Chapter 7

After a moment of stagnation, laughter and murmurs of conversation gradually started to break out from various corners of the student formations in the square.

The laughter merged into a wave, drawing out a bold boy from some class who fearlessly shouted at the top of his lungs—

“Brother Yan is awesome!”

It was like a fierce fire doused with a bucket of oil—The laughter erupted instantly.

The students, typically immersed in the monotony of school life, rarely found such shared joy, and the scene momentarily spiraled out of control.

Fortunately, class teachers, called to duty in the face of crisis, hurriedly “put out the fire,” and the laughter on the square slowly subsided.

Thus, that lazy, slightly hoarse voice was once again isolated by the silence.

Echoing over the small square, it continued at a steady pace, maintaining a calm rhythm—

The smiles in the students’ eyes began to freeze.

“Where were we… in the recitation?”

“I don’t know. You’re laughing, but I haven’t even had a chance to laugh—I’ve been lost for the last half-minute!”

“What did Brother Yan just say? Was it ‘lead must spill love’?”

“…It should be ‘bismuth, polonium, astatine’, elements 81 to 85 on the periodic table…”

“Damn, how do you know?”

“I’m just looking at the periodic table!”

“Is there any discrepancy?”

“So far, no, and there are many words I don’t even recognize.”

“‘So far’—how much is left?”

“Just a few more words to complete the whole thing.”

“…That’s freakin’ crazy.”

The discussion ended there, and the voice on stage indeed stopped.

Under the gaze of a newly stunned silence from the audience, the boy holding the microphone still appeared half asleep, lazily curling his lips.

His gaze seemed to fall on the very back of everyone present.

After staring for two seconds, his dark pupils shaded, his thin lips slightly parted.

“That settles it… go back, kids.”

This statement was abrupt.

The students: “???”

“—That’s all.”

Shang Yan turned and left the stage.

Standing in place for several seconds, Li Zhe finally snapped out of it and hurriedly followed.

“Brother Yan, you really saved the show, awesome. Just before I came down, I saw those waiting for their turn to speak all confused, so—”

Li Zhe’s words suddenly halted as he noticed a girl standing in front of him, surprised, “Class beauty? What are you doing here?”

Shang Yan frowned slightly, lifting his gaze.

There indeed stood Wen Susu not far in front of the two.

Seeing them stop, Wen Susu released the fingers twisted in front of her and took small steps forward.

She glanced at Shang Yan before lowering her head, her voice carrying a hint of grievance, “The speech I wrote for you, did you not like it?”

“…You wrote it?”

Shang Yan frowned, glancing sideways.

Li Zhe guiltily averted his gaze.

Shang Yan scoffed lightly, pulling his hand from his pocket, his leg lifting to kick Li Zhe—

“Weren’t you supposed to have someone from another class write it?”

Li Zhe’s face turned embarrassed.

“I hadn’t found anyone yet, and just then, the class beauty happened to give me one…”

“Just happened?”

Shang Yan narrowed his eyes. “Since it just happened that I didn’t use it, don’t let it go to waste—take it back and copy it two hundred times.”

“No, no, no! Brother Yan, I was wrong—I won’t do it again!”

Ignoring Li Zhe’s howls, Shang Yan resumed walking away.

“Hey, Brother Yan, where are you off to now?”

“To turn myself in,” came the languid voice trailing behind him.

“…What?”

Li Zhe, confused, looked up and saw the grim and helpless expression of the grade director, Hao He, standing by the backstage.

Li Zhe then realized.

“Ah, forgot about that.”

Turning his head, he noticed Wen Susu standing beside him, worriedly watching Shang Yan leave.

“Hao Director won’t record a demerit against him, right?”

Li Zhe chuckled, “Hey, even without mentioning his background, just based on his chemistry scores and the computer competition awards he’s brought back, Brother Yan has a full set of protective charms with Director Hao.”

Wen Susu’s eyes flickered, “Background? Do you know something about Shang Yan’s…”

“Ouch—Hey, that kick from Yan Ge was really too harsh!”

Li Zhe suddenly interrupted Wen Susu, bending down to rub his leg while groaning.

Wen Susu frowned slightly, swallowing her remaining words, and instead asked, “So why didn’t Shang Yan stick to the script and instead recited the periodic table?”

