Chapter 13

He Yang was called to the office and criticized by the teacher for her declining grades. This temporarily snapped her back to reality from the script of Rebirth Redemption. No matter what, the most important and urgent matter at hand was the college entrance exam.

If she couldn’t improve her grades, forget about saving He Cheng – she wouldn’t even be able to save herself.

After all, who could bear to live a worse life than before after being reborn?

He Yang buried herself in studying during her free time. Suddenly, the previously noisy classroom fell silent, and she sensed several gazes falling on her like physical weight. She looked up in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

Li Kexin pointed at the door: “He Cheng is here.”

Even though she had heard rumors about He Cheng having a “mental illness”, seeing him in person still dazzled her eyes with his handsome face, making her heart beat uncontrollably. Li Kexin said somewhat enviously: “He seems to be looking for you… Yang Yang, you didn’t notice earlier because you were studying, but he’s been staring at you, his gaze focused and full of deep emotion…”

He Yang: “Stop right there!”

Li Kexin pushed her: “Go out and see what he wants.”

Several classmates cast curious glances at He Yang.

A student sitting by the front door shouted: “He Yang! He Cheng is looking for you!”

He Cheng stood straight at the doorway, his gaze as gentle and calm as ever. The school uniform looked especially handsome on him. At first, his expression was somewhat blank, but when he heard the shout from the student at the door, he raised his eyes and looked directly at He Yang.

In that moment, there was a hint of shallow expectation in his gaze.

He Yang walked out the door, still feeling eyes on her back. She took a few more steps into the hallway and asked him: “What is it?”

He Cheng’s face was flushed, his breathing slightly rapid. He moved his lips, looking up somewhat shyly, and held out a box of milk he had just bought downstairs.

“This is for you.”

He Yang reflexively refused: “No, I don’t want it.”

He Cheng’s face fell, but his pale fingers still gripped the milk, stubbornly holding it in front of her eyes: “…I bought it especially for you.”

He Cheng had seen several times, or rather, he had secretly followed He Yang and seen her often go to the small supermarket to buy things during breaks, mostly this brand of milk or some snacks. Although he didn’t know why, she hadn’t been to the supermarket recently.

He Yang was somewhat bewildered. Although she had resolved to help him, she was caught off guard by the young man’s sudden kindness.

She looked at the milk held in the young man’s palm, vaguely remembering that she did often drink this brand in high school because it was cheap and came in large quantities.

Should she accept it? But they weren’t close enough for this, and moreover, why was he suddenly bringing her milk…

If she didn’t accept it, he looked like he was about to cry from disappointment…

He Yang decisively took the milk in her hand and asked him: “Why are you suddenly bringing me milk?”

He Cheng smiled.

He had often been given milk before, but he didn’t like drinking it and never accepted. But he clearly knew, and had heard others talk about, how giving small gifts could bring two people closer. Although he really wanted to close the distance between them in one big step, like directly taking her home and locking her in or something…

These thoughts could only remain in his mind, he couldn’t scare He Yang. The smile on his face grew gentler: “That day when I was sick, you took care of me all night, and I haven’t had the chance to thank you yet. If there’s anything you like to eat, I can bring it to you every day!”

That wouldn’t do at all.

He Yang shook her head repeatedly.

He Cheng suppressed the frustration in his heart and asked: “Why don’t you come see me anymore?”

He Yang: “…Huh?”

He Cheng: “Before, you would come to the door of Class 1 every break,” his eyes couldn’t hide his emotions: “You always stood at the back door position looking at me, I waited for a long time, but you never said what you wanted.”

What she had done before was sneaky no matter how you looked at it, and being directly called out by He Cheng was really embarrassing. She made up an excuse: “Your grades are good, and there were a few questions I didn’t quite understand, I wanted to ask you about them, but… there were too many people gathered at the door, so I didn’t have the courage to ask.”

He Cheng: “Don’t mind them.”

He Yang didn’t understand: “Don’t mind what?”

Don’t mind them, those irrelevant people. He Cheng restrained the desire to say more, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his gaze greedily took in the girl so close to him, close enough that he could smell the soap scent on her. He lowered his head to hide his expression, his voice low and hoarse: “Whatever questions you don’t understand, you can ask me anytime.”

He Yang didn’t react at first, but then she suddenly seemed to break through the fog and see the light, her eyes sparkling like brilliant fireworks.

That’s right, how had she not thought of this before!

He Cheng would commit suicide in the future, and if she wanted to prevent this from happening, she had to build a good relationship with He Cheng, gradually get to know him better, and help him overcome future difficulties.

But now she had to take the college entrance exam, and her grades had dropped. If she focused on He Cheng, it would inevitably affect her studies. She definitely couldn’t neglect her studies, education changes destiny! This was the only path available to her.

She had been overlooking one point all along – He Cheng was a top student.

