Chapter 6: “Sorry for the trouble, Class Monitor.”

Lin Zhi hesitated, wondering whether he should greet Lu Liu. Although he had intended to avoid Lu Liu, the latter was the class monitor, and they saw each other frequently these days. Besides, that night, Lu Liu had patiently explained the problems to him…

Before Lin Zhi could make up his mind, Yao Wenjing, who had locked the door, also turned and saw Lu Liu.

“Lu… Lu Liu,” Yao Wenjing stammered, “Are you heading to the classroom too?”

Lu Liu smiled and nodded. “Mm.”

Lin Zhi looked at Yao Wenjing in confusion. How come he didn’t know these two knew each other?

“Such a coincidence,” Yao Wenjing tried to make small talk, “We were just planning to finish our meal and head to the classroom to study.”

Lin Zhi forced a smile and discreetly tugged on Yao Wenjing’s uniform, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally say, “Let’s go together.”

“It is a coincidence,” Lu Liu pretended not to notice Lin Zhi’s subtle movements and tried to maintain his smile. “Well, I’ll be going ahead.”

That was the sentence Lin Zhi had been waiting for. As soon as Lu Liu finished speaking, Lin Zhi waved his hand, eagerly saying, “Bye.”

Lu Liu’s smile finally faltered, his lips stiffened as he ignored Lin Zhi’s remark about him being a nuisance. He nodded at Yao Wenjing before turning and walking toward the staircase, leaving behind a stubborn figure for the other two in the hallway.

“Slow down,” Lin Zhi said, tugging on Yao Wenjing’s shirt.

Yao Wenjing didn’t understand, but he always listened to Lin Zhi and trusted his words, so he slowed down his already slow pace even more.

By the time Lu Liu’s figure completely disappeared from their view, they were almost at the cafeteria.

Although it wasn’t yet mealtime, there were already quite a few people in the cafeteria, just like Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing, scattered at various tables, eating.

“So, how do you know Lu Liu?” Lin Zhi asked as soon as he sat down.

“I had a little accident yesterday afternoon,” Yao Wenjing replied with a shy expression, speaking vaguely. “Lu Liu helped me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” Lin Zhi asked.

“Huh?” Yao Wenjing replied honestly, “It only happened yesterday afternoon, I didn’t have time to tell you yet.”

What do you mean ‘didn’t have time’?

Logically speaking, this wasn’t a scenario triggered by him. It had happened in his past life as well, but until the end, Lin Zhi never knew that Yao Wenjing and Lu Liu were acquainted.

“Besides,” Yao Wenjing hesitated, then added, “It was a humiliating thing. I didn’t want you to know about it.”

Lin Zhi snorted lightly, his tone a little sour. “Lu Liu already knows, but you didn’t want me to know?”

One was his best friend, the other was someone he had secretly admired for years in his past life. He wasn’t sure who he should be jealous of.

Maybe he shouldn’t be jealous of either of them.

“Xiao Zhi,” Yao Wenjing asked cautiously, “Are you angry?”

“I’m not angry,” Lin Zhi said, though he felt a strange sense of “my best friend and my crush have had something happen without me knowing.”

“Actually, it’s perfectly normal that I know Lu Liu,” Yao Wenjing said, puzzled. “Isn’t he your class monitor?”

Before Lin Zhi could ask again, Yao Wenjing continued, “There have been a few times when I came to your class looking for you, but you weren’t in the classroom. It was always Lu Liu who told me. I thought you two had a pretty good relationship. Maybe he helped me yesterday because he knew I was friends with you.”

“Is that so?” Lin Zhi had no idea about any of this, but he said, “He didn’t help you because you’re friends with me. No matter who you are, if he sees someone who needs help, he’ll offer it.”

“Oh…” Yao Wenjing lowered his eyes and glanced at his plate. “I don’t understand, Xiao Zhi, what’s your relationship with Lu Liu? Why do you seem to know him so well?”

“Uh,” Lin Zhi almost choked, “Lu Liu and I are just regular classmates. Since he’s the class monitor, I pay a little more attention to him.”

At most, he could add that Lu Liu was the object of his past life’s unrequited love.

Lin Zhi lowered his head and began eating, feeling guilty. He shouldn’t be so concerned about things related to Lu Liu while still thinking about “Zhi” in his heart.

After reminding himself, Lin Zhi spent the next few days focusing entirely on reviewing for the final exams. However, high school courses and exam systems were different from those in university. It was unrealistic to expect to finish reading several books in just one week.

While he could roughly understand the content in the textbooks, as soon as it came to solving problems, it was a completely different story. The common saying applied to him: “Looks easy when you read, but useless when you try to do it.”

In that week, Lin Zhi asked Chen Guyang more questions than in the past two years combined.

Unfortunately, Chen Guyang was also a half-baked expert. Sometimes, as he explained something to Lin Zhi, he would get himself confused.

Whenever that happened, Chen Guyang would say, “Why don’t you ask someone else?”

Lin Zhi would say “Okay, thanks,” and then turn away, slowly trying to figure it out on his own. Only when he couldn’t figure it out would he go ask… Yao Wenjing.

Lin Qingye had been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in the first semester of Lin Zhi’s first year of university. After hearing the news, Lin Zhi became busy researching medical cases, contacting hospitals, finding experts for consultations, and taking care of Lin Qingye… Aside from asking for help, he distanced himself from all social interactions.