With this question, Li Zhe’s leg pain seemed to vanish.Standing straight, he grinned, “Isn’t it because of that new junior in Brother Yan’s group? You can’t even see her face, and Brother Yan is protective like she’s his little wife. She got caught by Director Hao for not wearing a uniform and was forced to remove her hat. Brother Yan couldn’t get there in time, so he went up on stage to divert Director Hao.”

As he finished, Li Zhe noticed Wen Susu’s face turning sour.

His expression froze, realizing his blunder, and he wished he could slap himself.

Everyone in the class knew that Wen Susu, who had been exalted by many male students in the school as the “artistic little goddess,” had liked Shang Yan for a year… Yet, how could Li Zhe mistakenly make it sound like there was something ambiguous between those two?

Li Zhe’s eyes darted around as he hurriedly tried to rectify the situation:

“I’m just kidding, ha! Brother Yan didn’t really pay much attention to that little girl — he’s been so busy since school started, as you’ve seen, he hardly went to the training group last week.”

“Okay.” Wen Susu’s expression eased slightly.

Li Zhe sighed in relief and continued with a playful tone to comfort her.

“Besides, that girl can’t compete with you, the class flower. You are recognized as the little goddess of our grade.”

“…”

Two seconds after these words fell, Li Zhe awkwardly realized that Wen Susu’s expression, which had just lightened, suddenly darkened again.

And it looked… even more upset than before.

Li Zhe: “…”

Did he say something wrong again?

This time, he didn’t get a chance to make amends, as Wen Susu turned her head and walked away.

Li Zhe stood in place, grinning wryly, “Calling her the artistic little goddess is one thing, but when she gets cold, it’s like a low-temperature air conditioner.”

While Li Zhe lamented, he turned to head back to the classroom. He had only taken a couple of steps when he saw another person coming out from behind the curtain nearby.

Li Zhe paused.

“… Shu Wei, the school beauty? What are you doing here too?”

Shu Wei appeared much calmer than Wen Susu.

“Is what you just said true?”

“Ah? What thing?”

Unsure of the depth of the situation, Li Zhe chose to strategically play dumb.

Shu Wei gave him a chilly glance, “Didn’t you just tell Wen Susu that Shang Yan deliberately staged a rescue for his so-called little apprentice?”

“…”

Li Zhe now only wished he could travel back three minutes and slap the him who didn’t realize the trouble words can cause.

Seeing Li Zhe implicitly confirming, Shu Wei’s eyes grew colder.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Li Zhe took the initiative, asking with a nervous laugh, “Shu Wei, the school beauty, did you come looking for Brother Yan?”

“…No.”

Shu Wei’s eyes flickered, recalling the real reason for her visit.

“Oh? Then why?”

Shu Wei: “Isn’t this Saturday Shang Yan’s birthday?”

Li Zhe nodded, “That’s right.”

“I’d like to ask you for a favor.”

Li Zhe: “…?”

Shu Wei hesitated slightly, a rare occurrence, but she quickly composed herself, “I’d like to invite him to dinner. Maybe invite a few more boys that you guys are close with, and I’ll also bring a few of my close girlfriends… let’s prepare a surprise for him then.”

“…”

Li Zhe’s confused gaze gradually cleared up—”Uh, you mean…”

Shu Wei was straightforward, “I’m going to confess to him and then make our relationship official.”

This blunt statement momentarily choked Li Zhe, who had asked the question.

Noticing his discomfort, Shu Wei gave a charming smile, “What, you think we’re not suitable? Or is there someone else who deserves him more than I do?”

“That’s definitely not the case.” Li Zhe frowned, “But I can’t hide this kind of thing from Brother Yan, he’d be upset with me if he found out.”

Shu Wei slightly narrowed her eyes, “We’ve known each other for over a year, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Shang Yan has never denied that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, do you know why?” Shu Wei smiled suggestively, casting a meaningful look at Li Zhe.

Li Zhe had an epiphany:

“Using you as a shield? — That’s how Wen Susu and the others always get blocked!”

Shu Wei: “…………”

Shu Wei’s smile faded, and she looked at him expressionlessly, “I’m just asking you to invite him out, not to do anything extra. You were going to have a dinner together anyway, it’s just that I’m paying, is there a difference?”

Li Zhe paused, “Seems like there’s not, haha.”

