After a moment, his face turned slightly red. He subconsciously touched his bald head and blurted out, “Really?”
Jiang Yi nodded seriously, “Really.”
Ten minutes later.
On the basketball court, Lu Li made a dunk, turned modestly to glance at the audience, only to see that instead of receiving an admiring look from Jiang Yi, he saw a bald-headed Zhong Mao chatting affectionately with him.
Lu Li: “…”
Qin Lan, hands on his knees, was equally puzzled, “Weird, hasn’t Zhong Mao been feeling down lately?”
“Why is he so happy now?”
Lu Li wiped off some sweat and raised his hand towards the coach, claiming with a straight face that he was out of stamina and needed a substitution.
The coach, noticing Lu Li’s extra effort in training today, waved him off in agreement. He blew the whistle and called Zhong Mao to sub in.
Lu Li left the court and sat beside Jiang Yi, asking him what he had been talking about with Zhong Mao earlier.
Jiang Yi explained that he had been complimenting how nice Zhong Mao’s head looked.
Lu Li, in the middle of gulping down water, choked at his response. He looked at Zhong Mao, who was defending on the court with his shiny bald head, and fell silent.
Jiang Yi was still in awe, “It’s amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a beautifully shaped head.”
“Perfectly round, like a ball.”
Lu Li: “…”
With a blank expression, he replied, “I think so too.”
Just as Zhong Mao, while bending over to defend, let out a big sneeze.
Since that conversation, Zhong Mao became more enthusiastic about hanging out with Lu Li and his crew at the Rocket Class. Every time he roamed around with them, he felt proud, thinking, “If the top student in the grade, Jiang Yi, thinks a bald head isn’t ugly, then who are the second and third in the grade to judge?”
Zhong Mao stood tall, feeling that no one in the school had the right to think he looked bad. After all, anyone who dared to criticize his appearance would first have to outperform Jiang Yi in academics.
One day, after waking from a nap, Cheng Chao noticed Lu Li and a group of people chatting with Jiang Yi. Later, during class, he remarked, “Your friends don’t seem particularly smart.”
“Especially the bald one.”
His head tilted high, already round and smooth, now looking even more like a shiny egg.
Jiang Yi: “…”
“That classmate has a name—Zhong Mao. He’s not just ‘the bald one.'”
Jiang Yi really feared that one day, Cheng Chao would wake up groggy from a nap and call out, “Hey, Baldy, keep it down.”
Upon hearing the name, Cheng Chao’s eyebrows twitched slightly. “Zhong Mao? How did he end up like that?”
Jiang Yi tilted her head, “You know him?”
Cheng Chao thought for a moment, “I have a vague impression, but not much. He probably wasn’t very smart.”
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t be running around the school with a bald head.”
Jiang Yi: “…”
Sincerely, he asked, “Have you really never been punched for talking like that?”
Cheng Chao yawned, his expression gentle as he smiled warmly, “Don’t worry, even if Baldy gets hit, I won’t.”
After all, to this day, only Jiang Yi knew his true nature.
It wasn’t long before Jiang Yi, having lunch with Lu Li, found out about the connection between Zhong Mao and Cheng Chao.
Their families were from noble lineages, meeting occasionally during festivals and special occasions.
While picking at his fish, Zhong Mao sighed, “I’ve heard Cheng Chao’s name since I was a kid.”
“When we were younger, he always ranked first. My dad would beat me and scold me for not being as good as him.”
Zhong Mao chuckled, “But by middle school, Cheng Chao got overtaken, and my dad stopped comparing me to him during those beatings.”
Qin Lan raised an eyebrow, “So who did your dad want you to emulate?”
Proudly, Zhong Mao replied, “He wanted me to learn from Jiang Yi.”
Jiang Yi: “…”
Lu Li: “…”
Zhong Mao shook his head, “I could tell the moment I met Cheng Chao that he was the type of good student who always did as his family said. Honestly, I felt a little sorry for him.”
“I’ve met him a few times before. He’s easy to talk to, just a bit too gentle, the kind of person who’s clearly a scholar.”
Thinking of Cheng Chao, who casually referred to him as ‘Baldy,’ Jiang Yi fell silent.
Suddenly, Zhong Mao’s eyes lit up. He spotted Cheng Chao carrying a food tray and waved enthusiastically, inviting him to join their table.
With a smile hanging on his lips, Cheng Chao sat down gracefully. As he leaned closer to Jiang Yi, he quietly muttered, “Your friend…is an idiot?”
Jiang Yi: “…”
When Lu Li saw this pale-faced guy sitting so close to Jiang Yi, he tilted his head and asked Jiang Yi, “Is this your class vice president?”
Jiang Yi nodded.

Lu Li raise an eyebrow, he asked quietly, “Is this the one who got depressed from… going to the bathroom?”
Jiang Yi: “…”
At the table, Zhong Mao was passionately introducing the group to the pitiful Cheng Chao from his perspective, while Cheng Chao’s eyes clearly conveyed the word “idiot.”
Lu Li, still seated, whispered to Jiang Yi, “Does he have some kind of mental issue? How can he get depressed over a bathroom break?”
Jiang Yi stayed silent, suddenly realizing that skipping a meal now and then might not be such a bad idea.
By the end of lunch, Zhong Mao had already exchanged contact information with Cheng Chao, slapping his chest and saying, “You’re Jiang Yi’s deskmate, and we’re from the same noble families. Don’t worry, from now on, you can always eat with us.”
His tone made it sound like he was offering to protect Cheng Chao from now on.
Cheng Chao: “…”
Unable to hold back, Lu Li kicked Zhong Mao’s butt, “Get back to class, now.”
From that day forward, whenever they ran into Cheng Chao in the cafeteria, Zhong Mao would eagerly pull him over to join their table. Over time, the group became lunch companions.

Though they often clashed silently and harbored mutual resentment, they maintained a surface level of harmony.

The difference was that Cheng Chao harbored disdain for everyone except Jiang Yi, while Lu Li generally got along with everyone except Cheng Chao.
Lu Li’s dislike for Cheng Chao as Jiang Yi’s deskmate far surpassed his annoyance with their bespectacled classmate, Cai Fang.

After all, Cai Fang looked like an honest guy, whereas Cheng Chao seemed shady, always smiling insincerely, which made him unbearable.

There was even a time when Lu Li refused to address Cheng Chao by name, referring to him only as “the guy from the bathroom.”

Fortunately, Lu Li only did this at home.

Jiang Yi had warned him that if he called Cheng Chao that in school, he’d stop attending his basketball practices.

After all, Jiang Yi had promised Cheng Chao he wouldn’t talk about the hotel bathroom incident, and with Lu Li’s habit of nicknaming him “bathroom guy,” it was only a matter of time before people asked why.

During this tense undercurrent, Qin Lan sensed something but didn’t dwell on it.

He simply assumed Lu Li was possessive of Jiang Yi and didn’t like anyone getting too close to him.

After all, even after basketball practice, Lu Li would pocket the empty water bottle that Jiang Yi had given him instead of leaving it behind.

And Cheng Chao, as Jiang Yi’s deskmate who sat with him every day, was naturally not to Lu Li’s liking.

Meanwhile, Zhong Mao remained oblivious to the tension, happily waiting for his new hair to grow out while trailing behind Lu Li to hang out at the Rocket Class.