Chapter 15: Slightly Red Ears

The last thirty minutes of class were dedicated to discussing compositions. Su Tian’s essay received high marks, and Teacher Gao called her up to read it at the podium.

This was actually a regular routine after every exam. Composition was Su Tian’s strength, so she was almost always called to read hers aloud.

The first time, Su Tian had felt embarrassed, but later she became more composed. She thought this time would be the same, but when she stood at the podium and glanced down, her gaze met Jiang Chiyu’s handsome, deep-set eyes.

Suddenly, she wasn’t so composed anymore…

Jiang Chiyu even winked at her.

Su Tian grew more nervous.

She quickly averted her gaze, not daring to look at the audience anymore, and began reading the test paper in a monotone voice.

This essay’s topic was about sharing a favorite fairy tale, essentially asking for a book review. Su Tian had written about “The Little Prince,” which she had recently read.

When writing the essay, time had been running short, so Su Tian had packed it with elegant phrases and beautiful sentences to score high marks. The emotions weren’t particularly genuine – it was the kind of high-scoring essay where every paragraph could be used as an example but would soon be forgotten.

By the time she finished reading, both edges of the paper were soaked with her sweat.

Teacher Gao pointed out this issue, saying that college entrance exam graders preferred essays with genuine emotions, and that merely piling on fancy words might be counterproductive. However, he didn’t forget to add a few words of praise to save face for his direct class representative, then dismissed her.

The next student went up to read.

Su Tian returned to her seat somewhat uncomfortably.

Jiang Chiyu liked to lean back in his seat due to his long legs, so Su Tian always needed him to scoot his chair forward whenever she came in.

This time, as he moved his chair forward, Su Tian accidentally noticed a bottle of soda in his desk drawer, its cap already twisted open.

She glanced at it again, unsure why she noticed such a detail.

But she had noticed it anyway.

…

The latter half of class became dry and drowsy due to some students’ reading levels.

Yesterday, Su Tian had performed well, unable to feel sleepy due to the shock of Jiang Chiyu’s arrival. But today, after fully accepting that this strange transfer student was her childhood friend, drowsiness became inevitable.

The sound of Su Tian slumping onto her desk coincided with the class bell.

Jiang Chiyu was startled by the noise, and propped his elbow on the desk, resting his chin in his hand as he watched her sleeping face.

Su Tian had always been a well-behaved sleeper, never displaying any unseemly postures.

But occasionally, other situations would arise.

When drowsy, she still pretended to hold a pen properly, its cap open, with the tip originally pointing down at the test paper.

But as she gradually succumbed to sleep, her pen-holding hand also tilted onto the desk, with the pen tip now pointing at herself.

When class ended, there was a commotion in the back row. Su Tian stirred from the noise, her arm tightening…

She felt a ticklish sensation on her face…

In her distant dreamscape, a soft laugh echoed…

Jiang Chiyu watched as she unconsciously drew on her own face with the pen, drawing and drawing until a tangled black mass of lines appeared.

He watched with amusement, having no intention of stopping her, and even instinctively reached for his phone to capture the moment.

But when he felt his empty pocket, he remembered that after Teacher Gao had finished his paperwork yesterday, he’d forbidden him from bringing his phone today.

Tch, what a pity.

Su Tian continued moving unconsciously, the black mass on her face expanding, nearly turning her into a painted cat.

Just as Jiang Chiyu was about to mercifully take the pen from her hand, a hand reached out from the diagonal back row, snatching the pen before he could move, and gently patted Su Tian’s shoulder.

Su Tian didn’t wake up.

It was a male student. Jiang Chiyu glanced back – he didn’t recognize him.

The boy had handsome features and was holding two bubble teas that were still giving off cool vapor. He looked around – Su Tian’s books and half her sprawled body occupied her entire desk, with some books pushed across the borderline. He then glanced at the boy sitting next to Su Tian, paused for a moment..

Then lightly shifted his gaze away, checked the bubble tea labels, and placed one of them on the windowsill beside her.

Just then, Zhou Ying came over. Her view of Su Tian sleeping was blocked by the boy, so her voice was a bit loud, “Oh, Wei Sicheng, you’re here.”

Wei Sicheng gave a slight smile and handed her the other bubble tea, “Here, this is for you.”

“Wow, thanks Brother Wei for remembering me!” Zhou Ying accepted the bubble tea with a bright smile. She was about to add some playful teasing remarks, but suddenly remembered Jiang Chiyu was right there, and the words died in her throat.

She felt the scene had somehow become awkward, and the protagonist Su Tian…

“Oh my, what has she done to herself?” Zhou Ying finally noticed Su Tian sleeping on the desk with black marks all over her face.

The students behind Su Tian and Jiang Chiyu had left, leaving those seats empty. Zhou Ying stepped closer and, true to her energetic nature, slapped Su Tian’s back. “Hey! Wake up or we’ll sell you to the coal mine!”

Su Tian let out a painful cry and barely moved her eyelids. Still unaware of what was happening, she whimpered a few meaningless trembling sounds like a kitten, “Don’t wake me, I’m really dying of sleepiness… just let me sleep a bit more.”

“Girl, get up and look at yourself.” Zhou Ying said exasperatedly.

The little kitten, eyes still closed, reached out a paw and patted someone nearby. Thinking it was Zhou Ying in the adjacent seat, she patted soothingly and left her hand resting there, “Shut up.”

Jiang Chiyu, whose arm was being pressed: “…”

Wei Sicheng: “…”

Zhou Ying: “…”

This is embarrassing beyond belief!

Zhou Ying couldn’t bear to look at the faces of the two handsome guys nearby, and directly pressed her iced bubble tea against Su Tian’s neck. After two seconds, Su Tian frantically swatted away the thing on her neck and sat up straight in shock.

Still dazed, she looked up to see three people staring at her, and thought she was seeing triple. But looking closer, the three images looked different.

The images even had different genders.

Su Tian widened her eyes to look carefully, slowly becoming alert.

She uncertainly scanned their faces one by one, “What’s… wrong with you all…”

Zhou Ying raised her chin, gesturing for her to look at her “salty pig hand” (meaning: overly familiar touching).

Su Tian followed her gaze, took a second to react, then saw her own hand resting on Jiang Chiyu’s forearm. Her eyes instantly widened, and she yanked her hand back with a “whoosh.”

Her ears turning slightly red, she went on the offensive to cover her embarrassment: “Why did you put your arm under my hand!”

Jiang Chiyu tilted his head: “?”

Zhou Ying couldn’t bear to watch her friend embarrass herself any further and plastered a napkin on her face, “Just shut up, you blessed soul! Clean your face first.”