Shu Wei didn’t wait for his reaction, “Thanks then, junior.”

With that, she walked past him.

A few dozen meters away, Shu Wei paused slightly, looking at the figure of the grade director Hao He standing alone behind the stage.

Her gaze flickered slightly.

Finally overcoming her hesitation, Shu Wei clenched her hand slightly and walked toward Hao He.

Meanwhile.

At the back of the square.

Su Miao Miao stood hesitating for a moment, still unable to see that person again.

Should be… nothing wrong, right?

She thought anxiously.

After waiting a few more minutes and hearing the teacher starting to dismiss the students, Su Miao Miao dared not delay any longer and turned to walk towards the science building.

But she still couldn’t escape the “flood” of dispersing students.

The surrounding noise gradually increased.

The students were discussing the shocking episode during the flag-raising speech.

“…Shang Yan is so cool, reciting the entire periodic table of chemical elements, not missing a single word.”

“It’s not a big deal… Isn’t it just memorization?”

“Not a big deal? Why don’t you recite it and let’s see?”

“I—He obviously prepared that in advance just to show off, while everyone else was giving their genuine reflections.”

“That’s too much to say. Shang Yan has never been one to start trouble in school, he studies so well, looks so handsome, and is so good with computers—he’s been low-key enough.”

“Haha. Have you forgotten his nickname?”

“…”

“I haven’t seen it, but I have, back in the first year of high school at the school gate, that guy was directly taken away by an ambulance!”

“…………”

Su Miao Miao hunched her shoulders, her face pale.The noise and clamor around her grew increasingly tumultuous.

It felt overwhelming, as if it was coming from all directions with no escape.

As soon as she closed her eyes, those sounds morphed into sinister, life-threatening black demons, furiously assaulting her blood vessels and heart.

Under her hood, the girl’s lips turned pale, and she instinctively reached out with her cold, trembling hand to grab the edge of the hood.

But just as she touched the brim, her wrist was suddenly clasped by a warm palm.

That hand pressed down reassuringly, then rested gently on either side of her ears.

Slowly covering them.

The noisy world was blocked out.

Her heartbeat gradually calmed down.“…All okay now?”

Moments later, following the slender, distinct knuckles that lightly covered her hood, a slightly trembling voice reached her ears.

In the boy’s palm, the girl slowly moved her head.—Nodding up and down.

Shang Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though they were surrounded by the flowing crowd, the area around them was eerily quiet.

Su Miao Miao opened her eyes and tilted her head a bit curiously.

Then she heard it—the same male voice from the closest conversation before, this time without the previous disdain but with an uncontrollable tremor—

“Shang Yan… Yan, Brother Yan… I didn’t mean what I said earlier…”

“…”

Assured that the girl was unharmed, Shang Yan lowered his arms from the sides of her hood, making sure to pull it down further to shield her from the converging gazes that might cause her undue distress.

In the silent, watchful quiet, having completed these actions, the young man’s face remained expressionless, his dark pupils cool and detached.

He lightly touched Su Miao Miao’s slender shoulder.

“Let’s go. Kid.”

After stroking the tip of the girl’s hood, Shang Yan sidestepped to protect her and they left through the crowd that had conscientiously made way.

Until the end, he never once looked at the frightened, pale-faced young man.

Shang Yan escorted Su Miao Miao back to the training group’s office.

Upon entering, Wu Hongbo, who had skipped the flag raising, looked at them in surprise—

“Brother Yan, what brings you here?” He glanced at the quietly walking girl, “And with Little Su?”

“…‘Little Su’?”

Pulling over a chair, Shang Yan sat the girl down.In the interim, he looked down at Wu Hongbo with a cold gaze, his dark eyes slightly disdainful—

“I leave for just half a week, and you’ve come up with all sorts of nonsense names for my apprentice?”

“—What’s wrong with ‘Little Su’! It sounds nice!”

“…”

Shang Yan glanced at him expressionlessly.

Wu Hongbo instantly became as quiet as a mouse, obediently swiveling his chair back to face his computer.

Shang Yan’s gaze then settled on the girl seated in front of him, his eyes cool, with a slight ripple in his pupils.

“Are you sick?”

“…” From Wu Hongbo’s direction came a horrified glance. “Are you always this fierce right off the bat, Brother Yan…?”