He didn’t want to complain to anyone, nor did he have time to reconnect with old classmates or friends. In the two years since graduating from high school, Lin Zhi had never attended any class reunions or gatherings with friends, and he had never spoken in the class group chat. He was almost completely invisible.

Two years may not sound long, but for Lin Zhi, who had been in a state of constant anxiety, it was enough to make him forget many of his classmates’ names, faces, and the superficial relationships with his classmates.

Although he had returned to his second year of high school now, the sense of alienation toward his classmates remained. Lin Zhi didn’t want to trouble them.

After a few such occasions, Chen Guyang probably noticed Lin Zhi’s “shyness” and kindly rephrased his suggestion: “Why don’t you ask Brother Liu? Whenever we have a question, we ask him. Brother Liu is really nice and patient when explaining problems, especially when explaining basic concepts to us, the academic underdogs.”

“Ah.” Lin Zhi had experienced being “taught” by Lu Liu once, and as Chen Guyang said, it was indeed as described, but…

Lin Zhi felt a bit awkward. “I still…”

Before Lin Zhi could finish refusing, Lu Liu happened to walk in from the classroom door. Chen Guyang waved loudly and called, “Brother Liu, could you come here for a second? Lin Zhi wants to ask you a question.”

Lin Zhi: “…”

I really appreciate this!

Lu Liu paused, looking in the direction of the voice. Lin Zhi, the protagonist, had a surprised expression on his face. He didn’t look like someone who wanted to ask him a question at all.

Lin Zhi was sure Lu Liu would come over. Although he wasn’t close to Lu Liu and had made it clear to himself that there was a boundary, Lu Liu was just that kind of person—kind, enthusiastic, and wouldn’t refuse anyone who needed his help.

As it turned out, Lin Zhi really did know Lu Liu well. In less than three seconds, Lu Liu had turned and was heading toward Lin Zhi and Chen Guyang.

“Brother Liu, sit here,” Lin Zhi said, taking the innermost seat. Chen Guyang kindly offered his seat. “I’d like to listen too.”

“Thank you.” Lu Liu smiled and nodded, then bent down to sit next to Lin Zhi.

Lu Liu was wearing a thin school uniform. Though it was hot, unlike other boys, he didn’t have the usual smell of sweat. He also didn’t smell of strong cologne. Instead, there was a faint lavender scent, likely from his laundry detergent.

Lin Zhi felt a bit dazed. In both of his lifetimes, the number of times he had been this close to Lu Liu could be counted on one hand.

“Is it this problem?” Lu Liu asked again, pointing at the problem with the tip of his pen, while gently nudging Lin Zhi, who seemed lost in thought, with his elbow.

Lin Zhi snapped back to reality, overly reacting as he quickly withdrew his arm from the table. “…Yeah, it’s this one.”

Lu Liu subtly pressed his lips together, lowering his tone a little. “Look at the two conditions given in this problem…”

The temperature was too high, and Lin Zhi could feel sweat starting to form in the palm of his hand beneath the table. He rubbed it slowly on the fabric of his school pants, following the movement of Lu Liu’s pen as he wrote out formulas.

Every time Lu Liu explained a point, he would pause slightly, giving Lin Zhi and Chen Guyang time to digest it. When Lin Zhi understood, he would nod. If Lin Zhi didn’t nod after a few seconds, Lu Liu would repeat himself.

“…I remember that Teacher Wang mentioned a very similar problem in the exam last time. It tests the same knowledge point,” Lu Liu thought for a moment and then turned his head to look at Lin Zhi. “I think it was in the second semester mock exam. Did you bring it?”

Lin Zhi responded with a confused expression.

“I brought it, I brought it,” Chen Guyang raised his hand. “I brought all the exams. It’s in the folder in the drawer. Brother Liu, could you help me get it?”

Lu Liu reached out and accurately grabbed the folder. After Chen Guyang took it, he quickly found the second semester mock exam under the “Math” label in the folder.

“This is the problem,” Lu Liu drew a small equilateral triangle beside the question. “Guyang’s solution is pretty complete. You two can take a look. Once you understand this problem, you’ll be able to solve similar ones.”

“Oh, so it’s this problem,” Chen Guyang said, as if realizing something. “No wonder I felt like I’ve seen this problem before when Lin Zhi asked about it!”

Lu Liu smiled subtly. “I hope next time, it won’t just feel familiar.”

“It won’t, Brother Liu. I remember all the key points you’ve highlighted for me,” Chen Guyang said. “Thanks, Brother Liu. I’ve got this problem down, I’ll explain it to my deskmate.”

“Alright,” Lu Liu nodded. “Then I’ll leave.”

“Thanks,” Lin Zhi finally spoke up. “Sorry for the trouble, class monitor.”

“It’s no problem.” Lu Liu left his seat.

The final exams for the second year of high school at J City No. 2 High School were scheduled for the weekend, with the school suspending classes on Friday afternoon to set up the exam rooms.

The subjects were arranged in the same order as the college entrance exam. Lin Zhi had to rush through the two days of exams. Apart from the English exam, for which he was somewhat confident, for the other subjects, he was just guessing his way through.

However, during the math exam, Lin Zhi was quite happy for a few minutes, because the problem that Lu Liu and Chen Guyang had helped him understand was very similar to one of the questions on this final exam.

To use the words of their homeroom teacher, Wang Wu, who often said: “If you get this kind of question wrong, after the exam, don’t even tell people that you’re my student.”

This time, Lin Zhi could probably tell others that his math was taught by Wang Wu.