Why couldn’t she use studying as an excuse to both promote their friendly relationship and improve her grades?

Although they were in different tracks, the thinking patterns of a top student were still very worth learning from. After all, there were still the three major subjects of Chinese, Math and English. Learning study techniques from He Cheng would be much better than fumbling around based on her memories from her previous life.

He Yang made up her mind and smiled brightly: “Then it’s settled!”

He Cheng was stunned for a moment, then overwhelmed with joy, though his face remained impassive as he said: “Mm.”

The bell for class rang, and He Yang waved at He Cheng before entering the classroom without lingering. The smile on He Cheng’s face didn’t last long, disappearing the moment He Yang went into the classroom.

He took a few steps back, making sure He Yang wouldn’t suddenly appear, before reluctantly walking through the back door of Class 1.

Without a deskmate, he became even more unrestrained in doing certain things. He took out the hair tie that had fallen from He Yang’s pocket earlier and put it on his wrist. The pink hair tie looked just like He Yang’s rosy cheeks.

He stared at it intently for a long time before finally pulling down his sleeve to cover the little secret hidden on his wrist. Then he began to carefully analyze, word by word, every expression and subtle movement He Yang had made during their conversation earlier.

Hmm…

She seemed to really like studying?

Although he very much disliked anything that could occupy He Yang’s full attention, even if it was studying, at least it wasn’t another guy, which made him feel slightly better. He silently recalled He Yang’s grades – her scores had dropped significantly this time. She wanted to get into a university in City A, but if her grades didn’t improve, she wouldn’t be able to go to City A!

He Cheng absolutely could not allow that to happen.

He listened to the English class with boredom, secretly planning in his heart how to bring up studying together with He Yang in the future. He could be a good teacher, focusing solely on teaching her for now.

Although he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t occasionally have crazy thoughts of wanting to occupy her mind…

At lunchtime, He Yang could no longer contain her desire to study. Having received He Cheng’s assurance, she quickly gathered several math problems she had been struggling to understand, and also picked a few geography questions to ask him about.

Since it was lunchtime, she didn’t want to take up too much of his time for eating.

She thought of using the pretext of having lunch together to ask questions while eating.

He Yang walked to the door of Class 1 and looked towards He Cheng’s seat, but didn’t see him. Just as she was about to grab a classmate to ask where he had gone, someone suddenly stood up in front of her, blocking her view.

He Cheng’s cheeks were flushed, his eyes bright: “He Yang!”

He Yang stared at the desk placed alone in the back row and froze: “Why did you change seats?”

He Cheng tilted his chin slightly, his tone carrying a hint of showing off and seeking approval: “I don’t need a deskmate.” He moved his lips, swallowing the words “I only want you”, his dark eyes enveloping the girl like a whirlpool.

Don’t need a deskmate… what does that mean?

There’s no need to sit in the back row either!

This seating arrangement was really hard to explain.

He Yang tentatively asked: “You… haven’t been bullied, have you?”

She recalled in Redemption how the male lead was ostracized by his classmates and could only sit in the back row near the trash, with no one willing to be his deskmate. Only the female lead, like a little sun, warmly protected the male lead…

If He Cheng was being ostracized, what should she do?

He Yang frowned in deep thought.

He Cheng broke her train of thought: “No one is bullying me, I asked the teacher to change my seat.”

He seemed to want to say more, looking as if he was waiting for He Yang to ask further.

He Yang: “…Why?”

He Cheng smiled slightly: “The school’s seating arrangement has issues. We’re not children anymore, it’s not good for boys and girls to sit together. My deskmate happened to be a girl. I didn’t pay attention before, I hope you’re not angry. I’ve changed seats now, no one is my deskmate anymore.”

He Cheng was very tall and slender, half a head taller than He Yang. When talking to her, he had to slightly lower his head. The shadows of his eyelashes were like alluring little fans.

His skin was fair, with black eyes and red lips – a handsome young man.

He had short hair, with bangs falling slightly over his forehead, making him look docile. He wore long sleeves and pants, the uniform of Yang Kui Number One High School.

Indeed… the image of a modern youth.

He Yang seemed not to understand the meaning behind his words and looked conflicted. Her gaze darted between the lone desk in the back row and He Cheng, who was lowering his eyes and smiling in front of her. She laughed awkwardly: “Then… can I still ask you questions? I was hoping to have lunch with you too.”

He Cheng immediately forgot about the nutritious lunch in his desk: “It’s different.” His lips curved into a genuine smile, as if a long-awaited candy had finally fallen into his pocket, satisfied yet somewhat secretive.

He Cheng waved his hand in front of He Yang: “Let’s go.”

He Yang followed He Cheng for a few steps, then stopped and sincerely asked: “Is it really okay? After all, I’m a girl…”

He Cheng walked to her side, shoulder to shoulder, gentle warmth appearing in his eyes: “You’re He Yang.”

You’re his He Yang.