And following that, after a few seconds of silence, a very soft “Mhm” came from beneath the girl’s hood.

Wu Hongbo: “—??”

Is this some new human dialogue mode?

“What illness?”

“…”

This time, the girl refused to speak.

Shang Yan narrowed his eyes.

Recalling the petite and helpless figure he saw minutes ago in the bustling crowd, he furrowed his brow.

“Does the teacher know?”

Thinking of Teacher Li Shijie, who had brought her here, Su Miao Miao slowly nodded her head.

Shang Yan’s expression eased slightly, but his voice still carried a hint of coolness, “If you can’t stay long in that kind of environment, why didn’t you leave earlier?”

This time, the girl’s voice was exceptionally soft, almost inaudible—

“I… was worried about you.”

Shang Yan was taken aback.

By the time he regained his composure, Wu Hongbo, who had been eavesdropping all along, was already laughing so hard his stomach hurt—

“Please, don’t do that, Little Su. How could you get swayed so quickly after just a week at school?—You haven’t seen your master’s true colors yet, and he has plenty of admirers, more than the lines of code in my scripts!”

Wu Hongbo even took a breath to continue his laughter:

“Take for example Shu Wei from the senior year, everyone at school says she’s your prospective mistress, with the looks and 36Ds and all—”

His words abruptly stopped.

Crashing into Shang Yan’s dark and chilling gaze, Wu Hongbo instinctively shivered.

His smile fell off his face as he quickly shrank into a ball and returned to his computer.

In the deathly silence.

Shang Yan suppressed the inexplicable irritation welling up within him and was just about to turn around when the girl in front of him curiously asked—

“Master.”

The girl’s soft voice made Shang Yan pause.

Before he could reflect on the emotions that had just flitted through his mind—

“What is 36D?”

“…”

Shang Yan felt a sharp throb at his temple.

A few seconds later, Wu Hongbo felt an intense glare coming from the side.

Almost as if it could go right through him.

After another two seconds of silence.

A slightly hoarse male voice spoke again— “It’s a function name in C language.”

Wu Hongbo: “…”

Wu Hongbo: “???”

“Brother Yan, do you deserve those rows of gold medals for computer competitions in the cabinet behind you??”

But Wu Hongbo, the chief culprit at this moment, naturally dared not voice his thoughts, and could only use his gaze to accuse someone.

Shang Yan remained indifferent.

Just then, the office door of the training group was knocked. Li Zhe peeked his head in—

“Brother Yan, you’re actually here? Hurry back to the classroom, the first period has been changed to a Chinese language class—if you miss this one too, Teacher Lin is really about to write a blood letter to the homeroom teacher.”

“…”

Hearing the words “Chinese language,” Shang Yan reflexively wanted to frown.

He turned to leave, took a step out, but then stopped, not fully reassured, and glanced sideways at Wu Hongbo—

“There’s a kid here, watch your words.”

“…”

Under that almost knife-threatening gaze, Wu Hongbo obediently and obsequiously nodded.

Only then did Shang Yan leave the training group office with Li Zhe.

Exiting the Science Building, Li Zhe asked while walking: “Yan Bro, how are you planning to spend your birthday this Saturday?”

“…”

The late summer morning sun made Shang Yan lazily squint his eyes, remaining silent.

Seeing that he didn’t react much, Li Zhe asked, “If it doesn’t bother you, how about we take the opportunity to gather, go out to eat and hang out?”

“Whatever.”

The young man responded nonchalantly.

Li Zhe secretly wiped away some sweat.

Feeling slightly guilty, he quickly changed the subject: “The kid in your group is okay, right?”

No sooner had he spoken than Shang Yan gave him a frowning glance.

He was confused: “What, what’s wrong?”

“What did you call her?”

“…Kid, wasn’t it you who called her that first?”

“I can, but you can’t.”

Li Zhe: “—??”

Before Li Zhe could react, Shang Yan strode forward.

Li Zhe followed behind, defeatedly catching up—

“Okay okay, she’s your disciple, Brother Yan, you have the final say.””…”Shang Yan paused slightly as he walked ahead.The girl’s soft-spoken “Master” seemed to be tugged back by those words, echoing in his ears several times before fading away.Suddenly feeling a bit dry in the mouth.Shang Yan frowned and looked up at the gently lit morning sun…. What awful weather.