our class actually got this formula wrong?”

Jiang Yi: “…”

He added hurriedly, “It wasn’t someone from our class.”

Cai Fang, still perplexed, said bluntly, “I still think it’s almost impossible to get this formula wrong.”

Jiang Yi clung to a sliver of hope. “Maybe it was just a careless mistake?”

Cai Fang replied seriously, “Do you ever forget to eat when you’re hungry?”

Jiang Yi shook his head.

“Well then, it’s the same thing. Getting this formula wrong is like forgetting to eat when you’re starving.”

Cai Fang concluded, “It’s ridiculous.”

Jiang Yi: “…”

All he could muster was a soft, “Oh.”

Seeing Jiang Yi’s troubled expression, Cai Fang tried to comfort him. “But it’s not a big deal.”

“When I was in elementary school, I made mistakes when studying middle school content.”

Jiang Yi stared at the notebook, his face conflicted, as if trying to convince himself to believe it, though believing it seemed a bit difficult.

Cai Fang suddenly grew concerned. “How’s your preparation for the competition going?”

“The exam is in a few days, and I’m really nervous.”

He adjusted his glasses again and sighed. “I heard that this time the competition will be held in City A. The competition is going to be fierce.”

Jiang Yi paused, hesitant. “The competition is in City A?”

Cai Fang nodded. “I heard a rumor, but it’s probably true. The competition has been held in City A for the past few years. We’ll probably be there for about three days.”

“If you make it to the finals, you might stay for about a week.”

Cai Fang looked at Jiang Yi with envy. “You’ll definitely make it to the finals. After the competition, you can even have some fun.”

Jiang Yi rubbed his nose, nodding slightly, but he was already wondering if Lu Li would cause trouble if he was away for a week.

---

That evening at the Lu residence.

At the dinner table, Mrs. Lu ladled out a bowl of soup and handed it to Jiang Yi, her voice filled with affection. “My dear, drink more soup. Arno has already told me everything.”

Jiang Yi, holding the bowl of soup, looked puzzled. “What did Arno say?”

Sitting straight-backed at the table, Lu Li, without a glance at him, said, “Nothing much. I just told Mom that you’ve been working too hard lately.”

Jiang Yi was about to say that he was fine when Lu Li interrupted, “Just drink your soup.”

He added seriously, “You need the nutrients.”

Mrs. Lu nodded in agreement, thinking that even Lu Li, who usually wasn’t fond of soup, was beginning to understand its importance.

That morning, Lu Li had secretly handed her a list of soups to make for Jiang Yi, saying that he’d lost a lot of weight and seemed exhausted from all the competition preparation. He needed proper nourishment.

Mrs. Lu had been shocked when she saw the list, which included hearty, energizing soups like lamb stew, sea cucumber and quail egg soup, turtle broth, and beef tail soup. She was certain that Jiang Yi must have been worn out.

Hearing the instruction to drink more soup, Jiang Yi lifted the bowl to his nose, sniffing it. The soup smelled a bit strange tonight, different from the ones he’d had before, but he didn’t give it much thought and downed it in one gulp.

Lu Li watched with satisfaction as Jiang Yi finished every last drop of the soup.

He’d researched thoroughly online, and these soups were supposed to be very effective.

Soon, the two of them, who were meant to be the “best in the world,” would share the same dreams. Jiang Yi would end up dreaming about him just like he had.

Completely unaware of Lu Li’s schemes, Jiang Yi continued drinking the peculiar soups night after night. Meanwhile, every night before bed, Lu Li would stick formulas to his forehead, staring at Jiang Yi expectantly.

Jiang Yi still had no idea what Lu Li was waiting for.